What game are you wasting time on?

[DwarvenFood]

Done with Isaac for now. Got all the achievements except Golden God, and I don't feel like dicking around for umpteen runs hoping to find the few items I never bothered to pick up/come across on previous runs.

So you got to Sheol/Satan ? And finished Mom's heart 10 times ? Still cannot get through the Sheol level, game is getting annoying for me... any tips on good bonus combos ? Had a strong one last time, but fucked it up by picking up the boomerang shots.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Brimstone is pretty game breaking by itself. So is the Doctor Fetus upgrade, if you have enough speed and some sort of backup for the rare rooms where you're absolutely trapped into melee right off the bat. Another good tip is that theres nothing worth exploring for past Depths 2, no shops or item rooms and the enemies are bastards. So just use an emperor card or use a compass to go straight to the boss. For spacebar items a book of revelations or the nail are both really good, since you can build up a lot of spirit hearts in the early game while you're not getting hit much, by using it as much as possible. Especially if you get the battery and milk rooms for more charges (You can actually use any item once per room with the battery by entering with 3 charges, waiting for the 6th charge, using it, then waiting for 3 more charges. This assumes it's safe to do so of course, and you don't mind wasting 2 minutes on each room.)

Chocolate milk is nice on it's own or with a bunch of the other upgrades, but it breaks brimstone so it'll do shit damage, so I don't grab it unless I already have something like homing/piercing/ghostly/triple shot tears. Boomerang tears are probably not worth getting unless you have piercing tears already. (and even then remember that you're trading range for damage.)

By very careful on the first few floors, since getting hit lowers your chances of getting the devil room, which has a lot of the best upgrades. I think Cain is the best of the first characters you get, since he has decent stats and the luckfoot makes pills safe to take. Plus he can generally get really good use out of slot machines to get bombs and keys. If you find a blood donation machine, use the fuck out of it and hope it blows up and gives you a blood pack. At the very very least, use it enough that you're down 1 or 2 hearts after taking all the unused health on the level, then bomb it, you'll probably get hearts back anyways. But do this after fighting the boss, since it counts as damage, I think.

Finding the secret rooms early on can help a LOT. if you can get 15 coins by the second floor and visit the shop on every level, chances are you're going to end up with a few extra upgrades. Try to always take challenge rooms with passives or gold chests (which are often passives) as well. Nab every blue rock you can and hope the rock drops.

Use spacebar items often. You want to save them for the boss usually, but it's just as important if not more so to use them on asshole rooms where you'd normally get hit a few times anyways. I can fight almost all the bosses without getting hit. I still can't get through about 1 in 3 rooms in the depths without getting hit though (fucking leaper + stone head rooms.)

Lastly, if you have a lot of bombs, remember that you can blow your way out of rooms without killing everything by using one on a door. A lot of rooms in Sheol/the Womb just aren't worth staying in to fight everything, and you're better off just taking a point or two of damage before running out the door instead of trying to clear out a bunch of leapers or projectile spammers and taking a half dozen hits in the process.

 

[Trash]

Playing Starcraft II when I don't feel like spending an hour on a single battle. Never played through the entire campaign and plan on rectifying that. It's neat to play something as extremely polished as this and I can't help myself from digging it.

What I liked best about SC2 is that it's still as pure a game as if it's still the 90s. Pure gameplay at its heart with nice extras that don't interfere with that. And it's good.

Yeah, nearly at the end now and loving it all the way. There is a certain 'pureness' to pretty much every aspect of it. Even the graphics have that highly polished but also highly aimed at functionality feel to it that permeates the entire game. In fact, I enjoy it so much that it made me reinstall SC1 to do a sp playthrough.

Won´t bother with MP though. That´s way too much for the carpal tunnel crowd for my liking.

Rest of the time is spend with CK2 (more bugs than anticipated, still awesome) and Achtung Panzer. Both are going to be sitting on my HD for a long, long time.

 

[Serious_Business]

Everyone not saying CK2 is a faggot. There, I said it.

I would totally brofist you, it's unfortunate that I don't dirty my hands with the commons, but know that your lord approves of your behaviour

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Everyone not saying CK2 is a faggot. There, I said it.

I would totally brofist you, it's unfortunate that I don't dirty my hands with the commons, but know that your lord approves of your behaviour

Thank you, my liege. (+15 relationship)

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I felt SC2 was worth it for the campaign alone however given Blizzards excellent multiplayer support I've been playing it competitive online. Of the seven leagues for players I qualified for the second (Silver) from the beginning and in two months I'm currently in the fourth league (Platinum). I'm also at the top of my division so come the next season I'll probably be promoted to diamond. If I could manage two more promotions (highly unlikely given the huge time and effort investment the pros give to their game) I can start playing to earn money by being a streamcaster.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

You're at the best point of the SC2 ladder. It's only going to get worse from now on. For your sake, I hope you stay where you are.

 

[The Vault Dweller]

I felt SC2 was worth it for the campaign alone however given Blizzards excellent multiplayer support I've been playing it competitive online. Of the seven leagues for players I qualified for the second (Silver) from the beginning and in two months I'm currently in the fourth league (Platinum). I'm also at the top of my division so come the next season I'll probably be promoted to diamond. If I could manage two more promotions (highly unlikely given the huge time and effort investment the pros give to their game) I can start playing to earn money by being a streamcaster.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

You're at the best point of the SC2 ladder. It's only going to get worse from now on. For your sake, I hope you stay where you are.

I take it you mean that the only way to get better beyond this point is to devote your life to it like a full-time job (which I can't do) and/or players past this point are total die-hard assholes that I shouldn't play with? I can easily see either being the case.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

 

[Damned Registrations]

He referring to the fact that the metagame at higher tiers is pretty much meta-metagaming the other guy and picking the right cheese strat. Which is rather dull because it makes a lot of the game unimportant (basically everything besides getting your build order done perfectly and picking the right one.)

 

[sser]

King's Bounty. Just a damn good game, IMO, with far superior mechanics than the HoMM series which just has fizzled as of late.

I tried the new Deus Ex but it just sucked, fulfilling the suspicions I had all along. I played the thing pure-stealth. Lots of dialogue and what not to weasel my way past crap. Four hours in I just leaned back and realized I couldn't fucking play the game anymore. And as they say, that was that.

I'll be getting CK2 once I get the cash for it/I read some patches/it drops in price. Same for the New Vegas package.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I felt SC2 was worth it for the campaign alone however given Blizzards excellent multiplayer support I've been playing it competitive online. Of the seven leagues for players I qualified for the second (Silver) from the beginning and in two months I'm currently in the fourth league (Platinum). I'm also at the top of my division so come the next season I'll probably be promoted to diamond. If I could manage two more promotions (highly unlikely given the huge time and effort investment the pros give to their game) I can start playing to earn money by being a streamcaster.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

You're at the best point of the SC2 ladder. It's only going to get worse from now on. For your sake, I hope you stay where you are.

I take it you mean that the only way to get better beyond this point is to devote your life to it like a full-time job (which I can't do) and/or players past this point are total die-hard assholes that I shouldn't play with? I can easily see either being the case.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

Nah, you can play like 1 hour a day and get to GM level eventually, if you're smart about it. Truthfully, there are tons of awful players in actual GM. Players also aren't markedly worse personality-wise. It's the game, it gets worse in the hands of competent players. At lower levels, everything everyone does is inefficient, so you can often win just by having good mechanics and well-practiced builds. So, as you improve mechanics, you win more, and feel like you're improving. But at about high Diamond/low Masters, people start actually executing cheese and all-ins properly, and you will often die regardless of your mechanics or micro, just because you got a bad read (and there are things in this game that are legitimately impossible to scout and force a coinflip). It just becomes really confusing and frustrating.

He referring to the fact that the metagame at higher tiers is pretty much meta-metagaming the other guy and picking the right cheese strat. Which is rather dull because it makes a lot of the game unimportant (basically everything besides getting your build order done perfectly and picking the right one.)

Nah, not so much. You can't really metagame anyone on the ladder, because most of them have no idea wtf they're doing, even in higher leagues. I tried doing this once at mid Masters and lost a lot of games because of my opponent playing like a retard and therefore defying all expectations. Major metagaming only really starts in tournaments, where you actually know the guy you're playing, and can make reads based on that.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Done with Isaac for now. Got all the achievements except Golden God, and I don't feel like dicking around for umpteen runs hoping to find the few items I never bothered to pick up/come across on previous runs.

So you got to Sheol/Satan ? And finished Mom's heart 10 times ? Still cannot get through the Sheol level, game is getting annoying for me... any tips on good bonus combos ? Had a strong one last time, but fucked it up by picking up the boomerang shots.

Use Cain. Probably the best/easiest character to play. DR has a pretty good post. I'll just add that there are a lot of little things you can do to optimize your runs that helps when you get to the Womb and Sheol. For example, if you find some soul hearts, and you're already at full health, and you've got a surplus of red hearts on the floor, don't use the soul hearts until after you beat the boss. Think of them as a bonus health pool for the next floor. Using them in that situation on the current floor is a waste. Don't do that on Depths 2, though, because once you beat Mom, you can't backtrack through the floor. Something to add concerning Secret Rooms, if you didn't know already: you can guess where they are with fair reliability. Simply look for empty spaces surrounded by 3 or 4 rooms. In the early levels, the floors are less complex, so often there is only one or two possibilities. Getting Secret Rooms early on helps so much, and really lets you get the most out of the Arcades further down. And to reiterate a little, you are only trying to survive the Womb and Sheol (unless you have ridiculously good items), so proceed directly to the bosses and the secret room if you know where it is and it is on the way.

Finally beat Satan with ???. Turns out I just needed Transcendence; didn't hurt having both The Compass and Treasure Map for the Womb and Sheol. Still had "only" 70 deaths at that point though, so I had to grab Judas and grind deaths to unlock The Shears. The only achievements I have left are the no damage ones, except for the basement, and Golden Boy, which I think I'm close to, since I only have 5 items left, and having the D6 looking for them somewhat easier.

 

[The Vault Dweller]

Nah, you can play like 1 hour a day and get to GM level eventually, if you're smart about it. Truthfully, there are tons of awful players in actual GM. Players also aren't markedly worse personality-wise. It's the game, it gets worse in the hands of competent players. At lower levels, everything everyone does is inefficient, so you can often win just by having good mechanics and well-practiced builds. So, as you improve mechanics, you win more, and feel like you're improving. But at about high Diamond/low Masters, people start actually executing cheese and all-ins properly, and you will often die regardless of your mechanics or micro, just because you got a bad read (and there are things in this game that are legitimately impossible to scout and force a coinflip). It just becomes really confusing and frustrating.

I know you're 100% correct.

I've watched plenty of hours of pro livestream and they pretty much have a favorite strategy that they cheese with every game or time correctly.

I've also learned this myself. You see wanting to be prepared for any strategy my opponent picks and having any strategy ready for myself I "created" my own "all-purpose" build that was never weak to any opening, but never strong to one either. Many times though I would scout my opponent and give the proper response they would just have timed it too well to stop their push or I would go for a unit they didn't scout me making, but would win engagements anyway with too many all-purpose units regardless of their not knowing my strategy.

I'm a zerg player and I do "ten overlord, ten pool" almost every game. On a small map with a close opponent I lose the chance to sneak some lings into his base as he'll have walled in already, but also if my opponent tries to bunker/cannon rush me I have the pool early enough to stop that attempt. Most zerg players either do a very early pool (works on small map near opponent) or 14 hatch 14 pool which works on large maps farthest positions. Of course countless times I've seen a 14 pool, 14 hatch get cannon/bunker rushed and lose horribly and they can't stop it, because they can't know until it's too late.

I've always wondered if what I'm doing is correct.

You were in Masters Cowboy Moment?

,
The Vault Dweller

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Real men defend a proxy 2 rax bunker rush after 15 hatch 16 pool without losing any drones.

In all seriousness though, you should never pool before 14, unless you're doing some kind of specific cheese. There is really not much to gain from it. You should always be able to defend a cannon rush with just drones, and maybe one spinecrawler if he really commits to it. Bunker rushes are more difficult, but you'll need to be able to defend a 2 rax bunker rush after a 15 hatch 14 pool, since that's the ZvT standard. There is honestly no reason not to 15 hatch against Terran, and it gives you a major economic boost. Against Protoss, I think a gas first speedling expand is the most versatile. Having speed early helps against a lot of gay shit they can pull out, and the economic loss is not that significant, since you'll be taking a 3rd the moment you see them take their natural. In ZvZ, eh, whatever floats your boat.

 

[The Vault Dweller]

Real men defend a proxy 2 rax bunker rush after 15 hatch 16 pool without losing any drones.

In all seriousness though, you should never pool before 14, unless you're doing some kind of specific cheese. There is really not much to gain from it. You should always be able to defend a cannon rush with just drones, and maybe one spinecrawler if he really commits to it. Bunker rushes are more difficult, but you'll need to be able to defend a 2 rax bunker rush after a 15 hatch 14 pool, since that's the ZvT standard. There is honestly no reason not to 15 hatch against Terran, and it gives you a major economic boost. Against Protoss, I think a gas first speedling expand is the most versatile. Having speed early helps against a lot of gay shit they can pull out, and the economic loss is not that significant, since you'll be taking a 3rd the moment you see them take their natural. In ZvZ, eh, whatever floats your boat.

Thank you very much!

Ya know when I decided to try out the "14 hatch, 14 pool" you just mentioned I realized something else. While I had tried many different builds under many different circumstances the first two weeks of play once I settled on my "10 overlord, 10 pool" I never tried anything else again. Given the metagame and different maps/faction opponents this was probably a big mistake.

I think I'm gonna spend a few weeks with each few days using only one build regardless of the map or faction opponent just to see what works and what doesn't. Regardless of the results I'll learn and it will be fun.

,
The Vault Dweller

 

[Tel Velothi]

I just started playing Starcraft (1) - I'm doing Terran campaign - having MUCH fun. Ofc I suck at a game big time (never played too much RTS games - but I guess I'll start playing them) - on custom games I usually can't win with AI, that's how good I am. Although I found an effective way to win by Lurkers - AI cannot into detectors much I guess.

Also "playing" Dear Esther.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

...

Decided to offset CK2 and the complexity with something simple and easy...

Thief

 

[Angelo85]

Currently replaying Freespace 2 with the MediaVP pack (awesome GFX improvements), also playing some of the Babylon5 Mod campaigns.
Damn I would pay big money for Freespace 3 (Kickstarter anyone? :D).

 

[Krraloth]

I'm reading through the manual of Megatraveller 2 (a text one, anybody knows where to find a pdf version? I treid looking in the replacementdocs but no avail) trying to understand what would be the best party composition. The setting is fascinating, I sure hope the game will satisfy my sci-fi cravings.

 

[Crooked Bee]

the manual of Megatraveller 2 (a text one, anybody knows where to find a pdf version?)

Try this: http://www.mediafire.com/?6mt5y53f5cfkc6u

It's a low quality pdf version of the MT 1 and MT 2 manuals bundled together.

 

[Krraloth]

the manual of Megatraveller 2 (a text one, anybody knows where to find a pdf version?)

Try this: http://www.mediafire.com/?6mt5y53f5cfkc6u

It's a low quality pdf version of the MT 1 and MT 2 manuals bundled together.

I won't ask you how you found it (always protect the sources), but thanks!

 

[Crooked Bee]

I won't ask you how you found it (always protect the sources)

It's from the Megatraveller Collection CD that I downloaded from Underground Gamer, actually.

 

[GreyViper]

Finishing KoA and starting old classics in new shell Urban Chaos-1.13 & Diedranna Lives!-1.13 for JA2. Have to say I like the start of UC the best nothing like taking metro to wrong city and have gang bang welcoming you affter you step of the train. Still with drop all items I dont have to worry about stealing from the right guy and not killing him straight away. Besides Jubile way outclasses Ira in every way. As for DL its nice nostalgia romp throug Alrulco with many changes, mind you its more of advanced SCFI mode. Other then that I need to finish Drakensang Phileasson's Secret, since King Arthur 2 is bugged with mouse crusor going AWOL.

 

[felipepepe]

Finished replaying Pyschonauts and Princess Maker 2, played a little with the TERA Online Beta this weekend (see first-impressions here), and today I tried & finished Dear Esther.

I gotta say, I was expecting a interactive storytelling experience, something like exploring the island and creating my own story, but was completly disapointed. While incredbly beatiful, and with a great atmosphere in the first part, I felt the game to be "artsy" and empty. I'm not saying this as a "I wanna shoot things" brickhead, but you exploring a gorgeous but linear island, hearing random (yes, they are randomised) ramblings of a man works more like a concept piece tha a proper game, and even so, it's a empty concept that was done before in a way better way, and for free, in The Stanley Parable.

I really have no idea how people are reviewing it 100/100, "Dear Esther completely changes the language in which we communicate with a videogame". The "game" is like 40 minutes long, has zero replay value, and cost 9,99 USD. It's not a new concept, it's not "game + poetry", it's just the medium for the medium, with absolutley no message (but using big words, so it looks smart).

Since it's randomized and the only gameplay is walking linear paths, you can just watch a youtube LP and see the same thing, thus is a failure as a "game". If you wanna see the concept being done in a true masterful way, mixing interactive storytelling with games while making you think, just play Mass Effect The Stanley Parable, it's free.

 

[ChristofferC]

I'm playing Far Cry again.

 

[BLOBERT]

ALRIGHT BROS I STARTED BULLETSTORM

THE BEGINNING WANTED ME TO PULL ME FUCKING HAIR OUT CAUSE OF CINIEMATEC BULLSHIT BUT NOW IT IS SOERT OF FUN

MY TOLERANCE FOR CONSOLE SHOOTERS HAS BEEN DIMINISHED BUT THIS IS FUN WITH THE SKILLSHOT SHIT AND FUCKING UP FUHNCERS