• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

What are you playing?

Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
2,859 (0.50/day)
Location
Northants. UK
System Name Bad Moon Ryzen
Processor Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard Asrock B450M Pro4-F
Cooling Vetroo V5
Memory Crucial Ballistix 32Gb (8gb x 4) 3200 MHz DDR 4
Video Card(s) 6700 XT
Storage Samsung 860 Evo 1Tb, Samsung 860 Evo 500Gb,WD Black 8Tb, WD Blue 2Tb
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG270bmiix & 4K Samsung TV
Case Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact w/Dark Tempered Glass
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply MSI MPG A850GF (850w)
VR HMD Rift S
I have to say, Uncharted is one of my favorite series of all time. I am really glad to see it come to PC, where we can use mouse and keyboard + higher fps and resolutions. Really wish they could have brought the entire Uncharted series in one giant package though, the first three games are also 10/10 imo.
I want the first three Uncharted games, Last Of Us 1(already coming) + 2, Until Dawn and Bloodborne all on PC and I'll be a happier gamer for sure. At least we have Miles Morales coming in November :toast:
 
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,890 (0.89/day)
Location
Cusp Of Mania, FL
Processor Ryzen 9 3900X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F
Cooling Dark Rock 4, 3x Corsair ML140 front intake, 1x rear exhaust
Memory 2x8GB TridentZ RGB [3600Mhz CL16]
Video Card(s) EVGA 3060ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming
Storage 970 EVO 500GB nvme, 860 EVO 250GB SATA, Seagate Barracuda 1TB + 4TB HDDs
Display(s) 27" MSI G27C4 FHD 165hz
Case NZXT H710
Audio Device(s) Modi Multibit, Vali 2, Shortest Way 51+ - LSR 305's, Focal Clear, HD6xx, HE5xx, LCD-2 Classic
Power Supply Corsair RM650x v2
Mouse iunno whatever cheap crap logitech *clutches Xbox 360 controller security blanket*
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Pro
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores ask your mother
Playing MW2 and enjoying the single player campaign. I am getting owned in multiplayer. My old brain doesnt move fast enough these days.
I've been thinking of picking that one up. As much as I enjoyed the multiplayer in the classics back in the day, starting with the og Modern Warfare, me and a couple of buddies spent probably about as much time on the campaign. Came down to how many wanted to play that day. We would do local multiplayer with a couple of tough bots if there were several people, or campaigns/online tradeoffs if it was just two or three people. Back then, we were used to campaigns being staple features of the games. We all played Halo 2 multiplayer fiercely. You know that vibe when there's a whole match going on but you already know that the only meaningful outcome is which of you or your buddy you matched with is going to come in second? :laugh:

But the more serious of us knew you could also get a lot of time out of optimizing legendary campaign runs, single and co-op. Sometimes me and one buddy in particular would go into a shooter campaign and just analyze one specific level, play it a few times over and refine our tactics. Take the flood levels, for instance. The cool thing about it to me was that me and everyone I did campaigns with all got massively better at multiplayer, I think just by bouncing strategies off of each other and developing that shared understanding of the mechanics as we basically just practiced our core skills on what are usually quite challenging levels. Halo 2's AI and general enemy placement is underrated today. On legendary difficulty you will mess around and very quickly find out just how far they will go to trick or corner you into a disadvantageous move. It's like a dancing barrage of fuckery. And that's when you realize, it can be wayy more stressful than your average multiplayer match - and that a lot of people in those matchmaking pools will never even attempt to contend with multiple legendary elite honor guards :laugh: The campaign taught you by force, how to maximize every second.

Do people even have that experience anymore? I don't know. I don't really game socially nearly as much as I used to. I had a lot more to throw at those kinds of sessions when I was 19 and hopped up on Monster.

Co-op shooters were more prominent back then, which made emphasis on campaigns more of a thing in general, I like to think. There was Gears of War, Army of Two, Killzone 2. It was happening in a lot of the popular action-oriented genres. I especially remember there being lots of horror and zombie games basically built around deeper single and multiplayer campaigns. Those are just a few I'm remembering right now that have gotten a little left behind. The idea of a good CoD campaign might actually be enough to get me to delve into the multiplayer again. I might have to nab that one.


I actually restarted Requiem again. It's my fault. I had a total lull in wanting to get into any games because I was in guitar mode. I played guitar for a good 20 hours last week, or thereabouts. I tried to go back to the playthrough I had, but I felt like I had lost my step with the whole flow. Not even a little sad about it. The game is so often such a treat for the eyes and ears. You can't really get over it all in one go. You move on only after you've assured yourself that you can see it again later. It's all just finely curated audio-visual paintings. I get my ass caught by just by stopping and gawking at stuff. They know what they're doing. I finally get it. It's the 'doorway to Narnia' effect. That's a staple of the level progression philosophy in Requiem. They even incorporate it into the cutscene transitions in ways I won't spoil. I'll just say it's slick. It's quite the adventure.
A Plague Tale  Requiem Screenshot 2022.10.30 - 03.46.10.33.png

A Plague Tale  Requiem Screenshot 2022.10.30 - 03.47.56.74.png
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
816 (0.20/day)
System Name White Shark
Processor 5600x
Motherboard MSI B550 Tomahawk
Cooling Noctua U12A Chromax
Memory Crucial Ballistix 16GB (8GBx2) CL16 3200 MHz
Video Card(s) RTX 3080 12gb Asus TUF OC
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 1TB OS / 860 EVO 500 GB /860 EVO 1TB/ Seagate 1TB
Display(s) LG 34GP83A-B 3440x1440p 144hz nano-ips ultrawide
Case Phanteks P500A (White/Black)
Audio Device(s) HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless
Power Supply Seasonic 850FX focus gold 80plus
Mouse HyperX Pulsefire Haste
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Origins Core - Tenkeyless
Software W10
I want the first three Uncharted games, Last Of Us 1(already coming) + 2, Until Dawn and Bloodborne all on PC and I'll be a happier gamer for sure. At least we have Miles Morales coming in November :toast:
Im waiting for Ghost of Tsushima, really anxious about that one to come to pc.
ATM jumped to gamepass for Sniper Elite 5 and Halo Infinite campaigns
 
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
2,859 (0.50/day)
Location
Northants. UK
System Name Bad Moon Ryzen
Processor Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard Asrock B450M Pro4-F
Cooling Vetroo V5
Memory Crucial Ballistix 32Gb (8gb x 4) 3200 MHz DDR 4
Video Card(s) 6700 XT
Storage Samsung 860 Evo 1Tb, Samsung 860 Evo 500Gb,WD Black 8Tb, WD Blue 2Tb
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG270bmiix & 4K Samsung TV
Case Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact w/Dark Tempered Glass
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply MSI MPG A850GF (850w)
VR HMD Rift S
Im waiting for Ghost of Tsushima, really anxious about that one to come to pc.
ATM jumped to gamepass for Sniper Elite 5 and Halo Infinite campaigns
Oh yeh, forgot about that beauty. Would love to see Ghost of Tsushima come to PC. Great game in it's own right but with the mods on PC it could be amazing.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
25,559 (6.52/day)
interesting souls like ... i like it!

Asterigos: curse of the star

got it GoG version pre order bonus (not deluxe ... will get the DLC when it will get out next year )
it's what you could call a "casual" souls like :laugh: 6 type of weapons and fighting style, the overall design is nice and ... oh, green eyed freckled redhead MC? good good ....
seems nordic themed with fantasy element ... quite in my alley (nordic MC faction with Greek and Roman monsters? ohhhhh bloody joy )
controller mandatory, or at least they recommend it heavily... no problems :D

View attachment 267797View attachment 267795View attachment 267796
View attachment 267800View attachment 267798

View attachment 267799View attachment 267801

View attachment 267802View attachment 267803
yeah proper souls like ... mobs, boss, attack dodge flask dodge attack skills dodge attack flask, /profit

run like a charm maxed in 2880x1620 with FSR 2 on quality preset
View attachment 267805View attachment 267804


lets see how the story will keep me on :)

the MC remind me of Aloy from Horizon : Zero Dawn, not exagerrated not overly skimpy, just natural.
I've got this on my wishlist! How are you liking it?

Picked up Trials of Mana after long hiatus (last save from December 2021), finished the story along with the post game epilogue. It was perfectly fine. View attachment 267808View attachment 267809View attachment 267810View attachment 267811

There's New Game Plus but honestly, I don't feel like replaying it again.
This is a personal fav and a classic!
 
Joined
May 9, 2012
Messages
8,380 (1.93/day)
Location
Ovronnaz, Wallis, Switzerland
System Name main/SFFHTPCARGH!(tm)/Xiaomi Mi TV Stick/Samsung Galaxy S23/Ally
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D/i7-3770/S905X/Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Motherboard MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk/HP SFF Q77 Express/uh?/uh?/Asus
Cooling Enermax ETS-T50 Axe aRGB /basic HP HSF /errr.../oh! liqui..wait, no:sizable vapor chamber/a nice one
Memory 64gb Corsair Vengeance Pro 3600mhz DDR4/8gb DDR3 1600/2gb LPDDR3/8gb LPDDR5x 4200/16gb LPDDR5
Video Card(s) Hellhound Spectral White RX 7900 XTX 24gb/GT 730/Mali 450MP5/Adreno 740/RDNA3 768 core
Storage 250gb870EVO/500gb860EVO/2tbSandisk/NVMe2tb+1tb/4tbextreme V2/1TB Arion/500gb/8gb/256gb/2tb SN770M
Display(s) X58222 32" 2880x1620/32"FHDTV/273E3LHSB 27" 1920x1080/6.67"/AMOLED 2X panel FHD+120hz/FHD 120hz
Case Cougar Panzer Max/Elite 8300 SFF/None/back/back-front Gorilla Glass Victus 2+ UAG Monarch Carbon
Audio Device(s) Logi Z333/SB Audigy RX/HDMI/HDMI/Dolby Atmos/KZ x HBB PR2/Edifier STAX Spirit S3 & SamsungxAKG beans
Power Supply Chieftec Proton BDF-1000C /HP 240w/12v 1.5A/4Smart Voltplug PD 30W/Asus USB-C 65W
Mouse Speedlink Sovos Vertical-Asus ROG Spatha-Logi Ergo M575/Xiaomi XMRM-006/touch/touch
Keyboard Endorfy Thock 75% <3/none/touch/virtual
VR HMD Medion Erazer
Software Win10 64/Win8.1 64/Android TV 8.1/Android 13/Win11 64
Benchmark Scores bench...mark? i do leave mark on bench sometime, to remember which one is the most comfortable. :o
I've got this on my wishlist! How are you liking it?
quite a lot i have to say,

there is a lot of environement interactions (just knocking on a door or eavsdropping, reading paper on the floor or pinned to walls) the gameplay is quite pleasant (although it's more a Souls Lite than a Souls like), it has the bonefire mechanic (just a different shape) but the consumable are not heavily limited and can be looted, the difficuly can be changed, it share some graphical smilarity with Fenyx rising but not the goofyness or the open world (well the maps are not totally linear either) but Fenix Rising is a BotW like nonetheless :laugh:

RPG elements with the skill table and attribut point is fine, the equipment is set right at the start, you have 6 weapons that you can upgrade and for now i only have the base costume and the pre order costume, the trinkets is what is craftable and equipable (dropped one from the Croc boss to go alongside the 2 from the pre order )

it is said to have a DLC next year (february iirc? )

in short, a very pleasant game plenty worth the low price tag it has, 35.99chf is what i paid for it on GoG and i could easily see that one going in the usual 69chf of a standard AAA (or 89... if they go "a la" Square Enix )
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
20,782 (5.97/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
Processor i7 8700k 4.6Ghz @ 1.24V
Motherboard AsRock Fatal1ty K6 Z370
Cooling beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200/C16
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 830 256GB + Crucial BX100 250GB + Toshiba 1TB HDD
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse XTRFY M42
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
Software W10 x64
They're lining up good ideas to be castrated on a multi-billion dollar assembly line. Cyberpunk itself is a victim of that. The world of big open-world games is actively hostile to deeper novelty. It simply is not permitted by the commonly prescribed formulae.
Don't know about this, you're right when its about the 'commonly prescribed formulae' I think, because somehow, open world has become synonymous with a big map filled with map markers and you're left picking out one of choice to go to said place and collect or kill something. I mean, that is the gist of what 'open world' games do.

But then you find, say a multiplayer oriented open world game like the Division; or one like Guild Wars 2, and you notice where the draw of an open world is really at. GTA, has that quality too: its 'alive'. And the more alive it feels, the more it makes you feel like you're there and can do stuff in it that somehow matters or is interesting to do. Deeper novelty in open worlds, or I'm misunderstanding what you mean, but I think that definitely happened. Just not in Cyberpunk.

My point:
Its the immersive factor that makes an open world game more than the sum of its parts. GTA for being what it is, is immersive. You're the badass, and you want the city at your feet. It deploys numerous mechanics to make that feel real. From training at the gym to pimping cars. None of it is prescribed. But it damn well fits.

Now on to Cyberpunk, I think you're right when you say it shouldn't have been an open world game in the state it was (perhaps originally) intended/delivered. But at the same time, the game did have, and still does have, every potential to feel like its more than just a story line mission chain and some cutscenes. The world inspires to get immersed in, doesn't it? And I think that is the key driver that made this project go open world. It should have added something. In the end - and still today - it really didn't and we conclude the opposite... but that really lies first and foremost in the execution. The project was mismanaged and revamped along the way, probably getting caught in the squeeze of feature creep and delivery requirements.

I mean honestly. The most immediate memories I have of the game are the open world sequences of those beautifully crafted city streets. Where you're literally gaping at all the detail they put in. And then I have almost nothing 'active' to remember it by, at the same time. What did I do, in all those beautiful shitholes of future reality? I honestly don't know - because there wasn't much there. They made scenery, plus the eternal mapmarker fiesta, and that's as far as they got. But what if you could engage in gang wars that truly worked mechanically as a game inside the game (San Andreas); what if you could do more than farm cars, except driving in the same streets with it; what if there were actual random/interactive events going on, like the odd police chase, instead of eternally standing police barriers with static officers? What if those medical teams actually did randomly interfere with your day-to-day like they did in the opening sequence? Why can't I even get a drink at the bar if I want to?

A specific bug that underlines all of this 'intent, but not execution' of ideas, is how police used to be before they got patched to normality. They would insta kill you. Why? Because you were treading outside of the scope of the project, while walking the walk in the world they present themselves. That just says it all, right there.

There is just SO. MUCH. low hanging fruit here they didn't pick, its painfully clear what happened here. And I still hope they'll make it happen, because honestly, I would go back, and I would stay a while. They have everything already. All the assets/actors... the scenery... the locations... the map build. And they wasted months on repetitive shit quests we find through markers... The most impressive activity I found in the city were the camps of bad guys doing their 'random stuff' that wasn't random but one scripted scene, no more than a creep camp really. The lost potential here just does not cease to amaze me to this day.

And I mean yes, even in this desolate place you can conceive your own 'story' in your head, but that only works for so long and it has a distinct sadness factor to it when the game supports that in no way whatsoever. Exploring builds, I mean honestly... what's the point? The game never really requires you to, in much of a meaningful way. Its 'you can', but its also 'why go through the effort'? Again, it highlights the lack of mechanics/real systems underneath the game. They plopped some utterly silly AI down, and they used some numbers to make things different. Similar things happened in their first take on character progression. It might be a little different now, but what it was, was devoid of any kind of balanced gameplay or progression. You mentioned Deus Ex and all the similarities I think - I see them too, but did you also identify the differences between it and Cyberpunk? The 'open' is much more condensed, first off, but also, and more importantly: Deus Ex doesn't rain constant loot over your head as if it somehow matters to anything. It doesn't want to clone Borderlands in some mismatched way, like Cyberpunk (and to the same degree: The Witcher 3!) try to do. You said it right, these stats and vertical progression don't really matter - or shouldn't matter so much - but rather the horizontal progression called adaptation. It highlights the same fundamental problem: mismanagement, not properly scoped, features crept in and fought popularity contests!

Another way (the last, promise...) to underline that perspective is how much you've (-we've :)) replayed Fallout or TES games and tinkered with them. Why is that so much fun? Because the core of those games is not the open world, but all the systems underneath and inside of it that you can play with. The presence of the systems and the fact its an actual system (to master, to work with, to create with), is what gives depth to the open world and makes it fun to stay and figure stuff out. And it gets even better when there is a tight connection to those systems and character progression. In Cyberpunk, that is represented by Street Cred. That stat you might level to cap before you even get halfway through the story or character levels ;) - again something they totally f'd up.
 
Last edited:

Lei

Joined
Jul 3, 2021
Messages
1,142 (1.14/day)
Location
usually in my shirt
Processor 3900x - Bykski waterblock
Motherboard MSI b450m mortar max BIOS Date 27 Apr 2023
Cooling αcool 560 rad - 2xPhanteks F140XP
Memory Micron 32gb 3200mhz ddr4
Video Card(s) Colorful 3090 ADOC active backplate cooling
Storage WD SN850 2tb ,HP EX950 1tb, WD UltraStar Helioseal 18tb+18tb
Display(s) 24“ HUION pro 4k 10bit
Case aluminium extrusions copper panels, 60 deliveries for every piece down to screws
Audio Device(s) sony stereo mic, logitech c930, Gulikit pro 2 + xbox Series S controller, moded bt headphone 1200mAh
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x
Mouse pen display, no mouse no click
Keyboard Microsoft aio media embedded touchpad (moded lithium battery 1000mAh)
Software Win 11 23h2 build 22631
Benchmark Scores cine23 20000
GRID :D

grid00.jpg


I'm a big fan of GRID because it does what it does, nice and simply - racing cars around with a little spice thrown in. Grid Legends adds a documentary style storyline which actually works very well with Nathan McKane being the cheating villain of the peace.
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
1,118 (0.56/day)
Location
Coriovallum
System Name Merc v8
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670 Gaming X AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 with Arctic fans
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Flare X F5-6000
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 3070 VENTUS 3X PLUS
Storage Solidigm P44 1TB, &2TB, Crucial MX500 2TB
Display(s) LG UltraGear 34GP950G-B
Case Caselabs Mercury S8
Audio Device(s) Some Schiit with Edifier S351DB
Power Supply Seasonic TX-750
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Epomaker TH80 SE
Software W11Pro
Work was hectic so a bit of easy-going-exploring in Sable was needed.
 
Joined
Aug 12, 2019
Messages
1,691 (1.00/day)
Location
LV-426
System Name Custom
Processor i9 9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z390 arous master
Cooling corsair h150i
Memory 4x8 3200mhz corsair
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 EX Gamer White OC
Storage 500gb Samsung 970 Evo PLus
Display(s) MSi MAG341CQ
Case Lian Li Pc-011 Dynamic
Audio Device(s) Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply 850w Seasonic Focus Platinum
Mouse Logitech G403
Keyboard Logitech G110

Lei

Joined
Jul 3, 2021
Messages
1,142 (1.14/day)
Location
usually in my shirt
Processor 3900x - Bykski waterblock
Motherboard MSI b450m mortar max BIOS Date 27 Apr 2023
Cooling αcool 560 rad - 2xPhanteks F140XP
Memory Micron 32gb 3200mhz ddr4
Video Card(s) Colorful 3090 ADOC active backplate cooling
Storage WD SN850 2tb ,HP EX950 1tb, WD UltraStar Helioseal 18tb+18tb
Display(s) 24“ HUION pro 4k 10bit
Case aluminium extrusions copper panels, 60 deliveries for every piece down to screws
Audio Device(s) sony stereo mic, logitech c930, Gulikit pro 2 + xbox Series S controller, moded bt headphone 1200mAh
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x
Mouse pen display, no mouse no click
Keyboard Microsoft aio media embedded touchpad (moded lithium battery 1000mAh)
Software Win 11 23h2 build 22631
Benchmark Scores cine23 20000
@Hyderz
Could you tell us the name of games. Or should I use image recognition to look up for it :D

Simcity? Colonize Mars? My Icy City II? Legends of Winter? Snowflakes and where to find them? ....
 
Joined
Aug 12, 2019
Messages
1,691 (1.00/day)
Location
LV-426
System Name Custom
Processor i9 9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z390 arous master
Cooling corsair h150i
Memory 4x8 3200mhz corsair
Video Card(s) Galax RTX 3090 EX Gamer White OC
Storage 500gb Samsung 970 Evo PLus
Display(s) MSi MAG341CQ
Case Lian Li Pc-011 Dynamic
Audio Device(s) Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply 850w Seasonic Focus Platinum
Mouse Logitech G403
Keyboard Logitech G110
@Hyderz
Could you tell us the name of games. Or should I use image recognition to look up for it :D

Simcity? Colonize Mars? My Icy City II? Legends of Winter? Snowflakes and where to find them? ....

That is Cities Skyline with the Snowfall DLC,
check out the store page at steam they have tons of dlc
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,817 (1.05/day)
Location
Hungary
System Name I don't name my systems.
Processor i3-12100F 'power limit removed'
Motherboard Asus Prime B660-PLUS D4
Cooling ID-Cooling SE 224 XT ARGB V3 'CPU', 4x Be Quiet! Light Wings + 2x Arctic P12 black case fans.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 3200MHz
Video Card(s) Asus TuF V2 RTX 3060 Ti @1920 MHz Core/950mV Undervolt
Storage 4 TB WD Red, 1 TB Silicon Power A55 Sata, 1 TB Kingston A2000 NVMe, 256 GB Adata Spectrix s40g NVMe
Display(s) 29" 2560x1080 75 Hz / LG 29WK600-W
Case Be Quiet! Pure Base 500 FX Black
Audio Device(s) Onboard + Hama uRage SoundZ 900+USB DAC
Power Supply Seasonic CORE GM 500W 80+ Gold
Mouse Canyon Puncher GM-20
Keyboard SPC Gear GK630K Tournament 'Kailh Brown'
Software Windows 10 Pro
I've been thinking of picking that one up. As much as I enjoyed the multiplayer in the classics back in the day, starting with the og Modern Warfare, me and a couple of buddies spent probably about as much time on the campaign. Came down to how many wanted to play that day. We would do local multiplayer with a couple of tough bots if there were several people, or campaigns/online tradeoffs if it was just two or three people. Back then, we were used to campaigns being staple features of the games. We all played Halo 2 multiplayer fiercely. You know that vibe when there's a whole match going on but you already know that the only meaningful outcome is which of you or your buddy you matched with is going to come in second? :laugh:

But the more serious of us knew you could also get a lot of time out of optimizing legendary campaign runs, single and co-op. Sometimes me and one buddy in particular would go into a shooter campaign and just analyze one specific level, play it a few times over and refine our tactics. Take the flood levels, for instance. The cool thing about it to me was that me and everyone I did campaigns with all got massively better at multiplayer, I think just by bouncing strategies off of each other and developing that shared understanding of the mechanics as we basically just practiced our core skills on what are usually quite challenging levels. Halo 2's AI and general enemy placement is underrated today. On legendary difficulty you will mess around and very quickly find out just how far they will go to trick or corner you into a disadvantageous move. It's like a dancing barrage of fuckery. And that's when you realize, it can be wayy more stressful than your average multiplayer match - and that a lot of people in those matchmaking pools will never even attempt to contend with multiple legendary elite honor guards :laugh: The campaign taught you by force, how to maximize every second.

Do people even have that experience anymore? I don't know. I don't really game socially nearly as much as I used to. I had a lot more to throw at those kinds of sessions when I was 19 and hopped up on Monster.

Co-op shooters were more prominent back then, which made emphasis on campaigns more of a thing in general, I like to think. There was Gears of War, Army of Two, Killzone 2. It was happening in a lot of the popular action-oriented genres. I especially remember there being lots of horror and zombie games basically built around deeper single and multiplayer campaigns. Those are just a few I'm remembering right now that have gotten a little left behind. The idea of a good CoD campaign might actually be enough to get me to delve into the multiplayer again. I might have to nab that one.


I actually restarted Requiem again. It's my fault. I had a total lull in wanting to get into any games because I was in guitar mode. I played guitar for a good 20 hours last week, or thereabouts. I tried to go back to the playthrough I had, but I felt like I had lost my step with the whole flow. Not even a little sad about it. The game is so often such a treat for the eyes and ears. You can't really get over it all in one go. You move on only after you've assured yourself that you can see it again later. It's all just finely curated audio-visual paintings. I get my ass caught by just by stopping and gawking at stuff. They know what they're doing. I finally get it. It's the 'doorway to Narnia' effect. That's a staple of the level progression philosophy in Requiem. They even incorporate it into the cutscene transitions in ways I won't spoil. I'll just say it's slick. It's quite the adventure.
View attachment 267897
View attachment 267898

I've finished Requiem 2 days ago and I'm kind of loss of words, not many game gives me this feeling after finishing it. Just kept thinking about it for a day or so and played nothing since. 'like when I first finished Bioshock Infinite and I was brainstorming about it for days'
That last part of the game was crazy, and I thought the first game had a lot of rats.. Oh boy.:laugh:

Asobo is definitely not a AA studio in my eyes after the Plague Tale games. 'well ok theres also Microsoft Flight sim 2020'
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
We have a new HOMM3 competitor. Holy crap this is good, even in its current early access state. The game's 'done', basically, only fine tuning left.

Songs of Conquest

Strategic elements are almost all straight bullseye in how they present hard choices and smaller, but still significant choices, in positioning, economy, etc. I can't say much of balance yet, but the swamp guys are stupidly powerful it seems, while the 'knights and fey' seem rather weak... at least in my limited experience so far.

4 factions in the game right now, and a focus on spellcasting from your 'hero', who generates his 'mana' (essence) based on your army setup, as each troop provides one or more, of six schools of mana every round. A lot of things that we know as tightly managed from HOMM are much more freeform here. Spells for example aren't 'cast 1 per turn', but rather, 'cast as much as you like' provided the essence is available to do so. Another example is how dynamic the resource systems are; having excess of one thing and none of another is very common, Marketplaces can fix this for you, and they're a lot less expensive than in HOMM. And the most eye catching one: stacks are limited in size. No more stacks of 100 Black Dragons. The highest Elder Dragon stack I can obtain is... 3 :) Less powerful units come in bigger max stack sizes. This puts a hard cap on your army power and shifts the balance towards your hero (wielder) development and avoids the 'doomstack' problem.

Also, graphics are very cute. They could win a few more nostalgia points in the audio department imho, as ambient sounds aren't nearly as cool as in HOMM and the soundtrack isn't very interesting (nor annoying, btw, its just timid), and that's really a big part of the magical pull that game has. OTOH, it does carry lots of QoL improvements, most stuff works brilliantly and hassle free.

Its also cool to see how it adapts to ultrawides. The battles are screen-filling affairs, perfectly scaled to the width. And on the map, soooo much to see:

Full zoom in (on a fully developed town - there are no different screens here, you can build and manage from the map)

View attachment 267806

Max zoom out:

View attachment 267807

Does it have Crag Hack and Vidomina? If no it cannot be as good and that is science.
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
3,475 (0.85/day)
System Name Skunkworks
Processor 5800x3d
Motherboard x570 unify
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) asrock 6800xt challenger D
Storage Sabarent rocket 4.0 2TB, MX 500 2TB
Display(s) Asus 1440p144 27"
Case Old arse cooler master 932
Power Supply Corsair 1200w platinum
Mouse *squeak*
Keyboard Some old office thing
Software openSUSE tumbleweed/Mint 21.2
I'm finally getting around to beating the first destroy all humans remake, so far it's been very enjoyable, THQ did a pretty good job remaking the original experience. I'm interested in the second game, but after finding out about the censorship I'm going to wait until its $10-15 on sale. Not a fan of censorship.

Sins of a solar empire rebellion is also getting revisited, mostly because the 5800x3d is FINALLY the chip that can manage to keep 60 FPS in late stage 10 player maps. After a decade it's actually playable!
That is an existing problem with many games actually, there will be always a handful of ppl who will shit on games no matter what even after years of the relase regardless of the game's current condition.
Yet there are more than enough ppl who are having fun with the said game and avoid the online drama.

I think the issue is the hype some games generate, to be honest Cyberpunk was so damn hyped that it was unrealistic to think that it will deliver all that like a messiah or something.
Luckily I was never hyped for the game only interested cause I did like the Witcher serie a lot so obviously I was interested in their next game and now after ~ 2 years I will finally start playing it with the current version on GoG.
Hype is an issue, but 99.99% of the time this hype comes from game devs themselves who cannot articulate what they are making or what their goals are.
Dunno I guess I like to take games for what they are and find my enjoyment in them regardless of what they were marketed for or hyped for, I try not to jump on such things anymore.
I'm the kind of person who played Diablo 2 for ~7 years and yet genuinely like Diablo 3 and put nearly 3000 hours into it as a solo player cause I enjoy the gameplay itself and don't care that its not a 'true' Diablo game but a fun ARPG to burn time with. 'combat is still one of the best in the genre'
Same with Borderlands 3, been playing the serie since BL 1 day 1 and for me BL 3 is the best from a gameplay perspective in the current final version even tho a group of die hard old fans hate BL 3 and would shit on it any chance they get.
It's funny you mention those two titles have great gameplay, yet your label of "haters" completely ignores the main criticism of both titles. I notice this a lot, those who call others "haters" have no idea why the community is against said games.

In the case of diablo III, it was the always online DRM for a single player game, and the Real Money Auction House being a primary focus, ruining the balance of the game, with levels and loot clearly geared towards the RMAH. DIII was eventually patched once the RMAH was discontinued, but by then better alternatives had come along, and even today the loot system is rather wonky for a diablo game, an artifact of its rough launch.

Borderlands 3's gameplay was, well, borderlands, but it's story was hot garbage. Many longtime fans felt the story was a massive disservice to multiple characters and got a bit too political for many. And while you can patch gameplay or bugs, you cant patch a story. The writing was alienating for many, and that's perfectly legitimate criticism.

CP2077 was a victim of its own hype, the console release was objectively totally broken, and while the main missions were decent you had to trudge through the empty, bland, sanitized overworld to get to them, which rips many out of the experience. Hey, if you enjoy the missions, good for you, I'm glad you found a game to enjoy. That doesnt mean the criticism of the world design or gameplay is "hate" or those who still dislike it are "uninformed".
Do you mean you hate the new UI's in CK3 and Vicky 3 and like the UI's from earlier games or do you mean you just dislike all PDX UI's?

Anyway, I'm apparently playing right now, and already I've encountered a bit of historical inacurracies: Swedens literacy rate is at about 54%, while actually at the time it was over 90%, thanks to education mandates but more importantly the so called husförhör, which basically meant the priests did yearly rounds in the households making sure everyone knew their catechism and knew how to read and write. No matter how rural the surroundings or poor the upbringing, you had to be able to read, so schools was a serious thing. By contrast, at the same time France had a literacy rate of about 35%.

I assume this is for balance purposes, but I'm still outraged at this blasphemy. Man I'm exited.

I have no idea what I'm doing as I never really played previous Vickys but still.

I for one find the UI to be great.
I cant really stand any of paradox's games. Vicky, HOI, CK, EU, Stellaris, they all suffer from the same issue. The feedback one gets from actions in game is non existent. It spreadsheets well, except even a spreadsheet is more responsive when changes occur. Everything in their UI is so abstract. If you know where everything is already, it can be great fun, deeply invigorating in a way only Civ seems to manage for most, but for newer players or players who like more responsive UIs its a tangled mess of numbers with no inherent meaning, a goldberg machine with seemingly no end to the sub systems it can throw at you with little to no explanation.
Making my Icy City
I really want to like the ice maps, but being snow 24/7 honestly gets tiring after about an hour. I wish winter could be integrated into the regular maps.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
20,782 (5.97/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
Processor i7 8700k 4.6Ghz @ 1.24V
Motherboard AsRock Fatal1ty K6 Z370
Cooling beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200/C16
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 830 256GB + Crucial BX100 250GB + Toshiba 1TB HDD
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse XTRFY M42
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
Software W10 x64
Does it have Crag Hack and Vidomina? If no it cannot be as good and that is science.
It does have a lot of references but haven't found that one yet :D

Is it 'as good'... its not there yet. 4 Factions will be the first thing that falls short. But mechanically they got this worked out nicely... better even? :fear:
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
I cant really stand any of paradox's games. Vicky, HOI, CK, EU, Stellaris, they all suffer from the same issue. The feedback one gets from actions in game is non existent. It spreadsheets well, except even a spreadsheet is more responsive when changes occur. Everything in their UI is so abstract. If you know where everything is already, it can be great fun, deeply invigorating in a way only Civ seems to manage for most, but for newer players or players who like more responsive UIs its a tangled mess of numbers with no inherent meaning, a goldberg machine with seemingly no end to the sub systems it can throw at you with little to no explanation.

Once you learn the feedback definitely exists, but yeah it's a refined taste. How do you accurately give tangible feedback on changing a slider that governs the concept of Centralisation in a way a player not familiar with the game can take in?
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,817 (1.05/day)
Location
Hungary
System Name I don't name my systems.
Processor i3-12100F 'power limit removed'
Motherboard Asus Prime B660-PLUS D4
Cooling ID-Cooling SE 224 XT ARGB V3 'CPU', 4x Be Quiet! Light Wings + 2x Arctic P12 black case fans.
Memory 4x8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 3200MHz
Video Card(s) Asus TuF V2 RTX 3060 Ti @1920 MHz Core/950mV Undervolt
Storage 4 TB WD Red, 1 TB Silicon Power A55 Sata, 1 TB Kingston A2000 NVMe, 256 GB Adata Spectrix s40g NVMe
Display(s) 29" 2560x1080 75 Hz / LG 29WK600-W
Case Be Quiet! Pure Base 500 FX Black
Audio Device(s) Onboard + Hama uRage SoundZ 900+USB DAC
Power Supply Seasonic CORE GM 500W 80+ Gold
Mouse Canyon Puncher GM-20
Keyboard SPC Gear GK630K Tournament 'Kailh Brown'
Software Windows 10 Pro
Hype is an issue, but 99.99% of the time this hype comes from game devs themselves who cannot articulate what they are making or what their goals are.

It's funny you mention those two titles have great gameplay, yet your label of "haters" completely ignores the main criticism of both titles. I notice this a lot, those who call others "haters" have no idea why the community is against said games.

In the case of diablo III, it was the always online DRM for a single player game, and the Real Money Auction House being a primary focus, ruining the balance of the game, with levels and loot clearly geared towards the RMAH. DIII was eventually patched once the RMAH was discontinued, but by then better alternatives had come along, and even today the loot system is rather wonky for a diablo game, an artifact of its rough launch.

Borderlands 3's gameplay was, well, borderlands, but it's story was hot garbage. Many longtime fans felt the story was a massive disservice to multiple characters and got a bit too political for many. And while you can patch gameplay or bugs, you cant patch a story. The writing was alienating for many, and that's perfectly legitimate criticism.

Yes I agree that hype itself is an issue and both the devs and the players are at fault too. I used to get really hyped too some years ago but nowadays I try to view games with a more realistic expectation.
I know what kind of games I enjoy and so far this worked out pretty well for me, no big regrets in regard of my pre orders and whatnot. 'well ok Wonderlands was too expensive for what it ended up offering'

I'm more than familiar with Diablo 3's and BL 3's history, I have both game installed since their launch day and also played the previous games.;)
Start of D3 was rough yes and I also disliked the RMAH, but thats in the long past.
Its by no means a great Diablo game but its a fun ARPG to play every now and then and burn time with, personally I've been playing SSFHC 'solo self found hardcore' and I might take a season or two break but whenever I decide to play again I have a blast playing it even after ~3000 hours so it definitely did something right.

BL3's story is arguably the worst in the serie tho not like 1 had a good one with that laughable last boss which even Gearbox made fun/meme of later on. Most ppl praise BL 2 for its great story and I agree Handsome Jack was a well made villain but for me the game wasn't enjoyable at a end game/high end level so I played that BL game the least of the serie.
I guess it depends on what you play those games for, for me story is fine for 1 maybe 2 playthrough but in general I play the BL games for the end game and the crazy fun builds you can make and in that regard imo BL 3 is really enjoyable after they fixed/patched a lot of stuff over the years.

Often ppl complain/hate on things in games that aint even relevant anymore yet they can't let it go cause they were disappointed at the relase or even regret paying for it.
Thats what I have a problem with so to say, and if you visit official game forums you can see many ppl complain about such things.

Dunno maybe I'm easy to please when it comes to games or just don't take it as seriously as some but I have a very simple rule/mindset that if I enjoy a game in my own way then its good enough, if I don't then I leave the game and play something else.:)
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
Dwarf Fortress on Steam and Itch december 6! $30! MARK THE DATE

 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
15,800 (4.58/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
Dwarf Fortress on Steam and Itch december 6! $30! MARK THE DATE


I love the concept of this, I just can't stand those graphics. I really do usually like unique indie kind of takes on graphics, but this is one game I just never could get into, the graphics are just not for me. I don't mind simple graphics like this, I just would like to see it in a different style.

That is one thing I love about indie games, so many different styles of unique graphics are being done, its quite fascinating how much we missed out on over the years as gamers because big publishers always had a narrow focus. Fascinating times to be a gamer.
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
447 (0.14/day)
System Name My system is my pet?
Processor Intel Core i5 9400f 2.9GHz/4.0 Turbo (NoOC)
Motherboard Gigabyte Z370M D3H rev. 1.0
Cooling An okayish Cooler but it is better than Intel's stock
Memory Corsair Red Line 8x2 16GB 3000MHz (NoOC) DDR4-3000 15-17-17-35 (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15R) V1.35 ver 4.24
Video Card(s) NVIDIA GeForce MSI 980 Ti Golden Edition (NoOC)| Spare: GTX 650 Ti 1 GB
Storage Samsun 860 EVO 1 TB | Spare: WDC Black 930 GiB WD1003FZEX
Display(s) Asus VG248QZ 1920x1080 144hz 24" (Current: 60hz, because Contrast is lowered with 60+ Hz)
Case Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply Corsair 850W RMi power supply (Overkill I know -long story-)
Mouse Logitech M187 wireless (First day of use 30-9-2021)
Keyboard Logitech K270 wireless
Software Windows 10 21H2 / Nobara Linux (Modified Fedora Linux)
Dwarf Fortress on Steam and Itch december 6! $30! MARK THE DATE

Some guys think it is just graphics on-top of it. apparently they haven't read anything about it in the Steam page and its development. They will finally make the game accessible and easy to play.
I am only interested about the Adventure Mode! It is totally different than the usual and (boring in my opinion) building fortress mode thingy. You simply go into a world that has history and lore built from the ground randomly, and everything would just look so different every time you play. Unlike any game that promises randomly generated worlds and the like, this one is unique and pretty complex, no other game is like it.

I played the free version for the Adventure mode, it was so hard to get the hang of all the keys and what things I can do. and I remember hours would pass, only me walking and doing few things in the world! IT is so massive and complex and I love it. When you get a quest from someone, the game wouldn't show you where, rather, you have to go and ask around the people and look for certain details until you reach the destination and much more.
 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
15,800 (4.58/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
Some guys think it is just graphics on-top of it. apparently they haven't read anything about it in the Steam page and its development. They will finally make the game accessible and easy to play.
I am only interested about the Adventure Mode! It is totally different than the usual and (boring in my opinion) building fortress mode thingy. You simply go into a world that has history and lore built from the ground randomly, and everything would just look so different every time you play. Unlike any game that promises randomly generated worlds and the like, this one is unique and pretty complex, no other game is like it.

I played the free version for the Adventure mode, it was so hard to get the hang of all the keys and what things I can do. and I remember hours would pass, only me walking and doing few things in the world! IT is so massive and complex and I love it. When you get a quest from someone, the game wouldn't show you where, rather, you have to go and ask around the people and look for certain details until you reach the destination and much more.

It's not that I don't think it is not fun, I just would have liked to seen different graphics is all, like even Rimworld has graphics I like, Dwarf Fortress concept could work the same with those graphics. It's just the style I don't like.
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
447 (0.14/day)
System Name My system is my pet?
Processor Intel Core i5 9400f 2.9GHz/4.0 Turbo (NoOC)
Motherboard Gigabyte Z370M D3H rev. 1.0
Cooling An okayish Cooler but it is better than Intel's stock
Memory Corsair Red Line 8x2 16GB 3000MHz (NoOC) DDR4-3000 15-17-17-35 (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15R) V1.35 ver 4.24
Video Card(s) NVIDIA GeForce MSI 980 Ti Golden Edition (NoOC)| Spare: GTX 650 Ti 1 GB
Storage Samsun 860 EVO 1 TB | Spare: WDC Black 930 GiB WD1003FZEX
Display(s) Asus VG248QZ 1920x1080 144hz 24" (Current: 60hz, because Contrast is lowered with 60+ Hz)
Case Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply Corsair 850W RMi power supply (Overkill I know -long story-)
Mouse Logitech M187 wireless (First day of use 30-9-2021)
Keyboard Logitech K270 wireless
Software Windows 10 21H2 / Nobara Linux (Modified Fedora Linux)
I love the concept of this, I just can't stand those graphics. I really do usually like unique indie kind of takes on graphics, but this is one game I just never could get into, the graphics are just not for me. I don't mind simple graphics like this, I just would like to see it in a different style.

That is one thing I love about indie games, so many different styles of unique graphics are being done, its quite fascinating how much we missed out on over the years as gamers because big publishers always had a narrow focus. Fascinating times to be a gamer.
I am like you.I say I can't stand the graphics for some games even though I still play simple graphics games. You just have to play the game and endure the loathing until you find yourself getting immersive to the game. Later I started to like and appreciate the graphics. I also couldn't stand Caves of Qud graphics. Go to Steam and see how it looks like, now I enjoy it.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
I love the concept of this, I just can't stand those graphics. I really do usually like unique indie kind of takes on graphics, but this is one game I just never could get into, the graphics are just not for me. I don't mind simple graphics like this, I just would like to see it in a different style.

That is one thing I love about indie games, so many different styles of unique graphics are being done, its quite fascinating how much we missed out on over the years as gamers because big publishers always had a narrow focus. Fascinating times to be a gamer.

It doesn't have graphics. Free your mind man, get into it and the world will open up before you. You see when you give things specifics you lock them in. A dwarf sprite is a very specific look, but if the dwarf is represented by an ASCI smiley the dwarf looks like whatever your mind makes it look like. Dozens of identical cat sprites walking about and triggering various animations are boring, but dozens of c's are mysterious and exciting because you're never quite sure what they're doing, but your mind fills in the gap. A c following a smiley is much more alive to me (in this game) than a cat sprite following a dwarf sprite.
 
Top