Duck and Cover

Thoroughly enjoying Dead State I'm about 30-ish days into the game. I don't know how I'm able to complete a few missions. Like where I go investigate at other shelters and report back to Vic, I've taken him with me to all of those places but there's no dialog options to complete it. Dunno, seems like the game is still kind of buggy.

That said I really like the RPG mechanics in this over WL2's. Something about this game has a little more charm.

Yeah, I'm definitely enjoying it much more than WL2. I played as far as day 26, and after realising Vic was going to keep suggesting a trip to Coleman each morning, despite having already investigated Coleman, I think I'm probably going to shelve the game for a few weeks, maybe a moth or two, until these issues are resolved.

Other fun things I've encountered :

NPCs requesting upgrades that have already been built.
NPCs referencing characters who have not been introduced.
Various side missions not being resolved in the log.
Certain conversations (mostly Vic's, apparently) not triggering.
Disappearing car.
Some crashes that seem to be contingent upon the use of landmines.
Being admonished for killing people who were doing their absolute best to kill me by the one man in the shelter who outright refuses to take up arms in the defense of his compatriots, of all people. You could easily bolt a couple of assault rifles to that wheelchair, Davis. Dead Rising wouldn't lie to me, would it ?

Which has lead to the mildly irritating situation where I am reluctant to explore new locations on the off chance that in doing so I will break future plot.

But I've been able to shoot people with a compound bow, and axe others in the face, and steal everything, and invite murderous sociopaths into the group, and be a complete arsehole to virtually everyone, all the time, so it's fairly balanced, really.

Bloody cool game, even with the bugs. It has character in abundance, unlike WL2. Glad I backed it, and glad I have a significant backlog of games to distract myself with while I wait for it to be further polished.

It's probably for lack of play time but you're both underselling just how broken this thing is. It's somewhat disturbing when you're allowed whatever dev time you want and deliver something like this. I mean, it's bad enough that it looks like something from 10 years ago and that it's repetitive* as fuck but come on...

*
-blow to the back of the head
-click the corpse
-take all
-click the dumpster
-take all
-blow to the back of the head
-click the briefcase
-take all
-click the bed
-take all
-dump your shit on Getz (WHERE'S THE SELECT ALL BUTTON??)
-blow to the back of the head
-...

Except I haven't yet been able to put it down. Even after shit that'd test the patience of the Christ. Burning companions that can't be put out, maps on perma-combat mode, quests that don't end, cars that don't exist, walls you can walk through, npcs that glide/stumblewalk, endgames that don't show up, encounters that cause CTDs, whiskey that never appears on the base inventory (for fuck's sake, not the whiskey! Take the fucking bourbon instead), people permanently relocating from their palace guard spots into the infirmary upon healing -or people doing fuck all the whole time you're in base camp (one of the pictures of the game from years ago showed a character pretending to cook, where's that gone?), cornstalks that drag the FPS down to single digits, refrigerator repairs that turn into wood fence-building AFTER you have a stone fence, THE STAIRWAYS!!! THE FUCKING NPC-TELEPORTING, CAMERA-RESETTING STAIRS!!!!!!, and lots and lots more.

Maybe I'm turning into my dad but there's some addictive quality to the serene, mindless repetition of it all. Like playing Solitaire for 45 straight minutes, except lulled by a really unassuming but mindful ost. A shame that the best tracks (Map, Ambush, Combat in baddie bases) are the ones you get to listen to least of all.

A word about the quality of the world building. Granted there are some interiors that you'll see repeated on multiple maps (like fast food joints, but then again, why wouldn't those?) but most look and feel unique and manage to tell their own story. It's a really under-appreciated factor in games that DS reminds us is a lot more valuable that graphical bling that's as simple as putting an aircon in an otherwise unremarkable windowsill or an overturned table next to a pool of blood or even a writing on the side of a house that you won't see repeated on any other map. You can tell labour went into these. Also worthy of note are non-quest maps that have more direct tales of their own, few and far between as they may be, like one in a supermarket where you find a unique katana (which is well worth the shock ending).

So yeah. Leave this one be for a couple of months because, like its forefathers, it's a mess at launch but it deserves to be played. If, unlike me, you can. And if being a mess at launch is indicative of anything, this is probably one of the games most worth your while in a long time.

I would call it a shame that it appears to have had a shit time "at the box office" but with a subject that's even more passé than heroin (#WEIRDREFERENCES), a playable alpha/beta/gamma/whatever version that only serves to deny the game its own launch momentum and in its unfinished state, it's something that the devs really brought on themselves. Live and learn, Mitsodas.


So, how's everyone? Family good? Pets? Gimps? Fuses? Fan-tastic.

Also, Joel's a twat.

Also also, Wasteland 2 has the privilege of being the first game I've ever played where turning the music off effectively doubled my FPS count.
I don't get it. The game, not the shitty engine. Don't know what it is about it but it has no charm. No soul. Eh. I'll retry it eventually.

UNFINISHED STATE

I . . . I wish I could disagree. If only they'd gone with vampires, then they'd have free, modder maintained patches for eternity. Though we'd then have to contend with the unique katana being moved around with each new version . . .

Ehue.

Blargh wrote:vampires

No need. If I know my germans, there's probably one hard at work modding in torture and pedophilia. "Zat bazement can be put zo good use" and all...
That should be enough to garner cult status from the dwellers of the world.
And it should spare us from more of this:



And if you don't know what that is, you're sparing yourself from the most cringe-inducing unintentional comedy in the history of <strike>gaming</strike> modding. Fucking golden.

It's one of Tessera's, obviously, there's no way she's wearing pants of any sort. I'd ask you to leave that a mystery, but it's a certainty when that particular histrionic cretin is involved. Either way, it's a fine example of why reskins, modding, and modding generated drama, are often hilarious.

It just occured to me how fucking ridiculous it is that the shelter occupants adamantly refuse to work beyond 8pm. Also, the complete absence of assigning night watch duties. Nevermind that the fence might be down, nevermind the zombies or the bandits who, upon gaining access to the school, I suspect, would descend into a violent argument to determine the exact order in which to rape, kill and eat their victims. Why not permit it with a morale penalty ? It would make sense, as I've yet to encounter a survivor who isn't, ultimately, a self-absorbed shite.

I'm sure there's a clinical neurological term for such an obvious and perplexing detail remaining un-noticed - ah yes, selective daftism.

I would welcome the option to summarily eject/execute problematic NPCs, for little, or even better, no reason.

I have to disagree when it comes to Wasteland 2. I found it very enjoyable when I had the inclination to play it. I do have to warn folks that it will absolutely monopolize your memory when you have it running. For a game of its graphical quality, I'm puzzled as to what the memory is being used for.

I can understand people not enjoying it, but I would encourage fallout fans to at least try it out. You want at least 4 gigs of ram though before even bothering.

For history's sake or maybe because of some weird sense of loyalty, I figure I ought to give it another go. Thing is I haven't had the inclination to play it at all. Last month it was between it and grorious nippon Silent Storm and... Put it this way, I've no idea what happens once you finish mopping up the lettuce zombies but I can tell you what happens when you train Snipers up to level 16 (Marina happens). And now it's the same with DS.

Blargh wrote: she

That's a bold assumption. Ehue.

And no, there's no reason for no nightly activites. Except characters getting tired and remaining tired for the rest of your game. Have I mentioned the [also, edible] delicious bugs? Hmmm, crunchy.

And and you actually can. You should know that, Clotilde. Mitsoda has pedigree, if nothing else.

For a moment, I thought this was atoga.

Nah. More like atutu. Except with a bigger knob.



Hue.

I've started Far Cry the Third this week. I've only done a few missions but generally have been going around the islands being a dick to pirates by teasing them towards tigers. Now I've started doing the missions again though I'm not sure if I could play through the whole thing. I can't tell if the story is meant to be 'commentary' about Western people going on holiday and being awful or is meant to be played straight. As I've mostly been blowing up outposts or whatever I have it in my head I'm more like the morose idiot from Far Cry 2, though now I've started to talk to people I realise I'm more like Bart Simpson. I'll see how the plot develops but if it goes along the path of 'YOU'RE JUST LIKE ME...IN FACT I AM YOU' or 'lol this is all a vacation your rich uncle paid for now you're the king of exotic butts' I'll probably experience severe facial decay.

I suggest you stock up on secondary faces, Yolanda.

And maybe consider Ziggy's mod. Or just playing 4 instead.

There was a story in Far Cry 3 that tried to say something? I had the feeling the game was just about running around with guns and blowing people up, wasn't it? Of course it gets boring before you finish the game.

The more realistic a game becomes the more boring it is. I've been feeling incredibly isolated whilst playing Far Cry 3 as the only way I can interact with the world around me is by shooting at it. For true realism it would take hours to walk across a jungle before coming across pirates who laugh as they punch you to death. A gritty banality should be the prime goal of every game that strives for some kind of realism whilst conveying a message about the reality in which it is simulating which influences culture and culture influencing the society in which the game then goes on to parody in an even more real-life setting in which you play as a person talking to robots trying to sell you golf clubs. The best selling game in the future will be an entire replica of the internet as it was in the year 2000.

I've been dabbling with The Honourable Mr. Scott Morrison's vision for Australian social and welfare reform. It's quite entertaining.

I suspect the announcement of the rejuvenated Australian space program will be along promptly.

Um, yeah. Finally got around to playing it.
I like it. Haven't encountered any awful hugs just yet, but I guess I will.

Well worth founding, but I can't find any brothrels.

Mismatch wrote:Um, yeah. Finally got around to playing it.
I like it. Haven't encountered any awful hugs just yet, but I guess I will.

Well worth founding, but I can't find any brothrels.

What game? The australian weird thingy?

Naah, I'm still a few posts back. Discussing Dead state. Weird that it quickly gets too grindy and repetitive but I still have a hard time putting it down.

It could certainly be improved, but the foundation is a stable one I guess.

The very eastern-european This War Of Mine.

It's Dead State by way of Stalker whilst looking like Deadlight; that is, minus the zombies, pseudo-giants and radiation but with just as much vodka, canned meat and hooded cunts. A turbo-depressimistic joint for the sort of people who hate "fun" in their computer games. So, presumably, not to be played by children supported by War Child.