Why is it that we get a new month after every 30* days? That seems an irresponsible management of our limited supply of months. I mean, what
are we gonna do when we run out of Januaries? Plus, it means I have to
keep making these posts, and that's work... horrible, horrible work!
But, I guess that if I must, I must. So let's see what we've all been
playing, videogame-wise, during the month of May.


A Nice, Short List**
------------------------------
- Tomb Raider 11: Rise of the Tomb Raider


Endlessly Going On (and On and On...) About It ---------------------------------------
- Tomb Raider 11: Rise of the Tomb Raider

In the rebooted-reboot series of the Tomb Raider franchise, the second
game - "Rise of the Tomb Raider" - is rarely the one most people point
to as their favorite. That honor usually falls either to the first
("Tomb Raider") for its novelty, or to the third ("Shadow of the Tomb
Raider") for its more polished gameplay. But of course, I just have to
be the contrary one; of the three games, it is the middle one I enjoy
the most.

A large part of this, I think, is due to its setting; I love tramping
through ice-covered northern environments more than I enjoy jungles,
and "Rise" has the former in abundance. "Rise" does ice and snow
really well; not just in the visuals, but also in the gameplay. Snow
can bog you down and ice can be slippery... but its never used so
often as to become annoying; it's just another tool in the toolchest
for the designers. Protagonist Lara Croft's ability to easily shake
off those frequent dips into ice-chilled water does somewhat distract
from any attempt at realism, though...

The game is an uneven mix of linear corridor progression and
open-world meandering. The former bits are - unsurprisingly - heavily
scripted and lack replayability. In fact, you often are blocked from
returning to those sequences after completing them the first time by conveniently placed rockfalls or unscalable walls. Meanwhile the
open-world bits often suffer in pacing due to the aimless exploration.
It doesn't help that the open-world is also cluttered with rather
pointless (but fortunately optional) challenges, such as shooting
randomly placed targets. Both modes are well developed and the game
benefits from the variety, but the balance between the two - and the
often jarring shifts between linear and open-world progression -
result in a game design that seems less polished and more unfocused
than it needed be.

On the other hand, there's a better balance between the exploration
and combat mechanics in "Rise" than there was in its predecessor.
There's less actual fighting in this game, but the fights feel more
intense, with improved variety in enemy types. There's little
interaction between the two modes, though; while you can platform
during the firefights, there's little incentive to do so; the added
verticality is rarely beneficial to Lara, and clambering her up to a
higher position is just an opportunity for the enemy to take potshots
at you. It's better just to run around in circles shooting at the bad
guys, as is typical for the franchise. There's a fairly weak stealth
mechanic as well. It is somewhat useful in taking out the odd
straggler and getting into a good starting position before the gunplay
begins - but, as the enemies never go out of alert once triggered, I
rarely made much use of it. There are a few quicktime events - the
bane of the series - but these are much less common; in fact, except
for a couple annoying sequences at the start of the game and right at
its end, they are barely noticeable.

The story is the usual nonsense the franchise is famous for. Lara's
parental issues - "Mommy died early and Daddy cared more about his
research than me!" - remain a prime focus to her character arc, and
are no more convincing in this iteration than the last ten times it
played out. The new villain - the dreaded Trinity organization - is cartoonishly evil and come so out of left-field as to be more comical
than threatening. Lara herself still tries to straddle the idea of
being a innocent waif unwillingly thrust into events beyond her
control, while at the same time being a tough-as-nails adventurer who
happily mows down hundreds of people in her monomaniacal quest for
treasure. It doesn't work and the protagonist is almost unlikable
because of this schizophrenic depiction.

Still, the storyline of the "Tomb Raider" franchise has never been its
most enticing feature. The platforming, on the other hand, is
satisfyingly solid, if a bit too directed. You're never really left
wondering where to go or how to get there. Nonetheless, there are a
good number of tools available to you to navigate the world, and while
the challenge level isn't too high, the running-n-jumping have an
intensity to them that I found quite enjoyable.

I don't think I can argue that "Rise of the Tomb Raider" is a great
game, and were you to point out its flaws, I don't think I could argue
with you (after all, I pointed out a number of them here myself).
Still, between its pleasing visuals and unoffensive gameplay, "Rise"
found a balance that I found pleasing enough to play to the end.


------------------------------

So, yeah, that's all for me this month. It's not that "Rise" took me
so long to finish - I got about 30 hours out of it - as I just didn't
have the interest in playing more games than that this month. I'm very disappointed with myself.

Hopefully, your playlists will be longer. So let's find out:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?













------------------------------
* or 28/29/31 days, depending on the month
** but is it really a list with only one game?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 9:57:12 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

A Nice, Short List**
------------------------------
- Tomb Raider 11: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Hopefully, your playlists will be longer. So let's find out:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

**** Elden Ring
*** Jedi: Fallen Order
*** Beat Saber

**** Elden Ring is finished. I felt post game completed malaise for about a day.
I still look at Elden Ring's memes and videos, but don't want to go back to it.
I still think DS3 is a better game, which I would go back to, if not for the fact
the PC severs are still down. At least the dev is saying they're working on it now.

I can see trying out the other Fromsoft games like Bloodborne and Sekiro,
too, but there's a few games I want to try first, Guardians of the Galaxy, Cyberpunk 2077 maybe. I've also been having a bit of a Fallout Hankering,
but which one?

*** Jedi: Fallen Order. I had tried to play this before Elden ring, but it was beyond my video card. Since I now have a decent video card I'm playing it.
The first 'tutorial' level is utter garbage, hated it, and almost put it down, but
preserved. It gets better after that, but combat is kind of meh especially coming off of Elden Ring. I initially put my difficulty on Jedi Master (3rd difficulty) as I figured it would feel too easy without doing that, eventually I realized I'm not *that* much of a masochist and put it down to Jedi Knight. (2nd difficulty) which is managable, though I'm stuck somewhere near
the end of the game (I guess) fighting an ex-Jedi. It doesn't seem
like either dodging or parrying work on some of his moves, even when he
doesn't have the red aura that indicates he's charging a non-parryable
move.

The game itself is beautiful, and feels very Star Wars. However it also
feels far more puzzle platformer than anything else which is not my favorite. Actually some of the things Spalls said about Tomb Raider seems to
apply to this game as well.

At a couple points I tried to look up solutions to things, and didn't find any and discovered that there were bugs that were preventing me from
continuing (but also not found anywhere I looked that's what they were.) Fortunately they resolved and I was able to do things after shutting it down and starting it back up. This also happened in combat twice, where I couldn't even pull out my lightsaber. Unfortunately you lose all your progress from
the last 'meditation point' (i.e. bonfire/grace stolen from DS) if you quit out.

I also had a really hard time wanting to go back to places. There was one point I could see I could progress through after I learned a new power,
but for the life of me I could not find a way back there, in fact I fell through
the floor 3 times when I got back on the path I thought went there. I eventually gave up on that and just got on with it.

I really don't like the game trope of having to go back to the same place
over and over after you unlock ways of progressing, and this has a
lot of that. I went to the 2nd world 3 times so far and there's still
stuff I don't have a way to get past at least the game map shows those
in red, so I don't have to beat my head against them.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, it's just got it's flaws and it's really the wrong genre for me.

I also have a feeling I'm going to be done with it soon even though
I only started it last week. A big difference between it and Elden
Ring which I've played a couple months now. Well, at least I got
it for free, so I can't really complain about the short game.

*** Beat Saber - Well I've waned a bit too much on this, I was trying
to get 20-60 minutes a day for exercise, but I'm bored of it now.
I'm probably down to about 2x 20 minutes a week. It's still better
than exercise on a treadmill or something though. I've also
started having trouble with it - or the oculus, not sure. It places
where I'm suppose to be near the left edge of the play area. I
haven't found any fixes for this, and it always does it now.
Rebooted the Oculus, switch types of guardian, move rooms, changed
a bunch of settings, etc. The problem being is I lose visibility/have
the annoying grid come up when I have to lean or step left to break
blocks on that side.

- Justisaur

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.


Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Why is it that we get a new month after every 30* days? That seems an irresponsible management of our limited supply of months. I mean, what
are we gonna do when we run out of Januaries? Plus, it means I have to
keep making these posts, and that's work... horrible, horrible work!
But, I guess that if I must, I must. So let's see what we've all been playing, videogame-wise, during the month of May.

...

So, yeah, that's all for me this month. It's not that "Rise" took me
so long to finish - I got about 30 hours out of it - as I just didn't
have the interest in playing more games than that this month. I'm very disappointed with myself.

Hopefully, your playlists will be longer. So let's find out:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

...
--
It's June & hump day! Dang illnesses like cancers (another 1 bites the dust again), allergies, & COVID-19s! :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 1 Jun 2022 14:05:19 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

*** Jedi: Fallen Order.
The game itself is beautiful, and feels very Star Wars. However it also >feels far more puzzle platformer than anything else which is not my favorite. >Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, it's just got it's flaws and it's >really the wrong genre for me.

Pretty much my opinion of the game. It's a well-polished title that
wonderfully captures the look and feel of the Star Wars universe, but
as a game it only achieves adequacy. It borrows a lot from "Dark
Souls", although its difficulty level has been reduced to make it more palatable to the average Star Wars fan; it's not what I would
necessarily call an easy game, but it's less brutal and with a
smoother difficulty curve. It's also influenced as much - if not more
- from action/adventure/3D-platformers like "Uncharted". What it
doesn't do is bring anything new to the genre; it's gameplay is
completely derivative.

It's a very enjoyable Star Wars experience but at best it can offer a moderately fun game play, and - other than its license - isnt' very
memorable. "Star Wars" fanatics (like myself) will love it, others
will find it passable but not exceptional, and nothing to rush out and
buy.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Just Elden Ring! A sword, board, & magic mostly undirected journey
through a large tolkien-esque world, with lots of random monsters to fight,
and upgrade paths to choose. I finished it some days ago and am still hungover. I've started 13 Sentinels on the console, hopefully that will
wean me off ER.

rms

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

I always thought that Xen in the original "Half Life" got a bad rap.
It was definitely the weakest part of the game, but I really
appreciated what Valve was trying to do: they wanted to shake up the
player's experience. Up to that point, the game had been all about
running and gunning through an Earthlike environment against largely predictable enemies. Xen was meant to feel alien, both in its
appearance and its gameplay; the player was supposed to be
discomfited. It didn't quite work as Valve hoped, but the idea was
great and there were moments of brilliance that still shone through
and - even if it wasn't my favorite part of the game - I still enjoyed
the original Xen's levels.

But I absolutely despised the Black Mesa Xen levels. Oh, they were
absolutely gorgeous and quite often captured that unnerving and
surreal feel that Valve was shooting for back in 1999... but the
gameplay was just more of the same, and the whole Xen section far,
far, FAR overstayed its welcome (Xen was maybe 20% of the original
"Half Life"; it's closer to half of "Black Mesa's" length). I intend
to play "Black Mesa" again some time in the future, but I'm pretty
sure I'll stop after Gordon Freeman jumps into the teleporter...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 01/06/2022 22:49, Ant wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I did get it sometime ago but that was before Xen was complete. I think
it's really good as it keeps the overall feel of HL:1 but streamlines it
down into the type of game you think HL:1 should have been in particular
some of the more annoying parts that tested your level of frustration
have been removed.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Partisans 1941
--------------

I really did try to like this one but but the clunkiness lead to
frustration. It's annoying really as I I do like the game concept but
the implementation just doesn't match it. It has lead me to slightly
update my rules for when I get a new game to play one for ten hours
unless it's just not a good game.

Stillness of The Wind
---------------------

This was a freebie on Amazon and it's a interesting but short (maybe
four hours) game. The basic premise is you play as an old woman living
alone in a farmhouse. The basic day is doing your chores such as milking
the goats, collecting eggs and making cheese. In between that there's
little backstory snippets to read. It's enjoyable in the sense of how it
tries to get that experience of loneliness and the mundane of day-to-day
life but that's it really. I glad I played it but I don't see a lot of replayability in it as there really isn't a different approach you can
take to a replay.

Infra
-----

Bit of a mixed bag this one. The game is part walking sim part puzzle
game. Go to a run down building and work out how to fix things and take pictures of broken items. The problem I'm finding with it that it kinda
feels like what game you get if you take the shooting out of HL:1/2 and
just leave the puzzles and jumping in, oh and the flashlight that hardly
lasts.

The game design also feels like it comes from the same era in that a lot
of the time it's not clear what your actually supposed to be doing to
progress and that I think will be especially true if you've never played HL:1/2. It's not that it does an awful job (many of the clues are notes)
but instead that it doesn't do an overly good job. The other problem I
find is that whereas some of the puzzles feel natural quite a few of
them feel really, really forced. As an example to open one of the doors
you have to line up a number of knobs on a control panel to in a certain pattern. Why would you have a control panel like that?

I have tried to avoid looking at walk-throughs (only once so far) as I
find it easy to slip into the mindset of as soon as you get stuck go
straight to one which kinda defeats the point of playing the game.
Saying all that I'm still enjoying it besides what I see as its flaws.

On the plus side though I did get a Steam trading card which sells for
about 90p. Why that price considering that most of the ones a have don't
even get to double digits, who knows.

Numenera - RPG
--------------

So the campaign continues and we have another player joining us for our
next session. The system is a bit different but overall I like it and
the setting.

What's make it really enjoyable is we're trying to make it more of a
co-op story telling game instead of a work your way through a
pre-defined story arc game. It's an interesting approach if you've got
the right group.

Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy - Book
---------------------------------------

Well I was going to just read the first book but I was enjoying it so
much I read the next two as well and I'm still none the wiser as to
whether I've read any of them before as the first two books are pretty
much the same as the TV series!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

I managed a little Cyberpunk 2077. Finally in the final mission, maybe
half of it still to go.

Damn, it seems I lost most of May to something not gaming. A little
gardening, work, started on a running program.

In computerland, fiddled with my little file server, I actually tried to
add a serial port to it but it turns out this is harder to do than one
would think. PCI express x1 cards in low profile are for sale but
my attempts to buy one are starting to seem a little comical.

First card I ordered, order cancelled. I guess they didn't have stock
after all. Second card (second vendor too), they sent the wrong card, it
has a parallel port. Third card looks OK but kills my ethernet (weird)
and reports no serial ports present, only a parallel port (doubly
weird). Fourth order was cancelled. Apparently my address is bad
now. Sheesh, how hard is it to just say "we don't ship outside whatever countries we do ship in?"

Oh well, maybe fifth time's the charm?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 6:58:26 AM UTC-7, Anssi Saari wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

I managed a little Cyberpunk 2077. Finally in the final mission, maybe
half of it still to go.

Damn, it seems I lost most of May to something not gaming. A little gardening, work, started on a running program.

In computerland, fiddled with my little file server, I actually tried to
add a serial port to it but it turns out this is harder to do than one
would think. PCI express x1 cards in low profile are for sale but
my attempts to buy one are starting to seem a little comical.

First card I ordered, order cancelled. I guess they didn't have stock
after all. Second card (second vendor too), they sent the wrong card, it
has a parallel port. Third card looks OK but kills my ethernet (weird)
and reports no serial ports present, only a parallel port (doubly
weird). Fourth order was cancelled. Apparently my address is bad
now. Sheesh, how hard is it to just say "we don't ship outside whatever countries we do ship in?"

Oh well, maybe fifth time's the charm?

Get/Use a USB serial bus. USB is serial to begin with :) I've read better things about using USB for that, though I haven't done it myself. I
certainly had much better luck with the USB dvd than any internal ones
I've ever had.

- Justisaur

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> writes:

I can see trying out the other Fromsoft games like Bloodborne and Sekiro, too, but there's a few games I want to try first, Guardians of the Galaxy, Cyberpunk 2077 maybe.

I've also been having a bit of a Fallout Hankering, but which one?

Isn't that the question? I've liked all the modern Fallouts a lot,
despite the bugs and stupid design and bad writing. Somehow it manages
to have an appeal. I actually heard a podcast recently where a
countrywomen who actually works for Bethesda was interviewed. Apparently
all she does is item design for the game worlds. Weird job and she
seemed pretty weird in the interview when she talked about liking the
meta-game of making Fallout or Skyrim run with 400+ mods but I guess it
takes all kinds. I never really got into just hanging around or
decorating a home base although both NV and FO4 provide decent
frameworks for that. Interesting since I did (eventually) like collecting
stuff and prepping for big fights in the old GTA games.

But as to playing Fallout again, I don't know. I went through FO4 with a sneaker character and it was fun, especially with a legendary bot
killing plasma gun. So if I could sneak up on a bot I could pretty much
one shot it. But grinding up the levels to get all the skills I wanted
was pretty tedious and mostly the addition of the legendaries seemed
like a waste. Skipping almost all of the base building and the
whole Minuteman thing was a good decision for me. I can't say I'd want
to go back to FO3 and I played NV quite a lot, enough to be sick of it.

*** Jedi: Fallen Order.
The game itself is beautiful, and feels very Star Wars. However it also feels far more puzzle platformer than anything else which is not my favorite. Actually some of the things Spalls said about Tomb Raider seems to
apply to this game as well.

I tried to play this but got stuck in a cave, second planet. I tried for
some time to figure out (and look up) how to get the eff out of there
but lost interest. I kinda like the approach to loot in that you don't
have to bother, all loot is cosmetic and there's no upgrading the light
saber for damage or anything. OTOH, having to slice and dice almost
everyone got a little tedious already. Likewise the jumping and the
puzzles. Oh and the skill bush. I'd like some cool and common Jedi
powers of push and pull, not the acrobatics. Too bad it's usually the
dark side that gets all the good roasting and choking powers.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Infra

I was intrigued by this game, and by some enthusiastic fans on discord, enough to buy it some time ago. Still haven't fired it up!

rms

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 6:58:36 AM UTC-7, Anssi Saari wrote:

Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> writes:

I can see trying out the other Fromsoft games like Bloodborne and Sekiro, too, but there's a few games I want to try first, Guardians of the Galaxy, Cyberpunk 2077 maybe.

I've also been having a bit of a Fallout Hankering, but which one?

Isn't that the question? I've liked all the modern Fallouts a lot,
despite the bugs and stupid design and bad writing. Somehow it manages
to have an appeal. I actually heard a podcast recently where a
countrywomen who actually works for Bethesda was interviewed. Apparently
all she does is item design for the game worlds. Weird job and she
seemed pretty weird in the interview when she talked about liking the meta-game of making Fallout or Skyrim run with 400+ mods but I guess it
takes all kinds. I never really got into just hanging around or
decorating a home base although both NV and FO4 provide decent
frameworks for that. Interesting since I did (eventually) like collecting stuff and prepping for big fights in the old GTA games.

I'm thinking maybe NV as it left a bad taste and everyone seems to love it. Maybe with the right mods. I did finish it but tried to play a second character on the hardest as a demolition expert and it was not in the
least bit viable at that difficulty. Took too much damage from explosives
to kill things and left me without anything I could use to kill things.

*** Jedi: Fallen Order.
The game itself is beautiful, and feels very Star Wars. However it also feels far more puzzle platformer than anything else which is not my favorite.
Actually some of the things Spalls said about Tomb Raider seems to
apply to this game as well.

I tried to play this but got stuck in a cave, second planet. I tried for
some time to figure out (and look up) how to get the eff out of there
but lost interest. I kinda like the approach to loot in that you don't
have to bother, all loot is cosmetic and there's no upgrading the light
saber for damage or anything. OTOH, having to slice and dice almost
everyone got a little tedious already. Likewise the jumping and the
puzzles. Oh and the skill bush. I'd like some cool and common Jedi
powers of push and pull, not the acrobatics. Too bad it's usually the
dark side that gets all the good roasting and choking powers.

There are one or two lightsaber upgrades that don't come from the
'bush'. They aren't actually upgrades, but more side grades though.

I actually did quit for about half a day from being frustrated with the convoluted levels. I almost quit during the tutorial level too.

I did finish it yesterday, very short. I'd also downgrade it to 2 stars
due to the ending.

**** SPOILER ****
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The ending just throws away everything you did the whole
game. I felt like the character would've been better off if they
never even started the journey. They hint at reasons near the end,
and yeah it makes sense. But it feels like the trite "The journey is
about the friends you make along the way." Only all the friends
seem barely if at all friends, and more like a totally dysfunctional
family that barely keep off each other throats, none of them
are likable, and the main character feels very punchable to me too.

I definitely can't recommend it at this point.

- Justisaur

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 2 Jun 2022 10:29:38 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

Infra
-----
Bit of a mixed bag this one. The game is part walking sim part puzzle
game. Go to a run down building and work out how to fix things and take >pictures of broken items. The problem I'm finding with it that it kinda
feels like what game you get if you take the shooting out of HL:1/2 and
just leave the puzzles and jumping in, oh and the flashlight that hardly >lasts.

The game design also feels like it comes from the same era in that a lot
of the time it's not clear what your actually supposed to be doing to >progress and that I think will be especially true if you've never played >HL:1/2. It's not that it does an awful job (many of the clues are notes)
but instead that it doesn't do an overly good job. The other problem I
find is that whereas some of the puzzles feel natural quite a few of
them feel really, really forced. As an example to open one of the doors
you have to line up a number of knobs on a control panel to in a certain >pattern. Why would you have a control panel like that?

Infra starts strongly but became less interesting as it progresses. I
liked the idea of a game where the goal wasn't to shoot people but to
spot the failing infrastructrure. It fell into that nice spot between
a traditional FPS and the (too-often) pointless wandering of walking
sims.

But - as you pointed out - the game was lousy in providing pointers as
to where to go next, resulting in a lot of unnecessary wandering. And
I hate first-person platforming, especially if it also involves a lot
of box-stacking, both of which started to become much more common as
the game progressed.

Worst of all, the story shifted from a simple "find the rebar" to some
weird plot about mushrooms and homeless people and underground lairs.
The narrative wandered even worse than the level design; it didn't
feel cohesive, as if the developer was making it up as he went.

Not a game I'd recommend.

Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy - Book >---------------------------------------

Well I was going to just read the first book but I was enjoying it so
much I read the next two as well and I'm still none the wiser as to
whether I've read any of them before as the first two books are pretty
much the same as the TV series!

The Hitchhiker's Guide is why I never leave home without a towel.
'Cause you never know...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 2:29:43 AM UTC-7, JAB wrote:

Numenera - RPG
--------------

So the campaign continues and we have another player joining us for our
next session. The system is a bit different but overall I like it and
the setting.

What's make it really enjoyable is we're trying to make it more of a
co-op story telling game instead of a work your way through a
pre-defined story arc game. It's an interesting approach if you've got
the right group.

I like the co-op idea. There's a bit of that in some other long lived
obscure systems like Fate/Fudge (never played but read both a
few times.) The force system in the newer Star Wars system is also
similar in a way though it uses dice to influence that. That system I found otherwise far too overburdened with rules and character building for
a tabletop, would be fine for a CRPG, but the force influence co-op world building obviously wouldn't work there.

I'm trying to make characters for 2e AD&D and see if I can do some solo
but 2e just has too many options for my taste as a player. I loved to
DM it in the 90's though, my favorite campaigns were in it, with the exception of the last 3.0e campaign I ran, which was heavily house ruled and only
had 3 of my favorite players and no one else. (Other campaigns I ran in 3.0e didn't work out very well, and none of mine in 3.5e, or 4e.) I actually did have a couple online 5e campaigns I enjoyed, but they didn't last long
only around 5th level.

Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy - Book ---------------------------------------

Well I was going to just read the first book but I was enjoying it so
much I read the next two as well and I'm still none the wiser as to
whether I've read any of them before as the first two books are pretty
much the same as the TV series!

I love the BBC series. The newer movie is just o.k. I never could
get through the first book. I think the BBC series just does so good
a job that it felt inferior.

- Justisaur

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On Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 7:44:32 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 2 Jun 2022 07:09:35 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<just...@gmail.com> wrote:

Get/Use a USB serial bus. USB is serial to begin with :) I've read better >things about using USB for that, though I haven't done it myself. I >certainly had much better luck with the USB dvd than any internal ones
I've ever had.

You can order a USB serial bus if you get some money from the ATM
machine by punching in your personal PIN identification number ;-)

I'm talking about a Universal Serial Bus to (Non-Universal) Serial
Bus, which isn't called Non-Universal Serial Bus because it predated
Universal.

Also sorry, I think it's funny to be the straight man.

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On Thu, 2 Jun 2022 07:09:35 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

Get/Use a USB serial bus. USB is serial to begin with :) I've read better >things about using USB for that, though I haven't done it myself. I >certainly had much better luck with the USB dvd than any internal ones
I've ever had.

You can order a USB serial bus if you get some money from the ATM
machine by punching in your personal PIN identification number ;-)




(sorry ;-)

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Anssi Saari wrote:

In computerland, fiddled with my little file server, I actually tried to
add a serial port to it but it turns out this is harder to do than one
would think. PCI express x1 cards in low profile are for sale but
my attempts to buy one are starting to seem a little comical.

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

Get/Use a USB serial bus. USB is serial to begin with :)

This may be the best solution, but PCI Express is also a serial bus and physically behaves slightly more like RS232 than USB.

Another long shot option is to check to see if the server's motherboard
happens have a serial (COM) header, as some still do.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

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JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 01/06/2022 22:49, Ant wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I did get it sometime ago but that was before Xen was complete. I think
it's really good as it keeps the overall feel of HL:1 but streamlines it
down into the type of game you think HL:1 should have been in particular
some of the more annoying parts that tested your level of frustration
have been removed.

There are still annoying parts like jump puzzle with the conveyors.
Also, some of human enemies are still hard like in HL1 even on easy.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I am!
--
Slammy Thursday and Friday? GSW must sweep Boston Celtics! Dang illnesses like cancers (another 1 bites da dust again yesterday like on May Day -- a pattern now?), allergies, & COVID19s! :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

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JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 01/06/2022 22:49, Ant wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I did get it sometime ago but that was before Xen was complete. I think
it's really good as it keeps the overall feel of HL:1 but streamlines it
down into the type of game you think HL:1 should have been in particular
some of the more annoying parts that tested your level of frustration
have been removed.

I didn't bother to play until it was done and stable. I still ran into
weird minor issues in it. Ha.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I am so far, but can't play for a while due to busy life. :(
--
Slammy Thursday and Friday? GSW must sweep Boston Celtics! Dang illnesses like cancers (another 1 bites da dust again yesterday like on May Day -- a pattern now?), allergies, & COVID19s! :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

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Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

I always thought that Xen in the original "Half Life" got a bad rap.
It was definitely the weakest part of the game, but I really
appreciated what Valve was trying to do: they wanted to shake up the
player's experience. Up to that point, the game had been all about
running and gunning through an Earthlike environment against largely predictable enemies. Xen was meant to feel alien, both in its
appearance and its gameplay; the player was supposed to be
discomfited. It didn't quite work as Valve hoped, but the idea was
great and there were moments of brilliance that still shone through
and - even if it wasn't my favorite part of the game - I still enjoyed
the original Xen's levels.

But I absolutely despised the Black Mesa Xen levels. Oh, they were
absolutely gorgeous and quite often captured that unnerving and
surreal feel that Valve was shooting for back in 1999... but the
gameplay was just more of the same, and the whole Xen section far,
far, FAR overstayed its welcome (Xen was maybe 20% of the original
"Half Life"; it's closer to half of "Black Mesa's" length). I intend
to play "Black Mesa" again some time in the future, but I'm pretty
sure I'll stop after Gordon Freeman jumps into the teleporter...

So, BM's Xen levels were worse in terms of gameplays? :( I hope its
jumping puzzles are better at least. That bugged me in the original.
--
Slammy Thursday and Friday? GSW must sweep Boston Celtics! Dang illnesses like cancers (another 1 bites da dust again yesterday like on May Day -- a pattern now?), allergies, & COVID19s! :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

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On Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:58:38 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

I always thought that Xen in the original "Half Life" got a bad rap.
It was definitely the weakest part of the game, but I really
appreciated what Valve was trying to do: they wanted to shake up the
player's experience. Up to that point, the game had been all about
running and gunning through an Earthlike environment against largely
predictable enemies. Xen was meant to feel alien, both in its
appearance and its gameplay; the player was supposed to be
discomfited. It didn't quite work as Valve hoped, but the idea was
great and there were moments of brilliance that still shone through
and - even if it wasn't my favorite part of the game - I still enjoyed
the original Xen's levels.

But I absolutely despised the Black Mesa Xen levels. Oh, they were
absolutely gorgeous and quite often captured that unnerving and
surreal feel that Valve was shooting for back in 1999... but the
gameplay was just more of the same, and the whole Xen section far,
far, FAR overstayed its welcome (Xen was maybe 20% of the original
"Half Life"; it's closer to half of "Black Mesa's" length). I intend
to play "Black Mesa" again some time in the future, but I'm pretty
sure I'll stop after Gordon Freeman jumps into the teleporter...

So, BM's Xen levels were worse in terms of gameplays? :( I hope its
jumping puzzles are better at least. That bugged me in the original.

It's really more that they overstayed their welcome. I had particular
dislike for the Gonarch levels, which streteched - I think - five or
six levels to the original's 3 - and the final boss (Nihilanth?),
which was just so over-the-top in its attacks that it was almost
comical and immersion-breaking.

In truth, the actual gameplay itself was fine, except that it didn't
feel fresh compared to everything we'd already seen. I don't really
recall too much of a problem - or even emphasis - on platforming. It
was everything else that bothered me. The gunplay wasn't exciting, and
there was a lot more reliance on puzzle-solving (of the 'push the plug
into the socket' variety and other simple tasks) than in the original.
The whole experience felt stretched out and it broke the pacing. The
level design also lacked a lot of the clear sign-posting that ensured
the player always knew where to go. It all just seemed to lack the
polish of the earlier Black Mesa levels.

I should note that I played Xen shortly after its intial release; its
possible that in the intervening years the developers may have tweaked
the gameplay and tightned the pacing. It is quite possible your
experience was not the same as mine (but then again, maybe it was and
you'll have a different opinion regardless). I just felt that -
despite how much work had evidently been put into the revamped Xen
levels - the last bit of the game was by far the worst part of the
game, and much less sastisfying even than Valve's attempt to bring the Borderworlds to life.

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On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

"No Mr. Ant, I expect you to die!"


--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

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Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

"No Mr. Ant, I expect you to die!"

Too bad. I escaped! ;)
--
Slammy Thursday and Friday? GSW must sweep Boston Celtics! Dang illnesses like cancers (another 1 bites da dust again yesterday like on May Day -- a pattern now?), allergies, & COVID19s! :(
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
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On 6/2/2022 8:34 PM, Ant wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >>>>> Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

"No Mr. Ant, I expect you to die!"

Too bad. I escaped! ;)

Or were replaced by one of the couple thousand exact duplicates you keep around. :P

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

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On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I just looked at my Steam library. The last time I played it was July
18th. Almost a year ago! And just 43 minutes!

I think I need to get back to it!!

-pw

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On 02/06/2022 14:29, rms wrote:

Infra

  I was intrigued by this game, and by some enthusiastic fans on
discord, enough to buy it some time ago.  Still haven't fired it up!

Honestly I don't think you're missing much because of the problems that
myself and Spalls have highlighted. It's frustrating really as I think
the core concept is good but the end product just isn't.

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On 02/06/2022 15:43, Justisaur wrote:

On Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 2:29:43 AM UTC-7, JAB wrote:

Numenera - RPG
--------------

So the campaign continues and we have another player joining us for our
next session. The system is a bit different but overall I like it and
the setting.

What's make it really enjoyable is we're trying to make it more of a
co-op story telling game instead of a work your way through a
pre-defined story arc game. It's an interesting approach if you've got
the right group.

I like the co-op idea. There's a bit of that in some other long lived obscure systems like Fate/Fudge (never played but read both a
few times.) The force system in the newer Star Wars system is also
similar in a way though it uses dice to influence that. That system I found otherwise far too overburdened with rules and character building for
a tabletop, would be fine for a CRPG, but the force influence co-op world building obviously wouldn't work there.

Numenera does support co-op through its mechanics using something called
an intrusion. So that can be the GM giving a player exp. but accepting something bad or a player spending it and getting something good of
their choosing with the GM's agreement.

We also trying and have a wrap-up after each session to talk about what
we're intending to do next and ideas for plot hooks which means that
players are more in charge of the overall story than normally.

I've even gone to the effort of adding some sections to my character
sheet to record my characters current thoughts and also possible
directions I may take the character which the GM can use as they wish.

I don't think it's a playstyle that fits all systems though so for
example Call of Cthulhu. That's just based too much around investigation
I think to make it workable in general. You probably could do it with
the right GM but I feel that puts a tremendous load on them to be able
to make-up coherent interlocking scenes on the fly and keep a track on
what's happened.

I'm trying to make characters for 2e AD&D and see if I can do some solo
but 2e just has too many options for my taste as a player. I loved to
DM it in the 90's though, my favorite campaigns were in it, with the exception
of the last 3.0e campaign I ran, which was heavily house ruled and only
had 3 of my favorite players and no one else. (Other campaigns I ran in 3.0e didn't work out very well, and none of mine in 3.5e, or 4e.) I actually did have a couple online 5e campaigns I enjoyed, but they didn't last long
only around 5th level.

I've not played since AD&D but my understanding is that level
advancement is much more rapid than before. I'm not sure that's
something I like as I always thought there was the achievement of when
you finally got to the next level. Admittedly you could just do what one
of my players did and add another level yourself. It took me I think
about an hour before I realised what they'd done. That was an
interesting conversation to have.

Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy - Book
---------------------------------------

Well I was going to just read the first book but I was enjoying it so
much I read the next two as well and I'm still none the wiser as to
whether I've read any of them before as the first two books are pretty
much the same as the TV series!

I love the BBC series. The newer movie is just o.k. I never could
get through the first book. I think the BBC series just does so good
a job that it felt inferior.

The TV series is really good but I agree the film is just ok. Then again
I didn't have high expectations for it but it was better than the Dirk
Gentley TV series. If you haven't watched that I wouldn't bother.

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On 02/06/2022 23:03, Ant wrote:

JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 01/06/2022 22:49, Ant wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I did get it sometime ago but that was before Xen was complete. I think
it's really good as it keeps the overall feel of HL:1 but streamlines it
down into the type of game you think HL:1 should have been in particular
some of the more annoying parts that tested your level of frustration
have been removed.

There are still annoying parts like jump puzzle with the conveyors.
Also, some of human enemies are still hard like in HL1 even on easy.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I am!

The HL series are some of the few games I've actually replayed and even
now I do occasionally set aside a week a week to play HL:2 + the
episodes. Part of the thing I've always liked about them is how they
change up the levels so you don't get that feeling of you're just doing
the same thing over and over again. We Don't Go to Ravenholm still has
the ability to feel me with dread when I hear the sound of something
climbing up a drain pipe.

Part of me would love to see a HL:3 but really I think it was good that
they left the series on a high.

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On Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:34:14 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

Just as an aside: I really did quite enjoy the Black Mesa levels. Its
just the Xen levels that disappointed me. But up to that
extra-dimensional jump, I thought it was an excellent game.

I'm not sure it's how I would recommend first-time players to
experience Half-Life... but then again, I'm equally unsure if the
original is the better experience. Personally, I think there's
something to be said for the old-school purity and originality of the
1998 game, but because of its age, the roughness of its visuals and
some aspects of its gameplay may put off modern gamers. Ultimately, I
think 'true' gamers should play both versions at least once, but I'm
rather ambivalent about the order ;-)

You know, now that I think of it... if you jumped right to Half-Life's
infamous tram-sequence end-game after jumping into the dimensional
portal, it really wouldn't change the franchise's overall story arc,
and probably make for a better experience overall, regardless of the
version. Whether playing 1998 "Half Life" or 2020's "Black Mesa", the
Xen sequence was overall an inconsequential aside given the direction
the series went with "Half Life 2" and "Alyx". Given its issues,
ignoring the Xen levels entirely is probably the best choice ;-)

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Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 8:34 PM, Ant wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >>>>> Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

"No Mr. Ant, I expect you to die!"

Too bad. I escaped! ;)

Or were replaced by one of the couple thousand exact duplicates you keep around. :P

Clone army. ;)
--
Slammy Thurs. GSW failed to beat Boston Celtics in game #1! Will da 1st PCR test result B negative like da home test results?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

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PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I just looked at my Steam library. The last time I played it was July
18th. Almost a year ago! And just 43 minutes!

I think I need to get back to it!!

Why did you stop and where in the game did you leave off? :P
--
Slammy Thurs. GSW failed to beat Boston Celtics in game #1! Will da 1st PCR test result B negative like da home test results?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

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On Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:58:24 +0300, Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

I managed a little Cyberpunk 2077. Finally in the final mission, maybe
half of it still to go.

Cyberpunk is back to full original price $60 at Steam!

Heck, Rage 2 is $35!!

I am still going to hold off on Cyberpunk until it is $20 or so.

-pw

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On Fri, 03 Jun 2022 17:53:43 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from
Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I just looked at my Steam library. The last time I played it was July
18th. Almost a year ago! And just 43 minutes!

I think I need to get back to it!!

Why did you stop and where in the game did you leave off? :P

*-

Hi Ant,

In my Steam Library yesterday, the game said something like syncronization/connection problem.

Now I just started it and there isn't a continue option and am
starting from the beginning.

So, I have no idea where I was. Same computer. But I am starting all
over now.

So I have no idea where I was and why I am starting all over!

-pw

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On 03/06/2022 20:28, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:34:14 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 6/2/2022 2:58 PM, Ant wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:49:50 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

Yep, time flies. Finally downloaded Black Mesa to get flashbacks from >>>>>> Half-Life 1. I'm half-way done. It's pretty.

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to the revamped Xen levels?

That's like 3/4th in IIRC. Yeah, not there. I revisited the labs with
those lasers, cutters, etc. :)

Just as an aside: I really did quite enjoy the Black Mesa levels. Its
just the Xen levels that disappointed me. But up to that
extra-dimensional jump, I thought it was an excellent game.

I've only played partway through Xen in the original and although I can appreciate what they were doing (creating an other worldly environment)
I just didn't felt it worked very well in the actual gameplay
department. It's the reason I've never finished HL:1 and even though
I've replayed it a few times over the years I always 'finish' the game
when I get to Xen.

If I was being cynical it feels like the release of the game was more
important than adding the polish that had been applied to other levels.

I'm not sure it's how I would recommend first-time players to
experience Half-Life... but then again, I'm equally unsure if the
original is the better experience. Personally, I think there's
something to be said for the old-school purity and originality of the
1998 game, but because of its age, the roughness of its visuals and
some aspects of its gameplay may put off modern gamers. Ultimately, I
think 'true' gamers should play both versions at least once, but I'm
rather ambivalent about the order ;-)

As you say, I think it depends on what you want to play it for. If you
want to get the full on original atmosphere or instead a more modern
twist on it.

You know, now that I think of it... if you jumped right to Half-Life's infamous tram-sequence end-game after jumping into the dimensional
portal, it really wouldn't change the franchise's overall story arc,
and probably make for a better experience overall, regardless of the
version. Whether playing 1998 "Half Life" or 2020's "Black Mesa", the
Xen sequence was overall an inconsequential aside given the direction
the series went with "Half Life 2" and "Alyx". Given its issues,
ignoring the Xen levels entirely is probably the best choice ;-)

Very much agree, HL:2 I thought had a really good ending. G-man appears
makes his speech, giving an end to the story, and then fade to black.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> writes:

Get/Use a USB serial bus. USB is serial to begin with :) I've read better things about using USB for that, though I haven't done it myself.

Well, I actually need a serial port in the server computer that software
there (meaning Grub bootloader and Linux tty driver) can talk to and
then I need to connect that serial port to another computer with a
display and keyboard. It can be USB, but USB is host to device and my
computers have zero USB device ports.

As I understand it, the common USB-to-serial converters could work if I
use two. Then I could connect their serial connectors together and their
USB connectors to different PCs. Messier than I like though, that's why
I thought a PCIe card would be simpler. And it could be, if I could buy
a working one.

Anyways, before trying to order more cards I want to check out some
things with the card I have, like what PCI ID it actually reports. The
card's based on a Chinese WCH-382 chip but the chip supports different
configs, like 2xserial + 1 parallel, just 2xserial or just 1xparallel
and reports a different ID for each configuration. If it's misconfigured
I might be able to fix it.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> wrote:

As I understand it, the common USB-to-serial converters could work if I
use two. Then I could connect their serial connectors together and their
USB connectors to different PCs. Messier than I like though, that's why
I thought a PCIe card would be simpler. And it could be, if I could buy
a working one.

You don't have to use two. If the other computer that you want to connect
your server to via an RS232 serial connection already has an RS232 serial
port you'd only need to use one. Connect the USB serial adapter to the
server, connect a 9-pin female to 9-pin female null modem (crossover)
RS232 serial cable to the USB adapter and your other PC's serial port.

The null modem part is important with whatever you end up using, as
a straight through cable meant for connecting a PC to a modem won't work.
You need a crossover cable for connecting two PCs together.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 9:57:12 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

A Nice, Short List**
------------------------------
- Tomb Raider 11: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Hopefully, your playlists will be longer. So let's find out:

What Have You Been Playing... IN MAY 2022?

I got this cool new Half-Life mod that's called Field Intensity... you should check it out if you like throwbacks.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hey Spalls!

Aren't you a big fan of The Stanley Parable or was it someone else
here?

Have you tried the remake that just came out "The Stanley Parable:
Ultra Deluxe?

I haven't spent much time with the original but the review of it in
this month's PC Gamesr (88) looks tempting.

-pw

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:46:19 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

Hey Spalls!

Aren't you a big fan of The Stanley Parable or was it someone else
here?

Have you tried the remake that just came out "The Stanley Parable:
Ultra Deluxe?

To answer your questions in order, yes and no.
To answer your questions out of order, no and yes.
To answer your questions nonsensically: blue and wibble.
And finally, to answer your questions in my usually overly-long
format...

I quite enjoyed "Parable"; it's one of the games I hold up as an
example of a walking-sim 'done right'. I quite enjoyed its dry,
offbeat (and, dare I say, British?) humor and how it played around
with the players expectations. It used some clever programming tricks
to pull it all off too, and had a lot of cunningly hidden secrets and
easter eggs.

That said, I still haven't played the deluxe version.

In part, this is because a part of me balks at the idea of having to
buy the game a second time, especially since they aren't even offering
a discount to people who bought the original. But its also because the
game isn't so good when it comes to replayability (especially if
you've seen all the endings in the original); when your game is all
about the unexpected, repetition is its worse enemy. I've tried
replaying the game, and it wasn't anywhere near as fresh and fun the
second (or third) time. While the deluxe version may add some new
voice lines and a few new endings, at its core the game is still 90%
the same as what I already played... and I'm not sure my fourth
attempt would fare any better than attempts two or three.

And given the aforementioned lack of a discount, that just doesn't
seem a wise use of my money, to buy a game I know ahead of time will
be more disappointing than entertaining.

Maybe in a few years, as age steals away more of my memories, the
Deluxe version will seem more appealing (presumably by then it will
have dropped in price too)... but for now, I'll give it a pass.

Unless... you know... there's a discount? 'Cause I'm a big fan of
discounts. No? Oh well, I'll check again next year.

I haven't spent much time with the original but the review of it in
this month's PC Gamesr (88) looks tempting.

If you've never played the original, and you like dry humor, I'd
heartily recommend the game, in any of its versions (but why not go
for the Deluxe since its the newest?). If you're not sure if the humor
is for you, try the demo first
(https://archive.org/details/StanleyDemo); its a unique set of levels
and 'puzzles' that give you an idea what the game is like, without
actually giving you any of the game.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 06/06/2022 23:56, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:46:19 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

Hey Spalls!

Aren't you a big fan of The Stanley Parable or was it someone else
here?

Have you tried the remake that just came out "The Stanley Parable:
Ultra Deluxe?

To answer your questions in order, yes and no.
To answer your questions out of order, no and yes.
To answer your questions nonsensically: blue and wibble.
And finally, to answer your questions in my usually overly-long
format...

I quite enjoyed "Parable"; it's one of the games I hold up as an
example of a walking-sim 'done right'. I quite enjoyed its dry,
offbeat (and, dare I say, British?) humor and how it played around
with the players expectations. It used some clever programming tricks
to pull it all off too, and had a lot of cunningly hidden secrets and
easter eggs.

That said, I still haven't played the deluxe version.

In part, this is because a part of me balks at the idea of having to
buy the game a second time, especially since they aren't even offering
a discount to people who bought the original. But its also because the
game isn't so good when it comes to replayability (especially if
you've seen all the endings in the original); when your game is all
about the unexpected, repetition is its worse enemy. I've tried
replaying the game, and it wasn't anywhere near as fresh and fun the
second (or third) time. While the deluxe version may add some new
voice lines and a few new endings, at its core the game is still 90%
the same as what I already played... and I'm not sure my fourth
attempt would fare any better than attempts two or three.

And given the aforementioned lack of a discount, that just doesn't
seem a wise use of my money, to buy a game I know ahead of time will
be more disappointing than entertaining.

Maybe in a few years, as age steals away more of my memories, the
Deluxe version will seem more appealing (presumably by then it will
have dropped in price too)... but for now, I'll give it a pass.

Unless... you know... there's a discount? 'Cause I'm a big fan of
discounts. No? Oh well, I'll check again next year.

I haven't spent much time with the original but the review of it in
this month's PC Gamesr (88) looks tempting.

If you've never played the original, and you like dry humor, I'd
heartily recommend the game, in any of its versions (but why not go
for the Deluxe since its the newest?). If you're not sure if the humor
is for you, try the demo first
(https://archive.org/details/StanleyDemo); its a unique set of levels
and 'puzzles' that give you an idea what the game is like, without
actually giving you any of the game.

I have played it and I thought it was ok but not deserving of the
reviews it got. I did see the new version and my first reaction was
you're asking £20 for what is effectively a DLC. That seems a bit cheeky
to me.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 06 Jun 2022 18:56:21 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:46:19 -0600, PW
<iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> wrote:

Hey Spalls!

Aren't you a big fan of The Stanley Parable or was it someone else
here?

Have you tried the remake that just came out "The Stanley Parable:
Ultra Deluxe?

To answer your questions in order, yes and no.
To answer your questions out of order, no and yes.
To answer your questions nonsensically: blue and wibble.
And finally, to answer your questions in my usually overly-long
format...

I quite enjoyed "Parable"; it's one of the games I hold up as an
example of a walking-sim 'done right'. I quite enjoyed its dry,
offbeat (and, dare I say, British?) humor and how it played around
with the players expectations. It used some clever programming tricks
to pull it all off too, and had a lot of cunningly hidden secrets and
easter eggs.

That said, I still haven't played the deluxe version.

In part, this is because a part of me balks at the idea of having to
buy the game a second time, especially since they aren't even offering
a discount to people who bought the original. But its also because the
game isn't so good when it comes to replayability (especially if
you've seen all the endings in the original); when your game is all
about the unexpected, repetition is its worse enemy. I've tried
replaying the game, and it wasn't anywhere near as fresh and fun the
second (or third) time. While the deluxe version may add some new
voice lines and a few new endings, at its core the game is still 90%
the same as what I already played... and I'm not sure my fourth
attempt would fare any better than attempts two or three.

And given the aforementioned lack of a discount, that just doesn't
seem a wise use of my money, to buy a game I know ahead of time will
be more disappointing than entertaining.

Maybe in a few years, as age steals away more of my memories, the
Deluxe version will seem more appealing (presumably by then it will
have dropped in price too)... but for now, I'll give it a pass.

Unless... you know... there's a discount? 'Cause I'm a big fan of
discounts. No? Oh well, I'll check again next year.

I haven't spent much time with the original but the review of it in
this month's PC Gamesr (88) looks tempting.

If you've never played the original, and you like dry humor, I'd
heartily recommend the game, in any of its versions (but why not go
for the Deluxe since its the newest?). If you're not sure if the humor
is for you, try the demo first
(https://archive.org/details/StanleyDemo); its a unique set of levels
and 'puzzles' that give you an idea what the game is like, without
actually giving you any of the game.

*--

Thanks Spalls. I have the original but only played it for a little
while. I think I liked it.

I put the new one on my wishlist.

-pw

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca (Ross Ridge) writes:

You don't have to use two. If the other computer that you want to connect your server to via an RS232 serial connection already has an RS232 serial port you'd only need to use one.

You're right of course, it's just that RS232 ports are rather scarce
these days. I have all of one in my computers, in my router. It's kinda
in use but I tried it and it worked. Come to think of it, I could setup
a Raspberry Pi to serve as a serial port box since I have a couple that
aren't doing anything.

Anyways, I'd really prefer an internal solution so RS232 card #5 is on
the way :)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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