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[Sergius]

So, OK, I got a Humble Bundle with 3 gift copies of Vertiginous Golf that must be redeemed before May 30th, so the first 3 people to PM me get a copy. I'll update this post when they're gone. Good luck.

[Darkmere]

I got my steam code, redeemed it, and Got a coupon for 80% off Alpha Protocol. That's 3 crisp US dollars, folks.

It's a really good actiony plot-heavy spy RPG from Obsidian, and if you haven't played it, you should. First come, first served, eh? PM me.

[Rolan7]

I'm not going to claim Alpha Protocol was Mass Effect but better.  That's just my personal experience with it.  Some of its strengths:

It dares to be set in modern times
You don't have to kill people, but it doesn't reward you for being nice
You can be an asshole, and you can push people to do stupid things by being an asshole to them.
You can be an asshole to people who deserve it and be nice to people who don't.
You can't easily buy literally everything, you have to choose between improving your equipment or buying intel on interesting characters.  (Which gives you combat advantages AND lets you screw with them in dialogue)
TURN UP
THE RADIO

And the main reason I still remember it:  I was mostly playing a cool character, but sometimes I got rushed into choosing an angry or sarcastic option.  Because the dialogue doesn't wait forever, and some of the characters are really nasty.  And I never felt like reloading...  My character lost his cool, and didn't really suffer for it.  Just a moment of humanity.

[hector13]

Turn up the radio indeed. One of my favorite boss fights, and probably the most memorable part of the game.

It is unfortunately, at its heart, a mediocre cover shooter though, and the stealth mechanics are kinda OP after a certain point (and it can pretty much break the boss fight in the museum) the conversation stuff is interesting though, but a bit limited.

I think the devs have said there won't ever be a sequel though, which is quite sad since fleshed out mechanics would be pretty cool.

In saying that, I think the game may have been rushed a bit:

Spoiler: spoiler-ish for a minor character (click to show/hide)

Some of the Intel regarding Championchik (the boxer dude) refers to him being overly attached to his Olympic medals, but it doesn't come into play in the boss fight.

Though this could be that the boss fight is over awfully quickly when I play, 'cause I inevitably do Russia last... It just makes me feel there were things they wanted to do but couldn't.

[hector13]

DP excuse-ment requested.

Cities Skylines is on sale 'til Monday on Steam, and you can also play it for free for ~20 hours from now.

[Flying Dice]

Is it still horribly unoptimized?

[hector13]

I have no idea, only played it for about an hour earlier

D'ya have any links or something so I can read up about that, though? I've enjoyed that hour, but given the scope, that isn't enough to find something I utterly loath yet.

[timferius]

Distant Worlds is half off on steam right now. Anyone have an opinion on it? Should I just wait for Stellaris?

[Sirus]

At half price I would say that Distant Worlds is definitely worth it. It's a real-time-with-pause space 4X with more than a dozen races, each with unique victory conditions, and takes place in galaxies of up to 1400 or so stars, each of which can have several planets and moons. There's also a ton of optional automation so that you can choose for yourself just how complicated the game is.

[IronyOwl]

Orcs Must Die! franchise is 90% off. For a dollar or two it's hard not to get your money's worth if you're into TDs or rampant murder at all.

At half price I would say that Distant Worlds is definitely worth it. It's a real-time-with-pause space 4X with more than a dozen races, each with unique victory conditions, and takes place in galaxies of up to 1400 or so stars, each of which can have several planets and moons. There's also a ton of optional automation so that you can choose for yourself just how complicated the game is.

If you've got any more details, I'd be interested in hearing about them.

[Sirus]

Well, let's see. The Universe edition includes all previously-released versions and expansions, so you get basically the full DW experience. You can choose from several different "campaigns" taking place at different points in the universe's timeline. You can choose to play as a pirate faction in most of these campaigns if you so desire, shaking down weak empires and poorly-defended worlds for money and supplies.

As a normal empire, you have two primary types of ships: State-owned and Civilian. State-owned ships are your warships, your scouts, your construction vessels, and space stations. You can give them orders, you can decide when to build such things and how many to build, and you pay out of the empire's pocket for each one. Civilian vessels such as freighters, passenger transports, mining vessels, run around and do their own thing. You cannot directly control them in any way, nor can you order them to be built. However, since they are built at your government-owned shipyards, and they are vital for keeping an empire of any size moving smoothly, the construction of civilian vessels actually puts money in your pocket.

I already said there were more than a dozen races. Each of them have a type (humanoid, insectoid, etc), a preferred planet type, special victory conditions to pursue, racial bonuses, and bonuses from certain resources. Many of them also have unique techs, special buildings, or special government types. And speaking of government types, each one has its own bonuses and penalties to various aspects of your empire's abilities. You can change government types during gameplay, though you typically go through a period of unrest by doing so and unhappy worlds might decide to break off and become independent.

And then there's independent empires! Not only do you have the other main factions running around the galaxy, trying to win the game, but there are also dozens of tiny empires scattered all over the place. Sometimes they can be absorbed peacefully into your own empire, other times you will have to conquer them. And if you enable the appropriate settings, these small empires can eventually grow on their own, becoming new main factions that will also attempt to win the game! Pirates can do this as well.

Would you like to know more? There's still a lot to cover but I'd like to know what to focus on

[Aklyon]

Does it look as bad as dominions? It sounds as complexable.

[Shadowlord]

Dominions looks bad? 

[Sirus]

Does it look as bad as dominions? It sounds as complexable.

Everything is still sprites, if that's what you mean. The ships have lights blinking on them, the engine flare changes based on how fast the ships are moving, that sort of thing. Stars are animated gifs, basically. The UI can get pretty complex, but unlike in Dominions you can have the AI run various aspects of your empire for you. Up to and including the entire game, if you wish. Or you can turn off automation entirely and do it all yourself, which I imagine gets pretty overwhelming really damn quick.

[nenjin]

Dominions looks bad? 

Objectively speaking? Dom4 still looks like a game made in the early to mid 90s.