Community MetaSteam | August 2021 - Openness Is Its Superpower

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Amzin

No one beats me 17 times in a row!
Dec 5, 2018
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Some more thoughts on Humankind as I've now finished my first game of it.

It... honestly still feels like a bit of a beta. The way costs of stuff for building with cities scales makes almost no sense, and it doesn't necessarily become obvious that it's just wrong until later in the game. Districts scale with amount of stuff built (I think), but barely, so by later in the game you can fill up your territory in a matter of a few turns if you want to. But infrastructure projects, which are things that give passive flat bonuses (like aqueducts for stability or libraries for science) also scale up in cost based on... not sure, but they scale up WAY WAY FASTER. It would have taken me longer to build any two infrastructure projects from 2 eras ago than it took me to build a wonder in my main city. This feels like a bug but I think it's just how it's set, hopefully they change it.

You are spammed with notifications each turn of population increasing / decreasing because you have a soft cap on population based on available work, and going over that has a huge food cost multiplier, so you go over by 1 -> 1 person starves -> food goes to normal, go over by 1 again -> etc. The only way around this is adding more work slots (which is hard) or using your pop to build military units, which... why.

There are some pretty significant differences in civ choices but they are almost all long-term things. One of the only ways to increase influence in a meaningful way is take a civ that gives bonuses to that. Which, sort of makes sense, influence is a long term power. But some of the civs seem like just traps - all the expansionist ones don't seem to have any useful bonuses and all territories are going to be claimed / settled by midgame or possibly earlier, unless you have a weird map size-to-player ratio to intentionally give those civs a boost.

I spoke before about the game feeling opaque, but maybe me just not understanding it - I think both are true. Some of the systems are just new, that's fine. But the game doesn't display a lot of information it absolutely needs to. Those infrastructures that give passive bonuses? There is no way to preview the bonus building it right now will give - if it gives bonuses on river tiles you are exploiting, you have to count how many you have now (I understand not calculating for ALL river tiles in a territory given territories can be added and maybe you won't exploit some tiles, but it should show you what it would do NOW). When building a new district, it will show you the tile that will give the biggest bonus and lowest loss, but you can't easily visually see what tiles have what districts on them at a glance, especially as a newer player (I think Civ 6 added something like this to color code tiles when you were building something).

There are just a lot of little things that need polish, some visual bugs and some tooltips that are wrong, and there are national projects (which are a great addition) that have incredibly lacking descriptions (like the satellite system - it's actually 3 projects, layered on top of each other, but you can't tell that from the first one. Same with the space race stuff).

That's a lot of negativity, and I do think they have missed some big stuff on this version. But I haven't played ES2 on its' launch patch nor EL so maybe this is how they always are. I'm a little worried they aren't going to address the more systemic problems because I haven't seen systemic problems like this in the Endless games. Overall, it has a ton of potential - I will probably still play it again before long, and while I probably wasn't going to play Civ 6 again ever anyway, I think now I definitely won't. It's just a shame for yet another big release to just have glaring issues right out of the gate.
 

Dinjoralo

None shall remember those who do not fight.
Dec 6, 2018
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Two more benefits of using the Steam Link app instead of the Steam client that I noticed; For one, the Steam Link app sets my resolution on the Host PC to match the Client, and the share button on my Xbox controller's recognized by the Link app and not by streaming through Steam.
 
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Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
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I'm really impressed with how they handled this port of Quake. There's virtually nothing more we could possibly ask for and the price is great.

Meanwhile Atlus releasing Nocturne for $60 and charging extra for the dlc.
It's still like 1€ in other stores
Will I still be able to upgrade if I buy the original now? It's 1,76 on CDkeys.
 

Amzin

No one beats me 17 times in a row!
Dec 5, 2018
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Interesting thread by the game director of Slime Rancher:

Games are biiiig :coffee-blob:
I replied on the Tweet as well but I think this is what curator pages are supposed to be. However, it's a half-baked system. I do follow a couple (one for metroidvania reviews and one for co-op games), but there have been other niches I've tried to find a curator for and gave up trying to sift through all the chaff. Like, what would a PS1 era spooky game curator page be called? Retro horror maybe? But who knows, because there are 1 bajillion (approx) curators and maybe like a few dozen or a few hundred good ones and those are probably more generalized. Similarly, I would have loved to find a curator that reviewed adult games based on either representative devs or gameplay / narrative but couldn't find that (although I would expect it to exist).
 

fokkusu

Burn baby burn🔥🎵
Dec 9, 2018
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fokkusu

Burn baby burn🔥🎵
Dec 9, 2018
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Quake – the legendary dark fantasy FPS that revolutionized the genre is now enhanced! This new offering features cross-play, dedicated servers for online deathmatch matchmaking, free optional Add-ons, split-screen support for local deathmatch and co-op, AI opponents in deathmatch and more!

Note: Steam users who already own Quake will automatically receive the new enhanced version with a free download!

Read the FAQ below for details on how to access the enhanced version.



RELEASE NOTES
  • Enhanced Graphics
    Better lighting, new models, updated maps, and a dynamic shadow system headline the graphical features available in Quake. Individual features of the enhanced graphics can be turned on and off to your preference

  • Includes Original Expansion Packs
    The two retail expansion packs, Scourge of Armagon, and Dissolution of Eternity are both now bundled with Quake, and are integrated into the main game. The downloadable expansion pack, Dimension of the Past, has also been upgraded and included

  • Includes Soundtrack
    The iconic original soundtrack by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is now included on all versions for the first time. The soundtracks for Scourge of Armagon, and Dissolution of Eternity are also included when playing those expansion packs

  • Brand New "Dimension of the Machine" Episode
    Created for Quake's 25th anniversary, Dimension of the Machine is a brand new experience created by the MachineGames team. Continue your fight through brand new dimensions, figure out the secret to restarting the machine, and come face to face with an old foe

  • Free Optional Add-ons
    Similar to our re-releases of DOOM (1993) and DOOM II, we will also be periodically releasing free optional Add-ons available to download in the in-game "Adds-on" menu. Our first Add-on is Quake 64, which includes the original alternate soundtrack by acclaimed composer Aubrey Hodges

  • Split-Screen Multiplayer
    Quake includes 4 player split-screen multiplayer on all platforms, in both deathmatch and co-op modes. Fight against your friends, or with your friends in all five campaigns. AI bots are also available to play against in deathmatch mode

  • Online Multiplayer
    Play custom matches on player-hosted servers, or hop into matchmaking and play on dedicated servers. Quake also now includes the extra levels Acrophobia, and The Edge available in deathmatch mode. Dimension of the Machine also contains all new deathmatch levels

  • Cross-Play Multiplayer
    Play with friends no matter which platform they prefer. Cross-play is available on all platforms, so you can play Quake with everyone

  • Supported Languages
    English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian

PC SPECS
Minimum Spec (1080p/60 HZ)

  • Windows 10
  • Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300x @ 3.5 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 TI (2GB) or AMD HD 7750 (1GB)
  • 8GB System RAM
  • Minimum 2GB free space on hard drive (additional space required for optional Add-ons)
  • High speed broadband connection required for online play

Recommended Spec (*4K/120 HZ)

  • Windows 10
  • Intel Core i5-6600k @ 3.5 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 @ 3.2 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB) or AMD RX Vega 56 (8GB)
  • 8GB System RAM
  • Minimum 2GB free space on hard drive (additional space required for optional Add-ons)
  • High speed broadband connection required for online play

*Compatible display required
 
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TioChuck

More Yellow 🤷‍♂️
Dec 31, 2018
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I played some multiplayer matches, goddamn I'm old, can't keep up anymore :cryblob: ... if anyone wanna play some coop let me know.
 

thistestnow

*doom noises*
Feb 16, 2021
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Also I'm hoping so much, if this gets enough attention that a Quake reboot gets the greenlight. Similar to the DOOM reboot.
 
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Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
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Grabbed quake from CDkeys and got the upgrade. Getting this awesome port out of the blue for almost nothing sure was a nice surprise.
 

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,366
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Yesterday I was in an irrational "gotta play something new" mood, so I tried out Bloodstained and Carto from the Choice.
Bloodstained seems okay so far. I generally like the look (except during dialogue, it looks like the models are deliberately aliased or something) and there seems to be a lot of stuff to do. Though not too big on the combat. It feels clunky.
Carto is neat. Pretty cool concept, though I wish it would have been more exploration-y than puzzle-y.

Anyway after that itch had been scratched I went back to Yakuza 3. Kinda dropped off of it initially and I picked it back up with the mindset of just mainlining it. One day later and I think I've done like 40 new substories :upside-down-face:
 
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Digoman

Lurking in the Shadows
Dec 21, 2018
854
2,390
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While the engine was very impressive for the time, I was never (hot take alert!) a big fan of the Quake campaign. It was only when I started to play Threewave CTF that the game became one of my favorites. And since I'm "slightly" older now, there is no way I'm jumping that multiplayer today :p

Still, I will probably play this version some time, if only to see this huge moment in PC gaming again, but now with my old grumpy eyes.
 

NarohDethan

There was a fish in the percolator!
Apr 6, 2019
9,203
25,731
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Okay you wont believe this. So I searched the error on youtube and there's one video that says 'just press B on the keyboard when shown the error and reconnect'. B is supposed to be 'A' or 'X' on the controller...and it freaking worked. WHAT.
 

Nabs

Hyper˗Toxic Pro˗Consumer
Oct 23, 2018
3,876
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Ended up picking up Quake from Indiegala. It was like 1.25 or something. I'm surprised I didn't have it already.
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,899
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Wait, this new Quake version has online coop ?
 

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,630
5,232
113
Do I need all quakes to get the enhanced path or just the 1st one?
 
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