What Game Are You Currently Playing?

[paeng]

I'd like to go back to World of Tanks because I spent so much on collecting vehicles, but I've no idea what now tactics are involved.

 

[Vladd67]

I'd like to go back to World of Tanks because I spent so much on collecting vehicles, but I've no idea what now tactics are involved.

I played that recently after a long break, you now start with class 3 vehicles which is a pity as I loved racing round the map in a level one tank.

 

[paeng]

I played that recently after a long break, you now start with class 3 vehicles which is a pity as I loved racing round the map in a level one tank.

I reached Tier 10 for several branches some time ago and was part of a clan, but I don't know what new tactics are now involved for things like two-barreled tanks, which ones have been nerfed, and even how to use the new modules.

I sometimes just log in to get free stuff but also don't know how to use them.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Currently playing CK3 again, starting out as Duke of Bohemia. Little bit easy, as the first character became King of Bohemia and two generations down the line I became Holy Roman Emperor (as is my current character, who inherited the position). Currently taking chunks out of Poland, a duchy at a time.

The most amusing moment was when, in a weaker moment as the second King of Bohemia, I agreed to send troops on Crusade. Just two thousand or so, but they actually ended up making the most difference thanks to sieges and my nominated chap became the King of Jerusalem. Interestingly, the heir to my starting duchy of Bohemia (and the kingdom thereof) and the Holy Roman Empire are different members of my House, and, apparently, my player heir would be the emperor. If I get the choice (I could've chosen to play as Jerusalem's king) I'll go for the Bohemian King rather than Holy Roman Emperor, but we shall see. I'd be intrigued to see if the Bohemian King retained the extra duchies I'd conquered or if that realm would be cut back.

 

[Foxbat]

Currently playing CK3 again, starting out as Duke of Bohemia. Little bit easy, as the first character became King of Bohemia and two generations down the line I became Holy Roman Emperor (as is my current character, who inherited the position). Currently taking chunks out of Poland, a duchy at a time.

The most amusing moment was when, in a weaker moment as the second King of Bohemia, I agreed to send troops on Crusade. Just two thousand or so, but they actually ended up making the most difference thanks to sieges and my nominated chap became the King of Jerusalem. Interestingly, the heir to my starting duchy of Bohemia (and the kingdom thereof) and the Holy Roman Empire are different members of my House, and, apparently, my player heir would be the emperor. If I get the choice (I could've chosen to play as Jerusalem's king) I'll go for the Bohemian King rather than Holy Roman Emperor, but we shall see. I'd be intrigued to see if the Bohemian King retained the extra duchies I'd conquered or if that realm would be cut back.

I'm curious. This sounds very interesting. These situations like nominating a potential king for Jerusalem etc.? Are they available in CK1 or are these new features in CK3? I've never made it far enough in CK1 to find this out.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Unsure, only played CK3.

If you participate in a Crusade you nominate a benefactor (I went for a minor member of my house) and if you contribute the most to the Crusade (unsure how it's calculated) then you get the main title, with lesser titles for lower contributions.

The Holy Roman Empire is run based on the chap or lady with most votes when the incumbent dies, so it's elective, whereas my personal starting area is inherited based on house seniority. Unexpectedly, this has led to the divergence between the HRE and Bohemian inheritances. If I were trying to 'game' this out I'd look into changing things with title grants/revocations but I'm content to see how it plays out.

 

[BAYLOR]

Still playing Skyrim and that really horrible man Miraak keeps stealing Dragon souls from.

 

[.matthew.]

I played that recently after a long break, you now start with class 3 vehicles which is a pity as I loved racing round the map in a level one tank.

I got up to the top tier of medium and heavy tanks and lost interest altogether. I'm okay with slow, but the game becomes more corner camping/best armour wins the more you increase the tier.

I found myself loving the light tanks for that reason and routinely played some low tiers just for that. The trouble was, at least when I played, you'd still get thrown into matches with bigger mid/high-tier tanks.

I really wish they'd have made a light-tank-only game mode. If that was a thing, I'd still be playing it I reckon.

 

[Toby Frost]

Aliens: Colonial Marines. Thoroughly mediocre shooter. If you want a good game based on Aliens, get the 2000 Aliens v Predator game.

 

[Rodders]

Horizon Zero Dawn.

I got into it this time. Very enjoyable and i see a few five am bedtimes in my near future.

 

[alexvss]

Horizon Zero Dawn.

I got into it this time. Very enjoyable and i see a few five am bedtimes in my near future.

One of the best storytelling in gaming.

 

[Toby Frost]

I enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn, but I could only get to a certain point before it just became too difficult. I never got the hang of the monster-hunting elements: I could get it in principle, but in practice I just found it much too hard.

It's weird, but every Aliens game I've ever played (which is quite a few) apart from AvP 2000 has a clunky, lumbering quality, as if you're shrugging off a head injury. I don't know if this is an attempt at realism, but they've all been awkward and clumsy. I wonder if it's to hide the smallness of the game or to make the mediocre aliens seem more agile.

 

[Foxbat]

I recently bought XCOM Enemy Unknown and XCOM Chimera Squad.

Disappointed in both. They are very similar games if you subtract the breach element from Chimera Squad. I’m not a fan of 3D tactical at the best of times but, with these two, it appears that the coders have sacrificed elements of tactical user control for cinematic bells and whistles. I absolutely hate that they continually change perspective when selecting weapon or abilities. Grenade aiming in EU is particularly irritating with the target area dancing around is if it is auditioning for some kind of XCOM Strictly. A little research uncovered that it appears this is because the game controls were optimised for an XBox controller and little or no time was spent refining mouse/keyboard controls. Sloppy and shoddy with little care or thought taken for a chunk of the audience.

Another annoying thing about XCOM EU is that it is impossible to leave the tutorial via a normal route because access to the menu is unavailable until the tutorial is completed. I had to switch to desktop and close. Again, no thought out in tothe fact that the user might not have the time to complete it in one sitting.

Chimera Squad and its (allegedly) humerous dialogue had me shouting ‘shut the f**k up!’ at the screen. It also turns out that it is impossible to turn off autosave in Chimera Squad, meaning that every so often, you have to go in and purge umpteen of them.

No wonder I picked up both of these in a sale and, knowing what I know now, there’s absolutely no way in hell I’d pay full price for either of these XCOM-alikes. The aliens don’t bring danger to Earth, they spread mediocrity.

The time spent on Chimera Squad (set in one city) would have been better spent redoing XCOM Apocalypse (also set in one city), which suffered from godawful graphics but had a solid game underneath its ugly exterior.

Personally, I think 3D is the wrong way to go for these types of games and, so far, I think the best remake/re-imagining I’ve seen of the originals is still Xenonauts with its old fashioned isometric point of view.

Combine these two games with Atom RPG and that’s three turkeys I bought for christmas.

 

[Rodders]

I enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn, but I could only get to a certain point before it just became too difficult. I never got the hang of the monster-hunting elements: I could get it in principle, but in practice I just found it much too hard.

Me too, Toby. Fortunately the PC version has a story mode difficulty setting and I’ve started on that. The story is incredible so far.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Argh, I found Vampire Survivors.

Very simple but somehow veey satisfying.

And only just over £6 on steam for it and the DLC

 

[Foxbat]

Bought Prison Architect for just over a fiver. Interesting little game. Just executed my first double murderer. Don't quite know how I feel about that.
Apparently it was inspired by the likes of Dwarf Fortress (a game I've never played). I think it might be fun if I can spend my time dealing with prison riots rather than executions. Early days but I'm hopeful.

 

[.matthew.]

Bought Prison Architect for just over a fiver. Interesting little game. Just executed my first double murderer. Don't quite know how I feel about that.
Apparently it was inspired by the likes of Dwarf Fortress (a game I've never played). I think it might be fun if I can spend my time dealing with prison riots rather than executions. Early days but I'm hopeful.

According to Steam, I've had 90 hours in it, and reasonably sure I've only ever done the execution in the campaign tutorial... maybe one other time.

The point being, you can select what type of prisoners you want in sandbox mode, so it's up to you

 

[Foxbat]

Don't really know what I'm doing yet so sticking to the campaign tutorial for now. I do, on the whole, much prefer sandbox mode in these types of games

Something I should add for anybody thinking of buying Prison Architect. Since Paradox bought it over, there have been complaints on GOG about it no longer being DRM free (because you start the game through the Paradox launcher) but there's an easy fix to this. I just created a direct shortcut from the executable file and it totaly circumvents the launcher and eliminates the need for Paradox login.

 

[Rodders]

I finished Horizon Zero Dawn and it was a genuinely excellent experience, and probably the best story in a game I've played. The whole Faro Plague back story was terrifying and well done.I was a bit obsessed with it for a while and wouldn't be adverse to a prequel game telling this story, even though we know how it all turns out.

I still have "The Frozen Wilds" to play and I'll spend the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend clearing up quests and getting the remaining collectibles. I hope that Horizon Forbidden West is ported to the PC.

The music was excellent, and had a lot of different feels, from tribal to electronic. Well done to the composers on that one.

I'll probably play it on the New Game + on the next difficulty level, but I don't feel that i'll play it for as long as i played Days Gone, (which i felt did a better job of keeping the tension high throughout the game and with over 1000 hours played, still manages to get my heart pumping, or makes me jump out of my skin).

I'm also pleased that this had a more RPG feel to it and i might give Mass Effect or KOTOR another go.

 

[.matthew.]

I bought Battlefleet Gothic 2 on sale. It's actually a lot better than I thought it'd be.

There are some rather unforgivable flaws, but they're not major issues and the fleet combat is pretty fun and weighty.

Definitely not worth the full price to me, but for a fiver... thumbs up.