What games are you playing?

I went ahead and started Outer Worlds before christmas, and while I did enjoy it, I got burnt out quite quickly on it - 12 or so hours played. I keep thinking about the game, and know I'll revisit it, but probably when I have more time.

Also took a chance on the Xbox Game Pass for PC so I could play Forza 4, and while I loved it and had a great time, I let the subscription lapse becasue I couldn't justify the monthly cost for one game, plus I own most of the other available games I'd play on Steam or Epic.

I downloaded a load of shorter games I own on Steam but haven't yet played with the intention of making my way through them slowly. Already played and loved The Stanley Parable, and now the five year wait so i can revisit it to get that pesky acheivement!!

Back on GTA Online too, though it still frustrated me when modders turn up and either ruin the lobby or kick you. However, if anyone is on GTA Online add me: chitman13 (also my Steam and Epic username if anyone wants to add me on them).
 
Still on Hearthstone. Love the fact that single games only take about ten minutes. Very different from the good old World of Warcraft days, where sessions could easily last more than four hours (and in quite a few cases, cost more than time alone :)
 
Never really been a gamer, but i have plenty of games i want to play on my Steam account, but for some reason, i'm obsessed with Half Life 2. I have played all the fan mods that are available on Steam. I downloaded Black Mesa last week and have been thoroughly enjoying myself. Although some parts feel a little truncated compared to the original Half Life, (a lot of the bits that i found difficult and frustrating in the original have been cut from Black Mesa), i am still amazed at just how big the game is.

I hope they do an update for Opposing Force and Blue Shift too.
 
Pokeing about in Disco Elysium a very strange RPG that came out in 2019. The look is pure dystopia sat in a decayed sort of French port adjacent to a city.... your first large task is to get a corpse that has been hanging from a tree and decomposing for a week. You are a detective who has been on a bender that has stripped you of much of your memory including your memory. A sober Detective from an adjacent precinct has been assigned to help you.... so Fay the way I am playing it the thrust seems to be mostly psychologica.

not sure how long I will stick with it as it is very slow (or perhaps I an very slow in understanding what is ...ing going ono_O
 
Drove an enjoyable Train Simulator 2021 'Standard Scenario' while ago. It takes place on the Ise of Wight, Britain. The train consisted of an LBSCR E4 tank loco pulling a string of SECR "Birdcage" coaches. I was skeptical of getting far in this scenario, as my experience with the E4 to-date hasn't been stellar, due to it relying on steam rather than vacuum brakes. To my surprise, steam brake or no steam brake, I had no problem driving it. Nor did I fall behind schedule, my most common failure. I admit to deliberately speeding to keep on schedule, but hey, it worked. I reached the scenario's final station with a few minutes to spare.

Here's a 4n1 captured during the scenario, one image being of the DEBRIEF screen:
HEDZjPT.jpg


Here's a 6min 30sec video of an honest-to-goodness LBSCR E4 in action:
 
I think I read that the last 1930s stock of unit trains in daily use are on the Isle of Wight are they former underground trains?

the game looks like it has fine visuals and from what you say above, they did well with the physics as well.

The simulation does not seem to be available on the Apple macOS app store and I no longer play with software that has not been passed as safe from hacking with Apple in terms of such security.

Getting paranoid in my old age

Back in the 90s I spent a wonderful week on the Watercress Line firing and driving a 9F with a full rake of coaches What fabulous fun that was.... hard work as well I lost over a stone despite sinking up to 8 or ten pints of good real ale each night.
 
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I found I was wasting time on GTA Online and not really doing anything. Uninstalled.

I've downloaded a load of what I think are shorter games to play over the coming weeks, and up first is one called Submerged. It's a very nice free-roaming game that is basically fetch quests. However, it's easy to play with no combat and all about the experience. Plus it looks good (most of the time).
 
I think I read that the last 1930s stock of unit trains in daily use are on the Isle of Wight are they former underground trains?

the game looks like it has fine visuals and from what you say above, they did well with the physics as well.

The simulation does not seem to be available on the Apple macOS app store and I no longer play with software that has not been passed as safe from hacking with Apple in terms of such security.

Getting paranoid in my old age

Back in the 90s I spent a wonderful week on the Watercress Line firing and driving a 9F with a full rake of coaches What fabulous fun that was.... hard work as well I lost over a stone despite sinking up to 8 or ten pints of good real ale each night.
I too seem to recall that old Underground Units were moved to Isle of Wight once 'retired' from their primary route. I want to say the original Underground have recent been, or will soon be, replaced by newer 'retired' Units. But don't quote me.

Alas, the MAC seems to be less and less a 'gamers' platform these days. I believe I've mentioned that Trainz: A New Era (TANE) is (or at least was) available for MAC. Train Simulator is, imo, overall the better product. But Trainz has its pluses. Depending on your desires, TANE prove acceptable. (TANE's replacement, Trainz 2019, does 'not' have a MAC version.) But I'd advise scoping it out first. One thing, older Trainz routes can be rather scenically primative. Older Train Simulator routes, on the whole, hold up better. On the other hand, the latest Trainz routes can be quite scenically appealing, with some advantages over Train Simulator. (Trainz grasses, for instance, imo easily best those in TS.) The most graphically advanced is Train Sim World, also not available for MAC. I gave it a spin, but abandoned it once it became obvious promised steam train offerings weren't going to materialize any time soon.
 
I am considering the Microsoft Xbox series X once production catches up with the back orders and the scalpers crawl back in their lairs... I am not about to spend upwards of $700+ on eBay I saw the $500 retail stock unit listed at $ 1,999.00 buy it now.... who pays so far over retail for a game console? 2 grand will buy a fairly useable PC configured with a med high end graphics card and it will have a better selection of games... there don’t seem to be many Xbox series X games taking full advantage yet anyway.
Any RR simulation products for the Xbox? The series x is said to play all games back to the Xbox 360 days.
 
I'm the same. I never purchased the xbox one, but I'm going to get xBx when they are readily available. There's no way I'd pay the prices the ebay nonces are looking for.
 
For those who suffer from insomnia, I come to the rescue with a Train Simulator 2021 YouTube episode, documenting a QuickDrive session along Lenton-on-Sea Steam Workshop route. The train consists of a (British) Gresley GNR N2 0-6-2T steam locomotive in LNER apple green, pulling five Gresley Teak railway carriages. It begins at Jasper’s Slaughter House and ends at Fenbury, with four passenger stops in-between. Gods help us all, the drive continues in a future upload. Not originally intended for public consumption, production values are fairly basic, mainly views from the cab, that being how I prefer to drive steam locos. I find the journey compelling, yet admit to a certain bias. Either you enjoy this sort of thing or you don't. Which can be said of pretty much any and everything, come to think on it.

 
I had a real yen to play a Star Wars game last night, so i'm getting into Jedi Knight: Outcast and Jedi Academy.

The graphics aren't too bad considering it's age and i'm enjoying playing them. I hope that Lucasfilm Games return to Kyle Katarn's story.
 
I've been playing Transport Fever hot & heavy since the beginning of the week, my first extended stay since mid 2020. I concentrated solely on adding scenery to a heretofore ignored section of the map. I have finally admitted to myself that the map is over and done with so far as improvements to its railway network are concerned. Too many serious errors in judgement early on. To rectify that, I'd need to strip large chunks of my tracks and railway stations to bare earth and start afresh. At that point I might as well begin afresh on a new map, where I would hopefully do better from the start. That's unlikely to happen. Besides, I still have lots of scenery to add to my current map. Speaking of which...

I have unleashed my first Transport Fever Scenic Excursions episode in months. A passenger train ride along a newly scenicked landscape, from Sittingbourne to Bebington and back again. Our first visit to Bebington. My first YouTube video posting as a septuagenarian, having turned seventy 28 Jan 2021:
 
I recently published another video documenting my Daggerfall Unity character, exploring the bowels of Community of Vannausa (dungeon), assigned by Daggerfall City Fighters Guild to remove a Gargoyle. We see the crawl itself and its aftermath. DFU graphics mods are on display, though that's incidental, not my primary focus this time round. My current DFU install is, as of early Feb 2021, dated. Footage was captured prior to DFU officially entering Beta status. Likewise, several mods have updated beyond what is seen here, D.R.E.A.M. included. Captured at 1080p, it is rendered and uploaded at 1440p. It looks decent at 1080p windowed. However, dungeon fog renders more naturally at 1440p when viewed full-screen, even on a 1080p monitor. Text narrative and music but no vocal commentary.

(PS: I do NOT monetize, so have no economic incentive to link these game-related videos. I merely enjoy capturing some of my play-sessions and airing them before the public, warts and all.)
 
I've played mainly TpF1 these past several weeks, along with a bit of TS2021 and my first-ever sessions with Transport Fever 2. With the latter I'm just goofing around at the moment, not attempting anything serious.

As for TpF1, I do what I usually do, add / modify scenery along various train routes. Here's a route whose scenery has only recently been completed. (Portions of its scenery have been in place a good two-plus years.)
 
Haven't done much gaming these past several days, not helped by crash-to-desktop issues with both TpF1 and TpF2. That's hopefully behind me now, but I dread being proved wrong. My great fear is that my GTX 1070 might be going bad. This is absolutely NOT the right time to need a new graphics card. The RTX 3000 series is, imo, overpriced even at SRP. Due to scarcity they sell for hundreds more than SRP, assuming you can find one at all. I normally settle for a xx70 variant. This time around I'd want an xx80 variant, if at all possible. But again, no way will I pay what they sell for these days. At any rate, after day-before-yesterday's strange behavior cleared I'm not having any visible issues, rendering pricing a moot point.

Speaking of which, I've a new TpF1 Scenic Excursion episode. As with all recent episodes, stutter is evident, only objectionable, imo, during a portion of the return trip:
 
In recently days I've fiddled around a bit in TpF2, the TpF1 replace I've yet to make up my mind able. I also drove several TS2021 QuickDrive steam-locomotive practice sessions. Lastly, I've yet another TpF1 train-ride video on offer. Like all late-stage TpF1 videos, stutter can be an issue at times. Text narrative is a mess thanks to my being extra muddleheaded during the entire time I allotted myself to complete the project. Still, I like the route and the tank loco that pulls our train:
 
I have downloaded Jedi: Fallen Order. (I bought this on release, but haven't gotten around to playing it until recently.) It's actually pretty good. I was concerned that the game play wouldn't be so great as the computer takes over quite a bit. It's enjoyable and the levels and worlds are quite well designed. I feel like i'm in Star Wars. Hoping for a sequel.
 

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