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[Iduno]

This week we've got only one game:  Recipe for Disaster. It shows you how a kitchen succeeds and fails based on the ideas of people who haven't been rushed and yelled at all day while doing bumps of coke to keep going.

[Iduno]

This week we've got War Pips. Based on the videos, you choose what types of army guys and vehicles you want, then send them to fight over a bridge or whatever against the ai. It's listed as a rogue-lite, which could mean anything. It's got a map not dissimilar to FTL's, and graphics that would be quite good if they didn't stick to the minecraft aesthetic.

Overall, it looks like a game you'd have fun with for a few hours and then forget about. Not bad for free.

[hector13]

I suppose I should ptw.

[Iduno]

This week we have a game called Duskers. You pilot drones around procedurally-generated derelict spaceships, trying to find replacement parts and/or upgrades for your drones and ship. The description sounds like things break down with the expectation you'll find a way to work without them. You also control the drones through a command line interface.

It sounds like the game will be working against you, which can get annoying quickly, but the exploration parts will definitely interest some people. Plus, like all games in this thread, it costs $0.

And the hardware requirements are "anything made since 2004" and at least Windows XP. You should be able to run this one.

[AlStar]

This week we have a game called Duskers.

I did a Steam review of Duskers a while back:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A game that can lull you into almost feeling like it's turn based... right up until it all hits the fan, and things very quickly spiral out of control.

You are the sole occupant of a spaceship, in an unknown corner of the galaxy, surrounded by the derelict hulks of spaceships and stations - cause of demise unknown. Explore the hulks from the safety of your ship through your robotic minions - drones which are equipped with modules that let them interact with their environment. Some will be able to provide power to open doors and airlocks, others can scan for motion through closed doors, pick up salvage, or tow disabled drones back to your ship.

The drones are controlled either first-person (usually when venturing into unknown areas), or (more often) through a DOS-like interface.

The constant pressure is that everything is slowly breaking down - modules get ever-higher chances that they'll just fizzle when you try to use them. Fixing them costs scrap, but scrap is also needed to maintain your drones as well as used as the main currency at automated trading stations you come across. Even your ship will slowly deteriorate, eventually forcing you to commandeer a new one - preferably one with unique built-in systems, a bigger hold, or a transponder that will allow you to visit quarantined or military areas.

TL;DR: Thumbs up - although get ready to work out those typing skills.

[Iduno]

Thank you for that. I wasn't sure how well they did with the deterioration mechanic. It's easy to make a game where it's too much, or too easy to avoid. And when it's the main mechanic you're fighting against, it's important to tune it well. Glad to hear it's well-done enough that the game is enjoyable.

[Robsoie]

After clearing all the derelict ships the first sector i moved on the 2nd one and after a couple of ships it starts to feel very repetitive.

From what i played it's in fact a puzzle game that is nicely presented in an original way with those command lines, as to clear and take everything you need from a derelict you will need to solve the infestation puzzle that is about finding how to lead an enemy from a room you need to cross, into a a room that feature a gun defense to kill the enemy

To do so you also need to find which generator will power the doors you need to open and close in order to make a path for the enemy into said gun room (and keep your drone safe), and also find a console to command the gun ( type defense to enable/disable gun ) , and said gun will destroy your drone so make sure to disable it if you need to move through said room.

From there what adds to the difficulty is that to detect infested room you need a working motion detector module in one of the drone 3 slots, and from what i see it takes damage with time, at some point i started to see plenty of room with the motion detector coming with "inconclusive", meaning it was unable to tell if the room was safe or infested, that was a rather huge problem , you need to repair (and refill more use, as the module is limited to 50 use by default) to keep it from getting too many inconclusive results.
same with other modules used to interface with the gun control computer or gather scraps you may find or activate generators

And scraps used for those are coming rather rarely, and repairing a drone cost a very lot of them (lost one when i discovered that activated gun defense was not only set to destroy aliens, but were also shooting my drones) and module repair/refill also cost scraps.

So in the end you need to solve each derelict ship "puzzle" while managing very carefully the amount of scraps you find, and hope you're not getting the motion sensor giving too many "inconclusive" results as those are the biggest pain .

[Iduno]

This week, we have Rise of Industry: Build a town to optimise production for your factory.

Next week is Call of the Sea, which appears to be a 1930's puzzle adventure game (like Myst?).

[Iduno]

Today we've got Call of the Sea, a puzzle game. Looks pretty nice.

Next week is 40k: Gladius: Relics of War.

[Iduno]

Today's game is a 4x called Warhamster 40K: Gladius. The giant piles of day-1 DLC are not included.

Next week is chess ultra, and a ship for a free-to-play game.

[Robsoie]

It's more of a wargame (a Panzer General clone) than a 4X actually , though the research tree and the ability of building bases or cities can throw it into 4X genre maybe.

If someone played 40K Rites of War back in 99 , Gladius feels -very- similar (but the research and buildings add to its depth).

Got a few games and found it rather good (even without any of those DLC galore) once you figure out the classic PZ mechanics (make sure to not let enemy units run away because they'll heal back to full health, same as yours : don't let them getting murdered, retreat them until they heal and move fresh unit to keep the frontline) .

Balance is a bit different from tabletop 40K , by example the devastator troops of the space marines are the equivalent of a wargame early artillery : they hit at longer distance, they hit -really- hard but they have a big malus in accuracy if they move in the same turn they shoot, and they die very quickly to enemy shots.
The space marines Predator tanks that are researched later have same range as devastators, but can move (a lot more than earlier units) and shoot on same turn without accuracy malus, but oddly they do not hit as hard as devastators.

But balance is getting moved around during a battle by the kind of research you do, there are abilities you can research that can add some lethality to some units, some artifacts found around (guarded by strong critters usually) can also give various bonus, some units also can give bonus to their nearby brothers .

All in all Gladius is a very good classic wargame with some added 4X depth and a nice 40K paint over it.
But man if one wants all the factions that are in DLC that can get very costly for a wargame.

[ZebioLizard2]

Balance is a bit different from tabletop 40K , by example the devastator troops of the space marines are the equivalent of a wargame early artillery : they hit at longer distance, they hit -really- hard but they have a big malus in accuracy if they move in the same turn they shoot, and they die very quickly to enemy shots.

Actually given the time it was being made that would be accurate. 8th/9th edition has heavy weapons -1 to hit if they moved. Predators hit less hard because there's more heavy guns in a Devsquad compared to 2 Heavy bolter sponsons and cannon but are more mobile.

[Robsoie]

I need to update my PDF , i'm still reading the 3rd edition (in which heavy weapons couldn't fire if moved)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[ZebioLizard2]

I will also praise Gladius instead of just giving 40k trivia. It's more of a 3X then a 4X proper in the vein of Warlock Masters of the Arcane and Punk Wars, but each faction is quite unique compared to the others. The standard 4 races has the One City Challenge of Space Marines who are strong in the early and mid game but falloff later on. The horrible early game of the Imperial Guard who will wear you down with numbers and Tanks later. The powerful tech Necrons who have strange weaponry that works on a different level compared to the other factions but relies on Tomb Spots for base building, and Orks who are just delightfully based on constant conquest or else they'll get just get depressed and things get worse for them. The DLC races are even more unique compared to the baseline so it is worth a look at once there's a sale.

[Orb]

Gladius is good for coop with friends against the AI, you can crank up the difficulty and get some real wave defense type stuff.

Game isn't very good for PvP though, unless you like assymetric turns. The overwatch mechanics make simutaneous turns awkward.