Creston wrote on Apr 8, 2018, 18:55:
I mean, this looks amazing, but every single thing to buy costs like 60, 70 bucks? 70 bucks for a single plane? wtf?

My understanding is that each aircraft is fully simulated down to being able to use every knob and switch. That's also why they don't have anything current (such as F22 and F35), as all the reference material is classified.

Jerykk wrote on Apr 1, 2018, 19:13:
The only thing I dislike about FC5 are the actual skills/abilities/passives that you unlock. Most of them just aren't very interesting. Many just increase your ammo capacity or make some minor changes to weapon handling. Those should be weapon upgrades, not things you spend skill points on. AC:O had a similar issue. It seems that Ubisoft just isn't very good at making interesting skill trees.

I agree. I think they're comfortable with keeping mass-market appeal with bland perks. I do miss my Owl/Drone from Primal/Wildlands though.

I like the changes they've made to zone progression over 4/Primal. Crafting is just about gutted and replaced with cash and perk points. If crafting was a huge deal for you, may want to pass on this one. I didn't care for the upgrades crafting, but I don't feel like perk points are an improvement.

The AI is still crap, the followers repeat the same handful of lines way too often, and constantly talk over important dialogue (how does that pass playtesting?), and the guns are pretty much the same selection from 4. Oh, and the dog isn't as good as the one from MGS5, which this one is almost a complete copy of. But at least the dog doesn't constantly talk over dialogue like a toddler.

That said I'm having fun. A friend gifted me the preorder. Would I have paid $60 straight up? Probably not. I'd have gone for $40 though.

Cutter wrote on Mar 29, 2018, 14:00:
Indeed. Or his hypocrisy of 'putting Americans back to work' when he doesn't even hire them himself. Something his idiot supporters never call him on.

They're even worse than that. One Trumpster I worked with was actually the one that made me aware of the fact he hires illegals over Americans, and actually knew a few contractors driven into homelessness by Trumps business practices.

I asked, "So you're voting for the guy that did all that?"
"Hell yeah!"

Creston wrote on Oct 4, 2017, 14:22:
Out of curiosity, can you play all the old seasons of content if you start now? Or can you only play season 14?

Yes, you can play all the old content including missions that were from launch. The only thing is these new seasons are all end-game so if you're talking a brand-new account you'll have to spend the time getting to a level where you can tackle these missions, or have an existing player mentor you (or whatever they call the mechanic) through the missions.

Orogogus wrote on Sep 29, 2017, 02:17:
I can't speak to Star Citizen, but I mentioned Elite -- I think it's more of a space trucker than a shooter, and I don't think an X-Wing/Wing Commander/Freespace game with its kind of action would go over very well. It's designed more towards the mouse's strength, precision shooting, than towards flying, while the old style space action games leaned more heavily on targets suddenly swinging behind or in front of you, with way more giant turns to re-orient on your target.

This seems to be an anecdotal playstyle difference. The combat my group gets into with Elite has been very mobile with intense furballs. I've done those furballs with both KBM and a flight set. Star Citizen as well. I maintain that KBM is very playable and competitive, and it is so because developers figured out better ways to integrate KBM instead of just saying "you need a joystick to play."

Orogogus wrote on Sep 28, 2017, 14:42:
I think it's iffy. Outside of mouse-flyers like Freelancer and Everspace, space shooters lean towards joysticks, which most people don't have. You can soften them to the point where a gamepad works, but then a lot of the people who do have sticks throw a fit. Elite is KBAM playable, but I feel it's barely a shooter; the shooting is way the hell better than the old games, but you probably couldn't make a Freespace or X-Wing game based on it.

I have a joystick and I love space games, but I'm inclined to think that the math probably just doesn't add up unless you engage in crowdfunding like Star Citizen and Elite, letting you milk your whale core for way, way more than the MSRP.

Having grown up when Wing Commander and X-Wing/Tie Fighter were released, the control issue isn't an issue anymore. Both Elite and Star Citizen are incredibly playable with KBM to the point it's a matter of preference. Thrustmaster sells very affordable sticks from a basic throw-away stick at $30 to a full stick/throttle/pedals for $140 (with Amazon Prime).

I think the lack of resurgence is a combination of today's gamers (not capable of 3D spatial sense) and big publishers playing it safe.

I can choose between google datamining my face, or facebook datamining my face. Oh well, so much for maybe a VR set for Christmas.

ColoradoHoudini wrote on Aug 14, 2017, 20:27:
What is the player count for MP? 32 vs 32?

Ha! I'd be surprised if it's even 16v16.

War Mode seems familiar, like Wolfenstein Enemy Territory.

I'm only interested if the cash boxes include jpegs of Chris Roberts spaceships.

I played on both the hardest and easiest difficulty settings. IIRC New Order is one of those games where difficulty is adjusted through hitpoints and accuracy only. If the run-and-gun seems too much a slog just drop down to the lowest setting and then the guns will. I didn't feel like there was any point to playing on Uber (or any higher difficulty) more than once.

eRe4s3r wrote on Jul 17, 2017, 09:03:
Mhh, World of Tanks has the same issue, play on Ultra low = you can see through walls (because they ain't rendering) and foliage stops displaying entirely after a distance, you think you sit in a bush with your tank? Other player sees you on the open field with no cover.

Broken by design ;P

I think you're confusing two competing titles. What you describe is a problem in War Thunder and the new "ultra low" setting. In War Thunder vehicles are always rendered so removing occlusion objects like trees and walls, and making everything a solid mass of color really makes targets stand out at long ranges.

Visibility in World of Tanks works by the server refusing to send information to the client. Removing walls and trees doesn't do any good when the server refuses to tell you where tanks are. That used to be it's own special sort of bullshit, with tanks being completely invisible even at close range.

Ranger55 wrote on Jun 25, 2017, 12:34:
I work for a Fortune 100 company. Often times, while we have the cash on hand to fund big projects, or even parts of projects, we will still go to lenders to finance the projects. It is no different than using a line of credit. Do you want to blow all of your cash now on a server farm, or do you want to put it on credit and pay it out over time?

I have nothing at all to do with business operations, and I do this all the time with my private finances. There are benefits to juggling credit, and accountants are always on about having "debt" to knock down taxes and such. A loan doesn't mean anything bad until it's defaulted. Then it's shit city.

DangerDog wrote on Jun 14, 2017, 03:29:
They're going to hand it off to the same studio that worked on Aliens:CM.

So... handled by a competent studio and micromanaged to death by Pitchford? Got it.

ItBurn wrote on May 27, 2017, 20:27:
That would require an effort by the devs for what I expect is probably not many gains. It could also be a problem with licenses, rights or ownership. Seems like Ebay is the only legit way to get a copy. Sucks.

The problem lays squarely on Microsoft. I don't think anything from Microsoft's back catalog exists anywhere right now. Starlancer/Freelancer, the MechWarrior franchise... MS is too entrenched with their XBox/Win10 platforms to care about anything else regardless of potential profit.

Prez wrote on May 26, 2017, 23:15:
I also have read a lot of criticisms saying that a lot of the progress you make is lost when you die. Sounds a lot like wasting time to me. Can anyone who has played it expound on this?

I guess it depends on where you pin progress. When you die you lose crafting materials and equipped items. You keep credits, which are largely just a skill points currency for permanent perks. Crafting blueprints are permanent. Enhancements (found runes that give bonuses or change game mechanics) are permanent.

I really didn't have a problem with losing my gear at death. Once the player accumulates a basic level of blueprints, perks, and enhancements the game gets significantly easier. A bigger issue is the game was quite short in early access and there isn't much unique content. It really relies on RNG and die-repeat to stretch out the experience.

All that said, anyone looking for a space shooter more in line with Wing Commander and Freelancer, or is craving 6DOF gameplay like Descent, should give the game a shot even though some of the mechanics sound not so fun. It's frequently 20% off somewhere, and the Steam summer sale is coming soon.

Creston wrote on May 17, 2017, 09:28:

Kajetan wrote on May 17, 2017, 08:03:

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on May 17, 2017, 07:53:
... pricing model(30% fee on sales) ...

This i dont get.

30% may seem much, but Steam offers a developer exposure to a GIANT, WORLDWIDE customer base, which is only achievable with a marketing budget even the majors can afford often. If ever.

Not just that, but they provide you with multiplayer functionality, DRM (if you so choose), infinite bandwidth and seamless update functionality.

All of that costs money. Bandwidth alone is a pretty significant chunk at the absurd prices the US Mafia ISPs charge for it.

I'm sure that's less than Gamestop would take, if Gamestop even let indies in the front door.

After the good coop of Far Cry: Wildlands I think I'm good for open world whatever. I'd be interested in The Crew 2 if it has more track racing - like enough to make an interesting career out of. I'm not a fan of street racing or XXXtreme sports.

Bill Borre wrote on Feb 19, 2017, 08:41:
Are there any coders browsing the forum? I'm curious about the technical aspect of dropping XP support for a game as old as World of Warcraft. I'm assuming that they aren't going to be redeveloping the old game code for WOW, which otherwise would run fine on XP, so doesn't dropping support for XP effectively only take a stance of EXCLUDING xp users on WOW?

It depends on what dropping support means for them. If it's no longer checking XP and Vista during QA then yeah, basically what you said. "If it doesn't work, not our problem."

Of course it could also mean phasing out older code that XP and Vista use but not 7 and up. That will take some initial investment in removing the code and testing the game, but the end result means they can further optimize for 7 and up and also there are a few less things to explode with bugs every patch.

Rilcon wrote on Jan 4, 2017, 17:27:
What's the moral difference between getting a free 11 year old version of a heavily patched/"updated" game you can't otherwise play officially, and getting an 11 year old abandonware game that's no longer sold?

Well, first of all "abandonware" is a word made up by pirates to justify their activity. Either a game and its IP is in public domain, or it isn't.

Second, Blizzard is still operating the game for a monthly fee and in-game item sales. Personal disagreement with the direction of the game or the company are not legal grounds to steal intellectual property, for profit or not.