Help! It's too difficult for my girlfriend

thras

My girlfriend was really looking forward to the new Penny Arcade game. She bought it for her Mac when it came out, and convinced me to buy it for the XBOX. On Friday she was upset because the game was just too hard for her.

I've just finished my first play through, and I had a lot of fun, but I don't see how she's going to master the combat.

Are there any cheats, etc., that I can let her know about?

Crashtard

What exactly is the problem? Is she having trouble with the blocking? If that's the case, just tell her to watch the attacking enemy and hit spacebar when his healthbar flashes. Beyond that I don't really know what to tell you.

devotfeige

It... what? Does she not usually play any sort of games, or what?

Seconding the question of what she's having troubles with. When you're not used to keyboard commands and clicking around at stuff and keeping your eyes on fifty things at once it starts off a little difficult, yes, but not impossibly so. If it's just a matter of timing and paying attention to everything, the only thing I can recommend is practice. The learning curve isn't exactly steep and treacherous.

Mumblyfish

I don't know where the save files are kept on the Mac version, but you can open her save and give bonuses to each of her characters. Of particular interest, you can give them as much bonus health as you feel necessary (making healing items so much more effective): GabeHPMaxBonus = "200", for example; you can grant the characters' a combat rating bonus, which appears to speed up their turns: TychoCombatRatingBonus = "10" would give the same bonus that completing the Mime's quest gives Carl/a.

thras

All she has told me is that she just has a lot of trouble with combat. Her taste in games leans towards slower paced turn-based game. (Apparently her computer is towards the minimum side of the specs, so there are also framerate issues).

Anyway, I mentioned the keyboard shortcuts to her (she didn't know that there were any). She was excited about that, and she says that she'll try the save file scumming if things get to hard.

Jazmeister

Did she actually play it yet? I know I totally underestimated my wife and she actually beat it while I was asleep. She doesn't like gore at all but when four ribcages came out of a hobo's head, she just laughed and said ewww. She gets pretty frustrated as well and games can bore her easily, but the combat is really just about blocking and hitting... you can just use regular attacks and time the blocks and it's good fun.
If you have a lot of trouble, then you take over the spacebar, and let her make all the decisions.

HH Vlad

thras wrote: »

All she has told me is that she just has a lot of trouble with combat. Her taste in games leans towards slower paced turn-based game. (Apparently her computer is towards the minimum side of the specs, so there are also framerate issues).

Anyway, I mentioned the keyboard shortcuts to her (she didn't know that there were any). She was excited about that, and she says that she'll try the save file scumming if things get to hard.

It may not seem like it, but combat will pause when the combat inventory is selected. Attacks that have already been put in motion will complete but then combat will take a breather. Let her try that to let her learn how to get into the rhythm of combat.

El Guaco

I've been playing games since the 80's but the combat seemed rather frantic to me and it was hard to tell what was what on the screen. The "tutorial" doesn't really tell you much about the mechanics of combat, it's more like a brief overview. Once I got to the 3rd level (Hobotown?) I got raped in my first combat there. I couldn't even tell how much health each character had, let alone how to bandage them. Gabe went down first, and I tried to figure out how to revive him and during that time the other two went down. This took like what seemed to be about 30 seconds. I was so tired at the time, I turned it off and I haven't been back yet because of weekend festivities.

I don't want a hand-held walkthru, I just want to know how combat "works", what all the numbers mean, etc. because I don't think I'm getting it. If it was entirely turn based, I think I'd have time to figure it out, but because the clock is ticking, I just can't get the hang of it yet. Is there something I'm missing? And I'm on Xbox, BTW.

Edit: I tried to do the block thingy, but honestly I never saw any flashing health bar on any character during the attack, so blocking was trial and error. Mostly error.

apotheos

Look again for the flash. If you do not see it, report a bug.

I found combat extremely hectic and unpleasant until I learned that blocking is the most important thing in the history of the foreververse. When you block, you will either negate damage, greatly reduce damage, or even better return damage depending on accuracy. Where once you could get 2-hitted deaths from Fruit Fuckers partial blocks make it 10 or so hits.

Next, learn to thread your attacks between the blocks, and then healing items between the attacks. The end boss is an ultimate manifestation of this rule, so you must learn how to block to have any chance of completing this game.

However once you look for it I found blocking quite easy. I hope you find the same.

devoir

Apparently it's actually possible to cheese pretty much any fight, including the last one, by stacking your attacks so the boss nevers gets a shot off.

Basically:

1) Use summons whenever possible
2) Use normal attacks only, no specials
3) Use speed buffs
4) If you don't have a normal attack timer up, use dynamite/noses/toddy

Once you get a hang of the pattern, you'll always have an attack animation of some sort happening. During attack animations your timers recharge, but the enemy's do not.

HH Vlad

That is by design--think of it as you have mastered juggling We will push those mad skills further in EP2 for those what want that challenge.

Mumblyfish

Fantastic. I had tried to ask Gabe or Tycho about that in the Q&A last night, as everyone I've demonstrated Precipice's "almost-infinite combos" for has believed it to be unintentional. Unfortunately, questions about t-shirts take priority.

I love the blocking, neverending player turns for those with quick fingers, and the absurd damage that's pumped out as a reward for getting a maximum hit chain. Of all the things that I could have been told about Episode 2, none makes me happier than "More of that next time".

mordenkhai

devoir wrote: »

Apparently it's actually possible to cheese pretty much any fight, including the last one, by stacking your attacks so the boss nevers gets a shot off.

Basically:

1) Use summons whenever possible
2) Use normal attacks only, no specials
3) Use speed buffs
4) If you don't have a normal attack timer up, use dynamite/noses/toddy

Once you get a hang of the pattern, you'll always have an attack animation of some sort happening. During attack animations your timers recharge, but the enemy's do not.

the game uses the same strat at times.

The last boss tries to do it to you as well. When he does Gloom Gas or something similar, he loved to just soam it and then his regular attack. He got me with like 5 in a row even knocked someone out before I just started throwing bombs at him to break his chains and start my own back up. I thought it was a solid strat, and I was glad he thought so too!

thras

Well, my girlfriend seems to be having a much better time of it now. She is still having a lot of trouble with the mini-games, but other than that she's having fun.

El Guaco: I had exactly the same experience as you until I hooked by Xbox up to my computer monitor instead of my TV. The game really isn't meant to be played on a TV screen, I'm afraid.

MistressKana

Does she actually play games at all? The TV I played PA adventures on is blurry, so at first I couldn't figure out WTF I was doing, but even then I eventually managed. I mean it's pretty simple. Try a walkthrough for tips maybe?