What are you playing now?

[Rath Darkblade]

That's a spammer. Don't click the link!

Thanks, BBP. I wasn't sure if that was legit (in which case, this person is silly) or not.

I thought there was also a thing about deleting spammers? *hint*

Spambots don't read rules. They only read what they want to read.

As for me, I'm playing Age of Empires Definitive Edition and Age of Empires II Definitive Edition. They truly are definitive editions of their originals which I loved playing very much.

Sigh. MI, is there anything new in those games? I've played AOE1 back in 1995, and AOE2 when it came out. (I still have my AOE2 disc -- plus, I also have AOE2 HD Edition on Steam (and the expansions -- "The Conquerors", "The Forgotten", "The African Kingdoms", "Rise of the Rajas") ... so ... does AOE2 Definitive Edition have anything new, or is it just a marketing gimmick to make even more money?

[BBP]

Well, I've flagged him, so as soon as Collector gets here he'll throw him out.

I get these all the time at TAOM, twice to three times a day, it's really annoying. Never-ending battle.


I'm doing an "Escape Puzzle" jigsaw at the moment. First you solve a jigsaw, then you solve the riddles in the jigsaw. It had me stumped initially but now I'm halfway with the riddles. And I can't say much more without spoilers.

[MusicallyInspired]

Sigh. MI, is there anything new in those games? I've played AOE1 back in 1995, and AOE2 when it came out. (I still have my AOE2 disc -- plus, I also have AOE2 HD Edition on Steam (and the expansions -- "The Conquerors", "The Forgotten", "The African Kingdoms", "Rise of the Rajas") ... so ... does AOE2 Definitive Edition have anything new, or is it just a marketing gimmick to make even more money?

AOE2 Definitive Edition comes with a brand new 4k-compatible graphics overhaul (HD Edition did not redo any graphics it was basically just support for modern systems and resolutions and easier multiplayer setup), completely remastered soundtrack, ongoing support and balancing updates, improved AI (even improved of HD Edition's AI). And you can zoom in and out of the game map. It also comes with all the DLC content available for HD Edition. Oh, and community content/mod support.

In ADDITION to the HD Edition DLC civilizations it also comes with 4 brand new civilizations:
-Bulgarians
-Cumans
-Lithuanians
-Tatars

As well, a DLC for Definitive Edition just came out yesterday called Lords of the West that comes with 2 NEW civilizations both of which have really interesting and unique technology trees:
-Burgundians
-Sicilians

AOE2 Definitive Edition truly is what it says it is: a PROPER remaster with ongoing meticulous support and balance patching happening and they seem to aim to support it on into the future. Their focus and attention and quality of work seems to go way beyond what was given for HD Edition which I've heard was a little half-hearted. I'm really impressed with it. Having the HD Edition's DLC included was a huge save back during the Winter sale on Steam because HD Edition and its DLC were NOT on sale but Definitive Edition was 50% off. Even now, Definitive Edition is a better priced package because HD Edition with all its DLC is currently $54.96 CAD and Definitive Edition (which includes all of that) and its own DLC "Lords of the West" is only $34.98 CAD total. That's all the improvements of the DE, ongoing support, and 6 more civilizations (and campaigns) to play with for $20 CAD less. It's an incredible deal.

AOE1 Definitive Edition has improved AI and pathfinding and the graphics and soundtrack are also remastered but it's basically the same game underneath which is dated for some people but I enjoy it. You can also play a custom game with the original graphics/music/sound data set in classic style if you want which is nice. AOE2DE doesn't have this as AOE2 HD already exists I guess. AOE3DE was just released a little while ago and as I understand it it had a rough launch with issues. I was never a big AOE3 guy anyway though so I haven't played it yet (but I did buy it over the sale). It's getting patches as well though and will improve. I have more faith in Forgotten Empires (the developer making these remasters) than I did back when HD Edition and Age of Mythology Extended Edition (also came out. It really seems like they're putting way more effort into it.

Also, Age of Empires IV is coming out soon (I hear Ritual Entertainment is working on it with Forgotten Empires). Not much is known about it other than the ages it takes place in are kind of like between the last age of AOE1 (Iron Age) and the first age of AOE3 (Discovery Age). So centralizing around the AOE2 medieval era again but with more content. I'm excited. I love Age of Empires.

[Tawmis]

Spammer taken care of. When I approved the message, the signature wasn't visible - just the post.

Banned and post removed.

[Rath Darkblade]

Thanks, Tawm!

MI, I like Age of Empires too. Because of AOE2, I started reading history (many, many years ago) and I've now written quite a few history-based (fiction) stories. Like:

- In ancient Sardinia, a young man quests for identity, love and glory!
- In ancient Rome, a police captain quests to uncover a conspiracy against the emperor (and get better working hours!)
- In ancient Babylon, a goat herder (and sausage-salesman) reluctantly joins a quest to find why the Tower of Babel isn't being built on time!
- In ancient Greece, Perseus quests to find Medusa -- but she isn't what he expected ...
- In medieval Mongolia, it's Genghis Khan's birthday! (Hurray!) But what do you get the man who has everything?

...and so on... just one problem: I can't find a good publisher (or agent). Darn it.

[MusicallyInspired]

[BBP]

Thanks!

Puzzle solved. There was a blatant error in it that peeved me off so that I decided to forego on the last riddle.

[BBP]

At the Cluedo forum I moderate sometimes games are hosted by its members in good ol' adventure game style. Currently there's a nice murder mystery going on called The Golden Goddess. I'm very curious to see what happens!
https://theartofmurder.com/forums/viewt ... =1&t=22036

[notbobsmith]

I recently finished the Halo Master Chief Collection. I never had an XBox and only played Halo 1 & 2 on the PC. One thing really bugged me about Halo 4, though. I had no idea what was going on. New characters and races are introduced (The Didact?) which characters seem to know but I never heard of. I'm wondering if some of the plot elements are from other media like books or comics. If so, that's really annoying. I spent the game chasing some guy who I don't know who is trying to do something for reasons I don't understand. I know most people play this for the multiplayer and never touch the single player campaign, but it would be nice if something resembling a coherent story was present.

[Tawmis]

I recently finished the Halo Master Chief Collection. I never had an XBox and only played Halo 1 & 2 on the PC. One thing really bugged me about Halo 4, though. I had no idea what was going on. New characters and races are introduced (The Didact?) which characters seem to know but I never heard of. I'm wondering if some of the plot elements are from other media like books or comics. If so, that's really annoying. I spent the game chasing some guy who I don't know who is trying to do something for reasons I don't understand. I know most people play this for the multiplayer and never touch the single player campaign, but it would be nice if something resembling a coherent story was present.

I immensely enjoyed Halo 1-3.
Never finished Halo 4, for the very reason stated above.

[notbobsmith]

I immensely enjoyed Halo 1-3.
Never finished Halo 4, for the very reason stated above.

Halo 1-3 were quite good. I also enjoyed Reach and ODST. But 4... I mean the gameplay is fine, but I had no idea what was going on. Cortana says "Oh no! A Didact!" and I'm "A what?" and it just loses me from there.

[Rath Darkblade]

I've never played Halo (not a big fan of sci-fi or shooters). But this:

...I had no idea what was going on. Cortana says "Oh no! A Didact!" and I'm "A what?" and it just loses me from there.

... just makes me think that I'm not missing much in Halo 4. Am I right?

By the way, someone saying "Oh no! A [insert something here!]" always reminds me of this guy:

The sky is falling! Run for the hills! And so on.

There's nothing wrong with surprises. If the Didact (whatever that is) immediately appears after she says "Oh no!", then OK, that works. But if she says "Oh no! A Didact!" -- and then nothing happens ... well, I wouldn't blame you for being confused (or bored, or doing this ... )

[notbobsmith]

I've never played Halo (not a big fan of sci-fi or shooters). But this:

...I had no idea what was going on. Cortana says "Oh no! A Didact!" and I'm "A what?" and it just loses me from there.

... just makes me think that I'm not missing much in Halo 4. Am I right?

By the way, someone saying "Oh no! A [insert something here!]" always reminds me of this guy:

oh_noes.png

There's nothing wrong with surprises. If the Didact (whatever that is) immediately appears after she says "Oh no!", then OK, that works. But if she says "Oh no! A Didact!" -- and then nothing happens ... well, I wouldn't blame you for being confused (or bored, or doing this ... )

Basically, I felt like I missed a chapter. Characters had more knowledge of what was going on and never filled in the player. That's why I suspect some of these plot points were covered in a book or comic.

[Rath Darkblade]

That's annoying. Why wasn't there a pause where you can say, "Hold on -- what the f%&@ are you talking about?!?"

[BBP]

Restoring my GK3 savegames proves harder than I thought. I had them for full points and with GK3, since such a lot of the minor points can be scored in different time blocks, it's hard to keep track of what I missed based on points at certain points in savegames alone.