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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Infinity Gaia: Feb 27, 2011; a storm is coming...

Since I already posted, I might as well give some extra Dead Island tips:

-Never ever sell weaponcrafting materials. It can be tempting to sell your L400 batteries and such in the early game for a quick buck, but you'll regret it when you get a high ranking weapon mod that requires them and you have none left.

-Speaking of weapon mods, there are a lot of them that are way too well hidden. If you're an OCD completionist type, look up a guide, especially for the weapon mods that require placing the hidden skulls.

-Don't save up your Rage too much! Using it gives you an EXP multiplier depending on how much stuff you kill during it. Whenever you see a reasonable sized group of enemies, just let loose with it.

-Always keep an eye out for repeatable quest items. There's no reason not to grab most of them, and it's pretty much effortless money. Of special note is champagne, make absolutely sure to keep an eye out for it, as every bottle nets you 1000 dollars and a diamond, IIRC.

-Don't forget about your kick! It's a pretty useful tool in many ways. A jumping kick will pretty much always knock down a regular zombie.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 03:52

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 03:02

Count Uvula: Dec 20, 2011; ---

GOTTA STAY FAI posted:

In Immortal Defense, does turning the difficulty down affect the story at all, or does it just lower your high score? I've heard many good things about the story, but I'm not so great at tower defense games.

It doesn't affect the story. Unlocking the bonus chapter just requires beating every level without letting a single enemy get through, with some really obvious exceptions.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 04:01

GuavaMoment: Aug 13, 2006; YouTube dude

Infinity Gaia posted:

some extra Dead Island tips:

Get the mod 'Dead Island Helper'. It doesn't change the gameplay, but fixes a crap ton of minor bugs and annoyances. I got motionsick from the game (which almost never happens to me) until I got this mod installed.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 04:09

Mayor McCheese: Sep 20, 2004; Everyone is a mayor... Someday..; Lipstick Apathy

Goofballs posted:

Its the beforeiplay thread not what's a good idea after I know what I'm doing

The general rule is to not post any spoilers or to use tags when you do. There's nothing wrong with midgame advice, especially with what Infinity Gaia posted.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 05:11

GOTTA STAY FAI: Mar 24, 2005; ~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~; College Slice

Count Uvula posted:

It doesn't affect the story. Unlocking the bonus chapter just requires beating every level without letting a single enemy get through, with some really obvious exceptions.

Some good news, some bad news. Well, I guess they can't all be winners :v:

Thanks for the tips. I guess after I finish the main storyline I'll just crank the difficulty down and re-do "all the levels that I sucked at."^*

_{* read: "all the levels."}

edit: If you're having trouble with a tough enemy, (especially mission XXIX), you'll find it helpful to know that the second-level charge of your cursor weapon draws Limited Point fire to your target. Knowing this will make really difficult battles much, much easier.

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Nov 2, 2012

# ? Nov 2, 2012 06:09

CV 64 Fan: Oct 13, 2012; It's pretty dope.

Any tips for Jedi Academy? I am on the tutorial and it feels a bit sloppy. I know a lot of people prefer Jedi Outcast but I've played that a million times.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 08:22

Supeerme: Sep 13, 2010

Can someone give me any tips for Empire Earth? I played it before but I never really won as I lost interest fighting the AI all the time.

# ? Nov 2, 2012 15:19

CATTASTIC: Mar 31, 2010; ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks.

GuavaMoment posted:

Get the mod 'Dead Island Helper'. It doesn't change the gameplay, but fixes a crap ton of minor bugs and annoyances. I got motionsick from the game (which almost never happens to me) until I got this mod installed.

This in particular needs to be repeated. The PC version of Dead Island has a bunch of tweaks that this utility easily fixes.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 04:12

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

Anything for Payday: The Heist?

edit: I didn't know there were multiple Paydays, I guess.

Scalding Coffee fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Nov 3, 2012

# ? Nov 3, 2012 04:41

Frost Uncle: Nov 2, 2012

Scalding Coffee posted:

Anything for Payday?

Hurdling the brown fences is a waste of time and energy. Just walk around them.

edit: I'm a freaking idiot who can't read. :doh:

# ? Nov 3, 2012 04:45

Mzbundifund: Nov 5, 2011; I'm afraid so.

James Woods Fan posted:

Any tips for Jedi Academy? I am on the tutorial and it feels a bit sloppy. I know a lot of people prefer Jedi Outcast but I've played that a million times.

Always do the optional missions, since they gives you stronger force powers and it's not like you're playing this game in order to skip a fifth of it. The ending you get isn't affected by the force powers you pick, although you will get some pretty funny dialogue clips if you pick nothing but dark side powers. Unless you're really good at the game you'll want some way to heal, so pick either healing or life steal before you get too far into it. If you've played outcast you know the drill, just murder stormtroopers and have fun.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 08:07

NihilCredo: Jun 6, 2011; iram omni possibili modo preme:
plus una illa te diffamabit, quam multæ virtutes commendabunt

James Woods Fan posted:

Any tips for Jedi Academy? I am on the tutorial and it feels a bit sloppy. I know a lot of people prefer Jedi Outcast but I've played that a million times.

There's exactly one branching point in the game and it's very close to the end. Make a save when you're presented with the choice, so you can try the other path later. The final level stays the same, but you get different fights and cheesy Star Wars acting.

Another good point for a save to keep is the boss fight at the end of Vader's Castle, since after that you'll get to pick your lightsaber type (single, dual-wield, staff). They're pretty balanced between each other, so go with what you like.

Other than that, if you've played JK2 a million times you won't have any real trouble with Academy. Do all the missions, look for secret areas, Grip-smash enemies, have fun.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 09:05

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

James Woods Fan posted:

Any tips for Jedi Academy? I am on the tutorial and it feels a bit sloppy. I know a lot of people prefer Jedi Outcast but I've played that a million times.

Look up the code for "realistic lightsaber combat". Then enable it and enjoy. (Though you might want to disable it when you start getting into duels with lightsabre-wielding enemies)

# ? Nov 3, 2012 09:22

bbcisdabomb: Jan 15, 2008; SHEESH

Scalding Coffee posted:

Anything for Payday: The Heist?

edit: I didn't know there were multiple Paydays, I guess.

This game is hard. Even on Easy, the game is still rather difficult until you know exactly how to deal with everything and when to move. Set up crossfires and cover other people's backs, and you should make it through after a few tries.

Each mission throws a silly amount of cops at you. It's part of the charm, just run with it.

You have a two-part health system very reminiscent of the original Halo games. Your portrait has a white outline that represents your body armor. Armor regenerates when you don't take damage for a few seconds like health in Halo. The background will drain out when you take damage with no body armor, turning from green to red.

Body armor gets upgrades in each upgrade tree, but health is only increased by Team Abilities or the Thick Skin perk from the Sniper tree. Keep this in mind when you're leveling.

Upgrades are limited to the three (or four if you have the DLC) trees. Check the Upgrades tab in the main menu to see what you get in each tree, but know that you get everything in order from top to bottom.

You can switch trees at any point - hold tab and press the corresponding number button. The tree with the yellow highlight is the one you're currently leveling.

It's often best to focus on one tree at a time, but you will be forced to switch off the tree when it locks until a certain level. Getting the Body Armor Increases in the other trees is a really good idea while waiting for the next level to open.

What you go in with is basically what you'll have the entire mission. There are no health refills outside using medic bags and leveling. There is no way to refill your bags or swap out your guns mid-mission, and while you can get ammo from dead cops, it is 1-3 bullets per cop.

The only clearly inferior weapon is the B9-S pistol you start with. Every other weapon is useful in some circumstances and useless in others. The AMCAR rifle you start with is a workhorse that I still go back to, even after maxing out the Brenner machine gun from the Assault tree.

Don't shoot people during the start of Diamond Heist, that alerts everyone instantly. Tripmines, however, don't.

There is a secret something in the two DLC levels, but nobody knows what it is. If you really care there's a few threads on the Steam forums, but it's mainly a bunch of people scratching their heads over it. If you thought the Valve ARG puzzles got strange, you should go check out the PAYDAY secret.

If you're having troubles with a specific level, ask here or in the PAYDAY thread. I love talking about this game.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 09:29

A shrubbery!: Jan 16, 2009; I LOOK DOWN ON MY REAL LIFE FRIENDS BECAUSE OF THEIR VIDEO GAME PURCHASING DECISIONS.

I'M THAT MUCH OF AN INSUFFERABLE SPERGLORD

I've started playing Final Fantasy XI with some friends, are there any useful things I/we should know about?

# ? Nov 3, 2012 11:37

Tokyo Incident: Nov 1, 2011; relax

Scalding Coffee posted:

Anything for Payday: The Heist?

edit: I didn't know there were multiple Paydays, I guess.

Along with bbcisdabomb's tips here's a few I posted I the Payday thread a few months ago:

quote:

First some technical stuff:

Make sure your Download Region in Steam is set to something close to you. The game uses that to determine your location, if it's set to somewhere far away it'll affect the number of servers it'll show you.

The server browser only shows visible games with open slots. Full servers won't show up, neither will games being played on the 145+ difficulty that you have to unlock. This can make the game seem less active than it actually is. Don't be afraid to try a game that's listed in the "far" or "worldwide" category, you may still get good speeds.

Game advice:

Leveling up will completely refill your ammo and restore your health. Also, if you're downed and someone revives you, you'll get a certain amount of health back. The more you're downed, the less health will be restored and the less time your teammates will have to revive you.

If your teammates don't manage to revive you you'll be taken into custody. People in custody can be traded for a hostage. Trades won't happen during police assaults, and if you've killed civilians there'll be a time penalty before you can get traded out.

You can use cable ties to take civilians hostage, but you can also take police hostage. To do it injure a cop by shooting them in a limb or with melee then press the Use key to shout at them. It'll take a few shouts to get them to give up. Cops will use their own handcuffs when you're taking them hostage, so this is useful if you're out of cable ties. Just keep in mind that you (A) can't take special units like Cloakers hostage and (B) you can't take cops hostage during an assault wave, they'll refuse to surrender if you try.

As for which weapons you should be aiming for, the Support class is great for new players. The AMCAR you start with is a solid weapon, but it eats through ammo really fast. You'll get the Reinbach shotgun early in the Support tree however, which is an easier to manage primary weapon. It's great for headshots and has better accuracy and range than you'd expect for a shotgun. The Bronco revolver is the best pistol in the game and the Compat 5 is a good subweapon. You'll also gain the Medic bag and Protector ability (health boosts for your partners) in this tree which will make you everyone's best friend.

Medic bags have a certain number of uses. Whether you're using it with 10% health remaining or 90% it still counts as one single use, so don't heal until you need it. With Ammo bags on the other hand you'll only take the bullets you need from the total pool for each of your weapons, so you can refill on that whenever you want.

AI teammates have animations for interactions like picking up team mates. Players on the other hand do not. So if you see someone standing motionless next to a downed teammate or a drill or whatever you can safely assume they are interacting with it.

If you do see someone picking up a teammate or using an item, then don't start interacting with it too. You won't be speeding up the process, just taking another crew member out of the fight. Cover them instead.

Police assaults last a certain amount of time. Killing cops won't make it end any quicker and another cop will spawn in a bit to take their place. Assault waves are meant to be rode out, not used as an opportunity to get your kill count up.

Ammo is scarce. Cops will drop some when you kill them, but only one bullet or so for each of your weapons. Headshots are really important in the game, not only for taking out targets quickly but for saving ammo.

Tripmines are hard to use properly. The best way to make the most of them is to set it somewhere visable that you're expecting a tough enemy like a Shield or Bulldozer to pass though and NOT TO TURN ON THE TRIP BEAM. Instead shoot it when you want to set it off. That way you'll avoid having a regular cop or a civilian set it off.

A few things to note in the stealth section of Diamond Heist: the guards can't hear you, don't bother crouching unless it's to hide behind something. A guard will only notice you if you're in their line of sight for a certain amount of time; I've sprinted straight in front of some without them registering me. You can shoot out cameras with a silenced weapon or melee them, but doing the same to a guard will give you away.

Also the HUD can seem like a cluttered mess initially but it contains every single bit of information you need, so bear with it.

Tokyo Incident fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Nov 3, 2012

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:02

VodeAndreas: Apr 30, 2009

Quick question about Bully - unsuprisingly hard to google...

Just wondering with the flow of time, is there anything to stop me dicking around and passing all my classes and exploring for a while? Is there an actual flow of time outside of completing the main missions and a daily time cycle?

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:08

Zedd: Jul 6, 2009; I mean, who would have noticed another madman around here?

DopeGhoti posted:

The AC3 thread is a squalid den of spoilers and misery, best stay away if you can't resist spoiler tags, and some early things are being talked about taglessly.

I'm the OP of that thread, put like 5 "don't loving post untagged spoilers" things in the OP and first few pages and it still happens.

VodeAndreas posted:

Quick question about Bully - unsuprisingly hard to google...

Just wondering with the flow of time, is there anything to stop me dicking around and passing all my classes and exploring for a while? Is there an actual flow of time outside of completing the main missions and a daily time cycle?

Except for the Halloween stuff you can just dick around forever; the classes are pretty fun and give cool perks so I'd focus on finishing off the classes first then dick around.
Once you get access to the little town the school guards won't chase you if you skip class though.

Zedd fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Nov 3, 2012

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:29

GulMadred: Oct 20, 2005; I don't understand how you can be so mistaken.

VodeAndreas posted:

Quick question about Bully - unsuprisingly hard to google...

Just wondering with the flow of time, is there anything to stop me dicking around and passing all my classes and exploring for a while? Is there an actual flow of time outside of completing the main missions and a daily time cycle?

It's not that hard to Google. The advice in the thread (1 2 3) is unanimous on the subject of "explore" and "do side missions" and "take your time"; I haven't played it in years but I don't remember any screw-you timers aside from the scripted plot events (and attendance/truancy, of course).

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:33

Infinity Gaia: Feb 27, 2011; a storm is coming...

VodeAndreas posted:

Quick question about Bully - unsuprisingly hard to google...

Just wondering with the flow of time, is there anything to stop me dicking around and passing all my classes and exploring for a while? Is there an actual flow of time outside of completing the main missions and a daily time cycle?

There are no timers besides story mission-based ones. IIRC, the only thing permanently missable is the red ninja suit for doing the ultimate prank on Halloween, and you'd really have to be trying to miss it.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:39

VodeAndreas: Apr 30, 2009

Thanks. I'd looked at the wiki before posting but the mention of Halloween stuff there made me wonder if there was a calendar ticking away in the background that the game hadn't shown me yet.

Good game so far, interesting to see the rockstar gta aesthetic put into a different setting.

# ? Nov 3, 2012 14:39

Eulisker: Sep 2, 2011

Quick question about AssBro.

Can you do anything in modern day monterrigioni aside from finding the 5 useless artifacts and reading the occasional boring email? If yes is anything missable or are you yanked out of the animus when you have to do something with Desmond?

E: Forgot. You can have some silly talk with your buddies. But aside from that anything?

# ? Nov 3, 2012 23:50

The Dark Id: Aug 13, 2005; Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]

Eulisker posted:

Quick question about AssBro.

Can you do anything in modern day monterrigioni aside from finding the 5 useless artifacts and reading the occasional boring email? If yes is anything missable or are you yanked out of the animus when you have to do something with Desmond?

E: Forgot. You can have some silly talk with your buddies. But aside from that anything?

Not a goddamn thing.

# ? Nov 4, 2012 01:51

Bushmaori: Mar 8, 2009

Bolverkur posted:

I'm playing Final Fantasy 7 on my Vita, first playthrough believe it or not. Any gameplay tips for Materia, etc? I know not to level Aeris ~~but I still do~~.

On the second disk there is a part where you parachute into Midgar, after you land you head through some train tunnels. When this happens make sure you go as far south (that is towards the screen not away from it) for as long as you can. At the end of this side is the W-Item materia which you can use to either use two items at once in battle, which is pretty helpful, or if you don't mind you can use it to duplicate any item that you can use in battle provided you have at least two of that item already in your inventory.

As you probably figured out All Materia junctioned to Restore is super helpful if you missed White Wind enemy skill like I always did. All Materia is also relatively easy to master and sells for a ridiculous amount of cash at max level.

Speaking of Enemy Skill my favourite was Trine, an ability you get from a blue spidery boss named the Materia Keeper who you fight in in area directly after visiting Cloud's home town. It is basically Bolt 2.5 that hits every enemy for reduced MP cost and it makes dealing with big groups of weaklings a breeze.

# ? Nov 4, 2012 02:02

Turtlicious: Sep 17, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

I'm about to start X3: Albion Pre-lude (Bought it from Gamer's Gate) What should I know?

# ? Nov 4, 2012 03:08

loopsheloop: Oct 22, 2010

Picked up Guild Wars 2, I'm a level 7 Norn Guardian and I feel the same as when I was level 1. It's all mostly confusing to me. Any tips?

# ? Nov 4, 2012 07:37

FreshFeesh: Jun 3, 2007; Drum Solo

loopsheloop posted:

Picked up Guild Wars 2, I'm a level 7 Norn Guardian and I feel the same as when I was level 1. It's all mostly confusing to me. Any tips?

The game really picks up after level 15, for almost all classes. For guardian, try investing in a greatsword and a staff. Armour and weapon level surprisingly do matter, so every 5-10 levels make sure you visit a weapon/armoursmith to make sure you are using items of the requisite level.

Never hesitate to use the "Deposit All Collectables" option in your inventory -- it sends collectable items directly to your bank for later crafting.

If you have an item you don't want, right-click and take a look at prices on the Trading Post before selling it -- you can often get more money that way.

Your virtues are meant to be deployed, especially retribution. If you are in a large group / mass of people, hitting it will allow everyone in the area to start doing burning damage, so feel free to use it as you like.

Guardians do very well as either support or front-line members of parties, depending on your armour stats, your trait points, and the weapons you use. Don't feel like you have to be locked into any one playstyle; switch things around and really explore.

You get far, far, far more XP from exploration and doing dynamic events than you do just from murdering things. You are automatically downleveled in certain lower-level zones, so feel free to explore anywhere that's at or below your level -- you will see plenty of rewards for doing so, especially if you 100% a map (get all vistas, points of interest, waypoints, and hearts).

Karma is per-character, and some day you will find items that cost 60,000+ karma each, so it's up to you whether you want to save it or spend it as you go.

# ? Nov 4, 2012 07:56

poptart_fairy: Apr 8, 2009; by R. Guyovich

Anything for Mark of the Ninja? Seems relatively straight forward but you never know. :v:

# ? Nov 4, 2012 10:09

MockingQuantum: Jan 20, 2012

poptart_fairy posted:

Anything for Mark of the Ninja? Seems relatively straight forward but you never know.

Ahh crap, I even wrote some stuff down for this, and now I can't find any of it. You're right that it is relatively straightforward, but here's some tips I can think of off the top of my head.

Mark of the Ninja

-If you're farming points for more honors, drop bodies into ventilation shafts and the like, and you'll get more points for hiding them, in addition to the points you get from assassinations.

-Upgrade points are usually best spent on new assassination techniques, as they open up new possibilities for how to get through a level, as well as making the game more fun.

-Don't be afraid of terrorizing a guard if you can't get past him. The game is pretty good about educating you on how to go about this.

-Don't underrate smoke bombs, they're incredibly useful on any level with laser traps.

-Remember that you can do almost any triggered action (grappling to ledges, throwing knives, throwing smoke bombs) while in your slow-mo aiming mode. Abuse this to no end. It makes some impossible situations beatable.

# ? Nov 4, 2012 21:18

Pb and Jellyfish: Oct 30, 2011

What should I know about Red Orchestra 2? I picked up the first and second games in the steam bundle. Should I bother with the first game, or did everyone just move on to the 2nd? I plan to play singleplayer before I go online, but what should I know for multiplayer? Any mods I should have?

# ? Nov 4, 2012 21:57

Mayor McCheese: Sep 20, 2004; Everyone is a mayor... Someday..; Lipstick Apathy

loopsheloop posted:

Picked up Guild Wars 2, I'm a level 7 Norn Guardian and I feel the same as when I was level 1. It's all mostly confusing to me. Any tips?

At level 10+ you can start buying your class books. These unlock the trait trees for you. Each book unlocks another tier for you invest your points in.

Aim to do your story missions fairly often. You get some good gear out of it, including a very nice back slot item towards the end. If you happen to finish the chain you also gain a token for a unique weapon skin.

If you ever get bored of leveling you can also hop into World vs World combat. Look for a shield icon on the top bar to hop into one of the borderland queues. This will scale you to level 80 and you will still gain xp and loot for leveling, so you can start at level 1 if you're inclined (although I wouldn't ever do this personally).

Crafting will net you a ton of experience if you want to breeze through the levels. At the very least grab cooking as it's the cheapest.

Crafting in general is very useful in this game. Unlike other MMOs all gear caps at a certain rank (Exotic) across the board, for both pve, pvp, crafting, and dungeon gear; if you take advantage of the Trading Post you should have no issue crafting the gear you want for endgame.

Early on use Salvaging Kits on white colored gear only. I like to sell everything else if I'm not using it. You can sell the mats you salvage on the Trading Post for a good chunk of change, that is if you're not using them for crafting.

Warp points scale in price as you level.

Lions Arch is the central hub for the game that connects to all major cities. You can quick travel here by entering the PvP or WvW zones and just taking the nearest portal out.

Dungeons come in two flavors: Story and Exploration. Story mode is a bit on rails and is kind of garbage outside of leveling/for fun. Exploration allows you pick a part of the dungeon your group wants to do and at the end gives you tokens for the dungeon merchants found in Lions Arch. At least one member of your group has to have completed story mode before your party can activate exploration mode.

Eat and Drink food. Buy both on the Trading Post if you're not crafting your own.

Closer to level 60 you'll start seeing gear drop with an extra stat on it. Sometimes this gear has Magic Find. Magic Find is useful mostly for people who are taking advantage of the Mystic Forge, something you only do at endgame. The Mystic Forge is a whole beast onto itself that you will have to research on your own if you go down that road.

# ? Nov 4, 2012 22:07

girl dick energy: Sep 30, 2009; You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)
-It can be very, very tempting to go back and try again every time something goes wrong, but if you do, the game quickly loses all fun and challenge. Unless you're playing on Impossible (or maybe Classic), you can handle it.
-If you "Code Black", and all your guys die, you still get to keep the gear you sent with them, which is a godsend.
-SHIVs aren't just medicore, they're also bugged to gently caress. Just skip them, at least until the bugs are fixed.
-Always have at least two Medkits with you.

girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Nov 5, 2012

# ? Nov 5, 2012 03:09

SiKboy: Oct 28, 2007; Oh no!😱

Colon V posted:

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)
-Ironman mode can actually save you from yourself. It can be very, very tempting to go back and try again every time something goes wrong, but if you do, the game quickly loses all fun and challenge. Unless you're playing on Impossible (or maybe Classic), you can handle it.
-If you "Code Black", and all your guys die, you still get to keep the gear you sent with them, which is a godsend.
-SHIVs aren't just medicore, they're also bugged to gently caress. Just skip them, at least until the bugs are fixed.
-Always have at least two Medkits with you.

Unless there has been a patch I havent noticed in the past week or so, I'd actually counsel against ironman if you have an ounce of self-control, particularly for a first play through. I love the game but it has its share of bugs and glitches, so having a back-up save before a mission, or from a few turns ago can sometimes allow you to avoid otherwise game-breaking bugs (if you get the thing where it hangs up on the alien turn and never does anything, load and try a different sequence of actions).

I would totally agree that loading if a guy dies or whatever will pretty much ruin the game. Its Xcom, you have to accept that sometimes bad poo poo happens to good rookies and learn to roll with it. Make that OFTEN bad poo poo happens to good rookies actually. But if you have the self-control to not save scum, I would keep the safety net of regular non-ironman mode. I worked a 2-save system, one on the geoscape one on the battle screen so in case of a bug or crash I didnt lose too much progress. I'd just hate for someone to be turned off the game because they were playing ironman and lost 7 hours gameplay to a bug, or got a team wipe because of the teleporting aliens bug, or that bug that periodically makes one fairly nasty enemy immune to explosive damage.

I'd also add: the tutorial teaches you some really bad habits. It forces you to sprint guys into unknown territory, often only to half cover. If you play like the tutorial outside of the tutorial you are going to get murdered. Never sprint to somewhere that might reveal more aliens unless you have a drat good plan for dealing with them when they turn up.

The game also does a poor job of explaining the geoscape to you. Getting satellite coverage of a country is how you increase your monthly income (as well as reducing panic) so should be a priority. However you can wait until just before a council report to launch them as the act of selecting a country to launch them over is what reduces panic in that country, so you can prioritise (if both the US and Russia are on 4 panic bars, rather than launching on the 14th of the month, launch on the 29th because by that point the US is on 4 and Russia on 5, so you know where it will do most good). Countries only leave if they are on 5 when the report is due, and even then on normal difficulty there is a limit to how many countries will leave in one month.

As well as it being normal to get soldiers killed, its also fine to lose some countries along the way. As long as you have 9/16 on board you are fine. I forget if you lose on 8/16 or if its below 8, but basically keep more than half the countires happy and you should be okay. So basically dont panic and restart as soon as France decides to stop funding you.

# ? Nov 5, 2012 18:09

girl dick energy: Sep 30, 2009; You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

SiKboy posted:

Unless there has been a patch I havent noticed in the past week or so, I'd actually counsel against ironman if you have an ounce of self-control, particularly for a first play through. I love the game but it has its share of bugs and glitches, so having a back-up save before a mission, or from a few turns ago can sometimes allow you to avoid otherwise game-breaking bugs (if you get the thing where it hangs up on the alien turn and never does anything, load and try a different sequence of actions).

Fair enough. I'll modify my tip. Though you technically can force-quit out when there's a bug, and jump back to your autosave.

# ? Nov 5, 2012 18:17

SiKboy: Oct 28, 2007; Oh no!😱

The wiki seems to be down for me, and I cant remember the google search string that lets you search the thread, so anyone point me in the right direction for Witcher 2 (on the Xbox 360, so no mods or anything)?

# ? Nov 5, 2012 20:08

theshim: May 1, 2012; You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!

Seems to be working just fine for me? I'll copy it over for you.

quote:

- Press a movement key twice quickly to roll that direction. Double "S" - roll backwards, is very useful in many of the early fights.

- You can block (parry) with "E". It is hard to block fast opponents. It is easier to block slow opponents but they can still damage you (the block just reduces damage). Blocking uses Vigor (stamina) the same as Signs (spells) so if you have no Vigor you cannot block. Blocking is not that useful compared to dodging at the beginning.

- You can lock onto a target by holding down Alt. There is no "cycle through potential targets" key.

- You will get murdered if you leap into the middle of a group of guys, which is all too easy to do early on. Don't be afraid to do a strategic retreat: attack, roll away, attack - etc. If you are getting closed in then run away a bit. If you are in an enclosed area then it is hard to find space but just keep moving.

- Left mouse button is a quick strike and right mouse button is a heavy blow. You should favor the quick hit early on, but a good way to take someone down quickly is to do a couple of quick hits followed by a heavy hit. Quick hits even work on armored guys: if you try to take someone down just using heavy hits then they will usually counter you. You can do a lot of damage if you attack someone from behind or the side, and the same applies when they attack you.

- Signs are great, even at the start before you increase your skill in any of them. Aard can stun people but it is not that reliable at the start. Yrden places a trap on the group that can completely disable one foe - very useful if you have the space to use it. Igni does not do enough damage at the start. Quen should be your "default" Sign most of the time, since it protects you from being staggered when hit. Note that you do not regenerate health when Quen is active. Axii is good at the start of an encounter to mind control one person to be on your side. You have to power up Axii by holding the "Q" key down, so it is only useful before the fight starts, unless you can run a distance away.

- Use your potions and bombs. They make a big difference and it is easy to make lots of them not too far into the game. You can also find or craft traps.

- As the previous poster mentioned, don't hoard stuff. Collect things you think might be rare, but common stuff like iron ore, timber, cloth is all over. You can leave it where it is until you discover a need to collect it. You will find way more crafting/recipe items than you need so do not hang onto potions, bombs etc. You really are meant to use them - it's what Witchers do.

- Geralt usually uses swords, but there are some good alternative weapons to be found. Don't be afraid to use these weapons, particularly early in the game.

- There are stealth portions to the game. They are quite hard, but forgiving if you fail. Although hard, they are quite doable if you proceed with a lot of patience (not easy in a usually fast-paced game). You can extinguish torches. You can knock guys out if you approach directly from behind and right-click. You cannot stand against the wall and have a guard walk past you like in the movies - they will see you. You just have to wait until they have their back to you - even if they are some distance away - and then rush them. If two guards can see each other then don't even try to knock one out, wait until they split up and do not have LOS. If you watch guards from afar then you can easily see the best time to approach them from behind. You don't sneak right up to them, you get close-ish but not too close, wait for them to turn away (back directly facing you), and then rush them.

- If you have a Witcher 1 save then it imports some Orens (gold) and items, plus it may have minor dialogue influences. The items imported are not that much better than what you start with by default, so do not expect having a Witcher 1 save to make the game easier. Any imported items start in your inventory - not equipped. You have to equip them.

- There's no traditional tutorial. Do the flashback sequences in order because you'll be tossed into the furnace without being able to practice.

- Combat is deadly as the developers openly stated their Demon's Souls influence. One-against-one Geralt is a beast but you're almost always fighting three or more guys. Enemies inflict +200% damage on your flank and certain hits stagger you which means you can be juggled to death in literally two seconds. In tight spaces cast quen (absorbs damage, prevents stagger) and use every bomb and area attack to not die horribly. In open areas use Geralt's speed to your advantage by running circles around enemies, laying traps, casting yrden (creates a paralyzing trap), cast igni or aard to whittle away opponents, and dodge roll behind people to stab them in the back. Understand there's a slight pause between certain actions so be patient and don't jump the gun or you'll die. Simple as that.

- Axii is an underrated spell. Hold down the casting button over an enemy to temporarily mind control them. You have to pull it off from a good distance but in large groups it causes all enemies to target the hypnotized enemy which makes flanking them easy.

- Before going out in the wilderness or a dungeon suck down some potions. You have to be in a relatively safe area to do this and they last about 5-10 minutes. Swallow is an important one because there are no conventional healing abilities.

- Don't horde. I keep reading posts about people hitting the weight limit but this is ridiculous because there's no point in hauling a bunch of junk around. It would be nice if they brought back the storage from the first game but you have plenty of space. Sell weapons and armor you don't need, sell anything labeled "junk" in the menu screen, and sell off any common crafting equipment that you can find by looting a random house like cloth or timber. Brew some potions and bombs when you run low and sell off everything else that's terribly common like monster ingredients.

- You have to keep your formulas to use them despite the fact they're added to the journal. It sucks that they weigh .1 pounds while books (which add an entry to your journal) somehow weigh 0 pounds so hopefully next week's announced patch fixes this oversight.

- Pressing "Z" activates the wolf medallion which highlights objects. It also reveals magical auras and environmental hazards.

- You can double click on a quest in the journal to mark it on the mini-map. Blue and green dots that show up on the mini-map are important NPCs while enemies show up as red dots if you use the wolf medallion to mark them.

- The game is about delayed choices so you won't notice the effects of your actions until later. Be warned about the occasional quick-time-event (they're fortunately rare) and timed dialog choice.

On that note - anyone have anything to say about Pokemon Conquest?

# ? Nov 5, 2012 21:11

SiKboy: Oct 28, 2007; Oh no!😱

theshim posted:

Seems to be working just fine for me? I'll copy it over for you.

Thanks, appreciate it. On further investigation it turns out I have an older version of the wiki bookmarked as well, and I was clicking the wrong bookmark.

# ? Nov 5, 2012 21:29

ahobday: Apr 19, 2007

I recently played through Halo 1 for the first time. Can I play Halo 2, 3, and 4 in that order, skip ODST and Reach, and not miss anything important story-wise?

# ? Nov 6, 2012 00:29

Zushio: May 8, 2008

Basically, although ODST and Reach are both really good.

# ? Nov 6, 2012 00:54

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 03:02

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Centipeed posted:

I recently played through Halo 1 for the first time. Can I play Halo 2, 3, and 4 in that order, skip ODST and Reach, and not miss anything important story-wise?

You can indeed, but Reach is one of the best in the series and well worth a look. ODST's basically Halo: Firefly due to its voice cast, and it's pretty drat good itself.

# ? Nov 6, 2012 01:22

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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