Jolt Country

So icj, I see you got the game! Have you tried it out for a few hours yet?

I'm really having a lot of fun with it. Forced to take a break from Texas Chainsaw Massacre the game as the developers just put out a patch that "temporarily" disabled cross-play due to PC cheaters, so this totally gives me an excuse to get into this single player game over my next few days off.

Initial impressions:

- With 16 gigs of older-gen RAM and a i7 CPU with a fairly outdated video card the game plays smooth as glass.
- The NPCs out and about to give the feeling of population seem pretty generic and dorky-looking.. but most of the NPCs I actually had to interact with are well done. The bartender at New Atlantis was charming enough to where damnit I will find her drink ingredients.
- The space flight system is cool. Scanning planets to receive a report of all elements to be found on them is extra cool. This element kind of reminds me of the old Starflight game.
- People have complained "it's not open world." No, of course not. There are multiple worlds. There is no "open world" because the GAME is "open" to EXPLORATION across OUTER SPACE! (note: it may feel a little on-rails at first as the game is in a sort of tutorial mode for the first couple of hours. There is a lot going on here and skipping all of that would probably lead to latter frustration.)
- The way the game looks, feels, and is presented makes me feel like I'm actually playing within a hit sci-fi show or movie I've never seen.
- Your robot that is your AI companion is neat. I like the line he spit out around the time I was about to gun down some space pirates that I should use caution because "combat usually results in human fatalities."

It's ok. You get a magnificent array of set pieces to look at, and I have unfortunately spent enough time staring at Daz3D objects on their store that I can recognize stock hairstyles and such, and it does seem like they are rolling their own content. So that is all great.

But you quickly go to an area where you have to shoot every single person you see. Just like Fallout 4. Just like Fallout 3. Not like New Vegas, which is the experience I think I'd prefer.

I am sure there are a million things to do, and I'll probably pick away at it. I have seen some, "the game really opens up after 20 hours!" comments, which is so incredibly awful for this hobby I no longer love like I used to. It's not going to change your life and it's not something I am glad I dropped $70 on. They did ruin the $70 price for me, I'll never bother again, I'd like to think.

70$ is bullshit. It’s as if they charged it knowing we’d pay it anyway lol

I wonder what percentage of people paid the $70 vs. just get it on Game Pass.

We're a Game Pass family! (I never play any of the Game Pass games, and will never play Starfield.)

Good point. Since I went at that price point, they should listen to MY feedback.

My impression is that Pinback does not like the "wander around an environment" genre, with The Witness being a kind of exception? Let us explore the man's preferences.

I don't like RPGs.

If a game starts with a bunch of "character creation" screens, I'm out.

I liked Elite: Dangerous cuz you were just you and you just wandered around the universe doing whatever. No wacky characters to skip dialogue, no HAND-CRAFTED QUESTS, no CHARACTER LEVELING.

No PICKING YOUR CLASS.

Also I'm angry at them because my wife has played, by now, I'm guessing at least 5000 hours of games like Skyrim and Mass Effect, instead of cleaning the house or using all that paint we bought last year which is still unopened in the garage.

The Witness was a puzzle game.

pinback wrote: Thu Sep 07, 2023 3:17 pm Also I'm angry at them because my wife has played, by now, I'm guessing at least 5000 hours of games like Skyrim and Mass Effect, instead of cleaning the house or using all that paint we bought last year which is still unopened in the garage.

Okay, but I bet her house in Skyrim looks really great so don't be that mad please.

Ignore what I said before, you CAN negotiate with people, at least - the next group of foes I found I was able to talk to. Now, a fight did break out, but that is ok. There was the option for role play.

The gravity on the planet that I was on was less and let me tell you, seeing enemies in the distance and then jumping 100 feet straight in the air and landing on them was AWESOME. The combat is really easy so far, I am just running at people like a rabies-infected spastic monster and shooting them once they start a fight with me. But that is ok, I don't need difficult combat right now.

It's a good game.

pinback wrote: Thu Sep 07, 2023 3:17 pm I don't like RPGs. If a game starts with a bunch of "character creation" screens, I'm out.

Understood, but imagine my surprise when I saw this exchange tonight.





They are really, really trying to gain your love and affection, my friend. They are trying.

Have you been to Tequila City on your birthday?

Yeah man I’m like 13 hours in and mainly just doing side quests having a lot of fun with it. Working on pistol certification as my main gun then rifles.

Space combat is great. Some ground battles can get a bit deadly for you once they start using different tactics. Some are smarter than others. Some lob grenades when they’ve had enough of your shit lol

Jizaboz wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:10 pm Yeah man I’m like 13 hours in and mainly just doing side quests having a lot of fun with it. Working on pistol certification as my main gun then rifles.

Space combat is great. Some ground battles can get a bit deadly for you once they start using different tactics. Some are smarter than others. Some lob grenades when they’ve had enough of your shit lol

It makes sense that jumping into the air like a cartoon werewolf and come back down to the planet's surface, shooting downwards the entire time was not going to be a sustainable tactic, but I shall be sad to see them counter it!

I went to Charon, moon of Pluto, the other day.



I would like to go to all of the moons.

Nice. The moons are cool with the lack of gravity and all. I've yet to find a cave in one, but I keep looking.

I went to build my own habitat on a moon yesterday and was told I needed to train my habitat building skills more in areas without extreme conditions. Off to find a more suitable place!

Cave ins! I am gurgling with pleasure and anticipation at finding one!

Will there be Wormasaurs in these moon caves? Or those things that almost ate the Millennium Falcon?

Where my first outpost I built lies!

Random screenshot:



I really feel like my Space Camp training is paying off here. The game has made me talk about gravity drive concepts in real life to the point of nerds starting to get angry.

Man, there is just sooo much to do and explore! Here are a few more recent pictures:



Here I am on Mars after being wrapped into an interesting mission regarding alien DNA.



Here I am consulting my robot friend NPC after finding ruins and encountering more weirdness. (This aspect of the game reminds me of an latter part in my Lunar Base I text adventure game)



A propaganda photo I took for a flight manual cover of me in the same starting ship despite finding "the mantis" and stealing a bad ass pirate ship I didn't like for OCD reasons and sold. I still need to build a truly customized ship.

My wife says I can buy an Xbox game for my birthday. This thing looks amazing but is it worth getting if I only have a couple of hours a week to play it?