Various OTHER Games

[Starfox]

Amalur is one of those games that needed a modding community, if only to fix the worst bugs. Sadly, I don't think (the state of) Rhode Island is going to hire a few programmers to make that happen, so we're stuck with it, bugs and all. 

I wholeheartedly agree. Not only it needed a community but it deserved one. Alas, seeing how fast the developer went under after the release of the title and the complete absence of anything resembling a SDK (which is furthermore complicated by the fact that the engine is a proprietary one; if it was Unreal based for example, people could adapt Unreal engine tools but there, not possible), I don't think we'll see anything new for Amalur. Which is sad, really.

That brings a second point. Amalur is a good game. It has flaws, yes, but not noticeably more than other titles that are downright horrible. How a company developing a good game can instantly go under is something I'll never get. It happened countless times in the past... Origin Systems, Looking Glass, Ion Storm just to quote those three. It's some sort of curse placed on good games... Want to last long in the gaming industry? Release crappy games that you developed in less than 2 months and last 3 hours. Apparently it's a recipe to success. Develop in 4 years a good game with a 100+ hours worth of gameplay and you're dead (well, except for Bethesda but they're in a class of their own). It's also sad, really... But what can we do when companies like [place the name of any big video game publisher here] want it done quick with minimal investment for the biggest return possible -- well, OK, they are supposed to be like that. It's called capitalism, but still... It's the eternal fight between the love for games and the love for money.

Still, I suppose there's the merchant-as-a-storage-chest route: sell everything to a merchant, who will keep it all in inventory forever, probably.

At least until you reach the 50 items sold limit per merchant at which points merchants seem to get rid of the less expensive items you sold them previously.

Replaying DAO... Now there's an idea 

[bobdog]

Well, honestly, most games don't need to be more than 25-30 hours in length anyway -- enough for a good week or 2 at most to play through. For me, I've got lots of games to play, so spending so long on a single title sometimes rubs me wrong. I don't mind that there are occasional titles (Elder Scrolls, Fallout, GTA, etc) that give you a wealth of game-time, but these are established titles from established studios.

Amalur could have easily gotten by with only being 40 hours instead of 100+ hours. Then they could have released additional DLC to raise additional revenue and keep the company afloat. They obviously overspent on their budget and the first way to cut back on budget is to cut back on time, both for the game and for employees.

All 38 Studios had to do was to release a first game that was good -- not even great -- and then they'd be able to make a 2nd and 3rd game. They also should have never gone down the MMORPG route to start with, but I think they (and many other studios) were blinded by the revenues that WOW was pulling in. Who wouldn't want to hit that lightning?

The other thing that killed it was the Rhode Island governor coming out against the game JUST as they were hitting up new potential investors. When he came out publicly on it, the company was poisoned. If he would have just waited, kept his mouth shut and let them seek a new round of investment, they probably would have weathered the storm and been able to pay back everything borrowed. Stupid politician.... 

In all, it's a cautionary tale with no good ending, other than to give us players a pretty great game to enjoy. But everyone else is a loser.

[Silver Sorrow]

Now I remember why I didn't like Neverwinter Nights 2...it's all coming back to me now. Still, it was quite the deal at GOG, so at least I got the whole package for under $10. Same thing with the NWN Diamond edition: lots of painful repressed memories punching me in the head for the low, low price of $9.99. Masocishm has never been so affordable.

Admittedly, I never finished NWN2. I tried, Cthulhu knows I tried, but I just hate turn-based combat (another reason I never could get into KOTOR). I finished NWN and the expansions years ago, but it was only through sheer bloody-mindedness and a willingness to use the cheat console just to see how the stupid thing ended. I may have to do that with NWN2, as I don't give one fig for the glory of dice rolls and endless stat-wallowing. It's safe to say that I'd probably throw dog shit at these people roleplaying in the park.

I finally ironed out my Fallout 3 problems and then jumped right into New Vegas, only to stop in the middle of nowhere, spin around slowly, and ask one of the most disheartening questions one could possibly ask in the middle of an open-world RPG: why am I doing this??

Usually, the answer is "because it's better than cleaning toilets." Unfortunately, I've been through FNV so many times that my attention began to drift, even going so far as to fantasize about how much better my life would be if I were the owner of not just a clean toilet, but a completely clean bathroom. And maybe I'd vaccuum the stairs, too.

The worst part of the FO3/FNV debacle was the godawful facegen problem. I never could get my hapless character's face right, and it occurred to me that I spend an awful lot of time worrying about something that I only see when I spin the vanity camera around. But it eats at me, nevertheless. Short of jury-rigging a paper bag on my head and proclaiming myself "The Unknown Wanderer," the situation became dire. I finally found the solution in another mod that altered the head meshes and...

...okay, I see it now. Why my own mother called me "boring" on at least three separate occasions in the last six months. Thanks mom.

Anyway. I wandered over to Bioshock; I'd never played the other games in the series. I didn't know why...but then I remembered: Bioshock was a total pain in the ass. And the problems incurred playing it on Win7 was yet another reason. I believe I'll skip this particular limp down memory lane and get right to Bioshock 2.

Since I'm at that weird place where I don't want to play ANYTHING, I've fallen back into upgrading my neverending Skyrim mods. Starting with: I finally invested a few minutes installing PCEA (PC Exclusive Animation path), which makes it possible for your custom-race character to have their very own animations without everyone else in Skyrim doing the same thing oh my god I'm boring the living crap out of myself.

Okay. Screenshots.

Her hair is clipping through the fur collar. And she needs a few scars. Otherwise, she's okay.

She's my finest creation to date, and she's not impressed.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have to jam my finger in a light socket.


EDIT:

et voila, she is pretty much done.

Gave 'er some character, son.

[Silver Sorrow]

I think the reasoning today is "because I did." And I did. That's right, I...

...actually accomplished very little today. But at least I've been playing something other than Skyrim the last couple of days. Downside is, the games are older than Skyrim. I can't help it, though...most new games, to me, look like something you play on Facebook. And why, oh why, do my "friends" keep inviting me to play Facebook games??

Not important. Point is? I'm mentally drained from having to go to Wal-Mart today. It's like some psychic...energy-draining...thing...: you walk in, perhaps find some Duck Dynasty boxers (rejected sloagans: "Who's The Duck Commander NOW, Bitch!??" and "Home Of The Duck Commander"), or maybe you just need a bath mat made in some country where they have no concept of child labor laws, and immediately you feel sapped of strength...of energy...of will...

...indeed, as you find yourself wandering, zombie-like, over to the pork rinds and Cheez-Whiz display, you feel your soul being sucked out through your pores.

Actually, if you've ever been to Thailand, this isn't an entirely unpleasant--

-- No. Wait. Stop. I deny ever having been to Thailand. And you can't prove it. Okay, so maybe they found a couple of hookers' heads in an unclaimed suitcase with a "RUSH IS A BAND, GODDAMMIT" sticker on it at Will Rogers airport...and maybe, just maybe, I knew the combination (2112), but it doesn't mean that *I* had anything to do with it, necessarily. Their evidence is thin at best and I will fight this injustice all the way to the Surpreme Court if I have to!

But never mind that.

Everything I do with Skyrim pretty much boils down to character creation now. I may half-heartedly attempt to recolor something now and then, but it doesn't keep my attention for very long. And after finishing up the character's face, I may run through a bit of the game with it for a while, but I'm right back to the chargen before I know it. They REALLY need to start spitting out these games faster.

[Opponents of this stance may claim that the quality of Bethesda's games would perhaps suffer from an accelerated release schedule, but I ask: is that even possible??]

Anyway, I have yet to figure out why all of my XRg characters look so damned mean.

I suspect it may have something to do with the eyebrows. 


This one came out pretty good.

And so did this one.

That one, incidentally, was my attempt at a softer Scholar Ling (Jade Empire). Her skin tone, eyes, and overall mien may need some work, but you be the judge:

 

I know, I know...I'm still working on it. 

The other day, I noticed that the unofficial VTMB patch had an optional ENB thingamawhatzit. So I tried it out.

With ENB and without, respectively (I recolored the outfit; link to screenshot post, which in turn has a link to the download post):

I thought the ENB was supposed to make it look *better*. Instead, I get this blurry film-grained shitfest that...that...okay. Deep breath. Exhale. I guess that I could screw around with settings and all that crap to get it just right, but I abstain.

Finally, I've never seen my Malk do this before:

Well. That's it for now. Time flies when your fingers hurt from all this stupid typing.

[Silver Sorrow]

Messing with the HL2 Cinematic mod...that's CM 2013, which is supposed to be installed on the SteamPipe version of HL2. That's apparently an important distinction, as I wasn't aware that I even HAD the SteamPipe version. But as it turns out, I do. Go figure.

Anyway, as mentioned in that other thread I keep posting in for some reason, there are quite a few variations on the Alyx model, most of which are horrifying on the most primal level. Maybe it's just me. But there are a couple of self-evident facts:

1. Asian Judith Mossman is awesome.

"I have several Ph.D's, but I still feel compelled, by a force I cannot even begin to understand, to ask if you'd like to see a menu."

2. While stunning, the techno-futuristic supermodel Alyx has narrow hips and will, of course, face many difficulties trying to squeeze Gordon's oddly mute progeny into this dystopian world.

"One time I accidentally swallowed a peach pit and then I had to pass it...the bathroom looked like a slaughterhouse, lemme tell ya."

3. While I love helmets with horns, perhaps I've gone too far this time.

"Feelin' a little...anxious, y'know?"

That last was from Skyrim. Just ignore it.

Anyway, the sheer number of Alyx variations is staggering at first, but I soon realized that there were only five *real* choices:

1. Latin supermodel Alyx (Kendra)

2. Portuguese supermodel Alyx (Sampiao or whatever)

3. Another Latin supermodel Alyx (Sirena)

4. Vaguely Asian/Latin/something-or-other supermodel with gigantic lips Alyx (Vic)

5. Original Alyx

The first three options have a couple dozen little variations (the last two have none), but it all comes down to whether or not you enjoy being creeped the hell out.

Welcome to Hell, Gordon.

Gaaaah. And there's even an outfit option where you can ogle her nipples.

Creepy. I think I'm going back to the original Alyx, thank you.     However, since I'm a big fan of steering myself down the wrong path and crashing into a tree (so to speak), I'll try out the Asian/Latin/Whatever Alyx #4 first.

I dabbled a bit in Skyrim today, since I'm trying to decide whether or not I should add a heavy armor set. My lab rat:

She ain't pretty. But...well, there is no rebuttal or bright side to that statement.

Also, she ended up stabbing through her own shield:

That appears to be what the more knowledgeable indivduals on the World Wide Web (or, "doubleyoudoubleyoudoubleyou") refer to as a "bug." I should probably contact someone at Bethesda Softworks about this immediately. They will want to know about this flaw in their otherwise excellent software, and I am quite sure that they will address this issue with all due haste.


UPDATE, Re: Asian/Latin/KillItWithFIRE Alyx: Spoke too soon.

But seriously, Gordon...WELCOME TO HELL.

What is this guy's thing with huge lips?? If it's a metaphor for something else, I don't want to know. Back to good ol' vanilla Alyx.

EDITED FOR...accuracy, oddly enough.

[Silver Sorrow]

Posting at 6am in a thread that saw its last post in September? There are reasons, but who cares.

Neck-deep in VTMB. Again. Playing the with the unofficial 9.2 patch. I've been playing the UOP for so long that I don't know if a bug is introduced by the patch or is just part of the game. For example:

1. Playing as Tremere: if I send Heather Poe away when she shows up outside LaCroix's HQ Downtown, she's in the Tremere haven when I finally gain access. She's not in the Santa Monica or Skyeline havens. From what I gather from my extensive [read: virtually nonexistent] research, it's something the game isn't keeping track of; I think the solution may be: if you're going to send her away, let her into your haven first, THEN send her away. The game seems to recognize that.

Another solution is a console command, which I'll try out later.

2. Sometimes, after using the taxi to get somewhere, my character will whip out whatever weapon I used last. That is, if I last used a katana, the scene will load, I'll hear a "SWOOSH!," the "CLONG!" of a Criminal Violation, NPCs panicking, sirens, etc. I've also had this happen with a firearm. Good times. 

Reloading may work, but sometimes (not often) I'll have to quit and reload the game. I've taken to making a hard save before I go anywhere in the taxi.

So, in short: who knows? Since I've never had this happen in the original game, it's probably the UOP. No big deal, really. Just inconvenient.

In Other Games...

...I've been toying with Spec Ops: The Line, which I never finished. I don't know why. No, I know why: I have the attention span of a meth-head with ADHD. I'm not as far along as I was when I lost interest, so here's hoping I can keep it together long enough to see how it plays out.

Back in December (I think), I was gearing up for an epic Mass Effect journey across all three games, but for some incredibly valid reasons, it didn't happen. That is to say, I got bored and lost interest. Putting together a desirable ME1 story took a couple of arduous tries, but at least I put together a good Shepard for it, thanks to some great textures I found in various places.

For ME1:

I didn't get very far into ME2 before I wandered off into the weeds. But with the same textures, Shepard looked even better.

For ME2:

I have yet to see how she turns out in ME3...heaven knows getting texmod to work with ME3 might be a fate worse than being forced to sit through a New Kids On The Block reunion. But I am hopeful. Or terrified. Either one.

If I were to start playing Skyrim again -- I have no idea why I'd even try, as just thinking about it bores me to tears -- I think this one might make a good vampire character:

It's too bad that being a vampire in Skyrim is godawful. Like I've said before: if I want to play a vampire, I'll play Bloodlines. Uh...which I am.

While I'm babbling incoherently, I'd like to blame the Twilight series for ruining the vampire craze. Now: if someone would do the same to the zombie fad and wipe out THAT nonsense, maybe vampires could regain some respect and we'd see another good...vampire...game...

...but I have my doubts. We'd see vampire games, yeah, but *good* ones? Probably not.

Also, I just got the first season of Just Shoot Me on DVD (because I could), and the second episode featured Commander Shepard. Jennifer Hale, that is. I saw her name in the credits, where she was cast as "Model." She may have been the blonde having to deal with Finch...I'll have to go back later and see for sure.

Hey! Killed almost an hour. The ibuprofen has kicked in. Too bad I can't afford the good stuff. Or, more appropriate: too bad I'm too attached to my personal possessions that I can't bring myself to pawn them so as to buy the good stuff. Even more appropriate: too bad I don't have anything worth selling so I can buy the good stuff.

[Silver Sorrow]

The VTMB Heather console thing didn't work. Heather's still in the Tremere haven. I even tried to turn her out via conversation. She came back. Decided to keep her. So from what I've read, apparently I should tell her to stay indoors and the Sabbat shouldn't kidnap and kill her in the Hallowbrook map. I assume nothing, though...I fully expect her to be slaughtered by Wolverine-wannabes when I get there.

Note to self: if I truly want a Heather-free experience, I should let her die in the clinic. But I like having her around. Hopefully, the stay-inside-and-don't-open-the-door thing actually works.

The downside to letting her go early is that she won't give you the combat armor. However, I understand that the UOP makes Mercurio sell it. If not, then there's always -- ta-da! -- the console.

Other stuff...

Since the so-called "definitive" version of Sleeping Dogs is on sale for $8 or something for the next couple of days, I decided to try out the non-definitive version -- that is: the original version, which I bought a while ago, without DLC, and is not available anymore (there! parse THAT sentence!) -- in order to find out whether my precious eight dollars will be sacrificed in exchange for frivolous folly.

[FYI: The "definitive" version contains most of the DLC, graphical and audio things, and so on.]

Well...I don't know. Probably not. The very first mission...a training mission...can be failed. If you screw up, you lose and have to go back to an autosave. Problem is, there's a well-known bug in that first mission that hasn't been fixed, even in the alleged "definitive" version. I'll elaborate, since I have nothing better to do at the moment:

You're running from the cops (the reason why is illustrated in an unskippable cutscene), and you have to stay close to your...colleague, I guess...and you must endure a medium-speed chase through a fish market, where you learn that not only is your default "running"speed is actually a casual jog, but also that you can abuse your space bar to sprint, leap over things, perform parkour (French for "dumbass") moves, and possibly a host of other functions not covered just yet.

The problem occurs when you reach a certain point: you're supposed to jump over a tall obstacle and...I don't know. That's where I always failed. The cops always arrest me. My associate just stands there, and...what? That's the bug. From what I've read in various forums, I'm supposed to ignore him and keep running through the door nearby.

That's good to know, as I tried jumping the rail, hopping on a box, trying to run through an invisible wall leading to nearby stairs, etc. I also tried going through the door, but i just ran into it. I also inadvertently ran *up* the door and performed a parkour move into a box of frozen fish nearby. Then I got arrested.

...delete local content...

So Valve isn't getting this lad's $8 just yet. Maybe later. Maybe never.

What bothers me most is that, in this day and age of extensive choices for your personal RPG experience, I'm forced to play yet another dude. No customization at all, outside of the 900 DLC outfit packs, that is.

...then again, from what I know of Hong Kong-themed movies, a female character would experience this:

First mission: perform a series of unspeakable acts upon a bunch of fat businessmen; the QTEs would tell you exactly what you should be doing. Then one of them, a stereotypical homicidal sadist, would produce a fancy pearl-handled revolver and force you -- through QTEs again -- to do something even worse (such as watching an episode of Glee), ending with a bullet splattering your brains all over the wall no matter how you did.

This is all the fault of the neo-Confucianists, you know.

[Starfox]

Then I got arrested.

At the end of this sequence you're supposed to get arrested anyway. it's part of the routine for the main character (who's a cop) establishing his cover to infiltrate the bad guys. Actually I played this title longer, ran a few jobs for the cops, a few for the triads... And then I realize that this game could as well be titled "Saint Rows goes to Hong Kong" so similar the gameplay principles are, well with less guns and definitely more melee fighting but the same amount of "drive fast for the sake of it" (I'm fond of one of the early missions which has you chase a fast car with a van, not even a custom one). So I stopped there because the story didn't really grab me and although I rather liked the Saint Rows series -- especially the 4 -- for its humor, I tend to stay away from GTA-like games as much as possible.

I'm forced to play yet another dude

Which is sad considering the voice acting in this game by girls like Lucy Liu and Kelly Hu... try Saint Rows 4 where you can play a girl (for which you can choose the voice of Laura Bailey, the actress doing Serana in Skyrim... or the voice of Rayne in Bloodrayne (curiously both are atypical vampires) but also a gazillion of other roles in other games. I think that's the actress with the most extensive resume when it comes to video games, it seems to be the main bread and butter of her career. Anyway, she's funny enough in SR4.

[OrlopRat]

Laura...nom nom nom nom nom.....

[Silver Sorrow]

Ah, Ms. Bailey.   A good opening line: "Say, you remind me of when they opened the Ark in Raiders...you know, when that one Nazi's face melted? That's what you do to...me...hey, where are you going?"

At the end of this sequence you're supposed to get arrested anyway.

Oh, the irony.

I'm giving it another shot, though; I'm really out of practice when it comes to the GTA-style games...which I don't enjoy all that much, but they're all in good fun. GTA itself, though...hmmmph. GTA has always seemed a bit...well...mean-spirited, I guess. Bleak, possibly. I just played the first couple of missions in Saints Row 4 today, and they were more fun than most of what I found in any of the GTA games I've played.

[For the record: GTA III, Vice City, and probably 1/4th of San Andreas. Never finished that one. Too boring. I have GTA 4, but when I was asked to register with some third-party thingamawhatsit just to play a stinking GAME, I put it aside.]

Lucy Liu and Kelly Hu

I just thought of a sandwich, for some reason. Whatever could it mean?

Laura Bailey...I thought I recognized her voice. As I was going through chargen, I thought it was too bad that the dialog bozos at Bethesda couldn't come up with any good trash-talk. Instead of the usual lame crap NPCs spout, Serana shouting "You know where you belong, princess!" at a dragon (with the appopriate gestures) would be an eye-opener, indeed.

Here's one:

Here's another one:

Note: I've never been this thorough in searching for pics of, for example, Stephen Russell.

Note #2: english hard after 1am.

[Starfox]

Note: I've never been this thorough in searching for pics of, for example, Stephen Russell.

No really? I wonder why that is? 

Laura...nom nom nom nom nom.....

Hey! We woke up Orlo with that one. Astounding  Laura Bailey in "The Wake Up Call" 

[Silver Sorrow]

I don't have documented proof, but I think Mr. Russelll might not look as good in a skirt...but he just might. You never know. 

Well, since we've awakened the pirate...

Not shown: pirate ship.

I'm at about 89% done with SR4...apparently I'm at the so-called "Grand Finale." I'm getting a bit tired of this game by now, so that's good. Still, at least my character turned out okay.

Let's see...got my list: Sorta Asian? Check. Black lipstick? Check. Kung Fu outfit? Check. Dragon tattoos? Check. Admitting to myself that I follow a predictably twisted pattern when I'm allowed to customize my character? Check!

That outfit is what I wanted in Skyrim. And Oblivion. Did we get them? Noooooooooooo. 

Oh, well.

[Starfox]

Let's see...got my list: Sorta Asian? Check. Black lipstick? Check. Kung Fu outfit? Check. Dragon tattoos? Check.

And you didn't even have to fiddle with an external editor for that. There's even a "Kung Fu" hair somewhere... But it's weird on female characters.

[Silver Sorrow]

Experiencing Saints Row 3: A Narrative

What'd that popup say? Screw it. I can't read every damned thing they throw at me, can I? Gang combat activity, or something. Whatever THAT means.

Oh, I get it. I'm supposed to fight all the gangs and gain dominance. Quaint. So I guess I...no, I just want to wander around a bit more without having to shoot everyone who looks at me funny. Besides, I don't think I should be messing with anyone when I'm just level 2--

--guess it's too late now, I wandered into their Sphere Of Malevolence. Let's see what happ--

--this is stupid. Nine million assholes AND chicks with, what, super powers and giant hammers? Just who are these people?

Oh, goody. A giant guy who is fast and hard to kill. Brilliant.

Oh, goody goody GUMDROPS! A giant who is fast, hard to kill, AND has a flamethrower. And he firespams me, and I can't shoot or even run a few feet before he catches me, smacks me with the flamethrower, then sets me on fire again.

This was supposed to be fun, right?

I'd probably better quit now before I ragekill another keyboard.

```~~~```~~~```~~~```~~~```~~~```~~~```

So SR3 isn't going so well at the moment. Lesson learned? Level up as much as possible before getting involved with combat scenarios.

SR4, however...I pretty much finished that. It says that I'm at 98% completion, which doesn't bother me as much as it should. I don't care about the Prof. Genki (or whatever) holiday crap. I refuse to kill myself trying to throw a fucking menora through a moving hoop before the timer expires. I'll be doing something else, thank you. There's always a toilet that needs cleaning.

So...I finally got past that dippy door in Sleeping Dogs. Reinstalling helped, probably.

[Starfox]

Well, to be frank I didn't think much of SR3 even though it was a step up for me from SR2 (that I never finished -- I quit at the penultimate mission, silly isn't it?). SR4 is another matter...super power are always fun and then there are those funny moments like rescuing Gat from a 2D Side Scroller with graphics and sounds as good as they were in 1990. To be honest, SR4 is like a gigantic tribute to every Sci-Fi show and comics that ever existed with of course the main culprit, the Matrix.

On the side I finished Saint Row: Gat Out of Hell which is... well, OK if you look at it for what it truly is: a standalone expansion to SR4. Mostly the gameplay is the same than SR4 with a few variation and new weapons -- the flying sequences with the Angelic Wings which replace gliding from SR4 are pretty fun once you learned how that works -- except that it happens in Hell and you don't have the choice of your character; you play either Gat or Kenzie. An amusing plus the game scans your last save from SR4 to pick your player character so the "boss" looks the same for the times you see them at the beginning and end of the expansion. However SR:GOoH (try saying that without laughing, they chose the title on purpose) could be a lot more fun if things were handled correctly. There's a lot of potential in there but as it is it looks like someone didn't figure the way to tie up the loose ends or even to integrate properly the main story into the new settings. The player is literally rushed along the main story -- which is possibly why it lasts only about 5 hours -- and by level 15 you're supposed to go toe to toe with the big baddie, Lucifer himself (the main story is linked to the player level; at 5 Lucifer starts to take notice at 10 he is pissed, at 15 he wants you to... well I'll not say. Max level here is 20 anyway (as compared to the 50 from the other SR games) so at 20 you may for example buy unlimited ammo perks for all your weapons while you need to wait 50 in SR3 and 4.

Other than that it's a nice way to kill time -- along with a lot of hellish things -- but I'd still suggest to wait for a sales before buying. Oooh! and I want an Armageddon chair for my birthday!