pcgamer.com

SnotFlickerman, (edited ) do gaming w After years of holding out hope, 2024 was the year I finally gave up on BioWare
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

https://i.chzbgr.com/full/6039747584/hE525CD30/papea-kills-off-developers

Seriously this sentiment is old as hell. This comic is old as hell.

The BioWare of today is not the one that made the original Baldur’s Gate. Shit, it’s not even the BioWare that made the original Dragon Age.

They’ve been a hollowed out shell chasing whatever “AAA” style sells the most for a long time now. If Baldur’s Gate 3 had come out before Witcher 3, you can bet your ass Veilguard would look and play a hell of a lot more like BG3, because it’s painfully clear they did everything they could to crib the speed of the combat in Witcher 3, which was the hot shit when they started development. Similar to how Inquisition was chasing the Open World fad. If Baldurs Gate 3 had been the hot shit when they began development? Veilguard would have played like that instead.

It is what it is, and this has been this way since at least Dragon Age 2/Mass Effect 2.

scrubbles,
!deleted6348 avatar

They’re just so risk-adverse. It’s the same as Andromeda, and Ubisoft is another great example. They’re so worried about getting the most players that they’re afraid to take risks. What if players don’t like this, what if the audience is smaller? Everything is done by committee and it becomes a fairly flat game.

boatswain,

Just as an FYI, “averse” is what you want there, rather than “adverse”. Likely an autocorrect thing, but figured I’d mention it just in case.

overload,

Strange that that’s the case. The thing that made the Witcher 3 good was the writing of the side quests, not the combat.

Not sure if I’ve played a game that’s pivoted to be more like the Witcher that has met that standard in that regard.

Vodulas,

The Witcher games have all had terrible combat, just getting slightly better each game. The folklore and universe are really what sells the Witcher games. Though the first one was still real bad.

Vodulas,

I hated the combat in Witcher 3. The combat in Veilguard does not feel the same to me, so if it is biting the Witcher, it also improved it. I get they were probably chasing trends, but Veilguard is a solid action game. The author clearly has a bias to CRPGs, and a soft spot for Origins (as do I), but that does not make Veilguard a bad game. Just different

murmelade, do games w Best City Builder 2024: Manor Lords [as per PCGamer]

But… It’s in EA? 🤡

Dashi,

I don’t know how I feel about this game getting an award in Early Access. But it feels weird.

I have nothing against EA I played several ea games including this one, but this is getting closer and closer to the norm.

murmelade,

Yeah it seems like it will be a great game and best wishes to the Dev but it’s like giving an award to a demo. Why don’t we just give all the awards to Star Citizen then since they have promised us it will be the best everything once it releases.

EncryptKeeper, (edited )

Were there any city builders fully released in 2024? Is this a matter of an EA title being chosen because there are no non-EA titles?

Ashtear,

This is what I was wondering. Was the genre that quiet this year? Manor Lords isn’t just early access, it’s early early access. So many outright unfinished systems.

EncryptKeeper,

I can’t think of a single city builder released this year that isn’t in EA.

Dashi,

Frostpunk 2 released and is pretty solid. Maybe not for everyone but it’s a full title release I believe

EncryptKeeper,

Ah yeah that’s a good catch. It is a solid game and should have won.

cpkwtf,

There’s a Soviet city builder that fully launched in the last few months

Ashtear,

Following up on this conversation since I just saw this PC Gamer article:

I played a whopping 23 city builders in 2024, and here are my 5 favorites

B0NK3RS, do games w Best City Builder 2024: Manor Lords [as per PCGamer]
@B0NK3RS@lemmy.world avatar

I played it when released to Gamepass and it got boring quickly so hopefully now there is more to it.

It is a beautiful looking game though.

AlphaOmega,

Same. Good for a few hours

Pyr_Pressure,
@Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca avatar

My main go to is city builders and I couldn’t get past like 20 hours in manor lords before giving up. I just couldn’t get into it.

Aussiemandeus,
@Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone avatar

I’ve had a blast playing it. Beaten it several times and have all the achievements bar two really hard ones.

fishbone, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years

Great game. First got recommended it here (I saw the game before but didn’t really pay much attention to it) and I love it so much. I’ve always stayed away from city builders cause I feel like they turn into something I don’t really care for as the game goes on, but the short scale rogue lite nature of this works incredibly well for me.

I really like that settlements are inherently temporary and that the game throws a lot of wrenches at me. It’s a good reminder to try and strive for flexibility rather than optimization. Settlements don’t have to be perfect (and likely won’t be), they just have to work well enough to get to the next.

They’ve also added a ton of content and quality of life stuff since I last played a few patches ago. The UI still has some issues, but auto loading saved production limits and the overlay keys for buildings and workers make it so much easier to see what’s going on at a macro level.

Tip for new players: after you get your bearing in game (maybe 1 or 2 settlements), take some time to just go through and check out the overlays. You can easily do stuff like move workers around or see and adjust recipes of all buildings on your map at once. I only just found those options and it’s a godsend compared to menu diving.

GriffinClaw, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years

Is there a way to play without having to give wine/beer to your colonists?

I bought this game day 1 cause I LOVE the concept, but as a personal rule I stay away from all things alcohol. Even the virtual concept of handing out beer felt awful. Had to drop the game eventually.

If anyone knows wether its possible to win a round without touching the virtual drink, please let me know. Good town building games are so damn rare :(

False,

It’s possible (and common) to win without alcohol, but in some cases you’d be handicapping yourself.

Guess you couldn’t get into Frostpunk either if doing objectionable things in a game is a showstopper for you.

GriffinClaw,

Nah, I actually did manage to win that one. No taverns :)

Still, thanks for letting me know that its doable. Off to buy the expansions!

False,

You were okay with the child labor, forced 24 hour shifts, brothels, etc but draw the line at the tavern?

GriffinClaw,

Never did any of them either. Still finished the main game. Its doable.

rimjob_rainer, (edited )

Beer (without alcohol) was part of the daily diet in the history (e.g Egyptians). You can pretend it’s the same case here.

GriffinClaw,

Huh, that could work. Thank you!

rigatti,
@rigatti@lemmy.world avatar

Mind if I ask your reasoning for this?

GriffinClaw,

Just a personal tick.

Yareckt,
@Yareckt@lemmynsfw.com avatar

It’s possible to win a round without producing any. You might get some as a random drop. Alcohol and it’s production buildings will also pop up as a takable option and by not taking it ever the game will be harder. Meaning the game will punish you by being harder for ignoring it. You can also forbid your colonists from drinking it except in some very rare scenarios where you could just abandon a run/town. So basically you can avoid it but it’s always gonna be in your face. Feel free to ask if you want more info :)

GriffinClaw,

Thanks for the intel. Gonna spin it up again, see how far I can take it.

Elevator7009sAlt, (edited )

I usually don’t advertise my personal aversion to alcohol specifically because I’m not interested in getting backlash for it like you did. It would be understandable backlash if you were being judgmental about those who do drink, but you were not doing that, so it just feels plain bad to see that people downvoted you for your innocent question. I like to keep it out of my life too, and I do the same in games when I can, so you’re not alone.

GriffinClaw,

Thank you

Varyag, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years

Just picked this one up since it was cheap.and I’ve been wanting to play a village management game in a while. Holy crap this game is amazing. I spent 6 hours on it un the first day alone. I love how the roguelike format keeps it always engaging and direct, without meandering about trying to figure out what I want to do. It has clear goals, needs to be met, and multiple ways to reach those goals. I usually like playing RTS games in short bursts of Skirmishes, and this feels very similar. Trying different strategies with different buildings and terrains.

I was also looking at Timberborn (funny how both games have postapocalyptic sentient beavers) and Farthest Frontier, but I think I’ll be busy with AtS for a while until I get to try those two. And I’ll never need to even consider giving Ubisoft my money for Anno ever again.

Agent_Karyo,
@Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world avatar

Timberborn is also really good, the water dynamics really makes the game stand out compared to other town/colony builders.

They’ve also added much needed improvements to water dynamics (aqueducts).

murmelade,

I absolutely loved AtS but couldn’t get past the tutorial in Timbertown… Felt too janky but it’s in early access so I guess I’ll give it another shot when they smooth things out for release.

Carighan, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years
@Carighan@lemmy.world avatar

I agree, easily the city builder I sunk the most hours into in the last 10+ years compared to all other ones combined.

They also keep adding to it with more world events, a new resource (salt), new biomes, and with the expansion a whole new race.

Ashtear, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years

I had an intense love affair with this one earlier in the year that fizzled out quickly once the credits rolled. Solid game, but the only thing that keeps it from being in my collection of 1000-hour games is that it’s a little too dense for my taste. Keeping track of what builds what (and which build I had currently unlocked) was taking up a smidge more brain power than I’d like once the difficulty started demanding it. By the end I’d started layering in how to evaluate cornerstones, the best way to do trade, map modifiers, and it became too much. Ironically, I’d probably get to a level of comfort just by putting more time into the game but it’ll just feel like work.

One of those “almost there” games for me.

Carighan,
@Carighan@lemmy.world avatar

Was this before all the QoL updates around saveable production controls and easily seeing which builds what?

Ashtear,

Looks like it was October, so I’m guessing after? The production controls did help once I figured them out but I realized once I was digging through the UI every time I was making a building or cornerstone decision I wasn’t getting into the flow state I wanted.

delitomatoes,

Are there even credits? The game doesn’t end right? No story mode per se

Ashtear,

They showed up

minor spoiler maybe?after the fourth seal. From what I gather, yeah, there’s no ending/story mode or anything.


After the credit roll I took it as a sign I wasn’t getting much more lore or more Aunt Lori. I’d buy a DLC just for more Aunt Lori.

Agent_Karyo, do games w Against the Storm looks charming and cosy, but it's actually the best and most fiendish city builder I've played in years
@Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world avatar

This is a great game. They’ve managed to pull off a roguelike citybuilder; a genre combination that one would think would not work. Great visuals and atmosphere too.

Jaderick,

I played it when it came out and it was great. I loved the campaign setup. I need to get back into it with that new DLC

Starayo,

I didn’t think I would like it because I like colony sims and city builders where I’m just playing the same map for extended periods, but I gave it a try on game pass and ended up playing hundreds of hours. It’s something special.

Agent_Karyo,
@Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world avatar

It really is special. I initially tried it out because I liked the aesthetic and the map setup/setting; small fantasy colony surrounded by impenetrable forest in a post-apocalyptic world. I was really skeptical about the roguelike x citybuilder hybrid as I like long city-builder sessions with huge maps and elaborate city designs, but they pulled it off perfectly.

I have 100+ hours. I did stop playing after the one of the early access builds made some changes that undermined by core strategy, but that’s a personal thing. Really need to try out the DLC and start from scratch.

Mad_Punda,

Same!!

Dark_Arc,
@Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg avatar

I’m in like the opposite camp… But I’ve never been able to get past the initial learning curve of the game. Something has never clicked with this one for me

fishbone,

It also runs quite well and looks great on medium and low settings. I can run it on high on my 2060 quite easily, but I don’t feel like I need to cause the artstyle works so well.

Might not be a big deal for others, but I love when games look good while taking very little computer resources.

imPastaSyndrome, do gaming w Warner Bros. is delisting games again: a half-dozen Cartoon Network releases have been removed from sale on digital storefronts

GoG doing something bout this?

metaStatic,
@metaStatic@kbin.earth avatar

Closing down

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

Not really anything they can do.

imPastaSyndrome,

Thought they had some games preservation thing

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

Well first of all these games were never listed on GoG.

Secondly, they can’t (legally) do anything about a publisher refusing to sell games anymore. That’s their IP and they have the legal right to make that decision.

What they can do is ensure games that you’ve already purchased continue to work in the future.

dragonfucker,

Capitalist solutions have limited ability to fix capitalist problems.

Fitgirl doesn’t have to worry about these sorts of limitations.

Nop0po, do games w Valve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because 'All adult members in a Steam Family' can see your Steam Replay page

That picture is spot on

DebatableRaccoon, do gaming w Sony's potential acquisition of Kadokawa seems to be quashed for now

Thank fuck for that.

finitebanjo, do games w Valve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because 'All adult members in a Steam Family' can see your Steam Replay page

“Wow you’ve got a lot of 40 minute sessions on Sims 4, Fallout 4, and Skyrim.”

“Yeah I’m a completionist.”

“Do you play with mods?”

“What? No. Why? What have you heard?”

OmegaLemmy,
@OmegaLemmy@discuss.online avatar

Skyrim, I heard from hearsay Sims 4, I watched someone defend Wtf is happening in fallout???

finitebanjo, (edited )

All of the games listed have porn mods. A LOT of porn mods.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/8b1f94f5-f350-4e38-9772-90377e573f45.webp

finitebanjo,

To clarify they can all be played perfectly normally without any adult content unless the user installs mods.

LordWiggle,
@LordWiggle@lemmy.world avatar

Baldurs gate 3 doesn’t need mods. There’s also no one stopping you when walking into a sex toy shop in cyberpunk after configuring your breasts and penis size (because you can have both), without mods. And boy do they have some nice toys.

Excrubulent,
@Excrubulent@slrpnk.net avatar

I have been playing Cyberpunk all wrong it seems.

Pichu0102,
@Pichu0102@lemmy.world avatar

Friend is now playing Skyrim. few minutes pass Friend is now playing Skyrim. few seconds pass Friend is now playing Skyrim. two seconds pass Friend is now playing Skyrim. 30 minutes later “Oh looks like they finally got it work-” Friend is now playing Skyrim.

polysics, do games w Valve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because 'All adult members in a Steam Family' can see your Steam Replay page

Thankfully all those hours I put into Anomalous Coffee Machine will probably confuse people since the title doesn’t really give away what it is.

It’s porn in case that wasn’t obvious.

Ziglin,

It wasn’t. I thought it would be a sort of horror game based on the title. I’m slightly curious about how a game about/named after a coffee machine turns into that but I’m okay not knowing.

spicehoarder,
@spicehoarder@lemm.ee avatar

Speak for yourself I’m intrigued

polysics,

It’s actually both horror and porn.

You can download a demo version on itch.io it’s actually fun and you don’t necessarily have to play the parts with boobies.

RebekahWSD, do games w Valve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because 'All adult members in a Steam Family' can see your Steam Replay page
@RebekahWSD@lemmy.world avatar

Ohno, my twin will see what games I play. Although they already get the friends popup saying what I’m playing when I start playing it.

They also wander into the computer room frequently to ramble at me so see what I’m playing them.

In short, we all play Dwarf Fortress and it’s not a secret.

specterspectre,

Dwarf Fortress is my favorite abstinence method. I abstain from leaving the house on the weekends.

  • Wszystkie
  • Subskrybowane
  • Moderowane
  • Ulubione
  • test1
  • ERP
  • fediversum
  • rowery
  • Technologia
  • krakow
  • muzyka
  • shophiajons
  • NomadOffgrid
  • esport
  • informasi
  • FromSilesiaToPolesia
  • retro
  • Travel
  • Spoleczenstwo
  • gurgaonproperty
  • Psychologia
  • Gaming
  • slask
  • nauka
  • sport
  • niusy
  • antywykop
  • Blogi
  • lieratura
  • motoryzacja
  • giereczkowo
  • warnersteve
  • Wszystkie magazyny