Looking at the 34GB install, I’m guessing it’s some kind of massive emulation layer; it’s scary to say but I feel like we’ve just run out of game developers that can genuinely code against the machine itself to optimize install size and performance.
When you look back on the meager specs of old consoles and what they got running there, it now feels more and more impressive.
The article’s right about the conversation turning needlessly toxic. There’s people out there that are fanatics about accuracy for no good reason, even cases where I’ve seen a “TRASH localizer!” video that convinced me the localization was good in that it avoided repeat words, when they were attempting to state the opposite.
These people seriously need to either learn Japanese to play the game how they prefer, or just be silent and stop harassing game devs.
I’ve never played the OG FF7 but I loved Remake. Beautiful environments, great music, story, and characters. I rarely pick games back up after finishing them, but I finished remake twice....
I’ll admit, it’s probably not disingenuous to the original for it to be crammed with minigames, whether or not they changed it up with new ones. When the original was one game, leaving Midgar was very much a moment of freedom they wanted to capitalize on, so it was the perfect checkpoint to start giving the player optional activities.
That said, the “Towers” subject in particular (what I believe prompted the “Ubisoft style” comment) is something I feel like gamers need to cool down on. As much as people habitually throw shade on Ubisoft for starting them, they make sense, and can be done in an interesting way. If you have an open world environment, you want players to rely on the ugly minimap as little as possible; that often means both a focus on vertical movement that allows you chances to see the space in front of you, as well as tall buildings that encourage distant exploration. I really think towers get unfair criticism, even if a few games have done them in less fun ways (I could be biased - I think even in their initial appearances in Far Cry 3, they were actually fun to climb)
I prefer not to devote myself to any one storefront, and while Valve is very altruistic I think healthy competition is one of the things that keeps PC gaming storefronts at their best.
Even on consoles, I prefer to go digital; saves bookcase space.
“I may have stolen your wallet, but it’s okay - I gave it back. Surely it wasn’t because several police officers were walking over with curious expressions.”
I remember an incident in Red Orchestra where we were on a tank map. A teammate hopped in a tank. So, I did too. He jumped out of the tank and into another; so I joined. He jumped out and started shooting at me, basically insisting I get my own tank. Apparently, his level of tactical sense and reflexes in a tank vastly outweighed the value of having a second player in the gunner’s seat; even though the game was realistically meant to depict tank crews cooperating.
It’s unfortunately a case of developers being required to stay “on mute” because of their inherent power - much like being rich, male, and white.
I play a lot of Dead by Daylight, and many friendly content creators will offhandedly say comments like “If you can’t outrun a Hag who’s not using her traps on Garden of Joy, you should probably uninstall.” It’s an exaggerated sentiment, definitely in a mean spirit; but unfortunately that brand of sarcasm won’t work with everyone, and in the case of most people, they could react with “Well, fine, I don’t care about YOU - surely the developers agree with me.” But people feel MUCH more powerless when developers speak, even if it’s for a topic the community has consensus on. Even Dead by Daylight had its period of outcry when the developers effectively stated through changes “Camping survivors that are downed is not fun and we’d like to discourage it.”
I imagine what makes it more of a grumble-fest for developers is that these days, a high majority of players will be coming from consoles. While cheaters do exist on consoles, they’re far less common, meaning that a majority of your playerbase is using game clients they can’t plausibly modify - meaning MOST of the clients can be trusted. So, signing on with something like EAC is really only resolving a cheating gap for a smaller percent of players.
There have even been situations with cheat-heavy games when console players will request the option to disable crossplay in order to assure they aren’t matched with cheaters, who are often on PC. Sea of Thieves may have been one such instance.
While I’m very much on board with the equality quote for the white-male thing (If you’re privileged, you shouldn’t be making comments about welfare and employment), I don’t know if that has so much equivalence to being a game dev. In the end, a small team of people are the ones with the control to make and update the popular game, and that power will never be spread among its playerbase.
The thing is, as obvious as it sounds to say “never act like an ass”, conversational spontaneity is unpredictable, and the simplest and fastest way to achieve that is with the directive “Never speak”. I’ve even seen that issue with coding standards - the best way to never be blamed for a bug is to just never put up any code changes. In social settings, if people try to act in ‘honest’ ways, that can involve sometimes speaking in slightly inflammatory ways towards concepts that they think the group should agree are bad. In this very comment chain, for instance, we’ve made metaphors to oppressive patriarchy from controlling white men. (I’m a white guy with above-average income, by the way, and I’m very okay with that comparison)
So, these developers decided to be more vocal than others in the past (think of every publisher that responds with stock “We recognize your concerns and appreciate your feedback”) and, this unfortunately can be the consequence of that. I know it seems plausible to expect them to be perfect, but they’re human - not much different from all other internet commenters. I’d even question whether everyone here knows the full context of the comments that are receiving complaints. Quite often, when people are putting attention on you, they can selectively quote you to make you seem terrible. (“I KILLED EARL MILFORD.”)
If your position is simply “Devs shouldn’t speak outside of patch notes and press releases”, that’s kind of a fair stance, I just want to make sure that’s what you intend.
OneShot is very much based on its story and immersion. Contrary to the title’s implication, there’s not so much potential for risk during play, even if it’s themed that way, but it does feel like any efforts to repeat the game would ruin some of the immersive thoughts present.
If you go by standard inflation, games purchased in 1998 would now cost over $100. And, given reduced visuals, those games needed much fewer people to finish.
Selling games for $100 is one idea, and some publishers have even shifted that way. But, that’s not so fair for low income gamers (especially since even since 1998, the minimum wage hasn’t really gone up).
The solution they came up with is changing the entry fee, and giving semi-pointless extras on top. What I’ve generally seen is that the things games sell within them are in no way “Half the game’s content”; usually things more like skins and cosmetics. Levels, story, and gameplay items are very commonly accessible to everyone. There are expansion packs, just as there were in 1998, that usually represent significant development efforts, new voice acting, and new levels.
Skins are not “nothing”, so I understand the frustration of having them unavailable, compared to old days when they were unlockable by doing a kickflip between the schools in Tony Hawk or something. But in those old days, games effectively cost $100. Which would you prefer?
That’s definitely a fair opinion - just unfortunate that enough people wouldn’t agree, or wouldn’t be able to afford $100 games, that that will probably never happen.
The other issue is that developers these days keep working on games after their release - often using information gained related to launch reception.
One other thing I think people forget about older games is that they made a lot of sequels. They have the assets for a mid-sized game and a lot of unused ideas, so to put out more content they remix what they have in new ways for a shorter development cycle. That kind of thing now becomes more suitable for an expansion pack; but whichever way it’s sold, the timeline for its release would never have made it to the first game’s production deadline.
That’s actually a very fair point. I don’t play fighting games, but this is a common theme for many multiplayer games now. A lot of developers have worked to make the newer character options “fair”, but even when they work to balance new with old, just having confusing tactical options that some players can’t play as is enough to mess with someone’s strategic skill development.
Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!...
I’ve been playing Division 2, finding a lot of fun gear that promises skill enhancements to the team on various activations - but it ends up feeling irrelevant when most players you team up with use rush tactics that dump everything into damage, meaning there’s no time to process those.
I really like the feel of action games that punish players for acting too quickly; rewarding more deliberate gameplay (even if the net result isn’t really “hard”). I wonder if Helldivers would meet that, but I didn’t like the first game and it sounds like they have server issues.
I liked the card tactics, but I got very quickly bored of all the story conversations; given the way they seem to be connecting to the most obscure Marvel comic lore and characters. I’m sure it’s amazing to some people, but I could not give less of a shit who the “Original Midnight Suns” were, or even the lore behind my playable character.
Maybe when I return to it I’ll just start skipping any dialog not related to the core story.
My experience in ROR2 was, in the tutorial, I was told “You did it! Now head to the teleporter that takes you to the next level.” I had no idea where it was or what it looked like, and could not consider the question for 10 seconds because the level quickly built up with more and more infinite enemies.
I hate roguelike games in general because that randomization leads to some very, very uncontrolled and uncurated experiences where it throws the worst shit at a new player.
I enjoyed what I played of it, but…ran into a game-breaking bug. Not sure what else to say. They’re probably right that if city builders are best on mouse, you can’t easily enjoy that on Switch.
pretty much the title. i have played most of sierra, lucasarts and telltale catalogues so if you are suggesting one of their games i’ve probably already played it. it doesn’t have to be a copycat, homage or in the same style as these companies’ games either, just that it must satisfy the vague definition of being an...
It’s a big stretch on the definition, but try the Hitman Trilogy. There are tons and tons of solutions to achieve the kills without trying for tricksy, difficult stealth challenges - just by recalling a bunch of hints you’ve seen/heard by wandering around the region, and combining them in fun ways.
Basically, if you see that the target is inside a complex guarded by two armed men, you shouldn’t be trying to flick a coin to see if you can turn a guard just long enough to use your garrot on one, and hide him around a corner, all in 10 seconds. You SHOULD, instead, look for options like:
Find a pizza delivery guy, get him alone, knock him out, take his uniform and pizza, and greet the guards so they let you in
Set off an alarm in a nearby room that causes a guard to go shut it off
Call the target on the phone and tell him you want to meet about his secrets. Then, he leaves the complex himself with one bodyguard to your proposed meeting spot “right underneath the suspended ornamental anchor”.
What’s often misleading about the games is they orient themselves around all this equipment you can bring in, but the best way to explore a lot of levels is with no equipment at all (sometimes not even a pistol). Granted, the game changes in speedruns and other challenges, but it DOES feel like playing a Monkey Island game at times.
If you don’t like the jank of emulation or the risks of going to pirate sites: An Xbox Series S, Game Pass, and a few controllers is an okay replacement. There’s a bunch of Rare games on Game Pass, classic Goldeneye, and they even have stuff like Timesplitters in the store.
I noticed there’s now a Batman Arkham Knight port on Switch. As you might expect, like a lot of other AAA ports, it doesn’t run so well. Seems there’s demand for these games on there, indicating a lot of players only end up with one console. Even if Nintendo can work with their low-power devices, I get the impression third party developers will generally need more to get Unreal Engine going smooth.
I don’t expect it’d even be worth $20 to me, but I can sort of understand the online appeal. Sometimes having a relatively basic game happen in a shared open world, where people can choose to cooperate, adds some fun moments. The Division and Sea of Thieves would be examples of that. Watch Dogs 2 also had some very good times where you might be driving around, and without any “prompts” or loading, have a chance to join a midcity chase with/against another player.
It’s such a tragedy that Xbox controllers are the only major controller not to have any gyro. We could’ve had cross-platform shooters that allow for gyro ironsight aiming, or even allow it on PC (it’s currently a common option on Steam Deck, with some tinkering)
Payday 3 launched for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S in September 2023 but has seemingly struggled to win over players. The title currently has a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam with over 36,000 user reviews, although the vast majority of recent reviews have been ‘mostly negative.’...
If they wanted to focus on live service, I’m surprised they made a trilogy of games. In the meantime a bunch of other devs just kept adding content to the one game their players play.
Not good for Payday’s fans to compete within their trilogy for attention.
I think the process of taking your time and flipping off the marketing managers is a good one; but I’ve also seen signs that if development takes TOO long, the internal creative momentum can kind of grind to a halt or even be overtaken as they become outdated against advances in game design.
The developers are generally gamers too, and the passion for development is often fueled by excitement for the concept - excitement that can fade the same way as with fans (granted, they have to be more patient than most fans). Sticking with something too long can even lead to low confidence in that concept.
I can be patient, I just hope their approach hasn’t lead to internal burnout.
From article notes, it sounds like disjointed artistic messaging between departments, in this case development and marketing.
For what it’s worth, it is RARE for a developer to directly throw marketing under the bus by saying anything other than “We stand by our messaging blah blah”, so for the president to agree the trailer is bad is kind of significant, and might even get him internal flak.
Even if I agree some games have gone too far on censorship, I don’t like having this totalitarian attitude to any kind of “offense”.
There are certain weird themes I really like in niche games, but I acknowledge if they were “thrown in” to a game about shooting or adventure, would sour the experience for a lot of common players. I’d point to perverted character designs as a common one - sexualized character designs are obviously appealing to some players, but to others they can actually make it hard to get absorbed in the story of a game like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or Nier Automata. Even for a series like Persona, there have been players that decided “What weeb shit” and abandon the game because of the way female characters get harassed at times.
It’s easy to call it “political”, but politics comes from personal opinions - and it can genuinely affect how people view the media. These days I have a much more vehement reaction to stereotyped Native-American depictions (“Indians”) over when I was a kid. I doubt it’d make me hate Tomb Raider, but I can see why they’d have a warning.
Given some of the fair-use-adjacent fan work the Team Fortress voice actors have done, I sometimes wish there were more fictional characters out there that actors had the rights to represent as outside of media.
I recall interviews where the guy who does Dr Eggman just politely refused simple fun requests because they wouldn’t be approved by Sega, which is too bad.
I remember Half-Life 2 opening with a walk around a city, and it was so memorable to me. I guess in part because it was reliant on its own atmosphere, and still let the player be an interactive part of it rather than bound to a tight track.
I’m guessing none of these shares were purchased from Tencent’s 40% stake? That’s often been the main reason I limit my interaction with Epic where possible.
This is why I still kind of appreciate digital downloads in their own way. I can’t think of any format of purchasing a game that has 100.00% chance of working 20 years in the future. Steam, at least, has been able to get those purchases reliably for that long.
Who wants to bet how long it takes for someone to post a victim-blaming comment that claims this is an exaggeration to detract from some other anti-consumer behavior of theirs?
It’s going to be interesting to see if this is more about the chase, and getting the other to admit their feelings, or contending with the challenges of a long term hedgehog relationship in a world that still exhibits homophobia.
Which indies did you discover and would love more people to know about? I’ll start: The Pale Beyond. Not sure if it’s a hidden gem tbh, but it’s such a good story rich game. I laughed, I cried and felt the characters struggles. If you like story rich games/ choices matter, check it out.
It honestly feels like a very strange world where Palworld isn’t investigated by Pokemon for infringement, but DnD is investigated by Nexon. Granted, I don’t think either claim has validity.
The announcement they made seemed more like a statement of awareness than any foreboding of litigation. They already filed a takedown more specifically for the mod that changes to Pokemon models.
In a bad-vibes moment, they’re denying a huge outlet like IGN a review code. No matter what I think of IGN in particular (nothing good tbh), that’s not something I can find a real explanation for other than “We made DC’s Gollum and want to avoid bad press as long as we can”.
I have seen it happen before when review outlets don’t get copies, but the game still turns out awesome. I think it happened for Doom Eternal.
It feels pointless to play devil’s advocate here though, since one way or another, I’m basically sure it’s going to be terrible. I just don’t like consigning internet opinion based on anything other than gameplay and actual reviews.
Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don’t forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!...
I mostly agree, but I have seen real diamonds. It’s just hard to discern whether the appeal is genuinely from a surprising and unexpected story, or exactly as you say, a noncommittal showcase of characters.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Launch Is a Disaster - IGN (www.ign.com) angielski
Final Fantasy XVI PC Version In 'Final Stages Of Optimization,' Expect A Demo Before Release (www.gameinformer.com) angielski
Final Fantasy Tactics Creator Reacts to Unicorn Overlord Localization Debate and Shares His Own Stories (www.ign.com) angielski
Can we talk about FF7 - Rebirth? angielski
I’ve never played the OG FF7 but I loved Remake. Beautiful environments, great music, story, and characters. I rarely pick games back up after finishing them, but I finished remake twice....
Physical or Digital? angielski
Title says it all lads....
EU says it’s investigating why Apple terminated Epic’s developer account (www.videogameschronicle.com) angielski
Honestly, both these companies can kind of get bent with their anti-consumer practices.
Helldivers 2 boss apologizes for 'horrible' dev comments, says Arrowhead has 'taken action internally to educate our developers' (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
What are some good games with *zero* replayability? angielski
I want to try and play some more games. That feels more fulfilling if you play games that you can finish and be done with....
Microtransactions angielski
I don’t know about you chaps but I absolutely detest the modern approach companies have with their franchises and games....
Five Years Ago, Anthem Was A Warning (kotaku.com) angielski
TL;DR:...
Respawn's Star Wars FPS Is Canceled, But Work on Next Jedi Game, Black Panther and Iron Man Will Continue (www.ign.com) angielski
The Weekly 'What are you playing?' Discussion (lemmy.world) angielski
Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!...
Thunderful says SteamWorld Build underperformed, reveals it's looking to sell Headup (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
Nvidia’s finally replacing GeForce Experience with this all-in-one ‘Nvidia app’ - The Verge (www.theverge.com) angielski
RIP Gamestream?
What adventure games do you recommend? angielski
pretty much the title. i have played most of sierra, lucasarts and telltale catalogues so if you are suggesting one of their games i’ve probably already played it. it doesn’t have to be a copycat, homage or in the same style as these companies’ games either, just that it must satisfy the vague definition of being an...
Nothing is stopping you from this right now (lemmy.world) angielski
Nintendo Is Telling Game Publishers Switch 2 Will Be Delayed (www.bnnbloomberg.ca) angielski
Reports were saying the Switch was coming q4 2024, but now Nintendo is reportedly telling its partners that it’s been pushed to q1 2025
Skull and Bones - Skill Up Review (youtu.be) angielski
Let’s see how the industry’s first quadruple A game pans out.
Xbox Next-Gen Console Confirmed, Will be 'Largest Technical Leap in a Hardware Generation' (www.ign.com) angielski
Rumors of Xbox not wanting to continue their hardware are now confirmed to be false.
Diablo 4 is coming to Game Pass on March 28th (www.rockpapershotgun.com) angielski
Starbreeze admits Payday 3 is massively underperforming (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
Payday 3 launched for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S in September 2023 but has seemingly struggled to win over players. The title currently has a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam with over 36,000 user reviews, although the vast majority of recent reviews have been ‘mostly negative.’...
It's Been Five Long Years Since Hollow Knight: Silksong Was Officially Announced | Nintendo Life (www.nintendolife.com) angielski
And there’s barely been any communication from team cherry in those 5 years. I just hope they’re doing okay.
Silent Hill 2's latest trailer "does not reflect the spirit of the game", Bloober Team president says (www.videogameschronicle.com) angielski
Damage control time
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered has a warning about racial and ethnic stereotypes (www.videogameschronicle.com) angielski
Deus Ex star says that Eidos asked him not to talk about Adam Jensen in public any more (www.pcgamesn.com) angielski
EA flop Immortals of Aveum reportedly cost around $125 million, former dev says "a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was a truly awful idea" (www.gamesradar.com) angielski
Personally I would not call Immortals of Aveum an AAA game. 😅...
Positive ‘Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’ User Reviews Split Unusually From Critics (www.forbes.com)
Ubisoft CEO defends Skull and Bones’ $70 price despite its live service leanings, calls it ‘quadruple-A’ (www.videogameschronicle.com) angielski
Disney to take $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, work with Fortnite maker on new content (www.cnbc.com) angielski
PSA To Rip Your Games If You Can. This Disc Is Borked. (lemmy.world)
I found this big chip on this copy of SSX3. I no longer consider it safe to use; don’t need it shattering inside my console and ruining that, too....
The Last Of Us Part II Actor Says Fans Threatened Her Son (kotaku.com) angielski
Sonic X Shadow Generations - Announce Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League adds Denuvo DRM before launch (www.pcgamesn.com)
What are some hidden indie gems nobody knows about? angielski
Which indies did you discover and would love more people to know about? I’ll start: The Pale Beyond. Not sure if it’s a hidden gem tbh, but it’s such a good story rich game. I laughed, I cried and felt the characters struggles. If you like story rich games/ choices matter, check it out.
Dark and Darker dev says Nexon's "trade secret and copyright" lawsuit against it has been dismissed (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
This means the game will probably get sold on Steam as well as other official stores. They were previously unable to due to the lawsuit.
Where's Our Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Review? (IGN denied review code) (www.ign.com) angielski
In a bad-vibes moment, they’re denying a huge outlet like IGN a review code. No matter what I think of IGN in particular (nothing good tbh), that’s not something I can find a real explanation for other than “We made DC’s Gollum and want to avoid bad press as long as we can”.
Bloodborne Kart isn't allowed to be called Bloodborne Kart anymore, but it is still coming (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Unfortunate. The game will be removing anything bloodborne-licensed but will probably still look similar.
No More Avatar Reckoning, it has been cancelled (gengamer.in) angielski
Which games do you dislike, but the rest of the world loves them? angielski
Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don’t forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!...