Quoting: pageroundThe hardware looks excellent! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Liam, I had no idea. Going to go see if I can build one :D

Agreed! I already have something similar targeted towards the GameBoy, the GB Console [External Link], that I put together last March. I don't have any N64 cartridges (never had the system), but they're cheap and plentiful at flea markets around here.

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EagleDelta and ElectroDD, thank you both very much for your replies, that was helpful information. It sounds like X4 may not be for me.

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The reviews for X4 upon its initial release were ... well, bad, frankly. Has it improved enough with updates that it's fun to play?

Since that's a very subjective question, I should give context: Freespace 2 (FS2Open) is still my top space sim of all time; I've recently been playing a ton of the original Everspace in an attempt to beat final ending before delving into Everspace 2; I loved every single Wing Commander game back in the day; and I think I-War and I-War 2 deserved much more acclaim than they got.

Can anyone here currently playing X4 give an opinion?

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This looks fun. I'm not familiar with grid fighting games, but I could get into this. I'll put in for a key, please.

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Quoting: PatolaStill doesn't justify lynching the person, even if we assume they are guilty. Again, due legal process.

Lynching means something, to call this sort of thing lynching is just gross. This is private individuals using their freedom of speech to call out an employer's behavior and make public statements. There's no legal process involved because this is how speech is supposed to work.

Complaining about "cancel culture" comes across as saying, "Some people should not be subject to repercussions or public criticism for their actions."

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Unfortunately, I'm running into a bug and it won't launch for me. Posted on the Steam forum (the developers helpfully made a sub-forum for Linux discussion), and I wasn't the first to run into it.

When trying from the command line, I get this output:
 
./demoncrawl
./demoncrawl: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.29' not found (required by ./demoncrawl)

I'm on Ubuntu 18.04 still, I realize 20.04 is out but I'm still waiting for the official .1 update rollout. Which is taking much longer than I'm accustomed to, but on the other hand, the world is a weird place right now.

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Oh my, but does this look cool. I love the art style. I'll keep an eye out.

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I played a fair amount of Flotilla when it first released - it scratched an itch for tactical space combat with real 3D. The art style is basic but very functional - you can tell at a glance whether an opponent's cannons are pointed at you, whether you need to rotate your armor to protect against a possible flank etc. The ship designs are uncomplicated but differentiated enough, and it's great when you start to expand your fleet past the first two frigates and bring some serious numbers and firepower to bear. The game also has the weird Blendo humor that I really do enjoy, and a good randomized progression that's more akin to FTL than I realized before typing this sentence.

The downsides are:

a) The controls. They are, politely, not good. Homeworld should be the gold reference for 3D ship combat tactics, and diverge from that at your peril. The control issues dovetail with some camera bugs, where I'd be trying to pan around a ship to get a better angle for planning and suddenly the camera would zooooooom off to look at some other part of the scene. Tighten that up, and the game would instantly be back on my playlist, even without looking at

b) The enemy AI isn't great, and can be repetitive in its strategies. Then, even when you've nearly won a battle, it devolves into the last enemy ship running away, and your ships chasing it, very ... very ... slowly as you plink it's armor at maximum range. This is not a fun way to conclude a session. Then, when you're the one down to your last ship, it can be nearly impossible to win even a single a fight and start to regrow your fleet.

I have no ability to fix any of these issues, but I'd be happy if someone else would pick up the torch. Even just writing about it here makes me want to play some again, issues and all.

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Quoting: Nezchan

Quoting: Chuckaluphagus

Quoting: NezchanI suspect this has Grimrock in its DNA somewhere. The map layouts and movement feel familiar.

Looks more to me like the engine from StarCrawlers [External Link], which does support Linux nicely (also a good game in its own right).

Seems that when that game came out, it invited a lot of comparisons to Grimrock. So again, it seems to be part of that pedigree.

Ah, I thought you meant "DNA" more in a sense of the actual software, rather than as a Wizardry-style dungeon crawler. No worries.

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Quoting: NezchanI suspect this has Grimrock in its DNA somewhere. The map layouts and movement feel familiar.

Looks more to me like the engine from StarCrawlers [External Link], which does support Linux nicely (also a good game in its own right).

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