Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

[YellowKing]

Started back on FFXIV. I've been itching for an MMO and honestly I feel like there are only two good ones left - FFXIV and WoW. I wasn't feeling WoW and had never started (let alone finished) Endwalker for FFXIV. Also I'm an expansion or two behind in WoW so it would be a higher upfront cost to get up to speed. Since I have a level 81 Reaper in FFXIV I felt that was the best place to continue my journey, and hopefully catch up before the new expansion this summer.

It was a bit overwhelming at first as I had not logged in for about a year, but after watching some guides on YouTube and taking some time to mess around fighting trash mobs I soon got back in the swing of things. I still haven't had the courage to join a dungeon/raid group, but I've got enough quests at the moment that I should be able to get comfortable with the combat again before I have a forced dungeon.

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, WoW gives you every expansion except the most recent one for free.

[Punisher]

FWIW, WoW gives you every expansion except the most recent one for free.

Do you still need to subscribe or has it turned into a mostly free mmo?

[Blackhawk]

You can play to level 20 for free, with restrictions. If you want to actually play 99% of the content, you have to subscribe.

[Daehawk]

While Ive got your attention with RTS again in Stormgate's update and open beta in it's thread may I show you another RTS?

This is Tempest Rising. ..in the style of old Red Alert I think.

Homepage


Demo available on this one
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1486 ... st_Rising/

Video

Spoiler:

[jztemple2]

[Punisher]

Raydude maybe you'd like Crossout

Its still free. Been playing it off and on for a few years. It was all I had to cling to after Autoduel died.. I haven't played in a few years though so Im out of the loop on it.

Thanks for this. Not quite Var Wars or Autoduel as I'm used to a story or campaign but its fun do far. Made it to L5 pretty quick and haven't died once.

[Daehawk]

This looks great! First time Ive seen it and just stumbled upon the video so I have no info on it..just a drive by posting of the video for now

[jztemple2]

I love me a good city builder, but sometimes with the deluge of games hitting Steam it is hard to keep track of them all. I found the below video very helpful in picking out what city builders are coming in 2024-ish and to add the ones I'm interested in to my wishlist.

[Moliere]

Disney to take $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games

Disney is investing $1.5 billion for a stake in Epic Games, CEO Bob Iger said Wednesday, in its biggest bet yet on the gaming space.

The media giant will work with the Fortnite studio to create new games and an entertainment universe where consumers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more,” Disney said in a press release.

[hitbyambulance]

Disney to take $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games

Disney is investing $1.5 billion for a stake in Epic Games, CEO Bob Iger said Wednesday, in its biggest bet yet on the gaming space.

The media giant will work with the Fortnite studio to create new games and an entertainment universe where consumers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more,” Disney said in a press release.

Epic will let just about anyone own them...

[Daehawk]

Neat. More Star Wars games in the Unreal Engine.

[Max Peck]

Star Wars games using Unreal Engine that are Epic Games Store exclusives...

[raydude]

Been playing American Truck Simulator for a bit. I was playing using automatic transmission as I had a Logitech G29 steering wheel (no shifter) and it was not fun shifting with the paddle shifters while making a turn. I went and got myself the Logitech G Driving Force Shifter and am having a lot more fun shifting gears. Funny thing, I started out going through each gear in sequence but now (especially in low gear) I find myself skipping to gears 2, 4, 6 instead of bothering with going through gears 1-6 in sequence. I still shift through each gear going from 7-12.

[jztemple2]

Been playing American Truck Simulator for a bit. I was playing using automatic transmission as I had a Logitech G29 steering wheel (no shifter) and it was not fun shifting with the paddle shifters while making a turn. I went and got myself the Logitech G Driving Force Shifter and am having a lot more fun shifting gears. Funny thing, I started out going through each gear in sequence but now (especially in low gear) I find myself skipping to gears 2, 4, 6 instead of bothering with going through gears 1-6 in sequence. I still shift through each gear going from 7-12.

I have a Logitech 920, but I play ATS with a controller since I tend to use chase view a lot so I can sightsee as I drive.

That's a cool looking shifter. Might be fun when I drive something retro in Automobilista 2 or Forza Motorsport . Does it plug directly into the wheel or use a USB slot on the PC? Nevermind, I found a video that says it plugs right into the wheel

[jztemple2]

Been playing American Truck Simulator for a bit. I was playing using automatic transmission as I had a Logitech G29 steering wheel (no shifter) and it was not fun shifting with the paddle shifters while making a turn. I went and got myself the Logitech G Driving Force Shifter and am having a lot more fun shifting gears. Funny thing, I started out going through each gear in sequence but now (especially in low gear) I find myself skipping to gears 2, 4, 6 instead of bothering with going through gears 1-6 in sequence. I still shift through each gear going from 7-12.

Question, in ATS using this shifter, do you use the clutch pedal on the Logitech pedal set, or do you have the game set for automatic clutch use?

[jztemple2]

Some new game releases of note:

Early access with demo available. A different sort of game, the 2D style reminds me of Project Highrise


Again, early access with demo available. A tycoon game with a more realistic portrayal of power distribution. As a retired engineer this caught my eye.


And if you can't get excited over Ubisoft's Skull and Bones, how about this game from Kalypso? It is in full release and is from the folks who brought you the Port Royale series.

[Unagi]

Early access with demo available. A different sort of game, the 2D style reminds me of Project Highrise

I've had this on my wishlist and bought it.

the 2D perspective on a building is like Project Highrise, but the game isn't like it otherwise.

[Daehawk]

How does it handle stories though? Does it give you a list of news items and you send out reporters to the ones you think will catch the public's eye? Then they write the story and you decide which on gets the front page and such? If its that detailed it might be fun.

[jztemple2]

How does it handle stories though? Does it give you a list of news items and you send out reporters to the ones you think will catch the public's eye? Then they write the story and you decide which on gets the front page and such? If its that detailed it might be fun.

There is a demo, give it a look.

[Unagi]

How does it handle stories though? Does it give you a list of news items and you send out reporters to the ones you think will catch the public's eye? Then they write the story and you decide which on gets the front page and such? If its that detailed it might be fun.

The game is really big and I'm only a few 'months' in, but generally speaking here is an overview of the game:

You have a building (from a dead Uncle, with some favors owed to the Mafia, of course) that is your newspaper publishing company. Bare bones, two stories tall. (A tutorial holds your hand in getting everything up and running)

Every Sunday you must print your paper. At first, it's a 1 page paper with room for 3 stories. That quickly is updated to a 2-page paper (I'm about to become a 3-page paper).

Each week is composed of 7 days, and time is running (you can pause the game to get your strategy figured out and unpause).
During that time, you try and get 'stories' for your paper... but you are waiting for tips/news reports to come in - before you can send any reporters out.

So, the flow of a reported, completed, and processed "story" is such:
You buy a telegraph table and hire a person to man it. He watches for news on Crime, Politics, Sports, Society, Economy, and Entertainment (you can set priorities for which you want).
You buy a reporter's desk and hire a person to man it. You send this reporter out on the 'leads' from the above telegraph information... and he needs to spend a certain amount of time collecting the story (time is running).
Eventually, he comes back with his story and hands it over to the guy standing at the Typesetting desk (that you purchased, and hired a guy to man it).
The Typesetter spends a length of time preparing the story on a "Text Slug" that is then handed over to a guy standing at the Assembly Table (that you purchased, and hired a guy to man).
Eventually, that Assembly guy is done, and you have a complete processed Story.

You will do that with a handful of reporters with all the stories you can manage to find, report on, typeset, and assemble - in one week... That is a continuous cycle, and you will have many "Irons in the fire" that are not quite ready for this Sunday's printing... On Sunday - you must go to print... and then you go to actually print a paper and select which of the completely processed Stories will be in your paper. You will only have room for 3 stories, per page. You will want to fill them, so in doing so - you will also have stories that you didn't use. Those stories become "old news" and will expire if you don't use them by "next Sunday". The layout of the paper matters too (explained in the game), so if you have two Sports stories, putting them on the same page gives them a bonus (for instance), or putting a Hot story on the First page, First slot - is ideal, vs putting a really old story of no interest on the front page... (duh).

Anyhow - you are also unlocking more and more 'Items To Place' in your building, earning 'stars' with the Mafia and the like, Relationships - and missions. At this early stage - I am basically following the requests that the Mafia has asked me to do ("Don't print any stories about Politics this week" type stuff). Doing those "quests" earns you progress in their story...

Additionally, you are growing your readership. You start with a single Newsstand, and you go out to expand to other Newsstands/Areas. Each of these areas has certain types of stories they are interested in, and you need to meet their needs "that week" to unlock that Newsstand.

You pick where you want to expand newsstands while you pick your weekly "quest", so you can align the two strategically - so if you aren't going to print Politics stories this week, target a new Newsstand where they want to read about Sports and Society news.

The game looks quite large and I'm only at the very beginning. I've had fines from the police, there was a chance to bribe someone (I failed to pay enough, so I don't know what that would have led to) - but it was inevitably a 'hot story' or something.

Stories don't just have the tags Crime/Sports/ etc - they also have secondary (and I suspect tertiary) tags, like Tragic, Defeat, Adventurous, Gossip, Alarming, Gruesome - others... and those can also be requirements needed to be met to satisfy a given Newsstand's unlock requirements.

With each Newsstand your potential 'Handout' purchases grow, and all the while you are also earning Subscribers - making each paper run more lucrative.

I haven't unlocked it yet, but I suspect I'm very close to being able to add Ads to my paper soon too.


If the game idea and graphics look appealing to you, I would say this is very much worth the look. I can't tell at all what the EA nature of it is, as it seems enormous, great art style, fantastic music, and depth too all of it.

[raydude]

Been playing American Truck Simulator for a bit. I was playing using automatic transmission as I had a Logitech G29 steering wheel (no shifter) and it was not fun shifting with the paddle shifters while making a turn. I went and got myself the Logitech G Driving Force Shifter and am having a lot more fun shifting gears. Funny thing, I started out going through each gear in sequence but now (especially in low gear) I find myself skipping to gears 2, 4, 6 instead of bothering with going through gears 1-6 in sequence. I still shift through each gear going from 7-12.

Question, in ATS using this shifter, do you use the clutch pedal on the Logitech pedal set, or do you have the game set for automatic clutch use?

I use the clutch pedal. I also use the L3 button on the wheel to switch from low range to high range. Currently I'm using a 13-gear transmission so from stopped I shift 1-6, press the L3 button then shift 7-12. The return button (the one within the 24 point selector) activates my Jake brake and the +/- buttons on the wheel increase/decrease the amount of engine braking they do.

Speaking of ATS, I fiddled with my wheel settings in the config menu and holy hell the wheel vibrates now from engine resonance. Like, even when the engine is idling the wheel rocks back and forth and the frequency of rocking gets higher at higher RPMs. I had to tone it down so my arms don't get tired and to minimize the noise, since my gaming loft is not walled off.

[jztemple2]

Thanks for the answer raydude! That's a lot more simulation than I'm using

I have to remember to check my Epic client more often. A couple of weeks ago I almost bought the new Saints Row because of a sale, today I happened to check Epic and saw that I already own it there . I have 114 games there and really have only played one any significant amount of time.

[Daehawk]

Thanks Unagi!! That was a great and detailed writeup. Answered all that I was wondering about it. Sounds fun and that you are having fun with it yes?

[jztemple2]

How does it handle stories though? Does it give you a list of news items and you send out reporters to the ones you think will catch the public's eye? Then they write the story and you decide which on gets the front page and such? If its that detailed it might be fun.

The game is really big and I'm only a few 'months' in, but generally speaking here is an overview of the game:

Great write-up, thanks! Don't know if some people saw this, but it is the devs roadmap to full release:

[jztemple2]

I finished the demo on News Tower and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I'll pick it up now or wait for more content.

[Baroquen]

I picked up News Tower earlier this evening. Didn't play the demo. But I suspect, as long as it doesn't get too complicated too quickly, I'll enjoy it. I booted it up earlier, but got interrupted by family and such. Will probably try it out tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for the write-up Unagi!

[GreenGoo]

Tomb Raider remastered is out. Let us know what you think, early adopters.

I wasn't impressed by the visuals, and that's all that's changed, I believe.

[Unagi]

I finished the demo on News Tower and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I'll pick it up now or wait for more content.

I could see waiting on this. I will continue my playthrough for a little while longer, but now that I see their roadmap (Thanks for that!), I feel like I would probably rather give it a real shot when they have more of it figured out.

That being said, it's one of those titles I have no problem supporting in EA and giving them some lunch money while they work on it. I can tell this is a game with passion and a heart behind it, and it will be completed, etc.

[Unagi]

Will probably try it out tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for the write-up Unagi!

I'll be curious to hear what you think of it.

[hitbyambulance]

TIL a co-founder of CD Projekt Red created a line of consumer e-ink products (including a mobile phone)

https://mudita.com/

[jztemple2]

From the people who brought you...


Comes a new game...


World of Shooting just entered Early Access and is free to play.

[Kasey Chang]

For funsies, I decided to try something completely out of my genre: : A tiny sticker tale. It was given away on Amazon way back when.

The boy arrived at the island, and he has a magical sticker book. Some of the items on the island can be "plucked off" and put into the sticker book as stickers (both static and characters). Use this mechanism to solve puzzles (mostly Fedex quests, take item X to place Y, give to character Z). And there lies the problem. Despite being described as a book, it's just "one sheet", so it effectively acts as your inventory screen, and it's limited (you can cheat somewhat as a sticker doesn't have to fully fit inside the area)

However, when the game suddenly introduced an arcade skills challenge (score 3 or more points at a shooting gallery) I decided enough is enough.

[jztemple2]

For those interested in trains and railroading, Rail Route has finished early access and today went into full release. It is on sale for 25% off till March 4th.

[Unagi]

Sold.

[jztemple2]

Sold.

Oops, sorry, I just found out that there is a trial version of the game . It isn't listed on the full product page. I've just installed it and will post some impressions to save folks (other than Unagi ) from spending money without trying the trial version first.

[jztemple2]

Sold.

Oops, sorry, I just found out that there is a trial version of the game . It isn't listed on the full product page. I've just installed it and will post some impressions to save folks (other than Unagi ) from spending money without trying the trial version first.

I tried "Rail Route: The Story of Jozic" and it was a lot of fun. I'll probably buy Rail Route soon. I definitely suggest trying Rail Route: The Story of Jozic as it is a very good tutorial of how the full game plays. I put in 101 minutes and learned the basics, but there is a lot more to the game. It appears that as you progress, you are able to spend points to unlock more tech that allows more automation which means you don't have to carefully watch every train, instead you are involved in building a more automated, hands-off system. Which means that you can build a much more complex rail layout.

When and if I get the full game I'll start a new thread for it with impressions, unless Unagi beats me to it . Seriously though, do give the free trial a try, it is a very polished, interesting game.

[Daehawk]

[Unagi]

When and if I get the full game I'll start a new thread for it with impressions, unless Unagi beats me to it . Seriously though, do give the free trial a try, it is a very polished, interesting game.

I had a similar experience/enjoyment as you in my Tutorial run. First, it's not a standard railroad game (as one will see immediately), it's a routing game.

I haven't given it the time it deserves, and it will likely have to wait a little while as I have a lot of games itching to be played, but I'm not upset I purchased it - it has a lot of potential, and people will be making millions of custom maps.

I actually have some experience on the subway of Prague. It's GORGEOUS, by the way, perhaps most like our Washington DC Metro. Now, I was in Prague about 30 years ago, with a girl... and we rode the subway there all the time. We would mimic the callouts of the stops "Náměstí Míru". I was excited to play around with what they have here - but then discovered it wasn't doing the Metro there at all.

Same with Chicago. I'm not sure why on earth I thought it would be Metro... perhaps because they spoke about how many Cities they had in the game. But for Chicago - it's not the Chicago "L" (Elevated tracks), it's just got Ogilvie Train Station, and you route trains in and out of there. Not really the same thing.

That being said, the game has legs and depth.

[Skinypupy]

Two thoughts about random games that showed up on PS Plus this month.

Need for Speed Unbound was one of the new games, so I grabbed it yesterday. I haven't played an arcade racing game in ages, so I thought it might be fun. The racing itself wasn't terrible (it wasn't particularly good either), but everything surrounding the actual races was just so, so bad.

I was inundated with at least 10 popups to buy different cosmetic packages before I even got to the launch screen. I already knew the music wouldn't be my type, but I was a little surprised when the opening title screen was accompanied by some dude rapping about "I'm the shit, you're bullshit, fuck these hoes", etc, etc. It was literally the very first thing I heard when I opened the game (which caused me to immediately mute the music). Every character option looks like a reject from a breakdancing competition. The dialog is absolute cringe, sounding like it was generated in a corporate board room full of middle aged white guys to sound "cool" and "hip":

"Yo dawg, this street racing is hella tight".
"Hell yeah fam, I can't wait to see the rest of these fools tripping on my dope ride"
"Oh shit, here comes the po-po. We gotta bounce so they don't break us down out here"
Etc, etc...all of it just laughably bad.

I was so irritated with the whole package that I uninstalled it after 30 minutes. I get that I'm probably not the target demographic here, but I was honestly left wondering...who the hell was? It was all so obviously forced and ridiculous that I can't imagine even the teens (?) they were going after wouldn't immediately cringe.

As a palate cleanser, I grabbed Roguebook. It's a roguelike deckbuilder developed by Richard Garfield (creator of MtG), similar to Slay the Spire. The gimmick is that in addition to building your deck, the game also has you uncovering a map that has all sorts of hidden secrets, mobs, treasures, and other items. It was surprisingly engaging, and a few hours just flew by without me even realizing it. The cardplay is interesting, there are some cool synergies between characters, the art style and music are great, the progression between runs seems to strike the right balance of making each progressive run slightly easier without removing the challenge, and the whole package was just really fun to play. I don't know that it'll have a ton of longevity, but it's certainly worth a look if you have PS Plus.