Community MetaSteam | March 2020 - Rise and Shine, Ms. Vance, Until It Is Done!

[Joe Spangle]

Whoa. Done an hour or so of HL:A.

Its amazing. Just completely blown away by it. I can totally understand why they went with VR. It is fantastic.

 

[fantomena]

Oculus Rift S is available in some countries in Europe today, might be some time until they get available again, so be quick if you can afford it.

 

[lazerfox]

Welp, can confirm, HL:A still relies a lot in the horror aspect, which is FANTASTIC but damn god some places are truly horrific.

I usually don't like horror games because they stress me out too much but I'm actually really enjoying the horror elements in Alyx. For example Ravenholm in HL2 was really intense but I wouldn't say I was having fun in that chapter and was glad when I was finally done with.

I think part of the reason why I'm enjoying it is because in VR the pace is just much slower. The physical presence in the world makes me feel like I'm in control of the situation. Unlike in traditional horror games where I often feel helpless and at the game's mercy. In Alyx I can play slow and careful so I'll peek around corners, slowly open doors etc. If a zombie or headcrab pops up I'm just gonna use my lightning fast reflexes and blast those motherfuckers in the face. The game is really fair with jump scares so far and really telegraphs you when you have to be in an alerted state so I was never getting caught off guard.

Having played more of Alyx I really wish we'll be getting In the Valley of Gods VR. Exploring creepy tombs with just a torchlight while evading lots of traps. Looking for clues and solving puzzles. Discovering ancient sites and vistas. Fighting mummies and skeletons with bow and swords. It just sounds like the perfect fit.

Also this from the Valley of Gods store page

 

[low-G]

IMO Half Life Alyx isn't a horror game at all. I don't get the same incredible fear that I get out of something like Organ Quarter - where I literally cannot play. It's more on the scale of something like Arizona Sunshine, which is also very much not a horror game.

I think the other half of this is Half Life Alyx is more Half Life, but the horrors of Half Life weren't really brought to life before due to the limitations of the medium. Now it's real. So you feel it more.

 

[fantomena]

I agreed with Nathie. FB/Oculus should have congratulated Valve. Feel like Oculus/FB is salty they didn't manage to create a game as good as Alyx yet despite their shitty walled garden philosophy.

Valve gave Oculus a lot of their VR technology, like roomscale, so they could get up to speed, Oculus took Abrash (smart VR guy) from Valve and has poured tons of money into different VR projects, yet they have not made a game like Alyx yet, imo.

Good thing I buy all my VR games on Steam to avoid FBs walled garden.

Valve has done what Oculus/FB couldn't.

Edit: I see one tweet at least, so that's good at least.

 

[lazerfox]

IMO Half Life Alyx isn't a horror game at all. I don't get the same incredible fear that I get out of something like Organ Quarter - where I literally cannot play. It's more on the scale of something like Arizona Sunshine, which is also very much not a horror game.

I think the other half of this is Half Life Alyx is more Half Life, but the horrors of Half Life weren't really brought to life before due to the limitations of the medium. Now it's real. So you feel it more.

Oh yeah I totally understand that this is child's play compared to actual horror games.

I was just surprised that I can actually enjoy being stressed out and scared thanks to the interactivity VR brings with itself.

 

[Joe Spangle]

I just encountered my first headcrab. Brown trousers time.

 

[Deleted member 113]

There's a new "starter" bundle for Zaccaria Pinball, with 32 tables (including the retro tables, and several of their modernized remake tables), for a cheap price:

Zaccaria Pinball - Starter Pack Plus on Steam

store.steampowered.com

The game has come a long way, and it's the Pinball game I have been playing the most recently.

 

[yuraya]

I agreed with Nathie. FB/Oculus should have congratulated Valve. Feel like Oculus/FB is salty they didn't manage to create a game as good as Alyx yet despite their shitty walled garden philosophy.

Valve gave Oculus a lot of their VR technology, like roomscale, so they could get up to speed, Oculus took Abrash (smart VR guy) from Valve and has poured tons of money into different VR projects, yet they have not made a game like Alyx yet, imo.

Good thing I buy all my VR games on Steam to avoid FBs walled garden.

Valve has done wath Oculus/FB couldn't.

Oculus is never gonna make something like Alyx. Doesn't really matter how much money you have or whether you got Abrash. Money will only get you so far which is why Oculus just throws it around to acquire exclusive content for their store.

You need hundreds of experienced and talented devs to pull off Alyx. Not to mention ip power. You probably won't see something like Alyx again for the next half decade regardless. Or until Valve themselves release their next VR title. We'll see what Respawn and Ubisoft can do with VR soon. They are both rumored to be making vr stuff iirc. And they both can throw a lot of resources/talent at those projects but I doubt anything they make will even be in same league as Alyx.

 

[fantomena]

You probably won't see something like Alyx again for the next half decade regardless. Or until Valve themselves release their next VR title.

Not sure about that. Valve has stated in an interview that the next HL game will be faster made as Alyx has made the groundwork for them.

 

[Firewithin]

im still super early into BL3 but i cant believe how fast im plowing through ammo so far. i fee like i need to go find an ammo machine after every pack of enemies

 

[Wok]

Not sure about that. Valve has stated in an interview that the next HL game will be faster made as Alyx has made the groundwork for them.

I thought Half-Life games were supposed to be ground-breaking.

I cannot imagine Valve devs interested in mass-developing video-games with similar mechanics and slightly different art. They would rather give the tools away, and then keep on tackling difficult game design problems for which other companies do not have a solution or the talents to look for one.

I'd like to rewind to how the project started. I'm sure you're well aware there's been a lot of anticipation and excitement about a Half-Life game for quite some time - you might have seen that around in the few years since Episode Two. How did this project get off the ground within Valve?

Robin Walker: It started because we wanted to work on a VR game, and we were looking at what we felt was the biggest problem facing VR as a platform - we felt like there'd been a lot of technology investment that was moving rapidly and improving in lots of ways. As we often do, we found ourselves looking forward a few years in the future and asking what's the biggest problem we'll be facing - and what could we do to help?

I'm sure this isn't the first project within Valve with the Half-Life attached to it since Episode Two. What made this one stick? Why did this one survive?

Robin Walker: Valve's a strange company, right? We have a lot of freedom to work on things. I think there's a sense of responsibility in the company towards this IP, there's a lot of affection towards this IP. I think after the first Half-Life we thought, man, we'll never be able to do that again. And then I think we managed to do it again with Half-Life 2 after that. It was like All right. Now we're definitely not going to do that again. But it's more about humans than it is about anything else. I think other companies, the decisions would be much more around business, but at Valve it's a lot more in humans. And to some extent, perhaps a way to think of it is that Half-Life is an IP where I think we tend to have some real significant problem or technology, some piece of it that we're really interested in attacking, and Half-Life is the weapon we use to hit it with. With the first Half-Life, we felt like there was clearly an opportunity for the way that first person shooters could tell stories. Half-Life 2, we felt like there were significant opportunities in the way that we could portray real people, and we thought there were opportunities in how physics could be used for gameplay.

And we did build various things that you could have called the next Half-Life game. There was all sorts searching for that thing - this is the, the bone that we're going to build this whole thing around. In this product, I think, because of that early prototype - it was easy to play a prototype and understand, the whole problem is what is Half-Llife in this technology. And once it became that kind of concrete a problem and not some open-ended thing, like what is Half-Life 3 and why should anyone play it and it instead became how does Half-Life work in VR, that was the thing we could get to work on right away. And, you know, once people within the company are busily working on something that they can put in front of players anytime they start to worry about it, everything gets a lot easier.

etc.

The big Half-Life interview

It actually happened. A new Half-Life game is out in the wilds, and it's a pretty fine one too. Alyx took some 13 years…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[fantomena]

I thought Half-Life games were supposed to be ground-breaking.

I cannot imagine Valve devs interested in mass-developing video-games with similar mechanics and slightly different art. They would rather give the tools away, and then keep on tackling difficult game design problems for which other companies do not have a solution or the talents to look for one.

They are, VR interactivity still has a long way to go. VR has been barely scratched.

I mean, Alyx does not have melee combat yet. So I imagine a HL3 will have melee combat.

Alyx is an increrdible polished amazing game, but it's somewhat conservative still.

 

[sanhora]

Why kickstarter?

We want to gather feedback showing our game to as many people as possible and build a solid community with whom we might develop the game according to community opinions. Of course – within reason.

This Kickstarter campaign will have an additional impact on how much more we can add to the game before its release. Also, it will let us collect some extra funds to expand Gamedec further and add some additional features that we were always dreaming of, but had to bury because they were too costly.

What is the risk?

The game will be released no matter what. We’re deep into development, design, and programming and we’re having too much fun to cancel the project which brings us so much joy and fulfillment. It’s the most ambitious project we’ve ever made in-house – it’s a game we always wanted to make. In case of any delays in physical items production because of COVID-19, we will inform the backers instantly via updates/newsletters, but as of today, there is no real reason to estimate that.

If you like what you see, consider backing us on the campaign page to gain access to the exclusive beta in the future and discuss the game with other backers on our discord server. Backers will also be allowed to enter secret channels with concept arts and exclusive info before it goes public.

 

[prudis]

new game by Generation Zero team + Avalanche reorganizing

News - Avalanche Studios reorganizes, New FPS teased at Systemic Reaction (Gen Zero team)

The new identities are a modern update and reflect the entire Avalanche Studios Group, leveraging the legacy and strong brand equity of its AAA partner and outdoor games divisions Avalanche Studios (Just Cause, Rage 2) and Expansive Worlds (theHunter: Call of the Wild), while establishing the...

metacouncil.com

 

[low-G]

Oh yeah I totally understand that this is child's play compared to actual horror games.

I was just surprised that I can actually enjoy being stressed out and scared thanks to the interactivity VR brings with itself.

Not just in response to what you said - it's been brought up a lot regarding Alyx.

I agreed with Nathie. FB/Oculus should have congratulated Valve. Feel like Oculus/FB is salty they didn't manage to create a game as good as Alyx yet despite their shitty walled garden philosophy.

Valve gave Oculus a lot of their VR technology, like roomscale, so they could get up to speed, Oculus took Abrash (smart VR guy) from Valve and has poured tons of money into different VR projects, yet they have not made a game like Alyx yet, imo.

Good thing I buy all my VR games on Steam to avoid FBs walled garden.

Valve has done what Oculus/FB couldn't.

Edit: I see one tweet at least, so that's good at least.

I don't know why they didn't have some sort of sale on their store to take advantage of the newcomers to VR due to Alyx though...

 

[Swenhir]

This looks dope


FFXII's ending always gets to me, it's simple and straightforward but it always reminds me of how much I like the characters and world, so I'm always sad when it's over.

I'm into it for the music alone. Catchiest thing I've heard in a while, thanks for linking .

 

[Alextended]

Anything VR is buried until after Alyx hype settles down. I weep for those 2 nice looking escape room games or even Down the Rabbit Hole tomorrow maybe.

Also I only realized just a bit ago that the yellow crates aren't just props, they should have had a nice interactive handle, how much ammo/resin did I miss

 

[Jav]

How good is Resident Evil 0? I completed the remaster of the first one 3 times already and I'm doubting if i should play 0 now or just jump straight to 2 Remake

 

[Ascheroth]

I got 25 Steameurobux in my wallet, what to buy.
When's the next bigger-ish Steam sale? Golden Week sale should be in around a month, right?

 

[Deleted member 113]

Cyan (Myst series, Obduction, ...) has been teasing something related to Obduction daily, that should culminate this Friday, the 27th:

 

[madjoki]

free game

 

[Deleted member 113]

Wow. Look at this price:



Is it me, or more and more games are appearing on Steam with weird, ridiculously high prices?
I assume there's some kind of "money laundering" going on.

 

[Durante]

Is it me, or more and more games are appearing on Steam with weird, ridiculously high prices?
I assume there's some kind of "money laundering" going on.

Is losing 30% + VAT a good rate for money laundering? (I really don't know, I'm not in that business )

 

[Le Pertti]

Agh come on "pending money" on my Steam wallet, want to get Generation Zero already!

 

[Deleted member 113]

Is losing 30% + VAT a good rate for money laundering? (I really don't know, I'm not in that business )

I seem to remember that, for a few similar cases, what was happening was these games, frequently "asset flips" listed for a ridiculously high price, were being used as a way of stealing funds from stolen credit cards.
The cards were being used to purchase these games, and then the "developers" would try to withdrawn their funds before Valve could act, and remove them.

 

[Sadrac]

Wow. Look at this price:



Is it me, or more and more games are appearing on Steam with weird, ridiculously high prices?
I assume there's some kind of "money laundering" going on.

At least it has a good regional price

 

[fantomena]

Well Im gonna try it at least, but I did try it during that free UPlay+ month. Was fun for 20 min, then it bored me to hell.

 

[Amzin]

Humble published stuff

​

Humble does publish a fair amount of great stuff. I already have Fae Tactics on my wishlist in my constant pursuit to reward devs for finally making Tactics RPGs again

That looks amazing. I really want to back it, and they have Steam all over their page, but no notice that I saw specifically addressing whether they'd turn down exclusivity (not that it necessarily would be accurate). It might be the first game I back since EGS launched, outside of Everspace 2 which was not a gamble at all.

 

[Firewithin]

I got 25 Steameurobux in my wallet, what to buy.
When's the next bigger-ish Steam sale? Golden Week sale should be in around a month, right?

just YOLO and buy something full price!

 

[Tizoc]

Reminder that new humble choice is next week. So please make sure to be ready to refund in case a game gets Choice-d~

 

[Wok]

 

[PC-tan]

I got 25 Steameurobux in my wallet, what to buy.
When's the next bigger-ish Steam sale? Golden Week sale should be in around a month, right?

It's at the end of April, early May.


So there is Half Life Alyx content in Death Stranding and Death Standing content in Half Life Alyx?

 

[Daoko64]

 

[Deleted member 113]

Here's a bundle with several cool Polish games:

Steam Store

Steam is the ultimate destination for playing, discussing, and creating games.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Arsene]

NIS America, Inc.

Check out the latest and greatest from NIS America all in one place! Find your new favorite game, along with the most recent updates.

nisamerica.com

NISA confirmed today that Disaster Report 4's paid Epilogue DLC will be built into the PC version alongside 14 pieces of cosmetic DLC for free. So you're getting the full story on PC included with the base package which is pretty nice because it's $7.99 on PS4.

The game will also have 6 pieces of cosmetic DLC you can buy for $1.49USD if you want and a free demo on April 2nd.

(you might be interested in this Mor )

 

[Daoko64]

I cant wait to play this

 

[Deleted member 113]

NIS America, Inc.

Check out the latest and greatest from NIS America all in one place! Find your new favorite game, along with the most recent updates.

nisamerica.com

NISA confirmed today that Disaster Report 4's paid Epilogue DLC will be built into the PC version alongside 14 pieces of cosmetic DLC for free. So you're getting the full story on PC included with the base package which is pretty nice because it's $7.99 on PS4.

The game will also have 6 pieces of cosmetic DLC you can buy for $1.49USD if you want and a free demo on April 2nd.

(you might be interested in this Mor )

I don't know if the prices of the game will be the same on all platforms, because it they are, PC users actually get a worse deal

The PS4 and Switch get 17 cosmetic DLCs included for free, and only need to purchase 3 to complete the collection.
PC users get 14, and need to buy 6 to complete the collection.

Regarding the Epilogue DLC, indeed the PC version includes it for free, but the Switch version also gets it for free, and the PS4 version gets it for free during the first 2 weeks, and after that it will be a paid DLC.

 

[「Echo」]

First world problems and all that.

This has been bugging me for like 3 years+, but my fellow 4K (or even 3440) gamers, do you get tired of the internet just simply not adapting to higher resolutions? There is so much empty and wasted space. Even popular websites with millions of visitors a day just can't be arsed to make their website look decent at 4K. From text scaling to layout.

Like, is it better on monitors than on TV's? My PC is hooked to a TV after all, sometimes I feel like that might be exacerbating the issue (cuz obviously you sit further back from a TV than a monitor.)

When is this gonna change? Even phone screens come at 3440 these days. 1080p TV's are gone from store shelves... I'm not sure about monitors though. Is it gonna be 2030 before Internet acknowledges 4K+?

 

[sk2k]

Wow. Look at this price:



Is it me, or more and more games are appearing on Steam with weird, ridiculously high prices?
I assume there's some kind of "money laundering" going on.

And here is the template for it. 1:1 asset flip / scam / money laundering shit. Reported.

Beat 'Em Up - Game Template 3D | Systems | Unity Asset Store

Use Beat 'Em Up - Game Template 3D from Osarion to elevate your next project. Find this & more Systems and templates on the Unity Asset Store.

assetstore.unity.com

 

[Alextended]

Just some idiots trying to make some money I guess, probably from somewhere that even 1 sale from a scammed person or from an idiot who knows it's a scam but wants to youtube it as proof there are too many shit games on shitty Steam or wherever is enough to make the endeavor worth it possibly. I'd do it :d

 

[fantomena]

Managed to play almost 2 hours before getting a little bit of headache with smooth turning in Alyx. Just reached chapter 4. Chapter 3 was creepy.

 

[Arsene]

I don't know if the prices of the game will be the same on all platforms, because it they are, PC users actually get a worse deal

The PS4 and Switch get 17 cosmetic DLCs included for free, and only need to purchase 3 to complete the collection.
PC users get 14, and need to buy 6 to complete the collection.

Regarding the Epilogue DLC, indeed the PC version includes it for free, but the Switch version also gets it for free, and the PS4 version gets it for free during the first 2 weeks, and after that it will be a paid DLC.

PC version will probably be the same price but might have a launch discount. But it's hard to say because TOCS3 didn't have one while every other NISA title (including the recently released Langrisser) did at launch

 

[Daoko64]

 

[CommodoreKong]

I'm not sure if this is news to most here or not but I noticed just now that Fanatical was also selling steam keys for metro and BL3, same as GMG, and if you click on the game it lets you pick which store you want. Last year I was hoping this is what would happen but I expressed doubt that publishers/Epic would allow this. This was ultimately my biggest fear with former exclusives because of how popular steamworks games are with the more hardcore community, I thought for sure Tim would stipulate that they had to stay as EGS keys to screw us over after the exclusivity period ended.

BL3 in particular is on sale right now for the same price on both stores, however for some reason the super deluxe version is $10 cheaper for steam.

Do we have any idea if Epic gives their keys away to third party sellers like Steam or do they charge developers/publishers to create keys? If they charge to create keys I could understand why it would cost more on third party sellers.

 

[prudis]

leaky leaky leak

 

[Le Pertti]

There's no solutions or guides to Voxelgram!? Not that I've come to puzzles where one has to guess I'm kind of had my fill with the game... but I can't leave the game until I've finished all the puzzles! (that I never learn that I can't handle games like this haha)

 

[Deleted member 113]

All titles from The Behemoth are free to play until April 1st (and there's a sale going on as well):

 

[lashman]

All titles from The Behemoth are free to play until April 1st (and there's a sale going on as well):

but i already own all of them

 

[Deku]

Did it leave early access? Do you still get Infinite now?

Edit:
Answering my own question

Today, Bright Memory will be leaving early access.
From now on development focus will shift completely to the next title Bright Memory: Infinite.

The title will be on sale for one week to celebrate its exit from early access, after which the price will be set at $9.99.

Now, the game may be leaving early access but those that purchase Bright Memory will still receive Bright Memory: Infinite free of charge upon release.