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[Robsoie]

About Duskers :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2frhH5nwr0

[AlStar]

I picked up Dorfromantik from Humblebundle's "Unparalleled Puzzlers" bundle on Saturday, and I've already put in almost 13 hours.

It's a tile-placing game, not unlike Carcassonne, except that you're working with hexes rather than squares. Each quadrant of the hex can contain one of the following: meadow, forest, city, fields, water, or train track. Your goal is to place the tiles such that each biome forms continuous groups, which is both worth points and aesthetically pleasing. The tiles are weighted so that you don't usually end up with a chaotic mess on every tile; normally there'll be a "theme" to the tile - such as woodlands, which will generally have three or four of the corners filled with trees, maybe with some meadows or houses/city on the other sides. Water and train tracks are annoyances, since you can't mismatch tile borders like you can with anything else - if you want to cap off a train track, the tile you're placing must have a track ending on it; which makes it harder to complete perfect tiles around them.

You start off with 50ish tiles, and there's only two ways to earn more - completing missions, which requires you to expand one biome to either a minimum size, to an exact size, or to close out a zone so that it's fully enclosed by other biomes, each of which earns 5 tiles; or to place 'perfect' tiles - a tile that is surrounded on all sides by biomes that match that tile - which earns 1 new tile per perfect tile.

Anyway, the game is very relaxing with pleasant music and the graphics are beautiful. It's easy to pick up, but tough to reach ever higher high scores. There's a bunch of achievements, which unlock unique tiles or new map themes.

It's fun. I'm glad I picked it up.

[Iduno]

Yeah, I played it back when it was a demo, and it looked promising. I couldn't quite figure out what I was supposed to be doing, but achievements and probably instructions would help.

[Robsoie]

Noticed that OpenRA got a new stable release :
https://www.openra.net/news/release-20230225/

last one was in 2021 so there's some big changelog
https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/wiki/Changelog/

note : the supported games (Command&Conquer, Red Alert and Dune 2000) will be downloaded by default into
C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\OpenRA\

If you prefer them to be downloaded (so it is fully portable) in the same directory as OpenRA, simply create a new folder and name it exactly

Code: [Select]

Support
in your OpenRA directory

[Robsoie]

Found this website
https://howbigisthemap.com/

That features video of people walking or running (and more) across game worlds map.

A few to compare :
Running through Elden Ring : 1h 27mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/elden-ring-run-across-the-map/
Running through Skyrim : 49mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/skyrim-special-edition-run-across-the-map/
Running through Oblivion :  24mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/how-big-is-the-map-of-the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-run-across-the-map/
Running through Morrowind :  30mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/how-big-is-the-map-of-the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-run-across-the-map/
Running through Ark Survival Evolved (The Island) : 45mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/ark-survival-evolved-run-across-the-map/
Running through GTA5 : 51mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/gta-v-run-across-the-map/
Running through Red Dead Redemption 2 : 43mn  https://howbigisthemap.com/red-dead-redemption-2-run-across-the-map/

[Robsoie]

Rise of Industry made me want to play OpenTTD again, so i checked the current state of this most excellent open source game and noticed in early february there was apparently a special release
https://www.openttd.org/news/2023/02/05/openttd-13-0

We think the wait has been worth it. This is one of the largest releases we’ve done in several years, with numerous features and improvements covering the user interface, gameplay features, and modding extensions for NewGRF and Game Script creators.

Hmm, i guess i know what i'll play this week.

[Robsoie]

On updated open source games.
Remember the nice Escape Velocity-like "Endless Sky"

it's been a few years since i last played it.
But it looks like since october it got some massive update and last updated a couple of week ago
https://github.com/endless-sky/endless-sky/releases/latest

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

*lots of bugfixes and etc that i do not list

*Two new alien factions, the Gegno and Bunrodea.
*A plethora of new conditions and new ways to use them, including the introduction of "global conditions" that can be set and accessed across save files.
*Improvements to how ship AI behaves, more intelligently making use of the range of their weapons. More AI improvements will come in the future.
*An overhaul to how cargo and outfit scanners function, causing scanning to take overall longer to complete.
*The jobs board can now be sorted on various metrics, including how much the job pays or whether it has a deadline.
*Improved mouse control while in flight, including the ability to select secondary weapons by clicking on their ammo icons, and a toggle for controlling flagship aiming and firing with the mouse.
*Reverted the heat damage change from v0.9.15, and reduced the buffs provided to afterburners from that same update.
*Added a deadline to bounty jobs so that they cannot be stacked infinitely and finished passively. In exchange, bounty ships now don't spawn as far away, and bounty job payments are increased.

*60+ new outfits
*80+ new missions in human space and beyond
*40 new stations and planets in existing systems
*Improvement of many graphics, including stars, ships, effects, and outfits
*The addition of parallax to background stars and haze
*Sweeping balance changes to various ships and outfits
*Overheating a ship only disables its energy generation
*Changes to the UI, including the addition of new ship and outfit categories and an overhaul of the map screen
*Changes to existing missions, including an overhaul of the first third of the Free Worlds campaign.

[delphonso]

I just grabbed this off the software manager and still haven't played it. Glad it's still being worked on!

[Robsoie]

So many good games, so little time

Some other freebies that were recently updated in the last couple of months , both standalones and using the Tiberian Sun client engine ( https://www.moddb.com/mods/tiberian-sun-client )

Spoiler: features (click to show/hide)

Features of the Tiberian Sun Client:

Full Tiberian Sun and Firestorm campaigns included, with optionally downloadable movies (about 1.3 GB in size)
Skirmish and CnCNet multiplayer support with pre-defined starting locations and teams
Dynamic map preview showing starting locations and teams on the map
Full CnCNet multiplayer support, including automatic transfer of custom maps, passworded games and private messages*
Support for spectators
Allows modding similar to Dawn of the Tiberium Age and Twisted Insurrection
All TS INI bugs fixed - includes fixes from Aro's Tiberian Sun: UMP
Compatibility with the latest operating systems, including Windows 7, 8.1 and 10
Saves statistics from all games of your commander career
Automatic updates (you can opt out) for delivery of bugfixes and possible additional content like multiplayer maps
FinalSun Map Editor included
Extra game options including Build Off Ally, Harder AI, Disabled Super Weapons and Disabled Refinery/Silo Storage
Includes some of the best and most beautiful multiplayer maps created for TS by the community (selectable in the "Fan-made" gamemode)
Enhances the game with convenient features like displaying health of units and structures when you hover over them

And plenty of bugfixes i'm not listing there.

If you want to play Tiberian Sun and its Firestorm expansion with the Tiberian Sun Client  (no need of installing the free tiberian sun, it's all standalone and self contained ) that last updated in January :
https://www.moddb.com/mods/tiberian-sun-client/downloads/tiberian-sun-client-600-with-videos

If you want to play Dawn of the Tiberian Age (a mix of Command&Conquer 1 and Red Alert 1 with some more units and running on the Tiberian Sun engine) , that standalone game (based on the Tiberian Sun client) is there, updated in February (it gets updated regularly)
https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-dawn-of-the-tiberium-age/downloads/dta99m

note : some of the mission movies cutscenes can be downloaded in thz Options -> Component

There's also Twisted Insurrection that is very good and is also a standalone game based on the Tiberian Sun Client , but it has been updated since a year. Still worth playing
https://www.moddb.com/mods/twisted-insurrection

Only low point is the lack of real "attack move" function (as it was implemented in Westwood games i think starting with Red Alert 2 only) , workaround was either pressing G (guard) that make selected unit attack everything around them, or press CTRL+ALT to have unit move and automatically attack everything around the destination point (but still not during travel).

[Folly]

The Last Spell is getting it's 1.0 release tomorrow!

Patch Notes
Deep Dive

[Akura]

Sun Haven released from Early Access today. I haven't played it, might get it later, but it looks like - and the overall reviews point towards - Stardew Valley but at least slightly better.

Interesting for people interested in the roleplay aspect is that there are different races to play as: human, elf, demon, angel, elemental, naga, and furry Amari. Interesting bit for game mechanics, there's no daily stamina bar, and the day length is apparently customizable according to reviews.

[Great Order]

I have a question for people here, because afaik there's no "Ask about random games thread":

Has anyone got Avorion, and if so what's it like? I'm looking for a new space-y game.

[Folly]

Sun Haven released from Early Access today. I haven't played it, might get it later, but it looks like - and the overall reviews point towards - Stardew Valley but at least slightly better.

I just finished the first month. Really enjoying Sun Haven so far.

Charming music, diverse cast of characters, variety of crops and animals to play with, tons of quests and events.

Compared to Stardew Valley, there is slightly less polish; I notice occasional minor graphical glitches, and the UI just isn't as sharp. Also the loading time between screens is just a second or two longer than I'd like. But there is marginally more content, with lots of places to explore and recipes to craft.
Probably the biggest thing differentiating Sun Haven from Stardew is how heavily Sun Haven leans into the fantasy aspect. There are lots of dragons and elementals and sorcerers, and even a cute catgirl you can romance. Or a wolfboy, if that's more your style. This is likely the biggest divergence which will sway Stardew fans to come over, or not.

[Frumple]

... okay, so I'm starting up this Armoured Calvary: Operation Vakiri thing. Looked like a maybe neat mech based twinstick shooter, which I'm all for, obviously enough.

Game starts out and, well. You start out a member of the german military in the tail end of WWII, with the intro character talking about ways to help the motherland and whatnot, so the initial bit was making me increasingly skeptical right up until it hit the punch line:

Spoiler: spoiler for a pretty great twist in the initial 2-3 minutes of the game (click to show/hide)

Your first mission is to murder hitler with a giant robot.

And I'm just, like, *chef kiss*

This is how you do a starting mission. I'm not sure how the rest of it's going to play out, but the gameplay's solid in the first few minutes and this is a narrative I can get behind.

[Robsoie]

Something that will be useful for when i'll forget about it next time i'll replay that most excellent game.

In Alien Isolation, there's a known bug on PC that can happen after you reach the huge atmospheric reactor area (the one with the many reactor-like devices that have regular discharge of energy) full of hazmat bastards , that you must cross to reach **spoiler zone** .
Once you have done what you needed to do in **spoiler zone** you go back to the huge reactor area to do something about **spoiler zone**

Problem is that nearly all the time the loading screen will never complete at that specific point of the game (this problem never happen elsewhere).

So far the solution that worked for everyone was to lower the game resolution to at least 800x600 just before triggering the loading, and once the level would have loaded, you can go back to your desired resolution.

Remembering that Alien Isolation is from 2014 i was wondering if by any chances it was like some older games that were basically limited to 2gb usage and would ignore the remnant of your ram, and considering how really impressive Alien Isolation look (even on low res) and how big the reactor level and **spoiler zone** are, maybe it flirt too closely to its 2gb limit .

So i tested the good old 4gb patch ( https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371 ) that always worked good on those games and it worked, the reactor level loaded once i got back from **spoiler zone** without any problem and without a need to lower the game resolution.

Oh and the hazmat bastards are still bastards.