Video Games

[Count Arioch the 28th]

DOOM Eternal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFNXxhgTLCg

I try not to get hyped for E3 stuff, but this does have my interest.

[Shrapnel]

Ooh, that looks fun. DOOM '16 was a surprisingly awesome game.

[Koumei]

Looks like we're getting a wave of mecha games. I'm not complaining about this - even if there's only room for one (and I think there's more room than that), we can let them fight it out like mecha and decide which is best. More giant robots blowing shit up = win.

[Whipstitch]

I've always loved Shoji's mecha designs. Too bad about the guy screaming in that trailer though.

[OgreBattle]

Daemon X Machina gameplay!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... cymtmfC3v8

[Whipstitch]

I feel like their marketing spin game isn't quite on point with that demo. They've got this problem where they're effectively talking about what makes their game different from Armored Core--a series that's been mothballed for 5 years--instead of what makes it different from shooters in general. Being able to grab a gun off the dude you just shot is cool and all, but it's not particularly novel in 2018. I can sorta understand why the feel the central "Mechs just look fucking cool, alright?" premise speaks for itself though.

[Stahlseele]

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/in ... s.1106263/
FUCKING
FINALLY!

Last month we talked about what's next for BATTLETECH, and outlined some key items we were working on for our first larger free Update to the game. Well - we've just pushed that Update 1.1.0 to the public_beta branch on Steam and GOG. This Update is all about giving you more ways to customize your experience, as well as reacting to common pieces of feedback that we've heard from you about the game. It also includes a healthy dose of optimizations and general bugfixes across all areas of BATTLETECH.

We're pleased to report that most of the items we mentioned last month made it into this 1.1.0 release. One thing that didn't is the "Tutorial Skip" feature, but that's still on the roadmap for our next Update. Many more things DID make it in beyond what we mentioned last month, though, like ultrawide monitor support and some additional quality-of-life improvements. The full release notes are below.

We would like to encourage interested players to switch to public_beta right away and start playing BATTLETECH 1.1.0. Instructions for switching to public_beta can be found below. And if you do try this release, we'd really appreciate it if you could also take a few minutes to report back directly in this thread with your impressions, and to let us know if you encounter any issues. This will help us test at a broader scale before pushing this Update to the live branch. Thank you in advance!

-- HBS


How to switch to the public_beta branch (Steam):
1.In the left column games list of your Steam library, right-click BATTLETECH.
2.Select Properties
3.Click on the tab labelled BETAS
4.In the dropdown menu, select public_beta (Note: if you do not see this available, you may need to restart Steam and/or wait a few minutes.)
5.Click the CLOSE button
6.BATTLETECH should start updating automatically
7.When the update has completed, right-click BATTLETECH again, select Properties, and open the LOCAL FILES tab.
8.Click the VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES button.
9.When this completes, restart Steam and then launch the game.
How to switch to the public_beta branch (GOG):
1.Within the GOG Galaxy App, Navigate to your library.
2.When you hover over the BattleTech library entry, find the small menu expansion arrow in the bottom right corner of the BattleTech App - select “Settings”
3.Click Beta Channels on the right side of the header and select “On”
4.Click the Channel dropdown and select “public_beta”
IMPORTANT: If you experience any issues after updating, the first step we recommend is to restart your computer, and then verify integrity of game files. Occasionally, the Steam update process can act weird - restarting will ensure that the update has been properly applied.

IMPORTANT: Additional note for players who mod various game files…Reminder that modding is not officially supported. If you have saved a game with any mod active, that saved game will not work after an update has been applied unless you replace all modded files exactly as they were when the save game file was created. Saved games require the exact same data state in order to function properly.

If you switch to the public_beta branch, please note that when playing Multiplayer Skirmish, you will only be able to play against other players on the public_beta branch. The Lobby browser does not currently denote which players are on the public_beta branch and which are not (but will in future releases.) If you switch to the public_beta branch and then want to create a multiplayer lobby, please add [BETA] to the front of your Lobby name.


New Features & Content

MechWarrior customization. Players can now customize the appearance, callsign, name, pronoun, and voice of all non-Ronin MechWarriors in their mercenary company. The starting MechWarriors (Behemoth, Dekker, Glitch, and Medusa) are now considered Ronin.

Granular difficulty settings. Added a wide variety of Granular Difficulty Settings that can be adjusted at any time from the Settings menu.
•Lethality - when enabled, MechWarriors that are disabled in combat will always be killed.
•'Mech Destruction - when enabled, 'Mechs disabled from Center Torso destruction are permanently lost. This setting is intended for veterans and those seeking a significant challenge.
•No Rare Salvage - when enabled, + and ++ items are no longer generated as salvage results (but remain purchasable in stores).
•MechWarrior Progression - adjust the amount of experience that MechWarriors gain after each mission.
•Advanced MechWarriors - increase or decrease the frequency of more powerful MechWarriors appearing in Hiring Halls in later parts of the game.
•Enemy Force Strength - increase or decrease the baseline strength of the enemy forces you'll face in procedural contracts.
•Contract Payment - increase or decrease the amount of C-Bills paid by procedural contracts across the game.
•Salvage - increase or decrease the amount of salvage you may obtain from negotiation on procedural contracts.
New custom campaign mode. The following added Difficulty Settings can only be adjusted when starting a new campaign (Select "Custom Campaign" when starting a New Game from the Main Menu.)
•Ironman Mode. Your campaign is limited to a single save game slot that automatically updates as you progress. Run out of funds or fail a Priority Mission and it's game over!
•Unequipped 'Mechs - enable this to make 'Mechs completed out of 'Mech parts start empty instead of with a stock loadout.
•Parts for 'Mech Assembly - increase the number of 'Mech parts that must be salvaged to assemble a new 'Mech. This setting is intended for veterans and those seeking a significant challenge.
Accelerate the current action with SPACEBAR. Players can now press SPACEBAR to greatly accelerate the current action. Game speed will return to normal after the action completes.

Speed-Up mode to accelerate all combat actions. Added an option in the Gameplay Settings menu that significantly speeds up combat. Note that this setting is ignored during Multiplayer, and while story dialogue is playing during campaign missions.

General combat speed optimizations. To decrease turn times even when not using new speed-up options. In addition, the settings for combat result pauses and camera transition times have been exposed in CombatGameConstants.json for easier modding.

Cancel combat actions and selections with right-click. Right-clicking in combat (without holding the button down) now acts like the ESC key, backing out of the current action or selection.

MechLab quality-of-life improvements. Including the below additions. See UI section for further UI improvements.
•A shortcut button is now available to bring up the Store directly from the MechLab, allowing players to buy weapons, equipment, and ammo without leaving the MechLab. (Must still be in-orbit to purchase items.)
•The running total C-Bill cost of a work order is now displayed while the player is working in the MechLab.
•Added tooltips for all 'Mech Rating bars in the Mech Bay and MechLab that show and explain more of the specific numbers behind that rating.
•Improved warning communication and tooltips in MechLab.
•Added Scrap button to the Mech Bay Storage screen, to allow scrapping complete 'Mech chassis directly from Storage.
•Gear components now display their stat benefit directly on their component UI (instead of only in their tooltip.)
Current inventory count in Store and Salvage. Item tooltips in the Store and Salvage screens now display how many of that item the player currently has in inventory.

Several new events and improvements to event generation. Including fixing a bug that could cause valid events to appear invalid and not be considered during event generation.

Ultrawide monitor support. BATTLETECH now supports displays with 21:9, 64:27 and 43:18 aspect ratios. Known Issue: a few cosmetic-only bugs still exist in this experience, but given the high-demand for ultrawide support we felt that these minor issues did not need to hold up its release.

[WINDOWS] The BATTLETECH Launcher has exited Beta. This launcher can be used to configure the following options before launching the game: Borderless Windowed Mode, Exclusive Fullscreen Mode, Video Rendering API. We recommend using these options for troubleshooting if you are experiencing hardware or software compatibility issues. The launcher also includes a new automatic crash reporting tab. To use this launcher:
•GOG Galaxy: Open the "More" menu next to the Play button and choose Other -> Configure BATTLETECH.
•Steam and all other platforms: Run BattleTechLauncher.exe from your game installation folder.

Performance & Compatibility
•Improvements to the game start flow. (Splash screens can now be skipped.)
•The previous "High" visual quality setting has been renamed to "Ultra". The new "High" quality setting disables screen space reflections and clamps volumetric rendering at higher resolutions.
•Significantly improved performance and stability of front-end list interfaces.
•[STEAM] Significantly improved the speed at which save games are refreshed.
•Improved stability when alt-tabbing and otherwise losing focus of the title.
•Improved protection against spam-clicking.
•Combat UI rendering optimizations. These should reduce instances of small hitches during combat.
•Optimizations to building destruction system and related fire and smoke VFX sequences.
•Audio performance optimizations.
•Terrain rendering and tree rendering optimizations.
•VFX and water rendering optimizations.

Balance
•Many existing contracts had their difficulty rating adjusted to more accurately reflect the actual difficulty of the contract and provide a more consistent player experience.
•The difficulty range of contracts in a given system has been expanded to two skulls rather than one skull. Easier and harder contracts will now be available in every system.
•Moving and re-balancing the reinforcement units in some procedural missions.
•The Called Shot bonus for multiple-hit weapons (SRMs, MGs) now diminishes by half with each successive shot.
•Medium 'Mech stability increased to 130 (was 100). Stability recovery increased to 1.2 (was 1.0).
•Heavy 'Mech stability increased to 160 (was 100). Stability recovery increased to 1.4 (was 1.0).
•Assault 'Mech stability increased to 200 (was 100). Stability recovery increased to 1.6 (was 1.0).
•Difficulty modifier for attacks against Light 'Mechs increased to 3 (was 2).
•PPC heat generation reduced to 35 (was 40).
•ER Large Laser heat generation reduced to 25 (was 40).
•Large Laser heat generation reduced to 18 (was 30).
•Pulse Medium Laser heat generation reduced to 16 (was 25).
•Medium Laser heat generation increased to 12 (was 10).
•Small Laser heat generation increased to 6 (was 5).
•AC/2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 5).
•AC/5 heat generation reduced to 8 (was 10).
•AC/10 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 15).
•AC/20 heat generation reduced to 24 (was 25).
•LRM-10 heat generation reduced to 10 (was 12).
•LRM-15 heat generation reduced to 14 (was 15).
•SRM-2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 6).
•SRM-6 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 14).
•Flamer starting ammo reduced to 4 (was 6).

UI
•The 'Mech status display on the After Action Report no longer displays structure damage above armor, which was confusing to a number of players (particularly when heat damage was incurred underneath armor.) Warning icons now appear if structure damage was incurred, but intact armor now takes precedence on the 'Mech status display.
•Added a selection state during keybinding to indicate which action is currently listening for a keypress to bind to the action.
•Improved communication in the Engineering room when an Argo Upgrade is in-progress.
•Standardized custom 'Mech name field to 16 characters.
•Disallowing bad characters (e.g. tabs, newlines) in input fields.
•New loading screen game tips, and revisions to some existing loading screen game tips.
•Floatie text for Breaching Shot now appears over the target instead of the attacker.
•Improved visibility for Sensor Locked floatie text.
•Color selectors on the heraldry customization screen now wrap.
•Added a Tooltip explaining the behavior of the "Travel to System" button.
•Added a confirmation prompt when using the "restore defaults" button in an options menu.
•Improvements to Store loading times.

AI
•AI improvements to Liberation: Panzyr to address AI threat assessments.
•AI improvements to Defense: Smithon to the AI's ability to advance towards priority targets. Also encounter re-balancing to accommodate the improved behavior.
•Fixed an AI issue where enemy units could sometimes sprint even while unsteady.
•Fixed AI behavior in Defend Base missions to focus slightly less on destroying targeted buildings and to be more responsive to the player damaging them.
•Improved AI multi-targeting logic, and fixed a bug where AI units could sometimes unfairly use multitarget.
•Improved AI patrol-path behavior.
•AI now prioritizes the selection of Unsteady units.
•AI performance optimizations.
•AI units are now more cautious about using jumpjets when overheated.
•Fixed AI units incorrectly bracing when they can no longer sprint (e.g. when a leg is removed).

Multiplayer & Accounts
•Fixed an issue where attempting to log in to Paradox Account without an active internet connection resulted in an infinite loading screen.
•Fixed an issue in Multiplayer that could cause turns to extend past the turn-timer limit when players used single-move or jump actions during non-interleaved movement.
•Improved content filtering for lobby names and chat.
•Various improvements to Multiplayer Lobby UI behavior.
•Player can now use the Eject button in Skirmish Multiplayer and Skirmish vs. AI.
•Significantly improved performance of server browser when many games are shown.

Bugfixes
•Dozens of procedural mission fixes & tweaks, including fixing instances of misplaced spawners causing units to become stuck.
•Fixing cases of procedural missions that would either auto-complete early, or not at all.
•Fixing the behavior of some escort / convoy lances in procedural missions. (Cases of units failing to reach their destinations, convoy guards not activating when expected, friendly escort units getting stuck, etc.)
•Fixed issues with loading process where specific Contracts could fail to load.
•Fixing various VO and dialogue issues in procedural missions (specifically Assassinate & Battle contracts.)
•General map polishing and collision clean-up on many maps.
•Fixed an issue where certain instances of Destroy or Defend Base contracts could auto-fail.
•Fixed a UI bug where objectives appeared in the incorrect order of priority on some missions (secondaries above primaries).
•Fixed an issue where in some few cases, reinforcements would not spawn as expected.
•Fixed an issue where an enemy Enforcer would spawn stuck in the Escape mission on Artru.
•Fixed an issue where players were unable to back out of the Liberation: Itrom lance configuration screen.
•Various cosmetic map geometry fixes across the game (floating assets, clipping assets, etc.)
•Various fixes and improvements to the building destruction system (more natural collapse behavior, better debris coverage, improved physics behavior.)
•Various combat VFX fixes & improvements.
•Various 'Mech animation fixes & improvements.
•Various cosmetic dialogue edits to clarify story points and fix continuity errors.
•Various typo fixes across the game.
•Fixed an issue that could cause a softlock after ejecting a MechWarrior with the Ace Pilot ability.
•Various fixes to the animation flow for the eject action.
•Fixed a bug where Rear Torso armor on 'Mechs in combat could remain even after the associated Torso section had been destroyed.
•Fixing the tooltip for the "Done" action for MechWarriors with the Ace Pilot ability.
•Fixed a cosmetic issue where MechWarrior portraits could become greyed out after using the Vigilance morale ability in certain conditions, despite not having acted yet.
•Fixed an issue that could cause a newly-completed 'Mech to disappear after loading a save game created at the same time as the 'Mech construction completed.
•Fixed an issue that could cause Kamea or Alexander to be incorrectly present on the Argo after backing out of Lance Configuration for certain Priority Missions.
•Fixed an input exploit that could allow players to hire MechWarriors that they didn't meet the MRB Rating requirements for.
•Fixed an issue where players could cancel a Travel Contract without incurring the advertised Reputation penalty with the client faction.
•Fixed an input exploit that could allow players to create overweight 'Mechs.
•Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause Travel Contracts to change difficulty upon arrival in the destination system.
•Fixed an issue that could cause certain 'Mech repair tasks queued from the MechLab to fail to appear in the Timeline.
•Fixed a bug where the 'Mech performance rating bars in the Mech Bay could be displayed incorrectly for 'Mechs with destroyed components on them.
•Fixed an issue where the Max Injuries value displayed for MechWarriors in the hiring hall was not taking into account bonuses from their Guts skill.
•Fixed a cosmetic issue where item quantity values in the Store UI were not being refreshed after selling items.
•Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Priority Missions was failing to display on the Contracts screen.
•Fixing cinematics audio to respect the "Play Audio When Alt-Tabbed" setting.
•Fixed some positional audio issues and incorrect audio assignments on destructible buildings.
•Fixed an issue where certain cosmetic (non-gameplay) decorative objects would no longer be present on maps after loading a combat save game.
•Fixed a bug where the UI indicating dangerous locations in combat (e.g. artillery regions) would fail to deactivate after the dangerous conditions were over.
•Fixed an issue where the "Zoom to New Contact" setting wasn't being respected during first contact with enemies.
•Fixed an issue where the Sensor Lock effect would no longer be present on a sensor locked unit after loading a combat save.
•Fixed an issue where 'Mechs that lost a leg due to ammo explosion did not experience Knockdown as expected.
•Fixed a cosmetic issue where the Restart and Stand Up buttons could overlap with the Eject action confirmation button in the combat UI.
•Fixed a cosmetic issue where small weapon attacks could impact empty air above a target after a melee knockdown had occurred.
•Fixing Stalker arm missile pod visibility.
•Improved Radiation Field fog VFX.
•Jump Jet VFX now scale based on 'Mech weight class.
•The King Crab has opened its claws.
•Fixed a cosmetic issue that could sometime cause weather effects to temporarily disappear in the Windy Day mood.
•Fixed some cosmetic issues with hair rendering in MacOS.
•Fixed an issue with the Skirmish MechBay incorrectly displaying the weight range of Assault Mechs as 85-100 tons. (Now displays as 80-100 tons.)
•Various fixes to tooltips, including an issue that could cause tooltips to become cut-off at the bottom.
•Fixed an issue where MechWarriors would sometimes play their injury VO even if game effect (e.g. a cockpit mod) had prevented the injury from occurring.
•Fixed an issue where achievements regarding lance composition could be unlocked by using lances of less than 4 'Mechs.
•Fixed an issue where the background UI was interactable during login or account creation.
•Fixed an issue where the selection field in dropdowns would display multiple selections.
•Fixed an issue where the selected lobby may become unavailable when server browser refreshes.

It seems we are already seeing dividends of HBS selling out to Paradox.
And yes, i acknowledge it will mean DLC like MG Fire, but as long as it is not only Mechs/Packs but actually whole CBT Campaigns like the Ronin Wars being ported, i am actually fine with this . .

[Iduno]

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/in ... s.1106263/
FUCKING
FINALLY!

It looks like a lot of the fan mods made it in, as well as a bunch of things that changed between open beta and the campaign. The campaign was tested by people unfamiliar with Battletech to make sure the complexity wouldn't scare off new players, but that also tends to skew the game towards being too easy (also, testers probably didn't finish the entire game, because that's a large amount of time to request from testers).

The only thing I disagreed with is lowering flamer ammo. Either it's a single shot so opponents will run out, or it only hurts the player. Who seriously lets an opposing mech shoot them with flamers (close range weapons on mechs you know have them) 4 or 6 times?

Then again, they have a patch with that many changes, and I can pick out 1 thing that looks like a bad idea. Maybe some of the other changes go too far or not far enough, but time will tell on those.

Edit: Can I increase the number of enemy vehicles to a stupid huge number and play like it's MegaMek? It looks like that's what they're saying.

[Whipstitch]

I'm actually a fair bit skeptical of the stability tweaks. To my mind the first order of business should have be nerfing the fuck out of any missile system that dealt double stability damage per projectile. Boosting max stability based on weight class instead just shits on light mechs and gives autocannons a nerf they didn't really need.

[Stahlseele]

@Iduno
The Flamer ammo thing was more of a multiplayer thing than singleplayer.
Because the meta was always to have a firestarter or something like that run up, overheat enemy mech, kill it with missles, repeat.

@Whipstitch
Light Mechs get an additional +1 harder to hit.
They had an inherent +2 to evade before and now have an inherent +3.
And the stability should have been light>assault 100/130/160/200 from the beginning in my opinion.
But yes, i agree, the whole stabilitydamagesystem is still out of whack.
Same for the ToHit Numbers and Damage and Heat.
I will probably play the game with the CBT Values instead.

[Iduno]

@Iduno
The Flamer ammo thing was more of a multiplayer thing than singleplayer.
Because the meta was always to have a firestarter or something like that run up, overheat enemy mech, kill it with missles, repeat.

@Whipstitch
Light Mechs get an additional +1 harder to hit.
They had an inherent +2 to evade before and now have an inherent +3.
And the stability should have been light>assault 100/130/160/200 from the beginning in my opinion.
But yes, i agree, the whole stability damage system is still out of whack.
Same for the ToHit Numbers and Damage and Heat.
I will probably play the game with the CBT Values instead.

Ah, I forgot multiplayer was part of this game.

If you play with the CBT values, you'll want to add medium range back in. At this point it's probably less work to finish their re-balancing (raise indirect fire penalty for LRMs, etc.) than revert to CBT completely. It's not like CBT has particularly good balance.

[Stahlseele]

Eh, i'll use some mods to make it more CBT like at least.
I am not good at fucking with game files <.<

[Stahlseele]

Steam Summer Sale has begun.
As expected, Battletech got somewhat cheaper.
Just not as cheap as i had thought.
Still, 20% price reduction down to 32 bucks with the 1.1 patch is now worth a rebuy for me!

[OgreBattle]

On further thought... the Daemon X Machina White Glint looking mecha feels kinda oddly proportioned, like Armored Cores with noticeably bigger heads and smaller legs compared to the torso/arms

[Iduno]

I picked up Slay the Spire.

It's early access, but it's a playable game (they're just adding more stuff).

Deckbuilder plus hack-and-slash rpg. It's...interesting. A good kind of interesting.

You climb ~50-level tower (Spire), and each level you have a fight with gold and a card as a reward (rarely a relic), can rest (or improve a card, or do other things if you've found the right relics), go to a merchant, have a mini-boss fight (cards, relic, and gold as rewards), or make a choice with different rewards/penalties.

You start with a pre-built terrible deck with basic attack and defend and 1 or 2 decent cards. Relics upgrade 2 random cards of one type (skill, attack, or power), give you more energy to pay card costs (like mana in MtG), let you do more things at rest sites, give you more health, or improve your attack/defense when you do certain things in a fight.

Your ability to remove cards from your deck being severely limited (1 card at each merchant for a price, and some random events for a price) means you have to decide if a card is good enough to be added to your deck or not. Pretty decent single-player deckbuilder.

[GreatGreyShrike]

I think one major good innovation for Slay the Spire is that it telegraphs what each enemy will be doing each turn. That makes tactical play fun and relevant with when to play defense cards vs attacking cards etc. depending on what the enemy will do.

It's definitely good and worth playing.

[Whipstitch]

I feel like class balance is pretty decent too, at least with the two older classes. The Ironclad is more consistent due to having my favorite starter relic out of the three but the Silent is still really solid. I haven't played in a patch or two but my experience with the Defect was that it was quite boom or bust due to the lightning themed cards being kinda shitty compared to the defensive consistency of Frost or combo oriented setups.

[RelentlessImp]

I just realized Fallout 76 is going to be Fallout: Minecraft Edition.

...Fuck you, Bethesda.

[Aryxbez]

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire's story is a giant dumpster fire.

If you did literally nothing and just sat in the first tavern and drank beer for five months... Nothing would change. You absolutely can not, by any means, stop Eothas. He is an indestructible giant adra golem who shrugs off combined assault of five other gods and will not be swayed by your rhetoric.

This is just insulting. Pillars of Eternity 1 did something like this, where grand conflict (Hollowborn Plague) would have been resolved either way and you in fact have the option of just finishing Thaos' work, but your motivation in that game was to find Thaos and beat the answers out of him. Stopping his evil plan was just something that happened to align with your goal coincidentally. In Pillars of Eternity 2 your entire journey is fucking pointless and that cat ending fucking lies - it doesn't matter if Berath finds a competent Watcher to do your job because you fucking fail anyway.

What is even more insulting is the giant steaming dump PoE 2 takes on the lore. The Wheel of reincarnation was explicitly the only thing Thaos specifically said that Engwithans did not build. "We found nothing, only the Wheel grinding our souls to dust" - his exact words. And yet in this game the Wheel is a goddamn Engwithan machine that Eothas breaks to stop people from reincarnating, creating some serious Mass Effect 3 ending shit in the process. What's going to happen without reincarnation? Are people just not going to be born now? PoE 2 can't be arsed to explain.

Makes me wonder if Obsidian is on some kind of Player Disempowerment kick these days? Starting to sound like every game they've made recently has been against the player mattering, possibly with Tyranny as well? (I didn't get very far, though did a good job setting you up as someone important in that game at least). Also sounded like they don't deliver on your choices changing things, which I wonder why they seek to revive games of this genre if they're doing exactly NOT that? I was quite curious how REALIZARM Pirates were going to defeat a Kaiju God, but is disappointing to find out the answer to that being: Not at all.

I don't really get why that is the school of thought, I would guess its leftover DMing Mentality in forming plots for Tabletop RPG's. Though it also sounds like maybe this was Sawyer's way of stating that he's done with the setting, so that he can work on a new RPG setting.

[Whipstitch]

RE: Tyranny

With Tyranny I'm pretty skeptical that was really intentional. I feel more like they just over promised and under delivered given the way the ending rolls into town with a big "PLEASE FUND A SEQUEL!!!" banner flying over head. There was a number of things I disliked about Tyranny but with that said, I find many of the game's critics kinda insufferable too. I get that "Choices matter!!!!" are the Sacred Buzzwords, but some of these fuckers have such a long and contradictory wish list of what that entails that I feel like they might as well ask for winning lotto tickets and infinite blowjobs while they're at it.

[nockermensch]

EDIT: Spoilers for Deadfire and Tyranny inside.

Frankly both Deadfire and Tyranny have about the same level of your choices mattering. Both stories are set in motion by the actions of a fuckhuge threat (Eothas / Kyros) and you can never meaningfully confront or even affect them. What you do instead is to follow some factions about how to deal with the waves the fuckhuge dude is causing (literally, in one of the games). It's seriously like "Natural Disaster Management: The Game", except you don't even get promoted to something like Mayor and start giving orders and directing resources. You get to be the ambulance with paramedics from levels 1-20.

Both games then follow exactly the same ending structure:

• a slide with the consequences of your last choice.
• a slide showing that the faction you favored got a good(er) end
• slides showing that the factions you didn't favor got a bad(er) end
• slides for each of the major locations showing a better ending if you were more helpful there.
• one slide for each companion showing a better result if you completed their sidequest/ended with a good relationship
• a pitch for the sequel

[Whipstitch]

I get that, but calling it disempowerment always strikes me as kind reactionary relative to what other games have on offer. Then again, I'm the guy who was never that disappointed in Mass Effect because I always thought it was kinda self-evident that Bioware would never really be able to deliver on the "it'll be YOUR story" angle to the degree people desire. It is after all a genre where people unironically complain about decisions not mattering while also getting super pissed if you can't do a completionist run in one play through.

I will say that combat fucking sucked though.

[K]

I'm always disappointed when there is not an option to become a dark god.

[Koumei]

I almost always have that disappointment in games.

[Iduno]

I mean, at least let me run the world from the shadows with some sort of guild of assassins/thieves/Illuminati.

Any game more complicated than solitaire needs to let me just say "fuck it, I'll show the villain what evil really is."