Gaming thoughts, bite-size chewables - new orange flavor!

[krimhorn]

How long do they last, by the way? I've been using the Logitech F710, and it generally last a little more than 2 years - which is helped by the 3 year warranty. The Xbox One controller has only 3 *month* warranty though.

My first controller is still going strong (as I haven't heard my brother complaining about having to buy a new one) and it came with a system that was bought the April after launch. My first spare broke when I threw it across the room (was playing Rare Replay and had an 8-year-old moment) and the replacement for that one is still doing well except the USB port is loose and most of the shittier USB cables I have for charging things on my PC don't have any plastic that connects to the controller which ends up torquing it. My fourth controller came with the Halo MCC edition system I bought at Halo 5's release and it's still OK but it spent quite some time upside down and has stick drift as a result (easily fixable but I just haven't). My Project Scorpio controller is part of a bad batch that came with that system and won't charge via the USB port nor will it retain a connection to my PC when plugged in. I didn't discover this until well after the warranty period so I'm stuck. It works perfectly if I use standard AAs or charge the pack with my Halo 5 edition controller and swap into the PS one.

In short:
1 still going strong about 5 years later
1 broke due to user stupidity
1 has stick drift due to neglectful storage
1 has a borked USB port due to shitty cables
1 has a broke USB port due to manufacturing defect

 

[Ardax]

Also, I believe the latest Xbox One controllers have proper Bluetooth support so you could possibly buy one from that side of the aisle and use it without the adapter.

This is correct. IRC, the Wireless Adapter is needed if you want to plug in a headset, have BT interference problems or a gobshite BT chipset, or want to use more than 2 controllers on a system.

 

[Mister E. Meat]

Also, I believe the latest Xbox One controllers have proper Bluetooth support so you could possibly buy one from that side of the aisle and use it without the adapter.

This is correct. IRC, the Wireless Adapter is needed if you want to plug in a headset, have BT interference problems or a gobshite BT chipset, or want to use more than 2 controllers on a system.

I believe it also has lower latency.

 

[krimhorn]

Well, Im almost done with Hollow Knight. Just have the White Palace and two endings to do. So, another 20 hours?

 

[PhantomLord]

Microsoft Studios is bring a lot of their formally Windows Store/XBoxOne exclusive titles to Steam on 09/14. Games like ReCore and Super Lucky's Tale are going to be included. There is an article about it on Variety. Pretty cool news since I've wanted to try some of those games.

I had a trial to the Xbox Game Pass a while back, but the store was a mess and that UWP application format was really pretty bad. Ended up cancelling the trial and not even playing the games much.

 

[Genome]

Some quick googling has led me to understand that Spider-Man for the PS4 does not have a trophy called "GET ME PICTURES OF SPIDER-MAN!" if you take a selfie. I am extremely disappointed.

 

[Alyeska]

A lot of game developers and console companies are finally starting to invest heavily in supporting extra technologies to assist gamers with a disability. Color blind mode, custom control mapping, and now the new X-Box adaptable controller.

But there is one that is seriously lagging behind and I am starting to get seriously pissed off.

Hearing loss.

Oh, subtitles, thank you. No. I can hear what people say. Pretty sure I can still hear every frequency. I just have a hard time hearing the really quiet stuff. Playing PUBG, people are yelling at me for how much noise I make walking around. Or I'm in a building and my dead team mates are telling me someone is inside and I can't hear the foot steps.

Sure, I can crank the volume up and hear the sounds of people running and walking. But then the rest of the game becomes absurdly loud, painfully loud. But why should I have to risk additional hearing damage just to try and hear quiet volume levels? Why don't they provide options to smooth out the volume levels?

I can adjust brightness levels and gamma in games, why can't I adjust sound ranges and max/min loudness ranges?

I guess I'm going to need to get a dedicated soundcard with software to flatten out the highs and lows of my sound from games.

 

[Ardax]

It's pretty rare, but some games have dynamic range compression or "night mode" built in to handle that.

What about games with independent volume sliders (music, effects, dialogue, etc.?)? It's probably not always enough either I'd guess.

I don't know if this can effectively be generalized into the OS or not. Unless the games are taking advantage of a built-in positional audio API so the OS can handle the mixing...

 

[Jehos]

I guess I'm going to need to get a dedicated soundcard with software to flatten out the highs and lows of my sound from games.

You don't need to get a separate sound card. What you need is audio compression, and that can be done either in software or in hardware.

https://superuser.com/questions/357828/ ... ile-gaming

https://forums.playbattlegrounds.com/to ... steps-etc/

Those should give you some idea of what you're looking to do.

 

[Vastamious]

It's been a while but all the soundblaster sound cards I had featured a pretty robust EQ you could tweak. Can't imagine there isn't some software won't do the same.

Oh, just checked my logitech wireless headset (G930's) and they have a 10 band EQ option independent of the soundcard. It wasn't apparent but it's there for mine at least.

 

[Alyeska]

OK, that gives me a place to start. Thank you for the information.

 

[Robotank]

OK, that gives me a place to start. Thank you for the information.

Here's someone asking for similar info, but not games related:
https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengin...ie_question_compressor_solution_for_realtime/

I run software called Voicemeeter to do some realtime EQ and make it easier to separately record audio channels (when I was doing Youtube stuff), but I can't remember if it has an option for Compression.

The UI on audio software tends to be horrible... so good luck!

 

[Ardax]

OMG, for some reason I thought Alyeska was talking about DRC on Xbox...

For PC, have you tried the "Loudness Equalization" Enhancement built into Windows 10?

 

[Papageno]

O Wise Ones, I seek what is in these times Arcane Knowledge: if I bought The Saboteur (Windows version) through Amazon, and it wasn't a Steam or Origin key (wasn't it published by EA?), do I have to cast about on the internet for a patch like a savage of yore, or what?*

*I don't actually know that it got a patch, but I read on Twitter that the GOG version had at least gotten the minimap fixed (which was utterly borked on first release), and wondered if that fix might have been implemented generally.

 

[DemonGSides]

It's EA, so i'd assume it'd go to Origin?

 

[BloodyCactus]

started playing a bunch more Elder Scrolls Legends lately after not really playing for well over a year.. Its still a lot of fun but the grind to avoid microtrans... ugh

 

[Papageno]

It's EA, so i'd assume it'd go to Origin?

I don't think pre-Origin games magically become Origin games later, unless the Amazon-sold version came with a key that Origin would accept, I suppose. That's a possibility I'll have to check. I definitely know it wasn't a Steam key because I'm not seeing it in my Steam Library.

Even if it is a key that Origin accepts, there's no guarantee that that minimap fix in the GOG version was a universal one.

 

[bigkoss]

O Wise Ones, I seek what is in these times Arcane Knowledge: if I bought The Saboteur (Windows version) through Amazon, and it wasn't a Steam or Origin key (wasn't it published by EA?), do I have to cast about on the internet for a patch like a savage of yore, or what?*

*I don't actually know that it got a patch, but I read on Twitter that the GOG version had at least gotten the minimap fixed (which was utterly borked on first release), and wondered if that fix might have been implemented generally.

GOG does a lot of their own patching of older games -- typically ones unlikely to ever get major dev support again. While it's possible that patch made it out there somewhere, it's unlikely to be on other services. That said, I'm fairly certain GOG is DRM-free, so I suppose their patch might be available somewhere.

 

[DemonGSides]

It's EA, so i'd assume it'd go to Origin?

I don't think pre-Origin games magically become Origin games later, unless the Amazon-sold version came with a key that Origin would accept, I suppose. That's a possibility I'll have to check. I definitely know it wasn't a Steam key because I'm not seeing it in my Steam Library.

Even if it is a key that Origin accepts, there's no guarantee that that minimap fix in the GOG version was a universal one.

Here's what I found;

https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Saboteur

 

[Alyeska]

Windows 10 volume equalization. OH MY GOD. I can hear foot steps. I can hear people inside buildings. And I can hear things I really don't want to hear. PUBG lowered the volume of wind and the airplane because it was a little loud. Well, Win10 upped those back to full volume.

:|

I might just turn the overall game volume down just a little to compensate. Oh, on loud noises. I could feel it lowering the extreme volume of some weapons going full auto. So its definitely doing its job.

 

[Papageno]

It's EA, so i'd assume it'd go to Origin?

I don't think pre-Origin games magically become Origin games later, unless the Amazon-sold version came with a key that Origin would accept, I suppose. That's a possibility I'll have to check. I definitely know it wasn't a Steam key because I'm not seeing it in my Steam Library.

Even if it is a key that Origin accepts, there's no guarantee that that minimap fix in the GOG version was a universal one.

Here's what I found;

https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Saboteur

Thanks. Looks like my best bet is to just triple dip by buying the GOG version next time it goes on deep discount and download a saved game that gets me past the lengthy story intro (I bought the 360 version -- whose graphics have not aged well, plus the DVD drive makes an awful racket -- back when on deep sale, and the Amazon one for 5 bucks or something).

 

[PhantomLord]

Thanks. Looks like my best bet is to just triple dip by buying the GOG version next time it goes on deep discount and download a saved game that gets me past the lengthy story intro (I bought the 360 version -- whose graphics have not aged well, plus the DVD drive makes an awful racket -- back when on deep sale, and the Amazon one for 5 bucks or something).

If you really want to play it now or don't mind renting it for a year, it is included in Origin Access.

 

[Papageno]

Thanks. Looks like my best bet is to just triple dip by buying the GOG version next time it goes on deep discount and download a saved game that gets me past the lengthy story intro (I bought the 360 version -- whose graphics have not aged well, plus the DVD drive makes an awful racket -- back when on deep sale, and the Amazon one for 5 bucks or something).

If you really want to play it now or don't mind renting it for a year, it is included in Origin Access.

Thanks for the tip, but then I'd just be playing the version with the screwed up minimap, right (and if I wanted to do that, why not just reinstall the Windows version I already got)? I should probably just forget about it, honestly. It's not like I don't have a hojillion other games to play/finish. Besides, some of the "French" accents in that game are beyond egregious, and I gather the "Oirish" one of the protagonist isn't that far behind (although I don't think it was that bad).

 

[Frosty Grin]

It's not like I don't have a hojillion other games to play/finish.

I could put this in the signature if we had them. And not just full games, but betas too. In just two days I got notifications for Pathologic 2, Trials Rising and The Cycle betas.

 

[hongooi]

What do you mean, I have to wait until 11am to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider? It's already 12 September here in the future, goddamnit.

 

[NavyGothic]

Oooh, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out? Neat, I really love the modern series.

I'll need to wait a few weeks to get stuck in (WoW expansion just launched a few weeks ago and I'm still in "second job" mode ) to play, but I'll pick Shadow up soon so I can download and be ready to go!

 

[krimhorn]

Aaaand, the White Palace is down. Sweet Christmas that was a hard level and pretty damn well out of the blue for a game that doesn't really focus on platforming challenges. Sure, Hollow Knight has some optional, short, platforming challenges to get moderately powerful charms and some powerups but this is on the critical path for the "true" ending.

I think I saw where the new Path of Pain begins too and, unless (and probably not even then) returning to the WP lets you start at the end, there's no way I'm bothering with that.

 

[hongooi]

Oooh, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out? Neat, I really love the modern series.

I'll need to wait a few weeks to get stuck in (WoW expansion just launched a few weeks ago and I'm still in "second job" mode ) to play, but I'll pick Shadow up soon so I can download and be ready to go!

Technically it goes live on 14 Sep, but if you preordered, you can play it 48 hours early. Not sure if the preordering still works, but there's 15 minutes to go....

 

[richleader]

What do you mean, I have to wait until 11am to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider? It's already 12 September here in the future, goddamnit.

I'm going to wait until I can play it with full ray tracing in 4D.

 

[Ecmaster76]

Aaaand, the White Palace is down. Sweet Christmas that was a hard level and pretty damn well out of the blue for a game that doesn't really focus on platforming challenges. Sure, Hollow Knight has some optional, short, platforming challenges to get moderately powerful charms and some powerups but this is on the critical path for the "true" ending.

I think I saw where the new Path of Pain begins too and, unless (and probably not even then) returning to the WP lets you start at the end, there's no way I'm bothering with that.

You can come back and you dont start far from there but if you thought regular WP was hard...

 

[zeotherm]

Windows 10 volume equalization. OH MY GOD. I can hear foot steps. I can hear people inside buildings. And I can hear things I really don't want to hear. PUBG lowered the volume of wind and the airplane because it was a little loud. Well, Win10 upped those back to full volume.

Cool, this is good to know!

 

[Thorvard]

Oooh, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out? Neat, I really love the modern series.

I'll need to wait a few weeks to get stuck in (WoW expansion just launched a few weeks ago and I'm still in "second job" mode ) to play, but I'll pick Shadow up soon so I can download and be ready to go!

I need to finish Rise. The problem is, it's been so long since I played it I can't remember where I am or the story. I don't know if its worth starting over or not.

 

[Gandhim3]

Oooh, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out? Neat, I really love the modern series.

I'll need to wait a few weeks to get stuck in (WoW expansion just launched a few weeks ago and I'm still in "second job" mode ) to play, but I'll pick Shadow up soon so I can download and be ready to go!

I need to finish Rise. The problem is, it's been so long since I played it I can't remember where I am or the story. I don't know if its worth starting over or not.

Same here. i just feel compelled to finish it like i did the first one.

 

[Idleness]

Oooh, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out? Neat, I really love the modern series.

I'll need to wait a few weeks to get stuck in (WoW expansion just launched a few weeks ago and I'm still in "second job" mode ) to play, but I'll pick Shadow up soon so I can download and be ready to go!

I need to finish Rise. The problem is, it's been so long since I played it I can't remember where I am or the story. I don't know if its worth starting over or not.

I just got Rise from the Humble Bundle. It's great fun!

 

[Alyeska]

Want a new mouse. Seriously looking at the Logitech G903 with the Power Play charging pad.

I've been a Logitech user since 2001.

MX500
MX518
G5
MX518 (2nd)
G5 Revised
G500
G500 (2nd)
G500s

Through the entire time, those mice all have the exact same form factor. The 903 is definitely different, but it looks fairly similar in overall shape and style to the classic MX518 basic style. Should I make the jump? The wireless charging while sitting on the pad looks incredible. Also, is the scroll wheel toggle a physical switch, or virtual switch?

 

[Uisce Beatha]

Any Dragon Quest 11 love here? I picked it up yesterday and only have an hour in it, but I'm really enjoying it so far. The graphics are really incredible, the music is great as always, and the combat hasn't really changed in 30 years.

I haven't decided if I want to get it on the PS4 or PC. Now Spiderman has me sucked in so I'll wait till I finish that to pick it up.

I bought it for PS4 and I've greatly enjoyed the 4 or 5 hours I've put into it. However, I'm considering getting the PC version as well since it's easier for me to sneak off to the spare bedroom with my PC than to take up the TV in the living room. I'm a little concerned with how well (or how poorly) it would run though. The GTX 960 from a few years ago is probably fine, but my i7-870 from 2010 may not be able to keep up. I really need to build a new system. Kinda trying to hold off until sometime before the next Elder Scrolls game comes out.

But anyway, yeah, get DQXI at some point!

 

[Sufinsil]

I played it safe and went to a G502 (my mouse history is similar), which is slightly different with a nice thumb rest and still has the custom weights.

Alas I am curious as well, never taking that step towards the Razer Deathadder style of form.

 

[Deleted member 4603]

Razer is nice, I've had some issues with their cords / connections, though.

None of the logitech ones I have looked at / tried seem to fit my hand very well.

 

[krimhorn]

Razer is nice, I've had some issues with their cords / connections, though.

I have never had a wired mouse that I loved that didn't die to the cord fraying at the connection point on the mouse. As such, I never use corded ones any more. Though in recent years it seems that Logitech's gotten really derpy with their shitty custom connector design. The G600-something had a chunky connector that was impossible to insert incorrectly and basically guided the plug into the socket. The G903 has this shitty trident shaped connector with flimsy-ass arms that's basically impossible to put into the mouse one-handed and without looking. If you're going to do something that bad, just make the jump to USB-C connectors to charge.

 

[Deleted member 4603]

Yeah, I'm not talking about them fraying after a year or two of heavy use.

I'm talking flaky / shorted connections withing days / weeks after purchase. I think I had a total of 4 razer products and had to return 2 of them within the first few weeks of use.