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 Most Recent Video:  Steamworld Dig was released in 2013, first as a Nintendo 3DS game and then eventually ported to just about anything more powerful than a gen one Blackberry thereafter. There's something of a misconception that this was the start of the Steamworld franchise, which now includes a 2D strategy title, Steamworld Heist and a Card Collection Game Steamworld Quest. The first Steamworld game was the original DS game Steamworld Tower, which was a tower defense game. It's really hard to criticize developer Image and Form for just making the same game over and over considering the breadth of game types they have dabbled in. So far, the Dig games are the only two in the same genre, and the only direct sequels. Dig is a fun, if not somewhat short, vertical scroller where the objective is to go down to the bottom of you uncle's mine while occasionally coming up to the surface to sell the ores and minerals you find and then immediately spend your money on upgrades that let you mine faster, carry more minerals and stay underground longer. Along the way you'll find major upgrades left by your uncle that will give you new abilities, adding something of a Metroidvania element to the game. As you go deeper the enemies and environment get more hazardous, but ores get more valuable. The game has a huge amount of charm, and it's a fun while it lasts. Like I said, you can complete it in just a few hours. While it consists of the same few things happening again and again, it never feels like a drag or overly repetitive. Also, despite being a pretty simple game that even a kid could play I find ways to CONSTANTLY screw myself over, which is what will generate most of the fun here. Steamworld Dig 2 came out in 2017 and I've never played it. Once we finish on SWD1 I'm jumping right in blind for the entertainment of the thread. I assume it is more of what made SWD1 fun and will probably offer even more opportunities for me to drop a rock on my head. If there's some interest I may do something with Steamworld Heist as I just recently picked it up. I am terrible at strategy games, which may be good or bad depending on how you derive entertainment. Table of Contents Steamworld Dig          Steamworld Dig 2                   
Lazyfire fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Dec 31, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 18:23
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Steamworld Dig wastes no time getting you into things. Ten seconds of cutscene and you are in the mine, finding dead uncle robot things and stealing from their corpses like you are in Link to the Past. The opening half hour here is indicative of the rest of the game. You dig, you sell, you buy, you dig. Sometimes there are really nice prizes in the mine to find that the game more or less requires you to get if you want to progress. One thing you'll notice is that I keep saying I want to keep clean lines for the mine, but I never do. The ores are spread out enough and valuable enough at this point that you have to ruin your best plans to go get rich. Or get Tumbleton back on its feet or something. I have no idea how being the only miner somehow is going to revitalize the town, we're not creating any new jobs and our material needs could be met by just one vendor if he expanded his stock. I guess it's best to not think too much about this. Lazyfire fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jul 31, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 18:29
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Oh man, this game owns. I played it for a while a few years ago but I got stuck on some enemies quite a bit further down that killed the poo poo out of me and I couldn't find any more minerals. It's such a cute game tho  I think the vendor dude makes things out of the ores and sells them back to you. it's a very strange micro-capitalism.
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Jul 27, 2019 03:42
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The first game is good and the second is even better. Looking forward to this!
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Jul 28, 2019 12:21
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cat_herder posted:I think the vendor dude makes things out of the ores and sells them back to you. it's a very strange micro-capitalism. Ah, it's a Manor system of some nature. I don't want to spend a ton of time theorycrafting how it's all supposed to work, but I did write, uh...six to eight thousand words about mine stuff for posts in the thread. What you are seeing is my second crack at the videos because I spent way too much time overthinking how exploited Rusty is by the merchant class. It led to a lot of rambling and not fun videos.
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Jul 28, 2019 12:56
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Great choice of game(s), looking forward to the rest of your LP. I've played both digs and heist and I love all of them. These developers really seem to have a knack of making games that don't feel like they wasted your time but also that you weren't short changed in the time you did have. Echoing your thoughts on it being made on a budget, as soon as I saw the earth crack animation in the intro jump immediately in to gameplay without a fall scene i was thinking of cut corners. Anyway, it'll be good to see your reactions to dig 2 when we get there. I'd say it's considerably more polished while retaining all that was good about the first game.
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Jul 28, 2019 17:01
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Lazyfire posted:
I would be extremely down for that, because Heist is a wonderful game.
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Jul 28, 2019 17:50
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Pennfalath posted:I would be extremely down for that, because Heist is a wonderful game. I was thinking Twitch for this, but I may just decide to try and LP it. I would do it totally blind, which usually isn't my style, but you are like the third person today to tell me it is good and fun and so I don't want to ruin me sucking at it for the rest of everyone.
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Jul 28, 2019 23:06
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Steamworld Dig is surprisingly fun for how simple it appears on its surface and I've been meaning to pick up #2 for a little while. Also I can't get the video to load for some reason, is it just me?
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Jul 29, 2019 15:19
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C-Euro posted:Steamworld Dig is surprisingly fun for how simple it appears on its surface and I've been meaning to pick up #2 for a little while. I couldn't get it to load in anything HD.
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Jul 29, 2019 22:26
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C-Euro posted:Steamworld Dig is surprisingly fun for how simple it appears on its surface and I've been meaning to pick up #2 for a little while. CoffeeQaddaffi posted:I couldn't get it to load in anything HD. Same, friends
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Jul 30, 2019 02:50
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Lazyfire, I am terrible at strategy/tactics games, and I managed to get through Heist with little serious trouble. You'll do fine. Also, HD didn't work for me, either. edit: I'm thinking it's YouTube. Same problem with a different video. racerabbit fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Jul 30, 2019 |
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Jul 30, 2019 03:35
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AltaBrown posted:Lazyfire, I am terrible at strategy/tactics games, and I managed to get through Heist with little serious trouble. You'll do fine. Glad to hear that. Me playing X-Com was like watching a newborn trying to murder itself. The video is encoded and processed for HD. I can look at uploading it again to see if that fixes anything if it turns out YouTube isn't the culprit.
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Jul 30, 2019 09:49
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Huh. This game has been sitting in my Steam Library for ages now. Interesting to see if it's something I should install. After, you know, you get the video quality issues sorted out.
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Jul 30, 2019 14:44
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berryjon posted:Huh. This game has been sitting in my Steam Library for ages now. Interesting to see if it's something I should install. After, you know, you get the video quality issues sorted out. You mean you don't want to watch a video of a game with really good animations and good character/environmental design in glorious 360p? I'm going to have to try to re-load the video tonight and see if that clears it up. I just tried to load it in HD at work and unless the video is so data intense at 720p that our ancient CAT3 wiring can't deal with it things are messed up on the upload.
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Jul 30, 2019 15:18
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Lazyfire posted:unless the video is so data intense at 720p that our ancient CAT3 wiring can't deal with it things are messed up on the upload. You need to trace the cable and look for a bulge. That's where your data is getting stuck. Just squeeze it until it uploads.
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Jul 30, 2019 21:12
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I can promise that this one shows correctly. The Ep. 1 link is currently dead as I'm re-uploading it now. Upgrades in Steamworld Dig come in two varieties, there are the purchased ones that I like to think of as passive, you can dig through dirt with fewer hits, your light lasts longer, etc. and then there are the active abilities. Sprinting is a good example just because hey, you can run now and that opens up some traversal opportunities you didn't have before. What's more, these type of skills are given their own little mini-tutorial as Rusty typically has to use his new ability to get out of the puzzle room where he found it. I think it ends up being a really good system, you are locking quality of life upgrades behind money, but exploration is rewarded with stuff you need to progress. You don't really ever have to collect many minerals if you don't want to, just hit all the upgrade stations and you can totally complete the game, it just may take forever and not be entertaining as you hit the same dirt block 100 times. Edit: Episode One links will work now, I can confirm it actually shows up as HD this time. Lazyfire fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Jul 31, 2019 |
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Jul 31, 2019 00:50
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Ahhh you forgot to go back and get that big Orb stockpile near Cave II 
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Jul 31, 2019 14:06
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Meet Biff. Biff is our second tier merchant and will be selling us stuff for a while yet. Few of the upgrades he offers don't require orbs, which means that cache I missed earlier is going to hurt, but I have a plan. I always have a plan, even when it looks like I screwed up. The way the merchants in the game are set up means that you'll need to interact with all of them through the course of the game. Biff has one really expensive item that you probably won't have the orbs stockpiled for until the endgame, and Cranky sells consumables, which are useful throughout. The third merchant seems to have an endless list of upgrades that I highly doubt I will get all of (and you don't need all of them anyway). Realistically, this just means you need to go to see multiple bots when you get to the surface, but lore-wise you get a bit of flavor text from multiple sources each time you go to get ladders or see if you can get the goddamn 15 orb water seal. While the split locations are slightly inconvenient, it is a nice touch to have a reason to talk to people who have sort of outlived their usefulness.
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Aug 3, 2019 18:14
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You didn't look at the third page in Cranky's shop at the end; said that he had something new.
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Aug 4, 2019 00:49
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The shiners look like rad-zombies to me. They don't talk and run around screaming and live near a bunch of radioactive waste. Makes sense for them to be the "survivors" of a nuclear apocalypse
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Aug 4, 2019 02:10
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Love these games, especially the world-building, the aesthetic, and how just plain good they feel to play. The sequel is basically this but more, with more story, and polished, which is drat near excellent so I'm hype for seeing it shown off later.
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Aug 4, 2019 08:00
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I actually went back and started a new game on the 3DS version of this, so thanks for the inspiration. Maybe I'll finally pick up #2 once I finish. Are certain map elements like loot and enemy placement randomized? It feels like my first stratum was different than what yours looked like but it's also tough to tell since you can dig through it however you want.
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Aug 5, 2019 16:03
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C-Euro posted:I actually went back and started a new game on the 3DS version of this, so thanks for the inspiration. Maybe I'll finally pick up #2 once I finish. I think some of the elements are randomized, I was a couple episodes into an abandoned run before I started this one and I still have the files, so I could go check the tapes to see if things change. Shiners and other larger enemies I believe are always in the same locations, but the entombed bugs I believe can have their locations moved from playthrough to playthrough. Orbs and stuff in the caves are all preset so far as I can tell.
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Aug 6, 2019 18:11
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Overall, death isn't that punishing in Steamworld Dig. I don't really have a problem with that because you can make Rusty non-durable if you don't buy upgrades to his armor and if you prioritize steam or pick strength early instead of health you could end up really weak when enemies start getting difficult. One thing I will complain about are the environmental hazards. Not that they are particularly dangerous (yes, that's what I die to, spoiler), but because the game doesn't really incorporate them outside of this area and its immediate environs. I would have loved to see more things like the acid pools and drops, but the game sort of lets them fall by the wayside soon after this. It's not a huge deal, but more stuff like this would have been a nice way to ramp up the difficulty slightly as you progress instead of just throwing more enemies at you.
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Aug 7, 2019 02:22
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This LP and game are perfectly laid-back to balance how miserable reality can get these days. Thanks for the continuing entertainment 
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Aug 7, 2019 23:53
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Dandy here is our last merchant and so carries the top tier stuff. I haven't tested it out, but it may be totally possible to skip some of the Biff upgrades and go straight to what Dandy offers for capacity and such, but I think the upgrades are incremental instead of total, meaning each builds on the previous instead of automatically setting you to a value. That way you can't lose water capacity or torch time because you hoarded money and bought something from Dandy and then bought an inferior upgrade from Biff by mistake. It would be fun if you could forcibly downgrade yourself for a challenge run or something, but if you wanted to do that you just wouldn't buy stuff. I also find it interesting that merchants show up not because you bought out the previous one, but because you turned enough ore into cash. It's not something I think about often, but usually when games have multiple stores you need to force one into obsolescence before the next one opens up. Here, merchants hear you have money and just show up thinking they'll be able to get a cut, even if what they have in inventory isn't the "next" thing at that very moment.
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Aug 10, 2019 18:27
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Ahhhhhhhhh you gotta start going into these challenge rooms and upgrade areas with an empty pack, you're leaving so much dang money behind!
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Aug 10, 2019 19:23
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Lazyfire, I'm loving your commentary because it sounds like you're just talking to yourself as you play, and only occasionally remembering that you have an audience!
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Aug 10, 2019 20:25
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I got this game during a Steam sale and the LP got me to start playing it. I've been using it as a podcast game, so I don't mind not getting all of the speed-things-up-upgrades as soon as possible. Haven't felt the need to buy a teleporter yet either.
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Aug 11, 2019 07:47
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At the beginning of the video you unlocked the Improved Hydraulics, apparently an upgrade for the drill, and ignored it ever since. Is it not that useful or is everything else just more interesting?
Nuramor fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Aug 11, 2019 |
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Aug 11, 2019 14:33
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Slaan posted:The shiners look like rad-zombies to me. They don't talk and run around screaming and live near a bunch of radioactive waste. Makes sense for them to be the "survivors" of a nuclear apocalypse The shiners are what's left of humanity after a war, this isn't a spoiler as the game doesn't really go into specifics but The Old World is filled with broken tanks, nuclear warheads and radioactive waste, it's pretty safe to say we blew ourselves up.
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Aug 11, 2019 18:50
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C-Euro posted:Ahhhhhhhhh you gotta start going into these challenge rooms and upgrade areas with an empty pack, you're leaving so much dang money behind! A lot of the time I have to decide if I want to make money or keep the video flowing. When I play this without recording I usually do return to town before going into the challenge rooms, but here I have to be a bit more aware that it would disrupt the very little momentum I'm capable of building (or I could edit the trip out, but effort is not the main quality of this LP). AltaBrown posted:Lazyfire, I'm loving your commentary because it sounds like you're just talking to yourself as you play, and only occasionally remembering that you have an audience! I'm trying to be a bit looser than I have been in the past. It's also genuinely difficult to have a bad time playing this game, so I'm maybe a bit more cheerful and can be somewhat absent minded. Nuramor posted:At the beginning of the video you unlocked the Improved Hydraulics, apparently an upgrade for the drill, and ignored it ever since. Is it not that useful or is everything else just more interesting? I love the drill, but I will never not keep an eye on the steam meter to make sure I'm not running out. In truth, I should be drilling everything at this point in the game, but my paranoia about not being able to steam jump or launch a fist is never going away fully.
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Aug 14, 2019 11:17
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I appreciate your advanced technique you showed off at the end of the video 
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Aug 15, 2019 04:11
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Your advanced techniques are indeed amazing and I can't wait to see the strategic genius you'll show in steamworld heist when you get to that 
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Aug 16, 2019 15:39
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There is no end to the advanced techniques I will perform for the rest of the LP. Moving. Jumping. Jumping while moving. Prepare to be blown away.
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Aug 16, 2019 23:55
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Is there a reason the video is unlisted?
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Aug 17, 2019 01:42
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Chimera-gui posted:Is there a reason the video is unlisted? I forgot to make it public? Will fix. Typing with an index finger on a giant tablet like a boomer. No reason to mention that, really.
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Aug 17, 2019 02:58
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Well, I sat on this for a week by accident. I swear I thought I posted this last week and the first time I see my computer in a week I have the titlecard above still not even saved. I actually finished the game so I can tell you that this is the last major upgrade we're going to see. The Static Dash, more commonly known as a double jump, is one of the most useful things you'll see in the game because you can chain them together with the wall jumps and they don't use water/steam. This essentially means that as long as you can get to a vertical surface you can probably reach any point you want to. More interestingly, and something the game totally fails to point out, the static dash is a goddamn instakill on most enemies. The electrical wreath that surrounds Rusty when he jumps isn't just for show, it actually causes damage. This is super useful on the turrets that are legion in this final area of the game as you often don't have a good direct damage option. I will harp endlessly on the double jump damage thing for the next two videos. It's seriously great. It's also weird to me that double jump, an upgrade that most games place closer to the start, appears so late in this game. Now, in a lot of games with double jump it is flat required to reach the next area, but this game is all about descending, so double jump is more a lateral and back-to-warp option rather than a progress upgrade, but it is seriously great. Watch me abuse it for the rest of the game and you'll understand why they stuck it at the end, it would break the rest of the game wide open if you knew when/how to use it on all the previous enemies.
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Aug 21, 2019 01:39
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It doesn't look like you've found that while Rusty has that electric 'halo' around his body in the double jump, he causes damage to enemies touching him - you can double-jump into those guns and so on to quickly destroy them.
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Aug 21, 2019 03:38
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