Very true. Sadly game dev is a risky endeavor at the best of times. Steam/other storefronts are very noisy environments for devs with little spare change for marketing. On the flipside, digital distribution and storefronts mean that it’s way more feasible to self-publish than it was twenty or thirty years ago. At least, as far as I’m aware. I know there were standouts like Cave Story in the early days.
Some YouTube videos came out that launched both into wider discussion. Both never had proper sequels or successors, so they stand as unique experiences even twenty years later. I don’t say this to diss modern Bethesda, but that they are both distinct enough from Oblivion and Skyrim to have staying power in their niches.
Daggerfall Unity makes that game playable and smooth on modern hardware, and Morrowind modding projects like Tamriel Rebuilt and Project Tamriel (just released an Anvil expansion!) bring in new and old fans alike. OpenMW does for Morrowind what Unity does for Daggerfall, although stock GOTY Morrowind still runs fine IIIRC.
AAA may be all but dead, (so far gone that even E3 died) but indies have been in a perpetual golden age since Shovel Knight and Undertale came out. And if boomer shooters and Morrowind/Daggerfall can have a modern renaissance, it can happen to other games/genres too.
If Trump gets those tariffs the American people will turn on conservatives when it spikes prices. Inflation killed Harris, it can do the same to Trump. If anything, the fastest way for MAGA to die is for them to fight over power and squander four years with infighting and suicidal policy calls. Factor in razor-thin house/senate margins and even a competent admin would have trouble, let alone Elon and Trump.
My hope is that Vance suffers the same fate Hillary did when he tries to hold Trump’s coalition together.
I bought it on GOG and it worked out of the box, but I might just be lucky.
Fallout New Vegas, finally getting around to playing it!
Ah yes, the crown jewel of the Ouya!
In my experience with TF2, many popular community servers have common-sense rules like no slurs, cheats, etc. The great thing about a player-run server is that, if you want, it can be stricter than official guidelines, as Valve for example is pretty hands-off beyond the obvious in-game cheats. It allows pockets of the community to shape the experience they want to have more adeptly than official servers ever could.
They were going to implement “harsher” (read: more invasive) anti-cheat at some point, but it never happened as development stalled. Some say the devs are lazy, but I think it’s just the classic feature creep that cripples passion projects with zero oversight. Star Citizen is the highest profile example, although I think the feature creep is part of its appeal to a lot of people. So that might be an imperfect example.
Deep Rock Galactic is still actively developed, so there is hope. An indie titanfall-like is in early development too. If boomer shooters can have a revival, so can classic multiplayer…
I also blame the broken sound update, and the focus on class balance changes over new weapons and maps. Even when they did make new maps, they’d often be overhauling a bad, but fun map into a fine, but generic map (new Basra). Imagine if Valve “fixed” 2fort or Dustbowl. I think it’s that bad, given old Basra’s ridiculous sniper battles were a highlight for me.
Was it unbalanced? Absolutely. But it was stupid fun and something no other game had. The choke point in the middle was just a big mosh pit, but it was so much fun because of how people used proximity chat. Helicoptering over the carnage while someone played 70’s rock over radio was part of why that game went viral.
I know the map isn’t removed from the pool entirely, but it speaks to a design philosophy I personally disagree with. Having a couple “bad” but funny maps are more important than having a bunch of okay generic maps. New Wakistan looks to be making the same mistakes (if it’s ever released).
This ended up being long. I played for a couple hundred hours, so I guess I’m passionate about it :).
Oh, whoops. That’s what I get for skimming :).
If you found HL1 dated, there’s a good remake in source: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
Even as a purist (HL1 is my favorite FPS period), I love how Black Mesa handles the source material. It’s on sale for $5 right now too. Besides Valve’s other games, check out F.E.A.R (2005), Doom series and the Bungie Halo games.
Especially considering that a particular Final Fantasy game has one of the most famously spoiled twists. You’d think they of all people would know.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:15-17
This verse pops into my mind when fellow “Christians” praise Trump. It saddens me that they are happy to help a crook and a rapist into power, all because “the Democrats are worse.” Elect a more morally upstanding republican then! Why does it have to be THIS guy?
I question if they ever actually read the Bible with an open mind… after all, wasn’t Satan the one to tempt Jesus with earthly political power? Even if Dems were worse, didn’t Christ call us to love our enemies? They’ve completely lost the plot, and then wonder why the Western church is in decline.
Imagine if he lives and runs write-in campaign, or endorses Gaetz or Lake for '28 and throws the GOP primary into chaos… at this point I’m rooting for him to live out his term since Vance could execute the Project 2025 agenda more competently.
Until they die, yep! I just took it from the official wiki. I didn’t include weak point or armor break numbers, so this is just the raw HP for normal body shots.
Check out Tamriel Rebuilt too! It’s a mod to add the mainland that, while incomplete, already has 100s of quests. Good quality control too.
Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind lets you fly around, jump over whole cities, and kill most NPCs with one high powered spell. It’s a very unique game, but if it clicks with you there’s nothing quite like it. Vibrant modding scene too.
The base game is certainly playable, but if you want modern resolutions and some vanilla-friendly bug fixes OpenMW is an open source recreation of the engine, there’s instructions on their website.
Love me some Cave Story!