Apparently dungeons set their difficulty level the moment you enter them, so if you leave and come back chances are they'll be a cake walk.

Electro-casting baddies became a bugbear for me as I levelled too. I think it's because they're so accurate, instantaneous & ranged (ice & fire casters for example use much slower projectiles, while the higher electro spells can also pass through multiple targets, auto-locking). Don't think they do much more damage than other magic casters, but they almost always land a hit, so can often two-shot you in quick succession if you're in the lighter armour range. Def worth looking into some specific enchants.

Hmmm. I wonder if it's enter, or just discover the location on the map? Guessing it's the latter, because it's quite plausible that I discovered it early. Not positive, but that might be it. I wonder if anyone found this out in advance and deliberately spent a couple dozen of hours in the beginning of the game scouring the countryside. Heh.

Re: Shock damage. I actually was going to say just that: that maybe the attack is the same, but it almost never misses and hits you from much further away initially (as an archer, that's kind of a big deal for me). Apparently I'll have to stock up on some stuff to counteract it.

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The cheaty option is just to get a tank ;). (I never found a decent bit of anti-shock jewellery from pillaging, and my enchanting skills are still pretty wimpy even now. Think 12pc is best I've managed per item).

If you've got most of the archery perks unlocked you could also try some ducking and diving out of cover with poisoned arrows then hope they finish him off. They normally have pretty low armour.

I think it's the particular cell you spawn into and, you're right, some things are levelled and some aren't. An example of this is the common bandit - You'll still encounter him (although you'll get more Thugs, Plunderers etc as you level mixed in with the standard bandits) at high levels and you can kill him with one or two hits.

In Oblivion you'd come across the same bandit camp at level 30 as you did at level one and while they'd still have the same base stats as earlier in the game, this time they'd be wearing Glass or Ebony armour and have enchanted weapons. Everything levelled with you in Oblivion, probably the biggest criticism of the game.

Skyrim follows the same path as the Bethesda Fallouts - Enemies are generally easier at low levels but there are still some badasses walking around.

Re: Magic damage.

What race are you? Dunmer (Fire), Nords (Cold) and Breton (a bit of everything) are the ones with built-in magic resistance but the only way you can truly feel safe from the more powerful wizards is with some high level enchanted armour. Carrying a few scrolls (if you're not a magic user) - Shock spells drain magicka - and magic-draining poisons can be useful as well but my general plan is to charge in and attack the mage first of it's a mixed group.

If it's more than one mage I'll either go sneaky-sneaky or use some sort of Illusion magic to calm a few, make some run off or get them fighting each other. ;)

EDIT - Become Ethereal is one of the most useful Shouts in the game, and the one I kept ignoring until it was pointed out to me. Cast it and you'll take no damage (but can't deal any) - Perfect for when you're getting whupped. :D

Currently Re-Playing:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...e/Dx58wb21.jpg

Getting ready for:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__..._III_Cover.jpg

I've stopped using the Quality Map mod for Skyrim. There's a new map in town and it sure is purty...

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-19_00001.jpg

Only problem at the moment is that you can't easily set custom markers but I can live with that. ;)

That is a pretty cool looking map, especially compaired to the one that is on there. I put several hours into that game, like a months worth. LOL! Before I got tired of it.

The only problem with map mods is that the way the game is coded means that every map has to be '3D'. When you scroll the above map it kinda looks like your map is printed on a tablecloth which has been draped over a fully set table, salt cellars and all. The maker has done as much as he can to lessen the effect but we'll never get great map mods like the Elven ones for Oblivion.

Here's a video of an earlier version. I prefer the new texture though. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIRoAckiMA4

If anyone is into Let's Plays, Gopher has started a new Skyrim one. He's still the only Let's Play-er I can stomach watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fxpdo3vYAc

Hey Tacitus, how many hours have you chalked up playing Skyrim?

Must be like 8000 at least.

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Nah, 500-ish but not so much in the past month or so. I think I ended up putting 1000 into Oblivion (in the days before Steam and its playtime counter) but that was over 5 years. ;)

I guess I'll have 1000+ on Skyrim by the time TES VI comes out but Fallout 4 will eat into that.

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How many different characters is the 500 spread out among? Can't imagine it's any less than 4-5, yeah? Or do you do side quests with each? Because I imagine that other players--not me, I rarely play through with new builds, though I might a little this time--play everything with one "main" character and then just do the main questline with others.

I did a playthrough with each of the main archetypes for the Companions, Mages, Thieves and Dark Brotherhood quest lines but didn't finish the main quest with all of them. Like you, I've started a host of new builds but a lot of them don't last beyond the Greybeards. Only been to Sovngarde two or three times. ;)

I think it's one area where the game loses out to Oblivion and its forebears - The open-ended nature of all the races means it's easier to do anything with everyone unless you set yourself strict limits when playing. If I'm a warrior I'm not going to use any magic or ranged weapons, unless I'm playing a Spellsword or Ranger type etc.

One thing I've not done is put any meaningful time into Two-Handed. I've started a few warrior types but always end up switching to sword and board, although I rarely put many perks into Block.

Here's a great new mod, Enhanced Lights and FX. We've now finally got proper interior lighting. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDr3invFJI

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I have 65 hours on my DS play through and I am just about halfway through the game. I tend to do EVERYTHING in the game, and I also spent a lot of time running various weapons up to test them. Also, one boss in particular I spent a good 5 hours fighting (2 sessions) before I brought her down.

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Magic users in Skyrim scare the crap out of me. I can deal with big beasties out on the open map, but get me into a dungeon and jumped by a gang of necromancers and it's the fight of my life. They're so tricksy and it freaks me out to get blasted by spells. I usually panic and bumrush them, staying right in their face as I chop & slash away!:eek:

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Five hours on a single boss in Skyrim?! Which boss?

Ranged attacks = awesome for Necromancers. At higher levels they can easily go down in one hit if you sneak up on them a little.

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Or if you're not a ranged type, shout Become Ethereal (or Whirlwind Sprint if you haven't learned Become Ethereal) to get up close then charge up a few power attacks. ;)

I've been doing that a lot with my current character:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-19_00003.jpg

This is the one I'll be taking to Solstheim once Dragonborn gets released. ;)

Frig, I need to work on my sneaking or something. A lot of times I stumble on one and next thing I know the place is swarming with them.

Not Skyrim, Dark Souls. :)

Skyrim combat is kind broken, so I can always just run backwards while firing spells to win, then go Ethereal to escape if they get close, repositioning myself for more back-peddling. I play Skyrim more for exploration and quests etc.

If I try that in Dark Souls, even against some of the weaker enemies in the game, they just put their shield up to block the attack or dodge. Then they laugh at me. Then they kill me (again). My death count in DS has to be somewhere up around 600 deaths so far.

The boss in question was named Quelaag, and I hate the bitch with a passion. Most players phase into human form and put up a summon sign to warp another player into their single player game to help take her down (this is true with several other bosses in this game, it seems), but I had set up my usual hard mode rules for myself, even though that is the LAST thing this game needs, as it is the epitome of hard mode already. My rules are:

No summoning players

No walkthroughs

There have been a few times that I almost broke my own rules, and Quelaag was one of the situations where I thought it was just going to be too tough for me to deal with alone. However, after my first session, I analyzed her move set in my mind and developed a couple of new approaches to try when I fired it up again (you know, after my pills and therapy I was driven to by Dark Souls).

I will say...when I did get her down, I was completely elated. I was cheering and jumping up and down in my living room. Getting past a challenge like this was WAY more rewarding to me than pretty much anything in a recent game that I can remember.

Here she is:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5...8h2ko1_500.jpg

Half spider, half naked chick, with a completely ridiculous level of difficulty. She has several moves with her blade, and they each have a different angle and range, and the animations that begin them are very similar. Another move, flame bubble, one-shots you. Not to mention she spews lava all over the ground while attacking, and you must avoid it or get obliterated by a combo or a flame bubble while you wade around at 1/4 speed cathing fire...

By far, the hardest boss encounter I have ever ran across in a video game (at that point in time), and probably one of the more memorable and rewarding gaming experiences I have had when all was said and done.

Now, I attached a disclaimer above, that it was the hardest encounter at that point in time, as I am now hopelessly stuck on these two ********:

http://guides.gamepressure.com/darks.../470291656.jpg

Ornstein and Smough. Super fast lightning spear dude and tubby hammer guy. I fight them simultaneously. I managed to get Ornstein (fast guy) down once so far, at which point Smough grows to twice his size, doubles his HP, and gains lightning powers, you know, because he wasn't hard enough as it is.

I will pick this up again soon, but I needed a break from the abuse! :)

Still, one of my favorite RPGs of all time.

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Dark Souls 2 has been announced. ;)

I wish DS1 wasn't so broken on PC though, because I can't summon up any enthusiasm for console gaming right now. As it stands, controller support is bugged and you can't even have mouse look with keyboard/mouse controls - WSAD for movement then another 4 keys for look plus totally random buttons for everything else. It's daft. :(

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Oh, still didn't get the controller working? I know many people have had success in getting it working, but not without some doing - support for the PC port is clearly almost nonexistent.

Yes, hopefully I can get through DS before DS2 hits! :D

It helps to get some enchanted/muffled swag, or at least not to be stomping around in heavy boots (light armor boots make less noise, I'm pretty sure). Honestly, I'm in sneak mode the majority of time I'm in dungeons. If you sneak around with a bow handy you can kill lots of enemies in one shot, or at least take a huge chunk of their health before they even know you're there. Granted, I've been an archer most of the time so it's a more natural fit, but it works quite well even at middling levels.

I am, however, starting to use more one-handed, and I gotta say, for lots of enemies it's way better. Especially in dungeons, after they've already noticed you.

When doing a lot of archery I just do several things in concert: first, the sneaking, so I can get the initial shot in. Second, backing away slowly with the bow drawn so I can get more shots in before they reach me. And third, using some of the archery perks so that the shots stagger almost all enemies. That buys you a lot more time if you land most of the shots well. Throw in the 100 Archery park (a 15% chance of paralyzing most non-huge enemies each time you fire), and there are lots of areas where nobody can get within 20 feet of you if you play just right.

Say no more. My brother swears by that game. Not my cup of tea, but I get why it's so fab.

Meanwhile, pleased (sort of?) to report that some of the Skyrim stuff is still moderately challenging in the high 40s. Well, kinda; I've got enough potions that death is incredibly unlikely (except for Ancient Dragons, which can basically kill you with one hit if you stand directly in front of or behind them :eek:), but there are still some surprisingly overwhelming situations. Just finished a dungeon that had, literally, something like four Draugr Deathlords and a Dragon Priest simultaneously. I was stunned they'd throw that much at you, even at higher levels. But then, at like 48-49, I'm pretty sure I was playing the hardest possible version of that dungeon.

I'm pretty sure it's because the game recognises my G510 keyboard as a controller (had a similar problem with my G13 plugged in - needed to unplug it AND reboot for the game to work) and is set to default to the first device it sees so the USB Xbox controller I have isn't picked up. I've tried stopping Setpoint etc to no avail and the only solution would be to plug in another keyboard before booting up Dark Souls. I'll tinker around with it one day but the only other keyboard I now have is an ancient PS/2 one somewhere in the attic. ;)

I occasionally check the Dark Souls Nexus to see if there's a fix but nothing yet. Modders have straightened out most of the other PC problems though.

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Well, I hope you get it worked out so you can enjoy some DS on the PC! :)

Now, off to play some Anno... ;)

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Have you played The Secret World, Seds? I see that it's now using the Guild Wars model - Buy the game but no monthly subscription. Dunno if you get the full game this way or it's semi-crippled like the free WOW and SWTOR.

EDIT - Man, I'm loving the new Interior lighting mod for Skyrim.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-19_00008.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-19_00005.jpg

Big pics so click the thumbnails, and then click again to get the proper size. ;)

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I was in The Secret World beta! Very cool game, but Lisa's PC won't run it well, so I took a pass on continuing to play. The combat was a bit lacking, but the rest of the game was amazing.

That lighting mod IS impressive.

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I'm glad I gave up on Dark Souls after a couple of days.

Apart from the armour and clothing, it's the standard game textures too. I've found that a good lighting mod (and some DOF in the distance) negates the need for loads of texture replacers.

I gave Dark Souls PC another crack today and downloaded a mod which promised mouse look. Didn't work - Apparently it conflicts with certain Logitech gaming keyboards, just like the problem I suspect I'm having with my controller not being recognised. Damn. :(

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I don't think I could fight very well using the mouse in DS. Trying to imagine how I would manage to quickly slide around behind an enemy without the analog stick... I don't think it would work very well.

In a first person game, I am all about the mouse and keys, but for a third person game with controls like DS, I prefer the controller.

Anno is ridiculously addictive and very time consuming - danger!

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I tried a few minutes at the beginning using keyboard only and the camera controls were really unintuitive. From's big excuse in all this is that the PC port was only intended as a gift to fans who'd expressed an interest so a minimum amount of time was spent on it - Hence the lack of resolution options etc.

The really frustrating thing is that it was working perfectly with a controller right up until I changed my keyboard and mouse.

One last thing I'm gonna try (though can't see it making any difference) is to try a clean install from disc rather than Steam download. Sounds like a placebo. ;)

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Yeah, bummer on that. Hopefully they pay more attention to the PC market when DS2 rolls around.

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;D <<<<<< See this? This is me.

Dark Souls now working with controller - Hit up The Google again and finally found a solution which made sense - Go into Device Manager and disable anything which says HID Game Controller. It worked!

Of course, I'll have to remember to re-enable them afterwards. ;)

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Yes! How is it running?

Once I used DSFix to unlock the proper resolution (you can set the game options to your monitor's resolution but the internal resolution is always 720p without the fix) it looks rather good. DSFix also includes a DoF and SSAO.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-20_00002.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-20_00004.jpg

Thumbnails again. ;)

The FPS is locked at 30 which is standard enough for consoles but I'm so used to things at 60fps+ that I'm considering unlocking it. I'll need to read up on things though because in the early days of the unlocker, Microsoft saw the code change as a cheat (in online games, presumably) and there were tales of XBL bannings.

Mouse look (and mouse keys for both attacks, block and Use) is also working now but it still feels like a controller game at heart.

I'm gonna be away from games for a bit in the New Year, so I've enjoyed looking at Kotaku's Review of 2012 - partially coz of the wonderful-looking duds that I'll never get to play :D

Such as... this weird Skyrim clone, which might as well have been called ScouredRim by the sound of it....

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17nh...g/original.jpg

Dragon's Dogma. Ye olde CAPCOM graphics, a rubbish control system, and NPCs who talk about the lack of storyline. Kinda. It's a shame it seems to have been born out of the desire to innovate - even if its best bits do sound like rip-offs - IE clambering over giant baddies a la SotC.

Plus the dragons look like angry salamanders...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krf0ipw7KHQ

---

There were also some borderline oddities that I'd almost be tempted by, but probably won't...

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17z0...g/original.jpg

Tokyo Jungle - hunt, collect discs, erm, enjoy Lion King parodies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejBt-CWCv4E&start=9


Plus this highly involved strategy affair with random playouts (Think gay princes who eat their mothers. Potentially). Not really my thing, but strangely tempted.

Crusader Kings II

Proper gameplay vid here.

Ridiculous advert here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xIxrx5i1To

---

Also, the Transformers game is alright? Wut?

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I actually own Dragon's Dogma but I bought it around the time I got tendinitis in my hand so stopped using a game controller for ages. Might get round to playing it again but the few minutes I put into it weren't especially positive.

Plus, being forced to use keyboard and mouse for gaming did two things - Re-ignited my love for them as peripherals and knocked the final nail into my console coffin. As the embers of this gen slowly fade I've decided not to buy any more firelighters. Erm. :p

EDIT - Oh yeah, Tokyo Jungle sounds great. Barmy as a fruitcake but great...

PSN had it on offer a few weeks ago but I passed.

One new game which is intriguing me is Miasmata.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xbdpCWyLFw

GOG have it for under a tenner so it might be worth a punt. ;)

EDIT 2 - Bought it. Downloading now. :D

Also, Arcanum's $2.99 on GOG. You can't not buy it...

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Yeah Tokyo Jungle seems exceptionally... Japanese. The bit where they described it as basically a side-view platformer, with a bit of added depth, pretty much put me off tho. Plus it's on PS3, and I don't own that particular firestarter ;)

Miasmata looks like a mix between a survivalism simulator & that weird voxel-graphics 'demo' doing the rounds a while back. Any good?

Thanks for the response.

I put around 200-220 hours into Oblivion over 2 toons and probably 80ish into Skyrim so far but I just havent felt like playing it in ages.

I think I get a little bored with going into a dungeon, getting near to over encumbered then going round all the shops selling my loot, rinse and repeat. Before you say just dont pick up everything of value, well I simply can't do that. I once stood in a public toilet for over 2 mins having an internal debate on whether or not to pick up a urine soaked 20p piece.

Probably put 125 hours into Fallout 3.

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Heh, you'd like Gopher's Let's Plays then - The guy's a lootaholic. ;)

Golg - Just this minute installed it so ask me in an hour or two. Or tomorrow. :D

I've actually done a bone fide Skyrim mod. *ahem* Actually, I just replaced one of the music tracks from the fantabulous Psyrim mod with one which I loved from an Oblivion music mod, converting it to the weird .xwm format that Skyrim uses.

This is the track - It's freeware, btw, by some Scandinavian folk band, I think.

Link

It brings back great memories of oblivion.

EDIT - Gandalf, I see it says NW England on your profile. I lived for a few years (and got married in) Ormskirk. ;)

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I'm at almost 120 hours in Skyrim and I'm probably 40% through the main quest (just based on counting the number of main quests done/left from a simple list).

I often think I'm going to pick up the main questline again, and then don't for dozens of hours more. But this time I think it's inevitable. I've basically run out of side quests; the only ones left are bugged, tiny, or involve doing something horrendously evil. So on I go, I suppose. "Diplomatic Immunity" is the next quest, if you're curious. I'll be playing the whole second half of the game at, like, level 50+.

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You're playing an archer type, right?

What perks are you taking and ... *cough* ... what's your sign? :blush:

Right, I installed Miasmata and first impressions are a bit weird. The general vibe is like Far Cry 1 crossed with Myst as written by Ray Mears. It's kinda groovy but the awful graphics paerfomance lets everything down - I've got a decent rig and things are as bad on min settings as on max so I think the problem is on their end and not mine. I'll hunt around the GOG forums to see if there are any tweaks.

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Yeah, an archer, but I already hit 100 there probably a good dozen levels ago and took most of the more powerful perks: I think all five of the first level, effectively doubling damage, along with the one that staggers people, and the very last one, only available at 100, to paralyze targets 15% of the time. I have the one that draws faster, too, but not the slow motion one. I've made a point since to use more one-handed to try to get that up (it's in the low 80s right now).

As much as I prefer archery (up close combat is too hectic), I have to admit that in some of these dungeons (particularly when you get to the higher levels) it makes a lot more sense to stick with hand to hand weapons, at least after the first few arrows. Still love clearing out rooms without anyone getting near me, though, when possible.

I went on a two-hour spree to get my Smithing all the way up to 100 a week ago; probably gonna do the same with Enchanting soon.

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The SkyRe mod really changes your approach to archery - It's dependent on Stamina now as much as anything and, at lower levels, the longer you draw the bow the lower your stamina gets and thus the weaker your shot becomes.

Must admit, I love playing a sneaky assassin and clearing out whole dungeons of Draugr, stabbing and shooting them while they're still asleep. ;)

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Playing Catherine. Odd game, using the D-Pad to control him because I feel like you get more control that way. If you like puzzle solving, pick it up.

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Gah, retro gaming is so cheap!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...af/Fallout.jpg

Just got the orig Fallout for next to nothing. Little things have dated massively (for some reason having to click on little buttons rather than the menu words etc is aggravating) but on the whole loving the opening vibe - and the animated NPCs make up for the more bare-bones / green-text interactions elsewhere. And besides, I've only just learnt to run, so not that deep into it ;)

And also...

http://www.enviro-bear.com/eb%20ss%201.gif

The most realistic bear driving simulator for my new phone. (Not really ideal for finger control, but not really ideal for sane time-passing either. I do like how when he eats a mushroom he hallucinates that he's real though :))

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That definitely looks more realistic than the last few Bear Driving Simulators I tried. ;)

If it's better than Gran Turizzleymo (sorry :p), only time will tell...

I see the Christmas sales have started at the game download stores but nothing's taken my fancy so far. Gamersgate have Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition and Dragon Age 2 for £8.99 combined. So that's DA: Origins, DA: Awakening, all the DA: O DLC and Dragon Age 2 tacked on to the end. Amazing value. :)

Dragon Age 3 looks interesting so far, the little of it which has been revealed anyway. Just one of its exterior spaces is apparently bigger than the entire DA 2 map.

I am really excited for this game! I love the Dragon Age world!

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Loved the first game. Wanted to love the second but found it massively disappointing.

Still finished it though. ;)

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Quote from the Something Awful forums about Bethesda which made me chuckle -

"The real game in Bethesda games is modding them, the CTDs are the antagonists in the game. The game itself is just some sort of minigame they tacked onto it."

I've not reached that stage with Skyrim (yet) but I did with Oblivion. ;)

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I'm starting to get excited for the new Tomb Raider. It looks really good. Sort of Far Cry meets Uncharted.

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Aye, I've been wanting to love a Tomb Raider game since ... probably TR III. The series seemed to take a nosedive when it moved to PS2 and did what Assassin's Creed is doing now - Add more and more gameplay variations which dilute the original experience.

TR Anniversary was pretty good but it was essentially a reboot of the first game. I still play the first game on occasion. ;)

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Yeah, the first TR blew my mind and ticked me off. It was great. I couldn't really get into the others in the same way.

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In between parcelling presents I've been mucking around with Skyrim Redone. It necessitated a new character but that wasn't the pain I expected because the mod has become something pretty special.

I'd tried some earlier builds and something was definitely lacking but this time I sat down, thought about it and, most importantly, read the effin' manual. :D

Hands down the best overhaul mod Skyrim has had to date, and the auther has even made a nifty little patch tool so you can use new weapon and armour mods without hunting around for compatibility patches - They're overpowered otherwise.

Seds - Your combat concerns about Skyrim might just have been nuked. ;)

Combat is now harder without being silly. The first thing I noticed is that you seem to take the same amount of damage as you dish out to enemies, something I found to be heavily weighted in your favour in the vanilla game, especially early on.

I'm not far enough in to see how balanced the perk tree restructuring has been though, but it looks promising.

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Getting AC3, Dead Island and LA Noire this evening. Just happy to have some new games to play!

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L.A. Noire is a little disappointing but deserves to be played by all serious gamers anyway. They really nail the style and atmosphere and explore some interesting mechanics.

Posted this on Facebook but it works here better:

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I loved LA Noire but they could have done so much more with it. Hopefully the upcoming Whore of The Orient will be more fully realised.

Yeah, it was interesting, really like playing through an LA Confidential game, but it just felt lacking gameplay-wise. Definitely worth picking up for anyone who likes that setting and a good crime/detective story.

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I actually liked L.A. Noire for the gameplay. Felt like a modern day point-and-click in many ways. Even the solid GTA-style components to the gameplay helped it along. The only real issue I had was the main story, which was excellently told, but had a few too many moments that were lacking. I think it's a solid game either way.

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I have about 10 hours in on AC3. Not too bad so far. I expected a little more, but it isn't bad.

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AC3 is pretty damn good, I thought. Yeah, it could've been better, but I still enjoyed it immensely. I think I might give it another playthrough eventually. I got a lot of games for Christmas that I need to get through, like Killzone 2 and 3, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Resistance 2.

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Black Ops II, feels a little bit too much like MW3, which I hated. I still think Black Ops multiplayer was the best experience. I have close to 300 hours in multi alone. In MW2 I have about 8 and MW3 clocks around 12.

Black Ops II has some of the better story elements of the series, with a bad ass villain, some nice twists and an interactive storyline, which means that you're choices affect the outcome.

Haven't dived into zombies yet.

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Right, I've come to a conclusion on mods which un-level the Skyrim world: They're pants.

I was merrily bombing along with SkyRe installed and loving the harder combat when I started one of the early quests, the Find The Redguard Woman one. I was level 6 and had done the quest a few times in the past so knew what to expect, except this time when I entered a certain cave I was met by a bandit Thug and a Bandit Outlaw (instead of two standard bandits) who promptly one-shotted me. Then one-shotted me again the next four or five times I reloaded the autosave, and this was on Adept difficulty. With Lydia...

This was the game telling me that I wasn't meant to be in that cave just yet, of course, but it kinda breaks what Elder Scrolls games are supposed to be about in that you are free to explore pretty much everywhere right from the beginning. Unlike loads of people, I didn't have many problems with the way Oblivion went about its levelling so the big overhaul mods like Obscuros never lasted long with me. Skyrim deals with levelling a lot better anyway so I think I'm gonna stick with it, plus maybe a specific mod to make combat more challenging.

Good job I was only level 6 because that gamesave is now in the bin. ;)

Hopefully someone will bring out an overhaul mod as brutal (but brutally fair) as the Wanderer's Edition for Fallout 3. That'll probably take a year or two though. ;)

EDIT - Oh yeah, I snagged Anno 2070 in the Steam sale on Christmas Eve. Haven't played it yet. :)

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I played a ton of Anno on Saturday, but haven't had much game time since, what with all the family stuff for the holiday. Should be back to normal now, though!

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Been playing Killzone 2 recently. I have to say, even though it might not be the "Halo killer" it was hyped to be, it's still one of the most intense and enjoyable FPS games I've ever played, and this coming from a guy who typically dislikes the FPS genre. Plus, the graphics...oh sweet merciful Jesus, the graphics. I don't think I've ever seen a better looking video game in my life apart from any Crysis game. The story is a little thin, yes, but it only serves as a compliment to the terrific gameplay and visuals. And I forgot to mention how HARD this game is. If you want an FPS game with intelligent AI that will honest to God flank you, take cover, and try to pin you down, then Killzone 2 is that game. Sadly, you need a PS3 to play this, as it's an exclusive title.

It'll take me a while to get back into city builders because I've not played one seriously since Caesar 3.

Picked up The Secret World as well - £18 for an uncrippled free-to-play MMO seems good value (and half the price of Guild Wars 2, for example) and I'm liking what I see so far. Great atmosphere and story but the big downside I've found so far is that ranged combat is clunky as hell.

I'm having most fun with a Samurai sword. And huge sideburns. ;)

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...2-26_00003.jpg

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I really like that first proper adventure area in The Secret World. The starting areas were a bit plain, but once i got tot he spooky New England town, the game really got going as far as immersion is concerned.

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Yep, that's where I am at the moment. I'm liking the freeform aspect to levelling too, although I'm planning to structure it so I don't end up average at loads of things instead of good in a few.

The graphics on Killzone 3 is breathtaking, despite clunky controls. If you're a fan of 2, you'll be a fan of 3. Try it out.

I bought Killzone 3 along with 2. I plan on tackling it after I finish the campaign and play some more of 2's multiplayer.

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Just went through Blackreach. Whaaaaaat.

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Don't fire an arrow at the big sun/globe thing, whatever you do. Or .... maybe just fire a little one. ;)

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Hehe; I know what happens. I think it takes Unrelenting Force. Which I tried, but I think I need all three words of it, too. Oh well.

I'm at level 51 so a lot of the infamous areas that are supposed to smack me around are pretty easy. I know for some that ruins it, but that's how I always prefer to do it; run around like crazy leveling up and then enjoy the fruits of all that work.

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My clan (The Desert Rats) is really starting to get tight with our play in MWO. We have been doing arranged 8v8 matches with some other clans, and we have been kicking ass and taking names! Always looking for a few more pilots....

http://www.savingcontent.com/wp-cont...ch-pattern.png

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Finished AC 3 today. I didn't do all the little side quests though, so I won't call it completely beaten. 18hrs. Started LA Noire this afternoon. I like it so far.

If you ever fancy a quick change of character, I've found a great little mod - Random Alternate Start.

Basically, it cuts out Helgen and plonks you in Riverwood where you create your character and give him some basic gear (choosing between Warrior, Thief etc). You're then transported to one of over 400 random locations on the map with a quest telling you to investigate a dragon attack on Helgen...

It's great fun if you want to try a new build without having to replay the entire Helgen tutorial. ;)

DayZ anyone?

For those not in the know it's a popular multiplayer survival/Zombie mod for the military sim Arma 2 (yep, me neither) and it's effin' brutal.

You spawn with a flashlight, and not much else, into a drab post-apocalyptic Eastern European setting very similar to the STALKER games. You've now got to scavenge for everything else to help you stay alive - Hunger, cold, dehydration, Zombies and other players can all kill you.

It's like Left 4 Dead was made by a combined team of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach...

It's fantastic, by the way. I picked up Arma 2 (yep, me neither) on Steam and the DayZ mod was a free download which installed seamlessly. There'll be a standalone version soon, apparently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulT_Jcma6SU

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I am about 15 hours in on LA Noire. Not exactly what I expected, which seems to be the theme that is going with my games lately. Anyways, I really enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone who like playing crime solving games.

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Love LA Noire, but accept it's got many flaws. I had it on PS3 then saw it really cheap (£3.99 or something for the ultimate edition) on Steam so snagged it for the DLC, which is just more suits and crimes but they're well integrated into the base game. It's not a great port (better than Dark Souls though :p) but it's got some lovely visual tweaks, especially at sunset. Just wish there was a 1st person option for driving.

Sadly this RPG/Musical Theatre cross-breed has been cancelled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLLx9p55320

Bizzarro. I'd love to say it was a good idea in theory but ... erm ... I can't. ;)

1P driving option would have been nice. It does have more than a couple flaws, but its a good game.

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Just finished the Killzone 3 campaign. I don't see what everyone's gripe with the game is. Granted the story is nothing award-worthy or anything, but it deserves more than the reception it got. First off, it's much better than Killzone 2 as you get the point of view of the villains more often. The main characters all develop a little better, even if it's unnoticeable for some (I took notice). The gameplay is solid as ever and a bit faster than Killzone 2's. I'm glad they have this control scheme as it's a game that forces you to play by its rules than conform to the genre standard Halo and/or Call of Duty controls (which I could never truly grasp), and is great because of it. The action is as intense and brutal as ever, with more grandiose set-pieces than ever before. The intelligent AI more than make for a great challenge. This is a game I'm kicking myself for having missed when it first released, mainly due to my biased grudge against FPS games at the time. Definitely waiting for Killzone 4 to come out (I know it'll happen). Killzone 3, though, definitely gets a 9.5/10 from me mostly for the improved story and easier to manage controls.

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I didn't care for the cliffhanger myself. But thought the game itself was pretty good.

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Skyrim (and dlc) is 50% off on Steam right now. Oblivion and Morrowind 75% discounted. You can get all 3 games and all the dlc for under £35. ;)

That's a couple of years solid gaming, right there. :D

Not bought much in the current sale - The Secret World, Anno 2070, The Walking Dead (not tried it yet) and Evochron Mercenary (which might finally be the successor to Elite I've been waiting 20 years for). Need to get an old school joystick for Evochron though. ;)

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Finally started installing mods...and had some issues right away. :laugh: The Mod Manager is pretty fantastic under the circumstances, but I still had some compatibility issues, and even though my setup's pretty robust, it just couldn't handle the high-rest flora textures. Which is a shame because they're quite nice.

Anyway, it helps a lot because once you've been playing awhile the role playing aspect of having to abide by "the rules" feels kind of fulfilled, and things like Dovahkiin Hideout feel less like cheating and more just like the common sense way to play through the rest of the game, once you've spent a lot of time in it.

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You could always use the lower res texture pack. ;)

One tip I've got for freeing up VRAM is to use the optimised Bethesda HD Texture pack mod on top of the official one - Link

I pick the 'Hybrid' version which apparently frees up 80-100mb of VRAM and I get noticeably less stutter with absolutely no quality loss that I can see. It's always the first mod I use when I do a clean install. 'Hybrid + vanilla Normal Maps' gives even more of a boost but I noticed a slight drop in texture quality - still better than the game without the Bethesda HD dlc though.

The rule of thumb for me with texture mods is to always install the medium quality option because I find the difference between them and the 'full' option negligible for the resolution I play at (1920x1080). It also gives you a bit more VRAM headroom to install other stuff.

There's also a mod called ATTK which piggybacks SKSE and is supposed to optimise your RAM while making Skyrim the number one priority on your PC - Link

To be honest, I've not really noticed any difference but people have had success on PCs where the CPU is the weaker link than the GPU.

I play (with the same GPU as you ;)) at 1080p on Ultra with AA turned down to 4x (can't see a difference between that and 8x and it's far smoother) and Shadow Detail knocked down from Ultra to High (also a huge performance boost with no real loss of quality). All the other sliders are at max. There are stutters here and there (but even top end systems get them so I don't worry) but I'm generally hitting my 60fps cap all the time.

Finally, try the new Nvidia Beta drivers. I've found they give me a decent boost to Skyrim. Link

If you're unsure about Beta drivers don't bother but I've not had a problem personally. ;)

EDIT - I don't use many texture packs any more, apart from the Book of Silence armour one (which is stunning) and W.A.T.E.R for ... erm ... water. I use the vanilla flora textures with the Lush Trees mod - I found the Skyrim Flora Overhaul mod got a bit *too* pretty, personally, but he's constantly updating it so I regularly go back and try his latest builds.

Now that you're modding, here's what I'm running with. No links because it'd take me all night, but they're all Nexus mods. :)

aMidian Born Book of Silence
AOF Believable Hair
Auto Unequip Ammo
Bethesda High Res dlc Optimised
Better Dialogue Controls
Better Messagebox Controls
Blacksmith Storage Chests
Better Dynamic Snow
Better fast Travel
Brawl Bugs Patch
Categorised Favourites menu (plus the Oni config)
Convenient Horses
Dragon Knight Armour
Duel - Combat Realism
Einithar's Lantern
Enhanced Blood Textures
Enhanced Distant Terrain
Enhanced Lights and FX
Enhanced Night Skyrim
Ethereal Elven Overhaul
Faster Mining
Follower Trap safety
Guard Dialogue Overhaul
High Quality Food and Ingredients
Immersive Armours
Immersive HUD - iHUD
Jaysus Swords
Kenmod - Time on Loading Screen
Long Lost Smelters of Skyrim
Lore Based Loading Screens
Masters of Death - Rise of the brotherhood
Move it dammit
No Menu and Loading Smoke
Nordic ranger Outfit
Player Headtracking
Project reality - Climates of Tamriel (plus Dawnguard patch)
Psyrim Music Overhaul
Radiant and Unique Potions and Poisons HD (non-glowing)
Random Alternate Start
Realistic ragdolls and Force
Scout Armour (my favourite armour mod)
Shadow Striping Fix
Skill Interface retexture
Skyrim Community Uncapper
Skyrim Perk Enhancements and Rebalanced Gameplay (SPERG)
SkyUI (version 3.0 Beta2)
Smooth Blade Draw and Sheathe
Static Mesh Improvement Mod
The Dance of Death - A Killmove Mod
UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul (plus Dawnguard and Hearthfire patches)
Unique region Names
Unlimited Bookshelves
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch
Unofficial Skyrim Patch
W.A.T.E.R (plus medium res texture patch)
Warburgs 3D Paper World map (plus Dawnguard patch)
Weapons and Armour Fixes
Winter is Coming - Cloaks
XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement (plus Dawnguard Patch)

SKSE as well, pluss BOSS to sort the load order and prevent crashes.

Phew! My hands hurt now. :p

Couple hours into Conker's BFD

http://media.desura.com/images/membe...snap0003.1.jpg

That game had great multiplayer for its day, especially the "Beach" mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehXDYFbHM2A

I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet. Out of friends at the moment.

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The Walking Dead game was excellent in the story & characters department. The gameplay was pretty good but could've used better puzzles. Most of it was a thin excuse to keep the plot moving. The shooting/melee elements were the same; Simple but fun enough, basically there to break up the conversations.

Ironically, most of the game's intensity was in the conversations and the choices that would pop up, catching me offguard and tripping me up with some really difficult ethical dilemmas. That's the heart of the game: the moral struggles, the sudden twists and turns that often force the player to decide the lesser of two evils.

It was a grim experience in many ways, but there were just enough moments that were touching or funny to keep me invested. The voice work was outstanding, I thought. Particularly those of Lee & Clementine. Those two and their friendship gave the game a soul where it otherwise might have been a tired exercise in point & click survival horror, and upped the stakes tremendously.

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I've been hearing good things about The Walking Dead game, which surprises me. I might have to check it out now.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...ps041e2bd0.jpg

I finally started playing Game of Thrones (360). I mentioned a couple months ago that despite the mixed reviews, I still wanted to give it a whirl because I'm such a big fan of the books/HBO series.

So how is it?

Depends on how you look at it. The combat and item sets are incredibly rudimentary, the graphics are merely passable, and the voice acting is spotty. The skill trees are decent, and I like the additional skills that become available to Mors (skinchanger) and Alester (R'hlorr). But mechanically, I'd say the game is pretty middle-of-the-road and not apt to wow you in any area.

Conversely, the story is fantastic so far. Although George R.R. Martin didn't write the script, he did frame the arc of the two entwined stories, and even weaved them into the fabric of the first book. So if you've read that first entry, or if you've seen Season 1 of the series, you'll be able to follow along. It's pretty brilliantly orchestrated, as is par for Martin, and that alone makes the game worth playing if you're already a fan.

There have also been a few surprising segments to the game that elevate it from merely "fight your way from place to place." Mors, the Night's Watch ranger, is a bit flat in the beginning, though his story picks up nicely after a few missions. The red priest Alester, however, is immediately thrust into the role of "lord," giving you a bit more influence (and plenty of interesting decisions to make) early on.

Also, it's pretty cool knowing that the game not only features prominent characters like Cersei Lannister, Jeor Mormont, and Varys, but it also seeks to take players to locales from the book that haven't been featured prominently in the series. Mole's Town, Icemark, Chataya's Pleasure House, Maegor's dungeons... and I'm only really breaking the surface.

Long story short, while I couldn't really recommend the game to a non-fan, if you are a fan of Martin's world and you can appreciate great storytelling over pretty simply (but sometimes pleasantly varied) gameplay, give it a shot.

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Finally started the third game that I got for Christmas yesterday. Dead Island. I have played a little of it before because I rented it, I am almost through all the parts that I have already played, but I LOVE this game!

http://i2-store.walmart.ca/images/WM...nlarged_1.jpeg

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I started playing [i]Dead Island[i] a long time ago, but never got around to finish it.

still one of my favourite video game trailers of all time though.

Best part of that game is Jason Vorhees. Scary as hell.

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The trailer bloody annoyed me in the end - It's fantastic but the game itself is a clunky mess, at least it was when I played it (there have been patches since, apparently). I've been much warier of trailers which don't show actual gameplay ever since.

Aaaanyway, my final splurge in the Steam sale was for Far Cry 3 (£20, not bad ;)). Excellent so far, reminding me of Just Cause 2 in first person, and a huge improvement on the lacklustre Far Cry 2. Driving with a keyboard and mouse is pants though, but I'd far rather do that than fast travel.

This.

By the way, for those of you wait to buy games to save money (like me), which games would you make exceptions for? Games that are unlikely are fine, as are ones that will just probably be made but have no release date. For me, the no-brainers are:

• Portal 3
• Fallout 4
• The Witness

That's pretty much it. Likely, but not a sure thing:

• Spy Party
• Just Cause 3

Maybe GTA V, and possibly the next Elder Scrolls game assuming its gameplay is relatively Skyrimmy. But those first three are the only no-brainers. Only really terrible advance reviews could stop me from preordering and unlocking them either at midnight or on the first day.