What Game Are You Currently Playing?

[Foxbat]

Quill also did a great series. Personally I can get a kerbal into orbit but never have the fuel to bring them home.

I finally managed to get a kerbal back alive (it was just straight up and down, nothing fancy like orbiting).

For some unfathomable reason, tutorial 2 is actually more difficult than in the game itself. I can’t get the chute to deploy because of attitude problems in the lesson but I can do it successfully in a proper game. From now on, all tutorials are abandoned in favour of YouTube.

This is my only criticism of this game. I can’t think of anything more likely to put off a new player than an impossibly difficult tutorial (it’s not as if there’s a manual to turn to).

 

[thaddeus6th]

I'm doing ok with a Stellaris playthrough on Commodore (not super easy, but not a top difficulty either). Annoyed with my allies, though. The AI of them is rampantly incompetent, despite one having a very sizeable fleet. The enemy, however, with whom my allies are constantly spoiling for a fight, are way smarter.

Next time I'm thinking of playing as a more aggressive, domineering empire just so I'm not hobbled by my 'allies'.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'm still playing Fable 3, and I'm now in the strange second half of the game, where you've taken the throne and have to make various decisions to raise money to fight an incoming threat. It's weird and can be quite arbitrary at time, but it's interesting and takes the game in a new direction. Unfortunately, it also involves a lot of mucking around as you try to find ways to kill time while your treasury grows from rent and taxation. I don't think the second half really works, but it's definitely interesting.

 

[Rodders]

I bought Fallout 3 and 4 this evening. I'll finish my current game of Days Gone before i start a new one.

Any recommendations on which one to start?

 

[atsouthorn]

Has anyone given Halo Infinite a whirl yet? I've got it on standby, and have heard good things. I'm afraid of playing any new release nowadays given how buggy and unfinished modern games from the big publishers seem to be.

 

[.matthew.]

This is my only criticism of this game. I can’t think of anything more likely to put off a new player than an impossibly difficult tutorial (it’s not as if there’s a manual to turn to).

It could be worse? YouTube might not have been invented yet... Woe were the gaming days before the internet

The AI of them is rampantly incompetent, despite one having a very sizeable fleet. The enemy, however, with whom my allies are constantly spoiling for a fight, are way smarter.

I'm not sure if it's true for Stellaris as I notice a lot of terrible AI decisions, but in a lot of games, ally AI gets dumbed down to compensate for a human player on their team.

Has anyone given Halo Infinite a whirl yet?

Not yet, but I see a few people on Steam playing it all the time so I assume it's at least worth a go.

---

I began playing Total War Troy (with Radious Mod) that I got free on Epic ages ago. It's not terrible... but the UI designers don't appear to have ever played a Total War before, and there are so many little annoyances that wouldn't have taken them more than a day to fix

 

[Toby Frost]

I bought Fallout 3 and 4 this evening.

Tricky one: Fallout 3 is simpler, but to be honest, Fallout 4 just feels better in almost every way. It's more complex but there's a lot more that you can do. They're both excellent, though. I hope you enjoy them!

 

[Foxbat]

It could be worse? YouTube might not have been invented yet... Woe were the gaming days before the internet

It’s probably an age thing but I much prefer a manual (even if it is just in pdf form). If I’d known this didn’t have one (I assumed that it did), I probably wouldn’t have bought it.

Come to think of it, I think it may well be an age thing….there used to be a TV programme called Grumpy Old Men where folk complained about things and life in general. I often found myself agreeing with them

 

[Foxbat]

So I thought I'd share some screenshots of my many failures

Back to the drawing board...

Something wrong with our boosters..

Finally made it into orbit but, unfortunately, the chute failed to open on re-entry. No survivors

 

[thaddeus6th]

Matthew, that's an interesting idea.

I think that, usually, the AI is equally simple whether it's an ally or enemy in Stellaris, but this time it was so repeatedly and obviously slanted it was quite annoying.

 

[.matthew.]

It’s probably an age thing but I much prefer a manual (even if it is just in pdf form). If I’d known this didn’t have one (I assumed that it did), I probably wouldn’t have bought it.

Funnily enough, a good manual is something I praise in a game - Slitherine is great for including them in all their titles.

Also, a quick search turned up the Kerbal Manual on their website. The page was already marked as read so I assume I must have looked at it myself at some point as well, though I didn't save the cursed PDF

 

[.matthew.]

Matthew, that's an interesting idea.

I think that, usually, the AI is equally simple whether it's an ally or enemy in Stellaris, but this time it was so repeatedly and obviously slanted it was quite annoying.

Yea, Paradox aren't great for strategic AI, though I do like them a lot more than the simplistic Total War ones.

 

[Foxbat]

Also, a quick search turned up the Kerbal Manual on their website

I eventually found this too. It’s not a great manual but it did help. I also found that it’s available in-game but I prefer a separate manual I can peruse at my leisure

I’m busy mucking about in sandbox mode and finding out things. I’ve lost count of the number of kerbals I’ve roasted on lift-off.

 

[Av Demeisen]

I'm doing ok with a Stellaris playthrough on Commodore (not super easy, but not a top difficulty either). Annoyed with my allies, though. The AI of them is rampantly incompetent, despite one having a very sizeable fleet. The enemy, however, with whom my allies are constantly spoiling for a fight, are way smarter.

Next time I'm thinking of playing as a more aggressive, domineering empire just so I'm not hobbled by my 'allies'.

Do you use mods like StarNet AI and Growth and Conquest Rebalancing (which are compatible with this patch in place)?

 

[thaddeus6th]

Av, nope, I'm afraid I'm a console peasant.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Av, nope, I'm afraid I'm a console peasant.

Ah. My last console was a PS3. I got rid of my television for good since. (I watch everything on my desktop computer, including F1.)

 

[.matthew.]

Av, nope, I'm afraid I'm a console peasant.

I, on the other hand, only really play PC games that can be - and are - heavily modded. It's the way to go

 

[alexvss]

Metro: Exodus. I'm still at the introduction though. Very excited to experience its famous open-world. I really like the novel.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Av, I still go back and play old games sometimes. Dragon Age: Origins (PS3) and Shadow Hearts: Covenant (PS2) both hold up really well.

And I'd forgotten the latter has an MGS stealth style section, with a wolf sneaking around to get the rest of the party out of prison.

 

[Foxbat]

Picked up Fallout New Vegas for £4.49 at GOG. Surprisingly, it runs pretty well (so far…might change if things get busy on screen) on my old Vista machine.
First impressions…..looks like it might be fun.