Community MetaSteam | March 2020 - Rise and Shine, Ms. Vance, Until It Is Done!
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Who is this guy and which stream should I watch and why?
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GMG has it for 15% off if you're a VIP user which brings it to a dollar cheaper than it was before the price hike (In Canada at least)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | PC - Steam | Game Keys
Pick up your The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III PC copy from Green Man Gaming today and remember to sign in for our best price
www.greenmangaming.com
Deluxe Edition is also 15% off on GMG
The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel III Digital Edition PC Steam
Pick up your The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Digital Limited Edition PC copy from Green Man Gaming today and remember to sign in for our best price.
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I just spent ~3 hours playing Alyx and it's really good.
Some quick notes:
Some quick notes:
- The game's tech outperformed even my pretty significant expectations. It's by far the best looking (and sounding) VR game I've played. Crucially, the image quality is fantastic, with absolutely no visible aliasing outside of very extreme cases of fine specular detail. And despite all that it maintains a pretty solid 144 (!!) FPS. Sure, I have a fast PC, but it's still a highly competent showing from the engine.
- The grabbity gloves are an absolutely amazing mechanic. The first 2 times I tried to use them it was a bit awkward, and my reaction was a slightly disappointed "hmm, that's it?". The third time it felt better. The fourth time it felt absolutely amazing. And from that point on I just grabbed and threw stuff around everywhere without even thinking about it. This is an extremely polished mechanism of interaction.
- The attention to detail is great. From startling the cat from the first balcony, over the extremely cool looking puzzles to the interactions with NPCs, all of it looks like it had a lot of care put into it.
- Even Valve doesn't have access to magic. While the physics are better (more stable and more conducive to smooth gameplay) than anything else I've played, it's still not too hard to make things explode.
- Headcrabs. Fuck those.
I know I already refunded the game on steam (despite buying it for €49.99) because I wanted the version with the soundtrack from GMG which is cheaper than on SteamGMG has it for 15% off if you're a VIP user which brings it to a dollar cheaper than it was before the price hike (In Canada at least)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | PC - Steam | Game Keys
Pick up your The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III PC copy from Green Man Gaming today and remember to sign in for our best price
Deluxe Edition is also 15% off on GMG
RE Alyx:
I get the occasional relatively frequent, almost like loading based hitching/stutter at ~medium/high settings with a 3770K and GTX1080, I'm not even sure if they make a big enough difference to not increase them further just yet. It's fine the majority of the time.
I've played for ~2 hours and I have to say I do have a few minor complaints compared to other VR games I enjoyed.
It shows that the game and/or its technology have been in development for a long time as some decisions have that "early VR" feel. They've done a good job adapting the systems to contemporary VR methods but there are still traces of how it wasn't originally meant to be that intense/free in locomotion options and what not. There are for example a couple instances per level so far where even though you're using free locomotion pressing forward will just teleport you through the obstacle/situation with a fade out/fade in and accompanying sound effect of the action you didn't really do/see. That only happens rarely and in all other cases they've adapted the game to free locomotion very well, you can vault over stuff, crouch under obstacles and drop off ledges seamlessly.
Guns and tools are attached to your hand rather than physically held so that they drop if you let go like other objects. It's a pure old school inventory where you hold a button to bring up the wheel with the guns/tools then hover your hand over the one you want and release the button to have it attached. A quick press will toggle between a free hand and the last thing you were holding a la MGS. That's contrary to most other modern VR FPS where you can attach things to your body (even if it's invisible in some of them, or optional) and your guns behave just like other objects, being able to let go or toss them or whatever which makes it feel more immersing and physical. The backpack for storing stuff and grabbing ammo to reload with works very nicely though.
Edit: the above also means you can't switch hands on the fly, you have to choose the dominant hand that will be handling the tool/guns from the settings/when first starting the game, something like that. Also the vaulting over is gamey, you press the right stick forward to match your left stick while walking against the object you want to climb, not physically do anything as in other games. All the actual interactions with stuff/puzzles/objects are fairly well done however.
And finally, this is Oculus (and similarly non-Index) specific but once again the default hand pose is a very flat open palm hand, so at your normal resting position where you have your fingers around the controller and your index finger resting on (but not pressing in) the index trigger, it gets a very unnatural default pose where your last 3 fingers are open/flat, your thumb is appropriately tracked by which input it's resting on (or thumbs up if it's on nothing) and the index finger is constantly curled in way too much because the trigger it's resting on is touch sensitive. That just looks off and like your resting pose is almost a constant "ok" signal or something. You get over it and personally I try to not touch the index finger trigger at all when not actually using it but yeah, it could be handled better so it only bends the index finger if you're actually pressing it in and maybe have all the fingers a little bit bent in more naturally as the default. For an Index-first game with all its finger tracking making the pose reflect your actions decently, it's okay and it doesn't negatively affect playability.
Other than that it certainly seems to be the most polished single player FPS adventure yet and just like you'd expect a Half-Life game to be in VR with all that entails like amazing vistas, cool scripted sequences NPCs and interactions, great atmosphere and intense combat scenarios (and loading screens). But if it could get the basics more like Onward that would make it perfect. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners gets very close to being this but maintains some Boneworks-like jank (not nearly as much, it's awesome) and doesn't have the high production values Valve could afford here.
I get the occasional relatively frequent, almost like loading based hitching/stutter at ~medium/high settings with a 3770K and GTX1080, I'm not even sure if they make a big enough difference to not increase them further just yet. It's fine the majority of the time.
I've played for ~2 hours and I have to say I do have a few minor complaints compared to other VR games I enjoyed.
It shows that the game and/or its technology have been in development for a long time as some decisions have that "early VR" feel. They've done a good job adapting the systems to contemporary VR methods but there are still traces of how it wasn't originally meant to be that intense/free in locomotion options and what not. There are for example a couple instances per level so far where even though you're using free locomotion pressing forward will just teleport you through the obstacle/situation with a fade out/fade in and accompanying sound effect of the action you didn't really do/see. That only happens rarely and in all other cases they've adapted the game to free locomotion very well, you can vault over stuff, crouch under obstacles and drop off ledges seamlessly.
Guns and tools are attached to your hand rather than physically held so that they drop if you let go like other objects. It's a pure old school inventory where you hold a button to bring up the wheel with the guns/tools then hover your hand over the one you want and release the button to have it attached. A quick press will toggle between a free hand and the last thing you were holding a la MGS. That's contrary to most other modern VR FPS where you can attach things to your body (even if it's invisible in some of them, or optional) and your guns behave just like other objects, being able to let go or toss them or whatever which makes it feel more immersing and physical. The backpack for storing stuff and grabbing ammo to reload with works very nicely though.
Edit: the above also means you can't switch hands on the fly, you have to choose the dominant hand that will be handling the tool/guns from the settings/when first starting the game, something like that. Also the vaulting over is gamey, you press the right stick forward to match your left stick while walking against the object you want to climb, not physically do anything as in other games. All the actual interactions with stuff/puzzles/objects are fairly well done however.
And finally, this is Oculus (and similarly non-Index) specific but once again the default hand pose is a very flat open palm hand, so at your normal resting position where you have your fingers around the controller and your index finger resting on (but not pressing in) the index trigger, it gets a very unnatural default pose where your last 3 fingers are open/flat, your thumb is appropriately tracked by which input it's resting on (or thumbs up if it's on nothing) and the index finger is constantly curled in way too much because the trigger it's resting on is touch sensitive. That just looks off and like your resting pose is almost a constant "ok" signal or something. You get over it and personally I try to not touch the index finger trigger at all when not actually using it but yeah, it could be handled better so it only bends the index finger if you're actually pressing it in and maybe have all the fingers a little bit bent in more naturally as the default. For an Index-first game with all its finger tracking making the pose reflect your actions decently, it's okay and it doesn't negatively affect playability.
Other than that it certainly seems to be the most polished single player FPS adventure yet and just like you'd expect a Half-Life game to be in VR with all that entails like amazing vistas, cool scripted sequences NPCs and interactions, great atmosphere and intense combat scenarios (and loading screens). But if it could get the basics more like Onward that would make it perfect. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners gets very close to being this but maintains some Boneworks-like jank (not nearly as much, it's awesome) and doesn't have the high production values Valve could afford here.
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Trying to kill the fanbase that they claim saved them. Might I suggest a wholesome curator that shows you what Steam has to offer instead?
Steam Curator: Fighters - Popular and Niche
I have only played Alyx for about two hours, but it looks very promising so far.
I struggled with the gravity glove pull mechanic to begin with, but I am now effortlessly traversing and pulling loot with my left hand while keeping my gun ready on the right. It feels good that it is a skill based system and not just an automatic thing.
Some playtesting aspects in the beginning section felt a bit off. Why was my health pool decimated by carefully rolling propane tanks into barnacles and blowing them up? It seemed like I should be able to make it, but big chunks of my health were still taken away. Also, being caught by barnacles vs teleportation based traversal is not explained well in the game. I am pretty sure that teleporting through a barnacle tentacle means that you get caught, but I only learned this by repeatedly failing to teleport past them, which was not very fun.
I don't understand why I have to spend so much time realigning my rectangular play area in relation to levels that are almost entirely built as a series of rectangular floor/ground spaces. This is an issue in many VR games, but is makes especially little sense here considering how the levels are designed.
The graphics are mind-blowing. Watching NPC cutscenes is a notch above everything else I have seen in VR so far.
I am really looking forward to resume my playthrough when I have more time.
I struggled with the gravity glove pull mechanic to begin with, but I am now effortlessly traversing and pulling loot with my left hand while keeping my gun ready on the right. It feels good that it is a skill based system and not just an automatic thing.
Some playtesting aspects in the beginning section felt a bit off. Why was my health pool decimated by carefully rolling propane tanks into barnacles and blowing them up? It seemed like I should be able to make it, but big chunks of my health were still taken away. Also, being caught by barnacles vs teleportation based traversal is not explained well in the game. I am pretty sure that teleporting through a barnacle tentacle means that you get caught, but I only learned this by repeatedly failing to teleport past them, which was not very fun.
I don't understand why I have to spend so much time realigning my rectangular play area in relation to levels that are almost entirely built as a series of rectangular floor/ground spaces. This is an issue in many VR games, but is makes especially little sense here considering how the levels are designed.
The graphics are mind-blowing. Watching NPC cutscenes is a notch above everything else I have seen in VR so far.
I am really looking forward to resume my playthrough when I have more time.
I can’t play Half Life Alyx and I really want to but probably wont even get the chance until like 2022 at least which sucks, but god its so fucking exciting seeing Valve make singleplayer games again.
Its so surreal seeing such a high budget first person singleplayer title from them. Half Life, Portal, TF2, L4D, CS. They all have this certain “valve feel” that nothing else comes close to and it makes me unbelievably excited to see new titles with that same feel after so long without it.
Hope it does well and Valve pumps out more AAA SP titles in the future
Its so surreal seeing such a high budget first person singleplayer title from them. Half Life, Portal, TF2, L4D, CS. They all have this certain “valve feel” that nothing else comes close to and it makes me unbelievably excited to see new titles with that same feel after so long without it.
Hope it does well and Valve pumps out more AAA SP titles in the future
Just realized that even the expensive edition of Trails III doesn't give all the DLC. Sure they're only consumables but still. Greedy Durante probably asking insane rates, driving those poor, honest Japanese pubs towards desperate measures. 
I hope they do as a consumer, but I have no idea how usable Source 2 is from a developer perspective (if you don't have the Valve support infrastructure).
It certainly seems to be the most VR-optimized engine around.
OP
Well, I think it's time for me to share my experience with Half-Life: Alyx after 3 hours of play time, this is a very early impression and story won't be something I will be talking about cause' there's a lot to discover still and I haven't played that much to give an impression about this, that said, let's get this thing started.
- Visually the game is STUNNING, Source 2 is a very competent engine that delivers good visual results with great performance, the level of detail put on the maps is incredible, from trash to the Xen corruption, everything feels really immersive, that combined with the sense of scale makes this experience one that truly deserves to be played, seriously, do you know how big a strider is? NO, YOU DON'T UNTIL YOU HAVE ONE LITERALLY AT YOUR SIDE, DAMN GOD.
- Performance is really great although there are a few things that should be fixed, My visual setup is set at High and performance is always 90fps except when a section of the map loads (yeah baby, it would not be a Source game if load weren't there) and while it's beautiful cause' holograms do their thing, performance tanks in that situation a lot creating micro-stuttering for a moment, aside of that, solid as a rock.
- Characters are amazing, the classic Valve sense of humor is back and I LOVE IT, silly jokes but always in the right moment, for example: a big group of zombies is going after you? no worries, Russel has a joke for you to make the moment less tense. lovely.
- Movement is affecting me WAY LESS than I thought, I played 3 straight hours and no signs of motion sickness, maybe playing boneworks prior this was a good idea, but in general I think the movement is correct and really well done (at least for me)
- HEADCRABS ARE AS ADORABLE AS TERRIFYING!
That's enough Alyx for today. I stopped when I heard "HEADCRAB!".
Nope, nope nope.
Nope, nope nope.
It's hard when your release is on the same day as Alyx and you have to fix some day 1 issue
steamcommunity.com
Steam :: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III :: Trails of Cold Steel III Version 1.04 Patch Notes
Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying Trails of Cold Steel III! We just released a minor update which fixes issues related to DLC packaging and the localization system used for DLCs: Fixed an issue which could cause crashes upon loading some DLC content. Fixed a rendering issue with portraits for...
Great screenshots!Well, I think it's time for me to share my experience with Half-Life: Alyx after 3 hours of play time, this is a very early impression and story won't be something I will be talking about cause' there's a lot to discover still and I haven't played that much to give an impression about this, that said, let's get this thing started.
And that's pretty much it, my first impressions, it the most amazing VR game I have played to date in a lot of aspects. here you have a few pics. I took while playing.
- Visually the game is STUNNING, Source 2 is a very competent engine that delivers good visual results with great performance, the level of detail put on the maps is incredible, from trash to the Xen corruption, everything feels really immersive, that combined with the sense of scale makes this experience one that truly deserves to be played, seriously, do you know how big a strider is? NO, YOU DON'T UNTIL YOU HAVE ONE LITERALLY AT YOUR SIDE, DAMN GOD.
- Performance is really great although there are a few things that should be fixed, My visual setup is set at High and performance is always 90fps except when a section of the map loads (yeah baby, it would not be a Source game if load weren't there) and while it's beautiful cause' holograms do their thing, performance tanks in that situation a lot creating micro-stuttering for a moment, aside of that, solid as a rock.
- Characters are amazing, the classic Valve sense of humor is back and I LOVE IT, silly jokes but always in the right moment, for example: a big group of zombies is going after you? no worries, Russel has a joke for you to make the moment less tense. lovely.
- Movement is affecting me WAY LESS than I thought, I played 3 straight hours and no signs of motion sickness, maybe playing boneworks prior this was a good idea, but in general I think the movement is correct and really well done (at least for me)
- HEADCRABS ARE AS ADORABLE AS TERRIFYING!
My screenshots don't have much artistic flair, but I was really impressed by this roof
Nice work on the CS3 port and being so quick to respond to Day 1 issues Durante. Gonna finish up my PS4 playthrough first before replaying on PC though - Leapfrogging it with Alyx and Borderlands 3 (and Planetside 2) ATM so who knows how long that might take me hah.
Anyway, quite curious that the Citizens in Alyx wear normal clothes instead of the blue jumpsuits - Hope I can figure out if there's a canon reason behind the change in the next five years or if it's just Valve flexing their increased development resources since then to be able to make more unique assets like that.
Anyway, quite curious that the Citizens in Alyx wear normal clothes instead of the blue jumpsuits - Hope I can figure out if there's a canon reason behind the change in the next five years or if it's just Valve flexing their increased development resources since then to be able to make more unique assets like that.
Looks like Outer Wilds is coming to Steam June 18 (that's just 2 weeks after the exclusivity ending), nice!!!
steamdb.info
Outer Wilds · AppID: 753640
Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Outer Wilds Steam charts, data, update history.
Great. One of the only EGS exclusives ive been really looking forward to. Definitely gonna pick it up Day 1 if I can.Looks like Outer Wilds is coming to Steam June 18 (that's just 2 weeks after the exclusivity ending), nice!!!
Outer Wilds · AppID: 753640
Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Outer Wilds Steam charts, data, update history.
Half Life Alyx is incredible. It's the Mandalorian of Half Life - encounters are scaled down without a HEV suit. Still, with my VR firearms handling, I didn't even take a hit until 1.5 hours into the game.
The physics are literally the best I've encountered in a video game. The PBR and texture detail is off the carts. The scenes and environments are moody just like I'd want out of a Half Life.
The physics gloves are flawless as far as I'm concerned, really probably the best world interface for VR ever. It took me about 3 minutes to master, now I'm constantly just force pulling and snatching stuff out of the air.
I think by the end of this I'm going to wish for another prequel that returns to Black Mesa (pre-incident). I really want to visit Black Mesa with this fidelity.
The physics are literally the best I've encountered in a video game. The PBR and texture detail is off the carts. The scenes and environments are moody just like I'd want out of a Half Life.
The physics gloves are flawless as far as I'm concerned, really probably the best world interface for VR ever. It took me about 3 minutes to master, now I'm constantly just force pulling and snatching stuff out of the air.
I think by the end of this I'm going to wish for another prequel that returns to Black Mesa (pre-incident). I really want to visit Black Mesa with this fidelity.
Neat! This is one of the few I am definitely planning on picking up once its exclusivity ends. Glad it is not too much longer of a wait. Also glad some of Annapurna's titles have avoided being made exclusive (thank you Simogo!)Looks like Outer Wilds is coming to Steam June 18 (that's just 2 weeks after the exclusivity ending), nice!!!
Outer Wilds · AppID: 753640
Named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. Outer Wilds Steam charts, data, update history.
I've sent an email to Humble support to clarify this. I'll let you know as soon as I heard back from them.
Looks like they have no idea.
Humble Support said:
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You take some mighty fine pictures, sir.Well, I think it's time for me to share my experience with Half-Life: Alyx after 3 hours of play time, this is a very early impression and story won't be something I will be talking about cause' there's a lot to discover still and I haven't played that much to give an impression about this, that said, let's get this thing started.
And that's pretty much it, my first impressions, it the most amazing VR game I have played to date in a lot of aspects. here you have a few pics. I took while playing.
- Visually the game is STUNNING, Source 2 is a very competent engine that delivers good visual results with great performance, the level of detail put on the maps is incredible, from trash to the Xen corruption, everything feels really immersive, that combined with the sense of scale makes this experience one that truly deserves to be played, seriously, do you know how big a strider is? NO, YOU DON'T UNTIL YOU HAVE ONE LITERALLY AT YOUR SIDE, DAMN GOD.
- Performance is really great although there are a few things that should be fixed, My visual setup is set at High and performance is always 90fps except when a section of the map loads (yeah baby, it would not be a Source game if load weren't there) and while it's beautiful cause' holograms do their thing, performance tanks in that situation a lot creating micro-stuttering for a moment, aside of that, solid as a rock.
- Characters are amazing, the classic Valve sense of humor is back and I LOVE IT, silly jokes but always in the right moment, for example: a big group of zombies is going after you? no worries, Russel has a joke for you to make the moment less tense. lovely.
- Movement is affecting me WAY LESS than I thought, I played 3 straight hours and no signs of motion sickness, maybe playing boneworks prior this was a good idea, but in general I think the movement is correct and really well done (at least for me)
- HEADCRABS ARE AS ADORABLE AS TERRIFYING!
That can't be right, I got it (Well, the base game) for 20% off on Humble Store. Did you make sure to set your other 10% of your Monthly Bonus from Charity to Discount?
Anyway - My opinion on Alyx thus far through Ch4 - It's a Resident Evil game in the Half-Life setting. Not in a bad way, but for anyone who was waiting for a return to Half-Life, well, this is it in setting only. Alyx is not a VR translation of Pancake Half-Life in any capacity as far as gameplay goes. This plays a lot more like Resident Evil 4 (or 2 Remake) than it does a hypothetical Half-Life 3. A lot of scenarios where I'm making tactical retreats when fighting Zombies and having to pick my shots carefully due to how tanky they are and how scarce ammo is relative to other Half-Life games not called Black Mesa.
And the first Poison Crab encounter? That was 200% Resident Evil. Kept having to run around the room to try and find breathing room to reload in while they relentlessly chased and jumped at me. Of course in retrospect I can see I had other easier options for handling that encounter, but they got lost in the fog of war.
Now that's not to say Alyx is perfect - There's a few instances of frustrating bugs that have cropped up for me - Like a mission-critical item getting fused into a door after a very hard section after I wedged said door open with it. In Boneworks I'd have to go out of my way to make that happen (I have by accident once while screwing around). And of course I had to reload and retry that section like 5 more times after 1CCing it the first time.
God I get so damned tired and dehydrated playing VR though. Not sick or nauseous, just exhausted, short of breath, and sweaty as hell afterward, and feel like I'm running out of the energy to keep standing, which is odd because I stand all day without issue normally. And my office becomes a complete bloody Hotbox that I have to vent and leave the room for a few minutes to get it to be at a habitable temperature. But oddly enough my PC isn't running any hotter than normal according to my meters when I check them afterward. Is the Rift S itself that hot?
Yeah, I realised I forgot to set the slider all the way to 20% after I posted my reply. I wasn't convinced I would be getting the same LE as it was listed on Steam though.
The caveat for the insane visuals in Alyx is probably that we're back to HL2-esque loading (back when it was first released or even slower I mean, not nowadays where it's barely a stutter and you're already back to playing), Levels (or rather areas) are much smaller than something like Titanfall 2 (just mentioning this cos it's modified Source engine) and even other VR games. But they have handled the loading sequence very well too. So yeah the graphics are well above and beyond other VR games but I don't think you could have a game like Saints & Sinners or Stormland and some others look this good in this engine yet also maintain their gameplay as it was. Other smaller scale/scope games would certainly be doable and much improved though. Can't wait for the SDK/mods.
Also they need to give us smooth turning as an option, I thought turning off snap or whatever that option is in the settings would make it smooth but nope :d
Also they need to give us smooth turning as an option, I thought turning off snap or whatever that option is in the settings would make it smooth but nope :d
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I have been playing DQB2 again and this is what I have been up to
I know that there are some people that build really cool towns/cities but I don't think I would be able to do that.
So instead I decided I was just going to make one really big building and then just have everyone live inside of there and basically have all of daily life activities happen inside of the building.
So the first floor, there is a pool, bar, cafeteria, and living space. The second floor is where I plan to have the manufacturing workshops. and the third floor will end up being our agriculture spot. I may end up doing the agriculture thing last.
The idea of having multiple rooms in one "building" is nice but it does feel like there are some limitations to it.
Well that is what I will be doing for the rest of the week.
Who else is playing Animal Crossing/plans to play Animal Crossing?
I know that there are some people that build really cool towns/cities but I don't think I would be able to do that.
So instead I decided I was just going to make one really big building and then just have everyone live inside of there and basically have all of daily life activities happen inside of the building.
So the first floor, there is a pool, bar, cafeteria, and living space. The second floor is where I plan to have the manufacturing workshops. and the third floor will end up being our agriculture spot. I may end up doing the agriculture thing last.
The idea of having multiple rooms in one "building" is nice but it does feel like there are some limitations to it.
Well that is what I will be doing for the rest of the week.
Who else is playing Animal Crossing/plans to play Animal Crossing?
Half-Life: Alyx is incredible. I'm loving everything about it.
There is so much detail in all the environments. Much like Half-Life 2, the opening segment alone gives so much life to City 17. And it has already been mentioned a few times, but the game is visually gorgeous.
Every face-to-face interaction with a friendly NPC has been fantastic. I can't narrow it down to one thing, but perhaps the combination of great voice-acting, motion-capture, facial expressions, and VR's potential for presence have made them some of the most engaging interactions with an artificial being.
Valve is on point with their UI/UX game. Everything feels very intuitive and easy to access at a moment's notice. It's not all new, like the Budget Cuts' weapon selection, reach behind your back for ammo, and manual reloading, but it all comes together beautifully.
The physics and interactivity are spectacular. The grabbity gloves are a fantastic addition. I love that heavier items are actually... heavy, and will require both hands, something a lot of VR games do poorly. I used a trashcan lid to protect myself against my first headcrab as it leaped at me!
The game seems to perform very well. I've running on a i7-6900K/GTX1080 on (It defaulted me here) High settings at the Index's 120Hz mode without any noticeable issues or reprojection kicking in.
What did everyone choose for movement options?
Did everyone find the picture of Dog? (Early game item).
There is so much detail in all the environments. Much like Half-Life 2, the opening segment alone gives so much life to City 17. And it has already been mentioned a few times, but the game is visually gorgeous.
Every face-to-face interaction with a friendly NPC has been fantastic. I can't narrow it down to one thing, but perhaps the combination of great voice-acting, motion-capture, facial expressions, and VR's potential for presence have made them some of the most engaging interactions with an artificial being.
Valve is on point with their UI/UX game. Everything feels very intuitive and easy to access at a moment's notice. It's not all new, like the Budget Cuts' weapon selection, reach behind your back for ammo, and manual reloading, but it all comes together beautifully.
The physics and interactivity are spectacular. The grabbity gloves are a fantastic addition. I love that heavier items are actually... heavy, and will require both hands, something a lot of VR games do poorly. I used a trashcan lid to protect myself against my first headcrab as it leaped at me!
The game seems to perform very well. I've running on a i7-6900K/GTX1080 on (It defaulted me here) High settings at the Index's 120Hz mode without any noticeable issues or reprojection kicking in.
What did everyone choose for movement options?
Did everyone find the picture of Dog? (Early game item).
Durante , I'm curious as to something in the CS3 port I've noticed.
Screenshots of people using DualShock button prompts seem to be using lower-res and black/white Vita buttons instead of the colored Dualshock buttons of the PS4 version. Seems like a bizarre choice to swap out the colored DS4 buttons that already existed for their uncolored Vita equivalents. Any particular reason for this choice? Consistency with the CS1/2 ports?
Screenshots of people using DualShock button prompts seem to be using lower-res and black/white Vita buttons instead of the colored Dualshock buttons of the PS4 version. Seems like a bizarre choice to swap out the colored DS4 buttons that already existed for their uncolored Vita equivalents. Any particular reason for this choice? Consistency with the CS1/2 ports?
So, Half Life:Alyx, it's indeed pretty good! Played for about 2 hours and i can't wait to go back.
Also this made me smile as someone who owned a Diamond 3DFX card.
Also this made me smile as someone who owned a Diamond 3DFX card.
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It could use some more robust settings too though, LOD pop in seems quite aggressive at times even when using all ultra settings, unless it somehow automatically changes that based on the system. Also I'll probably turn settings all the way down (which from testing it thankfully doesn't look too bad really, except for the shadow pop in, I think that gets worse in low) as I now get lots of frame drops in different environments and especially when there are encounters with AI around for some reason, even though there aren't many enemies at once. There was one place where an enemy was on the floor above me as I ran back down to get to some grenades I left behind and the game turned into a slide show (also he seemed to be shooting on the floor or something toward me before he finally tried to come down himself). Maybe it's my aging CPU, I dunno. Anyway, it's playable and will be super cool to revisit whenever I get around to building a Ryzen system (keeping the same GPU longer though). Which might be a while given the current situation sadly (but it's ok, health is first).
I'm alive!
DOOM Eternal is this year's best character action game.
DOOM Eternal is this year's best character action game.
Posting what i wrote on discord
I think some players of the game arent able to get into the proper 'flow of the combat'
First off each weapon is good in its own way, enemies having weakness certain weapons doesn't mean they take less damage from any other weapon
2ndly, unlike in the previous game the non primary weapons are essential to thr combat flow
Being grenade, ice grenade, flamethrower, chainsaw and the blood punch
Once you have gotten loads of upgrades and skills, you would be combining all these elements when battling enemies.
Take the hell knight for example, that one is weak to chain gun and that weapon is solid on its own. So you can whip that out, fire at it while also ticking damage unto weaker enemies or other enemies
Now say during this time an enemy glows for a glory kill, well you now get to further charge up the blood punch as having max health convetts health pick ups into blood punch energy
Mix it up with burning various enemies to keep your armor points up along with faltering or freezing enemies in order to charge up a powered balista shot or any other effective aoe damaging weapon and you are able to cut down on the amount of enemies you need to deal with esp. If theyre of mancubus level health
The combat just flows in and of itself in a well worked pattern, and as youve eliminated some threats you chainsaw for ammo and repeat the process or utilize other weapons for effective clearing
I think many of you alreary know or thought of this but i am surprised at some players not liking the game or at least its combat flow ^^;
Valve Explains Why Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Was Never Made - IGN
Valve explains the reasons behind one of the greatest cliffhangers in gaming history.
Finished Borderlands 3 last night and thought is was great! actually lots better than I expected. As a shooter it was so satisfying, I often used either a sniper or a strong revolver with high critical, so that made everyone instagib when getting headshots and sometimes the shot would ricochet to a nearby enemy and instagib him too. Bloody fantastic!
Think next game for me will be Dead Rising 4, need to mentally prepare for the end of the world!
Think next game for me will be Dead Rising 4, need to mentally prepare for the end of the world!
Doom Eternal seems to be exactly what I hated about Doom 2016 times ten.
But hey, I don't torture myself by playing games I don't like, so it's fine.
Zero no Kiseki is pretty good.
But, yeah, it's a prototype for the harem that became Cold Steel.
And I think I know why: it's not so much about having girls throwing themselves at a random guy that's just an asocial nerd, but by virtue of replacing the main character by a self insert that gets to choose his waifu, the game just removes virtually all of the character interactions that do not involve the hero.
While they might still banter during some scenes, gone are the sequences where you get exclusively side blokes talking with one another, duos that form romances that do not involve the protagonist, or grizzled veterans (that are 23 at least, one step in the grave) supporting the younger ones.
It's all about "me me me", you are the hero, the team is here to support you. That's what changed, in large part due to Persona I would say. Not the first, but it certainly popularized the concept, and the high school theme too.
You know what company also made the same changes in the West? Bioware.
That's exactly what the modern JRPGs feel like. With a different coat of paint, and usually without a character creator, but they try to tell a story while giving you no way to steer the plot nor making full use of all the NPCs. What matters is that the player should be happy for what happens, and that frequently (but not always) involves creepy relationships.
I don't want to be the hero, I want good plot and well written personalities. Slamming a hundred hours worth of dialogue is not how you build a world, nor how you tell a story. Show, don't tell, and surprise your audience.
But hey, I don't torture myself by playing games I don't like, so it's fine.
Zero no Kiseki is pretty good.
But, yeah, it's a prototype for the harem that became Cold Steel.
And I think I know why: it's not so much about having girls throwing themselves at a random guy that's just an asocial nerd, but by virtue of replacing the main character by a self insert that gets to choose his waifu, the game just removes virtually all of the character interactions that do not involve the hero.
While they might still banter during some scenes, gone are the sequences where you get exclusively side blokes talking with one another, duos that form romances that do not involve the protagonist, or grizzled veterans (that are 23 at least, one step in the grave) supporting the younger ones.
It's all about "me me me", you are the hero, the team is here to support you. That's what changed, in large part due to Persona I would say. Not the first, but it certainly popularized the concept, and the high school theme too.
You know what company also made the same changes in the West? Bioware.
That's exactly what the modern JRPGs feel like. With a different coat of paint, and usually without a character creator, but they try to tell a story while giving you no way to steer the plot nor making full use of all the NPCs. What matters is that the player should be happy for what happens, and that frequently (but not always) involves creepy relationships.
I don't want to be the hero, I want good plot and well written personalities. Slamming a hundred hours worth of dialogue is not how you build a world, nor how you tell a story. Show, don't tell, and surprise your audience.
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