PC Gaming = World of Suck

[ddrueding]

Got back into basic 2D tower defense games after playing Sanctum for a while and realizing that the FPS part was my weakness. I had played on the Casual Collective before, and now had to create an account on Facebook to play their new version. If anyone is interested in some multiplayer Desktop Defender, let me know.

 

[MaxBurn]

In sanctum I think you hit tab or escape to get the 2d map.

 

[ddrueding]

In sanctum I think you hit tab or escape to get the 2d map.

Yeah, but it won't let you play from there. And many of the creatures are set up in such a way that there is basically a moving bulls-eye that you need to hit and the turrets won't aim for it.

 

[ddrueding]

Got my BF3 open beta invite, but the game is so buggy it is amazing. The rounds only last a couple minutes, but I'm lucky to get through 20% of them without crashing out. I think I'll just sit out until they clean it up a bit more.

 

[Handruin]

I've always found the BF series to be buggy and a very frustrating experience. I had purchased the BF2 complete pack a long time back and it had to be activated or registered with EA online. At the time, they changed systems and some how my codes in my old account didn't get migrated correctly (and I wasn't the only one) and any time I try to log in to a game, I get denied. For the few times prior to being locked out, I would get kicked due to a punkbuster error code. Worst piece of shit game ever. I spent more time at LAN parties trying to get into games and stay in the games with everyone than actually playing the game. I wanted to snap the discs in half.

Next I tried their free online Battlefield heroes game and had an awful experience with lockups, getting booted, and just weird problems for the rare few uninterrupted minutes I actually got to play with friends. I gave up playing that series pretty quickly.

Last, I have had similar experiences with BF Bad Company 2 in multi-player gaming where I get kicked due to the shitty punkbuster software. The game otherwise runs ok, but the mutli-player experience was dreadful.

None the less, I'm not at all surprised that BF3 is buggy and hardly usable. I doubt I'll be buying that game given my prior track record with EA's BF series. I can only hope EA had little to no influence with BioWare's Old Republic due out this December.

The modern warfare series has been the better experience thus far. Even though they've switched back and forth between developers, the game hasn't been nearly as buggy as BF.

 

[ddrueding]

When I had the game center, my favorite games were the BF series. Starting with 1942, then Vietnam, then BF2. All of them worked fine, including key switching and all kinds of other trickery. 2142 was a PITA, but it wasn't very popular so I didn't sweat it much.

The BF3 open beta is now rock solid, and quite fun. I'm looking forward to the campaign mode, and hope to skirmish against bots...the kids online are too darn good.

 

[BingBangBop]

Got my BF3 open beta invite, but the game is so buggy it is amazing. The rounds only last a couple minutes, but I'm lucky to get through 20% of them without crashing out. I think I'll just sit out until they clean it up a bit more.

Then 2 days later

The BF3 open beta is now rock solid, and quite fun.

That's a mighty big change for two days.

 

[ddrueding]

Indeed. According to their changelog, they've released 3 updates in that time.

 

[sechs]

Got my BF3 open beta invite, but the game is so buggy it is amazing.

Having worked in the industry, I can confidently say that "open beta" means alpha code.

As they say at Oracle, the user exists to provide a load.

 

[MaxBurn]

There is a huge movement in the industry to have the public test software, even when it is marked as finished product. I don't mind it so much when it is marked beta but so much is skimped on and delivered as final it makes me sick. It is just so rare now to see something delivered and not need an update very soon after release for obvious things that could have been caught with testing. I guess that keeps me employed though. I just find it rare and I take notice and really appreciate it when something works right. People complain about the bugs etc but there is a complete silence when things work, it's like they want some bugs out there to gain more press. I don't hold the any press is good press philosophy in this instance.

 

[Santilli]

Guys at the local Fry's recommend the games highly. Sounds like YMMV.

EA sports and I don't get on much, after Tiger Woods 2004-6.

 

[Handruin]

Funny ass videos showing the great quality of BF3. I love how the guy got killed by the tank from the sky. Made me laugh.

 

[ddrueding]

Yeah, vehicles aren't in the current beta....they opened that map up for a day and closed it again with a "thanks...kinda" vibe to the announcement.

 

[Chewy509]

Anyone else see this: http://hardocp.com/news/2011/10/02/aliens_colonial_marines_shows_off_ten_minutes_gameplay/

Aliens: Colonial Marines?

Just watched the clip, and am in two minds about it...

Also, RAGE (id Software) was released today... ArsTechnica doesn't give it the best review...
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/10/rage-is-the-gamiest-game-that-ever-gamed.ars

 

[Mercutio]

I suspect we've all wanted to play a proper Aliens game since the first time each of us saw that total conversion .wad for Doom.

 

[sechs]

I didn't. But that might be because I never seriously played Doom.

 

[Handruin]

I suspect we've all wanted to play a proper Aliens game since the first time each of us saw that total conversion .wad for Doom.

This.

 

[Mercutio]

City of Heroes has gone free to play. You should all stop playing other, inferior games and play City of Heroes now.

 

[Sol]

City of Heroes has a great character builder, you can create some really cool super heroes with it. Unfortunately the only thing you can do with them afterwards is play City of Heroes. Not that I've played it in 6 years or so so maybe it's improved.

 

[Mercutio]

City of Heroes has a great character builder, you can create some really cool super heroes with it. Unfortunately the only thing you can do with them afterwards is play City of Heroes. Not that I've played it in 6 years or so so maybe it's improved.

Well, they added an "End Game" of endless new tiers of special abilities that homogenize characters and reward people for running the same "raid" content over and over, for the people who didn't do enough of that in every other MMO. The raids are certainly pretty damned cool the first couple times you run them.

But no, in the last six years, there have actually been a lot of very interesting new game mechanics added. The graphics engine has also been enhanced, players can now create their own content in the Architect System and dozens of neat state-depended tools have been added, allowing for things like branching missions and player actions that have a visible impact on the city zones. CoX does now have an optional set of loot systems, though no one is forced to use them. Also, the people who make official content have gotten much, much smarter about writing and using the abilities of the mission editor. Missions in general are a lot more dynamic than the old "Go to mission door and kill everything in the instance."-stuff.

On the other hand, there are also randomly generated "go to the mission door and kill everything inside" missions for the times when that's what you want to do, too.

Most importantly, the guy who was running the game before left Paragon Studios and went on to ruin the game that became Champions Online. The folks running things now are a generally better group of people.

 

[ddrueding]

Never even installed an MMO before, much less played one. But I did just create an account, and it will be downloading while I'm at work. I'll poke around when I get home tonight.

 

[Mercutio]

It's fun just to try.

Honestly, most MMOs are fun to try. The hard part is finding one that stays engaging for any length of time.

I was a beta tester for Everquest and I've played Dungeons and Dragons Online, Everquest 2, Guild Wars and Lord of the Rings Online. I gave a long, hard look at Champions Online because some of the people I play City of Heroes with tried it, but most of those people panned it and dropped the game after a couple months.

It does definitely help to be a super-hero enthusiast though.

 

[Striker]

I played it for a few months when it first came out. It was fun for awhile but I quit for reasons I don't even remember anymore.

 

[Mercutio]

Did anyone try Rage?
I'm not going to play it. I understand it has retarded DRM. But it's an id title and probably represents the height of graphics stuff for the next few years so I feel obligated to be at least interested.

 

[ddrueding]

I hear it is very pretty. Is there a demo so I can just have a look?

 

[Handruin]

I've read lots of negative reviews regarding the game. From the horrible lack of any kind of story to weird issues with graphics, to a poorly functioning UI. There is a comparison between Doom 3 and Rage showing the step backwards in texture quality. There is supposedly a reported hack/fix to improve the quality here. There is a link here from Bethesda on a shit load of changes to help with blurry textures, texture popping and screen tearing. Folks are suggesting to request your hard-earned $60 back for the game here. The on-going Rage-sucks thread starts here. More info on texture and graphic issues with different video card drivers here.

To quote a forum member over at HardOCP:

OMFG.I am so pissed. I spent $60 on this hunk of dog shit when money is tight. NEVER again. Gaming on this very night, the 4th of October, has died. Gaming is dead, long live the king. The game has no direction, no compelling storyline, visuals that reek, terrible mouse controls, no console, no tweakablity. What the fucking fuck is this and how did it get past John Carmack's brain? Too much cell phone programming. I actually cannot force myself to load it back up, it's THAT bad.

This game aint got shit on Duke Nukem Forever. I'm just awe struck. I told my nephew tonight gaming has died. The true pc gaming is dead forever, fuck your texture packs, fuck your patches. This is a Xbox 360 game ported sneakily to look like a pc game. It's a wolf in sheeps clothing. No goddamn excuse that having a sandy at 5 ghz, 12 gigs of ram, and a GTX 480 @ 580 with 1.5 gb of ram looks like this. I want my $60 back motherfucker!

I don't recommend buying Rage.

 

[Mercutio]

"Console Games dressed up as PC games" is one of the reasons why everything I play these days is so damned old.

 

[Chewy509]

Rage

I thought this was assuming post on [H]:

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1037840623&postcount=682

Also, no RAGE Linux client until 2012...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTk2OQ

 

[CougTek]

Let's just hope that the upcoming Serious Sam won't be as much of a disapointment as Duke Nukem Forever and Rage were.

 

[Mercutio]

Crotean seems to understand their target audience very, very well. All the other Serious Sam games have been exactly what they were supposed to be and I see no reason to doubt them.

 

[LunarMist]

Are you the intended audience Serious Sam?

 

[Mercutio]

I'm more like Anhedonic Sam.

 

[CougTek]

Are you the intended audience Serious Sam?

Very much so. Firing a machine gun non-stop for fifteen minutes, killing some 800 enemies in the meanwhile is very much my style.

 

[ddrueding]

Which server should I use for CoH?

 

[Chewy509]

Very much so. Firing a machine gun non-stop for fifteen minutes, killing some 800 enemies in the meanwhile is very much my style.

I would very much like to see Doom4 return to the demon mashing that occurred in the original Doom series. It sure was fun to let loose the BFG in a room full of demons!

 

[Mercutio]

Which server should I use for CoH?

Freedom is the original server. It has the highest population, so you're most likely to find teams. People who play on other servers will also tell you it has the highest population of morons.

Exalted is VIP (paying people) only, but it's very popular since it just went live.

Virtue is quite populous as well. It's the designated server for people who actually want to role-play, though those people mostly keep to themselves.

Union is an English language EU server with a high population.

The least populous servers are Pinnacle, Guardian and Protector I think. Everything else is someplace in the middle. I generally play on Liberty.

For a starting character, I'd suggest a Scrapper or Brute since they're sturdy, high-damage types, or a Dominator if you'd rather have a challenge. Blasters die too much, Stalkers compare poorly to other melee types and most of the other choices are less friendly to new players.

Play Hero-side first. There's an extended tutorial now that's started from the contact Twinshot which runs through most of the game's non-combat mechanics. I'd recommend that as well.

A lot of veterans will run "sewer teams" to take them from level 2 - 15 in around 90 minutes. That's pretty chaotic and might not be the best experience for a new player.

 

[ddrueding]

Thanks. Still trying to work out the technical details. Switched it to 2560x1440 and now it won't let me back in to change it to something else. My machine should be able to handle just about anything on a several year old game.

 

[Mercutio]

Try Windowed mode. That's a sane and well-behaved choice.

 

[Sol]

Rage may be a bad port, but since it seems to be a bad port of a totally uninspired game it's not exactly like PC gamers are missing anything. I think it's a bit premature to announce the PC gaming apocalypse, especially so soon after Deus Ex.

 

[sechs]

"Console Games dressed up as PC games" is one of the reasons why everything I play these days is so damned old.

Ditto