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Latest Comments by dvd
Stadia looks to be very limited at launch and not just the amount of games
16 November 2019 at 5:52 pm UTC

Quoting: SalvatosThat said, I don’t understand why they would need a mobile app to be involved in any of this, and it’s just making me even more wary of the whole thing with regards to spying on the users. I’m going back from "I might consider it if..." to a big fat no.

The need for a mobile device is most likely because they integrate this into the app store (or similar) somehow, where most of the paid-for software is. It is the least of the inconveniences imo. I don't see how a service like this will succeed when there was a big uproar against "always online" games few years back. This is even worse in my opinion.

Google reveal Stadia will only have 12 games available at launch, more later in the year
13 November 2019 at 10:53 am UTC

Quoting: vectorWhen taking total cost of ownership into account, I do hope a library of Stadia games proves to be an accessible luxury for people who have heretofore been priced out of the market.

I would argue such a person doesn't exist. Since regional pricing has largely went away, and we frequently see the meme of "1 eur=1 usd" (not for the pound though, for some reason they can convert the dollar to pounds), games became very pricy for "eastern europeans". Whereas in the good old days you could easily get even the most overhyped games for what would be ~20 EUR, nowadays the launch price for such games are closer to 50-60 EUR (not to mention the expansion/DLC fest games that easily go to 100-200 EURs in the first year of their release).

This does not mean, however, that "cloud gaming" is coming. If you want to run it with gigabyte internet, you need quite beefy rig/router, which complicates the cost of Stadia, not to mention the internet bill. My computer for example couldn't run a gigabyte connection too well since i do not have an ssd. Then there is the fact that this offers you nothing except the promise you won't have to buy a console/pc (which is again, not too lucrative for the hidden costs of internet bill/hardware).

I think there is nothing in it, only the inane desire of the industry of total content control and the elimination of the so-called "pirates".

Google reveal Stadia will only have 12 games available at launch, more later in the year
12 November 2019 at 7:43 am UTC

If stadia is only 10$ a month, you put that away for 4 years you can buy a computer that will be able to run most games on hihg/ultra for at least a year, and run games quite a number of years afterwards. Also, places where buying a computer might be a blocking factor, don't generally have stable internet connections to stream 1080p let alone 4k. Services like these could be attractive to those that consider the bare minimum of setting up a computer (like turning on their consoles) a chore, or "too much".

Red Eclipse 2 is a revamp of the classic free arena shooter coming to Steam
11 November 2019 at 11:46 am UTC Likes: 1

I tried it few years ago, it was quite fun. The only downside was the lack of players as most other online libre games.

Google want Stadia to have exclusive games other platforms can't support
29 October 2019 at 10:59 pm UTC

Quoting: KetilCloud games has a lot of potentials that local games doesn't. A game with a traditional client/server model has to deal with a huge latency in the communication between the server and the client. For a game developed specifically to be run in the cloud, this is slightly different. We can call it server/client/viewer or something. You have one server park, and one client/viewer pair per user. The main latency is between the client and the viewer, not between the server and the client. This means that more calculations can be moved from the client to the server, and you can get away with fewer duplicate calculations.

That's not really relevant, or "good for gamers" at all. Any such game will generate way more traffic (video files are huge after all, a 90 minute movie in HD can be 60 GB).

Cloud games have the real potential for google to shove ads in games as well, that will happen. (I was shocked to find out that microsoft does that as well, and their licences are paid too) You will have no option to turn it off. Also, i doubt this will have any impact on games running on linux. From all the bits posted here, it just seems they will just use the already existing open technology like wine to run the games and for the ones they have developed for Stadia they will have no interest to release on free systems (kinda like epic launcher and gog galaxy).

It will have no modding/etc. either, except maybe as a paid service (with more ads).

I still have serious doubts that the people that may be interested in this have a powerful enough pc to handle streaming though, let alone a fast/stable enough connection to do so.

An update on the status of Linux support for the sci-fi RPG 'Encased' now it's in Early Access
2 October 2019 at 7:31 pm UTC

Quoting: Beamboom
Quoting: dvdPretty much the same way you could say this for all Witcher/TES/<your generic mainstream action rpg here> titles, all the minecrafty games, all the online shooters and all the fps games, oh and all the platformers, racers, etc...

Yeah. A valid point. You're right.
I guess my main problem here is that the mentioned factors are so... Old-school. I'd love for them to push forward a bit more. Like having a 3rd person view (over-the shoulder perspective), or a realtime/turnbased hybrid, voice acting, something that brings the game a bit more to life, break out of the "game pieces on a board" feel. Without losing the strategic elements.

I think they do a really good job in this in the X-Com games. Same mechanics, but feels a *lot* more modern.

I think i see what you mean. X-Com is more of a strategy game with a lot less dialog/text, so it is easier to voice. The action animations on the other hand, while amusing the first time in X-Com, got really tiresome and annoying real quick.

I think (from the teaser at least) the camera will be (or could be) a lot closer in the upcoming wasteland, it made a much more action-y impression me than wasteland 2.

An update on the status of Linux support for the sci-fi RPG 'Encased' now it's in Early Access
28 September 2019 at 9:04 am UTC

Quoting: Beamboom
Quoting: NezchanLooks remarkably like the upcoming Wasteland 3 in a lot of ways, although it's pretty likely that wasn't on purpose.

... I'd add several other titles to that comparison, to be frank. Birds eye perspective, turn based, text dialogue... Isn't that what pretty much all are?
One could very well start wondering if there isn't a pre-made template they all are using.

Pretty much the same way you could say this for all Witcher/TES/<your generic mainstream action rpg here> titles, all the minecrafty games, all the online shooters and all the fps games, oh and all the platformers, racers, etc...

ATOM RPG had another massive update recently adding in an Isometric mode
28 September 2019 at 8:59 am UTC

Quoting: razing32Honestly i may be the weirdo ne out but i would prefer russian voices with english subtitles.
Feels more reallistic/immersive given the location the action takes place.

You're not the only one. It always bugs me a lot when everyone speaks english in a videogame, even more if they add some silly made up english accent to it. But i guess the bottom line is that americans won't buy games that aren't entirely english, and the rest just lap it up anyway.

A recent bad example of this is hitman, where all the games before Absolution had non-english voices too, but last 2 games are english only.

ATOM RPG had another massive update recently adding in an Isometric mode
23 September 2019 at 2:04 pm UTC

Quoting: devland
Quoting: NanobangI scratch my head over what an isometric view might bring to the game, what's the attraction? I'm not knocking it, but doesn't ATOM already have an aerial-view of things?

They're appealing to the nostalgia of Fallout 1 & 2 players.

You can't really blame them though, many games have succesfully appealed to some kind of nostalgia. It's not the next fallout (TES), with ever dumbed down story and mechanics, which could be considered mainstream. That said, even as i liked the game overall, there are many smaller and bigger things that could've made this game much better for many players that like this sort of game. I think it's their first game, and for that, i think it's very good.

Richard Stallman has resigned from the Free Software Foundation and MIT
18 September 2019 at 5:27 am UTC

Quoting: orochi_kyoThe only sin Stallman committed here is to forgot that PEOPLE CANT HAVE AN OPINION THESE DAYS, you have to shut the f/*c up or follow the hypocrite standard of having the same opinion of the all SJW media.

And you cant tell anyone what you really think, we live in a de-facto censorship, not email, not social networks, anyone!!. Remember that guy that told a joke to his friend on the ear about "big dongle" in a computer conference and a feminist just heard him and make it public? He lost his job. And the SJW media was fine with it.

Human relationships are overrated. SJWs destroyed freedom of speech. It doesnt matter if opinions are unpopular or arent political correct, you should respect them and not make a fuss about it.

You are hung up on a bunch of right wing nonsense. If you are an amercian, be glad you are living in a state that somewhat supports your rights. The kind of rhetoric you and a bunch of others support here leads to you taking the proverbial dongle sooner or later.

On the topic: I always really admired Stallman for what he did, and i think he is the single person whose work was invaluable for the free software community. However, I was schocked when i read up on this topic. Why would he go on commenting about this topic at all? It has nothing to do with his field, and given that, he still commented on it, even though he must've known this is a rather political and emotional matter and he and his movement can only lose on it.