PC Gaming Era | January 2019 - Return of the Obra Dinn wins PC Gaming Era GOTY

[Trice]

I've been playing Kingdom Come Deliverance for the last few days, a few bugs here and there, nothing major - until today. The game fucking uninstalled itself from Steam! All original game files are still on my SSD, or at least they appear to be. I 'installed' the game again, launched from the old original file location and now I can't continue my save file because it's somehow missing DLC.

Meanwhile Steam wants to download the fucking game again. 50 gigs of bullshit.

I'm baffled. I'm gonna take a break. I love the game but this shit is something else. 16 hours of savegame just got Skalitzed

 

[wihio]

I wish I could still recommend Myth as a great RTS... It has manageable unit sizes and no base building. But the game is basically impossible to get today. :(

C&C Red Alert remake and Warcraft 3 remakes are coming and I think both are pretty manageable RTS.

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You can get a great update to Myth II from Project Magma who have also ported all of the maps from Myth: The Fallen Lords over to the new engine. I played this game when it first released and have come back to it again multiple times over the decades. It is all available in their Downloads section.

 

[Deleted member 16136]

Just completed Diablo 1 good and proper for once, unlike my scrubby younger days where it felt slow and crappy compared to D2 and gave up, and I used a cheat expansion thing for the PS1 version to blast through it. No deaths either, proper chuffed. Bring back this type of dark hell Blizzard.

 

[Yoshizzle]

I forgot how good Portal 2 is. It helps when years pass by and you don't remember the puzzles. It had everything -- great story and humor, clever writing, fun puzzles, awesome twist, top notch voice acting, and probably the best ending I've seen in a game.

 

[Mivey]

I forgot how good Portal 2 is. It helps when years pass by and you don't remember the puzzles. It had everything -- great story and humor, clever writing, fun puzzles, awesome twist, top notch voice acting, and probably the best ending I've seen in a game.

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Part of me believes that if the first Portal was called "Portal 0", and this one "Portal 1", then Valve would somehow have made a third game by now, as they could then develop it without acknowledging the existence of a number between 2 and 4.

 

[matimeo]

What kind of thing are you looking for?
Huge battles? Multiplayer? Story campaign? Base building?

Starcraft II is probably a solid choice

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Stacraft Remastered, maybe? It gives you a good amount to do, even if you never go online.

Everyone should see the Zerg at their best.

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The best RTS for beginners are in my opinion

The aforemtioned Halo Wars, as the game is rather easy and the individual missions small in scope.
Due to the restriction of being designed around a gamepad, the game doesn't require a lot of map awareness or micro management. Which i would generally consider huge downsides, but for a beginner that might just be right.

Age of Mythology, also fairly easy from my memory, it's a lot more complex than halo wars, but that makes it a good gateway into the more challenging RTS games.

Starcraft 2 is a lot more heavy on the microanagement part, but on the easier difficulties it's not all that hard either and the campaign is structured well to ease you into all of its gameplay elements. Technically you would have to play the more challenging starcraft 1 first to understand the story, but unfortuantely the story is trash either way so you can just enjoy the beautiful cgi cutscenes and amazing mission design.

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I liked Halo Wars. I like Halo in general tbh, but not enough to buy an Xbox. Oops. MicroSoft pls.

My favorite RTS was Total War Shogun 2, but then Redshell happened. So I dunno, half-way tempted to blacklist the dev for life.

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I mean the best RTS of all time is obviously Red Alert 2 but you might not wanna start there cause everything else is just a step down

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Age of Empires series is pretty is easy to pick up and doesnt have a steep learning curve. 1 and 2 are available digitally, and 1 just recently remastered.

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Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander are still really fun RTS games. Good mod scene too. I started out with TA as a kid, so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up.

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Halo Wars I found very simple. My recommendation would be StarCraft Remastered. It's a classic and the remaster works really well. Play through the campaign.

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Thanks everyone !

As far as what I'm looking for just something that is easy for someone with no RTS experience to get into.

Looks like my guess about Halo Wars is right on. So I'll try that first.

Then move on to some of your other suggestions.

 

[zombieshavebrains]

Yeah, i'm getting around to it! I believe you guys, just POE has it's grip on me hard. My weekend has been POE, eat, gym, shower, sleep. Not much else.

I also need to see if Nier has steam cloud saves...otherwise i'll have to go through Routes A/B all over again.

 

[JarrodL]

yes and i have, but for example, let me use hypothetical door numbers here for the super duper spoiler sensitive types.

Ending 1 is doors 21, 44, 56
Ending 2 is doors 22, 45, 57

so far so good, all different. But:

Ending 3 is doors 21, 45, 58

so now it repeats the first ending first door, but needs the second ending second door. so I had to start from the first door again, I couldnt just skip to the second door. I mean, right?

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Maybe I'm misremembering stuff (entirely possible, it's been a while since I played), but I thought you should be able to jump to door 1 choice to change it, and then use the flowchart again to skip ahead to future choices.

 

[matimeo]

Oh another RTS I forgot I have in my library is tooth and tail. Which looks like it may be approachable as well.

 

[Tonton]

Route C sure would be nice if the game would let me play it

 

[tuxfool]

Oh another RTS I forgot I have in my library is tooth and tail. Which looks like it may be approachable as well.

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It is definitely very lite, and it doesn't really feel at all like a classical RTS. I'd say it takes more inspiration from a game like Spellforce.

 

[Saoshyant]

Hey guys, could use your opinion. Fanatical has this bundle finishing soon about their 2018 indie picks?

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/staff-picks-2018

I already have Sexy Brutale, Tropico, and Grey Goo. What else do you recommend?

I was thinking Dex, Space Hulk, Metronomicon, and maybe two more?

 

[Mivey]

Hey guys, could use your opinion. Fanatical has this bundle finishing soon about their 2018 indie picks?

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/staff-picks-2018

I have Sexy Brutale, Tropico, and Grey Goo. What do you recommend?

I was thinking Dex, Space Hulk, Metronomicon, and maybe two more?

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I recently finished The Lion's Song and I'd say check it out. It's nice point and click game in the vein of the Telltale games (with a really good looking pixel graphic style, I recommend you checkout its Steam page). It plays in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian empire, focusing on a handful of interesting characters, artists and scientists and provides a glance on their lives and hardships (with connections between them).

 

[Saoshyant]

I recently finished The Lion's Song and I'd say check it out. It's nice point and click game in the vein of the Telltale games (with a really good looking pixel graphic style, I recommend you checkout its Steam page). It plays in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian empire, focusing on a handful of interesting characters, artists and scientists and provides a glance on their lives and hardships (with connections between them).

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That actually looks great and just the sort of thing I'm usually into. No idea how I've managed to completely miss it. Thanks.

 

[Clowns]

First finished game of 2019: Mass Effect 3.

Enjoyed it until the ending, where I picked something shitty not knowing it was an actual choice, and had to redo the whole damn thing.

 

[Rhaknar]

Maybe I'm misremembering stuff (entirely possible, it's been a while since I played), but I thought you should be able to jump to door 1 choice to change it, and then use the flowchart again to skip ahead to future choices.

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oh maybe, yeah I didnt think of that, it would "trigger" door 1 for that run I guess. Oh well, im on the 4th ending now anyway

 

[texhnolyze]

This is why I roll my eyes every time I see people say something stupid like "Steam forums are useless pile of garbage".

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An 8-year-old game with this kind of activity is truly something. Lots of quest and technical problems, and people are so helpful.

 

[Hereafter]

Hey guys, could use your opinion. Fanatical has this bundle finishing soon about their 2018 indie picks?

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/staff-picks-2018

I already have Sexy Brutale, Tropico, and Grey Goo. What else do you recommend?

I was thinking Dex, Space Hulk, Metronomicon, and maybe two more?

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Seraph is pretty good.

 

[low-G]

You can get a great update to Myth II from Project Magma who have also ported all of the maps from Myth: The Fallen Lords over to the new engine. I played this game when it first released and have come back to it again multiple times over the decades. It is all available in their Downloads section.

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Checked this out tonight. I had no idea they ported Myth 1 maps! I love it! Thanks!

 

[sredgrin]

Need some suggestions of a good RTS game for someone new to RTS. I was considering Halo Wars despite not loving the Halo universe it's at least familiar to me.

Any other suggestions?

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Dawn of War 2's campaigns play out more like pseudo RPGs and are good ways to learn. Company of Heroes is more complicated but also focuses on smaller scale stuff.

 

[Tizoc]

Rtx 2060 releasing on jan 15th for 350 dollars.

 

[zombieshavebrains]

This is why I roll my eyes every time I see people say something stupid like "Steam forums are useless pile of garbage".

An 8-year-old game with this kind of activity is truly something. Lots of quest and technical problems, and people are so helpful.

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I was active on the Batman: Arkham City games forums and tried to help as much as possible. I'm honestly surprised people even use the forums. Before I subscribed to that forum, I never thought of them as a place for discussion maybe because the only social part of steam I pay attention to is the activity feed. So I never see them. But there was some civil discourse on the ones i've seen and people legit asking for help either on quests or getting the game running.

 

[Teggy]

BrutalInsane thanks for recommending Sniper Elite 4, it's great.

 

[Rhaknar]

Maybe I'm misremembering stuff (entirely possible, it's been a while since I played), but I thought you should be able to jump to door 1 choice to change it, and then use the flowchart again to skip ahead to future choices.

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so going back to this, and now that I have 5 endings, just missing the last (true) ending, I can confirm you CANNOT just simply jump to most locations in the flowchart. It helps, but a lot of the time you still have to do alot (like re-do the puzzles) and of course, skip a lot of dialogue that you already saw.

Ending 5 was particularly stingy, I tried to jump ahead twice and it wouldnt trigger, you actually have to do the puzzles after a certain thing because it triggers new dialogue in those puzzle rooms. I mean, its still much faster since A) you probably remember the puzzles or just use a guide because you already did them once and B) youre skipping a lot of dialogue, but yeah, the flowchart doesnt remove the repetition.

 

[kurahador]

Why is RX580 is so cheap now? Seems like alot of shop can't wait to get rid of them.

 

[texhnolyze]

RTX cards bundle with ANTHEM/Battlefield V

 

[Xclash]

Why is RX580 is so cheap now? Seems like alot of shop can't wait to get rid of them.

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AMD (Nvidia too) has a ton of inventory of mid-range cards due to the cryptocurrency craze. It's why you are seeing a lot of game bundles with them right now.

 

[Tizoc]

 

[Igniz12]

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Oh no...did they give the comic back to the old guy?

 

[Tizoc]

Oh no...did they give the comic back to the old guy?

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Nah its still Olivia Jaimes. Its a jab at special events in games where certain stuff could only be obtained during that event but only for a limited time (looking at you fancy illanwar elves card)

 

[Igniz12]

Nah its still Olivia Jaimes. Its a jab at special events in games where certain stuff could only be obtained during that event but only for a limited time (looking at you fancy illanwar elves card)

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[zkylon]

my character really is the absolute zenith of badassery

i reached my lone point of frustration on one of those shitty egg delivery missions, but i'm gonna try getting some egg carrying bonuses on my armor and see if it's at least a bit easier with that. the damn camp is super close to the rathian but it's a fucking nightmare to get to when carrying an egg ._.

anyways been fooling with the double daggers which are pretty fun and easy to use. probably gonna try the hammer soon, that thing looks fun

 

[Gevin]

my character really is the absolute zenith of badassery

i reached my lone point of frustration on one of those shitty egg delivery missions, but i'm gonna try getting some egg carrying bonuses on my armor and see if it's at least a bit easier with that. the damn camp is super close to the rathian but it's a fucking nightmare to get to when carrying an egg ._.

anyways been fooling with the double daggers which are pretty fun and easy to use. probably gonna try the hammer soon, that thing looks fun

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Are you using the cloak mantle for the carry missions?

 

[zkylon]

Are you using the cloak mantle for the carry missions?

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no i kind of equipped the flying thingie and never looked back

i guess that might be smart, tho honestly i killed the rathian and still couldn't find a way to the damn camp -__-

 

[sredgrin]

You really should just SOS or seek out MP for any of the carry missions. They are so incredibly tedious.

 

[matimeo]

It is definitely very lite, and it doesn't really feel at all like a classical RTS. I'd say it takes more inspiration from a game like Spellforce.

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Interesting. I've been curious about the spellforce games for awhile.

Dawn of War 2's campaigns play out more like pseudo RPGs and are good ways to learn. Company of Heroes is more complicated but also focuses on smaller scale stuff.

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Thanks! I own those as well so the pseudo rpg part sounds really good.

 

[zkylon]

You really should just SOS or seek out MP for any of the carry missions. They are so incredibly tedious.

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that's also good advice

that mission sucks

 

[Branson]

Damn. Ac Odyseey has me hooked. I think I like it more than Origins. It's a constant dopamine feed and it's hard to stop playing for me. I had to stop so I could play other stuff today.

 

[Gevin]

The cloak removes all the difficulty and just makes them tedious (5 minute cooldown...)

Tbh I didn't even think of SOSing carry missions, seems like a very good idea.

In other news, I got destroyed by the electric unicorn. I'm gonna assume he's too hard for my current level and come back to that mission later

 

[Rhaknar]

Dawn of War 2 is one of my favorite games ever, don't @ me heretics.

 

[zkylon]

The cloak removes all the difficulty and just makes them tedious (5 minute cooldown...)

Tbh I didn't even think of SOSing carry missions, seems like a very good idea.

In other news, I got destroyed by the electric unicorn. I'm gonna assume he's too hard for my current level and come back to that mission later

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yeah tedious is acceptable, i just don't want to have to run away all that time perfectly dodging and minding stamina, that's just no fun

 

[Echo]

The Devil Haunts Me is out. It's free as well.

But once more the achievements won't count because Steam is still "learning" about the game. How long does this "learning" process take? There are VN's and other indie titles with hundreds of reviews from six+ months ago still being "learned" by Steam.

Does anyone understand the process?

 

[zeknurn]

Thanks! I own those as well so the pseudo rpg part sounds really good.

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I was just about to mention Company of Heroes+expansions. I think it's one of the few rts games that rightfully toned back the amount of micro needed while still retaining essentials features like base building . It also added in much needed tactical elements like medium/ hard-cover which slowed down the game a bit and put more emphasis on strategy with flanking.

I think it would be a great starting point for someone new to the genre.


Or you could always skip out the middle man and go straight to Dota 2. After all, RTSes went away in favour of Dota because no one enjoys microing units.

 

[Premium Ghoul]

Those egg delivery missions were more difficult than any monster I faced in MHW.

Man am I glad I don't have to do any more of those.

 

[TenaciousD]

Anthem visually looks like what a next-gen Mass Effect game should have looked like. Damn, it looks good.

Probably won't be an interesting game though, but at least you'll be able to get it for $20 on eBay.

 

[Ge0force]

Started The Division from scratch yesterday with a friend. I'm still not a huge fan of the cover-based shooting mechanics, but damn that games looks good!

 

[TenaciousD]

Nvidia announcing that they'll finally support FreeSync at CES, although only officially supported on 12 monitors. Other monitors adaptive sync will need to be enabled manually in the settings. About goddamn time.

EDIT: Only available on GTX10XX and RTX cards. WTF? Get screwed 980Ti owners.

 

[Igniz12]

Those egg delivery missions were more difficult than any monster I faced in MHW.

Man am I glad I don't have to do any more of those.

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Oh boy....if you think those were bad then be glad they nerfed that shit because in classic MH it was a nightmare.

 

[Deleted member 16136]

Nvidia announcing that they'll finally support FreeSync at CES, although only officially supported on 12 monitors. Other monitors adaptive sync will need to be enabled manually in the settings. About goddamn time.

EDIT: Only available on GTX10XX and RTX cards. WTF? Get screwed 980Ti owners.

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Sweet, should hopefully be able to make use of it.

 

[Mivey]

Nvidia announcing that they'll finally support FreeSync at CES, although only officially supported on 12 monitors. Other monitors adaptive sync will need to be enabled manually in the settings. About goddamn time.

EDIT: Only available on GTX10XX and RTX cards. WTF? Get screwed 980Ti owners.

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There is some confusion whether it's limited to newer graphics cards, or whether that's just talking about the ability to detect certain "good" FreeSync screens automatically. I assume it's the former, but the phrasing is vague enough that it could be the latter.