cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/43641824

FTA

So far in our series of articles, we’ve shared information on our philosophy, decorating, and rewards for Housing in World of Warcraft, but it’s time to bring you into the Neighborhood. Briefly mentioned in our first post on Housing, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of what Neighborhoods are and what you can expect from them.

Endeavors was a surprise to me. Looks fun.

In case you missed it, recent reports suggest that Microsoft/Xbox has likely cancelled future Forza Motorsport titles (effectively ending the series), following massive layoffs that affected around half of Turn 10’s staff.

Its not a series I played, like most I think I opted for the Horizon series, but its still more sad news in a line of layoffs recently.

So, I decided I might just make a tiny list of a few games which haven't sold massive amounts, aren't AAA, and have few reviews.

Fair warning though, as ever I love to include a ton of pictures and GIFs in my posts. This one is no exception. One issue is if you're using the Boost for Lemmy app. My posts tend to slow scrolling to a glitchy mess, so if you're interested enough...maybe opt for your browser to read through instead? Or another app, I guess.

I know it's not what I typically post here, but...it's an easy write up...even if its a niche problem (finding car games to play!). If you know of any, or have enjoyed some and want to recommend, please comment them!

Anyway, let's start with the first one:

Art of Rally:

To start with I’ll have to mention Art of Rally. I’ve ranted about this for so long now, you’ll no doubt have already read through me trying to convince you to play. But, let’s do it all over again. It’s so good.

Set in the ‘golden era’ of racing: from the 60’s to the 80’s in a kind of alternate universe – if the infamous and incredibly dangerous ‘Group B’ never ceased.

Group B itself was a class in the World Rally Championship (WRC) that existed from 1982 to 1986, and was infamous for being both the most spectacular and the most dangerous era in rally history. They’d find literal fingers, hair, blood splatters in their vent grates and stuck in their cars when the races were finished...because no rules were in place for the spectators. None.

Group B allowed the car manufacturers to use just stupid barely tested technology and push performance limits with minimal regulation. The cars just had the most lightweight materials, turbochargers, superchargers, and four-wheel drive, producing up to 600 horsepower (more than many modern supercars). Their own rules required only 200 road-going models, making it easy for manufacturers to develop near-prototype race cars.

In the end they were extremely fast, but safety measures couldn't keep up. Tracks were narrow and lined with crowds of unprotected spectators, and co-drivers had to rely on pace notes at breakneck speeds. Crashes were frequent and often fatal.

This YouTube video is amazing and really should be watched, just so you get a snapshot of how dangerous and unsupervised this all was.

Anyway, that’s the history behind the setting. Now to the game.

Race in the golden era of rally. Drive iconic cars from the 60s to Group B on challenging stages through stylized environments inspired by real worldwide locations. Will you master the art of rally?

It’s a minimalist game. Super stylized environments and landscapes, the art design is bright simple and colorful, with over fifty ‘iconic’ rally cars (their own takes on them though, not at all licensed), rally driving tricks (Scandinavian flick, counter steering, left foot braking, handbrake turns) and maps like Germany, Japan, Norway, Australia, Indonesia (some are DLC).

I love how its open for simple beginners all the way up to incredibly detailed technical expert racing. I love how has a top-down perspective, not the typical racing style.

The music is beautiful, and its such a complete independent game. If you regularly claim the Epic Games free PC games each week then you’ll have the base game in your library already. But it is on regular sales too, with -40% off on Steam currently!.

It’s a game that very much reacts to your touch and movement. Much like a real rally car, you’re going to be feeling that sensation of needing to react quickly, or trying your best to wrestle that steering to either direction, or quickly having to tap the break. And that handbrake is where you’ll be dialing in those hairpins and perfecting that Scandinavian ‘flick’.

To me its the atmosphere. The setting, the colors, the foliage and hills, sky and how cheerful it all is makes this game such a beautiful one. I’ve played so much of it, and if you’re looking for a racing/rally/automotive game you might have missed alongside the typical AAA offerings, then choose this one!

• The ProtonDB page for Art of Rally – where you can check Linux/Steam Deck performance ratings from community members

• Their website

• The link to the game on GOG

The developers also have another automotive-based game coming:

Explore the world in the golden age of offroading. Drive iconic vehicles from the 60s to 80s by yourself or with friends through challenging trails and beautiful scenery.

Here’s the link to that one, called ‘Over The Hill’

Drive Rally:

Drive Rally released their 1.0 after being in Early Access not so long ago. This was one of those games you’d be forgiven for actually buying in E.A. though, since it was so damned complete (much like Hades 2, or Selaco feel for example).

One Caveat, there’s a hashtag before ‘Drive’ in the game’s title...but that is used for formatting on Lemmy so I’m just leaving it off for this little one.

DRIVE Rally is an arcade-inspired rally-driving experience set in the golden racing era of the ‘90s. Grab your co-driver and burn some rubber on iconic race-winning cars across a variety of terrains in some of the most iconic rallying locations in the world!

Far less sim, or precision-based, and far more forgiving, this one’s just fun - and feels the most ‘arcadey’ of the ones I’ll cover here. It’s more of a retro-inspired look to it, kinda reminding you of the PS1/PS2 days but without that heavy pixel-ish look to everything.

You can dial down the ‘wackiness’ on the voices of your co-driver/navigator (I recommend you do this), if you’d prefer it to be a little more serious. By default they have a humor to them, and a distinct voice style. Or you can keep it all the way up, totally up to you!

I like how this game makes me feel like I’m not fighting my car, that I am in control and it’s not punishing me for mistakes. Some people don’t like this, but I just like to think of it as a fun arcade racer – keep my serious racers for other times.

The usual suspects are here: car customization, fun locales which have their own unique feeling, there’s a heap of fun easter eggs from the genre and the history of racing games.

There’s constant updates, and you can see the devs care about keeping their game feeling fresh. I do know from an early point they really did listen to the community in Early Access, and changed the game according to some issues raised. So that’s always nice to see.

It’s on sale as a part of both the GOG and Steam Summer Sales right now, too, with -30% off right now:

• Link to the GOG store page here

• Link to the Steam store page here

• Their official website for the game

• Trailer for the 1.0 release from 2 months back on YouTube

If you just want a fun, arcade rally game that rewards you for races (unlockables), and doesn't make you stress on every turn and decision, this one is a perfect buy. I really recommend it!

Old School Rally & Rush Rally 3:

Both of these games are very similar, if not in the gameplay, in execution. They’re attempting to take you back to the PS1/arcade game era of rally racers, but with modern controls (and sensibilities, too). One is extra-heavily pixelated to make you think of the Colin McRae series of games.

Old School Rally:

“Carefully crafted retro style visuals, reminiscent of the late '90s rally games full of nostalgia and charm”

“With a variety of rally tracks from around the globe, race across different surfaces such as dirt, tarmac and snow and challenge your driving skills.”

“Choose from a diverse lineup of rally cars inspired by the legends of the past, each with unique characteristics and features.”

“Challenge other drivers from around the world and climb to the top of the leaderboards. Ready for more? Try to get all the achievements over the course of the game.”

To me this one’s a great Steam Deck game. There’s a fun balance between pure arcade gameplay, but with more to it if you want to invest your time in it. I’ve noticed the reviews tend to mention the excellent music...and they're very right on that one.

If you've nostalgia for the PS1 era racing games, obviously the McRae series, then this is a must have for you.

• Old School Rally official website

• Official trailer on YouTube

• Platinum Rating on ProtonDB with one review stating: “90 FPS, 7.5-8 W TDP with 7+ hours of gameplay easily with a full charge.”

• Steam Listing here with a ‘Very Positive’ rating from 1,186 reviews.

Rush Rally 3:

Less pixelated and intentionally PS1-ish than Old School Rally is, this one still is in the same vein. Created by a single dev, it’s amazing how deep the game feels. To me the ‘rougher’ areas, are the tracks and lanscapes, but the vehicles seem to be far more polished for the player – even giving you a pretty comprehensive set of options to customize the cars to your liking:

There are online features (leaderboads and multiplayer), unique weekly live events, a dev who cares deeply about suggestions and is constantly making adjustments and changes to how things run and look based off player feedback. I love how dedicated the dev seems to this game, you can tell they love racing and rally.

“60 FPS racing (120+fps on supported devices) at night or day in the rain or snow! Over 100 new and unique stages each with different surface types including snow, gravel, tarmac and dirt! Race with one of the best car dynamics models to date, including real time vehicle deformation and damage, built from over 15 years of experience.”

“Race with your favourite controller, all fully configurable including full force feedback wheel support!”

• Again, platinum rating on ProtonDB, though this time there’s only one review left for it

• The dev mentioned on Steam that they’re done extensive Steam Deck testing to make sure it runs as well as can possibly be expected

• The Steam page for the game, with a -70% off price currently

• No official trailer is on YouTube, but a ton of great review videos are there, with everyone stunned by how great the game is

Japanese Drift Master (JDM):

You might have seen this one, while it’s still kinda under the radar compared to most games (with only 2,457 total reviews on Steam), it turned some heads before release because of the setting and presentation.

Drifting in Japan. Story told through the pages of manga. Clearly very inspired by recognizable, real life locations. Licensed cars. Euro-beat. DRM-free?

It ticked so many boxes that racing fans have, but the main one is being set in Japan. Horizon fans have been clamoring for the game to be set in that country for many iterations now, so this kinda felt like...the next best thing?

JDM: Japanese Drift Master combines realistic, carefully-tuned physics in a simcade experience that’s as smooth on a controller as it is with sim racing hardware. Tackle hundreds of kilometers of open-world roads and uncover story-driven events and quests along the way. Hone your drifting skills, perfect grip races, take on challenges, and feel the thrill of authentic Japanese street racing.

This game is far more…‘sim’ than the others I’ve covered so far. While of course it’s still accessible to those who don’t want to take it super duper seriously, you can see this one’s aimed more at those who want to play the game as a drifting simulator.

Experience the automotive culture of Japan and discover the roads where drifting was born.

It’s very, very pretty. The detail in the environments and the cars is really impressive. The music is incredibly moreish and I did keep going back to this game. What gives me pause in the end is that I don’t feel much like their market. I’m less into sim-racing and more into fun arcade racing. Performance is not the best, more suited to higher end systems (which is why I played on desktop, rather than any of my handhelds, though it did perform and look nice on my Legion Go), with the usual Unreal Engine 5 hiccups.

The devs keep updating the game regularly, the map/roads are amazing, really I’d put it up there with any Gran Turismo title.

If you’ve any interest in a serious racer, with a less-serious story, beautiful locations and want to try something a little different, then this game is an easy recommendation.

• Here is the launch trailer, which is on YouTube

• Their official website, which has a lot of nice info on the game

• On sale on Steam right now, this is the link to the page. -25% off, but it does end soon!

• Also on sale on GOG, with the same -25% discount, but this sale will probably end by the time you read this, idk. This is the link to the GOG page!

Emulation:

Of course, if you just emulate, then you’re going to get the best of the best from every preceding era to play through.

• The old Colin McRae games (if you use something like DuckStation then you can even upscale to a crazy degree, add shaders and then use RetroAchievements to make it feel amazingly modern!)

• Gran Turismo games

• In particular you can add the Gran Turismo Spec II mod to GT4 and have a massively upgraded experience, [this YouTube video will explain what it is and what it does (sounds, tracks, cars, camera views, menus, UI, it’s massive)

• All the WipEout titles, including WipEout HD/Fury for PS3 (works beautifully on the Steam Deck!)

...the list is obviously so extensive, over so many consoles and systems that I won’t go into super detailed details. I will say however, that I use my friends’ creation: RetroDECK to play them on my Steam Deck, and it works beautifully for this. The YouTube channel, Retro Game Corps covers RetroDECK in-depth, showing what it can do, the features and step-by-step how to install and configure it. The link to that particular video on YouTube is here if you want to check it out.

This post is just a small one, and a bit of fun. I love racing games, and maybe you'll find something interesting in here if you do also!

And again, if you've got suggestions for similar games, please leave them below!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/32744274

Nova Patria playtest request form

Some screenshots of in-development builds from their discord:

SETTINGS CHANGES

We’ve added additional difficulty settings to allow players to further tune their “Player Combat Damage” & “Enemy Combat Damage”. Players can now select from “Novice”, “Apprentice”, “Adept”, “Journeyman”, “Expert”, and “Master” options in the Gameplay menu. We hope the “Journeyman” setting, specifically, will act as a better bridge between “Adept” and “Expert” for players.

UI

• Fixed map markers disappearing

• Fixed missing punctuation in Simplified Chinese text

• Fixed “Toggle All” button on Map screen to work as a 'Hold'

• Various fixes to localized text

• Fixed controller issues in Spell making menu

• Fixed menus being cropped incorrectly in 1280x1024

• Fixed the incorrect player stance in the inventory menu after fast travel

• Fixed rebinding keys for Lock Picking

• Fixed keybinds not updating in AZERTY

• Fixed soft lock with controller in Enchanting menu

• Fixed stats not updating when equipping enchanted items

• Fixed a character skin glitch when closing the inventory menu

CRASHES

• Fixed crashes that could occur while fighting Jyggalag

• Fixed crashing when killing a paralyzed NPC with an arrow

• Fixed crashing when paralyzing an already-paralyzed NPC

• Fixed crashing in Spellmaking menu when rapidly removing & implementing effects

• Fixed various GPU crashes

• Fixed crashes that could occur during auto saves

AUDIO

• Fixed underwater SFX persisting after leaving exiting water

• Fixed missing ambient SFX in Shivering Isles

QUESTS

• Fixed NPCs floating after being knocked down during Priory of the Nine quest

• Fixed crashing when entering Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest

• Fixed pathing for Shaleez in Flooded Mine during Final Justice quest

• Fixed crashing when opening Gate to The Fringe during Retaking the Fringe quest

• Fixed mages loading without clothes in Fort Ontus during The Necromancer's Amulet quest

• Fixed NPC pathing issues in Gardens of Flesh and Bone during ‘Through the Fringe of Madness’ quest

• Fixed missing VFX during the closing of the Great Gate

• Fixed Ilav Dralgoner's missing facial animation during ‘Saving Time Itself’ quest

• Fixed Sir Thredet's speech during ‘Umaril the Unfeathered’ quest

• Fixed NPC pathing issues during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest

• Fixed Obelisk Crystals spawning disconnected during ‘Baiting the Trap’ quest

• Fixed crash at end of ‘Through a Nightmare, Darkly’ quest

• Fixed wall crumbling in Malada during ‘Nothing You Can Possess' quest

• Fixed misaligned food at the Castle Leyawiin County Hall dinner party during ‘Sanguine’ quest

• Fixed an issue with visibility of ghosts during ‘Ghosts of Vitharn’

• Fixed cutscene not playing during ‘Light the Dragonfires’

• Fixed missing textures in Cropsford Campsite after finishing ‘Goblin Trouble’

PERFORMANCE

• Fixed frame rate drop in Deepscorn Hollow

• Fixed frame rate drops in Black Rock Caverns

• Fixed frame rate drop between Skingrad and Skingrad Castle

• Fixed frame rate drop south of Bravil Castle courtyard

• Reduced the frequency of hitches in the open world.

• General improvements to frame time in many locations.

• Optimize updating of character attachments.

• Optimize rendering of water volumes in the open world.

• Optimize light/shadow updates in several lairs.

• Optimize waterfall particle FX and rendering.

• Optimize the weather system.

• Optimize character animation system.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed player character height scaling

• Fixed armor items hiding Argonian and Khajiit tails

• Fixed slow camera movement when initiating NPC dialogue

• Fixed soft lock when a player with a high bounty goes to jail

• Fixed Orrery animations

• Fixed physics bug with floating necklaces

• Fixed vampire sleeping animations

• Fixed NPC beards not following facial animation.

• Fixed ghost NPCs being completely invisible

• Fixed missing animation when talking to Shamada in Leyawiin

• Fixed occasional very long load times when fast traveling

• Fixed missing facial animation for Snak gra-Bura

• Fixed falling unconscious in water preventing player from getting up

• Fixed NPCs losing collision when swimming

• Fixed NPCs stopping combat when player is blocking

• Fixed female Dremora teeth clipping

• Fixed soft lock after choosing player class

• Fixed Amber weapons clipping in first person view

• Fixed vines clipping into columns

• Fixed helmets clipping into player character's head

• Fixed missing textures on Daedric statues

• Fixed duplicated pages between Oghma Infinium and Mysterium Xarxes

SYSTEM

• Fixed flickering shadows when using XeSS Upscaling

• Fixed title properly restarting after purchasing the Deluxe Upgrade on PC

• Fixed settings properly migrating between PC and XBOX

• Fixed water disappearing after fast travel

• Fixed cursor slowdown when enabling high frame rate V-Sync

• Fixed shaders not preloading due to cloud save replication

• Fixed long blackout during loading screens

• Fixed weather VFX flashing while outside

• Fixed motion blur artifacts while in the Oblivion Plane

• Fixed NPCs not obeying the Wait action from the player

This update will be in the Steam Beta. If you would like to opt in to the The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Beta update, please follow these instructions:

1. Open your Steam Library and navigate to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

2. Right click on "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered" and select "Properties"

3. In the new properties pop-up window, select "Betas"

4. In the beta drop down to opt into, select "[beta]"

5. Wait for app to download new build and launch

Today's game is The Last of Us. Nearly 13 years it's been out and i am astonished it took me this long to pick it up. And jesus christ am i glad I bought a copy instead of borrowing one or other things for my PS3. It makes me glad to see Naughty Dog's story writing skills are still stellar.

The story so far is great. Especially the opening. With Joel losing his daughter it really hits hard for me because i grew up an Older Brother and in some respects i am responsible for parts of their upbringing even if it's not in a parent role, and on top of that children are wholly innocent. And because of this a really good way for a story to get to me is to include children in that way. It's one of the few things that can almost make me cry nowadays, along with pets dying. So that opening was like a gut punch and almost made me cry seeing him lose his daughter,

Graphically it looks amazing too. Naughty Dog always seems to know exactly how to work the graphics and this game is no exception. Everything looks great and i get pretty good framerates. I'm not a fan of having to use FSR, but it may be partly my fault due too running the game at 1440p on High. And besides i can't really tell a difference after a while.

The environment design knocks it out of the fucking park too. I love city environments and even more so i love seeing them coexist with nature like it does in the later parts of the game. The city environments feel realistic and like actual cities which is more than most games can claim, at least in my opinion.

The lighting is gorgeous too. Not much beyond that lol, but that sunset looks mindblowing. I want to eat it.

My one complaint so far i think may be a Proton issue but i'm not sure, and that's that my PS5 Controller i game with on PC just doesn't seem to work with the fancy Bells and Whistles the game has (even with Steam Input off). Adaptive Triggers don't work unless plugged in and Rumble is just dead. Something about the speaker on the controller needing to be turned on.

Besides that though the game has been fucking great. I'm excited to get back into it tomorrow and maybe finally pick up the Second one during the next Steam Sale.

The original Steam Controller is undoubtedly one of the coolest pieces of gear I own—and one of the most innovative, too.

I got mine right when it launched in 2015. I wanted to solve a very real problem: I was trying to turn my PC into a console.

You see, Valve had Big Picture Mode, which truly turned your PC into a console-like experience. The problem was that some of my favorite PC games didn’t support controllers. They were keyboard-and-mouse only.

But then—here comes the Steam Controller. Suddenly, I was able to reprogram all the inputs. I could take basic keys, like the spacebar, and map them to a button on the controller—like the A button. And once you did that, you could share your controller configuration with the Steam community, or reuse a config someone else already made. It was pretty awesome.

And those dual trackpads? They were swank. Incredible for first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. They were the next best thing to a mouse. And because of the angle of the handles, it all felt very comfortable in the hand—probably the most comfortable controller experience I’ve ever had.

It’s funny—just a little over five years ago, gamers hated it. Not because they ever used one, but because it was a failure. And as we all know about gamers, there’s nothing they hate more than a failure. It was dismissed as a novelty—something no one would ever use again.

Well, Valve had the last laugh. A few years ago, they released the Steam Deck. And what do you know? It’s a direct evolution of the Steam Controller. And now everyone loves the Steam Deck.

Just take a look at it—it’s got so many of the same things the Steam Controller had: dual trackpads, back paddles, the ability to remap buttons and customize layouts. Having owned a Steam Deck since launch, I can say this confidently: the most killer features on the Deck originated with the Steam Controller.

That said, it wasn’t perfect. There were a few quirks I wish they had fixed. For one, it would’ve been nice if it had dual analog sticks instead of just one. Using a trackpad in place of a right stick is fine in theory, but let’s be real: a trackpad does not replace an analog stick.

Also, unlike most modern controllers, this one didn’t have a rechargeable battery. You needed AA batteries. Now, to be fair, those batteries lasted a long time—but it still would’ve been nicer to just recharge it and forget about replacements.

Then there’s the back paddles. Only two of them. In hindsight, yeah, Valve knew they needed to evolve. I’ve grown so used to having four back paddles on the Steam Deck. They’re incredibly useful—especially in games with lots of inputs. Just good to have.

Still, this was one of the first mainstream controllers to even have back paddles. So hats off to Valve for that.

Honestly, I really wish there was another Steam Controller on the market. I know Hori makes a licensed controller for the Steam Deck in Japan, but it’s missing a core feature the original had: the dual trackpads.

To me, the dual trackpads make the Steam Deck experience. It’s something almost no other handheld has. My wife has a Legion Go, and it does have a trackpad—but only one. And honestly? That makes all the difference. It’s fine. But man… it would’ve been a better handheld with two.

Definitely one of the most innovative controllers ever made.

And yeah, I still use mine. I use it when I dock my handheld. Or when I’m on my living room PC.

Repost because I forgot the link last time

Today's game is Ocarina of Time. I finished my 10th something playthrough today and even fought Ganondorf off with a bottle. I know i already chose a picture of the Master Sword for a screenshot, but this really feels like an appropriate screenshot to end off on for one of my favorite games of all time.

I also considered this for the the screenshot but ended up going with the Master Sword. It just looks far better. It did give me this amusing photo of Zelda though:

During the tower escape i stopped to take a picture Ganondorf's corpse. It was another one i was considering, but i can imagine how humorous the conversation is as Link is telling Zelda to hold up so he can take a selfie with the corpse.

Of course, i couldn't talk about the boss fight without mentioning the epic final battle. It taking away the master sword and leaving you to fend without it, only to get it back and slay Ganon with it is an epic scene. It was amazing dodging his attacks with the Z Targeting and rolling under his legs to get his tail. It's a simple and basic fight, but an amazing example of where i feel like this game shines. Honestly, i think it's a contender for a good core Zelda game.

What i mean by that is it's what i'd recommend to someone who's never played Zelda but wants to give it a try. Is it a little rough graphically? Yes. But It covers all it's base's amazingly and i feel it's amazingly accessible to newcomers. The story is basic but epic, it's not too long and doesn't have too many Gimmicks, and i feel like the characters are so damn lovable. I feel like from there people can branch out and find their Zelda game (or stick with OoT if that's there favorite, like with me).

Anyways, i'd like to end it off by showing the Dorky animation for Zelda as she follows you to escape. It was funny, but what wasn't funny was her standing there watching Link get humped by a Redead right at the Exit. Thanks for nothing Zelda.

Just started playing Graveyard Keeper and it's interesting but it seems really grindy. Hopefully it starts picking up a bit as I play. I'm also wondering if I should get any of the DLC now or wait a bit. The DLC is on pretty good sale right now on Steam so that might be something good to pick up.

#gaming #games #graveyardkeeper @games