Video Games Thread

[jman]

Pah.. you've changed bud!    Cheers matey... looking forward to the big day.. and years of misery afterwards 

In gaming news.. I hear Nintendo are officially unveiling the NX today (3pm UK time) - this should be fun seeing what outdated monstrosity they have come up with.  And news of RDR2 was officially confirmed earlier this week.. for release, autumn next year - cant wait for that.

[harv]

No, I probably won't buy it at launch, Kieron. I don't go near the console much these days.

All the best for the wedding this weekend mate! 

That's what happens when you join the PC Master Race...although to be fair things can go tits up with PCs. I'm having to format my hard drive and reinstall Windows at the moment. Good job I've got an SSD so it's not going to take long.

First time I've had a problem with Windows to this extreme for YEARS though. I have all of my game development on another drive and have backed up everything that I need from that system drive so it's no big deal I guess.

[jman]

We'll see what happens when RDR2 releases years before the pc version and how long it takes before you give in  

[harv]

I've now got 70-odd GB of free space on my system drive now...I had been meaning to clear it up anyway lol

Not too sure what caused the problem TBH, it was definitely a driver issue for my GPU but the steps I took should have fixed it. Maybe a part of my Registry was corrupted somehow..?

I was tempted to do a format and fresh install of my system drive before I got my Rift this weekend anyway so fuck it lol

I'm torn between getting my Rift from Game, PC World or John Lewis, I reckon John Lewis might be my best bet because Game staff in particular are brain-dead so I'll have less problems at John Lewis if I get a wonky Rift to get a replacement.

[Late]

It's mainly family issues (one of the kids is ill, but I don't want to get into it).



"Nintendo Switch" (link to Eurogamer article)
God bless you, Nintendo. Stay batty
I have zero interest in buying the console, but I love that they insist on doing things differently. It gives people options, increases the size of the gaming industry's audience, and also keeps the main contenders on their toes.
We have details of how it bridges the console/handheld divide, but not much detail on the processor, resolution, or price. Releases in March 2017.

Not sure that showing off Skyrim on the console is a great selling point. Whilst it's nice you can now play it on a handheld, everyone who's interested in the game played it the better part of a decade ago (okay, the game's actually a few days short of 5 years old at the time I make this post, but it'll be over 5 years old when the console gets released and that qualifies as "the better part of a decade" )

[harv]

Meh. No VR..? Not interested, not even for Zelda

Not sure exactly when I'm going to get my Rift. I get a new credit card bill on 23rd so I might be able to get it tomorrow, I can't see the payment clearing sooner than Monday which means the interest won't be added to my bill on 23rd and I can pay that all off before I get my next bill on 23rd November.

I think I'll phone the credit card company tomorrow just in case, I need to phone them anyway so that they don't refuse the payment and freeze my account because they think my card may have been nicked. They did this when I tried to order my GPU a couple of months ago.

Pretty good that they do that TBH, even though it is a bit of a pain in the bum lol 

[harv]

Fuck it, I've just ordered it lol

Game was out of stock and PC World was out of stock so I ordered one from John Lewis. Looks like they've closed down the shop in Wood Green so I'm picking it up from Waitrose in Crouch End instead.

Can't wait to give it a go! First up is Dreamdeck, then Lucky's Tale and then I'm going to buy Dreadhalls. Time to do some washing so that I have plenty of clean boxers handy lmfao

[harv]

Got my credit card bill today and the payment hasn't cleared. Nice!

Am on the bus on my way home with my Rift! 

[harv]

I posted my Oculus Rift first impressions everywhere else apart from here earlier! Here they are:

Piss easy to set up, I had already downloaded the necessary software and games and stuff so all I had to do was plug everything in and away I went.

Headset is as light as a feather, really surprised me...I thought they might have sent me one without anything inside it by mistake lol

Headset is VERY comfortable and accommodates my glasses without a problem, although to be fair my frames are pretty small. I did originally try putting in my Lens Lab prescription lenses but had trouble fitting the things but my glasses fit fine without a problem so I won't bother with them.

My USB extension cables I bought a few weeks ago work fine but my HDMI extension cable doesn't. I've solved the problem by using a HDMI auto switch box that I bought from eBay for 99p and a spare 2m HDMI cable I had lying around lol
I've only tried Dreamdeck so far which was amazing, but for some reason I only appear to be 3 foot tall lmfao, and I couldn't find any way to reset the view. I've already felt my first sense of presence when I looked over the edge of the drop on top of the skyscraper, I went a little dizzy and took an immediate step back because my lizard brain thought I was going to fall!!! I'm fine with heights as long as there's no danger of me falling and looking over the edge had me almost crapping myself lmfao

As far as the quality of the display and the optics is concerned I immediately noticed the SDE when I first put the headset on but had no problem not noticing it once I started Dreaddeck.

Time for a bit of Lucky's Tale and then I'm going to buy Dreadhalls. I have clean underwear handy!

Have just had a quick go on Lucky's Tale and it's delightful!!!

Also had a quick go on Dreadhalls and didn't think it was so bad...but then the tension went up a couple of notches after I got the first eye and I nearly crapped myself with a couple of jump scares lol. The sound and music in this game is excellent, and is giving me a few handy pointers for my game that I'm working on.
No sign of any simulation sickness so far which is fantastic, I played around 30 minutes of Dreadhalls and didn't have any problems at all and I turned the rotation speed up a notch too. I'm having a quick break so that I can do my injection and have a bite to eat. Being an insulin-dependent diabetic it's going to be interesting to see if being in VR, particularly playing Dreadhalls or other horror games, is going to affect my blood-sugar levels. Ever since I was diagnosed at the age of 5 high stress situations have drastically lowered my sugar levels, I had to have something extra to eat before all of my exams and started having a hypo when I had laser treatment done on my eyes last month.

I'm REALLY happy with this purchase!!!

Since I posted that I've given Elite Dangerous a go and fucking hell, you have absolutely NO IDEA about the sheer size of everything until you play the game in VR. Everything is so bloody huge!!! I've started a brand new Commander to commemorate me getting my Rift so have gone all the way back from 70m credits to 1000 and from a Vulture armed to the teeth to a Sidewinder lol 

I also gave a 360 video horror experience a go called Catacombs where you're being wheeled through an insane asylum in a wheelchair. For some reason known only to themselves the first part of the experience is filmed out of focus and low resolution, I almost quit it because the quality was so bad but I'm glad I stuck with it because after a certain point the quality improves greatly and it REALLY freaked the FUCK out of me. I nearly 'noped' out of it lmfao

I'm normally pretty good with these sorts of things but this was all in your face lmfao 

[harv]

Also forgot to mention that I absolutely LOVE the Xbox One controller. I liked the 360 quite a bit too but the experience using it was ruined somewhat by the godawful D-Pad which Microsoft have fixed with the Xbox One controller.

I've tried Elite Dangerous, Dreadhalls, Lucky's Tale and Adr1ft so far, the most impressive two so far are Elite Dangerous and Adr1ft. Both have been 'WOW' moments. When you play Elite Dangerous 'flat' on a telly or monitor you don't have any idea of the scale of everything but in VR it's all pretty jaw dropping tbh.

Adr1ft is also amazing. You really do feel like you're floating in zero gravity in a bloody great big space suit and you feel a bit of real panic when your air starts to run out.

Lucky's Tale is delightful and whilst it's not up to the level of a 3D Mario game it's not a million miles away either - high production values, high budget and tight gameplay make this worth a purchase even if you didn't get it for free with every Rift.

Dreadhalls is also excellent, it leads you in gently and ramps up the stress, tension and scares as the game goes on. I haven't been tempted to 'nope' my way out of the game but I had a few 'ohshitohshitohshitohshit!' moments last night lol

I have now enabled supersampling with the Oculus Debug Tool and everything looks so much better, although to be fair it all looks pretty good before you start to supersample stuff. I have also worked out how to fit my prescription lens adapters into the Rift which means I don't need to wear my glasses whilst using it.

If you guys get a chance to try out a demo you should give it a go, not sure about Game but some John Lewis stores are doing demos of the Rift.

I've been waiting for VR to be in the home since 1982 when I read William Gibson's Neuromancer and it has definitely been worth the wait!

[Late]

I'd like to give it a try, but we I doubt we'll see it in shops round here (and it's rare I leave Teesside).
I don't feel I'm missing much though. If it takes off I'll get it.

[harv]

I can't see it not taking off tbh, it's pretty expensive right now but those prices should come down over time. It's obviously not going to sell a shitload at these current prices but they reckon that HTC have sold 140,000 by now and Oculus should have sold twice that by now being the stronger brand.

And yes, just in case any of you are wondering, I have checked out VR Porn - purely for SCIENCE of course - and it's GLORIOUS

[jman]

I thought PC gaming was supposed to be cheaper than console gaming.. try finding Civilization 6 for under £40.. impossible..

Apparently its supposed to be back to its best and shit hot - so bit annoyed I'm paying console prices for a pc game.

[harv]

I thought PC gaming was supposed to be cheaper than console gaming.. try finding Civilization 6 for under £40.. impossible..

Apparently its supposed to be back to its best and shit hot - so bit annoyed I'm paying console prices for a pc game.

Only if you wait until it's in a sale on Steam (or the Oculus Store).

[Late]

I thought PC gaming was supposed to be cheaper than console gaming.. try finding Civilization 6 for under £40.. impossible..

Apparently its supposed to be back to its best and shit hot - so bit annoyed I'm paying console prices for a pc game.

https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/sid-meier-s-civilization-vi-steam-key--3031-1

What do I win?