Ah, October. The Spooky Month. The Candy Month. The month when the
skies grow darker and the houses grow strange skeleton- and
witch-shaped protuberances. I like October. Maybe that's why I played
so many games this month...


What I Played
---------------------------------------
* TRYP FPV
* King's Quest (2015)
* Eurotruck Simulator 2: Western Baltics
* Battletech (replay)
* Star Wars Squadrons
* Left 4 Dead 2 (replay)
* State of Decay 2


What I Thought
---------------------------------------

* TRYP FPV
I almost never return/refund a game. Unless there is something
seriously wrong with it (like it literally refusing to run), I usually
swallow the cost of the game, even if I greatly dislike it. After all,
it's my fault for not doing better research before buying, right? But
"TRYP FPV" really made me question that philosophy.

This oddly named game is a quad-copter drone simulator, one that
nominally allows you to soar through expansive, beautiful terrain,
performing daring acrobatics and cinematic flights. Visually, the game
is quite impressive; it's nowhere near the best looking game that I
have seen, but - with all the flair enabled - it looks quite good. I
can easily imagine whipping down slopes, slaloming between trees and
through narrow ravines.

Unfortunately, imagination is all I am going to get, because I found
the game all but uncontrollable. The controls lack all subtlety, and
the slightest twitch on the joystick ramps up the throttle from 0 to
100%, or spins me around at thousands of degrees per second. Despite
nearly an hour of fiddling with deadzones, control ramps, and other
minutiae, I never found a control scheme that let me comfortably fly. Eventually, I just gave up and uninstalled, even the initial tutorial unfinished.

In the game's defense, it is in extremely early access. Too, it is
also designed to be used with a real quad-copters control-pad, which
may offer more lenient control than my aging XBox gamepad.
Furthermore, the game itself warns that proper control requires very
small movements of the joystick. Possibly had I stuck with the game
longer, I would have found a... well, not a happy medium (I don't
think, in its current state, the game has any such) but a working one.

But honestly, I wasn't feeling any urge to invest that much time
working out the game's kinks. Sure, it would have been nice to explore
the maps in a way similar to how the game's impressive trailer videos
showed, but I am not sure the reward would have matched the necessary
effort. Maybe one day I'll give the game another shot; maybe after the developers whip up an 'casual mode' for first-time fliers. The fault
may be mine for expecting too much from this game too early, so I
won't demand a refund... but neither will I play it either.


* King's Quest (2015) (new)
Like many here, I have fond memories of the classic "King's Quest"
adventure games released by Sierra in the '80s and '90s. I still
consider "King's Quest 6" one of the best examples of the genre,
epitomizing everything that made those games great (and terrible).
Still, the idea that a sequel would be produced under the auspices of
an entirely new studio filled me more with concern than hope. Could
the magic of the originals be recreated?

Sadly, at least as far as I am concerned, it could not. I tried with
this game; I really tried to enjoy it. It is not, in the end, a bad
game... but it doesn't feel like "King's Quest" and many of the
choices made with this games development irk me more than they bring
me joy. Whether it was the overall story-line, the voice-acting, the
controls, the puzzles, or the art-style, I just didn't enjoy this
game. Not because any of them were poorly done; my dislike was more a
matter of the game not suiting my taste nor expectations.

The biggest change was a shift from a traditional third-person
point-n-click to a more modern style that gives you more control over
your character. The problem with this is that a huge part of the fun
of the classic games was examining all the background art and reading
(or listening, in later games) to the narrator describe each item.
This added a lot of background and atmosphere to the setting, and the
modern game, lacking this, feels empty and barren in comparison. The
puzzles are a lot less involved too, being extremely simplistic action sequences or basic interactions with the few environmental you can
actually manipulate.

"King's Quest" describes itself as "whimsical", and that's another
issue I have with it. The series has /always/ had a bit of whimsy too
it, but this 2015 iteration doubles down on its cutesy, child-friendly gameplay. Its characters are bland and one-dimensional; the setting
and plot likewise. There is no depth to this game.

And that's the biggest problem I have with the game; in almost every
regard it is an extremely shallow adventure, lacking any real meat.
Its gameplay lacks challenge, and its setting and writing is extremely childlike. The "King's Quest" franchise had traditionally straddled
the line where both young and old could enjoy the game. This modern
take on the series is geared to appeal only to the youngest (and those
so drowning in nostalgia wishing to revisit their youth). Were it
lacking the "King's Quest" license, this would be an extremely
forgettable adventure game. Even with that license, it's barely worth
playing.


* Eurotruck Simulator 2: Western Balkans
ETS2 is a game I play so frequently, I rarely mention it in these
monthly round-ups. But given that a new DLC package - the Western
Balkans map - was just released for the game, I probably should share
my thoughts on it.

And I would... except I really can't. It's not that I don't own the
DLC - as with all ETS2 map expansions, I bought it on release - but I
can't play it. Or I have already played it. Or I am playing it. It's complicated.

See, I never play ETS2 without the free, fan-produced "ProMods" map
package, which greatly expands the base game's map. ProMods has
included the western Balkan states (Albania, Crotia, Kosovo, Serbia,
Bosnia, and the rest) for years. And ProMods overwrites any base-game
(or official DLC) content with its own.

So even though I'm happily swerving between lanes hauling 30 tons of
concrete down to Sarajevo, it's not the Sarajevo I paid for. It's the
Sarajevo created by fans.

But I'm probably the luckier for it. From what I hear, the official
DLC is a much poorer replica of the fan-made content, with poor city
placement and too-windy roads that just isn't all that much fun to
drive. I'm not upset that I bought the official DLC - the new assets
from the DLC will probably be used in updated versions of the
fan-developed ProMods map sooner or later, so will eventually become a requirement - but I probably could have waited until it dropped in
price.

On the plus side, it got me to play more ETS2.



* Battletech (replay)
Calling this a replay is a bit of a misnomer. I didn't actually
restart my game afresh. Rather, I continued an old save from the last
time I played it. This is because I had little desire to re-do the
main campaign (and lose all my beautiful 100-ton Atlas battlemechs? I
think not!), but I did want to experience the changes brought by all
the DLC I had dutifully purchased - but never played with until now -
over the past few years.

"Battletech" is the most accurate translation of the tabletop game to
the video-screen made, and fans of moving around little miniatures
will love it. The tabletop game is essentially the American take on
"Warhammer 40K"; more optimistic and more enthralled with the
technology, sure, but ultimately all about spending lots of money on
tiny toys that you make fight against one another. "Battletech"
recaptures the classic game's magic extremely well. But if you aren't
a fan of the tabletop game - perhaps knowing the franchise only
through the "Mechwarrior" games - I can understand if you find
"Battletech" slow and abstruse.

And the game is recondite in its numerous rules; every action requires
you to monitor your mech's ammunition, cover, stability heat, weapons
ranges (both minimum and maximum!), armor and structural values, pilot
health, facing... and you have to do this not only for your four
units, but keep it in mind for the enemy units too. The game does a
pretty good job of making you aware of all these variables, but it is
easy to get overwhelmed. If all you want to do is loop a bunch of
units and throw them willy-nilly at their foes to watch the
explosions, "Battletech's" languid pacing can be aggravating. It isn't
helped by the game's sluggish presentation, with the camera swooping
about as it moves between each of the units in turn. I love the game,
but even I find myself growing impatient with its laggard progression.

The DLC - "Heavy Metal", "Urban Combat", and "Flashpoint" - is a mixed
bag. There's nothing really wrong with any of it, but none of it
really adds very much to the game. "Flashpoint" was probably the most
useful, adding numerous side-quests that bolstered the main adventure.
"Urban Warfare" was the most disappointing; the new city-based maps
were unconvincing arenas that didn't really add anything to the game
(it would have been a great opportunity to add infantry units to the
game, which are deadly in that environment). "Heavy Metal's" new units
were average, although I did quite enjoy the new mini-campaign hunting
down a lost Star League-era warship (and humiliating the Natasha
Kerensky in battle). But overall, none of the material felt distinct
and - even having purchased them all on discount - it all felt
overpriced for how much content was actually provided.

Still, any opportunity to play with my rompin'-stompin' robots is
always a fun one.



* Star Wars Squadrons
Ow. This one hurt.

It's no secret that I am a Star Wars fan. It's not that I think the
franchise is the greatest thing ever, but it resonates with me in a
way that few other intellectual properties do. So of course I own my
fair share of Star Wars merchandise... and that includes the video
games. "Dark Forces" is probably my favorite, but the "X-Wing"
franchise - "X-Wing", "TIE Fighter", "XvT" and "Alliance" - are all
fondly remembered too. And while I didn't expect "Squadrons" to be as
good as those classics, it was hard to imagine I wouldn't enjoy them.

So, guess what happened?

In fairness, I don't think "Squadrons" is a bad game. But it is
absolutely no equal to the older titles. /Those/ were games of skill
and preciseness; not quite simulators, but closer to that genre than action-shooters like "Afterburner" or "Wing Commander". And it was
this easy-to-learn/hard-to-master balance that made the original games
so approachable (even if the older game's on-boarding of new players
was often ruthlessly difficult). Once you reached a minimum amount of competency, you felt like Luke Skywalker as you expertly hunted down
Imperial fighters in massive arenas, getting on their six and pumping
your overcharged laser cannons into their fragile TIEs.

"Squadrons" is a much more relaxed game that captures none of the
intensity or challenge of the originals. It is focused on a more
bombastic experience, where you can rapidly gun down a dozen fighters
in a single strafing run. The maps are much smaller, far more
cluttered, and the action is entirely too arcade for my liking. Again,
none of this makes for a BAD game... but it isn't the "X-Wing" sequel
I've long desired.

"Squadrons" just feels so feature-poor in comparison. It's
single-player campaign is ridiculously anemic, its flight model
simplistic, its arenas too interested in immediate results. Capital
ships - which can be destroyed in three or four attack runs - feel
toothless, and the brain-dead AI of enemy fighters turns them into
annoying fodder. For all its impressive visuals and fan-pleasing
detailing - the game lacks the atmosphere and grit of the older
titles; it's a Disney-era theme-park ride rather than a serious
attempt to immerse yourself into the franchise's universe.

It's a game for the casual viewer of the movie, and not the fan. And
while economically that might make sense, as a member of the latter
group, it's not a satisfying experience at all.

Fortunately, I recently rebuilt a Windows98 PC and "X-Wing Alliance"
is always available to play there (it's one of my most played games on
that computer, in fact). It's just the better game, as far as I'm
concerned. "Squadrons", meanwhile, can join the ranks of "Battle for
Naboo" and "Force Commander" as far as I'm concerned.



* Left 4 Dead 2 (replay)
It being spooky October and all, I decided I needed to play at least
one horror-themed video game this month. Although a number of other
games were considered (most notably, "Alan Wake" in honor of its
long-awaited sequel /finally/ being released), ultimately I decided on
another classic: "Left 4 Dead 2". It's a franchise which used to have
a permanent spot on my hard-drive, but when I upgraded earlier this
year, I never re-installed it. In truth, even before that, it had been
a while since I actually /played/ the game.

So coming back to it after so long was a pleasure; I no longer had all
the map layouts and mechanics memorized. It was almost like playing
the game for the first time! The game has, fortunately, lost none of
its step; despite its ten-year old graphics, it still looks great (the animations in particular) and the gun-play remains extremely solid. In particular, I quite enjoy the complete LACK of progression; no
experience points, no super-powerful weapons, no special abilities.
While each character is unique in personality and look, they all play
the same and you never feel as if you're missing out, wondering if you
chose the wrong class or weapon. Personally, I find the selection of
weapons in L4D2 a bit overwhelming (is the game really all that much
better with five machine-guns and seven melee weapons, when they all
work more or less the same?) which is why - in the past - I usually
stuck with the original game in the franchise. But almost nobody plays
the first game online anymore, so I sucked it up and installed the
second game rather than the first.

If there's one disappointment in the game, it's with the online
community. It used to be very friendly and open, with people happily
exploring and experiencing the game together. While I didn't have any
/bad/ experiences playing online (no foul-mouthed ten-year olds
screaming in my ear), most of the random matches I joined felt sullen
and mechanical; there was no real sense of the camaraderie I
remembered from when the game was new. The gameplay was better with
real people, but it lacked the sense of immersion and atmosphere.
Ultimately, after a few sessions online, I went back to the bots.

Still, "Left 4 Dead 2" remains a classic game and while I'm not sure
it will again be granted as a long stay on my hard-drive, I'm happy I
gave it another chance to show off its strengths. It's a shame that
neither Valve nor the game's original developers, Turtle Rock, ever
came close to matching it in any of their later projects.



* State of Decay 2
I really shouldn't be disappointed. "State of Decay 2" gave me
everything I expected from it. I quite enjoyed the original game. It
was flawed but very fun. It had good atmosphere, good pacing and was a reasonable facsimile of surviving a zombie apocalypse. You took the
role of a party of survivors, and guided them through the ruins in
third-person view, scrounging for supplies, fighting off hordes,
meeting other survivors, and building up your base. Sure, it wasn't
the most visually impressive game but it had a large open world and a
lot of gear to scrounge up. It was one of the more fun zombie games
available.

"State of Decay 2" is everything the original was. And that is its
biggest problem. Despite it coming out five years later, it feels
little more than an expansion pack to the first game. Sure, it now has
more maps - four of them, each one as large as the map in the first
game - and a few more random events. But beyond that? It feels too
much like the first game.

Visually, it's only /slightly/ improved. It is really hard to believe
this game is using the Unreal4 engine, when it looks only a little
better than Grand "Theft Auto 3". Its incredibly short draw distance
does it no favors either; often you can't see zombie hordes until
you're practically on top of them. The voice-acting is generic, and
there's no music - and little enough environmental Foley - to speak
of. The world feels flat and unreal.

The level design isn't particularly good. Unlike the first, the sequel
allows you to pick your starting location, which means the developers
can't gate off parts of the map behind ever-more difficult encounters.
Thus, there's little real sense of progression to the game. Deadly
encounters are everywhere, and you have to grind your way through
them. Because the game lacks any real protagonists - a key philosophy
of the game is that anyone can die at anytime, and only if all your
party members die is it game over - nobody has any real character or plot-lines.

The gameplay is fine, if underwhelming. The core loop revolves around
finding new supplies for your base - food, fuel, ammo - as well as
gear (health packs, ammo, weapons) for your individual survivors. This
requires you to guide your heroes out into the world, creeping into
abandoned homes and stores, searching out loot, and hauling it back to
base. The zombies are better off avoided than battled; even small
scraps can put one of your heroes out of action for several days.
However, the tiny carrying capacity means that you'll end up ferrying
a lot of cargo back and forth over the same terrain, and there is just
too much respawning of zombies. While individual encounters are often
intense and memorable, the overall loops starts to become very grindy.

Many of these problems existed in the first game, but back in 2013,
the industry was just working out some of the problems with open-world
zombie games so these flaws were more forgivable. Ten years later,
with many other, better games available, it's harder to ignore all
these problems. "State of Decay 2" is just the first game but with a
few more maps, worse atmosphere and poorer pacing. It lacks any of the
hoped for and needed advancements, and feels archaic in comparison to
its competitors. It's again an issue where quantity took precedence
over quality, and the end result was a game that I bored of very
quickly.


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

So a busy month... but it ends with lots of candy and celebration, so
well worth it. How about you? Did October keep you equally busy?
Specifically,

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

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

On 11/1/23 07:16, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Ah, October. The Spooky Month. The Candy Month. The month when the
skies grow darker and the houses grow strange skeleton- and
witch-shaped protuberances. I like October. Maybe that's why I played
so many games this month...
* TRYP FPV
I almost never return/refund a game. Unless there is something
seriously wrong with it (like it literally refusing to run), I usually swallow the cost of the game, even if I greatly dislike it. After all,
it's my fault for not doing better research before buying, right? But
"TRYP FPV" really made me question that philosophy.

If I finish a story game before the refund time is up, I refund it.
Might as well, right? (but i did still save the HS:OL files so ha)

* Left 4 Dead 2 (replay)
It being spooky October and all, I decided I needed to play at least
one horror-themed video game this month. Although a number of other
games were considered (most notably, "Alan Wake" in honor of its
long-awaited sequel /finally/ being released), ultimately I decided on another classic: "Left 4 Dead 2". It's a franchise which used to have
a permanent spot on my hard-drive, but when I upgraded earlier this
year, I never re-installed it. In truth, even before that, it had been
a while since I actually /played/ the game.

So coming back to it after so long was a pleasure; I no longer had all
the map layouts and mechanics memorized. It was almost like playing
the game for the first time! The game has, fortunately, lost none of
its step; despite its ten-year old graphics, it still looks great (the animations in particular) and the gun-play remains extremely solid. In particular, I quite enjoy the complete LACK of progression; no
experience points, no super-powerful weapons, no special abilities.
While each character is unique in personality and look, they all play
the same and you never feel as if you're missing out, wondering if you
chose the wrong class or weapon. Personally, I find the selection of
weapons in L4D2 a bit overwhelming (is the game really all that much
better with five machine-guns and seven melee weapons, when they all
work more or less the same?) which is why - in the past - I usually
stuck with the original game in the franchise. But almost nobody plays
the first game online anymore, so I sucked it up and installed the
second game rather than the first.

The melee weapons have a different hit area. That's also why the CSGO
knife is proven to be the worst one.

If there's one disappointment in the game, it's with the online
community. It used to be very friendly and open, with people happily exploring and experiencing the game together. While I didn't have any
/bad/ experiences playing online (no foul-mouthed ten-year olds
screaming in my ear), most of the random matches I joined felt sullen
and mechanical; there was no real sense of the camaraderie I
remembered from when the game was new. The gameplay was better with
real people, but it lacked the sense of immersion and atmosphere.
Ultimately, after a few sessions online, I went back to the bots.

Same.

Still, "Left 4 Dead 2" remains a classic game and while I'm not sure
it will again be granted as a long stay on my hard-drive, I'm happy I
gave it another chance to show off its strengths. It's a shame that
neither Valve nor the game's original developers, Turtle Rock, ever
came close to matching it in any of their later projects.

*ESPECIALLY* turtlerock.

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

So a busy month... but it ends with lots of candy and celebration, so
well worth it. How about you? Did October keep you equally busy? Specifically,

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

I've been playing MOTHER 3 on retro-arch for the first-ish time. (Though
I do know about the ending twist..) I always found the Mother games
difficult to get into, since I was way more used to the Mario RPGs
(bowsers inside story ftw) but I decided to give M3 another shot. I
actually really started to like it once I got past chapter 3, and while
I'm not sure how long exactly the game is, I'm pretty far now (chapter
7!!) I'm kinda stuck on the snow boss tho, so I'm going to do some
grinding yay

anyways yea its a gud game i like the humor and battles are (sometimes) satisfying.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

Nothing again! I'm supposed to be playing God of War, but watched a crapload of movies instead, like 15 of them, sigh. If I can cut back on
those that will help get me back into a game-playing rhythm.

rms

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

On 11/1/23 12:02, rms wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

  Nothing again!  I'm supposed to be playing God of War, but watched a crapload of movies instead, like 15 of them, sigh.  If I can cut back on those that will help get me back into a game-playing rhythm.

rms

Well then....

What Have You Been Watching... IN OCTOBER 2023?
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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

Well then....
What Have You Been Watching... IN OCTOBER 2023?

ha, I'll list them just this once; I write review notes for most, so do
record titles
The Phantom of the Opera (2004) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293508/
Suspiria (1977) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076786/
Il Sorpasso (1962) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056512/
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6920084/
Tremors (1990) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100814/
Onibaba (1964) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058430/
Ugetsu (1953) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046478/
Scream (1996) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117571/
Batman: The Movie (1966) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/
Batman: Year One (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/
Catwoman (2004) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327554/
Green Lantern (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1133985/
The In-Laws (1979) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079336/
Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/
No One Will Save You (2023) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14509110/
Jaws (1975) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/
John Wick 4

rms

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

On 11/1/23 12:35, rms wrote:

Batman: The Movie (1966) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/
Batman: Year One (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/
Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/

These were the goofy batman right?
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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

A little more Diablo 4, but not much. I think I played free Steam
games, but don't remember which if I did.


Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Ah, October. The Spooky Month. The Candy Month. The month when the
skies grow darker and the houses grow strange skeleton- and
witch-shaped protuberances. I like October. Maybe that's why I played
so many games this month...

What I Played
---------------------------------------
* TRYP FPV
* King's Quest (2015)
* Eurotruck Simulator 2: Western Baltics
* Battletech (replay)
* Star Wars Squadrons
* Left 4 Dead 2 (replay)
* State of Decay 2

What I Thought
---------------------------------------

* TRYP FPV
I almost never return/refund a game. Unless there is something
seriously wrong with it (like it literally refusing to run), I usually swallow the cost of the game, even if I greatly dislike it. After all,
it's my fault for not doing better research before buying, right? But
"TRYP FPV" really made me question that philosophy.

This oddly named game is a quad-copter drone simulator, one that
nominally allows you to soar through expansive, beautiful terrain,
performing daring acrobatics and cinematic flights. Visually, the game
is quite impressive; it's nowhere near the best looking game that I
have seen, but - with all the flair enabled - it looks quite good. I
can easily imagine whipping down slopes, slaloming between trees and
through narrow ravines.

Unfortunately, imagination is all I am going to get, because I found
the game all but uncontrollable. The controls lack all subtlety, and
the slightest twitch on the joystick ramps up the throttle from 0 to
100%, or spins me around at thousands of degrees per second. Despite
nearly an hour of fiddling with deadzones, control ramps, and other
minutiae, I never found a control scheme that let me comfortably fly. Eventually, I just gave up and uninstalled, even the initial tutorial unfinished.

In the game's defense, it is in extremely early access. Too, it is
also designed to be used with a real quad-copters control-pad, which
may offer more lenient control than my aging XBox gamepad.
Furthermore, the game itself warns that proper control requires very
small movements of the joystick. Possibly had I stuck with the game
longer, I would have found a... well, not a happy medium (I don't
think, in its current state, the game has any such) but a working one.

But honestly, I wasn't feeling any urge to invest that much time
working out the game's kinks. Sure, it would have been nice to explore
the maps in a way similar to how the game's impressive trailer videos
showed, but I am not sure the reward would have matched the necessary
effort. Maybe one day I'll give the game another shot; maybe after the developers whip up an 'casual mode' for first-time fliers. The fault
may be mine for expecting too much from this game too early, so I
won't demand a refund... but neither will I play it either.

* King's Quest (2015) (new)
Like many here, I have fond memories of the classic "King's Quest"
adventure games released by Sierra in the '80s and '90s. I still
consider "King's Quest 6" one of the best examples of the genre,
epitomizing everything that made those games great (and terrible).
Still, the idea that a sequel would be produced under the auspices of
an entirely new studio filled me more with concern than hope. Could
the magic of the originals be recreated?

Sadly, at least as far as I am concerned, it could not. I tried with
this game; I really tried to enjoy it. It is not, in the end, a bad
game... but it doesn't feel like "King's Quest" and many of the
choices made with this games development irk me more than they bring
me joy. Whether it was the overall story-line, the voice-acting, the controls, the puzzles, or the art-style, I just didn't enjoy this
game. Not because any of them were poorly done; my dislike was more a
matter of the game not suiting my taste nor expectations.

The biggest change was a shift from a traditional third-person
point-n-click to a more modern style that gives you more control over
your character. The problem with this is that a huge part of the fun
of the classic games was examining all the background art and reading
(or listening, in later games) to the narrator describe each item.
This added a lot of background and atmosphere to the setting, and the
modern game, lacking this, feels empty and barren in comparison. The
puzzles are a lot less involved too, being extremely simplistic action sequences or basic interactions with the few environmental you can
actually manipulate.

"King's Quest" describes itself as "whimsical", and that's another
issue I have with it. The series has /always/ had a bit of whimsy too
it, but this 2015 iteration doubles down on its cutesy, child-friendly gameplay. Its characters are bland and one-dimensional; the setting
and plot likewise. There is no depth to this game.

And that's the biggest problem I have with the game; in almost every
regard it is an extremely shallow adventure, lacking any real meat.
Its gameplay lacks challenge, and its setting and writing is extremely childlike. The "King's Quest" franchise had traditionally straddled
the line where both young and old could enjoy the game. This modern
take on the series is geared to appeal only to the youngest (and those
so drowning in nostalgia wishing to revisit their youth). Were it
lacking the "King's Quest" license, this would be an extremely
forgettable adventure game. Even with that license, it's barely worth playing.

* Eurotruck Simulator 2: Western Balkans
ETS2 is a game I play so frequently, I rarely mention it in these
monthly round-ups. But given that a new DLC package - the Western
Balkans map - was just released for the game, I probably should share
my thoughts on it.

And I would... except I really can't. It's not that I don't own the
DLC - as with all ETS2 map expansions, I bought it on release - but I
can't play it. Or I have already played it. Or I am playing it. It's complicated.

See, I never play ETS2 without the free, fan-produced "ProMods" map
package, which greatly expands the base game's map. ProMods has
included the western Balkan states (Albania, Crotia, Kosovo, Serbia,
Bosnia, and the rest) for years. And ProMods overwrites any base-game
(or official DLC) content with its own.

So even though I'm happily swerving between lanes hauling 30 tons of
concrete down to Sarajevo, it's not the Sarajevo I paid for. It's the Sarajevo created by fans.

But I'm probably the luckier for it. From what I hear, the official
DLC is a much poorer replica of the fan-made content, with poor city placement and too-windy roads that just isn't all that much fun to
drive. I'm not upset that I bought the official DLC - the new assets
from the DLC will probably be used in updated versions of the
fan-developed ProMods map sooner or later, so will eventually become a requirement - but I probably could have waited until it dropped in
price.

On the plus side, it got me to play more ETS2.

* Battletech (replay)
Calling this a replay is a bit of a misnomer. I didn't actually
restart my game afresh. Rather, I continued an old save from the last
time I played it. This is because I had little desire to re-do the
main campaign (and lose all my beautiful 100-ton Atlas battlemechs? I
think not!), but I did want to experience the changes brought by all
the DLC I had dutifully purchased - but never played with until now -
over the past few years.

"Battletech" is the most accurate translation of the tabletop game to
the video-screen made, and fans of moving around little miniatures
will love it. The tabletop game is essentially the American take on "Warhammer 40K"; more optimistic and more enthralled with the
technology, sure, but ultimately all about spending lots of money on
tiny toys that you make fight against one another. "Battletech"
recaptures the classic game's magic extremely well. But if you aren't
a fan of the tabletop game - perhaps knowing the franchise only
through the "Mechwarrior" games - I can understand if you find
"Battletech" slow and abstruse.

And the game is recondite in its numerous rules; every action requires
you to monitor your mech's ammunition, cover, stability heat, weapons
ranges (both minimum and maximum!), armor and structural values, pilot health, facing... and you have to do this not only for your four
units, but keep it in mind for the enemy units too. The game does a
pretty good job of making you aware of all these variables, but it is
easy to get overwhelmed. If all you want to do is loop a bunch of
units and throw them willy-nilly at their foes to watch the
explosions, "Battletech's" languid pacing can be aggravating. It isn't
helped by the game's sluggish presentation, with the camera swooping
about as it moves between each of the units in turn. I love the game,
but even I find myself growing impatient with its laggard progression.

The DLC - "Heavy Metal", "Urban Combat", and "Flashpoint" - is a mixed
bag. There's nothing really wrong with any of it, but none of it
really adds very much to the game. "Flashpoint" was probably the most
useful, adding numerous side-quests that bolstered the main adventure.
"Urban Warfare" was the most disappointing; the new city-based maps
were unconvincing arenas that didn't really add anything to the game
(it would have been a great opportunity to add infantry units to the
game, which are deadly in that environment). "Heavy Metal's" new units
were average, although I did quite enjoy the new mini-campaign hunting
down a lost Star League-era warship (and humiliating the Natasha
Kerensky in battle). But overall, none of the material felt distinct
and - even having purchased them all on discount - it all felt
overpriced for how much content was actually provided.

Still, any opportunity to play with my rompin'-stompin' robots is
always a fun one.

* Star Wars Squadrons
Ow. This one hurt.

It's no secret that I am a Star Wars fan. It's not that I think the
franchise is the greatest thing ever, but it resonates with me in a
way that few other intellectual properties do. So of course I own my
fair share of Star Wars merchandise... and that includes the video
games. "Dark Forces" is probably my favorite, but the "X-Wing"
franchise - "X-Wing", "TIE Fighter", "XvT" and "Alliance" - are all
fondly remembered too. And while I didn't expect "Squadrons" to be as
good as those classics, it was hard to imagine I wouldn't enjoy them.

So, guess what happened?

In fairness, I don't think "Squadrons" is a bad game. But it is
absolutely no equal to the older titles. /Those/ were games of skill
and preciseness; not quite simulators, but closer to that genre than action-shooters like "Afterburner" or "Wing Commander". And it was
this easy-to-learn/hard-to-master balance that made the original games
so approachable (even if the older game's on-boarding of new players
was often ruthlessly difficult). Once you reached a minimum amount of competency, you felt like Luke Skywalker as you expertly hunted down
Imperial fighters in massive arenas, getting on their six and pumping
your overcharged laser cannons into their fragile TIEs.

"Squadrons" is a much more relaxed game that captures none of the
intensity or challenge of the originals. It is focused on a more
bombastic experience, where you can rapidly gun down a dozen fighters
in a single strafing run. The maps are much smaller, far more
cluttered, and the action is entirely too arcade for my liking. Again,
none of this makes for a BAD game... but it isn't the "X-Wing" sequel
I've long desired.

"Squadrons" just feels so feature-poor in comparison. It's
single-player campaign is ridiculously anemic, its flight model
simplistic, its arenas too interested in immediate results. Capital
ships - which can be destroyed in three or four attack runs - feel
toothless, and the brain-dead AI of enemy fighters turns them into
annoying fodder. For all its impressive visuals and fan-pleasing
detailing - the game lacks the atmosphere and grit of the older
titles; it's a Disney-era theme-park ride rather than a serious
attempt to immerse yourself into the franchise's universe.

It's a game for the casual viewer of the movie, and not the fan. And
while economically that might make sense, as a member of the latter
group, it's not a satisfying experience at all.

Fortunately, I recently rebuilt a Windows98 PC and "X-Wing Alliance"
is always available to play there (it's one of my most played games on
that computer, in fact). It's just the better game, as far as I'm
concerned. "Squadrons", meanwhile, can join the ranks of "Battle for
Naboo" and "Force Commander" as far as I'm concerned.

* Left 4 Dead 2 (replay)
It being spooky October and all, I decided I needed to play at least
one horror-themed video game this month. Although a number of other
games were considered (most notably, "Alan Wake" in honor of its
long-awaited sequel /finally/ being released), ultimately I decided on another classic: "Left 4 Dead 2". It's a franchise which used to have
a permanent spot on my hard-drive, but when I upgraded earlier this
year, I never re-installed it. In truth, even before that, it had been
a while since I actually /played/ the game.

So coming back to it after so long was a pleasure; I no longer had all
the map layouts and mechanics memorized. It was almost like playing
the game for the first time! The game has, fortunately, lost none of
its step; despite its ten-year old graphics, it still looks great (the animations in particular) and the gun-play remains extremely solid. In particular, I quite enjoy the complete LACK of progression; no
experience points, no super-powerful weapons, no special abilities.
While each character is unique in personality and look, they all play
the same and you never feel as if you're missing out, wondering if you
chose the wrong class or weapon. Personally, I find the selection of
weapons in L4D2 a bit overwhelming (is the game really all that much
better with five machine-guns and seven melee weapons, when they all
work more or less the same?) which is why - in the past - I usually
stuck with the original game in the franchise. But almost nobody plays
the first game online anymore, so I sucked it up and installed the
second game rather than the first.

If there's one disappointment in the game, it's with the online
community. It used to be very friendly and open, with people happily exploring and experiencing the game together. While I didn't have any
/bad/ experiences playing online (no foul-mouthed ten-year olds
screaming in my ear), most of the random matches I joined felt sullen
and mechanical; there was no real sense of the camaraderie I
remembered from when the game was new. The gameplay was better with
real people, but it lacked the sense of immersion and atmosphere.
Ultimately, after a few sessions online, I went back to the bots.

Still, "Left 4 Dead 2" remains a classic game and while I'm not sure
it will again be granted as a long stay on my hard-drive, I'm happy I
gave it another chance to show off its strengths. It's a shame that
neither Valve nor the game's original developers, Turtle Rock, ever
came close to matching it in any of their later projects.

* State of Decay 2
I really shouldn't be disappointed. "State of Decay 2" gave me
everything I expected from it. I quite enjoyed the original game. It
was flawed but very fun. It had good atmosphere, good pacing and was a reasonable facsimile of surviving a zombie apocalypse. You took the
role of a party of survivors, and guided them through the ruins in third-person view, scrounging for supplies, fighting off hordes,
meeting other survivors, and building up your base. Sure, it wasn't
the most visually impressive game but it had a large open world and a
lot of gear to scrounge up. It was one of the more fun zombie games available.

"State of Decay 2" is everything the original was. And that is its
biggest problem. Despite it coming out five years later, it feels
little more than an expansion pack to the first game. Sure, it now has
more maps - four of them, each one as large as the map in the first
game - and a few more random events. But beyond that? It feels too
much like the first game.

Visually, it's only /slightly/ improved. It is really hard to believe
this game is using the Unreal4 engine, when it looks only a little
better than Grand "Theft Auto 3". Its incredibly short draw distance
does it no favors either; often you can't see zombie hordes until
you're practically on top of them. The voice-acting is generic, and
there's no music - and little enough environmental Foley - to speak
of. The world feels flat and unreal.

The level design isn't particularly good. Unlike the first, the sequel
allows you to pick your starting location, which means the developers
can't gate off parts of the map behind ever-more difficult encounters.
Thus, there's little real sense of progression to the game. Deadly
encounters are everywhere, and you have to grind your way through
them. Because the game lacks any real protagonists - a key philosophy
of the game is that anyone can die at anytime, and only if all your
party members die is it game over - nobody has any real character or plot-lines.

The gameplay is fine, if underwhelming. The core loop revolves around
finding new supplies for your base - food, fuel, ammo - as well as
gear (health packs, ammo, weapons) for your individual survivors. This requires you to guide your heroes out into the world, creeping into
abandoned homes and stores, searching out loot, and hauling it back to
base. The zombies are better off avoided than battled; even small
scraps can put one of your heroes out of action for several days.
However, the tiny carrying capacity means that you'll end up ferrying
a lot of cargo back and forth over the same terrain, and there is just
too much respawning of zombies. While individual encounters are often
intense and memorable, the overall loops starts to become very grindy.

Many of these problems existed in the first game, but back in 2013,
the industry was just working out some of the problems with open-world
zombie games so these flaws were more forgivable. Ten years later,
with many other, better games available, it's harder to ignore all
these problems. "State of Decay 2" is just the first game but with a
few more maps, worse atmosphere and poorer pacing. It lacks any of the
hoped for and needed advancements, and feels archaic in comparison to
its competitors. It's again an issue where quantity took precedence
over quality, and the end result was a game that I bored of very
quickly.

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

So a busy month... but it ends with lots of candy and celebration, so
well worth it. How about you? Did October keep you equally busy? Specifically,

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

--
"The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." --2 Thessalonians 3:3. Must be a quiet Halloween hangover day after quiet Reformation and Halloween days 2 make me Z early.
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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Batman: The Movie (1966) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/
Batman: Year One (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/
Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/

These were the goofy batman right?

The 1966 one is more slapstick due to the comic code limitations of the time; the two Tim Burton Batmans are more dark comedies that I enjoyed quite
a bit.

rms

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On 11/1/23 17:32, rms wrote:

Batman: The Movie (1966) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/
Batman: Year One (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/
Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/

These were the goofy batman right?

  The 1966 one is more slapstick due to the comic code limitations of
the time; the two Tim Burton Batmans are more dark comedies that I
enjoyed quite a bit.

rms

Neat. I prefer slapstick more.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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On 11/1/2023 6:35 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:

On 11/1/23 17:32, rms wrote:

Batman: The Movie (1966) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/
Batman: Year One (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1672723/
Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/

These were the goofy batman right?

   The 1966 one is more slapstick due to the comic code limitations of
the time; the two Tim Burton Batmans are more dark comedies that I
enjoyed quite a bit.

rms

Neat. I prefer slapstick more.

Its an extension of the Batman TV show.

--
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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Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

No time to write lengthy posts, so I'm afraid this is going to be a
quick and dirty list. the 2023-24 university course began in october and
gaming has taken a backseat for me, but I have been able to play a few
things while commuting to work.

- Super Columbine Massacre RPG (EasyRPG on RG351V): First half of the
game attempts to be a semi serious games that makes you think a lot
about how things could have been different, but the second half of the
game... No comments.

- The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Nintendo Switch). Remaster of the
two games originally released on 3DS that never left Japan. Visual Novel
/ Narrative Adventure / logic puzzles as an rookie attorney on victorian
London working side by side with Sherlock Holm... with Herlock Sholmes.
The game was released months before the character became public domain
in the US.
The first game had an issue with being over the top slow and a lot of conversational padding and too many tutorials, but the second game fixes
every issue and flows perfectly. it also has the honor of being able to
fool the player. Every time I thought I knew who was the culprit, it
managed to make a fool of me for not having taken a detail into account.

- Astro's Playroom (Playstation 5): I have played for less than 30
minutes after finally biting the bullet and getting a PS5 last sunday,
but I like what I saw. It's basically a small DLC for Astro Bot Rescue
Mission, without the VR. It is still a great game without the VR, but it
makes you wish for both a remaster of Rescue Mission and a sequel.

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Shadow Gambit
-------------

I've probably put about twenty five hours or so into this and the
enjoyment is starting to wane. That may sound like I'm not saying it's a
good game but for me even twenty hours is fairly long before I put a
game down and I'm not one to just carry on because I want to see the
ending, I'd rather come back to it later. Overall I've really enjoyed it
and the only real criticism I have is that doing things on the ship can
be a bit confusing/clunky. So I have a crew tale at the moment that says
speak to X and Y and I don't even know who X and Y are.

Talos Principle II
------------------

I couldn't resist trying the demo as I'm a big fan of the original. From
what I've seen this is more of the same type of puzzling (and fun it is,
as well as polished in the learning through gameplay and not
step-by-step tutorials) but with a few added mechanisms. So think the
same as from Portal 1 to 2. Once the reviews come out I can see this
will be under 'What Have you Been Playing in November.'

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Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

Just the System Shock remake.

So I got the mining laser all melted to slag but that took a
reload... First time I forgot to actually turn on the radiation shields
before firing the laser so I turned Earth into a cinder and joined
forces with Shodan :) Next time, much better.

I continued into the executive deck with Beta grove in my sights. Did
the fun chess puzzle in Delta grove for some extra inventory space.

- I had just a queen and three pawns, locked with a couple of enemy pawns.
- Computer had two rooks and a bishop.
- I don’t really know how to play chess but managed to carefully shave off
the computer’s rooks and bishop and then the pawns. I assume the
computer doesn’t play on a very high level.
- I promoted one of my pawns to easily put the computer’s king into a
checkmate with two queens.
- My first "win" was actually a draw but I didn’t understand that’s what
it was. All the pieces on the board just disappeared so I thought I
won… But the goal of this chess exercise, the inventory update, didn’t unlock.

So then there was a nasty Cyberspace stage to unlock a couple of things
in the Beta quadrant of Executive level, to eventually get into the Beta
grove and press a button... Again it took a bunch of tries but
eventually I managed it.

Maybe finally finishing this in November?

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On Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 10:35:20 AM UTC-7, rms wrote:

Well then....
What Have You Been Watching... IN OCTOBER 2023?

ha, I'll list them just this once; I write review notes for most, so do record titles

Green Lantern (2011) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1133985/

I've been tempted to rewatch it. It's not great, but it's not as bad as
people make it out to be.

Batman Returns (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/

That is a lot of movies.

I watched a bit more than normal of TV. I probably can't remember
it all, but I do remember I watched 3 horror anthologies:

Trick 'r Treat 2007 (rewatch)- pretty good, I liked some of the twists, and some decent humor. 72% rt audience score, 82% critic, I'd say
critic is closer this time. I like the pumpkin spirit of Halloween.

Tales of Halloween 2015 (new) - more humor, less scare. The crazy 4
armed red witch stuck with me far more than the other monsters I've seen
this season though. 77% critic and 42% (oof) audience. I side with the critics again. Probably people weren't expecting it to be this silly? It
is billed as a comedy (first) horror movie.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2019 (new) - The monsters are much
scarier than the previous ones but lacks the humor/heart of the previous
too. There's still some humor, but not much. Overall I'd rate it lower due
to that. 72% rt audience score seems about right vs. the 77% of crits.

Other movies:

The Craft 1996 (rewatch) - one of my favorites. Fairuza Balk does an
amazing job as Nancy the crazy goth witch. The other actresses and
actors are o.k. but nothing special. 57/65 scores, a travesty, I'd easily
rate it above the ones above.

The Muppets Haunted Mansion 2021 (rewatch) - It's fine for a kid
friendly non-scary Halloween movie.

Haunted Mansion 2023 (new) - Danny Devito needed more screen
time. Much better than the older one starring Eddie Murphy which
was barely watchable, I actually enjoyed this one.

- Justisaur

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On Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 4:43:39 AM UTC-7, H1M3M wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

- Super Columbine Massacre RPG (EasyRPG on RG351V):

I have to ask, what drew you to want to play such a thing?

- Justisaur

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On Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 5:16:52 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Ah, October. The Spooky Month. The Candy Month. The month when the
skies grow darker and the houses grow strange skeleton- and
witch-shaped protuberances. I like October. Maybe that's why I played
so many games this month...

So a busy month... but it ends with lots of candy and celebration, so
well worth it. How about you? Did October keep you equally busy?

I decorated and my son handed out candy, so a bit.

What Have You Been Playing... IN OCTOBER 2023?

**** Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 + Phantom Liberty DLC
*** The Wastes
** KerKerKruip
* Mage 7drl

**** Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 + Phantom Liberty DLC
I made a bigger post about it, the gist is it's better than last time pre 2.0. New ending did emotional damage. Netrunning is harder and you have
to make sacrifices that make you die (i.e. reload) due to being a glass
cannon and can't handle bosses as well. Well at least if you play on
the hardest difficulty. I assume if you don't it's going to be fairly easy
no matter what. Shotgun is overpowered eventually even on the hardest difficulty.

Patches are being released fairly quickly which unfortunately breaks the
game with mods, which I think are about required for the game. The
patches are really needed though, the last one fixed skills not working at
all. There's currently a bug where you don't get cyberwear slot shards
after some point, around 320 for everyone, some people get hit by it
earlier. My netrunner seemed to get hit with it at 258, and netrunner
gear is very cyberware hungry. I started to play my netrunner again
and ran into that, so I just put it down for the moment and am keeping
an eye out for a patch that fixes that, as otherwise I'd have to start
over and would still get hit by the bug at some point. I miss the
progress, as it gives you something to look forward to after you
hit level 60.

At this point I'd say it's wait until they have the major bugs like that ironed out at least. I'd guess at least another 4-6 months, maybe
much longer considering how long it took to get the game in a
more playable state in the 1.x version.

*** The Wastes
I've played & talked about this before. I was on my quest for finding
more Dungeon Robber like games, and was looking into this one
again, and found I barely dented it, so went back and started playing
it again. It's Zork-like but multiple choice vs. text parser, run in a terminal. But more hack-and-slash progress rpg fallout inspired
rather than a puzzler adventure. Fun stuff, unfortunately the code
was lost so it's stuck in a statewith some bugs and unimplemented
things in it. The worst is selecting "Save game" which crashes the
game. I started calling it the suicide button so I'd remember to
avoid doing it instead of pavlovianly clicking on it as a save
required for other games.

I managed to get up to level 28, but found myself in a bad spot
making a bad choice to go to an area where there were titans
which do thousands of damage and have tens of thousands of
hp. I assume they're Kaiju. I was killed by a Weak Death Ash
King Vulture Titan in 2 hits when I didn't manage to run away
from it on the first hit which was weak (damage from monsters
seems to be on something like 1 to whatever it's max damage is)
which lulled me into a false sense of superiority and tried to
fight it instead of continuing to try to run. It squished me like
a bug on that second hit.

My weapon was an Electric Atomic Cursed Platinum Nail
Armbrace which I did over 3000 damage. For scale you
start the game with a metal pole that does 6 damage and
breaks after 15 hits. His name was Normal Man.

https://www.reddit.com/r/playmygame/comments/3c6h5u/the_wastes_an_infinite_procedural_wasteland_rpg/
The link to download it is in the pinned post there.

** KerKerKruip - an interactive fiction-roguelike hybrid.
This uses some sort of interactive fiction client, which looks
quite nice compared to the terminal of The Wastes. A bit
too structured for what I was looking for, you have to remember
which directions rooms are, there's 5 monsters each from level
1 through 5, and you pretty much have to fight and kill them in
order, and fighting them is pretty difficult. I don't think I made it
past fighting a level 2. There's also appears to be more Zork-
Like puzzle find x item and insert it into y thing in z place. None
of which I cared for.

* Mage 7drl
A (real) roguelike made not to have even ASCII pictures and no
map. However it still uses a roguelike unseen map it just tells
you the the relative position of everything, like a rat is 5 west and 7
south. I suppose great if you can't see which was its intended
purpose, but it could be handled without having to have all that
information like DR & The Wastes do. With that fact it's a lot
worse than a regular roguelike for the sighted.

- Justisaur

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Justisaur wrote:

I have to ask, what drew you to want to play such a thing?

- Justisaur

There was a similar but less deadly incident some weeks ago , and I am
studying about psychological evaluation (including minors at risk) at
uni, and I ended ingesting a lot of material about the incident
(including the usenet archive from the week Columbine happened),
wondering and if this could have been prevented. Then I remembered the
game existed.

The game has a pretty interesting story about the controversy
surrounding it and what happened at the Slamdance 2007 awards. It's
impossible to have an unbiased idea of what went through that year
without playing the source of everything.

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