Back to playing The Division 1. I think the playing the Beta up to the 1st story mission is good enough to get a taste of the lay of the land. Now we just wait till next week .

I really want to buy it, but is it really worth $10? Admittedly, I'm a bit of a cheapskate, but $10 seems a bit much for such an old game. Of course, some old games are still worth that much.

I always hear great things about it, and from what I've seen I think I'd enjoy it. I have a few questions if you or anyone can shed some light on it.

1) I saw on some of the GOG reviews (which are astonishingly 15 pages long already even though it was just released today and even though it was highly desired by GOG users) that the mechanics are very clunky. How clunky are we talking? There are clunky games that I've enjoyed and there are some that I just could not get into.
2) Whenever I've played a "Diablo clone," I'm never quite sure what people mean. Titan Quest and Grim Dawn supposedly fit this bill, but I found those games boring fairly quickly. Yet Divine Divinity is also called a Diablo clone and it is one of my favorite games ever. And I felt they were very different games. So what the hell exactly makes a Diablo clone a Diablo clone?
3) If I've never played it before, is it really worth $10? Although I have some historical curiosity, it is not enough for me to buy this game. But I am very interested in playing.

It will be a while before I can watch the new episodes you've posted; I really want to give them my full focus and can't right now.

I did watch the above; though = I just have to ask...why? What is the point of that? If the train stopped and people got off and shopped, maybe I could see it. But to set up there just to have the train roll over the top of it = not to mention that the fruit would have to get dirt and diesel fumes all over it = urgh.

I suppose it all depends on how much $10 means to you. At this point in my life, I don't really notice spending that much. At other times, I would have had to put a of thought into spending that much. I remember Diablo when it first came out (and I shelled out a lot more for it). At the time it was exceptional. Nowadays its really nothing special. To be honest, I bought it again more for the sake of nostalgia.

I still have my old cds from when I first bought it. The same with Diablo II. It was not easy getting Diablo I to work from my old discs, and impossible with Diablo II. So I was glad for a copy that was pre-tweaked to run on a 64-bit OS.

I do not know that I would say it was clunky. It is a simple point and click game. Point and click to walk. Point and click to attack. Inventory management could be difficult as the game does not pause when you look in your inventory and move things around in it or to your 'belt', which is basically a hot-bar of 8 slots that you could assign quick keys to. Mainly you put healing and mana potions there. Then you could hit the quick keys to use them (numbers 1 - 8 of course). If you had to dig through your inventory to find a potion during a fight, there was a good chance you would get killed.

Yeah I wouldn't call Diablo clunky.

Diablo clones are games that mimic a lot of Diablo's mechanics, the inventory style, drops, monster waves, etc. Go watch some gameplay and then watch Titan Quest or Champions of Norrath(PS2 Diablo clone) and you'll notice a lot of similarities in how the game plays.

I loved Titan Quest. I have it but a) I don't know if it'd run and 2) no DVD drive.

Gah! Am thinking to create a Transport Fever Scenic Excursions episode revisiting the Fuel run from episode one. Boarded its train and made a couple of test runs to see what I needed to touch up before 'filming.' Started out redoing the bordering around some fields along the route. Redid a large pond near the tracks... though it can't be seen during the trip. Did a few minor tweeks. Made more test runs, now with a more critical eye. The more I travel that train route, the more I realize its scenery stinks. Very little beyond what I altered these past few days is presentable. If I'm to film this mess, I'm looking at days of works doing little else. Maybe a solid week or more, depending. Not sure I'm up to it. We shall see.

In other Transport Fever news, the Sittingbourne Food Delivery run I thought at last working as intended is again traveling with empty wagons.

I can certainly afford it, but I want to still be careful about spending. But I'm more concerned about it being justified depending on how much time I'll be able to give it (I've also got some backlog games, and only so much time to play them).

From what I've seen of it, it looks like Divine Divinity plays a lot like it. Similar look, similar feel, also point-and-click. Although I would use the pause key if I couldn't react quickly enough or needed to access quick menus to change weapons or drink potions. So if it's "clunky" like that, I can definitely manage because Divine Divinity, while certainly dated, was by no means a chore.




I'm not sure what it was about Titan Quest, but it didn't click with me. That was a couple of years ago or so, though, so I don't remember why.

But Grim Dawn was sometime last year, and I got bored with it after about 7 or 8 hours. I remember that story did not interest me and there was too much loot. Like it was way too overbearing sifting through it all and reading the extensive statistics about what they all did. I think those were my too biggest issues. I don't mind having a ton of loot and a ton of enemies thrown at me necessarily (or even if combat is repetitive, provided it is fun). But Grim Dawn was over the top in those regards, IMO.

But Divine Divinity had an interesting (although somewhat generic) story, combat was somewhat repetitive but fun, and there was a lot of loot and enemies but mostly not too crazy. Overall, I felt DD played much differently than Titan Quest and Grim Dawn, yet all of them are called Diablo Clones...which makes me think that the term is overused and kind of has lost its meaning. From what I have seen, DD looks much closer to Diablo, so I think I'd enjoy it.

idk if it counts as spoilers, but I am a little disappointed in what the long-awaited third ending was in Enderal, but eh, the restoration of cut content was worth it :v

I will say that I had a hard time actually carrying through and finishing the game this time, since I knew what was coming and frankly when a story gets TOO dark it makes me apathetic to it (which is why I didn't play through Enderal more than once). When I learned exactly what triggers the "secret" ending there was a point I thought it probably wasn't worth it. But I powered through anyways.

That's done. I considered playing other builds but eh....I guess I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Unlikely, though. Probably done with the game for a long time now.

I never managed to make it though Enderal.

I loved the story(though it didn't feel like one I'd play through more than once or twice) but I didn't like some of the systems changes, like how you gained skill ups. I don't buy training in Skyrim, so having to buy all those books just irked me to no end.

That said, World of Warcraft patch 8.1.5 is going live today(tomorrow for me, server's not back up till midnight) so I'll be messing around with that.

Playing the official early release of TCTD2.

Mostly BATTLETECH, at the moment, with a bit of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate mixed in.

I am playing Pillars of Eternity 1 right now. But I did try out a little bit of Battletech, and did an instant battle. It was really confusing, since there is no manual. The initiative system had me really scratching my head, until I figured out that it was alternating between one of mine and one of their computer's mechs. Usually. I did figure out most of how things work eventually. I won, barely. Afterward I found this guide, which sheds a lot more light on how things work.

It’s a brutal game. Even once you’ve figured out things like evasion, reserving, and morale, the computer can sometimes get lucky hits that can really ruin your day. Khajiit was playing a mission earlier in which, at first, everything was going great. My mechs were running circles around the computer controlled lance. This one kept the evasion up on all of the small fast mechs while keeping the heavier mechs back. Well, somehow the computer landed a shot from a PPC that obliterated one of the arms on Commander Qin’s Spider scout mech, even though it had 5 bars of evasion built up! That was the worst damage any of our mechs took, and there were no armaments lost when the arm exploded, but it still cost us 2 days and 30,000 c-bills to repair. Annoying!

I was punched in the face by nostalgia and started playing Gex: Enter the Gecko again. Part of me wants to dig around for Tomba! and Tomb Raider as well. I'll definitely play Gex 3, though. I guess I'm in a platforming mood.

Gex! How funny you mentioned these two games! I was just talking with Renee about it earlier; and she was talking about Tomb Raider!

I miss Gex! "AAADRIIAANNN!!" (and don't forget that you can jump in the Lava at that one spot).

I dunno what that means, but I think i was just brought back to this one demo disk for the PSX that had a bunch of games on it.

The first time I played Gex as a full game was on the N64, which was USUALLY the inferior version as far as multiplatform games went in that era. This time I'm going with the PSX version, so I'm seeing a lot more features. :v (Apparently the Titanic level in Enter the Gecko is N64 exclusive? Either way, there's more levels in the PSX version)

Getting tough, tho. The camera doesn't really help with the trickier platforming parts. At least i managed to rack up 30 lives in the earlier levels.

Whenever Gex was taking damage, he would yell: "AAADRIIAANNN!!" (long drawn out version of "Adrienne" = from that Rocky movie where Sylvester Stallone kept yelling that at the end of the fight).

Transport Fever Scenic Excursions ep18 - Fuel for Dunwich REVISITED is now available for view online. It's a rather short episode during which we, as the title spells out, revisit the train route first ridden episode one. Track-side scenery has been overhauled to ep16-17 standards, though at core much remains as it was. I chose to 'film' the ride-along segment from a roof-top camera position as with episode seventeen. With this episode, unlike its immediate predecessor, excess smoke/steam is rarely a concern. In fact, it survives YT compression rather well as these things go, and can be enjoyed 1080p Full Screen.

lol yeah, i actually JUST got that reaction today in one of the prehistoric levels when I fell into lava (and shortly after a random WILMAAAAA while walking)

Oh, I completely forgot about the "WILMAAAAAA!"

I've gotten behind on these episodes; still haven't seen Episode 17 yet. I'm slowly getting caught up on everything I got behind on this site. "I'll be back!" (said in Arnold's voice).

<nods> Glad to hear your life is settling into its normal routine again...assuming that is your desire.

I'm on a TpF scenic detailing break of indefinite duration. Preparing landscape for ep16-18 took a lot out of me. I've ample patience for long hours of what others often see as endless repetitive tedium, which a good bit of scenery placement consists of, but stamina ain't what it used to be. Luckily, should I get the urge to upload another episode ere I recover, I've raw footage for two episodes "in the can." One a revisit to an earlier episode, still sporting mostly "old style" scenery. One a freight route that utilizes the same tracks as ep16. The latter will differ from ep16 mainly in that I again use a rooftop camera position.

Been unexpectedly busy with Transport Fever, despite intending to take a break and recoup from weeks on end of intricate scenery placement. YouTube can be thanked, or cursed, for this unplanned activity. With my search-filter-of-choice not working, I find myself unable to find the sort of videos that might otherwise occupy my time during a gaming break.

Anyway...

It began with me deciding to replace the two trains assigned to Eastleigh-Morley Passenger Service. It's not much of a route. Only those cities come in to play, with no added scenery between the two. Tracks were poorly laid, with nasty bumps at almost every track junction, of which there were plenty. (We traveled some of this track during Scenic Excursions ep14.) Loco and wagons were older models, passenger carry capacity a bit restricted.

I replaced the trains, giving them better carry capacity and somewhat better but still not overly powerful locomotives. That done, I took a test ride and am happy to report that Camera Views Add-on (mod) side-facing-forward camera positions work well with the new trains. That was all I was happy with. The ride itself was unpleasant for reasons listed above. This led me to do something I should have done long ago but lacked the courage to attempt...redo all tracks between Eastleigh and Morley, eliminating junction bumps and hopefully lessening the chance of over-congesting those tracks are subject to. (Twenty train routes travel over those tracks, most with multiple trains.)

This was done. Took two attempts to get it right. In the end those tracks are now smooth as silk, or close enough to not matter. In the process I was able to give Eastleigh-Morley Passenger Service its own dedicated tracks, ever so slightly lessening congestion on other tracks.

Took a test ride. I still wasn't pleased. Having a passenger train visit only two reasonably close-by stops is sort of unrealistic. There's too much of that on my map. I often give lip service to combining multiple short passenger runs into longer runs, but again lacked courage to do so. Well, this time I took the plunge. I combined Eastleigh-Morley with Morley-St.Mawes-Epping, giving the resultant Service a four-stop route. Morley-St.Mawes-Epping trains were first added to the old Eastleigh-Morley roster, then converted to match. That gave the new combined route four trains, to which I added a fifth.

Took a test ride. I'm much happier with the route. Except most of the tracks between Morley and Epping are a mess, as bad or worse than Eastleigh-Morley before makeover. Yup, those tracks got re-laid too. It proved quite a challenge, but in the end the entire new combined route is reasonably smooth start to finish. Riding it is enjoyable, despite lack of scenery.

My last "improvement," completed right before shutting down the computer and going to bed yesterday, was to replace a number standard signals with Dwarf equivalents.

Here's a capture of two Eastleigh-Epping Passenger Trains at St.Mawes Station. I like the looks of both loco and wagons a lot. Too much maybe. The new extended line could do with a more powerful locomotive due to steep sloping between St.Mawes and Epping, but these are such charmers I'm reluctant to scrap them.

Morrowind is free today for the 25th anniversary of TES. But it sounds like it is only for the Bethesda.net launcher. Either way, I already have it on Steam. I doubt anyone here doesn't have it either. But it's there in case someone wants to go for it.

Cool if you don't have it and you want to see where the series hit its stride.

I got the notice for it in my email; but the redeem code didn't work on the BethesdaNet launcher. When I tried to pick it up it said that code was invalid. I tried going to their support and all I got was Frequently Asked Questions; no where to put in the problem.

I actually have the GOTY disks, but don't have it installed on this computer.

They were having issues due to the volume of traffic for that giveaway. Not sure if they fixed it yet.

Aha, that must be why they extended the dates to the 31st. Because the email said it was just good on the 25th.

Still playing TpF exclusively. Had some drama yesterday. A mod I make much use of was removed from Steam Workshop by its creator. (He purportedly disagrees with a policy change.) Unlike with some games, when that happens in TpF it's map over, if you can't find the mod elsewhere. Luckily, I backup of my TpF Workshop directory. Copied the missing mod into my TpF (non Steam) Mods directory. Activated it while loading a save. Problem solved...this time. (I could also have found it at TransportFever.net.)

Not doing any scenic detailing to speak of at the moment, other than at a few Railway Passenger Stations. Instead, I continue re-laying sections of track to remove, or at least lessen, jarring bumps at rail junctions and elsewhere. Results aren't always smooth as glass, but usually a marked improvement. Enough so I won't be embarrassed 'filming' them, should I add scenery to those routes. Sadly, I doubt I'll tackle the snarl of tracks just outside Eastleigh Passenger Station on the Dunwich side. Too many complications there. Doubt I can make things much of any better than there are without nuking more than I'm willing to.

No rush to create any further Scenic Excursion videos. Not with YT's Upload Date and other filters not working. Ep18, uploaded right after filters went kaput, got next to no views whatsoever. A grand total of nine between now and then, one of those nine being me. I don't monetize so have no financial stake in viewership, but see little point in putting in the time and effort if they won't be seen at all. Enough whining. Heh

Replaced my functional backup of TpF-DEKO_NoRandomTrees (the original disappeared from Steam Workshop several days ago) with a newer version found at TransportFever.net. So far as I can tell, there is no difference between the versions, other than the ability to adjust individual tree/shrub placement height via mod controls.

Within the game, I yet again made adjustments in the forlorn hope of triggering Henley Tool & Machine Plant to produce tools and machines. I swear I'll never understand Freight in this game.

Thought I'd LP this old game Heretic. You ever hear of Hexen well this is its prequel, anyway I bought them from Steam.

I remember Heretic. I loved the Priest's top tier weapon, the Wraithverge. That was so much fun to rip baddies apart with!

I think that's Hexen that has the Priest/Cleric with the Wraithverge. Heretic is more Doom meets D&D though Heretic has the Phoenix Staff.

Edit:
Here's Episode 2.

You are right, that was Hexen, where you had classes. I think Heretic came before that, and there were no classes. I do recall playing it back in the day.

In Heretic you play as an Elf Wizard named Corvus taking on the first of the Serpent Riders. There was a bundle on Steam that gave you Heretic Shadows of the Serpent Riders, Hexen Beyond Heretic and Hexen 2.

I suppose I should report that I'm in the midst of a "non gaming" period, triggered and continued by a combination of circumstances. I've endured gaming hiatuses before. It's likely to end at some point. Question is, when?

When you are in a gaming hiatus; what do you do for fun and relaxation? Read? Listen to music? I hope your health is doing better; hope the hiatus isn't caused by health issues...

I got The Elder Scrolls Blades for my phone. I kinda feel dirty especially after watching Jim Sterling review it. I will give it some forgiveness that TES:Blades is free to play right now and online transaction and loot boxes are away to deal with that. But for a TES on the go it's not to bad for a free to play mobile game.

-Reaper should only play Rainbow Six and Resident Evil games

Enjoy Operation: Big Chunga

Ooh! I might take you up on that tomorrow morning at breakfast!

One thing keeps puzzling me. At the start of some missions we're told to "eliminate all terrorists" and yet the set is never a parliament...

The total number of terrorists is 20 or 21 pending on the difficulty I think, but if your seeing lesser numbers that just bad video capturing on my end .

Khajiit remembers one of the missions in the original Rainbow Six took place in the US Capital building (at least, this one thinks it was the Capital building, it’s been a long time). You were only supposed to kill terrorists though.

Yeah.



I know.



*coughcough*



...

Lol. "only supposed to kill terrorists" eh?

So, like half of Congress?

BEHOLD THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS SWEETROLL!!!

Khajiit wouldn’t say it’s a dump. It actually looks like a nice place!

Yeah, it doesn't look bad. Little smoky though, is that chimneys?

Nope smoke and debris. In Blades your town gets destroyed and its up to you to rebuild it. So far I have a Smithy, Alchemy Lab and some houses. Thinking about adding in another Smithy to act as backup in case my first one is in the middle of a project and I need someone to repair my equipment. But I'm going to work on getting a workshop so I can start with the decor...ahh nothing like a free to play game to waste countless hours on .

I will say this about The Elder Scrolls Blades, its a nice little free to play game and the graphics are REALLY nice for a mobile phone game there is that downer on game like this that once you get going it DOES show its teeth and in this case then gems you'll find or get randomly in chest. Though you CAN play it without them expect some down time especially if you're backlogged on chest (mainly silver), when you get backlogged you need to figure what chest to open first then play the waiting game. In this case its always better to open wooden chest first as they take a few seconds to open, then do gold (if you have any) and silver chest last as they take an hour to open if you don't have gems to open them. Oh you can buy the gems from the store and negate all that but if you're playing without paying for the gems to open chest and other things...expect a LOT of downtime...but hey that's the cost of playing free to play mobile games.