The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[Syt]

Hades is the best reviewed (by users) game on Steam in 2020. 98,451 reviews at this point, 98% positive.

[garbon]

AC:Valhalla is definitely the buggiest one for sometime. Had a quest that I couldnt start only to learn I needed to fast travel to Norway and then back to England...

[frunk]

Hades is the best reviewed (by users) game on Steam in 2020. 98,451 reviews at this point, 98% positive.

I've been playing it quite a bit the past couple of weeks.  Keyboard controls are annoying, but I've resisted getting a controller so far. 

[frunk]

To expand a bit on Hades, it's as if Slay the Spire and Path of Exile had a baby, but with a way better story and writing.  Most of my runs are faster than my Slay the Spire runs.  I think I like StS and PoE better than Hades, but it is a pleasing combination and I'm having a lot of fun playing it.

[Josquius]

Horace is an awesome platformer. It really is. I've about finished it.... but I'm shy of collecting enough items for the best ending and...just can't take the final leap

[crazy canuck]

This looks promising.  A middle ages building sim/rts

https://manorlords.com/

[Sheilbh]

This looks promising.  A middle ages building sim/rts

https://manorlords.com/

God I am such a sucker for a city builder

[Maladict]

That does look really nice.

I'm usually wary of these ambitious one-man projects, but the Banished guy delivered so who knows.

[Syt]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1506100/Languish/

Languish is a First-Person Indie horror game.

Feature
explore
Explore this chilling house, experience creepy events, and discover the secrets within.

horror
The creepy atmosphere increases the tension in your chest and your heart rate. As you walk deeper, dangers will happen.

puzzle
You are trying to piece together why you had been brought to this house. Solve the puzzles, they may lead you to the truth.

crime
This story is based on a real crime.

Gameplay
A first-person horror game. Explore this creepy house, uncover its unknown secrets, and face threats along the way.

[Maladict]

[spoiler]The furries are hiding in a secret annex. [/spoiler]

[Caliga]

crime

[spoiler]It's Jaron's fault.[/spoiler]

[Valmy]

The mystery of who sank the Incan torpedo boat.

It was probably those giant ants of Brest-Litovsk.

[grumbler]

The mystery of who sank the Incan torpedo boat.

It was probably those giant ants of Brest-Litovsk.

That's how they earned the respect of the yardies.

[viper37]

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.

I've talked about this on release.

Well, 3 months later, it's no longer a buggy mess.  Most critical bugs have been fixed.
And you can play a single player campaign without an AI... 
FFS, 3 months after release, they still can't fixed that.  Despite their patch notes saying they made numerous fixes to the AI.
Basically, if there are scripted attacks, like say "send X units of riflemen at 5:00; send X units of riflemen at 7:00;etc" it will do it.  But if it something along the lines of "build an economy, build troops to counter your attacker", forget it.  Nada. Zero.  The AI camps in its base, does not produce any units beyond its initial contingent.

So stupid.

I should have asked for a refund.

[Syt]

WB Games have, after multiple attempts, managed to get their nemesis system from their Middle-Earth games patented:

https://www.ign.com/articles/wb-games-nemesis-system-patent-was-approved-this-week-after-multiple-attempts

Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, publishers of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its 2017 sequel, Shadow of War (both developed by Monolith Entertainment), have finally managed to secure a patent for the franchise's signature Nemesis System.

The US Patent and Trademark Office released an issue notice on February 3, 2021, stating that the patent would go into effect on February 23 of this year. Warner Bros. has the option to maintain the patent through 2035, providing they keep up with the necessary fees.The patent, filed as "Nemesis characters, nemesis forts, social vendettas and followers in computer games," effectively codifies the functions of Monolith's Nemesis system and the sum of its parts as the property of WB.

While the language in the application is fairly obtuse – as most patent claims tend to be – the "short" version is that the patent covers a system featuring procedurally-generated NPCs that exist in a hierarchy and interact with and will remember the actions of players, have their appearance/behavior altered by players, and whose place in that hierarchy can change and affect the position of other NPCs in said hierarchy (and yes, that's the simplified version).

It also covers the Social Conquest battles from Shadow of War, wherein players can fortify or attack one another's strongholds to see how their army of orcs fares against their friends'.

Warner Bros. has been trying to secure the patent for the system since 2015, but has had to repeatedly revise and resubmit the application. Initial rejections claimed that there were too many similarities in the application to other patents – including ones held by Square Enix, the mobile game QONQR, and even Webkinz – though recent rejections were more focused on the specificity of language throughout the patent.While it's unclear what would happen were a game to release with a Nemesis system of its own between now and February 23, after that date any developer wishing to build a feature with all the aspects detailed in the patent (or at least enough to be considered infringement) will have to secure a license from WB.

Developers can still create similar systems that aren't a 1:1 recreation of Monolith's program, however – the Mercenaries in AC Odyssey or Watch Dogs Legion's fascinating Census system are recent examples of dynamically-generated NPCs and social networks that would likely not be met with a legal challenge – though as members of both the Mordor games and Ubisoft teams have said, such systems are a major collaborative effort requiring considerable resources and development time.

Rumors late last year year hinted that WB Games was potentially going to be acquired by Microsoft after reports that Time Warner was interested in selling its interactive division, though any talk of sales seems to have gone the way of an unfortunate orc captain.

Not sure I agree with patenting game mechanics like this. It might also explain why other companies have been reluctant to replicate it in their games.