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poisonpill posted:What is ray tracing and how does it make games look better? Light is simulated as beams (the “rays”) that bounce around the environment, resulting in very realistic lighting and reflections at a heavy compute cost
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Mar 7, 2022 22:38
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If you wanna know more, there's an excellent paper called 15 Years Later: A Historic Look Back At Quake 3: Ray Traced by Daniel Pohl, et al. He was one of the first to demonstrate raytracing in games back in mid-2004, so you can probably imagine how complex it is, considering it's taken one and a half decades to get to where we are toady. BlankSystemDaemon fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Mar 7, 2022 |
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Mar 7, 2022 23:10
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My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? A few of her absolute favorite titles: Dwarf Fortress The Sims Civ 4/5 Age of Wonders II (III was dead in the water as soon as she found out about the Courtesans ability) Mass Effect trilogy FFXII
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Mar 8, 2022 02:54
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Funktor posted:My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? I mean only two of those games are management games, Civ and AoW are 4Xs and the rest are RPGs. Rimworld? You might be able to set your colonists to all female. Megaqarium is my go to management game. OpenTTD as well, and you won't have issues with gender in either of those. Timberborn is a good management/city builder with all beavers.
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Mar 8, 2022 03:23
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Funktor posted:My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? You asked for Android, so are you looking for mobile games? If so, try Mindustry. No dongs, only robots. Since she liked Age of Wonders, maybe show her X-Com? Soldier gender is completely irrelevant, and if you're willing to suffer through the RNG on new recruits enough times, you can build an all-female team (I think it's a 50/50 chance of either gender but a full team is 6 people).
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Mar 8, 2022 03:56
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Tropico Two Point Hospital (or Theme Hospital if you want a cheaper version from the 90s) Recettear Chroma Squad Oxygen Not Included Available on Android specifically: Chrono Trigger Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
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Mar 8, 2022 04:06
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SlothfulCobra posted:Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
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Mar 8, 2022 04:54
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Howdy! I'm trying to get back into gaming as a hobby again. I played videogames pretty regularly as a teen but somewhere around my 20's I just kind of fell off of them. None of them seemed very interesting to me. I've discovered I love walking simulators and that weird little indie games are my jam, but lately I've been looking for something a little more.. stimulating. I tend to like games that just kind of drop you in the world and make you figure things out, and don't block off your path arbitrarily too much. I have arthritis which means stuff like twitch shooters are not going to be too great for me, or first person platformers like Mirror's Edge. I'm not too crazy about RTS,/4Xs, something about having to manage resources drive me up the wall. If it helps, the last "big" game I played was Disco Elysium and I loved how weird and well-written it was. Absolutely consumed me for as long as it took to beat, and it's been years since that happened. I've played most of the big CRPGS. I watched a buddy play Elden Ring for a bit and I loved just watching his character explore the world. I'm not sure how I feel about "git gud" combat and that stuff though. Just an edit to add that I played and loved Sable. Basically everything I want in a Game. Oh also before some one drops Breath of The Wild, I'm on PC  Apologies for the vague request. magic cactus fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Mar 8, 2022 |
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Mar 8, 2022 05:35
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Have you looked at Sable?
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Mar 8, 2022 05:41
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I think Sable would be perfect for you. It doesn’t have combat, just some light puzzles and is almost entirely exploration otherwise. It really gave me the same feeling as Elden Ring does in that I just wanted to explore to see this cool world. I’d see some vista on the horizon and it would be so interesting I’d end up spending the next half hour just checking it out even if it wasn’t part of a quest or whatever. There really isn’t that much in terms of gamey motivation stuff, they just made a great open world you’re legitimately interesting in exploring. Otherwise,maybe Elden Ring as a mage who heavily uses summons? Being a mage means the reaction heavy stuff is a bit less important and it’s more about picking your moments to try and cast. The open world design means that you can also just explore abs outlevel stuff so when you do fight it it’s easy to kill. Outer Wilds maybe also? But it’s heavily a puzzle game, which sounds like it could be your thing? E: beaten by ultrafilter, great minds etc etc tildes fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Mar 8, 2022 |
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Mar 8, 2022 05:43
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tildes posted:I think Sable would be perfect for you. It doesn’t have combat, just some light puzzles and is almost entirely exploration otherwise. It really gave me the same feeling as Elden Ring does in that I just wanted to explore to see this cool world. I’d see some vista on the horizon and it would be so interesting I’d end up spending the next half hour just checking it out even if it wasn’t part of a quest or whatever. There really isn’t that much in terms of gamey motivation stuff, they just made a great open world you’re legitimately interesting in exploring. ultrafilter posted:Have you looked at Sable? I'm sorry I meant to add Sable in my OP but it totally slipped my mind. I love that game. Exactly what I want, but I've done everything there is to do in it and while cruising around is fun, there's nothing left to see. I've played Outer Wilds. I liked it. I'm debating picking up the DLC. Thanks for the recommendations though!
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Mar 8, 2022 05:47
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! You might be into the bizarre delights of the Eurojank scene. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Elex 1 and 2, Kenshi, the Gothic series. The Witcher 2 and 3 (skip the first one, it's bad) for more mainstream. Two Worlds if you really want to dive in the deep end and mash your face against the bottom of the pool. These are games about wandering around cluelessly and then breaking into a building to steal an apple and a bundle of arrows for no discernible reason. If you think you'd like Breath of the Wild, check out Genshin Impact. It's free and has a similar open world exploration thing going on, except with more anime. Lots and lots of anime, I was constantly surprised about the sheer volume.
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Mar 8, 2022 07:06
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StoryTime posted:You might be into the bizarre delights of the Eurojank scene. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Elex 1 and 2, Kenshi, the Gothic series. The Witcher 2 and 3 (skip the first one, it's bad) for more mainstream. Two Worlds if you really want to dive in the deep end and mash your face against the bottom of the pool. These are games about wandering around cluelessly and then breaking into a building to steal an apple and a bundle of arrows for no discernible reason. I played Gothic once at a friends house when I was younger. I remember the most fun for me was ignoring all the quests and just running around across rooftops like some proto-assassin's creed player or something. I think part of the problem is I tend to like "making my own fun" in video games, and a lot of the big AAA games are kind of too locked down behind collectathons and "bring me 20 pig butts to complete this quest" for me to get too engaged in them. Like I liked Sable because I might see something cool off in the distance and 9/10 I could go explore that cool thing no problem, instead of having to defeat a boss or do some crazy platforming (there was platforming in sable but it was never required, more of an option.) I played the first Witcher ages ago and bounced off hard but I do keep hearing good things about the other two in the series. Maybe I'll look into it. Thanks for the recs!
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Mar 8, 2022 07:26
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If you want exploration with minimal hand holding, maybe take a look at The Pathless? It's not as open as Sable but avoids the typical open world icon vomit.
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Mar 8, 2022 08:06
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Subnautica for sure. The best exploration game I’ve played. Technically a swimming simulator. The difficulty settings are pretty granular so you can adjust it to your liking. Also if you like Disco Elysium, there’s the game that inspired it, Planescape Torment.
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Mar 8, 2022 08:11
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Party Boat posted:If you want exploration with minimal hand holding, maybe take a look at The Pathless? It's not as open as Sable but avoids the typical open world icon vomit. Haven't heard of this one, I'll check it out, thanks! Fruits of the sea posted:Subnautica for sure. The best exploration game I’ve played. Technically a swimming simulator. The difficulty settings are pretty granular so you can adjust it to your liking. Love Planescape. One of my favorites. I vaguely remember hearing about Subnautica but never checked it out. I should fix that, thanks for the rec!
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Mar 8, 2022 08:33
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If you're good at making your own fun, Sea of Thieves is excellent fun on the high seas. Otherwise, not so much.
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Mar 8, 2022 08:42
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Funktor posted:My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? Not on android afak, but Crusader Kings 3? It’s got management and rpg elements and the grand strategy stuff / warfare stuff is sufficiently light touch that you can get away with a strategy of “have more troops than the enemy” and build appropriate buildings in your holdings to get men at arms that can easily beat the AI EDIT: also you can reform religions and cultures to abolish the patriarchy, or simply flip a toggle in the game rules to have full gender equality in the world or flip gender roles entirely and play with matriarchies instead, if you like!
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Mar 8, 2022 11:42
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Funktor posted:My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? King of dragon pass
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Mar 8, 2022 12:10
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magic cactus posted:Haven't heard of this one, I'll check it out, thanks! If you're looking for more like Torment and Disco, I'd recommend Tyranny as well. A heavier emphasis on tactical combat but it also has some excellent branching storylines and reactive plot. Plus your character is basically a lawyer/district attorney for an evil fantasy empire which is definitely a novel take on the genre. Last act is kinda unfinished so there are caveats but there's good reasons why its still mentioned in threads on SA periodically.
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Mar 8, 2022 12:22
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Funktor posted:My wife historically has enjoyed management sims a la Dwarf Fortress, but would like something that is not a sausage-fest. Is there something she can play that is ideally on Android and would pass a Bechdel test? Seconding ONI and Two Point Hospital and Chrono Trigger assuming Ayla isn't a deal killer. I'm loving The Wandering Village demo so maybe keep an eye on that to properly come out. Distant Worlds 2 is out Thursday. Mrs. Splicer suggests stardew valley (mobile), spiritfarer, let's build a zoo. AoW planetfall has male and female sex droids as murder units so if she was good with AoW2 and nymphs it would be worth a go. Maybe stay away from the Vanguard campaign though there's a whole weird arc involving a female one.
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Mar 8, 2022 13:21
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magic cactus posted:. If you think you would like Breath of the Wild, the Wii U Version emulates on PC and is far less demanding than you might think. It's perfectly playable with a normal controller - you can use a mouse for the fee gyroscope puzzles. If you have a controller with a gyroscope like a dual shock 4 PC is the best way to experience BotW imo. You can get a better framerate and resolution than the consoles even. If you want that look and feel but don't want to spend an afternoon setting up BotW on Cemu, there's Genshin Impact and that Immortals Rising game by Ubisoft.
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Mar 8, 2022 14:38
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CEMU BotW is very good and runs full 60+fps easily with Vulkan. Also tons of great mods (Linkle) so you're even getting a better game 
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Mar 8, 2022 14:40
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! I think if you're interested in the style of game of Elden Ring, one good game to initiate yourself into that kind of thing is Jedi: Fallen Order. It has a bunch of difficulty settings to help you ease into the combat, and there's also fairly large segments of the game where you don't have to fight and can just explore. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is another great game in a similar vein of being a fun action challenge but not being all that difficult itself. There are some non-twitch shooters to get into. Sniper Elite 3 and 4 can be downright calm at times. There's so much of those games where you play just setting up a shot and waiting for the right moment to attack, and you even slow down time while getting your shot. Mass Effect is also a great shooter to try, because with its gameplay, some classes can even spend a lot of their time firing off powers instead of shooting, and the sort of tactical perspective where you can always pause and look around keeps things from becoming too hectic (and there's a real interesting story to sink into as well). Other games to try playing to see what games that are out there you might like are Shovel Knight to see if you might like some 2D platformers, or Arkham Asylum to see if you like that kind of counter-based combat. Maybe Bastion? That's real good. Shadow of the Colossus is a real classic. But there's also still loads of games to play if you don't want to deal with combat, like Subnautica as has been mentioned, but also A Short Hike, Portal, Spiritfarer, and Journey.
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Mar 8, 2022 16:32
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! Like someone else mentioned Breath of the Wild is available on PC via emulator if you know where to look. I played the whole game that way. Also, for sure Elden Ring. It's hard but that 'drop you in the world and let you explore it' (and there's a LOT to explore) fits it to a T. I also think it's one of the easiest From games, or at least it provides a lot more accessibility features than most. It's a dangerous world but you get a lot of tools to help you. The overall travel/discovery loop is super compelling.
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Mar 8, 2022 17:57
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! There's a top-down legend of zelda-like game coming out next week called Tunic, I believe it will be available for PC. It may be something you want to keep your eye on and read some reviews for, from what I understand you play a tiny little fox in a big mysterious world, and many of the systems may require exploration, I believe they are somewhat obfuscated. Not sure how twitchy it will be, it does seem to have link to the past style combat. There are also numerous games that have difficulty sliders / quality of life options which may make their gameplay more appealing to you. For example, psychonauts 2 has apparently a wonderful narrative, and you can easily engage a take no damage mode so you can keep getting to the interesting bits and hear fun conversations etc. I'm not sure I'd call it an exploration game per se, but you can make it pretty frictionless. Edit: another walking simulator type game which is more on the spooky mystery side of things than branching narratives (although it has them) is Oxenfree. Should be very cheap on steam.
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Mar 8, 2022 18:03
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External Organs posted:There's a top-down legend of zelda-like game coming out next week called Tunic, I believe it will be available for PC. It may be something you want to keep your eye on and read some reviews for, from what I understand you play a tiny little fox in a big mysterious world, and many of the systems may require exploration, I believe they are somewhat obfuscated. Not sure how twitchy it will be, it does seem to have link to the past style combat. Heran Bago posted:If you think you would like Breath of the Wild, the Wii U Version emulates on PC and is far less demanding than you might think. It's perfectly playable with a normal controller - you can use a mouse for the fee gyroscope puzzles. If you have a controller with a gyroscope like a dual shock 4 PC is the best way to experience BotW imo. You can get a better framerate and resolution than the consoles even. Fruits of the sea posted:If you're looking for more like Torment and Disco, I'd recommend Tyranny as well. A heavier emphasis on tactical combat but it also has some excellent branching storylines and reactive plot. Plus your character is basically a lawyer/district attorney for an evil fantasy empire which is definitely a novel take on the genre. Last act is kinda unfinished so there are caveats but there's good reasons why its still mentioned in threads on SA periodically. SlothfulCobra posted:I think if you're interested in the style of game of Elden Ring, one good game to initiate yourself into that kind of thing is Jedi: Fallen Order. It has a bunch of difficulty settings to help you ease into the combat, and there's also fairly large segments of the game where you don't have to fight and can just explore. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is another great game in a similar vein of being a fun action challenge but not being all that difficult itself. Thank you very much for the recommendations. I'm thinking of going with Subnautica, but I've added pretty much every game here to my wishlist so I can remember to pick them up if they ever go on sale.
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Mar 8, 2022 18:33
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I’ll add one more - Paradise Killer is a very good “drop you into the world with no context” game. It’s a murder mystery so there’s no combat, just conversations and exploration in a very unique setting
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Mar 8, 2022 20:47
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Splicer posted:Is she looking for games with cool ladies in or just games which aren't full of definitely dudes duding it up 24/7? First, KOTOR is a great rec and one that she's already played (1, not 2). She has tried and not been at all interested in Chrono Trigger. Oni, 2pt Hospital, Stardew, and others may be decent recs. I'll try to explain it a little better than I did. My wife is an extremely well-credentialed and competent person who works in tech and day-in, day-out, gets the joy of dealing with the kinds of men who are drawn to math and compsci. She is hyper-sensitive to having voices on all sides assuming (without giving her a chance to prove it) that she can't possibly know what she's talking about or have the skills that she professes to have. We have young kids and relaxation time is precious-to-nonexistent. She *needs* her entertainment to (a) NOT have dudes duding it up, (b) not waste her time, and (c) ideally have compelling and interesting characters with motivations beyond shooting and sex. In general, although she had a long love affair with Civ, she's played it out, and her ideal 4x would let her play at her own pace and not have any fighting at all. Why rely on violence? Dwarf Fortress sans goblin raids and sausagefest would be pretty great.
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Mar 9, 2022 01:47
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Funktor posted:First, KOTOR is a great rec and one that she's already played (1, not 2). I recommend Graveyard Keeper. It's like Stardew Valley but a bit more focused. There is a goal and ending. The theme is a little dark but kind of charming.
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Mar 9, 2022 08:58
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SlothfulCobra posted:There are some non-twitch shooters to get into. Sniper Elite 3 and 4 can be downright calm at times. There's so much of those games where you play just setting up a shot and waiting for the right moment to attack, and you even slow down time while getting your shot. theHunter: Call of the Wild is a great non-twitch shooter. It's basically a walking simulator, except sometimes you'll hear a moose and walk toward it and shoot it. The environments are gorgeous, the gameplay is hella chill, and making a perfect shot from a distance is immensely satisfying.
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Mar 9, 2022 09:03
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Is there a good normal sedate golf game on Steam with controller support? I already own the best golf game ever (https://store.steampowered.com/app/368000/100ft_Robot_Golf/), which I love, but recently I was looking for something a little more "normal"? Like, I don't want to walk between spots; I just want to spend six minutes lining up my shots. A huge number of the games on Steam seem poorly reviewed or are golf-themed other games, like Golf Peaks which I also already have and is very good.
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Mar 9, 2022 10:40
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Are there are any games like Trespasser that aren't bad like Trespasser? Like atmospheric dinosaur survival.
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Mar 9, 2022 12:55
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Ark? Notable dino games that aren’t really survival themed: Monster Hunter Horizon Zero Dawn
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Mar 9, 2022 13:00
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! Return of the obra dinn is probably up your alley
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Mar 9, 2022 14:12
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Magnetic North posted:Is there a good normal sedate golf game on Steam with controller support? I already own the best golf game ever (https://store.steampowered.com/app/368000/100ft_Robot_Golf/), which I love, but recently I was looking for something a little more "normal"? Like, I don't want to walk between spots; I just want to spend six minutes lining up my shots. A huge number of the games on Steam seem poorly reviewed or are golf-themed other games, like Golf Peaks which I also already have and is very good. Golf with Friends is a really fun mini-golf game, with courses that start normal and quickly become weird. What The Golf is also great, but absolutely not normal. Boz0r posted:Are there are any games like Trespasser that aren't bad like Trespasser? Like atmospheric dinosaur survival. Man, I would love to have some games like this, too. I've been willing to give Ark a shot, but the insane install size is keeping me from it.
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Mar 9, 2022 14:37
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magic cactus posted:Howdy! The Forgotten City, Eastshade, a copy of Citra and A Link Between Worlds play on the easiest mode and add some mods and The Witcher 3 might just be exactly what you want e: Oh, and the new Hitman series. It's not a huge open world but they drop you into still large, beautifully designed puzzle boxes and you sneak around trying to find the secret passages and items and stuff. They're all great and let you quicksave and sneak around and everything so they don't require any twitchy response unless you want to play it that way for some reason Good Soldier Svejk fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Mar 9, 2022 |
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Mar 9, 2022 14:54
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Funktor posted:First, KOTOR is a great rec and one that she's already played (1, not 2).  " then recommended Spiritfarer, Stardew, and 2pt Hospital again. She also recommended Grow: Song of the Evertree but wanted to emphasise it is zero stakes, ultimate chill.If "has no real 'characters' at all" is OK then I'm going to double down on the wandering village, if she plays the demo it will kill her through spores but the devs have said that's on purpose because the endgame doesn't exist yet. Slipways is a bit hard to describe but it's kind of a 4x sans eXterminate. Gnomoria is dwarf fortress lite which you can turn off raids in, it stopped development a good while back with a bunch of the roadmap never reached but is a complete game. I'd recommend a xenophile empire in Stellaris but my lord would she have a lot of DLC to catch up on to be able to play proper politics. Subnautica: Beyond Zero, and Subnautica itself as long as she doesn't mind playing a dude (in S:BZ you're a cool lady)
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Mar 9, 2022 15:17
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Funktor posted:In general, although she had a long love affair with Civ, she's played it out, and her ideal 4x would let her play at her own pace and not have any fighting at all. Why rely on violence? Dwarf Fortress sans goblin raids and sausagefest would be pretty great. Come to think of it, if she's the most into Civilization, maybe she could get into Paradox games? Crusader Kings 2 is the one that it's cheapest to try, since the base game is free, but there's games for different periods if she's interested in the 1800s, or the days of colonialism, or ancient Rome or Greece, and also a Crusader Kings 3 for getting a newer medieval game. They have the issue that they're pretty war-focused because they're historical, and not actually 4X games (well, aside from Stellaris, which is its own thing) but CK2 and CK3 have a lot of more character-focused things you can do, and Victoria 2 has demographic things you can tool around with. There's also a historical amount of dudes duding around, but CK2 has game rule you can set at the start to just start the game with all gender equality across the world. CK3 has the option to even invert it. CK2's Holy Fury DLC even has options to generate a random version of Europe with a wildly different set of nations, religions, and even governments compared to the historical version. Either way, the games are largely about poking through menus. Other than that, there's not a lot of new games these days that try to do 4X or simulate a whole world like Civilization, the only things that come conceptually close tend to more on the Sim City side of things. Tropico offers maybe the most options, Frostpunk is a more challenging game about trying to survive the apocalypse with your little group of workers, and the Anno series is more about building a community to feed into factories to build resources for other factories to make money to make more factories.
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Mar 9, 2022 15:17
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Funktor posted:First, KOTOR is a great rec and one that she's already played (1, not 2). Wandersong
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Mar 9, 2022 15:27
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