atomicpoet

atomicpoet, 6 hours ago to random

Today, 20 games have been released on Steam. These are the ones I find interesting:

KARM

• a boomer shooter FPS, set in a Lovecraftian universe, with a low poly graphics
• demo download available
• soundtracks available as DLC
• price: C$17.99, but currently has a -10% discount selling at C$16.19

Voyager-19

• a horror game where you take control of a decaying spacecraft exploring distant star systems, featuring low poly graphics
• gamepad supported
• Mac and Linux ports available
• price: C$4.99, but currently has a -25% discount selling at C$3.74

atomicpoet, 6 hours ago to random

Indie Mixtape is an interesting snapshot of what indie gaming was like back in 2015.

This was a time in which indie gaming was beginning to get more respect but hadn’t yet fully been embraced by mainstream gamers yet. Compilations like this existed to bang the drum on the indie scene.

What we got here is a bundle of five totally different indie games:

• Roguelight - a rogue-like platformer with Game Boy inspired graphics
• Detective Chirpums - a point-and-click bird noir adventure
• hets - a colourful platformer about shooting monsters in caves
• Laza Knitez - a combination of Asteroids and Joust
• Taste Chamber - a non-euclidean puzzle game, similar to Chip’s Challenge, that plays with the notion of “infinity worlds”

I wouldn’t say any of these games are all time greats, but they are fun for short bursts. Of all five games, I’d say the best one is Laza Knitez simply because – even with the incredibly simple graphics – combining Asteroids with Joust winds up being a lot of fun.

It’s unfortunate that none of these games were sold separately because I believe they deserve notice on their own too. Also, this compilation is a PC exclusive – it’s not available anywhere else.

Steam sells this for C$10.99. I think that’s a fair price, but I’d still pretty much just pick this up if it were on sale.

Laza Knitez screenshot (Steam Deck)
Roguelight screenshot (Steam Deck)
Detective Chirpums screenshot (Steam Deck)

atomicpoet, 6 hours ago to random

Dustoff Heli Rescue is one of those games that I wish got more love.

It’s a great voxel-based arcade game where the goal is to rescue POWs in your helicopter. The challenge is in controlling your helicopter, ensuring it’s still operation even when under attack, and landing safely.

There’s only two buttons you have to care about: the left arrow (or left mouse button) key and the right arrow (or right mouse button) key. Press them together, you go up. Press only the left; you go left; and press only the right, you go right. The shooting is automatic. The entire focus is on keeping your ship in the air.

I’ve spent many, many hours playing this game. After eight years of owning it, I keep coming back. It has this arcade quality about it that simply addictive. And actually, if this game were released for arcades, it would probably be very popular.

This being a voxel-based game, the graphics remind me a lot of Minecraft. However, this is not a sandbox game. It’s more like a 2.5D game that simply uses voxels. Personally, I love voxels – they have a lot of charm.

There’s no music in this game, and I’d probably find it annoying since the ambient effects are on point. I quite like the helicopter sounds and the faint voices heard on radio.

Now if you wonder why I continue to use Windows for gaming, here’s a simple fact: it’s the only platform that Dustoff Heli Rescue is still available. This game started off as a mobile game. Yet, you can no longer find this game on iOS or Android. And the Mac version is no longer playable since it’s not compatible with the new ARM-based Macs. It might be compatible for Linux via Proton, but so far, nobody has tested this to see if it’s actually the case.

This must have been a fairly successful game for developer Invictus Games because, later on, we got Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 and Dustoff Z. I have yet to try either of those sequels, however.

I’ve had a lot of fun with Dustoff Heli Rescue, and I recommend it. As well, it is pretty cheap. Steam sells it for C$4.65

Dustoff Heli Rescue screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Dustoff Heli Rescue screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Dustoff Heli Rescue screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)

atomicpoet, 7 hours ago to random

If retro gaming interests you, in addition to console games, it behooves you to check out the PC side of things too.

That’s because there’s certain games that simply cannot be translated to console. One of them is Haegemonia: Legions of Iron.

To this day, I have not ever seen a good console conversion of a 3D RTS that’s set in space. A 2D RTS is hard enough to translate to console. But 3D? I don’t think this is something a console can do.

And when I say 3D, I don’t mean an RTS with polygonal graphics. No, I mean something that allows you to interact in all three dimensions of space. You don’t just go forwards, backwards, and sideway. You send your ships up and down too.

But on PC, there’s a lot of good 3D RTS that set in space: Homeworld and O.R.B. come to mind. But I’d say that the most accessible is in a pick-up-and-play sense is Haegemonia: Legions of Iron.

There’s a caveat here. Only play this game if you have access to a numpad. Without a numpad, you can’t change the speed of the game. This is important because the default speed is slow.

But Haegemonia probably is the easiest 3D RTS to control because it acts more like a traditional RTS. To start a battle, all you have to do is select your units and point to the enemy you want to engage with. It’s that easy.

Of course, while all this easy control is convenient, you’re giving up the depth that you had with Homeworld – which is absolutely massive. And while Homeworld’s map gives you many options, it takes a lot of learning. There is no such map with Haegemonia because things are much simplier.

The story is no less interesting, though. You are commanding ships in a Earth-Mars war. You can play either the Earth or Mars campaigns. But that’s not all. Once the war ends, the entirety of humanity unites to expand beyond the Solar system to encounter alien civilizations.

Another thing that makes Haegemonia different from other 3D RTS games is the espionage system which, to this day, is not available elsewhere. This allows you to build a ship that’s invisible on enemy sensors. And they’re used, of course, to monitor other planets, ships, or stations. This is a nice feature that gives Haegemonia more depth!

A few PC gamers complain that this game hasn’t been updated for newer resolutions and widescreen aspect ratios. However, it is possible to set widescreen by going into the registry key and setting the values for your desired resolution. I simply don’t do this because I’d have to keep doing it each time I launch the game. But also, this being a retro game, I can live with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Both Steam and GOG.com sell this game. While the Steam version is cheaper at C$5.49, I believe it’s better to buy Haegemonia Gold Edition edition on GOG.com because it also bundles The Solon Heritage expansion pack, HD wallpaper, avatars, and the soundtrack. It also works on older versions of Windows.

If you’re looking for a simpler, more accessible 3D RTS set in space, Hegemonia: Legions of Iron is a good choice – just so long as your keyboard has a numpad.

Hegemonia: Legions of Iron screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Hegemonia: Legions of Iron screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)
Hegemonia: Legions of Iron screenshot (RTX 3080 Ti)

atomicpoet, 9 hours ago (edited 8 hours ago) to random

I lifted very heavy weights. Then, two hours later, I ate a 10 course meal.

And to be sure, these were two things I had to do today.

But I’m now exhausted, and simply don’t want to do anything.

ch0ccyra1n, 10 hours ago to random

Cyberpunk 2077 (BCE)

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

It’s no big Chinese event without some seafood fried rice!

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

Chinese fried chicken served with shrimp crackers.

I like this a lot more than KFC.

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

Now we got ourselves some rock cod. I like this fish, it’s got a nice oil.

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

Pepper beef with egg plant. Another outstanding Chinese dish. The flavour is just… 🤤

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

Listen, Chinese people do not fool around when it comes to sea food. They’re very good at it!

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

Folks, we have a dragon dance going at on! 🐲🐉🕺💃

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

And we have a great Cantonese specialty here: lobster with noodles. 🦞

atomicpoet, 11 hours ago to random

This is pigeon.

If you’re at a Chinese family event, you’ll be encountering pigeon. And it’s actually delicious.

atomicpoet, 13 hours ago to random

Just found this photo frame in my basement. I need to get it dusted.

But my God, does this remind me—yet again—that my wife is out of my league.

As soon as I met her, I thought, “I got to lock her down and make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.”

And she’s not just beautiful. She’s likeable too. I have no idea why someone like her is with someone as awkward as me, but I count my blessings every day.

munmun, 13 hours ago to random

Erissa

atomicpoet, 17 hours ago to random

Got two new albums on cassette!

The first is from Lauffey, and her album is “Bewitched: The Goddess Edition”. This is some great vocal jazz.

The other is the synthwave album “Cosmic” by local Vancouver artist FM Attack.