polygon.com

vulgarcynic, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods
@vulgarcynic@sh.itjust.works avatar

It’s a bummer we can’t decline Steam Game updates anymore. That would help avoid these types of situations. Being forced to update a game before launching it was always going to lead to this type of bullshit. Same with all the GTA fuckery.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

In case anyone needs it, you can actually downgrade Steam games. It just doesn’t have an UI unfortunately.

There’s a tool for it here: github.com/SteamRE/DepotDownloader

SteamDB can be used to find the game ID and depot ID: steamdb.info

Steam itself will not care if the game files are not up to date, individual games might.

CallumWells,

You don’t even need the external tool, you can use the Steam terminal itself to download the depots, which I personally find more palatable than having another application that is getting access to my username and password (it needs those to get the access from Steam). Even though I don’t think that tool is malicious I would still prefer to not have to rely on it.

  • Go to SteamDB, and search up your game.
  • Click on the app ID of the game you’re looking for to go to its details page.
  • Take a look at the depots, and click on the depot ID of the one that looks like the one you want to download.
  • Click on the Manifests tab. Look at the list and find the version that you want to download. Record its manifest ID.
  • Open the Steam console. You can do this by opening a command window “Run” by pressing «Win + R» and then enter the command: steam://open/console, and then press Enter, or by opening any browser and enter the URL-address field write the same command: steam://open/console. You can even have it always available when you start Steam by appending -console to the launch options of the shortcut to the Steam exe.
  • The syntax to the “download_depot” command is as follows:
    download_depot <appid> <depotid> [<target manifestid>] [<delta manifestid>] [<depot flags filter>] : download a single depot
    You only need to worry about the first three arguments to it. Type the command, then the app ID, depot ID, and the manifest ID of the depot version you want.
  • Wait for Steam to download the depot. You won’t see any indication of progress, but you can tell it’s downloading by looking at the network usage on your downloads page. The download can pause/resume if your connection goes out, but won’t if you restart the client.
  • After the download is done, Steam will show you where the files were downloaded to.
  • Go to the game’s installation directory, and move the files somewhere else. Then go to where the depot files were downloaded to, and move everything over to the game folder.
  • You may have to rename the game’s EXE file if the dev changed the launch options recently. You can find the current EXE name by going to the game’s SteamDB page and clicking on the Configuration tab. 11. You should now be able to launch the old version through Steam.

Personally I found that you can just start the game from the download location and it will still have the Steam overlay if the game basically uses Steam as DRM.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

Yep, that works as well.

I use depotdownloader because I automated my downgrade script for Beat Saber, makes things faster.

CallumWells,

Are you downgrading to several different versions? Because I’ve used the console variant and just run the game from the download folder and Steam doesn’t update it

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

Yes, I keep several Beat Saber versions for different mods and replace the files in the main directory when Beat Saber updates.

CallumWells,

I’ve just not replaced the files in any directory at all, just start the game from the download location for the depot (one should be able to rename the folder for it to the version) and then you keep any number of versions to play available by just going into that download location and starting the game.

At least that’s how it has worked for me. I just thought that was easier than having to replace files every time.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

At least that’s how it has worked for me. I just thought that was easier than having to replace files every time.

It is, I just can’t do it because I have all the custom songs and plugins in my main folder and copying/linking all of that is a lot more work than just overwriting the game files each time.

CallumWells,

Yeah, that makes sense.

HopeOfTheGunblade, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods
@HopeOfTheGunblade@kbin.social avatar

What's that you say Capcom? Never purchase another title from you again? Well, if that's how you want it, I suppose.

BoiLudens, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods

I’d already left a couple of reviews on re5 and re revelations expressing my discontent. But otherwise there are more older collections that actually have that drm applied.

DmMacniel, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods

What the frick is their reasoning for this? Retroactively introducing DRM/anti-tampering does NOTHING but cause bad press and weary fans.

Even_Adder, (edited )

They are VERY mad about mods.

umbrella,
@umbrella@lemmy.ml avatar

ugh 🙄

LoamImprovement,

The link’s broken for me but I assume it’s the RE8 Dimitrescu flyswatter thing?

Even_Adder,

The link should work now, but I also found out they were doing this.

belated_frog_pants, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods

Welp, this will only make people yar harder

ZeroHora, do gaming w Capcom adds new DRM to old PC games, raising worries over mods
@ZeroHora@lemmy.ml avatar

DRM in old games so you are only affecting people that bought the game? Genius

drislands,

They’re not worried about pirates, they’re worried about nude mods. It’s still idiotic, but it is consistent.

ZeroHora,
@ZeroHora@lemmy.ml avatar

Bu than people could download a pirate version and install mods, in the end the pirate version is way more attractive than the original.

drislands,

I don’t disagree. But the inciting incident was when an official Street Fighter tournament went awry when the person hosting left on a nude Chun Li mod. I imagine they’re specifically trying to prevent that from happening ever again.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@kbin.social avatar

They probably care far less about that than they do the ability to mod in costumes instead of buying them.

Grass, (edited ) do gaming w Nvidia’s AI-powered NPCs are getting better, but still sound uncanny

I haven’t read the article but this headline gave me an idea. In future tech/cyberpunk settings, humans and cyborgs should be animated convincingly like real life humans, perhaps with slight differences to accentuate the cybernetics. Robots should be as they are in real life too. Androids should be varying degrees of Bethesda npc. The variations would be based on the in game lore or the manufacturer. So high end stuff would be more like real humans, but the Bethesda like companies can only put out Bethesda like products with spooky uncanny valley bug eyed stare through your skull faces and body doing whatever in a different direction.

After watching it, basically this. Save this specific version for later and when it improves use the new and the old together and there are your androids. Combine with traditional voice and animation for the humans. Realism out of fake looking shit.

z3rOR0ne, do gaming w Nvidia’s AI-powered NPCs are getting better, but still sound uncanny
@z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml avatar

I’m just waiting for my consciousness to be copied, uploaded, and enslaved for a hellish eternity. Like that one video game/tv show/movie/novel/short story that totally isn’t a warning of things to come /s.

anonymoose, do gaming w Nvidia’s AI-powered NPCs are getting better, but still sound uncanny
@anonymoose@lemmy.ca avatar

While I’m sure there will be a lot of false starts with this tech and it will take a while to iron out the kinks, I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. This will probably be similar to the switch from small, limited world maps in games to expansive open-worlds. It’s going to be a massive boost to immersion and will probably lead to some hilarious bugs/unexpected behaviours. Can’t wait!

RightHandOfIkaros,

It will be interesting for sure, but let’s not fool ourselves into believing that NPCs with AI behaviours will be better in all cases like modern game players seem to with open world game design.

Not every game needs an open world, and in some cases open world game design can end up doing more harm than good. This will be something that developers should look at on a game by game basis, and not a default plugin that everyone uses for every NPC in their game.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@kbin.social avatar

This will probably be similar to the switch from small, limited world maps in games to expansive open-worlds.

Interesting comparison, because I'd argue that that switch has, lately, been worse more often than it's been better, and that a lot of games would have been far better off if they stuck to the more limited equivalent.

ClaireDeLuna,

I agree, huge open worlds are often exhausting for me, and the developer need to fill it often ends up with cheap copy and past Ubisoft methods (collectibles, etc)

If Skyrim was the size of say, Assassins Creed Odyssey, it would’ve honestly suffered horribly, largely because one of Skyrims best features was the fact that their map was handcrafted and full of detail and secrets.

Sure you can add secrets to a procgen map, but that developer process that lead to the best ones are largely gone.

mindbleach,

On the contrary, I’d expect individual NPCs to be refined first. Like if the cast of Baldur’s Gate 3 was mostly improvising. Or if you had a halfway genuine friendship with your buddy Superfly.

anonymoose,
@anonymoose@lemmy.ca avatar

That is actually an excellent point! I’m imagining a Lydia from Skyrim who would actually comment on your actual quest progression without just resorting to canned responses.

mindbleach,

Or lean into that passive-aggressive vibe the actress took. She got assigned to some half-naked cat who stumbled into town smelling like an execution, five minutes after he killed a creature of legend. There’s a bit of Commander Kiff in that “I am sworn to carry your burdens.”

On the other hand - I don’t do tagalongs. I sat her ass in Breezehome as it got larger, fancier, and piled high with obscenely rare weaponry. It was kinda sad every time she stands up like we’re gonna go somewhere. Lydia, honey - this is your house. I use the chests, the bookshelves, and the gratuitous enchanting table that might actually be a mod. Go hook up with Farkas in one sense or other. I should come in and find you drunk on mead, out in some dungeon, or improvising whatever a sock on the doorknob is for a culture that has neither.

Eric_Pollock, do games w Watch a 13-year-old become the first person to ever beat Classic Tetris
@Eric_Pollock@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar
1bluepixel,
@1bluepixel@lemmy.world avatar

Haha, he nearly passes out when he realizes he crashed the game. That kid is amazing.

Endorkend, do games w Watch a 13-year-old become the first person to ever beat Classic Tetris
@Endorkend@kbin.social avatar

Why did Polygon include the CTWC video at the top of their page instead of BlueScuti's?

They are already stealing his views reposting his entire video with some bullshit commenting from them over the top of it and now Polygon is supporting that kind of behavior.

The kid did the work, give him the damn views.

ttsci,

Thanks for mentioning the original source! Here’s BlueScuti’s video, to save everyone else some searching. The moment he beats it is here, at 38:30.

Firipu, do gaming w Mimimi Games revived a genre, pushed it forward, and then shut down
@Firipu@startrek.website avatar

My favo games from the past few years. I absolutely adored every single one of them. Sad to see them go. This final dlc is on the expensive side imo, but I got them all, just to show support. I do very much look forward to playing them.

comicallycluttered, (edited ) do gaming w Mimimi Games revived a genre, pushed it forward, and then shut down

I’m sad they’re shutting down, but glad it was their decision.

I don’t think there’s anyone who does (did) stealth tactics like them, and there aren’t a ton of games in the genre to begin with, so I’ll miss them quite a lot.

packadal, do gaming w Mimimi Games revived a genre, pushed it forward, and then shut down

I’m very sad they are closing shop, but I understand it.

I find their last DLC awfully expensive, but I think I’ll buy them anyway, as I really loved all their games (bought desperados 3 day 1, same for shadow gambit, and no regrets).

Their games were crafted with love, and it shows. If you haven’t, go and try them on, it’s a fun genre.

I started playing because I had nostalgia for the commandos games, but they really refined the gameplay and made the different difficulty modes so everyone can have fun.

comicallycluttered,

I find their last DLC awfully expensive, but I think I’ll buy them anyway, as I really loved all their games (bought desperados 3 day 1, same for shadow gambit, and no regrets).

I find the Zagan DLC to be a bit boring, but he’s got some really interesting abilities.

Yuki is just fucking perfect, though. She might even be a little OP. Also, she adopted Kuma. It’s great.

It also carries forward her story from Shadow Tactics in an interesting way, but remains subtle enough that no one has to have played that before to enjoy her character.

I bought the DLC at full price because I’d already gotten the base game on sale (also because the DLC hasn’t gone on sale and I wanted to finish up the collection before year’s end).

Honestly, could definitely have done without the Zagan DLC. I’d only get it if you really like his abilities (they can be legitimately fun at times) and the darker tone of his story. Otherwise, no need.

Yuki was worth every cent, though.

It’s also fun chopping everyone into wood. Her passive is basically “everyone she kills turns into a block of wood that guards don’t notice or care about”.

Link up with John and Quentin/Suleidy, and you’ll never have to drag any dead body into bushes or throw them in the ocean ever again.

Crotaro, do gaming w Mimimi Games revived a genre, pushed it forward, and then shut down

That’s sad, but at least they made the choice themselves.

I’ll check out Shadow Gambit,though! It sounds really fun!

packadal,

I highly recommend it, its a very good game.

ampersandrew,
@ampersandrew@kbin.social avatar

I'd personally recommend Shadow Tactics and Desperados III first, and Shadow Gambit only when you're still itching for more or if you just really love the ghost pirate setting. Shadow Gambit throws in some unnecessary repetition that I felt dragged the game down a bit compared to its predecessors.

comicallycluttered,

Having just finished Shadow Gambit a few hours ago, I can kind of agree.

I loved it, but it did reach a point where it felt like it was going on too long and overusing some of the maps.

Regardless, if people prefer pirates over samurai/ninja or the Wild West, Shadow Gambit plays to its strengths and feels like an actual pirate game which takes a fair amount of inspiration from Ron Gilbert (of Monkey Island fame) and other swashbuckling adventures, which works out pretty nicely.

Quirky crew, pretty lighthearted, and doesn’t take itself all that seriously for the most part.

It’s fun, but can maybe overstay its welcome for some people. Best to play it over several sessions instead of diving into everything and rushing it, otherwise it’s going to feel a bit tedious.

After the several hours I spent on the final mission (which I mostly enjoyed, but for a few frustrating moments), I definitely feel I need a well-deserved break. I’ll get to the post-game later, which I actually do want to do at some point.

(And for the DLC, playing Shadow Tactics first and then playing the Yuki DLC for Gambit after is the best way to experience her character arc as well. I mean, it’s not super necessary, since she works fine standalone. But the relationship between her and Kuma is much sweeter once you know how it came about.)

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