What Video Games Have You Been Playing VII: The Real Ending is Locked Behind a Paywall

[Lexicus]

Really? I thought 3 was basically all about rex, tons of small cities covering a map.

That's his point, he's saying he can see how Fireaxis moved away from REXing in subsequent games.

 

[Robo-Star]

"Torment: Tides of Numenera"; I am an Observant Nano who Breathes Shadow like a Legend.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Yesterday I played a few hours of Subnautica using the full survival mode, where you have to manage hunger and thirst, and am more convinced than ever that these mechanics in PC games just need to die in a fire with a stake through the heart and garlic in its mouth. I've played a bunch of "survival" games now, and not a single one of them has made the (micro-)management of food and water anything other than tedious. Subnautica's best contribution to the genre may have been including a gameplay mode that removes hunger and thirst altogether (which is the mode I played the game on first - I only went back and started a new game using the regular, survival mode to see if my instincts were right). Fallout 4 and The Long Dark made these dreary 'survival' mechanics more or less manageable. I mean, they still sucked, but I was able to ignore them for the aspects of the game or game mode that I enjoyed (the combat in Fallout 4's survival mode is superior to its Very Hard mode, imho). Subnautica is, I think, the first game of this sort that let me just shut that [stuff] off, and for that alone it deserves applause. It's also a great game that I fully recommend.

 

[Akka]

I've gone the unthinkable and bought a console (last time I had a console was in the 90's).
I'm still a proud member of the PC Master Race of course, but I caved in for the exclusive. I just really, really wanted to play Horizon Zero Dawn (and after that, The Last of Us and Shadow of the Colossus). Pretty annoyed that it doesn't have backward compatibility and I can't play Red Dead Redemption, though.

At least it was worth it. Aloy is a bit on the Mary Sue irritating side and the game is really unsubtle with the political message, but it's still tolerable, the game is OMFGorgeous and huge, the immersion is top notch, the whole "huntress in a savage world" really well done. Still don't know if the plot will be good, but aside the ridiculously fast transition in weather and day/night (it's literally 5-10 seconds to go from one to another), the open world experience is superb.
Hopefully I'll finish it in two or three weeks.

And once I've done all these games, I still have Breath of the Wild to try (at least I won't need to buy a whole console for it this time).

 

[Snerk]

Why Rockstar didn't make a Red Dead Redemption remastered edition will never make sense to me.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I've gone the unthinkable and bought a console (last time I had a console was in the 90's).
I'm still a proud member of the PC Master Race of course, but I caved in for the exclusive. I just really, really wanted to play Horizon Zero Dawn (and after that, The Last of Us and Shadow of the Colossus). Pretty annoyed that it doesn't have backward compatibility and I can't play Red Dead Redemption, though.

At least it was worth it. Aloy is a bit on the Mary Sue irritating side and the game is really unsubtle with the political message, but it's still tolerable, the game is OMFGorgeous and huge, the immersion is top notch, the whole "huntress in a savage world" really well done. Still don't know if the plot will be good, but aside the ridiculously fast transition in weather and day/night (it's literally 5-10 seconds to go from one to another), the open world experience is superb.
Hopefully I'll finish it in two or three weeks.

And once I've done all these games, I still have Breath of the Wild to try (at least I won't need to buy a whole console for it this time).

The story of Horizon Zero Dawn gets better and better the more you play it. You get sucked in to the lore after a few hours. Overall it's a great game, the only let down is the melee combat.


The Last of Us is my favorite game of all time. Holy cow it's really incredible. The story, the game play, just everything is amazing. I've played through it four times I think.

Also, coincidentally, I've been thinking of rejoining the PC Master Race. My laptop can barely play Civ and KSP on low settings. I think it's time to build a new super PC.

But omfg graphics cards are insanely expensive now. They cost almost as much as the last PC I built just by themselves.

 

[Arakhor]

Yup - simply don't buy a new graphics card for 12 months or so.

 

[Akka]

Why Rockstar didn't make a Red Dead Redemption remastered edition will never make sense to me.

Shadow of the Colossus was remade twice (once for PS3 and once for PS4) so maybe they'll see reason one day !

Also, coincidentally, I've been thinking of rejoining the PC Master Race. My laptop can barely play Civ and KSP on low settings. I think it's time to build a new super PC.

But omfg graphics cards are insanely expensive now. They cost almost as much as the last PC I built just by themselves.

One big tip when you build a new PC : don't get the best CG. It's pointless.

The speed of technological progress has MASSIVELY slowed down (when I was a teenager, I needed to buy an entirely new rig every 18 or 24 monthes, and upgrade some part every 6 monthes, now I can still run everything save Star Citizen on my old PC which is 7 years old and only got a single graphic card upgrade three years ago, and I can even run decently many games on my antepenultimate PC which is now about 13 years old). So no, no point in getting broke over a GC.

It means that even a higher-mid CG will run everything perfectly for several years, at which point another higher-mid CG will be able to cope for still a rather low sum.

I bought a brand new PC in january, went rather wild and paid about 1400 € for it (without screen, as I use my 55' TV). Despite that, I still only got a 250 € or so GC (GTX 1060). I could have paid twice more to get a high-end one, but I still can run everything on max, so what's the point ?
Said 7 years old PC that can still run everything save SC, is still also running on a 250 € GC bought three years ago (GTX 960). And still can run The Witcher 3 at a solid 25-40 FPS.

The only thing you should not hold bac are a good CPU, a good motherboard and a convenient and large case, as they are the ones you won't be able to easily change later. You can add RAM with a flick of the wrist, you can change a GC in five minutes, but CPU and motherboard tend to go together and takes hours to change (as you need to entirely dismantle the PC and back). And the case also obviously requires to put everything out and put everything in too.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Which brand of CPU should I get? Last time I got an AMD one and I kind of regretted it. On paper it seemed to be a great value but I've read that in reality intel outperforms them and has way less issues of incompatibility and such even though they can cost a lot more.

I don't think I'll get a top-tier graphics card but I don't want a mid-range one either. I do want a powerful one but yeah I agree, the absolute top-shelf ones are silly to buy because of how much more expensive they are. Last time I made the mistake of getting two graphics cards that could be strung together (crossfire) and I was expecting 1.5-2x the speed but in reality the speed gains were only maybe 1.3x and I would have been better served just buying a single faster card than two slower ones. Plus, they had this weird problem where once they were in crossfire mode I could only support 2 monitors instead of three and that really depended on the type of monitors I was using.

Also last time I made the mistake of smoking in my house (I've since quit altogether) so now the case I had is completely gunked up with disgusting tar. Plus I damaged the USB ports while building it though I could replace them, that plus the tar makes me want to start from scratch.

Another stupid problem I had was that I bought two hard drives (one was SSD, the other traditional) but I could never figure out how to get the computer to recognize the SSD at all. This time I am just going to get one big SSD.

 

[Akka]

Which brand of CPU should I get? Last time I got an AMD one and I kind of regretted it. On paper it seemed to be a great value but I've read that in reality intel outperforms them and has way less issues of incompatibility and such even though they can cost a lot more.

I got the 8700K from Intel. I have a soft spot for AMD, but they tend to be less powerful and with higher temperature, so I'm selling my soul to the devil.
It's a bit expensive (350 to 400 €) but as I said, it's going to last years so whatever.

I don't think I'll get a top-tier graphics card but I don't want a mid-range one either.

Well, you should. As I said, there is little to gain in practical term with paying two to four times the price of a 1060, when you can already run everything in HD with 60 fps. And if you really need to upgrade, you can easily buy a bigger one afterward.

 

[Velegon]

Yesterday I played a few hours of Subnautica using the full survival mode, where you have to manage hunger and thirst, and am more convinced than ever that these mechanics in PC games just need to die in a fire with a stake through the heart and garlic in its mouth. I've played a bunch of "survival" games now, and not a single one of them has made the (micro-)management of food and water anything other than tedious. Subnautica's best contribution to the genre may have been including a gameplay mode that removes hunger and thirst altogether (which is the mode I played the game on first - I only went back and started a new game using the regular, survival mode to see if my instincts were right). Fallout 4 and The Long Dark made these dreary 'survival' mechanics more or less manageable. I mean, they still sucked, but I was able to ignore them for the aspects of the game or game mode that I enjoyed (the combat in Fallout 4's survival mode is superior to its Very Hard mode, imho). Subnautica is, I think, the first game of this sort that let me just shut that [stuff] off, and for that alone it deserves applause. It's also a great game that I fully recommend.

Obtaining food and water becomes MUCH easier as the game progresses thankfully via some machines, tools and plants.

 

[cardgame]

@hobbsyoyo AMD has the best price/performance again, the old FX series absolutely sucked but the new Ryzens will go toe to toe no problem. Absolute performance still goes to Intel, but at a quite significant premium. For example, the price premium on an overclockable mobo, unlocked Intel 8600K, and separate, aftermarket CPU cooler will run you at least $300, while the Ryzen 1600 comes with a good cooler and doesn't require a special mobo, sitting at ~$200. Definitely my recommendation if your budget is under $1100. If you're not in a hurry, Intel is releasing its next generation of cards this late spring or summer IIRC, which should, in theory, drop prices pretty nicely of the 10xx series cards. But who knows. If you're building for now, I'd recommend a nice 1050ti, since they're the only card not grossly affected by scarcity premiums, and honestly pretty powerful despite being the second-to-lowest tier of this generation.

I have been running a pure 500gb SSD in my build and it's glorious but also a pain in the ass ever since I lost my external HDD to disk failure. If you're going pure SSD, 500 is the bare minimum IMO. For example, after Windows and general need-to-have programs are installed, GTA 5 would take up about 20% of my entire drive all by itself. Absolutely recommend a second drive, if you're afraid of issues, just plug in the SSD while building it and after you get the computer working, pop it open and connect the HDD.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Hmmm. My Unreal Tournament 2004 folder is over 50GB.

 

[Yeekim]

Obtaining food and water becomes MUCH easier as the game progresses thankfully via some machines, tools and plants.

Indeed. I finished the game in survival mode (about 40hrs of quality entertainment) and having to eat and drink didn't bother me at all. Finding more efficient ways to stay alive and making sure you have adequate supplies with you was a nice part of the challenge.

 

[Lexicus]

Still obsessively playing Stellaris, tweaked the settings to have the crisis come a little bit later so I have time to build a Dyson sphere first and damn is it fun. I've been fighting the Contingency for decades and have killed more of their ships than every other empire combined.

 

[civvver]

The story of Horizon Zero Dawn gets better and better the more you play it. You get sucked in to the lore after a few hours. Overall it's a great game, the only let down is the melee combat.


The Last of Us is my favorite game of all time. Holy cow it's really incredible. The story, the game play, just everything is amazing. I've played through it four times I think.

Also, coincidentally, I've been thinking of rejoining the PC Master Race. My laptop can barely play Civ and KSP on low settings. I think it's time to build a new super PC.

But omfg graphics cards are insanely expensive now. They cost almost as much as the last PC I built just by themselves.

Honestly right now I'd buy a prebuilt like an alienware off slick deals. Like this:

https://slickdeals.net/f/11336859-o...080-1012-49?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarV2Algo1

This is expired, but right now a 1080 alone costs over $600. They have lesser cards too like a prebuilt i5 with a 1060 is going to be around 600, with a 1070 around 800-1000.

Building your own is fun but not cost effective right now. Prebuilts mostly charge msrp, at least the direct ones from guys like dell, hp etc.

As far as ryzen vs intel, it doesn't really matter for gaming because you won't max out your cpu either way. Both are way above what's needed right now. However it's worth noting the new intel i3s are basically equivalent to the old i5s- they are quad core, start at like 2.8ghz, go over 3. Very cheap. The issue is motherboard support is only the z chipset right now which is expensive. An i3 might be like $140 but the mobo is also 120-140. Meanwhile a ryzen 3 which is like 90% as fast is ~$130 and the mobo is ~$80. Intel is still about 10% faster for single threaded stuff. Ryzens offer more cores at the same price points typically.

Otherwise yes mid range gpu is the way to go. Way better price per performance graph. The top end cards are only like 20% faster but cost 50% more. Cards like gtx 1060 6b are good, even a 1070 is a pretty high end card. Mostly if you just turn off msaa and turn down some crazy additional things like hair tressfx then you are fine anyway and will hit 60fps. Some people are running 120hz monitors at 4k and do actually need the high end cards but most people can even run a 1050ti and be fine.

 

[Akka]

Honestly right now I'd buy a prebuilt like an alienware off slick deals. Like this:

https://slickdeals.net/f/11336859-o...080-1012-49?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarV2Algo1

This is expired, but right now a 1080 alone costs over $600. They have lesser cards too like a prebuilt i5 with a 1060 is going to be around 600, with a 1070 around 800-1000.

Building your own is fun but not cost effective right now. Prebuilts mostly charge msrp, at least the direct ones from guys like dell, hp etc.

The problem with prebuilt computer is that they tend to highlight some pretty good aspect, but are very lacking in many another. You pay a bit more with a homemade, but you get everything you need. Sure the CG on your offer is pretty rad, but the proc is lagging behind, the HDD is very small, the RAM and power supply are simply inadequate, etc.

Also, CPU might not be the king of the configuration as it was in the early 2000, but it's still the core component, and as I explained it's better to be the one you put the effort in, as it's going to last a very long time, and changing it usually means changing the MB and sometimes also the RAM (so you really don't want to change it quickly). Getting an i5 just seems a terrible idea.

 

[cardgame]

aren't the newest i5s hex-cored?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Spoiler :

Mrs. Crumplebottom is implacable. She somehow detected these two were about to WooHoo on a completely different floor and barged through at least three locked doors to lecture them.

Spoiler :

But...

Spoiler :

Cats. They ignore the nice, soft pet basket in the next room and instead sleep on the toilet rug.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Seeing stuff like this makes me want to try out Sims 3, but then I see that it's still 39,99€ and has tons of DLC totaling at over 500€.