Video Games

[Koumei]

Dragonfall is a lot longer, and is definitely worth a second playthrough, just because it feels there are so many options for how to deal with things. And the bit where the "gather money" missions have two or three possible outcomes. And dealing with APEX as well.

Speaking of which, the APEX bit is harder than a crude sexual metaphor.

Also, there's a mod for DoW Soulstorm that adds... almost everything. Titanium Wars, which requires three downloads (the mod, the patch to the mod, and an editor that lets you change the maximum memory allocation to "modern game levels" so it doesn't crash). Firstly it doubles the population caps (including Orky Population, Vehicle Population etc). Buildings get x4 HP, to make them tougher - firstly as an anti Zerg Rush countermeasure, and partly because 40k fluff tends to bang on about the walls being 5' thick and made out of condensed Space Marines. Weapon ranges have been tinkered with a little bit.

Aircraft have been taken out due to the whole "What are they, ground-level hovercraft?" thing. That's fair enough, and if the tabletop did that for everything that couldn't conceivably be used as an assault helicopter.

Then the armies get... some new stuff.

• ImpGuard: conscripts, more officers, mortar teams that can upgrade to bazookas, full weapon options for Sentinels and LMR tanks, some of the LMR main cannon variants, three extra Superheavies including the plasma one, and the artillery tanks, possibly the Eversor Assassin and Warhound Titan
• Space Marines: Vindicator, Venerable Dreads, Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer, Warhound Titan
• Sistaz: Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor + Lord + Retinues, the three Land Raiders, Saint Celestine, Inquisitor Krazypants, Arcoflag Squads, Retributor Squads, four or five different Sisters of Silence squads, Eversor and Callidus Assassins, Warhound Titan
• Orks: Ardboyz, Skarboyz, Big Mek Boss, Gretchin Mob, Gretchin Big Gunz, Massive Squiggoth (the previous one is no longer superheavy and 0-1), Deffdred, Battlewaggon, Battlefortress (superheavy), Kustim Deffdred (superheavy), and another big tank
• Khay-Oss: Noise/Plague/Rubric Marines, Greater Daemons of Tzeench/Nurgle/Slaanesh, Daemonettes/Bloodletters/Plaguebearers, Chaos Terminators, Chaos Dreads, Bikers, Havocs, Chaos Warhound, Vindicator
• Space Elfs: Jetbikes, Storm Guardians, Shining Spears, Wave Serpents (no awesome forcefield weapon), Shadow Weavers, Striking Scorpions, Dire Avengers, Wraithguard, War Walkers, Autarch, Swooping Hawks, Revenant Titan, Cobra Superheavy, and the weapons were updated for the Dark Reapers, and Prism Tanks can power each other up
• Spiky Space Elfs: no new units, but existing units are updated with new abilities (Reavers can zoom over units to harm them, Ravagers get to become impossible to target and get extra-power shots against Big Shit
• Tau: Mounted Massive Gnarlocs, various Elite _____ units, about 4? new types of Crisis Suit including a second commander type, Gue'la (conscripted Imperial Guard that can all take Tau special weapons), "looted" Warhound Titan, variant Hammerhead, Sniper Drones, Piranhas, Tetras
• Necrons: Special Towers, the C'tan Shards are now their own units, Massive Gauss Pylon, Annihilation Barge, Ghost Ark, the massive fuck-off penis cannon version of the Ghost Ark
• Ordo Malleus: a new faction that exists but has no Campaign mode. At its base it's a Daemonhunter Inquisition force, with Acolytes and Storm Troopers and all that. But then you can add most of Codex: Grey Knights to it.

Also they tweaked the AI such that on Easy mode it will hurl you to the ground and trample on your face. In Skirmish it's not too bad - your first priority is setting some people up outside the enemy base to shoot anyone who tries to grab objectives or build. Then you gradually reinforce that while you build an anti-base force. But in Campaign mode, your enemy typically has a starting advantage that is only negated normally by them not being very aggressive. In the "take the stronghold" missions, you have no chance to survive make your time.

So it's a massive project, most of which was done by one guy, because GW fans are fucking mental like that. But it's only for Skirmish mode.

[Chamomile]

One thing that consistently bugged me about stronghold missions was how you could only succeed because of remarkable complacency on your opponent's part. Even with a very strong vanguard, if your enemy actually committed all of their units to attacking your base, you wouldn't stand a chance.

[Koumei]

Pretty much. And the AI tweaks... sort of change that so it very much happens. Although obviously, there were exploits previously where you could do hilarious sniper runs after sitting there and teching up, thanks to the victory conditions nearly always being "smash this one building". Just zoom a flyer overhead to open up LoS (IG: simply scan the area), then [Deep Strike forces all around it/tell Exorcists to nail that one target with HKMs/use Earthshaker bombardment].

[Koumei]

I decided to tjeck out Red Alert 3. Going by my memory of the first game, I was expecting B-grade acting and fake Eastern European accents.

I was not expecting Tim Curry as the Premier of the Soviet Union, nor George Takei as the Emperor of Japan. This is the best thing ever.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I've been playing Destiny lately. As I spend most of my life blissfully unaware of most things, I wasn't even aware of the hype, and to me this is a fun, slick (also grindy) shooter.

That is, until I got to Mars: the Cabal looks fucking ridiculous... they look like the Mondoshawan from the 5th element, except they run around really fast and jump around constantly like a bunch of roly-poly idiots. Seriously, they glide so slowly that you can knock them right out of the freaking air...

Also they try to build them up as threatening in the 3-4 seconds of exposition they allowed for them, and then I find out what happens when you shoot them in the fucking face: the same thing that happens to (almost) everything else. Maybe if they spent more time practicing their wartime skills and less time eating all the fucking pies, maybe they'd be threatening, but nope, they're a bunch of big, fat bird robots. The shield dudes were challenging until I found out they drop their shield if you shoot them in the arm. I've spent 10+ hours head-shotting things from as far away as I can manage with hand cannons, and no-scope headshotting things at close range. I guess they would be hard if someone hasn't been practicing their precision kills the entire game...

Also, was disappointed with the mars environments... like the moon but red. Venus is pretty though.

[Shrapnel]

Recently, I procured a game for the 3DS called Code of Princess, and my good holy fuck it is awesome. The game is about scantly clad heroines fighting cuddly trolls and super annoying enemies with stun-locking abilities while breaking the fourth wall. It also plays, looks, feels, and tastes exactly like Guardian Heroes. Exactly. Basically, imagine a love child between Guardian Heroes and Elvis, but crossed with an F15-Eagle/John Goodman hybrid monstrosity for good measure. Wielding a fleshlight as a club. I lost my thread, didn't I?

[Whipstitch]

I was uninterested in that game until I was informed you can play a cat who who dresses like a pharoah.

[Shrapnel]

Marco Neko is indeed twelve kinds of awesome.

[Koumei]

Guardian Heroes is one of the games I most regret having never had the chance to play. I mean, who the fuck ever owned a Sega Saturn? But from magazine reviews, it looked awesome.

[Meikle641]

I, or rather my brother, owned a Saturn. Played a few games on it; some much better than others.

[Shrapnel]

You did indeed miss out on one of the greatest gaming experiences ever. But never fear! You need not miss out any longer! Fortunately, it's available for download on the Xbox Arcade. (I'm not sure if it's available on the PS3/4, but I'd be surprised if it weren't.)

[Leress]

Guardian Heroes is one of the games I most regret having never had the chance to play. I mean, who the fuck ever owned a Sega Saturn? But from magazine reviews, it looked awesome.

*raises hand*

I had Nights, Daytona USA, Virtual Cop,and Clockwork Knight.

[Whipstitch]

Marco Neko is indeed twelve kinds of awesome.

Oh, man, his name is Marco? That name is the most fun.

[Stahlseele]

*holds hand up*
had a saturn as well way back then . . never played guardian heroes though . .

[Blicero]

Has anyone played Victoria II? It's another Paradox game that focuses mostly on economics and politics, as far as I can tell. Some people seem to really like it, while others find it too numbers-heavy. I picked it up on Steam and am still trying to wrap my head around it.

[Longes]

I hadn't played Victoria 2, but since it's by Paradox, its' probably good.

In my current Crusader Kings 2 playthrough my insane and possessed king has a martial skill of 50 (state skill of 70). Because Jesus gives him military advice. For reference, 10 is considered competent, and 20 is the most NPC ever had. Igor Popinski II, the king of Wales and Ireland is the mad god of war.

[name_here]

I managed to get 52 Martial on my Joan Of Arc analogue as the Byzantines. Also, because I had approximately zero fucks to give about anyone who complained about having a female military leader while conspicuously failing to have 30+ martial, I picked the option where I named her a knight of the house Gladius Christi and proceeded to have her as my field commander while I conquered Italy and the Middle East to mend the Great Schism and reunite the Roman empire.

[Koumei]

Has anyone played Planetary Annihilation?

On the one hand, it looks kind of cool and cartoonish. On the other hand, all the other RTS games have pissed me off sufficiently to warrant deletion*, so it's altogether possible I should just stay away from them. Also, while I leave it on my wishlist rather than buying it, Steam will recommend games "Because you wish for Planetary Annihilation".

*RA3: I beat it with the Soviets and it felt kind of lacklustre, as though it were half a campaign. I then got fed up half way through the Japanese campaign, where you face combined forces and have a time limit. DoW: I've beaten it and run through it and there's nothing left. DoW2: as above. Supreme Commander: is very very slow, and kind of boring.

[Hadanelith]

Planetary Annihilation is great! It's a lot like a faster, simpler Supreme Commander. On small maps, rushing is not only a valid strategy, it's the only strategy. But in multi-planet systems, things can get fairly interesting. There is little more satisfying than pulling off a planetary invasion. Or just saturation bombarding the enemy with nukes.

I will note that there is essentially no fluff. No story, no objective based missions. It's pure deathmatch, no matter the mode. It can be fun, but there's not a lot to sink your teeth into.

[Longes]

I'll add that you shouldn't buy it, unless you are going to play multiplayer. AI flips between robot-speed rushes (which is important, because rush is the prime strategy in this game) and stupidity.

[name_here]

When I played it the AI did literally nothing.

[Koumei]

Thanks, I'll just continue to wish for planetary annihilation then, and not get it.

[Avoraciopoctules]

Recently, I procured a game for the 3DS called Code of Princess, and my good holy fuck it is awesome. The game is about scantly clad heroines fighting cuddly trolls and super annoying enemies with stun-locking abilities while breaking the fourth wall. It also plays, looks, feels, and tastes exactly like Guardian Heroes. Exactly. Basically, imagine a love child between Guardian Heroes and Elvis, but crossed with an F15-Eagle/John Goodman hybrid monstrosity for good measure. Wielding a fleshlight as a club. I lost my thread, didn't I?

I actually bought Code of Princess maybe half a year ago, but I was kind of disappointed in the half hour I played. But I tried it again since you said the game's good, and wow, it actually got pretty fun once I unlocked Zozo. Once you figure out how to use your lightning and earth stuns, lock on with the homing 8-shot magic missile, and maneuver to hit lots of enemies with your various big red laser beams, she can tear through practically anything. I only had trouble with like 4 fights.

The fact that you can play as any of the monsters in the free missions is really cool. CoP looks like it's got pretty decent replay value.

[Shrapnel]

Recently, I procured a game for the 3DS called Code of Princess, and my good holy fuck it is awesome. The game is about scantly clad heroines fighting cuddly trolls and super annoying enemies with stun-locking abilities while breaking the fourth wall. It also plays, looks, feels, and tastes exactly like Guardian Heroes. Exactly. Basically, imagine a love child between Guardian Heroes and Elvis, but crossed with an F15-Eagle/John Goodman hybrid monstrosity for good measure. Wielding a fleshlight as a club. I lost my thread, didn't I?

I actually bought Code of Princess maybe half a year ago, but I was kind of disappointed in the half hour I played. But I tried it again since you said the game's good, and wow, it actually got pretty fun once I unlocked Zozo. Once you figure out how to use your lightning and earth stuns, lock on with the homing 8-shot magic missile, and maneuver to hit lots of enemies with your various big red laser beams, she can tear through practically anything. I only had trouble with like 4 fights.

What's not to love about Zozo? She's a zombie Necromancer made from cobbled together bits and pieces of dead people who wears panties and has awesome spells.

The fact that you can play as any of the monsters in the free missions is really cool. CoP looks like it's got pretty decent replay value.

Yeah, that's the great thing about the game; I myself love playing through the story in free play mode as the final boss. Or as a dragon. There aren't enough games that let you play as a giant dragon.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I don't know if anyone does Origin, but they're giving out Dragon Age 1 for free.