[Steam] Thread XXXIII: The only winning move is not to play

[Forbiddenwar]

Well, this happens when you invest money into gimmicky controller, not more servers

So, what changes are there in DE Director's Cut, exactly? Steam page is very quiet on details

If memory serves, it includes both of the added missions dlc integrated in the game and revised boss battles.

[Gamerlord]

So, what changes are there in DE Director's Cut, exactly? Steam page is very quiet on details

I've played a considerable chunk of it (Got distracted by other games around the middle of the Missing Link equivalent.) From what I can remember, they altered the color scheme to cut down on the yellow, improved the lighting, added hacking/sorta-stealth routes to the boss fights (Although if you're looking for 100% sneaky stealth option or nonlethal option you will be disappointed), and merged the weapon DLC and storyline DLC more naturally into the main game (Although they forgot to get rid of the "Previously on..." section from Missing Link, which is kind of awkward because you literally just did the stuff it talks about 5 minutes ago.) Some people have claimed bits of it actually look worse then the original, but if that was the case I never noticed it.

[Triscuitable]

So, what changes are there in DE Director's Cut, exactly? Steam page is very quiet on details

Boss battles give non-lethal players more options to deal with them that don't involve carrying around a gun specifically to kill bosses. In addition to that, there are some stat tweaks, commentary (like Portal or Half-Life 2), and a massive graphical update that includes tweaks like better shaders (dynamic lighting, so the environment casts shadows from light sources) and higher-resolution textures.

Oh yeah, and all the DLC is included. The Missing Link has now been merged with the main story so as to improve the flow of the plot.

[Silverraptor]

So it seems Steam has melted into oblivion.
Glad I got sacrifice on Gog then

So is that why I can't buy CoH2 with the steam gift card I got for Christmas?

[MLai]

What exactly am I supposed to do with all these "snow globes"? Sorry I'm not well versed with Steam schemes.

[Gamerlord]

What exactly am I supposed to do with all these "snow globes"? Sorry I'm not well versed with Steam schemes.

Craft them into a badge when/if you get a full set, or sell them for a few cents. Or trade them for other stuff.

[Rawhide]

Does anyone know if it's possible to gift the free copy of Left 4 Dead 2? If so, I need someone to gift it to me to legally bypass the low violence restriction.

Or, now that it's free, if anyone has an extra full violence version from before, can they gift it to me?

P.S. It's not about the violence, games don't need to be gory to be fun, it's about the immersion, and what they did to the Australian release totally crippled it and made it un-fun.

[Antonok]

So a friend gave me a couple steam key codes for christmas and as they aren't my type of games (Wasteland Angel, Metal Drift, and Death Track: Resurection) I was wondering if anyone had a spare Terraria key they might want to trade for them (or just about any other game for that matter).

If not, I might just end up giving them away.

Just ended up giving them away.

[Triscuitable]

Does anyone know if it's possible to gift the free copy of Left 4 Dead 2? If so, I need someone to gift it to me to legally bypass the low violence restriction.

Or, now that it's free, if anyone has an extra full violence version from before, can they gift it to me?

P.S. It's not about the violence, games don't need to be gory to be fun, it's about the immersion, and what they did to the Australian release totally crippled it and made it un-fun.

Sorry, no.

[Qwertystop]

Is the store completely inoperable for anyone else?

(okay, I can look at what's availible, but trying to buy anything breaks it)

(also: Europa Universalis IV or Endless Space? One is much cheaper, of course, but I'm not sure whether it's actually worth getting. Like I said before, I'm looking for a game that's like a 4X or an RTS but with minimal micro - Civ V is good for that, for example, except that I can't seem to figure out what I'm supposed to do to succeed because the intuitive thing to do always leaves me close to a victory when either time runs out or someone else wins (in a non-military way).)

[MLai]

(also: Europa Universalis IV or Endless Space? One is much cheaper, of course, but I'm not sure whether it's actually worth getting. Like I said before, I'm looking for a game that's like a 4X or an RTS but with minimal micro - Civ V is good for that, for example, except that I can't seem to figure out what I'm supposed to do to succeed because the intuitive thing to do always leaves me close to a victory when either time runs out or someone else wins (in a non-military way).)

Sounds like you want Sword Of The Stars Complete Collection to me. I don't know how much it's on sale, though. But all non-special-sale games seem to be 50% off currently, and its base price is already very cheap these days.
As for ES, I keep reading about how it's devoid of personality and is just dry and rote beneath the pretty graphics on the surface. Caveat to that is now it has a lot of DLCs out, which should be giving it more flavor.

[JeminiZero]

So it seems Steam has melted into oblivion.

So is that why I can't buy CoH2 with the steam gift card I got for Christmas?

AND why I can't redeem Left For Dead 2?

[Grif]

Is the store completely inoperable for anyone else?

(okay, I can look at what's availible, but trying to buy anything breaks it)

(also: Europa Universalis IV or Endless Space? One is much cheaper, of course, but I'm not sure whether it's actually worth getting. Like I said before, I'm looking for a game that's like a 4X or an RTS but with minimal micro - Civ V is good for that, for example, except that I can't seem to figure out what I'm supposed to do to succeed because the intuitive thing to do always leaves me close to a victory when either time runs out or someone else wins (in a non-military way).)

Europa Universalis isn't a 4X or RTS. It's a historical sandbox. Probably not what you're looking for, although it is fun in its own way.

As for Endless Space, it's... bland. Just bland. It has the most pretty UI I seen implemented for a 4X game, but it lacks the charm GalCiv II had. Or even Sword of the Stars for that matter.

Speaking of which, yes, Sword of the Stars is good and you should grab it.

[MLai]

Speaking of which, yes, Sword of the Stars is good and you should grab it.

This game is responsible for making me scared of 4X games. Steam tells you how many hours you spend on any one game, and the numbers I've sunk into SotS frightens me. I probably could have raised a child with that many hours. I am staying away from all 4X games forever.

(And I still want to play it. )

[Eldan]

Is Endless Space any good? I haven't heard much about it.

[Grif]

Is Endless Space any good? I haven't heard much about it.

Lemme list down what I liked about it:
Pros:
-Quite decent graphics (But who plays 4X games for purty graphics)
-Very pretty and functional UI
-Decent 4X game, as far as its mechanics go
-Combat is slightly more interactive than GalCiv II. You get battle cards to choose what your fleet will do during combat
-Customisation options are quite diverse. Building your own race can be fun. Ship-building are also important. Whether or not this is a plus, YMMV.
-Races are slightly more diverse than merely a difference in stats.

Cons
-Lacks charm. Where GalCiv races had quirks and are quite distinguishable, ES races feels rather bland. Even the planets seem empty. You get a list to build on each system/planet, but you hardly see any visual result from that. Lore-wise they seem to have quite a diverse universe going for it, but somehow that fails to transfer to gameplay.
-Diplomacy is just bad. A step down from GC II.
-Ground/Planetary invasions are even more soulless than GalCiv was. You basically watch a percentage score tick up to 100%.
-Combat can become tedious. Since the Disharmony DLC, they allowed you to automate battle cards, so it's slightly less tedious now.
-Real-time simultaneous movement on the same turn. I cannot tell you how much this breaks immersion for me. it's also very annoying. Basically, every player gets to move in real-time during the same turn. It leads to utterly moronic situations where the AI will see your fleet incoming and quickly escape without you having a say in it. (How this affects multiplayer, I don't know. I do know I much prefer the Sword of the Stars turn based strategic movement.)

[MLai]

I checked Sword Of The Stars Complete Edition for you, 4X seeker. Currently it's -60% for a total of $3.99 USD. This is all expansions included.

If you're looking for a "4X/RTS without too much micro", and you don't have the above game, trust me you want the above game. Your description might as well be an advertisement for it.

@ Grif:
Sounds like you have the Disharmony expansion for Endless Space. Does it drastically improve ES, the way SotS' expansions drastically improved the base game?

[Qwertystop]

Um. That's Sword of the Stars 1, not 2?

[Trixie]

If memory serves

I've played a considerable chunk of it

Boss battles give non-lethal players

Ah, thank you all for the responses.

*sigh*

So, I got Deus Ex collection on Summer sale. Not only it feels like I will be playing subpar version now, it was discontinued in store so I can't even check what DLCs I have or anything, I just get a blank page. Why it couldn't have been 'graphic upgrade' DLC instead?

Speaking on DLCs, I just love how Skyrim, BL2 and Dishonored early adopters get shafted by game of the year editions of these having all DLCs, for less than DLC alone cost. Despite having base game, too. Steam is perfectly capable of giving discounts to these who bought these games before GotY came out, having game+dlc being a bit cheaper or at least equal to GotY for early purchasers is art lost these days, it seems...

I am this close to never buying a game before their GotY is 75% off on Steam from these publishers ever again. Of course, my and others decision to not buy will probably be as always blamed on piracy :|

Does anyone know if it's possible to gift the free copy of Left 4 Dead 2? If so, I need someone to gift it to me to legally bypass the low violence restriction.

All you need is 30 seconds and location swap trick in browser?

[Eldan]

I am this close to never buying a game before their GotY is 75% off on Steam from these publishers ever again. Of course, my and others decision to not buy will probably be as always blamed on piracy :|:

Been doing that for years, with very few exceptions. Mostly adventure games that I know won't be getting any DLC. For several reasons.

First, of course, cost. Waiting two years to buy a game means it often costs a lot less. New games in stores in Switzerland are prohibitively expensive, coming in at around 100 US dollars. On steam, I get them for fifty Euroes, which is about two thirds of that. IF I wait two years, I get them for twenty Euroes.

And more time in general. That means mods, patches and DLC. There's a good chance a lot of the early bugs have been solved. Since companies seem to think shipping unfinished games is cool.

[Morph Bark]

So, marking the thread before I force myself to sleep. I require sleep before work, not starting up another 8-hour game of Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis 3.

[Triscuitable]

So, I got Deus Ex collection on Summer sale. Not only it feels like I will be playing subpar version now, it was discontinued in store so I can't even check what DLCs I have or anything, I just get a blank page. Why it couldn't have been 'graphic upgrade' DLC instead?

The Director's Cut was discounted for those who owned Human Revolution, and further dropped for owners of The Missing Link. It's to compensate for it being two years old. Plus, you kinda bought a two year old game when the Director's Cut was known to be releasing soon.

[Bayar]

Portal 2 is 75% off today. Unfortunately my bank is derping up for some reason and I cannot purchase it for a friend of mine. Would someone kindly help me out in exchange for either reimbursment of funds, your choice of game from monday onwards or a copy of The Witcher on GoG ?

[XiaoTie]

Dammed be steam bugs! Saw the price for "Don't Starve" 92% off so I went ahead and bought me the 2-pack copies. And when I confirm the purchase it charged me the normal promo price (92% apparently was a bug).

Long story short, I have an extra copy of "Don't Starve" to trade. Anyone interested?

[Forbiddenwar]

Portal 2 is 75% off today. Unfortunately my bank is derping up for some reason and I cannot purchase it for a friend of mine. Would someone kindly help me out in exchange for either reimbursment of funds, your choice of game from monday onwards or a copy of The Witcher on GoG ?

Sure, what's your steam account?

[MLai]

WOOT!!! Assassin's Creed Revelations 75% off! $5.00 USD! This is the Steam sale I've been stalking for the past 2 years and now it's mineeeee!!!!

Um. That's Sword of the Stars 1, not 2?

What SOTS2? That game hasn't come out yet.
Repeat after me: SOTS2 has not come out yet.

[Qwertystop]

What SOTS2? That game hasn't come out yet.
Repeat after me: SOTS2 has not come out yet.

Point taken. Is it rubbish, or just not as good?

EDIT: Well, I'm certainly glad I got it on sale, because I can't make heads or tails of it. Endless Space was at least comprehensible.

[endoperez]

5 hours left on Fallen Enchantress. I've already spent a lot, I probably shouldn't... but I might.

[Triscuitable]

What SOTS2? That game hasn't come out yet.
Repeat after me: SOTS2 has not come out yet.

SOTS2 is out, The Matrix has two sequels, and M. Night Shamylan directed The Last Airbender.

[Rawhide]

SOTS2 is out, The Matrix has two sequels, and M. Night Shamylan directed The Last Airbender.

Sorry, I've been looking, but I've been unable to verify any of these claims.