Looks like a lot of good stuff is coming out, along with some more niche offerings. Here's RPS' compiled list along with a bunch of previews :
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/04/an-exciting-list-of-pc-games-for-2012/
I thought PC gaming was, like, totally dying!
When is Half-life episode 3 going to come out?
When people stop paying 10 bucks for a hat in Team Fortress 2.
I'm guiltily looking forward to CK2; I have always loved the concept behind CK and as long as it isn't 100% broken on launch day I'll be happy. Hell, I'll be happy if v. 1.0 doesn't have Mongol hordes in England by 1250.
Yeah, I might actually be breaking my promise not to buy Paradox games at release any more if CK2 gives even a hint that it's playable out the gate.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 04, 2012, 07:36:14 PM
Yeah, I might actually be breaking my promise not to buy Paradox games at release any more if CK2 gives even a hint that it's playable out the gate.
+1
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 04, 2012, 05:35:48 PM
When people stop paying 10 bucks for a hat in Team Fortress 2.
What is the deal with that?
Quote from: Razgovory on January 04, 2012, 07:47:43 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 04, 2012, 05:35:48 PM
When people stop paying 10 bucks for a hat in Team Fortress 2.
What is the deal with that?
TF2 players are generally insane.
Quote from: Caliga on January 04, 2012, 07:39:31 PM
Quote from: Habbaku on January 04, 2012, 07:36:14 PM
Yeah, I might actually be breaking my promise not to buy Paradox games at release any more if CK2 gives even a hint that it's playable out the gate.
+1
+2 Vorpal
I am very much looking forward to CK2. I too loved the original despite its flaws and, despite paradox's recent form being worrying and Sengoku in particular being offputting, the promise of CK done right...wow.
There's also a Victoria 2 addon due isn't there? Wonder if the changes will be big enough to totally change the game as with Vicky 1's addon.
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 04, 2012, 08:53:40 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 04, 2012, 07:47:43 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 04, 2012, 05:35:48 PM
When people stop paying 10 bucks for a hat in Team Fortress 2.
What is the deal with that?
TF2 players are generally insane.
One of the strong points of the game was that it had a strong art design. Each character has a different silhouette so you can easily distinguish one class from another at a glance. With everyone wearing their own personalized Carmen Miranda headgear you sorta lose that.
Quote from: Solmyr on January 04, 2012, 03:59:19 PM
I thought PC gaming was, like, totally dying!
By that list I would concur
Quote from: 11B4V on January 05, 2012, 10:58:08 AM
By that list I would concur
What is wrong with that list? It looks like lots of games to satisfy fans of many different genres.
Quote from: 11B4V on January 05, 2012, 10:58:08 AM
Quote from: Solmyr on January 04, 2012, 03:59:19 PM
I thought PC gaming was, like, totally dying!
By that list I would concur
Oh boy! A game that came out for Xbox last May!
Quote from: Habbaku on January 04, 2012, 07:36:14 PM
Yeah, I might actually be breaking my promise not to buy Paradox games at release any more if CK2 gives even a hint that it's playable out the gate.
The first one was not playable, well the game engine could not survive until the end of the game anyway, and it was fantastic so I will not let playability be a factor here :P
What matters is if the game is as amazingly fun as the first one: the greatest terribly designed and poorly coded game of all time.
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 11:08:56 AM
Oh boy! A game that came out for Xbox last May!
:unsure: which game are you talking about? All those games are simultaneous releases (if they are multi-platform) that I can see.
Quote from: Valmy on January 05, 2012, 11:13:52 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 11:08:56 AM
Oh boy! A game that came out for Xbox last May!
:unsure: which game are you talking about? All those games are simultaneous releases (if they are multi-platform) that I can see.
Alan Wake
Quote from: Valmy on January 05, 2012, 11:13:52 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 11:08:56 AM
Oh boy! A game that came out for Xbox last May!
:unsure: which game are you talking about? All those games are simultaneous releases (if they are multi-platform) that I can see.
Alan Wake. Several games have been released previously on other platforms. There are few PC exclusives here. Some of them are a bit iffy if they'll ever come out. Stalker 2? The developer went under last year.
Quote from: OttoVonBismarck on January 04, 2012, 07:34:25 PM
I'm guiltily looking forward to CK2; I have always loved the concept behind CK and as long as it isn't 100% broken on launch day I'll be happy. Hell, I'll be happy if v. 1.0 doesn't have Mongol hordes in England by 1250.
They released a screenshot from a hand's off game from just before Christmas. By the end of the campaign (1420s), "Al-Andalus" occupied most of modern day France and Spain, plus Savoy, Piedmont and chunks of Switzerland. Denmark took over England (from other AARs this appears to be a common result) - except for a slice of territory around Norwich controlled by the . . . Golden Horde. :) Sweden had fragmented in Scandavia but carved out a nice block of territory around the area of modern Slovakia. Poland migrated north and east and came to rest in the area around St. Petersburg. To the thrill of Byzanteens everywhere, the Empire was very much alive and kicking and (in defiance of the otherwise dominant Mongol hordes) had expanded deep into the Caucasus, all the way north to within striking distance of Moscow and east into modern Kazakhstan. Apparently in response, Rus (still in existence) had picked up and moved east to come to rest just south of Omsk.
Well it's just one game and there is still some more development time to go . . .
My biggest concern is how they handle Spain because it is hard to model the reality that from the game start date, the Christian states had the upper hand but for a variety of reasons it took centuries for them to complete the Reconquista. There needs to be some special dynamic in place that basically causes one side to band together whenever the other side is strong, while causing the side that is succeeding to start squabbling amongst themselves.
Well Denmark did almost take over England.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on January 05, 2012, 02:03:10 PM
Well it's just one game and there is still some more development time to go . . .
:lol:
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 02:16:57 PM
Well Denmark did almost take over England.
Yeah that in itself is not so shocking, although you'd think those frisky Danes would have done something about the Mongol Duke of Norfolk.
Perhaps more concerning is something I forget to mention - that Denmark also controls a sizable principality in Croatia. ;)
Well, It's still better then EUIII, where the East coast of Africa may end up named "Spanish Korea". Did they ever get Vicky 2 working? I held off on that one. I was wondering if they ever made it playable.
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 01:50:48 PM
Stalker 2? The developer went under last year.
They sure are tweeting a lot for a developer that crapped out.
https://twitter.com/gscstalker (https://twitter.com/gscstalker)
Someone asked about STALKER 2 beta testing, but they responded by saying they're not close to that point yet.
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 03:14:55 PM
Well, It's still better then EUIII, where the East coast of Africa may end up named "Spanish Korea". Did they ever get Vicky 2 working? I held off on that one. I was wondering if they ever made it playable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSC_Game_World
QuoteFollowing initial reports in 2011 stating that their upcoming project, STALKER 2, had been cancelled, GSC tweeted a complete denial of the cancellation as well as denying rumors that the studio had closed its doors. However, they then deleted the tweet and later said an official comment would be made on 12 December 2011. They stated, "We will do our best to continue. However, at this moment, nothing is certain."On 23 December 2011 it was revealed that they are continuing to develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
I can tweet ( I don't of course), so I don't think that's a good metric to see if a developer is still in business. It is possible that a developer can come back after closing. Look at Interplay, they have some sort of half-life going on. It's been in a state between life and death for years now. Some weird undead developer that has published a few cheap indie games.
Quote from: garbon on January 05, 2012, 03:29:38 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 03:14:55 PM
Well, It's still better then EUIII, where the East coast of Africa may end up named "Spanish Korea". Did they ever get Vicky 2 working? I held off on that one. I was wondering if they ever made it playable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSC_Game_World
QuoteFollowing initial reports in 2011 stating that their upcoming project, STALKER 2, had been cancelled, GSC tweeted a complete denial of the cancellation as well as denying rumors that the studio had closed its doors. However, they then deleted the tweet and later said an official comment would be made on 12 December 2011. They stated, "We will do our best to continue. However, at this moment, nothing is certain."On 23 December 2011 it was revealed that they are continuing to develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
What does that have to do with EUIII, Victoria II, or CK II?
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on January 05, 2012, 02:03:10 PM
Well it's just one game and there is still some more development time to go . . .
Compared to some of the stuff I would see in CK those results are not too absurd
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 03:30:23 PM
I can tweet ( I don't of course), so I don't think that's a good metric to see if a developer is still in business. It is possible that a developer can come back after closing. Look at Interplay, they have some sort of half-life going on. It's been in a state between life and death for years now. Some weird undead developer that has published a few cheap indie games.
Why would they say they're continuing to develop Stalker 2 if they're out of business? Why would they continue to say any of the shit they're saying there if they were out of business? I don't really care one way or the other, since I highly doubt I'll be buying Stalker 2 unless it's a whim purchase from a bargain bin and all that, but they really appear to still be in business.
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on January 05, 2012, 03:47:15 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on January 05, 2012, 03:30:23 PM
I can tweet ( I don't of course), so I don't think that's a good metric to see if a developer is still in business. It is possible that a developer can come back after closing. Look at Interplay, they have some sort of half-life going on. It's been in a state between life and death for years now. Some weird undead developer that has published a few cheap indie games.
Why would they say they're continuing to develop Stalker 2 if they're out of business? Why would they continue to say any of the shit they're saying there if they were out of business? I don't really care one way or the other, since I highly doubt I'll be buying Stalker 2 unless it's a whim purchase from a bargain bin and all that, but they really appear to still be in business.
Who knows why they would do such a thing? They may be trying to attract an investor to resurrect them. Perhaps it's a scam. Maybe they are self-deluded. Why do Russians do anything?
Quote from: Valmy on January 05, 2012, 03:33:02 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on January 05, 2012, 02:03:10 PM
Well it's just one game and there is still some more development time to go . . .
Compared to some of the stuff I would see in CK those results are not too absurd
The Mongol English county is kind of funny but not a huge deal. I would expect a see a few anomolies like that in a 3 century game with the kind of complex relational mechanics that CK2 has.
the migrating eastern european countries I assume is simply the after-effect of an usually strong Mongol invasion, and the latter is a random factor (they have said the strength of the horde invastions will vary between less than historical to more than historical). I dont have a beef what that either
The fact that not one but two Scandi kingdoms have large territories in Central Europe/Balkans is a little concerning. I can see how something like that might happen rarely but two in the same game raises eyebrows.
Al-Andalus crossing the Rhine simply shouldn't happen. There should be a mechanic for a massive crusade once the Muslims cross the Pyrenees where all the AI Christian nations declare war.
All that said I will probably bite and buy on release which ordinarily I never do (the last time I did it in the past 4 years was with Vic2 :( )
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on January 05, 2012, 05:20:06 PM
Al-Andalus crossing the Rhine simply shouldn't happen. There should be a mechanic for a massive crusade once the Muslims cross the Pyrenees where all the AI Christian nations declare war.
This is what kills the immersion for me the most. Random, Muslim counties/duchies popping up in far-off Christian lands where they are surrounded by their anti-religionists should invoke a crushing response to drive them out. It seems like it would be a very simple thing to have England crush a Muslim county in its realm territory, for example.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on January 05, 2012, 02:03:10 PM
Quote from: OttoVonBismarck on January 04, 2012, 07:34:25 PM
I'm guiltily looking forward to CK2; I have always loved the concept behind CK and as long as it isn't 100% broken on launch day I'll be happy. Hell, I'll be happy if v. 1.0 doesn't have Mongol hordes in England by 1250.
They released a screenshot from a hand's off game from just before Christmas. By the end of the campaign (1420s), "Al-Andalus" occupied most of modern day France and Spain, plus Savoy, Piedmont and chunks of Switzerland. Denmark took over England (from other AARs this appears to be a common result) - except for a slice of territory around Norwich controlled by the . . . Golden Horde. :) Sweden had fragmented in Scandavia but carved out a nice block of territory around the area of modern Slovakia. Poland migrated north and east and came to rest in the area around St. Petersburg. To the thrill of Byzanteens everywhere, the Empire was very much alive and kicking and (in defiance of the otherwise dominant Mongol hordes) had expanded deep into the Caucasus, all the way north to within striking distance of Moscow and east into modern Kazakhstan. Apparently in response, Rus (still in existence) had picked up and moved east to come to rest just south of Omsk.
Well it's just one game and there is still some more development time to go . . .
Damn, that was one of the things I really hated about the first one; the way you could conquer most of France yet the King of France remained so due to controlling Malta and you had just too little of the country to usurp.
I was hoping this time around they could seperate titles and people so that people had titles, titles didn't have people- i.e. you can be duke in one country under a king yet king in your own right elsewhere.
Sweden just has no right being in the Balkans. If the king of Sweden aquires some land in Northern Germany then maybe yes, that can change status to become part of Sweden proper. But if he inherits the throne of Croatia? It just makes no sense that would suddenly become Sweden. The Swedes wouldn't want it, the Croatians wouldn't want it...it just makes no sense!
Quote
This is what kills the immersion for me the most. Random, Muslim counties/duchies popping up in far-off Christian lands where they are surrounded by their anti-religionists should invoke a crushing response to drive them out. It seems like it would be a very simple thing to have England crush a Muslim county in its realm territory, for example.
That always annoyed me too.
And even once England does decide to crush them they can't give that county to anyone or start rebuilding because the muslim leader over in Africa still holds most of his land there and doesn't want to make peace.
True, being able to just seize land would be super annoying. Nonetheless, to not be able to do anything with it until peace is reached...ugh
Quote from: Tyr on January 05, 2012, 07:31:03 PM
And even once England does decide to crush them they can't give that county to anyone or start rebuilding because the muslim leader over in Africa still holds most of his land there and doesn't want to make peace.
True, being able to just seize land would be super annoying. Nonetheless, to not be able to do anything with it until peace is reached...ugh
Yep, that is easily one of the most annoying aspects. It does, however, spark what I think would be a decent solution to the problem.
In CK 1, if the county were far enough away from your homeland, you would regularly get negative events that nuked the province's income to, well, next to nothing.
Considering they already have a distance mechanism in place, why not put in a common-sense one that triggers after a certain amount of time that automatically frees the county (say, to a new NPC baron who seizes the county for himself)? Naturally, there should be some sort of timer on it so you don't have crusade conquests immediately defecting, but I think it would work.
hmm, yeah, some nice event with a reasonably short decent of occupation before firing, which gives the occupier an option of what to do with the province would be nice. Simple too.
More complicated it would also be good if there could then be an option to restore the province to its old owner in the peace for less war score than taking a new province- another annoying thing from CK1 was when my count ran counties would be overan and annexed and my count of a third son would then for some weird reason end up a courtier on the other side of Europe, never to return even once his land was retaken.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 05, 2012, 07:42:17 PM
Quote from: Tyr on January 05, 2012, 07:31:03 PM
And even once England does decide to crush them they can't give that county to anyone or start rebuilding because the muslim leader over in Africa still holds most of his land there and doesn't want to make peace.
True, being able to just seize land would be super annoying. Nonetheless, to not be able to do anything with it until peace is reached...ugh
Yep, that is easily one of the most annoying aspects. It does, however, spark what I think would be a decent solution to the problem.
In CK 1, if the county were far enough away from your homeland, you would regularly get negative events that nuked the province's income to, well, next to nothing.
Considering they already have a distance mechanism in place, why not put in a common-sense one that triggers after a certain amount of time that automatically frees the county (say, to a new NPC baron who seizes the county for himself)? Naturally, there should be some sort of timer on it so you don't have crusade conquests immediately defecting, but I think it would work.
Actually, in the Dues Vult expansion, rebels will actually take over a county, and if left alone long enough, go independent. (Originally, all they did was reduce your income while they besieged the province, which meant that often the most cost-effective way to deal with them was to simply let them complete the siege, then disappear.) Since the new ruling dynasty would be of the same religion as the county, if the Moslems had taken a random county in, say, Sweden, it would emerge from the revolt as an independent Catholic county (assuming it hadn't been converted), which would eventually ask to become a vassal of the King of Sweden (if there was one).
Quote from: Tyr on January 05, 2012, 07:31:03 PM
And even once England does decide to crush them they can't give that county to anyone or start rebuilding because the muslim leader over in Africa still holds most of his land there and doesn't want to make peace.
True, being able to just seize land would be super annoying. Nonetheless, to not be able to do anything with it until peace is reached...ugh
I believe they have addressed that problem, I recall seeing something about a mechanism where if the "foreign" count doesn't liberate the county after a certain duration, it escheats to the occupier automatically.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 05, 2012, 06:33:09 PM
This is what kills the immersion for me the most. Random, Muslim counties/duchies popping up in far-off Christian lands where they are surrounded by their anti-religionists should invoke a crushing response to drive them out. It seems like it would be a very simple thing to have England crush a Muslim county in its realm territory, for example.
That was what killed it? I always loved how the Baltic Pagans and the Steppe Hordes (the Cumans and the Pechenegs) acted like they really were co-religionists and would blob into this pagan juggernaut. The Poor Russians :lol:
There were tons of absurdities. Still a wonderful game though, but because it was fun not because of it was historical.
The Warlock game looks interesting too.
Quote from: Jacob on January 06, 2012, 12:50:39 PM
The Warlock game looks interesting too.
Saw a preview of it today...it looks like Paradox created a Civ5 mod and is calling it their own game.