What are you playing now?

Quote from Thrik

Sackboy's physics [...] my favourite physics model in a platformer.

[Blocked Image: http://alexandertaylor.net/stuff/1272063115775.jpg]

It must be my lack of Eastern blood but I don't actually get that response at all.

ah ah!

Haha. Well I stand by my opinion: I really like the physics in LBP. Obviously those same physics in a game like Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario World (closest runners up IMO) would be ridiculous, but in LBP's world of physics-orientated puzzles and projectile weapons they work perfectly. The level design in LBP and particularly LBP2 is mindblowing, and just wouldn't work with a heavier physics model. Maybe the first world or so would, but not beyond that.

Just beat Uncharted 1 again, first time playing it post trophy patch, so I figured why not... Going to do the Crushing run this weekend probably...

ma going through uncharted 1 and windwaker again to recharge my inspiration bar !

Got Space Empires 4, a 4X turn based space strategy game from circa 2000, for $2.50 on Gamersgate. It's pretty cool. I chose the "Organic technology" racial characteristic, which basically makes me the zerg of the game. My signature weapon is the "Seeker Parasite", which can fire from 2-3x the normal range of most weapons every other combat turn for 3-4x damage most normal weapons. It also flies over time instead of hitting as soon as you fire it, allowing me to not only shoot from farther away, but shoot and then fly away as the attack intercepts the enemy. I just discovered a new race that was hostile, they attacked my exploring Parasite Destroyer ship (you custom design your ship based on researched modules slotted into researched ship sizes. My Parasite Destroyer model is no defense, all engines and Seeker Parasites I also have a significantly cheaper Frigate class ship that has two layers of Organic Shielding and short range acid based direct fire weapons. Before I unlocked the Parasite, I used the acid frigates to destroy an enemy colony of a hostile race that spawned one system over from my home planet. It paints a pretty vivid mental image, of alien ships chilling out in orbit out of range of planetary defenses, raining down acid). Six Destroyer and Frigate size ships sent to the slaughter, with not a single point of damage landed on my exploring ship.

EA Create (25 % done)

Crysis (99 % done)

Crysis 2 (80+ % done)

Cod Modern Warfare 2 (finished)

Cod Black Ops (just started...)

and Angry Birds ... (50 % done)

bolded = currently playing

Damn. A light cruiser of a heavily oppressed NPC race that I had backed into a corner of occupying nothing but its home planet (home planets get massive defensive buffs versus colonies, due to using the entire planet surface rather than domed structures like 99% of colonies due to planet type/atmosphere mismatch, so I was waiting on better planet focused weapons being researched before wiping them out) managed to sneak a light cruiser past my blockade and wiped out a colony I had invested like 30 turns into in the same system.

30 minutes of gaming without any autosave and i forgot to quicksave.

this is why we have checkpoints and autosaves, game developers, because now i quit your fucking game out of rage and i don't want to do the same badly scripted shit twice, you faggots.

i wish there were more bitches in gamingworld

Quote from Rick_D

30 minutes of gaming without any autosave and i forgot to quicksave.this is why we have checkpoints and autosaves, game developers, because now i quit your fucking game out of rage and i don't want to do the same badly scripted shit twice, you faggots.

You talking about STALKER I guess... I know what you mean.

I don't think any game has ever bothered me about its lack of autosaves more than Deus Ex, which explicitly says "Saving" before "Loading" on level transitions, without actually saving anything. My first time playing the game I got to the NCF generator before dying (blew up a TNT box that blew up an explosive barrel next to me), without having saved once. It was after that that I learned the magic of numpad+ quicksaving.

Quote from Minotauro

You talking about STALKER I guess... I know what you mean.

Although, in their defense, having checkpoints in certain areas of stalker would be pretty difficult.

Quote from JeanPaul

You talking about STALKER I guess... I know what you mean.

Although, in their defense, having checkpoints in certain areas of stalker would be pretty difficult.

not in a linear scripted tunnel, probably the only place that makes sense for them to have checkpoint/autosaves and they don't bother.

ok i get it, it makes it more difficult or something. but it's still bullshit.

also, they allow you to quicksave anywhere, so it's obviously robust enough to allow for some crazy saving locations - they could simply have certain areas autosave: you enter a new sub-area and autosave, pretty simple stuff.

Quote from JeanPaul

Although, in their defense, having checkpoints in certain areas of stalker would be pretty difficult.

Call of Pripyat manages.

Spam quicksave all day. Everything from walking to the end of a long corridor to ducking behind a pillar reloading gets F6'd.

Brought Yakuza 4, played it until the final chapter already like a big fat loser. The melodrama can get a bit too light-hearted, and there’s a lot of lol-so-random Japanese slapstick, but since you spend all your time between story sequences stomping on faces and yelling at your hostess for not pulling enough customers it all balances out.

My only gripe is how predictable it can be. Most of the plot-advancing grilling goes on for 30 minutes before your character even bothers asking them what you actually want to know about, then the conversation will appear to end about 3 times but everyone in the story is the Japanese equivalent of Columbo, and then the guy you're talking to will be shot by an off-screen gunman, who I like to think is an angry producer.

Finally got Alan Wake finished. I think it's a fantastic game overall, absolute must-play IMO.

Admittedly it does get a little tiresome at times which is why it's taken me so long to finish, mostly because the regular grunt enemies don't change much throughout the game beyond getting bigger weapons. However this is kind of endemic of survival horror and is easily dealt with by playing the game in shorter bursts rather than trying to plough through the whole thing at once, and also set-pieces are happening all the time which vary things up nicely. If you give it the time to take you through to its conclusion though, the story is a real thriller and the atmosphere it builds up is unparalleled in gaming. I wouldn't say it's a scary game, but it does build up an extremely dark and foreboding feel. You feel like you're trapped there with Wake in this insane world of darkness.

Some parts are just so cool. In part because of the engine's amazing ability to display huge vistas without missing a beat, and in part because the stuff that's happening is awesome. What is basically a giant version of Lost's smoke monster rips apart dams, throws ships at you, takes over gigantic tractors, and all sorts of other insane stuff. The fact that your enemy throughout the game is a mysterious, invisible force makes things very interesting. On a technical level the visual and sound production during these parts is incredible, from the way an entire building will smash apart to the way girders are ripped from bridges and flung at you from the skies, hitting the ground like arrows.

There aren't many games that actually tackle the kind of rural forest county environment Alan Wake takes place in, but it absolutely pulls it off to perfection. It's not open world, but you can tell the engine was originally designed for it because it's just so beautiful. Add to that very good, original gameplay (the light-based way of attacking enemies is fantastic), a gripping story that is clearly from the minds of Max Payne, and excellent cinematic presentation and you've got a very satisfied Thrik.