Minecraft seems like the obvious choice for kids who liked Roblox. Terraria is another. If they can only play on a server that one of them hosts, then no need to worry about outside users.
Good on you and the other parents for getting that shit out of there, kids don’t need addiction machines trying to pressure them into spending money.
According to r/VPNTorrents, Proton and AirVPN are the only recommended VPNs since they are the only well-established privacy-respecting ones left that still have port-forwarding. New ones are popping up with promise, like Azire and a couple others, but time will tell. As for Proton, I decided against it because of its limited port forwarding and lack of IPv6 compatibility and settled on AirVPN But Proton has genuinely great products if you're interested in the full suite. AirVPN, in my opinion, is just the last great VPN. Open-source & fully featured client, run by activists, anonymous accounts, crypto purchasing, IPv6 compatibility, full port forwarding, great support, Tor integration, the list goes on.
They're super transparent with whatever they have going on with them. They had one probe within the last couple years but they don't keep logs so I'm not sure anything bad for the users is possible, and what VPN hasn't been asked for it's information lol
The issue is that authorities were able to retrieve the private key off the server. Yes, Windscribe adjusted afterwards but, it puts their security practices into major question. If you read their response to the situation it was a ton of side stepping the issue, trying to put blame on other VPNs, or trying to act like a government getting access to one of their private keys was not a big deal.
Windscribe is fine, back when they were shit-tier I grabbed a lifetime pro subscription for $30. For the common user, who just wants to download their very legal Linux ISOs on qbit its a good VPN. I just think Windscribe gets a pass on its history more so then a lot of other VPNs.
You might want to add the proper context that the servers were siezed by authorities (so not stolen) and they were very transparent about the fact that it was a legacy system. They also followed with a plan to rectify, including third part audits. Every organization makes mistakes, it’s how they respond that matters.
If you’re looking for a VPN provider that hasn’t had issues ever in their history, good luck. You’ll just end up with the ones who lie and cover up incidents.
“If you’re looking for a VPN provider that hasn’t had issues ever in their history, good luck. You’ll just end up with the ones who lie and cover up incidents.”
This is the type of ignorant statement makes it hard to take you seriously. First of all its not true, and if you really believed it, why waste time stanning for Windscribe? What’s your pitch? “They all suck so go with this one”
Sure, trustworthy VPNs are few and far between but they do exist. On the no port-forwarding side you have Mullvad, and IVPN and other newer ones that seem promising for now. On the port-forwarding side you have Proton and AirVPN with other newer ones that have some promise.
Even OVPN, who now has dubious ownership, has a far better track-record then Windscribe.
Second, you’re absolutely right. Steam did a great job with the whole Steam Deck Verified thing. It ensures that the game “just works”, which is someone that can’t always be said of PC games. It makes sense, given the near uniform hardware of the Deck, of course, but it’s still important for reaching the console and/or casual gamer markets.
And let’s face it, the Deck is just convenient as hell. It’s the mobile gaming solution I’ve wanted for decades.
…but I totally get what he means. Some people just aren’t excited about fiddling with settings, hardware, software or otherwise. It’s just a pain. Even myself, I’ve noticed I’ve lost most of my appetite for twiddling with drivers and such so I get it. When I play a game, I want to play the game, not set up the game, tweak the game, etc.
This has always been one of the key advantages of consoles over PC gaming. You can go to Gamestop, buy the game, plug it into your console, and then play. Or at least you used to.
Consoles have gotten more fiddly over the years, and the Steam Deck meets them halfway. If you are okay with online game stores, managing storage space for your games, you are already good to go with your Steam Deck. If you want to, you can tweak your settings for more battery life or performance, or venture outside the Steam Deck Verified games.
Eh, it’s not always great, Baldurs Gate 3 is “Varifed”, but it took some fiddling with the settings to get it toba stable 30 with decent lod on my deck.
I had an idea of a game where you played as a photojournalist documenting the brutality of a near-future totalitarian regime. There would be elements of stealth because you’d have to evade the police to take your photos and you have pretty much no combat ability. You’d use your earnings from selling the photos to gradually upgrade your equipment, maybe starting off with a shitty cell phone camera and working your way up to professional quality full frame SLRs. I’d want it to simulate the workings of a real camera… f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, etc., so you’re challenged with getting good, usable photos in difficult conditions.
You know, that sounds sick actually. Especially if it was more sandboxy than linear, and also had some kind of survival system (pay for food/rent) to add tension and encourage risk taking when snooping around.
This is more or less what I wish Beyond Good And Evil had been. The combat in that game wasn’t good but I liked the idea of having to photograph evidence and getting photos of wildlife on the side to earn some money. It wasn’t nearly as fleshed out as your idea though.
Yes please. I personally preferred the slower PvP of the first game, but the campaign we got in Titanfall 2 was incredible. Really with they would revisit that franchise.
Generally, any top rated game from that period which doesn’t rely on “realistic” graphics but instead offers very good gameplay and is kind of timeless and ages well. For example, you shouldn’t play the original System Shock 1 anymore, although it was top tier in 1994, because its graphics are very poor for today’s standards, it’s UI has always been poor, and it’s a game that fully relies on immersion, but you can’t immerse yourself anymore if both graphics and UI are really poor. Instead, play the System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios which came out recently. It’s not the same, but it’s very similar, and much better nowadays. Also why you shouldn’t play the old STALKERs anymore, although they were amazing and it kind of saddens me to write this, but they really don’t offer much immersion today, which is why they didn’t age well. I’m writing this because I didn’t finish part 3 back in the day and intended to finish it like 2 years ago, but I couldn’t stand the dated graphics anymore. For a game which relies fully on immersion, that ruins it.
Here’s my list (not in a particular order), I’m focusing on PC games because I never really play that much console or handheld stuff:
Command and Conquer up until Red Alert (remastered version available). These are classic RTS games in a sci-fi war setting. Some say Total Annihilation was the best RTS during the 90s but I never played it.
Starcraft 1 (remastered version available). This game is also still being played competitively in multiplayer, with an active tournament scene, especially in South Korea. Also great in single player. Famous for its balance, at least on modern tournament maps.
Age of Empires 2 (remastered version available). It’s like a mix between a classic RTS and Civilization. Great game, lots of content by itself already, also tons of added content.
Jagged Alliance 2 (great community mods available). You can skip part 1, part 2 was absolutely amazing. A great strategy and tactics based game. It’s quite difficult, but great.
Doom 1+2 (remastered version available, very recently updated again on Steam (this month!)). Plenty of 3rd party engines like gzdoom also available which make them look and feel much more modern. Tons of community-made content as well. Special mention: John Romero, one of the original level designers, also made more content over the years (e.g. “Sigil”), which is great as well.
Quake 1+2 (remastered version and 3rd party engines available). These were among the first games fully utilizing 3D-accelerated graphics back in the day, so they pushed boundaries and they brought the pseudo-3D games like Doom 1+2 into a full 3D environment.
Baldur’s Gate 1+2 + its expansions (remastered version available). Also highly recommend version 3 of course but that’s not an old game. Plenty of mods available for them as well. These are all exceptional RPG games with great story and depth that no RPG fan should skip. They also age well because it’s just good 2D art.
Planescape: Torment (only if you a) liked Baldur’s Gate and b) don’t mind reading (it’s a lot of text) and enjoying a complex story with complex character interactions. Remastered version available)
Half-Life 1+2 (instead of HL1, play “Black Mesa” which is a great modern remake (not the same, but very similar and much better nowadays). For HL2, there are also some remastered versions or mods available, and Valve updated the game engine from time to time so when you download it today, it’s not the dated version from 2004 anymore). HL1 (1998) was one of the first FPS with a really great story line, voice acting, and stuff like that, which is why it pushed boundaries back when it was released. HL2 was just excellent overall and one of the first or the first game which introduced physics-based object manipulations, so it again pushed boundaries further)
Sin Gold was a great FPS from 1998 that got brutally overshadowed by Half-Life 1, but it’s still a great story-based shooter, more action-focused. Based on an updated Quake 1 engine.
Portal 1+2. Best to play them after you’ve played the Half-Lifes. Portal 2 (2012) is THE highest rated game on Steam (steamdb.info/stats/gameratings/). Truly great puzzle FPS set in Half-Life’s setting, which is why it’s useful to know about HL before jumping in (but not a requirement). Portal 1 also isn’t far off in rating. Portal 1 was basically a “side game” for the Valve game compilation named The Orange Box, Portal 2 was then a true AAA quality followup because Portal 1 was a huge success.
Deus Ex 1 (maybe. Graphics are really poor (they were already dated when it launched). But it was one of the first RPG-FPS with stellar level design and the freedom to approach every situation in different ways, so VERY good on the gameplay side). Deus Ex 2 is supposedly bad, so skip that. The newer ones like Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are decent but they’re not classics anymore they’re still “”“fairly recent”“”, around 2010 or so.
System Shock 2. It also looks very dated by now but there are some HQ mods available (improving models and textures) which make it more bearable. I’m hesitant to mention it because it relies a lot on immersion and it looks very dated. So according to my own recommendations, I probably shouldn’t list it, but it’s also great in level design and gameplay, and its art style never was ultra-realistic to begin with, so I’ll list this one as an exception. It’s very much worth playing, truly a great sci-fi/horror RPG-FPS and a worthy successor to part 1. Nightdive Studios might be working on an SS2 Remake or Remaster, if so then I’d say wait for that!
There are even more great adventure games from LucasArts or Sierra back in the day, but you’ll have to figure them out for yourself. I will only recommend Monkey Island because they were probably the most successful and well-known ones. For some of them, remasters are available, or you can play them using ScummVM. There were also other great adventures not from LucasArts or Sierra, like Simon the Sorcerer. The 80s, 90s and early 2000s spawned a lot of great point+click adventure games.
Diablo 2 (remaster available). D1 started the whole “genre” of hack&slay action RPGs but it’s rather poor in comparison and aged terribly, D2 is much better in all areas, so skip D1 and instead try D2.
Z (very unique and fun RTS game from the 90s. If you haven’t played it, you should! It offers very good and unique gameplay that no one else really tried to copy as far as I know, which is a shame. It truly emphasizes unit production time, speed and good timing). It’s also entertaining. And difficult.
Thief Gold + Thief 2 (remasters available I think, but even if not, despite the graphics being very dated, a lot of it is in shadows anyway and IMHO the general art style kind of ages well, though that may be subjective, and it’s also immersion-based, so YMMV, but I think it’s fine still). Also “The Dark Mod” as a community “continuation” of the series). If you like stealth FPS, you must play them. Thief 3 is also decent. Any Thiefs after that are terrible. There are amazing community-made mods/missions as well.
Alien: Isolation. This one is from 2012 I believe, so not quite old, but an honorable mention because it’s also an amazing stealth-based game. Its art style (like the first movies) also makes it age better. In fact I’d say this is one of the best horror-based stealth games ever made.
Heroes of Might & Magic 3 (I think in this case, the remaster is bad. Stick to community mods/patches). This one is still the best of the series, so you don’t need to play any other part. Ages very well because it has very beautiful 2D-based graphics. Great art and design overall.
There was one old RPG which supposedly aged very well but I didn’t play it yet. Maybe Albion or Lands of Lore, not sure what it was.
Tomb Raider 1-3 (remaster)
WH40k Dawn of War 1 is great if you like the universe and RTS games in general. Also the best in the series.
XIII (Thirteen) - but not the new remake, play the original. It’s a rather unique stealth-based, comic-look based FPS. Ages quite well because of its unique look (utilizes the kind of shading like Borderlands)
Elder Scrolls 3-5 are very good as well but you need several mods or engine enhancements, otherwise graphics aren’t that good anymore, and these are games which rely on good graphics as well for atmosphere/immersion. So they don’t age well by default, but thankfully they have a VERY active modding community which keeps these games alive. You can even make them look very modern, but it takes time and effort to do so.
Nethack (somewhat of a nerd game, terrible graphics by design (text-based art style), but amazing and very deep/complex gameplay, very rewarding to get into, if you don’t mind its presentation. In terms of gameplay depth it brutally outclasses most games on the market). There are also some other clones like Slash’Em which I didn’t play. Dwarf Fortress is probably similar in depth and presentation (but very different in gameplay and general type of game) but I also didn’t play it yet. If you know enough about Nethack it’s also not that hard, but getting to that point is very difficult and if you don’t know anything then it’s very difficult. (I’ve done 8 ascensions, i.e. 8 finished playthroughs).
Honorable mention because it’s technically not old but looks old: Return of the Obra Dinn. Don’t skip this one, it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played, I’m not kidding. It’s truly amazing, and it’s made by 1 guy. It’s a perfect example of why graphics fidelity in games doesn’t matter that much and you can create excellent, modern-feeling, stylish games regardless.
I agree with your points on System Shock 2, I would also highlight that you could wait for the enhanced edition that Nightdive are doing of System Shock 2, and you could play their remake of the original in the mean time.
And here I am blown away by the screenshots and want to wishlist it, only to see I already had it on my wishlist and remember NOTHING about seeing this previously.
I just started playing ghost of tsushima on my steam deck and it’s fucking gorgeous even on low settings, so I assume that would be pretty beautiful maxed out too.
Username checks out, though I’m assuming you meant “demakes”?
Anyways, the demake I’m most familiar with is the in-progress Lego island. The YouTuber behind it documented part of the process in vlogs (linked on the GitHub page), so that might be an interesting starting point.
I hate to be nitpicky; but that’s a decompilation, not a demake.
‘Demake’ usually refers to a game that gets remade for a system older (or less powerful) than the one it was released for. A good current example is the in-progress Super Mario 64 demake for GBA.
‘Decompilation’ is where one reverse-engineers a game (or any software!) back to its original source code, or close enough that when you build it, it’s identical to an original copy. So, the goal of the Lego Island demake is to produce source code that can be built into a fully binary-compatible copy of Lego Island, indistinct from what’s on the original CD.
Oh I don’t mind the nitpicking, thanks for the explanation! I (apparently erroneously) thought “demake” and “decompile” were synonyms. Guess I’m one of today’s 10000.
In that case the (now taken down, but forked a gazillion times) portal64 project would be a correct example of a demake, right?
Having been through all this, I would most of all prioritize getting a permanent residence permit. This brings stability, and then you can decide whether to work in games (more fun) or elsewhere in tech (higher pay). Having been in both industries for a long time, I can tell you you’ll always wonder if the grass is greener on the other side. But at least you’ll have options. If a tech company gets you to permanent residence quicker, go for it.
I’m applying for it in 4 months time, not sure how long the processing time will be though. This is the most stressful time. I only got my second 2 year permit in October 2023… I terms of pay, it seems like here every industry pays the same and I’m close to the ceiling of my role.
Most of the immigration issues we deal with are handled by HE or a company we outsource to - I have some direct involvement in terms of writing out roles and duties, but generally they keep us away from the actual mechanics of things. However, for us, it’s handled at the company level. I know that they’ve tightened up on the perm residency and H1Bs, but I think it’s something your employer should be solving, not you.
Second, things are tough all over these days, but the gaming industry as an industry has always had a terrible reputation for long hours and (comparatively) low pay. The attitude seems to be to get in younger people and burn them out. I’m very sympathetic to your desire to make a move.
The best thing you can do is find someone who can write you a recommendation for an open position at their company, but as you know you’ll have to take your immigration status into account. All of the companies I’m familiar with don’t take immigration status into account when hiring - it’s specifically forbidden by policy - but if you have to grit your teeth and deal with your current position for another six months or whatever, it’s probably better than starting from scratch.
Some games are so old that the technology needs to be sorely updated for modern gamers to be able to understand the controls, and “upating (the controls) for modern audiences” can be good.
Further, older games often have some pretty awful stereotypes in them that don’t need to be preserved so we can remember them.
I know Disney’s Bambi isn’t a video game, but I’ll use it as an example that’s being re-made. Bambi was made in 1942, and a massive amount of cultural references and ideas just don’t make as much sense in the modern era. There are literally things young people today would be like “what now?” in films that old. Sometimes “updating for modern audiences” is removing stuff that just doesn’t make sense anymore, or people don’t recognize or understand.
Even further, it used to be that “getting updated for modern audiences” was the norm. Anyone remember that hokey fucking Romeo & Juliet with Leonoard DiCaprio in the 90’s? Yeah, that was “updated for modern audiences” and it was a smash fucking hit. Back then, updating for modern audiences meant setting it in Verona instead of Venice and swapping swords for guns.
Like if you’re dealing with games that were always meant to frustrate and offend like Postal 2 or Conker’s Bad Fur Day or Redneck Rampage, you’re probably not gonna have a lot of people happy to “update for modern audiences” but there’s not much to update about campy schlock humor anyway.
So yeah, sometimes its not great, but I think the worries about it are overblown.
In movies there used to be a joke about how “the black guy always dies first” in action/horror movies because it held true for a long time. Black characters were given bit-roles that were quickly written out of movies. That is no longer the case, but you don’t see movies that don’t kill off black characters right away as being advertised as “updated for modern audiences” because that’s just silly.
“updating (the controls) for modern audiences” can be good.
My only experience of that is when they removed grid based movements from New N’ Tasty and forced players to use the analog, trying to walk felt horrible.
But something like the first 2 Fallouts on the other hand can really use a controls overhaul.
But something like the first 2 Fallouts on the other hand can really use a controls overhaul.
Those were literally on my mind! I know Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II got some updated control schemes more recently, including gamepad support, but it seems my favorite Fallouts are still stuck in the past.
God damn it what I would give for a modern Fallout in the style of Baldur’s Gate 3. It breaks me how Bethesda has ruined that series.
I think you're looking for Wasteland. They shared a lot of DNA already, and they've got different senses of humor, but Wasteland still has a black comedy angle.
As in most RPGs, having more actions was always beneficial, so I for sure always had companions in Fallout, even though they were AI controlled and often got in the way. At least Wasteland just gives you control of them.
Both updating the controls, and removing stereotypes, should be optional, at most behind a parental lock.
Some historic material is evil shit, and some people may understandably not want to get exposed to it… but it shouldn’t be some censor’s decision which scholars get access to the historical originals, while everyone else only gets the PC mush of the moment.
Everyone should have the option to see as much evil as they want, no more, no less.
Going back to your Bambi example, I learned a lot about 1942 US by watching the now censored scenes, much more than by just listening to the opinions of those who condemned them.
I agree with this sentiment in respect to the idea that you’re actually trying to learn something from what you’re looking at. I agree, because I felt the same way when I watched censored WWII cartoons. If you’re willing to learn from them, that’s great, but here’s the thing.
Not everybody is taking away the same things.
What you take away from it isn’t what everyone takes from it. While you might rightfully not be a giant piece of shit yourself, there’s a lot of people who are.
My personal example is growing up with the Grand Theft Auto series. As a youth, I thought concerns with it were more or less overblown, and I was more or less right, for the most part.
However, after the torture scene in GTA 5 and talking to a wider community about it, I started to realize a lot of people weren’t learning anything good from that scene other than how to torture people, and a perverted glee in being able to do so.
And that’s where I begin to worry, because while like, I’m in the middle of an Evil playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3, like… It’s hard to feel real “glee” at being evil. Many of the decisions I make tend to make me go “awwww” inside, but I tell myself “I can’t get caught up in that if it’s an evil playthrough.” And in that sense is where I agree, because like, yeah, I should be allowed to play evil if I want.
But the reality also is that a lot of people don’t care about the nuance and are looking for reasons to be pieces of shit, looking for dark things to make fun of, and are generally going to take horrible justifications from what they do learn, and yes, that does worry me a bit.
while everyone else only gets the PC mush of the moment.
You realize that while there might be some hamfisted attempts at this, that not all of them are so hamfisted, right? This statement doesn’t inspire confidence that you see that.
The commentary said they wanted to do rival criminal gangs, which would have made a lot more sense than the construction magnates they went with, but my guess is they realised West Side Story already did it.
Me in 2004: Yeah I’ll never play Half-Life 2 because I hate that it comes with a mandatory useless piece of software. « Steam », what the hell is that? Full of DRMs, ugly, bugged to the core, eating up my precious RAM.
There are valid concerns but there are benefits to using one game manager. There’s nothing good about having to install a bunch of them because every other game is in a different store.
It still would be best if games came DRM-free and all of them were compatible with whatever game manager someone chooses, but a lot of them aren’t, especially from big publishers.
I’m pretty pragmatic. While I appreciate what Valve has done for PC gaming, I like the idea of them having some legit competition in the space. So when the Epic store started, I bought a bunch of games there to give it a shot. Outer Worlds, Control… And of course I grabbed up a bunch of free games, too!
…and then, over time, I’ve repurchased all of the games I liked on steam anyway.
Edit: for the downvoters - as OP, I officially congratulate Kecessa on their sick burn. It made me lol. So… If you were feeling conflicted here, go with the upvote.
Epic is not a competition to Valve. They are long ways from that position. If Steam ever was afraid of competitor it was from Windows Marker Place or whatever the name of built-in windows crap is.
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