#deus ex multiplayer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cherokeestarfish · 1 year

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Welcome Post

Hey, y'all! I've made this pinned post as a way to help y'all navigate any backlogged content, as well as to help you see at a glance what's on the livestream schedule.

Content Tags

Mondays — This will separate out any posts specifically relevant to Monday series, regardless of whether it's something I'm playing solo or together with SpecificPixel, including announcements, cancellations, completion blogs, etc.

Thursdays — Same as the Mondays tag, but for Thursday series.

Fridays — Also the same, but for special Friday series.

Saturdays — Same again, but for Saturday series.

Husbandplays — This tag is for any content or announcements that include SpecificPixel, mostly games we stream together on Mondays.

General Tags

Patreon update — This tag has all my posts about changes in tier rewards, procedures, etc. on Patreon.

Community — This is where you'll find anything regarding Twitch, YouTube, or other social media, plus general announcements and updates.

Fanart — This tag has any fanart our community is kind enough to create and share!

Poll — This tag includes all polls and voting results for Patreon shortlisting (where y'all narrow down the games that go on the public polls).

Special event — This is for unique or unusual content like marathons, charity streams, or anything that occurs outside the normal schedule.

Info — This tag has all my posts like this one, which include general updates and information.

Welcome post — Especially for this pinned post!

I'll edit to include new tags here as they come up.

Schedule at a Glance

Mondays:

Monday series alternate between my solo "streamer's choice" games and husbandplays with SpecificPixel, where we take turns choosing games for each other to play with multiplayer titles in between.

Week A: Divine Divinity (2002; PC)

Wasteland 2 (2014; PC)

Wasteland 3 (202; PC)

Week B: Blaze & Blade (1998; PSX) w/SpecificPixel

Soul Blazer (1992; SNES)

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Remake (2023; Switch)

Thursdays:

Thursday is variety night! We play a little of every genre, as chosen by patrons and then voted on by the broader audience.

The Legend of Kyrandia 1 (1992; DOS)

Obsidian (1997; PC)

Etherlords (2001; PC)

Mystery P.I.: The Lottery Ticket (2007; PC)

Pokémon Crystal (2001; GBC)

Fridays:

Fridays are special streams and not part of the typical schedule. Right now, these include game "tastings" (one-shot samples) and longplays awarded to charity donors:

Wild Arms 3 (2002; PS2)

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006; PC)

Deus Ex (2000; PC)

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001; PC)

Darkstone (1999; PC) w/SpecificPixel

Clive Barker's Undying (2001; PC)

Zombie Dinos from Planet Zeltoid (1992; CD-i)

Disney's Hades Challenge (1998; PC)

Saturdays:

Saturday streams are party-based RPGs, usually open-world. After finishing a slate of titles chosen by patrons and voted on by other viewers, I pick a game for myself to chill through before we run the next poll.

Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (2016; PC)

Wasteland 1 (1988; DOS)

Eye of the Beholder 1 (1991; DOS)

Lands of Lore 1 (1993; DOS)

Might & Magic 8 (2000; PC)

Of course, if you've got questions or need any help finding stuff, just comment or message me and I'm happy to help!

#welcome post #retrogaming #retro gaming #classic games #queer gamers #retro games #lgbt gaming #lgbt streamer #queer streamer

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bleuhisteria · 11 months

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Deus Ex Machina|| Aizawa x Reader Chapter 11

The key to trust and communication, is... videogames.

What are we doing here? The deadpan thought ran across my mind as I found myself in the living room, sitting in front of the TV next to Aizawa.

"(N/N), shoot it! Shoot it!" Dad's panicked voice filled the room.

"Y-yes!" I responded quickly, frantically mashing buttons on the controller in my hand.

"(Y/N), on your left!" Aizawa shouted, fending off zombies in his virtual realm.

Both of us were in a state of panic, playing a video game indoors while my dad watched us from the couch.

But why were we doing this, exactly? Well...

"I'm glad you asked! First, we'll do an exercise that will help you both learn to work together and improve coordination, starting with open communication," Dad explained.

What I didn't expect was that his idea of open communication involved playing a multiplayer video game together.

"I'll go get snacks. Want anything?" Dad asked as he got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen.

"Candy!" I shouted, my eyes still glued to the screen as Aizawa and I cleared the level. "Yes!" I cheered, finding myself standing up in excitement.

The game continued as we progressed to the next level.

As (Y/N)'s dad grabbed a bowl, humming while filling it with treats, he opened the fridge to grab some drinks. Startled, he closed the fridge door and was taken aback by Elena standing behind it.

"Jeebus! Elena! What are you doing there?!" (F/N) screamed, caught off guard by the maid's sudden appearance.

Ignoring the question, Elena's gaze shifted slightly to the two teenagers in the living room before returning to (F/N). "(F/N)-sama, what exactly are you trying to do for those two?" she asked, her tone skeptical.

Chuckling, (F/N) replied, "I need them both to build trust in each other. Besides, screaming counts as open communication," he said with a laugh.

Sighing at his antics, Elena's gaze shifted to Aizawa. "He's close to figuring it out," she remarked, her face displaying worry.

(F/N) glanced over at Aizawa and (Y/N), observing their tense expressions and heated exchanges. "Does he have bad intentions?" he inquired, turning to Elena.

Elena shook her head. "None that I know of. He's solely here to achieve his goal," she stated.

"Then don't worry too much and make it a big deal. As long as he doesn't harbor ill will towards our (N/N), you should try not to pry into his mind as much as possible," (F/N) advised, his face relaxing as he reassured himself that his daughter was in safe hands.

Placing a hand on her forehead, Elena shook her head and sighed. "You know I can't exactly control whose mind I enter," she said. "And I don't want to anyway," she added wearily.

"My concern is, are you going to tell him that you're a hero?" Elena asked.

(F/N) shook his head. "You know what happened last time, and I don't want (N/N) to feel unsafe again. The only information he's going to get is what she's willing to share. Their relationship is none of my business," he stated, looking serious.

"I'll just watch over them for now, and you make sure that things don't go down the same path as last time," he said, picking up the bowl of snacks and drinks, heading back to the living room.

Elena bowed. "I will. Have fun. I'll be taking (M/N)-sama for her walk," she said, casting a side-eye at the three as she walked off upstairs.

"So, how's it going?" Dad asked as he placed the bowl full of snacks on the coffee table.

I set my controller down, grabbing a few pieces of candy mixed into the bowl of packaged treats, leaving it to Aizawa to respond.

He sighed, "We already finished the game," he said, dropping his controller and reaching for the bowl. "Remind me again how this is supposed to help us?" he asked, unwrapping a chocolate bar and taking a bite.

Dad settled back onto the couch, causing the cushion to sink beneath his weight. "This exercise is all about communication. How well you can communicate with each other can make a big difference in a fight," he explained, raising a finger.

"Tell me, Aizawa, how many times did you have to shout at (Y/N) before she turned left like you asked?" Dad inquired, causing my face to flush with embarrassment.

Despite being into machinery and tech, I wasn't really one for videogames.

"Five times," Aizawa responded.

Dad nodded approvingly. "Good, good. Now, have you considered why she couldn't do as you asked right away?" he prodded.

Aizawa pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

Then Dad turned to me. "And (N/N), how many times did you have to tell Aizawa to stop focusing on one side and cover your back?" he questioned.

I flinched, swallowing the candy in my mouth. "Th-three times," I admitted.

Dad nodded again. "Now, have the two of you thought about why you had to repeat yourselves multiple times before the other person acted?" he asked, looking expectantly at us.

Aizawa and I exchanged confused glances, unsure of what he was getting at. With little response from either of us, Dad continued.

"Besides this being your first time playing, which is a factor on its own, what you both lack is trust," he stated, pointing at us. "You don't trust each other enough to effectively communicate and listen to one another," he explained.

As if a bolt of lightning had struck, Aizawa and I locked eyes, a newfound clarity washing over us. But before we could utter a word, Dad was already rising from the couch, heading towards the TV to change the game cartridge we had been playing.

"I've got just the game to help build that trust you're lacking," Dad announced with a mischievous grin. "It's a two-player VR game, but here's the twist: you'll be in separate rooms. You'll need to rely on communication and observation to navigate the challenges together. Have fun!" he exclaimed, retrieving two virtual reality helmets from the nearby display.

He couldn't resist adding a playful remark, "Fun fact, this game was actually what caused your mother to fall in love with me."

Blushing furiously, I turned away from Aizawa, "D-Dad!" I stammered, embarrassed by his playful remark. He always claimed that a certain video game could make people fall in love, even insisting it was what won Mom's heart. But I never thought he would make us play it!

Chuckling, he reassured me, "I'm just kidding. Your mother fell for my natural charm." he said with a wink.

Aizawa, unamused, focused on the VR helmet in his hands. "What kind of game is it?" he asked, directing the conversation back to the task at hand.

Dad settled back on the couch, explaining, "It's a puzzle-solving game that requires both players to analyze their surroundings and make decisions based on their individual perspectives. You'll need to communicate what you see, but you won't know exactly what the other person is experiencing."

Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but comment sarcastically, "Ah, analyzing, the secret to love. No wonder mom couldn't resist." Deep down, though, I couldn't deny that there might be some truth to it. If it was an analyzing puzzle game, it was probably an over analyzing game, making it right up my mom's alley. She had a knack for solving puzzles within seconds.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked, "How long did you guys play for?"

Dad crossed his arms, appearing contemplative. "A couple of hours into the night. She didn't want to stop until we finished the game," he replied in a serious tone.

"A couple of hours?!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening. How difficult could this game be if it took my mom, the puzzle-solving genius, a couple of hours?

Dad waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, don't worry. It took a while because we had it on the highest difficulty. You and Aizawa can handle the easiest level for now," he reassured me, setting up the game.

Curious about the game itself, Aizawa spoke up. "What's the game like?"

Dad hummed, raising his head to answer. "There are some horror themes, but nothing too scary. No jump scares, if you're wondering. However, if you care about the storyline, it definitely adds to the tension," he explained, finishing the setup on the easiest difficulty.

"That should do it. It'll take you about..." he glanced at his watch, "...about an hour to complete."

I glanced at Aizawa, concern evident in my eyes, as he put the VR helmet on. He seemed far less fazed than I was by the prospect of playing a potentially scary game.

"Since your screens are displayed on the TV, you can ask me for hints if you're struggling. Just keep in mind that I'll be grading your co-op skills, and the more hints you ask for, the more deductions you'll receive," Dad informed us, setting the expectations for the game.

The initial stages of the game were relatively simple, involving pulling levers, pushing buttons, and coordinating actions to progress. However, the true test of trust emerged when we encountered doors that would determine our path forward. One wrong choice led to witnessing horrifying scenes, making us question the reliability of the other's judgment.

"Are you sure door number 8 is the right one? That's what it shows on your side, correct?" I asked, still reeling from the shock of a previous door that had led us to a nightmarish laboratory filled with grotesque experiments.

"Yes, it clearly indicates door 8 as the correct option. All the other numbers are crossed out," Aizawa reassured me, trying to alleviate my apprehension.

With trepidation, I cautiously opened door number 8, closing my eyes in anticipation of a jump scare, despite my dad's assurance that there wouldn't be any. As I opened my eyes, relief washed over me, revealing an operating room with a curtain separating an operation table from a computer displaying security footage.

"Aizawa, is that you?" I asked, peering at the computer screen on my side. "I see you standing behind a counter in what appears to be a cafeteria. Are you in a cafeteria?"

"You can see me?" Aizawa responded, his player character looking directly at the nearest camera.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, a genuine sense of relief sweeping over me in the midst of the game's horrors.

"That could mean we might be able to meet each other soon," Aizawa remarked, his words providing a glimmer of hope. The thought of seeing him, even in a virtual world, filled me with warmth.

"What should I do now? There really isn't much to this room..." I said, scanning the eerie surroundings of the abandoned hospital, a chill running down my spine.

From the live footage on my screen, I could see Aizawa exploring his surroundings. "I'm not sure where to go from here either," he replied, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

As I scrutinized the security footage on my side, a tiny pixel caught my attention, indicating what seemed to be a door. "Try heading to the upper right of your current position. I think there might be something there," I suggested.

"Got it," Aizawa responded, and I watched his character move in the opposite direction.

"Hey! I said upper right!" I called out, perplexed by his movement.

"I am going to the upper right!" he retorted.

"That's the upper left!" I shouted back, frustration creeping into my voice.

"Huh?" he expressed, his tone reflecting confusion. It was then that he had an epiphany. "Look at my character on the screen and tell me where I'm going," he requested, causing my own confusion to deepen.

"You're going to the upper right..." I replied hesitantly.

Aizawa let out a sigh. "You're watching a mirrored footage," he explained, realization dawning upon me.

Dad's laughter resonated from behind us. "Good job, Aizawa," he praised, thoroughly enjoying our miscommunication as the game continued.

Later on, I found myself in a control room, surrounded by notes that provided guidance on what to do. Aizawa informed me that he was in a room with a broken bridge and needed to reach the other side or progress to the next level.

"What happens when I pull this lever?" I asked, curiosity piqued as I pulled the lever on my side.

"Nothing really..." Aizawa began to reply but then noticed something. "Wait, a moving platform just passed by me," he exclaimed.

Nodding, even though he couldn't see me, I quickly formulated a plan. "I'll pull the lever back, and you can take the opportunity to jump on the moving platform," I suggested, hearing Aizawa hum in agreement.

With our coordination, we successfully made it to the next level. However, a cautionary sign appeared on Aizawa's side, warning, 'Moving platforms lead to furnace.' This prompted Aizawa to ask a crucial question. "(F/N)-san, can you die in this game? And if so, what happens after?"

"Yep! If you die, the game restarts from the beginning," my dad chimed in, relishing in our trepidation.

"I-I don't want to restart!" I cried out, dreading the prospect of reliving the horrifying experiences.

"Then you better coordinate better," my dad teased, clearly finding amusement in our predicament.

"L-Let me test a few things, Aizawa. Tell me what happens on your side," I requested nervously, pulling multiple levers simultaneously.

"Several moving platforms just passed by me. I think if we time this correctly, I can parkour my way to the other side," Aizawa reported, his voice determined.

I hummed in understanding, determined to figure out a solution that would spare us from restarting the game.

"First lever!" I called out to Aizawa before pulling the lever, followed by the second one a few seconds later, creating a bridge for Aizawa's character to jump onto.

"C-crap!" I heard him shout in panic.

"What happened?" I asked with genuine concern.

"Wait... I thought...?" Aizawa's voice trailed off in confusion.

"What is it?" I inquired, wanting to understand the situation.

"I fell down. But instead of the game resetting, I just got teleported back to the other side of the bridge," Aizawa clarified, his tone still tinged with bewilderment.

As the realization hit me, frustration bubbled up. "Daaad!" I whined, hearing him chuckle at our expense.

After his laughter subsided, he informed us, "The game has save points," bringing a sense of relief to both Aizawa and me. "Sorry, I forgot our game was on the highest difficulty, we didn't have save points."

Back to the task at hand, I had to time pulling the levers for Aizawa to be able to move through the platforms, he had to trust that I knew what I was doing, and I had to trust that he knew what he was doing, it was rather intense despite being a simple puzzle game.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the end of the game. The tension that had built up throughout the experience dissipated, replaced by a surge of accomplishment and relief. With trembling hands, I removed the VR helmet, feeling the weight of the virtual world lift off my shoulders.

"How was it?" Dad asked, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he observed us.

I took a moment to catch my breath, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. "Intense," I replied, a mix of exhaustion and relief in my voice. "It was challenging, but we made it to the end."

Aizawa nodded in agreement, his expression reflecting a sense of weariness. "(Y/N) screaming was the highlight of it all." he said playfully as he turned to me.

My face turned red, my hand immediately covering my face, "I-it was scary okay?!" I exclaimed in defense as I heard him and my dad chuckling.

"Now, before I get on with my evaluation, ice cream, anyone?" Dad asks.

I took my hands off my face and nodded.

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luxwing · 2 years

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well most of their wester singleplayer ips, like all the eidos interactive ips like tomb raider and deus ex. Selling the rights to Deus Ex ip to fund NFT stuff seems cosmically comical

It's really going to be funny seeing how this is all gonna play out. I'm already seeing people side with Squeenix and agreeing that there's no future in single player games which is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard.

And they sold all these studios and IPs for 300 million dollars like???? They unloaded them for chump change. Embracer has been on a streak lately of picking up gaming devs that have a track record of single player games and I think they know what we've all been saying: games that are purely multiplayer, subscription based or reliant on microtransactions can't last. We're already seeing streaming services starting to crumble, live service gaming isn't far from the same fate. The further into late stage capitalism we get the less money people will have to spend on a cool hat for their catboy.

People are going back to wanting to save up money for single player games instead of wasting 5 bucks on lootboxes and RNG mechanics every week. I can only seeing this all playing out poorly for Squeenix and honestly?

Good.

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xtremeservers · 10 days

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Immersive sims are traditionally thought... https://www.xtremeservers.com/blog/deus-ex-director-says-future-of-immersive-sims-is-multiplayer/?feed_id=137041&_unique_id=6620593b5665b&Deus%20Ex%20Director%20Says%20Future%20Of%20Immersive%20Sims%20Is%20Multiplayer

#PC #immersive #Sims #traditionally

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jcmarchi · 1 month

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Knockout City Developer Velan Studios May Potentially Suffer Significant Layoffs

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/knockout-city-developer-velan-studios-may-potentially-suffer-significant-layoffs/

Knockout City Developer Velan Studios May Potentially Suffer Significant Layoffs

Velan Studios, the team behind Knockout City, has announced it is entering a reorganization that will likely result in layoffs.

In a post to X (formerly known as Twitter), the studio’s co-founders Guha and Karthik Bala revealed the team was working on a big project that an outside partner suddenly canceled. As a result, it might not be able to maintain its current team size; 46 out of 121 employees were given notice they may be laid off in the next 60 days.

“This is a rough environment for a lot of indie studios, and like them, we are faced with some very hard choices,” Velan writes in the post. Should the worst come, Velan states it will do its best to support affected staff members. You can read the full post below.

Velan Studios developed 2020’s Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit , 2021 dodgeball competitive multiplayer game, Knockout City, and 2023’s Hot Wheels Rift Rally. Knockout City, an EA Originals title, is perhaps the studio’s best-known title, which earned a generally positive reception and was supported through multiple seasons. Velan later transformed it into a free-to-play experience after ending its publishing relationship with EA. Unfortunately, the game would shut down roughly a year after this transition and only two years after launch.

These potential job cuts join a string of other disheartening 2024 layoffs, which now total more than 8,000 in just the first two months of the year. EA laid off roughly 670 employees across all departments, resulting in the cancellation of Respawn’s Star Wars FPS game. PlayStation laid off 900 employees across Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, and more, closing down London Studio in the process, too. The day before, Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games announced it laid off 90 employees.

At the end of January, we learned Embracer Group had canceled a new Deus Ex game in development at Eidos-Montréal and laid off 97 employees in the process. Also in January, Destroy All Humans remake developer Black Forest Games reportedly laid off 50 employees and Microsoft announced it was laying off 1,900 employees across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax teams, as well. Outriders studio People Can Fly laid off more than 30 employees in January, and League of Legends company Riot Games laid off 530 employees.

Lords of the Fallen Publisher CI Games laid off 10 percent of its staff, Unity will lay off 1,800 people by the end of March, and Twitch laid off 500 employees.

We also learned that Discord had laid off 170 employees, that layoffs happened at PTW, a support studio that’s worked with companies like Blizzard and Capcom, and that SteamWorld Build company, Thunderful Group, let go of roughly 100 people. Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive also reportedly laid off 45 people, too.

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frogcass · 7 months

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🐸STREAM SCHEDULE🤖

MON: FC Denton is hacking every ATM in Hong Kong in DEUS EX

WED: Going ape shit in SAINTS ROW (2022)

FRI: I brave the scrunglers to get the true ending of FAITH

SAT: CURSED HALO Multiplayer Commmunity Night!

#Deus Ex #saints row #faith (game)#cursed halo #halo #vtuber

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first-impressions-gaming · 8 months

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GAMING RECAP (AUGUST 12-18)

The Xbox 360 Store Is Shutting Down Next Year

Today, an announcement on Xbox Wire revealed that the Xbox 360 store will be shutting down on July 29, 2024. This means you will no longer be able to purchase games or DLC on the console, and the Microsoft Movies & TV app will stop working altogether.

NetEase has announced a new studio led by MMO veteran Rich Vogel

NetEase Games has announced the formation of a new studio led by MMO veteran Rich Vogel.

Austin, Texas based T-Minus Zero Entertainment was founded in May 2023 by studio head Vogel and fellow developers Mark Tucker, Scott Malone and Jeff Dobson.

It’s currently working on an original third-person multiplayer action game set in a sci-fi universe.

Modern Warfare 3 could feature all of MW2 2009’s multiplayer maps

The game may feature remastered versions of all 16 of the multiplayer maps included with Modern Warfare 2 (2009) at launch, plus the return of Zombies mode.

As reported by CharlieIntel and ModerWarzone, Activision is teasing the multiplayer maps and Zombies mode via a mobile phone-based marketing campaign.

If accurate, it means Modern Warfare 3 will include the following multiplayer maps: Afghan, Derail, Estate, Favela, Highrise, Invasion, Karachi, Quarry, Rundown, Rust, Scrapyard, Skidrow, Sub Base, Terminal, Underpass and Wasteland.

Embracer's collapsed $2bn "major strategic partnership" was reportedly with Saudi Arabia funded Savvy Games

A new report from Axios has shed fresh light on Embracer Group's mysterious $2bn "major strategic partnership" which collapsed spectacularly back in May, causing its shares to drop by 40 percent and sending the company into cost-cutting mode.

At the time, Embracer - the enormous umbrella corporation which owns more than 100 studios including Borderlands developer Gearbox, publishing groups such as THQ Nordic, Koch Media and Saber Interactive, and franchises such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex - explained it had reached a verbal commitment in October 2022 that would have resulted in more than $2bn "in contracted development revenue over a period of six years." However, at the 11th hour, Embracer said it "received a negative outcome from the counterparty".

While Embracer declined to confirm who its proposed partner was at the time of its announcement, a new report from Axios, citing "four sources familiar with the deal", claims it was the Saudi government-funded Savvy Games Group, the gaming-focused arm of the Saudi investment fund set up by the hugely controversial Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Axios says the proposed deal would have seen $2bn being invested in the development and publishing of games from Embracer, but adds its sources were "less certain about why Savvy walked away".

Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Sea of Stars, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Gris, and Firewatch

Also games below are leaving on August 31:

Black Desert (Cloud and Console)

Commandos 3 – HD Remaster (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Immortality (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Nuclear Throne (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Surgeon Simulator 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Tinykin (Cloud, Console, and PC)

#games #gaming #xbox #playstation #nintendo #gaming news

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iloveabunchofgames · 1 year

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Week In Review - 3/12/23

#JakeReviewsItch Week In Review Archives

This week's reviews:

🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍 Alien Life Lab 🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍 All Haze Eve 🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍 All You Can Eat 🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍 Alone With You 🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍 Alt-Frequencies 🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍 Ambidangerous 🧡🧡🧡🤍🤍 Amelie

It's a week of messes! Steam is a mess! I am a mess! Even the Game of the Week is a mess!

Game of the Week

All You Can Eat is easily the best game I reviewed this week. Alt-Frequencies is the clear runner-up. Game of the Week, however, is a title that goes to the game that's still occupying my brain after the fact...

At the end of my Alien Life Lab review, I said it had a New Game+/Second Quest thing. I think I was wrong. I thought the game was telling me to play again, but this time there would be three aliens who would need to be rescued along the way. In reality, I think this secondary objective had been there from the start, and I just didn't notice. So I played it a second time. I talked to every space person I saw, some of whom followed me. I finished, and found that I'd only rescued 1/3. Rats. I'll probably never see the good ending, and that's okay. Each time I loaded the game, I thought, "I overrated this, right? It's sort of trash, isn't it? Do I like it ironically? And every time, I got sucked right back in to it. I like it more now than when I reviewed it. I like it as much or more than I like the turn-of-the-millennium shooters and immersive sims that it recalls—System Shock 2, Half-Life, Deus Ex...

It is a mess. It's easy to articulate its faults. There's just something about how thoroughly weird and unpretentious it is, though, and even after beating it twice in a week, it still rattles me. It pulls off jump scares just as well in open, brightly lit arenas as it does in darkened, twisting paths lined with squishy, organic matter. Oh, yes, the audio design. That's the real source of dread. Again, All You Can Eat is the game to play this week. It's currently the third-best reviewed game on this site. It pushes the adventure game genre in such an exciting direction that half of my review was just the repeated word, "Genius!" Alt-Frequencies is the most mainstream pick of the bunch, and not because it lacks fresh ideas and idiosyncrasies. It's currently the fourth-best reviewed game on this site. I have another game from Accidental Queens on the review docket for the week after next, and I am jazzed. That studio hasn't missed yet.

Alien Life Lab is stupid and weird. I can't stop thinking about it.

Steam Is Hot Air

Do you remember 2003? Do you remember Valve requiring some big, annoying launcher service for anyone who wanted to play Half-Life 2? If you don't, let me tell you: A lot of people wanted to play Half-Life 2, and a lot of them were not happy about downloading this "Steam" thing. They wanted you to check in online every time you launched a game???

I'd hoped to illustrate the vitriol with contemporary examples. Forum posts, IGN editorials; that kind of thing. Unfortunately, the best archival records I could find come from the creeps at Penny-Arcade. These guys are awful, and I'd rather not link to their site, but they had their finger on the pulse when it came to petty grievances. They were influencers. When Jerry "Tycho" Holkins wrote about being scared of a computer asking for credit card information or about local-multiplayer enthusiasts feeling infuriated because they couldn't connect to Steam from their local LAN café, he was capturing the whiny, online zeitgeist. I didn't have high-speed Internet or a computer capable of running Half-Life 2 in 2003, so that particular controversy didn't occupy much space on my radar. I do remember the first time I played Half-Life 2 at a friend's house. Launching the game seemed like a process, accompanied by a halfhearted rant from my friend that was aimed equally at Steam and the idiots who acted like this mildly obtrusive application was tantamount to a war crime. Let me jump forward and ask: What exactly was the Epic Games Store hullabaloo? Or maybe that should be is; not was. I still see people taking up arms over...something. There are a million valid reason to dislike and distrust Epic as a company, but as far as I can gather, the crusaders are angry that a big corporation threw around a lot of money to complete with another big corporation? I'm generally against impossibly wealthy corporations reshaping the world to their liking, but look consider how pathetic and unnecessary Ubisoft's and Electronic Arts' launchers are. Even with Epic snagging a exclusives and timed exclusives, have they made any kind of dent in Steam's monopoly? Let's talk about the danger of consolidated power.

I've mentioned before that when I play PC games, I use my third-party Switch Pro Controller whenever possible. It feels good. It was dirt cheap. It works for me. Or it did work for me, until a few months ago. Most modern games are prepared to encounter an Xbox controller. PlayStation controller support is not uncommon. Native Switch controller support, though? Forget it. In a recent update, Steam added full, official support for Steam controllers of all kinds...but not my controller. What had happily been accepted as a Switch Pro Controller one day was read as an Xbox controller the next. The Screen Capture Button that had never had any issues no longer does anything, because an Xbox 360 controller doesn't have that button, and apparently that's what I'm using. I lost rumble support on some games. The little surprises never end. And because Steam has historically been the PC's best bet for controller support, other launchers don't offer any competitive options. Go to any Reddit thread where people want to know how to make their controller work, and 9/10 replies are the same thing: Steam Big Picture Mode.

This is the most dramatic update in 20 years of Steam, and Valve just seems to be sinking deeper into the muck each day. If you haven't personally noticed any issues, look no further than the patch notes for proof that everything's in shambles, all the time. I encountered a bug where Big Picture Mode would make a sound like it was launching, and then it would just show my desktop. I found some suggestions online and got things working. Then, in the next update, they broke it all over again.

When it works, I don't have much beef with Steam. I prefer it to the old days of games installing wherever they pleased. I like that having an account that allows me to maintain my game library indefinitely, no matter how many times I replace my computer. Steam has been good to me.

But the naysayers were onto something. Digital Rights Management is only as good or as bad as the rights-holder chooses to be, and we all know how trustworthy and stable corporations are.

My Itch library may consist of "DRM-free" applications, but I'm depending on Itch to keep up its end. If the company folded tomorrow, there's no way I could download and back-up all my games.

I own games through GOG, Ubisoft, and Rockstar. Their launchers are fine, but I'm not comfortable making additional purchases on any service run by companies that (aLlEgEdLy) cover up systemic harassment and abuse. I have handfuls of games tied to this account or that. I'd obviously prefer to have them all in one place, but who can you trust? Can you ever really trust anyone?

Steam is still the best option. It's only real option, which is to say, we don't have options. It's working so far. Except when it's not. Can't wait to see what they break with the next patch.

Jake Reviews #JakeReviewsTwitch

Take a look at the tiny blue text at the bottom of this post. It appears on almost everything I post. But today, it's different. Today, it says, "#JakeReviewsItch" for the first time. I'm in my third month of posting at least once a day, and this is the first time I've noticed that my template has had a ridiculous typo all along. I remember writing "Twitch" when I meant "Itch" on the first day. I corrected it. It's something I've written and corrected many more times since then. I probably should have known to double check for it in my template as soon as I started using a template. I probably did. I probably deleted "Twitch" and wrote "Twitch" in its place. I've made changes to my format little by little since I started. Every day, I think, "I should shake it up. Question everything I'm doing. Tear it down and build something new. I should give scores out of 10, rather than five. Some of these 4/5s should be 3/5s, and some of these 3/5s should be 1/5; better adjust the whole scale. Tumblr isn't the right place for these reviews, anyway. How hard would it be to transfer to another site? And when am I going to write a post about everything wrong with my page?" Maybe it would be easier if I just committed to reviewing every single stream on Twitch

#JakeReviewsItch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews…

• By name • By rating • By genre

#JakeReviewsItch #JakeDoesntReviewTwitch #All You Can Eat #Alt-Frequencies #Alien Life Lab #Week In Review #Indie Games #Computer Games #Video Games #Steam #Valve #Big Picture Mode #Epic Games #Epic Games Store #GOG #Ubisoft Connect #Itch.io

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houstonbjerre11 · 1 year

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There will be an Appeals Process

The new system lets players send chat messages to multiplayer games However, the community is concerned about the consequences.

A Mojang community manager has stated that Mojang will not be reversing the implementation of a controversial new player reporting feature, and called for an end to harassment of Mojang employees.

MojangMeesh has posted on Reddit to clarify that while the company is committed to valuing feedback from players, it isn't going to alter the design principles Mojang Studios follows-this includes the forthcoming report system. They asked users to stop "following Mojang employees here on Reddit" and to not harass them in irrelevant threads. At the time of writing, the comment had received almost 2000 downvotes.

Minecraft players have been up in arms about the new player reporting system since it was announced a month ago, but it was finally implemented as part of yesterday's 1.19.1 update. It allows players on both private and Mojang-hosted servers to report inappropriate messages in chat for review by Mojang investigators, which could result in suspensions and bans for players who violate Minecraft's guidelines for community members, even on self-hosted servers. Some players are concerned that the system could lead to bans on players for messages that were taken out of context, and more generally, it gives Microsoft too many powers to control the content on its platform.

Even though some players may be acting out in a negative way about it, I don't think their argument is unfounded. It's difficult to imagine the world in which this system doesn't ban someone because a joke between friends got wrongly understood. There is an appeals procedure however it's also the case that there are a lot of misconceptions about how the system works. Scroll through any thread about the subject and it won't take long before you find someone complaining about having their private server's chat monitored by Microsoft or worried that they'll be banned for cursing. Neither of these are feasible according to Mojang's FAQ regarding the reporting system.

Mojang is in a bit of a bind on this one. A thread from Stuart Duncan-who is the administrator of a Minecraft server for children with autism-reveals the awful things Minecraft plays host to on a regular basis. Duncan presents studies and reports from the ADL, the BBC, and others that recount the stories of predators and racists playing Minecraft in a way that is abominable. Offering tools to combat this kind of behavior is crucial. While it's true that 'think of the children" and other scary stories are often used to justify reactionary policies in real life the tool that lets players report suspicious chat messages in Minecraft isn't the tip of a draconian wedge.

Please stop trying to speak for everyone when you say "no one has asked for this" or "the entire community hates it" or "no one needs this. "If you're worried about the potential for exploits, that's great. You too can be. It's not perfect however, real people can be saved by it. July 27, 2022

In other Minecraft news, Mojang has declared that the game wouldn't include NFTs since they are incompatible with the "values of inclusion in the creative process". It's true that the move was able to get enthusiastic support from the playerbase however there's no word yet on what the AI they've created to play Minecraft thinks about it.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was far too young to be playing that and he's been game-focused ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice and Fanbyte as well as the Financial Times. He's a fan of almost anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's creed. His deepest affections are CRPGs, absorbing simulations, and games that's ambition is greater than its budget. He believes you're all too mean about Deus Ex. tcl online

#Tcl online #tclonline

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tekkiri9 · 1 year

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What's a good starting place for Unreal? I thought it was just a tourney game but it's got plot apparently? Does the lore match up to Deus-Ex or is it better as a competitive sport?

Yeah, Unreal has its own share of lore, and, while yeah I'd say it works better as a multiplayer compet game- it's actually pretty awesome- That said, it's not up there with Deus Ex in terms of depth (assuming i understood what you were asking lol), but that's not to downplay it either, it's actually pretty enjoyable, and it's cool to see certain returning characters, though there's a caveat now;

Epic has delisted all of the Unreal series games from digital storefronts as of the 14th of december, so you can't "officially" GET them anymore, I'm thinking of doing something about that, though

If you manage to get your hands on any of the games now, via whatever means- I'd say start with the original! (Unreal, or Unreal Gold, which also adds its expansion pack) it's a window into the landscape at the time, and it's full of awesome levels and lore-bits for the people who like their story told to them via reading (no voice acting)

If that tickled your fancy, try Unreal 2, another singleplayer focused game while, not held in as high regard as other titles, still comes with its own experience that I'd say shouldn't be avoided

The "Tournament" games have a lot LESS lore in that it's just that-- online focused multiplayer where you kill or get killed, you could type out their lore in a paragraph or two, but the switch there is that they're FULL of expressive and interesting characters, some who make multiple appearances but that's shhhh

TL;DR -- If you want lore, Unreal Gold + Unreal 2, other than that, yeah, it works better as a multiplayer series, and it's sad to see it go

#Unreal #Lore #ramblings

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cola-canine · 1 year

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Laser trip mines are usually terrible in FPS games and practically useless in a single player campaign. They really only serve as a multiplayer gimmick.

I never once used the trip mines in Half-Life or Duke Nukem 3D. I maybe used them once or twice in Jedi Outcast/Academy but that was more so "I know enemies are coming because I've played this a million times."

It's one thing if you're fighting against AI that's supposed to be clueless, like a zombie, but if it's something like the HECU in HL1, they usually just avoid it and hunker down. Never had them walk into one, even the aliens.

If you're looking for an alternate explosive to grenades, always go with the detonation charge packs or proximity mines. Half-Life's satchel charges are so satisfying to use - ESPECIALLY Black Mesa's. Outcast/Academy's det packs are good damage wise but have a very short toss range and it takes a couple seconds to remotely detonate them. Battlefield: Bad Company's satchel charges are just mobile tank busters.

I don't think I ever used the satchel charged in New Vegas, but I used the mines a lot for Fallout in general. Again, more clueless AI but they're quiet and not as visible, so it makes sense. I did use all types of proximity mines in Deus Ex - you practically have to for any stealth runs.

Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront I and II, let tell you for the longest time I thought mines were useless and it was always the det packs that got the job done. Oh, how I was wrong. The AI in the game favors filling in vehicles and turrets, right? The moment they see an empty spot, they will b-line it to occupy whatever it is. PERFECT trap spot.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I should rank my favorite throwable game explosives one of these days.

#fps rants #long post #I could definitely do a Scott the Woz-style video on mines in games

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lomocorporate · 2 years

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Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style

Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style how to#

Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style series#

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013, PS3/Xbox 360/PC/Mac) At that point, Mario’s got to be asking himself if Princess Peach is even worth the effort she’ll probably just go and get herself kidnapped again in five minutes anyway. Then the boss needs to be tossed into a bomb with unholy precision. While Bowser spits fire, the player then has to grab his tail and spin him around with the N64 controller’s joystick like it’s some kind of Mario Party minigame. The confrontation takes place high in the sky, and the battlefield literally breaks apart, sending Mario plummeting to his doom if he’s not careful. There are a couple of Bowser fights before the game’s climax, but the third Bowser is the biggie.

Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style series#

Super Mario 64 changed up the classic series formula by giving Mario a 3-D world for the first time ever, but despite the gameplay changes, one thing was the same: Bowser was a jerk. It’s a tale as old as time: plumber meets demonic turtle, demonic turtle kidnaps plumber’s girlfriend, plumber defeats demonic turtle. Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo 64/Wii/DS) It’s not something you easily forget.Įdited by: Mike Rougeau Essay by: Joshua Rivera List contributors: Brian Feldman, Stefanie Fogel, Phil Hornshaw, Sarah LeBouef, Julie Muncy, Max Read, Joshua Rivera, Jake Swearingen, Kaitlin Tremblay A good boss encounter elevates the game it’s in. Most important, however, was how vividly they lingered in our minds. Assembled by a committee of gaming journalists with various tastes, our rank factored in each enemy’s overall difficulty, the novelty of their fight mechanics, and their influence on subsequent games. That goes most for these 100 bosses, who have been providing gamers with shared war stories for more than 30 years. Bison or Psycho Mantis or Atheon, they’ve all served as finish lines, final examinations, and feats of collaboration. In a medium where individual experiences can now vary greatly - no two people play Minecraft the same way, nor do any two games of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds even remotely resemble one another - bosses remain a common experience, cultural touchstones for entire generations of games and the people who play them. What this big-bad revival reminds us is that we’re better off with bosses in our gaming lives. And there’s Destiny, a series that brought bosses back in a big way by borrowing ideas from massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft, making them nigh-insurmountable challenges that required teamwork from a large group of players. Runaway sleeper hits like Shovel Knight and Hyper Light Drifter nakedly emulated and updated 8- and 16-bit sensibilities, where challenging levels were par for the course and boss fights took center stage. Souls and its sequels/spinoffs inspired countless imitators, like Lords of the Fallen and this year’s Nioh, to such an extent that ‘ Souls-like’ is now a genre descriptor. Demon’s Souls had already embraced the opaque design and challenges of classic games, adding names like Ornstein and Smough to the wince-inducing canon of legendary video-game big bads. Then a wave of nostalgia brought the boss back. Open-world and online games flourished, player choice became paramount, and boss fights in games that felt otherwise wide open - like the notoriously underwhelming boss confrontations in otherwise acclaimed games such as Bioshock or Deus Ex: Human Revolution - ended up feeling like dead weight. Bosses were effectively bottlenecks at a time where games were expanding. Until somewhat recently, it seemed as if the concept of the video-game boss was on its last legs. It’s both Destiny 2’s biggest challenge and mystery, and for the past week the game’s community of players has been racing to square off with Leviathan’s mysterious boss, six people at a time.

Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style how to#

That’s the name of the game’s marquee Raid, a massive, sprawling level that explains almost nothing about how to beat it, and requires teamwork among six players to solve its riddles and take down whatever boss lies at the end. Last week, Destiny 2, a highly anticipated online shooter that’s best played with friends, raised the curtain on a mystery it had been teasing for weeks leading up to the game’s early September release: the Leviathan.

#Enchanted portals ripoff bosses gameplay moves art style

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guysgreys · 2 years

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Supreme commander games

#SUPREME COMMANDER GAMES UPGRADE#

Experimental units - returning with new designs and greatly enhanced looks….and some new tricks that can be unlocked through research.

Each of the three diverse factions – The United Earth Federation (UEF), the Cybran Nation and the Illuminate – have been completely redesigned from the original game, with many units.

Command enormous armies made up of customizable land, air and naval units.

The single player campaign features three character-driven storylines set 25 years after the events of Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

A deep and powerful story - element adds a personal, human aspect to a storyline previously focused on warring factions and the politics that fuel them.

Take the role of one of the three enigmatic commanders, each representing a unique faction with a rich story that brings a new level of emotional connection to the RTS genre, or fight the battle online. In Supreme Commander 2, players will experience brutal battles on a massive scale! Players will wage war by creating enormous customizable armies and experimental war machines that can change the balance of power at any given moment.

#SUPREME COMMANDER GAMES UPGRADE#

Includes 109 items: Battlestations: Midway, Just Cause, Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Tomb Raider: Legend, Project: Snowblind, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Conflict: Denied Ops, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Mini Ninjas, Order of War™, Flora's Fruit Farm, Supreme Commander 2, Just Cause 2, JC2 DLC: Black Market Aerial Pack, Just Cause 2 - Black Market 'Boom' Pack DLC, JC2 DLC - Bull's Eye Assault Rifle, JC2 DLC - Chevalier Classic, JC2 DLC - Agency Hovercraft, Just Cause 2 DLC - Monster Truck, Kane & Lynch 2 DLC - Doggie Bag, Kane & Lynch 2 DLC - Alliance Weapon Pack, Kane & Lynch 2 DLC - Multiplayer Masks Pack, Lara Croft GoL: Raziel and Kain Character Pack, Lara Croft GoL: All the Trappings - Challenge Pack 1, Lara Croft GoL: Things that Go Boom - Challenge Pack 2, Lara Croft GoL: Hazardous Reunion - Challenge Pack 3, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Dungeon Siege III, Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun, Conflict Desert Storm, Thief Gold, Thief II: The Metal Age, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, Tomb Raider I, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III, Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider V: Chronicles, Tomb Raider VI: Angel of Darkness, Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider: Fisherman, Tomb Raider: Scavenger Bandit, Tomb Raider: Scavenger Scout, Tomb Raider: Pistol Burst, Tomb Raider: Pistol Silencer, Tomb Raider: Hunter Skin, Tomb Raider: Aviatrix Skin, Tomb Raider: Guerilla Skin, Tomb Raider: Shanty Town, Tomb Raider: Tomb of Lost Adventurer, Tomb Raider: Animal Instinct, Tomb Raider: Headshot Reticle, Tomb Raider: Agility Skill, Tomb Raider 1939 Multiplayer Map Pack, Tomb Raider: Caves and Cliffs Multiplayer Map Pack, Tomb Raider: Mountaineer Skin, Tomb Raider: Sure-Shot Skin, Tomb Raider: Demolition Skin, Tomb Raider: Shipwrecked Multiplayer Map Pack, Dungeon Siege II, Dungeon Siege, Tomb Raider: Scavenger Executioner, Anachronox, Pandemonium, Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain, Daikatana, Deathtrap Dungeon, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Thief: The Bank Heist, Thief DLC: Challenge Map, Thief DLC: Opportunist, Thief DLC: Predator, Thief DLC: Ghost, Thief, Deus Ex: The Fall, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris - Deus Ex Pack, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris - Legend Pack, Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5), Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris - Season Pass Only, Kane and Lynch 2 - Dog Days, Just Cause 3 - Combat Buggy, Just Cause 3 - Mini-Gun Racing Boat, Just Cause 3 - Rocket Launcher Sports Car, Just Cause 3 - Final Argument Sniper Rifle, Just Cause 3 - Capstone Bloodhound RPG, Just Cause™ 3 DLC: Mech Land Assault Pack, Just Cause 3 DLC: Sky Fortress Pack, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - System Rift, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - A Criminal Past, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™ DLC - Assault Pack, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™ DLC - Tactical Pack, Just Cause 3, Hitman GO, Rise of the Tomb Raider - Season Pass, Just Cause™ 3 DLC: Kousavá Rifle, Just Cause™ 3 DLC: Bavarium Sea Heist Pack, Just Cause™ 3 DLC: Reaper Missile Mech, The Turing Test, The Turing Test - Upgrade Pack, Lara Croft GO, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, JC2 DLC - Rico's Signature Gun

#Supreme commander games

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