The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[The Minsky Moment]

There's a decent size retro-game community out there based on emulator.  Steam deck has attracted attention because it can easily load and run the leading emulator platforms.  About 5-6 years ago I bought a kit to build my own arcade cabinet - there was quite a lot of online resources available at the time for support.  And enough of a market to support a few different vendors that sell kits.

[celedhring]

Got an offer to get this month's bundle choice for 5€, and seeing the headline game was Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, I got it. I've always enjoyed the mindless (very mindless) fun of the Borderlands games (even if the formula is a little long in the tooth nowadays) and this one delivers the goods on top of a D&D theme.

[Syt]

After a decent run with the Shadowrun games and Battletech, it seems that Harebrained Schemes new game is not so good.

Bit of a shame. I'd have been up for a tactical game set in an occultism heavy alternate 1930s, but I was barely remembering the game existed tbh.

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-lamplighters-league-review/

[...] Lamplighters feels like a kind of XCOM-lite—an impression that only grows with unsophisticated AI that might tactfully be described as generous to a fault. Enemy soldiers will inexplicably turn down chances to shoot and jog away from the fight or straight into patches of fire. Even when one of the Scions visits the battlefield, it's surprisingly easy to isolate then overwhelm them before they get a chance to show off their skills. Forgiving it may be, but where's the gratification in overcoming idiots?

Some of these limitations are likely technical, given that Lamplighters already struggles to maintain a decent frame rate. It's a somewhat glitchy experience overall, in fact, with a camera that fails to take account of scenery blocking its view when zooming in on attacks, and some muddy logic that can't but rub you up the wrong way, not least in the transitions between real-time and turn-based modes. Kill the final enemy in a battle and it ends abruptly, with characters standing near fire or unexploded grenades likely to take damage before you resume control.

That's a shame because Lamplighters mostly manages its turn-based and real-time dichotomy quite neatly. Its problems aren't in the core concept, but in placing breadth over depth, content over refinement, which leaves both turn-based and real-time elements lacking the staying power of their more dedicated inspirations. In trying to offer something for everyone, The Lamplighters League might not fully satisfy anyone at all.

A demo is available on Steam, I think.

[Tamas]

Yeah it's a shame as its a day one GamePass game. I guess I am going to... pass.

[celedhring]

I was actually looking forward to this. Like Syt, I've enjoyed Harebrained games quite a bit (particularly the two Shadowrun sequels), and the theme and genre were right up my alley. A pity.

[Syt]

I mean, it could be they clean it up, and there'll be more reviews coming, but for now it's in my "wait and see" column - plenty other stuff to play, anyways, and Cities Skylines 2 is also coming soon.

[Sheilbh]

I mean, it could be they clean it up, and there'll be more reviews coming, but for now it's in my "wait and see" column - plenty other stuff to play, anyways, and Cities Skylines 2 is also coming soon.

That is going to devour so much of my time

[Syt]

This might be of interest to some here, "Rise of the White Sun":

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1189100/Rise_Of_The_White_Sun/

"Rise of the White Sun" is the most immersive grand strategy game set in the Chinese Warlord era.

Delve into a new world filled with intrigue, murky plots, and treacherous military ventures.
Once you experience the chaos of 1920s China, there will be no going back to boring WW2 grand strategy games!

Naturally, you will encounter all the standard features found in other grand strategy games, such as:
-building your empire,
-engaging in diplomacy,
-leading military expeditions...

However, what sets this game apart is its unique focus on leading a loose clique of unreliable opium-addict warlords, commanding massive, unruly (and unpaid) armies.

You'll have the opportunity to play as an underground communist activist, a secret society grandmaster, a "lord of the mountain" bandit king, or a cunning Kuomintang politician.
The game's diverse factions offer distinct flavors and challenges.

Thanks to the valuable feedback from players, the game boasts exceptional historical accuracy, remarkable replayability, and a fresh take on strategy games that I hope you will appreciate.

Have fun!

Maestro Cinetik

PS: Are you unfamiliar with 1920s China?
Lucky you!
I developed this game with the intention of captivating you with this fascinating historical period.
I wish I were you, to discover a new all these fascinating stories!
(After experiencing the game, many of you jump into the Discord seeking a bibliography.)

The graphics are rough, though I'd argue it looks better than the devs' previous outings, "Jey's Empire" (in which you run the FBI as Hoover, trying to stay in office while balancing political and personal issues and demands), and the Cauldron of War entries (Barbarossa and Stalingrad).

As usual, the UI is janky, the English text is of questionable quality (and the tone a bit all over the place), and the tutorials explain the bare minimum.

However, it seems the solo dev made an effort to put research in - each province, each character has their own description, texts, scripted events, etc.

At first glance the game it most reminds me of is the older KOEI Romance of the Three Kingdoms games. You act through your commanders who have action points that you can use for movement, combat, managing your armies, territories etc. Each town has different population groups that I suppose you want to keep happy. You can engage in diplomacy with other factions, leaders can defect etc. As usual, the main challenge seems to be managing (and acquiring) very limited resources. Movement is node based (again, similar to old KOEI games).

The game has small scenarios (e.g. just a two-faction struggle over Hunan), to 495 turn scenarios starting in 1920. Not all factions are fully fleshed out with scripted events etc., but more important ones are (or ones that are just weird, i.e. you can play as Roman von Ungern-Sternberg.

Haven't dived in too deeply, and die to its jankitude I'm reluctant to recommend it, but might be worth a look if very interested in the era.

Screen for the "full" 1920 campaign faction selection. A little "gold" icon denotes that a faction has "many" (whatever that means) scripted special content, a silver icon that it has "some" such content.

[Josquius]

Steal game's art?

[Syt]

It gives you access to a press zip file, presumably it's press material, i.e. gfx etc. that sites can use in articles and such.



Oh, and if you thought Paradox released Lamplighters League with little fanfare ... Star Trek Infinity is now out.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1622900/Star_Trek_Infinite/

[Josquius]

I noticed that was due surprisingly soon the other day.
Quick  glance at steam, reviews are not great. Sounds buggy and lots of complaints its just reskinned stellaris. Disappointing.

[Syt]

Which reminds me I should finish Star Trek: Resurgence. It's basically a Telltale style Star Trek game over on Epic Games Store, set during the TNG movie era.

The plus: you play two characters (new #1 and an NCO engineer on the same ship), managing relations with other crew members and making decisions. Writing so far is decent.

The minus: the graphics looks quite dated. Gameplay relies on janky mini games a bit much (think David Cage games that like to turn every mundane activity into a little mini game).

[Jacob]

Hey Syt - does the Sichuan Clique (Liu Xiang, Yang Sen, Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, He Zhaode, and Tian Songyao) have the gold icon for "lots of events"?

[Syt]

Had a look for 1920:
- Liu Xiang: no
- Yang Sen: no
The other characters - is it possible they rose afetr 1920? It might be they come up in the recruitable characters, but not sure.

In 1925 sandbox Sichuan (and most of Eastern China) is not playable.

There's a Sichuanese scrum scenario with 6 factions (Xiong Kewu, Liu Xiang, Lu Chao, Liu Cunhuo, Yunnan Army, Guizhou Army).

FOr the 1920 scenario, the factions with "many events" are: Chen Jiongmin, Guomindang, Chinese Communist Party (and Comintern, which is a joint Communist faction that includes the CCP if you play as them), Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Orenburg Cossacks, Tibet, Xinjiang. The ones with "some" events are Old Guanxi Clique, Fengtian Clique, Hunan.

For 1925, Guomindang and Communists have "many" events, Guominjun "some" events. Some smaller scenarios have events for their factions (usually the ones that have them on the bigger maps), some don't.

The dev is still working on the game (mostly on a Chinese translation atm), so he might add more, but for now that seems to be it.

[Jacob]

Cool, thank you.

It's an a fascinating period. Adding a "back of beyond" set of minis for Warlord era China is high on my list if I ever get to a stage where adding another collection is advisable (it isn't  ).

I have a specific interest in the Sichuan region for a number of personal reasons. I went to a pretty cool museum there when I visited some years back. It had an entire building dedicated to the Flying Tigers (American air units supporting China / Sichuan in WWII) and pretty big exhibit on the Sichuan Army as well - they (though at that point they were fully integrated into the Republic of China) apparently fought the only successful Chinese action outside of China in WW2, coming to the aid of beleaguered British forces in Burma - the Battle of the Yunnan-Burma Road as it's called in English.

Anyways, I always play Sichuan in "China in Chaos" scenarios, whatever the era