The Videogames Tab

Alright, Fallout 76 beta is sometime next month. Sounds like my GPU meets the minimum requirements, but it's about time for an upgrade anyway and a new Fallout game is the time to do it.

I must summon @Tacitus to guide me through this perilous journey. I'm kinda hoping I don't have to replace my processor or particularly my motherboard, but I probably should replace at least the former, I assume?

Keeping your existing motherboard will mean you're severely limited in terms of CPUs. If I was building a system tomorrow I'd go AMD for processor, with the new Ryzen chips. You'll also need new RAM, as the format has changed now.

I honestly don't know if I have another full gaming PC build in me. I'm playing more and more on console these days and the temptation of spending £300 on a PS5/Xbox Two compared to £1000+ on an entire gaming PC (I'll need a new mobo, CPU, RAM too) is strong.

If I stay at 1080p for my monitor, I think I can get another 3 or 4 years out of my existing setup.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Well, well, well...

Yeah, I hear ya'. I'm still stuck on PC and probably always will be.

Sadface on motherboard, was really hoping to avoid an overhaul, but I guess it's been a few years and it's time. Might as well do it now before playing F76. Thanks dude. I'll try not to lean on you too much for assistance this time.

You're going to be able to fit another Haswell i5 or possibly an i7, depending on your motherboard, to your current mobo, and that's it. That's about 3 generations behind the current Intel CPUs and they won't be any cheaper to buy - Old stock like that is generally bought as a replacement for a failed part on a commercial machine and is priced high because sellers know that the buyer is running out of options.

I sat down the other day and asked myself what I actually needed a gaming PC for. Strategy games and traditional rpgs are appearing on consoles all the time, and I've spent enough hours in PS4 XCOM 2 to know it's a perfectly serviceable way to play the game. Heck, Civ 6 is even getting ported to Switch!

Performance? The more powerful versions of current consoles have done a lot to bridge the traditional gap with more and more games having 'framerate' modes.

Modding? Played around with mods on the Xbone Skyrim recently and, while the depth and breadth of mods is nowhere near that of the PC, the majority of the popular ones are there and they work fine, even on my underpowered One S.

I'm talking myself out of it ...... until Cyberpunk 2077 gets released, anyhow.

Nice.

Now if only they'll change the dialogue options to make it abundantly clear what the hell you're choosing. I'm too much of a dunce for this wordplay! I've destroyed so many lives already.

The Lenovo headset (no controllers) is on sale for $100 in the US. Just sayin

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Dammit!

Not long till red dead 2 is released. Time is moving fast!

I'm ready. I don't get in games as much as I use too, but a single player game like this is unavoidable.

It is. It might make me buy into the current gen, which I’m yet to do lol. Will wait it out and go for it when there’s a price drop though...maybe Boxing Day sales. That’s how patient and lame I am.

The new Shadowrun games are really good. I hope the series gets more momentum soon.

Fallout 76 B.E.T.A.: October 23rd on Xbox.

October 30th elsewhere.

Gah, end of the month. Gonna be a long few weeks.

Damn you tiny indie company, damn youuuuu...

So today I learned you can have a 'Second Person' game:

Bought Spider Man. Will probably trade Spider Man.

Thankfully, I picked up the disc in a moment of weakness and didn't buy it digitally. It's fine, expertly made etc etc.

It just leaves me cold, perhaps if the combat was a bit better (or if it eventually clicks with me) I'd change my mind, but I can see me giving it 15-20 hours and then moving on. The game's got personality, just not one that I'm in tune with.

Star Seated Zen

There are many many many things I could go into. And they're always worse. But a fun thing to focus on is... This guy...



Joe Ponsford graduated in May 2017. He is now a Senior Motion Capture Specialist for CIG. If you were very generous you could say he's got 2yrs experience in total. That would qualify him for the basic Motion Capture Specialist role they've advertised (supposedly since Jan 2017). Somehow he has slotted straight into a Senior role. (Senior roles seem to require 3-5yrs+ experience as a rule, depending on the speciality & company).

Despite the hugely slashed running time of CIG's weekly dev-chat videos these fresh faced guys are still cropping up. (Or slightly oddball guys like this new, perfectly experienced, UI guy who demonstrates a concept in Photoshop and talks about being a passionate long-time backer...)

The rumours that Whales and kids make up a lot of the new intake seem feasible, at any rate

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Chris Roberts - Genius Watch:

An interesting insight into both Citizens and Chris's cravings was carved from a prolonged German Q&A session:

I love the idea that this (competent-seeming Design Lead) may have had to talk Chris down from wanting to represent millions of individual diamonds in game...

This does also explain the terrible shop menu system they have where you go along shelves of giant indistinguishable engine parts and select them visually. (And why they're finally, sensibly, adding a 'normal' kiosk system to allow them to browse these things )



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Needless Tech News:

Faceware FOIP is in the pre-Pre-Alpha branch:





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Bedtime Story:

Click for a delightful dip into the Goon hivemind:

Too bad you don't have a physical copy of p5 to sell .