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

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Total War: Three Kingdoms - I've been delving back into this recently, trying to complete my Lu Bu campaign. However, I keep borking the game and having to revert to scumsaves. It's not that I'm losing... as a matter of fact, I keep getting the nagging message from the game that I should consider raising the difficulty level (I've been playing on Normal difficulty). The problem is that a main feature of Lu Bu's faction is that corruption and discontent is super-high, but you can counteract it by continuously winning battles... so I have to keep warring non-stop, to raise the gold I need, to keep the expenses paid as keep my characters happy. I've also needed to do a good bit of sacking and looting for the same reason, which leads to damaged buildings that cost money to repair... and I also need to keep taxes high for the same reason... all of this in turn leads to even higher discontent and frequent rebellions, which require larger/more armies to control/defeat... it quickly turns into a hopeless death spiral that I don't feel like dealing with... so I restart to an earlier save to try again.

Anyway TIL (well yesterday/last night) that when a character's horse runs away in a battle, you can't chase it down and remount it. I also found out that Lu Bu is even more ridiculously powerful than I originally thought. My armies had gotten powerful enough where I had been auto resolving most battles, but I had a battle in my most recent session last night with Lu Bu's army where the enemy (Kong Rong) retreated close to his nearest city, which meant when I chased him down, the second army I had with Lu Bu's was too far away to reinforce, and Kong Rong's reinforcing army and city garrison were both close enough to join the battle. So the odds were greatly against Lu Bu's army. I attacked anyway on YOLO (scumsave) grounds. Total War lets you rematch battles you lose anyway, so you can just try again if you don't want to just reload from a prior save.

The point is that I ended up basically winning the battle... narrowly, by essentially just ignoring the rest of my army and just micro'ing Lu Bu to almost single handedly defeat all three of the enemy amies, including killing/defeating all 6 of the enemy generals. Lu Bu lost his horse towards the beginning, after routing several enemy units, but instead of continuing to fight, I tried to chase the horse (The Red Hare) down and ended up running far away from the battle. While Lu Bu was gone, most of my army was routed, however once Lu Bu came back to the battle on foot, I was able to systematically solo rout basically all of the opponents army. The "tide of battle" bar under the minimap went from about 1/5th green (meaning I was losing badly) to Lu Bu winning. I always knew he was really strong, but I didn't know he was that strong. He's about as close to invincible as it gets. By the end of the battle, he was on a tiny red sliver of health left, but still... he's pretty insane. I don't know how I am going to be able to do a campaign without him after I finish this one. I'm pretty spoiled playing such a powerful character in my first campaign in the game.

As an aside, I've noticed that Ma Teng's son (Ma Chao) is annoyingly strong as well. He solo kills my whole army every time I face him and I've learned that you have to surround him and focus on killing him first or he just routs all your units at the end of the battle.
 
The Long Dark - After finally completing Episode 4, I decided to start a new Survivor game... and I got a bit of a rude awakening.

I'd been kinda grumbling to myself, that the Stalker difficulty level was getting too easy, but I didn't want to go up to Interloper, because then there are no guns available. Now putting aside the fact that no guns is part of the point/higher challenge, because guns make the game easier... I wanted to have a more challenging game, just with guns available, whatever that meant in my mind. Of course, you can just make a custom game, to do exactly that, but custom games disable achievements, so that makes the game feel pointless in a strange way... "achievements" have that weird side effect for me... if achievements are disabled, I don't feel like I'm "really" playing the game :lol:

So determined to play a Stalker game, but "more challenging", it occurred to me that instead of starting where I usually do, ie Mountain Town/Milton, Mystery Lake, Desolation Point or Pleasant Valley (Stalker allows you to pick a start location whereas Interloper forces a random start), I should pick a tougher, more "Interloper-like" start location, to show what a tough-guy I am... So I decided to go with Hushed River Valley, because it would allow me to go for the moose-satchel stashed at the Mysterious-signal-fire spot (assuming it's still there after the loot-scrambling update :dunno:), then make my way back to Milton to "settle in" to my normal game.

Well... what I've learned... the hard way... over and over... is that I am nowhere near as good at the game as I thought I was. Since trying out my Stalker game /Hushed River Valley start... I've died five consecutive times... and I only made it past 1 day, once :lol: :sad:. So what I realize now, is that the reason I thought Stalker was easy, was because I was starting in locations with a bunch of well stocked, warm, safe, structures, with plenty of loot and tools. Whereas, starting in Hushed River Valley, particularly on a quest to reach that remote mountain/cliff/ridge, where the Mysterious-signal-fire is located, really showcases how tough the game is when you don't have any houses to hide in and you have to forage wood to build campfires in caves and out in the open just to stay warm enough to survive the day/night. Since trying to get my new Stalker game started, I've gotten mauled by a bear twice, mauled once by a moose, trapped by wolves in a cave and out of matches trying to start a fire, so I froze to death and once I died in my sleep of dysentery from drinking dirty water because I didn't have enough materials to build a long enough fire to boil the water. That one book of cardboard matches that you start out with runs out pretty quickly when you don't have any houses around to loot or sleep in.:ack:

On the bright side, I am learning the Hushed River Valley Map alot better. I think I will have to survive at least 4 days to be able to get the moose-satchel and make my way back to Milton. The funny thing is, thinking about it, to get from the exit from Hushed River Valley to the "safety" of main town section of Milton, I would still have to evade at least 2 if not 3 wolves and maybe a moose or bear, even once I get to the other side of the cave.
 
In preparation for Jedi: Survivor coming out, I decided to finish up with Jedi: Fallen Order and get the final achievements I was missing, so now it's another entrant to the list of a dozen or so games that I have 100% of the achievements for.
 
The Long Dark - After finally completing Episode 4, I decided to start a new Survivor game... and I got a bit of a rude awakening.

I'd been kinda grumbling to myself, that the Stalker difficulty level was getting too easy, but I didn't want to go up to Interloper, because then there are no guns available. Now putting aside the fact that no guns is part of the point/higher challenge, because guns make the game easier... I wanted to have a more challenging game, just with guns available, whatever that meant in my mind. Of course, you can just make a custom game, to do exactly that, but custom games disable achievements, so that makes the game feel pointless in a strange way... "achievements" have that weird side effect for me... if achievements are disabled, I don't feel like I'm "really" playing the game :lol:
Just fyi, playing a custom game disables progress on Feats, but not on the Steam Achievements.

So determined to play a Stalker game, but "more challenging", it occurred to me that instead of starting where I usually do, ie Mountain Town/Milton, Mystery Lake, Desolation Point or Pleasant Valley (Stalker allows you to pick a start location whereas Interloper forces a random start), I should pick a tougher, more "Interloper-like" start location, to show what a tough-guy I am... So I decided to go with Hushed River Valley, because it would allow me to go for the moose-satchel stashed at the Mysterious-signal-fire spot (assuming it's still there after the loot-scrambling update :dunno:), then make my way back to Milton to "settle in" to my normal game.


Well... what I've learned... the hard way... over and over... is that I am nowhere near as good at the game as I thought I was. Since trying out my Stalker game /Hushed River Valley start... I've died five consecutive times... and I only made it past 1 day, once :lol: :sad:. So what I realize now, is that the reason I thought Stalker was easy, was because I was starting in locations with a bunch of well stocked, warm, safe, structures, with plenty of loot and tools. Whereas, starting in Hushed River Valley, particularly on a quest to reach that remote mountain/cliff/ridge, where the Mysterious-signal-fire is located, really showcases how tough the game is when you don't have any houses to hide in and you have to forage wood to build campfires in caves and out in the open just to stay warm enough to survive the day/night. Since trying to get my new Stalker game started, I've gotten mauled by a bear twice, mauled once by a moose, trapped by wolves in a cave and out of matches trying to start a fire, so I froze to death and once I died in my sleep of dysentery from drinking dirty water because I didn't have enough materials to build a long enough fire to boil the water. That one book of cardboard matches that you start out with runs out pretty quickly when you don't have any houses around to loot or sleep in.:ack:

On the bright side, I am learning the Hushed River Valley Map alot better. I think I will have to survive at least 4 days to be able to get the moose-satchel and make my way back to Milton. The funny thing is, thinking about it, to get from the exit from Hushed River Valley to the "safety" of main town section of Milton, I would still have to evade at least 2 if not 3 wolves and maybe a moose or bear, even once I get to the other side of the cave.
:lol:

Milton/Mountain Town on Stalker difficulty:
Spoiler :

Some tips, if you (or anybody) wants them. If I mention 10 things and 1 of them is something you didn't know or hadn't thought of... :dunno:

Spoiler :
To conserve matches, light a torch and then use the torch to light your fire. Torches light automatically, without using the fire-starting mechanic.

Early on, from the first fire I successfully light, I keep 8-12 torches on me, and I keep one of them lit. You can 'chain' torches, by dropping the one you're holding from the Inventory screen, then equipping the next one and lighting it off the one that's now laying at your feet. (You can also press 2, equipping a weapon. When you equip a weapon, even if it only take 1 hand, like a rock or the pistol, you'll automatically drop your torch at your feet.) By doing this, you can frequently get through a whole day using only 1 match. In addition to being able to start a new fire and chase off wolves, the torch you're holding provides a tiny warmth bonus (it's only +1, but it might stave off freezing or frostbite an extra couple of minutes).

Tips for dealing with wolves:
Spoiler :
The mechanic for chasing off a wolf with a torch or a flare is very strange, and not very intuitive at all: As the wolf approaches, at about 15 feet distance it'll bark and charge. But then it'll stop, maybe 5 or 6 feet away. It just stands there, growling, held at bay by your torch. When it does that, press 2 to equip a weapon. The wolf will yelp and run away. (Sometimes when it flees, it'll actually run straight at you, which gives you a little heart attack, but it's not attacking, it'll just run past you.) For this reason, I always pick up some stones right away when I start a new game. You can also chase off a wolf by throwing the torch at it, but then of course you have to retrieve your torch. Using this mechanic of drawing a weapon, you drop the torch at your feet and can just pick it up again (annoyingly, the same mechanic applies to deer and rabbits - if you're carrying a torch and press 2 to equip a weapon, the torch will scare off the deer or rabbit).

Another use for throwing-stones, if you don't have a torch or a flare: With good aim and/or some luck, you can chase off a wolf by hitting it in the face with a rock. Climbing up on one of those fallen trees is useful for this, since the wolf won't come up after you.

When a wolf is following you, it will match your speed. There's no point in running, you'll only die tired. However, even if it appears to be running to catch up, once it gets to about 30 feet, it will slow down and match your speed again, never getting any closer as long as you keep moving away from it. If you're heading for a structure anyway, just keep going. If you have quick fingers on the mouse, you can pick up sticks or rocks as you walk, but don't stop to do anything else or the wolf will probably jump you.

If you're hunting wolves, you can get one to follow you all the way back to your base/outpost/cabin, and then turn and kill it right on your doorstep. No need to have to skin it and carry it all the way back, it will deliver itself to your door.

You can also lead a wolf into a deer this way. Let the wolf kill the deer, then kill the wolf. The guy who lasted 11,000 days before the Survival reset had only a few official Deer Kills on his ledger, because he used this technique every time, to save arrows. He'd get a deer and a wolf with 1 arrow.

Killing a feeding wolf is child's play. You can walk right up to it and shoot it in the head from 6 feet away. They're basically oblivious when they're eating. Even if you're not hunting it, you can get past a wolf by chasing a deer or a rabbit into it. While it's eating, you can walk right past it, to 8 or 10 feet, and it won't attack you. Useful for getting past a wolf in a ravine or other tight space, if you don't have a weapon or you just don't feel like shooting it at the moment.

Another funny mechanic: Only 1 wolf will ever stalk you at one time, even if there are multiple wolves right there. So you can actually get through a pack of wolves by getting one of them to start following you, maneuver to get it behind you, then head straight through the pack. If you chase off a wolf with a torch, try not to do it in the middle of a pack. As soon as the first wolf runs away, the next one will target you. That said, if you need to chase an entire pack away for some reason, you can. You just have to be nimble about it.

If a wolf is following you, even if you don't reach a structure and go inside, the wolf will eventually get bored and stop following you.

You can keep wolves at bay by lighting a campfire. This isn't 100%, though. I have been jumped by a wolf when I thought my campfire would keep it at bay, but I think it's only happened once or twice, that I can remember.

Finally, most of I wrote above does not apply to Timberwolves or Bears. Completely different animals.
 
I played on Stalker without chaining torches, but on Interloper this technique is absolute must.
IIRC you can go to inventory screen and equip unlit torch, then you will automatically drop the one you are holding.
This is still kind of cumbersome, I wonder what is the most effective method to switch them.
 
Just fyi, playing a custom game disables progress on Feats, but not on the Steam Achievements.
Wow, I did not know that... has it always been that way?:confused:
Milton/Mountain Town on Stalker difficulty:
Spoiler :
Yeah the amount of wolves in Milton are pretty nervewracking on Stalker, but I find that the huge number of structures, vehicles and loot makes up for it, at least until you finish looting all the structures. Once I've finished looting everything in Milton and I need to start hunting, its time to move on, because the wolves make transporting the deer/rabbit meat back to your home base into too much of an adventure/risk. I can't be risking my life every single day just to get breakfast :lol:.

The only regions that seem to have more (or as many) wolves are Bleak Inlet and Blackrock, but those have timberwolves whereas Milton does not, so they are worse in a way.
Some tips, if you (or anybody) wants them. If I mention 10 things and 1 of them is something you didn't know or hadn't thought of... :dunno:

Spoiler :
To conserve matches, light a torch and then use the torch to light your fire. Torches light automatically, without using the fire-starting mechanic.

Early on, from the first fire I successfully light, I keep 8-12 torches on me, and I keep one of them lit. You can 'chain' torches, by dropping the one you're holding from the Inventory screen, then equipping the next one and lighting it off the one that's now laying at your feet. (You can also press 2, equipping a weapon. When you equip a weapon, even if it only take 1 hand, like a rock or the pistol, you'll automatically drop your torch at your feet.) By doing this, you can frequently get through a whole day using only 1 match. In addition to being able to start a new fire and chase off wolves, the torch you're holding provides a tiny warmth bonus (it's only +1, but it might stave off freezing or frostbite an extra couple of minutes).

Tips for dealing with wolves:
I did know about the torch-daisy-chaining and using torches instead of matches. The other thing about torches is that when they are exhausted, they have zero effect as firewood (despite the fact that the game allows you to add them to the fire), but you can "harvest" an exhausted torch to get back 1 stick, which can then be used as firewood. Why it works this way is kind of an annoyance, because I don't understand what I'm doing to a torch to "make it" into a stick, but whateves, I've used those extra sticks from burnt torches to save myself from freezing and/or wolves many times, by making new fires and then claiming new torches.

The other thing that its easy to forget is the charcoal left after your fire goes out. You get 1 piece of charcoal for every hour that the fire is lit, but I think you lose any charcoal that you don't extract from the stove/fireplace/campfire/barrel before starting another fire. Charcoal is useless in story mode, because the map is completely revealed, and also if you are using cheat maps online (for the same reason), but when I am playing without a cheat map, which is usually, I find that the charcoal mapping function is invaluable, especially for the maps that I don't absolutely know by heart. So on Milton, Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Broken Railroad, Desolation Point, Pleasant Valley and Forlorn Muskeg a thousand curses be upon it... I don't really need to map with charcoal that much, if at all. But for the rest of the maps, the charcoal really helps. Also, you need charcoal to make gunpowder, which at first didn't seem that useful, since I've never needed to make crafted bullets, but now you can use gunpowder as an accelerant for starting fires, which is really useful, but more importantly, you need it to make noisemaker grenades which are awesome against those wascalwy timberwolves. Noisemakers were also a welcome addition because it makes the used cans, which were formerly pretty worthless, into a very valuable resource. I keep every loose can I find now :D.
Spoiler :
The mechanic for chasing off a wolf with a torch or a flare is very strange, and not very intuitive at all: As the wolf approaches, at about 15 feet distance it'll bark and charge. But then it'll stop, maybe 5 or 6 feet away. It just stands there, growling, held at bay by your torch. When it does that, press 2 to equip a weapon. The wolf will yelp and run away. (Sometimes when it flees, it'll actually run straight at you, which gives you a little heart attack, but it's not attacking, it'll just run past you.) For this reason, I always pick up some stones right away when I start a new game. You can also chase off a wolf by throwing the torch at it, but then of course you have to retrieve your torch. Using this mechanic of drawing a weapon, you drop the torch at your feet and can just pick it up again (annoyingly, the same mechanic applies to deer and rabbits - if you're carrying a torch and press 2 to equip a weapon, the torch will scare off the deer or rabbit).
Another use for throwing-stones, if you don't have a torch or a flare: With good aim and/or some luck, you can chase off a wolf by hitting it in the face with a rock. Climbing up on one of those fallen trees is useful for this, since the wolf won't come up after you.

Lmao, I just learned this in my Stalker run yesterday, because I kept getting jumped by wolves in Hushed River Valley. After completing Episode 4 I've become a wiz with hitting wolves with flares to make them run away, because you have to do it so often in Blackrock, since you can't just outrun the timberwolves. So hitting wolves with flares in Episode 4 I stumbled on recognizing that the wolves would always stop in their tracks when they got close as long as you were holding a flare, which allowed you to doink them with it easily to make them run away. But what I noticed last night in Hushed River Valley, was that whenever I pulled out a rock instead, when they were standing still, growling, they would immediately panic and run away... I guess they really don't like rocks :p
 
When a wolf is following you, it will match your speed. There's no point in running, you'll only die tired. However, even if it appears to be running to catch up, once it gets to about 30 feet, it will slow down and match your speed again, never getting any closer as long as you keep moving away from it. If you're heading for a structure anyway, just keep going. If you have quick fingers on the mouse, you can pick up sticks or rocks as you walk, but don't stop to do anything else or the wolf will probably jump you.

If you're hunting wolves, you can get one to follow you all the way back to your base/outpost/cabin, and then turn and kill it right on your doorstep. No need to have to skin it and carry it all the way back, it will deliver itself to your door.

You can also lead a wolf into a deer this way. Let the wolf kill the deer, then kill the wolf. The guy who lasted 11,000 days before the Survival reset had only a few official Deer Kills on his ledger, because he used this technique every time, to save arrows. He'd get a deer and a wolf with 1 arrow.

Killing a feeding wolf is child's play. You can walk right up to it and shoot it in the head from 6 feet away. They're basically oblivious when they're eating. Even if you're not hunting it, you can get past a wolf by chasing a deer or a rabbit into it. While it's eating, you can walk right past it, to 8 or 10 feet, and it won't attack you. Useful for getting past a wolf in a ravine or other tight space, if you don't have a weapon or you just don't feel like shooting it at the moment.
All this stuff I knew, except I don't agree that you can't escape wolves by running. I do it all the time. However, running is far less effective against moose and bears once they decide to charge you. Zigzagging through trees and around rocks and other obstacles helps, but they always eventually catch you, unless you climb up/or down something that they can't, or jump down a short ledge where they have to walk a long way around to follow. they don't immediatly give up the chase, but if you can use the gap to run far enough away, they will disengage. Wolves however, you can straight up outrun if you choose the right path that takes you out of their line of sight and gets you far enough away by creating pathing obstacles for them. Wolves do alert if you get too close, even when they're eating, but you're right that they are far less of a threat when they already have something else to eat. i've never used meat decoys btw, although I know some players swear by them.
Another funny mechanic: Only 1 wolf will ever stalk you at one time, even if there are multiple wolves right there. So you can actually get through a pack of wolves by getting one of them to start following you, maneuver to get it behind you, then head straight through the pack. If you chase off a wolf with a torch, try not to do it in the middle of a pack. As soon as the first wolf runs away, the next one will target you. That said, if you need to chase an entire pack away for some reason, you can. You just have to be nimble about it.
This comes up a lot in Milton and also came up a bunch in Episode 4. Its true that with flares, you have to scare off each (regular) wolf individually and only one stalks you at a time, but you can circumvent this by using noisemakers or guns. Shooting one gunshot or noisemaker grenade in the general direction of a pack of wolves will disperse the whole pack, not just the one that is stalking you at the time.
 
Well, I put in another hour and a half of Grand Theft Auto: Tamagotchi. I found out what the controls for the freaking RC helicopter are so that asset's completed (David Cross does his character very well, but it's directed at annoying the player, uggghhh!). Now I spent an eternity grinding through ~80 taxi missions (countless repairs) and after forking out 80 grand for Toreno now I have to grind through flight school! :faint:

Apparently I can complete a lot of assets.

This is a preliminary evaluation, but still. GTA III and Vice City were small-sized. GTA III was ground-breaking in being 3D at all (great for the time - 22 years ago!), being also the first game with licensed music (not the whole soundtrack, but a distinctively-sized chunk of it), and professional actors to voice the characters. Also a gripping plotline. Vice City did the same but even better, so it's not just a very good game but a downright brilliant one. And also the soundtrack… deserves a post of its own later on.
San Andreas aims much higher. It doesn't quite hit the key everywhere (I'm about to unlock Las Venturas, so who knows?). It might be that it achieves more overall than the other two games but not everything that it aims for. Also, let this be my umpteenth gripe about the stupid side missions and romance plots.
 
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Are you playing with a controller or keyboard? Flight school is a misery on keyboard.

I agree about the romance system. I remember reading that it was originally planned to be much bigger and then just kinda ended up as... that.
 
Keyboard and mouse! It's usually great for games like GTA, but one specific bit about San Andreas is that they remapped all the keys. In previous games the controls for aircraft included NumPad 9 and 6 to tilt the aircraft forward or backward so that you'd dive or rise and it was very intuitive already because of how those two keys are placed in physical space, the same as having the arrows or WASD to control a vehicle's movement on the horizontal plane and then Q and E to tilt aircraft sideways. In San Andreas it turns out that those keys are used for other stuff and they are now Del and End and they're side by side.

To boot, the actual airplane that you used in flight school missions is a special nerfed one that flies differently from every single other aircraft across the 3D-era games and just stalls more or less every time you pull your nose up even just a bit. More grinding incoming…
 
The Long Dark: Tales From the Far Territory, Part 2: Signal Void release notes.

There's one important note there that I didn't see before:
Hinterland Studios said:
A note for players on Interloper: Prepper Caches are [sic] have returned to the game, however, there will be no fully-stocked versions. The new Tale also isn’t available on Interloper.
So it's a little bit exciting that Prepper Caches will spawn in Interloper games now, but it turns out you won't be able to play Tales in Interloper games (or, at least, not this one), so that's a bummer. I had been on the fence about whether to start my new game at Stalker or at Interloper, but I guess this settles it.
 
Path of Exile Crucible Expansion details revealed in 20 minutes.

 
Time to put in another hour's worth of San Andreas grinding - I did get some driving school and flying school missions in, but they're just boring. And they don't even make for good listening because they keep rebooting the radio.
 
Path of Exile Crucible Expansion details revealed in 20 minutes.


So...anything interesting? PoE is kind of "should I, shouldn't I..." for me.
 
@Sarin Yes! Weapon crafting to make over powered gear. Patch notes up shortly.

Crucible is all about adding passive trees to individual weapons/shields.
 

The Crucible Challenge League​

  • Challenge leagues are a great opportunity for a fresh start in a new economy. All of your old characters and items are still present in the Standard and Hardcore leagues, but you're encouraged to join the new leagues, complete challenges and demonstrate your mastery of Path of Exile!
  • In the Crucible Challenge League, you'll learn about the ancient titans who once shaped the primordial surface of Wraeclast. If you're powerful enough, you will earn the ability to forge their power onto your weapons.
  • Crucible Forges are scattered throughout Wraeclast. When you find one, select one of your weapons and channel the power of the ancient titans to spawn a challenging encounter. The longer you channel for, the more the molten monsters merge together to form more fearsome foes. You're in control of the difficulty and reward of these encounters.
  • In an iconically Path of Exile way, your weapons can now be imbued with powerful Passive Skill Trees of their own. Encounters at Crucible Forges grant you experience that lets you uncover the tree on a weapon and gradually progress through its skills. You can only allocate one skill from each tier, so choose your path through each Crucible Passive Tree carefully. If you're lucky, you'll find certain skills that, when allocated, are worth valuable currency or unique items when sold to a vendor.
  • Crucible's endgame takes place in The Forge of the Titans, a dangerous area harbouring an ancient power: the ability to melt a weapon down, merging its Crucible Passive Tree with that of another weapon. This process produces unpredictable results, incorporating elements of each tree as well as random upgrades, downgrades and changes. Through careful use of the Forge, it's possible to craft some incredibly powerful skill trees on your weapons.
  • For more information about this expansion, check out pathofexile.com/crucible
  • With 3.21.0, there are Standard, Hardcore, Solo Self-Found and Ruthless variations of the Crucible challenge league available. They have the same core mechanics and items. You can create private league versions of these leagues, with mods that make the game harder.
  • The new Crucible challenge league includes a set of 40 new challenges, and 8 new challenges in Ruthless Crucible. There are microtransaction rewards for completing challenges that are only obtainable in this league. These rewards will be revealed in an upcoming news post.
 
The Long Dark: Tales From the Far Territory, Part 2: Signal Void release notes.

There's one important note there that I didn't see before:

So it's a little bit exciting that Prepper Caches will spawn in Interloper games now, but it turns out you won't be able to play Tales in Interloper games (or, at least, not this one), so that's a bummer. I had been on the fence about whether to start my new game at Stalker or at Interloper, but I guess this settles it.
The Long Dark
I'm still not clear on what "Tales" are. :confused: Are they mini-Episodes? Or challenges? Or enhancements to the traditional survival game? My copy of the game on STEAM tells me that I already have the new DLC (I don't remember how long ago I bought it) but I've learned that I am going to have to actually walk all the way to the location of the new regions in-game in order to be able to select them from the starting menu... so that sounds like a fun challenge.

I took a look at the link:
Complete Loot & Resource refresh: All loot tables have been updated, and the location of in-world spawned objects has been refreshed. The locations and amounts of all high-value Tools and Items have also been modified. Do not expect things to appear in the same place, or quantity, as you may have experienced them before, and also know that an element of randomness to loot spawns is present in any game. Interloper balance has been preserved in the loot refresh.
This is confirmed. I started a new survival game (I finally gave up trying to start in Hushed River Valley and just started in Milton like a good little noob :p. One of the first things I noticed was that the loot in Grey Mother's house is nowhere near as plentiful as it was before and nothing was where I expected it to be...lots of empty cabinets, fridge was empty, There was no hatchet in the mini shed behind the house, or in the one behind the school. I eventually found one stuck in the railing on the side of the house. I've never see it there before. All I keep finding for clothes is scarves... I've gotten 6 scarves so far and no pants. My current pants are at 10% condition and I haven't found a sewing kit yet. I've explored all the houses, the bank and the post office besides the bank managers house and I've cleaned out Orca Gas station. The crowbar was also in a new place, in the hilltop house IIRC. The Post Office had NOTHING but papers and cardboard, even the dead body was empty. The Post Office is usually lean on loot, but I've never seen it completely empty like that. The bank was well stocked as was the gas station, but overall, downtown Milton seems to have way less loot than it used to, which is actually a good thing. I haven't found a revolver or rifle yet, but I haven't checked the Church, Paradise Farmhouse, or the dead body at the campsite on the way to the Hushed River Valley cave yet.
Starting Spawn Points refresh: When you start a new Survival game, the locations you can potentially spawn in each region have been changed. Feel lost again.
Confirmed. I spawned under the Milton bridge, west of town, that connects downtown Milton to the open field that leads to the Church. i'd never spawned there before and it took me a little bit to figure out where I was. It was a little crazy to have spawned in Milton, a map I know so well, and still feel lost for a little bit. It gave me quick a twinge of that old The Long Dark magic :D
Visor Notes (Mementos): Notes will occasionally spawn under car visors (and other places). Finding these will unlock the location of supply caches or other items in the world.
I've been checking every car visor in Milton but I haven't found any of these yet.
Improvised Crampons: You can now craft your own. Be cautious, Survivors – these Crampons are not quite as effective as the ones you find.
I haven't tried this yet, but it gives us something else to do with scrap metal, which is a good thing, since there is so much available.
Doe: Female deer have been added to the game, replacing the majority of the Stag population.
Confirmed, I actually saw a wolf kill one just outside Gray Mothers and I tried to steal it, but I ended up getting jumped by another two wolves and had to run away. By the time I came back the wolves had finished eating the Doe I guess, because it was gone. I was able to snag a rabbit from them though (which is probably why they attacked me).

EDIT: I found the doe carcass (the crows led me to it) behind the boarded up house across from Gray Mother's. I harvested it and ran away from the wolf pack that descended on me immediately after

Another thing I've noticed, is that there seems to be way more wolves in Milton than there was before... yeah... crazy right? :crazyeye: The wolves are all over you the instant you walk out the door... they bark at you immediately.

I can also confirm that you can be stalked by more than one wolf at a time. This actually keeps happening to me ever since starting this new game in Milton. The last thing I'll mention... I don't know if its a glitch or what... but I tried to chase away a wolf that was eating a rabbit with a flare, and I hit him in the head with the flare, but he refused to run away. He just stood his ground, growling at me until the flare went out, so I had to back off. I've never seen that happen before.
 
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Castlevania 3.

The old Nintendo-era and beyond collection of Castlevania games is on sale for $4 on the PlayStation network.

I am getting dominated by the old-school difficulty. :sad:


Character switch requires going into the controls and mapping it to a button which is crazily not defaulted to any button!
Item attack is up+attack, and Alucard bat-mode is down+attack.
Good luck sticking to walls and ceiling with Grant and not falling to death.

Game is just as brutal as I remember.
I'll get Dracula this time!
 

The Crucible Challenge League​

  • Challenge leagues are a great opportunity for a fresh start in a new economy. All of your old characters and items are still present in the Standard and Hardcore leagues, but you're encouraged to join the new leagues, complete challenges and demonstrate your mastery of Path of Exile!
  • In the Crucible Challenge League, you'll learn about the ancient titans who once shaped the primordial surface of Wraeclast. If you're powerful enough, you will earn the ability to forge their power onto your weapons.
  • Crucible Forges are scattered throughout Wraeclast. When you find one, select one of your weapons and channel the power of the ancient titans to spawn a challenging encounter. The longer you channel for, the more the molten monsters merge together to form more fearsome foes. You're in control of the difficulty and reward of these encounters.
  • In an iconically Path of Exile way, your weapons can now be imbued with powerful Passive Skill Trees of their own. Encounters at Crucible Forges grant you experience that lets you uncover the tree on a weapon and gradually progress through its skills. You can only allocate one skill from each tier, so choose your path through each Crucible Passive Tree carefully. If you're lucky, you'll find certain skills that, when allocated, are worth valuable currency or unique items when sold to a vendor.
  • Crucible's endgame takes place in The Forge of the Titans, a dangerous area harbouring an ancient power: the ability to melt a weapon down, merging its Crucible Passive Tree with that of another weapon. This process produces unpredictable results, incorporating elements of each tree as well as random upgrades, downgrades and changes. Through careful use of the Forge, it's possible to craft some incredibly powerful skill trees on your weapons.
  • For more information about this expansion, check out pathofexile.com/crucible
  • With 3.21.0, there are Standard, Hardcore, Solo Self-Found and Ruthless variations of the Crucible challenge league available. They have the same core mechanics and items. You can create private league versions of these leagues, with mods that make the game harder.
  • The new Crucible challenge league includes a set of 40 new challenges, and 8 new challenges in Ruthless Crucible. There are microtransaction rewards for completing challenges that are only obtainable in this league. These rewards will be revealed in an upcoming news post.

Hmh. Just read patch notes. Nerfs disguised as mastery overhaul. Just on brief reading, I've identified at least three impactful and used masteries that have been removed.
 
Boneshatter was not nerfed!
 
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