All Things Videogame Related: EXTREME VS!!

[Black Valkyrie]

6 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

Amusingly enough, this (the digital version, anyway) is actually what I'm playing right now.  Abusing the save feature let me get through the first Castlevania (although I played it a ton when I was a kid, couldn't get past the mummies then), and this will be the first time I've seriously played Castlevania II.  I'm determined to finish all the games in the collection.

Really wish Konami would do more Castlevania collections.  While I'd most love for them to do one with the six GBA and DS Metroidvanias, I think another collection with some of the other missing and occasionally more obscure games in the series would be good, too.  Say, Castlevania Legends, Castlevania: Dracula X, the MSX2 version of Vampire Killer, the PlayStation Castlevania Chronicles (which itself was basically a port of the Sharp X68000 game), the Famicom version of Kid Dracula, the arcade Haunted Castle, maybe even the mobile game Order of Shadows.

Oh, and bring Requiem to the Switch.  Or Steam.  I did pick it up for PS4, but I'd rather have all the Castlevanias on Switch (for portability) or PC (for posterity).

 

Also Wiiware Castlevania Adventure Rebirth. 

 

[Gerli]

Star Citizen showed the first 1km ship in-game

I hope someday we can see a SDF-1 of that level of detail in a game

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Gerli said:

Star Citizen showed the first 1km ship in-game

I hope someday we can see a SDF-1 of that level of detail in a game

I'm hoping that comes sooner rather than later, but we're all dependent on developer tools for anything like that to happen.  

[Gerli]

14 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I'm hoping that comes sooner rather than later, but we're all dependent on developer tools for anything like that to happen.  

Star Citizen is pushing the limits of what can be done in a 3D engine... even if it fails (I hope don't) the Tech is going to be a revolution.

A Star Trek or Star Wars game with this Tech can be done too...  

[Chronocidal]

36 minutes ago, Gerli said:

Star Citizen is pushing the limits of what can be done in a 3D engine... even if it fails (I hope don't) the Tech is going to be a revolution.

A Star Trek or Star Wars game with this Tech can be done too...  

Except.. it won't.  I mean, I'm hopeful, but being realistic, the only reason SC is as far along as it is is because of the nearly boundless funding from people who have wanted this their whole lives.  Any reasonable game studio would have killed this project years ago.

I don't think there is any way that a major corporation involved in either of those franchises would dump the required R&D money into making something even remotely of this scale.  And let's face it, those two franchises are probably the only ones with deep enough pockets to attempt it in the first place.. actually at this point, I'm not sure either has that kind of money.  SC has surpassed the (publicly acknowledged) budget of the last Star Wars feature film.

Short of some licensee actually purchasing the rights and making a custom offshoot of the base SC game?  I don't see it happening.  It's too much of an initial investment required, and too risky a genre to blow that much capital on.

I think the only hope we have of seeing such things is fan-developed mods, and even that will depend desperately on dodging cease and desist letters from the companies that don't have the cajones to try something like it themselves.

I'm not saying it's not revolutionary.. but what we're basically seeing is the sort of technological revolution that Star Wars itself brought to movies.  It's a huge initial risk, with the potential for massive returns.. over a very long time.  And while a lot of the tech being developed is quite groundbreaking, it's going to be many years, possibly decades, before it becomes something that can be considered the standard.  And lets face it.. the sheer scale of SC is something that won't be useful to a vast majority of developers.  It's a very specific tool for a very specific genre of game that the industry really doesn't tend to do a lot with.

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Chronocidal

[Gerli]

16 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

 

I'm not saying it's not revolutionary.. but what we're basically seeing is the sort of technological revolution that Star Wars itself brought to movies.  It's a huge initial risk, with the potential for massive returns.. over a very long time.  And while a lot of the tech being developed is quite groundbreaking, it's going to be many years, possibly decades, before it becomes something that can be considered the standard.  And lets face it.. the sheer scale of SC is something that won't be useful to a vast majority of developers.  It's a very specific tool for a very specific genre of game that the industry really doesn't tend to do a lot with.

 

I agree... the risk is too high and the backlash from an hypothetical failure could be legendary, but I think this technology would shine with VR support; That is gonna be the selling point for a real Star Wars experience and Disney surely would be interested on that.

[Chronocidal]

1 minute ago, Gerli said:

I agree... the risk is too high and the backlash from an hypothetical failure could be legendary, but I think this technology would shine with VR support; That is gonna be the selling point for a real Star Wars experience and Disney surely would be interested on that.

Yeah, I'm eagerly awaiting full VR support.. it actually already works passably well with VorpX, since they added headtracking, but takes a few work-arounds, and it's not nearly as smooth or immersive as something like DCS.  It's not good for combat yet due to being jittery, but it's great for quick sightseeing hops around the verse.  

[mikeszekely]

On 4/30/2021 at 7:28 AM, Black Valkyrie said:

 

Also Wiiware Castlevania Adventure Rebirth. 

 

OK, so I kind of forgot about that one.  I kind of dismissed it at the time because A.) despite it's immense popularity the Wii was my least-favorite Nintendo console (yes, moreso than the Wii U), and B.) I thought it was a more literal remake of Castlevania Adventure- same levels, layouts, enemies, and bosses as the Gameboy Game, just with slicker graphics.  And, from what I remember, Castlevania Adventure was kind of bad.

Well, having played through Castlevania 1-3 and Super Castlevania IV, Adventure is next in the collection.  And yeah, if anything it's worse than I remember.  But I also recall Jeremy Parish saying that Rebirth was good, so I installed Dolphin and fired it up.  Holy cow, it's a totally different game, and it's really good!  It absolutely deserves some kind of re-release on a not-dead platform.

[JB0]

So I've been playing R-Type Final 2(provisional title) lately since it launched. It is fantastic. And some of the least bullshit level design to ever grace an R-Type. Almost every one of my many many many deaths has been obviously my fault rather than because I flew into an inescapable death trap that was only evade-able with clairvoyance or map memorization.

It is also a lot more upbeat than R-Type Final was. Which makes sense as R-Type Final was developed as sort of a funeral for the genre, and it really carried into the tone of the game. R-Type Final was muddy, depressing, and... well, final. I didn't really appreciate what it was doing 18 years ago, but it is artistically interesting, albeit a bit of a downer.

R-Type Final 2(provisional title) is more celebratory, a triumph against adversity for both the cast and the genre. Even the "bad end" routes through the game(two of the three don't look great for your pilot) are left as a question mark instead of punctuated doom. No camera spinning slowly around a burned-out husk of a star ship while the credits roll. And there's a single route which ends with a clear victory and safe return home for the pilot, which Final did not have.

 

Lore-wise, with R-Type Final covering "Operation: Last Dance", a simultaneous overwhelming strike on every bydo outpost in the galaxy, and the end of the war through total annihilation of the enemy, they were stuck in a hard spot.

So R-Type Final 2(provisional title) ... ALSO covers Operation: Last Dance.  The game is framed as a post-war documentary, collecting stories and rumors from Operation: Last Dance, which was a suitably large operation that you could make a dozen games set during the single assault.

 

Thus far, the R-Museum(making a return from R-Type Final)  is incomplete, as Granzella hasn't yet patched in all the fighters. They've committed to two years of support, and apparently that means porting in all of the Final ships, despite the crowdfunding effort not meeting that stretch goal(hooray for passion projects, right?). They've already patched in a few, and the unlock counter in the R-Musem says X/99, just like Final's did. It can be assumed that, just like Final's R-Musem, that number goes to 101.

Spoiler

... but people decrypting data files and hacking save files have determined that the ship list actually goes past 101(and that the R-101 Curtain Call's description was slightly rewritten from Final's "After this, no other R-fighters will ever be developed. After building this masterpiece, the design group known as TEAM R-TYPE disbanded." to reflect this).

 

And then there's the "R-Type Final 2(provisional title)" thing...

In one of the more ridiculous special features, beating the game (any route, any difficulty, with any number of continues used) unlocks an option to address complaints about bad naming sense, allowing the player to literally rename the game(by selecting words from a list for each of three parts of the title, sadly there are no custom strings allowed). This affects all appearances of the title in the game, including right there on the title screen. And if you don't appreciate this then I am afraid you have no sense of humor.

It sadly doesn't affect appearance outside the game, so the PS4 OS will never refer to it as Cosmos Legend Fantasia, Steam won't call it Bydo Slayer X, XBox OS won't recognize it as Saga Reboot 0, and Epic Game Store won't acknowledge it is called A Space Story. This is, obviously, a GLARING FLAW large enough to overshadow everything else the game has done. Zero of ten stars.

Edited May 11, 2021 by JB0

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

2 hours ago, JB0 said:

In one of the more ridiculous special features, beating the game (any route, any difficulty, with any number of continues used) unlocks an option to address complaints about bad naming sense, allowing the player to literally rename the game(by selecting words from a list for each of three parts of the title, sadly there are no custom strings allowed). This affects all appearances of the title in the game, including right there on the title screen. And if you don't appreciate this then I am afraid you have no sense of humor.

That sounds like a great feature, and thanks for the info. I'm gonna strap into a R-9 fighter again once I finish the Metroidvania Lodoss game.

[Gaijin]

Hmmmm... been a long time. 

Been playing R-Type Final 2 and Returnal... once I'm done with that RE Village is on the back burner. 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I just went through R-Type Final 2 (a.k.a. Bydo Bashers X), and overall it's a worthy addition to the series.  It's very pretty, but I recall R-Type Delta wowing me more as a R-Type sequel.  My biggest gripe is that the hitboxes seem off in some way.  It makes my ship seem bigger than it is, resulting in some questionable deaths I had when hitting an obstacle.  Also, I didn't run into any boss that seemed truly epic.  Then again, I've only taken one route, so that impression may change.  I've only unlocked a dozen or so R fighters. I'm a little disappointed that some ships are still in progress, and I'm hoping those won't be only available via paid DLC.

[JB0]

12 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I just went through R-Type Final 2 (a.k.a. Bydo Bashers X), and overall it's a worthy addition to the series.  It's very pretty, but I recall R-Type Delta wowing me more as a R-Type sequel.  My biggest gripe is that the hitboxes seem off in some way.  It makes my ship seem bigger than it is, resulting in some questionable deaths I had when hitting an obstacle.  Also, I didn't run into any boss that seemed truly epic.  Then again, I've only taken one route, so that impression may change.  I've only unlocked a dozen or so R fighters. I'm a little disappointed that some ships are still in progress, and I'm hoping those won't be only available via paid DLC.

Which route?

And Granzella's said the full R-Museum is gonna be free updates. Which was a pleasant surprise since they never made the funding goal for it.

 

Paid expansion content plans thus far are limited to the homage stages.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

1 minute ago, JB0 said:

Which route?

And Granzella's said the full R-Museum is gonna be free updates. Which was a pleasant surprise since they never made the funding goal for it.

 

Paid expansion content plans thus far are limited to the homage stages.

That's reassuring, I will probably end up paying for upcoming stages.  That first one was tough...until I learned that I could increase my ship's speed. I know, I know, RTFM.

The route I finished was the Interdimensional Fighter Graveyard. The end boss there seemed kinda easy as far as R-Type goes.

[JB0]

That's the route I've cleared, too. The boss is definitely underwhelming.

I like the stage as a whole. Very moody.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

10 minutes ago, JB0 said:

I like the stage as a whole. Very moody.

I agree, it also accurately depicts how many attempts I made trying to clear the first game in the arcade.

[JB0]

2 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I agree, it also accurately depicts how many attempts I made trying to clear the first game in the arcade.

Oh, definitely. I declared it to be "the most R-Type stage ever", and in my head those are every player ship that's ever gone boom.

[Gerli]

There is a Free Fly event in Star Citizen until Next Week and all the ships are avaible to fly.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/download

Seems they got the servers right tis time: no random crashes and the patch is very stable.

 

[Tking22]

For anyone else playing Monster Hunter:Rise, the 3.0 update drops tonight at 8pm. Apex Zinogre, a few other odds and ends, but most importantly, Valtrex, the jet powered Elder Dragon is being added! That's frakking awesome, Valtrex was always a really fun, challenging fight, and he's just a cool monster overall, I'm excited to slaughter him multiple times over and make his Gunlance! 

[twich]

I guess the big buzz at midnight pacific time on 5/27/21 is the leak by Bloomberg article stating that the Nintendo Switch "Pro" will be shipping Sept/Oct and will be revealed before E3.  It also states that it will be more expensive than the regular Nintendo Switch, which it will replace.......but of course, until we hear from Nintendo, this is just speculation.

Twich

[azrael]

8 hours ago, twich said:

I guess the big buzz at midnight pacific time on 5/27/21 is the leak by Bloomberg article stating that the Nintendo Switch "Pro" will be shipping Sept/Oct and will be revealed before E3.  It also states that it will be more expensive than the regular Nintendo Switch, which it will replace.......but of course, until we hear from Nintendo, this is just speculation.

There was word that the new Switch would start production in June. So a September/October release sounds about right. Assuming the chips are there...

I'm not optimistic about launch stock of any major electronic items for the rest of this year.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The 3rd DLC character for SoR4 is Shiva:

 

[Mommar]

Mexican Amazon leak points to Switch Pro pre-orders starting the 3rd/4th depending on your time zone.

[sh9000]

https://www.nintendo.com/products/detail/game-and-watch-the-legend-of-zelda/

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

13 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

https://www.nintendo.com/products/detail/game-and-watch-the-legend-of-zelda/

Must...fight...nostalgia!

[mikeszekely]

8 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Must...fight...nostalgia!

I lost that fight. I mean, I already have the Mario one. Pre-ordered.

[Tking22]

Metro Exodus: Enhanced dropped today and I'm really hyped to finally try it out. Exodus first came out in 2019, but since I got my Series X I was waiting on the announcement of an enhanced edition, and it happened, and it's finally here! I've never played a Metro game, I've heard nothing but good things from those that have though, seems right up my alley, first person survival horror, post-apocalyptic, it checks my boxes. I'm glad I waited, 4K, 60fps, ray-tracing it's got all the bells and whistles, this is easily one of the most substantial current-gen upgrades yet, I'm really impressed.

Also, the Metro trilogy is on sale on the Xbox store for $45, that's a killer price for all three games, which is both Redux versions of the first two games, and Exodus with all the DLC. I'm playing out of order, I want to try Exodus first, but I'm definitely diving into 2033 after I'm done, then onto Last Light. 

[Gerli]

This... I like this.

 

[Chronocidal]

Ok, that takes me back.  My first sim was F-15 Strike Eagle II.

In this age of hyper-realistic sims, it's really interesting seeing them basically do a straight engine and performance upgrade from the old games, but not really change the look at all.

 

[Dynaman]

6 hours ago, Gerli said:

This... I like this.

 

I think I have to own that when it comes out.  Depending on how the controls work of course.  

[Dynaman]

On 1/15/2021 at 10:04 PM, mikeszekely said:

So... is anyone else doing VR?  I decided to try the Oculus Quest 2.  Yeah, I'm not a fan of the mandatory Facebook thing and I totally get why that'd be a dealbreaker for some (many?), but honestly I didn't have a Facebook account so creating one for the sole purpose of using the Quest 2 isn't a world of difference from creating an Oculus account. Plus it's one of the more affordable options, and I love that I can use it as a standalone device (which is all I've done so far, since it just came today) or as a PC VR headset.

Any recommendations?  I think my first purchases are going to be Vader Immortal, Beat Saber, and Superhot VR.

I've finally been putting mine to use.  I had a Quest 1 and bought the 2 a couple months back when wireless VR was released.

My favorite titles right now are Star Wars Pinball and Tales from Galaxy's Edge.  The pinball implementation in SW Pinball is spot on and the ability to collect "stuff" for the pinball room is kinda fun.  Galaxy's Edge is not what I expected and not a stand out title really but it is solid.  The voice acting is solid as is the gameplay and visuals.  Though the aiming is wonky.

Next up is Moon Rider (search for it in the web browser).  It is a free version of Beat Saber that has a much better song selection for an old fart like me.

On the FPS side is Contractors and another Onward.  I've tried Contractors and will get back to it once I finish the Tales from Galaxy's Edge game.  Contractors at least is very good and Onward has a good rep from what I've seen.

 

On the PC connect side Star Wars Squadrons is very good but it makes me motion sick is not time flat.  Though I am getting better at other games so I might give it another try.  The constant turning in that game is just brutal though.  I also use Maps for VR quite a bit, it is a lot of fun to explore an area in 3D at about the height you would actually be if walking around.  From SteamVR I play the Virtual Railroad game Rolling Line a good bit.  

[mikeszekely]

2 hours ago, Dynaman said:

I've finally been putting mine to use.  I had a Quest 1 and bought the 2 a couple months back when wireless VR was released.

My favorite titles right now are Star Wars Pinball and Tales from Galaxy's Edge.  The pinball implementation in SW Pinball is spot on and the ability to collect "stuff" for the pinball room is kinda fun.  Galaxy's Edge is not what I expected and not a stand out title really but it is solid.  The voice acting is solid as is the gameplay and visuals.  Though the aiming is wonky.

Next up is Moon Rider (search for it in the web browser).  It is a free version of Beat Saber that has a much better song selection for an old fart like me.

On the FPS side is Contractors and another Onward.  I've tried Contractors and will get back to it once I finish the Tales from Galaxy's Edge game.  Contractors at least is very good and Onward has a good rep from what I've seen.

 

On the PC connect side Star Wars Squadrons is very good but it makes me motion sick is not time flat.  Though I am getting better at other games so I might give it another try.  The constant turning in that game is just brutal though.  I also use Maps for VR quite a bit, it is a lot of fun to explore an area in 3D at about the height you would actually be if walking around.  From SteamVR I play the Virtual Railroad game Rolling Line a good bit.  

Since I originally posed my question six months ago, I played through Superhot VR (loved it) and a lot of Beat Saber.  I mean, A LOT of Beat Saber.  Not because I like it- I loved it for awhile, but I'm pretty burnt out on it (and will definitely, therefore, look into Moon Rider).  No, I play it every day because it's basically light cardio, and playing for around 40-45 minutes a day plus making a few changes to my diet (not drinking anything with calories, greatly limiting junk food, eliminating between meal snacks) has allowed me to run enough of a calorie deficit to lose about 30 pounds (which still leaves me around halfway to my goal).

Aside from that, I actually haven't played a ton.  Maybe because I'm starting to think of the Quest 2 as a fitness thing- when I do browse the store, I'm looking for stuff that'll give me a workout comparable to Beat Saber.  That said, I picked up a game called Void Racer on a whim.  It's ok, fun while I'm playing but nothing holding my interest for a long session.  And I bought a ton of Star Wars games on May the Fourth.  Star Wars Pinball is in kind of like Void Racer for me; fun while I'm playing, but nothing making me rush back to play it some more.  Galaxy's Edge might be good.  I was playing it while my wife and kid were at karate class, and I was starting to get into it, but I couldn't figure out what the game wanted me to do so I quit when my family got home.  I'll try again later.  I did finish the first chapter of Vader Immortal, though.  Calling Vader Immortal a game is a it of a stretch, but as an interactive movie-like experience  enjoyed it and I'll play part 2 soon.

I haven't actually bothered to hook it up to my computer.  I think playing a game you can sit with might work at my desk, otherwise I'll have to drag out my less-powerful (but probably still plenty capable) laptop.

[Dynaman]

Agree on Vader.  I have all three chapters (free with headset when I purchased) but I've only played the first one so far.  I started like you did, mainly for exercise or at leas to stand instead of sitting at the PC, and just recently started using it more for fun as well.  The headset is still too heavy and Field of View is still too small for being a monitor replacement for the PC - or for more general use.  I do plan to start using it more for virtual miniature golf (I have cloudlands on the PC for playing wirelessly and just picked up walkabout mint golf) and FPS games and flight sims.  The next Quest is supposed to have a better eyepiece for the Field of View.  I'll be looking out for that one.

EDIT - and since working from home, using the same Mouse, Keyboard and Monitor I work with, it is nice to get up from the computer and stand a while - even moreso when it is not possible to go outside and walk.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Dynaman

[mikeszekely]

I was looking for something to do this evening, and I and my wife (I bought her a Quest 2 also) decided to buy a VR game called Walkabout Mini Golf.  I had to tweak the locomotion controls a bit- by default the main trigger will teleport you to your ball, but you're not always lined up right, and the joystick can turn and move you but the default settings don't feel natural.  I also recommend setting it so that you have to squeeze the grip button to swing, otherwise the club is stuck to your hand and it's too easy to hit the ball accidentally when you're lining up your shot.  Once I got the settings to something more comfortable and started to get a feel for it, though, the game was a blast (although the funniest part was that I'd created a private lobby for me and my wife and named it "Poop," then after awhile another guy joins the lobby and we're both confused as all get out before we realize that there are more than one person out there who thought of naming their lobby Poop. 

Anyway, definite recommend if you like mini golf.

[Dynaman]

I just tried Walkabout the first time last night.  The physics are excellent and it has a great presentation.  The other golf game I have (Cloudlands 2 on PC) the physics are not quite as good but the ability to make your own courses is a real plus.