What games are you playing now?

[joxer]

Since the patch screwed Tyranny and I noticed -50% + -20% with uplay points on ubi sale, bought and started Watch Dogs 2.

Early impressions:
- Superb graphics tainted with hair still being horrible
- Microtransactions are hurting your eye
- Checkpoints in openworld, again, *sigh*
- The game is trying to compete with GTA5 and so far succeeds: it is 10 times more fun than GTA5!

 

[Pongo]

I'm spending some time away from my PC, so I've fired up Icewind Dale EE on a tablet to keep me amused. It's actually very good. I found the controls fiddly at first, but now I'm used to them it works ok. I'm just in Dragons Eye and approaching the fight with the unpronouncable snake goddess thingy, which is a nasty, nasty fight. Promises to be an extra challenge as I direct my characters through jabbing the screen with my podgy fingers rather than using my trusty mouse. I figure that if I can beat the snake, I'll be ok for the rest of the game!

 

[Deleted User]

Get a nice stylus. Makes tablet games 10x better.

 

[skally_wag]

Just finished Underail, 482hrs on steam (Hard but so rewarding) Finally, underway on Pillars of Eternity (enjoying it so far), I need to be ready for Deadfire.
I have also just picked up Tyranny and Expedition Vikings. "Happy days".

 

[Deleted User]

I'm spending some time away from my PC, so I've fired up Icewind Dale EE on a tablet to keep me amused. It's actually very good. I found the controls fiddly at first, but now I'm used to them it works ok. I'm just in Dragons Eye and approaching the fight with the unpronouncable snake goddess thingy, which is a nasty, nasty fight. Promises to be an extra challenge as I direct my characters through jabbing the screen with my podgy fingers rather than using my trusty mouse. I figure that if I can beat the snake, I'll be ok for the rest of the game!

Scratch that, you want a stylus pen. The one the Shield comes with is excellent. I'm sure Amazon has some good ones, too. I'd avoid the regular styluses with the fat tips, obviously, since that is just going to replicate your fat fingers.

 

[Pongo]

Thanks - I hadn't thought of getting a stylus, I'm checking them out on Amazon now. To be honest, it works quite well with fingers - I just find pausing the game to issue instructions takes me a fraction of a second longer than hitting the space bar did. It hasn't been a problem so far, but I remember the snake thingy required some precise combat instructions so we'll see!

For info, I have a dual wielding Beserker and an Undead hunter as my front line (lovely immunities!), a Dark Moon monk and a fighter/thief behind them (my first run with a monk - he's been pretty useless so far but I have high hopes he'll be kicking ass by the endgame!), and a cleric and a mage at the rear. Giant snake here we come!

 

[Deleted member 18181]

doom 3 bfg

pretty good for some relaxing pewpew

 

[Pongo]

Yeah DOOM 3 is a lot of fun, very under rated. Relaxing pewpew indeed!

 

[txa1265]

Scratch that, you want a stylus pen. The one the Shield comes with is excellent. I'm sure Amazon has some good ones, too. I'd avoid the regular styluses with the fat tips, obviously, since that is just going to replicate your fat fingers.

Absolutely agree - I have a new Samsung Galaxy Book (yeah it is Windows, but still) and it is similar to Microsoft Surface and has an excellent stylus-pen. Makes a world of difference for someone who never used one with iPad.

 

[NewDArt]

I'm struggling to imagine how using a pen would make gaming more comfortable. Guess I should give it a try, though.

 

[txa1265]

I'm struggling to imagine how using a pen would make gaming more comfortable. Guess I should give it a try, though.

Three reasons:
- Better than crappy trackpads
- More precise than fingers for Android & Windows (not so much for iPad I have found)
- The Samsung doesn't have a proper USB port for me to plug in my Logitech trackball for couch/bed gaming ...

In other words ... not really. And remember - we're talking about touch-screen gaming, which is inferior to good ol' keyboard and mouse.

 

[Deleted User]

Inferior how? Because I can move faster with the stylus pen + touchscreen than keyboard and mouse, probably. In the case of games like BG/IWD, they work especially well with the touchscreen.

But the pen just makes clicking things better. A slim stylus pen does. Better to drag and highlight things, etc.. It just feels more responsive, accurate and overall better than using my fingers, I find.

My tablet case also doubles as a stand, so I like to lay in bed with the tablet on my chest/stomach and use the pen with it that way. Sounds funny but with a good set of bluetooth headphones it's a pretty good experience. Playing PS:T:EE on it now.

 

[Carnifex]

I buy a new switch w/Zelda, and what do I find myself finally playing today after not being able to game for three weeks? Lands of Lore one. Yeah, I'm happy like that.

 

[txa1265]

Inferior how? Because I can move faster with the stylus pen + touchscreen than keyboard and mouse, probably. In the case of games like BG/IWD, they work especially well with the touchscreen.

Sorry - not going to debate whether a game is better played on the control system it was designed for or not ... that just isn't worth even 5 seconds.

 

[Lemonhead]

I played a nice little platformer game called Inside. Very moody and dark dystopian future setting. I must say that I really liked the mood, setting and sparse music. Takes a few hours to finish depending on how long it takes you to finish the puzzles. There are a few innovative puzzles where you control other characters on screen to open doors, to pull levers etc. Then there are hidden secrets that you need to really explore the environment to be able to find. They unlock a secret alternative ending.

I much recommend it if you want something short and light to play between larger RPG romps of several hundred hours.

 

[Deleted User]

Sorry - not going to debate whether a game is better played on the control system it was designed for or not … that just isn't worth even 5 seconds.

Well, some would say games on the Wii control better with the Classic Controller and not the Wiimote they were designed for. I'm just curious because in BG/IWD case, the touchscreen control is so good that it makes those games feel like they were originally made for a touchscreen. It's very close to the mouse/keyboard control, if not better, for me personally.

 

[NewDArt]

Well, some would say games on the Wii control better with the Classic Controller and not the Wiimote they were designed for. I'm just curious because in BG/IWD case, the touchscreen control is so good that it makes those games feel like they were originally made for a touchscreen. It's very close to the mouse/keyboard control, if not better, for me personally.

What?

I've got BG on my iPad pro - and it's a pain to control battles compared to mouse/keyboard - most especially because of the lack of hotkeys.

Oh, it's playable and doable - but M/KB is much, much better, faster and more comfortable to me.

There are a few genres which seem more suited for touchscreen, but in my experience they're a tiny minority.

One example would be adventure games - which is perfect for the tablet platform.

As soon as you get into stuff like RTS (which is really what BG combat is) or - even worse - FPS - the touchscreen becomes a bad joke.

 

[Deleted User]

I've got BG on my iPad pro - and it's a pain to control battles compared to mouse/keyboard - most especially because of the lack of hotkeys.

That's funny, because on PC I don't really use hotkeys in BG/IWD. Which hotkeys would those be? The most important one and possibly only one I'd use would be Spacebar for pausing. But in general I prefer mouse-only on PC anyway. I rarely open inventories in RPGs by pressing 'I', for example, if a mouse click is available. So I personally don't miss hotkeys in this case.

As for the touchscreen being a bad joke, mmk, that's your opinion and you're free to have it. I personally have really enjoyed a bunch of RPGs with the touchscreen + stylus, such as:

BG:EE
IWD:EE
currently playing PS:T:EE
Avernum: EFtP
Avadon 1
The Quest
Final Fantasy VI

and probably a bunch other I'm forgetting, such as the lesser-known RPGs and roguelikes on Android.

 

[NewDArt]

That's funny, because on PC I don't really use hotkeys in BG/IWD. Which hotkeys would those be? The most important one and possibly only one I'd use would be Spacebar for pausing. But in general I prefer mouse-only on PC anyway. I rarely open inventories in RPGs by pressing 'I', for example, if a mouse click is available. So I personally don't miss hotkeys in this case.

Hotkeys for combat powers like the function keys, primarily.

I bind stuff like map and inventory to mouse buttons. It was something I mastered when I played WoW - because you had upwards of 20 things you would have to do within a very, very short time if you wanted to excel.

If you spent half a second looking for a key on the keyboard - you would fall behind or die.

So, for any semi-complex game - I bind all the most-used functions to mouse buttons - or hotkeys within reach of my left hand.

Makes it a lot more comfortable and pleasant.

Using a touch screen for BG is like playing with one hand tied behind my back.

Of course, it doesn't help that I can't tweak the game using config files on the iPad, either.

 

[Deleted User]

Hotkeys for combat powers like the function keys, primarily.

I bind stuff like map and inventory to mouse buttons. It was something I mastered when I played WoW - because you had upwards of 20 things you would have to do within a very, very short time if you wanted to excel.

So, for any semi-complex game - I bind all the most-used functions to mouse buttons - or hotkeys within reach of my left hand.

Makes it a lot more comfortable and pleasant.

That's cool. I did the same with my gaming mouse before. Played through Gothic 1 with most of the functions tied to the various mouse buttons. That does work well.

I'm personally not a fan of keyboard controls for really complex stuff. I'm not a huge fan of function or number buttons tied to various actions, so on a touchscreen it works better if I just click it, or use the mouse and manually activate it when on PC. That's also why I'm digging the Steam Controller so much, because I can easily reach and remember all the functions when I need them, whether it's #s 1-8, F keys or what have you.