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STEAM announcements & updates 2012 Thread - Summer sales usually last week of June

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O

Of All Trades

Member
animlboogy said:
No, that doesn't sound particularly enjoyable. I do have fast travel turned off in Skyrim (I can still pay to use a carriage to get to main cities instantly), because I like being in that world and it's packed with so much content that with fast travel on, I tend to not visit anything that isn't my next objective, which becomes a grind. So that part doesn't bother me. But nothing else you mentioned sounds particularly well-designed or fun, at least the way you put it. It just seems repetitive and mostly meaningless.
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Also the "world" (at least the first one, I'm only 30 minutes or so into the second map) isn't like Skyrim in that you really have to stick to roads or a few rivers (in a clunky boat) to get most places with any speed, whereas Skyrim let you wander all over the place and occasionally exploit the engine to hop up the sides of mountains. Unless you're good at memorization you drive around with a map open constantly (the map is held in the character's hand because the vehicle GPS isn't too useful).

There are no mods that address the issues with the game? It seems like a fairly interesting setting to have an open world in. Having some consequences put on the player for illness and injury, while alleviating the repetitiveness of the quick respawns seem like pretty simple fixes that could turn it into something compelling.
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No mods. There's some reason that makes sense, depressing as it is, because the game could be radically improved with only a few tweaks (more fast-travel bus stations, respawn turned way down, stealth fixed).
 
I

I speel my dreenk

Member
spindoctor said:
Far Cry 2 is a pretty dire game. It has between 1 and 2 hours of interesting gameplay but after that it's repetitive beyond measure and all it's design flaws hit you like an avalanche. Playing the game to completion is a soul sucking experience and you'll wish you could pay someone to make you forget it.
Click to expand...

What gives me enjoyment in Far Cry 2 is experiencing the world and interacting with the mechanics. Existing in that world and fighting those enemies (though the way I play, I'm more often sneaking up on enemies, and THEN the 80 jeeps fly in out of nowhere) are what I find fun about the game, and I've been able to get 30+ hours of entertainment out of that. The story and everything seems ok but was never a major factor in my enjoyment. I realize that some people only look for story, or story with good mechanics, or only the COMPLETE experience with all the best of everything. I tend to get like that with some games, but this one definitely allows you to just go in and have fun.
 
H

HoosTrax

Member
louiedog said:
Far Cry Complete is $4.99. Each games is $2.49 individually. That means you save a penny if you add the individual games to your cart instead of the bundle. A WHOLE PENNY!
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Were you the one who sent them an e-mail about this to get it corrected to $4.98 to save a penny?
 
XeroSauce

XeroSauce

Member
Frank the Great said:
i haven't played MP3 but the older games are some of the best shooters ever . . . they are worth it irrespective of MP3.
Click to expand...

AppleMIX said:
You really don't need to know what happened in MP1/MP2 to understand 3. Frankly, I found the older games to be tedious (someone who has played them in the last year).
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Semblance said:
Yes, and not worth it for MP3, but worth it because they're awesome. I think MP2's still one of the absolute best third-person shooters out there, honestly.
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Joe Molotov said:
They're still awesome, yes.
Click to expand...

Thanks y'all.

Turns out I have them anyways (I also found Blood Money on my Steam account, who knew) so I'll give them a try after this weekend.
 
L

Ledsen

Member
animlboogy said:
Yeah, it's called Frostfall Hypothermia, and it's on the Workshop.





I've been interested in Dead State since it was revealed to exist, and I've dumped 40 hours into DayZ so far. It's been amazing seeing this kind of gameplay outside of obscure roguelikes and MUDs.



No, that doesn't sound particularly enjoyable. I do have fast travel turned off in Skyrim (I can still pay to use a carriage to get to main cities instantly), because I like being in that world and it's packed with so much content that with fast travel on, I tend to not visit anything that isn't my next objective, which becomes a grind. So that part doesn't bother me. But nothing else you mentioned sounds particularly well-designed or fun, at least the way you put it. It just seems repetitive and mostly meaningless.

There are no mods that address the issues with the game? It seems like a fairly interesting setting to have an open world in. Having some consequences put on the player for illness and injury, while alleviating the repetitiveness of the quick respawns seem like pretty simple fixes that could turn it into something compelling.
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, don't listen to the haters. FC2 is my GOTY 2008 and simply an amazing experience. It's flawed, yes, but how much you let those flaws get to you or impact your experience is up to you. There are ways around them if you just experiment. Many people hate the game at first, but get an epiphany a few hours in and start loving the shit out of it. Many people also gave up after a few hours. Don't be one of those people. Far Cry 2 demands a lot from the player. It demands that you don't simply take the easiest and shortest route every time. It demands that you go by boat or sneak in the jungle sometimes, instead of simply trying to outpace enemies in a fragile jeep. It demands that you vary your loadout, time of attack, and approach each and every mission. If you don't, and use the same weapons, the same tactics every time you play, you will get bored pretty quickly. If you put in the time and effort, you WILL be rewarded with an incredible, emergent experience like none other.

So instead of listening to people complaining about jeeps and respawning enemies, listen to me. You don't have much to lose.
 
Nabs

Nabs

Member
jediyoshi said:
Are they not available yet? No download function showing up
Click to expand...

Snatched from the spuf

BeatBuddy - steam://install/213410
ThunderWheels - steam://install/213550
Blackwell's Asylum - steam://install/213590
Divo - steam://install/213430
The White Laboratory - steam://install/213530
MilitAnt - steam://install/213470
Atooms to Moolecules - steam://install/213390
Trash TV - steam://install/213570
Imagine Earth - steam://install/213450
 
F

faceless007

Member
Anyone else find that Darwinia and DEFCON suddenly downloaded the soundtracks even though they're supposed to be separate DLC? Nice surprise.
 
O

Of All Trades

Member
Ledsen said:
Like I said earlier, don't listen to the haters. FC2 is my GOTY 2008 and simply an amazing experience. It's flawed, yes, but how much you let those flaws get to you or impact your experience is up to you. There are ways around them if you just experiment. Many people hate the game at first, but get an epiphany a few hours in and start loving the shit out of it. Many people also gave up after a few hours. Don't be one of those people. Far Cry 2 demands a lot from the player. It demands that you don't simply take the easiest and shortest route every time. It demands that you go by boat or sneak in the jungle sometimes, instead of simply trying to outpace enemies in a fragile jeep. It demands that you vary your loadout, time of attack, and approach each and every mission. If you don't, and use the same weapons, the same tactics every time you play, you will get bored pretty quickly. If you put in the time and effort, you WILL be rewarded with an incredible, emergent experience like none other..
Click to expand...
I don't think a game that demands a player play a certain way to get enjoyment out of it is what the word "emergent" is meant for. Alternatively, it is emergent because the designers managed to completely fuck up and directed the player to the wrong solutions, who is then forced to figure out some way to not feel like they've wasted their time... which, going by the few things I've read by Hocking, would be a pretty fair estimate of his actual abilities.

To continue ranting, yeah, you can go in the least-direct route, but it's not like there's anything particularly fun or enjoyable about wandering through a functionally static landscape where you're still blocked by impassable mountains and a total lack of actual interaction. You can't move rocks, you can't climb trees, you can't cut down bushes. You can start a brush fire, but who gives a shit because it has no lasting impact. Skyrim mudcrabs do more than the FC2 wildlife. Alternative approaches to mission objectives are constantly undercut by the game's actual no-bullshit flaws where the AI instantly zeros in on the player if anything other than a remote explosive is used. The most interesting parts of the game are when you're taken out of the main arena and put into a smaller, sculpted region where planning starts to matter... until you realize that the target looks and behaves almost identically to every other enemy (good thing you have magic radar) and the least quicksave-reliant solution is to just start firing away.

If you want a FPS that really allows for variation just replay Crysis on hardcore. The only thing FC2 has going for it is that it's really easy to play in a 30 minute burst before ignoring it for a month.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
loblaw said:
So was Big Picture Mode at E3 a rumor or what?
Click to expand...

It seems Gabe misspoke somewhat when he said they'll be showing off other things people already know about, including BPM:

TZHJw.jpg


Chet said much the same thing during his brief interview with Keighley, also mentioning that they have a Steam team behind closed doors doing meetings, so I'd say Valve is at E3 primarily for business reasons.

Fun fact: Half-Life 2 released approximately 18-19 months after being announced (it was confirmed to be at E3 2003 in April, but wasn't unveiled until said event). Big Picture Mode is now approaching 16 months with no release in sight.
 
L

Ledsen

Member
Of All Trades said:
I don't think a game that demands a player play a certain way to get enjoyment out of it is what the word "emergent" is meant for. Alternatively, it is emergent because the designers managed to completely fuck up and directed the player to the wrong solutions, who is then forced to figure out some way to not feel like they've wasted their time... which, going by the few things I've read by Hocking, would be a pretty fair estimate of his actual abilities.

To continue ranting, yeah, you can go in the least-direct route, but it's not like there's anything particularly fun or enjoyable about wandering through a functionally static landscape where you're still blocked by impassable mountains and a total lack of actual interaction. You can't move rocks, you can't climb trees, you can't cut down bushes. You can start a brush fire, but who gives a shit because it has no lasting impact. Skyrim mudcrabs do more than the FC2 wildlife. Alternative approaches to mission objectives are constantly undercut by the game's actual no-bullshit flaws where the AI instantly zeros in on the player if anything other than a remote explosive is used. The most interesting parts of the game are when you're taken out of the main arena and put into a smaller, sculpted region where planning starts to matter... until you realize that the target looks and behaves almost identically to every other enemy (good thing you have magic radar) and the least quicksave-reliant solution is to just start firing away.

If you want a FPS that really allows for variation just replay Crysis on hardcore. The only thing FC2 has going for it is that it's really easy to play in a 30 minute burst before ignoring it for a month.
Click to expand...

You don't have to play a certain way. You have to vary it up. The mission objectives aren't varied, your approach to them can be. It's perfectly possible to avoid discovery by using a Dart Rifle and stealth suit. It's true that in any other situation, the enemies will find you pretty much instantly. That is one of the flaws I was talking about earlier. It still didn't detract from my overall positive experience, and it's still possible to approach missions differently. "Alternative approach" doesn't necessarily mean stealth vs not stealth. It can mean assault rifle vs grenade launcher, sniper rifle vs shotgun (long range vs short range), going straight for the target vs methodically taking out everyone, approaching from different directions, planting explosives and planning vs going Rambo, using vehicles, night raid vs day, etc. In most FPS games, you have very few alternatives. You have the weapons you happen to be carrying, you're coming from a certain direction, and you're pretty much forced to kill everyone to proceed. In Far Cry 2, you have many alternatives. That's why I love it.

Regarding alternate routes, you're free to feel that way. Personally, simply wandering through the beautiful environments was reward enough for me. It would certainly be nice to be able to interact with them in a more meaningful way, but it's not something I actively thought about while playing. Also, going by boat can in many cases be faster than going by car, with the added benefit of not having to deal with checkpoints.
 
T

Tomodachi

Member
At this point I think the BPM will release along a major interface overhaul or something. I mean, how difficult can it be to add a mode with gamepad support and a bigger font for the library tab (I don't see myself browsing the store via BPM)? Jeez.
 
C

Ceebs

Member
Tomodachi said:
At this point I think the BPM will release along a major interface overhaul or something. I mean, how difficult can it be to add a mode with gamepad support and a bigger font for the library tab (I don't see myself browsing the store via BPM)? Jeez.
Click to expand...

It's Valve. They have probably been reworking it and focus testing it over and over again until they think it is perfect.
 
S

Symphonic

Member
Tomodachi said:
At this point I think the BPM will release along a major interface overhaul or something. I mean, how difficult can it be to add a mode with gamepad support and a bigger font for the library tab (I don't see myself browsing the store via BPM)? Jeez.
Click to expand...

They're probably making it compatible with all the tabs, even the community. Possibly even workshop browsing. I wouldn't expect just the library, knowing Valve they're going above and beyond. Which of course leads to Valve Time.

I just want a mode where I can browse my games via box art, dammit.
 
R

Rufus

Member
Hot Far Cry 2 tips:
- Stay off the road as much as possible
- Get the camo upgrade ASAP and stay crouched to survey whatever area before you approach
- Get fresh weapons before you go out on a mission, no more jamming
- The enemies home in on noise, so when you have to be loud, change position immediately (or stay out of range entirely)
- Explosive darts are divine and trivialize enemy jeeps and a bunch of the side missions, so go wild
- Mortars are a lot of fun once you know how to use them
- Flare gun + tall grass (lure enemies into the grass for maximum effect)
- Bolt-action <3
- Don't bother clearing out check points unless there is a diamond nearby
- If you're going to use the same road twice (going back and forth somewhere), avoid checkpoints entirely or take a different path, because enemies respawn rather quickly
 
M

Milamber

Member
Rufus said:
Hot Far Cry 2 tips:
- Stay off the road as much as possible
- Get the camo upgrade ASAP and stay crouched to survey whatever area before you approach
- Get fresh weapons before you go out on a mission, no more jamming
- The enemies home in on noise, so when you have to be loud, change position immediately (or stay out of range entirely)
- Explosive darts are divine and trivialize enemy jeeps and a bunch of the side missions, so go wild
- Mortars are a lot of fun once you know how to use them
- Flare gun + tall grass (lure enemies into the grass for maximum effect)
- Bolt-action <3
- Don't bother clearing out check points unless there is a diamond nearby
- If you're going to use the same road twice (going back and forth somewhere), avoid checkpoints entirely or take a different path, because enemies respawn rather quickly
Click to expand...
Additional tip:
- Don't stay underwater too long or you will suffer from broken bones, bullet puncture wounds & impalement of wooden branches.
 
K

kafiend

Member
I repeatedly try to love FC2. In theory I should, in reality it frustrates me.

Its kind of sad that when FC2 gets mentioned I immediately remember picking up chickens and laugh.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
is 1980x1200 commonly supported in PC games? Ordered a larger monitor and have no idea if it will be problematic.

RE: Big picture mode, I think it's just going to be one of those things they roll out with no big fanfare. It's just a niche software update. I don't think it's going to grow the Steam audience in a huge way, but more change the way we play.
 
R

Rufus

Member
Milamber said:
Additional tip:
- Don't stay underwater too long or you will suffer from broken bones, bullet puncture wounds & impalement of wooden branches.
Click to expand...
Ha, excellent. Had to turn off the video though because those animations make my skin crawl.

Another thing I just remembered:
- Don't worry about malaria. I'm pretty sure it's tied to story progression (as is getting more medicine). If you do nothing but side missions you're never going to suffer from a bout of dizziness and blurred vision in the middle of combat.
 
Lord British

Lord British

Member
Ledsen said:
Everybody get Far Cry 2 GOTY 2008™ right now. DON'T listen to the haters, you owe it to yourself to try it for say 5-8 hours. You may have what I like to call the "Far Cry 2 Epiphany™" and realize that the game is actually one of the best shooters ever.
Click to expand...

I second this. I had said epiphany. It's not easy going at first, but this really is a brilliant, beautiful game.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Visualante2 said:
RE: Big picture mode, I think it's just going to be one of those things they roll out with no big fanfare. It's just a niche software update. I don't think it's going to grow the Steam audience in a huge way, but more change the way we play.
Click to expand...

Hard to say really. Could be a really cool and dramatic update. The fact they released those developer tools oh so long ago means it could be on the level of Steamworks. But it's Valve. It's best to not even try and imagine what they're doing and just enjoy it when it finally sees the light of day.

Blizzard said:
One NeoGAF user posted this a couple of years ago:

"Far Cry 2 is basically the anti-Crysis. You're the perpetual hapless victim in some godforsaken African country and everything and everyone is trying to kill you. Your guns suck, you have malaria, and you're constantly being hunted by packs of armed men in jeeps. It's like a slapstick comedy with one joke and it goes on for about 15 hours."

I recognize that some people like/love Far Cry 2, but I still love that assessment of it.
Click to expand...

Milamber said:
Additional tip:
- Don't stay underwater too long or you will suffer from broken bones, bullet puncture wounds & impalement of wooden branches.
Click to expand...

I finally understand that comment :lol. That video had me laughing hysterically.
 
K

kaskade

Member
I successfully built my first PC last night. Too bad I have no money left for games now.

By time the summer sale happens I should be good. It's actually perfect timing really. I'm assuming I'll be able to fill out my collection nicely.
 
bigace33

bigace33

Member
kaskade said:
I successfully built my first PC last night. Too bad I have no money left for games now.

By time the summer sale happens I should be good. It's actually perfect timing really. I'm assuming I'll be able to fill out my collection nicely.
Click to expand...

lol If you look around on the site I'm pretty sure people will give you a couple of games. If I had a few extra copies I would give you a few myself. I'm sure you could get Portal or Halflife 2 for free as most people have plenty of copies. I think I got the entire Orange Box for free last year. When the sale hits just return the favor to someone.
 
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