One point off!??!
Author: shane
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Flow states and Spelunky
Full disclosure: I play Spelunky as a ‘Podcast game’ – that’s the collection I’ve added it to in Steam. So, almost all the time, I’m paying more attention to Never Not Funny than I am the game.
However, I still keep coming back to it because I feel like that might be the best way to play it. If I play for a few minutes, I definitely end up in a state where playing becomes natural and instinctive.
I’ve been treating this game like a Nethack game, where looking up the guidebook is considered ‘spoilers’ (in a way where no one actually cares). So, I’m still surprised by things happening. Even though I’ve barely got to the ‘cold’ area that my last death hinted at.
- The pickaxe doesn’t last forever. I thought I had solved the game. But it only last a few whacks – which I completely wasted – before breaking.
- The egyptian eye thing will go blue sometimes, showing the way to an early exit. I’ve never had this happen before even though I’ve often got this item.
- You can’t jump-kill the red flowers. It should have been obvious from their art, but they just eat you.
- Your lover has lives, which you may as well use. If you run headfirst into a bad guy whilst holding the dude you’re rescuing, they’ll take the hit rather than you.
- The climbing gloves are surprisingly jarring. After learning how jumping works, having an item that changes that is really odd. Same for the spring boots.
- Killing the bees is well worth it. The big one has a bunch of lives that it gives!
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I’m not sure this is a game that you’re supposed to win.
Is it too difficult? I’m not really a very good gamer though.
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Factorio works fine a Mac Mini
This might not be news to anyone, but it’s nice to learn that Factorio is one of the games that I a) actively play and b) runs well on a Mac OS!
I’m at my studio space today, working on some personal projects, and wanted to take a break. So, I decided to fire up Steam and see if anything actually runs.
I have an ultrawide screen, and the game maps just fine to it.
My base so far. Moments from running out of coal. This is a new save I started a few weeks ago, since I wanted to start fresh for the Space Age content.
It seems like very little has changed – maybe nothing? – in the early game. I probably needn’t have started a new game. I hadn’t completed my last save and I bet that’s where the new content kicks in.
Anyway, back to programming.
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V Rising: most played game
It didn’t occur to me that Steam would do this, but I’m pleased to know this information.
It doesn’t surprise me that I’ve spent so much time with V Rising. I’ve been really enjoying it as a podcast game. I’m months behind Never Not Funny, and this game is great for that.
I’m still playing it too! I just got to a new biome. I’m weirdly excited by it.
I played Midnight Suns at the start of the year. That’s a great game too! I may go back to it. I never finished the story.
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Pretty heart breaking
Balatro is really quite fun. Sometimes you just get a fun deck, and then you lose, and the deck goes away. Ah well.
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Balancing Issues?
It may be unfair to call them balancing issues so early into the game. Maybe it’s normal to struggle with stuff at level three. Needed even, so that you can see how strong you’re getting.
I was throwing myself at Beira of the Rotten Pack for a while and not getting anywhere.
Then a few things happen: I realise that I can buy a few items from the shop to get considerably stronger, and I find some caves which level me up and the Devourer inside drops my first skill gems.
Buying stuff of the shop isn’t something I remember doing ever in PoE I. Random loot drops were enough. But it seems loot drops aren’t as common in PoE II, at least not right at the start.
Now, instead of Beira being a soulslike, twitchy combat encounter, I just stand there and tank all her blasts whilst shooting with my arrows. Easy.
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Balatro
I got Balatro on my phone after Justin McElroy mentioned that it was in the App Store now. I’d heard the gang talk about it on Besties for a while and thought I’d like it, but knew it was a phone game for me. Not something I’d feel happy about sitting at my computer playing, like idle games.
Anyway, it’s quite fun! It takes up any amount of time I want it to, from bus rides (making a teeny minute bus ride feel like three minutes) to waiting for the kettle to boil. The game state saves in the background and there’s no real context loss from putting it down for a few days.
The gameplay loop is very tight, with a good number of larger loops within it. Even the individual hands (selecting cards and then playing them) is a fun, tiny loop. It certainly can be addictive if you have that personality type.
Outside of the hands, there’s the “rounds” where you have to decide if discarding and hoping for a good hand or playing a crummy hand and being happy with that. You have limited discards and limited hands you can play, and they’re both resources to manage.
Outside of rounds you spend the money you’ve won to improve your deck. Maybe increasing the score multiplier you get from playing a Pair or adding another Ace to your deck or another Joker.
The YouTube scene around Balatro is huge too. Watching the weird hands and decks that the streamers are playing makes me feel like I’m playing the game wrong though. How are they managing to convert all their deck into Kings? It sometimes feels like I’ve still mechanics to unlock, but progressing is difficult.
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This is Jakk Prettyman.
Okay, after fixing a few WordPress issues, I’m immediately back to try again.
On the recommendation of a wise friend, I’ve switched to ranger. The ranger does not have the weird, stunted ammo firing issue. They feel much more natural for me to play.
After even just a few moments playing, the Ranger feels much more powerful. The wolves aren’t getting anywhere near close to me before they die. With the Merc, I was running around between every shot. Of course, I’m right at the begining of the game so balance probably isn’t much of a concern, but it’s odd how much more powerful the Ranger feels.
I’m definitely suffering from some network issues. Sometimes I’m sure I’ve clicked a skill at the right time, and the game doesn’t register it. Early Access jitters, maybe? I know the servers are quite busy at the moment.
It seems that flasks don’t refill on kill any more. That seems like a huge change to the game. Many more trips back to town to go to the well? The tooltip says it recharges by killing monster, but I’m not seeing that happening.
There’s no “put all currency into stash” button. I have to drag each item individually into the correct slot. That’s wild. What’s the point of the Affinities? I’m assuming I’m doing something wrong here. Update: It’s control+click.
A game I’ve been playing an awful lot of recently is V Rising. In that game, you often have to keep throwing yourself against a bad guy until you’ve nailed down their attack sequences and the correct way to dodge.
It feels like PoE II might be the same thing. I’m very under powered right now, but I’m getting close enough to killing the icy-hag-that-ressurects-wolves that I feel like I just need to be a bit better before I can actually do it. That’s a fun feeling.
I’m off to bed now, but will certainly be back to play this soon.
