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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Good news, bad news.

The bad: I tried to record some stunning landscapes and fluid game play tonight in Shadow of the Colossus! Too bad the HDR didn't translate. Looks horrible.

As to the good, CONTROL JUST RELEASED AN UPDATE!!! Actually I think it was like an hour ago. BOOM! I have a new mission post-endgame. The jukebox is finally in play...



The People's Republic of Clogher
Big (7GB) RDR2 update is currently downloading to my PS4. I wonder what goodness/nonsense lies within?

More online variety hopefully.
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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



The People's Republic of Clogher
Big (7GB) RDR2 update is currently downloading to my PS4. I wonder what goodness/nonsense lies within?

More online variety hopefully.
Moonshiners!

Will check it out later.



“I was cured, all right!”
-I'm playing a lot of Modern Warfare multiplayer since launch, very good game.
-Planning to start Titanfall 2 this weekend.

The new Xbox:



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right


Heck, this graphics mod for Skyrim is amazing! So photorealistic!
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



A system of cells interlinked
RDR2



Really great so far, with just a couple of minor niggles.

The controls are whack sometimes. Pick up your gun with RB, pick up your hat with X, Always aim your weapon with LT, except when you aim with RT...also, why this guy walk so slow?



Other than that...completely insane. Amazing world building, atmosphere and all the rest. Voice acting is great. My wife and I have a few hours logged in, and have done several missions, but mostly, we just explore/hunt and check out the cool vistas so far.
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I think (could be wrong as I haven't touched RDR2 since CONTROL released), but I think my biggest gripes included horse control when trying to ride through wooded areas. That may not be the controls though, as I'm wondering now if it's more about object interaction hit boxes (or whatever they're call now). I remember having huge issues running through a space between two trees or boulders that was clearly wide enough to pass through, yet my horse came to a full stop as if there was a wall there. Usually I'd get tossed forward off my mount. Drove me nuts!

Two other problems for me included travel time when running a mission. Sure, I guess I enjoyed the conversation, but that got old fast. Finally, I hated that I could rarely loot the bodies killed during these missions. There might have been 20+ bodies that I tried to loot, but because the group I was with kept progressing through the mission I was constantly being left behind to get shot. Or the mission might reset because I fell too far behind.

After a while I just started riding around hunting and exploring. You can fish too, if that's of interest. That's what I did in RDR and enjoyed it more for it.
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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear



A system of cells interlinked
I don't mind the travel time, as my wife and I like to take in the sights, and it gives me time to set the cinematic camera so my guy auto-follows the road, as I usually have to run catch my daughter before she crawls out in the street or something.

We sort of play like you do, doing mostly exploring and side stuff, with the occasional mission tossed in here and there.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
CONTROL
WOWZERS!!!!
The recent update provides a new mission type that puts CONTROL into light speed. I recorded my first real run through of this first staging ground and it was non-stop motion, shooting Hiss on roughly 3-layered platforms of stone cliffs and abandoned metal scaffolding.

Rough backstory: speaking with an NPC after a specific mission opens this new game area. I've already cleared the game so I can't confirm which mission it is, but I've read it's after "My Brother's Keeper." Without revealing too much process I will just say that a newly accessible Object of Power teleports you to a previously inaccessible area of the Black Quarry.

It costs material to use the transport so you have to continue exploring standard levels for loot, kills, and the unending supply of Board Countermeasures to earn them. The new level is staged in three progressive tiers of difficulty unavailable until clearing a lower tier. 1, 2, then 3. My first experience in stage 1 provided a timed limit of 24 minutes, I believe, during which I had to explore 4 unique areas, discover hidden mission items, all while attacking (mostly running away from) waves of Hiss agents. It appears completely random what level Hiss I encounter, and the areas reset with each player death. If I was able to clear area 1 of 4 it appeared to stay cleared on respawn; however, dying mid-objective then reset the objective. And it reset the Hiss waves while the timer continued down.

Once I triggered the first encounter, I got NO rest with barely time enough to read my objectives as they popped up. I died at least five times, completing only 2 of 4 objectives, and only partially clearing a third before my time was up. And this is only the FIRST OF THREE TIERS!!!

I am still traumatized by the rush! This is so far beyond what I was expecting as a final stage during my proper run through the Oldest House. I admit that I was slightly disappointed with how CONTROL ended. This expansion flips that disappointment right on its ass.

I read that the developers say tier 3 is impossible. Doubt it, but it's going to take several runs to learn some of the patterns. With randomized Hiss, what appears to be randomized objective locations, and random handicaps that are applied (for example, I started this with an aggressive -75% weapon Pierce damage!?), I imagine this is going to be a punishing uphill battle. I'm totally game for it and I'm excited to have new life here, in the Federal Bureau of Control.



there's a frog in my snake oil
So I've been trying out an HL2-inspired indie VR thing, in lieu of the real deal...

It's weak on the story, but doing well on the eccentric physics and interactions...

This Is Me With A Cardboard Box on My Head:




---

Its primary selling point seems to be this full on, 'full body', interactivity, and there are some fun toys to exploit it in the tutorial zones already...

This is cool, but comes with some intriguing downsides too. You'll realise you can't walk because your hand has got wedged the wrong side of a locker door, or you've somehow tucked your feet into a drawer. Your perspective shakes like a mad thing as you clamber up pipes. Lifting up 'heavy' objects requires you to kinda play-act their heft, or you start getting some nausea warnings from the conflict. (It's actually quite fun when it tallies though )

Gore Time in Garrys Mod

The primary way to take them out early on is just to hit them with stuff. And that means big old earnest swings aiming for the head for the most part. It's kinda sickeningly kinetic. And worse still, your main starter weapon is a claw hammer. Which is both a nasty instrument, and has an unnerving tendency to get its claw stuck in their armpit during a wild backswing, or some other inconvenient place. The next thing you know you're de-armed, and being tracked by a disgruntled fleshy avatar with a hammer jauntily sticking out of their buttock...

This was genuinely horrific...

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Once you realise that you can place the whole bin over your crimson nemesis (mainly causing them to die in an unfortunate physics accident), things get a lot more playful . Suddenly you're hurling bricks to slow them down, piling barriers in their way, tripping them up and running away giggling. It made it a lot less oppressive

---

And even the simpler acts can be distracting in this living-QWOP control scheme . I found just moving enormous yellow planks into place to form an aerial walkway, like a Telly Tubby on his first day at the building site, to be strangely zen

TLDR: It's like being the QWOP guy. If he was in a virtual hell. And kept tripping up zombies with his spare leg. Quite enjoying it now
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



The People's Republic of Clogher
Just came in here with an important public service announcement, before heading off to GOG.



I've got the game on disc, plus the fan-made launcher and ISOs of the game in order to get it running on modern systems. Don't have to now.



I've been really dissapointed with the PS4 lately. Call of Duty WWII, which I only played for the Zombie mode, had to be dropped because it took up 80 gigs. Fallout 4 took about 15 hours to get boring. What's with the slow-motion walking and the near impossibility of maintaining the sweet spot for a half decent walking pace. It's like trying to shield drop in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Very difficult. I really didn't like the dynamics between the little group of people that form your town and the kinds of jobs they offer. I think Fallout 4 would have to be played on PC with mods in order to be fun.

Lethal League is pretty good, but online play is completely dead.




The People's Republic of Clogher
I've been really dissapointed with the PS4 lately. Call of Duty WWII, which I only played for the Zombie mode, had to be dropped because it took up 80 gigs. Fallout 4 took about 15 hours to get boring. What's with the slow-motion walking and the near impossibility of maintaining the sweet spot for a half decent walking pace. It's like trying to shield drop in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Very difficult. I really didn't like the dynamics between the little group of people that form your town and the kinds of jobs they offer. I think Fallout 4 would have to be played on PC with mods in order to be fun.

Lethal League is pretty good, but online play is completely dead.

Is that the original Lethal League or Blaze? I've only played the original and its online was dead a couple of weeks after launch.

Damn good game though.



I don't know what Blaze is, I just have the original Lethal League. I play with a friend of mine, and we've been getting somewhat into it. It has so much potential. I wish it wasn't dead. If you want to play with me online sometime, I'd be down.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Some HL2.5 peeks here (and then a massive headset / gameplay consideration nerd out...)



Possibly useful for anyone recklessly pondering a headset purchase



The Adventure Starts Here!
Just got back from vacation and picked up three weeks' worth of mail. Among the junk mail was this mug someone sent me. I have NO idea who, since it came directly from RedBubble. But boy, it sure looks like something from Stardew Valley.



I sure hope the donor comes forward at some point.



The Adventure Starts Here!
NOTE: Only a handful of people even know I play Stardew Valley, including @Tacitus and @Yoda. Actually, they might be the only two! Coincidence? At least I'm related to one of them.