Gaming

With the success of massive RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 that actually offer player choice again, Peterson is excited to release his game to an audience that does want more again. After a rough period of RPGs where player choice and ingenuity were watered down, there’s now a hunger for more branching paths and player freedom.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/21410303

This game is so fucking good! It's a simple formula but so effective and addictive.

Anyways, I finished the game with every character. I found all of them fun except Ayumi, I'm just not a fan of her traps. Even Yamada is manageable once you get used to his playstyle.

The strongest one is definitely Raizo. He requires some skill from you yet it's really worth it! My current best time was gotten with him:

I guess now I need to consider getting a cherry.....

Until now I used OpenTrack with my DIY IR tracker or the Neuralnet tracker. I knew that my XR glasses feature IMU data though and the xr_driver of the Breezy Desktop project allows to access the data via IPC on Linux PC. So I did what Linux user do: I wrote a script to access the IMU data and forwarded it via UDP to OpenTrack:

Pick your poison to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njuumLUvqrM / https://makertube.net/w/2bNyxJhdyydTeFq17onikv

This reminded me that I also wrote a proof of concept to implement the FaceTrackNoIR (or OpenTrack) protocol into FreeSpace 2 Open on Linux PC ( https://makertube.net/w/7VtfAjW7EiAUS5aiPwG7if ) so I gave it a spin to test the data bridge. That was smooth sailing!

The mod is Diaspora: Shattered Armistice, still awesome today: http://diaspora.hard-light.net/ (Warning: This may fuel a desire to re-watch the BSG series again 😀).

The bridge code can be found at https://github.com/bekopharm/xr_to_opentrack (pending changes).

It works with the Breezy GNOME xr_driver: https://github.com/wheaney/breezy-desktop (but the Vulkan one works probably too but that’s untested). It should also be compatible with other glasses that have IMU for Breezy available.

0 A.D. just released a new version today with some interesting changes.

The features they mention on the news page:

• Vulkan Renderer
• Multiplayer Savegames
• Tips & Tricks Page
• Naval Overhaul
• Observer Flares
• New random maps: Foothills, Migration, Coast Range; New skirmish map: Isthmus of Corinth; and updated skirmish maps: Watering Holes, Sporades Islands
• New and updated art

It's not mentioned in the features list, but I'm interested in the changes they've made to some of the civilizations. The Spartans, Romans, Athenians, and Macedonians all have had changes to make them more unique, which should make the gameplay a little more interesting. The new maps will be nice to try as well to give a bit more variety.

If you enjoy RTS games like Age of Empires and similar, it might be worth a try!

What are your thoughts on this? Are you happy? Sad?

I'm extremely curious. If you asked me this as a kid, I would have been celebrating. I always thought games should be accessible to everyone. But now I'm questioning if Microsoft plans to keep the Xbox ecosystem alive.

Exclusive titles are/were the incentive to keep people on certain consoles. Currently, I think only gamepass and digital libraries would be the only reason to stay with Microsoft if they continue to make systems in the future.

Additionally, I'm curious as to how this could destabilize the market. With no direct competition for high end hardware (other than pc/the steam deck), Sony can kinda do whatever they please.

What are some games you like that most people hate, view negatively and/or were panned by critics?

So this problem started back in 2023 as in still occurring. Dead Space Remake, Jedi Survivor and Silent Hill 2 are some of the offenders. All these games were highly rated on gameplay and graphics

Basically, even if you have a 4090, the stutters and poor fps still exist due to the way the game is designed.

Its exceptionally frustrating because open world devs do optimise for performance while corridor type REMAKES like Dead Space and Silent Hill forget the work their predecessors did on worse hardware years ago

This info is for true gamers only. Cease reading immediately and go about your business if you are not 100% a true gamer.

Notice of Challenge follows (true gamers only):

Beginning February 3, WILL, current champion and holder of the Extreme Boss Killer Belt, whose reign of glory began on 11th December, 2024, WILL BE TAKING ON ALL CHALLENGERS in ALL-OUT VIDEO GAME COMBAT across six of the MOST BRUTAL GAMES OF ALL TIME.

That’s right.

Announcing: Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl.

The Extreme Boss Killer Belt is on the line, and can only be won by gamers willing to do battle beyond the limits of human ethics and below the limits of modern hardware. Do you think you’re a real video gaming champion, punk? Prove it.

Take on fellow competitors in these six ETHICALLY PARADOXICAL titles:

• Moonwalker (Genesis) (https://retroachievements.org/game/263)
• Avenging Spirit (GameBoy) (https://retroachievements.org/game/4069)
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSX) (https://retroachievements.org/game/11325)
• Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters (NES) (https://retroachievements.org/game/1713)
• Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (Arcade) (https://retroachievements.org/game/11763)
• Donkey Kong (GameBoy) (https://retroachievements.org/game/692)

Earn as many achievements and game completions as you can in these titles during the contest period (February 3rd to March 16th). We’ll cap things off with the Turok Mega Showdown Experience, after which a champion will be crowned.

There is an (optional) entrance fee, which participants should directly donate to 7 Directions of Service, an indigenous environmental activist group (recommended amount: an hour of your wages).

Prize

The victor of this competition will be declared the Extreme Boss Killer Champion and receive a glorious belt as testament to their achievement. The glory and personal fulfillment the champion will experience is guaranteed to remain unrivaled in the individual’s natural lifetime. The victor may realize the profound burden of power that comes with rising to the level of Extreme Boss Killer Champion, and forsake their previous life to become a wandering hero. There is no “second place,” nor runners up.

Interested gamers should sign up for RetroAchievements at https://retroachievements.org/ and complete the fields on this Sign-up sheet. More detailed contest parameters can be found here. [^1]

[^1]: Disclaimer: The ESRB is hiring Pinkerton hit men to try and stop Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl. Multiple churches have united to denounce Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl. Your mom doesn’t think you are good enough at video games to win Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl. Many of you will spend the rest of your lives wondering if you were ever good enough to compete in Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl, even when you were seventeen. The only way to win your unrequited love’s heart is to win Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl. Nothing will bring your dreams back except, perhaps, Reign of Will: Will Defends the Extreme Boss Killer Belt Against All Challengers, Loser! Land Defense Benefit Brawl.

You either love or hate them; RPG Maker games. To me the oldschool Rm2k is history like a videogame console. Nowadays I play those on the Free and Open Source EasyRPG Player. This post has some game suggestions and sources compatible with EasyRPG.

1. Where to get Games
   1. rpgmaker .net
2. Game Suggestions
3. Enough is enough

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/21272066

I was searching through the compilation for games to play with my gf and noticed that Seaside Drive has a coop option, so we decided to give it a try.

After an hour of playing we cherried it. And I must say, it was a lot of fun!

The way coop works here is that one player controls the car's movement while another player takes care of shooting. It might sound lame if you never played the game but trust me, it works really well in this one.

As in any shmup, in Seaside Drive movement and attack are deeply intertwined. Yet, the game goes a step further and adds another relation between the two with the addition of brakes that influence the power of your projectiles.

The game itself is fairly unique. Visuals and music are great, controls are simple, and levels feel diverse yet balanced. What's more, threats you'll be facing feel weirdly fluid, with movements that make sense!

Overall, we had a good time and I'll definitely try to finish the game solo which must be much harder.

I'm seeing games (CK3/The Sims/Cities skylines) release DLC done by popular content creators or modders, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I'm glad they are being recognized for their work and getting paid, on the other hand, it kinda feels like it's turning the already unstable game dev career into an gig economy? Obviously, there are reasons why these studios can't have every creative and talented person working for them all the time, but if they keep going like this, what's to stop them from making larger and larger core mechanic DLCs more like gig work? Maybe that works for these modders/creators, but I worry about the industry in the long run. I'm sure most of the deals are under NDA, so how do they know what they're getting paid is more/less than what someone else did (and yes that matters imho, just because someone undervalued their work doesn't make it ok to pay them less - hence why salary transparency is important and the law in a lot of places)? I also feel like it encourages people to do free work (legit love modders, so no hate here) for the potential chance at getting a larger gig, which is common in the dev space, but I'd like to see that go away completely. I'm conflicted, and I keep hearing people say that it "supports modders" but it feels like in the long run, a stable core team of devs with job security helps everyone more. Like sure, donate to the wildfire victims, but what if the money ends up passing through a bunch of for profit companies who are actively hurting the environment? Just kinda feels off to me. Would love some other perspectives.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/21185473

Among all the starting classes in Lunacid vampires are by far the most unique option. Here's a quick list of unique mechanics from my fresh melee vampire playthrough.

Helpful quirks:

• Attacking most enemies in melee starts very slow health regen that's interrupted by taking any damage. The same effect is also caused by having "water" status in the Sanguine Sea or when interacting with blood fountains in the Castle Le Fanu.
• Blood Wine restores both health and mana. The item is fairly rare though, I only got 3 during the entire game.
• Most doors in the Castle Le Fanu will be open without vampiric symbols.

Problematic quirks:

• Recovery from bleeding and blood magic is really, REALLY slow. It basically makes blood magic very annoying to use.
• Having "water" status in other locations deal constant damage, making the rat area in the sewers really dangerous.
• Holy water deals a lot of damage when used. It still removes statuses though!

Honestly, I didn't really like how vampires are played - they felt like a challenge class actually. Their advantages are questionable while their disadvantages are disastrous. Also, their heal on melee attacks doesn't stack with the blade of Ophelia which is a shame because I was relying on it for the second half of the game.

Sometimes I game on keyboard + mouse, sometimes on controller, depending on the game. I love my keyboard, but being able to slouch with controller in hand is welcome as well. Unfortunately I've played so many games over the years with a controller that I struggle immensely to tap the right buttons when shit gets real. It's like my muscle memory is muddied with countless mappings. As a matter of fact there's no way I can switch between two games back and forth if they are even remotely similar in terms of perspective.

Have you experienced high levels of "typos" with game controllers too? Do you know of strategies to get more precise?

Granted, it's only out of 9 reviews, but it came out on Tuesday. Seems like many publications are sleeping on it.

Its predecessor Ender Lilies was probably my personal biggest surprise of 2024 (when I played it, not when it was released). I wrote up some thoughts in the Playstation community earlier. I'm excited to pick this up once I clear out some of current commitments.

Overview

Create: Protection Pixel is a popular Create addon with over half a million downloads. It is available on CurseForge and was formerly available on Modrinth; its page has now been taken down. It was made with MCreator.

Ever since version 1.1.2, the mod .jar bundles the Amplitude Java SDK under com.amplitude, and the org.json:json library (a dependency of Amplitude SDK) under org.json. Amplitude is a software analytics company. This is, obviously, unusual code to find in a Minecraft mod.

The mod also contains four classes placed under com.brightsdk: Device, Main, SessionTracker, and Storage.

The code under com.brightsdk does not appear to be correctly activated, but if it was correctly called, it would collect the following datapoints:

• your device vendor and platform,
• your operating system name and version,
• the total amount of RAM in your computer,
• the currently in-use amount of RAM,
• the current CPU usage,

and upload them (together with your IP address) to Amplitude's tracking URL at https://api2.amplitude.com/2/httpapi using the API key 7cce83b37fb5848cad6789d71a39b809. The code would send the data every minute at first, but gradually slow down to every 30 minutes.

Once more I dived into the web of Romhacking.net to find interesting Mods for the Super Nintendo / SNES. All kinds of user created mods, bug fixes, additional content, story rewrites, graphics updates and more. Have fun exploring.

1. Intro
2. Download the Collection
3. List of 117 Romhacks
4. How to play a Romhack?
5. What happened in 2024?
6. The End… ?