Video game spotlight thread
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@pie_flavor The only other thing I know it for is "The console you can seriously piss off your friends while playing New Super Mario Bros U by being a dick with the tablet's ability to create platforms over their heads when they jump", because Achievement Hunter had a series where one person decided to do ONLY that for the ENTIRE series.
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@cartman82 said in Video game spotlight thread:
Rage
RAGE on Steam
Powered by id’s revolutionary id Tech® 5 technology, RAGE is an intense first-person shooter with breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore, and jaw-dropping graphics!
I got this on one of the sales. It seemed like a meh game, but I figured, 2 euros for a AAA shooter made by Id software, how bad could it be?
It's bad. Rage is an amazingly incompetent game.
Imagine Fallout 3 or Borderlands, and then remove everything that makes those games fun - exploration, finding better and better weapons, cool story, RPG elements, humor. Then make action dull as hell. That's Rage. Hell, even graphics is nothing special.
WTF happened to Id software?
I thought it was all about the graphics? (Well, at least when it was new, my vintage graphics card never was able to render it decently in all its glory...) I couldn't help but run low on ammo, do a whole lot of backtracking and then get pissed at how the dificulty of The Scorchers DLC missions is double that of the original missions (wait, I needed a ton of armor-piercing rounds for this mission? Damnit!).
EDIT: Just wanted to add that I never played it to the end. What with a choppy framerate and the "running out of ammo" thing I guess I just lost interest. Maybe when I build myself a new gaming PC...
I have to agree with @blakeyrat that you saw the same thing on (vanilla) Doom 3: it's not so fun unless you're a hardcore fan.
It could do amazing things with shadows, scripted stuff and GUIs (seriously, it had mini-games made in that GUI scripting framework). It just stopped being fun quickly when you constantly had to switch between your gun and your flashlight and realized that those pitch-black shadowy corners should actually be lit up due to radiosity or human night vision, or when you had to count each bullet because it was in short supply yet enemies could pump you full of lead / plasma without dropping any pickups.
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@jbert said in Video game spotlight thread:
I thought it was all about the graphics?
It was the first game with "gigatextures" or whatever the fuck id called them. Textures big enough that it could basically guarantee every pixel of render was a pixel of texture if your character shoved his face right up against a wall.
Problem is, it didn't work. At least not for me. Probably 50-60% of the time the textures would fail to load high-res versions when I got close and I'd just see the low-detail versions all the time.
@jbert said in Video game spotlight thread:
I have to agree with @blakeyrat that you saw the same thing on (vanilla) Doom 3: it's not so fun unless you're a hardcore fan.
Interestingly my big gripe with Doom 3 is the opposite of Rage-- it's too fucking long.
You play and play and play and play and get to hell and play and play and FINALLY THE BOSS BATTLE and you beat him and, whoops, back to Mars for another 8 hours of gameplay you're utterly sick of by now.
Other people bitched about the monster closets, but given the choice between monster closets and "enemies just teleport in randomly out of nowhere" that Half-Life, for example, does, I'd take the monster closets.
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@e4tmyl33t I'm so happy they restarted that this month.
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Steam Store Link (get rekt @ben_lubar)
Join 20+ million players and experience a new kind of battle royale in Realm Royale Reforged! Choose your class, forge deadly weapons, and master powerful abilities to be the last champion standing. Mount up alone or with a team to explore a fantasy world while outrunning the deadly fog.
Realm Royale is yet another free-to-play battle royale game. For those who don't know what that is, 100 players fight to the death on a large static map where the playable area shrinks over time. It's themed around Paladins, with weapon and character models being reused as well as the overall art style. Unlike other battle royale games, it's class-based - you can play as Warrior, Engineer, Mage, Hunter, or Assassin. Abilities can also be picked up in chests along with weapons and potions. There's about as much variety to the weapons as Fortnite's, so you don't have to juggle weapon tables in your head. If you get killed, you turn into a chicken, and will auto-revive in 30 seconds if you're not killed again before then. Unique to Realm Royale is the shard system - any items you can't or don't want to use can be disenchanted into shards, which can be used to forge top tier items and potions in Forge areas. Each class has a special legendary weapon which can only be forged, but it also requires two chicken trophies which are gained by killing other players.
I enjoy Realm Royale a lot more than I enjoyed Fortnite. While Fortnite obviously has a better engine and has more whimsy to it, it's also got a stupid-high skill cap with the building mechanics. Whereas with Realm Royale I actually felt like I could have won a game - the skill cap is purely shooter based, like PUBG. I also appreciated the Paladins-esque elements like the class system and the horse riding as they added flavor to this game. Long story short if you think PUBG is a badly written mod and Fortnite is in serious need of a skill-based matchmaking system but you enjoy the genre nonetheless, you will likely enjoy Realm Royale.
It is still in alpha and I experienced my first crash earlier today, but if you're not the type to buy cosmetics you could barely tell anything is missing.
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Maplestory 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eG6YXs9FFM Yes really.So, I'll start this by saying that I really like the first game. The monetization probably annoys some people, but the amount you can do without paying money puts every other game I've played to shame, so I'll ignore that. The content is insane, and the amount of characters with unique storylines, and general voiced quest lines... Not much in the world has anything like as much content, especially for free. And the art and music are top-notch! I sometimes just listen to the music while working!
So I was hesitant when I heard about a sequel, more when I heard it was 3D, and even more when I found out that the map was going to be made of blocks. I mean, that is radically different, and couldn't possibly have any level of content, right?
But then I saw a video of some gameplay, and how much effort they put into their PR videos, and thought it would be worth signing up for the beta, which started yesterday. I luckily got in (Because it's an actual closed beta like games used to do!) and am really enjoying it.
Like the first game, it's a bit of an action RPG much like Diablo, except more so now that it isn't a 2D platformer. Since skills aren't used in your mouse direction, you really have to play it with keyboard controls or a gamepad, but it's designed for either and works great.
There's good enemy variety (Though I've only played until around level 13 so far), lots of changes of scenery, and most importantly for an MMO, general... stuff. There are sidequests as you wander through zones, so you can put off main quests if you want with no issues, and random event minigames just happen: You can join a car race, or stay off dangerous panels (this is the one I tried, and seeing hundreds of people pour into the lobby was awesome!), or even other things.
My priest doesn't have the best maneuverability, so sometimes dodging attacks is hard... but that's a thing you do, which is always a plus. Also, there is equipment in the game that they let you retexture freely, which is really really cool. Honestly, this game beat my expectations by quite a lot. I recommend to anyone, try it out when you can! The beta is still closed and ends on August 1st, and we don't know when they'll open it properly, but watch for it. It's good.
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Brogue
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS
Price: free
URL: https://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/
This is an ASCII roguelike -wait wait don't stop reading, it's not that bad! This is a roguelike game created by Brian Walker (aka Pemberton) which prides itself on simplicity and a quality interface. You can play this game using only the mouse if you like, and the menus themselves highlight their hotkeys. The game also provides you with as much basic information as it can, such as how much damage you can cause to an enemy:
to equipment stats and effects of magic items:
The game also does a great thing by requiring confirmation for dangerous moves (e.g. into lava or off the side of cliffs). If I was holding the left/L key and accidentally ran up against the edge of this hole, a menu pops up asking me to confirm my move:
The game also has some nice ambient glowing/fading effects for fire, lava, and water (which can be disabled), as well as cool animated explosion, gas, and magic bolt effects. The game uses SDL for rendering, so you don't need a terminal (though the game does have a terminal frontend option).
However, all this is relatively unimportant compared to the main way in which Brogue is different from most other roguelikes: progression, classes, and skill levels are all equipment-based. You don't choose a class or race at the start of the game -- you always start with the same basic items. What 'class' you end up using is determined by which weapons you decide to pick up while playing. Each weapon is unique: swords and daggers are your basic stabby weapons, greatswords do more damage but take 2 turns, flails do damage around you as you move, axes deal damage in all adjacent squares, rapiers allow you to perform 2 attacks in one term, whips are ranged weapons, and staffs are your classical caster's weapon (recharging over time).
Progression is also item-based. Potions of strength increase your character's strength (their only stat aside from max HP which can be increased through a potion of life). Increased strength allows you to use stronger/better weapons and armor, and adds strength bonuses to low-strength items. Items are upgraded by applying scrolls of enchantment to them. Enchanted items' effects are simply leveled up: basic weapons deal more damage and require less strength to equip, while items which have magical side-effects (healing, reflection, vampirism, speed) have the magnitude of their magical effects also increased.
The final great thing about this game is the fact that you don't need to read a wiki before playing the game. Walker has said that his goal when designing Brogue was to create a game which simply didn't incentivize players going online and reading everything up.
As you can tell, I love this game. I've never played another roguelike before -- Brogue is my first one, and after looking at stuff like Nethack and DCSS, the interfaces turn me off. Give Brogue a shot!
Walker also did a short talk about his approach to advancement and player choice in a game with procedural-generation, using examples from Brogue. If you're into roguelikes or RPGs, I strongly recommend taking a look:
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@bb36e said in Video game spotlight thread:
I've never played another roguelike before
You should try out Enter the Gungeon. In fact the Advanced Gungeons and Draguns update dropped today.
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@bb36e said in Video game spotlight thread:
You can play this game using only the mouse if you like, and the menus themselves highlight their hotkeys.
So he was just too fucking lazy to make graphics?
That does not impress me.
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@blakeyrat the ASCII tileset didn't appeal to me at first either, however after spending some time playing I think it was a good decision -- the tileset forced me to use my imagination to envision fights and scenery, making crazy fights and stupid deaths all the more vivid.
Some people have made a graphical tileset, however IMO it makes the game somehow look even more dated.
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@pie_flavor said in Video game spotlight thread:
Advanced Gungeons and Draguns
Ha! I've heard that EtG is more of a roguelite (real-time combat and exploration etc), is this true?
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@bb36e I never got into a real roguelike (doomrl was the closest), but this one seems fun.
I might try the tiled version over weekend.
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The Brogue post reminded me of
I Am Overburdened
I Am Overburdened is a silly turn-based roguelike full of crazy artifacts and a "hero" who has 20 inventory slots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIiIYIkPiOU
It looks super simple, and like there's not much to it. That is correct. And yet, check out my shameful Steam stats:
The game is well made, simple to use and has that "just one more run" hook working flawlessly.
The connection with Brogue is in the advancement system. You don't have the usual classes or skill tree, but gain strength through the items you find. Each one is unique and can significantly change play style for the rest of the run.
One potential downside is that, as I've mentioned above, "I Am Overburdened" is super simplified. There are only 4 keys used in the game (the arrows) and not that many decisions to make. It's almost like opening a solitare. Mindlessly tap tap tap, and see what items rng bring you this time.
Since I was using the game as a podcast fidget spinner, this was perfect for me. But for those who are looking for a super tension filled and involved roguelike, you won't find it here.
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@bb36e My first roguelike in 1992 (1992!) had graphics. So sorry I don't buy it.
I'm not asking for Doom 2016, but at least showing the monsters as a little icon of a monster instead of the letter U or whatever would be the bare minimum effort.
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
So sorry I don't buy it.
Not sure what you mean here.
Either way, different strokes are the spice of life
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@bb36e said in Video game spotlight thread:
Not sure what you mean here.
I don't buy that reasoning. I don't agree with your sentiment that the game is better because it's lazier. I think it's just lazier.
If it's easier for you to imagine a pitched battle with the letter U representing a lizardman than it is to imagine a pitched battle with a
representing a lizardman, that's all in your own personal brain, not some kind of universal truth.And having played hundreds or thousands of terrible indies, they all have one thing in common: they're lazy. In fact I usually praise the ones that are unfun but obviously a lot of work went into them. (Like Dragon's Wake which I played recently but sadly did not film. And honestly Dragon's Wake is pretty fun, it just has a terrible difficulty cliff on the final boss and their auto-save system makes it nearly impossible to go back through for the alternative endings because if you miss a required event by even a second, it auto-saves and oops start the game over.)
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@blakeyrat you say: lazy. I say: on tight budget so they prefer to focus on good mechanics rather than looks, especially if they're never going to look as good as AAA games.
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@gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
@blakeyrat you say: lazy. I say: on tight budget so they prefer to focus on good mechanics rather than looks, especially if they're never going to look as good as AAA games.
Exactly.
"Lazy" implies an aversion to hard work, and this categorization completely ignores the simple fact of talent. Most people who are good at coding are lousy at drawing. I know I am! No matter how much honest effort I put into it, I'd never, not even in a decade of work, manage to come up with a good-looking tileset.
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@masonwheeler said in Video game spotlight thread:
"Lazy" implies an aversion to hard work, and this categorization completely ignores the simple fact of talent. Most people who are good at coding are lousy at drawing.
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Suddenly we're not talking about laziness anymore; we're talking about the developer's financial situation. And that's a whole 'nother ballgame.
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@masonwheeler Well there's also about 47,000 free tilesets on the interwebs he could have used.
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@blakeyrat I'm'a go ahead and guess that it was a stylistic choice, that he made knowing it would turn some people off. Text interface only, or at least option, is a very old thing in roguelikes, old enough that ancient Mac screenshots are too new to counter.
I didn't like Brogue much. I liked DungeonCrawl: Stone Soup better.
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@gribnit said in Video game spotlight thread:
I'm'a go ahead and guess that it was a stylistic choice, that he made knowing it would turn some people off.
Also lazy.
@gribnit said in Video game spotlight thread:
Text interface only, or at least option, is a very old thing in roguelikes, old enough that ancient Mac screenshots are too new to counter.
Eating rotten food and bread filled with sand is a very old thing in dining. Yet it's still shitty.
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
@masonwheeler Well there's also about 47,000 free tilesets on the interwebs he could have used.
Of which you can probably actually only use one--if you try to mix multiple tilesets you'er likely to end up with conflicting art styles that clash badly--and then you're constrained in what you can put into the game by what you have tiles for in that one tileset. Games without that constraint have a lot more room for creativity.
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@masonwheeler Ok.
None of this is changing my mind that the guy is lazy.
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@blakeyrat If the only axis by which you measure effort is how shiny the graphics look, well... what comes to mind is a slightly sideways application of this famous quote:
For example, ADOM is often considered one of the greatest roguelikes of all time, if not the best. It has a massive game world and incredible levels of complexity and depth in the mechanics. After a few decades of development, the author finally put together a custom tileset (because it was too complex for anything not custom made) and very few people actually cared, because it didn't add much of anything to the game. The people who had been following it for so long weren't playing for the graphical sophistication, but for the gameplay.
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@masonwheeler said in Video game spotlight thread:
@blakeyrat If the only axis by which you measure effort is how shiny the graphics look,
But that's not what I'm doing. He didn't make graphics at all. That's what we're discussing.
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@blakeyrat Sure he did. They're just text-graphical in nature.
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@blakeyrat escape codes count, once you're windowing - bresenhams' are used - etc - s' terminal graphics that is.
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@bb36e said in Video game spotlight thread:
@pie_flavor said in Video game spotlight thread:
Advanced Gungeons and Draguns
Ha! I've heard that EtG is more of a roguelite (real-time combat and exploration etc), is this true?
Yes. The game goes from top down shooter to full on bullet hell as the levels progress.
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
Oh man, a text-based roguelike using emoji as sprites instead of ASCII would be hilarious.
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@pie_flavor pipe through sed
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@masonwheeler said in Video game spotlight thread:
this famous quote
which is a complete lie, and in fact Einstein believed the exact opposite and had disdain for less intelligent people.
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@pie_flavor Source?
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Can't find the one about disdain but this one comes close:
Why we should forget Einstein's tree-climbing fish | Maclean's Education
Prof. Pettigrew on how the genius truly viewed education
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@pie_flavor fallacy fallacy over quote misattribution, play 3 hours of NetHack text mode.
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MoonQuest
A procedurally-generated adventure game! Explore unique worlds with wild forests, ice-capped mountains and ancient ruins. Talk to giant snails, seek out magical items, and forge the weapons that will help you on your journey!
Did someone say they wanted a roguelike with non-text-based graphics and sub-pixel butt jiggle? No? WELL WE'RE DOING THIS ANYWAY!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebufr26PWHs
The objective is simple. The moon decided to fuck off one day and you need to make a new one with your handy-dandy Moon Machine. It needs two moonstones, one of which is deep underground guarded by spiders, and the other is high in a castle keep.
Play as one of six humans with clothes, a green glowing man, or a purple amphibious woman. There are more characters available, but you'll have to figure out how to unlock them in-game.
Items break after too much use (or misuse), and using a broken item is generally a bad thing - broken armor won't protect you at all, broken helmets will block most of your vision, and broken weapons and tools are weaker than punching things with your bare hands. A word of warning: cursed armor can never be removed or replaced, so don't put on a cursed helmet unless you're absolutely sure you won't take enough damage to break it.
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@pie_flavor said in Video game spotlight thread:
@bb36e said in Video game spotlight thread:
I've never played another roguelike before
You should try out Enter the Gungeon. In fact the Advanced Gungeons and Draguns update dropped today.
I picked this up over the weekend since it was on sale. Wow am I bad at this. I can't get past the second floor, and half the time I can't even make it past the first floor.
For reference, I'm using an Xbox One controller connected to my PC.
So far, I've attributed my failures to the following:
- I suck
- The "right stick to aim and RB to shoot" combo is...actually kind of annoying. I get that it's easier to quick-fire using the shoulder buttons than it is using the triggers, but I may swap RB and RT since my index fingers naturally rest on the triggers to make it easier.
- I constantly forget about the dodge-roll thing. Also, I'm crap at timing it when I DO use it, so I'm usually out of the first-half invulnerability window when I'm crossing a bullet.
- I also constantly forget that I can kick over tables to use them as cover.
On the upside, some of the guns are hilarious (I particularly like the Mailbox, the Witch-wand thing, and the Molotov Launcher once I figured out not to fire it at something right in front of me).
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@e4tmyl33t said in Video game spotlight thread:
The "right stick to aim and RB to shoot" combo is...actually kind of annoying. I get that it's easier to quick-fire using the shoulder buttons than it is using the triggers, but I may swap RB and RT since my index fingers naturally rest on the triggers to make it easier.
Any game that doesn't use the MAIN triggers for the most common action is evil. EVIL!
I also can't hit RB while accurately controlling the right analog stick due to the way I hold the controller and/or the size of my hands. It can't be done.
Don't even get me started on games that use "press down on analog sticks" WHILE USING THE ANALOG STICKS TO MOVE. Look, I can use them as buttons, OR use them as D-pads, but there ain't no way I can do both at once, game. I know some cyborg Japanese gamers can, but I ain't them, ok?
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
@e4tmyl33t said in Video game spotlight thread:
The "right stick to aim and RB to shoot" combo is...actually kind of annoying. I get that it's easier to quick-fire using the shoulder buttons than it is using the triggers, but I may swap RB and RT since my index fingers naturally rest on the triggers to make it easier.
Any game that doesn't use the MAIN triggers for the most common action is evil. EVIL!
Not as evil as those that use triggers as buttons with deadzone less than 50%. I've used more ammo in Uncharted accidentally discharging than in actual gunfights!
Don't even get me started on games that use "press down on analog sticks" WHILE USING THE ANALOG STICKS TO MOVE. Look, I can use them as buttons, OR use them as D-pads, but there ain't no way I can do both at once, game. I know some cyborg Japanese gamers can, but I ain't them, ok?
It all comes down to gamepads having too few buttons. Adding 3-4 more in the "right D-pad" zone wouldn't hurt much. Also, I wish the next generation of consoles would rediscover the N64's backside Z button, and make two of them - one for each hand. They're super-useful for things you do simultaneously with other things, like scoping.
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@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
Not as evil as those that use triggers as buttons with deadzone less than 50%.
Unless it's a driving game, in which case you kind of need to do that.
Did you know in the Xbox 360 controller, the face buttons are ANALOG? Trufax. No game ever used them that way, as far as I know. I guess a game where you take photos could emulate the half-press of a camera shutter release...
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
It all comes down to gamepads having too few buttons. Adding 3-4 more in the "right D-pad" zone wouldn't hurt much. Also, I wish the next generation of consoles would rediscover the N64's backside Z button, and make two of them - one for each hand. They're super-useful for things you do simultaneously with other things, like scoping.
I'd argue that if you don't have enough buttons on a modern game controller, you designed your game shitty. At some point, it's the game at fault, not the hardware.
There are some paradigms that controllers have issues with though. For example, mapping the MMORPG and MOBA concept of "skill 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ultimate" in a linear fashion doesn't really exist anywhere on an Xbox controller while it's very easy on a keyboard.
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
I also can't hit RB while accurately controlling the right analog stick due to the way I hold the controller and/or the size of my hands. It can't be done.
I think this is part of my problem. I have to contort my hands funny to do it, and it means I can't easily readjust my right hand to hit any of the other main buttons (namely, B, which I use for dodge-roll instead of LB because the LB button on my controller is flaky)
@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
Don't even get me started on games that use "press down on analog sticks" WHILE USING THE ANALOG STICKS TO MOVE. Look, I can use them as buttons, OR use them as D-pads, but there ain't no way I can do both at once, game. I know some cyborg Japanese gamers can, but I ain't them, ok?
This one has you click in BOTH analog sticks to use a "blank", which clears the screen of all enemy bullets and leaves them unable to fire new ones for about a second. Which you're supposed to use while using both sticks to move + aim. That'll probably get rebound to X or something (since while X is pretty useful as its default of "reload", I've so far found a couple of guns have a special effect on firing the last bullet in the magazine and once you're empty, hitting the Fire button again reloads anyway...)
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@e4tmyl33t said in Video game spotlight thread:
This one has you click in BOTH analog sticks to use a "blank",
Hahaha no.
Is this one of those games where like 80% of the difficulty comes from the controls being utter shite? Which was a big part of why Dark Souls was difficult, sure the timing was precise but also the controller was laid out by a complete retard/asshole.
"Your Dark Souls character can do everything the character in Skyrim can do, so let's make the layout AS DIFFERENT FROM SKYRIM'S AS POSSIBLE without requiring the user to literally hold it upside-down."
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
@e4tmyl33t said in Video game spotlight thread:
This one has you click in BOTH analog sticks to use a "blank",
Hahaha no.
Is this one of those games where like 80% of the difficulty comes from the controls being utter shite? Which was a big part of why Dark Souls was difficult, sure the timing was precise but also the controller was laid out by a complete retard/asshole.
"Your Dark Souls character can do everything the character in Skyrim can do, so let's make the layout AS DIFFERENT FROM SKYRIM'S AS POSSIBLE without requiring the user to literally hold it upside-down."
It's a "bullet-hell roguelite". You run through randomly-generated dungeons shooting gun-themed enemies while they spew bullets at you like a bullet-hell game. So it's a combination of "shite controls difficulty" mixed with "wtf there are 10 million bullets on screen difficulty" and some "I've gotten shit RNG from the treasure chests and don't have enough money for the gun in the shop difficulty"
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
Not as evil as those that use triggers as buttons with deadzone less than 50%.
Unless it's a driving game, in which case you kind of need to do that.
Good luck at driving games if your triggers behave like buttons.
Did you know in the Xbox 360 controller, the face buttons are ANALOG? Trufax.
I knew original Xbox had that. Didn't know they carried it over to 360.
No game ever used them that way, as far as I know.
Probably because XInput API doesn't allow you to use them that way. I bet there would be games utilizing it if they were allowed to.
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
It all comes down to gamepads having too few buttons. Adding 3-4 more in the "right D-pad" zone wouldn't hurt much. Also, I wish the next generation of consoles would rediscover the N64's backside Z button, and make two of them - one for each hand. They're super-useful for things you do simultaneously with other things, like scoping.
I'd argue that if you don't have enough buttons on a modern game controller, you designed your game shitty.
I'd argue that if every single game created on your platform has shitty controls, there might be something wrong with your controller after all. D-pad, right-thumb buttons, L1, R1, Select - that's 11 usable digital buttons. 13 with triggers. It's simply too few to fit all actions in a modern game. A typical 3D shooter game needs at the very least: shoot, aim, reload, use, crouch, change weapon. Usually there's also jump, melee, grenade and sprint. That's 10 buttons already gone. And that's with only one weapon change button - usually there's at least 2, and often there's 4 - one for each weapon, which just so happen to very conveniently map to D-pad. Or maybe the game utilizes wheel menu, where 1 button suffices. Either way, you put in the basics and you're already out for things like special attacks and other interesting stuff. And stick press is the most awkward way to activate any action, so ideally they should never be used except for things you do when not actually playing, like changing camera or reading texts.
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@blakeyrat said in Video game spotlight thread:
Your Dark Souls character can do everything the character in Skyrim can do, so let's make the layout AS DIFFERENT FROM SKYRIM'S AS POSSIBLE without requiring the user to literally hold it upside-down.
- In Skyrim, you can't dodge, zoom or secondary-attack.
- Dark Souls was released before Skyrim. If anything, it should be Bethesda to match their controls with other games.
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@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
Good luck at driving games if your triggers behave like buttons.
You missed my point entirely.
Since driving games don't use them as buttons, the 50% deadzone would just drastically reduce the "pull" of the throttle and make the game way harder to control.
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
I knew original Xbox had that. Didn't know they carried it over to 360.
Hm, I was like 75% sure the original Xbox had binary face buttons and only the 360 made them analog but I could be wrong. Still, pretty crazy.
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
Probably because XInput API doesn't allow you to use them that way. I bet there would be games utilizing it if they were allowed to.
Do Xbox games use that?
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
D-pad, right-thumb buttons, L1, R1, Select - that's 11 usable digital buttons. 13 with triggers.
I count:
Face buttons: 4
Back/Menu buttons: 2
D-Pad: 8
Upper triggers: 2
Lower triggers: 2
Analog stick buttons: 2
Logo button: 0 (reserved for OS)Total: 20
(The original Xbox Duke controller also had Black/White buttons, but I think they were replaced by the analog stick buttons? I can't remember if it had clickable analog sticks all these years later. They were weirdly placed and hard to press anyway.)
If you think the D-Pad can only do 4 buttons, then 16. Still way more than 13 either way, not to mention your game can do things like a circle menu mapped to any of those buttons which temporarily turns one of the analog sticks into a selector between 8-12 values.
It's plenty.
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@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
In Skyrim, you can't dodge, zoom or secondary-attack.
No (well the sprint key does a dodge-roll while sneaking if you have the right perk), yes (again with the right perk), yes.
You can also cast and switch camera, which frees up a couple buttons for Dark Souls to recycle.
@Gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
Dark Souls was released before Skyrim. If anything, it should be Bethesda to match their controls with other games.
I said Skyrim but those controls were in place on console for Morrowind in 2002.
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@gąska said in Video game spotlight thread:
I'd argue that if every single game created on your platform has shitty controls, there might be something wrong with your controller after all. D-pad, right-thumb buttons, L1, R1, Select - that's 11 usable digital buttons. 13 with triggers. It's simply too few to fit all actions in a modern game. A typical 3D shooter game needs at the very least: shoot, aim, reload, use, crouch, change weapon. Usually there's also jump, melee, grenade and sprint. That's 10 buttons already gone. And that's with only one weapon change button - usually there's at least 2, and often there's 4 - one for each weapon, which just so happen to very conveniently map to D-pad. Or maybe the game utilizes wheel menu, where 1 button suffices. Either way, you put in the basics and you're already out for things like special attacks and other interesting stuff. And stick press is the most awkward way to activate any action, so ideally they should never be used except for things you do when not actually playing, like changing camera or reading texts.
And in your PC port, can you please not triple-overload functions on the same buttons and use extra binds instead? I've got over a hundred.
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@PleegWat said in Video game spotlight thread:
And in your PC port, can you please not triple-overload functions on the same buttons and use extra binds instead? I've got over a hundred.
Double-tapping the movement keys to sprint/roll/evade always gets me. I think one of the newer Unreal Tournaments did this. I sometimes unconsciously do a form of PWM to move slower than the standard movement speed, like near cliffs or ledges and such, but the keybinds end up hurling me to my death instead of allowing me to creep up.
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