What games are you playing now?

I'm about 90% done with Geneforge 2. Its very derivative of GF1 which is a bit of a drag. I just don't care who came from Sucia island, and the answer is apparently "everyone" anyway! It also makes it alarmingly elusive to play as a Shaper should you choose to align with them - since they really don't appear to want the player character. As a result I'm unaligned and I've already removed one of the factions entirely. I'm about ready to go scorched earth on everyone. Let God sort it all out.

I'm planning on playing GF3 but I hope the story shifts into a new gear. I know Geneforge 4 does that in spades so here is to hoping. Also the inventory system and encumbrance is driving me crazy. Too many trips to town. Too many rooms full of loot with noone to sell to. Difficult to sift through all the junk with the ancient interface. Minor gripe I suppose, but I started the series with GF4 which spoiled me…

It seems a very cool Witcher 2 patch has come out. It features a nice list of PC UI modifications. This is good news as I'm going to want to play through it again some time in the future.

http://en.thewitcher.com/patch3-2/

Originally Posted by patch 3.2 notes
Patch 3.2 is a UI modification for the PC version of The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition. The mod adds the following enhancements to the game. It can be used optionally (enabled by default) by players when installed. You can disable it in Configurator DLC Menu.

Minimap: Adds a north arrow.
Alchemy: Crafting slots show how many ingredients there are; better default ingredient selection (e.g., not having to filter out quest item ingredients all the time); un-rotates alchemy element symbols; saves custom ingredient selection for a formula (until you close the panel or go to another formula, but no longer resetting every time you create something).
Tooltips: Taller, and scroll faster.
Inventory/Trading/Storage: Sorting buttons (sort by time acquired, name, aggregate weight, aggegrate price.) Reversible sort also possible.
Trading: Places a checkmark next to books, formulas, and crafting diagrams that you already have in your inventory.
Crafting: Shows how many items you have instead of capping the number at how many are required. E.g., 30/3 instead of 3/3.
Other: Sorts some lists alphabetically: crafting, alchemy, elixirs.

The UI was something I've kinda had issues with, especially the inventory. So this is really a welcome improvement.

Hmm, I guess I also missed the 3.1 patch which even fixes those cinematic issues with 16:10 resolutions. Awesome.

http://thewitcher.com/patch3-1

EDIT: Something must be wrong with my installed version of TW2, because I keep getting "Install the witcher 2 assassins of kings before applying this patch". I've got it installed and up to 3.0, but the patch installer won't recognize it. Also my launcher.exe doesn't run. Witcher2.exe runs fine and starts the game, but launcher.exe doesn't. So I can't aquire the patch through that either. Has anyone run into this issue?

Originally Posted by Nameless one
Nope.Complete edition is already compilation of best mods.There might be additional content mods but if you haven't played original game I advise you to go for complete edition only since it doesn't add any content just enhances original game.

Thanks! There seems to be a 2012 version in development although I can't find any info on its progression, release date or possible betas.

Originally Posted by txa1265
Hey - JDR, just noticed location of Florida … did I miss you moving? For some reason my brain has you in Michigan?

Yep, I'm back in the sunshine state after 14+ years in the metro Detroit area. I moved the last week of May.

Originally Posted by Kostaz
Thanks! There seems to be a 2012 version in development although I can't find any info on its progression, release date or possible betas.

It's an update to the latest version, not an entirely new version. I haven't seen anything to make me think it's worth waiting for.

Note: we are in the middle of the new 2012 update, the current and the latest available mod version is STALKER Complete 2009 1.4.4 until further notice.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-co…e-2009-release

I played STALKER (SoC) years ago without any of community patches, and it only had a few bugs. Nothing terribly serious. It's a great game especially if you like open-world post-apocalyptic shooters.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I played STALKER (SoC) years ago without any of community patches, and it only had a few bugs.

Sounds like you were one of the lucky ones. I tried playing it after they released the last official patch, and I eventually quit in frustration because of the amount of bugs I was encountering. In particular, the random quests to retrieve stashes were terribly buggy for me.

The Complete mod is truly great though. From what I've seen so far, it makes the game better in nearly every way possible. I'm really looking forward to doing a full playthough soon.

I played it years after the original release date, of course. The horror stories at release kept me away until it stabilized.

I think I've been able to dig up one of the strangest games ever.

Let me explain how it starts:
You fly around in a blimp, when suddenly some naked balds dwarfs are starting to launch themselves as firework towards you, and explode in "fun". Unfortunately they make your blimp crash.
So you land on a strange island, where there are more naked bald dwarfs running around, and the gods tell you that they need a plumber and the cargo that you were supposed to deliver, but of course the cargo is currently sinking, and they won't sell you a sail until you have extracted more "fun" out of the naked bald dwarfs. So you run around and kick the dwarfs, until they all have exploded, and then dump metal into a swirling thing in the water, to make a volcano erupt, which will throw out all the naked bald dwarfs you have previously made explode, so that you can kick them again. As soon as you have bought a sail from the gods and gathered enough cargo, the gods tell you that the naked bald dwarfs have found a turbine which they throw themselves into, and which kills them (permanently), so now you need to build a motor boat to get to the turbine, in order to kick the dwarfs away from it.
But some of the dwarfs have built a ship/balloon which sinks, so now you need to attach a ring buoy to your motorboat, which in turn will let you save the naked bald dwarfs from drowning. The dwarfs enjoy going fast, so as long as you control the boat, they will hold on to the ring buoy, in a long naked bald dwarf chain, and this is also how you lure them away from the turbine. And by going fast, the dwarfs have fun, which will allow you to call down a glacier from the sky, filled with evil penguins who like to squash naked bald dwarfs. So now I need to stop the penguins. And that was the first level of Cargo: Quest for Gravity.

Never design video games on acid.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Never design video games on acid.

I think more people should do it. This game is hilarious. I've not laughed this much due to a game, ever. No, not even the classic Lucas Arts games, like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango made me laugh nearly this much.


*edit* Argh, now the aliens are coming, and the bald naked dwarfs have dragraces while carrying bombs for no reason! And the game loves the word "arse" for some reason.

I played some of that last year, got it unsolicited for review, but never finished as the humor and novelty wore off for me …

Still playing Diablo3, and still loving it. Great game imo

Playing both Monk and Demon hunter, so it's nice because when +dex stuff one cant use or outgrows, the other can always use!

I'm two levels into this game, and I have to say this is one of the coolest indie titles I've played in quite a while. It really defies description, but it's easy to play and a LOT of fun. A bit reminiscent of Psychonauts. There's a demo at the game website:

http://www.tinyandbig.com/

Highly recommended.

After finishing Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, I was in the mood for more Lovecraft-inspired gaming. Now I'm playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of The Earth.

Good choice! Have you got to the chase scene? THAT was a thrill.

I only just arrived in Innsmouth, but this isn't my first time playing DCoTE. I played through it when it was released and thought it was "ok". I'm hoping to find this replay more enjoyable since I'm a lot more familiar with Lovecraft's lore now.

Have you read "Shadow at Innsmouth"?

You mean "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"?

Yes, it's part of one of his compilation books that I own. Waking Up Screaming

I like it, although not as much as some of his other stories. My favorite Lovecraft tales would probably be 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward' and 'At the Mountains of Madness'.

Yep, that's the one that most of the game is based on.

I too liked the Mountains of Madness very much. Also, another one that is very disturbing but I always forget its name is about a person willing letting his head be decapitated for transport to other universes while still alive to experience space travel. It took place in Vermont of all places.

But, I think I liked The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath the best. It continues the story of the protagonist from 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'. Very otherworldly and psychedelic; also novella length. His Dream Cycle stories are mostly my favorites of his.

Originally Posted by txa1265
I played some of that last year, got it unsolicited for review, but never finished as the humor and novelty wore off for me …

It is a bit on the buggy side, and I've fallen through the ground twice, but it does seem to throw new things at me at a high enough speed for the novelty to not wear off.