What are you playing?

[rtwjunkie]

Finished Dishonored 2 as Corvo/Low Chaos/Clean Hands/Shadow/Very Hard and I'm itching to tear into it as Emily/Flesh and Steel. So I shall. Where I was meticulous the first time through, knocking out pretty much every one and stealing all of the things, this next one is probably going to fast and dirty (because Flesh and Steel).

I actually managed to play both Corvo AND Emily as low chaos. It was hard but refreshing. With the bigger maps it was easier to do than on the first game, since distances were so much less, sometimes you got forced into killing.

With 2 you could afford to be methodical and deliberate. It’s very much one of those rare successors to an original that is as good or better than the first.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm going to do high chaos but I haven't decided who yet. Flesh and Steel takes a *lot* of options off the table so...come whatever may.

I played most of the Corvo run without charm crafting. Once I deleved into that (literally the beginning of the Grand Palace mission), Corvo was OP. He could move faster carrying a body than not.

I think the maps are similar in size but Dishonored 2 is more dense. Your average map has over 30 people where the original game had maybe half of that (except the ball). It took me 2-6 hours per mission.

Spoiler: Best Part

 

[rtwjunkie]

I'm going to do high chaos but I haven't decided who yet. Flesh and Steel takes a *lot* of options off the table so...come whatever may.

I played most of the Corvo run without charm crafting. Once I deleved into that (literally the beginning of the Grand Palace mission), Corvo was OP. He could move faster carrying a body than not.

I think the maps are similar in size but Dishonored 2 is more dense. Your average map has over 20 people where the original game had maybe half of that (except the ball).

IMO, 2 of the maps are some of the best level design I’ve played. Thoroughly loved them. I’m sure you can figure out which two.

 

[Easy Rhino]

I've been playing a lot of Astroneer. I have owned the game since its very early alpha release. 2 weeks ago they released a really nice patch and the game's even better. If you like exploration/building games then it is great fun. Better yet get a couple friends and do it multiplayer.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

IMO, 2 of the maps are some of the best level design I’ve played. Thoroughly loved them. I’m sure you can figure out which two.

They were all good. I especially love that they preserved the Dunwall Tower. So many games half-ass it. I had to think back to the High Overseer Campbell mission to recall the layout of it. The fact that memory 1:1 fits is the way revisiting a location in a sequel should always be. Yet, we have games like Mass Effect 2 that bastardize the Citadel and Omega Station.

 

[Cvrk]

@GreiverBlade definitely looked better than vanilla.

I did not play Mass Effect Andromeda.

I ate, e lived, i breath Mass Effect Andromeda(it was my life for about 1 month). And with this I do not see any modifications to the faces. They look just like vanilla.
Maybe I am missing something, maybe the mods alterations are very small. Again: those pictures look same as the original.

 

[StrayKAT]

I played a default male Shep, so I figured a default fem Ryder would be good... but they screwed her up. Not sure why. I mean, the male face model is fairly accurate, but she's way off the charts.

Other than that, their custom creation tools sucked as well. Same as DAI for some race options. I know Frostbite IS WAY more capable than this. Bioware is just incompetent. That is all.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I played a default male Shep, so I figured a default fem Ryder would be good... but they screwed her up. Not sure why. I mean, the male face model is fairly accurate, but she's way off the charts.

View attachment 105453


Other than that, their custom creation tools sucked as well. Same as DAI for some race options. I know Frostbite IS WAY more capable than this. Bioware is just incompetent. That is all.

Check above in the last couple of pages. I provided mine to show the facegen tools work just fine. My femRyder came out just fine.

 

[StrayKAT]

Check above in the last couple of pages. I provided mine to show the facegen tools work just fine. My femRyder came out just fine.

I'll just make fun of you. You don't want that.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think they took the male model and tried to jury rig a female face on it. Obviously that don't work without falling into the uncanny valley.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

I see a few folks who managed to make a better looking fem Ryder with the in-game "face sculpter" feature in ME:A. Anyways... update: Scored a 100% Viability for Havarl while Kadara is at 53% Viability, though I still need to get Kelly Sloane's "approval" before deploying an outpost.

regarding about Frostbite 3 engine used in DAI & ME:A, I think Bioware isn't fully prepared on how steep the learning curves are they have to deal with, on top of the rather short time-frame to make Andromeda. Another factor was 2 different Bioware studios are working on one game, workload was stretched too thin, timezones are holding them back etc. Two of the biggest problem is the complexity of Frostbite 3 & considering that DICE didn't show them the ropes on using their engine. Hence why Andromeda got a crap-ton of flak from game critics & gamers. I too was disappointed but that didn't stop me from playing the game for a 4th time, clocking in a good 100 hours total playtime.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

DAI was made by Edmonton where MEA was made by Montreal (Edmonton was focused on Anthem). Frostbite Engine was new to Edmonton but they already had a solid crew of game developers that were well managed so they got it figured out. Montreal, on the other hand, was a small outfit that was Robin to Edmonton's Batman on past titles. EA did four very stupid things that guaranteed problems:
1) swelled Montreal's ranks from the 30s into the 200s.
2) put the lead writer from Mass Effect 3 (Mac Walters) in charge. He was only in charge of a dozen writers, at most, previously. I think it was obvious he wasn't ready for the position. Not even sure what Mac Walters has been up to since MEA was finished (no more DLC/patches).
3) they had little to no experience with Frostbite and didn't have the skill/expertise to adapt to it in the timeframe allowed. Montreal only knew Unreal Engine 3. MEA probably would have ended up being a much more technically sound title if EA stuck to Unreal Engine 4 (fat chance, because licensing and royalties).
4) EA's insistence on pushing it out the door before it was ready (granted, they did give an extension). For EA, it's always about the money. If they extend the production timeline, they have to get more sales after launch to make up the added production costs. If they delayed it another month or three to fix the bugs, would it have improved sales to a point that it would demand a sequel fiscally? I'd argue no. The whole plot for the game is kind of shitty. It's a game no one is going to love. EA likely saw that which is why they pulled the plug on production, then on DLC, then on patching.

I too was disappointed but that didn't stop me from playing the game for a 4th time, clocking in a good 100 hours total playtime.

Each or total? Pretty sure I logged over 100 hours on my first playthrough.


Finished the rushed Emily, Flesh and Steel run on Dishonored 2 which took about 6 hours (by game clock). It ended up low chaos by a long shot (I killed 36 witches on the last map even and still got Ghost even though I wasn't trying). I did kill most of the targets that had no redeeming qualities and anyone that was threatening the unarmed. Dishonored 2 is way more forgiving in regards to chaos than Dishonored was. Time for a third playthrough and the streets are going to run red with blood. I decided to go with a vengeful Corvo for this. There's five powers related achievements left that I hope to grab in this run.

Jindosh was backstabbed/assassinated by one of his headless Clockwork machines.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Jindosh was backstabbed/assassinated by one of his headless Clockwork machines.

I preferred the turning him into a drooling idiot.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Already did that. I literally just went into the room, took the crossbow out, and shot one of the Clockworks' head off, it turned around and flayed Jindosh. I couldn't even see Jindosh, just the head of the Clockwork. I knew it could happen but I didn't think it would work that well.

First time I played, Jindosh was completely unaware of me. Second time I played, Jindosh saw me kill four clockworks (and a fifth clockwork killed him). Third time, he's going to see Clockworks and guards get slaughtered. I'm thinking he should beg for his life at that point...fits his archtype...we'll have to see. Note to self: melee Clockworks next to him so they don't kill him (again ).

The sword play in Dishonored 2 is really good. Flayed the first map alive already and seeing changes. Making me think I should high chaos Emily too. Only sparing civilians.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

@FordGT90Concept total. first 3 playthrough was about 30 hours+ coz it was on Casual difficulty. 4th one which is in progress set to Hardcore, since I got better weapons, armor, mods etc. Btw, Kadara's Viability is now 100%, "cooperate" with Kelly Sloane, exposed the Charlatan's "identity" etc.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I don't remember what difficulty I played it on (might have been the highest difficulty available on a first play through) but then again, I did all of the things everywhere.


I think High Chaos in Dishonored 2 gets a little too dark a little too fast. Yeah, there's a pile of corpses in my wake but they're all overseers and guards. Are they really so innocent?

 

[rtwjunkie]

@FordGT90Concept total. first 3 playthrough was about 30 hours+ coz it was on Casual difficulty. 4th one which is in progress set to Hardcore, since I got better weapons, armor, mods etc. Btw, Kadara's Viability is now 100%, "cooperate" with Kelly Sloane, exposed the Charlatan's "identity" etc.

I also had over 100 hours on each play through. Strange. I can’t even imagine 30 hrs in that game.

 

[AltCapwn]

Hey guys, I need help; my friend lend me his PC for the week-end. (Friday night, Saturday all day, Sunday all day). There's gonna be rain so I'm gonna play hardcore all week-end because my older PC burned down.

It's been a while I haven't followed video game news, what should I hardcore play?

I thought about TW:WH2 which I haven't played yet, but I'm searching for a game that I'm gonna fall into and get immersed.

Thanks guys

 

[StrayKAT]

Hey guys, I need help; my friend lend me his PC for the week-end. (Friday night, Saturday all day, Sunday all day). There's gonna be rain so I'm gonna play hardcore all week-end because my older PC burned down.

It's been a while I haven't followed video game news, what should I hardcore play?

I thought about TW:WH2 which I haven't played yet, but I'm searching for a game that I'm gonna fall into and get immersed.

Thanks guys

I haven't played that TW, but if that's your thing, why not? OTOH, if you just want classic gaming goodness, get Cuphead. I wouldn't call it immersive per se, but very cool and challenging.

edit:

DAI was made by Edmonton where MEA was made by Montreal (Edmonton was focused on Anthem). Frostbite Engine was new to Edmonton but they already had a solid crew of game developers that were well managed so they got it figured out. Montreal, on the other hand, was a small outfit that was Robin to Edmonton's Batman on past titles. EA did four very stupid things that guaranteed problems:
1) swelled Montreal's ranks from the 30s into the 200s.
2) put the lead writer from Mass Effect 3 (Mac Walters) in charge. He was only in charge of a dozen writers, at most, previously. I think it was obvious he wasn't ready for the position. Not even sure what Mac Walters has been up to since MEA was finished (no more DLC/patches).
3) they had little to no experience with Frostbite and didn't have the skill/expertise to adapt to it in the timeframe allowed. Montreal only knew Unreal Engine 3. MEA probably would have ended up being a much more technically sound title if EA stuck to Unreal Engine 4 (fat chance, because licensing and royalties).
4) EA's insistence on pushing it out the door before it was ready (granted, they did give an extension). For EA, it's always about the money. If they extend the production timeline, they have to get more sales after launch to make up the added production costs. If they delayed it another month or three to fix the bugs, would it have improved sales to a point that it would demand a sequel fiscally? I'd argue no. The whole plot for the game is kind of shitty. It's a game no one is going to love. EA likely saw that which is why they pulled the plug on production, then on DLC, then on patching.


Each or total? Pretty sure I logged over 100 hours on my first playthrough.


Finished the rushed Emily, Flesh and Steel run on Dishonored 2 which took about 6 hours (by game clock). It ended up low chaos by a long shot (I killed 36 witches on the last map even and still got Ghost even though I wasn't trying). I did kill most of the targets that had no redeeming qualities and anyone that was threatening the unarmed. Dishonored 2 is way more forgiving in regards to chaos than Dishonored was. Time for a third playthrough and the streets are going to run red with blood. I decided to go with a vengeful Corvo for this. There's five powers related achievements left that I hope to grab in this run.

Jindosh was backstabbed/assassinated by one of his headless Clockwork machines.

Mac Walters had already been leading the past two for the most part. Drew K already left in the middle of ME2. MEA had other good writers too (Sheryl Chee especially). I just think it didn't play to his strengths much. It's actually more "pure" sci-fi... but that's not at all what made Mass Effect great. The first two games were sci-fi, of course, but there was a relatable sort of "urbanism" to it. Kind of like cyberpunk. Before, it was Dirty Cops in Space. He laid out a lot of the stuff that made that work.. like funny side characters in ME1 on the citadel, along with Garrus and Wrex, and then Omega, Zaeed, and Aria in ME2. But to write stuff like this, you can't have something too "otherworldly". It has to hit close to home. I mean, as faraway and alien-like as the Citadel and Omega were, they still remind you of Earth.

Special mention goes to Conrad Verner. That's actually Mac Walters' crowning achievement. I was almost hoping MEA would be a joke and it was about Conrad somehow getting to Andromeda to spread the Gospel of the Shepard. That's who I wanted it to be in the original MEA trailer.

 

[Dinnercore]

I´ve continued my trip in Tristram. Funny how fast I passed the point where I got stuck as a kid, just to never touch that title again until today. My love for diablo grew on DII and never left that part of the series. DIII was a fun game by all means, but it always felt like breaking character to me. I put so many hours into it just to leave disappointed and unsatisfied in the end.
However back to my current DI run:

Poof.

I´d say I´m now about 2/3 of the way to Diablo, no idea about stats in this game tho so I´ll just hope I don´t get my ass handed to me.

I could listen to Cain all day long.

Looking at those non-stacking goldpiles I feel all the rough edges this game still had. Another example are those ranged enemies that flee everytime you get close. Clever AI, but so annoying gameplay for the melee char that has to chase those guys around the whole map because he has the same movement speed and can only trap them in corners...

 

[StrayKAT]

I´ve continued my trip in Tristram. Funny how fast I passed the point where I got stuck as a kid, just to never touch that title again until today. My love for diablo grew on DII and never left that part of the series. DIII was a fun game by all means, but it always felt like breaking character to me. I put so many hours into it just to leave disappointed and unsatisfied in the end.
However back to my current DI run:

Poof.

I´d say I´m now about 2/3 of the way to Diablo, no idea about stats in this game tho so I´ll just hope I don´t get my ass handed to me.

I could listen to Cain all day long.

Looking at those non-stacking goldpiles I feel all the rough edges this game still had. Another example are those ranged enemies that flee everytime you get close. Clever AI, but so annoying gameplay for the melee char that has to chase those guys around the whole map because he has the same movement speed and can only trap them in corners...

Have you tried that Beelzebub mod I posted a few pages back? I've got it installed, but haven't played much. Looks good though (makes D1 HD and brings in some interface elements from D2).

 

[Dinnercore]

Have you tried that Beelzebub mod I posted a few pages back? I've got it installed, but haven't played much. Looks good though (makes D1 HD and brings in some interface elements from D2).

Yes I´ve got that one already, decided against it tho. I´ll use it if I do another round, for now I wanted to know what vanilla feels like and get back into those distant memories.

 

[AltCapwn]

I haven't played that TW, but if that's your thing, why not? OTOH, if you just want classic gaming goodness, get Cuphead. I wouldn't call it immersive per se, but very cool and challenging.

edit:



Mac Walters had already been leading the past two for the most part. Drew K already left in the middle of ME2. MEA had other good writers too (Sheryl Chee especially). I just think it didn't play to his strengths much. It's actually more "pure" sci-fi... but that's not at all what made Mass Effect great. The first two games were sci-fi, of course, but there was a relatable sort of "urbanism" to it. Kind of like cyberpunk. Before, it was Dirty Cops in Space. He laid out a lot of the stuff that made that work.. like funny side characters in ME1 on the citadel, along with Garrus and Wrex, and then Omega, Zaeed, and Aria in ME2. But to write stuff like this, you can't have something too "otherworldly". It has to hit close to home. I mean, as faraway and alien-like as the Citadel and Omega were, they still remind you of Earth.

Special mention goes to Conrad Verner. That's actually Mac Walters' crowning achievement. I was almost hoping MEA would be a joke and it was about Conrad somehow getting to Andromeda to spread the Gospel of the Shepard. That's who I wanted it to be in the original MEA trailer.

Wow man thanks for the reply! I haven't thought of Mass Effect but one of my friend did play it and was kind of addicted so that's what I'm gonna try . Should I play the first one or I can jump straight to the second?

 

[StrayKAT]

Wow man thanks for the reply! I haven't thought of Mass Effect but one of my friend did play it and was kind of addicted so that's what I'm gonna try . Should I play the first one or I can jump straight to the second?

Definitely start with the first. It's gotten pretty long in the teeth now, but you'd need the story to understand anything else.

You can mod it a bit to improve, but you may not have time for that..?

edit: For the record, ME1 is also the shortest. Not sure what a new person will do, but I can complete it in 12 hours or so. Even less if I skip things. OTOH, ME2 and ME3 are 40+ hour games.

 

[AltCapwn]

Definitely start with the first. It's gotten pretty long in the teeth now, but you'd need the story to understand anything else.

You can mod it a bit to improve, but you may not have time for that..?

edit: For the record, ME1 is also the shortest. Not sure what a new person will do, but I can complete it in 12 hours or so. Even less if I skip things. OTOH, ME2 and ME3 are 40+ hour games.

Awesome, i'll game all night long so I'll take the time to mod it a bit