Gaming

I had a quick go on ARK Survival Ascended (which is the updated version with fancier graphics) and... I didn't last very long despite playing on easy mode and spawning in an easy location.
Just within a few seconds I found myself in a raptor race for my life...

 

And I'm not sure if this version plays differently. It took a very long time to harvest wood and I didn't find a single stone that I could pick up. So with no weapons to craft I just had to.... Run!

From the reviews I've read, Ascended is the same game with fewer bugs, or was it just looking prettier and better optimised? Well, basically there were some differences that people felt should have been done to the Evolved game instead...

FOUR chicken wings at easy level though? RUN!

I'm not sure about "better optimised" as I experienced a few glitches, bugs and stutters in the few minutes I was alive. But it does look prettier.

I didn't really play it "properly", I was just looking for something on Gamepass to mess around with while ESO's servers were down for monthly maintenance.

Valence wrote:

...while ESO's servers were down for monthly maintenance.

35GB update??

EDIT: That's OK. It's another of those odd non-linear progress bar things so it won't take as long as I thought. *phew* 

I have finished Little Kitty, Big City. 
And it was a lovely little game! 

I've still only got half the achievements so I'll continue to try and finish some of them off while I can but the main story took me six and a half hours. Overall it was a much better game than I thought it would be. Yes, it's not as good as Stray and the jumping is a bit awkward and occasionally glitchy, but it was a lot of fun and really charming to play.

*runs off to find some more shinies*

Hmm, Bethesda really do like Silence Of The Lambs, don't they?
Yet another game where I talk to a dangerous man without a view before a bit of quid pro quo.

But no spoilers though. Shhhh.

And then on another mission Andreja ruined my sneakiness. I'd even dressed in my most sneaky looking outfit.
It doesn't offer any sneaky bonus or stats but it looks sneaky. To me. I think.
And I sneaked a considerable way through this particular place past many, many people before Andreja stepped out at the wrong moment causing literal carnage. Wish I'd done a quicksave cos the reload takes me way back outside the building.
Wonder if I shoud do this bit alone.


Edit: Oh, look. We're gonna get vehicles... after my free trial has run out.

Edit: Oh, look. We're gonna get vehicles... after my free trial has run out.

It's almost as if somebody planned it that way to make people start paying... 

The vehicles should have been there when they released the game instead of making everyone walk for thousands of miles across empty landscapes   Death Stranding made me walk thousands of miles across landscapes carrying a tonne of stuff and managed to make it entertaining and exciting, Bethesda managed to make it tedious and dull 

(and I thought the same thing when I met that guy in that place about that thing) 

Come on, you naughty guard. Just turn around.

 

I sneaked around this other side as he patrolled down the middle now I just need him to patrol back where he came from so I can sneak to the door. Go on. Turn around.

*waits*

He's not moving.
Maybe I can sneak out anyway if I.... (SHOOTING NOISES)

After reloading I had another idea and executed it perfectly. Before he started his little walk I sneaked up behind him, killed him with my dagger (which is slightly better than my samurai sword) and then immediately grabbed his body and dragged it backwards around the corner before the scientists saw me. It was a brilliant move.
But pointless because as soon as I started sneaking again the scientists started to panic and raised the alarm even though they didn't see me kill him and didn't see his body.

(SHOOTING NOISES)

No matter. I completed the mission anyway. Just not as sneakily as I wanted.

Oh, and....
I obviously misunderstood the video that I posted, or just skipped past the important bit, because it's the other DLC that is coming later next month. The vehicle is there right now!
So I bought it. 25,000 credits but who cares about money.

Let's get driving. I press the right trigger to accelerate and...

(SHOOTING NOISES)

Er, what??
OK, the controls are not like a driving game. Right trigger still shoots. Almost killed the Ship Services guy.
After a bit of experimenting I find that you use the left stick for accelerating and braking AND steering. And the right stick moves the camera which also affects the steering a bit. So it's like the Warthog in Halo.
Well, it's not quite as bad as that. I hated that Warthog.
I suppose I'd better go someplace where there are no people to kill for my test drive. Come on, Andreja, hang on to something and look cool while I crash into things!

 


Once you get the hang of it it's really good for driving up to the alien dinosaur things to get a quick close-up scan for the survey...

 

They always run far away from me when I'm on foot. I'm not quite sure how it works if they get aggressive and attack.

Run for your lives! Some idiot is trying to drive up some stairs!

 

And they've gone into a shop!!!

 

I hope that man there doesn't-
Oh...

 

Sorry.
It seems like right stick doesn't affect steering in the way that I thought. It does add to the confusion though. A lot of the time it's just like normal movement rather than steering (push to the left and it turns AND continues to the left) and the forward/reverse controls invert when you're looking backwards. Which is why I ran over that guy. They don't seem to die when you hit them, which is a relief, but it's definitely not a good idea to be driving round populated cities.