The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I've been sucked back into Warband multiplayer, trying to recapture long lost skill.

CR

[CountArach]

Finally got a chance to finish Uncharted 1. Absolutely incredible game in every way apart from the bullet sponge enemies and the fact that there is no point using any gun except the pistol.

I've started up Uncharted 2 as my next game. Claudia Black is incredible.

[Hooahguy]

So I just finished Deus Ex Human Revolution.

I have never had such an incredible gaming experience in my life. The story and gameplay are amazing and it really gripped me. I would play for hours and think I was only playing for a half hour, its that good.

Started another playthrough, its that good.

[johnhughthom]

So I just finished Deus Ex Human Revolution.

I have never had such an incredible gaming experience in my life. The story and gameplay are amazing and it really gripped me. I would play for hours and think I was only playing for a half hour, its that good.

Started another playthrough, its that good.

Is it that good?

Never did complete it myself, but you've sold me on it, apparently it's that good. Downloading again now.

[Hooahguy]

Is it that good?

Well, besides the boss fights. Those were annoying, but not as annoying as everyone says they are. I just wish they went into more detail on who I was fighting.

But yeah, the game is amazing. I have never sat there contemplating game choices for as long as I have for any other game. Even for Mass Effect. In ME, the choices seemed to be pretty clear-cut. Blue for paragon, red for renegade.
In DX:HR, you really gotta think. Choices arent clear cut like in ME and theres no red/blue to distinguish what will spark what kind of reaction.

[johnhughthom]

I'm not sure why I didn't complete it when it came out. I really enjoyed it, apart from the boss fights, though you are right, they aren't as bad as some people made out. I think I was going for a no kill play through and somebody randomly died. I got as far as the Chinese city, is there much left after that?

[Kekvit Irae]

I'm not sure why I didn't complete it when it came out. I really enjoyed it, apart from the boss fights, though you are right, they aren't as bad as some people made out. I think I was going for a no kill play through and somebody randomly died. I got as far as the Chinese city, is there much left after that?

If I remember correctly, that's about the half-way mark.

Well, besides the boss fights. Those were annoying, but not as annoying as everyone says they are. I just wish they went into more detail on who I was fighting.

Don't forget the endings. It's like Mass Effect 3. Do you like red explosions, green explosions, or blue explosions?

[Hooahguy]

johnhughthom- Yes, there is so much more. I enjoyed both halves but the last half felt more epic.

Don't forget the endings. It's like Mass Effect 3. Do you like red explosions, green explosions, or blue explosions?

Eh, not really.
I felt like the ending to DX:HR was just right, while the ME3 one was just boring.
The four different endings you could choose (mind you, you had to do certain things to even get all four endings as options) were all so different from one another. Including the ending cutscenes. With ME3 it was basically cookie-cutter, and whichever ending you chose, the Reapers still died or whatever. But with DX:HR, each ending was very different.

[Fragony]

Well, besides the boss fights. Those were annoying, but not as annoying as everyone says they are. I just wish they went into more detail on who I was fighting.

But yeah, the game is amazing. I have never sat there contemplating game choices for as long as I have for any other game. Even for Mass Effect. In ME, the choices seemed to be pretty clear-cut. Blue for paragon, red for renegade.
In DX:HR, you really gotta think. Choices arent clear cut like in ME and theres no red/blue to distinguish what will spark what kind of reaction.

I just switched the game to easy at the bossfights. If you have a playstation, the original will soon be released on PSN.

[johnhughthom]

I just switched the game to easy at the bossfights. If you have a playstation, the original will soon be released on PSN.

Playstation version of the original is a pale imitation, not worth the bother. I don't remember the boss fights I played as hard, they just felt horribly out of place in the game.

[Kekvit Irae]

Thanks to quill18's playthrough on youtube, I convinced myself to buy EU3. Started as England, got the Conquest quest against Ireland, conquered them, got the Vassalization quest against Scotland, vassalized them, got the Annexation quest for Scotland, annexed them, and now I need to wait until 1464 until I get cores in Scotland to form one of the greatest empires in the world.

[Monk]

DayZ. Whenever i would normally be gaming and I'm not coding my CKII mod, i'm playing DayZ. Yes its alpha. Yes its buggy and dear lord, yes, Arma II sucks. But let me tell you there is nothing like hiking for 3 hours until your character is starving, hit up a small town and clear it of Zed.. only to find a single can of pasta to fill you up. Totally worth it.

Just remember: Shoot first.

[Fragony]

DayZ. Whenever i would normally be gaming and I'm not coding my CKII mod, i'm playing DayZ. Yes its alpha. Yes its buggy and dear lord, yes, Arma II sucks. But let me tell you there is nothing like hiking for 3 hours until your character is starving, hit up a small town and clear it of Zed.. only to find a single can of pasta to fill you up. Totally worth it.

Just remember: Shoot first.

Read about it, just might buy a new laptop for this

Playing Dungeon Hunter 2, cool Diablo-clone for the iPad. A steal for 5 euro.

[Martok]

Have been playing rather copious amounts of Armada 2526 Supernova PBEM campaigns lately. I think I'm in 7-8 different games at the moment, and have just begun hosting another. Multiplayer co-op is fun!


Have also (finally!) purchased Crusader Kings 2 when it went on sale over at GamersGate this past weekend. Am only just starting to dig around, but I'm definitely stoked.

[Monk]

Read about it, just might buy a new laptop for this

It's a totally unique experience and is a must try for anyone who enjoys Zombie fiction and an unforgiving survival game. You'll either fall absolutely in love with it, or think it sucks. Arma II doesnt lend the mod any favors, though. There's a reason that game didn't sell that well without something as awesome as DayZ backing it up. My advice would be to take a lot of time figuring out the controls and play around a few times before giving it a serious go at survival. And like i said in my post. Always shoot first.

Unless someone goes out of their way to identify themselves as a friendly always shoot first. Perma-death does crazy things to you and others, and you cannot expect to receive the same courtesy if you ask someone to identify themselves before shooting.

Have also (finally!) purchased Crusader Kings 2 when it went on sale over at GamersGate this past weekend. Am only just starting to dig around, but I'm definitely stoked.

The tutorials are terrible, absolutely atrocious. They will teach you how to navigate the UI, where the declare war button is, and things like that. They will NOT teach you about the golden rule (never slay a kinsman), how to keep relations up, and what to do/not to do when handing out titles. We have a huge mega-thread here in the arena. Pages 2-5 have some great starter tips from myself and other posters to get you oriented. After that, I highly encourage you to experiment on your own. The best way to learn a game like CK2 is to see what each button does by pressing it.

[Fragony]

It's a totally unique experience and is a must try for anyone who enjoys Zombie fiction and an unforgiving survival game. You'll either fall absolutely in love with it, or think it sucks. Arma II doesnt lend the mod any favors, though. There's a reason that game didn't sell that well without something as awesome as DayZ backing it up. My advice would be to take a lot of time figuring out the controls and play around a few times before giving it a serious go at survival. And like i said in my post. Always shoot first.

Unless someone goes out of their way to identify themselves as a friendly always shoot first. Perma-death does crazy things to you and others, and you cannot expect to receive the same courtesy if you ask someone to identify themselves before

I love the idea, sounds like they nailed what the zombie genre is about, human survivors ought to be the biggest direct threat not the zombies, they are just your inevitable doom. Most interesting game I have heard of for a while, just hanging on and surviving, awesome awesome idea. This probably won't come to the consoles so I am seriously considering to buy a laptop just to play this, the old fart has no hope of running this

[Kekvit Irae]

Its a really good little Diablo clone with a lot of replayability, but its a bit on the easy side (even on Hard).

There's a mod for that.

[Kekvit Irae]

Awesome, thanks. Have a fish!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Is it a permafish? :D

[Kekvit Irae]

All I seem to catch are Muckfish

There's a rare chance you can get fish that will turn your pet into a really good monster type permanently.

[Kekvit Irae]

Just found out Ultima: Savage Empire and Martian Dreams are free on GOG. My college scores will suffer due to me recapturing my youth.

[Kekvit Irae]

Playing Civ 5: Gods and Kings, AKA "How Worse Can Civ 5 Get?"

I like Civ 5, but there is NO way to disable the changes. Once you get the expansion pack, you're completely stuck with the most horrible, broken, and sometimes overpowered changes to a game.

[Hooahguy]

Playing Civ 5: Gods and Kings, AKA "How Worse Can Civ 5 Get?"

I like Civ 5, but there is NO way to disable the changes. Once you get the expansion pack, you're completely stuck with the most horrible, broken, and sometimes overpowered changes to a game.

Thats interesting. As someone who is looking to perhaps buy Civ 5 if it goes on sale, what can you tell us more about the negative changes?

[Kekvit Irae]

Thats interesting. As someone who is looking to perhaps buy Civ 5 if it goes on sale, what can you tell us more about the negative changes?

GOOD: Combat is no longer on a 10 hp scale. It's now upped to 100 hp, with damage scaling similarly. This means that Warriors can no longer whittle down a Mechanized Infantry in 10 hits. This change makes combat a bit more accurate in terms of damage dealt/received.
BAD: City sieges. Dear god... Remember needing just 2 technologically-superior infantry with some ranged units to capture a city? In G&K, I needed 6 Riflemen, 2 Gatling Guns, a Cannon, 2 Privateers, and a messload of captured triemes just to take A SINGLE CITY. And afterwards? I was down to just the gatlings, one privateer, and the cannon. Let me reiterate: 12+ units that were leagues better than anything the AI had, ON CHIEFTAN DIFFICULTY, still had trouble taking A SINGLE CITY.

GOOD: Great Artists no longer culture bomb. Why is this a good thing? Because now Great Generals can culture bomb by making a their fortress... you know, the guys you WANT on the frontlines. Great Artists are now the only ones who can start a Golden Age, since they were worthless before G&K.
BAD: Do you really care about Great Artists anyway?

GOOD: Some ships were changed to no longer do a missile attack. They can now do a melee attack, which means they can capture coastal cities. FINALLY.
BAD: The units that were left with a missile attack are the Frigate and Battleship. That's it.

GOOD: The new civilizations are quite intriguing.
BAD: Austria is SO overpowered it's just wrong. Austria has the Diplomatic Marriage ability which gives you the ability to puppet or annex an allied city state for gold. Why is this bad? 500 gold. That's it. That's all you need. You can dominate the entire landscape with cities and never build a single unit, all because you spent a meager 500 gold per city... which is a fixed rate and never changes.

GOOD: Dido quotes the Aeneid when she is defeated. Nice little touch.
BAD: Free harbors are nice, but unless you are playing on a VERY mountainous map, you wont be using her land ability.

GOOD: Boudicca is the most animated leader I've seen.
BAD: Why is she Scottish? Seriously, her civilization is Scotland, even though it's "officially" Celtic. Don't believe me? Her capital is Edinburgh. Wait, what?

GOOD: Customizable religions are a good thing.
BAD: They don't do a thing except the customized benefits you set. Gone are the days of needing religion to build specific culture buildings from Civ 4.

GOOD: You can no longer tech straight to Mechanized Infantry and skip Riflemen entirely.
BAD: ...I got nothing. This is actually a good change.

[Veho Nex]

GOOD: Combat is no longer on a 10 hp scale. It's now upped to 100 hp, with damage scaling similarly. This means that Warriors can no longer whittle down a Mechanized Infantry in 10 hits. This change makes combat a bit more accurate in terms of damage dealt/received.
BAD: City sieges. Dear god... Remember needing just 2 technologically-superior infantry with some ranged units to capture a city? In G&K, I needed 6 Riflemen, 2 Gatling Guns, a Cannon, 2 Privateers, and a messload of captured triemes just to take A SINGLE CITY. And afterwards? I was down to just the gatlings, one privateer, and the cannon. Let me reiterate: 12+ units that were leagues better than anything the AI had, ON CHIEFTAN DIFFICULTY, still had trouble taking A SINGLE CITY.

I dont know how you are having so much trouble with sieges. Two swordsmen an archer and a catapult was all I needed to conquer the entire Celtic civilization. 5 cities on King difficulty. I lost my archer and my a swordsman. You just have to learn to troll the AI in between attacking an archer and a swordsman while the catapult destroys the city.

[frogbeastegg]

I like Civ 5, but there is NO way to disable the changes. Once you get the expansion pack, you're completely stuck with the most horrible, broken, and sometimes overpowered changes to a game.

Main front end menu -> DLC -> check box to disable G&K right at the top. You can also individually disable other DLC packs from this menu.

This was one of my main concerns - I'm one of the few players who disliked Beyond the Sword enough to revert to Warlords, and I was terrified I'd be stuck with a useless game if I don't like G&K.

[Kekvit Irae]

Main front end menu -> DLC -> check box to disable G&K right at the top. You can also individually disable other DLC packs from this menu.

This was one of my main concerns - I'm one of the few players who disliked Beyond the Sword enough to revert to Warlords, and I was terrified I'd be stuck with a useless game if I don't like G&K.

That's for the entire DLC. I want some of the changes, but not all of them.

[Husar]

You want your cake and not have to eat it, too!!!!

I kid, but I guess they're making it easier for themselves.

I just tried the Risen 2 demo for a few minutes and so far I'm glad that I didn't buy the game.
The animations look weird, the whole world seems streamlined, hardly any interaction, huge corridors, my character seems to be hovering around while playing his animation instead of walking around etc.
Why oh why, Piranha Bytes?!?

Going to give it another try but so far it seems so streamlined that it appears boring and on-raily if that's a word.

Now that I think about it, that's the impression that the Spec Ops: The Line demo made on me as well, although that one may have an interesting story from the bits they exposed.

[Kekvit Irae]

Got back into Minecraft again. Set up a new server running the Tekkit pack. Delicious IC2/BC/EE fun

[Prussian to the Iron]

Got back into Minecraft again. Set up a new server running the Tekkit pack. Delicious IC2/BC/EE fun

Oh Minecraft, the game of kings. Perfect example of how a relatively inexpensive game can be a huge success without high-end graphics or animations, sophisticated multiplayer, or storyline, relying solely on gameplay.

[Kekvit Irae]

Oh Minecraft, the game of kings. Perfect example of how a relatively inexpensive game can be a huge success without high-end graphics or animations, sophisticated multiplayer, or storyline, relying solely on gameplay.

The thing is, it's not a game. It's a sandbox. A game implies there's an objective and rules. :P