What Are You Playing, Part 3: The Assassination of my Wallet by the Cowardly Sale

[AlanBruce]

I recently downloaded Hollow Knight, going in blind.

Someone mentioned to me that it was good, but I was on the fence - not a big fan of Metroidvanias. And then I began playing it and I have to admit: it is really, REALLy good.

Currently attempting to best the Mantis Lords and it was then that I knew that this game is truly a gem. From the music, to the combat and the intense frantic action. I am sure there will be more bosses down the line, but those three stylized bugs are amazing to face, even if I die time and time again.

[Man_Over_Game]

I recently downloaded Hollow Knight, going in blind.

Someone mentioned to me that it was good, but I was on the fence - not a big fan of Metroidvanias. And then I began playing it and I have to admit: it is really, REALLy good.

Currently attempting to best the Mantis Lords and it was then that I knew that this game is truly a gem. From the music, to the combat and the intense frantic action. I am sure there will be more bosses down the line, but those three stylized bugs are amazing to face, even if I die time and time again.

Ori and the Blind Forest has a weirdly similar vibe in the platforming. It's slightly easier on Hard than Hollow Knight (not too easy, mind you), but a lot more vibrant.

[AlanBruce]

Ori and the Blind Forest has a weirdly similar vibe in the platforming. It's slightly easier on Hard than Hollow Knight (not too easy, mind you), but a lot more vibrant.

I watched someone stream Ori part 1 and 2. A beautiful game to be sure, but it still didn't hook me into the Metroidvania genre.

Hollow Knight has an obscure lore behind it, not unlike that found in Souls games. And dare I say, on par with the difficulty. Also, I like having to fight my... soul, I suppose? Every time I die, which is frequent.

[Man_Over_Game]

I watched someone stream Ori part 1 and 2. A beautiful game to be sure, but it still didn't hook me into the Metroidvania genre.

Hollow Knight has an obscure lore behind it, not unlike that found in Souls games. And dare I say, on par with the difficulty. Also, I like having to fight my... soul, I suppose? Every time I die, which is frequent.

You might like Dead Cells. It also has a very obscure lore that you pick apart piece by piece. It's a roguelike, so you're going to die a lot.

Most importantly, though, is that it has the most natural and intuitive movement of almost any game I've ever played. Most games have some sort of clunkiness to them, like momentum or movement delays, or awkward hitboxes. It has none of that. Everything does exactly what you want, when you want it, exactly how you'd expect it.

The game also scales in difficulty. A lot. People are only half-joking when they say the first time you beat the game is just the first tutorial.

[Razade]

I wouldn't compare Dead Cells to Hollow Knight really. The rng of Dead Cells and its Roguelike cycle are pretty divergent from Hollow Knight. Both borrow from Dark Souls in one way or another and Metroidvania's in other ways but the end result is pretty divergent.

[Rodin]

You might like Dead Cells. It also has a very obscure lore that you pick apart piece by piece. It's a roguelike, so you're going to die a lot.

Most importantly, though, is that it has the most natural and intuitive movement of almost any game I've ever played. Most games have some sort of clunkiness to them, like momentum or movement delays, or awkward hitboxes. It has none of that. Everything does exactly what you want, when you want it, exactly how you'd expect it.

I saw a talk by one of the Dead Cells developers where they discussed this. They showed off some of the movement in game frame-by-frame, and the game actually cheats in your favor. It looks at your inputs and decides what you wanted to do, and then does that instead of what you actually input. It's a testament to how well designed the game is that this is not noticeable while you're playing the game.

And even with that, the game is really freaking hard.

[Chen]

I saw a talk by one of the Dead Cells developers where they discussed this. They showed off some of the movement in game frame-by-frame, and the game actually cheats in your favor. It looks at your inputs and decides what you wanted to do, and then does that instead of what you actually input. It's a testament to how well designed the game is that this is not noticeable while you're playing the game.

And even with that, the game is really freaking hard.

I had a massive motion sickness issue with the way the camera moves in dead cells. The slight movement back and forth that isnt linked exactly to your char completely screws it up for me. Which is unfortunate since I really liked the idea of the game.

[Man_Over_Game]

I saw a talk by one of the Dead Cells developers where they discussed this. They showed off some of the movement in game frame-by-frame, and the game actually cheats in your favor. It looks at your inputs and decides what you wanted to do, and then does that instead of what you actually input. It's a testament to how well designed the game is that this is not noticeable while you're playing the game.

And even with that, the game is really freaking hard.

Would you happen to have a link to that? I'm really into clever control scheme gimmicks.

[Rodin]

Would you happen to have a link to that? I'm really into clever control scheme gimmicks.

Sure, it's How Dead Cells Secretly Stops You From Dying.

[Man_Over_Game]

Sure, it's How Dead Cells Secretly Stops You From Dying.

Damn, the idea of autocorrecting your facing when you attack out of a wakeup is brilliant, and I've never heard of the Just-in-time-Jump mechanic before (although I have seen something similar, Kingdom Hearts games come to mind).

The concept of just adding so many universal ways of using the environment as a design choice (from knocking them into walls, to making them deal splash damage when they take fall damage, etc) is also something you don't see a lot of. Most devs would focus more on enhancing specific run content, rather than making a platforming combat sandbox.

I do appreciate his perspective on Early Access, too. It's pretty cool to see developers that consider their players as part of the development process.

I am really glad they didn't go for the tower defense idea. I've been a part of a couple game development teams (nothing professional, was for competitions), and, uh, I've been in that position of "What do you mean we all hate the game we've been making?".

[Rakaydos]

Subnautica, 4 hours in.

So apparently the seaglide runs out of power, and there's no obvous way to recharge batteries in the lifepod. Copper is now a critical component.

Went a bit farther afield now that I have the rad suit, and just aquired the base builder tool. still only have 2/3 of a seamoth, so I dont even know what I need to build it yet. Found a blueprint for a bio reactor and a trash can, assume these are base things.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

So apparently the seaglide runs out of power, and there's no obvous way to recharge batteries in the lifepod.

If it helps, all your electronic toys should have a % showing you how much battery juice they have left.

[Rakaydos]

If it helps, all your electronic toys should have a % showing you how much battery juice they have left.

Batteries arnt consumed, though. Is there a way to recharge them, or are they just something to throw away?

[DeTess]

Batteries arnt consumed, though. Is there a way to recharge them, or are they just something to throw away?

Yes, you'll eventually get blueprints for a battery-charger that you can put in your base.

[Silverraptor]

Carrion looks like an interesting fun game. It is a reverse horror game where YOU are the monster instead of the victim.

[Zevox]

Okay, still playing Okami, and... the hell? In this game about a Japanese Goddess taking the form of a wolf to fight evil spirits that have been unleashed upon the land, did I just help an amnesiac alien girl dig up a space ship that looks like a rocket made of bamboo so that she can ride it back to whatever world she came from?

Seriously. I could not make that up if I tried. I mean, I know this was made by the same guy as Bayonetta, so things getting silly is to be expected, but still, wow, that was weird.

[Lord Raziere]

Okay, still playing Okami, and... the hell? In this game about a Japanese Goddess taking the form of a wolf to fight evil spirits that have been unleashed upon the land, did I just help an amnesiac alien girl dig up a space ship that looks like a rocket made of bamboo so that she can ride it back to whatever world she came from?

Seriously. I could not make that up if I tried. I mean, I know this was made by the same guy as Bayonetta, so things getting silly is to be expected, but still, wow, that was weird.

Don't worry that is accurate to japanese myth. look up "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" or "Kaguya and the Moon" and you'll see what I mean.

[Rakaydos]

Subnautica, 6 hours in. (seriously, every time I check my playtime after, it's X hours 55 minutes or so.)

Spent most of this time figuring out base building, half a KM from my lifepod and 50m underwater. Lots of trips back and fourth, mostly with just the flippers to conserve seaglide battery power. the new site has easy access to wreckage, but I had to take it all the way back to the lifepod to turn into titanium... and I spent most of my titanium thinking that pipes would be enough to pressurize an underwater base. Nope. had to build vertical base segements all the way above the water. hull integrity is minimal now, but I just barely didnt need reinforcements. (how do I get lithium? I found one diamond, so it may be the same sort of rock, if I can find another...) But I have a functional replicator at my new base, so food and water just need materials.

The last 30 minutes or so was exploring a hole below my new base to a deeper biome. coming back up for air is difficult, so I tried bringing the sub... and found that it's crush depth is barely below the roof of the cavern. Still, I was able to use it as a mobile air station, at least as far as I could take it.

[Zevox]

Don't worry that is accurate to japanese myth. look up "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" or "Kaguya and the Moon" and you'll see what I mean.

Okay, that's still weird, but a little less so, I guess? The original story doesn't have the "space ship buried in the ground that looks like a rocket made of bamboo" part, and that is a not insignificant part of what makes it so weird in Okami, though. And in general it is still odd to see a mythology that basically includes space aliens - apparently in the original there was a whole civilization on the moon she was supposed to have come from, and then got picked up to return to.

[Lord Raziere]

Okay, that's still weird, but a little less so, I guess? The original story doesn't have the "space ship buried in the ground that looks like a rocket made of bamboo" part, and that is a not insignificant part of what makes it so weird in Okami, though. And in general it is still odd to see a mythology that basically includes space aliens - apparently in the original there was a whole civilization on the moon she was supposed to have come from, and then got picked up to return to.

well yeah, its not a 1:1 recreation, nothing probably is in Okami, but yeah, you'd be surprised at how many things are older than you think. the concept of extraterrestrial life or cosmic pluralism is as old as ancient philosophers, just not widely accepted until later. before there was robots, there was golems, before there was planes or jetpacks there was Daedalus's wings, atoms were also an idea came up by Greek philosophers but weren't widely accepted or formed into the ideas we have about them now until Dalton in 1800's compiled his law of multiple proportions, replace "earth, water, air and fire" with "solid, liquid, gas and plasma" one might realize a lot of ideas we have now are just old ones that didn't have the right thing matched up to it because we didn't have the knowledge or tools to put the puzzle together.

[Rakaydos]

well yeah, its not a 1:1 recreation, nothing probably is in Okami, but yeah, you'd be surprised at how many things are older than you think. the concept of extraterrestrial life or cosmic pluralism is as old as ancient philosophers, just not widely accepted until later. before there was robots, there was golems, before there was planes or jetpacks there was Daedalus's wings, atoms were also an idea came up by Greek philosophers but weren't widely accepted or formed into the ideas we have about them now until Dalton in 1800's compiled his law of multiple proportions, replace "earth, water, air and fire" with "solid, liquid, gas and plasma" one might realize a lot of ideas we have now are just old ones that didn't have the right thing matched up to it because we didn't have the knowledge or tools to put the puzzle together.

Apparently there's a portion of the bible that straight up describes Jesus being abducted by greys, in the "beam of light, lifted into the heavens" sense.

[Anteros]

Apparently there's a portion of the bible that straight up describes Jesus being abducted by greys, in the "beam of light, lifted into the heavens" sense.

That's not even remotely true.

[warty goblin]

Finally finished downloading Anthem this evening, and so continued on to mission 3. This was something of an improvement over the preceding tutorial missions. For one thing I actually got to see Fort Tarsis, and people not wearing giant tin cans with goat legs, which means that the game can actually introduce characters with discernible human features and emotions. The VO for Owen seems to be mounting a one-man charm offensive in a desperate effort to compensate for the tedious rote badass personality black hole that is the main character, and it actually works; I genuinely like the guy. I don't care about anybody else, but since Owen is like 80% of the dialog up to this point, this is a non-problem.

I also progressed from shooting bugs... to shooting bugs with guns. Sometimes they actually bother to fire the gun, but a dynamic and challenging AI this is not. There are several varieties of smaller bug enemy, but they're all variants on small and boring. The boss/miniboss bug enemies have very large shields and flamethrowers, and a lot of HP, which add to be being moderately challenging. They never managed to kill me, because the game makes you hyper-mobile and so can easily break off an engagement with big slow non-flying enemies, and the assorted small and boring bugs are so utterly incompetent they're no threat and really seem to be there so you can kill them for bullets and health, but they did do a substantial amount of damage a few times.

Overall this mission felt pretty decent to play. I would find the game more interesting if it had opted for smaller numbers of more challenging enemies, and the shooting belongs in the dictionary under "painfully average" but being able to run around and double jump everywhere is fun. Gives me sort of a Lost Planet vibe; fun movement, lots of mediocre bug shooting. Or more accurately like Lost Planet and Neverwinter Nights 2 had a weird baby; fun movement, lots of bug shooting, boundary pushing loading screen simulator.

[Razade]

Okay, that's still weird, but a little less so, I guess? The original story doesn't have the "space ship buried in the ground that looks like a rocket made of bamboo" part, and that is a not insignificant part of what makes it so weird in Okami, though. And in general it is still odd to see a mythology that basically includes space aliens - apparently in the original there was a whole civilization on the moon she was supposed to have come from, and then got picked up to return to.

It will make more sense when you finish the game. It all ties back to the general storyline but that's about as much as I can say without spoiling the end of the story. Just know that it makes sense with the folklore it's based on (All of Okami is based on Japanese folklore) and it makes sense with the general interpretation and spin the creators put on it for the overall story. Sounds about you're two thirds of the way to the end there if you've helped Kaguya, it'll make sense soon.

[factotum]

Spent most of this time figuring out base building, half a KM from my lifepod and 50m underwater. Lots of trips back and fourth, mostly with just the flippers to conserve seaglide battery power. the new site has easy access to wreckage, but I had to take it all the way back to the lifepod to turn into titanium... and I spent most of my titanium thinking that pipes would be enough to pressurize an underwater base. Nope. had to build vertical base segements all the way above the water.

Sounds to me like you've not got power in the base--as soon as a base has power then it'll be clear of water (you don't need pipes at all, no matter how deep the base is), and perhaps more usefully, you can also build a fabricator inside the base so you don't have to keep making trips back to the lifepod. Early game you'll probably be using solar panels, but there are other methods of generating power that arrive later on.

Regarding batteries: you can recharge them, yes, but in the early game it's probably easier to just make new ones--the recipe isn't particularly complicated.

[Triaxx]

Subnautica, 6 hours in. (seriously, every time I check my playtime after, it's X hours 55 minutes or so.)

Spent most of this time figuring out base building, half a KM from my lifepod and 50m underwater. Lots of trips back and fourth, mostly with just the flippers to conserve seaglide battery power. the new site has easy access to wreckage, but I had to take it all the way back to the lifepod to turn into titanium... and I spent most of my titanium thinking that pipes would be enough to pressurize an underwater base. Nope. had to build vertical base segements all the way above the water. hull integrity is minimal now, but I just barely didnt need reinforcements. (how do I get lithium? I found one diamond, so it may be the same sort of rock, if I can find another...) But I have a functional replicator at my new base, so food and water just need materials.

The last 30 minutes or so was exploring a hole below my new base to a deeper biome. coming back up for air is difficult, so I tried bringing the sub... and found that it's crush depth is barely below the roof of the cavern. Still, I was able to use it as a mobile air station, at least as far as I could take it.

Have you found the fabric material yet? Because the easiest place to find Lithium early is along the shelf that the Aurora is resting on. There's sort of a vertical space that has lots of the rocks that generate it on the side. You'll need the suit early to get there though.

The easy way to explore caves early, is the surface air pump, then build the small pipes running down from it. The end of the pipe becomes an oxygen source. For battery chargers... look in areas with red grass.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

The last 30 minutes or so was exploring a hole below my new base to a deeper biome. coming back up for air is difficult, so I tried bringing the sub... and found that it's crush depth is barely below the roof of the cavern. Still, I was able to use it as a mobile air station, at least as far as I could take it.

I must play this game too much, because just based on this description I think I know where you are.

Spoiler

Show

The place with the Oculus and pink mushrooms everywhere, am I wrong?

Sounds to me like you've not got power in the base--as soon as a base has power then it'll be clear of water (you don't need pipes at all, no matter how deep the base is), and perhaps more usefully, you can also build a fabricator inside the base so you don't have to keep making trips back to the lifepod. Early game you'll probably be using solar panels, but there are other methods of generating power that arrive later on.

Rakaydos already said their replicator was working though, so they should have power already.

...was it night? I know I occasionally had trouble with solar panels because they didn’t have time to charge/I did a lot of power-intensive things at night.

[Rakaydos]

I must play this game too much, because just based on this description I think I know where you are.

Spoiler

Show

The place with the Oculus and pink mushrooms everywhere, am I wrong?

Rakaydos already said their replicator was working though, so they should have power already.

...was it night? I know I occasionally had trouble with solar panels because they didn’t have time to charge/I did a lot of power-intensive things at night.

Sounds about right. There's two upward entrances (the second one is actually closer to my lifepod), and 1 volcanic vent at the bottom.

I got power and air working eventually, I just had a false start with air pipes that cost me a lot of titanium.

[Rakaydos]

What was supposed to be my next session, I softlocked, without a save since starting. So no time update (though apparenty it was 1 hour and 0 minutes since my last save...)

Thinking I understood base building, I got myself enough materials for a tube, a solar panel, and a replicator, and set off toward the Aurora. this led to an awkward situation where I have to deconstruct the hatch to build a replicator. I also got to see a reaper leviathan up close and personal- it didnt seem hungry, and we circled each other enough for me to get perhaps 80% scanned before it took off.

I got into trouble when I tried to figure out what to do with the bioreactor. it's an interior part, but too big for the tubes I have access to.

My new hab was perhaps 1 level below the water. I built a hatch on the inside roof, then went out for more titanium, came back, built an intersection on TOP of the hatch, went inside, and tried to use the hatch earlier. It put me inside the new module, without a hatch back DOWN. And I didnt have enough quartz for another hatch. And I was well fed, so it would have been a long wait in a sealed room before I could die and respawn. So I quit.

Lessons learned.

[Anteros]

What was supposed to be my next session, I softlocked, without a save since starting. So no time update (though apparenty it was 1 hour and 0 minutes since my last save...)

Thinking I understood base building, I got myself enough materials for a tube, a solar panel, and a replicator, and set off toward the Aurora. this led to an awkward situation where I have to deconstruct the hatch to build a replicator. I also got to see a reaper leviathan up close and personal- it didnt seem hungry, and we circled each other enough for me to get perhaps 80% scanned before it took off.

I got into trouble when I tried to figure out what to do with the bioreactor. it's an interior part, but too big for the tubes I have access to.

My new hab was perhaps 1 level below the water. I built a hatch on the inside roof, then went out for more titanium, came back, built an intersection on TOP of the hatch, went inside, and tried to use the hatch earlier. It put me inside the new module, without a hatch back DOWN. And I didnt have enough quartz for another hatch. And I was well fed, so it would have been a long wait in a sealed room before I could die and respawn. So I quit.

Lessons learned.

I haven't run into that bug before, but there is a console command to spawn yourself back at the life pod. If you press f3, enable console and type "Biome Safe" it will take you home. Press f3 again to turn it off.

I would avoid using console except for bug fixes though. It ruins the immersion and there are spoilers on the console command list.

I've got about 300 hours and I've gotten stuck from bugs probably 4 or 5 times so the command to go home is useful. Especially since I play on hardcore.