What games are you playing now?

Started playing VtM: Bloodlines on my new Alienware laptop ... ugh, what a pain dealing with just getting it going!
 
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txa1265 said:
Started playing VtM: Bloodlines on my new Alienware laptop … ugh, what a pain dealing with just getting it going!
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The last time I had problems with it, I had to run it in a window to get it working. Might be worth a shot if you're still having issues.
 
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Menigal said:
The last time I had problems with it, I had to run it in a window to get it working. Might be worth a shot if you're still having issues.
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Oh - I got there, just had to do the Admin rights, add the Steam directory (64-bit) to the Path$ variable, and then grab the widescreen patch. Within two minutes none of that mattered :)
 
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I'm still on GTA5. And surprisingly, after the first patch that was released, I'm getting better performance. And I'm saying surprisingly because a lot of people are reporting worse performance. Anyway, it's still immersive as hell to play in first person. Shooting feels great. I've gotten used to driving in first person. And man does feel good to play it on mouse & keyboard. I just can't see how people can stand shooting on a controller. And I hear some people choose to use the controller even on PC for actual shooting. I will never understand that.
 
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Neither will I.
It's bloody PC. Try m/k at least, if it sux, do switch. But if it feels better, do you really have to play the game from your bed?
 
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joxer said:
Neither will I.
It's bloody PC. Try m/k at least, if it sux, do switch. But if it feels better, do you really have to play the game from your bed?
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Couch. I play from the couch. The bedroom is used for other things ;)


I started the wolf among us. Great atmosphere in that game. I can't imagine playing only this kind of games, but it's great for in betweeners.
 
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Just returned from 3 days of "LAN partying" - which is kind of a misnomer, as it's more like local online partying in a remote location. This means I've played a lot of competitive MP with a lot of beer in my belly :)

Games included Company of Heroes 2 (mostly got my ass kicked), StarCraft 2 (mostly kicked ass), Supreme Commander 2 (I tend to dominate here, hehe), Heroes of the Storm (got my ass kicked thorougly, and I really don't like the formula), Battlefield 4 (looks great, but I kinda suck at it), Half-Life 2 DM (old classic, and I still have a little skill left) and Homeworld Remastered (only got a short session, because not all had it, but I love it).

Was fun, but now I don't want to drink beer for a few years.

Anyway, I don't have much free time to play the games I really want to play, but I'm having fun with GTA5 - which I consider a fantastic achievement.

Not in terms of story, which I think is middling and silly - not really my thing at all (I hate the Trevor character - and I don't enjoy playing him). But in terms of world simulation and immersion, especially during cooperative play, it's positively amazing.

I'm surprisingly engaged, and it looks like I'll be playing it quite a bit.

I've got it on both PS3 and PS4 - but the PC version blows them away completely, and I'm comfortable enough with the framerate and the controls to feel like it's worthy investing my time in.
 
DArtagnan said:
Anyway, I don't have much free time to play the games I really want to play, but I'm having fun with GTA5 - which I consider a fantastic achievement.

Not in terms of story, which I think is middling and silly - not really my thing at all (I hate the Trevor character - and I don't enjoy playing him). But in terms of world simulation and immersion, especially during cooperative play, it's positively amazing.

I'm surprisingly engaged, and it looks like I'll be playing it quite a bit.

I've got it on both PS3 and PS4 - but the PC version blows them away completely, and I'm comfortable enough with the framerate and the controls to feel like it's worthy investing my time in.
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Trevor is my favorite character by far. Maybe not to actually play him, but he's hilarious and his writing is funny as hell. I've heard it being said he's very similar to how most people play GTA5, and I tend to agree. He's a maniacal mass murderer. Just funny as hell. Franklin is next up. Even though it maybe is getting old, I like his attempts to get away from the gangster lifestyle he was accustomed to, and get more involved in stealing the way corporatists/capitalists do it.
 
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danutz_plusplus said:
Trevor is my favorite character by far. Maybe not to actually play him, but he's hilarious and his writing is funny as hell. I've heard it being said he's very similar to how most people play GTA5, and I tend to agree. He's a maniacal mass murderer. Just funny as hell. Franklin is next up. Even though it maybe is getting old, I like his attempts to get away from the gangster lifestyle he was accustomed to, and get more involved in stealing the way corporatists/capitalists do it.
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I didn't finish the story, so I don't know how it ends up.

Anyway, I don't enjoy playing psychotic mass murderers, as I tend to immerse myself in the world and put myself in the shoes of who I'm playing.

That said, I've never been a big fan of the GTA style and stories. I've always enjoyed the immersion and world building, but never really the stories.

I think they're mostly juvenile tales with a strange half-hearted attempt at bridging humor with societal criticism. Not smart enough and not quite funny enough, because it's not clear that it's being a comedy. I guess you could say I think the humor is crass and shallow, with a few exceptions that make the whole all the more frustrating. Like the people behind it are too overconfident and slightly smug.

Maybe I'm not the right audience, though :)
 
DArtagnan said:
I didn't finish the story, so I don't know how it ends up.

Anyway, I don't enjoy playing psychotic mass murderers, as I tend to immerse myself in the world and put myself in the shoes of who I'm playing.

That said, I've never been a big fan of the GTA style and stories. I've always enjoyed the immersion and world building, but never really the stories.

I think they're mostly juvenile tales with a strange half-hearted attempt at bridging humor with societal criticism. Not smart enough and not quite funny enough, because it's not clear that it's being a comedy. I guess you could say I think the humor is crass and shallow, with a few exceptions that make the whole all the more frustrating. Like the people behind it are too overconfident and slightly smug.

Maybe I'm not the right audience, though :)
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I never play a GTA game with a hope of character immersion. They'll just never act the way I would. I just like to see how far and crazy can they take something. And I like the criticism of everyday things. I love all the punches towards facebook (lifeinvader), the obsession people have with celebrities. I always like the talk shows on their radios. (there was a radio-host Lazlo, a recurring character from many of the GTAs). I just find them quite valid.

Plus the great diversity of gameplay they offer. It's just a fun game to play. And with GTA4 they introduced random encounters, and these are quite funny.
 
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danutz_plusplus said:
I never play a GTA game with a hope of character immersion. They'll just never act the way I would. I just like to see how far and crazy can they take something. And I like the criticism of everyday things. I love all the punches towards facebook (lifeinvader), the obsession people have with celebrities. I always like the talk shows on their radios. (there was a radio-host Lazlo, a recurring character from many of the GTAs). I just find them quite valid.

Plus the great diversity of gameplay they offer. It's just a fun game to play. And with GTA4 they introduced random encounters, and these are quite funny.
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I couldn't play a game like this without immersion, that would totally ruin my experience. I just live with the silly characters - and do my best to ignore when they're too extreme. Note that I would probaby love Trevor if I didn't have to actually play him - as he's very entertaining. But just like I never played evil characters in RPGs - I can't enjoy being someone like that, I just can't.

I seem to recall enjoying GTA 4 more, until the end when it sort of broke apart.

But it's all good, we all enjoy different things :)
 
DArtagnan said:
I couldn't play a game like this without immersion, that would totally ruin my experience. I just live with the silly characters - and do my best to ignore when they're too extreme. Note that I would probaby love Trevor if I didn't have to actually play him - as he's very entertaining. But just like I never played evil characters in RPGs - I can't enjoy being someone like that, I just can't.

I seem to recall enjoying GTA 4 more, until the end when it sort of broke apart.

But it's all good, we all enjoy different things :)
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Dido to Trevor. His best trait is that he's entertaining as hell. I just don't have a problem doing the crazy stuff his missions ask for. If I were playing an rpg, and had a choice I probably wouldn't play him like him. Unless being evil would be a necessity. Now that you mentioned role-playing, as I said, I never role-play in these types of games. Come to think of it, I role-play in very few games. Mostly rpgs which have been designed to make you handle choice and consequence. Action games and non-branching-storyline games just can't offer me enough to role play. I just go along for the ride. And some of the best games I've played are linear and give me no ability to role-play. (ex: Legacy of Kain series. I wouldn't want to role-play that. Their storyline is just too perfect and weirdly-complex and well-thought-out that anything I would choose would probably detract from the drama that it is able to display)

And one of the best role-playing experiences that I can think of would be The Witcher 2, at the point where you have to choose whether to kill or spare the dragon that impales herself. I remember just pausing and thinking for around 2 minutes about what to choose. I loved that. That a game was able to put me in that position (2 minutes might not seem much, but compared to most decisions I take in games, it's a very long time to just think about a decision)
 
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danutz_plusplus said:
Dido to Trevor. His best trait is that he's entertaining as hell. I just don't have a problem doing the crazy stuff his missions ask for. If I were playing an rpg, and had a choice I probably wouldn't play him like him. Unless being evil would be a necessity. Now that you mentioned role-playing, as I said, I never role-play in these types of games. Come to think of it, I role-play in very few games. Mostly rpgs which have been designed to make you handle choice and consequence. Action games and non-branching-storyline games just can't offer me enough to role play. I just go along for the ride. And some of the best games I've played are linear and give me no ability to role-play. (ex: Legacy of Kain series. I wouldn't want to role-play that. Their storyline is just too perfect and weirdly-complex and well-thought-out that anything I would choose would probably detract from the drama that it is able to display)

And one of the best role-playing experiences that I can think of would be The Witcher 2, at the point where you have to choose whether to kill or spare the dragon that impales herself. I remember just pausing and thinking for around 2 minutes about what to choose. I loved that. That a game was able to put me in that position (2 minutes might not seem much, but compared to most decisions I take in games, it's a very long time to just think about a decision)
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I know it's a bit unusual - and I know that a lot of people don't RP - even in RPGs.

But my personality requires me to be able to "justify" my actions, even when I'm playing pretend. Don't ask me why, as it's not really by conscious choice.

I RP even in games like Diablo.

I get sort of queasy when I act directly counter to my own "value-set" - and that's not a comfortable feeling.

I can do it to a certain extent, when I can put myself in a situation where my life would be very different, like with Niko in GTA 4. Well, if I don't think too hard when slaughtering wave after wave of people :)

But I can't quite find myself in the role of Trevor. It's beyond my capacity to RP :)
 
The 'problem' with getting a new PC is wanting to play *everything* I love on it as well as new stuff! Ugh ... oh well, here is what is happening:

- Pillars of Eternity - still enjoying this quite a bit.
- Gothic II - obligatory install, still not even into Khorinis yet, just had to step into that world for a moment :)
- VtM: Bloodlines - after getting all the Win8 and widescreen stuff sorted, spent too long and made it most of the way through Santa Monica in a sitting. Love it.
- Postal 2 - picked up the new 'Paradise Lost' DLC, and ended up starting a regular game first ... always love this one. :)
- Telepath Tactics - fun game, since I like the Fire Emblem style I enjoy this.

And speaking of GTA, two thoughts:
- Went downstairs to my older son playing GTA 5 on the XBOX ... a reminder of how *old* the game is, even though just released on PC.
- Have a Mad Catz iOS game controller to review, and was playing a few games including GTA 'Vice City' last night. Ugh ... everything is 'close but not quite right' ... why even bother.
 
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DArtagnan said:
I know it's a bit unusual - and I know that a lot of people don't RP - even in RPGs.
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I think you're right on this. These days RPG seems to primarily mean interactive movie and relationship simulator rather than a role-playing vehicle to most gamers. If a game tells me who my character is and how they act, then it's not really role-playing, despite all the people saying "ah, well, technically, you are playing a role, so it's an RPG." By that argument, so are Pac-Man and Mario Bros. :p

I've not got on with the GTA series since about San Andreas. After that they seemed to keep the detailed worlds, but lost the fun. I'll take the shallower, but insanely ridiculous fun of the Saints Row series over it any day. I don't think I played more than 4 or 5 hours of GTA 4 in the end.
 
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txa1265 said:
- Gothic II - obligatory install, still not even into Khorinis yet, just had to step into that world for a moment :)
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I'd advise patience there.
On WoR forum PB employee said something that they played DX11 Gothic 2 and are happy to see it. I'm waiting it to be finished myself so I can give it a runthrough.
Menigal said:
These days RPG seems to primarily mean interactive movie and relationship simulator rather than a role-playing vehicle to most gamers.
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Yup. Instabuy. :D
Sadly, not really true.
 
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Menigal said:
I think you're right on this. These days RPG seems to primarily mean interactive movie and relationship simulator rather than a role-playing vehicle to most gamers. If a game tells me who my character is and how they act, then it's not really role-playing, despite all the people saying "ah, well, technically, you are playing a role, so it's an RPG." By that argument, so are Pac-Man and Mario Bros. :p

I've not got on with the GTA series since about San Andreas. After that they seemed to keep the detailed worlds, but lost the fun. I'll take the shallower, but insanely ridiculous fun of the Saints Row series over it any day. I don't think I played more than 4 or 5 hours of GTA 4 in the end.
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I don't think Saints Row comes anywhere near what GTA 5 achieved when it comes to world building and immersion. Not even a contest, frankly.

I do enjoy the stories slightly more, because it's obvious bullshit - and that can be fun. But the game is too silly and I can't live on junk food alone. I need more :)
 
DArtagnan said:
I don't think Saints Row comes anywhere near what GTA 5 achieved when it comes to world building and immersion. Not even a contest, frankly.

I do enjoy the stories slightly more, because it's obvious bullshit - and that can be fun. But the game is too silly and I can't live on junk food alone. I need more :)
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Oh, no, the Saints Row games can't compare in world building. They're just fun and silly.
 
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