What are you playing?

[KrazyT]

After more or less 45 hrs, just finished The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion - GOTY Edition Deluxe ( on PC, with all the extensions ).
Already finished back then, and it wasn't so great. Well, it has some very good moments, and some bad.
So I've redone it the easy way : combat slider to the left, so easy mode.
Why ? Because combats sucks, they're boring, drags too long in "normal", and the auto-levelling loot / fight don't spice the sauce, quite the opposite.
(And theses "Oblivion" gates to close, what a boring mess !)
With this problem fixed, I was able to appreciate the game, roaming in a classic medieval world, saving the world, do some quests for people, then rob them, becoming guild chief ...
I've could spend much more time in the game, but the auto loot based on level makes the exploration worthless.
In Morrowind, each cave could potentially hides a good weapon, gold or stuff ... Not in Oblivion. Same caves, some chests but poor weapons, or little gold to find. So why bother ?
Anyways, I've liked this second run, more like a walking sim with much more interactions !
Back then, I haven't done the extensions. Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles. The others one are minors and not very worth it.
They're pretty good, and with Shivering Isles, you'll discover a new isle, with some Morrowind accents, but found the story a bit boring.

It's for this kind of scenery I've redone the game. It has some nice atmosphere.

Walking in the wilderness, what a joy ! Note a ruin-less screenshot ! It's rare in Oblivion as there is ruins everywhere !

Not so bad for a 2006 game. As you can see, I've played an Argonian, can breath underwater and immune to disease : it's almost cheating !

The well named Shivering Islands. It reminds me some Morrowind regions.

 

[Vayra86]

After more or less 45 hrs, just finished The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion - GOTY Edition Deluxe ( on PC, with all the extensions ).
Already finished back then, and it wasn't so great. Well, it has some very good moments, and some bad.
So I've redone it the easy way : combat slider to the left, so easy mode.
Why ? Because combats sucks, they're boring, drags too long in "normal", and the auto-levelling loot / fight don't spice the sauce, quite the opposite.
(And theses "Oblivion" gates to close, what a boring mess !)
With this problem fixed, I was able to appreciate the game, roaming in a classic medieval world, saving the world, do some quests for people, then rob them, becoming guild chief ...
I've could spend much more time in the game, but the auto loot based on level makes the exploration worthless.
In Morrowind, each cave could potentially hides a good weapon, gold or stuff ... Not in Oblivion. Same caves, some chests but poor weapons, or little gold to find. So why bother ?
Anyways, I've liked this second run, more like a walking sim with much more interactions !
Back then, I haven't done the extensions. Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles. The others one are minors and not very worth it.
They're pretty good, and with Shivering Isles, you'll discover a new isle, with some Morrowind accents, but found the story a bit boring.

View attachment 370119
It's for this kind of scenery I've redone the game. It has some nice atmosphere.

View attachment 370120
Walking in the wilderness, what a joy ! Note a ruin-less screenshot ! It's rare in Oblivion as there is ruins everywhere !

View attachment 370121
Not so bad for a 2006 game. As you can see, I've played an Argonian, can breath underwater and immune to disease : it's almost cheating !

View attachment 370122
The well named Shivering Islands. It reminds me some Morrowind regions.

Yeah I think there are two good ways to play Oblivion: yours, and the power trip way, where you exploit the leveling system by making all your Major skill choices completely irrelevant/hard to level things, while you are levelling up the minors hard and put all your combat skills on. This way, you barely level up, but you do get a lot stronger. Then, you start gaining character levels and while you do that, you start actually exploring dungeons and then you will find the scaling to work for you, instead of against you, plus the combat is also short and can be spiky (because you are low level, you don't have high HP, so attacks do hurt you, but you do have superior skill numbers to overcome the enemy without them feeling like sponges).

Can recommend, if you ever intend to start over. Still though this does show well why this system was abandoned. Not only is it an absolute chore to level some skills (ye olde way to level stealth was just auto running crouched into a wall with someone behind a door somewhere, leaving the game on overnight ) but the manner of exploit you 'build in your progression' basically determines how you play.

 

[Frick]

I originally played the game on hard and I focused too much on weapon/mods/resources grind. I quickly got bored cause I wasn't following the story, just free roaming for hours to earn skills and find stuff. It got very repetitive after 30+ hours.
I started the remaster on easy mode, and it's a lot better to focus on the story.

Even when following the story I found it quite boring after 30 hours. Mind you for 25 of those hours it was great. I'm yet to actually finish the story because a) I'm not very interested actually and b) I have to get through a whole bunch of them big cat-things and while it's not hard I really can't be bothered.

 

[Vayra86]

I originally played the game on hard and I focused too much on weapon/mods/resources grind. I quickly got bored cause I wasn't following the story, just free roaming for hours to earn skills and find stuff. It got very repetitive after 30+ hours.
I started the remaster on easy mode, and it's a lot better to focus on the story.

Yeah I'm playing Ghost of Tsushima now and its the exact same, its clear from the beginning. So much filler and tried and tested themepark open world nonsense... But the story related quests are really nice.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Well optimized it surely is. Especially on the cpu side. I cap at 60 but I can tell by how low my cpu's power draw is. And the frametime graph is flat, no stutters or anything like that encountered. Looks pretty nice too. I'd take this small but polished look over the open world but generic procedurally generated stuff any day. I don't mind open world, but it has to be done right. It can't just be miles and miles of nothing.

Still not sure on the whole though. I get why some people are complaining about the dialogue as it has a fair bit of modernness to it, but idk, doesn't seem that bad to me, so far anyway. We shall see.

Did you go for mage class by chance? If so.... hows that going for you?

EDIT: So I guess this is officially the first game I'm going to play with RT on, at least a little bit. I just played a section where somebody mentioned fog but I didn't see any. So I turned all rt settings on to see if thats why and it was. So I turned the ray tracing options to down to 'selective' to see if that would be enough, and again it was. And also it really does enhance the lighting and atmosphere in, at least in the area I'm in now. I always found ray tracing made games look different but not necessarily better, but here I think it really does help. Weirdest thing is, it didn't even seem to increase my GPUs power draw. It did increase cpu power draw by 5 - 10 watts. But... I can live with that.

I went for Warrior, you get equipped with both a 2 handed weapon and Sword & Shield setup and can change easily in mid combat from one to the other, I only went warrior for my first playthrough because it seemed to be the simplest in terms of combat and I have to say it's less complex and apparently more forgiving than I thought it would be.

My 11900K draws around 160W max (all cores) as reported by HWinfo, I have not tried RT yet but only because it's currently so smooth on Ultra with my little 4070 that I am happy, I tend to play slightly older titles usually where often RT is not an option but I will give it a try sometime.

 

[nomdeplume]

Yeah I'm playing Ghost of Tsushima now and its the exact same, its clear from the beginning. So much filler and tried and tested themepark open world nonsense... But the story related quests are really nice.

Exactly the game that came to mind reading that post. Could've done with a bit less combat and exploring under every single structure in my playing style. When I noticed the fun scripted stuff was dragging I put it down. Yakuza 0-6 was the final push over the edge towards being more selective how far outside the story and side missions to go.

---

Currently relearning how to play Forza Horizon. Almost like a completely different game everything is so much quicker now. Spent so much effort correcting for dying controllers and other deficits holding me back the game working as intended is taking some getting used to.

 

[Vayra86]

Exactly the game that came to mind reading that post. Could've done with a bit less combat and exploring under every single structure in my playing style. When I noticed the fun scripted stuff was dragging I put it down. Yakuza 0-6 was the final push over the edge towards being more selective how far outside the story and side missions to go.

---

Currently relearning how to play Forza Horizon. Almost like a completely different game everything is so much quicker now. Spent so much effort correcting for dying controllers and other deficits holding me back the game working as intended is taking some getting used to.

One saving grace it has is that the combat is enjoyable to look at, and feels quite good. I've got some 12 hours in the game now but standoffs never get boring Coolness factor does a lot.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Days gone crew, let's go. I am starting my 4th game+. I grinded it out to get everything unlocked and boosted. Having it all from the get go is the reward for that hard work. I have no desire to start over fresh as a n00b again. I lol'd after the opening mission when we run back to the bike and Deek says "I need to get in shape", because I have max stamina already. Literal lifesaver to be able to spam dodge roll sometimes.

The horde missions in challenge mode are kicking my ass. Time to hit up the reddit sub and get some tips. At the infamous sawmill I have to be missing a tactical move that would allow me to get some freaker ears and buy better stuff. I end up running across roofs and eventually getting swarmed.

Borislav247 on YT is the Challenges and Horde king. His videos completely helped me as he explains strategies and tactics in great detail as he runs through them. Great teaching style.

 

[Ivan Bliminse]

I was playing Mass Effect Andromeda for a couple of weeks but recently started running out of memory (even though i didn't have many other programs running) so decided to pause that until i get more RAM for Christmas..

In addition to what i stated earlier i now have some info when playing, i've been keeping an eye on temp's etc.. but i think i'll be adding more Ram next week at least 32GB see if that helps.
Cpu Load: 40%
Cpu Temp: 48%
Cpu Clock: 47%
Ram Load: 87%

Then my machine froze..

 

[Splinterdog]

Playing Days Gone again. This has become one of my top 5. It has a very good story (not excellent, but pretty good), great gameplay mechanics, beautiful vistas, good voice acting, and of course, the Horde mechanics. Despite 3 previous playthroughs (and 1 being NG+), I never realized that the challenges actually help in specific stats in the main game. I had tried one once, and it was super hard so I never went back. The other day I watched some videos of a YT creator who gives great tips for hordes and the challenges, as well as explaining what benefit each Challenge has in the game. Each of them also gives another patch for Deacon's leather jacket when you succeed at Bronze, silver or Gold. It has resulted in an even better game for me this time.

Like you, Days Gone is up there as one of my all time favourites. It's a labour of love that the devs put into it and is very replayable. I'm still on my first NG+, but those hordes scare the sh*t out of me
This morning I managed to get past a tricky part of Tomb Raider I Remastered, Unfinished Business, thanks to Stella, cough...
I then cancelled my GamePass sub because frankly, I don't play enough to warrant the expense - far too many unfinished games, many of which I haven't even installed.

 

[AusWolf]

After more or less 45 hrs, just finished The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion - GOTY Edition Deluxe ( on PC, with all the extensions ).
Already finished back then, and it wasn't so great. Well, it has some very good moments, and some bad.
So I've redone it the easy way : combat slider to the left, so easy mode.
Why ? Because combats sucks, they're boring, drags too long in "normal", and the auto-levelling loot / fight don't spice the sauce, quite the opposite.
(And theses "Oblivion" gates to close, what a boring mess !)
With this problem fixed, I was able to appreciate the game, roaming in a classic medieval world, saving the world, do some quests for people, then rob them, becoming guild chief ...
I've could spend much more time in the game, but the auto loot based on level makes the exploration worthless.
In Morrowind, each cave could potentially hides a good weapon, gold or stuff ... Not in Oblivion. Same caves, some chests but poor weapons, or little gold to find. So why bother ?
Anyways, I've liked this second run, more like a walking sim with much more interactions !
Back then, I haven't done the extensions. Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles. The others one are minors and not very worth it.
They're pretty good, and with Shivering Isles, you'll discover a new isle, with some Morrowind accents, but found the story a bit boring.

View attachment 370119
It's for this kind of scenery I've redone the game. It has some nice atmosphere.

View attachment 370120
Walking in the wilderness, what a joy ! Note a ruin-less screenshot ! It's rare in Oblivion as there is ruins everywhere !

View attachment 370121
Not so bad for a 2006 game. As you can see, I've played an Argonian, can breath underwater and immune to disease : it's almost cheating !

View attachment 370122
The well named Shivering Islands. It reminds me some Morrowind regions.

You did the right thing, imo. Oblivion is best enjoyed as a walking simulator. The scenery is breathtaking, the music is fabulous, each town and area has its distinct feel to it, which makes exploration great. But yeah, combat is boring and closing Oblivion gates is repetitive as heck. It's fashionable to criticise Bethesda games for being empty, but sometimes you don't want more things to do after your daily grind. Sometimes you want to switch off and enjoy a (virtual) walk, and for that purpose, there's no game better than Oblivion, imo.

 

[jormungand]

3 more months for the Hunt to begin.
I really enjoyed the beta, i hope they fix the issues with optimization so everyone can enjoy the game

The presets/ characters they gave us were astonishing and beautiful.

and YES...if you were wondering i go for the fanservice too

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Borislav247 on YT is the Challenges and Horde king. His videos completely helped me as he explains strategies and tactics in great detail as he runs through them. Great teaching style.

That's always the advice in the subreddit as well. Don't know how I haven't subbed to his channel yet. I'll fix that now, gratitude.

 

[rtwjunkie]

but those hordes scare the sh*t out of me

Best way to get rid of most of the fear factor is let yourself get mauled by a horde a few times. Then your mind is free to focus on locations and tactics that are specific to each horde. You’ll be taking care of them on your own terms.

 

[the54thvoid]

Just uninstalled Little Nightmares 2. There's a section where you need to control a flashlight and move, but it was designed with controller play (recommends it) so it's appallingly clumsy. You need the flashlight to 'freeze' enemies, and after checking a reddit thread, it gets worse. So, enjoyable game ruined by shitty controller option/mechanic.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Like you, Days Gone is up there as one of my all time favourites. It's a labour of love that the devs put into it and is very replayable. I'm still on my first NG+, but those hordes scare the sh*t out of me

The horde theme music that plays adds to the effect; I dig it. It puts my nerves on edge the same way The Flood music did in Halo:CE.

If you have all of the weapons you use at military spec with the highest capacity magazines, hordes are not a problem. MG55+Chicago Chopper+SMG9+4 reloads in the saddle bags is a good meta. I sometimes use the IDF Pup instead of the chopper since ammo capacity is not really an issue. Mix in some attractor bombs, attractors+napalm, and all six grenades and pipe bombs and even the big hordes are easy to cheese. Things get sketchy pop all 3 cocktails of health, focus, and stamina as needed. I often keep my bike close enough to hop on simply because it's more expeditious. Of course the story does not make that possible sometimes.

Another line Deek says that gets a chuckle in game+ is when he first leaves Copeland's camp after having his bike stolen. Paraphrasing -"This isn't a bike!" because it's supposed to be a POS now. But it's already completely pimped out.

 

[iameatingjam]

Just uninstalled Little Nightmares 2. There's a section where you need to control a flashlight and move, but it was designed with controller play (recommends it) so it's appallingly clumsy. You need the flashlight to 'freeze' enemies, and after checking a reddit thread, it gets worse. So, enjoyable game ruined by shitty controller option/mechanic.

... not a controller person?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Just uninstalled Little Nightmares 2. There's a section where you need to control a flashlight and move, but it was designed with controller play (recommends it) so it's appallingly clumsy. You need the flashlight to 'freeze' enemies, and after checking a reddit thread, it gets worse. So, enjoyable game ruined by shitty controller option/mechanic.

I was a console gamer for about 7yrs while my son grew up so we could play together. It made me prefer controller for most games that aren't FPS. I use the latest Xbox controller via bluetooth. I played Gears of War Ultimate edition with m&kb and it felt like I was cheating because it was too easy to hit shots.

 

[AusWolf]

I was a console gamer for about 7yrs while my son grew up so we could play together. It made me prefer controller for most games that aren't FPS. I use the latest Xbox controller via bluetooth. I played Gears of War Ultimate edition with m&kb and it felt like I was cheating because it was too easy to hit shots.

That's how it should feel. When you point your head in a certain direction in real life, you're just doing it instantly (like when you drag a mouse) without turning it at a constant, slow pace first (like you do with the analogue stick)

... not a controller person?

Controllers are dumb (except for Mortal Kombat and a few other rarities).

 

[lexluthermiester]

Just uninstalled Little Nightmares 2. There's a section where you need to control a flashlight and move, but it was designed with controller play (recommends it) so it's appallingly clumsy. You need the flashlight to 'freeze' enemies, and after checking a reddit thread, it gets worse. So, enjoyable game ruined by shitty controller option/mechanic.

There are a few games like that in recent years. Great ideas ruined by crappy controls..

I've been revisiting Command & Conquer 3 Tiberian Wars.
I am very surprised by how well it holds up. Still feels fresh and beautiful.
Granted, running the OG disc version that I have on Win11 is a PITA, so it runs on my Win7 system(my T3500 with W3680+GTX1070ti).

RedAlert3 is up next...

 

[codex5600x]

Good of war Ragnarok, Forza motorsport, Ghost of Tsushima,

 

[AusWolf]

There are a few games like that in recent years. Great ideas ruined by crappy controls..

Out of the games I played recently, Nier Automata comes to mind.

I've been revisiting Command & Conquer 3 Tiberian Wars.
I am very surprised by how well it holds up. Still feels fresh and beautiful.
Granted, running the OG disc version that I have on Win11 is a PITA, so it runs on my Win7 system(my T3500 with W3680+GTX1070ti).

RedAlert3 is up next...

That's a good idea, maybe I should do that, too.

 

[MCJAxolotl7]

Just started Sims 4, also just got Fly Corp because it's on sale, used my banana money. Playing lots of Satisfactory, just got it. The fact that these games all run perfectly on my Linux computer amazes me.

Fly Corp on Steam

Develop your own transport network in different regions and cities: open new routes, buy and upgrade new planes, and increase airport capacity!

store.steampowered.com

 

[lexluthermiester]

That's a good idea, maybe I should do that, too.

If you have the Steam or Origin versions, you should be ok on Win10/11. If you have the disc versions though, you should run them on Windows 7.

 

[AusWolf]

If you have the Steam or Origin versions, you should be ok on Win10/11. If you have the disc versions though, you should run them on Windows 7.

I'm not sure if I have the Steam or Origin version, but I need the Steam version as I've recently switched to Linux. I'll have a look.