This is going to be my BTTF IV <3
edit: Ah no way, I thought this was going to be a theatrical release when I first saw trailer. Already out on Apple+. Better give Jack Sparrow a call…
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I think a reboot would be cool. Imagine if it was still set in 1985 and they travelled to 2015 the way it really was, how would that change the story?
Or, it’s about a kid in 2015 who travels back to 1985 and meets his parents and has to make sure they fall in love.
I’m thinking Tom Holland would make a good Marty McFly
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Whether you are a fan of the Aliens franchise or not, Aliens: Dark Descent is a REALLY good game
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Yesterday was the first stress test for Palia:
Mal took part in it and I watched, but it was a good thing they tested it because very few players could get in and/or stay in. The devs communication during the four hour test was exemplary and often gently humorous. And Mal got to finally have a little playtime, in the tutorial area, for the last fifteen minutes before the test was over and shut down.
I now longer have the patience required for testing, so I’m glad Mal still does.
I really like the looks of this game. The UI and gameplay, what little Mal accomplished in 15 minutes, looked pretty good. The character customisation is extensive. I’m looking forward to the release of this one!
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It has a very similar look to Disney Dreamlight Valley. I will have to keep an eye on that one.
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Picked this up on a whim the other day, unsure if it would deliver on its promise like a lot of early access games tend to do, but it absolutely lived up to what it claims to deliver. Basically a Rorschach from Watchmen simulator.
It’s an alternate early 1980s where crime is the norm and ceiling mounted turrets are just the standard work place security system. You are a former cop turned private dick.
The city is proc genned, with businesses, commerce and residential buildings. Every room is enterable and serves a purpose.
Every citizen has a job, a home, a routine, friends, family, interpersonal relationships and occasionally, some of these people will be committing crimes from petty theft to murders of passion to cultist serial killers.
Thats where you step in.
Follow leads, question pedestrians, look someone up in the phonebook, find their address and start casing the joint. I could go on, a lot of complex systems at play, but it absolutely delivers on a gritty noir detective vibe.
My first dive in to the game included an introductory crime to solve.
A note slipped under the crack of my door. “Find Miriam Chives”. There were 3 M. Chives in the phonebook (I generated biggest city I could) so I take note of all three addresses and head for the first one.
Just my luck, it’s the correct M. Chives. Unfortunately thats where luck ended because Miriam was already dead.
I soon realised I spent way too long in Miriams apartment; investigating for clues, learning how to scan finger prints, how to dial last caller on a landline, how my cork board works, etc.
Footsteps outside… Enforcers. The cops had arrived to the scene of the crime with me right in the thick of it. I panicked and hid in a closet by the door, unsure of how the AI pathfinding works or if they’ll do a thorough search.
The door burst open and with great relief the enforcers turned towards the kitchen and in to the bedroom, so I bucked it outside only to learn they’d closed off the stairwell. This is when I spotted my first air vent. I didnt even think twice I ran straight over and dived in. I slowly wormed my way back down the building in the metallic maze of potential freedom. 12 floors down I realise my character is freezing to death from the Aircon so I take the next exit I see out of the airduct.
I climbed too deep, finding myself in the second basement floor of the high rise, flooded with what I hope is rain water, but in all likelihood is sewer water.
I figure the next best place to go is Miriams place of business as I had a few leads tied to the place.
I tried to sneak in but they kept spotting me, I thought maybe the game was bugged until I realised what was happening.
My character stank from the sewer water. I had become the gritty 80’s detective. Finally, I am Rorschach.
I forgot to take any screenshots and my corkboard was definitely a little bit more Pepe Silvia by the end of it, but I have this one from early on
I grew up in a village called Rathcoole and I never until just today, realised I could be a true 80s child and call it RadCool. Totally turbulent yo!
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Probably too stressful for me (It’ll probably want me to TALK to PEOPLE!) 
but sounds like a great idea for a game. I heard of a planned gamed that similarly wants to be an RPG generator, the author wants to integrate a Large Language Model (his own little chatGPT). He generates story prompts for each character and the player can talk to them while each follows their own goals. Let’s see if he ever releases it. 
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I’ve mostly just been going up to strangers and asking them for spare change or if I can randomly take their fingerprints. You can’t have detailed conversations with people beyond asking if they know a person you’re looking for, if theyve seen or heard anything unusual, if they mind if you take a peak around (if knocking on a residence or business) and thats it.
Most the details pertaining to the crime come from eavesdropping and evidence. E.g You can’t ask someone if they called such and such a person, but you can go to the basement of their building, break into the buildings local phone router and see what calls came out of the apartment, and to which building. Then you go to that building and do the same to see which apartment recieved a call at the same time your suspect or perp made the outgoing call.
I was up on the 17th floor and really needed to use a phone, so I knocked on apartment doors, broke in to the first apartment where the door wasn’t answered and used their phone. Oh I also used their shower cos I’m currently homeless and was searching through bins for food. I got mugged and I’m not a very good detective but it works XD
Theres food and hunger as well which I was a little worried about, some games can be cruel with how it works and how they balance it in some attempt to seem difficult. But theres no negative side effect to not eating, you dont lose health and starve, you just wont regain health and having eaten/drank will give you stamina and speed buffs. So starving and forgetting to eat is the normal default
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I picked up Hogwarts Legacy in the Steam sale. It’s visually astonishing. The graphics quality and level of detail are wonderful. Gameplay is interesting and entertaining, rather than challenging - which is just the way I like it.
I installed it on my old i7/GTX 1080 machine (purely because of where the computer is situated), and it struggles in some sections - so anything less is probably a bad idea. It’s the first of the new batch of games that says it requires to run from an SSD (which is not true - it will run from a mechanical HDD, and most of it runs well - just some bits struggle).
I think it’s relaxed fun, and it looks gorgeous. I highly recommend it.
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Gifted this to my friend for their partner. Not a big gamer but they grew up on the book series and were very excited at the prospect of getting to be a wizard at Hogwarts. Have heard nothing but stellar reports.
I personally felt a bit icky paying for it as I tend to try not give Warner Bros any money since they went a bit lootbox happy in the past and I take that as a personal offence XD
I really do want to play it because it looks like what I remember hero training in fable feeling like when I first played that <3 But with all the bells and whistles of a modern title in a time when it felt like a single player fable would never happen again.
So do I give WB money twice? We all have cheat days… … …
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Nintendo Wackiness
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If you were an experienced game producer, do you look at this ad and think “Thanks for pointing out this opportunity, it would never have occurred to me to apply to bethesda otherwise!”? 
(99% of their job offers are just for developers and artists.)
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Paid the most for the least amount of work or talent input? I would like this job please.
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So I was very resistent to the whole idea of mobile gaming and paying real money for them. I now have close to a dozen that I play…anyway, this was the game that hooked me. My very first mobile game.
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Update on Palia:
Last night I watched Mal play in the second stress test for Palia. The game looks lovely and fun! Gathering and crafting, fishing farming, cooking, etc. No combat.
This test went so much better than the first one where a lot of testers could not connect long enough to even get to the character creation screen. Mal got in to play the last fifteen minutes of the first one. Last night he played for a few hours. I watched on the big screen. Simultaneously we were chatting with “the kids” on Discord who were also in the stress test. That was fun!
There is a closed beta coming up in a couple of weeks and following that an open beta. So If you want to try it out before deciding whether to purchase or not, that would be a good opportunity.
My only concern, since it is an mmo, is that I hope the developers have a plan to deal with griefers. There is no combat in the game I believe, but griefers always seem to find a way to spoil things for others. That aside, I’m looking forward to trying the game out. 
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