Trying hard to beat Nova 9 without cheats enabled. The bouncy ball boss always stomps me. Can't find the right strategy for it.

clueless1 wrote on 2022-12-11, 15:43:

I'm familiar with the poor reviews for UA, but I did buy it on a steep discount and I've installed it and checked it out already. It seems like it might not be that bad. At least I'm willing to give it a shot.

I'm with you on this train of thought. There have been numerous games that have received mixed to dismal reviews that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Duke Nukem Forever
Ultima IX: Ascension
Windows Vista
Anchovies on pizza

I'll pick up UA if it ever hits a DRM-free platform.

wbahnassi wrote on 2022-12-11, 16:52:

Trying hard to beat Nova 9 without cheats enabled. The bouncy ball boss always stomps me. Can't find the right strategy for it.

If you ever want to play one of the best in the Gir Draxon series of games try out the 3DO game 'Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge'. Out of all the games in the series this one has the best graphics and sound imo.

3DO discs read directly from a PC optical drive and there are excellent 3DO emulators that will run the game perfectly fine.

liqmat wrote on 2022-12-11, 17:01:

I'm with you on this train of thought. There have been numerous games that have received mixed to dismal reviews that I thorough […]
Show full quote

clueless1 wrote on 2022-12-11, 15:43:

I'm familiar with the poor reviews for UA, but I did buy it on a steep discount and I've installed it and checked it out already. It seems like it might not be that bad. At least I'm willing to give it a shot.

I'm with you on this train of thought. There have been numerous games that have received mixed to dismal reviews that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Duke Nukem Forever
Ultima IX: Ascension
Windows Vista
Anchovies on pizza

I'll pick up UA if it ever hits a DRM-free platform.

Ha! Still haven't tried anchovies on pizza, but I'm open to it. I'd have to get a single serving size though, as I wouldn't be able to get my wife or son to try it.

Nexxen wrote on 2022-10-04, 11:58:

I found the expansions enjoyable. I like the FEAR franchise, but 4 isn't coming any time soon. 3 was ok, but too console like for my likings.

Finally finished F.E.A.R. (replayed the base game to refresh my memory) and both expansions - Extraction Point (last month) and Perseus Mandate (yesterday), and I can say I really enjoyed them too. My memory of FEAR had been that it's mostly the same soldiers you fight over and over again, with some spooky/horror elements. That's mostly true, but having replayed that I realized combat had more variety than I remembered. It did not get boring.

I started playing on Moderate, but quickly switched to Hard, as Moderate just wasn't challenging enough. On Hard enemies do enough damage that you must be ready to use medkits in the heat of the battle, and you can actually be killed pretty fast if you are not ready. Still, there is usually plenty enough health and armor, to replenish between fights, especially if you explore enough to find most of the Health/Reflex boosters. I was fully stacked most of the time, that I briefly decided to play on Extreme - but found that too much for me - you can get killed by any enemy in 1-2 shots before you get a chance to respond. It's almost like playing multiplayer against capable opponents - I don't have time to get that good.

Extraction Point introduces newer enemies, weapons and enough new spooky elements to keep it fresh. I found the locales (ruined city, metro, hospital) well designed and the spooky elements more engaging than the combat. Perseus Mandate has more levels, but they are shorter, so I am not sure there is overall more content, but I like it divided into smaller chunks. It is sort of the opposite of Extraction Point - fewer meaningful spooky/paranormal scenes, but more interesting new weapons and enemies, and better combat all around.

Story-wise, I found them both sufficiently engaging. F.E.A.R. obviously has the edge, as you are exposing the paranormal story for the first time. No big revelations and surprises in the expansions. Extraction Point directly follows F.E.A.R., while Perseus Mandate unrolls in parallel to them, from a different POV. Kinda like Half-Life and Opposing Force. I liked it. Not everything makes sense, of course, but only one thing annoyed me as to how little sense it made (read below).

dr_st wrote on 2022-12-11, 20:00:

Finally finished F.E.A.R. (replayed the base game to refresh my memory) and both expansions - Extraction Point (last month) and […]
Show full quote

Nexxen wrote on 2022-10-04, 11:58:

I found the expansions enjoyable. I like the FEAR franchise, but 4 isn't coming any time soon. 3 was ok, but too console like for my likings.

Finally finished F.E.A.R. (replayed the base game to refresh my memory) and both expansions - Extraction Point (last month) and Perseus Mandate (yesterday), and I can say I really enjoyed them too. My memory of FEAR had been that it's mostly the same soldiers you fight over and over again, with some spooky/horror elements. That's mostly true, but having replayed that I realized combat had more variety than I remembered. It did not get boring.

I started playing on Moderate, but quickly switched to Hard, as Moderate just wasn't challenging enough. On Hard enemies do enough damage that you must be ready to use medkits in the heat of the battle, and you can actually be killed pretty fast if you are not ready. Still, there is usually plenty enough health and armor, to replenish between fights, especially if you explore enough to find most of the Health/Reflex boosters. I was fully stacked most of the time, that I briefly decided to play on Extreme - but found that too much for me - you can get killed by any enemy in 1-2 shots before you get a chance to respond. It's almost like playing multiplayer against capable opponents - I don't have time to get that good.

Extraction Point introduces newer enemies, weapons and enough new spooky elements to keep it fresh. I found the locales (ruined city, metro, hospital) well designed and the spooky elements more engaging than the combat. Perseus Mandate has more levels, but they are shorter, so I am not sure there is overall more content, but I like it divided into smaller chunks. It is sort of the opposite of Extraction Point - fewer meaningful spooky/paranormal scenes, but more interesting new weapons and enemies, and better combat all around.

Story-wise, I found them both sufficiently engaging. F.E.A.R. obviously has the edge, as you are exposing the paranormal story for the first time. No big revelations and surprises in the expansions. Extraction Point directly follows F.E.A.R., while Perseus Mandate unrolls in parallel to them, from a different POV. Kinda like Half-Life and Opposing Force. I liked it. Not everything makes sense, of course, but only one thing annoyed me as to how little sense it made (read below).

Spoiler (Extraction Point combat)

The new enemies (Shades) are not much different than Replica Assassins. The new mech (Rev.8 Leviathan) is just a bigger and beefier version of the Rev.6 Powered Armor, and the combat is set up in a way that it's really easy to shoot, run, hide, repeat. Very little actual challenge. The last fight before the chopper is also not all that hard - there is plenty health, armor and cover to survive the initial waves of Replica, after which you can plant three portable turrets along the length of the roof, and they will deal with the Heavy Armor and Heavy Riot Armor almost without your intervention.

Spoiler (Perseus Mandate combat)

The Nightcrawlers are tougher than the Replica, with more health, better weapons and those with the slow-mo ability are extremely challenging. The Leviathan encounter in the lab area is not very hard, but at least requires you to constantly be on the move. It is also the only one of the three parts with a meaningful and challenging boss encounter (against the Nightcrawler Commander). I was pulling hairs in this battle, until I realized that the first soldier he throws at you is armed with a Laser Carbine for a reason. 😜 And after defeating him, you have a final two-phase coop mega battle against Replica Forces with your NPC teammate, to pumping music. Very satisfying.

Spoiler (Perseus Mandate plot)

Chen's death in Interval 4 of Perseus Mandate is so weak that it's unbelievable: a 'Scarecrow' sucks him into the pit and tears him apart. Yes, he was surprised, but this enemy for the most part is not even dangerous. All Scarecrows in the game (including the one that kills Chen!) can easily be destroyed, even if they grab you, with a few shots or just a couple of melee attacks, while the player hardly suffers any damage. Most of them can be spotted from a few steps away and killed completely safely.

And I'm supposed to believe that right after Chen singlehandedly handles a whole bunch of violent Shades (who are shown throughout the campaign to be significantly tougher than armed and trained soldiers), he succumbs so easily, while the player (you) just has to stand there and watch him being killed for long seconds, despite both of you being obviously armed and tough as nails. Total bullshit. 🤦‍♂️

This was well thought 😀 didn't expect this lengthy answer!
Yes, the last expansion has some issues.

The turrets are a mistake, it's impossible to have such devices. That was handy but not realistic.
Anyway I replayed a few times all the FEAR pack, it's challenging at the max difficulty.

I hope you play 2 and 3.

clueless1 wrote on 2022-12-11, 18:07:

Ha! Still haven't tried anchovies on pizza, but I'm open to it. I'd have to get a single serving size though, as I wouldn't be able to get my wife or son to try it.

I just squirt a little anchovy paste on each bite of pizza so I don't have to worry about all those thin bones getting stuck in my throat.

Nexxen wrote on 2022-12-11, 20:15:

This was well thought 😀 didn't expect this lengthy answer!

Thanks. 😉

Nexxen wrote on 2022-12-11, 20:15:

The turrets are a mistake, it's impossible to have such devices. That was handy but not realistic.

Tell me about it. The protagonist can only carry 3 weapons at a time (makes for some interesting choices), but a portable gun the size of a dinner plate, with infinite ammo? Sure, why not. 😆

Nexxen wrote on 2022-12-11, 20:15:

Anyway I replayed a few times all the FEAR pack, it's challenging at the max difficulty.

As I said, Extreme difficulty is probably too much for me. Then again, I didn't have problems with High throughout most of the campaign, so maybe it should be possible. Definitely could do it with enough save-scumming, but what's the fun in that? 😀

Speaking of which, I found The Perseus bonus missions, with no saves and no checkpoints, quite entertaining. Beat missions 1 and 3 on High, first try, but mission 2 (Arena) was too much for me with nowhere to hide, enemies from all directions and no breaks. I had to dial the difficulty down to Moderate just for that one.

Nexxen wrote on 2022-12-11, 20:15:

I hope you play 2 and 3.

I probably will at some point, but maybe not soon. I understood (not just from your earlier comment) that they are really quite different.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-12-11, 11:43:

The controls still felt kind of weird compared to the PlayStation version, and I was almost tempted to dig up my old Logitech RumblePad2 and use that instead of the keyboard. Didn't want to change things mid game though, so I left it as is for this playthrough.

Playing it keyboard only is not something I've ever thought to try. I need to use a controller, even if the layout doesn't match the PS1.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-12-11, 11:43:

Overall, I think the original FF7 is still a fine game which stands the test of time. Didn't play the remake yet, but I do intend to give it a shot some day. Should be interesting to see how things have changed.

IMNSHO, the Remake is fantastic. A few changes made me ask "Why?" but I'm hopeful the ensuing chapters will satisfactorily answer those questions. Lots character interactions and dialog are slightly different from the original. Some of these are to correct errors from the original western localization, but a few are improvements for the better, I think. For example, I always felt Tifa acted civil but somewhat indifferent when you first see her in the original. In the remake she acts much friendlier and welcoming. Or maybe that's just the limitation of text only vs voice acting and facial expressions.

Most of the differences are from expanding the existing story events into longer segments. The cynics will complain this is just to pad the runtime. It is true they lengthen the game, nearly all of them add depth to the world or details to characters, so it's not just added bloat for no reason. Whereas escorting Aerith home in the original meant leaving the church and hopping across a few rooftops, now it's a whole chapter with a lot of dialog, which I thought was quite fitting. Some chapters are completely new, but most of them make sense. Though some do drag on, like some sequences in Wall Market or climbing the collapsed plate.

The music is superb. I really want to buy the whole CD set. It uses the same themes and motifs you're already familiar with and makes several variants of them, often blending two other themes together.

clueless1 wrote on 2022-12-11, 14:37:

These are the other RPGs on my backlog: Baldur’s Gate 2 Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Pool of Radiance Icewind Dale […]
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These are the other RPGs on my backlog:
Baldur’s Gate 2
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Pool of Radiance
Icewind Dale
Eye of the Beholder 2
Wizards and Warriors
Ultima VIII

What'd you do, raid my basement? Wait, no, that list doesn't have Septerra Core.

Sombrero wrote on 2022-12-11, 15:02:

I backed that on kickstarter but backed out at the end after getting a bad feeling about it. I was really glad I did that as the game evidently turned out to be pretty bad.

I've backed two games on Kickstarter that faced a lot of delays and problems. The first was Descent: Underground, which I kind of forgot about, and now wish I could get a refund. The other was Bloodstained, which turned out great, so no regrets there.

Jaron wrote on 2022-12-11, 23:17:

Lots character interactions and dialog are slightly different from the original. Some of these are to correct errors from the original western localization, but a few are improvements for the better, I think.

If they changed Aeris' legendary "This guy are sick." line, we riot! 😁

Actually, that's already fixed in the PC version. Sacrilege!

I remember that a lot of reviewers praised the FEAR ai a lot back when it came out. Personally, I didn't really notice it being that different. It's been quite a while since I played it, but I just remember the enemies hopping over short walls and communicating a bit. Maybe I just didn't notice the details that other people did.

Jaron wrote on 2022-12-11, 23:17:

I've backed two games on Kickstarter that faced a lot of delays and problems. The first was Descent: Underground, which I kind of forgot about, and now wish I could get a refund. The other was Bloodstained, which turned out great, so no regrets there.

I've backed 10 and 8 of them have been delivered, which is a really high number for games. However, half of those were delivered incomplete or with a ton of bugs. Most were delivered late too. The biggest thing for me was the lack of communication. I understand that shit happens and projects get delayed, but it would be nice if they communicated regularly, even if they didn't make any progress. I've stopped backing games now.

Iga and crew were very open about the delays for Bloodstained. They sent update emails at least once a month. A big part of it was the lockdown delays of 2020-2021 of course. They also opted to switch from UE3 to UE4. IIRC, that allowed them to get better lighting while using simpler shaders, or something like that.

I don't do much Kickstarter for anything now, but that's more due to lack of disposable income than anything else.

I backed one game on Kickstarter, Unknown Realm. The developers already used up all the KS money, with nothing to show except some C64 art, so it's never coming out. The funds were used to pay their living expenses for a year or two. Even so, they are extremely rude and insulting whenever they decide to post an "update" on KS. I don't really care about the $100 I spent on it, but I regret giving my money to such awful people.

Jaron wrote on 2022-12-11, 23:17:

Sombrero wrote on 2022-12-11, 15:02:

I backed that on kickstarter but backed out at the end after getting a bad feeling about it. I was really glad I did that as the game evidently turned out to be pretty bad.

I've backed two games on Kickstarter that faced a lot of delays and problems. The first was Descent: Underground, which I kind of forgot about, and now wish I could get a refund.

Yeah you're not the only one who forgot that one, in my mind that had somehow melted together with Overload.

My "wish I could get a refund" kickstarter is System Shock Remake. It seems to resonate with people who are nostalgic about the original game but by the time I found the game it was already too clunky for me to enjoy. As a huge fan of System Shock 2 I backed the remake as they pitched it as a modern reimagination of the original which was exactly what I wanted. Then they screwed it up, some of the development team rebelled causing a complete change of direction. So now it's not going to be a reimagination with more realistic environments, it's going to be a faithful labyrithian mess straight from early nineties as far the level design goes. I hope fans of the original will enjoy it, but it's not what I paid for.

Sombrero wrote on 2022-12-12, 05:28:

Jaron wrote on 2022-12-11, 23:17:

Sombrero wrote on 2022-12-11, 15:02:

I backed that on kickstarter but backed out at the end after getting a bad feeling about it. I was really glad I did that as the game evidently turned out to be pretty bad.

I've backed two games on Kickstarter that faced a lot of delays and problems. The first was Descent: Underground, which I kind of forgot about, and now wish I could get a refund.

Yeah you're not the only one who forgot that one, in my mind that had somehow melted together with Overload.

My "wish I could get a refund" kickstarter is System Shock Remake. It seems to resonate with people who are nostalgic about the original game but by the time I found the game it was already too clunky for me to enjoy. As a huge fan of System Shock 2 I backed the remake as they pitched it as a modern reimagination of the original which was exactly what I wanted. Then they screwed it up, some of the development team rebelled causing a complete change of direction. So now it's not going to be a reimagination with more realistic environments, it's going to be a faithful labyrithian mess straight from early nineties as far the level design goes. I hope fans of the original will enjoy it, but it's not what I paid for.

I hope I enjoy it too. I backed it when it was a faithful remake, then got upset when they announced it would be a reimagination, then breathed a sigh of relief when they reverted. Good lord, they have taken forever too. This is the only game I've ever backed on KS and it's been a roller coaster ride these past 6.5 years. Current estimates are a March 2023 release.

I backed them for their intentions that were present at the start: a faithful remake, with modern graphics and controls.
I want to enjoy the original, but I can't. It's too ugly and clunky to be enjoyable.
I'm glad they stuck to their guns, and I can't wait to play it.

Also as a fan of Command & Conquer, I absolutely loved C&C Renegade, and got to really dig into Renegade X some day. Seeing the C&C universe from a first person perspective with over the top action was a lot of fun.
And even at the hardest difficulty, the game is too easy to not be enjoyable.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2022-12-12, 12:38:

And even at the hardest difficulty, the game is too easy to not be enjoyable.

Difficulty is a very subjective thing sure enough.

I'm not a twitchy counter strike veteran who no scopes ninjas for breakfast, but neither do I expect the game to tie its hands and lie down waiting me to release it from its misery. I did not find the game difficult overall (just found the sudden rockets to the face from ambush and things of that nature annoying) until the very last level which for me personally was one of the most infuriating experiences I've ever had with a game and that was just on the normal difficulty.

If the difficulty reaches a level that forces you to cheese the AI I personally lean into "something has gone wrong with the design" line of thinking.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2022-12-12, 03:13:

I remember that a lot of reviewers praised the FEAR ai a lot back when it came out. Personally, I didn't really notice it being that different. It's been quite a while since I played it, but I just remember the enemies hopping over short walls and communicating a bit. Maybe I just didn't notice the details that other people did.

It's not so much that FEAR's A. I. is great, it's that it's great when compared to the A. I. in most other shooters. A. I. in first person shooters has never been objectively brilliant, and whilst for many years that was most probably because of programming limitations, a growing concern was that gamers don't actually want good A. I. in a game. I read an article written by someone who worked on a game (I think it was actually the first FEAR game), and they said that when the game passed to testers, then the A. I. had to be noticeably reduced, as not only was it too good for the testers to beat, but it was also too good for the same testers to enjoy. The A. I. allowed the NPCs to intelligently plan, flank, and sneak around to the back of the player, the A. I. allowed the NPCs to hide behind cover for much longer than was enjoyable (if an enemy NPC is behind cover and doesn't stick it's head out for more than ten or fifteen seconds then the human player gets bored waiting), and I can't remember the rest, sorry, but the gist is that players claim to want good A. I. in video games, but actually they want *enjoyable* A. I. . Make the A. I. seem good, yes, as then when the player beats them, then the player will get a great feeling of accomplishment, but the A. I. must be convincingly fallable.

I remember when Half-Life came out. Players, reviewers, everyone was praising the enemy A. I. in the game. And the truth was that the A. I. wasn't great at all. The enemies couldn't use ladders, couldn't call or use a lift (elevator) if it wasn't scripted, the enemies would blindly walk into the blue trigger laser of wall mines (even when the soldiers themselves had presumably planted them), the soldiers would kill themselves by throwing a grenade that hit a wall and bounced back at them, if two soldiers were standing together and you shot and killed one of them, then provided the other soldier didn't have a line of sight to your eyes (i.e. if you could on;y see his legs, or the back of his head) then he'd stand there, and not run for cover, injured enemies never went and used medi-kits, and so on.

And if you waited next to a door way, and the soldiers were outside and knew you were in there, then they would come in one by one, even though they could see their colleagues getting shot and killed as they entered the doorway. Occasionally, someone would toss in a grenade, but that was clearly a random decision made by the A. I., and after the one grenade (which was probably thrown in with too much force, and so landed far enough away that it's explosion wouldn't touch you at all), the the soldiers resumed their 'lets go slowly through the door, one by one, and get head-shotted to oblivion with the player's shotgun' routine.

But even so, the A. I. was noticeably better than in most first person shooters. Especially when so many FPS games' A. I. was little more then "When you see the player, run towards him and randomly stop, fire at him, then resume running".

What games have I backed on KS, let's see...

There Came an Echo ~ I loved the studio's first game so of course I had to back their next project. It's a squad-based tactics game controlled entirely with voice commands, and while the tech is really impressive and works shockingly well, the game itself is honestly just okay. Bit of a disappointment.
Shiness ~ Caught my eye with the cel-shaded art style and entire conlang for the voice acting, and the "fighting game/RPG hybrid" pitch reminded me of Dissidia, another game I really liked (the first two anyway), but I ended up really not clicking with the gameplay when it finally came out. Never got too far into it in the end.
Timespinner ~ I've never stopped recommending this one to people ever since it released. One of my favorite Metroidvanias.
Bloodstained ~ Also really good! Probably the best "KS-funded successor to a dead series made by the former head dude" in the end.

Those are the only video games I've backed. Honestly I think I've backed more board games and RPGs than video games at this point. Still waiting on Velvet Generation four years later.