Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 07:03:

Lots of progress in Dark Souls 2...

It's always nice reading your thoughts on the game. I know you're enjoying it (though not to the extent of the first game), but you might find that you enjoy it even more on a replay; after replaying it a couple of times, sometimes I think it's my favorite game in the series!

The DLC is quite excellent, though can also be very difficult depending on what kind of character you're using, so I'm looking forward to reading about your DLC adventures!

newtmonkey wrote on Today, 08:40:

The DLC is quite excellent, though can also be very difficult depending on what kind of character you're using, so I'm looking forward to reading about your DLC adventures!

Cheers! I'm playing a melee focused build, with high strength, vigor, vitality, endurance and a fair amount of adaptability. Other stats are largely ignored. This allows me to wear heavy armor and use big weapons like the Large Club and the Dragon's Tooth. I pair those with the Stone Ring, which makes it easier to knock down regular enemies.

This isn't the approach that I used in DS1, but it seems works well here. My swings are slow though, so I need to time them carefully. Also, I always aim manually, and never use lock on. Not sure if that helps or hurts my chances, but I just don't like how the lock on mechanic restricts the camera viewing angles. Never used that in DS1 either, and I had no problems there.

Avadon 2: The Corruption
I just completed this. I mentioned earlier that I got really bored with it... but, much like the first one, it ended up being a perfect casual RPG to play while listening to music or watching old MST3K episodes, and I ended up spending a couple hours a night finishing it up over the last week or two.

It took me just over 38 hours to do absolutely everything I could find in the game, including reaching max level for each character. The game isn't actually particularly massive, it's just that the maps are large and mostly full of nothing but endless trash fights against the same encounters over and over, and you're required to slowly backtrack over the handful of maps. Walking speed is surprisingly slow, so during the last 10 hours or so I used Cheat Engine to speed the game up 2x and then 3x over; so playing the game normally would probably take about 45-50 hours.

It's more of the same Avadon, to the point where it feels like I just got done playing through a fan mod of the first game. The only really interesting thing it adds is the "corruption" area, which features a fun mechanic where enemies can be corrupted into other forms as you fight them.

Although the game is overall extremely easy on Normal difficulty, there were some infuriating sections in which you are forced to sneak through areas or run away from endless waves of enemies. The game engine was designed solely for walking around in real time exploring and then fighting in turn-based combat, so none of the stealth or chase sequences work well at all, and required endless saving and loading just to get through them. The game is also fond of taking your companions away for story reasons, forcing you to tediously fight wave after wave of boring enemies when you are hardly ever in any danger. It's also fond of having you do something, and then immediately invalidating what you just did for story reasons, which always drives me up the wall.

Overall, I think I liked the first game more, and I honestly didn't really like that one very much. The RPG mechanics are just too simple to really get anything out of them, and I don't find the Avadon setting and story to be interesting enough to carry a single 40-hour game, never mind three of them. Still, Avadon 3: The Warborn is just sitting there in my Steam library, so I might as well complete the trilogy... just not this year (or next).

Right then, been spending time with other stuff lately but did finally manage to complete Thief II: The Metal Age. Took a while to explore those pleasently large maps.

About a year ago I completed Thief Gold and found it pretty conflicting experience. At its best I loved it, and at its worst I thought it was so bad I wasn't sure should I even continue playing it. Level design took some pretty heavy swings and the lack of detailed map drove me nuts occasionally, getting lost is very low on my list of things I like to experience in a game. But the thing is I've never been that into stealth games and yet Thief still made me genuinely love it at times. A big thanks to that goes to its horror-esque atmosphere and ambient music.

And here we have Thief 2, which tones down the horror aspect with a heavy hand. Disappointingly the ambient music is far less upfront and oppressive, diminishing the atmosphere. Also the undead are nearly gone, there are a few around but not many. But on the plus side avarage level quality is better and there's also a more detailed map which I'm very grateful for!

Looking at it from an objective view I do think Thief 2 is the better of the two, it's more polished and even game. But personally I like the gothic horror of T1 much more than the steampunk stuff T2 has going on, especially security cameras started to get on my nerves. The last level in particular is pretty damn far from what I would consider fun, but I suppose it demonstrates what kind of steel hellscape Karras wants to create.

I guess I could say Thief 1 has lower lows, but also higher highs than Thief 2 in my opinion. I get a huge kick out of strong atmosphere, and while Thief 2 has its moments I found it lacking in comparison overall. But I still had pretty good time with T2, which isn't bad at all considering I'm a guy who generally prefers to shoot the guards with a shotgun than sneak around.

I have to say I've taken a liking to the dark world and characters of Thief. Stealth isn't really my genre of choice, but both Thief 1 and 2 have levels I really could replay just about anytime. And levels I'd be ok for never playing them again.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 09:41:

Right then, been spending time with other stuff lately but did finally manage to complete Thief II: The Metal Age.

Congrats! Glad to hear you enjoyed it, despite the shift in atmosphere toward a more industrial setting. I imagine you played it on EAX capable hardware? I liked the improvements to the soundstage that occlusion brought to the table compared to the first game.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 09:41:

The last level in particular is pretty damn far from what I would consider fun, but I suppose it demonstrates what kind of steel hellscape Karras wants to create.

You're not alone there. That's pretty much considered to be the low point of the game by most people in the community. I'm curious if you liked Life of the Party? The level with the rooftops and prominent Table Fog use. 😄

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 09:50:

Congrats! Glad to hear you enjoyed it, despite the shift in atmosphere toward a more industrial setting. I imagine you played it on EAX capable hardware? I liked the improvements to the soundstage that occlusion brought to the table compared to the first game.

Thanks! Sure, though not on original hardware. I gave it a quick test on my Win98 system back around last spring and noticed pretty bad issues with audio, if I recall correctly every time I closed the map/objectives screen for a few seconds all audio was so loud it hurt my ears before going back to normal. Pretty weird. Gave a quick googling and found old posts of people having the same issue with Audigy cards. Probably could have been fixed by updating the Audigy 2 driver but didn't try it at the time.

That Win98 system has since been stored away and partly dissassembled, so I went with the newdark version and OpenAL Soft audio. Can't say how similar it is to original EAX, but I was very happy how it sounded. Occlusion effects were great, especially with spoken dialog. I'm honestly pretty impressed how good OpenAL Soft sounds, both Thief 2 and System Shock 2 sounded great with it.

I'm curious if you liked Life of the Party? The level with the rooftops and prominent Table Fog use. 😄

Oh boy. I hope I don't ruffle anyone's feathers here since it seems to have a bit of a legendary status, but I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a big indoor manor with a party going on, which would have been right up my alley. Well, I guess I got that in the end but I didn't find Angelwatch terribly interesting place.

I kinda got the feeling it must have impressed people back in the day with all the quick side detours to other houses while making your way through the rooftops, and it all being one single big map from start to finish. Back in 2000 it must have been pretty great demonstration of level design.

I did like the argument between the guards, one side defending their Lord and the other their Lady, and if I got my names right you could find out the Lord got escorted out the party for getting blasted and the Lady is basically a prostitute. Also the pet spider was great, running around happily. But otherwise I was kinda indifferent to it, I guess it comes down to me not being quite able to see it with 2000's eyes and it not really having background music at all, just ambient wind. By now it's probably getting pretty obvious music can really affect how much I like something. Has nothing to do with me loving games like System Shock 2, Deus Ex and Unreal Tournament, no sir!

Having to come all the way back in the end was something though. My favorite levels were the bank job and all the ones with a big manor to explore, and the pagan village one. The pagan map wasn't terribly satisfying stealth wise, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere there. The only map that managed to scare me, weird tree monster managed to sneak up on me at the end!

Sombrero wrote on Today, 11:09:

Thanks! Sure, though not on original hardware. I gave it a quick test on my Win98 system back around last spring and noticed pretty bad issues with audio, if I recall correctly every time I closed the map/objectives screen for a few seconds all audio was so loud it hurt my ears before going back to normal. Pretty weird. Gave a quick googling and found old posts of people having the same issue with Audigy cards. Probably could have been fixed by updating the Audigy 2 driver but didn't try it at the time.

Ouch, that's too bad. If I remember correctly, I last played Thief 2 under WinXP on an Audigy 2 ZS, with either DanielK's driver pack, or the latest official driver from Creative. Not sure which. In any case, I had no audio issues there.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 11:09:

Oh boy. I hope I don't ruffle anyone's feathers here since it seems to have a bit of a legendary status, but I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a big indoor manor with a party going on, which would have been right up my alley. Well, I guess I got that in the end but I didn't find Angelwatch terribly interesting place.

Haha, don't worry about it, everyone has their own preferences. I like that level a lot, due to the amount of freedom that you have to roam around, and just listen in on random people while robbing them blind. 😁

Sombrero wrote on Today, 11:09:

The pagan map wasn't terribly satisfying stealth wise, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere there.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but Thief 3: Deadly Shadows shifts back the atmosphere towards horror, and the world kinda regresses technologically for (valid) plot reasons. If you end up playing it sometime, I think you'll like the atmosphere in many of its areas. Also, EAX 4.0 is superbly implemented there.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 11:54:

Haha, don't worry about it, everyone has their own preferences. I like that level a lot, due to the amount of freedom that you have to roam around, and just listen in on random people while robbing them blind. 😁

Yeah, listening in the silly banter really is one of the best parts of the game(s). Reminded me of that one guy being an incredibly whiny baby for not being invited to that party and scheming a stupid revenge party, while on the party you can find out they were invited but never got any reply, suspecting misplaced invitation.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but Thief 3: Deadly Shadows shifts back the atmosphere towards horror, and the world kinda regresses technologically for (valid) plot reasons. If you end up playing it sometime, I think you'll like the atmosphere in many of its areas. Also, EAX 4.0 is superbly implemented there.

I had a look at some gameplay at some point and there is something really off with the movement, I don't know what's up with that but it looked extra janky to me. Just how it looked made me pretty sure I couldn't tolerate it. Also the game seems to have a case of consolearthritis otherwise too. I'd love to experience it, but the gameplay just didn't look very enjoyable to me.

Had it been made with the Dark engine I'd be already playing it.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 13:06:

I had a look at some gameplay at some point and there is something really off with the movement, I don't know what's up with that but it looked extra janky to me.

I think the devs implemented what they call "body awareness" in Thief 3. Meaning, you can see your hands and legs on screen, and they move "realistically" as you walk around. In practice, this just looks goofy and makes people nauseous from the excessive head bob. I can't play that game in first person at all, but switching to third person view solves most of my problems. The movement still feels a bit clunky, especially compared to the first two games.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 13:06:

Also the game seems to have a case of consolearthritis otherwise too.

Oh, for sure. You can see from miles away that it was developed for the Xbox first and foremost. Similarly to Deus Ex 2, from the same studio. But I can still appreciate Thief 3 for what it is, despite its flaws.

Sombrero wrote on Today, 13:06:

I'd love to experience it, but the gameplay just didn't look very enjoyable to me.

I recommend that you try playing the first proper level, which comes right after the crappy tutorial. It's called "End of the Bloodline" and takes place in a castle/fort, similar to the first level in Thief 1. This makes it a great EAX showpiece, and also gives you a snapshot of how the game feels. If you don't like that one, you probably won't enjoy the rest of the levels either, and vice versa.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Today, 13:49:

Oh, for sure. You can see from miles away that it was developed for the Xbox first and foremost. Similarly to Deus Ex 2, from the same studio. But I can still appreciate Thief 3 for what it is, despite its flaws.

Ah. Well as it happens I just happened to build a dedicated TV PC mainly for emulators, maybe I should then try the XBox version with a controller. Probably would be able to take it as it is better like that.

Seems to currently have an issue with resolution scaling. I'll keep an eye on it, Xbox emulator development isn't exactly on fire but it might get fixed at some point.