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STEAM | October 2016 - A month where 100 games launch rather than coming out earlier

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ModBot

Not a mod, just a bot.
Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.
Want to make your own ModBot giveaway? Click here for a quick tutorial thread. Please give generously.

ModBot Basics:
- This giveaway has a manual blocklist. The giver has identified members who abuse giveaways and restricted them from participating.
- 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.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- This giveaway is a LIGHTNING raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 15 minutes after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.



Agatha Christie The ABC Murders -- MB-900D268AD7181F72 - Taken by Benedict. 8 entrants total.
I hear this is pretty decent.


t1475344189z1.png
 
Isn't BorntoPlay known to SteamGAF for abusing modbot giveaways in the far past? Selling, trading, gifting the codes. If he really has gone legit, he needs to stop working with that etail reseller who sold to him.

Afaik he got some Modbot keys, then traded them on Steamgifts. I might be confusing him with someone else though, so Im not quite sure.
 

Deadbeat

Banned
Afaik he got some Modbot keys, then traded them on Steamgifts. I might be confusing him with someone else though, so Im not quite sure.
The java guy. Java dot. Java idiot or something.

Btw it says Ucchedavāda's profile isnt registered. Whats going on with that? Thanks anyways for Grimrock.
 
Strange. I entered Rock and Roll Defense and Kingdom Rush (for my wife), seems they are still available, but I didnt get a PM.

The java guy. Java dot. Java idiot or something.

Btw it says Ucchedavāda's profile isnt registered. Whats going on with that? Thanks anyways for Grimrock.

No. There were some other guys like that in here. Not just javadots.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Strange. I entered Rock and Roll Defense and Kingdom Rush (for my wife), seems they are still available, but I didnt get a PM.

It's probably still PMing people. 122 raffles, 3 payouts per cycle, 45 seconds per cycle = ~30 minutes to clear the queue.

The java guy. Java dot. Java idiot or something.

Btw it says Ucchedavāda's profile isnt registered. Whats going on with that? Thanks anyways for Grimrock.

That's probably the "ā" in his username. GAF has weird issues with character encoding. Click his profile through the thread and you'll probably be able to get him.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
What would it take for a raffle that big to be handled all at once.
Like not just math, but upgrade wise on your end.

If ModBot as a mod, it'd be able to send unlimited PMs and the queue would clear instantly. But it's not a Mod, it's just a bot. So one PM per 45 seconds. I guess I'd need 125 ModBot accounts to clear it in one heartbeat then or whatever. We'd run out of robot avatars long before then.

It being slow actually works to peoples' advantage BTW, because there's a 15 minute delay between wins so the more the delay, the more likely you'll be able to win two in one go!
 

dimmer

Member
Deep down inside I knew that I would win my old favorite KOTOR 2 ! Thanks Ucchedavāda and ModBot! Let's see how the Steam version holds up
 

Tellaerin

Member
True. Bot support is something that is sorely lacking from most modern substitutes, which, while understandable given internet access is almost universal, can be frustrating when the game in question released some time ago and you find yourself up against a seemingly insurmountable skill ceiling. Bots, as "dumb" as they are, at least allow novices to develop a fundamental understanding of the more finer points of play -- spawn points, power up control, and weapon familiarity.

Decent bots are fun to play against.

Maybe I'm just an outlier, but I've never understood the rise of this "Arena FPS's are only fun to play against other people" mentality. If the mechanics of running and gunning are enjoyable and the enemies put up an entertaining fight (which is definitely the case in something like the Unreal Tournament games), why shouldn't playing against bots be fun? ("Fun" as in "a worthwhile activity in its own right", rather than just practice for the "real" game.)

I know cultivating a mindset that FPS's are only fun against other people serves developers (and publishers) well. It means less time and energy spent on bot AI and pathing, and in the case of consoles, it drives subscriptions to XBL/PSN, since you're not going to get your deathmatch (or CTF or w/e) fix any other way. It really does consumers a disservice, though, especially with the flash-in-the-pan nature of the communities for a lot of these games. For example, I really enjoyed Minimum (a flat-shaded team FPS on Steam), but the community's dead as a doornail, so I uninstalled it. Meanwhile I'm still firing up UT 99/2k4/3 (got all three installed) for a botmatch or 3, which says something.
 

Corpekata

Banned
any good srpgs come out recently? Masquerada looks interesting

It's good but it's not an srpg. It's a good, slightly more action oriented take on the RTw/P battle system. Has cool ideas that encourage mobility, flanking and ability combos.

It also amusingly has better AI customization than some of the more big budget entries in the genre as of late. Not perfect, but more than I expected.
 

Tagyhag

Member
True. Bot support is something that is sorely lacking from most modern substitutes, which, while understandable given internet access is almost universal, can be frustrating when the game in question released some time ago and you find yourself up against a seemingly insurmountable skill ceiling. Bots, as "dumb" as they are, at least allow novices to develop a fundamental understanding of the more finer points of play -- spawn points, power up control, and weapon familiarity.

In some games I had more fun playing against bots than humans, because there was no way I was ever going to catch up to the humans' skill level.

I really wish more modern games had bots (Especially all these indie local-only games that keep showing up), I'd buy a lot more MP games.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Quake 3's heyday aside, I spent dozens upon dozens of hours playing CS 1.5 with the "POD-Bot" mod. It's actually what lead to me hopping online as a mate kept nagging me to give the game a shot and I finally caved, but only because the community-developed bot support allowed me to familiarise myself with various systems at my own pace. Bot support is definitely underappreciated these days -- or rather, criminally ignored.

Edit: Oh, this reminds me: Reflex had dev-only, experimental bot support as of earlier this year. I suggested making bot support available via an opt-in beta, but I forgot to follow that up...
They're not even that far yet.
That doesn't even make sense, but okay.
 
Decent bots are fun to play against.

Maybe I'm just an outlier, but I've never understood the rise of this "Arena FPS's are only fun to play against other people" mentality. If the mechanics of running and gunning are enjoyable and the enemies put up an entertaining fight (which is definitely the case in something like the Unreal Tournament games), why shouldn't playing against bots be fun?

Because decent bots are hard to create.

Programming the AI, fine-tuning it to be not too hard or too simple... too much work for all these small team almost all the modern AFPS's have.

And the fact that a bot will never be unpredictable as a real player will be.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Because decent bots are hard to create.

Programming the AI, fine-tuning it to be not too hard or too simple... too much work for all these small team almost all the modern AFPS's have.

And the fact that a bot will never be unpredictable as a real player will be.

He wasn't questioning why bots have become less common, just the notion that the they can't be entertaining.
 

Anteater

Member
That's a kind way of putting it.



How much you've played of it is kind of the point, though. The game never does anything great with its gimmick and you end up doing the same things over and over again.

It's early XBLA design that didn't have to do anything that special to impress it's audience.

yeah but like i don't see it "aged bad", usually when i think a game aging it has to do with controls or other things that modern games do better
 

Drakhyrr

Member
The lack of bots, everything needing to have multiplayer, every aspect of digital life trying desperately to incorporate social features in one way or another...

Sigh, it get's harder and harder to be a loner every day.
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
yeah but like i don't see it "aged bad", usually when i think a game aging it has to do with controls or other things that modern games do better

Game design ages poorly, too, though. Plenty of games from the PS1/N64 era get dinged now because they are "collect-a-thons," for example.

Outland comes from a time when people were still wide-eyed and cherub-faced for indie games, especially ones that were console exclusives. The environment that overlooked the problems the game has doesn't exist anymore (and didn't really exist when it was released on PC).

There aren't even a lot of similar games with similar mechanics that make it looks worse in retrospect, either. It didn't suddenly get worse because our standards improved. Our standards were bad to begin with.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
If ModBot as a mod, it'd be able to send unlimited PMs and the queue would clear instantly. But it's not a Mod, it's just a bot. So one PM per 45 seconds. I guess I'd need 125 ModBot accounts to clear it in one heartbeat then or whatever. We'd run out of robot avatars long before then.

It being slow actually works to peoples' advantage BTW, because there's a 15 minute delay between wins so the more the delay, the more likely you'll be able to win two in one go!

So all I'm hearing is that we need more Modbot avatars, got it
 
Dammit, I could swear that I cancelled my humble monthly subscription but I just saw I got billed. I even remember filling in a reason for why I was cancelling. Clearly I didn't click enough boxes after that.

Oh well, I'm vaguely interested in Grim Dawn and I'll pray they don't stick another demo in there.
 

Tellaerin

Member
Because decent bots are hard to create.

Programming the AI, fine-tuning it to be not too hard or too simple... too much work for all these small team almost all the modern AFPS's have.

And the fact that a bot will never be unpredictable as a real player will be.

That doesn't answer the question, though.

I know that decent bot support takes work to implement, and it's much easier for a small team to just implement some sort of online multiplayer and call it a day. But if a game's maps are designed well and the movement and weapons feel good, and the bots can put up a fight that's at least on par with the randoms you'd find on your average pub (all bars I feel the UT games clear easily, to use examples I'm familiar with), why do some people still feel that botmatches are "no fun" or "only good for practice"? That's what I don't get. Humans, bots, it's all the same to me, as long as I enjoy how the game plays. (Hell, playing with decent bots can actually be better than randoms in some ways, particularly in team games. No worries about being stuck with people who don't know what they're doing, or are teamkillers, or are just behaving like assholes.)

He wasn't questioning why bots have become less common, just not the notion that the they can't be entertaining.

^ Exactly. : )
 

Parsnip

Member
Sigh - and Deus Ex MD takes another sour turn - the mobile app for scanning the triangle codes actually gives a spoiler for the damn game!

All the triangle stuff is just garbage, I recommend not using it. I mean maybe after you've finished the game and want some bts stuff, but doing that while you are playing just breaks the pacing of the game (even more).

Has Valve said anything about the new Steam Controller revision after they announced it? Looks like it's -30% at the moment but I want the new rev if its little less bulky.
AFAIK no, but Steam Dev Days are soon.
The Steam Controller talk seems focused on software side of things, but maybe there's some new info about the revision there as well.
 

MUnited83

For you.
Dammit, I could swear that I cancelled my humble monthly subscription but I just saw I got billed. I even remember filling in a reason for why I was cancelling. Clearly I didn't click enough boxes after that.

Oh well, I'm vaguely interested in Grim Dawn and I'll pray they don't stick another demo in there.

I think someone had the same issue, they got billed despite cancelling it.
 

chixdiggit

Member
Shadow Warrior 2 looks fantastic. So many excellent games in October but I think I'm rolling with Flying Hog. They have a great track record of releasing a solid game and I can wait for the other titles I want to patch up.
 

fallout

Member
Anyone has feedback of Rebel Galaxy? Thinking about getting it during the sale.
It's absolutely oozing with the western sci-fi theme. The music, the functional yet creative design of the space ships, the space stations littered everywhere, and the exchanges you have with NPCs all contribute to a feeling of being in this dirty, dangerous and yet somehow fun version of the future.

Essentially, it feels like Firefly or something like this album in video game form:

4tEnebX.jpg


The two main critiques I've seen are:
  1. The movement is on a 2D plane, meaning you can't go up or down.
  2. The gameplay gets stale after awhile.
On (1), I actually think this works to the game's benefit. The ships you'll fly are built to feel like naval vessels and the lack of 3D movement is essential to this feeling. I also feel like it would add complexity to the game without adding anything of value, bringing down the overall experience.

I feel like (2) is accurate, but it really depends on what and how much you intend to get out of the game. I played it for 20 hours over a week or two without hitting that wall. I still occasionally fire it up when I get the urge to breach a blockade with some smuggled goods.
 

Wok

Member
I usually end up getting the message that I have exhausted the discovery queue. However, it has been a few days that Steam sometimes redirects me to Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ despite me saying that I am not interested.

1MMTMON.png


Typically, for me, this URL, which is the one obtained on the "New releases" Steam page :

http://store.steampowered.com/explore/startnew/3/

is a redirect to this URL:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/65980/?snr=1_4_4__122


Anybody else has this bug or knows what could trigger it? Is there some hidden package that is not available on my region? Or what?

Edit: Even if I wish-list the game, it still appears in my discovery queue.

 
I usually end up getting the message that I have exhausted the discovery queue. However, it has been a few days that Steam sometimes redirects me to Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ despite me saying that I am not interested.

1MMTMON.png


Typically, for me, this URL :

http://store.steampowered.com/explore/startnew/3/

is a redirect to this URL:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/65980/?snr=1_4_4__122



Anybody else has this bug or knows what could trigger it? Is there some hidden package that is not available on my region? Or what?
buy the game and refund it, then they'll get the message :p
 

Ascheroth

Member
Finally decided to work on clearing my Steamventory of all the cards as well as idling all my remaining drops (thanks to getting the glitch working today, yay).

I've made 10€ already and still have 300 active listings, as well as 100 remaining drops.
God damn. Card money is real.
 
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