SimCity 2000 was 30 Years old during the last week or so. LGR did a Retrospective video about it. The first PC game I owned before my PC was even delivered(it was ordered). C&C's dos version was the second. Back in the day, way back when, different times for sure. When the new was so new compared to what came before it. Windows 3.11 and Dos to Windows 95, the multimedia change alone.
I've waffled on the blog a good bit about stuff like that before but the SimCity retrospective vid reminded me of the 3D map viewer still available free on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1527140/SC2KRender/ I had to have a nose around some maps again. Noting to do with me but the ability to see in 3D my old 2D maps still make me happy.
It's not the only game with a hefty anniversary, Half-Life is 25 years old and a game that made me install Steam. They knew what they were starting with that. The 25th anniv update is interesting: https://half-life.com/en/halflife25/ It may as well be a remaster.
Subnautica is looking to get a sequel. I was surprised by that news, more by them doing it given Sub Zeros less than enthusiastic following by comparison to the fist game. Guess the cash-cow gotta be milked. I never bought Sub Zero; Watching a playthrouh or two was informative and playing it via ultimate was 'meh'. The original game was such a great one; Better to have it than Sub Zero. If this new game is a sequel to sub Zero I'll be less than happy. If it's a follow on to the first game it'll have to be handled right. I know I'll be watching news closely. Heaven forbid they make a new game with a new protagonist in a new situation..... Better than Sub Zero!
Between ETS 2 and ATS; SCS has been really bringing a lot to the games both in content and overall quality of life improvements. Really great to see and be a part of.
PowerWash Simulator has released it's Back to the Future DLC. It looks the part but gameplay is apparently too easy. Given the season that's incoming and the Steam credit I'm about to receive from my wife...in torrents(hi honey!!!!), I'll prob pick it up in the next % off sale on Steam.
The Youtuber Razbuten has done a recent video with ideas I've had mulled in my noggin since seeing it. Difficulty is Weird; Definitely a gamers personal perspective. That said I think that getting a game you want and expect to play, that "ticks all the boxes" is also a worthy side to the coin of a gamers game consideration personal perspective. Mulling continues. Gotta overthink the overthink.
Speaking of mulling; The Xbox version of Red Dead 2 is still a game I've got installed. Every so often I start it up, load in, walk about the camp(at the start of the game) and just before going to decide to do something(not even go and do) I'm out of the game and into something else.
Red Dead 2 is a game I've had since I got it with my 'og' Xbox One Elite. Hope springs eternal... One day I'll play it..... Maybe....
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A long time in the blogging and a long time in the making of the game Sociable Soccer has had a lot of ups and downs never mind iterations on non pc platforms. Now that its out (rebranded Sociable Soccer 24) it seems to have lost a lot of it's charm and gameplay or at least what made it more special than others. Then again given it's long development and iterations on those other platforms I think the expectation on it was massive for PC. It was from my perspective alone. So now I see it's steam reviews; Bucket of salt as usual but still it seems to have lost the expectations game. Another game on the Steam Wishlist for me that will need a deep sale. Given it's newly released and it's long development I can get it's not on sale already but then again there are better games that release with a release discount. Also that the Autumn sale is on on Steam and it's still got no % off is more telling about it's developer expectations of sneeze for profits a.s.a.p. Supposition but my gut speaks to me, we all have our problems.
Speaking of the Steam Autumnal sale; I've two games on the (keep an eye on) wishlist that are on the verge of being removed. Sale, deep sale or not they are not proving their worth(in my view). Then again a big update is due for one of those games..... So I may just leave them there......
" Upcoming PC games for 2023 and beyond " an article from gamesradar is one that does not hold much interest for me. The Day Before sounds good but it being an MMO of it's genre is offputing to me as an MMO. I like the sound of it as a a game but players online..... Time will tell.
Homeworld 3 is an of course but I didn't need their list to know that.
Hades 2 should be good but as much as I liked and played the first(blogged) I've no need to redo it in a second version. Harsh but true.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornoby; The first game never really clicked with me so I'll leave this second one till I know more via reviews etc...
Star Wars Outlaws could be good but I'm not holding my breath. Like most on the list more info is needed and more info will be incoming longterm as most of the games seem to be 'delayed'.
Skull and Bones is a game in development for such a long time. Sea of Thieves was supposed to be a rival and well that is what it is and has been out a long time. So Skull and Bones is more wait and see. Again I'm not holding my breath.
Assassin's Creed: Codename Red does look like it could also be good but given I liked but never got or played the latest AC game (Mirage) it's no surprise that I need more info. With luck somewhere down the line both Mirage and Red will be an on sale as a combo duo.....
Marathon has my attention and a bit of hype. It's a ways off as well but I have hope, strange how that all works out. I'm not usually an extraction shooter but this could be an exception(that and Eve's fps version but more on that later).
From what could be to what is......
The usual assortment of games have been getting my gameplay attention.
Darkest Dungeon has seen some progress overall; Mainly in the Crimson Court but I've been over cautions due to paranoia. This may be a radiant run but the previous runs in the harder game modes of Stygian newgame plus and Bloodmoon have all made me that way. RNG can be unforgiving. Still progress is progress and losses so far have not been unacceptable. I might jinx it here(again) and say I've been 'lucky'. False sense of security rising!! The Vvulf finally got to the door and instead of using a level 0 sacrificial solo noob run to bypass it, I instead went in with a full team to take down the boss; And it worked.... I guess not all paranoia has been stopping me!
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Planet Crafter was all about the exporting till a quality of life update hit that also included a message scavenger hunt to preempt an announcement. As of writing most players are miffed that both the crashed satellites and the end of the scavenger hunt had no real loot or meaningful end; Other than as a pre-emptive Multiplayer announcement(or so the scavengers say). The scavenger hunt seems to have had the crashed satellites in different positions per player. These gave letters which in turn lead to a website and that in turn lead to a set of game settings on a new game map to then lead a player to a new building in which stood 4 statues of golden (presumed) player effigies in spacesuits(that look like the ancients tech maybe). All interesting but many comments from players saying it wasn't enough of a revelation to weren't such a time and effort intensive player event in game. On the plus side cookies are now an export item. Technically the event or hunt was called a Treasure hunt so I can see where players confusion and disappointment was coming from. Bit of a P.R. own goal in my view. I found no crashed
satellites so went on with my exporting. I've nearly doubled my drone count and still they do not do the work they are supposed to do. It's annoying and frustrating.
A bit more Dave the Diver has been interesting. Mainly to manage the ingame management. Coin profits have seen 'betterment' of the staff all round. The goal of training them to 20 is there as is the fish quality and fish breeding. It's all good imho. The game story may be 'done' but there's lots in it to keep busy with and fun to be had in it's doing.
My two usual goto space MMO's have also been had, played, seen game time.
Star Trek Online both on PC and on Xbox. On PC I've been doing dailies and general faffing about with no major intent for my characters. Helping my wife complete more of her recruit transponders was good. She's made progress and account unlocks have been had.
Between the lifetime rewards and the recruit unlocks there really is a lot to get out of gameplay. Add on the event rewards and it's no wonder both our accounts have such a wide array of options to choose from for our characters and gameplay. An investment in both time, effort and cash that really feels worth it.
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Another week where Xbox has seen more of it's gameplay time than on PC. Dailies on the go and going well but the bulk of gameplay on Xbox has been about catchup overall. To more fully complete previously done recruits.(ships mastery's etc). So far I've more fully completed both my main a temporal recruit and my Jem'Hadar gamma. That Jem'Hadar was shockingly missing his Nimbus clicky. I was even more shocked that he was missing a lot of missions up to that point. So all that had to be done/gained as well. I've a feeling I'd mixed up what I'd done on characters longer term(prob due to the deltas).
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The new Xbox store claimable went to my human Federation Delta, she already had more of those weapons.
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My other and newest Jem'Hadar has more fully completed his transition to Breen. Taking his officers with him. It's a pain that the outfits can't be saved and applied to others. It is what it is but it's making me not want to do such overall makeovers on other captains and their crews.
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The winter event ship has been near confirmed and as good as it may be it's not Breen-esque enough to do so I'll been a top tier token from the phoenix prise to gain a Breen one...
My Klingon Recruit is all but done even on his peripheral stuff like masteries; And making slow progress with the overall Random TFO's. Sometimes a player just needs to be in the mood. P.U.G.'s are what they are and of late(a long while) have been just about tolerable never mind 'effective'. Peak times are a bottleneck to wait for the bulk of players so that's adding to the pain.
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Speaking of Xbox, just the usual snippets of gameplay here and there other than STO. Which have included Tetris Connect, Battlefield 1 multiplayer and a quick pop into Minecraft to checkout my old homestead for retro sake. I also picked up a cheap disk version of Mad Max pre-owned as a 'just to see' whim. Retrospect reviewers seem to be more kind to it these days and I can now agree with them. It's a surprisingly good game.
The other space MMO is of course Eve Online. Not much to add here gameplay wise. Despite my two mains being paid Omegas. I've also taken time on what I previously blogged and called my 1'st decade box code alphas. I had two boxes so two codes back in the day. One was used to create a more PvP Alpha alt the other PvE. This PvE character with the 7 free days has been reclaiming P.I. Doing Level 4's in a Praxis and living his best alt life as good as possible. Redeploying clones and all the Omega stuff that will be gone once he returns to being an Alpha.
Speaking of the free days; I claimed the 7 free days across all my accounts and Alpha alts of which here are many. Over 12, I've lost count(old trials back to life etc). It's been fun in it's own way to manage them and their 7 days of new skills. It's also retro nostalgia to see them with so many finished skills in a few days... That said it's all getting to a point where new skills learnt are more in the Omega side. Still it's a thing to do even if they are never gonna be on paid time to use them.
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The release of the integrated FPS for Eve is immanent(Fanfest info). There's a lot I don't like about it's aesthetics and in reviewing old Dust514 footage the biggest is what I noticed before, weapon placement on the screen is middle and not like Dust in the right hand side. It's small things like this that will be irksome to me. A playtest is scheduled so that should be illuminating.
I have fond memories and nostalgia for Dust 514; What was, was better than some say.
Overall I have a lot of expectations. Both in it's Eve'ness and as an FPS. I've played a lot of shooters. CoD and progressed on to mainly Battlefield from Bad Company 2 to BF 4 and BF 1(across PC and XBox).
I've blogged about a lot of them here. All that said a player will need to be an Omega to play this new FPS so it's "only going to be" Eve players. I wonder if that will remain after the testing. A lot will be old Dust bunnies and eyes will be on it. Voices will be voiced.
Tuesday the 21st's patch/downtime had an interesting side effect. Stargates didn't work.
Not to be bÃtchy, however it's odd that a live service like eve that always seems to have issues so often with patch/update deployments when implemented. Makes a player wonder about quality. I would say I'm joking but it's a paid service so I look forward to the compensation of an extra days Omega? Yea I'm being bÃtchy, of course I'm being bÃtchy, there would be no compensation..... Besides BÃtchy is my natural default state when it comes to CCP. Also strange how annoyed CCP gets when mistakes or flaws are pointed out; Especially when they don't fix them on purpose. Like not owning the mistake of being so lax with the mystery code, making up for it and then making it something that it was supposed to be. If No Mans Sky is the gold standard in making up to players who paid then CCP is the opposite in Eve. Gives off vibes of player time not mattering (they've already paid after all) with a healthy side of 'meh'. Overreaction to this form me, most certainly yes. But their actions, reactions and business like form is not what they do on stage at fanfest that impresses me. Least with the patch they fixed a problem they shouldn't have let happen in the first place; In a timely manner.
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