What other games are we all playing?

[Lone_star]

AP is the one that comes after TC, right? I think I own that. Is each DLC independent, or are they sequential? In other words, is there a story in TC that will be spoiled if I jump into AP without playing TC?

Correct... AP is after TC. It's basically TC with a bunch of engine and mod API enhancements and a different story. You can buy the terran war pack (which has all of them) for like 5 bucks now or something.

If you really care about the story just use the mod that lets you play the TC plots inside of AP. You really want to play AP though - there's a bunch of fixes and enhancements that are worth it. It's worth it just for out of sector combat adjustments alone.

Honestly - the plots aren't really that important in these games anyways - I skipped TC and don't feel like I missed much (the only thing you really miss is the Khaak stuff).

I don't recommend people play the actual TC game anymore (doing it via a mod in AP is just better). AP has a bunch of QoL and UI enhancements that make the game so much more pleasant to play (AP is seriously awesome - one of the best space sims ever once you get it modded right. The only thing it doesn't really have that ED does is the exploration - there's some to be fair - but it's not the same)

 

[Lone_star]

Sigh - so a bunch of the reviews for Biomutant say it was released unfinished and is an empty game that wastes the player's time. Sound familiar?

what, we just can't have nice things

 

[Chris Simon]

Sigh - so a bunch of the reviews for Biomutant say it was released unfinished and is an empty game that wastes the player's time. Sound familiar?

what, we just can't have nice things

Hey, Subnautica Below Zero is great. In some aspects even better than the original. (Like much less grinding, more interesting story(s),...)

 

[Hank]

Osiris: New Dawn ... there's a new thread right here

This looks nice. I can't get enough time in the day to play all my games (all 5 ...currently focused on two ) but I am intrigued. I don't play NMS enough now and then there's this enticement.

Edit: Then I see there's Mechwarrior 5. I may need to DL again MWO to see if I'm still a fan of Mech combat. Oh well. GL HF

 

[Jezzah]

Sigh - so a bunch of the reviews for Biomutant say it was released unfinished and is an empty game that wastes the player's time. Sound familiar?

what, we just can't have nice things

I refunded it when I read a few reviews, it sounds as though it's doing some things very well such as setting, and sound but then the combat is very generic and has a lot of the old open world cookie cutter about the thing.

For a team of 20 folk it's a fair achievement and I feel a little bad for maybe not keeping the thing considering what they managed. But then i also want a decent game that will keep me playing and i dont think this was going to be that.

 

[Juniper]

I refunded it when I read a few reviews, it sounds as though it's doing some things very well such as setting, and sound but then the combat is very generic and has a lot of the old open world cookie cutter about the thing.

For a team of 20 folk it's a fair achievement and I feel a little bad for maybe not keeping the thing considering what they managed. But then i also want a decent game that will keep me playing and i dont think this was going to be that.

If you're not happy with it, it's best to refund, and not feel guilty about doing so. And never pre-order anything. Seriously can't stress that point enough. Too often games are released too early and on a promise, and it's not good enough. I buy games to play, not to test. The only way publishers/developers are going to learn is if people refund or refuse to pre-order. It sucks (especially for smaller dev teams) but it's the only real leverage gamers have.

I bought Castle Flipper last night purely on a whim - it was only £8 because I've bought things from that publisher/developer in the past, and there was also a launch day sale. Mainly because I love these kind of games, and the likes of Barn Finders and House Flipper get regular playtime for me. It's pretty basic as it stands as far as I can tell, but I've only played a couple of hours. I wasn't expecting anything more tbh... just a similar game to the above but in a different setting. And that's what it is.

 

[Fishy]

Done with the second Bald Hill curse in Pathfinder Kingmaker, and did a fair bit of exploration in-between those advisor promotions. The Omnomnom baronny is looking good so far. Better than the disaster called Varnhold at any rate! Aced the nobility hunting party too. My ranger dwarfette is pewpewing like there's no tomorrow. I've been stagnating the past few days though, as against all my expectations, Odyssey entertains me a lot more than I thought.

 

[Old Duck]

You really want to play AP though

I'm trying, but it all feels very "dry" to me. It definitely isn't hooking me the way Elite did when I first started playing it.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Daily drivers Warships and MS Flight Sim aside, I finally got going in Metro Exodus RT enhanced wdition as dirst time playthrough, just enough by now that I start to get imvested in the story. Even though FPS and beasts are not my cup of tea, I like the setting and the visuals are really good. Great example how lighting can make otherwise average graphics look outstanding.

 

[CMDR Morkar]

Very few at the moment. Played Star Traders Frontiers (very good 2d turnbased spacegame) and X4 before the latest expansion (very, very good too by now but will probably wait till all expansions are out and/or more mods to choose from). About to get into Sea Dogs Odyssey / To Each his own again. Bit outdated by now but I'm really curious about the new modding support. I was thinking about playing I-War 2 again.

 

[Old Duck]

The trick with X3 (IMO) is to quickly build towards passive income.

X4 is on sale again, and once again I'm considering it. Since it's similar to X3, I'll ask you my question. In X3 (X4), can it be similar to games like Stellaris, where you can basically build your fleets and economy and control everything from the comfort of your own station / flagship like an admiral / CEO? I find appeal in playing a strategy game like Stellaris where I can be present as a first-person character on the bridge of the flagship of my fleet.

I'm asking you, here because the X4 sub-thread is like a cult where people aggressively tried to force the game down my throat. You seem to be more "impartial", so your feedback is more trustworthy IMO. No koolaid for me, please!

 

[CMDR Morkar]

X4 is on sale again, and once again I'm considering it. Since it's similar to X3, I'll ask you my question. In X3 (X4), can it be similar to games like Stellaris, where you can basically build your fleets and economy and control everything from the comfort of your own station / flagship like an admiral / CEO? I find appeal in playing a strategy game like Stellaris where I can be present as a first-person character on the bridge of the flagship of my fleet.

I'm asking you, here because the X4 sub-thread is like a cult where people aggressively tried to force the game down my throat. You seem to be more "impartial", so your feedback is more trustworthy IMO. No koolaid for me, please!

Maybe my opinion helps, too. Yes you can. More than in other X games. But don't expect a super challenging and overdetailed experience in that regard (besides the micromanaging). If you want to roleplay Babylon 5 like politics you certainly can but diplomcy is barebones.

 

[Old Duck]

Maybe my opinion helps, too. Yes you can. More than in other X games. But don't expect a super challenging and overdetailed experience in that regard (besides the micromanaging). If you want to roleplay Babylon 5 like politics you certainly can but diplomcy is barebones.

I'm actually cool with easier, less-detailed experiences. I've never gotten that far in Stellaris yet because it all just seems quite overwhelming and "overdetailed". Maybe it's just because I'm on the wrong side of the learning curve. I like the concept, however (I very much enjoyed the construction, deployment, and control of fleets in Homeworld games), especially if I'm "in" the game world rather than looking at it top-down like Stellaris.

Of course I do hope for a logical consistency and immersive feel to the experience. Rumor is X4 drops the ball in this respect in some regards.

 

[CMDR Morkar]

Of course I do hope for a logical consistency and immersive feel to the experience. Rumor is X4 drops the ball in this respect in some regards.

I have only spent around 25 hours into it therefore I can't tell where it lacks in logical consistency or would be immersion breaking in the long run. But it's not worse than X2/X3 in that direction. I found to be even better in that regard. But at a certain point you probably want to have mods to fit it more to your own preferences. But big overhaul mods as such aren't really out yet. And the smaller ones often still need tweaking. Personally I liked the mods where you get taxed for stations in foreign sectors but could tax stations in your own sectors (if you own some). Another mod I liked was paying regular salaries for your crew and maintenance as well as a mod to boost crew experience levels / making level up crew easier. I also deactivated the super highways.
You know some specific examples where it would lack in logical consistency and immersion?

 

[Old Duck]

You know some specific examples where it would lack in logical consistency and immersion?

I've seen mentioned in other threads things about enemy races getting along as if they are best friends rather than warring with each other, for example.

The mod that gets rid of that dumb space highway, does it actually remove the visuals of the highway from the game? How does one travel around without it? Do the NPCs adjust accordingly?

 

[CMDR Morkar]

I've seen mentioned in other threads things about enemy races getting along as if they are best friends rather than warring with each other, for example.

The mod that gets rid of that dumb space highway, does it actually remove the visuals of the highway from the game? How does one travel around without it? Do the NPCs adjust accordingly?

Could be related to Xenon then. X4 has a far wider range how each playthrough can develop. Lorewise Xenon are a bit problematic but not impossible to get along with other races (at first for strategic reasons, they develop too). But there are mods that can change and tweak such possible relations. I just don't know if they are compatible with the latest versions or which mod it is currently because I haven't played it for some time.
Only the superhighway gets removed (the big circle highway), normal highways remain. It removes the superhighway completely. NPCs usually have no problem with it because everything else stays as it is.

 

[Old Duck]

Only the superhighway gets removed (the big circle highway), normal highways remain. It removes the superhighway completely. NPCs usually have no problem with it because everything else stays as it is.

I don't own the game yet, so I need clarification. What are "normal" highways? Are they the magic blue roads in space, or is that just this "super" highway? It's these magic blue space roads that bother me. I'd much rather X3-like travel using portals and such, with space looking like space again rather than Tron world.

 

[CMDR Morkar]

I don't own the game yet, so I need clarification. What are "normal" highways? Are they the magic blue roads in space, or is that just this "super" highway? It's these magic blue space roads that bother me. I'd much rather X3-like travel using portals and such, with space looking like space again rather than Tron world.

Look at the screenshots there: No superhighway mod
Wiki: https://x4-foundations.fandom.com/wiki/Superhighway
Superhigway: Combines main sectors (looks like a huge inner circle on the map going through all main sectors)
Highway: inner sector connection, only one direct line

Spoiler: Map

 

[jasonbarron]

Snowrunner and Days Gone on the PC. They're both fun to pick up and play even if you're on a limited time budget

 

[Slange Lands]

Borderlands 3 which is on sale on steam for 20 USD.
It's an FPS set in an extremely tongue-in-cheek dystopian future.
Compared to Elite, BD3 has no grind and is very fun.

What struck me about BD3 is that everything has been structured so that gameplay is as instinctual and streamlined as possible. As I was learning, there were always ample cues and hints to help me progress. I have not had to farm anything.

Furthermore, it was obvious that the devs did their utmost to make the Borderlands universe as alive and amusing as possible. I was just laughing.

I hardly ever laugh in Elite. I dont think I will play Elite again.

It seems to me that Mr. Braben wants Frontier to be the new EA of the UK. He is interested in new IP and publishing, not nourishing and creating a living virtual universe.
As a Reaper once said, "So be it."
No form lasts forever.
On a more positive note, I am very interested in Starfield. And it is summer here in the US.