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Comments
HOLY SHIT colorblind mode on FTL is SO MUCH BETTER.
Also I enabled path display for the map. SO MUCH BETTER.
Yeah I cornered myself a few times before I knew about path display.
Marine Pit run complete despite the game conspiring at the last minute to eat my sword in a failed craft. Granted it was about to die anyhow at like 10 max durability and served me well for most of the game. But still. You'd think at least one of the three 60% adamantium recipes I went for would have gone off.
I did however have a rather silly amount of firepower to take the final floor head-on. Despite the game only ever dropping the one piece of armor that thankfully lasted the rest of the run, it was throwing the most ludicrously powerful weapons at me. It's the first time I've ever seen a rocket launcher AND rockets drop, and I wound up getting like four mag rifles and three scatterguns. And a pulse rifle. With nine ammo backpacks. And a rage beam. And shitloads of scrambler grenades. And just enough energy drinks to skip a room completely. Actually, I think an adamantium weapon and an autoshotgun would have been the only weapon upgrades I could possibly have had. It was kind of hilarious how fast I tore through it.
Courtesy of @ClockworkUniverse.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Signal boosted.
I've worked for a professional developer, and I sympathize with all the ways a project can turn into releasing a buggy and barely playable mess. It's embarrassing, and I feel bad for all the engineers and artists whose only involvement here was likely an unreasonable deadline, having some background disaster happen, or even just screwing up (it happens), and had nothing to do with the litigation malfeasance that happened here. But lost profits is nothing resembling an excuse to abuse an overly broad copyright law just to squash criticism. Fucking nauseating.
The original video that got removed. It's actually kind of funny. It pretty obviously got rushed out the door the moment the artists finished the environment.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15fmac_wtf-is-day-one-garry-s-incident_videogames
Hey everyone, remember this bundle, the Groupees Build a Greenlight Bundle?
Of these fifteen games, La-Mulana was the first to get greenlit and released on Steam. (Not a huge surprise considering how insanely well-made it is.) As such, it was the first to get a Steam key posted in the list.
Akaneiro: Demon Hunters also got onto Steam. I asked about why there wasn't a Steam key yet, and got the response that the game was now f2p. Well...would be nice to be rewarded with a little something for faving/following/upvoting the game on Greenlight, but...oh well. And I guess what we got in the bundle was the closed beta version, technically. And I guess I haven't even had the time to play it yet anyway... Incidentally, if you DO want to get some freebies, pick up this bundle.
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards also got on Steam and is now available for purchase. However, a Steam key has not been given to the purchasers of the bundle. Is it because the version is, again, technically different -- the version on Steam is named "Reloaded" while the version in the bundle is named "1991 VGA Remake"? Well, I suppose it's no big loss since I'm not really a fan of the content anyway...
Salvation Prophecy has been released (recently) on Steam, but there is no Steam key yet. Let's see how long this takes...it's been about two weeks now. Edit: Salvation Prophecy now has Steam keys provided through Desura.
Underrail, however, gets bonus points. That game isn't even finished yet, but they got onto Steam and are now selling early access to the game...and a key to get that access on Steam is indeed available on the bundle download page!
Driftmoon we can get out of the way because it is the lone exception: it's not going to give Steam keys. But it's still awaiting confirmation on Greenlight anyway.
Beware Planet Earth, Eryi's Action, I Shall Remain, Millennium: a New Hope, and Private Infiltrator are all awaiting Greenlight confirmation. Oozi: Earth Adventure (which I've played and I don't think is very good, but is nevertheless passable, and which I nevertheless duly upvoted/faved/followed) is also stuck awaiting Greenlight confirmation.
Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold has been greenlit, but not yet released on Steam.
Recruits is, like Fester Mudd, greenlit but not yet released.
Wooden Sen'SeY, for some reason, has been removed from Steam Greenlight. I can't seem to pull up a more complete webpage that has more details, but there's one Google result that brings up the text "This item has been banned because it violates the Steam Terms of Service." How? I have no idea; I haven't even played this game. All I can find is a cached page with lots of praise for the game from various fans and the developers responding to some comments. If anyone has extra info on this, I'd appreciate it.
Summary: of 15 games...
5 games released on Steam, 3 provided keys, 2 have no key yet (one is f2p?)
2 games greenlit but not yet for sale on Steam
7 games awaiting Greenlight confirmation (including one not promising a Steam key)
1 game removed from Greenlight (reasons unknown currently)
Wow, and I thought Birgirpall's video painted this game in a negative light.
Greenlight Bundle 3 was another bundle of games specifically trying to get onto Steam via Greenlight. Let's check in on how it's doing.
Aeon Command, Gear Jack, Potatoman Seeks the Troof, Beware Planet Earth (a repeat from the Groupees BAGB), and Dwarf Quest are awaiting Greenlight confirmation. Depth Hunter has been confirmed but not released. Megabyte Punch and Paranormal have been released; Megabyte Punch has provided a Steam key to purchasers of the GB3. Hairy Tales was removed from Steam Greenlight; here is the developer's statement on that.
Of 9 games:
2 released on steam (both provided keys (Paranormal does it through Desura))
1 confirmed but not yet released
5 awaiting confirmation
1 removed (by the dev)
Edit: Paranormal provides Steam keys through Desura. Fixing.
I think my favorite part is the panther attacks. There's no animation or transition to getting tackled by said panther, just a one-frame Gilligan-style cut to incongruously-badly-textured panther in face.
To simplify calculations and keep numbers as close to reasonably attainable as possible on the panther's behalf, assume that Garry is massless and does not need any momentum transferred to be moved in this way. In order to bring Garry down six feet to being on his back and already mauling him in between frames at roughly 30 fps, the panther would have to have tackled him at a minimum of 122 mph STRAIGHT DOWN.
For reference, that's almost exactly the average terminal velocity of a human skydiver. Also note that there's almost never any visual or audio indication of a panther approaching, despite supposedly being a solid black figure against a bright green background.
"Your day looks dull. SHAZAM IT'S A SKYDIVING PANTHER"
I'm near the end of Rainslick Precipice 4. I feel like the game would've felt a lot more comfortable if half your party members didn't have movesets that did absolutely nothing to complement their dominant stats.
Like, in Episode 3 you could give them two extra classes with their own stat buffs and movesets, so Moira could at least be useful as a healer. But the only analogue you can do in this game gives level-up boosts instead of flat stat bonuses, and only one of them has anything resembling a useful moveset -- the other three are very nearly beyond useless. So then you get things like Moira's rat monster that has tons of speed, but his skills all scale off of strength and magic that he doesn't have and can't get.
It's really tedious, because it basically means you get 1-2 genuinely good party members on each team, then you pick the least awful ones to be their bitches and do nothing but throw items. And since this entire game takes place in Hell, almost everything is resistant to molotovs.
My drone destroyed the enemy ship...with my boarding party on board.
*ragequit*
Okay, that's it. No more FTL this week.
I didn't mind the 4th-monster item whores in Rain-Slick 4. Vendorr was a fucking beast.
...I ought to replay that game on Hard. It seemed a little too easy on Normal and I'm pretty sure I missed at least one optional monster. I got the sushi and Cthulhu, but I bet there are other post-airship secrets.
While defense types tended to be terrible as actual tanks on account of only one of them actually having a taunt (WTF?), they tended to at least be halfway okay support. Fuchsia was good on account of having element buffs and party heals, and there was always Hestia's party-defense passive. Honestly I feel like Vendorr was one of the better ones even if he was a walking gimmick (albeit a hilarious one). Molotovs are pretty hilariously useless for most of the game because it's in Hell and everything is fire resistant, but the guy can chuck potions like a pro.
My problem is mostly with the speed-types that don't actually have anything that uses their speed (pretty much all of them), or the strength-types whose movesets are mostly magic (Leviathan, Twisp). The casters at least tend to play to their stat, and Philosofly and Grouchophon are really good with a magic boost.
The speed-types wouldn't even be quite as bad if the trainer bonus was flat stats like in 3, because then you could just give them all a bonus that isn't Moira's hilariously awful one and at least have Power Up or Revive instead, and by the end they could all be running Jim's (which lets them convert their speed to magic). But since it's on a by-level deal, they have to be wearing Moira's bonus the whole game just to be able to use that at the end -- and then it doesn't matter because by the time it shows up on his bonus you have a full-sized serviceable team that cast better than a gimmicked speed-type anyway and you don't have a single reason or desire to look at Goomez or gangsta rat's stupid face again.
And then you finally get the last piece of the secret endgame weapon, and it's a fucking gun, so it's restricted to the most consummately awful monsters in the game and doesn't even get any passive mastery bonuses. FFFFUUUUUUUU-
Honestly I'm not sure how to approach an Insane run here. Bullseye got nerfed pretty hard since 3, and there isn't really a character that'd make a good tank anyway, but it's pretty critical to have one given the absurd damage everything dishes out.
Also, to their credit, it appears that the developers of Salvation Prophecy seem to be working on getting Steam keys for Groupees buyers.edit: Steam keys now available through Desura----
Can anyone recommend a game that features scavenging for resources and lots of exploration? Preferably one that takes place in a fantasy, modern/urban, or foopunk setting.
Also it appears that Paranormal has gone the route of providing keys to people through Desura. Basically, redeem your Desura key and then you can get a Steam key from that. So I should edit my earlier post.
Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos has also done something similar, though it's redeem your Desura key, link it to the devs' own site store, and then get the Steam key from there.
This is a clever way to discourage key giveaways for games you otherwise own. It's not absolute -- both of these games are available in DRM-free form anyway -- but since most people are most interested in the Steam key, they'll want to hang onto the Desura key. Also gives Desura more traffic, which is nice in my book. That said, it can be a bit more of a hassle, especially for people who don't already have a Desura account and would rather not make more accounts (which I totally understand) -- which is why the DRM-free option should always be there.
So, is this a good idea? Discuss.
Edit: Steam keys for Salvation Prophecy are available on Desura. Just like with Paranormal, you have to go to http://www.desura.com/collection and then click "keys".
@GMH: I can recommend the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games and A Valley Without Wind 1 & 2 if you want scavenging.
Have any IJBM'ers played Arkham: Origins yet? If so, what are your impressions so far?
Rainslick 4 Insane almost complete. All bonus bosses done, most of the way through final dungeon (which was easier than the final tower). Three things of note.
1) It starts VERY hard and becomes much easier. Early encounters pretty much have to be done out of order while you get the one level that barely makes some previous ones possible -- though thankfully you don't have to outright skip any of them past a point of no return. Some are pretty close though. There are a couple ballbusters later on, but mostly it's pretty smooth sailing once you get 3 decent monsters and an item bitch that isn't complete dead weight. Things start easing up once you get Vendorr for Gabe and Twisp & Catsby for Moira. By the time you get Grouchophon, most random encounters boil down to loading him with Briquettes and a tome for extra MP, surviving for one turn while you apply a Buffz or two, Nature Lover, and Fake Cigar, then slamming everything in sight with a 5-10k AOE fire midway through turn 2. With Moira's team for the final tower, you do the same thing with Philosofly and/or Tycho.
2) Gangsta rat is still shit-awful for about 3/4 of the game. And then by the last two chapters, Moira gets a trainer bonus that's like a passive 35% speed and suddenly he's absurdly fast and throws potions like a champ. And then Moira gets a nauseatingly OP stun move that can be used to stunlock bosses for like 3/4 of the fight (Cthulhu and Dark Gabe moved like once each). So suddenly he turns from shit-awful to actually pretty good -- though it means you're doing almost all of your healing by potions, and using Fuchsia for element buffs and the occasional party heal.
3) Beaks becomes not so good later on, because resists seem to be increased and Perforating physical defense seems to have way less effect than Ichoring magical. Like, you'll Perforate and his stuff will still be resisted by half. Maybe it's because all of his attacks have an element component, but you'd think Ichor would solve that (it doesn't). So you mostly keep him around to open up with an AOE stun and apply damage over time.
Played most of Millennium: a New Hope.
I was expecting a half-shitty RPG Maker thingy. It's still RPG Maker, but it's actually kinda decent. The battles also go by really fast, which makes it better. The rather large area maps would benefit from navigational aids -- especially the swamp one, where you have to go to three spots in a specific order in order to trigger the boss.
Kinda amused how the character skills section was used to do various not-really-gameplay things, such as "WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?" and "ENTER THE SWAMP".
Also, the Rocky Path is really irritating and long. And also the jumps are ...sometimes rather unintuitive. There's even an incongruously hilarious bit where the lead character complains about not being able to jump high enough...after she's been jumping hundreds of feet upward and downward to get to various platforms. Also, there was this nice scene in mid/late game showing said lead character's jumping all over the place; that would have been best at the beginning of the game rather than having a bunch of unintuitive (albeit generally unnecessary) jumps early on.
And the monk temple ought to carry revival items. And the priest ought to tell you when you try to request an exorcism when you have no cursed items on, but I guess it's a bit more "realistic" if they just pretend you do and take your money anyway...
The plot is interesting, and relatively unique, in that you have a lead character who's trying to raise a fuss to challenge the social order, rather than just running into a situation where he/she has to save the world. For what it's worth, the game is also in four parts; A New Hope is part 1. Take Me Higher, which I've seen in like one bundle, is part 2; I've heard that it's possible to transfer your save data from part 1 into part 2 (kinda like how you can in Golden Sun, and probably with less hassle). It's made by Aldorlea Games, these folks have what looks like a bunch of RPG Maker games for sale on their website. So I was pleasantly surprised that it's actually kinda decent.
A quick check of their website seems to suggest that the series is 5 parts long, and Millennium 5 is the last part.
Also, if you've heard of Laxius Force, that's from the same folks, and is also a multi-part RPG.
Done. The final boss is mostly an exercise in "how many stuns do you have and how badly can you cheese them?" because you absolutely have to kill him in six turns and he has WAY too many HP to brute force. Which, given that everyone has access to Manastream, means that gangsta rat's answer to that is "SHITLOADS". And then you just kinda let Philosofly and Grouchophon apply Ichor and wail on him for 10-15k per hit while Fuchsia spams buffs.
In hindsight, this might be one of the only RPGs I've played where the final boss is harder than any of the bonus bosses.
Remember these stats?
Well, Eryi's Action, I Shall Remain, Oozi: Earth Adventure, and Private Infiltrator just got greenlit.
New stats:
5 games released on Steam, 3 provided keys, 2 have no key yet (one is f2p?)
6 games greenlit but not yet for sale on Steam
3 games awaiting Greenlight confirmation (including one not promising a Steam key)
1 game removed from Greenlight (reasons unknown currently)
I'm playing Phantasy Star II. There's a certain amount of early-genre weirdness to be expected (the menus are laid out like a stack instead of a modelview controller, LOL), but the dungeons feel like they weren't beta tested by actual people at all. Huge, open rooms that all look exactly alike and this really annoying parallax set of pipes in the ceiling that obscure where walls are.
The whole thing with Doran and Teim was kind of funny though. I mean I get that it's supposed to be a horrible tragedy, and in any JRPG today it would be. But between the whole thing being like four lines of terrible early-90's translation, the contrast between the elaborate animation of him swording his daughter in a big dramatic spray of blood while his own suicide is a completely generic and unexplained explosion out of nowhere (a literal anxiety bomb?), and the fact that you were carrying Teim around as an item for the last ten minutes, it kind of loses its effect.
EDIT: I do find it hilarious that the dungeons actually get simpler as the game goes on. The first two dungeons were obnoxious clusterfucks. Biosystems Lab had obstacles but it had a really simple and easy-to-picture layout and almost no weaving up and down floors, and the junkyard was just two nearly straight lines (choo-choo). The mountain seems to be solvable thus far by hugging a wall.
Is it strange that, upon seeing a couple of Steam games on my wishlist go on sale, my first thought is not "I should buy them now", but "I should trade my spare TF2 keys and get other people to buy them for me now"?
No, except you should actually be going, normally, "I should buy marketable items with my TF2 scrap that give a better Steam wallet credit value per unit metal than keys" and therefore should end up with "I should use my Steam wallet credit to buy these games".
I obtained said keys in a trade (which occurred before the market was a thing, otherwise I would've sold my Salvaged Crate there). I have three keys left (had seven initially, traded four for Civ V + Gold upgrade), and 5.77 ref's worth of metal. What sort of more-value-per-metal items would you suggest?
I don't know, but back when keys could be gotten for 5 metal and sell on the market for about US$2 (i.e. a $0.40/ref return), I occasionally found things ilke Strange parts and Genuine or Vintage weapons that could, when traded for with metal at the listings at backpack.tf, be subsequently sold on the market for more than $0.40/ref.
For example, as of right now:
I can get about $0.70 from a description tag. The TraderEmpire spreadsheet says they're worth about 1.66 to 2 ref, so that's a par of between $0.42/ref and $0.35/ref. Backpack.tf suggests 2 ref (and everyone's listing at that) so the par is basically $0.35/ref.
In comparison, keys are...I can sell them to make a return of a little over $2 right now but let's count it as such. Traderempire says they're worth 6.11 to 6.22, which is about the same amounts as on the Backpack classifieds. That's a rate of return of about $0.32/ref right now, clearly lower than for description tags.
You can try this for individual Vintage or Genuine items or Strange parts. Or other salable items. Unfortunately it seems that Backpack.tf redid their filter so I can't just search for the cheapest Strange parts in general, or Vintage- or Genuine-quality items, but you can still check them one by one. For example, I can do the same price efficiency calculation for Vintage Killing Gloves of Boxing, find that they would give me about $0.07 for .22 ref, which is actually a worse return than keys right now (less than $0.32/ref). But if I find one that's got higher than $0.35, I'll want to trade that.
For example, searching for (Strange Part) Scouts Killed on the listings, I see someone selling for 4.66 ref. It seems high by TraderEmpire standards (the spreadsheet suggests 3-5 ref), but when I look at the market, I see that everyone's selling at $2.30, which is a return of $2. If I want front-page listing, I'll have to beat that, which means a return of $1.99 (selling at $2.29). The chart also shows that this is illiquid so I shouldn't expect to get something out of my listing anytime soon, but...if I DO get that 4.66 ref item and get $1.99 out of it, I can get a rate of return of over $0.42/ref...which is much better than what I'd do by trading keys.
So I guess I do have an answer: if you have 4.66 ref lying around, snatch up that person's Strange Part: Scouts Killed that's the cheapest listing currently for that item on backpack.tf. And then list it for sale on the Steam Community Market, for $2.29. Or if you're willing to wait even longer, price it at $2.34 and you'll be on the bottom of the second page. Might take a few weeks to get your money's worth, but...yeah.
Edit: You can also try to do this with games and other non-marketable items, but those are harder to gauge the value of and can only be traded back and forth in most cases, meaning you're more on your own with the calculations.
Hmm. Interesting. In that case, new plan: buy the games I want right now, sell my keys for metal whatever, deal with the market over time. I'll figure out that last part as I go along.
If you already have keys, unless you can upgrade them to more efficient items, metal is just going to depreciate relative to keys.
Running into incomplete text in Phantasy Star is amusing.
"The color of water around here certainly"
What? CERTAINLY WHAT? THIS WILL BUG ME UNTIL I KNOW.
1. screenshot it as a template
2. upload
3. encourage audience participation
http://tcrf.net/Phantasy_Star_II#Cut-off_Line