What videogames have you been playing? version 1.22: What's with that plural?

[Moff Jerjerrod]

Well after initially being disappointed with Distant Worlds 2 on release day I've decided to revisit the title. They just recently patched the game changing a lot of mechanics. I must say, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the patch or not, but I'm enjoying the game far more than I did when it released last year.

Any other space cadets here?

 

[PhroX]

Well after initially being disappointed with Distant Worlds 2 on release day I've decided to revisit the title. They just recently patched the game changing a lot of mechanics. I must say, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the patch or not, but I'm enjoying the game far more than I did when it released last year.

Any other space cadets here?

I played the first DW a bit and it always struck me as a game with some very interesting mechanics, particularly the economic side, but no soul. Everything felt really bland and numerical. It's been a while since I played, so it might have changed, but for example, from what I remember, the differences between the various governments were simply percentage buffs or debuffs to various numbers. If you compare with the obvious competitor, Stellaris, then while there are numerical modifiers associated with governments, there are also flavourful mechanics: in a empire you have you ruler and their heir as characters, in democracies you have elections every few years etc. They're not hugely impactful in purely mechanical terms, but they just help immerse the played in the game in a way that DW lacked. And this kind of thing was pretty common, so I always ended up always wanting to play Stellaris over Distant Worlds when I was in the mood for a 4x.

And from what I saw from watching others play DW2 at launch, it didn't seem to have changed much.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

I played the first DW a bit and it always struck me as a game with some very interesting mechanics, particularly the economic side, but no soul. Everything felt really bland and numerical. It's been a while since I played, so it might have changed, but for example, from what I remember, the differences between the various governments were simply percentage buffs or debuffs to various numbers. If you compare with the obvious competitor, Stellaris, then while there are numerical modifiers associated with governments, there are also flavourful mechanics: in a empire you have you ruler and their heir as characters, in democracies you have elections every few years etc. They're not hugely impactful in purely mechanical terms, but they just help immerse the played in the game in a way that DW lacked. And this kind of thing was pretty common, so I always ended up always wanting to play Stellaris over Distant Worlds when I was in the mood for a 4x.

And from what I saw from watching others play DW2 at launch, it didn't seem to have changed much.

Yes Stellaris definitely has more atmosphere and flavor to it which gives a great sense of immersion. DW2 is all about number crunching and management. It doesn't matter what race you choose, atmosphere wise it's all the same.

Some differences that do impact how well your empire will do are dependent on which race you choose. Items such as planetary bonuses/maluses based on biomes, or preferred style of ship combat, etc. are there. There is even a rich backstory text in the encyclopedia in game yet still there really is no atmosphere in DW2. For me, the game seems to be all about making money, researching tech fast, and conquering your neighbors.

The nice thing about DW2 is that I can turn off space monsters, pirates, and other annoyances at game setup. I think IIRC Stellaris allows you to shut off pirates but there is no way to turn off that monster that appears at end game with an ungodly amount of HP that just kills everything the whole galaxy tries to throw at it. That's the main reason why I don't play Stellaris anymore. I just want to be left alone when I game and I don't want monsters coming out of nowhere to ruin everything I worked so hard on building in just one microsecond.

 

[Senethro]

Wouldn't 0x Crisis fix that?

 

[PhroX]

You can definitely delay and weaken the crises in Stellaris to the point that they're trivial as long as you've got some amount of fleet these days, though much of this customisiation wasn't there at release. Never tried completely turning them off though. Some even have other interactions - the midgame Great Khan for example, lets you become a vassal if you think you can't win a fight against them.

I guess you could also have a genocidal empire get out of control and become a crisis level threat, but that's pretty rare.

 

[MrCynical]

The nice thing about DW2 is that I can turn off space monsters, pirates, and other annoyances at game setup. I think IIRC Stellaris allows you to shut off pirates but there is no way to turn off that monster that appears at end game with an ungodly amount of HP that just kills everything the whole galaxy tries to throw at it. That's the main reason why I don't play Stellaris anymore. I just want to be left alone when I game and I don't want monsters coming out of nowhere to ruin everything I worked so hard on building in just one microsecond.

You can turn the endgame crisis off by moving the "crisis strength" slider all the way to the left at game setup.

Alternatively you could change the earliest allowed crisis date to be very late. You can set it as late as the year 3000, which is rather absurd given that I don't think I've ever had a game even reach 2600 without it being functionally over due to there being nothing left to do, and lag. And if it is on, you can set the strength anywhere from 0.25x to 25x. The lower settings are likely to have the crisis being a complete non-event unless you move the endgame date to be really early.

I actually find it quite tricky to set a combination of crisis strength and endgame date that's challenging, but not impossible. A 50 year change can easily be the difference between a particular crisis strength eating the galaxy, and it just getting squashed in the first few systems it spawns in.

 

[Senethro]

The Crisis also scales with date somewhat. I played a game with multiple crises and just about managed the 2420 crisis, while losing to the 2470 crisis that was approximately 3x the strength because I'd been complacent.

 

[Zardnaar]

You can definitely delay and weaken the crises in Stellaris to the point that they're trivial as long as you've got some amount of fleet these days, though much of this customisiation wasn't there at release. Never tried completely turning them off though. Some even have other interactions - the midgame Great Khan for example, lets you become a vassal if you think you can't win a fight against them.

I guess you could also have a genocidal empire get out of control and become a crisis level threat, but that's pretty rare.

HehI usually play with X10 crisis X5 with a fun/role-playing build eg one of the weak origins like galaxy world start

2250 or 75 mid game, 2350 late game and 1.5 tech cost.

Making crisis weaker dies not compute

 

[Sommerswerd]

I've played Diablo IV for a couple of hours tonight; first impression is that it feels very much like a hybrid of PoE and D2. Much more D2 than D3. Difficult to form an opinion, because I still don't fully understand a lot of the new features and additions and there are server lags ruining the experience a bit. Best part so far is the atmosphere, art direction, story, cinematics and tone. I feel they nailed that part. As for gameplay, it feels not great, nor bad - somewhere in the middle. Quite repetitive with the same 3-4 different monsters everywhere. It's mainly the gameplay that feels unpolished and like an unfinished product, which is understandable. It is a Beta after all.

My lvl9 Sorceress:

Spoiler :

View attachment 657021

Holy crap she's... ummmm ... what game is this again?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I've been playing System Shock 2. I keep dying.

 

[Synobun]

Holy crap she's... ummmm ... what game is this again?

Diablo IV. It's only out in beta for now though, playable on weekends. It releases fully in... June?

 

[Sommerswerd]

The Long Dark: Tales from the Far Territory released a new trailer, featuring - I assume - the game's first Tale. I note that Enhanced Prepper Bunkers and New Bunkers are listed as two separate features. I suppose the New Bunkers will feature in "Signal Void", and then when you've finished the Tale, will remain in your Survival run to use as bases or outposts. I have a Stalker run and an Interloper run currently idling, but I haven't played either one in weeks, so I might start fresh when the update goes live. btw, I'm assuming anybody who has any interest at all in this game probably has it by now, but if you've been waiting for a sale, or if you have the base game but haven't bought the DLC pass yet, Steam does have it discounted as part of their Spring Sale.

The Long Dark

I hadn't played TLD in a long time and something gave me the itch for some reason so I continued where I left off in the story mode. I didn't continue my last survival game (Stalker), because as I recall, I had already finished fully exploring and looting Milton, I'd gotten the moose hide satchel from Hushed River Valley (but not the upgraded backpack or crampons), I had fully looted Mystery Lake and was in the process of making crafted clothing and moving all my gear from Milton to the Trappers Cabin in Mystery Lake, then to the Camp Office, which then serves as my fully stocked forward base for crafting (usually in Forlorn Muskeg, curse its unholy name).

In any case, that is usually the point where I hit a lull and either start over with an Interloper game, or switch to a story mode game... which I did, about a year ago. So the last story mode episode I was working on was Episode Four, the Blackrock Prison story. But then I got stuck trying to find the way to the radio station past the timberwolves. Then I got stuck trying to find the way around the rock slide to the Power plant. Each time I goit stuck, I 'd put the game down for a while and tried something else. So this last time I'd gotten stuck on the steam tunnel puzzle, which is fun at first, then tedious as hell, because I kept running out of food. So once again, I gave up for a while and put the game aside.

But now that there has been an update released, with a new episode(s) and new map(s) I figured I needed to catch up and at least finish Episode 4 so I can move on to the current one. So I finally finished the steam tunnel puzzle (with the help of some online hints/spoilers I admit ) and I got my story mode game back on track. I've now almost fully explored the Blackrock region to the point where I think I would be comfortable spawning there. Ironically, once you've fully explored the steam tunnels, the whole region seems a lot smaller than it felt before. I completed most of the side missions and only have a couple side quests left to complete, unless more get added, which is always a possibility.

Episode 4 is kind of a pain, because while you always have to go on a bunch of errands in every episode, in this episode the people sending you on the errands are scumbags who you don't want to help. The other pain is that you have to pretty much strip naked every time you return to "base" since they rob you of all your gear every time you return. The prison map is cool and scary though, especially with all the wolves around nearby the prison. I can't wait to get to explore more inside the prison itself. I think once I finish Episode 4 I will go straight to Episode 5 rather than starting a new survival game, because I've found that the story mode helps familiarize me with the maps enough that they are more enjoyable on survival mode. it also adds some cool context for the loot that you find and where you find it.

 

[PhroX]

HehI usually play with X10 crisis X5 with a fun/role-playing build eg one of the weak origins like galaxy world start

2250 or 75 mid game, 2350 late game and 1.5 tech cost.

Making crisis weaker dies not compute

Yeah, I tend to turn it up too. My usual setting is Grand Admiral difficulty with end-game scaling, 5x crisis, 2275 midgame, 2350 endgame. Unless I get a really bad start, I find I'm competetive but not dominant. Though I did beat these settings with a one-system game a couple of weeks ago (life seeded megacorp) so mabye I'm getting to the point I should turn it up a bit more...

 

[red_elk]

Episode 4 is kind of a pain, because while you always have to go on a bunch of errands in every episode, in this episode the people sending you on the errands are scumbags who you don't want to help. The other pain is that you have to pretty much strip naked every time you return to "base" since they rob you of all your gear every time you return. The prison map is cool and scary though, especially with all the wolves around nearby the prison. I can't wait to get to explore more inside the prison itself. I think once I finish Episode 4 I will go straight to Episode 5 rather than starting a new survival game, because I've found that the story mode helps familiarize me with the maps enough that they are more enjoyable on survival mode. it also adds some cool context for the loot that you find and where you find it.

I have sad news for you
Episode 5 is not yet released. And IIRC if you completed steam tunnels, you are pretty close to finishing Episode 4 as well.

 

[Lexicus]

You can turn the endgame crisis off by moving the "crisis strength" slider all the way to the left at game setup.

Alternatively you could change the earliest allowed crisis date to be very late. You can set it as late as the year 3000, which is rather absurd given that I don't think I've ever had a game even reach 2600 without it being functionally over due to there being nothing left to do, and lag. And if it is on, you can set the strength anywhere from 0.25x to 25x. The lower settings are likely to have the crisis being a complete non-event unless you move the endgame date to be really early.

I actually find it quite tricky to set a combination of crisis strength and endgame date that's challenging, but not impossible. A 50 year change can easily be the difference between a particular crisis strength eating the galaxy, and it just getting squashed in the first few systems it spawns in.

I stopped playing Stellaris when they put a hard cap on population size in that one patch, is it worth picking up again?

 

[Zardnaar]

I stopped playing Stellaris when they put a hard cap on population size in that one patch, is it worth picking up again?

There's no hard cap or even a soft cap.

Population growth does slow down after 500 odd pops. There's various ways around that.

 

[Takhisis]

OK, stage one cleared. Vice City 100% completion achieved.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I have sad news for you
Episode 5 is not yet released. And IIRC if you completed steam tunnels, you are pretty close to finishing Episode 4 as well.

Im now on the mission to go to the mine, but I am trying to do all the side quests first so I can learn the map. Last night I got eaten by the bear twice while trying to find the second lost worker's trailer.

 

[MrCynical]

I stopped playing Stellaris when they put a hard cap on population size in that one patch, is it worth picking up again?

Population size isn't hard capped. Population growth will essentially stop on a specific planet if there's already more people than the planet capacity can support, but given that can go up to 500, it's very unlikely to be an issue. You could still increase population further by transferring pops from other planets with faster growth rates, but there's not much point. Even for a maxed out ecumenopolis world you don't need anywhere near 500 workers on a single planet.

Stellaris has had a lot of re-works, but I don't remember any patch that had a hard cap on population size. 3.0 did slow down pop growth quite a bit, so there tend to be fewer total pops than earlier patches, but they also reduced the number of workers required. It was mostly to reduce lag in the later stages of the game.

 

[Lexicus]

Population size isn't hard capped. Population growth will essentially stop on a specific planet if there's already more people than the planet capacity can support, but given that can go up to 500, it's very unlikely to be an issue. You could still increase population further by transferring pops from other planets with faster growth rates, but there's not much point. Even for a maxed out ecumenopolis world you don't need anywhere near 500 workers on a single planet.

Stellaris has had a lot of re-works, but I don't remember any patch that had a hard cap on population size. 3.0 did slow down pop growth quite a bit, so there tend to be fewer total pops than earlier patches, but they also reduced the number of workers required. It was mostly to reduce lag in the later stages of the game.

My understanding was that the patch 3.0 basically cut off growth past a certain number of total pops. I like to play into the 2600s and beyond and fill the galaxy with megastructures and pops, which in my understanding became basically impossible to do because of exponentially spiraling growth costs. I read people complaining that because they hit a certain number of pops empire-wide, they could no longer grow any pops even on new planets or megastructures. Not true?