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[Retropunch]

Spoilered stuff

Again, I'm not trying to defend Steam as I also don't agree with some of their policies, but to help address your concerns, you *can* find friends through steam even if they're on a limited profile (having spent less than $5) as long as one of you has, more info here(https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/220638/can-i-search-for-a-user-who-has-not-bought-any-games). From a business point of view, it does makes sense for them to limit profiles to some extent, as it stops spam/bots/etc. 

The modding thing is a big problem, and I hate how they're trying to push the 'paid mod' thing. It's ridiculous, and I hate it. Luckily, developers know it's very unpopular and I can't imagine many will get on board with it.

I always do try to buy on another platform if I can, but if it's the only way to get a game then I think it's better to support the dev through that than miss out on an experience you'd enjoy and not support them. I always send a quick email to the developers asking them to release it on GoG etc. if they can, as I think that sort of thing helps them see there is demand elsewhere for it. 

[Iduno]

If you're going to hate Steam, at least hate them for selling games they know are broken, and refusing to give refunds.

Recommend me a game that will suck away hours of time, feel like I'm accomplishing something, but doesn't require me to be particularly good if I'm halfway clever. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was good for that for a while, if that helps any.

[Retropunch]

If you're going to hate Steam, at least hate them for selling games they know are broken, and refusing to give refunds.

Recommend me a game that will suck away hours of time, feel like I'm accomplishing something, but doesn't require me to be particularly good if I'm halfway clever. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was good for that for a while, if that helps any.

Path of Exile is 100% that

The 'clever' bit is in your class building, but you don't have to be particularly skilled from a twitch/control point of view for the most part

[AlStar]

If you're going to hate Steam, at least hate them for selling games they know are broken, and refusing to give refunds.

Apologies for continuing the off-topic discussion, but what do you mean? Steam has had an excellent refund policy for some time now. You can get a 100% refund, no questions asked, on anything in your library that's under a couple (weeks? I think) old and has less than 2 hours played.

I've actually heard (hearsay, but I'd believe it) that their refund policy has bitten a couple of developers of short, narrative games in the ass - people would buy the game, play through in less than 2 hours, then get a refund.

[Retropunch]

If you're going to hate Steam, at least hate them for selling games they know are broken, and refusing to give refunds.

Apologies for continuing the off-topic discussion, but what do you mean? Steam has had an excellent refund policy for some time now. You can get a 100% refund, no questions asked, on anything in your library that's under a couple (weeks? I think) old and has less than 2 hours played.

Have to agree, I've never had problems with Steam refunds. There are admittedly a few games that have 'gamed' the system by polishing up the first few hours and then the rest goes to rubbish, but they're few and far between.

Whilst there's a lot of things not to like about it, I do very much enjoy having somewhere you can read actual reviews of a game by players before buying it. I think people forget how luck-of-the-draw it used to be before that and even if you don't read the steam reviews yourself, they help the overall ecosystem a lot.

[Il Palazzo]

This is a recommend me a mod request.
Are there any interesting total conversion mods for Civ 6? In the vein of 4's Fall from Heaven, Dune or Caveman 2 Cosmos?
The game is free to play for a couple days on Steam, and I kinda can see the vanilla getting boring soon enough not to warrant a purchase.

[Niveras]

I'm not particularly familiar with Civ6, but given the history of Civ5, I rather doubt there are any total conversion mods for 6.

There aren't any "total conversions" of Civ5, either. The only ones I've found that bill themselves as total conversions (or, rather, are recommended by other players as such) are just really extensive mods of existing systems. For example, adding new techs and buildings and changing their effects and values, maybe adding new civ effects, but not adding any new actual mechanics (like spells and religions that aren't functionally identical to each other). The only total conversion of Civ5 that I know of is Firaxis' own: Beyond Earth.

I assume it has to do with Civ4 being its own program - and thus accessible to community re-programming over and above what Firaxis exposed to modding through XML and scripting - versus having Steam integration from the start.

I could be wrong, though (both about why no total conversions exist for 5 and whether any exist for 6).

(Yeah, I'm a little salty about how little moddability Civ5 seemed to have over 4.)

[Frumple]

Eh, it's certainly not due to steam integration -- you can have that from the get go and still have a game that's pretty much entirely open to messing with. If the dev wants it to be. Even workshop integration can still allow for other modding venues (hell, from what I understand most games that have workshop integration still allow modding through other means, it's just the workshop functions as a straightforward mod manager and distribution site). It's as restrictive as the creators want it to be, basically.

... I'd been under the impression no FfH level mods popped up for five and six just because no one liked them enough to put the effort in, heh. There's also the difference in graphics, too, iirc. You pretty much always get less modding as games get prettier, just due to the problems that multiply in terms of creating new content that doesn't look like complete ass relative to vanilla stuff.

[Iduno]

If you're going to hate Steam, at least hate them for selling games they know are broken, and refusing to give refunds.

Apologies for continuing the off-topic discussion, but what do you mean? Steam has had an excellent refund policy for some time now. You can get a 100% refund, no questions asked, on anything in your library that's under a couple (weeks? I think) old and has less than 2 hours played.

I've actually heard (hearsay, but I'd believe it) that their refund policy has bitten a couple of developers of short, narrative games in the ass - people would buy the game, play through in less than 2 hours, then get a refund.

I wasn't aware of the 2 hours limit until I passed it looking up solutions to a bug in a game (and walking the dog). By the time I gave up because there's no fix if you have the game on Steam, I couldn't get any money back. Going over the number of weeks is my own fault for buying a game when I remembered it, not when I wanted to play that type of game (Alpha Protocol).

Eh, it's certainly not due to steam integration -- you can have that from the get go and still have a game that's pretty much entirely open to messing with. If the dev wants it to be. Even workshop integration can still allow for other modding venues (hell, from what I understand most games that have workshop integration still allow modding through other means, it's just the workshop functions as a straightforward mod manager and distribution site). It's as restrictive as the creators want it to be, basically

Older games seem better about that. Fallout 2 and Xcom can be all sorts of modded, because they're actually installed on your HD. Newer games are partly loaded online as a form of DRM, and assume you're cheating if you have mods (which, who cares in single-player games) and refuse to load.

[George_Chickens]

Excluding the ArmA series, LCS, and Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare, are there any games which simulate aspects of guerrilla tactics, or have strategic options for guerrilla warfare? The only real example I can think of is C&C Generals with the GLA, but that's extremely limited due to the nature of the game.

[Frumple]

Older games seem better about that. Fallout 2 and Xcom can be all sorts of modded, because they're actually installed on your HD. Newer games are partly loaded online as a form of DRM, and assume you're cheating if you have mods (which, who cares in single-player games) and refuse to load.

I mean. That depends a hell of a lot on the game. There's plenty of stuff (as far as I'm aware like the majority of stuff, for that matter) made in the last few years that... don't... do that.

If for no other reason than not to have to dick around with netcode and maintaining servers, heh.

[Parsely]

Excluding the ArmA series, LCS, and Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare, are there any games which simulate aspects of guerrilla tactics, or have strategic options for guerrilla warfare? The only real example I can think of is C&C Generals with the GLA, but that's extremely limited due to the nature of the game.

Jagged Alliance is one I can think of. In JA2 you are actually forming militias from the villages you liberate and organizing them, telling them where to patrol and attack the regular army troops you're up against. You can show up in the middle of a battle to back up the militia and everyone who's participating shows up on the map and everything! It's a cool game but I found it very aggravating and obtuse, if immersive, at times.

JA2 is a game that takes a lot of patience but it's a very complete guerrilla experience compared to Freeman, which doesn't feel like guerrilla warfare at all on any level.

Fallout Tactics with a stealthy team can also be very guerrilla depending on how you execute things.

Commandos 1, and especially Commandos 2 where you actually are literally controlling guerrilla fighters in some missions, scratch that itch too, you really feel like you're up against a massively superior force and you NEED stealth and ambush tactics to overpower them. I highly recommend Commandos 2 on PC but if you play it DM me, there's no in-game tutorial and a lot of stuff is not clear, I can give a rundown of how the game works generally.

[AzyWng]

Freeman, which doesn't feel like guerrilla warfare at all on any level.

Personally, I'd say Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare is more like Mount and Blade, but everyone has modern weaponry.

Instead of controlling, as one person described it, "a bunch of heavily armed twats", you control a bunch of heavily armed twats but you can choose what equipment each individual soldier wears, can organize squads consisting of multiple troop types, and can tell each squad of heavily armed twats where to go.

[Ulfarr]

Commados cover technically some aspects of guerilla warfare (mostly sabotage) but I don't think their narrative (general feeling of the game) fit the concept. Yes you need to use ambushes, stealth and plan your moves carefully but sometimes your characters can feel too powerful (at least on normal).

Both are good games but I would also recommend Commados 2 over commandos 1, it's really a lot more polished and definitely more user friendly.

[Parsely]

Commados cover technically some aspects of guerilla warfare (mostly sabotage) but I don't think their narrative (general feeling of the game) fit the concept. Yes you need to use ambushes, stealth and plan your moves carefully but sometimes your characters can feel too powerful (at least on normal).

Both are good games but I would also recommend Commados 2 over commandos 1, it's really a lot more polished and definitely more user friendly.

I agree that you can feel too strong when you play a particular way, for example the Diver is really far too strong if you give that man a handful of knives. That said I don't think there's any question that the game fits the criteria of guerrilla warfare though (sabotage, raids, avoiding stand up fights, hit and run, rely on stealth, precision, and mobility over firepower). If I want Commandos 2 to feel more challenging I just minimize killing, or don't kill (hard) or hogtie anyone (really hard), and it tends to make sense from a roleplaying perspective.