I liked to post in the Friday fun threads what video games I've been playing recently. Sometimes I recommend the games, and sometimes I ask for recommendations.
I've always enjoyed talking about video games. But themotte has made me picky over the years. Its not just talk that I want. It is thinking, understanding, and discussion of video games that interest me. Video games are mostly a mental activity for me, and so diving into a mental discussion about them often enhances my enjoyment.
I didn't post in the Friday fun thread about what I've been playing, so I'll post now. And I'd like to know what others are playing.
The post I would have written:
This week I've been hooked on factorio (again). I've done many playthroughs of this game. A few vanilla playthroughs (some multiplayer and some not). A krastorio 1 mod playthrough. A few different attempts at the bob's, angels, and seablock mods (never could get into them, too much work, and not enough reward). A krastorio II and space exploration playthrough.
This week though I have been playing with just the space exploration mod. There has been some hints in blogposts that factorio might have an expansion, and that the expansion might be related to the space exploration mod. I thought I'd try and wait for that expansion. But my patience has failed me.
Playing space exploration without the krastorio II mod has been surprisingly way more different than I would have expected. The major difference in my mind is that krastorio II makes the starting world gameplay last too long, and gives too many advantages. I never thought this would be a real problem, but I've never managed to truly beat a space exploration game before. And I realized part of the problem is that krastorio II ties you to the homeworld too strongly. While space exploration on its own forces you off planet just for the sake of some quality of life improvements. For example, you have to go to space in order to get the logistics network chests. The tech is not unlockable based on ground items alone. I don't remember if krastorio II mod combination forced me to go to space, but I do remember that the belt inserters made so many logists aspects so much simpler that the need for drone based logistics didn't seem as pressing. There were also special ground based fabricator buildings for Krastorio II that were larger and much faster (matching the space based ones). But with just the space exploration mod I'm realizing there is an intentional difference. Either you can choose land based production to get productivity bonuses. (and usually the first steps in refinement for special resources). Or you can choose space based production for speed bonuses.
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Notes -
I find myself easily overwhelmed with the idea of playing a new game mainly because of time constraints. It's a lot of commitment to spend the time to learn something new only to find out it isn't your bag. So I tend to gravitate towards the familiar, and revisit old flames. Currently that's been the chillaxed atmosphere of Anno 2070. I have a thing for city-builder games, and the Anno series is one of the best exemplars.
The core gameplay loop is setting up balanced supply chains across islands to satisfy your resident's needs. You'd start with low-tier workers who require basic food and drinks which can be produced within one island. But each island has only limited "fertilities" and inevitably you're pushed to settle new areas in order to upgrade your residents. The production chains for later items can get quite convoluted. There's combat in the game but it's always been an annoying after-thought that most players wish didn't exist. So for the most part, it ends up playing like a bonsai city simulator. It's just so cute and pretty and fun to develop a city with thousands of residents and seeing your little ships truck goods all over the map. I think that's the core appeal to me, but I remain somewhat confused as to why I find these types of games so compelling.
Any of the most recent Anno games (1404, 2070, 2205) are excellent in their own rights. I haven't played 1800 yet but watched plenty of LPs and it looks like it has improved upon every single aspect of the series.
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