Project shoot-a-mabob-thingy....

This is an immediate and off the cuff, just after reading the 'dev update', waffle post so bear with me.....

The latest dev update on Project Nova is a good thing to see.

Acting as they did, changing as much as they did, even if only seeing small change after small change, to get to what they showed at Vegas, could have gone differently if they asked the community. Could have been told/warned that they were in a sinking ship.By bringing in community members to their inner circle to ask, hypothetical questions. Like what if we removed planets, reduced team sizes, took away all but 6 weapons. That kind of stuff.  But what do fans know!
Small change after small change may have been reasoned by them to be acceptable; But small change after small change presenting a vastly different animal compared to Dust.

So I'm glad it's back to the drawing board. I'm glad they will pause, take stock and then move on after reflection.

But this is CCP and I'm sure it won't be long before their weird working ways alter perceptions and lead them straight back to pissing fans off.

Time will tell. With any luck they'll bring back planets and you know, project legion as a base to move on from.

Please read this important update from the development team on the status of Project Nova and the invite-only Alpha: https://t.co/T2FnSJIFSF pic.twitter.com/l73YuV3iZF

— CCP Games (@CCPGames) November 30, 2018

I bet CCP took the "rouge wedding" as an affront from fans against the concept of a "new" game rather than actually seeing it as flipping off their then active FPS playerbase.....
In a way it was almost like introducing your wife (Dust 514) to the hot blonde your going to run away with (legion).....
Now we don't have Dust, don't have legion and that other on again off again project tease, a long distant work in progress that won't touch any base....

I think the CCP FPS needs a lot more counselling, or therapy.....

Either way, CCP may wait for the FPS but the playerbase, the community, will they wait or whittle away even more.

CCP, franchise FPS hope and dream killers extraordinaire. LMAO

STO....

The details are out :

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11016653

The tactical leaning rather than a more equal spread of officer/module slots, has me a little disappointed. Tactical leanings prove again that DPS is the only role you need to play.

In a way what it lacks for Engineering or Science characters it makes up for with a very different presence in game.

Star Trek Online

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Many ships need hands on time with fitting options to prove their worth; Especially with the mastery abilities.

Fore Weapons: 4

Aft Weapons: 4

Device Slots: 3

1 Commander Tactical, 

1 Ensign Tactical, 

1 Lieutenant Engineering, 

1 Lieutenant Commander Science, 

1 Lieutenant Commander Universal/Pilot

Console Modifications: 

5 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 3 Science

Admiralty Ship Details:

ENG: 30

SCI:  33

TAC:  63

SPECIAL:  +10 SCI per TacShip

Gaming....

I wasn't even using the net, much.... Data allowance used!! My a*se!

*shakes fist*

Time to burn into the monthly mobile phone data, wi-fi hot-spot enabled!

Gaming....

This real life lark really gets in the way of the gaming dream. Being away from home for the next few day's means my usual I.V. supply of superb broadband is lacking. I'm in severe withdrawal already. My only source of internet is my 4G dongle.

Despite it being the best in a bad situation, the data cap is the real killer!

While I only spent €7.99 for 2.5 GB allowance I should have gone for the 15 GB.... That might have allowed "normal"(ish) if slightly limited broadband use....

I'd even have been able to download the expansion to Batteltech!!!!!

Hmmmmmmmm.......................

Dead Cells....

A game I've seen bit of via gameplay footage, it interested me so I didn't want to spoil it so didn't watch too much. I've had it on my wishlist for a while. The autumn steam sale was the time to buy. 

Now that I have it I see that it is more a medium term rather than quick pick up and play game. It joins the ranks of other quick games I seem to play these day's. Like Domina, SYTHETIK or FTL. That fact of my current gameplay is compounded by my having purchased it,  Shovel Knight and Into the Breach.  Enter the Gungeon was good but after an initial burst of gameplay I've not returned more than a few times, despite the updates etc. It's in the same vein but has lacked longevity for me where the others haven't. Odd that.

Anyway back to the game at hand. Dead Cells. An epic hack and slash platformer with randomised levels each playthrough; Not as harsh as it sounds. With a story-line and a connection to character that is a motivation to plow on it. It's a lot of fun to play, worth it at full price even. Time will tell about it's longevity for me.

 A Casual Carebear

STO....

Trek Online looks to have a busy month set out for December....

I'll stick with the current featured TFO daily and then move over to Q's winter event dailies, for the rep needed to get this years Chrimbo ship. Add in a sprinkle of the other weekend happenings and it should be good.

Details for the Fek’Ihri S’torr Warship (T6) should be out soon, that'll be an interesting one.

I'm still pottering about with my Jem'Hadar's new ship. 

Having never really spent 'quality' time on my Engineering Character and his carrier/dreadnought, the new Jem'Hadar carrier is taking me a while to get a "handle" on properly.

Alternatively I've been impressed with the healers in my recent TFO runs; Makes me want to learn to  play a healer properly.

Engineering / Science charterers are the tanks / healers of STO. Or at least they are meant to be. Right now, to be played properly in those roles, seems like some kind of weird magic than anything I can nail down. Feels like too much work when I do start to get into it. I always seem to default all roles/classes to DPS(tactical like). That the game allows you to be generalised or specific is both a blessing and a curse.

Hitman 2....

With more playthough's of the legacy maps, the more the new enhancements of Hitman 2 have grown on me. 

Long story short, playing the game and it's changes has opened my eye's. 

Am I 100% super happy at the legacy changes, no, but the new maps/challenges and gear more than make up for it overall. Having put a good amount of time in the first two new maps I can say I've no regrets.

Plus I got to kill Sean Bean.

ETS 2...

Patch 1.33, Quality of life has been much improved!

SCS Software

STO....

There we go, very interesting:

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11014213

Q is ready to whisk you away to a Winter Wonderland! Unlock a new T6 Fek'Ihri ship, new christmas sweaters, pets, kits, and more!https://t.co/4Y4VGMSbJJ pic.twitter.com/voSRVwuKlq

— Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) November 26, 2018

STO....

Battle of the Binary Stars, a daily TFO with rewards too good to pass up. Easy to do especially with the pressure of the reputation/vouchers project removed; Now it's one voucher and a daily reward. That's been motivation enough. The initial project's main reward looked good but I think I've only used the beacon once. 

Oddly enough I'm still having a decent enough time with the battle's. I'm not sure I'm fully pulling my weight or being tactically aware but it's all fun. At least from my perspective.

A Casual Carebear

Dreadnought....

The PC gamer review wasn't a ringing endorsement but the LevelCapGaming video was interesting.

Might be worth checking it out again.

STO....

Oh really!!?

Q might have a present for you this Holiday Season... pic.twitter.com/7xc5YxAvfz

— Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) November 25, 2018

SYNTHETIK....

SYNTHETIK; Another game I've let slip by the wayside, which has also been updated recently and come to my attention due to seeing a Steam download. It's latest UPDATE 21 - Rare Metal covers a lot of ground.

Getting back into the game with the previous update was interesting but daunting in retrospect. Due mainly to so many changes to class's and again having let the game slip from casual play. I can just about see the changes, say with some kind of informed view that X change is cool or Y alteration is a good one. This new update changes/tweaks and enhances so much it's hard to casually keep track of. So with change after change over time it's all become a lot to take in. That said Update 21 does look to have great changes/updates and additions. I do like the game but it's a short term time filler for me. To do a few run's and then move on. I've no hope of being a min/max'er let alone level up all the class's / get all the collectibles.

Challenges! Not like before. I'm so rusty now I can barely co-ordinate eject and reload.

So back to basics for me; I shoot gun, gun feels good and impactful, enemies explode, I chuckle with glee. Fun is fun.

A Casual Carebear

STO....

With some additional Dilithium to Zen conversion my total Zen exceeded 10k. Feeling a little flush I decided to splash out with the sale on. I decided on the Star Trek 2 uniforms and the Gamma starter pack (ship/race/uniforms). I've always been keen to get the movie uniform, the second purchased clothing pack I've ever gotten. I think the other was the merc set. All else were free claims.

Having leveled up my Jem'Hadar, I've always considered the given ship as not being adequate enough. No surprise as it's the racial starter ship. But none of my current fleet of ships felt right as an upgrade. So I splashed out on the Dreadnought via the gamma starter pack. The pack was a lot cheaper than purchasing the ship alone, add in the sale and it was a great deal.

Now to start the older ships module strip and new ship fitting process.....

Two Point Hospital....

Things I'd only seen over my wife's shoulder as she powers through levels like a machine, have now become reality in my gameplay. Like the feared Duckworth-upon-Bilge and zombie epidemics.

As well as the comical 8-bitten illness which needs the Resolution Lab to 'resolve'.

Duckworth-upon-Bilge, probably the most troublesome hospital to work with. Mainly because of the lack of income. This level is described as  "If we can meet the Ministry's targets we'll receive some of the County's healthcare budget, but we won't receive income from any diagnosis, treatment or retail. This could be interesting..." Those targets seem easy enough, especially starting off with 250k cash. It all goes downhill from there pretty fast. Early decisions can compound lack of cash into mistakes.
This may be the first level I have to start from scratch again rather than revert from as save. I'll plow on a bit further.

Uuuuuuuuhtubez....

Thanks for that :)

A Casual Carebear

Hitman 2....

Hitman 2 but not Hitman 2 when it's the Legacy content. I've been pottering away with Hitman 2's version of Paris. One element of the legacy system is that there are less escalations. But a newer system to reward you for completing legacy content. Rewards for doing less in the first game. Or maybe best to call it streamlined. Paris has one base map escalation and 1 escalation for the Patient Zero campaign addition to Paris (Corky the clown). At least as far as my free legacy version can see. That's way down on what the first game had.

I've been enjoying my time by doing the assassinations, feats and other challenges in Paris.

Just as I've caught myself leaning back into maybe buying the second game I find other reasons that cast doubt again. Maybe it's experience with the first game but I've found H1 maps a lot easier in the H2 version. Specifically the A.I. It does react differently. In a more stupid way. If you decide to go postal on a map you could funnel the npc masses into a kill zone; And you can still do that in H2. The difference in H2 is that they enter that funnel and don't hone in on your position as the H1 versions did. At least in the first game it seemed like the npc's knew you were in a corner due to the 20 bodies piled up.... H2 has each npc react like they are the first into the room regardless of the pile.

A Casual Carebear

That aside there is a lot to like with the game with it's changes and updates to the older content. It makes me want to see the newer content. I'd still be annoyed as a completionist that I have to do some things again. But it might be worth it.

And even if they will re-release the game and the elusive targets in a year or so I still have time to mull things over.

BF 1....

The new theme in BF1's weekly favoured map rotation is all about "Tanks and Trenches". 

I don't mind being in tanks or trenches, so it should be enjoyable enough.

So far I've joined matches right at the end. I don't mind getting wins like that. But it's not a 'real' (or fully enjoyable) way to get wins. Participation is the fun.

A Casual Carebear

No Man's SKy....

Improvements on improvements.

Update 1.75 "Visions", looks interesting.

HelloGamesTube

Planet Coaster....

Planet Coaster, in my view has always been a game that allowed players to be massively obsessive about the most minute detail of a park. Maybe a little too much. Down to the slightest detail of a cobblestone that can barley be seen my the human eye.

The latest update, Thememaker's Toolkit,  will send players who obsess over the minutia off the deep-end. It's this type of update to a game that extents it's existence well into the future. I'm glad I backed away from all of it when I did.

Everspace....

While my recent visit to Everspace was only good in showing how rusty I am at the game. The recent Patch 1.3.3 update adds some nice quality improvements.

Mini Metro...

A nice surprise update was downloaded for me on Steam today! Creative mode lets you take any existing maps and build your metro.

BF 1....

The latest theme of promoted matchmaking for BF1 is all based on larger maps with hilly terrain.

The hills are indeed alive, with the screams from both sides as they get strafed and exploded  by large numbers of planes, blimps, small tanks, large tanks and horses etc. It's something to behold, why battlefield is worthy of the name. The scale is large, with lots of skirmish's happening around the main engagement of forces. Land and air. It's easy to be both overwhelmed on all sides or spawn and be miles away from the enemy.

As a player who identifies more with the marksman medic class, the hill theme sounds like it should be ideal times; But I've spent longer as an assault in these matches. Not a bad thing, variety an all, but its getting me killed more than if I was doing my longer distance shots.

A Casual Carebear

At least this won't last forever.... The next theme could be a game changer....

Star Trek Online....

Today saw me get the last voucher for the  (simulated) Battle of the Binary Stars reputation rewards. The fourth was all I needed after getting the 10 voucher pack from the store. Free zen for a free pack = a time saver option. 

For me the main reward to get was the Beacon of  Kahless. A reward that I can reclaim with all my characters. Beacon's of Kahless for everyone!

I've built up a nice collection of shared reclaimable items over the years. The beacon is a nice addition.

With the Task Force rep done a post event rep reward pack is available for each subsequent voucher I 'hand in'. Always a nice touch. 

BF1....

I don't usually t-bag, but when I do, I return t-bag.

A Casual Carebear

Hitman 2....

Taking more of a wander around the H2's version of the Paris map has me doing a few of the challenges. I've unlocked a good few bits but still lack the basic lockpick; I'm not sure if that's because I've not bought the game (Mastery level 2 unlock in Miami)...

A Casual Carebear

BF 1....

A match that ends in loss is not always a defeat. I can live a with a good game result.

A Casual Carebear

Surviving Mars....

So many games so little time. A game I've sadly neglected a little after I got it has a great new update.

One thing I really like about Paradox Interactive games is that they include free items and quality of life changes to patch the game that also goes along with the DLC.

That's a trend with a few other developers that I hope grows.

I might make a bit of time to get into it again. Then again that's what I said last time.

Paradox Interactive

Hitman 2....

I've been having a wander around the Hitman legacy maps. Overall Hitman 2 would seem to need a few more patches. I've experienced a few crashes and some very odd physics. But even the fist game had that kind of thing.

Overall there isn't all that much difference between the Hitman 1 and Hitman 2 variations. Besides the new u.i. and game enhancements. On the new normal mode I've played a few guards and NPC's have been moved or removed. I found it easier to do the legacy maps.

Some civilians are still wearing the John Wick 2 ballistic inlay on their cloth's.
The clip below shows a lot, like a civilian taking a lot of shots to the chest and getting up. Again it's the kind of thing that happened in the first game but it's more apparent in the second. Or at least if feel like it is.

Overall the first game feel like it's a lot less forgiving than the second. Even when you go full rambo on a map the H2 legacy version feel so much less dangerous. Whereas in the first game you were still looking over your shoulder.

I'm still not 100% sold on the getting the game. I can already experience the new game via the legacy pack and that's nice. That's still a lot of content. But I've already experienced a moment on loading up the game where I closed it straight away. I've done it all before.

Are the new H2 enhanced versions of H1 good. Yes. Do I prefer H1 over it. Yes.

I'm conflicted.

It's not like there isn't going to be a Hitman 2 Game of the Year edition, including a catch-up of elusive targets. So why not wait? If it's worth playing it'll age like wine..... right.

Eve Online....

This weekend see's double training speed and free SP on login after downtime....

Almost like an incentive....

CCP has always fought to be as far away from daily rewards/incentives...
They never found a way to do it their way.....

How quaint, they are doing a weekend special/reward now....

https://www.eveonline.com/article/pi8tr9/eve-online-onslaught-celebration-double-training-weekend

A ui splash screen, a mystery(mystery code triggered alert) box with a ribbon, looking like a Christmas present with an aura around it which when claimed moves the box to your redeem items section; Which you click and drag to whatever character you want it to go to.

I didn't even have to log a character in, just visit the selection screen.

So it's just about an incentive to get me to log into Eve, claim the free SP, apply the free SP "gift" to a character and log off.

Next account.....

STO....

The latest Discovery based element of Star Trek Online is a task force "dungeon" for five players based on the "battle of the binary stars".

Haven help me it uses voice clips from the series or at least voice actors using the same phonetic style of "Klingon" used in Disco land. They are not real Klingons................................ Did I mention I dislike the Discovery series, that it's an abomination and should be cleansed from the face of the planet..... 

Anyway, if you like it fair enough, enjoy the series box-set.

The task force is a standard affair, destroy waves of ships and rescue federation escape pods; destroy waves of ships and survive long enough for the 'battle simulation' to collect enough data and end. Bla Bla Bla. It's something that can be sleep walked through.

The game battle does a good job of recreating the TV show scenes.... Or so I'm told....

The background scene does look cool.

Doing the task force gains you marks as well as a voucher/token. 14 of which can be handed in towards a reputation project. 

The rewards for completing the project are 50k dilithium, 500 fleet marks and 250 marks of your choice. There is also the "Beacon of Kahless". Which is a nice reward, on use it removes all threat unless you are a tank (using threat etc.) and also calls in 4 ships to fight for you for 45 seconds.

There is a shortcut pack that gives 10 vouchers and a tech upgrade for 800 Zen.

I'm tempted to take the shortcut. The torch is a reward worth having.

Free is free....

More freebies from Humble Bundle:

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/sins-of-a-solar-empire-rebellion

STO....

Looking forward to it :)

Q's Winter Wonderland, the most magical and terrifying place of them all, will arrive on all three platforms on December 4th. More details to come! pic.twitter.com/g7WAalcUAL

— Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) November 15, 2018

Hitman 2....

I noticed something strange on my Steam wishlist page, a Hitman 2 Install button. Yes despite all my mumbling about the game it was still on my wishlist.  I've not bought the game but there it was, an install button. So I clicked on it, it said thanks for buying the game, I still haven't bought the game and it installed. 

It seems like a similar Hitman 1 demo install version, the training area from Hitman 1. 

The thing is it also included the unlocked first game's content; missions all available to play, along with the Requiem pack content, "Legacy GOTY" pack content inc. the Patient Zero (mini) campaign and suits.

So it recognised I had the first game and some other purchased content. I was puzzled, H2 seemed to have more than what should have been unlocked.... maybe? It says I own the GOTY legacy DLC but not the normal legacy DLC.... Maybe I should just shut up and accept it without complaint....

Once in the game a few more items were unlocked. A silver suitcase, gold coins from the elusive targets and the black winter suit. I guess the coins are from the elusive targets.

Twitter has solved why I got two of those items:

My original gripe persists. I just wish there was recognition carried over from the previous game with regard to the challenges.

Even with more crossover, more recognition of purchased items; It's still a kick in the guts to not have Hitman 1's completed challenges recognised and carried over. How hard could it have been to even match each steam achievement from H2 against H1 content. Even if there were new ones etc... 

Done it twice now!

So, having played the game's "enhanced" Paris map a bit I have to say that I agree with what I said previously. It's a good game, great to have the enhancements. It's like a remastered version but here now instead of 6 years down the line.

....But....

In one hand I have Hitman 2, a great game with so much good content; And in the other I have my anger, frustration and stubborn intransigence.

I don't know if I can talk myself down. All those hours of gameplay ranging from enjoyment to frustration (challenges) may be stopping me from more enjoyment and frustrations in both redoing the old and moving on to the new content....

My personality, game style with this type of game/content is as a completionist.

If the challenges had recognition and crossover I'd have pre-ordered it month's ago... 

I need to mull this over some more....

A Casual Carebear