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STEAM | May 2014 - every time improve protection Steam Guard

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Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Yesterday I finished State of Decay, which is an open world driving-and-fighting base-building zombie survival game. On the whole I'd say I enjoyed the game, but the more I played, the more I realized that it doesn't quite work.

Basically, the way the game works is thus: You have a base stocked with survivors. As time passes, the base uses up resources; food, medicine, ammunition, construction supplies, and fuel. As a result, you need to go out and scavenge. So you go around a few towns and surrounding countrysides, break into houses and warehouses and the like, and steal stuff. You'll find both items that your character can use, and resources that your base can use. You carry regular items in a backpack, which has both a slot and weight limit after which you get encumbered and tired more easily. Base resources are loaded into a large rucksack, which further encumbers you. If you can't carry everything at an area, you can send for someone from your base to run to where you are, pick up the remainder, and bring it back to the base. NPCs can get caught by zombies while they're making their way out to the looting point or while they're making their way back. You can designate certain buildings to be "outputs". The game doesn't explain at all why you would do this, but the internet explains: the most important reason to do it is that an area designated a outpost spawns no zombies and is booby-trapped so that if external zombies move through, they get killed. You'll want to put at least a few outposts near your base to sort of create a zombie-free buffer. The second reason, which is not made clear in the game at all, is that if you leave base resources in an outpost, you will have a permanent daily allowance of that resource, which lowers your need for scavenging. By the end of the game I had a daily surplus of food and medication and broke even on fuel, so I only needed ammo and construction materials.

After a while your character will get tired. Fatigue lowers your maximum stamina. You can keep playing, but it'll keep getting worse. So you're advised to go back to home base and switch to another character. Likewise, serious injury lowers your maximum health. This is the game's way of forcing you to use multiple characters. This can be frustrating if you only have a few with good skills. Skills include cardio, wits (ability to search through things quietly), melee combat, shooting, and reflexes (appears to relate to combat) and they are leveled up by using them; someone who shoots all the time will quickly get a high level of shooting skill. At a certain point, once you've leveled skills, you can also select "specializations" for your characters. The game does not explain this, so it was about 2/3rds of the way through the game before I discovered this was a thing.

While you're out and about, you'll be asked to do missions. Missions could involve helping out neighboring groups of survivors, going to save one of your runners who has been caught in a zombie-infested area, helping to board up a building, climbing tall buildings to locate new sources of resources.

You can also find new areas to move to, as each base has different built-in facilities and different numbers of expansion slots. I only moved my base once, from the default church into a spacious and facility-rich warehouse. You can use materials to build different areas in your base; a guard tower, a garden, a medical tent, a research library, a cooking area, a gym/training area, etc. Some require particular survivors with particular skills to staff them, but most just give you a sort of passive boost. You can upgrade most building facilities. Ultimately other than areas that help survivors recover from fatigue or injury, I didn't really notice much of an impact from base facilities at all.

This description makes it seem like that game is just an open survival game. It isn't. There's a plot. At random, you'll get radio missions to go deal with various groups of people. There are military personnel who are here for an unknown reason, local small criminals and drug/weapons dealers, a group of friendly survivors, a courthouse serving as some kind of post-collapse civilian government, and a few one-offs. The actual plot missions themselves differ very little from the random missions you get. For example, taking the sheriff on a ride-along to clear out zombie infestations and save a trapped civilian is exactly like clearing out zombie infestations and saving trapped civilians. The plot missions spawn sort of at random, I think on an in-game timer, so you'll typically be doing survival chores in between plot missions. The last few missions were a good escalation, but sort of proves that the game's strength is more about being unexpectedly mobbed rather than any individual enemy being tough to kill. I was pretty underwhelmed by the plot, as very few characters in the plot actually get any kind of definition, which makes me note:

Your player characters are basically randoms. You start as a camping dude named Marcus who has great default skillset. He's accompanied by a perpetual whiner who is useless named Ed. You meet up with an ex-military woman named Maya. Pretty much everyone else after these three are total blind randoms. There are five or six NPC voices that voice everyone; there's a wide wide wide variety of dialogue but little in the way of characterization. They do this because anyone can permanently die. During my first run-through, I lost both Marcus and Maya due to bad planning about 10 minutes apart 4 hours in. I was so gutted that I restarted the game. In my second and final playthrough, I was about 7 hours in when I lost Marcus on a routine errand. I considered restarting again. So they've done a good job of making the loss of a high level character pretty tragic. Marcus was my only loss that wasn't ordained by plot reasons on my second playthrough.

The game is very large in scope, but mostly looks petty ugly (iffy shadows, terrible terrible broken gamma ramp), and kind of glitchy. Performance was pretty good on my low-spec PC. The odd bursts of music were excellent. VA is good. The game lasted me about 12 hours, so a little under 16 or so if you count my aborted first playthrough.

I guess I would describe my experience as sort of hollow. I loved the melee combat, which is quite complex and very tense (although poorly explained). I loved driving around in my car and opening my door to whack a passing zombie, or doing a donut and whipping a zombie hanging off the back into a telephone pole. But... I guess I never really felt like anything matters. I'd just wander around and scavenge (unnecessarily, my resources were never low) until I'd get a mission, missions were basically no different than wandering around in general, I'd play side missions until I got a plot mission, which were no different really. Occasionally I'd have to go back to my base to check on construction or switch characters. I was never scarce on weapons or ammo or meds at my base. I always had more than enough influence, the game's currency.

I guess my go-to example would be something like Assassin's Creed. Imagine Assassin's Creed without the story missions. And the entire world is flat one-storey buildings so you can't climb so there was no real parkour element. But there were still lots of feathers and bars to fill. I mean, it's a way to kill time, but ultimately we kind of recognize that you can't build a game around it, there has to be actual original content as well. If the concept appeals to you, I'd recommend you try the game, but I think that like me you'll get a bit burned out after a while.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Shouldn't AssUnity be using Anvil Next though? If you could run AssFlags properly, you shouldn't have problems...

Black Flag is cross-gen, though. Unity is exclusive to current-gen systems so I imagine Watch Dogs' 3GB requirement for "Ultra" textures will only repeat itself.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Why do I have Q.U.B.E Director's Cut in my inventory. I thought that was supposed to be not free after the devs' comments.

Did I miss a juicy rant-fest by owners of the game?

yes.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/203730/discussions/0/522728000914761102/

http://steamcommunity.com/app/239430/discussions/0/522728268857232559/

With the recent outburst of negative comments on the price tag on the Director's Cut version of Q.U.B.E. for owners of the original game we're looking to make the game free for all existing players. To let you know, putting a price tag on the game for previous owners was never a scam opportunity (we also hate those things) but a business decision that has clearly turned out to be a mistake. We would rather have a bunch of happy fans that enjoy playing our games so thanks for letting us know that we screwed up. We'll make sure we inform the community before we make any rash decisions in the future.

We've contacted Valve to make the game free for existing users so it should pop up in your Steam library early next week. We'll keep you posted.

It should be in your automatically in your library, not inventory.
 

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
Speaking of ToS and plugs being pulled, at times I wonder what will happen if/when Steam goes down. Is it true that Lord Gaben can just flip a switch and allow us to download our games in some sort of "DRM Free" form?
I sure hope so. If worst comes to worst, I'll have no moral conflicts in using a crack to bypass Steam's CEG. The problem would be not being able to download the games I don't already have on my HDD.

But since this scenario is extremely improbable, I don't worry about it. Of course, it can come to bite me in the ass, but Valve has earned my trust.
 

Li Kao

Member
*sings "summer time"*

0.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG0oBPtyNb0

You know you want it.
 

Dr Dogg

Member
Cheers for the State of Decay impressions Stump. Certainly sounds slightly different from the game I thought it was. I was under the impression it was more akin to a survival game like Don't Starve where it was randomly generated. The way you make it sound is more like a Dead Rising kind of affair with a set story but not the time limit.

Makes me wonder why no one has tried to make a Tremors like game. I mean who wouldn't want to role play as Fred Ward or The Bacon?
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Cheers for the State of Decay impressions Stump. Certainly sounds slightly different from the game I thought it was, I was under the impression it was more akin to a survival game like Don't Starve where it was randomly generated.

Well, it's got a fixed world with relatively few types of resources, all of which are in abundance... so definitely you never feel the odds are against you with State of Decay. There is a DLC called Breakdown that steadily ramps up the difficulty (I haven't purchased it); this is designed so that the sheer number of zombies will overwhelm you and that the scarcity of resources will affect you. But a) I've just played through the game and so would be totally burned out if I had to play again just to make it harder, and b) Again, I'm not a super fan of the core gameplay loop.

I mean, versus Don't Starve, I would say that State of Decay is a lot more routinized. Like, you spend a lot more of your time trying to accomplish specific goals. I need food, therefor I will go scavenge for food. I have been asked to clear an infestation in this building, so I will go to the building and clear the infestation. Whereas a lot of survival games are more... I dunno, indirect. In Minecraft, you can't really tell what kind of resources you'll find.

I'll also add that one hyped feature of State of Decay is that while you weren't playing, the game was supposed to continue to use resources and the NPCs would continue to go on missions, so if you didn't pay attention to your base, you could end up with a bunch of dead people. This feature was not fully realized. First, because I think most people are going to play the game over 4 or 5 days, playing each day, so I doubt they'll even notice that the simulation aspect is happening. I know I didn't. Second, because they nerfed the feature so that it can't result in any of your characters dying and you're only penalized the first day you aren't playing. I found this out by reading about the game and looking it up.
 

MUnited83

For you.
More importantly, why don't I have mine?

Go to Director's Cut store page. It will list the game as owned. Click on install and the game will then appear on your library. That's what I did.

New indiegala Monday1.5$ for 24 hours before price increases

https://www.indiegala.com/weekly

Circuits
T.E.C. 3001
Day One : Garry's Incident
Volt
Blue Rose (desura/greenlight)
Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends (desura/greenlight)

All steam games have cards
Awwww yeaaaaah, T.E.C 3001. Came close to buy it a few times, glad I waited.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Spares:

ModBot said:
I am giving away 3 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
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- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


Circuits -- MB-6FC500034777616E - Taken by Nabs
Volt -- MB-0EF003380DF29D43 - Taken by Scipius
Day One: Garry's Incident -- MB-1F9CE1EE50FD2E15 - Taken by nightstorm
 

Dr Dogg

Member
Awwww yeah! Sadly that was short lived :(

I'll also add that one hyped feature of State of Decay is that while you weren't playing, the game was supposed to continue to use resources and the NPCs would continue to go on missions, so if you didn't pay attention to your base, you could end up with a bunch of dead people. This feature was not fully realized. First, because I think most people are going to play the game over 4 or 5 days, playing each day, so I doubt they'll even notice that the simulation aspect is happening. I know I didn't. Second, because they nerfed the feature so that it can't result in any of your characters dying and you're only penalized the first day you aren't playing. I found this out by reading about the game and looking it up.

Cheers for the further info Stump.

Sounds a lot like what the Fable series tried to promise on, a organic world that evolved without your interaction. What it boiled down to was a series of very basic flags and time stamps. Sure you could make money whilst you're not playing but alter the clock on your system by 5 years and you can break the systems and become filthy rich. You could really break the kingdom aspects in III by doing this.

All the games that I've played that actually evolve over time are all on line and server based. I think my sister still plays Kingdom of Kefflings to this day.
 
Spare, gift link not key. You have to sign up for Indiegala.

ModBot said:
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Day One : Garry's Incident -- MB-D884E05A17F661D6 - Taken by KainXVIII
 

KainXVIII

Member
Nvidia releases new drivers for GeForce cards, interesting features, anybody test it?
Performance Boost
Introduces key DirectX optimizations which result in reduced game-loading times and
significant performance increases across a wide variety of games. Results will vary
depending on your GPU and system configuration.

4K Display Support
 Added support for single-tile 4kx2k @ 60 Hz displays using bridgeless SLI cards.
NVIDIA Control Panel
 Shader Cache: 3D Settings->Manage 3D Settings Page
Added Shader Cache setting to reduce CPU usage by saving compiled shaders to a disk
cache. This may improve performance and reduce the time it takes for a game to load.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Sounds a lot like what the Fable series tried to promise on, a organic world that evolved without your interaction. What it boiled down to was a series of very basic flags and time stamps. Sure you could make money whilst you're not playing but alter the clock on your system by 5 years and you can break the systems and become filthy rich. You could really break the kingdom aspects in III by doing this.

All the games that I've played that actually evolve over time are all on line and server based. I think my sister still plays Kingdom of Kefflings to this day.
Nah, State of Decay's time progression actually worked. They just nerfed it because people complained that their favorite character died, even though that was the whole point.

They should've gotten rid of the character skills instead.
 

Dr Dogg

Member
Did you start downloading Watch Dogs with an Australian VPN on? After you start the download, you should be able shut it off and keep going.

Nah it's the old steam://install/APP-NO-HERE trick in your web browser. Will only install when the game has been set to release.

Nah, State of Decay's time progression actually worked. They just nerfed it because people complained that their favorite character died, even though that was the whole point.

They should've gotten rid of the character skills instead.

Huh I can see why you might be a bit upset if it happens behind your back but it's not like having a high ranking soldier in XCOM get taken down by a lowly Sectoid right in front of your eyes. That's heart breaking every time on Ironman. At least they will be remembered in the Memorial back at HQ ;_;
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
inventory? my qube dir cut was auto added to my library.
 

Yakkue

Member
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 1 includes Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Ecco the Dolphin, Gain Ground, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, VectorMan, Crack Down, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi and Space Harrier II.
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 2 includes Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Bonanza Bros., Columns, Ecco Jr., Eternal Champions, Fatal Labyrinth, Galaxy Force II, Kid Chameleon, Ristar and Super Thunder Blade.
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 3 includes Alien Storm, Bio-Hazard Battle, Columns III, Sword of Vermilion, Virtua Fighter 2, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Decap Attack, Flicky, ESWAT: City Under Siege and Golden Axe II.

Good luck!

ModBot said:
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 7 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
- This is a free for all! You can enter for multiple games on the list below. Send an individual PM for each game you'd like to win.
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- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine -- MB-E2BC0B262B659DDC - Taken by alr1ght. 6 entrants total.
Toe Jam and Earl -- MB-F0141C4680CE2E4B - Taken by Newblade. 8 entrants total.
Toe Jam and Earl Panic on Funkotron -- MB-B6DEEBDBC4A27FBB - Taken by NotSelf. 9 entrants total.
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 2 -- MB-B2FDF445ACF129DA - Taken by redlacs. 16 entrants total.
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 3 -- MB-979760C95CD9D65D - Taken by Boom Boom Pow. 14 entrants total.
SEGA Genesis Classics Series 1 -- MB-5859C9B98827F10E - Taken by Jrdan. 16 entrants total.
Sonic 3D Blast -- MB-3AE3A0A8649D554B - Taken by VikasNarula. 7 entrants total.


t1401125547z1.png
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
are the toejam games on sale somewhere? im STILL fucking missing those 2, its the only genesis games I dont have
 

Copons

Member
Uuuuh, I've just bought the Genesis (oh fuck off, it's called Megadrive) bundle on Amazon.
It's my first time buying games there, and probably because tonight I slept less than 4 hours but, like, where do I find Steam keys?
 

didamangi

Member
Uuuuh, I've just bought the Genesis (oh fuck off, it's called Megadrive) bundle on Amazon.
It's my first time buying games there, and probably because tonight I slept less than 4 hours but, like, where do I find Steam keys?

To see the steam codes, check your e-mail or go to "Your Games and Software Library" on Your Account section on Amazon website.

Hope you bought the steam version since there's 2 version on amazon, drm free and steam. alr1ght link is drm free while SeZMehK link is the steam version.
 

KainXVIII

Member

SeZMehK

Member
Uuuuh, I've just bought the Genesis (oh fuck off, it's called Megadrive) bundle on Amazon.
It's my first time buying games there, and probably because tonight I slept less than 4 hours but, like, where do I find Steam keys?

You can go to your account and then your games library. There you will find all your codes.
 

MUnited83

For you.
Uuuuh, I've just bought the Genesis (oh fuck off, it's called Megadrive) bundle on Amazon.
It's my first time buying games there, and probably because tonight I slept less than 4 hours but, like, where do I find Steam keys?

Your Account > Your Games and Software Library

AH

Of course I've bought the download one. :D


Now. Is there a way to be refunded for digital stuff? :D
Contact Amazon support and explain it, they will fix it pretty quickly.
 
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