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Any gamers around here?

Started by Agramon, June 21, 2013, 02:55:17 AM

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Mike Cl

Quote from: the_antithesis on October 30, 2022, 05:36:29 PMOkay, folk. My obsession with the Mattel Intellivision has led me down a rabbit hole of homebrewed titles. Most of them are nice, but not very impressive, I guess. Mostly arcade translation that were never done back in the day, like Moon Patrol and a better version of Donkey Kong. Stuff like that. Nothing wrong with it, but it hardly has the depth of the strategy-based titles.

Then I found The Sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur.


Jesus H I J and K Christ.

This could almost pass for an NES game. The Intellivision had power, but I doubted it had the ability to do stuff like this. A full metroidvania on a console from 1979.

The thing that bothers me is I'm not sure it is running on Intellivision hardware. Let me explain. Atari 2600 homebrews have gotten equally impressive, but that's mostly because the games run on a microcontroller in the cartridge. Maybe I'm being picky, but it feels like cheating to me. Not that games back in the day didn't have extra hardware in the cart. USCF Chess on the Intellivision had extra RAM, for example. There must be something in the cart because there's a save function. So, save function aside, if this runs on a stock Intellivision, I'll be surprised.
Intellivision brings back good memories of me and my dad playing.  We played baseball almost to death.  Shark, Shark was another one we played a lot.  He had about a dozen or so titles, but that was so long ago, I forgot the titles.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

Blackleaf


Holy crap. I'm actually excited for the story of a Sonic game. The last Sonic game with a story worth a damn was...Sonic Adventure 2. Shit. This game is apparently written by Tyson Hess, one of the head writers for the new(ish) IDW Sonic comics, which are also really good. Funny thing. One of the comic's first story arcs was about a metal virus that was turning everybody into robot zombies. They started this storyline just before the Covid pandemic started.

Anyway, as someone who has been a Sonic fan since I was like two years old, I haven't had any trust in Sonic Team for many years. The only game I'd say was above mediocre in the last couple decades was Sonic Mania, which wasn't developed by Sonic Team. It was actually developed by a team assembled by Christian Whitehead, a guy who made his start in video games by making Sonic hacks.

It's a pretty good time to be a Sonic fan now. I hope it stays that way for a while.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

the_antithesis

Quote from: Mike Cl on October 31, 2022, 07:07:19 PMIntellivision brings back good memories of me and my dad playing.  We played baseball almost to death.  Shark, Shark was another one we played a lot.  He had about a dozen or so titles, but that was so long ago, I forgot the titles.

Oh, I could probably rattle off titles until we found them, but you'd rather I didn't. It was a fun system and unique compared to other consoles that relied on arcade conversions. Intellivision fell somewhere between console and computer games. I found it appealing.

Shame about the dumpster fire in recent years.

Mike Cl

Quote from: the_antithesis on November 02, 2022, 12:19:14 AMOh, I could probably rattle off titles until we found them, but you'd rather I didn't. It was a fun system and unique compared to other consoles that relied on arcade conversions. Intellivision fell somewhere between console and computer games. I found it appealing.

Shame about the dumpster fire in recent years.
For the 70's and 80's it was a very good machine.  My dad and I put in many, many wonderful hours on it.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

the_antithesis

Quote from: Mike Cl on November 02, 2022, 09:06:44 AMFor the 70's and 80's it was a very good machine.  My dad and I put in many, many wonderful hours on it.

Did you have the Intellivoice?

Mike Cl

Quote from: the_antithesis on November 02, 2022, 10:36:34 AMDid you have the Intellivoice?
No.  I did get it after my dad died, but I passed it along to my son-in-law, who is a huge fan of all things electronic and the older the better.  He still has a huge stack of 33's, 45's and 78's; a ton of 8 tracks, a large assortment of the early game machines and their game cartridges, many turn tables, and just an assortment of anything old. He has many, many music cartridges, as well.  He also drives an '81 Stingray--how could I deny him?? :)
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

the_antithesis

Okay, for some reason this was hard to find out, but there is at least one cartridge format for new Intellivision games that uses a microcontroller. It's called JLP and has a PIC microcontroller to provide expanded memory, hardware acceleration, and save features (Jean-Luc PIC-cart, but they've since dropped the pun) I don't know for certain if Sorrow of Gadhlan' Thur uses this or another microcontroller, but it definitely does.

I suppose I shouldn't be snobby, but it's like modern vintage computer kits that clone old machine but use modern components that would be much, much better computers than the vintage crap you're replicating. Kind of like using a particle accelerator to rub two stick together to make fire. Something about it seems... wrong.

But, the games can be good. Like this one for the Atari 2600 using that Harmony cart:


the_antithesis

So, I finally managed to get through Bioshock Remastered. I don't know what was different. Maybe it patched in the background without my knowledge or permission, like every fucking app on my fucking phone. I don't know.

In any case, I gave up before because the accuracy seemed off. I tend to hide in the shadows and then one-shot the Sploicers in the head, which don't work if the bullet don't go where you put it. For whatever reason I tried it again and it wasn't as frustrating this time, so I completed the game and, oh my gawd is it buggy. The rag dolls tend to bound like they're made out of tiggers. I don't recall the original game doing this. I also don't remember them phasing through the floor and furniture so you can't loot the bodies, either.

I don't recall many more bugs other than a vague "that was wrong" when something happened. One of the worst was late in the game in Prometheus Point. I killed a Big Daddy in one of the decontamination locks and rescued the Little Sister and then the little girl was just trapped in this room forever going through some kind of animation loop. I didn't try to clobber her with a wrench. Hold on a sec...

Yeah. The game won't let you do anything to the bugged out little girl.

Main reason I went through this playthrough is there are collectables for director commentary. I already watched all of it on Youtube, but now I collected all of it, even though I cheated a bit. Oh well.

It's still a decent games even if the bugs are distracting. I played a bit of the original version to compare and the HD remake looks nice, but not that much nicer. Some things like the hacking minigame in the original looks stretched because the original was made back when SD TVs were still the norm.

That's kind of amazing to think about. The original is almost twenty years old. This game is almost old enough to drop out of college on you.

I'll probably stick to the original, much like how I prefer the original effect in Star Trek. Putting better effects will not make the dated storylines any less yikes, kids.

Hydra009

So in gamer news, the Oculus Rift guy made a VR headset with three explosive devices in it that could theoretically kill the user if they get a game over screen.  Definitely a good idea and a positive PR move, especially with concerned parents (sarcasm)

It also happens to coincide with the onscreen date of the Sword Art Online anime series, which starts on November 6th 2022.  That show notably has lots of gamers die when they get a game over screen and their VR headsets subsequently kill them.

What was once a cautionary tale is now a reality because some rich dum-dum is looking for attention in all the wrong places.  These people need to start reading A Christmas Carol if they want to emulate fiction so badly.

Blackleaf

#4029

So I've been playing Sonic Frontier the last couple days. I'm shocked Sonic Team has actually managed to make something as ambitious as an open world Sonic game, and it's not a total train wreck. It's actually good. It has room for improvement, of course, but I'm on island three of five so far, and I'm hooked. I don't want to put it down.

To describe the gameplay, the game clearly takes inspiration from Breath of the Wild, and I detect some Shadow of the Colossus vibes in it as well, the way Sonic climbs up enemies that are much bigger than him. However, it's also very much a unique experience, running around at super speed in these environments, grinding rails, etc. It's a collect-a-thon platformer, where you get gears to open portals, memory tokens to restore your friends and move the plot along, keys to get Chaos Emeralds, etc. It also has RPG elements, with stats to be increased, and even a skill tree to learn new abilities. Combat is a big part of the game, and Sonic has a wide variety of moves to beat the crap out of everything.

Most of the game is spent in the open worlds, where solving puzzles will reveal more of the map, as well as create shortcuts for getting around. However, there's also this thing called Cyber Space. The lore explanation is that the Cyber Space is collecting data from the real world, and recreating it. By spending gears, Sonic can enter these more traditional levels based on Sonic's past. The neat things is even though the aesthetics are different, the layouts of the levels are familiar. It's done in a neat way, where if you're familiar with the levels they're based on, you can remember where secrets are hidden. It touches the back of your brain with something that looks new, but feels familiar, and I love it.

However, the gameplay in these Cyber Space zones are, in my opinion, the weakest parts of the game. The camera is fixed, and you cannot turn it, which is frustrating when you're trying to backtrack because you missed a red ring or something. I also struggle a lot with depth perception here, and have trouble grabbing things midair or landing where I want to. Shadows are based on the light source, so you can't rely on those to know where your character is lined up. Also, unfortunately, upgrades to Sonic do not apply here. I understand why, because a fully upgraded character might totally break it, but sometimes even while boosting, Sonic will move so slow.

Each island has a colossus--I mean Titan--for Sonic to fight. Since you've collected the emeralds during your time on the island, you fight these bosses as Super Sonic. These bosses are pretty awesome. It's like an epic anime battle. The music during these fights are delightfully cheesy, yet cool, which is very on brand for the character.

The story is written by Ian Flynn, who's responsible for the very awesome IDW Sonic comics. I don't know how much creative freedom he was given, but so far, I love it. It's very somber and mysterious. It calls back to Sonic's past, while also added new lore to the series, and it's done in a way that respects the player's intelligence.

As far as graphics go, the game is a big mixed. Sometimes, it's beautiful, sometimes it's cheap looking. It was made to release simultaneously on all modern systems, including the Switch, so it's understandable. Just wish the pop in wasn't so bad, or that there was an HDR setting.

Overall, this is a very good Sonic game. They say future titles will be of a similar style, so hopefully they improve on the formula, address some of the criticisms, and make an even better game next time.

Now, if you're interested in playing this game, and you want to avoid spoilers, there are two things I should tell you. One, don't look at the achievements. Two, pace yourself on Eggman's logs, which you can buy from Big the Cat. Those things can give away mysteries a bit too quickly.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

the_antithesis

i HATE, HATE, HATE Bioshock 2. I don't care about the fucked story and all that. For someone who wanted just more of the same, it was alright except the little sisters mechanic can go fuck itself.

So can the difficulty, come to think of it. I just rage quit while being dogpiled by bullet sponges on easy mode. I originally had it on medium, but enemies took multiple bullets to the head, so, fuck that. And they still took multiple bullets to the head. Because bugs are a feature, I guess. Worst part is I'm up to the point where I HAVE TO do the little sisters thing, which is just an exercise in using up all of my ammo and health kits.

Main problem is you have to set up a defensive position while the little sister harvests adam, but I'm not sure where the enemies spawn in, but I'm pretty sure it's right on fucking top of me, which means they just walk through most of my defenses and traps.

I would like to like this game as the dumber, cash-in sequel it is, but honestly, like the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, they took the worst parts of the original and amplified them.

Hydra009

#4031
So I got back into Guild Wars 2, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.  This game is actually really, really good.

Pros:
* Fantasy setting with fairly unique races
* Colorful art style that looks like an impressionistic painting.  Seriously, it's beautiful.
* Quick and easy fast travel and it's fairly cheap
* No ninjas - loot is automatically given out fairly based on contribution (no kill-stealing either, other players are your friends and any help downing mobs is useful)
* No corpse-running.  Someone will eventually walk along and rez you (everyone can rez) or you'll have to teleport back to the nearest waypoint (it's fairly cheap and usually close by)
* Simple interface - no screen cluttered with dozens of abilities, you'll have just 10 buttons to work with at any given time, but you can switch weapons to change them on the fly.
* No quest log - you just have to be in the vicinity of a quest and bam, you're on the quest!
* Plenty of stuff to do no matter what you like to do: Dungeons?  Check.  PVP?  Check.  World PVP? (Three-way war on a separate map) Check.  Jumping Puzzles?  Check.  And my personal favorites: exploring maps and world events.  World bosses spawn very frequently, at least one is up near-constantly.

Cons:
* You can absolutely play the game without spending a dime.  Just one tiny problem: you will never have a glider or mount or flying mount unless you buy at least one expansion pack, so I hope you like hoofing it (not a deal-breaker due to the waypoint system) and just never being able to reach certain places.  Certain maps are also expansion-only.
* Lots of cool stuff for your characters is available at the gem shop.  Gems can be had one of two ways: opening up your wallet or playing the game and saving up gold, and gold accumulates somewhat slowly in this game.  You can technically eventually get everything you want, it's just going to take a good long while to get it.
* Jumping puzzles are often hard as AF.  Platforming in an mmo is a daunting task even in the best of times, and this game has jumps with very little room for error on stuff with lots of hazards nearby.  Cruelly, enemies are sometimes placed with the potential to disrupt players during pivotal jumps unless killed (with extreme prejudice) first.  Other times, players are literally running the gauntlet between enemies.  If you've wanted to do the temple run from Raiders of the Lost Ark, jumping puzzles are for you.  But if you're just chilling after a hard day's work, maybe just do the zone events instead.
* Underwater combat is kinda meh.  They certainly tried to make it work, but it didn't quite gel.  Depth perception is kinda tricky underwater, so ranged weapons tend to perform better than melee weapons underwater.

drunkenshoe

Witcher III next gen update. 14th of December.

"science is not about building a body of known 'facts'. ıt is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good." - tp

Blackleaf



Sonic Frontiers content roadmap. The word "update" implies these things will be free. The thing that catches my eye is that we'll apparently be getting additional playable characters and a new story. I'm assuming these playable characters will only be playable in specific parts of the new story, because Tails in particular would just destroy the level design. Oh. You want me to grind on this rail, walljump onto this platform, then take a zipline to the goal? How about I just...fly straight to the goal instead? I just hope they're not limited to Cyber Space levels. That would be a let down.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

Gawdzilla Sama

Just got the XBox program for my laptop. Suggestions for a 71 yo veteran?
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers