Community MetaSteam | January 2022 - With a new year comes great responsibility, BOY!

[fantomena]

I know you all are joking, but I don't think Steam starts automatic any longer when you install it. I installed it on my fathers laptop a few months ago (he wanted to test something out) and next time he started the laptop, he had to manually start Steam up.

 

[Arulan]

Valve you dam a-holes you just had to do it didn't you XD

Fantastic chapter.

Half-Life: Alyx Chapter Spoilers

I loved a lot of things about this chapter. The setting itself -- a vodka distillery is perfect. Having to scavenge quietly, and the many opportunities for a bottle to come rolling out of a cabinet you just opened for you to just barely grab it as it's falling is just fantastic.

One of the highlights to Jeff is that moment of realization when you know you have to release him again to complete the circuit. Utter despair.

This is also when covering your mouth really came into play. And not only can you wear masks, but you can actually cover your mouth with your hands to prevent yourself from coughing! For the first few minutes of this chapter I was carrying around a Tiger mask. Putting that thing on and looking through those narrow eye holes while Jeff was lurking nearby made it all the more terrifying.

The moment in the elevator where you're forced to slowly reach towards that button is the kind of terrifying suspense other games dream of being able to accomplish.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I really enjoyed that section where the headcrab knocks the bottle over enraging Jeff and scurries off into the air ducts. You can actually put your head up in there in two spots and see it moving around up there. There is something about putting your head up into a confined space like that that works really well in VR.

 

[dex3108]

Fantastic chapter.

Half-Life: Alyx Chapter Spoilers

I loved a lot of things about this chapter. The setting itself -- a vodka distillery is perfect. Having to scavenge quietly, and the many opportunities for a bottle to come rolling out of a cabinet you just opened for you to just barely grab it as it's falling is just fantastic.

One of the highlights to Jeff is that moment of realization when you know you have to release him again to complete the circuit. Utter despair.

This is also when covering your mouth really came into play. And not only can you wear masks, but you can actually cover your mouth with your hands to prevent yourself from coughing! For the first few minutes of this chapter I was carrying around a Tiger mask. Putting that thing on and looking through those narrow eye holes while Jeff was lurking nearby made it all the more terrifying.

The moment in the elevator where you're forced to slowly reach towards that button is the kind of terrifying suspense other games dream of being able to accomplish.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I really enjoyed that section where the headcrab knocks the bottle over enraging Jeff and scurries off into the air ducts. You can actually put your head up in there in two spots and see it moving around up there. There is something about putting your head up into a confined space like that that works really well in VR.

I will call that chapter Troll chapter, Valve had too much fun making that particular chapter. Every collectable placed in that chapter is to troll you XD

 

[beep boop]

Have you tried experimenting more with some ranged-oriented builds? This helped me out a lot when I was just starting out with Dead Cells back in the day, the traps that shoot buzzsaws plus a decent ranged weapon can take you all the way to the end, maybe help you unlock all the base navigational upgrades and learn boss patterns before you roll a full-on melee character.

Buzzsaws and freeze on secondary attack helped carry me quite far already. Might give bows a try too. I've avoided them so far.

 

[Aaron D.]

Slowly trying to go back to normal until I get back my computer, sorry if you see some artifacts in here.

Oh hell yeah, Project Zomboid.

Sometime over the past number of years, it quietly slipped into my Top 3 Steam releases along with RimWorld and Factorio/Crusader Kings*, which basically translates to my Top 3 of the past decade plus.

Guess dropping multiplayer back into the main branch really gave it a bump. So glad to see it reaching a broader audience.

* Can't decide! Gun to my head I guess I'd go with CK.

.......................................

Speaking of which, Starsector...man.

About * checks notes * 9 years lttp but damn is it blowing my mind.

You know that feeling of wonder you might have gotten the first time you played RimWorld or CK2? Maybe after finishing the tutorial or something where you put the game down and thought, "OMFG there's a LOT going on here." The sense of possibility that seems almost exclusive to titles of this nature with bottomless depth.

Don't get to enjoy that feeling often, but man is it spiking all those meters for me.

And just like the $15* I spent on Zomboid, the $15 I dropped on StarSec has me walking away feeling like I totally ripped off the dev.

* Just noticed Zomboid had it's first base price hike ($15 to $20) since it launched in 2013, likely inspired by the Big Update.

 

[LEANIJA]

I put Steam on my mother’s PC.

I put Steam on my fathers Mac...but erm...that was so that my brother and I could play Rocket League that one time Im 100% sure my father never used it (I probably uninstalled it at some point)

~

<HL Alyx stuff>

That is actually where I stopped playing Alyx! I wanted to resume at some point but I am at the same time refusing to install Windows again, and I only have a Rift S, so until I get a VR headset that plays nice with Linux, I wont get to resume.

~

Mivey hersheyfan I also quite like Spiders games... well, I really only played Greedfall and a few hours of Bound by Flame, but I liked them both

 

[CommodoreKong]

 

[Kyougar]

Oh hell yeah, Project Zomboid.

Sometime over the past number of years, it quietly slipped into my Top 3 Steam releases along with RimWorld and Factorio/Crusader Kings*, which basically translates to my Top 3 of the past decade plus.

Guess dropping multiplayer back into the main branch really gave it a bump. So glad to see it reaching a broader audience.

* Can't decide! Gun to my head I guess I'd go with CK.

.......................................

Speaking of which, Starsector...man.

About * checks notes * 9 years lttp but damn is it blowing my mind.

You know that feeling of wonder you might have gotten the first time you played RimWorld or CK2? Maybe after finishing the tutorial or something where you put the game down and thought, "OMFG there's a LOT going on here." The sense of possibility that seems almost exclusive to titles of this nature with bottomless depth.

Don't get to enjoy that feeling often, but man is it spiking all those meters for me.

And just like the $15* I spent on Zomboid, the $15 I dropped on StarSec has me walking away feeling like I totally ripped off the dev.

* Just noticed Zomboid had it's first base price hike ($15 to $20) since it launched in 2013, likely inspired by the Big Update.

I am currently having my eyes on Songs of Syx.

It updates very frequently.
It is a mix of Dwarf Fortress/Rimworld City Builder that cranks it up to eleven.
You start your colony like in DF and RW with just a handful of people, build your first warehouse, sleeping houses, kitchen, etc. Fell trees, pick rocks, and fruits, make farms.
And sometime in the future, you have massive armies of 30.000 people who invade the neighboring empires.

 

[Aaron D.]

I am currently having my eyes on Songs of Syx.

It updates very frequently.
It is a mix of Dwarf Fortress/Rimworld City Builder that cranks it up to eleven.
You start your colony like in DF and RW with just a handful of people, build your first warehouse, sleeping houses, kitchen, etc. Fell trees, pick rocks, and fruits, make farms.
And sometime in the future, you have massive armies of 30.000 people who invade the neighboring empires.

Why would you do this to me?

Aaaaand it has a demo?!

 

[prudis]

How to unsell me a game.

as i expected its about 100%ing it

people just jump the gun and rage too quickly

 

[NarohDethan]

as i expected its about 100%ing it

people just jump the gun and rage too quickly

They do say it's 80 hours for the main campaign plus some side quests which is still a lot.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

They do say it's 80 hours for the main campaign plus some side quests which is still a lot.

80hrs for a game like this sounds very Ubi AC like then
In other words terrible

 

[prudis]

 

[moemoneyb1]

So I did a half upgrade on my PC.
CPU: I5-6600k -> Ryzen 7 5800x
RAM: 16 GB -> 32 GB
CPU Cooler: Cooler Hyper 212 Evo -> Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
Power Supply: 550 watt -> 850 watt
GPU: GTX 1070 Founders Edition

I played some Halo Infinite and normally in the campaign it would stutter and drop frames but now I am getting a consistent 60 fps. I basically did this upgrade so my PC would be ready for a new GPU when that time comes. Overall I am liking this very much.

 

[Dinjoralo]

Fantastic chapter.

Half-Life: Alyx Chapter Spoilers

I loved a lot of things about this chapter. The setting itself -- a vodka distillery is perfect. Having to scavenge quietly, and the many opportunities for a bottle to come rolling out of a cabinet you just opened for you to just barely grab it as it's falling is just fantastic.

One of the highlights to Jeff is that moment of realization when you know you have to release him again to complete the circuit. Utter despair.

This is also when covering your mouth really came into play. And not only can you wear masks, but you can actually cover your mouth with your hands to prevent yourself from coughing! For the first few minutes of this chapter I was carrying around a Tiger mask. Putting that thing on and looking through those narrow eye holes while Jeff was lurking nearby made it all the more terrifying.

The moment in the elevator where you're forced to slowly reach towards that button is the kind of terrifying suspense other games dream of being able to accomplish.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I really enjoyed that section where the headcrab knocks the bottle over enraging Jeff and scurries off into the air ducts. You can actually put your head up in there in two spots and see it moving around up there. There is something about putting your head up into a confined space like that that works really well in VR.

I definitely really liked that section, but that bit in the elevator can get stuffed. I kept dying on accident reaching for the button, then I kept trying weird things cuz I didn't think I was supposed to reach for the button cuz that failed every time, then I looked up a walk-through to find that's what you were supposed to do. Really took me out of it.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I never knew that a video game based on the horror film, Cannibal Holocaust, was in development:

 

[Dinjoralo]

GPU arrives tomorrow... Really hoping the mailman doesn't miss me, I need to sign it and I'm going to be pissed if I have to pick it up at a post office the next day.

I also wonder if it'll fix the awful, unbearable stuttering that happens whenever I play in VR. That just started happening and I don't know why. If it's not the GPU, then it's either the CPU or simply Windows Mixed Reality being trash.

Why are you like this WMR god damn it

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

First response by the developers;


Second response:

 

[prudis]

I never knew that a video game based on the horror film, Cannibal Holocaust, was in development:

oh they renamed it .... i remember it being announced some time ago under different name

 

[thekeats1999]

Funny isn't it. I have spent 900+ hours in FFXIV (since Feb last year), 3,000+ hours (at a guess) in Minecraft, 300+ hours in Terraria and 115 hours in Cookie Clicker since the end of December. Yet when you tell me that Dying Light, Assassins Cred, Far Cry or whatever is going to take me 80 hours to complete it puts me right off them.

Stranger still is that 10 years ago I loved playin these open world games.

I know, I know. Creative games and idle games aren't quite the same

However will still be there for Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls game. Day 1 for them.

crimsonheadGCN

I never knew that a video game based on the horror film, Cannibal Holocaust, was in development:

oh they renamed it .... i remember it being announced some time ago under different name

This game comes far too late for a friend. He loved all of the old horror and living in the UK during the 80's and the Video Nasty's period Cannibal Holocaust was always top of that list. I shared similar tastes to him so was always keeping an eye out for films like this. Even now still a gruesome film. Although the real life animal cruelty didn't sit right then and horrorfies me today. Unfortunately he passed away a few years back. Things like this always reminds me of the good times we had together hunting the films down. Quite often the finding the films where more fun than the films themself.

Also interesting as it was the first found footage film, I believe. At the time I believe the director ended up having to go to court to prove that the cast didn't really die producing the film.

As an aside is there a way to quote someone while editing a post.

 

[Joe Spangle]

.......................................

Speaking of which, Starsector...man.

I swear Aaron D. you should be on commission for some of the games you recommend, just checked out Starsector (never heard of it) and bought.

I am currently having my eyes on Songs of Syx.

Yeah! this game looks awesome. Very Rimworld - esque but with larger groups.

 

[Madventure]

Yeah but dying light 2 should be co-op again so that makes it not shit

 

[beep boop]

I'm still really enjoying Dead Cells. So much so that I decided to pick up all the DLC for a little extra variety. There's just one big consistent issue I keep having with the game: it's too visually noisy to me for a game that demands its level of precision. I think this might wear off a little as I play more of it, but for now it gets really chaotic with all the colors and effects and this and that. Makes it more difficult to read the situation at critical moments. I disabled screen shake and flashes in the settings after my last session, so hopefully that helps a little.

I was also perusing my library and decided to reinstall one of the GOATs: Geometry Wars Retro Evolved. I am shocked and appalled at how few people on my friends list own this masterpiece. Shocked! And appalled!

 

[Li Kao]

When is new Humble day each month ? Just trying to clean up my budget spreadsheet.

 

[MomoVideo]

When is new Humble day each month ? Just trying to clean up my budget spreadsheet.

Do you mean Humble Choice? It's the first Tuesday of the month.

 

[Aaron D.]

I swear Aaron D. you should be on commission for some of the games you recommend, just checked out Starsector (never heard of it) and bought.

I blame the select few curators I follow who surface fantastic indies you rarely see mentioned, even on most enthusiast outlets.

Tomato on Twitch, SplatterCat's YouTube channel, Designer Plays on Steam. A few others. I've found them absolutely essential for discovery.

These guys alone have kept my backlog stocked for years and my interest/investment in the medium primed.




For Starsector, Sseth's review really says it all. Found myself increasingly interested as the video went on, like that .gif of the WWE guy falling back in his chair. But the 13:25 segment really pushed me over the edge.

 

[Digoman]

I know you all are joking, but I don't think Steam starts automatic any longer when you install it. I installed it on my fathers laptop a few months ago (he wanted to test something out) and next time he started the laptop, he had to manually start Steam up.

I Decided to do a quick test for this on a clean Windows 10 Virtual Machine.

Steam did add itself to the startup when installed. I didn't actually log in to any account to see if that changes the behavior.

Now, I'm 90% sure than on my many.... many Windows re-installs there have been times where it didn’t do that and others that it did, so I don’t know what the criteria is.

But I guess the “Steam in my grandma computer” can live on a little longer

 

[Alextended]

 

[Stevey]

I am currently having my eyes on Songs of Syx.

It updates very frequently.
It is a mix of Dwarf Fortress/Rimworld City Builder that cranks it up to eleven.
You start your colony like in DF and RW with just a handful of people, build your first warehouse, sleeping houses, kitchen, etc. Fell trees, pick rocks, and fruits, make farms.
And sometime in the future, you have massive armies of 30.000 people who invade the neighboring empires.

That looks neat, going to try the demo

 

[prudis]

 

[Bonfires Down]

Tony Hawk's Pro Racer

 

[Kal1m3r0]

So, new Armored Core seems real after all

 

[Nabs]

 

[dex3108]

 

[Lashley]

Had my eye on Starsector for a while, but I'm waiting for the steam release

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Got my booster shot today and I'm feeling fine except for some minor pain on my arm!

 

[Lashley]

Fuck off

 

[kafiend]

The combined fuckery from every direction is ever so slowly turning me away from gaming.

 

[Mor]

Big news everyone, computer works well out of the current case which means we are 90% sure thst's the problem, yay.

We will know for sure after some big tests so we can just get everything together and let me be happy :_)

 

[Aaron D.]

The combined fuckery from every direction is ever so slowly turning me away from gaming.

I feel like I'm largely shielded from the bulk of this by not giving a flying f about AAA.

 

[NarohDethan]

I feel like I'm largely shielded from the bulk of this by not giving a flying f about AAA.

Yeah this. When EA and Ubisoft are balls deep on NFT, we will always have smaller and indie studios.

 

[low-G]

The combined fuckery from every direction is ever so slowly turning me away from gaming.

Just play the classics like I do most of the time. Doesn't need high specs. Most can be had completely DRM free. And the games are factually better than newer games to boot!

 

[Knurek]

I feel like I'm largely shielded from the bulk of this by not giving a flying f about AAA.

Say that once your current GPU fries and you have to buy new one just to even play indies.

 

[Aaron D.]

^^^ That's what my grandma's Dell is for!

 

[jads653]

Got my booster shot today and I'm feeling fine except for some minor pain on my arm!

Which one did you get? I got boosted by Pfeizer on Saturday evening and frankly I am feeling like hell. Ok, not as bad as when I had Covid a year ago but still.

 

[Le Pertti]

I got my booster last week and other than feeling lazy I never feel anything from the vaccines. Still not sure if it is a good or a bad thing..

 

[OMEGALUL]

you people are lucky to get boosters, my astrazeneca shot probably ran out by now and I got COVID over christmas and they don't have offer boosters where I live.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Which one did you get? I got boosted by Pfeizer on Saturday evening and frankly I am feeling like hell. Ok, not as bad as when I had Covid a year ago but still.

Yup, the two AZ shots made me feel bleh for a day or so afterwards but the pfizer booster made me feel worse and for afew days longer. I'll just assume that means it worked. I was on holiday from work though so my sleep schedule was shot to hell so my being overtired might have made things worse.

OMEGALUL Hope you're feeling better! Now you've recovered you will have natural antibodies which will help fight off the virus even if you can't get a booster yet.

 

[dex3108]

you people are lucky to get boosters, my astrazeneca shot probably ran out by now and I got COVID over christmas and they don't have offer boosters where I live.

I literally went for Christmas gifts shopping, passed by place where i got my first 2 doses, went inside, asked for booster, got booster and exited building in 10 minutes and continued looking for gifts XD Because people here don't want to get vaccinated we have enough doses to go and get one without scheduling. sister that works at the hospital says that Sputnik V does good job protecting and they didn't have too many patients that got Sputnik V. Most vaccinated people that get to the hospital got Sinopharm.

 

[thekeats1999]

Interesting read on why NFT's can't work for cross game skins and whatnot. Nice read.

Also even if I didn't currently think 99.9% of NFT's are scam based, the fact that EA & Ubisoft want to be in on this scares the fuck out of me.