Community MetaSteam | September 2023 - The galaxy awaits

[Gamall Wednesday Ida]

Okay, Lies of P. 1st stop: options and key bindings.

Can't rebind WASD... ?????

Of course, doesn't detect AZERTY; that technology is unheard of.

Because of combination of the 2, can't rebind A, which is my lock-on key (would be Q on QWERTY) and has been for well over literally thousands of hours across pretty much every souls-like (except Bloodborne). I think it's actually worse than the demo, I don't remember having that issue then.

Can't bind mouse wheel up/down at all. Or ALT.

So all in all, I'd need to setup Input Remapper (Linux substitute for AHK) before I can even consider playing.

I haven't seen that level of sheer incompetence in M&K management since Dark Souls 2.

Bottom line: I haven't even started playing, and I already despise the game. And I hate that time spent trying to get controls to work sensibly counts towards the 2 hours of play, because a refund seems likely at this point.

edit: And the mouse feels like molasses even at max. Another game that has never been playtested with M&K. Refunded.

 

[Blu]

Out now

 

[Hektor]

EVERYTHING BUT A NEW GAME

 

[kio]

After >100h of Wrath of the Righteous I'm done with it and it's bullshit. It's a frustrating experience where you're constantly fighting the game mechanics and systems' limitations while the AI clearly cheats and doesn't follow the same rules the player does. I'm done rolling 10 d20's and having a max roll of 7 while the AI's lowest roll is 13 or 14. Other games do it as well but at least they are honest about it in the calculations. Add the constant mobs in the critical path that are double your level for whatever reason and are resistant or immune to 90% of your kit and it's a constant struggle of bashing your head against a wall.
Also after 100h I'm guessing I'm not even halfway through so I'm bailing out while I still have my sanity.

After 2 games and 2 enhanced editons I think it's clear that Owlcat has no idea how to implement difficulty or balance a rpg. The Pathfinder system deserves part of the blame since it's extremely restricitve in many parts but the biggest fault lies with them. I expect Rogue Trader to be even more frustrating and broken.

 

[lashman]

 

[Nano]

Out now

 

[Hektor]

After >100h of Wrath of the Righteous I'm done with it and it's bullshit. It's a frustrating experience where you're constantly fighting the game mechanics and systems' limitations while the AI clearly cheats and doesn't follow the same rules the player does. I'm done rolling 10 d20's and having a max roll of 7 while the AI's lowest roll is 13 or 14. Other games do it as well but at least they are honest about it in the calculations. Add the constant mobs in the critical path that are double your level for whatever reason and are resistant or immune to 90% of your kit and it's a constant struggle of bashing your head against a wall.
Also after 100h I'm guessing I'm not even halfway through so I'm bailing out while I still have my sanity.

After 2 games and 2 enhanced editons I think it's clear that Owlcat has no idea how to implement difficulty or balance a rpg. The Pathfinder system deserves part of the blame since it's extremely restricitve in many parts but the biggest fault lies with them. I expect Rogue Trader to be even more frustrating and broken.

The pathfinder system definitely isn't fun.
I also stopped playing kingmaker twice because it felt unbalanced and wasn't fun when apparently the entire system is built around both you and your opponent missing 95% of their hits

 

[Amzin]

This is just a warning to people who like Slay the Spire / deck roguelikes: Do not buy Astrea, because it is way too good. I much prefer it to StS already and it's probably solidly second place in my GOTY list. It's super addictive, I love the art style (I want stickers of like all the sentinels / blessings), and it has a ton of distinct playstyles. I have stayed up past 3am on multiple occasions now because I installed it on my Deck which was also a mistake on my part (it works great though and battery lasts a fair while).

 

[Panda Pedinte]

The first one was good so I'm in.

 

[Le Pertti]

So my girlfriend is traveling in the US and I said that she should bring some American coffee and candy since I want to try those out, what else should I tell her to get?

 

[kio]

The pathfinder system definitely isn't fun.
I also stopped playing kingmaker twice because it felt unbalanced and wasn't fun when apparently the entire system is built around both you and your opponent missing 95% of their hits

95% miss for both I can accept and do something to change, especially if there's nothing hidden behind that you can't control. Maybe it's bad stat distribution, or bad gear, or bad feats... there's a lot that can affect that. Kingmaker had it's share of bullshit but it's miles away from what is present in WotR where you miss 95% and your enemy misses 5%.

Here's a true example of the sheer stupidity of what's at play in WotR (Core setting if it matters that it's supposed to be the setting where neither you nor the enemy have any advantages).

The attack calculation is 1d20 + bonus, where bonus is a calculation that uses the character base stats, level, feats, equipment, etc. You can control the bonus part of the equation in your characters, it's the only thing you can influence. The next step is to see if the attack hits and for that you compare the attack value to the defenders AC. If Atk >= AC it's a hit otherwise it's a miss. After this step there's a roll to calculate the damage. (I'm discounting resistances and concealment on purpose to keep it as simple as possible).
It wasn't unusual to find enemies with bonus to attack close or bigger than your AC, meaning that almost no matter what their roll is you're bound to get hit. Meanwhile their AC can be almost twice as big as your bonus meaning the only way to hit is to roll a high number (16, 17 or even higher - spoiler warning you're not getting those rolls because the game won't allow it).

It's completely broken.

As for the rolls they are broken as well and it's easy to see. I did an experiment on many occasions to test how random the rolls really were and it wasn't pretty. One stuck with me where I needed to roll a 9 or higher to pass a check, loaded the game 20 times and passed the check once! The highest roll of the other 19 rolls was 7. A roll with an hypothetical success rate of 60% had a real success rate of 5%. There's bad luck, there's randomness and then there's complete fraud. I can understand the first, it's math, but I won't tolerate the latter.

 

[Deku]

shmup

SHMUP

store.steampowered.com

Shmup Fest is on!


We talked about PlatinumGames earlier today, here is their shmup game


As always, I always recommend this treasure

DARIUS SERIES COMPLETE PACK on Steam

store.steampowered.com

All the Darius games that are on Steam

 

[STHX]

Not a good sign that he's leaving the studio while the project he was directing (Project GG) is still ostensibly in development. It's pretty clear that they've had a rough few years outside their Nintendo-published output (even Sol Cresta had multiple delays iirc); wonder if they're still developing that new proprietary engine or switching to Unreal

There is no universe in which Project G.G. sees the light of day without Kamiya, especially considering how many games failed to sell well. That game was obviously his passion project and I can't see it ever coming out

 

[Avern]

Oh boy, the shmups fest! I can't wait to check out some shoot-'em-ups! Let's see what games are promoted on the front page!

Let's see...
Co-op looter shooter,
roguelike twin-stick shooter,
auto shooting survival,
hack and slash,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike twin-stick shooter,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike tower-defense,
action roguelike mmo,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike twin-stick shooter...
and a single actual shmup.

I can acknowledge that I'm too fussy about genre descriptors, but Steam's tagging system is ass. I guess it's fine if you're looking for games in popular genres, but try to look for something niche, you can't find anything. Mountains of vaguely similar games will surface and clog things up. It feels like a system that keeps niche games niche by denying them the ability to build an audience.

 

[QFNS]

95% miss for both I can accept and do something to change, especially if there's nothing hidden behind that you can't control. Maybe it's bad stat distribution, or bad gear, or bad feats... there's a lot that can affect that. Kingmaker had it's share of bullshit but it's miles away from what is present in WotR where you miss 95% and your enemy misses 5%.

Here's a true example of the sheer stupidity of what's at play in WotR (Core setting if it matters that it's supposed to be the setting where neither you nor the enemy have any advantages).

The attack calculation is 1d20 + bonus, where bonus is a calculation that uses the character base stats, level, feats, equipment, etc. You can control the bonus part of the equation in your characters, it's the only thing you can influence. The next step is to see if the attack hits and for that you compare the attack value to the defenders AC. If Atk >= AC it's a hit otherwise it's a miss. After this step there's a roll to calculate the damage. (I'm discounting resistances and concealment on purpose to keep it as simple as possible).
It wasn't unusual to find enemies with bonus to attack close or bigger than your AC, meaning that almost no matter what their roll is you're bound to get hit. Meanwhile their AC can be almost twice as big as your bonus meaning the only way to hit is to roll a high number (16, 17 or even higher - spoiler warning you're not getting those rolls because the game won't allow it).

It's completely broken.

As for the rolls they are broken as well and it's easy to see. I did an experiment on many occasions to test how random the rolls really were and it wasn't pretty. One stuck with me where I needed to roll a 9 or higher to pass a check, loaded the game 20 times and passed the check once! The highest roll of the other 19 rolls was 7. A roll with an hypothetical success rate of 60% had a real success rate of 5%. There's bad luck, there's randomness and then there's complete fraud. I can understand the first, it's math, but I won't tolerate the latter.

For reasons like this when I played these games I followed a build guide for a character on the most bullshit hardest difficulty and then played on Normal. This meant I was actually powerful for wherever I was in the campaign.

Wray of the Righteous has some cool moments and I enjoy the fiddly battle system, but some of the bosses and challenging encounters are so insanely overtuned that I can't understand how anyone wins without either cheats, mods, or insane luck.

Also all of the Pathfinder games desperately need some QoL mods which is a bad sign usually.

 

[Madventure]

Oh boy, the shmups fest! I can't wait to check out some shoot-'em-ups! Let's see what games are promoted on the front page!

Let's see...
Co-op looter shooter,
roguelike twin-stick shooter,
auto shooting survival,
hack and slash,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike twin-stick shooter,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike tower-defense,
action roguelike mmo,
auto shooting survival,
roguelike twin-stick shooter...
and a single actual shmup.

I can acknowledge that I'm too fussy about genre descriptors, but Steam's tagging system is ass. I guess it's fine if you're looking for games in popular genres, but try to look for something niche, you can't find anything. Mountains of vaguely similar games will surface and clog things up. It feels like a system that keeps niche games niche by denying them the ability to build an audience.

I mean...
Blame steam users? Lol
There was a barbie game that got immediately tagged with Post apocalyptic and Dystopian and survival horror if I remember correctly
I don't remember if they're fixable by devs (I would assume they are) but they can be like democratically assigned by steam users the more they're voted or group assigned so yeah you get shenanigans or why everything gets assigned DARK SOULS
Not to say it doesn't need fixed or anything it's just another one of those "Hands off" approaches that probably or more accurately needs some more hands on things

 

[ZKenir]

but Steam's tagging system is ass

I would PAY to have a client option to disable user generated tags for games

 

[STHX]

https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/baten-kaitos-i-ii-hd-remaster

 

[Deku]

Komodo has a quite hefty Shmup bundle

SHMUP All Stars on Steam

store.steampowered.com

It's strange that none of CITY CONNECTION's shmup games are on sale during this Steam Fest

 

[Alexandros]

So my girlfriend is traveling in the US and I said that she should bring some American coffee and candy since I want to try those out, what else should I tell her to get?

If you are looking fir something uniquely american, probably a gun.

 

[Madventure]

So my girlfriend is traveling in the US and I said that she should bring some American coffee and candy since I want to try those out, what else should I tell her to get?

As an actual american, my suggestion is actually depending on where they're going is to find some local stuff I.E. like some regions are better known for other things. Maybe if there's a farmers market or something like that (But might be hard for candy) but there's definitely some more famous or semi famous like like local things in my area that are fairly regional that aren't in other areas in the US that I'm fairly sure are airplaneable

If any of that made sense, I'd at least like throw where ever they're going to into google or see if there's like a sub reddit or something might be able to see if there's anything cool. Dunno.

 

[Blu]

It's strange that none of CITY CONNECTION's shmup games are on sale during this Steam Fest

You'll have to search it up one by one but their games are currently off in GMG. GMG doesn't seem like they have a publisher page so you'll have type them up individually. They have most of them except their most recent ones.

 

[LEANIJA]

Okay, Lies of P. 1st stop: options and key bindings.

Can't rebind WASD... ?????

Of course, doesn't detect AZERTY; that technology is unheard of.

Because of combination of the 2, can't rebind A, which is my lock-on key (would be Q on QWERTY) and has been for well over literally thousands of hours across pretty much every souls-like (except Bloodborne). I think it's actually worse than the demo, I don't remember having that issue then.

Can't bind mouse wheel up/down at all. Or ALT.

So all in all, I'd need to setup Input Remapper (Linux substitute for AHK) before I can even consider playing.

I haven't seen that level of sheer incompetence in M&K management since Dark Souls 2.

Bottom line: I haven't even started playing, and I already despise the game. And I hate that time spent trying to get controls to work sensibly counts towards the 2 hours of play, because a refund seems likely at this point.

edit: And the mouse feels like molasses even at max. Another game that has never been playtested with M&K. Refunded.

the mouse speed is, weirdly enough, determined by the camera movement speed, found under Camera options.
doesnt help with the AZERTY thing, tho. that sucks :/
(btw I did a quick search and found a post by you on the Steam forums ^^)

So my girlfriend is traveling in the US and I said that she should bring some American coffee and candy since I want to try those out, what else should I tell her to get?

root beer

 

[Mor]

https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/baten-kaitos-i-ii-hd-remaster

Yep, first South Africa and now Australia, I think it bodes well for a Steam release, we shall wait and see.

 

[lashman]

 

[Amzin]

So my girlfriend is traveling in the US and I said that she should bring some American coffee and candy since I want to try those out, what else should I tell her to get?

As an American, I'll say that the big brand stuff in every store is by far the worst version of every specialty we love here. I live in Kansas City and we have a fantastic "local" scene, with various sauces, dressings, cookies, chocolate (we have like 4 fancy chocolate makers in KC for some reason), coffee (SO MUCH GOOD COFFEE), even salsas and candles, made in the city or from farms nearby. I imagine a lot of the mid-big-sized cities should also have that, and most of the non-Walmart grocery stores should have a good selection, although specialty stores obviously will have a lot of options of certain things (or farmers markets as Madventure suggested).

I could write a small book on my recommendations for local excellent stuff in KC, but that's not super helpful for everywhere else even if the same industries exist there

 

[PhaZZe]

hey everyone sekiro 50% off yay or nah? not sure if it will have more discount..

 

[Gamall Wednesday Ida]

the mouse speed is, weirdly enough, determined by the camera movement speed, found under Camera options.

Thanks. Makes some sort of sense.

I have already had the game refunded, so I can't test it. But I'll remember that in case I buy it again. (On sale, if they implement key binding competently in the meantime).

doesnt help with the AZERTY thing, tho. that sucks :/

I'm used to it, sadly. Games that handle this perfectly are vanishingly rare.

It can be worked around easily enough: just set command to "setxkbmap us ; %command% ; setxkbmap fr", and mentally map any button prompt on screen.

Needing external software to bind my keys the way I want them, regardless of keymap, is more of a problem. Like I said on steam, I did it for DS2 and DS3, emulated Demon's Souls, Kotor 2 (for extra mouse buttons), and a couple of other old games. Not motivated to do this for a 60€ Unreal Engine non-port game in 2023.

Guess I'll begin BG3 the next time I feel like playing.

hey everyone sekiro 50% off yay or nah? not sure if will have more discount..

Yay, absolutely. It's rough getting into, and some mechanics are infuriating (e.g. unpreventable halving of currency on death with >2/3 proba), but it's unique and very, very solid once the combat system clicks.

 

[Kvik]

As always, I always recommend this treasure

But Ikaruga is a treasure as well.


I'm terrible at shmups, but I should play more of it. I like Astebreed. Anything else you can recommend that has mecha in it?

 

[Sobatronix]

https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/baten-kaitos-i-ii-hd-remaster

Man, PC is becoming the ultimate platform isn't it? We have literally every game lmao

Spoilers

Except for Red dead redemption 1 and Blooborne

 

[Avern]

But Ikaruga is a treasure as well.


I'm terrible at shmups, but I should play more of it. I like Astebreed. Anything else you can recommend that has mecha in it?

 

[QFNS]

Man, PC is becoming the ultimate platform isn't it? We have literally every game lmao

Spoilers

Except for Red dead redemption 1 and Blooborne

And a non-emulator version of Final Fantasy Tactics.

 

[Nano]

Out now

 

[Alexandros]

Man, PC is becoming the ultimate platform isn't it? We have literally every game lmao

Spoilers

Except for Red dead redemption 1 and Blooborne

Even with graphics cards being expensive and Tim's Unreal Engine being a stutterfest, I think that PC gaming right now is the best it has ever been. I know people will have good arguments for the 90s or the early 2010s but here's why I feel this is the best PC gaming has ever been:

1) The 90s were full of innovation and so many PC classics were born during that era. At the same time PC gaming was very complicated, very expensive and the games library was quite narrow, with entire genres missing from the platform.

2) In the late 00s to early 2010s Steam started gaining serious traction and PC gaming was quite cheap as you could easily double console performance with a 200-300€ graphics card. However, ports were still coming in very late or not at all, they were still bad and many classic PC genres were still underdeveloped.

So what's the situation today? PC gaming has a very mature worldwide distribution platform, ease of use has improved in leaps and bounds, new form factors were introduced (handhelds), meaningful progress towards breaking free from Windows has been made, the PC games library is incredibly vast, many PC-specific genres are booming, japanese devs support the platform en masse, crossplay between platforms is becoming the standard, simultaneous releases are the norm etc.

When you think about it, the amount of progress that has been made in the last 15 years or so is incredible.

 

[Hektor]

Man, PC is becoming the ultimate platform isn't it? We have literally every game lmao

Spoilers

Except for Red dead redemption 1 and Blooborne

And Kingdom Hearts

 

[PC-tan]

Now that I have some free time I am going though Humble Bundle and activate all of my games. I have been a Humble Bundle subscriber for a very long time but I have never activated any of the games, I missed out on the big debacle from a few years ago where HB accidently let you redeem all games.


I now have over 1K games on Steam, I have my Steam account since July of 2013

 

[Deku]

If you are looking fir something uniquely american, probably a gun.

It probably will be confiscated.

But Ikaruga is a treasure as well.


I'm terrible at shmups, but I should play more of it. I like Astebreed. Anything else you can recommend that has mecha in it?

Mecha as in robots? Not actual aircraft?

I am not the best person to ask about shmup games. I would say that Cave games are safe bet, but there are no mecha in those games.

 

[Kvik]

I would say that Cave games are safe bet, but there are no mecha in those games.

Thanks! I was looking through some pages earlier, and I'll probably pick up the game Avern has suggested, and maybe DRAINUS. Kind of amazing how this game didn't get highlighted at all, lmao.

 

[Ge0force]

Drainus is incredible!

 

[Mivey]

And Kingdom Hearts

As the great Immortan Tim hath said: Do not, my friends, become addicted to Steam. It will take hold of you and you will resent its absence.

 

[Nano]

Man, PC is becoming the ultimate platform isn't it? We have literally every game lmao

PC have always been the goat platform.
It just keeps being more goat every day.

 

[PC-tan]

Netflix prices are high way robbery I was trying to watch Lala land earlier today and it was at 720p quality "HD" which doesn't look great on a 1440p screen and would look worse at 4K. If you want 4K Netflix expects $20 a month from you, which in a year would be $240USD!!!!!!!! If you want 1080p than it will be $15 a month. By the way they discontinued the basic plan since the new ad supported tier brings them more money will also restricting what you can watch (not all shows are included with the ad tier)

I was grandfathered into the Legacy ad free plan for max and that's 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby atmos for $150 a year.

it's all just crazy.

 

[Deku]

Thanks! I was looking through some pages earlier, and I'll probably pick up the game Avern has suggested, and maybe DRAINUS. Kind of amazing how this game didn't get highlighted at all, lmao.

Drainus had a sale last week. You missed it

 

[C-Dub]

Netflix prices are high way robbery I was trying to watch Lala land earlier today and it was at 720p quality "HD" which doesn't look great on a 1440p screen and would look worse at 4K. If you want 4K Netflix expects $20 a month from you, which in a year would be $240USD!!!!!!!! If you want 1080p than it will be $15 a month. By the way they discontinued the basic plan since the new ad supported tier brings them more money will also restricting what you can watch (not all shows are included with the ad tier)

I was grandfathered into the Legacy ad free plan for max and that's 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby atmos for $150 a year.

it's all just crazy.

I've stopped paying for all subs. It's insane how much they're shafting people now, especially since the content is lower in quality (creatively, not in terms of resolution and such, but that too) and when you get a glimmer of good quality you just know the writers aren't getting paid properly for it while the executives pocket all the cash and spend it on doing lines of coke off a hooker's ass.

I want to pay for good quality shows and films, and I still go to the cinema. But I'm only gonna do it on my own terms now. When I buy a show, it needs to be affordable, plus I want a DRM-free copy at a variety of resolutions, with or without HDR, without paying extra for the the higher-end versions.

Any whiff of DRM or forcing users to install a separate app is a big no for me.

 

[MomoVideo]

The gameplay and graphics of the first one were very good, but maaan, the writing and characters... what a travesty. I saw on the interwebs that a lot of people disliked that too so I hope they gather some feedback and spend more time on that part of the game.

 

[Kal1m3r0]

Netflix prices are high way robbery I was trying to watch Lala land earlier today and it was at 720p quality "HD" which doesn't look great on a 1440p screen and would look worse at 4K. If you want 4K Netflix expects $20 a month from you, which in a year would be $240USD!!!!!!!! If you want 1080p than it will be $15 a month. By the way they discontinued the basic plan since the new ad supported tier brings them more money will also restricting what you can watch (not all shows are included with the ad tier)

I was grandfathered into the Legacy ad free plan for max and that's 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby atmos for $150 a year.

it's all just crazy.

Use Plex, pirate the shit out of e v e r y t h i n g

 

[Censored]

Subscriptions?
What’s that?

 

[Le Pertti]

LRB1983 need to fix that ratio!

 

[ZKenir]

i only have amazon prime active cause it would cost me more in shipping expenses otherwise

 

[Deku]

Subscriptions?
What’s that?

That's a lot of lewd stuff