In What Electronic Entertainment Have You Been Partaking #18: Reticulating Splines

[Zardnaar]

In Fallout 4,

Spoiler :

I found Kellogg in some military base. I talked to him a bit and then shot him in the face with the Fat Man. That was a very short fight.

Normally you use VATs and critical him in the face.

 

[Takhisis]

I think if Civ insists on going 1upt then having railroads should unlock a Strategic Movement ability where you can shift your unit's "stance" to "entrained" and then move them along the railroads at a very high but constant speed, and in this stance they can overlap but they can't fight, and if attacked they just die like a non-combat unit.

This is not a bad idea. In Wesnoth at least you can move through your units and those of your allies, which of course still means you have to pull back your front units or simply risk overextending your lines.

 

[Sommerswerd]

1UPT should be run over by a train.

 

[JPetroski]

I've been playtesting some really cool stuff in Civ2. I cant really talk about it just yet but I think some of you who preferred the base game experience over scenarios are going to love it when it releases.

I've also been plugging away revising my and Prof. Garfield's scenario, Over the Reich... 9,000 lines of code just in the reaction module to make sure P-47s are terrifying at high alt and 190A8s can shred bomber formations.

Lua makes Civ2 a whole new experience.... Some of you should drop by The Scenario League forum and check out what everyone is up to...

 

[EgonSpengler]

1UPT should be run over by a train.

I'm curious what your tabletop or boardgaming experience is. The "slider puzzle" of maneuvering my troops around each other never ruffled my feathers. In fact, it seemed pretty natural. I think that's because I played so many tabletop/board wargames before getting into PC games. Some of them would allow some limited form of stacking. I don't know why, in Civ VI, you can't combine complementary units. In fact, when I heard they were introducing the concept of Corps and Armies, I just naturally assumed that's what it was for. A valid Corps in my mind ought to be Musketmen + Field Cannon, Musketman + Pike & Shot, or Musketmen + Courser. I could imagine penalties for combining units from different Eras, maybe, or higher maintenance costs for Corps that combined different units.

It's been forever since I played Squad Leader, but iirc, you could stack 2 or 3 infantry squads together without penalty - say, a rifle squad with a heavy machine gun, a demolitions team, or an antitank gun (you could also stack 2 of the same type, of course). Then you could also add a support unit, one that didn't constitute a full squad, such as a sergeant, a medic, or a sniper. I think you could also "overstack" a hex, and take penalties on the performance of the units therein while they were cramping each other's style. At the tactical scale of Squad Leader, this usually meant one group was passing right through another's position and doing it while bullets were flying was pretty dumb, but go ahead if you really want to. In a strategic game, "overstacking" could certainly be used to represent units that aren't ready to fight, for one reason or another, such as while on the march or while recuperating.

---

The Long Dark : I visited Misty Falls Picnic Area in Pleasant Valley for the first time. Just goes to show, after all this time, there are still little nooks n' crannies to discover. It's a little difficult to reach, and I don't know if it's been there this whole time or was added relatively recently. It was a trove of goodies. It has an indoor waterfall, which I haven't seen outside of Hushed River Valley.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I'm curious what your tabletop or boardgaming experience is. The "slider puzzle" of maneuvering my troops around each other never ruffled my feathers. In fact, it seemed pretty natural. I think that's because I played so many tabletop/board wargames before getting into PC games. Some of them would allow some limited form of stacking. I don't know why, in Civ VI, you can't combine complementary units. In fact, when I heard they were introducing the concept of Corps and Armies, I just naturally assumed that's what it was for. A valid Corps in my mind ought to be Musketmen + Field Cannon, Musketman + Pike & Shot, or Musketmen + Courser. I could imagine penalties for combining units from different Eras, maybe, or higher maintenance costs for Corps that combined different units.

It's been forever since I played Squad Leader, but iirc, you could stack 2 or 3 infantry squads together without penalty - say, a rifle squad with a heavy machine gun, a demolitions team, or an antitank gun (you could also stack 2 of the same type, of course). Then you could also add a support unit, one that didn't constitute a full squad, such as a sergeant, a medic, or a sniper. I think you could also "overstack" a hex, and take penalties on the performance of the units therein while they were cramping each other's style. At the tactical scale of Squad Leader, this usually meant one group was passing right through another's position and doing it while bullets were flying was pretty dumb, but go ahead if you really want to. In a strategic game, "overstacking" could certainly be used to represent units that aren't ready to fight, for one reason or another, such as while on the march or while recuperating.

---

The Long Dark : I visited Misty Falls Picnic Area in Pleasant Valley for the first time. Just goes to show, after all this time, there are still little nooks n' crannies to discover. It's a little difficult to reach, and I don't know if it's been there this whole time or was added relatively recently. It was a trove of goodies. It has an indoor waterfall, which I haven't seen outside of Hushed River Valley.

I used to play BattleMech, which was a hex- based boardgame. I also enjoy, and still occasionally play RISK with family, which is all about stacking SODs. But I also grew up playing Stratego, which is all about the slider-puzzle.

My issue with Civ 6 (and 5) is the logjams. I don't mind the dynamics of 1UPT combat, I actually enjoy it. But the logistics are ridiculous.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I used to play BattleMech, which was a hex- based boardgame. I also enjoy, and still occasionally play RISK with family, which is all about stacking SODs. But I also grew up playing Stratego, which is all about the slider-puzzle.

My issue with Civ 6 (and 5) is the logjams. I don't mind the dynamics of 1UPT combat, I actually enjoy it. But the logistics are ridiculous.

Yeah, Civ takes an odd approach, with its sortof-but-not-really tactical combat in an otherwise strategic level game. For all the time I've put into Civ V and Civ VI, I've never quite gotten used to it, which tells me it maybe wasn't a great idea to begin with. I don't hate it, but I've never grown to like it, either. If Civ VII is ever going to be a thing, I'd like to see them drop that whole idea and just make the combat strategic. I do accept that the combat is simplified because (a) they're tackling the broad sweep of human history and (b) it's a game designed for casual players to be able to play, and isn't really intended for the Squad Leader types.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I never had a problem with 1UPT, but I never build many units, usually just one defender for each city. Maybe that's why I had problems with Civilization IV.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

When I played Civ 5, I was mostly annoyed by not being able to stack workers to make the roads build faster.

 

[Commodore]

I've been playing The Last Kingdom Total War mod for Medieval 2 Total War. The mod starts in 865 AD and covers the period of the formation of England. The map has the British Isles as the main focus with Northern France, Denmark, the southwestern tip of Scandinavia and Iceland on the map as well.

I don't have all the factions memorized but it includes all the Saxon kingdoms like Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and North Umbria as well as a variety of Scandinavian kingdoms and Vikings. They also include West and East Frankia, the Normans, Ireland is split into three or four kingdoms and they included the kingdom of Alba to represent the Scots.

I've only played it a little bit so I haven't had a chance to delve into how well the strategic elements work, but the battles play a little differently than normal M2TW. For one, there is very little cavalry available in the game, so you won't be relying on cavalry charges to win the day like in standard Medieval 2 games. Also, most infantry units have the "shield wall" ability making most battles a battle of attrition unless you can manage to outmaneuver your enemy.

 

[Sommerswerd]

When I played Civ 5, I was mostly annoyed by not being able to stack workers to make the roads build faster.

In Civ 6, workers dont build roads at all, which takes some getting used to.

 

[elmurcis]

Right of playing some Civ4 session. Love stacks. And many cities. And lot of things to do so I can forget some of them all the time and reload like 1-2 times per hour just because of that. And race in Nascar 2003. Love tight racing and car setup part (what if I do this and... oh, my name now is SPEED!!! Ooppss.. Got loose and hit wall - dammit - SpeedInWall my name will be).

 

[Takhisis]

If Civ VII is ever going to be a thing

With an expansion pack called ‘The search for more money!’, it will be.

Since I'm here I'd like to thank Sommerswerd for finally having made me complete GTA: Vice City with his random comment about Run-DMC. It was a much-needed blast to the past in these 4 months and counting of shutdown.

 

[HEF]

Sunday, 19th July 2o2o

The Legend of Karen on Nintendo Switch & 3DS

The Legend of Karen is one of those ultra rare games in the entire 'Legend of' series found on Nintendo's eStore.

All you Karens out there (even the ones that proclaim to be) may find this adventure game a refreshing departure from their daily hectic lifestyle of assuming to be a privileged American princess.

Highly recommended for females who harass others in public spaces and online gaming forums during a deadly global pandemic.

Would You Like To See More?

 

[EgonSpengler]

For some reason I went all-in on The Long Dark this week (Survival Mode, Stalker difficulty) and have played nothing else. After 36 days, I've fully mapped out Pleasant Valley. I moved on to Timberwolf Mountain rather than Mystery Lake or Coastal Highway, reasoning that I might as well get one of the wilderness zones out of the way early, while I'm reasonably well-equipped. The Mountain is also kind of distant from the core regions, and once I'm done here, I'll probably have no reason to come back. Pleasant Valley is really chock full o' supplies, incidentally, even on Stalker. I left a lot of gear behind in the farmhouse and in the Thomson's Crossing community center. It's a good zone to start a new game in.

I find that my poor orienteering skills seem to translate to a video game. (Made worse by a video game that has no compass or useful map, admittedly.) Still, I seem to be better at navigating the maps with buildings, even on the parts of those maps where the buildings aren't in sight. I get turned around on Timberwolf Mountain constantly, and the areas I'm in never seem to be adjacent to the areas I expect to be over the hill or around the bend. I can't count the number of times I've said "WTH, how did I end up here?" For now, I'm sticking to the lower areas because I want to take down a moose before I head for the summit, so I can get the extra carry-weight from the satchel. I think I might also spend some time working my Archery skill, while it's not crucial. I'd love to be able to leave the rifle behind when I head up the mountain.

 

[tjs282]

YAAAAY!!! Finally beat Far Cry!

On Easy. Probably.

Now, back to Civ3. There's Coal in them thar Hills, and Vikings to pummel for it...

 

[Spidernova]

@Spidernova welp, that's not good.

Yeah, high elves are balanced around trade, and you don't get that with your start position. Was quite a grind.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

In Civ 6, workers dont build roads at all, which takes some getting used to.

What

How are roads made then

 

[shadowplay]

What

How are roads made then

Trade routes automatically generate roads.

 

[amadeus]

In OpenTTD I have discovered the “FIRS” industry replacement set (apologies for the redundancies, sorry) and am currently engrossed in trying to understand it.

It adds more industries and cargo types, so now my haphazard patchwork of lines will be even more haphazard and patchworky.

I want to find some maps that use it too; the default map generation is fine but I feel that a map someone has made generally tends to look nicer. That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.