rockpapershotgun.com

millie, do gaming w Players are now less "accepting" that games will be fixed, say Paradox, after "underestimating" the reaction to Cities: Skylines 2's performance woes

Honestly, I think the bar for games these days is totally warped. People expect these cinematic masterpieces with ultra-realistic graphics in gigantic 3d landscapes with massive autonomy, extensive character creation options, full voice acting, juiced up complex mechanics, and zero bugs, and they want it yesterday. If it costs more than a full tank of gas they’ll say it’s too expensive, and if it isn’t fully patched on day 1 they’ll call it unfinished.

It seems almost obvious that simpler 2D games are a better and more satisfying alternative in this landscape. No wonder AAA studios seem like they’re racing to the bottom.

How are you supposed to get all that and also have a decent story or a sense of cohesion? We need to simplify.

metaStatic,
@metaStatic@kbin.earth avatar

All you need is a good story ... so you can see why people are scrutinising everything else.

Skua,

Paradox's games don't really do storytelling in a traditional sense. They're strategy and managememt games. Some of them are pretty damn good at creating stories dynamically through gameplay, or providing a frame upon which you can create your own stories, but they were never intended to be narrative experiences

Butterbee,
!deleted4292 avatar

What’s that meme? Hold on… I can dust it off since it’s still applicable. Oh, right! “I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less, and I mean it!”

I don’t need it to be super epic in scope and graphically mind blowing. I just want a tight, focused, well thought out game that isn’t buggy af. And it doesn’t have to be flawless day 1, but there should be some pretty good communication and patches in the first month.

1984,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

If you look at games that get overwhelmingly positive on stream, most of them have only ok graphics. It’s the feeling of the game that matters.

Didros,

“We need to simplify” indie games are doing just fine. It’s almost like super massive studios take much more money to make games with less replay value.

And who expects cinematic masterpieces? Most gamers skip the cutscenes and all dialog lol

Studios make the games pretty for pre sale hype. Getting people interested without game play.

Tywele,

And who expects cinematic masterpieces? Most gamers skip the cutscenes and all dialog lol

Citation needed

storksforlegs,
@storksforlegs@beehaw.org avatar

yeah agreed on this point, I dont think most people do this (unless replaying for the nth time)

SaltySalamander,

Most gamers skip the cutscenes and all dialog lol

Sure, on the 2nd replay.

Didros,

Yeah, “most” seems strong now, but there is enough discourse online to say it isn’t uncommon.

Iapar,

Agree. The thing with realistic graphics is that it brings in soooo much complexity on a systems level that it becomes the center point everything else revolves around.

Imaging a 2d game vs a 3d game. Alone trough that you have a complete third dimension wich you have to account for.

A whole book full of new bugs are possible now.

And with realistic graphics the brain now expects the rules of the world to be realistic too.

My character looks photorealistic so, of course, the environment needs to look photorealistic too otherwise we go into uncanny valley territory.

So next thing the interaction needs to look realistic too. Think walking trough a forrest and the player character pushing leaves out of his way.

That is just to fucking much you need to test and invest time in to be flexible anymore.

The simple answer here is better art direction. Photorealism is neat but not needed.

With simpler graphics it becomes cheaper to change stuff in development so it becomes more viable to experiment with creative ideas.

You can have more diverse assets because they are, potentially, cheaper/less time consuming to make and they don’t take as much space.

Like 1 photorealistic tree needs as much discspace as 2 trees with half the polygons.

In the and gaming has become a business and people got involved that don’t play games.

For them it is just an investment and no different to a car or a garden hose. And for those people the only viable way to solve a problem is to trow money at it.

Which worked but only for making things grander not making it more interesting. For that you need people that solve problems with creativity.

And you get people who solve problems with creativity when there is less money because you have no other choice but to solve it like that.

That is clearly not the whole picture but a part of it IMHO.

I think at this point, if you are a gaming enthusiasts and are informed about the “scene” there is just no reason to buy AAA(AAAAAAA) games anymore.

And also no need to be angry about it. Just ignore them and talk about the indies that made a change. It is more productive to have that dominate the conversation than what sucks.

Because talking about shit is still advertisement for shit.

Marin_Rider,

the recent avatar game is a great example of actually hitting the mark visually and superficially (probably one of the better looking games I’ve ever played) and the physics and gameplay in the world are pretty damn good. but people complain the story is boring. and yeah it’s not amazing. I don’t think it’s terrible, and it’s a game really built to explore the environment rather than complete missions.

it’s near impossible to get that perfect game that hits every single button possible. I truly think we gamers need to settle down a bit as a whole. Sure buggy messes that are unplayable are not something we should tolerate, but I think we need to stop treating everything that isn’t perfect as a pile of shit

Feyd,

Studios can make whatever they want. People aren’t putting in orders.

millie,

Tell that to the C-levels who literally are putting in orders.

Feyd,

They are part of the studios… point was “the bar” is “fun/interesting”. The vast majority of people that purchase games don’t have a bar as defined by the content I originally replied to.

millie,

Are they? Seems to me like they’re corporate leeches sucking the life out of every industry and offering nothing of value in return.

Feyd,

I completely agree that business ghouls doing business ghoul things make studios make worse games… doesn’t really affect my point though… studios are not making games based on a “bar” set by the consumers as described in the original post…

atocci, do games w Peter Molyneux thinks generative AI is the future of games, all but guaranteeing that it won't be

Well, if Peter says it is, everyone should give up on it right now.

Agent_Karyo, do games w Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed again, this time until the first half of 2025
@Agent_Karyo@lemmy.world avatar

Poor VTMB2 is cursed.

Not to mention it will difficult for it compete with the sheer uniqueness of the original VTMB for its time.

Coskii,
@Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Its beyond difficult to compare to a team that had an entire conversation tree line with a stop sign.

DmMacniel,
@DmMacniel@feddit.org avatar

No you stop!

Coelacanth,
@Coelacanth@feddit.nu avatar

The Stop Sign gets a lot of the attention, but the TV host was the highlight of the Malkavian run for me. When I heard

Police say that vigilantism will not be tolerated, and that they know it was you.

it stopped me in my tracks because I really didn’t expect it. And the conversation with the TV host is as funny as the stop sign I think.

Coskii,
@Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I’d be down to listen to the ‘Deb of Night’ anytime.

Coelacanth,
@Coelacanth@feddit.nu avatar
cupcakezealot, do gaming w Paradox CEO admits company made "wrong calls in several projects" in wake of Life By You's cancellation
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

they should release the ip back to the devs and rod if they really have remorse

megopie, do gaming w Paradox CEO admits company made "wrong calls in several projects" in wake of Life By You's cancellation

This is a shame, I haven’t played a sims game in a while and I remember them quite fondly. The latest EA sims stuff has just been utter micro transaction slop, or at least last I checked. I hate to see a smaller studio that’s not working through one of bastard publishers get hit like this.

I’m a lot more patient with paradox than I am with other publishers. Their focus still seems on producing interesting games rather than chasing “maximized revenue”. There are realities to being a publisher though. if a studio is failing to produce something and your financials are limited, there’s only so much risk you can take on extending deadlines, and writing something off for a quick boost to financials is a alluring sirens call.

I have my issues with how paradox studios design is affected by their DLC model, but I don’t think there’s a better way to bring in ongoing revenue to fund further development.

It’s a mess, all of it, but it is a results of the context and system they exist with in, not necessarily the will of those making the calls at paradox. Paradox tends to do a better job of existing with in the system without making pure slop than other big publishers, so they have my patience for that.

theangriestbird,

The latest EA sims stuff has just been utter micro transaction slop, or at least last I checked.

Feels like the only valid way to play the Sims these days is to pirate it. No one wants to pay $500 for the complete DLC collection, and if you don’t have that you’ll always be plagued with fomo and possible mod conflicts.

CharlesReed, do games w Sims 4 devs assemble team to focus on fixing bugs and upping performance
OnfireNFS,

All I want is someone to make an open world Sims 3 like game with 64-bit support and better multicore support. Can’t wait to see if Paralives and Life by You will deliver

CharlesReed,

Sims 3, with all its faults, is the golden age. Long live the mods.

Glamborghini,

Sims 3 was best, no? I feel like it was the full package and mostly complete right out of the box. Didn’t have the same feeling in 4 at all. Been some years since I tried 4, but when it launched I remember going back to 3 almost immediately after a couple weeks.

1rre,

2 was by far the most polished, but 3 had more features so I guess ideal lies somewhere in the middle

CharlesReed,

I did the same thing. It may have been because there weren't as many dlcs and expansions, but it just felt really dull. Plus it didn't have the completely open world like 3 did. Sitting through all those loading screens every time you wanted to go somewhere was a pain.

FluffyPotato,

I tried playing Sims 3 again recently and holy hell is the performance bad. Like the FPS is running at whatever I cap it at but there are constant freezes and stuttering with no FPS drops even with all the recommended performance mods. I then remembered I stopped playing for that very reason ages ago and now my desktop is like 100x more powerful.

bionicjoey, (edited ) do games w Sims contender Life By You gets delayed once again, this time indefinitely

God damn it. Now all hope rests with Paralives

Edit: it sounds like they are actually delaying to ensure a more polished release. Given the massive scope of the game, this seems totally reasonable. I wish Paradox would push deadlines more often honestly, given the sorry state of their most recent titles on release day (CS2 and Vic3 in particular) Though I am still disappointed we won’t get LBY sooner.

SatansMaggotyCumFart, do gaming w Remembering Prey, Arkane Austin’s masterpiece

I have to finish off this game, I remember the first half being really fun.

Gaming with ADD is challenging sometimes.

BallShapedMan,
@BallShapedMan@lemmy.world avatar

Just do it in one 20 hour sitting with hyper focus. Ignore eating, bathroom breaks, and all.

Am ADHD and have done this…

SatansMaggotyCumFart,

I exclusively reserve my hyper-focus for existential dread and crippling anxiety.

BallShapedMan,
@BallShapedMan@lemmy.world avatar

Good choice, a favorite of mine as well. In the middle of the night when I’m supposed to be sleeping with a theme that often makes no sense in reality but I’m bought in 100% anyway until my alarm goes off.

SatansMaggotyCumFart,

Yeah, I love that feedback loop of not sleeping because you’re anxious and anxious because you’re not sleeping.

BallShapedMan,
@BallShapedMan@lemmy.world avatar

Exactly! I spent an entire night playing a football game over and over in my head that didn’t happen and wasn’t important to the team. But John Elway just could not throw for a first down to save his life…

wahming, do games w No Rest For The Wicked's first hotfix addresses durability and repair cost complaints

What’s happening to RPS? I’ve been seeing more and more articles from them about games the writer has never played, with no useful information. Like this one, basically copy and paste of the patch notes and a summary of steam reviews. Used to like them for in depth game reviews, guess that’s going the way of the dodo.

ICastFist, do games w No Man's Sky Orbital Update brings full ship customisation and a complete space station overhaul
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

Gave it a whirl. Basically, you can now scrap ships to get their components to create a new ship inside any station. Couldn’t find any merchant within the station selling pieces, so you have to go out and explore, or scrap some of your own ships.

Stations now look slightly different from one another and no longer have those semi-hidden rooms that nobody cared about. Alien vendors now give a discount if you’re at a good standing with their race. Guild “vendors” offer a list of stuff for free, but I don’t get why the prompt is red instead of white. Performance is still mostly CPU bound.

Overall decent update, but the new features don’t warrant playing more than 1 hour.

DarthYoshiBoy, do games w Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League review: a looter shooter in need of rescuing
@DarthYoshiBoy@kbin.social avatar

They had to have seen the writing on the wall at least a year or two before they brought this to market.

I seem to remember that at about a year before launch there was some reporter (Jason Schreier?) who had an inside tip that they were changing some stuff in the face of the realization that GaaS were not the money maker they were thought to be once upon a time, but the tipper also said that they were too locked into the GaaS paradigm to make the sort of meaningful changes that would salvage the experience. I don't think there's any rescuing this one if they knew they were in trouble a full year before delivery and still couldn't shape it up into a product worthy of attention.

Potatos_are_not_friends,

There was a similar comment about that. How they are in a sunk cost fallacy for all the GaaS promises they made a few years ago. And to not release it means they make zero.

Versus releasing and maybe they make some money back.

Hoping they could salvage something.

noxy, do games w Capcom is worried that mods “offensive to public order and morals” will ‘tarnish’ the rep of their PC games
@noxy@yiffit.net avatar

then why did they make so many of the monster hunter monsters so outrageousky attractive?

paraphrand,

Yeah, it really is their fault for dressing like that.

noxy,
@noxy@yiffit.net avatar

but they’re all naked!

Wahots, do games w Elite Dangerous studio Frontier Developments announce layoffs and "organisational review"
@Wahots@pawb.social avatar

Fuuuuck, Elite Dangerous is so fucking good. Anyone can make a zoo sim or other games. Very very few can make a massive space Sim with good controls, multiplayer, and the sheer scale and intensity of E:D’s FPS ship combat.

dan1101,

Exactly. My ideal game would be a mix of Elite Dangerous, X4 Foundations, and Starfield. ED has the galaxy map, flight model, and combat down. It just needs to be more of a game.

Wahots,
@Wahots@pawb.social avatar

I would love an Elite, but with the combat and fluid vehicle entry/egress of Battlefield 1.

dan1101,

I never thought of that, but it would be so much fun.

Kaldo, do games w Lamplighter devs Harebrained "part ways" with Paradox as publisher decides against new project in the same genre
@Kaldo@kbin.social avatar

Some people here are blaming paradox but honestly, I don't envy any game releasing in this period. We've had so many great (and expensive games) in the past few months but even if that weren't the case, personally I'm not willing to pay 50€ for something that looks like a blander XCOM game (or 65€ if you want the special additional character, bleugh).

Then again maybe I'm just not the diehard fan and their target audience, the only game of theirs I played was shadorun many years ago and I wasn't interested in battletech either. If I were in a mood for a turn based game I know I'd sooner pick up BG3 since their price is relatively close...

kkaosninja, do gaming w KOTOR Remake feared cancelled after Sony quietly pulls tweets and videos
@kkaosninja@beehaw.org avatar

Sony clarified that this is because of them losing the license rights to the music in the trailer.

insider-gaming.com/kotor-remake-trailer-sony/

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