Quoting: fleskI think nostalgia is the primary reason why everyone's being so critical of this new style.

Or, y'know, they just don't like it. I have no nostalgia for the franchise and I think it looks like ass. You can disagree, but stop using this fallacious argument to try to invalidate anyone who feels differently than you.

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Quoting: Termy

Quoting: NexxticCalling them lazy is disrespectful, in my opinion.

It wasn't meant to be disrespectful, sorry for that! I guess my wording wasn't perfect - I'm aware that sprites can be a whole lot of work, it's just that (at least thats my impression) sprites seem to be THE current way of "doing retro" and it feels "lazy" to jump on the bandwagon and go with it. That doesn't mean it's a bad game or no work is put into it (i love project warlock and poke around GZDoom now and then, so i'm not totally against this ^^), it's just that i tend to get "fed up" with trends like straight pixel art, low poly or sprites if the games don't put a "new spin" on it. That can be something like kingdom: two crowns combining pixel art with modern reflections or like selaco seemingly including above average amount of anmiation-steps. Of course some things are more noticable than others and videos often doesn't do it justice, but it can quickly feel like "more of the same". Project Warlock or Ion Fury are great games with a lot of attention to detail - but the first impression (at least graphically) isn't blowing me away so to speak.

I will totally try the demo and in general love oldschool FPS - my post was more a general mini-rant about repeated trends in artstyle and not directly targeted at selaco. Should have made that more clear i guess ^^

Ion Fury blows me away visually. Prodeus looks like mud. Very shiny mud.

Fancy effects like specular highlights and normal mapping are neither necessary nor sufficient for a game to look good. Design is what's important, not technology.

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I think I've come to realize something. The appeal of GOG was never really about DRM per se, it was about opposing industry bullshit. DRM just happened to be the primary, most egregious form of bullshit back in the day. Over time, big publishers continually pushed the envelope. Expansions became DLC became microtransactions became loot boxes and battle passes. DRM became "live services." AAA gaming is a cyclone of bullshit now, but GOG has remained focused only on DRM. They're no longer a bastion against industry bullshit, just one specific kind of bullshit. If my only options are "full bullshit" on Steam, or "reduced bullshit" on GOG, then what's the point? I'll just buy neither. :/

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Quoting: Beamboom

Quoting: Smoke39

Quoting: BeamboomThey look a bit small?

Some of us have small hands, if you can believe it.

ok. Thanks for that information.
But it's hard to determine on the pictures. Are they smaller than usual? I like the concept here, so I would be interested. But not if they are as small as I get the impression of.

They have measurements in the details. The NP01-S is fairly small, but not out of line with other popular small mice like the Zowie S2/FK2. NP01's a little wider. AX is wider like the NP01 and taller, probably more for palm grips than the other two.

They also have some detailed comparisons to a handful of other similar mice, which is really helpful for getting an idea of the actual contours of the mouse and how they fit in the hand. I wish more manufacturers would do that.

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Quoting: BeamboomThey look a bit small?

Some of us have small hands, if you can believe it.

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Quoting: TheRiddickWell at this point I don't think things can be any worse for 3DRealms, maybe they can actually make a proper Duke Nukem 3D sequel game? DNF did so much damage to the duke!

I guess that's not inconceivable now that Gearbox and 3DR are owned by the same company, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

What's so dire for 3DR? Ion Fury was great and is getting an expansion, Ghostrunner was well received, and they've got a bunch of promising stuff coming up like Wrath, Graven, and Core Decay. They were kinda fumbling in the past with stuff like Bombshell, but they seem to be chugging along pretty well to me now?

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Quoting: stuffSome games only work on a Playstation, some only on an XBOX, some only on a Switch and some only on Windows. Why are people not as hostile against Breath of the Wild but instead consider buying a Switch just for that game?

If the next Half-Life game suddenly went console-exclusive after decades of the franchise being available on PC, I think a lot of people would actually be pretty pissed off.

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Quoting: kuhpunkt

Quoting: Smoke39

Quoting: kuhpunktI just find this hostility towards VR from some people so weird.

If someone doesn't find VR appealing, then making a game that only works in VR looks like an arbitrary and unnecessary barrier to entry. That's why people are hostile toward it. People feel like games are being kept from them for no good reason.

Being hostile isn't very mature. And people are stupid if they actually think that. As if they are owed a game...

Of course they aren't owed a game, but they're allowed to dislike a product, they're allowed to exress that dislike, and they're allowed to be frustrated when a franchise they're invested in is handled in a way they don't like.

And from where I'm sitting, you seem pretty hostile toward anyone who doesn't care for VR. Both sides have good reason to be emotionally invested in the issue.

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Quoting: kuhpunktI just find this hostility towards VR from some people so weird.

If someone doesn't find VR appealing, then making a game that only works in VR looks like an arbitrary and unnecessary barrier to entry. That's why people are hostile toward it. People feel like games are being kept from them for no good reason.

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Quoting: BeamboomI miss the layer of polish that high budget games have. They are simply more professionally made, created by experienced designers and it obviously makes a difference.

And no, I do not now talk about graphics (in fact there's plenty indie games with great visuals - I'm not one that demand "realistic" graphics at all, and rate artistic style much higher than the number of polygons or the visual effects).
No, the polish I talk about is on all the other things. The hundreds of little components that makes out a game. Everything from an intuitive interface to a well thought out tutorial to fluid mechanics, responsiveness, camera control, map design, every other little thing that isolated doesn't mean all, but each on their own adds up.

This is just straight up bullshit, and disrespectful of the skill demonstrated by some indies. Just because a game has a larger budget doesn't make it more "professional" or more polished.

As a random example off the top of my head: Shovel Knight. Anyone can cobble together a basic 2D platformer, but designing a game of Shovel Knight's quality takes genuine skill. Coming up with novel obstacles that one might take for granted as a player is not easy, nor is designing levels that are challenging but fair. It takes real creativity, and real design skill.

I would argue that Shovel Knight is actually better than a lot of the games that inspired it, and that's because Yacht Club didn't just haphazardly throw down tiles or blindly mimic what came before. They're not just quaint hobbyists dicking around. They're skilled professionals with a deep understanding of game design, who applied that knowledge to create a product that was highly polished.

It's fine if games like Shovel Knight don't interest you, but it is undeniably exceptionally well-crafted, and just as "professional" and polished as any AAA game.

Quoting: BeamboomAnd THEN, on top of THAT, we can start talking about content: Voice acting, scripting, story line, animations, cut scenes, visuals, audio, network play, size of player base (in multi-player), freedom of movement, character creation, etc.

You said your issue wasn't with indies being "too small/basic," but you're talking about scope here. And again, it's totally fine if you prefer games with more to them. But just because a game has a larger scope doesn't mean it's better, or more professional, or more polished. It just means it's bigger.

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