What games are you playing and why?

Oh I totally suck at Dominions 3 too I just enjoyed it (Although the amount of micromanagement and UI quirks did give me some trouble... which is probably why the aforementioned sucking happened. It's certainly not a game I'd recommend to everyone )

I did have more luck with the first, yeah (I don't know if the UI was the problem per se--the mission idea I think was really good, though it took some getting used to--I just couldn't figure out how to make the system of stations and stuff like civilian stimulus work. Like I kind of understood the mechanics I just didn't know what to DO with them.)

SotS1 I had a lot more luck with although the random events definitely did become a barrier to getting into the game because I couldn't really figure out how to deal with them. (Which probably is a matter of sometimes it literally isn't supposed to be something you can deal with easily, which is something I'm definitely not used to in that sort of game).

Anyway it does sound like I should try SotS1 again first if I go back to the series. (I'm also probably making this harder for myself by playing the Hivers but I really like both their lore and transport system so)

I played a very little of Sacred 2 a long time ago and was definitely put off by the, uh, lack of armor.

As far as currently playing, I'm sort of in between games >.< I'm pretty short on money this month and there don't seem to be too many interesting new games (I guess Brave New World, but I've only really liked Civ for the mods so I'll stick with Civ 4 until Civ 5 can manage something like Fall From Heaven), which probably means going back and playing something I haven't in a while (likely candidates at this point are Dwarf Fortress, or appropriately enough, Dungeons of Dredmor)

(Although hmm maybe I should try SotS1 again)

 

I thought I was good at Dominions 3, until I tried playing a multiplayer game, and got completely smashed in what was supposed to be a newbie game.

I've been playing Rogue Legacy lately. It's pretty good. It's kind of Spelunky-ish, but with permanent upgrades.

 

I'm always interested new rogue-likes, but Rogue Legacy seems like it may be a bit too difficult for me (too much hand-eye coordination necessary). Still I've heard lots of good things about it (it was even mentioned in a recent Rogue-like Radio episode), so I'm tempted to try it if only to remind myself why I don't (usually) play action games.

 

Sorry about that. If it's any consolation, (and I don't know why it would be), a lot of people found that they either could not install the game, or could not get it to run when it was first released (it should be straightened out by the time it's officially released in the UK).

I'm liking the changes so far -- at least the ones I've been working with (I'm not far enough into the game to see everything). I'm currently very curious to see how the cultural changes play out going forward. I also want to try out a lot of the new civs, explore some of the new diplomatic stuff, etc. The international trade routes thing is interesting enough, and you have to stay on top of them to an extent to prevent them from being plundered. I just got my first naval trade route (I started isolated in South America on the Earth map, and up until I built my first harbor, naval trade routes didn't have enough range for them to be useful).

 

Well, it's not too bad after you get some upgrades, but it is pretty brutal at the start. It doesn't really play like a roguelike at all though. It's really a Metroidvania with some roguelike concepts, but it still plays like a Metroidvania.

 

I'm not even really going to get much of a look at it until next week, either, unless I spend all Friday evening on it (lolnope)

 

Oh god I'm sort of terrified to see what would happen if I tried multiplayer Dominions. I have basically no idea how to do anything optimally and would probably end up being underequiped and researching entirely the wrong spells >.<

THe persistant upgrades thing about rogue legacy looked interesting (I'm really interested in roguelikes that can make it so permadeath seems like its an essential part of the game, to the point that turning it off wouldn't make any sense.) but I'm not super into platformers so I haven't played it (hand eye coordination??? lolnope)

I settled on playing Dungeons of Dredmor again, which I don't think I really need to elaborate on it much (amusingly I started playing last night before the new patch went up, I wasn't planning it like that XP)

 

Borderlands 2... guns guns guns guns guns guns.

 

I got Dark Souls on a steam sale, but I'll probably hold off on playing it because 1) I actually want to try to kill Dredmor for once, and 2) Installing mod patches to make it work properly on PC is kind of a pain and I'm already exhausted today >.<

 

Got myself unstuck on Defender's Quest... so much so that I managed to blaze through six or seven (at least) levels on the highest difficulty (with the game's default settings, that is), which completely surprised me as normally I'm terrible at tower defence. Okay, I am terrible at tower defence, but I'm coping fine with DefQuest in most situations.

Except I tried one silly level on the highest difficulty...


BLOODY. SHEEP.

 

Been playing a lot of Civ 5 BNW. I'm currently towards the end-game playing as Venice. It's VERY different from playing other factions because you can't build settlers, and any cities that you either buy (using the unique "Merchant of Venice" unit) or capture, can only be razed or turned into puppets. So you only fully control one city. But unlike other factions, you CAN purchase buildings and factions in puppetted cities.

I thought the limitations would be hard, but they really aren't all that bad. I have an astounding income every turn from trade routes (Venice gets double the trade routes). Venice pretty much only builds stuff that they can't actually buy now (wonders, archaeologists) and I have several puppet cities sending Venice their production to help with that. Still, I wish I had had a better starting location or I could have built wonders in different cities with better production resources, because it all feels too slow (actually missed building the East India company by "1" turn *grrrrrr!*).

 

I picked up the gold upgrade to Civ V, and its a whole different game from vanilla.

Dunno if I'll grab BNW just yet - sounds pretty different, and I don't want to 'swap games' again that quickly.

The number of wonders I miss by one turn is too damn high.

 

I have ALL of the content!

(No, really)

 

The fact alone that you need caravans and cargo ships to get a decent income, and need to protect (at least for the early part of the game) those trade routes, makes it an entirely new game. Plus culture/tourism adds a whole new game within the game. Playing as Venice is even one step beyond that in its newness.

 

I have Civ5, G&K, BNW. What all does the Gold upgrade have?

 

I think it includes G&K plus all the small DLCs (all the various factions they released separately and the scenario packs)

/edit This is from the store page:
Includes 13 items: Sid Meier's Civilization® V, Sid Meier’s Civilization® V: Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar II), Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Mediterranean, Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Asia, Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Americas, Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Mesopotamia, Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca , Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia, Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings, Civilization V: Explorer’s Map Pack, Civilization V - Civilization and Scenario Pack: Korea, Civilization V - Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack, Sid Meier's Civilization V - Gods and Kings

/edit again: Sorry, that's Civ 5 gold. From the price, I can't tell WHAT the Gold upgrade gives you (sorry). Maybe it's all the DLCs other than G&K (because there's a different Civ Pack upgrade, which may just be the Civ DLCs (?????) I'm now officially confused as well.

 

Let's see how my math is...
Without discounts (which could screw things up in the calcs):

Base Civ game: $29.99
Gold: $49.99
G&K alone: $29.99 (ok that just shows you pay a bit of a premium for buying it alone, so not exactly relevant)
Gold Upgrade: $20.00
Cradle of Civilization: $9.99
Based on this, my guess is that the Gold upgrade includes everything (including G&K) except the base game and BNW, and that the Cradle of Civilization is.... maybe... the same excluding G&K??? Or maybe just the ones that add new civs? (Because it looks too good if it's all the other DLCs).

 

Cradle of Civilization is four maps. Mediterranean, Asia, Americas and Mesopotamia. That's it.

Gold is everything bar BNW
Gold upgrade should be everything bar Civ V and BNW

 

I think I went down in a blaze of glory/humiliation (choose whichever you think is better) in the exact same level too.