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PC Gaming - Patronise a Newbie

Started by Johnny Townmouse, May 19, 2013, 04:09:10 PM

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Big Jack McBastard

Though be warned Dark Souls is a proper cunt of a game which isn't even particularly very good objectively speaking, the enjoyment part only really comes from overcoming the ball twisting difficulty of the nastier encounters, S&M fans ranked that thing.

I'll second the Arma recommendation if you're after a challenging military shooter. If you get Arma II combined operations you can then play the free zombie mod DayZ that itself has a whole host of mod variants and maps. No game has me feeling like my heart's going to burst out of my chest quite like encounters with other survivors in this games does.

Big Jack McBastard

Evasive yet succinct Alan Wake review:

Writers-block riddled Action-Stephen-King type and his missus visit the the tourist end of Twin Peaks, all is fine and dandy and then it isn't cos of a thing, then it might be a dream or a story, or a story in a dream, or a dream in a story and quite when any of these may have actually started is debatable.

Also flares, shotguns and moody places.

falafel


Wilbur

Quote from: Big Jack McBastard on May 24, 2013, 02:14:58 AM
Evasive yet succinct Alan Wake review:

Writers-block riddled Action-Stephen-King type and his missus visit the the tourist end of Twin Peaks, all is fine and dandy and then it isn't cos of a thing, then it might be a dream or a story, or a story in a dream, or a dream in a story and quite when any of these may have actually started is debatable.

Also flares, shotguns and moody places.

I'd not heard of this one but ta for the headsup on the humble bundle. I have as usual paid a pitiful sum to see if its for me....

falafel

Watch out for the grooooovy facial animation.

Treguard of Dunshelm

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on May 23, 2013, 05:34:11 PM
I also find the button choices for movement quite bizarre. The awkwardness of pressing shift and w to run fast is most perplexing.

Caps Lock? Just remember to turn it off when you need to do some fiddly jumping.

Quote from: Treguard of Dunshelm on May 25, 2013, 03:42:14 AM
Caps Lock? Just remember to turn it off when you need to do some fiddly jumping.

Nah, you do get used to it. I would try to stick to stock as much as possible. Because when you come across a game that doesn't let you customise as much or it just wouldn't work out, you're screwed.

Treguard of Dunshelm

I can't think of the last time I played an FPS on PC in which Caps Lock's wasn't a run toggle by default.

madhair60

Quote from: Treguard of Dunshelm on May 25, 2013, 04:41:46 PM
I can't think of the last time I played an FPS on PC in which Caps Lock's wasn't a run toggle by default.

So you haven't played one since Duke Nukem 3D? :p

Treguard of Dunshelm

#70
Well, "first-person action game" is more what I meant - Caps Lock makes you run in Skyrim, Mass Effect, Crysis, Deus Ex:Human Revolution to name some from the last few years.

Edit: Thinking about it, Human Revolution doesn't because sprinting uses up energy. But still.

HappyTree

First rule of PC gaming: get a wired Xbox 360 controller for it. Keyboards are for typing reviews of how cool controllers are!

chocky909


HappyTree

I would have said that, but I recently got one and it didn't work so I got a refund and a wired one instead. Maybe I will try again now I have a new plooter.

chocky909

Did you get the official MS one or a 3rd party like I linked to? I use an official one and it's plug 'n' play. I can't vouch for the others. Maybe I shouldn't have linked to it...

HappyTree

It was this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000MGVAAQ/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looked ok, reviews said it wasn't official but worked fine. I only got it because I couldn't find an actual bona fide MS receiver. I did look in the shops first but the guy said Estonia doesn't have any and he got his online! They do seem to be hard to find for some reason but if you have a source then I'm all (mouse) ears!

chocky909

That's the 'item' or page I bought from seller Piranha Technology but I was sure mine was official. It came in full blister pack and was grey and white, not black like the picture there. It has a MS hologram and looks totally legit. Drivers installed automatically on W7 x64 so I can only guess that maybe they are sending out different items at different times, people are buying from other sellers selling 3rd party units or some people are just having general problems with drivers.

If you can get a good one that works, they're great.

Zetetic

There are, I believe, a couple of games that don't work properly with the wireless controller but do work with the wired. (Yes, this is insane.)

(I use a couple of wireless controller without problems generally, though.)

Johnny Townmouse

As an update I have had a fun week playing Half-Life 2, so thanks to Bored of Canada for sharing, and Zetetic for offering to share, which is almost as good, and anyway it's the thought that counts. I had to use a play-through video on Youtube a few times when I literally had no fucking clue what to do and a half-hour had gone by of me just wandering aimlessly around and it stopped being fun. But the game was impressive, and had some really nice set pieces.

I'm now deliberating between Borderlands 2, Battlefield 3, Fallout 3, Minecraft, Company of Heroes, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Arma II.

I may get sick of the war thing, so I was wondering if there is a really tense, atmospheric game that is post-apocalyptic?

Also, and on that subject, would you recommend The Walking Dead game?

syntaxerror

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on June 04, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
I may get sick of the war thing, so I was wondering if there is a really tense, atmospheric game that is post-apocalyptic?

FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3 FALLOUT 3

Watch the trailer if you still need convincing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZpR51XgW0

The whole game is drenched in atmosphere, whether its wandering across barren wastelands and getting jumped by mutants, or crawling through dark abandoned tunnel networks dealing with ghouls and all kinds of cool shit.

Zetetic

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on June 04, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
I may get sick of the war thing, so I was wondering if there is a really tense, atmospheric game that is post-apocalyptic?
Hmm. I'd say either STALKER [nb]and either Shadow of Chernobyl or Call of Pripyat are fine. The former is maybe scarier, the latter is quite a bit more polished IIRC.[/nb] or Fallout: New Vegas (rather than Fallout 3). [nb]So long as you don't mind it being quite a localised apocalypse or really being post-post-apocalyptic.[/nb]

The STALKER series is very much still about shooting men (and things which aren't men) and can certainly be quite spooky (and capable of making me very tense at least), while New Vegas would give you the chance to do other things like talk to men about shooting other men (and things which aren't men) and sneak past men (and then surprise-shoot them) and so on.

New Vegas perhaps not quite so immediately 'atmospheric' - the graphics are bit poor for one thing - but it's an interesting world and, depending how you play it, one where you can find yourself stumbling in and out of danger (which might count as 'tense'). You'd get plenty of advice on here on modding it to be a bit more interesting, and a tiny bit prettier. I've heard good things about the DLCs/addons being quite varied and interesting as well.

(Someone might suggest Fallout 3 rather than New Vegas. Edit: Someone did! I don't think that they're wrong. 3 might arguably be easier to get into. Sometimes I think I might prefer 3 and then I play it and so I don't think that any more.[nb]The main plot really doesn't help, and you can't quite ignore it enough.[/nb])

Edit: I think that a STALKER game and Fallout 3 or NV would also probably make quite a nice combination to alternate between.

syntaxerror

Well FWIW, I think New Vegas is ace too and would also recommend that.

Johnny Townmouse

OK, I am getting both of the Fallout games as we speak, although as 3 appears to have come out before NV I will start with that.

Zetetic - I have the disc for STALKER - SOC and will play via that rather than using Steam, and have every intention of playing Pripyat as well.

Ta la!

Zetetic

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on June 04, 2013, 12:46:45 AM
OK, I am getting both of the Fallout games as we speak, although as 3 appears to have come out before NV I will start with that.
Fair enough. Even if you don't take to 3, give NV a go. Although they use the same engine (and so on), the games were put together by two rather different companies.

Johnny Townmouse

I will do, looking at the preview videos NV actually looks ace.

I like that Steam politely asks if you want to use an alternative drive to the C:Drive. Why yes I do, thanks for asking.


I had a good, albeit harrowing, time with the Walking Dead game. Better than the rubbish series but gameplay wise it's pretty accessible and simple. More something to test your own ethics since it's all incredibly decision based and everything is morally pretty grey.

Plus it's going cheap through the humble bundle.
https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

It goes to charity, unless you don't want it to go charity. ya cold bastard.

Johnny Townmouse

I think I'll give it a go. I like the idea of the moral and ethical boundaries of games. I find it surprisingly hard to separate myself from the gameplay so in Half-Life 2 every single time one of the people in my crew, or even one of the weird wasp fly things I was controlling, died I felt personally responsible.

I imagine in The Walking Dead there are occasions when you have to sacrifice someone to save yourself.

I have no idea what the humble-bundle but if it is anything like the selling policy for In Rainbows I would be delighted to get a free game!

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Fallout and Fallout 2 came before Fallout 3.

But they are all old and that.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Bored of Canada on June 04, 2013, 03:35:56 AM
I had a good, albeit harrowing, time with the Walking Dead game. Better than the rubbish series but gameplay wise it's pretty accessible and simple. More something to test your own ethics since it's all incredibly decision based and everything is morally pretty grey....

A friend was showing me the game, the other weekend. He's been raving about he loves the way that your actions have an impact, specifically on how others behave. In terms of gameplay, it's very similar to the other Telltale Games titles (and nothing wrong with that) but the way you affect other characters is impressive.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on June 04, 2013, 12:46:45 AM
OK, I am getting both of the Fallout games as we speak, although as 3 appears to have come out before NV I will start with that....

I would definitely go with F3 and then New Vegas – the latter is essentially Fallout 3.5. Some of the enhanced gameplay in NV was available in F3 via mods – the developers openly talked about how the modding community influenced the game. Not all the new features were entirely successful, but did add to the game.

Fallout 3 is one of my all-time favourite games (at the moment) – I really enjoyed New Vegas, but it wasn't a massive leap forward; not that this is a problem. NV is a lot larger in terms of content, but felt F3 was a better RPG – in it I was more engaged in my environment and had a much clearer feel for my character.  I know that many prefer New Vegas, but that's my own preference – and it's not as if I don't think NV is great.

The DLC for both are nice, but not essential – my first playthrough with both games was the main game only. I would advise checking out http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/ (there's another site for NV mods) – there are a lot of very cool mods and there's also a mod manager, which helps.

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on June 04, 2013, 12:46:45 AM...
Zetetic - I have the disc for STALKER - SOC and will play via that rather than using Steam, and have every intention of playing Pripyat as well...

I would also try Clear Sky – I know people have said it's rubbish, but I rather enjoyed it... possibly it helped that I played the second one first. The narrative that runs through all three games, which I rather appreciated.

As mentioned, SOC's connection to Stalker is pretty loose but I think there's a slightly greater influence in the game than has been mentioned. I would definitely check out mods for it.

Incidentally, I saw Geoff Dyer give a talk about Zona, where he touched upon Stalker's cultural impact – someone raised computer games, which he completely dismissed. Personally, I thought it was very indicative of a rather old-fashioned view of games.