Hmm, A Machine for Pigs is not running very well. Appears to be a fairly common problem. Constant FPS drops, usually when something is about to happen which can kinda make a horror game a bit less scary. Looks like they are testing some 1.02 patch but it's been languishing since September without an official release. Tried it but it seemed to make things worse, capped me at 40 FPS for whatever reason with occassional spikes to 60.
I can't believe Knock-Knock hasn't been mentioned.
Brought to you by quite possibly the most innovative game developers there are, creators of Pathologic and the Void, Knock-Knock is full on dread-inducing. You're a hermit (?) in a giant house in the woods, and sometimes things get in, maybe. I don't want to say too much more; things are weird, guys, and maybe it's your fault?
All i know about it: It's a 4X space strategy game.
it has samurai bears.
it had a rough launch
Is it newbie-friendly?
What makes it different from other 4X games?
There's some discussion in the last page about it. Something about the game being abandonware.
Cool, glad to know it's not a complete game and that it might be abandoned altogether.
Neither of these things are, as far as I am aware, the case - I put my Stardrive thoughts a few posts back. AFAIK their indie developer is still active, so it's definitely not abandonware, in any form.
All i know about it: It's a 4X space strategy game.
it has samurai bears.
it had a rough launch
Is it newbie-friendly?
What makes it different from other 4X games?
There's some discussion in the last page about it. Something about the game being abandonware.
Cool, glad to know it's not a complete game and that it might be abandoned altogether.
Neither of these things are, as far as I am aware, the case - I put my Stardrive thoughts a few posts back. AFAIK their indie developer is still active, so it's definitely not abandonware, in any form.
I only skimmed some of the reddit links posted a couple of pages back. So I apologize if that's not correct. But you should read through them if you want to be properly informed.
All i know about it: It's a 4X space strategy game.
it has samurai bears.
it had a rough launch
Is it newbie-friendly?
What makes it different from other 4X games?
There's some discussion in the last page about it. Something about the game being abandonware.
Cool, glad to know it's not a complete game and that it might be abandoned altogether.
Neither of these things are, as far as I am aware, the case - I put my Stardrive thoughts a few posts back. AFAIK their indie developer is still active, so it's definitely not abandonware, in any form.
I only skimmed some of the reddit links posted a couple of pages back. So I apologize if that's not correct. But you should read through them if you want to be properly informed.
Indeed. I had a quick glance through them myself. There are people, and they are unhappy, and that's their prerogative, of course. And I'd be amongst the first to say that the edges on Stardrive are (or were when I was playing it) a bit rough but it's a small indie piece, and not, say, Sword of the Stars.
I wouldn't pay full price for it (£24.99 currently), but when it's on sale...it may be worth it.
(Really I'm just saying it's not abandonware, really - the dev and the publisher are both active, and if they don't want to update it any further, that's something to be aware of when you settle on an acceptable pricepoint, but it's not abandoned, per se.)
Anyway: Samurai Space Bears. It's fun. Not fantastic, but fun. Now, weekend.
My 19-month-old daughter had cataract removal/lens replacement surgery this morning, and it went perfectly! She's doing great! I am utterly exhausted, but happy. To celebrate, here's something that will let you do the opposite of all the good things that happened to my daughter this morning.
We have a weiner! Congratulations @Emberquick, you get to commit heinous surgical crimes!
Escape Goat is up? I love farm animal themed games, is it as awesome as it looks?
@Lindsey Lohan I'm kinda amazed no one answered this although maybe I skipped it somehow. It is a very well done puzzle platformer. Definitely worth it, although I think the game came up before in this thread in relation to you once before:)
Here's a quick look at some games being played with the prototype version of the Steam Controller -- the same version that we'll shipping to 300 Steam users later this year. We'll post more demonstrations like this soon, including footage of some other game developers using the controller to play their own games.
All i know about it: It's a 4X space strategy game.
it has samurai bears.
it had a rough launch
Is it newbie-friendly?
What makes it different from other 4X games?
There's some discussion in the last page about it. Something about the game being abandonware.
Cool, glad to know it's not a complete game and that it might be abandoned altogether.
Neither of these things are, as far as I am aware, the case - I put my Stardrive thoughts a few posts back. AFAIK their indie developer is still active, so it's definitely not abandonware, in any form.
I only skimmed some of the reddit links posted a couple of pages back. So I apologize if that's not correct. But you should read through them if you want to be properly informed.
Indeed. I had a quick glance through them myself. There are people, and they are unhappy, and that's their prerogative, of course. And I'd be amongst the first to say that the edges on Stardrive are (or were when I was playing it) a bit rough but it's a small indie piece, and not, say, Sword of the Stars.
I wouldn't pay full price for it (£24.99 currently), but when it's on sale...it may be worth it.
(Really I'm just saying it's not abandonware, really - the dev and the publisher are both active, and if they don't want to update it any further, that's something to be aware of when you settle on an acceptable pricepoint, but it's not abandoned, per se.)
Anyway: Samurai Space Bears. It's fun. Not fantastic, but fun. Now, weekend.
In light of the clusterfuck that was SotS 2, I would choose another analogy, unless you're saying StarDrive 2 is going to give me testicular cancer and turn my girlfriend into a lesbian. That made more sense in my head....
PA Report liked Bionic Dues too. How many people is Arcen? Do they have like a superbrain in a vat somewhere coming up with all these ideas? I feel like they launch a new, interesting game every six months. That's probably hyperbole, but it does feel that way.
They should hire another artist or two. Their sales can't be helped by what it, imo, a pretty consistently homely aesthetic.
Okay, now I feel bad about myself for saying that...
No spoiler, just general stuff about Arcen;
I think as of this moment Arcen is up to around ten people total? Also they've been contracting all of the art to Heavy Cat Studios since AVWW2 and they've hired an Art Director as well. I guess maybe the aesthetic looks homely to a lot of people but it totally reminds me of the kind of art you used to see in table top and video games produced in the 80s. Some of it I find genuinely awesome.
And if it feels like they are launching a new game every few months now, well that's because they are. I think they really want to have another IP or two that makes them some money. AI War has supported Arcen well but they've had a few bumps in the road since then. So they've taken a look at concepts for games they've had floating around and are experimenting with a short production phase to get the ideas out, into peoples hands. This way they can produce their experimental games without taking the kinds of risks that A Valley Without Wind presented. That risk being a relatively expensive production phase for Arcen while the final product has a relatively niche audience and a potentially divisive reception.
So yeah, they are pricing these games accordingly and all of them have long term support and expansion roadmaps if they are received well. If not then they'll support the game with maintenance updates for what fans the game does have.
As for Bionic Dues? I think it's pretty great (suprise!). Seriously, it's really cool to see Arcen go to their strengths of strategy gaming and smart procedural generation. There's three layers of gameplay going on. You have your Exo selection and configuration, which is pretty analogous to an adventurer party in an RPG. You get loot every mission, some mission potentially lots and lots of loot. It's all procedurally generated stuff, Diablo style. All of the Exos have lots of slots for this stuff, configured to their specific duties. Assaults have lots of shields and guns but not much computer. Science has a ton of computer but lacks in guns. And you could say that these two classes are much like Fighters and Magic Users if this were a fantasy setting. So you have lots of options for which four of the six types you'll take and in what numbers. If you want to roll all Assault then go for it. You also get to pick an Exo Commander who will give an over all special ability to the whole squad.
The next layer is the mission selection part, or the City Map. Your headquarters will be placed in the city and it is surrounded by mission opportunities. I haven't seen all the mission types yet, but there is already quite a variety with interesting objectives and loot payouts. Each mission uses up at least one day, of which you have fifty before Robopocalypse, which is You vs Errybody, in your headquarters, to the death. If you pick your missions wisely you can whittle down the power and number of this showdown into something that isn't going to just lol faceroll your Exos. So far I've found this a pretty engaging strategy layer that has major implications for the way you power up your squad and come to the final confrontation.
The final layer is the tactical layer. This is where the game gets really roguelike. And as I've always suspected, Arcen is really good at this style of tactical turn based gameplay. Every mission is like a dungeon floor, your lead Exo is teleported into the dungeon in a safe area. Then it's up to you to achieve the mission goals one quick turn after another. As situations arise, you can teleport the Exo of your choice into play to deal with the situation. Like right at mission start, since I'm safe I'll immediately switch to my Science Exo to take advantage of its superior sensor range so I can get good situational awareness and decide which of my three combat units are best for the situation. I can see lots of opportunity already for great squad compositions and loadouts, from stealthy hacking and viral squads of Ninja and Science Exos to heavy hitting mixes of Assault, Siege, Brawler and Sniper. And objectives range from rescuing hostage civilians who are frozen in cryotubes, raiding armories, destroying robot factories and command centers to just blowing everything the fuck up and racing for the exit. And as far as the procedural generation goes, it's very smartly done. Environments are rich with destroyable cover, explosive objects, exploitable computer systems and locked caches full of loot waiting for a hacking.
TL;DR, So yeah, intense yet fast and accessible strategy and tactics with a sweet crunchy center of tactical roguelike combat with interesting enemy design and great procedural generation that really creates interesting choices and tactical situations. This could be Arcen's best game to date in terms of broad appeal with strategy gamers, especially if you like well realized sci fi robot combat.
more of this "you're an existing customer, have a discount" thing please
It's a nice idea, but it sounds like they want money for a patch that finally fixes the boss fights, if you already bought the game.
What was the issue with the boss fights again? I played it but I don't remember anything standing out about them.
They were arena-like and were meant for combat characters. If you didn't build yourself to be a war machine, you ended up having serious issues because you got stuffed into a small arena with a super enemy.
more of this "you're an existing customer, have a discount" thing please
It's a nice idea, but it sounds like they want money for a patch that finally fixes the boss fights, if you already bought the game.
What was the issue with the boss fights again? I played it but I don't remember anything standing out about them.
They were arena-like and were meant for combat characters. If you didn't build yourself to be a war machine, you ended up having serious issues because you got stuffed into a small arena with a super enemy.
Ah, I built mine for combat, explains why I didn't notice it as much.
more of this "you're an existing customer, have a discount" thing please
It's a nice idea, but it sounds like they want money for a patch that finally fixes the boss fights, if you already bought the game.
What was the issue with the boss fights again? I played it but I don't remember anything standing out about them.
They were arena-like and were meant for combat characters. If you didn't build yourself to be a war machine, you ended up having serious issues because you got stuffed into a small arena with a super enemy.
Ah, I built mine for combat, explains why I didn't notice it as much.
The game needed non-combat ways of solving boss fights. Or at least alternate ways of killing the bosses (you know, cleverly hack this and that...then drop a piano on the dude).
If you don't own the game: 20 bucks
If you own the game but no DLC: 10
If you own the game and DLC: 5
Pretty nifty of them. I don't think the other platforms are getting nearly as good of a deal.
The directors cut is non lame boss fights, NG+ and commentary? I don't see how that is a "directors cut," but semantics aside, not a bad reason to revisit it.
more of this "you're an existing customer, have a discount" thing please
It's a nice idea, but it sounds like they want money for a patch that finally fixes the boss fights, if you already bought the game.
What was the issue with the boss fights again? I played it but I don't remember anything standing out about them.
They were arena-like and were meant for combat characters. If you didn't build yourself to be a war machine, you ended up having serious issues because you got stuffed into a small arena with a super enemy.
Ah, I built mine for combat, explains why I didn't notice it as much.
Yeah, since one of the hallmarks of Deus Ex is being able to approach situations in multiple ways, do lethal or non-lethal, etc., it was pretty damn galling that they would make the boss fights the way they did.
Select at least two of these titles (for a $1 minimum price):
Theatre of War (Steam)
Theatre of War 2 : Afrika 1943 (Steam)
Theatre of War 2 : Kursk + DLC (Steam)
Theatre of War 3 : Korea (Steam)
Fantasy Wars (Steam)
Rig n Roll (Steam)
King’s Bounty : The Legend (Steam)
King’s Bounty : Armored Princess (Steam)
Men of War (Steam)
Men of War : Vietnam (Steam)
Men of War : Assault Squad GOTY (Steam)
Star Wolves 1 (Steam)
Star Wolves 2 (Steam)
Star Wolves 3 : Civil War (Steam)
Alien Shooter : Gold
Borderzone
Brigade E5 : New Jagged Union
Dawn of Magic
Konung 2
Parkan 2
UFO Afterlight (Steam)
UFO Aftermath
UFO Aftershock
Planet Alcatraz
Death Track Resurrection
BONUS:
Men of War : Red Tide (Steam)
Dawn of Magic 2 (Steam)
Death to Spies : Gold (Steam)
Fairytale
Freight Tycoon Inc (to be unlocked when 7.500 bundles are sold)
I hear you on the Arcen art style, @Drake. I played a lot of those same games. Battletech/Mechwarrior in particular had that 'distinctive' art style (by which I mean limbs were rarely foreshortened correctly, perspective was Picasso-esque, etc. I don't think there was a straight rifle barrel or Warhammer PPC arm drawn that entire decade.) I'd just as soon leave it behind, but opinions and assholes and whatnot.
If their goal is to iterate a bunch of interesting games quickly to get one to be as sticky and lucrative as AI War, though, they ought to iterate the art style too. Especially if it's contracted out already. How many more people would take a dip if AVWW or Bionic Dues looked like Bastion/Transistor or Hyper Light Drifter instead of an old GURPS module?
Posts
oh. I didn't know any of that. Well, except that BNW / Civ V were steamworks. I knew that bit.
I shall take you at your word. Thanks!
Actually, the thing you're looking for is SteamPlay, not Steamworks. But it is SteamPlay.
Steamworks means that the game will require steam, even if you bought a physical copy.
SteamPlay means if you have a copy of the game, you can play that same copy on both Mac and Windows.
Hope the patch is out by Halloween.
I just want to buy BNW
http://eu.square-enix.com/en/blog/dxhr-–-director’s-cut-pc-digital-release-details
If you don't own the game: 20 bucks
If you own the game but no DLC: 10
If you own the game and DLC: 5
Pretty nifty of them. I don't think the other platforms are getting nearly as good of a deal.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Neither of these things are, as far as I am aware, the case - I put my Stardrive thoughts a few posts back. AFAIK their indie developer is still active, so it's definitely not abandonware, in any form.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
Dammit, @Iolo!
I only skimmed some of the reddit links posted a couple of pages back. So I apologize if that's not correct. But you should read through them if you want to be properly informed.
Indeed. I had a quick glance through them myself. There are people, and they are unhappy, and that's their prerogative, of course. And I'd be amongst the first to say that the edges on Stardrive are (or were when I was playing it) a bit rough but it's a small indie piece, and not, say, Sword of the Stars.
I wouldn't pay full price for it (£24.99 currently), but when it's on sale...it may be worth it.
(Really I'm just saying it's not abandonware, really - the dev and the publisher are both active, and if they don't want to update it any further, that's something to be aware of when you settle on an acceptable pricepoint, but it's not abandoned, per se.)
Anyway: Samurai Space Bears. It's fun. Not fantastic, but fun. Now, weekend.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
We have a weiner! Congratulations @Emberquick, you get to commit heinous surgical crimes!
I am immeasurably tired.
I'll be damned - it worked. I now own Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Defintely grabbed Brave New World for that price!
@Lindsey Lohan I'm kinda amazed no one answered this although maybe I skipped it somehow. It is a very well done puzzle platformer. Definitely worth it, although I think the game came up before in this thread in relation to you once before:)
In light of the clusterfuck that was SotS 2, I would choose another analogy, unless you're saying StarDrive 2 is going to give me testicular cancer and turn my girlfriend into a lesbian. That made more sense in my head....
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
It's a nice idea, but it sounds like they want money for a patch that finally fixes the boss fights, if you already bought the game.
What was the issue with the boss fights again? I played it but I don't remember anything standing out about them.
No spoiler, just general stuff about Arcen;
And if it feels like they are launching a new game every few months now, well that's because they are. I think they really want to have another IP or two that makes them some money. AI War has supported Arcen well but they've had a few bumps in the road since then. So they've taken a look at concepts for games they've had floating around and are experimenting with a short production phase to get the ideas out, into peoples hands. This way they can produce their experimental games without taking the kinds of risks that A Valley Without Wind presented. That risk being a relatively expensive production phase for Arcen while the final product has a relatively niche audience and a potentially divisive reception.
So yeah, they are pricing these games accordingly and all of them have long term support and expansion roadmaps if they are received well. If not then they'll support the game with maintenance updates for what fans the game does have.
As for Bionic Dues? I think it's pretty great (suprise!). Seriously, it's really cool to see Arcen go to their strengths of strategy gaming and smart procedural generation. There's three layers of gameplay going on. You have your Exo selection and configuration, which is pretty analogous to an adventurer party in an RPG. You get loot every mission, some mission potentially lots and lots of loot. It's all procedurally generated stuff, Diablo style. All of the Exos have lots of slots for this stuff, configured to their specific duties. Assaults have lots of shields and guns but not much computer. Science has a ton of computer but lacks in guns. And you could say that these two classes are much like Fighters and Magic Users if this were a fantasy setting. So you have lots of options for which four of the six types you'll take and in what numbers. If you want to roll all Assault then go for it. You also get to pick an Exo Commander who will give an over all special ability to the whole squad.
The next layer is the mission selection part, or the City Map. Your headquarters will be placed in the city and it is surrounded by mission opportunities. I haven't seen all the mission types yet, but there is already quite a variety with interesting objectives and loot payouts. Each mission uses up at least one day, of which you have fifty before Robopocalypse, which is You vs Errybody, in your headquarters, to the death. If you pick your missions wisely you can whittle down the power and number of this showdown into something that isn't going to just lol faceroll your Exos. So far I've found this a pretty engaging strategy layer that has major implications for the way you power up your squad and come to the final confrontation.
The final layer is the tactical layer. This is where the game gets really roguelike. And as I've always suspected, Arcen is really good at this style of tactical turn based gameplay. Every mission is like a dungeon floor, your lead Exo is teleported into the dungeon in a safe area. Then it's up to you to achieve the mission goals one quick turn after another. As situations arise, you can teleport the Exo of your choice into play to deal with the situation. Like right at mission start, since I'm safe I'll immediately switch to my Science Exo to take advantage of its superior sensor range so I can get good situational awareness and decide which of my three combat units are best for the situation. I can see lots of opportunity already for great squad compositions and loadouts, from stealthy hacking and viral squads of Ninja and Science Exos to heavy hitting mixes of Assault, Siege, Brawler and Sniper. And objectives range from rescuing hostage civilians who are frozen in cryotubes, raiding armories, destroying robot factories and command centers to just blowing everything the fuck up and racing for the exit. And as far as the procedural generation goes, it's very smartly done. Environments are rich with destroyable cover, explosive objects, exploitable computer systems and locked caches full of loot waiting for a hacking.
TL;DR, So yeah, intense yet fast and accessible strategy and tactics with a sweet crunchy center of tactical roguelike combat with interesting enemy design and great procedural generation that really creates interesting choices and tactical situations. This could be Arcen's best game to date in terms of broad appeal with strategy gamers, especially if you like well realized sci fi robot combat.
They were arena-like and were meant for combat characters. If you didn't build yourself to be a war machine, you ended up having serious issues because you got stuffed into a small arena with a super enemy.
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
The fact that they were there
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Ah, I built mine for combat, explains why I didn't notice it as much.
The game needed non-combat ways of solving boss fights. Or at least alternate ways of killing the bosses (you know, cleverly hack this and that...then drop a piano on the dude).
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
The directors cut is non lame boss fights, NG+ and commentary? I don't see how that is a "directors cut," but semantics aside, not a bad reason to revisit it.
And did how did they mess up on how old DXHR is?
Steam ID: Good Life
Yeah, since one of the hallmarks of Deus Ex is being able to approach situations in multiple ways, do lethal or non-lethal, etc., it was pretty damn galling that they would make the boss fights the way they did.
Select at least two of these titles (for a $1 minimum price):
Theatre of War (Steam)
Theatre of War 2 : Afrika 1943 (Steam)
Theatre of War 2 : Kursk + DLC (Steam)
Theatre of War 3 : Korea (Steam)
Fantasy Wars (Steam)
Rig n Roll (Steam)
King’s Bounty : The Legend (Steam)
King’s Bounty : Armored Princess (Steam)
Men of War (Steam)
Men of War : Vietnam (Steam)
Men of War : Assault Squad GOTY (Steam)
Star Wolves 1 (Steam)
Star Wolves 2 (Steam)
Star Wolves 3 : Civil War (Steam)
Alien Shooter : Gold
Borderzone
Brigade E5 : New Jagged Union
Dawn of Magic
Konung 2
Parkan 2
UFO Afterlight (Steam)
UFO Aftermath
UFO Aftershock
Planet Alcatraz
Death Track Resurrection
BONUS:
Men of War : Red Tide (Steam)
Dawn of Magic 2 (Steam)
Death to Spies : Gold (Steam)
Fairytale
Freight Tycoon Inc (to be unlocked when 7.500 bundles are sold)
🖥️Steam Profile
Great bundle. Death to Spies: Gold is actually a Steam key as well.
Blame @Iolo
If their goal is to iterate a bunch of interesting games quickly to get one to be as sticky and lucrative as AI War, though, they ought to iterate the art style too. Especially if it's contracted out already. How many more people would take a dip if AVWW or Bionic Dues looked like Bastion/Transistor or Hyper Light Drifter instead of an old GURPS module?
EDIT: This BL2 drought isn't my fault!
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2