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Latest Comments by Anza
Not Actually A DOS Game looks like a retro delight
3 January 2022 at 11:41 pm UTC

Quoting: whizse
Quoting: AnzaThough actual Nethack does have graphical tilesets (I guess being open source has helped a lot).
There was even an isometric version, called Falcons Eye. Development stopped ages ago unfortunately.

Vulture seems to be actively maintained. It's sold on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/341390/Vulture_for_NetHack/

You can get it for free if you compile it from source code. Haven't tried it myself.

Not Actually A DOS Game looks like a retro delight
3 January 2022 at 10:30 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: scaineI'd love to have seen this fleshed out a little graphically. I do love a bit of nostalgia, but MUDs were around in the late 80's (probably earlier, but that's when I came across them) and even back then, I'd have preferred some kind of vague pixel representation, rather than letters.

Nethack at least has bit of problem that if you don't check descriptions of the characters, what you think is cute doggie might be actually a dragon.

Though actual Nethack does have graphical tilesets (I guess being open source has helped a lot).

GOG have one last free game during their sale with Iratus: Lord of the Dead
3 January 2022 at 9:50 pm UTC Likes: 2

Iratus is good fun. Voice acting by Stephan Weyte makes it even more fun. Battles are more fun when the enemy is mocked during the battle by the protagonist, the maniacal necromancer.

If you have played Darkest Dungeon or Legend of Keepers, gameplay should be already familiar. I haven't thought better term for the subgenre than line based battler. Compared to some JRPG clones that I have played, things are bit more lively as position in the line does matter and doesn't stay static. Characters usually have different abilities based on the position in the line, so if enemy pushes you around, you might have to rethink things over.

Iratus just happens to one that made those type of games really accessible, but still challenging enough just repeating same attack over and over gain does not always work. Some enemies are easier if you just take closer look at your minions and their abilities.

PS: GOG doesn't seem to have Wrath of the Necromancer DLC as separate DLC (it is included in the Necromancer Edition though), which is bit of a shame as that DLC adds more content and has different ending to the story

Reminder: Update your PC info for the next round of statistics updates
29 December 2021 at 10:59 pm UTC

Quoting: Xpander
Quoting: ShmerlSwitched to 180 Hz display recently. Interestingly, there are more users with 240 Hz displays here than with 180 Hz ones. I guess it's an uncommon value (it's really 165 Hz one but with built on overclock to 180).

yeah, i have 170hz monitor, so i just chose the 165hz option as this is close enough. Lots of weirdly overclocked monitors for whatever reason.. like does it really matter if its 144 or 180 ..i guess higher the number the better it looks for some lol

I guess at least the specifications look better with higher numbers

E-sports players might even get slight advantage from higher refresh rate, but even with that there's must be limit somewhere. Regular gamers won't see any benefit in reaction times, so investing into more expensive display for that reason alone is not worth it.

Thing with overclocked displays though is that they might have ghosting. There are tests that can show that quite clearly with high speed camera. Cheaper alternative is to find review where that has been tested. I guess that's more useful when you're thinking about buying new monitor. If you bough the monitor already, you will stay happier if you don't check the reviews.

I wonder if anybody has done tests if people can tell the refresh rates apart. Could be interesting.

The Steam Winter Sale 2021 is now live
29 December 2021 at 5:52 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: AnzaUnplayed games count as Windows purchases anyway.
Not if you buy them via Steam's Linux client, I'm pretty sure.

You can read more on the GOL wiki.

That's good to know, it must have been changed at some point. Information has been bit scarce in the past.

Still shouldn't hoard games. There's always a next sale.

The Steam Winter Sale 2021 is now live
29 December 2021 at 4:55 pm UTC

I have been avoiding buying anything into storage as such and have bough only one or two games at a time and played them before buying more. I have big enough collection anyway and I don't need to grow my unplayed games list. Unplayed games count as Windows purchases anyway.

So far I have bough only three games.
Thimbleweed Park: this has been out quite long and now I finally understand why people like it (I played the free Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure, which helped increasing my curiosity). Not perfect game, but does have some of the same feel as the classics.

Dusk: Dusk seems to be able to include also fun things from times when FPS games were new thing. Too bad it could have copied quick saving as it existed already in original Doom. Not greatest game ever for me, but it's still fun to play few levels now and then. Each level so far has had something different. I fell out bounds once though, which is one of the reasons why I could like to have quicksave... (luckily levels are relatively short)

Carrion: Reverse horror metroidvania. Eating people as tentacle monster is fun and generally gameplay feels like it has unique twist. Seems like developers really concentrated on getting the core gameplay right first. Game might not overstay its welcome either as finishing it should take only couple of hours. No need to wait for sale though as it's on sale right now.

PS: all of the games are native

Alpha 20 goes live for survival game 7 Days to Die
27 December 2021 at 6:34 pm UTC

Quoting: KuJo
Quoting: Purple Library GuyCome to think of it, modern games don't really work with that whole model. For a lot of games, there really is no alpha/beta/complete because there are always new features being added after "completion", making it unclear just what "complete" even means for them. As a result, a game can be in a condition you might think of as done or late beta in terms of polish, assets and so forth, but major new features are still being implemented.

Actually, that's true of most open source software as well. You might say the whole alpha/beta/shipped paradigm is tied to the dominance of physical media: It's important if you're going to be pressing the software on DVDs and sending it off to stores. You have to define a finished product to ship, and efforts and stages have to be defined around that end goal. If it's distributed digitally and can be updated automatically on an ongoing basis, the whole concept gets a lot less relevant, or at least a lot less necessary.

The game feels unfinished after 8 years, despite the undeniable fun factor, and has declamatory shortcomings and a visually arguably utilitarian UI. I'm seriously wondering if Fun Pimps will ever release a final version, if they're going to fine-tune all the alpha features in a beta, or if they'd rather tinker with new features for all eternity. An official Rodmap has not existed for ages.

I think you are close to crux of the matter. In general software development doesn't mandate one true release process. There are guidelines sure, but they don't have to be followed in order to develop software.

Endless tinkering is most of comfortable state to be in. That sure isn't best way to make money though. For getting out of that loop is where the actual roadmap might help. Other way to finish the development is to just get bored with the project and announce that it's done.

One the positive side, 7 Days to Die still has six more years to reach Duke Nukem Forever (not sure when 7 Days to Die development actually started though). Star Citizen might have bit head start though.

Book of Travels did not have a good launch, Might and Delight let devs go
23 December 2021 at 10:33 am UTC Likes: 1

I did also some digging and this is not their first game by far (Liam has actually mentioned that in few of the previous articles). Based on review activity only Book of Travels is trending at the moment. If you want to support them, there's bunch of more Linux native games listed here: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/mightanddelight. Especially the Linux native games have almost all 75% discount, so they're pretty cheap.

Liam has done bunch of articles about their games (search includes several unrelated articles, but most of it is relevant): https://www.gamingonlinux.com/search-articles/?q=%22might+and+delight%22&strict=on

My favourite 2021 games played on Linux
22 December 2021 at 11:02 pm UTC

Quoting: StalePopcornGame referenced in thumbnail, Valheim?

That's what I said. If you know Valheim, it's quite clear. It's swamp at night, with bunch of skeletons attacking. One of the screenshots in the article is from Valheim too.

Thumbnail is clearly not from any other game discussed in the article.

Book of Travels did not have a good launch, Might and Delight let devs go
22 December 2021 at 7:41 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: slapinHow come early access launch can fail?

I would assume that early access is both important for feedback and funding. That Kickstarter funding alone doesn't last long with team of 35.