The Games we play...

[Pierre]

Transport Tycoon was my favourite game growing up (such a geek!)

I was the same about waiting to build an airport, then having to wait another 6 months game time to actually buy a plane haha!

Loved getting the new trains too, and thinking, whoa this one can go XXXmph! Replacing all the others.

I think I know what I'm doing tonight...

 

[Hutch]

I first got OpenTTD (no, not Top Thrill Dragster ) about a year and a half ago. I was okay to begin with; I found myself looking up the wiki (I still do!). I'm awful at signals. I tend to just stick with the regular block signals, and use a couple others for entering stations.

I think I have been getting better. I've been playing A LOT this past week, and I haven't had any problems with traffic jams due to poorly placed signals or junctions. After the first few days of playing, money hasn't been too much of a problem, and each vehicle has been producing a decent profit.

 

[Jordanovichy]

I never realised Minecraft has had a massive update last October. I love the new additions and effects, it's really great! I'll probably post a few pictures soon.

 

[marc]

I bought gt6 as it's on sale. Seems a lot better than the last one.

Where is the senna stuff though?

It's still very much the same, that corner is 2nd gear if your not in 2nd gear you can not slide the car round it.

The braking is a lot better though and the game is a lot slicker.

Game play is the same though as the last 5.

Can now get the cars to slide but the game is so easy there is less challenge than in the last one, so it's a case of just drive round and win win win.

Saying that I played a mate online and he thought he was good and was happy with his lap times. He won't race me again as he said after one corner he could not keep up.

 

[furie]

Agreed Marc. So let's plough in :lol:

Disclaimer: I'm only about three hours in to the game, so I may be missing some things

Gran Turismo6

It's absolutely the best GT so far. The cars have a real dynamism that was lacking before - you can really feel the weight shift around and alter the control of the car. It's really satisfying. It's polished and I've not seen any of the annoy screen tearing type bugs GT5 had - so it's a better game to play.

The menu system is neat, yet flourished. It's very well designed and makes a lot of sense. Lots of really positive things about the game.

Then you play and... You win. And you win. And you win.

It's just the same as before. There is no challenge in the actually racing environment. It's all rolling starts to put you half a lap behind the leader, which you take away within the first lap and then sit out in front for the rest. It's a racing game, I want to race!

As with previous versions, the challenge is all in the, erm, challenges. Seasonal Events, Goodwood and the specials in each class offer a good level of difficulty. They require you to keep the car under good control and to actually drive well.

I think Marc hits it when he talks about his mate. I know for a fact (having played Marc online) that I'm nowhere near as good as he it. I also more than suspect I'm not up to the level of Neal and Smithy - so playing them online would be depressing. Yet the game can't step up to the level I'm at. I'm not great, but the game seems to think I'm completely crap.

I think the best example of this are the challenges. I'm an "always Bronze first go, Silver after two or three attempts and Gold if I really work at it" kind of level. That's from the "N00b" challenges, Goodwood and the seasonals. I know that's my level and I'm happy with it.

So why have I walked home every race - first time - with Gold and out in the lead by a lot (10 seconds+ on a bad race)? The difficulty should be standard across the game, then I can replay to get better at it as I get better at the game. I've not even bought a car or upgrades yet, I'm always running at least 50PP below the allowed PP number, yet still winning no problems.

It's stupid, annoying but... It's addictive fun too. The driving is really great and that's half the battle. It's just that it feels like a collection of time trials

My only other major bugbear is the same as always. Tyre squeal. I was driving the Corvette monster in a challenge. Great fun, big beefy car with a roaring engine. Head into the fist corner and it's like somebody has suddenly put earplug in you and then littered the track with hamsters, the dying squeaks of which are the only thing that can penetrate the earplugs. Brake gently and... No engine noise, just SQUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL! Turn gently and... No engine noise, just SQUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!

I have tyres on this car the width of the Thames. I'm doing 5mph. WHY IS IT SQUEALING???

What I'm actually desperate for is the Sat Nav update. I want to plot my course to work, in the same car on the game as I have and then see just how realistic it is. True test

I may do a side by side comparison.

As I'm working too much, I'm being selfish at home and playing games. So as well as GT6, I've been ploughing through other stuff too (PS+ freebies).

I completed Metro: Last Light on Sunday morning. I didn't really enjoy it, but the mechanics were just good enough and the story just intriguing enough to keep me at it. It's a weird mix of Half Life and Thief - two games I loved.

Pacing was awful, with far too much "lack of action time". You'd have levels with sneaking and crawling, followed by a cut scene, then a walk through a "time out area", cut scene and then sneaking and crawling. You could be half an hour or more without shooting a single bullet or killing anyone. While you obviously don't need to be shooting constantly, you'd then have points where it was half an hour of constant killing. It just would be nice to have a little more of a mix up and less sitting around with nothing really happening.

Still, it was an easy game to be occupied with and just good enough.

Then started Bioshock Infinity which I'm enjoying so far, but I'm only about four hours in to it and haven't really hit the main plot stream yet. I love the world it's set in, it's glorious. I prefer the game mechanics to the other two games too, but I got bored quite quickly with those, so time will tell...

 

[marc]

I actually think the Goodwood challenge is the best thing to ever be in a GT game. It really does push you and you need to be wide awake for it.


The moon buggy thing is funny.

I agree about the sounds, the engines sound poor and the tyres. Seems like they have gone for better graphics and lower sound.

For £30 it's a really good game though and I cannot stop playing it.

It's also great to finally play a car game without silly graphic bugs and crashes, yes Codemasters it can be done!

 

[furie]

Apart from the in-race difficulty and the sound, they've solidly improved on GT5 in every way it needed improving.

Well worth £20 (that's what Amazon are selling it for now), but I don't think there's enough improvement to sway people who were bored with GT5 over at £30+. That will be why it's sold so badly then I guess

I have no idea why the games are so addictive though. I think it's the very direct reward system with money and/or cars being thrown at you regularly. Even though you'll probably never drive some of the machines.

The Goodwood events show it off really well though, requiring precision and care - but they are just time attacks...

 

[marc]

Furie there is a stupid catch up in the game, the AI cars slow down so you catch up then they speed up again.

 

[furie]

I thought I'd seen rubber banding when I bounced off a barrier once, but I've only experienced it once and wasn't sure if it was actually as bad as it seemed.

 

[marc]

You can be 15 seconds behind on the last lap and still win just tried it. As soon as you pass them they go faster.

Still enjoying it though love some of the new tracks

It's the best gt game to date

Furie you are good at the game, your better than me at the none circuits.

 

[furie]

Yeah, I don't have the concentration span to do circuits :lol:

Final annoyance they still haven't fixed: when you finish a race and quit, you want to exit the event by default, not replay. Why is exit all the way to the right???

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[marc]

Agree the replay thing is a pain in the arse.

Am happy they included the track in Australia, brings back memory's of TOCA going as fast and slow at the same time.

Really made me want to goto GoodWood this year.

 

[furie]

I was just playing that on a seasonal event against smithy. It's a nightmare to do a clean lap :lol: it's a better track with better damage/crash physics though - that really keeps you on you guard.

Again, the game is really gorgeous and keeps giving, but... Racing is still dull :lol:

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[marc]

I've not got smithy added if you can can you get him to add me.

And yes there's a few walls hit them right gain seconds lol.

I hate that redbull car lol

 

[Smithy]

Added you a minute ago Marc.

My ghost replays will be lul, I don't exactly stick to the confines of the track (tbf I'm usually good at it, it's just Monza in that pissing Red Bull that I cut corners).

There's just something about the game, think Furie mentioned it. I found it really dull at first, I was going through events just to get to the license events. Then I tried some seasonals too and that's where the enjoyment was for me, challenging other PSN friends times and constantly trying and trying to get the gold time. Even just now, spent half hour trying to get the gold on the Red Bull at Monza and let out a little victory jig when I finally managed it.

 

[marc]

Cheers for the add.

I'm having enough problems just getting that red bull up Goodwood lol.

I've not really pushed for times at the moment as I cannot really due to my bloody arm but am hoping soon I'll be able to.

On some I've had to settle for silver or bronze as I simply don't have the movement.

 

[Ollie]

Sony's help team are useless.
Had £60 added to my PSN wallet the other day without my permission so I changed my password and emailed them to ask if it can be moved back into my bank account as it was unauthorized.

They emailed back saying they can't help by email and to call their number. As we don't have a house phone here I had to use my mobile so it's just cost me £2.80 for them to tell me "We don't usually refund money once it's been put in the wallet but we'll try hard to make sure it doesn't happen again".

 

[furie]

Yeah, to be fair, Sony are **** for that.

However, if you can prove that it wasn't you who put the money on there (ask them for detailed transaction history) then they will.

I once had £12.99 for Plants Vs Zombies taken from my account. I'd already bought the game, so there's no way their system should have ever charged me for the game a second time. They couldn't explain how it had happened and it hadn't been initiated at my PS3, so they refunded it.

They did make me work for it though with lots of calls and "we don't issue refunds"...

 

[furie]

Added you a minute ago Marc.

My ghost replays will be lul, I don't exactly stick to the confines of the track (tbf I'm usually good at it, it's just Monza in that pissing Red Bull that I cut corners).

I was ready to throw my controller at the TV last night :lol:

The night driving race at the end of the second license series - OMG! I just couldn't get the bloody thing at all. I'd be perfect through the first turns, then always cut the bloody corner to deep and hit the cones.

Took me about half an hour to finally get gold. I was still behind Marc and you Smithy, but I was ahead of Neal so sacked it off :lol:

Usually it's gold on the second attempt, but that on was just awful for me. I don't know if it was the car, the track or what - but I know double corners like that have long been a weakness of mine.

There's just something about the game, think Furie mentioned it. I found it really dull at first, I was going through events just to get to the license events. Then I tried some seasonals too and that's where the enjoyment was for me, challenging other PSN friends times and constantly trying and trying to get the gold time. Even just now, spent half hour trying to get the gold on the Red Bull at Monza and let out a little victory jig when I finally managed it.

I agree, but... I feel like there's an entire game I'm missing. I'm playing little snippets - which are addictive - but never actually playing the real game. I've now started doing the boring races - which are really, really dull - to earn enough cash to buy the cars needed for one off and seasonal events which offer some kind of challenge. It's a racing game without any actual racing. It's actually, turd. After three days and a few hours with it, that's it. I'm playing what are essentially mini games to get enjoyment from it and it's only because they're so hard, but quick to restart that they work.

I wish I'd waited until it was £10.

I'm having enough problems just getting that red bull up Goodwood lol.

There's that little chicane with the bales on the right I always misjudge - every single bloody time! So I either clunk the things, or I panic as I realise and then end up fish tailing through the tight bit :lol:

On some I've had to settle for silver or bronze as I simply don't have the movement.

I've had to settle for silver or bronze because I simply don't have the skill

Anyway, I downloaded Outlast for the PS4 as part of PS+ last night.

I remember Intricks talking about the PC version, and only being able to play in short stints because it's so scary. I scoffed.

I scoff no longer. I don't think I have ever been so scared since I was a child - and I don't scare easily. The design and pacing is sublime. It's only "shock scares" every time, but they're so brilliantly timed and perfectly created moments of tension - it's incredible. It's not like Doom 3 where it was a constant "walk in dark room, look at suspicious cupboard, walk past and suspicious cupboard bursts open". Outlast leaves you constantly in an atmosphere where you know something could happen at any moment. It leaves it and leaves it though so you really are completely unaware that something is going to happen.

The terror of solving an objective, with the knowledge that what little safety you may have had will now be thrown completely out of the window and it's open season on your adrenal gland again, can't be put into words. Your heart is constantly in your mouth and you're enveloped in the fear of the game.

It's superb, but... I managed forty-five minutes and then had to stop. My nerves were a mess and my heart rate too high. How the hell did somebody make something so effective? It's brilliant, but not before bed time

 

[Pierre]

^ Sounds like what Silent Hill was for me when that first came out.