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What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
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Spalls Hurgenson
Apr 1, 2012, 8:19:51 PM4/1/12
to
Sorry this post is a bit late; I like to get it out before the new
month starts and I was right on track to do so but then, well...
Minecraft. Those of you who have played that game know what I mean; if
there's a bigger timesink then it probably only resides in the center
of our galaxy. I'd promise it won't happen again, but the game is
still installed on my hard-drive.
March was not a particularly exciting month for PC gaming; still,
there were a handful of big games that came out this month. Some I
played, some I didn't. Maybe some you played. This thread is about
talking about it. Here, let me show you how it's done.
Short and Sweet
------------------
* Need For Speed The Run (new)
* Mass Effect 3 (new)
* Syndicate (2011) (new)
* Cryostasis (replay)
* Minecraft (continued)
TL; DR
------------------
* Need For Speed The Run (new)
Stripped down to the very basics, "Need For Speed: The Run" is
passable arcade racer that is - on the whole - fun. The problem is,
that core gameplay is buried beneath so many unwanted gimmicks that
the enjoyment quickly wears thin.
The game features some gorgeous graphics, especially in the first half
of the game (I have to wonder, though, if the developers have ever
visited the East Coast though, as their digital rendition is so
generic as to be almost insulting). Sadly, too often these visuals are
only seen out of the corner of the eye as you zip by them at 140MPH.
There are a handful of spectacular vistas that open up in front of you
at times but too often the graphics fidelity was lost on me. Less
impressive are the terrible cut scenes, with stiff-looking mannequins
that would only look comfortable in a game written ten years ago.
The races, at their simplest, are fun arcade chases through cities,
down mountains and across the Great Plains, pinballing between
incoming traffic without any care but to make it to first place. There
is some obvious rubber-banding to the AI (and it cheats egregiously
and most noticeably on the last race) and some cheap level design but
on the whole its par for the course for the genre. Too often the
developers made an apparent effort to differentiate their game by
adding unwanted gimmicks to the formula, such as outracing an
avalanche, battling a helicopter gunship or playing chicken with a
subway. None of these additions were fun and more often than not
resulted in me shouting at the game to "just let me race already!"
Worst of all, while the game is only four hours long, you will only
spend about half of that actually on the road. The other two hours
will be spent waiting for the game to load, watching the tedious - and
unskippable - cut scenes, watching the game count out your earned
experience points and listening as it tells you what those points have
earned you (since when have RPG elements become a necessary part of a
racer, I ask you?). When it all comes together, the races can be quite
satisfying but for those moments are far and between; too often the
unwanted and distracting gimmicks take away from the pleasure of the
need for speed.
* Mass Effect 3 (new)
Mass Effect 3 is the supremely disappointing conclusion to the
otherwise epic trilogy. Lets ignore everything you might have heard
about the ending; those complaints are accurate but unimportant
(despite its obvious flaws, I actually thought the ending was one of
the best parts of the game). It was the gameplay leading up to that
ending that I could not stand.
For a game released in 2011, the graphics are sub-par. Still using the
same engine originally used in 2007, it actually looks worse than the
original title thanks to its unimpressive textures and poor
animations. The sound is underwhelming; there is no power to the
gunplay or score. I had to crank the volume to eleven just to
artificially inflate the epic. The level design is exceedingly linear,
even for a series long known for its small maps. There is no
opportunity for exploration or discovery; most locations are a single
map consisting of a handful of rooms and the inter-connecting
corridors. Many levels seem to be designed solely on the "it works for
multiplayer" principle, with multiple entrances to each room and
looping back upon themselves. This is a necessary tactic for non-stop
deathmatch action but it makes the levels feel lifeless and
unrealistic in single-player.
But multiplayer or single-player, the game features some of the
dullest battles I have ever fought. Utilizing the cover-based mechanic
from the second title, the fights feel like a game of whack-a-mole.
Too many monsters are obvious hit-point sinks, where the primary
tactic is just to keep chipping away at them until they fall. The AI
is not particularly skilled and the developers frequently utilize
respawning enemies just to keep up the threat-level (many times the
respawns are supposed to drop from orbit, but the animation for that
rarely triggered, so monsters just teleported in, further destroying
fantasy).
Nonetheless, you had better find some enjoyment from the lackluster
gunplay because that is what 90% of the game consists of. With no
chance to explore and many fewer NPCs to talk with, the roleplaying
aspects definitely play second-fiddle in this game. In fact, often the
game seems to make all the major choices for me automatically,
dispensing with the pretense of roleplaying altogether. There are some
side quests but most are simple "fetch quests" done in the laziest way
possible. Rather than actually initiate the quest yourself, they are
assigned when you overhear somebody talking. This sends you to a star
system somewhere in the galaxy. You scan the planet from orbit, and
then return the gizmo to the quest-giver. There's no actual adventure;
you never see the item or even land on the planet, and at best you get
two or three lines of conversation when you hand the widget back. The
cut scenes try to make the game feel bigger than it is but I end up
wondering why I can't just play the action sequences it shows instead
of having to watch them.
Multiplayer is not just a bonus feature to this game; the developers
forced online activity into the single-player game by making it
virtually impossible to achieve the "good" ending without grinding
through multiplayer. But the multiplayer is even more tedious than the
singleplayer and there's little point to it other than because it is
necessary to win (and I can't help but wonder how heroes will achieve
victory once EA inevitably takes down the online servers?)
The entire game has an unpolished feel; the cut scenes often boast bad
camera angles, with skipped or jerky animations; the voice-acting is
poor, and the writing is choppy. It feels like a larger game
ruthlessly cut down to push it out the door, either to make a
ship-date or because it had reached its budget. The user interface is
poor; the quest journal lacks any sort of detail, the in-game map is
useless to the point where it isn't even an option in many levels, and
most GUI elements are poorly placed requiring excessive mouse-movement
to reach.
The game's good points are few. The end levels are the climatic battle
I have long been anticipating. Avoiding as many spoilers as I can, I
will acknowledge that though there is a poorly explained ass-pull at
the end and more than a few logical inconsistencies, and the choices
you make ultimately have little effect on the end sequences you
actually see. Still, the drama leading up to that choice was
satisfying, all the more so since the game avoided the generic "boss
fight" that so many other games (including the first two Mass Effect
titles) resort to as a conclusion. The universe - built back in the
first game - is still enthralling and deep. The "talking head"
dialogue sequences have been livened up with more movement and
animations, adding greatly to the cinematic feel. But those high
points are sadly overshadowed by the lackluster gameplay that drags
the series to its sad conclusion.
* Syndicate (2011) (new)
A lackluster shooter with all the linearity of a modern FPS and none
of the spectacle. Often deficient in graphics (especially with regards
to the models, which seem to be very low-poly), the uninteresting
world and mediocre plot offer no reason to keep playing. There is
little connection to the original game other than general concept and
a few references. The weapons are uninteresting, there's little to do
in each level your Agent's cyber-powers are unexciting and of limited
usefulness. The developers try to bolster their poor AI skills by
frequent enemy respawns. Sloppy and rushed, Syndicate is a poor
continuation to a classic franchise.
* Cryostasis (replay)
Cryostasis is a poor game, but that's forgivable because, honestly, I
don't think the developers were trying to write a game. It's more of a
piece of art or a story with gameplay elements grudgingly wrapped
around it. Surreal and atmospheric, it isn't entirely fun to play but
it is memorable.
* Minecraft (continuation)
Minecraft is a dangerous piece of software that will devour your life
if you let it. I try to keep away but you know how it is; you load the
game just to take a look and before you know it you've accidentally
built a civilization. Oops.
------------------
So there you go. That's my playlist for March. Now it's your turn;
just open up and let it all out. Tell us all...
What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
month starts and I was right on track to do so but then, well...
Minecraft. Those of you who have played that game know what I mean; if
there's a bigger timesink then it probably only resides in the center
of our galaxy. I'd promise it won't happen again, but the game is
still installed on my hard-drive.
March was not a particularly exciting month for PC gaming; still,
there were a handful of big games that came out this month. Some I
played, some I didn't. Maybe some you played. This thread is about
talking about it. Here, let me show you how it's done.
Short and Sweet
------------------
* Need For Speed The Run (new)
* Mass Effect 3 (new)
* Syndicate (2011) (new)
* Cryostasis (replay)
* Minecraft (continued)
TL; DR
------------------
* Need For Speed The Run (new)
Stripped down to the very basics, "Need For Speed: The Run" is
passable arcade racer that is - on the whole - fun. The problem is,
that core gameplay is buried beneath so many unwanted gimmicks that
the enjoyment quickly wears thin.
The game features some gorgeous graphics, especially in the first half
of the game (I have to wonder, though, if the developers have ever
visited the East Coast though, as their digital rendition is so
generic as to be almost insulting). Sadly, too often these visuals are
only seen out of the corner of the eye as you zip by them at 140MPH.
There are a handful of spectacular vistas that open up in front of you
at times but too often the graphics fidelity was lost on me. Less
impressive are the terrible cut scenes, with stiff-looking mannequins
that would only look comfortable in a game written ten years ago.
The races, at their simplest, are fun arcade chases through cities,
down mountains and across the Great Plains, pinballing between
incoming traffic without any care but to make it to first place. There
is some obvious rubber-banding to the AI (and it cheats egregiously
and most noticeably on the last race) and some cheap level design but
on the whole its par for the course for the genre. Too often the
developers made an apparent effort to differentiate their game by
adding unwanted gimmicks to the formula, such as outracing an
avalanche, battling a helicopter gunship or playing chicken with a
subway. None of these additions were fun and more often than not
resulted in me shouting at the game to "just let me race already!"
Worst of all, while the game is only four hours long, you will only
spend about half of that actually on the road. The other two hours
will be spent waiting for the game to load, watching the tedious - and
unskippable - cut scenes, watching the game count out your earned
experience points and listening as it tells you what those points have
earned you (since when have RPG elements become a necessary part of a
racer, I ask you?). When it all comes together, the races can be quite
satisfying but for those moments are far and between; too often the
unwanted and distracting gimmicks take away from the pleasure of the
need for speed.
* Mass Effect 3 (new)
Mass Effect 3 is the supremely disappointing conclusion to the
otherwise epic trilogy. Lets ignore everything you might have heard
about the ending; those complaints are accurate but unimportant
(despite its obvious flaws, I actually thought the ending was one of
the best parts of the game). It was the gameplay leading up to that
ending that I could not stand.
For a game released in 2011, the graphics are sub-par. Still using the
same engine originally used in 2007, it actually looks worse than the
original title thanks to its unimpressive textures and poor
animations. The sound is underwhelming; there is no power to the
gunplay or score. I had to crank the volume to eleven just to
artificially inflate the epic. The level design is exceedingly linear,
even for a series long known for its small maps. There is no
opportunity for exploration or discovery; most locations are a single
map consisting of a handful of rooms and the inter-connecting
corridors. Many levels seem to be designed solely on the "it works for
multiplayer" principle, with multiple entrances to each room and
looping back upon themselves. This is a necessary tactic for non-stop
deathmatch action but it makes the levels feel lifeless and
unrealistic in single-player.
But multiplayer or single-player, the game features some of the
dullest battles I have ever fought. Utilizing the cover-based mechanic
from the second title, the fights feel like a game of whack-a-mole.
Too many monsters are obvious hit-point sinks, where the primary
tactic is just to keep chipping away at them until they fall. The AI
is not particularly skilled and the developers frequently utilize
respawning enemies just to keep up the threat-level (many times the
respawns are supposed to drop from orbit, but the animation for that
rarely triggered, so monsters just teleported in, further destroying
fantasy).
Nonetheless, you had better find some enjoyment from the lackluster
gunplay because that is what 90% of the game consists of. With no
chance to explore and many fewer NPCs to talk with, the roleplaying
aspects definitely play second-fiddle in this game. In fact, often the
game seems to make all the major choices for me automatically,
dispensing with the pretense of roleplaying altogether. There are some
side quests but most are simple "fetch quests" done in the laziest way
possible. Rather than actually initiate the quest yourself, they are
assigned when you overhear somebody talking. This sends you to a star
system somewhere in the galaxy. You scan the planet from orbit, and
then return the gizmo to the quest-giver. There's no actual adventure;
you never see the item or even land on the planet, and at best you get
two or three lines of conversation when you hand the widget back. The
cut scenes try to make the game feel bigger than it is but I end up
wondering why I can't just play the action sequences it shows instead
of having to watch them.
Multiplayer is not just a bonus feature to this game; the developers
forced online activity into the single-player game by making it
virtually impossible to achieve the "good" ending without grinding
through multiplayer. But the multiplayer is even more tedious than the
singleplayer and there's little point to it other than because it is
necessary to win (and I can't help but wonder how heroes will achieve
victory once EA inevitably takes down the online servers?)
The entire game has an unpolished feel; the cut scenes often boast bad
camera angles, with skipped or jerky animations; the voice-acting is
poor, and the writing is choppy. It feels like a larger game
ruthlessly cut down to push it out the door, either to make a
ship-date or because it had reached its budget. The user interface is
poor; the quest journal lacks any sort of detail, the in-game map is
useless to the point where it isn't even an option in many levels, and
most GUI elements are poorly placed requiring excessive mouse-movement
to reach.
The game's good points are few. The end levels are the climatic battle
I have long been anticipating. Avoiding as many spoilers as I can, I
will acknowledge that though there is a poorly explained ass-pull at
the end and more than a few logical inconsistencies, and the choices
you make ultimately have little effect on the end sequences you
actually see. Still, the drama leading up to that choice was
satisfying, all the more so since the game avoided the generic "boss
fight" that so many other games (including the first two Mass Effect
titles) resort to as a conclusion. The universe - built back in the
first game - is still enthralling and deep. The "talking head"
dialogue sequences have been livened up with more movement and
animations, adding greatly to the cinematic feel. But those high
points are sadly overshadowed by the lackluster gameplay that drags
the series to its sad conclusion.
* Syndicate (2011) (new)
A lackluster shooter with all the linearity of a modern FPS and none
of the spectacle. Often deficient in graphics (especially with regards
to the models, which seem to be very low-poly), the uninteresting
world and mediocre plot offer no reason to keep playing. There is
little connection to the original game other than general concept and
a few references. The weapons are uninteresting, there's little to do
in each level your Agent's cyber-powers are unexciting and of limited
usefulness. The developers try to bolster their poor AI skills by
frequent enemy respawns. Sloppy and rushed, Syndicate is a poor
continuation to a classic franchise.
* Cryostasis (replay)
Cryostasis is a poor game, but that's forgivable because, honestly, I
don't think the developers were trying to write a game. It's more of a
piece of art or a story with gameplay elements grudgingly wrapped
around it. Surreal and atmospheric, it isn't entirely fun to play but
it is memorable.
* Minecraft (continuation)
Minecraft is a dangerous piece of software that will devour your life
if you let it. I try to keep away but you know how it is; you load the
game just to take a look and before you know it you've accidentally
built a civilization. Oops.
------------------
So there you go. That's my playlist for March. Now it's your turn;
just open up and let it all out. Tell us all...
What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
rms
Apr 1, 2012, 9:12:36 PM4/1/12
to
What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
Velvet Assassin -
Some commenters have really trashed this game, but it's actually quite good.
The combination of stealth action that bursts into frantic gunplay at times
is surprisingly attractive.
But you have to let go the expectation of "ghosting" every level, as is
usually possible in Thief or SC, as the levels are cramped, linear, and
often you are required to make a kill to proceed. In return, you receive
much tense pleasure avoiding and stalking and killing Nazis, in many varied
ways, I think 15 or 20, each with good animations.
Scenery and lighting are a pleasure to look at, the apocalyptic cutscenes
advance the story well. This is a decent stealth-action game, smaller in
scope but similar in mechanics and look to SC:CT, just released some 5 years
later: Which is probably the most telling reason for VA's mediocre
reception.
Bioshock 2
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Just started both of these, so can't say much, but B2 is pulling me in.
Good stuff.
rms
rms
Apr 2, 2012, 12:00:11 AM4/2/12
to
What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
Forgot to add, finished up the Alan Wake DLC. The 2nd patch made major
improvements to mouse behavior in the game, and I was maneuvering and
dodging attacks much more easily. Got overly-ambitious and started the main
game again on Nightmare, quickly got bored and dropped it. This is not
Resident Evil 4, where there were real perks for multiple completions --
weapon unlocks, for instance -- and the gameplay is fairly one-note in
comparison: one playthrough is enough. AW is highly recommended by me,
though, grab it next sale.
rms
Andrew MacPherson
Apr 2, 2012, 2:29:00 AM4/2/12
to
Your ME3 thoughts mesh neatly with the impression I've got from listening to
podcast discussions. I got the feeling that there was a lot of "damning with faint
praise" going on. ME3 seems to have been rushed out too soon, and has been "managed"
into places it had no need to go (eg multiplayer and DLC).
But such is the nature of modern, big name gaming. Which is why I am such a Steam
sale whore, and have completely lost the desire to buy new games. I think I may be
killing PC gaming. :-)
My month...
MW2: finally finished it after getting into the "interactive movie" frame of mind.
Enjoyed it once I stopped treating it like a game.
Bejewelled-a-like on the iPad3: I'm not sure what I'm more ashamed of, caving in to
my techno-lust for an iPad (despite my lack of respect for Apple's deliberate and
annoying feature restrictions), or wasting time lining up poxy diamonds.
In my defence GarageBand is absolutely superb for aging wannabe musicians, and
there is a version of Minecraft for it. I must resist buying that, because I've
successfully broken my PC Minecraft habit. I think. I suspect it might be a bit
like herpes... once you've got it, you've got it. :-)
Witcher2: I finally broke my gaming inertia (so many unplayed titles, so little
motivation to start any of them!) and fired it up. I'm still getting used to the
controls and working my way through the historical/tutorial sections. It's not
fired my enthusiasm up too much so far, and I am key-mashing my way through the
combat, but Witcher1 took a while to hook me so that's not too much of a concern.
My gaming was somewhat restricted this month because the UK's had a stretch of
wonderful weather. I had five days in a row off and fully intended to get some
serious gaming time in to try and catch up on a few titles. Instead five days of
unbroken sunshine saw me exploring Kent's rather than fictitious virtual worlds,
and it made a nice change.
I am, however, hoping for a really wet, miser bale summer so my virtual life can
get back on track... and also so the UK can avoid turning into a desert. The
"garden of England" is starting to look a little bit dusty already, and we already
have severe drought warnings.
Andrew McP
podcast discussions. I got the feeling that there was a lot of "damning with faint
praise" going on. ME3 seems to have been rushed out too soon, and has been "managed"
into places it had no need to go (eg multiplayer and DLC).
But such is the nature of modern, big name gaming. Which is why I am such a Steam
sale whore, and have completely lost the desire to buy new games. I think I may be
killing PC gaming. :-)
My month...
MW2: finally finished it after getting into the "interactive movie" frame of mind.
Enjoyed it once I stopped treating it like a game.
Bejewelled-a-like on the iPad3: I'm not sure what I'm more ashamed of, caving in to
my techno-lust for an iPad (despite my lack of respect for Apple's deliberate and
annoying feature restrictions), or wasting time lining up poxy diamonds.
In my defence GarageBand is absolutely superb for aging wannabe musicians, and
there is a version of Minecraft for it. I must resist buying that, because I've
successfully broken my PC Minecraft habit. I think. I suspect it might be a bit
like herpes... once you've got it, you've got it. :-)
Witcher2: I finally broke my gaming inertia (so many unplayed titles, so little
motivation to start any of them!) and fired it up. I'm still getting used to the
controls and working my way through the historical/tutorial sections. It's not
fired my enthusiasm up too much so far, and I am key-mashing my way through the
combat, but Witcher1 took a while to hook me so that's not too much of a concern.
My gaming was somewhat restricted this month because the UK's had a stretch of
wonderful weather. I had five days in a row off and fully intended to get some
serious gaming time in to try and catch up on a few titles. Instead five days of
unbroken sunshine saw me exploring Kent's rather than fictitious virtual worlds,
and it made a nice change.
I am, however, hoping for a really wet, miser bale summer so my virtual life can
get back on track... and also so the UK can avoid turning into a desert. The
"garden of England" is starting to look a little bit dusty already, and we already
have severe drought warnings.
Andrew McP
Andrew MacPherson
Apr 2, 2012, 2:29:00 AM4/2/12
to
rsqui...@MOOflashMOO.net (rms) wrote:
> Bioshock 2
I keep meaning to restart Bioshock 1 again on easy so I can try and understand why
people liked it... and why I bought Bioshock 2 despite giving up on 1 because I
felt creeped out by the whole experience. :-)
Andrew McP
> Bioshock 2
I keep meaning to restart Bioshock 1 again on easy so I can try and understand why
people liked it... and why I bought Bioshock 2 despite giving up on 1 because I
felt creeped out by the whole experience. :-)
Andrew McP
Lou
Apr 2, 2012, 10:28:41 PM4/2/12
to
"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote in message
news:d5rhn7ph8fbmfn6gp...@4ax.com...
------------------
So there you go. That's my playlist for March. Now it's your turn;
just open up and let it all out. Tell us all...
What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
SKYRIM.
Yah, that's it this month. Just Skyrim. Bought it when it last came on
sale and I'm hooked right now.
I am still learning how to play the game and how things work. I was
just betting the hang of Oblivion, then I started playing Skyrim. I
finally bought a house with all its décor and furniture after trying
to use a single container for all my stuff in a shack I found. I still
spend a lot of time organizing, sorting and moving items. I think
maybe I am too much of a pack rat and save things I don't need. Should
be able to buy a pack mule.
I loose track of the mission I am on spend a lot of time exploring. I
put a marker for my next mission, but I saw a cave and now I am
exploring it. Glad they don't put a time limit or rush you to finish
the missions. This game is going to take me a lot of time to finish
the main quests.
Has anyone here ever finished the game? I mean find and explore all
the places, finish the main quest and side quests?
Rin Stowleigh
Apr 2, 2012, 10:39:57 PM4/2/12
to
On Mon, 2 Apr 2012 19:28:41 -0700, "Lou" <Nos...@nospam.net> wrote:
[...]
>Has anyone here ever finished the game? I mean find and explore all
>the places, finish the main quest and side quests?
I'd be surprised if the game is even finishable in the classic sense,
because IIRC, some quests are only unlocked depending on alliance
decisions you make. Also some are procedurally generated, and thus
the game in theory will just continuously create semi-random things to
do.
[...]
>Has anyone here ever finished the game? I mean find and explore all
>the places, finish the main quest and side quests?
because IIRC, some quests are only unlocked depending on alliance
decisions you make. Also some are procedurally generated, and thus
the game in theory will just continuously create semi-random things to
do.
unibalm
Apr 3, 2012, 1:40:43 AM4/3/12
to
.....
and longish side quests, but there're a ton of side quests left to do
and some I decided not to do (choice of killing some character, etc.).
When I stopped playing my character still had about 30 more level-ups
to go and yet was so powerful it was close to god-mode.
I uninstalled and erased my savegames (heh) - and look forward to a
couple years down the road after the modding community has done the
business I expect them to do. Skyrim is made for mods and fan
missions... (tho' the modding community seems to be smaller than it
once was)
SPOILER!!!
...
...
...
...
...
...
I was a bit pissed off by the assassin quest when after I'd
compromised my playing persona by doing all this nasty stuff, I
couldn't have the final satisfaction of decimating the entire assassin
quild.
>I loose track of the mission I am on spend a lot of time exploring. I
>put a marker for my next mission, but I saw a cave and now I am
>exploring it. Glad they don't put a time limit or rush you to finish
>the missions. This game is going to take me a lot of time to finish
>the main quests.
>Has anyone here ever finished the game? I mean find and explore all
>the places, finish the main quest and side quests?
>
I'd say I've explored all the places and finished all the main quests
>put a marker for my next mission, but I saw a cave and now I am
>exploring it. Glad they don't put a time limit or rush you to finish
>the missions. This game is going to take me a lot of time to finish
>the main quests.
>Has anyone here ever finished the game? I mean find and explore all
>the places, finish the main quest and side quests?
>
and longish side quests, but there're a ton of side quests left to do
and some I decided not to do (choice of killing some character, etc.).
When I stopped playing my character still had about 30 more level-ups
to go and yet was so powerful it was close to god-mode.
I uninstalled and erased my savegames (heh) - and look forward to a
couple years down the road after the modding community has done the
business I expect them to do. Skyrim is made for mods and fan
missions... (tho' the modding community seems to be smaller than it
once was)
SPOILER!!!
...
...
...
...
...
...
I was a bit pissed off by the assassin quest when after I'd
compromised my playing persona by doing all this nasty stuff, I
couldn't have the final satisfaction of decimating the entire assassin
quild.
ckch
Apr 3, 2012, 11:33:59 PM4/3/12
to
Armored Core V
Tekken 6
Tekken 6
Anssi Saari
Apr 4, 2012, 12:54:27 AM4/4/12
to
Let's see:
- ME3, of course. I rather enjoyed it, warts and all. What you saw as
dull gunplay is also somewhat streamlined gameplay. The boss fights in
ME2 sucked and some of the level design was pretty painful. Enter a
room, see lots of cover => geez, obviously someone's going to attack.
The cover in ME3 didn't feel so obivous. And the increased movement
options is nice too.
Having less bossfights wasn't a bad thing in my opinion. ME3 does feel
a little like a munchkin game at least with default difficulty, the
basic troops were easy pickings while some of the tougher opponents
were tough. Incendiary ammo just works great against almost anything.
I think I'll bump the difficulty for my second playthrough although it
seemed I died a lot in some situations.
The ability to move from cover to cover was actually cool in my
opinion. I think I'll play this again especially as the engineer
character I used to play all the ME2 DLC hasn't finished the ME2
campaign and so can't be imported to ME3 until I finish it. I want to
see how the dialog changes when you've actually done the things that
came up, like the happenings in the Arrival and Overlord DLCs.
The (mis)handling of heavy weapons was kinda lame in ME3, but they
weren't that useful in ME2 either, except for that particle beam
thingy. Biotics seemed a little downplayed here, the only biotic in my
team was Liara, so no singularity+warp equals boom type of fun at all.
I guess I could go with a different team or play as adept. But in ME2
you had four biotics or five if Kaidan was around!
I really liked a couple of the new pistols in the game, especially the
sticky bomb launcher and the Geth killer one... Too bad it looked like
your teammate AI can't handle the slowly moving sticky bombs, they
just fire them at moving targets without hitting anything. Not sure if
the weapon weight / power recharge tradeoff actually adds anything,
basically it just means that if you want to carry more than two guns,
then you won't be using powers that much. It seems Sheridan needs a
strength stat and a gym on the ship.
Some of the sidequests seemed buggy, terminals to examine didn't
appear or the guy who was short a widget was nowhere to be found...
Kinda felt like Fallout 3 in that respect with people falling off the
world and needing resurrection and/or relocating with console
commands.
Ending(s) felt off. It's been said it rips off a certain game from 12
years ago but it's not a 1:1 match.
But the endings create questions with no answers. I'm not really happy
about it, but did anyone ever pull a decent ending to this kind of
thing anyway, big unstoppable bad coming to kill us all? In TV shows,
Babylon 5 was terrible, big bad just decided to stop messing around
with the younger races and tottered off to retire in some old species'
home or something. In Star Trek Deep Space 9, the huge unstoppable
enemy fleet was hit by a very large delete button. By the writers, not
the heroes of the story. Buffy pulled a kind of Deus Ex Machina out of
her shapely behind.
- Borderlands. I finally found out what happens when a Hunter with
Trespass skill meets a trio of Guardians (the mine in Dahl Headlands).
What happens is that the Guardians die, easily and quickly. I might
have to finish this playthrough just so I can enjoy putting all those
Guardians in the end game in the ground the same way... Or maybe I
should do the DLC finally now that I'm done with the first playthrough
of ME3.
- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
- ME3, of course. I rather enjoyed it, warts and all. What you saw as
dull gunplay is also somewhat streamlined gameplay. The boss fights in
ME2 sucked and some of the level design was pretty painful. Enter a
room, see lots of cover => geez, obviously someone's going to attack.
The cover in ME3 didn't feel so obivous. And the increased movement
options is nice too.
Having less bossfights wasn't a bad thing in my opinion. ME3 does feel
a little like a munchkin game at least with default difficulty, the
basic troops were easy pickings while some of the tougher opponents
were tough. Incendiary ammo just works great against almost anything.
I think I'll bump the difficulty for my second playthrough although it
seemed I died a lot in some situations.
The ability to move from cover to cover was actually cool in my
opinion. I think I'll play this again especially as the engineer
character I used to play all the ME2 DLC hasn't finished the ME2
campaign and so can't be imported to ME3 until I finish it. I want to
see how the dialog changes when you've actually done the things that
came up, like the happenings in the Arrival and Overlord DLCs.
The (mis)handling of heavy weapons was kinda lame in ME3, but they
weren't that useful in ME2 either, except for that particle beam
thingy. Biotics seemed a little downplayed here, the only biotic in my
team was Liara, so no singularity+warp equals boom type of fun at all.
I guess I could go with a different team or play as adept. But in ME2
you had four biotics or five if Kaidan was around!
I really liked a couple of the new pistols in the game, especially the
sticky bomb launcher and the Geth killer one... Too bad it looked like
your teammate AI can't handle the slowly moving sticky bombs, they
just fire them at moving targets without hitting anything. Not sure if
the weapon weight / power recharge tradeoff actually adds anything,
basically it just means that if you want to carry more than two guns,
then you won't be using powers that much. It seems Sheridan needs a
strength stat and a gym on the ship.
Some of the sidequests seemed buggy, terminals to examine didn't
appear or the guy who was short a widget was nowhere to be found...
Kinda felt like Fallout 3 in that respect with people falling off the
world and needing resurrection and/or relocating with console
commands.
Ending(s) felt off. It's been said it rips off a certain game from 12
years ago but it's not a 1:1 match.
But the endings create questions with no answers. I'm not really happy
about it, but did anyone ever pull a decent ending to this kind of
thing anyway, big unstoppable bad coming to kill us all? In TV shows,
Babylon 5 was terrible, big bad just decided to stop messing around
with the younger races and tottered off to retire in some old species'
home or something. In Star Trek Deep Space 9, the huge unstoppable
enemy fleet was hit by a very large delete button. By the writers, not
the heroes of the story. Buffy pulled a kind of Deus Ex Machina out of
her shapely behind.
- Borderlands. I finally found out what happens when a Hunter with
Trespass skill meets a trio of Guardians (the mine in Dahl Headlands).
What happens is that the Guardians die, easily and quickly. I might
have to finish this playthrough just so I can enjoy putting all those
Guardians in the end game in the ground the same way... Or maybe I
should do the DLC finally now that I'm done with the first playthrough
of ME3.
- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
Rin Stowleigh
Apr 4, 2012, 1:09:02 AM4/4/12
to
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:54:27 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
[Other games snipped, since I haven't played the ME games and the
>Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
space between Borderlands and my memory has grown too much]
>- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
> fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
> through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
probably won't get better for you. It was the whole kind of hybrid
Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone setting, and the uniqueness of light as
weapon, etc.
Maybe I'm wrong but the fact you don't like the fights is sort of a
bad omen, because they got repetitive later even to me. The one thing
to remember is that a lot of the time, especially if the fights seem
to be too labouring, keep in mind that fleeing is an option, you just
need to need to be aware of where the nearest reasonable light source
is. There were a couple of times early on I forgot to utilize that
option, because not a lot of games handle it quite the same way.
Schrodinger
Apr 7, 2012, 7:40:18 AM4/7/12
to
On 02/04/2012 01:19, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> Sorry this post is a bit late; I like to get it out before the new
> month starts and I was right on track to do so but then, well...
> Minecraft. Those of you who have played that game know what I mean; if
> there's a bigger timesink then it probably only resides in the center
> of our galaxy. I'd promise it won't happen again, but the game is
> still installed on my hard-drive.
>
> March was not a particularly exciting month for PC gaming; still,
> there were a handful of big games that came out this month. Some I
> played, some I didn't. Maybe some you played. This thread is about
> talking about it. Here, let me show you how it's done.
>
>
> Short and Sweet
> ------------------
> * Need For Speed The Run (new)
> * Mass Effect 3 (new)
> * Syndicate (2011) (new)
> * Cryostasis (replay)
> * Minecraft (continued)
>
>
Minecraft.
> Sorry this post is a bit late; I like to get it out before the new
> month starts and I was right on track to do so but then, well...
> Minecraft. Those of you who have played that game know what I mean; if
> there's a bigger timesink then it probably only resides in the center
> of our galaxy. I'd promise it won't happen again, but the game is
> still installed on my hard-drive.
>
> March was not a particularly exciting month for PC gaming; still,
> there were a handful of big games that came out this month. Some I
> played, some I didn't. Maybe some you played. This thread is about
> talking about it. Here, let me show you how it's done.
>
>
> Short and Sweet
> ------------------
> * Need For Speed The Run (new)
> * Mass Effect 3 (new)
> * Syndicate (2011) (new)
> * Cryostasis (replay)
> * Minecraft (continued)
>
>
Still going strong after nearly 18 months of regular play. This is
getting close to the records set by Tribes and BF2.
Tropico4
There's a good Sim game trying to get out of here, but poor (well,
useless) tutorials and unclear logic let it down.
BF3
Although the updates to the server gizmo and the game seem to conspire
to prevent me playing this when I feel like it, it is an awesome game
and I'm glad I gave it a second chance after others on here commented
about it.
Defence Grid
I keep returning to this best of all tower defence games and it never
dissapoints.
Bioshock 2
Bought on a whim but simply refuses to run on my Win7 64 bit despite
trying everything I can find.
iBomber defence & iBomber pacific
Throw away tower defence bought on a whim and not bad for the price
Total War:Shogun 2
I tried, I really did but there are still the problems with the AI and I
find I just can't be bothered with it.
Anssi Saari
Apr 9, 2012, 5:50:34 AM4/9/12
to
Rin Stowleigh <rstow...@gmail.com> writes:
> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:54:27 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>>- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
>> fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
>> through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
>
> Unfortunately, if you don't dig the overall "vibe" of Alan Wake, it
> probably won't get better for you. It was the whole kind of hybrid
> Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone setting, and the uniqueness of light as
> weapon, etc.
I kinda like the vibe and story, it's the game mechanics I have a
> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:54:27 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>>- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
>> fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
>> through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
>
> Unfortunately, if you don't dig the overall "vibe" of Alan Wake, it
> probably won't get better for you. It was the whole kind of hybrid
> Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone setting, and the uniqueness of light as
> weapon, etc.
problem with. The flashlight doesn't seem to do much other than make the
Taken flinch. You need bullets, not batteries and bullets are kinda
scarce.
> Maybe I'm wrong but the fact you don't like the fights is sort of a
> bad omen, because they got repetitive later even to me. The one thing
> to remember is that a lot of the time, especially if the fights seem
> to be too labouring, keep in mind that fleeing is an option, you just
> need to need to be aware of where the nearest reasonable light source
> is.
It seems running is mandatory in some places, you just don't have enough
ammo to shoot everyone but two flares usually seems to be enough to get
away and reach that next lamp post...
I have to wonder what's going on with Steam and this game. After initial
download it wouldn't start. After validating the game files it
downloaded about 300 MB more and then worked fine. Now that I wanted to
play it, it wouldn't start again. In fact there was no exe anymore.
Validated again and it downloaded another 32 MB and worked. I haven't
had this sort of thing with any other Steam games.
Rin Stowleigh
Apr 10, 2012, 10:10:17 AM4/10/12
to
On Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:50:34 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>Rin Stowleigh <rstow...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:54:27 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>>>- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
>>> fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
>>> through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
>>
>> Unfortunately, if you don't dig the overall "vibe" of Alan Wake, it
>> probably won't get better for you. It was the whole kind of hybrid
>> Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone setting, and the uniqueness of light as
>> weapon, etc.
>
>I kinda like the vibe and story, it's the game mechanics I have a
>problem with. The flashlight doesn't seem to do much other than make the
>Taken flinch.
Not sure what you mean here, are you holding the light on them long
>Rin Stowleigh <rstow...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:54:27 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>>>- Alan Wake. Not too far along, it feels a little dull. I don't like the
>>> fights and the camera angle feels really weird to me, but I muddled
>>> through some of it. Don't really know how far I have to go still.
>>
>> Unfortunately, if you don't dig the overall "vibe" of Alan Wake, it
>> probably won't get better for you. It was the whole kind of hybrid
>> Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone setting, and the uniqueness of light as
>> weapon, etc.
>
>I kinda like the vibe and story, it's the game mechanics I have a
>problem with. The flashlight doesn't seem to do much other than make the
>Taken flinch.
enough to the point where they enter the more vulnerable state? Thats
the real purpose of the light, to weaken them for the kill.
>You need bullets, not batteries and bullets are kinda
>scarce.
>> Maybe I'm wrong but the fact you don't like the fights is sort of a
>> bad omen, because they got repetitive later even to me. The one thing
>> to remember is that a lot of the time, especially if the fights seem
>> to be too labouring, keep in mind that fleeing is an option, you just
>> need to need to be aware of where the nearest reasonable light source
>> is.
>
>Yeah, I played a little more, finished episode 2 and started episode 3.
>It seems running is mandatory in some places, you just don't have enough
>ammo to shoot everyone but two flares usually seems to be enough to get
>away and reach that next lamp post...
>
>I have to wonder what's going on with Steam and this game. After initial
>download it wouldn't start. After validating the game files it
>downloaded about 300 MB more and then worked fine. Now that I wanted to
>play it, it wouldn't start again. In fact there was no exe anymore.
>Validated again and it downloaded another 32 MB and worked. I haven't
>had this sort of thing with any other Steam games.
files?
KCB
Apr 10, 2012, 11:09:22 PM4/10/12
to
"Schrodinger" <n...@way.com> wrote in message
news:PIVfr.50145$Js7....@fx16.am4...
> Bioshock 2
>
> Bought on a whim but simply refuses to run on my Win7 64 bit despite
> trying everything I can find.
this title, and couldn't figure out why it kept refusing to load. It turned
out to be a GFWL update failure. I had to uninstall (and manually delete
all references), then re-install latest GFWL client. It now works fine.
This is also Win7-64, your OS is not the issue.
Anssi Saari
Apr 18, 2012, 10:52:19 AM4/18/12
to
Rin Stowleigh <rstow...@gmail.com> writes:
[About combat in Alan Wake]
some gameplay videos that my homegrown tactics were hardly optimal.
But now you're telling me I missed something so obvious in Alan Wake
too? I've pretty much used the flashlight as a targeting reticle only. I
did manage to kill some of the birds with it though.
[About combat in Alan Wake]
> Not sure what you mean here, are you holding the light on them long
> enough to the point where they enter the more vulnerable state? Thats
> the real purpose of the light, to weaken them for the kill.
Damn. I realized after playing a lot of Hard Reset and then looking at
> enough to the point where they enter the more vulnerable state? Thats
> the real purpose of the light, to weaken them for the kill.
some gameplay videos that my homegrown tactics were hardly optimal.
But now you're telling me I missed something so obvious in Alan Wake
too? I've pretty much used the flashlight as a targeting reticle only. I
did manage to kill some of the birds with it though.
Rin Stowleigh
Apr 18, 2012, 11:00:17 AM4/18/12
to
by watching an Alan Wake video, but I'm pretty sure that was covered
via an in-game hint or similar very early in the game.
To be honest I didn't know that things could be killed without burning
them down to the vulnerable state with the flashlight. And actually
if you were killing them without doing that, you should be commended
for not giving up in the first 15 mins or so of the game.
But now that you know, try playing it with ample flashlight action and
see how you make out.
Toby Newman
Apr 18, 2012, 11:16:58 AM4/18/12
to
On 2012-04-18, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>
> Damn. I realized after playing a lot of Hard Reset and then looking at
> some gameplay videos that my homegrown tactics were hardly optimal.
I'm pretty much just circle strafing and bunching enemies in choke
>
> Damn. I realized after playing a lot of Hard Reset and then looking at
> some gameplay videos that my homegrown tactics were hardly optimal.
points in Hard Reset, guiding them past electronics where possible,
apart from the chargers, who I try and bait to charge into electronics.
--
-Toby
Add the word afiduluminag to the subject to circumvent my email filters.
Etal
May 11, 2012, 1:02:34 PM5/11/12
to
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> Sorry this post is a bit late; I like to get it out before the
> new month starts and I was right on track to do so but then,
> well...
... It's at your leisure.
> Sorry this post is a bit late; I like to get it out before the
> new month starts and I was right on track to do so but then,
> well...
For my leisure, wanting to be frightened, i set out to play 'Cry
of Fear', a recently released Half-Life I TC Mod.
This after reading the description for 'Cry of Fear' that someone
posted about in the a.g.half-life news-group. What wasn't
mentioned on the game-hosting web-site (ShackNews.com) linked to
in the post was that 'Cry of Fear' for some unknown reason is
slaved to Steam. Now, the game has its own web-site
(Cry-Of-Fear.com) and there the dependency is mentioned, so bad
of me not to check that out before DL'ing this very big 'HL
I'-mod. (Moderators at games web-site dutifully deletes any
mention of some command-switch for playing this without pleading
with steam, so if anyone has the HowTo at your fingertips please
post.)
>
> What have you been playing... IN MARCH 2012?
>
unadulterated original ...
_Action_
*Half-Life I (EP0), Half-Life* (1998)
developed by /Valve Software/
Has been so long that i mostly didn't remember what was to come
behind the next corner before i turned it, but then how to deal
with the major baddies and the Nihilant came back to me after a
little while. Still a fun game to play that made me also want to
play the single-player expansion packs, but then again, there are
so many games.
--
No Hoist access. --- Jump, jump, jump, jump.
Trimble Bracegirdle
May 11, 2012, 6:55:59 PM5/11/12
to
Half-Life (1998)....
I still have that unfinished on my HD .
I just can't get through the very last level set of switch puzzles .
I have read lots of walkthrough's & still can't do those last rooms of
switches.
I desperately want to delete the thing but wont till its done.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (After 14 years for Heavens sake !!! )
I still have that unfinished on my HD .
I just can't get through the very last level set of switch puzzles .
I have read lots of walkthrough's & still can't do those last rooms of
switches.
I desperately want to delete the thing but wont till its done.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (After 14 years for Heavens sake !!! )
Etal
May 12, 2012, 4:41:02 PM5/12/12
to
Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:
> Half-Life (1998).... I still have that unfinished on my HD .
> I just can't get through the very last level set of switch
> puzzles . I have read lots of walkthrough's & still can't do
> those last rooms of switches.
"level set of switch puzzles"?
> Half-Life (1998).... I still have that unfinished on my HD .
> I just can't get through the very last level set of switch
> puzzles . I have read lots of walkthrough's & still can't do
> those last rooms of switches.
"last rooms of switches"?
Switches, switches .. hmmm...
Well, shortly after you arrive on Xen, in the cave in the rock on
the main floating island, there are 3 switches you have to turn
on to activate a teleporter, that are a little tricky to jump up
to .. is that what you are talking about? (But then you have some
way to the end.)
"very last level"? & "those last rooms"?
Have you met the Nihilanth?, and are you talking about the rooms
he teleports you away to? Thankfully there is a safe ledge with a
healing-pool in the last one. Is what you call switches the
things that i call jump-pads?
Clue me in, and i'll give you my take on it. Not that i have or
did use any magic potions or anything.
> I desperately want to delete the thing but wont till its done.
> (After 14 years for Heavens sake !!! )
Indeed.
--
"He tried to find the way back into the life he left behind.
To the boss he said,
'I have returned and now i want what's mine.'."
Trimble Bracegirdle
May 12, 2012, 8:39:28 PM5/12/12
to
Thanks Etal for your interest.
Its so long since I played the earlier sections I cant clearly remember the
bits you mention.
I'm stuck in LAMBDA CORE.
there are 4 or more 'coolant' systems in a number of rooms
with many (sigh very many) switches to be operated.
A walkthrough sais :
"go back to the elevator that leads to the coolant system.
Go to each of the pump rooms and use the switches there to activate both
pumps. Then go to the auxiliary reactor and jump down into the water.
Crawl through the maintenance tunnel and use each of the two switches on
either side of the core. Watch for and avoid the sparks on your way out
(climb up the ladders to the top and leave)."
I have been around & around this lot over years & can not do it.
I think my main problem is that I get lost & end up turning switches back on
I have already done.
@@@
I see that I was fooling myself in thinking I was very near the end,
Walkthough(s) say I still have levels
XEN - Gonarch's Lair - Interloper - Nihilanth
to go after Lambda Core.
Its so long since I played the earlier sections I cant clearly remember the
bits you mention.
I'm stuck in LAMBDA CORE.
there are 4 or more 'coolant' systems in a number of rooms
with many (sigh very many) switches to be operated.
A walkthrough sais :
"go back to the elevator that leads to the coolant system.
Go to each of the pump rooms and use the switches there to activate both
pumps. Then go to the auxiliary reactor and jump down into the water.
Crawl through the maintenance tunnel and use each of the two switches on
either side of the core. Watch for and avoid the sparks on your way out
(climb up the ladders to the top and leave)."
I have been around & around this lot over years & can not do it.
I think my main problem is that I get lost & end up turning switches back on
I have already done.
@@@
I see that I was fooling myself in thinking I was very near the end,
Walkthough(s) say I still have levels
XEN - Gonarch's Lair - Interloper - Nihilanth
to go after Lambda Core.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (weary sigh!)
(='.'=)
Etal
May 14, 2012, 12:29:48 AM5/14/12
to
Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:
> Thanks Etal for your interest. Its so long since I played the
> earlier sections I cant clearly remember the bits you mention.
> I'm stuck in LAMBDA CORE.
Ahh, well the things i talked about come later on the Xen world.
> Thanks Etal for your interest. Its so long since I played the
> earlier sections I cant clearly remember the bits you mention.
> I'm stuck in LAMBDA CORE.
> there are 4 or more 'coolant'
> systems in a number of rooms with many (sigh very many)
> switches to be operated.
>
> A walkthrough sais : "go back to the elevator that leads to
> the coolant system.
>
> Go to each of the pump rooms and use the switches there to
> activate both pumps. Then go to the auxiliary reactor and
> jump down into the water. Crawl through the maintenance tunnel
> and use each of the two switches on either side of the core.
> Watch for and avoid the sparks on your way out (climb up the
> ladders to the top and leave)."
>
> I have been around & around this lot over years & can not do
> it. I think my main problem is that I get lost & end up
> turning switches back on I have already done. @@@
>
uploaded my Lambda Core SaveGames from my playthrough this spring
and i included two more i just made where I put Gordon ready two
throw each of the switches to turn on the two pumps.
<http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681>
[HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip](1.84 MB)
(I played on the 'Difficult' difficult-level)
Download, unzip and ..*after* you have backed up your own
savegames from "...\Half-Life\Valve\Save\". place mine in there.
Of particular interest for the above parts are the 4th and 5th
oldest files [Half-Life-003.sav], [Half-Life-004.sav] and the two
new one from today [Half-Life-011.sav] & [Half-Life-012.sav]
Ingame load the one that reads "Mar 12, 09:52 PM" and you'll be
ready to talk to the scientist in this cooling system-/pump-area
and he will tell you what you need to do. The thing is that in
this particular save-game i have already killed all monsters in
the area but i haven't activated the pumps , so you can go find
them and activate them without having to be bothered with being
shot at.
You can also load the two savegames i made today, having only to
activate the pump right next to you, look at the diagram on the
walls to see them change from red to green for the pump in
question and then make your way back as a way to get oriented ...
as a way to know where to go when you load back your own savegames.
When you make your way back from pump 2, in the upper corridor
the caved in walls/debris causing a somewhat dead end-looking
corridor that you have to zig-zag and jump to get past initially
had gas stopping you from passing. This gas you turn off using a
wheel-switch just next to the door next to the tank-room. The
upper walkway in the tank-room is broken, from a monster
teleporting in, so you have to jump over that to the ladder down,
and in the lower corridor back to the main room is another
cave-in and this happened just in front of you as you initially
came from the other direction.
Lastly load [Half-Life-004.sav], shown ingame as "Mar12, 11:18
PM", and Gordon is down in the Aux-tank ready to turn two wheels
along the walls there that will raise the water-level so he can
get up to the lab*(Note)*. Also here you can backtrack by diving
into one duct and find your way back to the room with the
scientist without any monsters bugging you.
*(Note)* (But i must say that it's from that point forward that i
think 'Lambda Core' gets hard! You'll meet heavy resistance at
tricky places and lots of confusing portals. Check out my other
savegames later on if you need to.)
> I see that I was fooling myself in thinking I was very near
> the end, Walkthough(s) say I still have levels XEN - Gonarch's
> Lair - Interloper - Nihilanth to go after Lambda Core.
> (\__/)
> (='.'=)
> (")_(") mouse (weary sigh!)
>
and a lot of perilous jumping left to do. And some hard bosses to
defeat. (There are often safe-areas with healing-pools.) While i
think it was an okay part of the game, i think i've seen many
people complain they didn't like the Xen part very much.
--
"Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears."
Toby Newman
May 14, 2012, 4:11:12 AM5/14/12
to
On 2012-05-14, Etal <lo...@sig.bcause.this.is.invalid> wrote:
What a hero!
> Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:
>
>
>
> I don't think you can turn them back off again, but anyhow, i've
> uploaded my Lambda Core SaveGames from my playthrough this spring
> and i included two more i just made where I put Gordon ready two
> throw each of the switches to turn on the two pumps.
>
><http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681>
> [HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip](1.84 MB)
> (I played on the 'Difficult' difficult-level)
>
> Download, unzip and ..*after* you have backed up your own
> savegames from "...\Half-Life\Valve\Save\". place mine in there.
[...]
>
>
>
> I don't think you can turn them back off again, but anyhow, i've
> uploaded my Lambda Core SaveGames from my playthrough this spring
> and i included two more i just made where I put Gordon ready two
> throw each of the switches to turn on the two pumps.
>
><http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681>
> [HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip](1.84 MB)
> (I played on the 'Difficult' difficult-level)
>
> Download, unzip and ..*after* you have backed up your own
> savegames from "...\Half-Life\Valve\Save\". place mine in there.
What a hero!
Etal
May 14, 2012, 5:59:30 PM5/14/12
to
Etal wrote:
>
> Lastly load [Half-Life-004.sav], shown ingame as "Mar12, 11:18
> PM", and Gordon is down in the Aux-tank ready to turn two
> wheels along the walls there that will raise the water-level
> so he can get up to the lab*(Note)*. Also here you can
> backtrack by diving into one duct and find your way back to
> the room with the scientist without any monsters bugging you.
>
A correction of the naming of the places for this section.
>
> Lastly load [Half-Life-004.sav], shown ingame as "Mar12, 11:18
> PM", and Gordon is down in the Aux-tank ready to turn two
> wheels along the walls there that will raise the water-level
> so he can get up to the lab*(Note)*. Also here you can
> backtrack by diving into one duct and find your way back to
> the room with the scientist without any monsters bugging you.
>
One doesn't start out in the Aux-tank. Gordon is standing
directly underneath the Reactor-Core (.. i think, that is what
the Spaceship-rocket looking structure he's standing under is.)
so one is in the Reactor-Core area, with two valves on the
room-walls under the water-line to open to let in the water so
one can swim up and exit ...
To backtrack, instead of opening the valves, dive and swim
through a water duct to get *back* to the Auxiliary cooling tank,
climb up from that to continue on out back to the central room of
the area and_or the room with the scientist.
--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.
Etal
May 14, 2012, 6:12:30 PM5/14/12
to
Toby Newman wrote:
> Etal wrote:
>
>>
>> I don't think you can turn them back off again, but anyhow,
>> i've uploaded my Lambda Core SaveGames from my playthrough
>> this spring and i included two more i just made where I put
>> Gordon ready two throw each of the switches to turn on the
>> two pumps.
>>
>> <http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681>
>> [HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip](1.84 MB) (I played on the
>> 'Difficult' difficult-level)
>>
>> Download, unzip and ..*after* you have backed up your own
>> savegames from "...\Half-Life\Valve\Save\". place mine in
>> there.
> [...]
>
Just in this short quoted section alone i now see:
ready two throw ===> ready to throw
'Difficult' difficult-level ===> 'Difficult' difficulty-level
\Save\". place mine ===> \Save\", place mine
Others can probably spot several more.
> What a hero!
>
I'm not a hero.
I'm donning a cape and a mask.
I'm a SuperHero! (in my own mind)
Perhaps my SuperHero name should be the wordblind errorist.
--
I've heard that every time you make a typo, the errorists win.
> Etal wrote:
>
>>
>> I don't think you can turn them back off again, but anyhow,
>> i've uploaded my Lambda Core SaveGames from my playthrough
>> this spring and i included two more i just made where I put
>> Gordon ready two throw each of the switches to turn on the
>> two pumps.
>>
>> <http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681>
>> [HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip](1.84 MB) (I played on the
>> 'Difficult' difficult-level)
>>
>> Download, unzip and ..*after* you have backed up your own
>> savegames from "...\Half-Life\Valve\Save\". place mine in
>> there.
> [...]
>
ready two throw ===> ready to throw
'Difficult' difficult-level ===> 'Difficult' difficulty-level
\Save\". place mine ===> \Save\", place mine
Others can probably spot several more.
> What a hero!
>
I'm not a hero.
I'm donning a cape and a mask.
I'm a SuperHero! (in my own mind)
Perhaps my SuperHero name should be the wordblind errorist.
--
I've heard that every time you make a typo, the errorists win.
Trimble B
May 14, 2012, 8:00:29 PM5/14/12
to
Ultra many thanks..
These posts prompted me to try it again...
Two hours later still no wiser ...killed all the Monsters long ago.
I have the 'Barney' scientist following my Gordon around but no info from
him.
I WILL ! work with those Save Games of yours.
Etal you are a Saint ...or an Angel or someing like a Sainted Angel thingy.
>>>>"...When you make your way back from pump 2, in the upper corridor
God damn evil game ! ...I've been assuming that was a completely closed dead
end.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse ( & Then We Have 80% of Blueshift Left)
These posts prompted me to try it again...
Two hours later still no wiser ...killed all the Monsters long ago.
I have the 'Barney' scientist following my Gordon around but no info from
him.
I WILL ! work with those Save Games of yours.
Etal you are a Saint ...or an Angel or someing like a Sainted Angel thingy.
>>>>"...When you make your way back from pump 2, in the upper corridor
the caved in walls/debris causing a somewhat dead end-looking
corridor that you have..">>>>
God damn evil game ! ...I've been assuming that was a completely closed dead
end.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
Trimble B
May 14, 2012, 8:24:03 PM5/14/12
to
http://www.fast-files.com/getfile.aspx?file=53681
has a very aggressive 'have to do a survey to download'
Perhaps Etal, as you upload there you do not realize this..
It really is a nasty one requiring lots of personal detail.
@@@mouse@@@
has a very aggressive 'have to do a survey to download'
Perhaps Etal, as you upload there you do not realize this..
It really is a nasty one requiring lots of personal detail.
@@@mouse@@@
Trimble B
May 14, 2012, 10:37:29 PM5/14/12
to
I've done it ...!!!!!
I've got out of that section of Lambda Core
after years of trying (like whoopee !)
It was Etal's reference to a Coolant section blocked of by Debris.
I never realized it was an entrance until now.
I've switched & turned all as needed & rushed on out & up (?)
I'm now in a Portal type section being bounced around through Portals
on top of a Reactor Core thing.
Main thing is I finally got through those Coolant rooms.
I've got out of that section of Lambda Core
after years of trying (like whoopee !)
It was Etal's reference to a Coolant section blocked of by Debris.
I never realized it was an entrance until now.
I've switched & turned all as needed & rushed on out & up (?)
I'm now in a Portal type section being bounced around through Portals
on top of a Reactor Core thing.
Main thing is I finally got through those Coolant rooms.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (Etal Is a Game God !)
(='.'=)
Etal
May 15, 2012, 3:30:09 PM5/15/12
to
First time i had used it.
I only did a web-search a picked this because it didn't need any
account or login to be allowed to upload.
And it did look good and basic when i uploaded.
I apologize. I will never use them again.
----
Best i host the files on a server of my own then ...
...event though i now see that you've already gotten past the
problem-area. But i make my savegames available for the
time-period you posted at yesterday, in case you still want to
grab them for if you run into problems further on.
If you do grab them, please post here when you've gotten the
file(s) so i know when i can disconnect the server from the Internet.
here are the direct links:
<ftp://gman:of...@80.216.157.65/temp/HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip>
(1.84 MB) Just the Lambda Core level Savegames.
<ftp://gman:of...@80.216.157.65/temp/HLI_SaveGames_DiffHard.7z>
(1.87 MB) All HLI SaveGames from the Hazard Course to the final
offer you can't refuse.
[*.7z] 7-zip is a superior compression format compared to zip. If
you don't already have any software that can unpack those
archives, go get some at:
<http://www.7-zip.org/>
--
"When beauty may only turn to rust.
If you need somebody you can trust, trust yourself."
Trimble B
May 16, 2012, 2:57:12 PM5/16/12
to
I tried both those Links today 16th May UK afternoon around 1600 GMT.
and they don't respond.
Never mind you have really helped me with this
& now I'm past that bit of Lambda Core I should be able to get on OK...
Tho these bouncy Portal things look like they might take me a while ;)
and they don't respond.
Never mind you have really helped me with this
& now I'm past that bit of Lambda Core I should be able to get on OK...
Tho these bouncy Portal things look like they might take me a while ;)
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse(He Say Thanks)
(='.'=)
Etal
May 16, 2012, 7:26:02 PM5/16/12
to
Trimble B wrote:
> I tried both those Links today 16th May UK afternoon around
> 1600 GMT. and they don't respond. Never mind you have really
> helped me with this & now I'm past that bit of Lambda Core I
> should be able to get on OK... Tho these bouncy Portal things
> look like they might take me a while ;)
(As /sort of/ fun as it is to figure the portals out, that
> I tried both those Links today 16th May UK afternoon around
> 1600 GMT. and they don't respond. Never mind you have really
> helped me with this & now I'm past that bit of Lambda Core I
> should be able to get on OK... Tho these bouncy Portal things
> look like they might take me a while ;)
multi-portal device, several stories high, rotating floor with
holes dropping you to your death, feels out of character for the
game i think.)
I thought you had decided not to bother since no one still had
downloaded the files for several hours after i had seen you
posting in here yesterday. ... so i disconnected the server again.
As you made it up to that point, you'll probably make it from
that point to the end as well. But i'll put the savegames online
again now for the while i'm at the computer. I just don't like to
leave it running unattended, as it's on a computer where i have
some other stuff.
Still the same IP#, so the same links:
<ftp://gman:of...@80.216.157.65/temp/HLI_Saves_LambdaCore.zip>
<ftp://gman:of...@80.216.157.65/temp/HLI_SaveGames_DiffHard.7z>
It's no problem to get it done if you want them, we'll just have
to sync it.
Etal
May 16, 2012, 9:05:55 PM5/16/12
to
Etal wrote:
> Trimble B wrote:
>
To Trimble,
I just see another new post from you and saw two connections to
the server, but it didn't seem to get anything. I was download
something at the time that might have halted the attempt, which
i've now paused. Try again, if you didn't get anything.
> Trimble B wrote:
>
To Trimble,
I just see another new post from you and saw two connections to
the server, but it didn't seem to get anything. I was download
something at the time that might have halted the attempt, which
i've now paused. Try again, if you didn't get anything.
Trimble B
May 16, 2012, 9:07:55 PM5/16/12
to
Got them this time ;)
We are clearly in different timezones.
@@@Thanks very much @@@.
The HLI SaveGames DiffHard.7z set
will help me actually finish Half-Life (when / if) I get stuck again
Another 4 levels to go !!!
That generation of action games nearly did go on endlessly.
I still have the last bit of Unreal 1st one to go.
That I still keep & play them is something about there quality,
as I have had many games I abandoned in frustration & boredom
after maybe 20% .
We are clearly in different timezones.
@@@Thanks very much @@@.
The HLI SaveGames DiffHard.7z set
will help me actually finish Half-Life (when / if) I get stuck again
Another 4 levels to go !!!
That generation of action games nearly did go on endlessly.
I still have the last bit of Unreal 1st one to go.
That I still keep & play them is something about there quality,
as I have had many games I abandoned in frustration & boredom
after maybe 20% .
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (2.00 am ..Time For Bed !)
(='.'=)
Etal
May 16, 2012, 9:23:22 PM5/16/12
to
Trimble B wrote:
> Got them this time ;)
Oh.. Ok.
> Got them this time ;)
> We are clearly in different timezones.
>
> @@@Thanks very much @@@.
>
me some questions in here or i might have forgotten how i did
something.
> The HLI SaveGames DiffHard.7z set
> will help me actually finish Half-Life (when / if) I get stuck again
> Another 4 levels to go !!!
>
> That generation of action games nearly did go on endlessly.
> I still have the last bit of Unreal 1st one to go.
> That I still keep & play them is something about there quality,
> as I have had many games I abandoned in frustration & boredom
> after maybe 20% .
liked it and i have the expansion packet (that people say are
good) i've not gotten around to that one yet.
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