i ramble about video games. i like sharing & weird stuff. @ me with weird games.
@spizzat2 It is, the cosmetics were unlockables via SnapMap, providing some ways you can customize the look of the Doom Guy/Doom Slayer.
SnapMap was Doom 2016’s limited level creator basically. Not proper mod tools unfortunately, but an okay compromise compared to nothing at all.
It was what sold me on the game, but I’m a sucker for accessible level editing and the like tools in games.
@ampersandrew More annoying to my mind than the lack of MP is lack of SnapMap. Like you said, may not have been the selling point for most, but given Doom’s legacy is as much courtesy of user created stuff as it is its technical contributions, it’s a big loss to not have that.
Tempted to see if there’s a way to hack SnapMap back in to a degree so people could still play backed up custom maps (which exist thanks to dedicated modders hacking & extending SnapMap functionality).
@ItalianSkeletonGaming @games not sure how well alt text federates, so for those wondering the games in the image are Jump4 (top) and ParaPerspective (bottom)
Haven’t gotten around to trying any demos yet personally, but ParaPerspective looks like my kinda game as someone that enjoyed Echochrome
Heya, I dig the walls of text sometimes! I also tend to bounce around a variety of games, so I like the idea of short notes about each. Until recently I was writing similar notes digitally as separate notepad files and littering them throughout my computer, but I’ve been trying to make a habit of using stuff like Zim or Joplin to keep them better organized. 😅
Also right there with you on covering weird jank and “subpar” games, so thanks for writing about them!
Hey yeah, appreciate the detail in how you go about it! I’m kinda surprised by the responses saying they don’t tend to write anything until further in and/or completion, but it’s reassuring in a way, as that’s been my approach too for some time.
I also dig that you try to engage with the “soul idea” as you call it of games. It resembles what I’ve read elsewhere of a reviewer trying to evaluate in part on whether a game achieved what it set out to do or not, which I thought was interesting.
Interesting approach, and I get it for those more involved or longer games, as some don’t even have all their systems in play till awhile into the game (which is worth noting in itself!).
Thanks for your perspective!
Oh yeah, and here’s to Outer Wilds! Absolutely a game for the ages!
Your initial claim remains false.
As indicated, digital game storefronts offered refunds explicitly prior to Steam, and it wasn’t leading the way, especially given its policy was that all purchases were not refundable, up till 2015’s changes.
Leading the way isn’t making some exceptions to their policies occasionally, it’s making refunds a part of the policies from the outset when others aren’t.
@Kedly What? This is flat out untrue. Back in 2008 Stardock’s attempt at a storefront via Impulse offered refunds: https://web.archive.org/web/20080708091849/http://tgnforums.stardock.com/315290
Later in 2013, EA of all companies would also offer refunds on their storefront, Origin: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/08/ea-begins-offering-refunds-for-its-digital-game-sales-on-origin/
And later that same year, GOG would offer refunds: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/gog-s-new-money-back-guarantee-is-more-about-trust-than-refunds
It was only a couple years after EA & GOG, in 2015, that Valve began offering refunds on Steam: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/06/valve-begins-offering-refunds-for-all-steam-games/
Not OP, but I hadn’t heard of Tempest Rising before! I’ll have to keep an eye on that, thanks for mentioning it!
How does some of the Warframe community reconcile that kind of narrative with its whole business model?
I’m aware it’s generally considered among the “better ones”, but it still is what it is, a freemium game that by necessity has to push its business model on you since it doesn’t have an upfront cost.
I guess maybe it inadvertently adds to the atmosphere of being under the heel of capitalists?
Not to mention, sometimes they actively take away from the art direction. You can have a game that’s clearly going for semi-realism and yet keeps damage numbers flying off like it’s a comic strip, which doesn’t fit whatsoever.
The strangest, funniest mixture are the games built off comic licenses that employ a semi-realistic style with damage numbers, when a better combination would be stylized so it would all fit better artistically.
This is a great point (as well as others that have mentioned similar). I wonder if some of the old arena shooters from around then (or their open source offshoots) may handle just as well today, considering that.
I’ll have to look into those that are still active and see! Thanks!
Servers may be some of the issue, but the problem then is that a number of games, at least outside of MMOs, don’t seem to give much of a choice on that. Presumably they’re trying to connect to servers that should give a good experience, but… 🤷♀️
Regardless, the intent here isn’t so much to troubleshoot networking issues, as it is to find games that may handle less reliable/rougher network situations decently, as much as is really possible anyway.
No worries on the wall of text! Also fwiw I’m familiar with RTS games, which is why I mentioned not being in the mindset for them currently. They’re a lot to take in, even on a good day! 😅
Nevertheless, when I’m of the right mind for’em, I really enjoy’em. Building up outposts, assembling a bunch of units, and fending off enemies, it can be a bunch of fun!
Lately I’ve been more interested in peaceful builders/strategy games though. Still, BAR and the like remain really impressive!
I think you forgot a link to the game itself! 😜
https://www.beyondallreason.info/
That aside, I’ve been giving it a look again lately but haven’t dove in just yet. I’m in an odd mindset atm where I don’t know if I’m down to wrap my head around RTS mechanics, but I’m really impressed by the looks of the game!
Also wanna highlight that this is a great rabbit hole to go down for other open source RTS games via Zero-K, Spring Engine, OpenRA, etc.
As others have mentioned, there’s online-go.com for similar to lichess.org.
On Android there’s Gobandroid, but it requires this for play against AI: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.ligi.gobandroidhd.ai.gnugo/
On desktop there’s Sabaki:
https://sabaki.yichuanshen.de/
Haven’t tried Sabaki yet, as I was using GoGUI running off GNU Go for a long time, but it’s no longer in development.
I haven’t seen either of these mentioned yet, so you might look into Ponpu, and Light Fingers on the Switch.
Ponpu might be a little much, but Light Fingers may be a decent-ish pace, as it goes for something of a digital tabletop-like game design. They tend to go on sale around the holidays, so if you wait a little while you may snag’em on the cheap.
@showerthoughts Thank goodness the metaverse never took off, but still gotta be on guard against moves towards that BS.
@LeylaaLovee When you play a long game (i.e. 60+ hours) all the way through, it’s hard to tell how much of it was genuine enjoyment over some kind of weird sunk cost situation.
Kind of like watching a show that goes on for a ton of seasons. You get into a habit and despite inconsistent quality, you keep going back and you’re not sure why, especially after the really bad parts.
It’s why I understand *some* of the 100+ hour playtime negative reviews, & am skeptical of positive ones.
@simple What a coincidence! I’ve been getting back into this lately.
This game is fantastic if you enjoy VRChat/Webfishing/etc. It’s like those but with a ridiculous amount more in terms of minigames, microgames (see: arcade), and custom spaces/places (condos).
You can load all manner of custom player models, object models, images, etc.
It provides plenty for solo players & groups of players, both with coop & competitive options. Well worth checking out!