The "What should I know before I play this game for the first time?" Q&A!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The "What should I know before I play this game for the first time?" Q&A!

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Camel Pimp: May 17, 2008; This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.

Captain Novolin posted:

Anything for FF 1+2 on the GBA?

For FF2, the biggest piece of advice I can give is do. not. wear. heavy. armor. It's actually a good idea not to wear any armor at the start. Always wear shields until you've pretty much maxed out your Evade percentage. Basically, do everything you can to max out your Evade percentage. Once you know to do that, it makes the game so, so much easier.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 04:29

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 10:12

BigTeaBag: Dec 9, 2004; The Matrix is about black chicks.

KingShiro posted:

Borderlands

Play this game co-op, if at all possible. I could only manage an hour or two at a time in single player, but the game is WAY better with somebody else.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 05:18

Ainsley McTree: Feb 19, 2004

BigTeaBag posted:

Play this game co-op, if at all possible. I could only manage an hour or two at a time in single player, but the game is WAY better with somebody else.

Yeah, I tried playing it single player and got bored as hell. None of my friends owned it on the 360 and I hate co-op games with pubbies so I sent it back.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 05:22

Miracon: Jan 1, 2010

Captain Novolin posted:

Anything for FF 1+2 on the GBA?

In FF1, the bonus dungeons are significantly tougher than the areas that unlocked them, so it's not necessary to complete them immediately. Some of the rewards are also pretty overpowered in a game that's not too difficult to begin with.

FF2 was the first in the series to have front rows and back rows in battle, and it works differently than in later games. As long as someone in the front row is alive, the back row can't be targeted with physical attacks at all. They can't use them either unless it's a bow. This goes for enemies too, anything past the first two lines are considered back row.

Maria starts in the back row by default, and you should probably move her up to start earning more HP.

Camel Pimp posted:

For FF2, the biggest piece of advice I can give is do. not. wear. heavy. armor. It's actually a good idea not to wear any armor at the start. Always wear shields until you've pretty much maxed out your Evade percentage. Basically, do everything you can to max out your Evade percentage. Once you know to do that, it makes the game so, so much easier.

Wearing shields (or maybe just increasing evade, I'm not sure) will also increase your agility. Agility will determine both turn order and your chance to run away. When I played FF2, I was never able to run away from any fight in the game because I always had Guy with heavy armor and no shield. His agility stayed at 5 the whole game, so make sure you don't repeat that if you're the impatient type.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 07:48

Scalding Coffee: Jun 26, 2006; You're already dead

What did they do differently with heavy armor in FF2 GBA?

# ? Aug 2, 2010 10:43

Foul Fowl: Sep 12, 2008; Uuuuh! Seek ye me?

joooohn posted:

Resonance of Fate

Foul Fowl posted:

The only thing worth dual wielding is machine guns, and only if you're high level enough that you can carry them while they're customized like crazy.

As soon as you find a new city you should immediately go to the customizer and see what kind of crazy poo poo he can cook up. Properly customizing your guns is by far the most important part of the game.

There's a couple optional dungeons in the game, ideally you should do all of them but you absolutely need to do Dakota Vein as it gives you a second machine gun that's better than your first; replace your original with it and in time dual wield.

Don't sweat it with the arena. If you feel like it's becoming a grind then gently caress it and go do some missions.

If there's a side quest that gives you an item you haven't seen before you probably need to do it before doing the main quest. In chapter 4 (I think) there's a side quest that gives you a vest that resists freezing. It makes the ice dungeons a lot more bearable.

When you get the escort quest SAVE. Then, if the thing you're escorting takes too much damage in one battle, retry. Having a tiny sliver of health left when you fight the boss makes it impossible.

There's an infinite money loop that becomes available when you can buy poo poo off the traveling merchant. Money becomes a non-issue pretty quickly but if you want to buy all the outfits or something it's there. It's something like buying scrap parts and glass shards and then making beta scopes out of them but you should check a FAQ for that.

The best strategy for just about every fight is to hero jump with your guys to set up a triangle attack. There's a couple fights where directed attacks are better (since firing from the air randomizes your hits) but it's largely true.

Don't be stingy with your grenades, special ammunition et al. They're pretty easy to make.

If you see a red square on the world map it's a particularly difficult fight that usually rewards you with a bezel shard, always do these. However you can't run away from these battles so either save or make sure you're stocked up with healing items.

In particular there's one in chapter 7 (IIRC) with three wood ogres that are a real loving pain to beat since they have a ton of armor, hit like trucks and cause poison which turns scratch damage into direct damage. When you're going into this fight make sure your machine gunner has the magazine box equipped and that you have an ample supply of the armor penetrating rounds.

The game does a bad job of explaining the hex mechanics. If there's undiscovered hexes that need a particular color you can discover those then start linking hexes from there to a terminal as you'll have a groundwork of already colored hexes. If there isn't, as is the case with the forest (at least for red) you need to first put down an energy station of that color and build from there.

Don't forget that you can link terminal effects through non-core elevators as well. This is really useful in the deeper levels as the non-poo poo effects are generally pretty spread out.

If you completely clear a level you can use energy stations on that level to instantly travel back to Ebel City. This isn't worth doing until you've got a big stock of white hexes and you're forced to go through two core lifts just to get back home.

Foul Fowl fucked around with this message at 11:01 on Aug 2, 2010

# ? Aug 2, 2010 10:57

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

Scalding Coffee posted:

What did they do differently with heavy armor in FF2 GBA?

You don't level up in the same way you do in every other FF game.

Basically you can think of it as a skill based system instead of EXP based. Every time you use a weapon or spell or get hit or evade or anything really raises your skill slightly with that weapon/spell/etc.

So by not wearing armor and getting hit hard at first, this raises your HP quicker, along with your evade (think monk not wearing armor is fast and jut avoids everything). As for heavy armor in particular, like the previous poster said, it gimps your agility and I think doesn't raise your evade at all. It's meant to absorb the damage rather than let you avoid it.

Lastly, there is a way to cheat the system for the most part, which I'll spoiler in case the guy that is going to play them doesn't want to know.

Basically, you just keep hitting your own party members which will raise their HP and such quickly. For weapons and magic, your skill increases after you select the action, not when it actually happens. So if you select attack with your first character, hit B to cancel from the second character back to the first, then select attack again, that count's as 2 skill uses (you'll still only attack once though unless your weapon skill is already a bit higher). So you just keep selecting an action, hitting B to go back 100 times and you'll level up your skill in one fight.

Orgophlax fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Aug 2, 2010

# ? Aug 2, 2010 12:21

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

For Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls-

FF1:

-Ninjas get level 4 Black Magic. Knights get level 3 White Magic. Red Wizards get level 6 (7?) White and Black Magic, but remember you can only have three spells on a character for each level; rather than 3 White and 3 Black per level on a Red Mage, you can only have for example 2 White and 1 Black.

-I have no idea why weapons for monks exist, because you should not be using them at all. With a weapon a Monk deals damage on par with a Black/White Mage. Barehanded they can deal the most physical damage in the game.

-All you really need to succeed is a White Mage and maybe a Warrior, any party that meets these criteria will be fine (I'm sure there are WM-less groups that still work, even)

-Level 8 magic is in a hidden shop in a town on the eastern edge of the map. I forget the name but it's on the northern continent surrounded by trees and is inhabited by some mystical race or something.

-I believe you can go back to bonus dungeons and fight the bosses again, if you want to/want duplicates of the rewards.

-North of the second town (where you get the Boat) is a peninsula that point towards the northern continent. You can run into monsters from that continent there, and if you're good can quickly grind to a point where the rest of the game is trivial.

FF2:

-If you didn't know, #2 is different from the other FF games in that it has a proto-Elder Scrolls system of leveling. Rather than having one set level, all your individual skills level individually when you use them. Use Cure a bunch and it gets stronger (no Cura/Curaga here). Use swords to deal more damage with swords. Lose health/MP to get higher maximums, etc.

-Black Magic runs off Intelligence, White off Spirit. The game doesn't distinguish which spells are which but only a few aren't obvious/series staples.

-Almost everyone you meet will die/ditch you at some point. You'll almost always have four characters but don't invest too much in your fourth until the end of the game (hint: a familiar face rejoins you). The caveat is if you want to do the Soul of Rebirth story, which gives you three of your fallen friends (and a fourth you never got to use) their own quest. Training them in the main game only helps for the first part though, as once you hit the town just about every equipment/spell is available to you. It's also hard as balls and sucks, but it's there for you :v:

-Some stats will increase at expense of others, so a character that does everything well is hard to build. At the same time, anyone can be trained into any type of character.

-If you have Archives, check out the Final Fantasy II LP. It covers the NES game but most of the information on the mechanics is still valid.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 12:48

ToxicFrog: Apr 26, 2008

Wing Commander: Privateer

Finally got it working in DOSBox, found a nice simple shipping mission, undocked, and got exploded by pirates.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 13:21

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

ToxicFrog posted:

Wing Commander: Privateer

Finally got it working in DOSBox, found a nice simple shipping mission, undocked, and got exploded by pirates.

At the beginning, DO NOT accept any missions that are not in 1 of the 4 sectors within the quadrant you start in. Also, do not accept any patrol or attack missions. Basically just accept a shipping mission that stays within the quadrant.

If I remember correctly, at the start you only have 1 gun, but you start with enough to buy a second, so do that. From there it basically boils down to your dog fighting skills. If you only accept missions within the same quadrant to start, the enemies you (might) encounter are the easiest. Once you get comfortable with dog fighting, you can take the patrol and attack missions as they tend to give more money. Once you get your ship upgraded well enough (and with a jump drive), you can start taking missions in other quadrants. Also, join the Merchant and Mercenary guilds asap, as their missions tend to give even more money than the public terminal (also harder/longer traveling distances).

Lastly don't horde money. As you make it spend it to upgrade your ship with better shields & armor first and foremost.

To start the actual main plot, you have to go to New Detroit (I think) and talk with the guy in the bar there (not the bartender).

There's also the trading metagame, and for that you'll want to look up a FAQ for what types of planets like what products best (some are obvious, like mining stations want luxury/vice items, etc).

Orgophlax fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Aug 2, 2010

# ? Aug 2, 2010 13:34

Scalding Coffee: Jun 26, 2006; You're already dead

Orgophlax posted:

You don't level up in the same way you do in every other FF game.

Basically you can think of it as a skill based system instead of EXP based. Every time you use a weapon or spell or get hit or evade or anything really raises your skill slightly with that weapon/spell/etc.

So by not wearing armor and getting hit hard at first, this raises your HP quicker, along with your evade (think monk not wearing armor is fast and jut avoids everything). As for heavy armor in particular, like the previous poster said, it gimps your agility and I think doesn't raise your evade at all. It's meant to absorb the damage rather than let you avoid it.

Lastly, there is a way to cheat the system for the most part, which I'll spoiler in case the guy that is going to play them doesn't want to know.

Basically, you just keep hitting your own party members which will raise their HP and such quickly. For weapons and magic, your skill increases after you select the action, not when it actually happens. So if you select attack with your first character, hit B to cancel from the second character back to the first, then select attack again, that count's as 2 skill uses (you'll still only attack once though unless your weapon skill is already a bit higher). So you just keep selecting an action, hitting B to go back 100 times and you'll level up your skill in one fight.

All Heavy armor did in Origins was increase your strength faster. Use magic on your guys and you won't have to worry about crits and level your three attack spells for the armored enemies.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 22:15

Policenaut: Jul 11, 2008; On the moon... they don't make Neo Kobe Pizza.

Can someone tell me where to begin with Ys?

I've really wanted to try this series after hearing so much good word about it, but the moment I dig into Wikipedia or whathaveyou I discover that there's a metric ton of Ys games all with different versions, re-releases, and remakes. I've noticed that the Ys 1+2 remake is coming to North America for PSP, but is there anything standalone that doesn't require past knowledge of the franchise available for me?

Or should I just wait for the PSP remake of 1 and 2 then go from there.

# ? Aug 2, 2010 23:24

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

Scalding Coffee posted:

All Heavy armor did in Origins was increase your strength faster. Use magic on your guys and you won't have to worry about crits and level your three attack spells for the armored enemies.

I'm pretty sure some stat only raised from physical attacks, bur I don't remember which one.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 00:42

Camel Pimp: May 17, 2008; This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.

Orgophlax posted:

Basically, you just keep hitting your own party members which will raise their HP and such quickly. For weapons and magic, your skill increases after you select the action, not when it actually happens. So if you select attack with your first character, hit B to cancel from the second character back to the first, then select attack again, that count's as 2 skill uses (you'll still only attack once though unless your weapon skill is already a bit higher). So you just keep selecting an action, hitting B to go back 100 times and you'll level up your skill in one fight.

For the GBA version, you do not want to do this. At all. The second trick (Select/cancel) doesn't even work in the GBA version (it works in the original and PSX version) and in the GBA version you get periodic HP increases, and if you have high evade you're never getting hit much anyway. (And it's not that much of a help anyway.)

C-Euro posted:

-Some stats will increase at expense of others, so a character that does everything well is hard to build. At the same time, anyone can be trained into any type of character.

This also does not happen in the GBA version. Thank god. (You also don't have to deal with invisible Int/Soul penalties, at least I think so)

Miracon posted:

Wearing shields (or maybe just increasing evade, I'm not sure) will also increase your agility. Agility will determine both turn order and your chance to run away. When I played FF2, I was never able to run away from any fight in the game because I always had Guy with heavy armor and no shield. His agility stayed at 5 the whole game, so make sure you don't repeat that if you're the impatient type.

This is nit-picky, but agility by itself does nothing but determine your base evade. If you have high agility but are weighed down by armor the high agility is totally moot. But, yes, shields are your friend.

Really, you could write a mini-novel about FF2's mechanics. They're kind of weird.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 00:49

Nate RFB: Jan 17, 2005; Clapping Larry

Policenaut posted:

Can someone tell me where to begin with Ys?

I've really wanted to try this series after hearing so much good word about it, but the moment I dig into Wikipedia or whathaveyou I discover that there's a metric ton of Ys games all with different versions, re-releases, and remakes. I've noticed that the Ys 1+2 remake is coming to North America for PSP, but is there anything standalone that doesn't require past knowledge of the franchise available for me?

Or should I just wait for the PSP remake of 1 and 2 then go from there.

I recommend the PC version that came out in 2001-2002, Ys I & II Complete. The graphics and gameplay are much more polished than the TG16 version, to the point where I think the originals are just about unplayable. You would have to track down the English patch, though I don't recall it being too difficult to find. The only downside to this version is the PC music, which is definitely inferior to the TG16 version. But the good news is there is a way to patch in that music as well, so there's really no reason not to go with it.

It's a fun little set of games. Good amount of exploration, simple yet charming story, great visuals (in the PC version) and outstanding music, and surprisingly unique and solid gameplay once you get used to the principles behind it (you throttle enemies).

The other big Ys name to remember is Oath in Felghana, a PC and 3D reimagination of Ys III. Great challenge and probably the best gameplay in the whole franchise.

Nate RFB fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Aug 3, 2010

# ? Aug 3, 2010 00:57

Dr Snofeld: Apr 30, 2009

Ooh ooh I have another. Metro 2033

# ? Aug 3, 2010 01:21

Gwyrgyn Blood: Dec 17, 2002

Policenaut posted:

Can someone tell me where to begin with Ys?

Pretty much what Nate RFB said. Get the PC Ys I&II Complete, english patch, and music patch. If you have trouble finding them, you can PM me as I still have them on my hard drive.

Same story for Oath in Felghana, you'll need the English patch for it. It's definitely the best paced and balanced game in the series, definitely play it after you've played I & II.

Neither version of Ys IV is canon anymore. There's a SNES game and a TG-16 game (which also has an english patch). Both are pretty skippable, but neither is a bad game so much as they are just not that interesting.

YsV there's nothing in English as far as I know.

YsVI is for PS2 (has a US release) or PC. For the PS2 version, you need to go to the Cheats menu and enable the original Japanese movies, and Japanese voice overs (unless you love lovely boring dubs). For the PC version, again you need the English patch.

Both version of the game are more or less the same. The PS2 version has 3D models where the PC version has all prerendered stuff. The PC version looks better overall because of this, but lacks any voice overs (not a big loss) and an extra bonus challenge dungeon set (again, not a big loss). Either one is fine, but most people prefer the PC version.

Ys Origins is only for the PC and has no English translation yet, but there's nothing in the game anywhere that'd stop you from plowing right through it in Japanese. Personally I think it's one of the worst games in the series though, it's pretty skippable overall.

And last, Ys7 comes out in the US for PSP this month, so keep your eyes out for that one.

Everyone seems to have their favorites in the series though, so don't be afraid to try them all if you end up liking the series.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 05:12

Aurora: Jan 7, 2008

Turns out I'm kind of bad at Patapon 1. Any tips for how to play well? I hit Fever good and everything, it just seems like all my dudes can't hit worth poo poo. Is there some way to get more weapons and hats outside of a story mission?

# ? Aug 3, 2010 05:19

Flipswitch: Mar 30, 2010

Dr Snofeld posted:

Ooh ooh I have another. Metro 2033

Ammo isn't that hard to find, neither is gas mask filters if you explore the levels properly, there is also a free Hellsing to find on the surface the first time you go there, so keep an eye out for that.

There are also moral choices to be made, with a lot of them being in the first few hours of the game, such as giving money to those who don't have it etc, this will ultimately effect the final ending of the game, so keep a note on that.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 16:04

champagne posting: Apr 5, 2006; YOU ARE A BRAIN
IN A BUNKER

Dr Snofeld posted:

Ooh ooh I have another. Metro 2033

If you get a weapon before you are given one in the start of the game it all bugs and you won't be able to pick up weapons.

# ? Aug 3, 2010 18:21

ToxicFrog: Apr 26, 2008

Orgophlax posted:

At the beginning, DO NOT accept any missions that are not in 1 of the 4 sectors within the quadrant you start in. Also, do not accept any patrol or attack missions. Basically just accept a shipping mission that stays within the quadrant.

If I remember correctly, at the start you only have 1 gun, but you start with enough to buy a second, so do that. From there it basically boils down to your dog fighting skills. If you only accept missions within the same quadrant to start, the enemies you (might) encounter are the easiest. Once you get comfortable with dog fighting, you can take the patrol and attack missions as they tend to give more money. Once you get your ship upgraded well enough (and with a jump drive), you can start taking missions in other quadrants. Also, join the Merchant and Mercenary guilds asap, as their missions tend to give even more money than the public terminal (also harder/longer traveling distances).

Things seemed to be going ok - I did trade runs inside the Troy system until I could afford meson blasters, better armour, and a jump drive. Then I took a Guild transport mission to Junction, two jumps away.

One jump out, at Pender's Star. I got jumped by three pirates in an asteroid belt. I took them out (WC1 afterburning-through-asteroid-belts crew represent :smug:

), but now my targeting system is crippled - and none of the ship dealers will repair or even sell me a replacement.

Is the game broken somehow, or is there some specific place I need to go to get targeting repairs? I guess I could do food hauling in Junction until I can afford a repair bot, but I'd rather not. And leaving Junction is out of the question, I barely survived with a working targeting system.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 05:07

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

What's some good advice for Alpha Protocol and Halo ODST. Got them both from Gamefly, and did the first twenty minutes of each game. By the way, the first mission's achievement never seem to unlock on Alpha Protocol.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 07:39

SpazmasterX: Jul 13, 2006; Wrong about everything XIV related
~fartz~

Rirse posted:

What's some good advice for Alpha Protocol and Halo ODST. Got them both from Gamefly, and did the first twenty minutes of each game. By the way, the first mission's achievement never seem to unlock on Alpha Protocol.

When you're walking around the town in ODST, you might notice some of the electronic signs go wacky, or ATMs/phonebooths/etc start acting up. Pay attention to these things. Signs all point to secrets and/or audio logs, and devices usually ARE audio logs. Try and find all the logs, except one, before you go into the final stretch of missions, because a secret room with the final audio log and conclusion to the story the logs tell will open up. You don't *have* to do it, but it's an interesting story connected to the ODST plot, and it changes a certain scene towards the end.

Other than that, after the first couple missions, you can do the rest in any order. Don't. Do them in their listed order, they're chronological and make the most sense that way. Also, they aren't marked off when they're done so keep track of which ones you do so you don't repeat any of them.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 08:29

Vidaeus: Jan 27, 2007; Cats are gonna cat.

Rirse posted:

What's some good advice for Alpha Protocol and Halo ODST. Got them both from Gamefly, and did the first twenty minutes of each game. By the way, the first mission's achievement never seem to unlock on Alpha Protocol.

For Alpha Protocol, these are my tips from my single playthrough:

Don't read any guides or reload saves to try other choices. Just play naturally and choose the dialogue options with whatever style of character you want, or choose random ones. The story seems to flow quite nicely and I don't think you end up getting gimped for choosing one way instead of another.

Stealth characters seem overpowered.

Go to Russia last as there is a lot of shooting and you'll probably have trouble if you start there.

Apart from that there's not much else. The game doesn't gently caress you up for making certain decisions and I thought it was good fun.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 08:58

Smirking_Serpent: Aug 27, 2009

Rirse posted:

What's some good advice for Alpha Protocol and Halo ODST. Got them both from Gamefly, and did the first twenty minutes of each game. By the way, the first mission's achievement never seem to unlock on Alpha Protocol.

Alpha Protocol:

+ Make sure you level at least one combat skill. Most people say it should be a gun, but only melee is possible, if difficult. Pistols are overpowered and great for stealth, assault rifles are good for any class.

+ Take two levels of the equipment skill so you can autohack with EMP grenades.

+ Stealth is overpowered, but it sucks early on. Keep in mind that stealth in Alpha Protocol = sneaking up behind guys and knocking them out. Don't try to evade everyone unless it is practical.

+ Not executing characters (during cutscenes) opens up more options, killing them doesn't.

+ If you want Shaheed to live, you must let him go, not arrest him.

+ Aim for the body, not the head.

+ There is a character called Marberg later in the game. You will want to kill him. You need to piss him off to have the option.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 09:17

pizza valentine: Sep 19, 2007; DON'T FAKE THE FUNK; Grimey Drawer

Rirse posted:

By the way, the first mission's achievement never seem to unlock on Alpha Protocol.

Are you making sure to complete all 3 training course missions? After Westridge lets you run around a bit, head behind the "change appearance" locker and there are 3 doors. Complete each course. You don't have to do the extra missions that each person offers but if you do Darcy's you get $20,000 which helps in the beginning.

In addition to what others have said try your first playthrough as a recruit on easy. Playing recruit permanently gimps you by starting you out with no points but easy is well uh, very easy. Finishing the game on recruit unlocks veteran which will make subsequent playthroughs laughable, even on hard.

The chain shot skill in pistols is godly and will become your best friend.

You can break open a lot of doors instead of picking them but this will often set off alarms.

Buy as much intel as you can afford in clearinghouse between missions.

Melee can be super overpowered due to the common enemy AI of dodging shots then running up to you in melee range.

If you're going for achievements/trophies try not to stress too much at first. The game has some really obscure/finnicky ways to complete certain ones. You should get about half of them your first playthrough then read a guide for the rest.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 09:39

Bloodly: Nov 3, 2008; Not as strong as you'd expect.

Chunky12345 posted:

Turns out I'm kind of bad at Patapon 1. Any tips for how to play well? I hit Fever good and everything, it just seems like all my dudes can't hit worth poo poo. Is there some way to get more weapons and hats outside of a story mission?

Grind earlier missions and hunting missions. Also use the bonus games at camp(more will unlock as you progress). That'll get you the materials to get more and better stuff.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 10:48

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

ToxicFrog posted:

Things seemed to be going ok - I did trade runs inside the Troy system until I could afford meson blasters, better armour, and a jump drive. Then I took a Guild transport mission to Junction, two jumps away.

One jump out, at Pender's Star. I got jumped by three pirates in an asteroid belt. I took them out (WC1 afterburning-through-asteroid-belts crew represent ), but now my targeting system is crippled - and none of the ship dealers will repair or even sell me a replacement.

Is the game broken somehow, or is there some specific place I need to go to get targeting repairs? I guess I could do food hauling in Junction until I can afford a repair bot, but I'd rather not. And leaving Junction is out of the question, I barely survived with a working targeting system.

If I remember correctly, to repair your targeting system, you have to go into the little booth above the shipyard where you purchase the quadrant maps (and new targeting systems).

# ? Aug 4, 2010 12:11

Spermanent Record: Mar 28, 2007; I interviewed a NK escapee who came to my school and made a thread. Then life got in the way and the translation had to be postponed. I did finish it in the end, but nobody is going to pay 10 bux to update my.avatar

Couple of tips for Space Rangers 2

If you want to trade then go to a merchant centre and ask for a financial assessment. They will give you a list of the most profitable trade routes.

Markets fluctuate, so sell your poo poo as soon as you find a good price.

I didn't like Missle launchers much, but if you wait a little while, a laser thing becomes available which kicks unholy amounts of pirate rear end.

Pirate Bases, Ranger Bases and Military Bases do repairs much more cheaply.

Upgrade the hell out of everything at research stations. Only use the best engineers. It will produce gear that is WAY better than what's on the markets.

Buy the lightest gear you can find. Choose lighter gear over heavier, better gear.

You can find unique items inside black holes.

If you're trading at the start then don't bother with shields, guns etc. Just carry as much crap as you can and make as much money as you can. You can buy more stuff when you can afford a hull that can carry 500+

Some ships don't let you use afterburners. Consider this when you are purchasing.

Very early on, you can accept escort missions and then do something else without your charge dying. This doesn't last long, but it's free cash for a while.

I find trading to be more profitable than doing missions, in the early game at least.

You can refuel your ship by flying through or close to the sun. It will do a lot of damage though.

Gaalians have the best gear, but it degrades the quickest. Maloqs have the most hard-wearing stuff.

Learn to love the search engine in the bases. Always spend 3 credits on it before leaving a system to search for gear, trade prices and ships. Don't bother flying somewhere unless you know why you are going there. You will need to know the name of what you are looking for though, so print out a guide/the manual.

Now, can someone help me with the RTS parts of the game? I'm terrible at them and I hate myself for it.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 13:51

Luisfe: Aug 17, 2005; Hee-lo-ho!

Anything I should know before I try Neverwinter nights 2?

# ? Aug 4, 2010 14:45

That Awful Nick: Oct 7, 2008; "I've got the knowledge!"

Luisfe posted:

Anything I should know before I try Neverwinter nights 2?

Serious post: Don't make any plans in the next 3 months or so.

I mean it. That game is almost as horrendously addictiong as NWN was.

Don't play as an archery-focused character. Obsidian decided you didn't need Magical Bows, so when you get toward the end you'll be seriously underpowered against the 8,000 enemies who'll be running at you with magical swords, knifes, staves, etc.

Also sometimes it's okay to be a prick if it means making a little extra money because there are going to be times that you are just going to plain old HAVE to buy better armor.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 14:50

Didja Redo: Jan 24, 2010; Wanna try my freedom meat BBQ meat?

Luisfe posted:

Anything I should know before I try Neverwinter nights 2?

1. Don't skip the tutorial. You can get an extra level and a magic item out of it if you do everything right.

2. If you're going to play a Warlock, use this.

3. Maybe don't play a Warlock, because they're not really as good as they might seem.

4. Try not to be a dick to your party members. Your influence with them does matter.

5. Social skills are not crucial, but playing a character with a high Diplomacy score will make a certain pivotal scene much more satisfying.

6. You can more or less rest wherever and whenever, so don't be stingy with spells. The final dungeon is an exception. Also, this does not apply to the expansion campaigns.

7. If you're planning on crafting magical items, save the following types of gem: obsidians, diamonds, emeralds, star sapphires, blue diamonds, canary diamonds, jacinths, beljurils, king's tears, rubies and sapphires. The rest can be safely sold off.

8. Don't spend too much gold. At a certain point in the game, you're going to need a whole lot of it.

9. Harper Agent is a TERRIBLE CLASS.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 15:05

Ainsley McTree: Feb 19, 2004

For Alpha Protocol

Jjaarreett posted:

The chain shot skill in pistols is godly and will become your best friend.

This, a million times. Even if you're not playing a stealth character, you're going to want to get your chain shot as high as possible, because it's literally just a "win button" for boss fights. Activate chain shot, aim every shot at their head (you will not miss), and if they survive it, wait for it to recharge (or use brilliance if your tech skill is high enough) and use it again. Most bosses go down in one or two rounds of this. I personally couldn't stand the boss fights in AP so it was nice to have a way to get around them like that.

If you are playing as a stealth character, pistols are even more important. Chain shot is a fantastic way to clear out a room or hit a far away enemy when outside of boss fights. Plus the ability to line up a critical hit without poking your head out of cover is absolutely invaluable. Just make sure to aim for the head - if you miss the head, you'll alert the guard, who will more often than not fire his gun randomly while falling to the ground, thus alerting all the other guards as well. This is very annoying. I find that aiming slightly above the head usually guarantees a headshot.

Putting a few points in Martial Arts is a good idea as a stealth character. Your primary goal should be to shoot and stab people without being spotted, but if poo poo hits the fan (and there are scripted moments where it always will, even if you play perfectly), martial arts will help you out. It's a good backup ability for situations where your weapons aren't going to help, but I wouldn't specialize in it.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 15:19

Chevy Slyme: May 2, 2004; We're Gonna Run.

We're Gonna Crawl.

Kick Down Every Wall.

Luisfe posted:

Anything I should know before I try Neverwinter nights 2?

I posted this two months back. Linked to avoid an extremely long selfquote.

Also, Warlocks are just fine, even without Warlock buddy, once you get Eldritch Chain and Vitriolic Blast. Before that, it'll be painful, but the game is easy enough that you should be able to manage if you want to play one badly enough. They're weak early game, but overpowered late game, and in Mask of the Betrayer, because of it's... unique... mechanics, are basically the absolute best choice for a spellcaster type.

Chevy Slyme fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Aug 4, 2010

# ? Aug 4, 2010 15:54

a glitch: Jun 27, 2008; no wait stop; Soiled Meat

Just grabbed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from XBLA. Anything someone who hasn't played a Castlevania game before should know?

# ? Aug 4, 2010 20:50

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

Eggn0g posted:

Just grabbed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from XBLA. Anything someone who hasn't played a Castlevania game before should know?

You'll pretty much need a walkthrough if you want to get the 200.6% achievement. And there's 3 or 4 endings, depending on what you have equipped during a certain boss fight (game can end there or continue). I don't recall if there's ever any hint as to what you need to wear to not have the game end there, so you might want to look that up also.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 20:59

Barudak: May 7, 2007

Eggn0g posted:

Just grabbed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from XBLA. Anything someone who hasn't played a Castlevania game before should know?

Its not a particularly hard game, if you're ever stuck just level up. Some item weapon and item combinations get wackily over-powered.

Remember that save points fully heal you, so don't hesitate to back-track to one if you've botched exploring.

When you fight Richter, if the game just ends you got the bad ending and will need to get another item from the castle. Figuring out how to get through the sealed passages with clocks will be key. If you still are stumped, which most people are, look up a guide.

The second half of the game, inverse castle, is really badly laid out and expects you to have mastered the bat, gas, and various jumps. Keep that in mind when you get there.

There is an armor that nullifies spikes somewhere, use that to access certain spike riddled passageways.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 21:03

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

Barudak posted:

Its not a particularly hard game, if you're ever stuck just level up. Some item weapon and item combinations get wackily over-powered.

In this vein, the dagger sub-weapon is easily the best thing to use against most bosses. There's no "cool down" on it so just hold up and as fast as you can hit X is how fast Alucard throws them out.

# ? Aug 4, 2010 23:58

Orgophlax: Aug 26, 2002

A few pages back I asked for hints on Mass Effect and a few people said to go female renegade. Does this actually gain you something eventually or is it just considered more entertaining?

# ? Aug 5, 2010 20:17

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 10:12

Captain Scandinaiva: Mar 29, 2010

Orgophlax posted:

A few pages back I asked for hints on Mass Effect and a few people said to go female renegade. Does this actually gain you something eventually or is it just considered more entertaining?

The better voice actor.

# ? Aug 5, 2010 20:28

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