Deus Ex 3. I shit you not.

[Miasma]

Pretty great so far even though I'm only advancing at a snail pace so that I can look around everywhere.

My only issue is the load times, I'm running it off an ssd drive so it shouldn't be a problem, but it is.  Going to have to google up some answers.

[Lantyssa]

David Sariff has a diploma from the online university of Phoenix on his wall 

Jensen does, too!

[Threash]

My urge to look behind every box and crate and find every possible secret is having a fight to the death with my urge to try to maximize exp bonuses (you get a bonus for doing things fast called "getting things done").

[K9]

My urge to look behind every box and crate and find every possible secret is having a fight to the death with my urge to try to maximize exp bonuses (you get a bonus for doing things fast called "getting things done").

I hate those sort of boni, especially in a game which can emphasize stealth...

[Threash]

My urge to look behind every box and crate and find every possible secret is having a fight to the death with my urge to try to maximize exp bonuses (you get a bonus for doing things fast called "getting things done").

I hate those sort of boni, especially in a game which can emphasize stealth...

You can't reward just one kind of playstyle though.  There are rewards for exploring every nook, there are rewards for playing stealthily, i for one am glad there are rewards for doing things the direct way.

[Ingmar]

I guess I should get around to playing the original before this eh?

[Threash]

It's a prequel, you could just as well play it after.

[K9]

My urge to look behind every box and crate and find every possible secret is having a fight to the death with my urge to try to maximize exp bonuses (you get a bonus for doing things fast called "getting things done").

I hate those sort of boni, especially in a game which can emphasize stealth...

You can't reward just one kind of playstyle though.  There are rewards for exploring every nook, there are rewards for playing stealthily, i for one am glad there are rewards for doing things the direct way.

I mean that I get annoyed when a game based around story has arbitrary end-of level bonuses that do nothing to further the gameplay. I think challenge modes are great, and offer great replayability, but I think they need to be separate from the core gameplay.

[Miasma]

I go really slow and always get the "getting things done" xp so I don't think it's time based.  You get bonus xp for finding areas, hacking, non-lethal take downs etc when you go slow too.  You also get bonus xp for not causing an alert or not being seen so going slow is fine for xp bonuses.

[Rokal]

I guess I should get around to playing the original before this eh?

I'd just play Human Revolution. You won't really miss much if you haven't played the original (some fore-shadowing, mostly). I don't know how well the first holds up, 11 years later.

[K9]

I replayed it about a year ago and it was bearable. Once I got past the first level I really stopped noticing the graphics and fell back into the story. The gameplay holds up really well, and is still better than most modern games, and there were no obviosu moments where the game used some antiquated convention which has since been improved upon.

There is also a high resolution textures mod, although I haven't used it, so I cannot vouch for the quality.

That said, I don't see any reason why you would need to play the original first. You should still play the original though.

[kildorn]

I go really slow and always get the "getting things done" xp so I don't think it's time based.  You get bonus xp for finding areas, hacking, non-lethal take downs etc when you go slow too.  You also get bonus xp for not causing an alert or not being seen so going slow is fine for xp bonuses.

Getting things done = mission complete bonus.

Explorer or something = found an alternate route bonus

ghost = nobody raised an alarm bonus

[Rasix]

I guess I should get around to playing the original before this eh?

I don't know how well the first holds up, 11 years later.

Pretty well actually.  Visually, it's a big bowl of MEH, but it can be improved with some high rez texture packs and mods.  The individual mechanics of everything was never the strong point of the game, so in a weird way it doesn't really matter if they don't match up to current expectations  (no chest high walls, etc).

I'd say if you can still play VTM: Bloodlines, you can still play Deus Ex. 

But yah, all you're likely going to miss is some nod-nod wink-wink references and portents of things to come.

[Lucas]

The first one is (arguably) still the best single-player computer game of the last 11 years, so yeah, I guess it still holds up pretty well :)

[Rasix]

Convenient time frame leaves PS:T out of the equation.    But yah, the original is one of my most favorite gaming experiences ever.   I go back and forth over which I like better, but I got more replay out of Deus Ex.

Human Revolution captures a lot of what the original had going for it.  I can't wait for tonight.  Sorry inFamous, I'll finish you later.

[Lucas]

Convenient time frame leaves PS:T out of the equation.    But yah, the original is one of my most favorite gaming experiences ever.   I go back and forth over which I like better, but I got more replay out of Deus Ex.

Human Revolution captures a lot of what the original had going for it.  I can't wait for tonight.  Sorry inFamous, I'll finish you later.

Hehe, true about PS:T :). Infact, in my personal "best 20 of all time" (remember the thread about it a few years ago?), PS:T is at n.2 and Deus Ex at n.3  (Ultima Underworld 2 still at the top, sorry  )

[Kitsune]

ghost = nobody raised an alarm bonus

Smooth operator is the no alarms went off bonus.  Ghost is a you weren't spotted by people bonus.  Though that's nebulous and (thankfully) fairly forgiving; I got glimpsed coming around a corner to use my taser shotgun on two schmucks but had them both down before they got out more than a 'Huh? Who's there?', and I still got the ghost bonus.  I think that in order to botch the ghost bonus someone has to spot you long enough to pull out a gun and start shooting at you.  i.e. a red alarm, not yellow.

As I was dragging unconscious bodies behind crates, I missed being able to easily just pick them up and throw them like the original.  I also missed that cheesy bloodstain texture that would appear under the bodies.

But I loved that they used the woman's scream from the start of System Shock 2 in the bad alleys of town, and that I walked by some street bum whistling the original Deus Ex theme.

And after dealing with lots of not-exactly-inspiring business owners in my line of work, David Sarif's voice acting is dead on.  It gives me flashbacks to almost identical voices saying things like, "I think we'll do without a backup system for a few months and see where the money is in December."

[caladein]

A single-player stealth/cover shooter is probably my least favorite genre after real-time strategy but that can't keep me from enjoying this game quite a bit.  A complaint though: once you get jump enhancement you do start to realize how many invisible walls there are .

[Threash]

ghost = nobody raised an alarm bonus

Smooth operator is the no alarms went off bonus.  Ghost is a you weren't spotted by people bonus.  Though that's nebulous and (thankfully) fairly forgiving; I got glimpsed coming around a corner to use my taser shotgun on two schmucks but had them both down before they got out more than a 'Huh? Who's there?', and I still got the ghost bonus.  I think that in order to botch the ghost bonus someone has to spot you long enough to pull out a gun and start shooting at you.  i.e. a red alarm, not yellow.

Ghost = nobody going hostile, so the alarmed "is anybody there" mode doesn't count.  That just means they heard you, if they saw you they would immediately go hostile.

[Kitsune]

A single-player stealth/cover shooter is probably my least favorite genre after real-time strategy but that can't keep me from enjoying this game quite a bit.  A complaint though: once you get jump enhancement you do start to realize how many invisible walls there are .

I appreciate a protagonist who can't eat a dozen SMG rounds and still be standing.  The cover-based shooter gameplay may be stale as a genre, but it really does just make sense to get your ass behind something sturdy when bullets start flying.

In other news, my copy was still wrapped and had its coupon inside despite coming from Gamestop, but I picked it up before lunch on launch day before that memo apparently went out.  I'm rather hopeful that some regulatory agency puts their balls in a vice over a practice like that.

[MuffinMan]

If it's a game that requires STEAM registration are they going to start opening the case and removing the game disc?

[Vaiti]

It couldn't hurt to help them destroy themselves faster.

[NiX]

Pretty great so far even though I'm only advancing at a snail pace so that I can look around everywhere.

My only issue is the load times, I'm running it off an ssd drive so it shouldn't be a problem, but it is.  Going to have to google up some answers.

Don't waste your time too much on that search. Apparently it's the coding and not something you can fix even if you have an SSD.

[Miasma]

Actually it sounds stupid but it was suggested on the steam forums to turn off vertical sync of all things.  I have no idea why that would have any bearing on load times but it did cut it down from 40-60secs to 15-20secs.  Maybe there is some sideffect of the change or they are caching stuff...

[Strazos]

Am I the only person who keeps VSYNC on? I hate the tearing I get when it's turned off.

[Miasma]

Oh yeah it's on by default and I notice the tearing now but it's worth not staring at the load screen.

[Lantyssa]

Am I the only person who keeps VSYNC on? I hate the tearing I get when it's turned off.

I don't get tearing unless my video card is melting down.  And considering how much vsynch tends to interfere with other aspects of games, I always check it off first thing.

[MuffinMan]

Gamestop is now just pulling the game from the shelf.

[kildorn]

Am I the only person who keeps VSYNC on? I hate the tearing I get when it's turned off.

I usually keep it on. In this case, it was completely fucking with the mouse movement for me, to the point where I'd be putting half my rounds into innocent walls because the mouse wouldn't stop moving when I told it to.

The tearing is pretty bad when moving quickly, but it's actually playable for me now

[Vaiti]

Soooo...  

Upcoming titles Steamworks:

Yeah, I realize this is all due to the OnLive coupon, and I kind of get how they are just trying to trim down on potential smaller competitors by cockblocking OnLive. But... this just seems very poorly thought out.

[Strazos]

I usually have VSync on in all games. Haven't noticed any ill effects.


Also, is GameStop just going to stop selling PC now?

[Margalis]

Actually it sounds stupid but it was suggested on the steam forums to turn off vertical sync of all things.  I have no idea why that would have any bearing on load times but it did cut it down from 40-60secs to 15-20secs.  Maybe there is some sideffect of the change or they are caching stuff...

Maybe the loading works by doing a certain amount of work per-frame. That would be my guess.

[Tale]

If I was in the USA I could buy this on Steam for US$49.99.

Because I am in Australia, Steam wants to charge me US$69.99.

FUCK OFF. FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCKOFF.

[UnSub]

It is because the bits have so much further to travel! 

[Lucas]

C'mon, only 5 more hours then I'll see if my store is willing to break the street date (it's a private store, no part of a big chain, if you kindly ask them they are usually willing to sell you a copy one day in advance :D). Currently playing the original Deus Ex, using it as methadone. I can make it!