Quoting: minidoudon't try to play XCOM 2 with the native version, it's unstable and most mods make it crash.

Huh, is that new? I've put 378 hours into XCOM 2 with the native version, most of that with literally hundreds of mods, and had almost no crashes (barring a few from me living dangerously and adding/removing mods during a run, which were clearly my fault). But I last played in Feb. 2022…

One thing I found odd about Phoenix Point, which I picked up a year or two ago to see how it compared to XCOM 1/2, was the complete absence of music during tactical missions. There's nothing inherently wrong with such a choice, but in this day and age it does make the game feel like it's unfinished or they forgot to hire a composer or something. (It doesn't have be bombastic or noticeable, just a quiet, mildly-unsettling bit would seem to fit the theme quite well. I did like some aspects of it (the aiming in the 3D world, enemies with multiple damageable bits, vehicles in missions), but ultimately it didn't hold my interest long enough to finish a campaign. I really should get back to it sometime…

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Oh noooooooooooooo :cry:

I mean, all the best to them and I hope they all recover from the pressures of game development. I'm glad to hear they're prioritizing their health. I'm just so bummed to hear this – Shadow Gambit might be my game of the year, and I was just thinking that the only thing their next game needed to be perfect was a level editor and mod support. I would absolutely love if they released their engine so other people could continue to use it, it's really quite fantastic.

Well, off to go buy the Supporter Edition bundle for Shadow Gambit that I was on the fence about to show my appreciation for all the hours of nail-biting stealth action their games have given me, I guess.

Quoting: scaineThat's a massive shame. I admit that I've had Shadow Tactics on my wishlist for years now. I like the sound of the gameplay, but don't really like the setting (ancient Japan, or whatever). And I swear I'm not making this up, but I honestly can't stand Wild West themed stuff either. If Red Dead Redemption isn't going to break that dislike, I guess Desperados was on a beating to nothing.

Give me fantasy or sci-fi any day.

Understandable, I loved Shadow Tactics and Aiko's Choice but didn't get Desperadoes III myself. If you like fantasy you might enjoy Shadow Gambit; personally I'm glad they went the fantasy route as it really allowed them to go crazy with cool abilities that the (relatively) more grounded settings didn't allow (teleportation, launching people out of a magical cannon, the ability to grow bushes nigh-instantly as cover anywhere, etc.).

Though, wow, a sci-fi game with this engine could also be pretty incredible. :shock:

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Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

Can definitely recommend if you like developer Mimimi's previous real-time tactics games (Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Desperadoes III), though I've been playing it on desktop rather than my Deck.

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Quoting: MayeulCand my second one is that screenshots don't seem to work anymore (steam+R1)

Oh, I had that just this past week myself! Was really confused as to what was happening.

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Coincidentally I just updated from Bullseye (Debian 11) to Bookworm (12) two day ago. 🙂 Been using Debian since 2015 at this point (my first, and so far only, distro hop [from Linux Mint Debian Edition 😆]).

Quoting: NeptNutzPPS - This graphic always blows my mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution#/media/File:2023_Linux_Distributions_Timeline.svg [External Link]

I find Linux distributions are great for when I need lots of names, like nicknaming Pokémon. :grin:

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Seems like an interesting game, and it remains on my wishlist. I can appreciate that the issue is out of the developer's hand (barring switching to a different engine, which wouldn't be feasible at this stage).

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Quoting: ElectricPrismBoth AoE 3 and AoE 4 have a review rating of 83-86%.

Meanwhile AoE 2 is rated at 94%

Similar to Civilization V (96%) vs Civilization VI (85%)

Proof that low effort 3D versions aren't automatically better than 2D or old-school graphics.

I wouldn't call AoE III low effort. (Low-poly, for the original release, sure, though the DE release is a lot better.)

To establish my bonafides, I got AoE II at the age of 11 two years after it came out, and it was one of the formative games of my childhood (the first game I played online, on a dial-up modem to boot!). I've put a combined 400 hours into the 2013 HD remake and DE, and who knows how many hours into the original CD version as a kid, where it was pretty much the only thing I played for two years. I was…disappointed that AoE III wasn't "AoE II but in the New World", but I gave it a fair shake even though it never quite clicked for me. While it may not be the game that I or a lot of AoE II players were expecting (or wanted), it's a solid game in its own right, with clearly a ton of work that into making it.

I'm reminded of the saying that Firaxis is said to follow for each successive Civilization game: "one-third the same, one-third improved, one-third new". I feel like AoE III may have skewed a bit harder than one-third on the "new" (home city shipments! fixed on-map trade routes! "hero unit" explorers! etc., etc.), and that might be partly why it wasn't as well received. Or it may just be really hard to recapture the lighting-in-a-bottle that was AoE II. But regardless of my personal feelings about AoE III, I think it's a disservice to the developers to call it "low effort".

(Also I'm not sure what your point about Civilization is, since it's been 3D since Civilization IV. :huh:)

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Quoting: Philadelphus, last monthLooking at those numbers: bets on whether Linux exceeds MacOS in Steam share by the end of the year? :happy:

Well, that's faster than I was anticipating! :grin:

And even if this turns out to be a one-month blip due to fluctuations in the survey, the general trend suggests it'll happen again…and again…and again…until it stops being news anymore. :smile:

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Wow, time flies, seems like just a year ago I was checking out the Steam Next Fest demo of this. It didn't quite grab me enough to pick up*, but glad to see it's still coming along!

*I think it lost to The Wandering Village in that cycle of demos.

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Quoting: LiamI may not be the best writer but at least I'm real…last I checked.

And that's why Liam has my vote! …er, modest monthly monetary support, at least! :grin:

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