What games are you playing now?

Originally Posted by bkrueger
Did you try the Thief-Reboot (2014)? I didn't like t as much as Dishonored but it is fun in its own way and has a more demanding stealth mechanic. Also I like the third thief (deadly Shadows from 2004), in particular the orphanage level is very special and fun (similarly eerie as the Hotel-Level from Vampire Bloodlines). I assume, of course, that you played Thief 1 and 2.

I think I tried the reboot for a bit, but it didn't stick. I think I also tried all classic Thief games at one point, but their age must've turned me off. Or maybe I was too young and unpatient to appreciate them back then.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
I think I tried the reboot for a bit, but it didn't stick. I think I also tried all classic Thief games at one point, but their age must've turned me off. Or maybe I was too young and unpatient to appreciate them back then.

At least the third one has aged quite well. I understand if you you can't come into the first two. I have replayed them recently but I admit that it is hard to play through them if you are not driven by nostalgia.

Yeah, I remember trying the 3rd one close to its 2004 release, but I think I didn't have the hardware for proper realtime shadow rendering, and it looked really dark and unplayable if I remember correctly. Might be time for a retry. Or maybe games like these will stay in my backlog until retirement

About Hitman 2, how do people find out what the map offers in terms of possiblities? Exploring the map sounds like the way this should work, but how do you do that when there are enemies that you trigger by being in their line of sight, and you can't really explore properly. Do you first play the map extensively on a lesser difficulty to perform proper reconnaisance and find out where the important stuff is? Like disguises and all that?

I've reached level 5 of the Escalation on the first training map, and I've got to finish it in 5 mins (kill 2 targets with specific costumes and weapons, and avoid cameras and security people). After 1-2 tries, I've looked at a youtube example. And the dude, besides being fantastically fast, used some disguises that were just laying around. How do you find out about those. Are you honestly expected to manually explore the whole map for anything useful?

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
I think I tried the reboot for a bit, but it didn't stick. I think I also tried all classic Thief games at one point, but their age must've turned me off. Or maybe I was too young and unpatient to appreciate them back then.

Thief Gold is fantastic. Yes, it's quite old, and it feels a little clunky at first compared to modern games, but the level design and atmosphere are unmatched by the vast majority of games since. Fwiw, I didn't play it until just a few years ago.

A lot of fans like Thief 2 even more, but I prefer the original. I never got around to trying Thief 3 or the reboot.

I tried the new Hitman and didn't care for it. Maybe it's the setting, but those games don't really appeal to me for some reason.

Find somebody who's alone (or, more often, lure them into a place where they'll be alone with a coin), knock them out, take their clothes. Now some NPCs won't react to you. Those who will have a white dot above their heads. Pretty much as simple as that. Hitman is a stealth game like a lot of other stealth games where you hide behind things and worry about line of sight and such, but unlike other games it is also a so called "social" stealth game, where you employ disguises. And virtually any clothes anyone is wearing in the entire level can be used as a disguise.

I love the (first two) Thief games, but FMs (fan missions) are where it's at. Thief has one of the best mod communities ever in gaming.

Playing Pillars of Eternity 2, at the moment. I had not finished Pillars 1, back then, and for some reasons I had skipped PoE2 so far.

It's a pretty good game. It has a strong BG vibe. It offers a lot of freedom about who you ally yourself with and good/evil aren't always obvious. I'm not sure I like the system, however. It's certainly deep and complex but it's not DnD.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
Find somebody who's alone (or, more often, lure them into a place where they'll be alone with a coin), knock them out, take their clothes. Now some NPCs won't react to you. Those who will have a white dot above their heads. Pretty much as simple as that. Hitman is a stealth game like a lot of other stealth games where you hide behind things and worry about line of sight and such, but unlike other games it is also a so called "social" stealth game, where you employ disguises. And virtually any clothes anyone is wearing in the entire level can be used as a disguise.

Normally yes, but with the difficulty modification of Escalation 4-5 now security guards react suspiciously regardless what costume I use. So I have to dodge every security guard while on a 5 min timer and trying to kjll those two. Now that I've see the youtuber do it, I think I can do it. But it seems it was all dependent on knowing where certain key items are on the map. So how do I find those? Is it encouraged to explore the whole map on the easiest difficulty and make notes of every item that I might need? And then make a plan. That's what it sounds like.

Well, I wouldn't start with escalations in the first place. Those are among the hardest things you can do in Hitman, and without knowing the map even moreso. Why are you starting with escalations, out of curiosity?

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
Well, I wouldn't start with escalations in the first place. Those are among the hardest things you can do in Hitman, and without knowing the map even moreso. Why are you starting with escalations, out of curiosity?

Oh, I think I see my problem. I completed all of the challenges on the training map a long time ago, and now that I've returned I see this new feature of Escalations. So I jump into it, and am doing pretty well. Until I reach a level where I need knowledge of items on the map. Which I had back when I completed the challenges, but I pretty much forgot most of that. So maybe if I did the challeges in the same session I would know where useful things are due to the challenges pointing them out. I believe there's one involving the crew suit I need.

Thanks.

Right now I am playing:

- Cyberpunk 2077 (Second round)
- Fallout 4 (hmm … no idea, at least 15th time through, probably more)
- Skyrim (don't even want to guess how many times)
- Outer Worlds (put on hold when C2077 came out but will get back to soon)

EDIT: oh and alpha for Wrath of the Righteous but put on hold as I will just join the beta soon.

i'm playing nwn ee still, got a few running modules i'm taking a break from. also casually playing frua designs during my break. but i picked up a game i'll be playing a bit more of, Heroes of Steel! Pretty neat game overall, lots of character development depth, fun combat and just a good overall game, especially for Android.

I realized no one has played this game past the opening dungeon, lol. No one on youtube, anyway, not even the reviewers. I'm about 3 hours in and really enjoying it. Tough combat on Hard.

I wish I didn't play NWN past the opening "dungeon"…

I took a break for a few days after finishing Cold Steel three, and fired up Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition, which I received last month as a birthday gift. It seems to be a souped up RPG maker, I'm only a few hours in so far and loving it to bits! Decent story, and the combat is lots of fun, quite a change from the last game I played but almost as enjoyable.

This thread is the number of the beast right now.

Originally Posted by joxer
I wish I didn't play NWN past the opening "dungeon"…

lol, opening dungeon? i've played 14 handcrafted modules so you'd have to specify which "opening dungeon"

why even play the original campaign? nwn is a wonderland of expertly put together modules which could be sold as their own unique games. out of all 14 modules thus far i a) haven't played a bad one yet, and b) they were all unique. i expect the 200+ other modules i downloaded so far will be much of the same.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
i'm playing nwn ee still, got a few running modules i'm taking a break from. also casually playing frua designs during my break. but i picked up a game i'll be playing a bit more of, Heroes of Steel! Pretty neat game overall, lots of character development depth, fun combat and just a good overall game, especially for Android.

I realized no one has played this game past the opening dungeon, lol. No one on youtube, anyway, not even the reviewers. I'm about 3 hours in and really enjoying it. Tough combat on Hard.

The Android port was much more solid than I expected - played all the way through the game and both expansions.

I know it is ‘cool’ to hate on NWN, but I personally have loved the campaign each time I played.

Originally Posted by txa1265
The Android port was much more solid than I expected - played all the way through the game and both expansions.

I know it is ‘cool’ to hate on NWN, but I personally have loved the campaign each time I played.

cool! i played a bit of the original campaign, but the draw of the user modules was too much and i jumped in before finishing it. Was cool, though. So far I finished a good 8 or 9 campaigns, and have 4 that I currently am taking a break from before going back. So many good modules, it's astounding, really! Fans really explore all sides of D&D and beyond with the toolkit…

Just finished Escalation 5 on the first Training Mission in Hitman 2. Man, what a rush I got while doing it. It was interesting to have a broad plan of steps, and then at every checkpoint pause and review where I need to go next in the checklist. You'd think it would be boring to do a checklist against time, but it game me quite a rush.

One thing is for sure, you really need to learn the map layout for these challenges. And the timings of the enemies. I'm not sure I'll have the same enthusiasm when it will be required that I do this for a huge map with loads of variations. We'll see.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
lol, opening dungeon? i've played 14 handcrafted modules so you'd have to specify which "opening dungeon"

why even play the original campaign? nwn is a wonderland of expertly put together modules which could be sold as their own unique games. out of all 14 modules thus far i a) haven't played a bad one yet, and b) they were all unique. i expect the 200+ other modules i downloaded so far will be much of the same.

You may find that silly, but I have replayed it in the past, probably because it's the first game of the genre I played and which got me hooked. You could say there is some sentimental value in it

But yes, Tomi Undergallows… it's probably best replay it as rogue to do without him