cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17152252
On Computer Games Monthly is back w/ the 2nd issue of the #fediverse’s only free unofficial gaming-slash-creative-writing magazine.
Inside you will find articles written by some of Mastodon's wackiest residents; nostalgic ramblings, societal critiques, personal stories, and fictional tales using #videogames as the delivery mechanism.
Issue #2 covers games released in and around December 2000 and features the following titles:
Dark Cloud
Pokemon Crystal
The Bouncer
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Guilty Gear X
Phantasy Star Online
Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo
----BONUS CHAO MINIGAME---- There is a small minigame in this issue; 16 bonus chao (yes, chao from the Sonic series) have been placed throughout the magazine. If you find them all: send me an email/message and I'll place you on the illustrious BONUS CHAO CHAMPION list on the archive!
https://archive.org/details/on-computer-games-monthly-december-2000-magazine
On Computer Games Monthly is back w/ the 2nd issue of the #fediverse’s only free unofficial gaming-slash-creative-writing magazine.
Inside you will find articles written by some of Mastodon's wackiest residents; nostalgic ramblings, societal critiques, personal stories, and fictional tales using #videogames as the delivery mechanism.
Issue #2 covers games released in and around December 2000 and features the following titles:
Dark Cloud
Pokemon Crystal
The Bouncer
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Guilty Gear X
Phantasy Star Online
Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo
----BONUS CHAO MINIGAME---- There is a small minigame in this issue; 16 bonus chao (yes, chao from the Sonic series) have been placed throughout the magazine. If you find them all: send me an email/message and I'll place you on the illustrious BONUS CHAO CHAMPION list on the archive!
https://archive.org/details/on-computer-games-monthly-december-2000-magazine
TLDR: which games do WEAPON BREAKING without making you want to tear your hair out?
i'm playing through Dark Cloud and had forgotten how tedious the weapon system is. weapons function as "leveling up" instead of using a traditional experience-based system. weapons need to be upgraded, fused, and repaired throughout the game. and a durability system dictates that once your weapon hits 0 durability, it breaks. broken weapons can cost you hours of gameplay if you're not careful. there's even the possibility of breaking all your weapons and starting from square one near the end of the game if you're not vigilant with repairs.
for Dark Cloud, this weapon system is a unique leveling system that differentiates itself from its action-rpg peers. it introduces a level of risk that keeps you alert while making weapons you've upgraded-and-maintained feel like valuable treasure. however, this system is also tedious to keep up with as weapon durability decreases quickly and repairs are time consuming.
after hours of playtime, i think i've isolated the reason why the weapon system is so annoying: menus. the entire system is menu-based. i often find myself pulling up the menu mid-battle to repair my weapon. there are automated repairs, but these require some setup. if Dark Cloud somehow incorporated more interactive ways (outside of a pause menu) to repair weapons or made weapon durability decrease at half the rate or made a broken weapon repairable (instead of gone for good), this would have gone a long way to reduce tedium.
games like Breath of the Wild are often criticised for similar weapon-breaking systems, and it got me thinking about the fact that i have NEVER seen a weapon-breaking system praised or even vaguely complimented.
are there any games that do weapon breaking especially well, and why?
ANYONE PLAY ON THIS SERVER? i started a character a few weeks ago, named "Buru." i typically play on the Fodra Ship1 from 9pm - 1am et. i am in the midst of several projects and my attention span is less-than-stellar, but if you see me on, say: "HELLO IT IS [BLANK] FROM LEMMY - WOULD YOU CARE TO EXPLORE RAGOL WITH ME?"
From the about page: "Ephinea is a PSOBB server that aims to replicate the official SEGA experience, while also adding quality of life changes alongside extra features to spice up PSO and give it more of a modern feel. This means:
The drop tables are changed from the original SEGA drop tables, mainly in Ultimate with some minor changes in other difficulties, due to balance concerns. “Iconic” drops, such as Sealed J-Sword and Handgun: Guld are still where you’d expect them, however. There are no plans to change the fundamentals of the game, as we wish to offer a server that players can always come back to and experience PSO as they remember it."
RESOURCES!
min-maxing in online games promotes an environment of elitism that forces anyone who plays with the min-maxer to conform to a very narrow play-style; this by-default limits gameplay options for other players, and often leads to ridicule and negative experiences when the non-min-maxer does not have the "perfect build for tanking Odin" or whatever.
min-maxers are boa constrictors wrapped around innocent little field mice. the mice just want some cheese but the snakes are eating them alive and i am the mongoose
stop min-maxing. start max-mining.
discuss.
what do you drink while playing games?
personally, i drink water but i am concerned about microbes having sex in said water. i also drink coffee and, twilight: wine.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13971279
On Computer Games Monthly #1
https://archive.org/details/OCGM-1-Nov-2000
I have been working on a passion project for the last two months; a retro games magazine, and it's finally completed! This #zine is a digital celebration of nostalgia; a collective of writers from the federated internet that strives to capture the subjective quality of gaming with stories about life-and-stuff told through the lens of video games. Issue#1 covers November2000 and features: Breath of Fire IV, Counter Strike, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, love letters to the Dreamcast and PlayStation consoles, and much more.
On Computer Games Monthly #1
https://archive.org/details/OCGM-1-Nov-2000
I have been working on a passion project for the last two months; a retro games magazine, and it's finally completed! This #zine is a digital celebration of nostalgia; a collective of writers from the federated internet that strives to capture the subjective quality of gaming with stories about life-and-stuff told through the lens of video games. Issue#1 covers November2000 and features: Breath of Fire IV, Counter Strike, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, love letters to the Dreamcast and PlayStation consoles, and much more.
FFX-2 was Square as well. It was developed by a Square team and released by Square in Japan, not SquareEnix. In fact, it was the last Square Final Fantasy game to be released. This is all easily verifiable on Wikipedia, as well.
The truth is that this was the direction they wanted to take the X universe, even had the same Director and everything.
best episode in the last 3 seasons of the show and much better than Star Beast; still trying to figure out what Tennant is always reaching out for in these promo images, though: validation? acceptance? lost youth?
this is just a smidgen of the first-world's self-inflicted punishment. very excited to see what happens next.
every Final Fantasy is the best one
seems a bit wishful thinking, and - absolutely - it was Davies who made the Doctor the center of the universe, starting with 9/10 as ThE lAsT oF ThE TiMe LoRdS, and every episode/arc being largely centeted on The Doctor's past/present/future and enemies. 14(?) popping in to essentially NAME the Daleks, his greatest enemy, kinda undermining 4's Genesis of the Daleks arc, is a sign - to me - that The Doctor is, once again, the center of the Whoniverse as we know it.
13 was far less "center of the universe" than 10 and 12 ever were, often taking a back seat to her companion's storylines, which was refreshing.
to clarify, i like every season of Doctor Who and enjoy center-of-the-universe Doctor as much as backseat Doctor, i just don't think this is going to be a backseat decade for Doctor Who, not with Davies at the helm.
that dungeon he scouted turned out to be your home
this highlights the tragedy of the Crystal Chronicles remaster; they should have simply been able to boot that up and play the game together, but alas
The apology seems insincere, as they always do; however, a company bending to consumer feedback in this manner is a good thing (if they actually make meaningful changes).
i bought a P-Watch due to the circular aesthetic, have been wearing mine since release. it's "OK" but last week i fell on my bicycle and scratched up the watch face pretty badly, so QUITE annoying that there is no repair program.
doesn't matter though, switching to a classic Cassio watch soon anyways. "Smart Watches" aren't that helpful for me, ultimately i don't understand the appeal. it's just PHONE ON WRIST, seems like another way to "PLUG INTO THE MATRIX"
Mobile Firefox + Adblocker add on.
the problem is that we've allowed this to happen. all mobile games function this way, the "rug" can be pulled at any time. all that money you spent on gacha pulls, was it worth it?
the problem goes back innocuously to MMO subscriptions, i think. which had a valid reason for existing, but an MMO can be "rug pulled" at any time as well, thankfully most of the greats have stayed up (wow, ffxi, eq) but ONE DAY they will be gone forever, relegated to private servers only.
i am imagining, if you will. fascinating and creative. nice work. there is so much going on around us, we care about so little in the grand scheme of things.