What have you been playing recently?

Just a question since you seem to have played this. Have they made a time limit on all the missions and totally lost the faction maintenance part of the game?

I was sort of hoping they would go back into trying to maneuver through factions in the world while fighting the resistance, but if it is just pretty linear like enemy unknown I am probably going to chalk it up to a loss especially when they seem to be time limiting the turns in combat. I do not mind a few missions like that, but the run like an idiot into the situation thing is not my style of play. I like the new AI and how it really tries to flank and be aggressive towards you, but with limited squad size and people I need the turns to really coordinate a full sweep and clear which seems to be fucking me every time, and that is not how I like to play if you know what I mean.

I get bored with games like that where you have to rush into action and be quick on the trigger or die. If I wanted that I would find a PvP game I enjoy.

Can't remember if you can lose confidence completely. You don't actually start with much - you have to scout new regions and contact the local resistance to get the option to hit certain alien facilities (which allow you to reduce the Doom Tracker) and progress the story. Stopping the Doom Tracker is key. You can win pretty much every mission but still lose if you don't keep opening avenues to get missions that reduce it. There's one insta-lose mission similar to the "Survive the Base Assault" in Enemy Unknown, but you might not ever encounter it if lucky. War of the Chosen increases that to four (if you let the Chosen get too much intel on you, they will launch an attack on your base - and one random monthly event lets them share intel... they are normally rivals).

Terror missions are replaced with alien attacks on resistance havens. I've never lost one badly enough to know how it affects the resistance view of you.

With War of the Chosen, you can also send squad members on side missions (like the "Infiltrate EXALT" missions if you did the Enemy Within DLC for Enemy Unknown). This is vital to unlocking some story missions against the Chosen so don't ignore it.

Time-limits in missions are not universal. Some missions have "retrieve the alien data/resistance database before the server wipes" and some of these have ways to mitigate the timer (destroy the power nodes to the bomb, etc) by setting it back a few turns. Essential missions never have these. If you don't like them, there are mods to turn them off or make them easier.

picked up jagged alliance 3 on it's drop date back in November.

hoping they evolve it to the level of JA2's v1.113 as the AP system is still kind of broad strokes.

Otherwise I like the couple of new characters and what they've done with the legacy ones. You can start with a couple of weaker ones that only excel in one thing and over the course of a game they become pretty good all arounders.

A bit tricky getting both enough income and securing conquered sectors in the first game month, but doable.


They're still polishing it up with features and but it looks like finally someone is reimagining a classic game without fubaring it by going so far outside of the box that it becomes a bag.

I found building the team mate bonds strategically to also be essential in WotC.

Like Mox and the Reaver Sirtis plays... send them on a couple of side quests together once you have both of them.

I try to encourage medic/hacker+sniper and the tank/HW to become BFFs as well.

The Psi guy character you eventually pick up is pretty useless.

God damn, the save system sucks ass. I made a couple of bad clicks and the autosave overwrote my base save at the base. I don't mind fucking up a mission or losing a soldier, but to alter my base save simply because I right clicked something and pulled myself into a place I did not know, and then tried to recover and I was stuck just pissed me off.

I will porobably try again later, but I really hate this 4-6 person squad size. I do like that I can design the squad visually.

Maybe I am just too old for games like this now. It does seem to have a higher variety of missions from older versions, At least I did not spend a lot on it. It looks like it might be ok if I did not have COVID grumpy going on.

I seemed to have fixed my problem by restarting and saying FU to the tutorial. Knowing X-com like I do I am probably missing some things, but fuck yeah lets do this is the way I like playing. I have gotten the hand of the saves, which is always important in X-com.

I am actually really liking this new direction, and what they have added to Enemy unknown. I like the scanning areas thing, and choosing your missions rather than just being forced into the general one of the moment. They made the enemies a lot more diverse with some good big enemy battles. I like what they did with the drones, and the rangers.

I am, glad I bought this bundle now. I fully recant what I said before. Now that I see tyou can restart a mission so easily to improve on it, I like how they fit that repetition in over the old play the same fucking missions over and over again thing. I even like how the voice overs actually recognize they are annoying and start talking about muting the intercom.

I think I just had the misfortune of starting to play this with COVID grumpy. Yes, it is going to make me rage smash some plushies, but that is X-com.

Four more normal and four more expert levels to go in EDGE!

I was rerally enjoying the way X-com 2 worked, and I then I remembered there was talk about PvP in this version and......god damnit.

I really want an invite only PvP strategy game that involves turn based movement that had nice environments.

Finished BOTW and start TOTK. Much like Skyward Sword and Majora’s Mask, the second iteration of the game on this platform is not as intuitive as the previous game. Maybe I’m supposed to figure stuff out based on the previous game, but like all other previous games, I’m starting in a new place and there’s not a lot of ….guidance.

So I started in on war of the chosen, and it is like having the cast of TNG and the fucking disney afternoon yelling at me. Oh, did I run bitchy diana troy into that ambush on purpose? I am sorry, but I can't be bossed around by the ship's counselor.

I thought this all would be cool, but it is really fucking around with my whimsy. Whimsy being the eternal spirit of the idiot pathing in apocalypse.

Turns out the last three levels in each pack are locked until you collect all the shinies in each preceding level. So I've been working on that. But I'm down to the last three incomplete normal levels and, uh, I don't know how to get all the shinies. I'm probably somehow missing switches in each level, but I've been all over them and. Anyway. I've been working on the expert levels too, but the last unlocked expert level is just ridiculous. I've been grinding it and I've gotten so smooth at it like I would never believe, and somehow I'm still not quite fast enough.

So I took a moment this morning and played Sokobond instead. Had a couple of breakthroughs and unlocked a fun new area that lets you rotate molecules. Good stuff.

OK, so I have saved it for a long time, and now I am running out of X-com. Yes, I have now beaten X-com 2 multiple times includintg an ironman run and on the hardest most annoying setting. I love the new game, but I am a bit disappointed. Even with my present knowledge a TFTD or apocalypse run takes a few months of campaigning. I can whip the arc in less than a week on it's hardest difficulty.

I don't get to play the Switch much unless it's with the boys, but I finally got back to Ori after mumble mumble and just ran through from the beginning. Made it to the first big tree in "only" an hour this time.

If you're saying "which Ori? You know there's two now, right?" you will be excited to know that I've also uncovered one (1) memory in BotW thus far.

Blargh. I'm back into RDR2 because I bought it on PC (previously owned on PS4) over Xmas to avoid disappointing my Mum who gave me money towards Starfield, only for Starfield to not be on offer. So I bought RDR2 and Alan Wake 2. Still haven't summoned the will to really play the latter - I think I need to re-download it to my new NVMe anyhoo from the one time I fired it up - seemed sluggish.

And now SW:TOR is tempting me back because I had to re-up my sub. I still haven't finished Knights of the Fallen Empire, then there's a lot of content past that... I did a couple of story missions the other day which have wetted my appetite... but I really just wanna hang out as a cowboy robbing fools...

I'm starting to think the only game I really like anymore is GTA V, because of the complete freedom to do whatever I want in the game. Hell, I just like to drive around while it's pouring the rain, listening to the pop station, and the rain as it hits the roof of the car I stole. lol

Until something like that comes along, I think I'm stuck in a rut.

I just fired up No Man's Sky for the first time in years and it's like a whole different game.

Fallout 4, in all its nude modded glory.



Also the remastered Tomb Raider trilogy, because classic Lara is best Lara.

Space Haven is up to Alpha v19 now. It's gotten better, taking cues from Star Dynasties. Still mainly a time killer.

Picked up Starship Troopers: Terran Command because I'm bored with Starcraft2. Nothing special, but it has the franchise tie in to keep me amused and isn't the worst waste of $20 I'll make this week.

Frostpunk 2 drops next month, so looking forward to getting it in the fall, on sale

Anyone played "last train home yet"?

Okay, a little more on SST:TC.

It gets a little better as you can't keep calling down more units to overwhelm the enemy. Combo of supply depots and command posts controls the capping and tech ladder.

strategy matters-get high ground and plan field of fire, utilize cover (and units that can lob attack). you will need to use secondary abilities against mini bosses. experience matters, so revive as often as is possible

cut scenes and the story feel clsoe enough to the film to be fun. buy it on sale.

Back into Halo:Infinite, just tooling around on Normal (I think I've finished the campaign on Normal but can't remember - the boss fights would murder me on Heroic so haven't attempted it).

I haven't reviewed it yet (except a few comments in the Techforge forum since this is the game that forced me to update my graphics card), so here goes.

I like it. It's been said this is a spiritual reboot to the original game and I agree. Whilst there are elements in terms of story from the older games, it cuts out the "galaxy-spanning adventure" stuff and dumps the Master Chief onto a Halo ring, fighting overwhelming odds backed only by small pockets of Marine forces, a chirpy AI assistant and a friendly dropship pilot.

The plot:

That's the basic background anyhoo. This game goes for the open-world approach, very similar to the Far Cry series (I only played FC4 but the similarities are plain) - Chief can roam the ring looking for collectibles (upgrades or cosmetics - those the latter are only for multiplayer, which I don't get involved with) or other points of interest. These include FOBs - Forward Operating Bases - which were UNSC bastions for forces that managed to evacuate Infinity. In the six months Chief was napping, these have all been captured by the Banished but Chief can take them back. They provide stations where you can summon different weapons and vehicles. Initially, choices will be limited but as you complete objectives you gain Valor, which unlocks new options. It also spawns Marine forces at each FOB you control - the number and type depending on Valor level.

Other things of interest on the map are High Value Targets (HVTs) - world mini-bosses you need to take out (with their supporting "crew"). Doing so earns Valor but, more importantly, each HVT carries a unique weapon variant that you get access to via the FOBs. These don't use the same ammo as the standard weapons, so they can be situational as ammo stations are sparse. However, you can give them to Marines, who never run out of ammo...

Giving five Marines an Arcane Sentinel Beam each and loading them into a Razorback APC is much fun. The ASB dumps pretty much all its ammo into a powerful burst, causing massive damage but running out quickly when YOU use it. Marines can keep firing. Three to five of these things firing will melt pretty much anything. If you can avoid grenades and heavy weapons (or getting stuck), they make taking on Banished outposts (big open world bases to target for large Valor boosts) a breeze, plus HVTs if you can get a Razorback to them.

Some places Marines can't go. The Halo has a lot of tricky terrain, partly because some unknown event (we find out what happened late in the storyline) blew a chunk of it up. Luckily the Chief now has a new Grappleshot wrist device that lets him pull himself around, pull weapons to him or latch onto enemies and vehicles for melee attacks or boarding actions. He can upgrade his armour further with improved shields, a threat sensor that detects cloaked foes, a thruster pack that allows dodging and a drop shield.

You WILL need to use these - at least the grapple and the sensor - for boss fights. Unlike the HVTs, Marines can't help with these as the game has transitions into story areas. This is the first Halo game I think has fully managed the idea of bosses - only Tartarus in Halo 2 came close but that was "don't die, wait for ally to snipe off his shields, then attack, rinse and repeat". Bosses here are fast and powerful. All have shields and some have large health pools (the two Elites you fight die pretty fast once the shields go down, but they both cloak and move rapidly, so you need to stunlock them and make use of the threat sensor).

The game often locks you into a small arena with the boss with enough room to kite them about, but my favourite was the more open battle in a ship graveyard with two "Spartan Killers" - a pair of Brute brothers. Last time I played on a harder difficulty, these two were killing me over and over. One starts the fight on a vehicle but if it's destroyed he'll switch to a massive LMG. The other stays at range but can be lured in. I eventually found that one of the downed ships has a Warthog inside... you can lure the Brutes over to the hangar door and then blast away at them with the Hog's cannon.

Installed Descent and D1X to get a screenshot and now I have a new threat to my free time.

The first session was decidedly Awkward and a strain on one of my wrists, but I'm mostly back in the groove of umpteen keys to control 6DoF now. And older and less affected by jump scares.

Unfortunately D1X uses the inferior midis from the full release, but in theory I should be able to tell it to use the correct versions. It runs great and has more options so I have no real complaints otherwise. You can tell the game isn't intended for widescreen because when I twirled in fullscreen the corners of the screen got . . . non-Euclidean.

Still the second-most fun game I've ever played.

Going through Descent as a Vaguely Capable, Experienced Gamer rather than as a teenager is certainly different.

Level 4 feels a little small and less sprawling compared with the surrounding levels. Pretty straightforward in its map. Kind of a pause to introduce the green hugger guys before advancing in other concepts (they are not huggers, do not try to hug them). Not a bad thing but I notice it.

Level 5's map design is so fun to play. All the twisty tunnels and side connections between them at a variety of angles. Really drives in that 1) this is a mine, 2) despite the pixelly textures we can do whatever we want with the geometry and make exploration exactly as painful or scary for you as we want to, 3) yes this is 6DoF and we don't need no stinkin' ladders to attach corridors to corridors to rooms anywhere we want to, 4) you better level up in reading that automap.

And the robots are still scary.

I picked up a game called "American Fugitive" - it's an original GTA style game (but with much improved graphics), it's the most fun I've had in a long time and it was only £3 or so (on xbox store).

I'm playing Skyrim because I haven't given it a good go since I got all the goodies that came with Anniversary Edition, and something occurred to me:

Most of the alchemy ingredients are just plants, but there's some weird stuff in there too. Giant's toes, human hearts, whatever the fuck kwama cuttle is... One would think there'd be some kind of animal whose poop would have alchemical applications. Unicorn poop definitely.

There are two ways to find out what a thing does: trying to make random potions, or just eating the thing.

So, for TES VI... do it Todd Howard, make some of the things clearly poop so the player has to eat poop if they want to level up alchemy.

There's probably some sort of metaphor here, but I just think forcing the player to eat poop would be funny.

Three - you CAN find recipe notes, but these don't exist for all combinations.

COD BO1 on ps3
Dark Souls 1 on ps3
FFVI on ps4

I don't know if anyone would write down the poop recipes, because it would pretty much be a confession. "Combine a wolf poop with orange mountain flower to make a damage ego poison. I ate the poop so you don't have to."

Also, even if the PC does avoid eating poop by looking up all the poop effects on the wiki, they'd still have to follow animals around and wait for them to drop a turd.

I so badly wish I could find a new set of OEM controllers for my PS3.

What does OEM stand for.

Did you play it during the war?