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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2911 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 15, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Video Game Thread

Often happens anyways. Share what you have been playing.

For me I've been hooked on Nightingale recently. A survival crafting game. Their twist on the genre is to have different "realms" or maps where you can explore and collect stuff. The realms can be upgraded to be more difficult and thus provide more resources.

The game feels like a bit of a slog at times, but that is also what I was sorta looking for. A game I could play semi-mindlessly while listening to podcasts. The main frustration has not been gameplay, but a developer decision to make the game always online. Most of the bugs I have encountered are server related. Which is an extreme frustration since I'm basically playing the game like its singleplayer. I am confused why they made the server requirement a thing at all. It just seems like extra crap to maintain.

I played 5 hours of Civilization 5 yesterday. I hope they make a new one soon. I didn't like Civ 6.

It had been many years since the last time I played Civ so I picked King difficulty in hopes of getting the right challenge. Went for Tradition as Egypt (Pyramids are a Liberty-locked wonder, wtf?). Got a pretty great capital for growth and production after a while. Wiped out my continent-mate. The game ended up being too easy. I had a lead of several hundred points and stopped playing around 1600 AD.

I played 5 hours of Civilization 5 yesterday. I hope they make a new one soon.

Not any time soon. Have you played Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri?

Civ 4 is the mechanical peak of the series (especially with community QoL mods like BUG), but Alpha Centauri is the best setting.

This is the correct take.

Which makes the messy visuals and such gameplay flaws Civ4 does have all the more grating.

Alpha Centauri's visuals have, by comparison and in my completely nostalgic view, aged better. But AC instead has a host of balance and pacing issues, with many in-game entities seeing little use, the mid-game going by in a blur and the game being over before it even reaches the end-game.

What are the definitive Civ4 mods?

There's Fall From Heaven for fantasy, Realism Invictus and A New Dawn for a Vanilla+ experience, and Caveman2Cosmos if you want Civ4 taken to the uttermost conclusion of its premise.

I recommend Caveman2Cosmos, though there are many rough edges. Especially as one approaches the cosmic end of it - I'd go as far as to call that unfinished. But most players barely make it past the cavemen, so I guess it's fair for the modders to focus on the earlier parts.

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