status 2023

2023.01.30

Playing something new/old with AOE1 Definitive Edition. Considering getting AOE2 DE (on sale), but my system is already sluggish with the first DE so there's no rush. AOE3 DE will have to wait even longer.

Looking over Steam and GOG sales there are some good deals, but I just don't feel like it. I have so much in my Steam account already, and boxes of old games to replay, it's hard to justify buying games my old system can't even play.

2023.02.07

That didn't last long - some Steam sales I can't pass by:

$1.49 LYNE

$1.99 Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York (2019)

$3.99 Papers, Please (2013)

$9.99 Call of Duty (2003)

CoD is overpriced, but the price do not seem to get any better over the years (checking stats on isthereanydeal), and it's an action game my current system should be able to handle. And it's something of historical value that I missed playing at the time.

2023.02.27 Steam

$1.99 The Hex (2018)

$5.99 XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)

2023.03.12 Steam

$1.99 Milo and the Magpies (2021)

$7.99 The Sherlock Holmes Collection (2008-2009)

$1.99 Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles (2012)

$1.49 Paradise Lost (2021)

$0.49 Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk (2020)

$1.99 INSIDE (2016)

2023.04.12

$3.49 Bloons TD 6 (2018)

$3.74 Jade Empire: Special Edition

$3.74 Alone in the Dark Anthology (1993...)

$3.99 Alice: Madness Returns (2011)

$4.99 Medal of Honor (2010)

2023.04.13

In between games. Time to consider and give time to the regulars; the games I've been playing for years along with whatever the current game is: GTA5, TF2, June's Journey.

2023.04.29

Made myself play some TF2, just to keep up with that. Why is L4D 1 and 2 still installed? Play a round of each.

2023.05.08 GoG

$1.97 Empire Earth Gold Edition

$1.49 Tropico Reloaded

$1.74 Total Annihilation: Commander Pack

$0.59 Desert Law

2023.05.16 Steam, really good Bioware Mega Collection:

$4.49 Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition

$4.79 Dragon Age Inquisition

$4.79 Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition

$14.99 Mass Effect Legendary Edition

$7.49 Dragon Age II: Ultimate Edition

46% Bundle discount, total $19.73

$1.99 Mirror's Edge Catalyst

$4.49 Max Payne Bundle (1 & 2)

$3.74 Hearts of Iron 2 - Complete

$2.99 Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection

$2.49 Crusader Kings Complete

$2.49 Hearts of Iron III

$0.97 Just Cause

$1.49 Just Cause 2

$2.99 Just Cause 3

all that for $43.37

2023.05.25 GoG

$2.99 Beyond Good & Evil

$1.49 AER - Memories of Old

General rule: if it's on my wishlist, and under $4, just buy it.

If it's on sale for like 85% off, maybe still get if under $10, especially if it's older, and/or unlikely to go much lower.

Some very old games are seemingly locked at unwarranted high prices like $20, $30, etc. and are almost never on sale.

2023.06.10 GoG

sale on Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 Enhanced; already have on steam, but these give access to the originals, and I'll want to try those

$ 2.99 Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

$ 2.39 Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Weird, I can't add those to my cart and keep shopping. It starts a new cart.

Next cart:

$ 3.74 F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin + Reborn

$ 1.99 Star Control I & II

Steam

$1.49 AER Memories of Old

$3.74 SLUDGE LIFE

$3.99 Star Control I and II

$4.49 The Talos Principle

$3.99 Wallpaper Engine

2023.06.10

Looking through the blog - what ever happened to Starcraft Remastered?

2023.06.11

OK, so I'm playing that now.

2023.06.12 GoG

$2.39 Master of Orion 1+2

$1.49 Imperialism

$1.49 Anvil of Dawn

$0.99 The Fall

$1.99 Apsulov: End of Gods

$0.59 Mainframe Defenders

$0.97 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

2023.06.17 It's good to have an RTS back in the back - so good, I think I should always have one in the rotation.

2023.06.26 GoG

$1.64 Arx Fatalis

$1.64 DOOM 64

2.49 FTL: Advanced Edition

1.99 Hotline Miami

2.99 Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

3.74 Jade Empire: Special Edition

1.99 Metro 2033 Redux

2.99 Primordia

3.99 Quake

1.99 Quake II

3.99 Star Wars Battlefront (Classic, 2004)

2.09 Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga

1.49 Starflight 1+2

1.99 STASIS: Deluxe Edition

3.99 The Longest Journey

1.69 Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space

2023.06.29

$9.99 Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition

A little out of my usual price range, but I don't think this set will get much cheaper before my next computer.

2023.06.30 GoG

free Beholder 2

2023.07.03

I prefer having everything on Steam, and GoG is good too, but reluctantly Battle.net has to be in the mix. There's just not other way to get their games.

I thought I was done with Diablo 2, but Diablo II: Resurrected exists, and D2 was so great that I have to at least try it, and there's a huge sale now. Each of these are 67% off.

$39.99 $13.19 Diablo II: Resurrected

    comes with nothing

$49.99 $16.49 Diablo Prime Evil Upgrade

    adds D3, Reaper of Souls, Rise of the Necromancer, pet + wings

$59.99 $19.79 Diablo Prime Evil Collection

    same as above

I already have D3, Reaper, and Rise, so... I'll just get D2:R

Warcraft III: Reforged is half off; $14.99 for Standard Edition. Worth it? It's been a while, but I don't remember WC3 that fondly, though I remember playing as the undead was cool. And that solo RPG after the main story was nice... last thing I remember was something about a panda.

(didn't get it - the community hates it)

2023.07.12 Steam summer sale

Wolf Pack:

$1.99 Return to Castle Wolfenstein

$1.49 Wolfenstein 3D

N/A Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Valve Complete Pack (already have 17 of 22 items)

$0.99 Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

$0.99 Day of Defeat: Source

free Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

$1.49 Payday The Heist

might as well take the extras

$0.39 Payday The Heist Soundtrack

$0.99 Payday The Heist: Wolfpack DLC

$1.59 Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours

$1.64 DOOM 64

$1.69 Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space

$1.74 Tropico Reloaded

$2.49 Endless Space - Definitive Edition

$2.49 Please, Don’t Touch Anything

$3.39 Stasis - Deluxe Edition

$2.99 Outlast

$2.99 Harvester

$4.04 Jazzpunk: Director's Cut Complete Edition

$7.49 Watch_Dogs Complete

$4.49 Technobabylon

$0.89 Technobabylon Soundtrack

$4.99 Victoria II

2023.07.28

Done with Starcraft Remastered. Uninstalled, archived.

Now what, SC2 Wings of Liberty again? It might be interesting to compare.

Updating...

2023.07.30

OK, so I'm playing this, for now: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010) [revisit 2023].

2023.07.30 Steam

$19.79 Red Dead Redemption 2 (2019)

$4.99 Black Mesa (2020)

2023.09.01 GoG

$ 2.49 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

$ 2.49 Heroes of Might and Magic 2: Gold

$ 2.49 Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete

$ 1.49 Cossacks Anthology

$ 1.49 Albion

$ 5.99 UnderRail

$ 2.99 FAR: Lone Sails

$ 2.49 Cossacks II Anthology

$ 1.49 Beholder

2023.09.04 Steam

$3.29 Stronghold HD

$3.49 Stronghold Crusader HD

$4.99 Rise of Nations: Extended Edition

2023.10.06 Steam

$3.49 Vampire Survivors

$1.99 Dracula: Love Kills

$3.99 Supreme Commander Gold Edition

2023.10.12 GoG

$2.49 Anno 1602 A.D.

$2.49 World in Conflict: Complete Edition

$2.99 XCOM 2

2023.11.01

$0.90 Californium

$2.99 The Evil Within

$3.99 The Void

$4.49 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

2023.11.10 GoG

$6.69 Blade Runner (1997)
this is rarely on sale, and even though the cd is in the attic, i might as well have it handy

2023.11.27 Steam

$3.99 Gothic Universe Edition (Gothic 1 (2001), Gothic II: Gold Edition (2005), Gothic 3 (2009))

$2.99 Prey (2017)

$3.99 DOOM (2016)

$3.99 Firewatch (2016)

status 2016 May - Oct

2016.05.09
Going through the Steam "Queue" (suggested recommendations?), I find Factorio. Funny reviews, maybe even a good game, added to wishlist.

Buy Dead Island Collection for $5.99, and Hatoful Boyfriend Collector's Edition for $3.74.

2016.07.25

While wrapping up the Fallout New Vegas post, I noticed Fallout 3 was still installed. I haven't cleaned house in a while.

There are a bunch of saves in C: that need to be moved to Z: (after deleting most of them and RAR'ing the rest).

In addition to Fallout 3 and NV saves, there's Age of Empires 3 saves, even though its not installed anymore.

2016.07.30
I have a bunch of Age of Empires (1 + 2, DLCs, etc.) installed, but in Windows, not in Steam. Uninstall all that. If I play AOE2 again, it should be the HD version in Steam.

I have two Plants vs Zombies installed. Uninstall from Steam, uninstall from Windows.

How is it that Planescape - Torment is still installed. Its like I can't even clean up after myself. I think sometimes, maybe most of the time, I slowly lose interest in something as I gain interest in something else. I usually don't draw a line and say no more of this.

Uninstaller says: "Unable to delete folder 'C:\Torment'."
There's still ~2gb left. Is this leftover from my first run through, and afterwards I installed some mods? Why didn't I delete this. Checking notes...

2016.09.02
I'm trying to alternate books with games, but sometimes I need something that's the equivalent of doing crossword puzzles, or playing Tetris. Right now, for me that's Left for Dead 2.

2016.09.11
Steam sales. Missed Borderlands. Got Dead Space for five bucks.

2016.09.19
Sometimes I connect to GTA 5 online. This is often prompted by some give-away that requires you log in that week. Its like I'm looking for something, but its not there, and I soon disconnect.

2016.09.25
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for $7.49 seems worth it, LA Noire, even at a dollar less, not so much.

2016.10.02
I'm spending more and more time playing GTA 5 Online, so it might as well get its own page.

2016.10.07
Steam sale, purchase Total Annihilation for $1.49.

2016.10.16
Steam sale, purchase Saints Row 2 for $2.49.

2016.10.18
Steam sale, purchase I Am Alive for $3.74.

status 2015 October

2015.10.01

Random Steam sale, Minerva's Den DLC for Bioshock 2 for $4.99. It reviews really well, and I liked Bioshock 2 well enough. And its short, so maybe I'll just play it now.

The Tomb Raider reboot from 2013 is also on sale for $3.99, also reviews really well. I'll take 'em both.

2015.10.11

So, Minerva's Den was scarcely a minor diversion.

I should note that I've been watching the Teens React: Gaming series for The Last of Us. For some reason their mix of reactions is compelling, even though its technically a lame playthrough. It comes out every couple of weeks, has been running for 8 months, and I guess has another month or so to go. I wonder if this game will ever be ported to PC, and if so, will it be a good enough port to care about.

I'm still looking up at the stars on clear nights and thinking about Mass Effect. Like poking a fire the next day and still finding coals glowing under the ash, my anger at the ending of ME3 is still there but going away slowly. All that work, all those carefully made decisions over three games, and the ending boils down to a simple A, B, C choice no matter how you got there.

I watch "ME3: Extended Cut Analysis + Leviathan DLC". Good conclusion that if that was the original ending, most of this controversy could have been avoided.

2015.10.12
It is remarkable that as I read various game sites and forums that Planescape is still coming up. Someday I might revisit the mods.

The weather is starting to get wintry. Soon it will be RPG time, specifically Fallout New Vegas.

2015.10.18
Checking in on Steam occasionally, I see some promotion for Grey Goo. Looks interesting, getting back to the roots of Starcraft and Command & Conquer. I've been increasingly disappointed in where Starcraft is going (action per minute, rock paper scissors, no walls or base defense etc.), and this looks hopeful.

A few things I've been thinking of the past few weeks, but haven't written:

I've been listening to the Retronauts podcast, and I just caught up to where they're talking about video game magazines. I have boxes of such old magazines in the attic, but haven't thought of them in a while, let alone looked at them. They didn't mention Dragon magazine, something I especially payed attention to when they mentioned a game.

I recent installed and showed World of Warcraft to someone. I kept telling myself that I'm not really playing this, I'm just demoing, then I'm moving on. Like an alcoholic wistfully spitting out the mouthwash, I uninstall and feel relieved. Not that the grapes are sour (or even fermentable), but what I saw wasn't all that intriguing. WoW is a riot of blocky colors, a place as noisy, crowded and empty as a shopping mall.

That got me thinking of why MMORPGs give me the shakes - my dormant mud addiction from the 90s. I wonder if I should post about Mystic Adventure here, or make its own mini-shrine. I'll probably just start another blog.

2015.10.24
Still slowly going through videogame withdrawal. I miss the light and the noise, Real Life is too slow, too quiet.
Thankfully, I don't have to decide anything right tonight, as Teens React: Gaming The Last of Us: Part 18 is out. These kids barely understand stealth play, listening, or inventory management, let alone searching every last pixel of the screen for resources. But they seem to be getting better.
Checking for any news of a PC port... no, and extremely unlikely for console exclusivity reasons. But you never know, Halo eventually got to PC.

2015.10.30
GTA V on sale for $40, something that rarely happens. So tempting, GTA would be perfect right now. Time to check video card requirements: 9800 minimum, GTX 660 recommended. Right now I'm using a GTX 460. I found a chart, and my card is right at the bottom, better would be a 780, or even better 970 or 980. My cpu and ram are OK.
What's the best card I can put in my aged Dell XPS 730x? A quick look and there is some trouble getting a 780 to to work. Looking at prices, it seems like around $300 at minimum, not including whatever extra I need to do for power.
I'm finally beginning to see the end for this computer for new games. But I have so many older games to play, I shouldn't run out any time soon.

Speaking of old games that won't stress my video card, there's a big Steam sale right now. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines and Grim Fandango for $5 each, and there's a lot more single digit priced games to check out.

2015.10.31
Let's not give up so quickly - what does YouTube have to say on the video card question? I watch a video of someone running GTA V on a GTX 460 with 2GB VRAM, running at decent size display with at least normal settings. Frame rates are not high, but they are acceptable for driving, and that's what you need.

I grab a few other sale items, and a recent discovery, and its time to go back to San Andreas.

2015.11.27
Checking out the Steam sales, I check out the Saint Row series again. It looks like a mod of GTA from several versions ago, yet highly produced. As a completionist, I find it highly annoying that Steam starts with game two in the series, yet some reviewers say its actually good to start the series here. Also that the GOG version is better than the Steam version, checking GOG, there are many contradictions to this. Since this series looks about as silly as the Borderlands series, I'll probably continue to ignore them both.

Steam sale to the rescue

Feeling kind of trapped in Diablo 2; can't quit, can't stop playing the game.

Suddenly, Steam comes to the rescue with a big summer sale. Left 4 Dead 2 has finally dropped from $19 to $9, and I can justify the purchase. I'm still fixated on getting all my games from the bargain bin.

I'm still trying to clear old inventory in chronological order, but L4D is a mostly mindless action game that can be quickly consumed. Its also a nice break. After this, its back to the 90s.