Slaughtahouse

A fun infographic from Gamesindustry GamesIndustry.biz presents... The Year In Numbers 2023 WWW.GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox As the holidays draw near...

Don't forget to try the Unobtanium mode Add this to the launch script "-unlockmaxsettings". Let me know when you're about 3-5 hrs in. Once you get over the tutorial stuff, out in the open, and have a few weapons, the world really shines. I'm probably 1/3 my way through the main plot myself and I am enjoying the game more, each and every day I play it.

Edit: Escalated with our ISP directly. I'll share a brief summary if / when it gets resolved. Edit 2: ISP seems to have resolved it. Over the past few days Ive tried various tips recommended by Microsoft including but not limited to: Port Forwarding, DMZ mode, static IP, various resets etc. However, approximately 5 days after contacting the ISP, download speeds seem to have been resolved. No visibility or response from the ISP but going from 30Mbps to 800-900Mbps is well… night and day. What had originally happened: Download speeds were throttled to 20-30Mbps and Xbox whilst connected to the network would crash the modem and throttle the network for all devices. Modem would always crash and then return to normal (excluding the Xbox). Resolved? TBD but working as intended now.

2023-12-20 - Holiday Sales (Round 2) GMG Sale has gone live -> https://www.greenmangaming.com/winter-sale/ Should match or exceed Steam sale, which starts tomorrow.*

It’s so thin I can’t even see it!

That's some mad Starfield time. My September is also stacked with Starfield but I haven't touched it since. I dabbled in surprisingly very few indies but seems like I spread my time around various AAA titles. RE4 Remake dominated my Steam time and God of War was my first 100% achievement game.

Steam 2023 Year in Review Fun fact: Most of your playtime (90%) was with a controller

An Interview with Cities: Skylines 2 developer’s CEO, Mariina Hallikainen ARSTECHNICA.COM A hugely successful early game can become a developer's own worst enemy. This article likely doesn’t warrant a new thread but as a fan of the city / sim management genre, I think this is worth sharing

I believe this will be marketed more of premium than the last series of “Pro” consoles. PS5’s are still selling like hot cakes and they’ve probably done enough research to know that a mid-gen update will not impede on base console sales. I’m not hearing rumblings from Xbox about a refresh. I wonder if that’s simply due their lack of demand / sales. Either way, I am Pro… Pro. Gives the devs a wide range of hardware which unlocks potential for any cross platform games on PC. It’s also double edge sword because it’s another build / version to test. As long as games are still targeted for Series S (low), Series X / PS5 (mid range), and PS5 Pro (high end), we should only get better and better ports to PC (theoretically) because they will still need to scale to baseline. I suspect this Pro to launch in early 2025 with GTA VI. Needs a killer app and I’m not sure what it is right now. FF VII Rebirth would be a good opportunity but it releases in 2 months.

A few tips / FYIs for iamjanco: the game is a bit slow to start but it will open up pretty quickly once you get through the first hour. Highly recommend the “Exploration Mode” which pre-selects various HUD and Quest markers to be disabled. I typically disable all HUD in any game I play but if that’s not your style, that’s OK. I just really recommend to disable the health bar because it’s linked to a separate smaller meter for “energy”. The energy meter is based on food consumption which provides various buffs. The game will remind you that you need to eat but there is no real negative impact if you don’t. So disabling this hud element, unfortunately tied to the health bar, will avoid those notifications. The one real impact in terms of gameplay is if your energy is depleted, you won’t regen health but there is a health item system.You can store these items in separate inventory unrelated to food. Also, it may be difficult at times to solve puzzles or gather “clues” in Explorer mode. There is a Navi vision tool like Geralt’s Witcher Senses from the Wild Hunt that helps you solve puzzles but more times than not, it’s incredibly difficult to see the clues because there is so much foliage and the navi vision generates a lot of noise on screen. Pro tip: limit your search area. Most clues are within 10’ of the quest item that initiated the investigation. Last but not least, if you have a controller, use it Game is built around it including puzzles and harvesting items that require playing with the pressure applied to the right trigger. That’s all I got Enjoy

And… we have a winner! Congratulations to @iamjanco! Hope you enjoy your time on Pandora, even if Bill Paxton isn’t apart of the Avatar cinematic universe Thanks all for participating! Happy Holidays

I guess I like circles more but ultimately indifferent. If we do go square, please, embrace its 90 degree angled goodness. No rounded corners

I mean for $30 vs. $100, as long it pushes air, sounds good to me XD. I used to hook up the air compressor and bring my PC into the garage. Wait for the tank to fill up and then be careful not to blow out my board with all teh powar. Tedious but it worked. Something like this, as long as it holds up, seems like a good value. Found one similar for $33 CAD. https://www.amazon.ca/Compressed-air-Duster-110000RPM-Replacement/dp/B0BNMCKSN1/ Let me know how yours holds up Ultra over the next 3-6 months.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 4K, Ultra (HDR) No editing done to these screenshots. Just photo mode for composition but matches 1:1 in real time. Some of the areas are giving me Morrowind vibes. Last one above is Unobtanium mode. I have to compress them to .jpg because the native .PNGs come in at 20-30mb per photo lol.

Hello lovely people, I purchased an extra key for Avatar: Frontier's of Pandora (Ubisoft Connect) on PC and would like to give it away here. Rules: Post below by letting us know your favourite James Cameron movie, intellectual property (IP), or any other (ad)venture, and why! Submissions will close in two (2) days, Saturday December 16 at 12:00pm EST (9:00am PST). You must have had an account for a minimum. 6 months and 30 post count. I'll use a random generator to determine the winner and if you don't claim the code within 48 hrs from when the PM goes out to the winners inbox, I'll redraw. Only your first post is eligible in the draw, but feel free to post as much as you want. Example scenario: Users A, B, C post in the thread. User A posts 1st, User B posts 2nd and 3rd, User C posts 4th. Draw closes, generator min is 1, max is 3. 3 unique posts. Generator pulls 3, User C wins. Good luck!

There is a good sale on now. Microsoft dropped the price to $400 USD. I grabbed it at $387 USD (520 CAD), bundled with Diablo IV. For context, I still have my 360 plugged in and last winter when my launch 7900 XTX had a faulty vapour chamber (see De8aurer videos for context)... I went back and played Red Dead Redemption on 360. I am looking forward to take advantage of their backwards compatibility since my 360 library is... extensive. If I don't end up using it, maybe I'll modify it into some Frankenstein ITX system.

I just discovered that the 33% off coupon is perpetual. Meaning, once you claim it, you can keep using it on additional purchases. So, if you’re considering any purchases on EGS, just note there is no stress for the coupon transaction decision. Small correction: Coupon is factored on the sale price, not retail price from what I can tell. There are a few games for me, personally that I don’t mind to not have on Steam if I know I will only play it once. One of those is Remnant II. I can grab it for $20 USD but curious how that pans out with cross-play. I’d want to play with friends on Steam. Dead Space remake you can get for dirt cheap. About $15 USD ($20 CAD).

2023-12-13 - Holiday Sales (Round 1) A few sales have kicked off a moment ago. https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_winter_sale https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/sales-and-specials/holiday-sale Additionally, Epic Games Store is offering a 33% coupon that stacks with existing sales and they're giving away a few expansions for Destiny 2 for free. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/destiny-2--legacy-collection-2023 I grabbed Alan Wake II for a total of 36 CAD (26 USD) + tax. Alan Wake II is my first game purchase on Epic Games Store XD

The level of realism is next level

A quick follow up. Since I discovered the "Unobtanium" mode from Digital Foundry's video, I wanted to test it against my system. Full details here: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/avatar/frontiers-of-pandora/news-updates/6WF5Ud05UCEmLp2R8cjjVn/avatar-frontiers-of-pandora-pc-features-deep-dive. Unobtanium unlocks additional settings for the following categories / features: Shadows Shadow Quality - Max (previously capped at High) Spot Shadows Resolution - Max (previously capped at High) Reflections Specular Reflections - Max, Ultra (previously capped at Very High) Diffuse Reflections - Max (Previously capped at High) Environment Reflection Quality - Max (Previously capped at High) Volumetric Effects Volumetric Fog - Max (Previously capped at Ultra) Volumetric Clouds - Max (Previously capped at High) For the test, same setup as before ((7900 XTX, 5800X3D, latest AMD video driver, Win 10 etc.). Results: Unobtanium 1440p (FSR Disabled) - 33 Fps Avg. Unobtanium 4K (FSR Disabled) - 17 FPS Avg. Conclusions (subjective): Unobtanium does look better but it is definitely not worth the performance lost with current hardware. 4090 reportedly gets 40 fps with DLSS quality for context. I notice the following settings in Unobtanium give the most visual impact/perf: Spot shadow resolution Diffuse reflections Volumetric fog FSR implementation is very good in Avatar and I highly recommend it, or if you have Nvidia, DLSS mixed with High or Ultra settings, to get a great experience. See my config results below. Ultra 4K, FSR Enabled (Quality) - 71 FPS Avg. Hope this helps anyone who is looking at this game. Fun to bench...

Context: I received the game for free. I don't have enough time with it to wrap up all my thoughts. Maybe of gameplay 5-6 hrs (I tend to pause, walk away from games so my time is a bit fluffed). I generally dislike the Far Cry series, which this game is closely compared to. I love the spectacle of Avatar movies in 3D / at the cinema. With that said, I am having a good time with it. What I am enjoying: Traversal Strength / weakness. You can run fast, jump high, punch humans and watch them fly. Level design / platforming. Everything sorta works in first person. It's not perfect but you wont be throwing you controller at the wall when trying to climb trees. I haven't discovered my own Ikran (flying dino) but I suspect that will really help enjoy the world even more. Sense of scale. You're 9' / 3m tall and humans stand far beneath you. Nomad / tribal weaponry (bows, slings, spears etc.) and as a PC gamer... the level of effort in the PC build. A lot of customizability, secret "unobtainium" graphic settings that I havent tried yet, FSR 3 works really well, and the upscaling over all is very good (all my screenshots are "quality" mode which likely means 1440p+ base resolution). One of the best looking games I have ever played. Maybe it doesn't compare 1:1 to Cyberpunk but it's up there. Feels like Crysis 4. What I dislike: Plot / narrative. Seems there just to be there, typical lets save the planet plot by banding together to defeat the bad guys No decision making (stakes / impact) RPG systems. Doesn't seem fleshed out enough. There are large branches and I leaning more into the stealth / hunter lane (bonus' for targeting weak points, quieter movement etc.) but I suspect it wont offer enough customizability to really feel like my playthrough will vary from another player who made different choices. What I am unsure of: Bases. I can see it becoming repetitive but so far, I've found 3 and they seem to vary in layout. They're quite tough (I am playing on hard) and you die very quickly. Suites my gameplay preference of stealth. Run in, disable equipment, run out. I wish the impact of "defeating" a base was more progressive. Once you beat a base, a cutscene plays out and the environment goes from dingey / abused, void of life to freshened up and full native species. TL;DR Sitting between a 7 and 8 for me.

They already went after Apple, and lost. I know they've escalated to the Supreme Court in the US but not sure how all of that will pan out. Curious what the net results will be for developers here. Thanks for sharing the story OP

The Day Before Studio Fntastic Announces Closure Just Days After Early Access Launch - IGN WWW.IGN.COM Mere days after The Day Before launched in early access, studio Fntastic has announced that it's closing: "The Day Before has failed financially, and we lack the funds to continue." I've had this game in the sheet for months now. MMO Zombie game. Not much was shared about it and then it released a few days ago. Welp, seems like the developer just closed so be wary of purchasing this game.

Oh, apparently it's in great shape now. Ever since ~2019, I've heard only good things. One of the few redemption stories out there, like Cyberpunk 2077. I haven't played it but with any very large, ambitious game, especially from a smaller studio, you may not want to jump in right away. Unless you simply wish to support the devs and you believe they can pull it off Their in good shape so I suspect it will get there. I love large, expansive worlds, but I still need a narrative or critical path to redirect myself to when I get bored of wandering. That's really the only reason why I haven't played No Man's Sky. Starfield scratches that itch for me but I only wished Starfield had a better exploration system. Not just transitions from space to planets but more meaningful experiences when landing on planets (not just a 50* km2 zone).

They pulled off No Man's Sky so they have a positive reputation and a lot of good will. I suspect they will be able to deliver, just be wary of launch...