What video games have you been playing V: the return of the subtitle

[Phrossack]

Today in The Elder Scrolls: Total War mod for M2:TW, a House Redoran army of mine under the command of the Nerevarine killed King Hlaalu Helseth and ended Great House Hlaalu. Now he and Councilor Morvayn are carving a bloody path through the ashlands of the Sixth House. My Buoyant Armigers slaughtered the zombies of Dagoth Ur to dramatic music and then put the inhabitants of the village they captured to the sword. Now I have to hurry and finish up before the hordes of Oblivion arrive. This has all whetted my appetite for playing Morrowind, and who knows--my outdated computer might just be able to handle it.

 

[Ajidica]

Today in The Elder Scrolls: Total War mod for M2:TW, a House Redoran army of mine under the command of the Nerevarine killed King Hlaalu Helseth and ended Great House Hlaalu. Now he and Councilor Morvayn are carving a bloody path through the ashlands of the Sixth House. My Buoyant Armigers slaughtered the zombies of Dagoth Ur to dramatic music and then put the inhabitants of the village they captured to the sword. Now I have to hurry and finish up before the hordes of Oblivion arrive. This has all whetted my appetite for playing Morrowind, and who knows--my outdated computer might just be able to handle it.

If your computer can play Medieval 2, then it can definitely play Morrowind. IIRC Oblivion came out the same year as Medieval 2 and they were both complete resource hogs.

On the subject of Medieval 2, I've been playing a campaign as Milan and somehow managing to keep stable alliance with the Byzantine Empire, The Holy Roman Empire, Poland, and England. I let the alliance with France lapse because once I mop up Portugal they are my next target. Spain attacked Corsica on me, I quickly retook it, and decided to launch a campaign of vengeance against them and completely wiped out Spain. Venice is reduced to Crete and Ragusa, Sicily has been kicked out of mainly Europe and Sicily itself; and the HRE stupidly attacked me early game which allowed me to seize Bologna and unite all of northern Italy. Unfortunately, the Medieval 2 AI appears to be slightly bugging out with regards to the Papal States. I got excommunicated because I attacked Sicily (no idea why I was even given the Excommunication ultimatum, I had good relations with the pope). I have since made peace with Sicily, given the pope gobs of money, and have a high approval with the pope but I'm still excommunicated! (The pope also declared war on me for some reason. Once I get Zaragossa the Pope got for some reason; I'm making peace.) Thankfully my faction leader is getting old so he should die soon and lift the excommunication; but I'm not holding out much hope for his successor, a sadly ignorant miser.

Phrossack, do you know how well the Elder Scrolls mod works on the Steam version of Medieval 2?

 

[Lexicus]

If your computer can play Medieval 2, then it can definitely play Morrowind.

Exactly what I was thinking.

On the subject of Medieval 2, I've been playing a campaign as Milan and somehow managing to keep stable alliance with the Byzantine Empire, The Holy Roman Empire, Poland, and England. I let the alliance with France lapse because once I mop up Portugal they are my next target. S
Phrossack, do you know how well the Elder Scrolls mod works on the Steam version of Medieval 2?

Weird, what difficulty you play on? On VH I've found that the AI never enters alliances, and any AI that borders me inevitably declares war sooner or later.

 

[Synobun]

I have finally started playing Dragon Age for the first time. I am enjoying myself, although everyone in this first game is rather... douche-y.

I've also been playing Civ 3 again. I made a custom scenario that placates my cheating heart that I've been tweaking here and there to fit my preferred playing experience. Each game lasts me an hour to an hour and a half and is the same every time, but I enjoy it. My capacity to enjoy chaotic wide-open strategy games has dwindled in recent years.

 

[Lexicus]

I started seeing TV ads for the Special Edition of Skyrim. Man, console gamers will fall for anything won't they? My modded PC version of the good ol' original version looks a lot better than the video and screenshots I'm seeing of the Special Edition. I get that people will be able to mod off the improved baseline graphics of the Special Edition on consoles. But apparently the upgrade will be free to PC users who own Skyrim plus all the expansions (like me) but will cost a full $60 for console users who already own the original game.

From what I can see, my PC version of Skyrim with the HD textures mod (I forget exactly which one I use) already looks better than baseline Special Edition. But apparently I'll also be able to upgrade to the Special Edition for free.

Anyway, I feel like the willingess of people to pay so much money for things like this is why we (gamers) can't have nice things.

 

[Traitorfish]

I mean, an Xbox One is a hell of a lot cheaper than a high-end gaming PC.

 

[Arakhor]

And for those who've only played on consoles, it'll be a huge upgrade - not one of that merits £40-50, certainly, but still a great improvement.

 

[Snerk]

Man, console gamers will fall for anything won't they?

Silly console gamers buying a £35 game when they could have saved their money and bought a superior gaming PC instead. When will they learn?

Anyway, I feel like the willingess of people to pay so much money for things like this is why we (gamers) can't have nice things.

Yeah if only people didn't pay for games I'm personally not interested in.

Anyway, as far as the updated Skyrim game goes I'll give it a miss. I've never really had much interest in playing through TES games more than once. If I could somehow revive my old PS3 save on the PS4 version and play the DLCs (never got around to playing any of them) then I'd be mildly interested. But that's a no go. As far as mods go I have just about zero interest. Getting involved in the mod scene in these game usually just means I'll no longer be able to concentrate on just playing and enjoying the game.

 

[Lohrenswald]

I mean, an Xbox One is a hell of a lot cheaper than a high-end gaming PC.

I guess the issue now is if the consoles are cheaper than a computer that would perform roughly as well

 

[Chukchi Husky]

The console versions of the Skyrim Special Edition can use most mods made for Skyrim but not all mods. Any mod that needs SKSE won't work.

 

[Arakhor]

The PS4 version won't be able to make use of almost all popular mods, due to the heavy restrictions on the system.

 

[Lexicus]

I mean, an Xbox One is a hell of a lot cheaper than a high-end gaming PC.

And performs worse, and is a hell of a lot less useful due to the fact that console OS's restrict the user more than smartphone OS's.

Silly console gamers buying a £35 game when they could have saved their money and bought a superior gaming PC instead. When will they learn?

When indeed?

Yeah if only people didn't pay for games I'm personally not interested in.

Well, if you want to pretend the enormous market for the same game every year (Call of Duty and every sports game ever being great examples, and now we have people literally paying full price for what is the exact same game, with better graphics) has no impact on the kinds of games that are developed by the industry go right ahead.

You see the same thing in films - sequels typically suck but they reliably make money. Video games are generally an even larger investment than films so instead of innovating developers go with what works. And that will continue to be the case until people vote against this with their wallets.

 

[cardgame]

Not to mention PC has a shitload more exclusives.

Like Squad, a video game I have been playing recently. (cough on topic cough)

 

[Lohrenswald]

I've also heard arguments that consoles used to be like you slap the game in and play within minutes unlike on computer, but that that isn't the case anymore

I dunno though, the most recent console I've really played on is wii :/

 

[Akka]

Silly console gamers buying a £35 game when they could have saved their money and bought a superior gaming PC instead. When will they learn?

If they were able to learn, they wouldn't be playing on console !

Jokes aside, the days of expensive gaming rig that you'd need to change every six monthes has passed a decade ago. A PC doesn't cost THAT much more than a less-powerful console, and in the long run it's even less expensive as you only need a few select upgrades to keep current.

My PC is now six years old, with only a graphical card changed last year, and it can run about everything that exists without a hitch.

 

[Snerk]

And performs worse, and is a hell of a lot less useful due to the fact that console OS's restrict the user more than smartphone OS's.

But nobody want to use a gaming console the way you'd use a PC or smartphone.

Well, if you want to pretend the enormous market for the same game every year (Call of Duty and every sports game ever being great examples, and now we have people literally paying full price for what is the exact same game, with better graphics) has no impact on the kinds of games that are developed by the industry go right ahead.

You see the same thing in films - sequels typically suck but they reliably make money. Video games are generally an even larger investment than films so instead of innovating developers go with what works. And that will continue to be the case until people vote against this with their wallets.

"literally paying full price for what is the exact same"

??? Come on.

Look, people who play the latest Call of Duty, Fifa and whatever aren't wrong in their game preferences. People play what they want to play. To assume that the gaming industry would somehow be much better for everybody without franchises making games with reoccurring type of gameplay is absurd. There's quite a few non call of duty games being released every year. Just as there's plenty of great films being released. Specially if you open your eyes to a wider market than the latest hollywood blockbuster.

If they were able to learn, they wouldn't be playing on console !

Jokes aside, the days of expensive gaming rig that you'd need to change every six monthes has passed a decade ago. A PC doesn't cost THAT much more than a less-powerful console, and in the long run it's even less expensive as you only need a few select upgrades to keep current.

My PC is now six years old, with only a graphical card changed last year, and it can run about everything that exists without a hitch.

Sure but there's still money to be saved no matter how you look at it. A console is cheaper and will last 5-10 years without any need of hardware upgrades.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Not to mention PC has a ****load more exclusives.

Yeah, like that one strategy game series that just got a sequel. VI came out, and people here are going on about Skyrim and consoles. What has the world come to ?

 

[Akka]

Sure but there's still money to be saved no matter how you look at it. A console is cheaper and will last 5-10 years without any need of hardware upgrades.

Well, if you want to save money, just buy a smartphone and it's even cheaper
It's all about quality/price ratio. A PC is a bit more expensive, but offer vastly more possibilities.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

The PS4 version won't be able to make use of almost all popular mods, due to the heavy restrictions on the system.

Damn it. How will I be able to play without anime cat armour!!

 

[Arakhor]

Damn it. How will I be able to play without anime cat armour!!

Purrfectly!