Community MetaSteam | May 2020 - We May Or May Not Be Around In June!

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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Acer Nitro VG270UP 27" 1440/144 IPS Freesync
...
400 bucks
...
Why does it always ends with a 400+ bucks product ? :so-good-blob:
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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One of the few games designed specifically for controller, quite the experience.
I'm not sure how well it would work for kb&m. I usually balk at games not translating well to that input method on PC but, well, this is an exception.

Also, D:OS2 gives me choice anxiety. I feel overwhelmed when I get to a new location and, well, just about every nook and cranny begs to be looked at and explored. It's an amazing game but not the best if you are low on energy, that's for sure.
 

texhnolyze

Child at heart
Oct 19, 2018
3,581
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Indonesia
Bless the ATOM team.
Greetings, friends!

Our game’s sequel is constantly developing, but that doesn't mean we forgot our first game ATOM RPG. To show that, we are uploading a large patch packed with things you asked us to add on the forums.

First off, we did what we were asked to do by the players who prefer the gamepad. The interface and controls are completely overhauled and should now seem much more comfortable and easy than before.
Full changelog:

  • Added optimization for low-end PCs;
  • Added video playback performance optimization for low-end PCs;
  • Added Polish language translation;
  • Added one account to transfer saves between game versions;
  • Three new cinematics for certain locations when they are first visited;
  • Gamepad control and interface overhauled;
  • New sounds on certain locations;
  • New character animations;
  • New way to display hit points. It is off by default but you can find it in the settings;
  • Mutants got new animations when hit and when dodging the hit;
  • Various minor bugs and typos reported by the community were eradicated.
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
The PAC-MAN sale ends in 25 minutes or so.

While flawed (mainly due to a lack of resolution and graphical options), the PAC-MAN MUSEUM is well worth a look, if you like arcade games.
It's been a while since I played it, and earlier today I re-installed it, and I had a lot of fun with some of the games included.

There's a lot of great stuff in there, like PAC-MAN Championship Edition (probably my favourite game in the series, period; DX+ added a lot of unnecessary crap, while C.E. is pure, unadulterated arcade fun), PAC-Mania (a personal favourite), and "oddities" like PAC-LAND, and PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT.



Outside of this one, PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ is also well worth a look (and, personally, I found it far batter than PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2; many of the additions and changes done for the sequel don't work well, in my opinion).

 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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Next month is an interesting one as multiple games will (or should in some cases) end exclusivity:

Confirmed:

-Satisfactory
-Journey
-Outer Wilds
-Detroit
-Heavy Rain
-Beyond: Two Souls
-Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection

Unconfirmed but it's 12 months time:

-Sinking City (this one is probably going to come back as a self-published title)
-Omen of Sorrow (confirmed for a Steam release at mid 2020)
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
Next month is an interesting one as multiple games will (or should in some cases) end exclusivity:

Confirmed:

-Satisfactory
-Journey
-Outer Wilds
-Detroit
-Heavy Rain
-Beyond: Two Souls
-Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection

Unconfirmed but it's 12 months time:

-Sinking City (this one is probably going to come back as a self-published title)
-Omen of Sorrow (confirmed for a Steam release at mid 2020)
Is anyone seriously looking forward to Omen of Sorrow? 🤔

These guys, and the Satisfactory guys, should team-up, since they are from the same mould.
A reminder of how the Omen of Sorrow devs do PR:




---

Adding Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection to that list of EGS exclusives is stretching things a bit... 😉
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,029
25,777
113
Is anyone seriously looking forward to Omen of Sorrow? 🤔

These guys, and the Satisfactory guys, should team-up, since they are from the same mould.
A reminder of how the Omen of Sorrow devs do PR:




---

Adding Samurai Shodown Neogeo Collection to that list of EGS exclusives is stretching things a bit... 😉
Well, if they decided to make it 1 week timed exclusive.... :p

Also, not really looking for Omen of Sorrow but as my spreadsheet is giving me the alerts, well, I must notify about the status haha
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
Also, not really looking for Omen of Sorrow but as my spreadsheet is giving me the alerts, well, I must notify about the status haha
😉

I think you could have easily erased that game from your list, and no one would notice it. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

When the early exclusivity deals were announced, the reactions were usually people upset, or disappointed, about these deals.
With this game, everyone was like "what?", "who?". 😆
 

low-G

old school cool
Nov 1, 2018
898
1,718
93
The PAC-MAN sale ends in 25 minutes or so.

While flawed (mainly due to a lack of resolution and graphical options), the PAC-MAN MUSEUM is well worth a look, if you like arcade games.
It's been a while since I played it, and earlier today I re-installed it, and I had a lot of fun with some of the games included.

There's a lot of great stuff in there, like PAC-MAN Championship Edition (probably my favourite game in the series, period; DX+ added a lot of unnecessary crap, while C.E. is pure, unadulterated arcade fun), PAC-Mania (a personal favourite), and "oddities" like PAC-LAND, and PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT.



Outside of this one, PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ is also well worth a look (and, personally, I found it far batter than PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2; many of the additions and changes done for the sequel don't work well, in my opinion).

I concur that these are worth picking up. Agree with all sentiments. I think CE2 is alright too, if you’re willing to try something different. It’s a lot more fun than PAC Man 256 or whatever it’s called...

I’m all for CE, but PAC Man arrangement is totally worth playing. And PAC Land is pretty darn nostalgic for me as a kid that even watched the PAC Man cartoon when it was new and ate PAC Man cereal.

also iOS has real issues writing PacMan so I give up..

also I want to say it’s really interesting that PAC Land uses the American TV cartoon theme for its soundtrack. (Yeah on Wikipedia PAC Land was straight up modeled after the Hanna Barberra cartoon. Nintendo should have done this for Mario64 (well, taken influence at least)(

Also why the fuck is this version so hard to find:
 
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fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
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Finished


It was decent, reminds me off My Friend Pedro and Hotline Miami, but not as good as them, it has 18 stages, was fun the first few stages, but got very repetive in the later stages as you are only able to punch and the environments are pretty much the same all the time.
 

Ruvon

Chaotic writer
May 15, 2019
707
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France
cabinetdechaologie.wordpress.com
Guys, I'm puzzled. I just read people complaining about games where you can quicksave. I repeat, you CAN if you want to.

Do you think game design is screwed when a game allow you to quicksave in addition to "normal" saves on multiple slots (by entering menu and manually clicking on save game option) and / or auto saves / checkpoint saves ? Or do you prefer when a game allow people multiple options so they can play as they want ?

I have some examples of checkpoint saves very well done (Alien Isolation is one, Dead Space 1 too), but in a lot other games, you can save however you want... And I don't think it breaks the game design.
 

Wok

Wok
Oct 30, 2018
4,923
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France
I prefer to be able to save whenever I want to. However, this ruins stealth games for me, because I quickly reload the save whenever I mess up, which breaks the flow of the game.
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
Guys, I'm puzzled. I just read people complaining about games where you can quicksave. I repeat, you CAN if you want to.
I'm resigned with the fact that many people wake up already looking for things to be upset, or offended about, even if it doesn't affect them in any way.

In terms of video games, I've seen people complaining about games having quick saves, about lacking quick saves, about games having easy/normal difficulty settings or casual modes (because every game has to have extreme difficulty, otherwise these people apparently lose their gamer cards or something), about offering gender and/or skin colour options, and the most idiotic things you can think of.

And of course, people against other people being able to play certain games (when it comes to games launching on new platforms).

Many of these things (be it quick saves, casual modes, or an easy difficulty setting) are entirely optional, but people are against others having the chance to play games differently than they do.

I really don't get it.
 

Stone Ocean

Proud Degenerate
Apr 17, 2019
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Guys, I'm puzzled. I just read people complaining about games where you can quicksave. I repeat, you CAN if you want to.

Do you think game design is screwed when a game allow you to quicksave in addition to "normal" saves on multiple slots (by entering menu and manually clicking on save game option) and / or auto saves / checkpoint saves ? Or do you prefer when a game allow people multiple options so they can play as they want ?

I have some examples of checkpoint saves very well done (Alien Isolation is one, Dead Space 1 too), but in a lot other games, you can save however you want... And I don't think it breaks the game design.
It depends on the game and genre. Classic Resident Evil for example doesn't work for me without limited saving because it's tied to the entire resource and inventory management design. Having to manage when, where and how many times you save is integral to the experience imo.
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
3,534
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In terms of video games, I've seen people complaining about games having quick saves, about lacking quick saves, about games having easy/normal difficulty settings or casual modes (because every game has to have extreme difficulty, otherwise these people apparently lose their gamer cards or something), about offering gender and/or skin colour options, and the most idiotic things you can think of.
I can only say that I am seeing a growing contingent of players venerate an abusive attitude when it comes to games, both in themselves and the games they play. I started noticing it in MMOs and see it spreading outside of that.

People that think they should tell others how to spend their time, how they should experience games and, failing to agree with their worldview, dish out personal attacks while some of the community cheers on. The sheer amount of abuse that will you will be met with if you dare talk about the nature of difficulty and an easy mode for Souls games, the tryhard idiots on mobas. It's hard to play online and not have a bad time at some point.

It really worries me, but at the same time I remember good communities don't stick out and are probably the overwhelming majority. Nice people are quiet, and in that respect I'm really glad I stumbled upon this place :).

edit : typos.
 

Ruvon

Chaotic writer
May 15, 2019
707
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France
cabinetdechaologie.wordpress.com
Being unable to save adds to the tension
I hear that. But is being able to breaks the tension ? You still have the choice not to save and keep the tension alive, even if it's possible.

Is knowing that you can enough to kill the tension ? I don't feel it that way, but I'm trying to understand.

It really worries me, but at the same time I remember good communities don't stick out and are probably the overwhelming majority. Nice people are quiet, and in that respect I'm really glad I stumbled upon this place :).
Can't agree more. It's refreshing to have this place where, even if some of us don't agree on everything, everyone tries to be nice and respectful :cat-heart-blob:

I enjoy Cage games.

¯\(ツ)
Enjoy them if that's your thing ;) Now you can on Steam, but I guess you already played them on console ?
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
3,534
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On saves system, I certainly would make no demand of any designers but I'd say that they aren't perfect and arbitrary save systems more often than not lead to repetitive tedium when they screw up. The option to save on demand is always the one I favor. Whether it can be abused, well that's up to individual choice. I don't subscribe to the idea that designers are here to save us from ourselves as we ruin our own fun :).
 

Aaron D.

MetaMember
Jul 10, 2019
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I enjoy Cage games.

¯\(ツ)
People like to clown on Heavy Rain (Jason!), but those scenes with the estranged father having his son over for a visit in his dingy apartment were a real eye-opener for me. The complete mundanity of deciding if your kid should do homework or watch tv before dinner. And the father just sitting at the dinette table looking hopeless & lost.

It combined to make me realize games could be something greater than power-fantasy. That they could be human.

Now this is all before Gone Home came around and put Everyday People living Everyday Lives front and center, where things really took off with the paradigm shift of "slice of life" gaming experiences.

But I'll never Heavy Rain for being the first one to make me realize there was something there that I never knew I wanted.
 

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
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Guys, I'm puzzled. I just read people complaining about games where you can quicksave. I repeat, you CAN if you want to.

Do you think game design is screwed when a game allow you to quicksave in addition to "normal" saves on multiple slots (by entering menu and manually clicking on save game option) and / or auto saves / checkpoint saves ? Or do you prefer when a game allow people multiple options so they can play as they want ?

I have some examples of checkpoint saves very well done (Alien Isolation is one, Dead Space 1 too), but in a lot other games, you can save however you want... And I don't think it breaks the game design.
I totally get it. I think if a game rewards you for playing well, having highly permissive save systems can be frustrating. If I can save whenever, perfection is encouraged, and I'm not penalized for saving a lot, I will savescum so much that the game will start to feel like work.

Dishonored is a good example. The game acknowledges ghost/pacifist runs through levels, and that encouraged me to smash quick-load constantly through all three games, trying to undo every little mistake. It made short encounters drag out forever, and made the game more tedious than it should have been.

The thing is, I don't think the solution is getting rid of permissive saves, but just finding ways to reward players for not using them. If Dishonored had a third checkbox next to ghost and pacifist that was for beating a level without save-scumming, I would've been fine. Mechanically encouraging single-segment play would let me feel ok playing through my mistakes.

Games with Ironman options have that sort of effect, where the existence of Ironman mode tells players that the intent is to play without save-scumming. Alternatively, some games create that through the culture around them. Classic Doom is often played with players gunning for single segment runs on levels, or even whole wads, and the user-made wads are usually designed to facilitate that kind of play.
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
I enjoy Cage games.

¯\(ツ)
I'm with you on that. ;)

To be precise, I rather liked Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Fahrenheit. They were a bit of a mess in terms of actual gameplay (playing Omikron at times felt like a struggle, but the world, and the diverse gameplay, a mixture of genres, was something that appealed to me, since it was a bit unusual at the time).

Since then, because his games were exclusive to Sony consoles, I'm yet to play any.
Curiously enough, earlier today I played the Heavy Rain demo, and it brought back the feelings I had about his previous games. I mean, the game looks lovely, the "ambience" and mood are great, and the gameplay is bizarre and needlessly complicated, a mess, even by QTE standards. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:
So yeah, it left me wanting to play his upcoming games on Steam (and I installed the "next" demo, Beyond: Two Souls, to try out later).
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
It's not a problem in itself, but I'm more into games than movies 😉
They do share some similarities with Full Motion Video games, but don't actually use live action footage (despite using real actors in several cases).

From my experience with both Omikron and Fahrenheit, I can say that they are always interesting, but rarely actually good.
I totally understand what you mean.
I enjoyed them despite the gameplay, and not because of the gameplay.
The premises are appealing, the world building and mood as well, but then the actual gameplay is all over the place.
Omikron at times almost seemed "broken", and Fahrenheit was much more simpler on that regard, but it was still very unintuitive with it's "motion to trigger action" gameplay (the demo I played of Heavy Rain was again like that).
Clearly, he thinks by having people making long, complicated motions with the controller/mouse, or crazy button combinations, he is making his games more interactive, but surely I would prefer them a lot more if they used gameplay closer to point and click adventure games, or action/adventure games like the Shenmue or Yakuza series.
 
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Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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On Cage and his toxic studio Quantic Dream, I didn't like the media campaign to undermine the lawsuit (for work harrassment and sexual harrassment) they were dealing with on Venture Beat (and french magazine Le Point).

Lies, partially true facts... It was almost they asked for "journalists" to make them look better.
Quantic is indeed in bed with a few outlets, notably french ones from what I could garner. Not that it helped them, but it was scummy.

I'd still let people enjoy the games on account of them being allowed to do whatever the hell they want in their lives :p.
 
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