Video Games What video games are you currently playing?

Even though I've been conservative with modding Fallout 3 (mainly graphics/animation) I had been having major issues with crashing to desktop. After countless .ini amendments, it turned out that I all I really needed to do was begrudgingly dial the texture quality down a bit. Thankfully the higher res texture pack I'm using keeps things looking great, and it moves at a fine pace with zero lagging in built-up areas. I managed to play a solid three hours last night without a single CTD. I also inadvertently stumbled across Broken Steel while helping the Brotherhood to wipe out a bunch of Super Mutants/Centaurs - it's a very refreshing change to the main game.

  On 8/6/2012 at 9:58 PM, ghOsty said:

Finally begining to tackle Skyrim... My first real experience with the Elder Scrolls series, I'm enjoying it so far, but holy crap there's so much to do sometimes I can't decide where to go!

just take your time and enjoy the sights and sounds! really is an amazing game.

Taking your time with the Skyrim is really good advice. I kinda rushed through it. I love it most during the first few days when I didn't use fast travel at all. Walk or buy a horse, DON'T USE FAST TRAVEL. It makes the game feel less like a huge, dynamic world to explore. Don't rush through the main story arc. Just take your time.

I actually just started playing Skyrim again a few days ago, got Dawngaurd and realized I had deleted my character a few days before that. Started fresh. I will not use fast travel this time. Hopefully Dawngaurd isn't as buggy as some peeps have been saying. Either way I'm fully enjoying this game again.

that's a good point, i always thought that fast travel in bethesda games was a really bad immersion breaker. though they still need to make the world much more dynamic because otherwise treading old paths will get tiresome.

i thought that Gothic games made it right, your character was not overpowered as in skyrim, there were areas you knew you couldn't go because of powerful monsters or whatever..obviously bethesda can't do it as they'll lose their console kiddies market if they make it more challenging.

Yeah I had been using fast travel for the first couple days I played, then realized there's big regions I hadn't wandered through yet. I stopped using it and started coming across all kinds of cool areas and little battles, which gets me a lot more enjoyment. The game really is beautiful at times, and very well scored. There have been moments where I've been wandering a hill and stop to look out and think "damn this game's world really is well realized"

  On 8/7/2012 at 9:33 PM, eugene said:

that's a good point, i always thought that fast travel in bethesda games was a really bad immersion breaker. though they still need to make the world much more dynamic because otherwise treading old paths will get tiresome.

i thought that Gothic games made it right, your character was not overpowered as in skyrim, there were areas you knew you couldn't go because of powerful monsters or whatever..obviously bethesda can't do it as they'll lose their console kiddies market if they make it more challenging.

go into a Deathclaw or Cazador cave at any level below 15.

  On 8/7/2012 at 11:01 PM, ghOsty said:

The game really is beautiful at times, and very well scored.

I got hold of the 4 disc soundtrack direct from the composer, it's brilliant - especially the fourth disc which is just one hour long ambient track of the background music when wandering, mixed subtly with environmental sounds.

[youtubehd]H1VreyJwMVM[/youtubehd]

anyone psyched for Borderlands 2?

  On 8/6/2012 at 10:42 PM, luke viia said:

what i will hopefully be playing next year:

 

http://www.kickstart...eo-game-console

 

 

apologies if jazz

I have a feeling this will be ultimately underwhelming, considering it's built on an Android platform. I was really surprised SquareEnix threw support behind it with another rehash of Final Fantasy 3, unless they were planning an Android version already.

The Android version of ff3 os on the market already. It's 175mb or something tho...

its also 16$!!

  On 8/8/2012 at 2:54 PM, Rubin Farr said:

anyone psyched for Borderlands 2?

Probably my most anticipated game of the year.

  On 8/8/2012 at 5:01 PM, Npoess said:

  On 8/8/2012 at 2:54 PM, Rubin Farr said:

anyone psyched for Borderlands 2?

 

Probably my most anticipated game of the year.

I could not give a flying fuck about Borderlands. I watched two friends play it cooperatively and it was nothing but boring fighting and looting. I was bored out of my mind.

I think Borderlands and Bioshock Infinite might be the last Xbox games I buy. I see nothing else in 2013 on the horizon, except Aliens which I'm buying on Wii U.

  On 8/8/2012 at 6:18 PM, Rubin Farr said:

I think Borderlands and Bioshock Infinite might be the last Xbox games I buy. I see nothing else in 2013 on the horizon, except Aliens which I'm buying on Wii U.

started into my second-to-last addon for F:NV, Lonesome Road. I can confidently say that FNV is one of my all-time favorite games now..and it pains me to see that because of all the shit bugs it came with in the beginning that people will overlook this newer DLC stuff. True apocalyptic battlefield, old US nuclear missile silos accidentally detonated before launch against the Chinese (from what I can tell so far). Plus the antagonist appears to be a man named Ulysses, who was apparently the Courier before the Courier (your player)...and apparently they also have a shared past history with each other. Interesting stuff.

  On 8/7/2012 at 11:01 PM, ghOsty said:

Yeah I had been using fast travel for the first couple days I played, then realized there's big regions I hadn't wandered through yet. I stopped using it and started coming across all kinds of cool areas and little battles, which gets me a lot more enjoyment. The game really is beautiful at times, and very well scored. There have been moments where I've been wandering a hill and stop to look out and think "damn this game's world really is well realized"

This is part of the reason I still consider Morrowind the best game of the series. I remember being overwhelmed by how far I had to travel when I started playing, but eventually all the walking about gave me a great feeling for the game world, and a sense of just how epic in scope it was. And fast travelling via Silt Striders made sense. I'd like it if the newer games used the public transit system instead of fast travel.

Similarly, having an arrow always pointing toward your quest objective ruins a lot of the thrill of solving a quest. In Morrowind you really had to think about what you were doing, what people had told you, and where you were going. It was frustrating sometimes, but it made it so much more satisfying to successfully complete a quest. In the new titles too many quests can be completed by blindly running to the next arrow.

Another thing Morrowind did way better was dialogue - being able to question NPCs on any given topic made dialogue more dynamic. You really felt like a detective when you had to interrogate people for info. The dialogue in Skyrim is really poor IMO, I rarely see dialogue options that give me any real control over the conversation. Maybe I just haven't levelled speechcraft enough..

But all complaints aside, Skyrim is a fantastic game. And even though I consider Morrowind the best Elder Scrolls title, it's hard for me to go back to it now because the combat is so boring and the game is so slow-paced. I'm excited to see what the new Morrowind Overhaul delivers, it looks like it might be a great excuse to revisit one of my all-time favorite games: http://www.ornitocop...owind-overhaul/

lol boxus. i made the exact same post a week or two ago. lol and i modded out my game about a year ago and its SO WORTH IT. it really adds so much to the game.

  On 8/8/2012 at 4:20 PM, Joyrex said:

  On 8/6/2012 at 10:42 PM, luke viia said:

what i will hopefully be playing next year:

 

http://www.kickstart...eo-game-console

 

 

apologies if jazz

 

I have a feeling this will be ultimately underwhelming, considering it's built on an Android platform. I was really surprised SquareEnix threw support behind it with another rehash of Final Fantasy 3, unless they were planning an Android version already.

Yes, well we aren't all Apple fanboys. ;) Open technology is something I am generally enthusiastic about, as are many others ($8.2 million raised in a week; they didn't even ask for $1 million. You might not be excited, but clearly others are)... and despite your problems with android (how much time have you spent using devices with android, btw?), I have an (old) android phone, I quite enjoy it. This thing is $100 and every console is a dev kit; you can root it and keep your warranty, and I am far more into the idea of small indie games than handing over money to developers that have been recycling their own franchises for decades. I am excited. $60 games with big budgets from old players can finally fuck off and let small teams with good ideas make affordable fun for the rest of us.

  On 8/9/2012 at 12:59 AM, luke viia said:

I am far more into the idea of small indie games than handing over money to developers that have been recycling their own franchises for decades. I am excited. $60 games with big budgets from old players can finally fuck off and let small teams with good ideas make affordable fun for the rest of us.

Like another 2D platformer or all those "imaginative" mobile mini games? The rise of indie games has given us some great titles and there are a few people and companies that have good ideas and are able and willing to take risks. But if I see what kind of crap and rehashed classics are dumped on the casual game markets, I do not have high hopes for games on a low-spec casual console.

The PC has been the open, indie friendly platform they're aiming to be for ages. I honestly don't understand what space they're trying to fill. Bring an open platform to consoles? Maybe they should sell game controllers instead?

Even if it was a good idea it doesn't matter because it will never create enough traction. From a developer point of view, it wont be worthwhile to port PC or console titles to Android and OpenGL ES unless there's already an Android port or if it's built in Unity. Even Android games would need to be adapted from touch screen to controller input and a large display. Who is going to bother with any of that on a market that will be so tiny as theirs? $8.2 million doesn't take you far in the grand scheme of things. It's all going down the drain.

I don't exactly have "high hopes" either, I'm a casual gamer, and if it flops, it won't kill me. I'm just somewhat excited about it, and I have had bad luck with 'big name' games for the last few years. Diablo 3 was sort of a nail in the coffin for me, and Nihilumbra (indie, partly programmed by a watmmer) was the most fun I've had playing a game this year. To each his own, I'm not a spokesperson for this thing. Just didn't see any talk about it (I guess now I know why, the reviews are negative among the watem gamers) so thought I'd link it.

Also I have to disagree with JR whenever I can. It's a game we play.

  On 8/9/2012 at 12:45 AM, Boxus said:

  On 8/7/2012 at 11:01 PM, ghOsty said:

Yeah I had been using fast travel for the first couple days I played, then realized there's big regions I hadn't wandered through yet. I stopped using it and started coming across all kinds of cool areas and little battles, which gets me a lot more enjoyment. The game really is beautiful at times, and very well scored. There have been moments where I've been wandering a hill and stop to look out and think "damn this game's world really is well realized"

 

This is part of the reason I still consider Morrowind the best game of the series. I remember being overwhelmed by how far I had to travel when I started playing, but eventually all the walking about gave me a great feeling for the game world, and a sense of just how epic in scope it was. And fast travelling via Silt Striders made sense. I'd like it if the newer games used the public transit system instead of fast travel.

 

Similarly, having an arrow always pointing toward your quest objective ruins a lot of the thrill of solving a quest. In Morrowind you really had to think about what you were doing, what people had told you, and where you were going. It was frustrating sometimes, but it made it so much more satisfying to successfully complete a quest. In the new titles too many quests can be completed by blindly running to the next arrow.

 

Another thing Morrowind did way better was dialogue - being able to question NPCs on any given topic made dialogue more dynamic. You really felt like a detective when you had to interrogate people for info. The dialogue in Skyrim is really poor IMO, I rarely see dialogue options that give me any real control over the conversation. Maybe I just haven't levelled speechcraft enough..

 

But all complaints aside, Skyrim is a fantastic game. And even though I consider Morrowind the best Elder Scrolls title, it's hard for me to go back to it now because the combat is so boring and the game is so slow-paced. I'm excited to see what the new Morrowind Overhaul delivers, it looks like it might be a great excuse to revisit one of my all-time favorite games: http://www.ornitocop...owind-overhaul/

i hear what you are saying, but I would honestly never buy another ES game if they didn't have the markers. Far too time consuming for me.

  On 8/8/2012 at 2:54 PM, Rubin Farr said:

anyone psyched for Borderlands 2?

I haven't played the first one, I might at some point but Idk something about it just seems like I'd get bored with it

However there's quite a few games coming out this year and into 2013 that are on my must try list

Dishonored (got it on pre-order already, gonna be a great game to play in fall)

The Last of Us (looks like a post-apoc game done right)

Beyond: Two Souls (The latest Quantic Dream project, makers of Heavy Rain, also holy fucking graphics)

God of War: Ascension (the multiplayer introduction looks interesting)

Not sure if I'll bother with Assasins Creed 3, I got really bored of the 2nd one at some point during the game and never bothered to finish it. Bioshock infinite looks like a more interesting take on colonial futurism.

  On 8/9/2012 at 6:52 AM, ghOsty said:

Not sure if I'll bother with Assasins Creed 3, I got really bored of the 2nd one at some point during the game and never bothered to finish it.