Blog Your Current Game

[PeteEU]

My PC is older and needing upgrade, and Imperator runs fine. If you have the stuttering problem, I think it is not that your PC is old, but some other issue, hopefully fixed in the 1.01 patch next week. There are people with top end PCs saying they have issues, and some of us with older, lower end ones without any.

Naw it is the PC. I run an i5 2500k with 8 GB ram and a 5640 Graphics card.. so it is only slightly above minimum requirements. However I do other stuff like watch Youtube or TV on the PC at the same time I play (2 screens), and it is here I can feel the stutter...even after I downgraded the graphics in the game to low. And yes the second screen runs on the built in Intel Graphics while the main screen on the 5640.

We are talking about a 6 plus year old PC.. hell i5 2500k came out in '11, so 8 years.

 

[Deuce]

Naw it is the PC. I run an i5 2500k with 8 GB ram and a 5640 Graphics card.. so it is only slightly above minimum requirements. However I do other stuff like watch Youtube or TV on the PC at the same time I play (2 screens), and it is here I can feel the stutter...even after I downgraded the graphics in the game to low. And yes the second screen runs on the built in Intel Graphics while the main screen on the 5640.

We are talking about a 6 plus year old PC.. hell i5 2500k came out in '11, so 8 years.

The 2500k/2600k are some of the best value purchases for CPU in history. They have held up like champs. The 2500k has only recently started to struggle, the 2600k is actually hanging in there still due to the hyperthreading. (when overclocked, which both of them did really, really well) I don't think any processor has held out that long.

But yeah, it's time to go on that 2500k
(and the 5640.)
edit:
(which means you'll be replacing the RAM and motherboard too)

 

[PeteEU]

The 2500k/2600k are some of the best value purchases for CPU in history. They have held up like champs. The 2500k has only recently started to struggle, the 2600k is actually hanging in there still due to the hyperthreading. (when overclocked, which both of them did really, really well) I don't think any processor has held out that long.

But yeah, it's time to go on that 2500k
(and the 5640.)
edit:
(which means you'll be replacing the RAM and motherboard too)

Yea, the 2500k is one of the best processors ever and I am not even overclocking the sucker. I could do that, and just add a modern 1060 graphics card and I would get another 2 to 3 years out of it with the present games I like to play (EU4, Diablo 3, Stellaris and so on).

But I am seriously thinking of a gaming laptop with a 1060 in it. I might be moving or/and travelling, so it seems a wise call to be more mobile, and since I dont play the shooter games that require high FPS and all that crap, then well. The Dell G3 or the Acer Hellios 300 look like good buys with reasonable battery life and with the new mobile graphic RTX cards coming out, the prices are going down.. so dunno. I do have a 6 year old Sony Viao Pro ultrabook that still holds a 6+ hour charge and a new battery is only 100 bucks.. so I could upgrade that for my mobility, but that machine cant run the games.

But yea, if it is an upgrade to the processor, then it means everything but the SSD.

 

[Lord of Planar]

Naw it is the PC. I run an i5 2500k with 8 GB ram and a 5640 Graphics card.. so it is only slightly above minimum requirements. However I do other stuff like watch Youtube or TV on the PC at the same time I play (2 screens), and it is here I can feel the stutter...even after I downgraded the graphics in the game to low. And yes the second screen runs on the built in Intel Graphics while the main screen on the 5640.

We are talking about a 6 plus year old PC.. hell i5 2500k came out in '11, so 8 years.

I bought my current computer in January 2015. It was $900 at the time. I immediately added the HD in it from the computer I bought in June of 2010. Since, I have maxed the memory (9/27/15), and put in a 1 TB SSD 5/16. It came with a GeForce 720. I put in a GTX 950 a few years back, and 11/8/18 a RTX 2070 and modular power supply. The computer is still strong. It came with a i7-4790. I've been driving three 1440p monitors since 5/26/16.

 

[PoS]

Played Planetside, and now they introduced a new faction into the game- NS bots. These can join in into any side depending on population.

Also playing Battletech. I finally got a mod that can overcome the hardpoint limits, so I can just build missile boat mechs. So far so good. My main lance currently consists of a Dragon, Quickdraw, Shadowhawk, Griffin, all equipped with mostly LRMs. We can destroy opponents even when outnumbered by just doing sensor locks and firing missile barrages.

 

[jmotivator]

Played Planetside, and now they introduced a new faction into the game- NS bots. These can join in into any side depending on population.

Also playing Battletech. I finally got a mod that can overcome the hardpoint limits, so I can just build missile boat mechs. So far so good. My main lance currently consists of a Dragon, Quickdraw, Shadowhawk, Griffin, all equipped with mostly LRMs. We can destroy opponents even when outnumbered by just doing sensor locks and firing missile barrages.

I haven't played Planetside 2 in forever. That new faction sounds interesting.

 

[Redress]

Not my screenshot(tho I am playing the game), but too good not to share...

 

[PoS]

I haven't played Planetside 2 in forever. That new faction sounds interesting.

You need to be a member to be a bot, and you'll automatically be assigned to the lowest pop faction on the server to balance things out, and you can only use NS weapons.

Over at Battletech, my lance now has a Highlander, 2 Grasshoppers and a Shadow Hawk, all modified to fire massed barrages of LRMs of course. but now I have a problem, Ive pissed off the local pirate guild, and they wont allow me access to the black marker. Looks like I'll have to do some jobs for them to get back into their good graces...

 

[Redress]

Over at Battletech, my lance now has a Highlander, 2 Grasshoppers and a Shadow Hawk, all modified to fire massed barrages of LRMs of course. but now I have a problem, Ive pissed off the local pirate guild, and they wont allow me access to the black marker. Looks like I'll have to do some jobs for them to get back into their good graces...

Have you seen this yet?

 

[PoS]

Have you seen this yet?

Yeah saw that on the BT forums. I'll probably get it, though it only features two new mechs though.

I can pretty much win battles and hardly take any damage now. Ive configured my main mechs with massive LRM launchers and they just hang back while my scout mech creeps forward and sensor locks any enemy mechs or vehicles at extreme range. Call in the artillery strikes and its done. If anyone is stupid enough to close in, then we use massed fire to knock them out.

 

[jmotivator]

You need to be a member to be a bot, and you'll automatically be assigned to the lowest pop faction on the server to balance things out, and you can only use NS weapons.

So do you have to acquire NS gear and rank up through the normal methods? (that is assuming I even know how to acquire new gear anymore)

 

[PoS]

So do you have to acquire NS gear and rank up through the normal methods? (that is assuming I even know how to acquire new gear anymore)

You start out with some NS weapons as a bot. You can also grab some free bundles for your characters by activating codes.

Free Planetside 2 Codes 2019 (UPDATED) | Page 2 of 5 | Grown Gaming

 

[jmotivator]

So I have reached a bit of burnout in the FPS/3PFPS and Loot ARPGs. I was looking for a nice leisurely game to play in my wind-down time after work and decided to try Forager. It's kind of like an 8bit Portal Knights with some Stardew Valley vibes thrown in.

It's pulled me in enough in the hour I played this morning that I have caught myself doing mental planning for what I will do next time I play. I haven't really delved too deep into skill trees, etc. so I really don't know how extensive the game will be, but since it is the product of one guy developing it, I expect to get about 16 to 20 hours out of it.

That last guess is probably the only downside I have found yet since it is $20 on Steam which seems steep for a lot of people. $1/hour is acceptable for me, but probably not for everyone.

 

[Redress]

So I have reached a bit of burnout in the FPS/3PFPS and Loot ARPGs. I was looking for a nice leisurely game to play in my wind-down time after work and decided to try Forager. It's kind of like an 8bit Portal Knights with some Stardew Valley vibes thrown in.

It's pulled me in enough in the hour I played this morning that I have caught myself doing mental planning for what I will do next time I play. I haven't really delved too deep into skill trees, etc. so I really don't know how extensive the game will be, but since it is the product of one guy developing it, I expect to get about 16 to 20 hours out of it.

That last guess is probably the only downside I have found yet since it is $20 on Steam which seems steep for a lot of people. $1/hour is acceptable for me, but probably not for everyone.

Have you tried Slay The Spire? Cannot recommend that game enough.

 

[jmotivator]

Have you tried Slay The Spire? Cannot recommend that game enough.

I haven't tried yet, but I watched a lot of it on Twitch a while ago. I'm not sure why, but I have a hard time getting into playing card games, while I really enjoy watching card games. I tried Hearthstone and couldn't get into it... though I know STS doesn't have as much to dislike as Hearthstone. I did get into the browser game Elements pretty deep for a while. But it seems like when I burned out on that it burned me out forever.

I dunno... I guess I may try STS one of these days. I've heard nothing but good things, and I almost have experience playing it now from all the games I have watched.

 

[jmotivator]

You want to know something funny? After saying I was no longer into card games, on looking up the website for the game elements, I ended up logging in and an hour later I'm still playing.

If you pick up the game my only suggestion is play a TON of games with your base, earning gold, before spending gold on more cards. It really helps to know the mechanics before you start buying cards and know what is and isn't good.

My favorite base deck is Gravity. Otyughs are almost unfair.

Second favorite is Air because Firefly queens are totally unfair.

 

[jmotivator]

So I spent WAY to much time with Forager yesterday and it's starting to look like my estimate of 20 hours was rather low. The grind is real.

You grind for two reasons, first is for crafting materials and second is for things you can sell... often those paths cross.

As you earn money you can buy new islands that either give you more of a familiar biome, which allows resources to spawn faster, or a new biome with new resources needed for more advanced technology. The cost of those islands increases VERY quickly. The first island is 40 gold, by my 10th or 11th it is closer to 5,000 gold.

Gathering does get easier as you play, through the standard "better pick picks faster" mechanic, to apparel that helps to run faster and swing your pick faster, as well as a method of automating resource gathering over large areas.

That last one created an interesting problem. I have blanketed most of my land with automated mining, but the frequent mob spawns meant that I still couldn't relax.. the enemy mob spawn rate seems to be increasing, and I'd swear the game has an AFK system that spawns mobs right next to you when you are away for a few minutes.

I just unlocked an island, however, that essentially spawns mobs that you have to find to farm. As soon as I found it I realized what I had, got excited, but neede dto head to work... you see, since that island only spawns destructible objects that THEN spawn mobs, there would be no mod spawns on that island. I made a rash decision and broke the bridge I built to the island, walked to the center of it and went to work.

In theory, all of my automated gathering machines will continue to hum along in my absence as I safely sit on my island of solitude.

Edit: And before anyone accuses me of exploiting the system... you don't know the grind!

... actually the grind probably isn't that bad for people who like grinding, but I am allergic. :lamo

 

[jmotivator]

So the test was successful. I am able to leave the game unattended for at least 12 hours without being attacked by mob spawns, and without the game crashing from some memory leak. The latter is rather impressive, I think.

Thee are still grinds, because a lot of essential materials (primarily sand) don't appear to have automated methods of collection, so I'll still need to do that manually... but I have now unlocked auto-defense systems that will kill mobs rather efficiently and another that will automatically collect what the mobs drop.... so, uh, my job is to pretty much dig sand and make glass bottles.

I think the most difficult task I'll have is completing the Museum which is easy for the standard materials, but pretty punishing for the rarer stuff.

I didn't leave the game running today when I went to work because I already have an obscene amount of materials that can be gathered in AFK, and the XP I earn no longer keeps pace with the XP curve, so it would be mostly a waste of time.

Now, tonight I will build a safe zone, surrounded by defenses, that will allow me to AFK in the center of the map rather than the edges... at that point I'll start AFKing again because I now have a way of actually gathering the mob drops.

The one big issue for me at this point is the difficulty ramped up pretty well in the early game, but my AFK system appears to have launched me to escape velocity and I have left this game's difficulty gravity well.

Most of the skills (all) that I have left to unlock don't matter... like "Transmutation" that allows me to convert steel bars to gems.. that is all fine and good, but I have hundreds of gems of each type, and what I am lacking is steel, and I only lack it because it's a long process so I use it as fast as I make it. So if I played as the game intended (???) these skills would probably be handy, but when the blood, bones and marrow of this land are essentially funneling into my storehouse 12 hours a day I really don't need any of the harvesting materials.

 

[PoS]

Playing Battletech. My lance is squaring off against the enemy while staying in cover at the southern end of a valley floor. In comes an enemy Black Knight that charges our position, and does an alpha (fire all weapons) strike at me. It manages to blow off an arm of one of my Shadow Hawks but then overheats and shuts down in the middle of the battlefield. LOL- we shoot it down easily after just two barrages.

 

[Redress]

Just sticking this in here for lack of a better place. So excited...

 

[Deuce]

Just sticking this in here for lack of a better place. So excited...

Traumatizing a whole new generation of children in ultra HD.

 

[Deuce]

Coming back to playing modding Skyrim. Made the whole world look better with enhanced textures, lighting, weather, flora, monsters, dragons, etc. Except the NPCs. Every single mod out there for NPCs is either big tiddy anime waifu, game-crashing, or just plain bad.

Gameplay wise, got a great mod that redoes the perk tree. Removes all the "+20% to [skill effect]" perks and makes all of those bonuses built-in, so all the skills automatically scale with their level. The perk trees instead provide real benefits and addon abilities instead of just "enhance thing I do." Makes a lot more synergy between trees, like a Destruction perk that has a side-benefit of improving smithing, or a speech skill improving shout cooldowns. Makes spells scale better with skill like other combat skills do, so pure mage is viable. Paid for by halving the perks you get.

A religion mod that lets you worship one of the various deities. They track certain actions based on their ethos to give you an approval rating. Bonuses scaling on that approval.

Mod adding like a hundred spells and another adding more weapon enchantments.

Best of all, SkyUI replaces the abysmal base game UI and adds hotkey groups. Up to eight assigned groups to equip spells, shouts, weapons, even armor all instantly.

Now to actually, um, play.

 

[PoS]

Just sticking this in here for lack of a better place. So excited...

Never played the FF series. Is it any good? And if it is, does one have to play the previous games in order to get the story?

 

[Deuce]

Never played the FF series. Is it any good? And if it is, does one have to play the previous games in order to get the story?

Most of them are pretty good. Essentially none of them have any story relation to each other whatsoever. (exception being, I believe, number 13 has a sequel... 13-2.)

Using US titling, I liked #2, 3, and 9 the best. I think 7 is overrated, it just gets some nostalgia being the first playstation title with video cutscenes and 3d graphic. But it's not bad. 8's mechanics are a bit obtuse in my opinion. Never played 10 or later.

 

[Redress]

Picked up They Are Billions yesterday. DOn't have a lot of time in the game yet, but I continue to find ways to fail. Here is my latest failure: