Humble Bundle "Stand With Ukraine" Bundle

[Larry Shelby]

122 Items, including Games and some Music stuff...for $40

https://www.humblebundle.com/stand-with-ukraine-bundle

[kitekrazy1]

I hoarded games like plugins.  I start to avoid these bundles since nothing get touched.

Metro Exodus is one of the worst games I've ever4 played.

The only thing that would be really useful is the PDF Suite.

[Doug Rintoul]

33 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

Metro Exodus is one of the worst games I've ever4 played.

I haven't played Exodus yet. I really liked the first two. What didn't you like about it?

[smallstonefan]

1 hour ago, Doug Rintoul said:

I haven't played Exodus yet. I really liked the first two. What didn't you like about it?

I really enjoyed the first two - my son said Exodus was great I just haven't had a chance to play yet.

I am also wondering what he didn't like about it...

[kitekrazy1]

I agree with this.  It's fine somewhat if you play it on easy level.  Weapons don't work often with mutants.  No real stealth.  I played it twice and won't ever bother to play it again.   The challenge is gamer vs. piss poor game development.   It's not open world either.  Mutants are a major bullet sponge which also ruins any exploration.  This one is a major dud compared to the first two.  Quick save is faulty unless you are into mindless redundancy.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Paul Young

[smallstonefan]

Thanks for the info guys!

[Doug Rintoul]

Yes, thanks Paul. This is very enlightening. I may give Exodus a pass; I have so many games in my play queue as it is. Too bad because the first two were really great.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Doug Rintoul

[kitekrazy1]

On 3/18/2022 at 10:32 PM, Doug Rintoul said:

Yes, thanks Paul. This is very enlightening. I may give Exodus a pass; I have so many games in my play queue as it is. Too bad because the first two were really great.

It seems there is a pattern with game developers that after a sequel the 3rd time is not the charm.  The Metro series weakness has always been optimization. There's a reason why games like CoD and GTA are big sellers is they don't require boutique hardware.  Exodus and Just Cause 4 are the worst I've played.

 Many of those games on that list were free at one time or another. 

[antler]

1 hour ago, Paul Young said:

It seems there is a pattern with game developers that after a sequel the 3rd time is not the charm

Definitely the case with Mass Effect 3. The theme of the first two titles was let's build an intergalactic army - we have a chance to win if we're lucky and we play our cards right; the theme of the third was actually, we can't win - it didn't matter what we did in the first two episodes. oh well.

[sarine]

2 hours ago, Paul Young said:

It seems there is a pattern with game developers that after a sequel the 3rd time is not the charm.

• Super Mario Bros 3
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
• Half Life 3

[Fleer]

I looooooooooooooove Half Life 2

[Doug Rintoul]

41 minutes ago, sarine said:

Half Life 3

What? There was a Half Life 3? Not!

[sarine]

12 minutes ago, Doug Rintoul said:

What? There was a Half Life 3? Not!

Oh, you're right. It's so good that I forgot it doesn't exist.

[kitekrazy1]

2 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

What? There was a Half Life 3? Not!

There is but it is not called that.  It is only available for those VR headsets or whatever they called them and only on Steam.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Paul Young

[kitekrazy1]

2 hours ago, Fleer said:

I looooooooooooooove Half Life 2

moddb.com - plenty of HL 2 mods.   Also plenty of STALKER mods.  

[Doug Rintoul]

4 hours ago, Paul Young said:

There is but it is not called that.  It is only available for those VR headsets or whatever they called them and only on Steam.

You are talking about Half Life Alyx. Half Life Alyx events take place between HL1 and HL2. So not HL3.

[sarine]

1 hour ago, Doug Rintoul said:

You are talking about Half Life Alyx. Half Life Alyx events take place between HL1 and HL2. So not HL3.

What's obvious is that it isn't a numbered sequel and doesn't have "3" in the name, but what's less obvious is whether we could justify numbering it the same way we did with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past when we call it "Zelda 3".  The answer depends on whether or not we consider it part of the sequence (which by itself is a muddy concept). Based on the pretty specific kind of experience that we'd grown to expect from "the" 3rd installment with regard to game mechanics, pacing etc., I feel reluctant to include it in the sequence.

However, I'd attribute my reluctance more to the mythical memetic status of HL3 than anything else. After all the waiting and speculation (and the implicit hype and jokes), my intuition is that it's nigh impossible for Valve to release a HL3 and simultaneously avoid both humiliating themselves publicly and losing a significant amount of money (i.e. pick one).

I'm sure it still is an in-house joke at Valve that gets brought up occasionally. Maybe someone mentions it, a conversation follows and people take memos "just in case". Maybe there's a side project, an indefinite blob of accumulated ideas and influences, dragging along sluggishly and catching up with technology and experimenting with game mechanics in random bursts, all the while accumulating and consolidating ideas of which only the best persist. Maybe they don't call it HL3 - because nobody would dare - but for some reason it's reminiscent of something old... something good... something made in-house, that was a product of that culture, of childish playfulness, of that imagination and thrill-seeking of the spirit of a little boy in the mind and body of an adult that has the means to play god and create worlds. Then some day somebody will wake up, they will go to work, get their coffee, test the latest build of that side project just to wake themselves up before moving to proper work, and... they will dare. I can't believe I wrote HL3 origin story fan fiction, I'm so disappointed in myself, please kill me.

[kitekrazy1]

8 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

You are talking about Half Life Alyx. Half Life Alyx events take place between HL1 and HL2. So not HL3.

People like to nickname it HL3.   Meanwhile Valve is doing other things.  For me the Steam platform is getting less favor when buying games.  Ubisoft and EA have far better support.  I seem to have bought more games from Epic.

[Doug Rintoul]

7 hours ago, sarine said:

However, I'd attribute my reluctance more to the mythical memetic status of HL3 than anything else. After all the waiting and speculation (and the implicit hype and jokes), my intuition is that it's nigh impossible for Valve to release a HL3 and simultaneously avoid both humiliating themselves publicly and losing a significant amount of money (i.e. pick one).

This. It is also a meme or an axiom that Valve can't do a 3 version of anything. There is Portal 1 and 2, Team Fortress 1 and 2, Dota 1 and 2, Left for Dead 1 and 2, even HL2 episodes 1 and 2. You will not find a 3 version in any of Valves line ups. 

1 hour ago, Paul Young said:

People like to nickname it HL3.   Meanwhile Valve is doing other things.  For me the Steam platform is getting less favor when buying games.  Ubisoft and EA have far better support.  I seem to have bought more games from Epic.

Not people in my circles. In fact, most people have gone out of their way to say Alyx is not HL3. Probably to perptuate the idea that Valve can't do a 3 of anything, and to keep the "HL3 confirmed" meme going. Why would you want to take away that fun?

[sarine]

14 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

This. It is also a meme or an axiom that Valve can't do a 3 version of anything. There is Portal 1 and 2, Team Fortress 1 and 2, Dota 1 and 2, Left for Dead 1 and 2, even HL2 episodes 1 and 2. You will not find a 3 version in any of Valves line ups.

Maybe it's self-awareness, their sixth sense telling them that the third iteration would bomb (as per the pattern). I consider it a feat to hold interest and sustain motivation enough to make a sequel, let alone keep churning them out. It's different if you just throw money at them as an investment, but I also like that they're not milking the franchises (god I hate that word). At this point the customer base would probably find it suspicious if they released a 3rd anything, and a heated discussion would ensue debating if Valve is selling out.

Like any big fish the company receives a lot of hate these days, but I think they have personality and I kind of like it. I also like that they were bold enough to branch into hardware and succeeded.

I don't like how heavily they tax developers for using their platform for distribution, what they did to Team Fortress 2 and how they've gamified Steam and hustle pixel junk. I also hate the "new" Steam after they introduced the bluish tint, infinite scrolling, revamped Friends list, and more recently *****ing animated avatars (can be disabled, fortunately). The whole Steam client has a somewhat comical feel of a demented old sloth who frequently forgets to take their pills, although some aspects definitely work better than they used to. What irks me the most is that from the user's viewpoint the tagging, content filtering and curating could be super powerful were they brought into synergy, yet I still continually struggle with the simple task of finding the [kind of] crap I want. The UI is inconsistent, unresponsive and missing or obscuring basic functions. At least they haven't gone with rounded corners yet, and I shall curse the day that happens.

 

16 hours ago, Doug Rintoul said:

Why would you want to take away that fun?

Indeed, Lord Gaben himself must be aware that the meme is the product. The Templars must protect at all costs! ?  All they need to do now is monetize it by turning it into pixel junk.