Tag Archives: PC Gaming

Digital Playground

Temple of Trials: Fallout 2 Journal

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Introduction

After watching the show, I got the idea to do a week of Fallout content. Then, as often happens, I suffered from delusions of grandeur. Why only a week? Why not a month. Nothing scheduled for June and school ends. The Fallout from the end of school! Perfect. Las week I wrote about the first couple of sections of Fallout. This week, I continue with Fallout 2 and the Temple of Trials.

What Makes Me SPECIAL?

Note: If you never played the Fallout games, they organized character stats into the acronym, SPECIAL. In the interest of time, I consulted a walkthrough for the game.

Strength: 4

Perception: 6

Endurance: 6

Charisma: 8

Intelligence: 10

Luck: 6

Name: Lucy. Age: 21. Yes, I became that which I hate and use names from other pop culture related to the games. Sue me.

The Chosen One

Sometime in 2241: A village elder calls me into her hut.

Come in, Chosen One. The village is dying. Crops, livestock, sick children. However, there is hope. The Garden of Eden Creation Kit. It brings life to the Wasteland. It will be your main quest if you show yourself worthy. Travel to the Temple of Trials to prove yourself, find the G.E.C.K. and be our salvation.

The Chosen One?

Still in 2241 (The Temple is a short walk from the village): A guard takes me to the temple and I enter. It consists of stone corridors with lit torches on the wall. At the very least, the village knows how to set the mood. What are the trials?

At least, initially, it seems like the only trial is as exterminator. I kill bug after bug, all ants and scorpions. At the end of the hall is a locked door. I could search for a key, but it’s quicker just to pick it. Easy, peasy.

Oh crap!

This next corridor is filled with pressure plates that trigger spears shooting from the wall. No time to disarm them. Instead, I just run through and hope for the best. Then, more ants and scorpions. A chest with an antidote for the poison that the scorpions injected into me. At least they thought of that.

Another door. This one steel. I see no lock to pick. Hmm, what about these explosives that I found randomly sitting in an “inconspicuous” jar in the middle of the temple just past the massive hole in the ground? Set timer, GTFO. KABOOOM! The door is gone.

More ants and scorpions. Another chest with more antidote and healing powder. Yet another door. This one opens without picking or exploding. A guard stands before what I now assume to be the exit. He says that we must engage in unarmed combat with the victor emerging as worthy. Do we really have to fight? I ask him. Yes, of course, the elders deemed that the final test. Yes, but accidents happen. What if one of us ends up accidentally dead? I give him a look that says, “We both know which one, right?” He stammers before regathering his composure. Uh, yes, of course. I wouldn’t want to accidentally kill the chosen one. Then he runs from his post, presumably to pick on some other poor soul.

I emerge victorious. My prizes are a vault suit and the Pip Boy 2000!

The Verdict

A very different feel from the introduction of the first game. You still start the game underground in the Temple of Trials. But, after that, you go back to an above ground village to begin your main quest. I like that they changed things up because the whole starting in a vault thing, while classic, sometimes gets old. Join me in a couple of days for the next installment!

Again, because I’m playing a game made over 25 years ago, I used and old school guide.

Digital Playground

Terraria Very First Impressions

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Introduction

My Financial Algebra class works on a project where they design a “tiny house”. I actually assign it to a few different classes. But, this year, I gave it to them as a way to break the funk and try to get them inspired to do some work. Pleasantly surprising, but it worked. What does any of that have to do with my Terraria very first impressions?

Well, one of the “tricks” I use to hook them into the project is that i tell them they can build the floorplan in Minecraft if they want. One of my previous classes came up with idea. I loved it. And, so, I offer it as an option now. Even though they’re high school seniors, at least one group in every class gives me something really cool in Minecraft.

Well, last semester, one student asked, “Can we build it in Terraria instead?” I heard of Terraria but never played it. Nevertheless, I shrugged. “Can you build it in Terraria?” “Absolutely, he replied. “Neat. If you want to build it in Terraria, go for it.”

Noob’s Journey into Terraria

The student made the claim that Terraria is better than Minecraft. This statement intrigued me because I always thought of the game as a lesser 2 dimensional rip off of Minecraft. So I made a note to try the game on their recommendation. They strike me as someone who knows their video games.

Fast foward to a couple of weeks ago during April break. Inspired by a couple of holes in my daily posting schedule, I figured I could do something on Minecraft and Terreria. Then, I missed those deadlines, so the articles moved to this week. I again missed a Thursday deadline for Terraria. But, I played the game earlier today and finally feel prepared to bring you this article.

Okay, What’s the Big Deal Here?

I started the game . Walked a bit to the right. Then, walked a bit to the left. A zombie killed me. I respawned. Hammered away at some trees with an axe and got an acorn. But, the tree didn’t break and I got no wood from it. Weird. I saw some ore underneath the ground, so I switched to my pickaxe to try to collect that.

I successfully figure out that you have to hover over the block that you wish to collect, and hold the left mouse button, then it works. I noobed it up and committed the cardinal sin of these games. I dug straight down. Then got stuck because I couldn’t see. Frustrated by my stupidity, I resorted to Googling, “Stuck underground in Terraria”. The only results I received talked about the usual collection detection problems and not someone who dug straight down (without a torch, I’d later discover) and couldn’t find their way out because of the darkness of night.

Screenshot proof of my noobing it up.

I gotta say my Terraria very first impressions leave me a bit underwhelmed. I exited out of the game and restarted. It put me back at my spawn point. Since it was night, too, several zombies attacked me. I killed one in completely wild self defense and it dropped a torch. Aha! I can use the torches to dig my way out of the tunnel after mining the resources down there.

Let there be light

The Verdict

I played a few more minutes before exiting the game to come write this article. I also recorded a new episode for the Leaf Riders YouTube series and wrote some notes for Jurassic Park Episode 11. Oh, and a workout. Because of that Terraria very first impressions leave me somewhat humbled. I absolutely sold it short by calling it lesser than Minecraft. Also, I wouldn’t strictly call it a rip off even if there are similarities. As has been proven over the years, a space exists for both games.

Digital Playground

Minecraft Update April 2024

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Introduction

What comes with this Minecraft update April 2024? Good question. I wrote Minecraft in my calendar for last week when we were on April break from school. I usually get inspired to pick up Minecraft again during the school holidays. Well, inspired by my decision to write the game into my gaming calendar, I started a new world.

Uninspired because none of my kids joined me this time, I piddled around in that world for about a half an hour or so and then turned off the computer to paint my models. So, even though I last touched the game over Christmas vacation (? Maybe?), I honestly don’t have much of an update to bring you this time around. Nevertheless, I committed to this page and updates regularly, so let’s see what happens.

The New World

The spawn point dropped me in the middle of the tundra, as you can see from the picture above. I found some trees and a place to build my mountain cave abode that I always build in my worlds. The one thing that I wasn’t sure about was food. I actually Googled “Minecraft food in tundra.” It told me something about rabbits. Ever since playing with Quinn and his refusal to kill rabbits because of his pets, I too won’t kill rabbits for any reason.

When discussing my recent rediscovery of the game with the boys, Aiden came up with a great idea. I said to him, “I started playing MInecraft again. This spawn put me in the tundra.” He replied, “I hate those spawns.” I said, “This one isn’t too bad. The only thing I’m having trouble with is food.” He said, simply, “Fishing.”

And the light bulb went off. Fishing.

The Verdict

Okay, so not much to this Minecraft update April 2024. But, I think I might have finally delivered what I promised. I hope to bring some more about this game and world over the next couple of months. Stay tuned to see what I come up with.

Digital Playground

Trucking Around California

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Introduction

Okay, you got me. This isn’t technically a new game for the new decade. Hell, you can even argue that it isn’t new to us. After all, I wrote a few months about my then obsession with Euro Truck Simulator 2. And, honestly, much that I said there can be said about this game. Still, in the interest of keeping the site as active in spite of everything else, I went trucking through California.

As you can see from those screenshots, the game obviously differs in style and theme from the European one. You know from one to the other that you’re in a different country. However, the fundamentals more or less remain the same. You drive a truck. In the American western states. Admittedly, I’ve only played it a couple of times to confirm that, but the driving bug hasn’t hit me again just yet. Stay tuned.

Starting Over

I can’t be 100% sure about this, but part of the reason might be because I already completed so much of the European version of the game. I bought my own truck, worked back from debt to buy another, took out a loan to buy a third and fourth, and hired three drivers.

That makes going through the process again a little tedious. Especially when there’s no hook to keep me coming back. California is great and all, but out of all of the United States, it’s honestly at the bottom of my list of ones I want to visit. I think I might have purchased some DLC (at actual cost because my key got stolen from my Humble account before I changed all my password) for the game, but the only state I saw that you started was California.

I tried picking Bakersfield as my starting city to get that hook. I also picked it because I am still perpetually an angry teenager that pines for the old days of “Nu Metal” or whatever they called it in the beginning. Oh, speaking of music, they give you a different choice of radio stations in the game, too.

The Verdict

I enjoy Euro Truck Simulator 2. After trucking through California, I no doubt will like this game, too. I just need to take some time to dig deeper into what it has to offer. Oh, I just saw they have an Oregon and Washington DLC available. Next pay check, I’ll pick those up and

Digital Playground

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite First Impressions

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Introduction

Would you believe it took this long for me to come up with Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite first impressions? Of course you do. You’ve been here long enough to know that we take a while to get around to things sometimes. Honestly, I fully intended to cover this game when it first released. If I look back at my notes, I’m sure I’ll find at least one mention of the game in there over the last five years.

Then, I fell victim to the online troll factory that slammed the game as “not as good as the others” and it fell off of my radar. I genuinely forgot it existed until I went searching for a way to play MvC 2 and found out that I can buy the deluxe edition on Steam for like 11 bucks. Or I could. Looks like I missed the sale by a day. Hmm, that puts a new wrinkle into things.

Well, Isn’t That A Pickle?

I’m not paying 40 bucks for something that will be 8 or 11 again most likely by the end of the month. Instead, I’m gonig to set up an alert for the next time it goes on sale and we’ll all have to wait for my Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite first impressions. Until then, I’ll keep playing X-Men Arcade.

Digital Playground

PC Gaming is a Gift 2023

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Introduction

You may notice the word “console” missing from the title PC Gaming is a Gift 2023. This year saw several things happen that explain that omission. First, Aiden tried to fix the XBox by soldering the HDMI port back in and ended up soldering through the motherboard. Second, I never got around to buying a PS5 as I planned. We really want to play both Spider-Man games. I also wanted to play MK1. Neither of those happened because I came to my senses and decided to wait until a price drop for the purchase. Finally, we played almost no Mario Kart this year. Liam, Quinn, my brother Tim, and I played some of the new Mario game.

However, I fixed my old gaming laptop. The charging port broke a couple of years ago. I did some research to see how tough it might be to fix it. Turns out, not difficult at all. The hardest part was that because it’s a laptop, everything it jammed in there. So, it took some finesse to fit it in properly. Other than that, though, no problem.

Train Sim World 3

One of the reasons I wanted to fix the laptop was I remembered a Humble Bundle that I purchased several years ago. It contained a train simulator game. I don’t remember the original reason I wanted to play the train sim game. However, going to Germany and seeing first hand the famous European rail system sparked something inside of me. I came home with a new appreciation for the game.

That appreciation lasted for a few months. Then, I discovered another simulation game that caught my attention. When asked the other day by one of my classes what my favorite genre of game was, I had to admit that right now I’m obsessed with simulation games. They made the usual comment that people made (in jest), “Oh, you want to play a game of something you can do in real life?” Well, not quite. I’ve never driven a train.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

I also never drove a tractor trailer through the countryside of Europe. I drove a mid size SUV through Germany. So, when I saw this game, it took me back to that trip and time. I saw things that reminded me of being in Germany. And, so, the game became like a cozy blankie for me.

I played the hell out of the game. Started in Munich and branched out slowly to the neighboring countries. Eventually, I drove across the continent, took a ferry to the UK and drove into England and Scotland. After going back to school, I got busy and neglected the game for some time. I just said to my family the other day, “I haven’t driven my truck in a while. My employees probably think I’m dead.”

The Verdict

Truly, PC gaming is a gift 2023. I also flirted again with World of Warcraft, especially after the announcement of the next series of expansions. I saw the advancement of a plan that I came up with decades ago. The USFL of the 1980s is back through my USFL Distant Replay page. We are 12 weeks into the 1984 season and looking to bring some big things for 1985 in a couple of months. Join us over there for more.

Digital Playground

Thankful for Console/PC in 2023

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Introduction

Last year, I came up with the idea to theme each month with a special banner and color scheme. In fact, I came up with the idea years ago, but only started to implement it last year with any regularity. I started with the holiday season. Being the busiest time of the year for us, I combined Thanksgiving and Halloween. Then, I combined Christmas and New Year’s. This year, I gave each month its own. Since this week is Thanksgiving, I plan to write articles in that spirit. The first talks about why I’m thankful for Console/PC in 2023.

I spent more time gaming with my old laptop this year than in year’s past. I don’t remember if I told the story, but I dug out an old Alienware laptop that fried the charging port. I ordered a new one from Amazon, jury rigged it into the case, and the thing worked. I wanted to play Train Sim World 3. Instead, I became addicted to driving trucks around Europe.

Train Sim World 3

I laugh when I see the Progressive commercial (not a plug) where they talk about someone who just returned from Europe. While not as annoying as the girl who reminds you that it’s pronounced “kwoisaunt”, I can’t stop mentioning to people that we took Liam to Germany for his graduation gift.

Ever since traveling to Greece with Christine for her graduation, I wanted to go back to Europe. Having family who emigrated from Germany, I loved the idea of Liam choosing that as his big trip. We worked tirelessly to make sure that we saw as much as he wanted.

One part of the trip that stayed with me is we traveled by the infamous Deutsche Bahn train line. Christine commented how ridiculously happy I looked while riding the train. Aside from an semi-autistic obsession with trains, I just advocate as much as possible for public transit. When we came home, I remembered a Humble Bundle that included Train Sim World and some DLC.

My current laptop is only for basic office tasks. Besides, the Windows partition got stuck in an infinite reboot loop. So, I can’t use it for gaming. That’s when I came up with the idea to resurrect the old Alienware. I’m glad that I did.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

While I only played the Train sim game for a couple of weeks, (I got frustrated at the realism of the game and took a break. I returned after doing some research to figure out the brakes of the train that baffled me. By that point, though, I found another passion. You wouldn’t think that staring at life through a windshield like the one in the screenshot above would be very much fun.

Well, I assure you that it keeps me entertained for at least a half an hour a day. I start up the game, log in, find a job, tune into my favorite radio station, and start driving. Sometimes I take in the scenery. Other times, I marvel at the realism of the game. Okay, once in a while, they take the realism a bit too far like when a helicopter lands on the highway and cars just drive through it. Most of the time, though, it astounds me the detail that they put into the game.

Recently, I got a bit impatient and I took out a loan to expand my operation. Several people advised against that in the Steam community. But, I generally don’t take financial advice from strangers. So far, the strategy worked out for me.

The Verdict

Other than the two simulation games, I’m thankful for console/PC in 2023 because Liam used the laptop a couple of times. He played Marvel Puzzle Quest. I played through a bit of Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 to celebrate the release of the third game. I always find time for Minecraft. You may notice that I never mentioned consoles. Well, our XBox broke and I want to buy a PS5 for Christmas because of the new Mortal Kombat and Spider-Man games. Look for them in the coming year.

Digital Playground

Five Nights at Freddy’s First Impressions

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Note: Banner taken from Deviant Art page.

Introduction

As many of you know, the movie releases this Friday. My oldest texted the group chat last week to notify his brothers that he and his friends wanted to go. Because our kids are close, he invited them to come along and even said Aiden could bring his girlfriend. Truly, the movie to heal our divided nation. I thought, perfect for a Spooktober I forgot to plan for this year! I can finally play the game and give my Five Nights at Freddy’s First Impressions.

Of course, I mean actually playing the game. I heard about the game from my kids. They all discovered it in middle school (Quinn earlier because he’s younger) and as far as I know, they played the game. At first, I thought nothing of it. Seemed like a mostly harmless jump scare type game more or less appropriate for the age range. Then, I stumbled on some lore or fan fiction (or both) and some parents seemed worried.

Worried About What, Grandpa?

Well, that’s the thing. I can’t quite put my finger on what about the game actually worries me. I tried explaining it to Christine when we saw the trailer. She said something along the lines of, “Wow, that looks pretty scary. Do you think Quinn will actually enjoy it?” I thought about it for the rest of the movie and then tried to explain my thoughts later in the car on the ride home.

It looks like simply a silly little jump scare game. But then, I read some more lore or fan fiction (or both) and I’m not entirely sure anymore how I feel about the game. The sensible thing would be to try to find those things that concerned me about the game. But, when have you ever known parents to do the sensible thing.

I Did The Sensible Thing

I went on a search for what I might have read and found nothing in the games that I consider inappropriate for my kids. What I found was a companion novel that “shares the same universe” but does not fit together with the game “like a puzzle piece”. It includes a “human element not before introduced in the games”.

So, what I read was that the animatronics were inhabited by the souls of kidnapped children and that seems like an unnecessary addition to me. I understand wanting to be scared. This game seemed to provide just the right fright factor for kids who remember going to Chuck E Cheese and being absolutely terrified by that rat and his minions. Why somebody added the element of abduction and soul stealing rituals to that mythos is beyond me.

Have You Actually Played the Game?

Once.

In anticipation of this week, I loaded up a web version of the game last week. In order to replicate what I understand as the “experience”, I went in with no instructions other than what the game told me. I clicked camers, heard some pots and pans bang around and then received the “Game Over” message.

Once that happened, I looked up some more information on the game. Apparently, the pots and pans alert you to the movements of Chica, one of the animatronics in the game. I needed to respond to that noise in some form or fashion to avoid “Game Over”. Hey, you live and learn.

The Verdict

After my Five Nights at Freddy’s first impressions, I want to play the game more. Unlike my kids, who spent much more time with the game, I have no interest in seeing the movie. However, I might try to record a special version of Noob and Sons this weekend to see what they thought of the movie.

Digital Playground

Trucking Through Europe

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Introduction

As promised in the outro to the latest episode of Noob’s Book Club, I’m covering a couple of simulation games that I’ve been playing over the last few months. I think I picked them both up as a Humble Bundle deal. But, I don’t remember exactly. I just looked it up. I received Euro Truck Simulator 2 through some Humble Bundle or another. And, so, I started trucking through Europe.

Point of fact. We took Liam to Germany for his graduation present. Actually, we ended up traveling to Prague in the Czech Republic and a couple of places just over the Austrian border, too. But, we spent most of our time in Germany. I enjoyed the trip so much that I seriously considered moving to Europe in 6 years or so. Christine eloquently said, “You want to live anywhere but here.” To which I responded, “Yep.”

Top is my in game shot of Allianz. Bottom is my trip to the stadium over the summer.

Wait, that’s it?

I know what you’re thinking. Because, honestly, I thought the same thing. You just drive trucks? Through European countries. And, to answer the question, at the heart of the game, that’s it. You pick a base of operations to start. Since we went to Germany and I liked Munich, I picked there. You take different jobs to make money. Eventually, you buy a garage, a truck, then another truck, then hire some drivers, and buy another truck. I’m currently at the point where I want to buy a new garage to expand my operation some.

Because of the basic premise, I skipped this game for a long time. I played much more of the train simulation game because I thought it might take more skill. In fact, it does. So much so, sometimes, that I get frustrated why my train isn’t acting the way that I want. In the truck game, I get in, drive to a job, take the job, and off I go across the European countryside.

The Verdict

Don’t be fooled by the basic premise like I was. This game takes skill. Sometimes you even have to think a little bit. Do you rest now or try to make it to the next spot to rest? If you do that, will you get tired and find it harder to control your truck? What happens when they land a helicopter on the highway, blocking every single lane? Yes, that happens. Quite often, actually. Those are just some of the scenarios that you’ll face when you come trucking through Europe with me.

Note: I meant to release this yesterday. But, I’ve felt crummy for the last 24 hours or so. Expect delays on all content this week while I get caught up. Sorry!

Digital Playground

Street Fighter 6 Demo Impressions

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Introduction

Chris and I recorded the reboot of the reboot of 2 Guys Gaming a couple of weeks ago. In anticipation of having to write about the game again, I saw that Steam had the Street Fighter 6 demo available. You may remember that I texted him after he suggested we record again, “Let’s do SF6 and MK1. Seems like the perfect soft landing spot for us.” He agreed and then we promptly recorded the episode three months later.

Hey, we’re old guys. We have lives that don’t often coordinate. The important part is that we recorded. I plan to edit and release it on Wednesday with my MK1 article, but it might end up being Friday instead because I can’t think of another proper way to end the week. Just trust that it will come at some point this week.

Play This Game for Eternity

After loading up the game, I clicked the button to start “Battle Hub”. It informs me that the game mode isn’t available but I can watch the trailer video. Sure thing. Why not. Naturally, after showing some game play via an arcade scene, a woman comes on to the screen to tell us about the mode. But, wait.

While the character sounds feminine and wears make up and booty shorts, some might argue (not me, mind you) “That’s no woman!” and angrily throw their controller at the screen. Instead, I watched the video and actually forgot about the whole thing until later while waiting for dinner with my wife. Then, I decided to look up what the community reaction to the character was. Naturally, I found a headline about some douche bag named “Johnny Chainsaw” or some other ridiculously overtly masculine username complaining about the game as woke. Just par for the course in our national conversation surrounding LGBTQIA+ people and their mere existence.

I, for one, liked the character. They brought energy and fun to the video. They may or may not be trans. But, that’s the thing. Capcom never confirms nor denies anything. Just this individual on the screen and leaves it up to you to do with them what you may. Like Gwen in Spiderverse, it makes the point that they are here and, well, you just have to deal with it. I, for one, am here for all of it and Eternity is one of the reasons I might buy the game.

“You bastard. You flipped.”

That’s a paraphrase of Chris when he responded to my text that I wanted to buy the game. I assured him, probably not at full price but after a drop or two, for sure. When we talked, we both said that neither of us wanted to buy the game because it felt like it just offered more of the same as Street Fighter 5. We both agreed that one was a dumpster fire.

Not so this time around. When he first said to me that I flipped, I texted back, “I know. But the graphics are awesome and the game play is solid. Yes, I made that determination after only about 15 minutes of actual game play. Honesly, though, what more do you need than the 2 minute video I recorded earlier. It’s Street Fighter. You fight…on the street.

The Verdict

I mean, it might be dangerous to judge a game so quickly because, as the Street Fighter 6 demo warns, “This game is still in development…followed by some other word that basically say the finished product probably won’t look or play the exact same way that it does here.” Some of that is true. Most of it, though, is just legalese to cover their butts in case someone takes better notes than I did and wants to sue them over the omission of a game mode or character. For me, though, I’m sold. Hell, if my check is big enough this week, I might just splurge and buy it then.