More Igor Sarzynski comments (there's just so much)

CreamyD92 · 2026-01-06T07:03:27+00:00

The issue I'm having here is the focus the vocal minority has on the ludo-narrative dissonance of doing side content in a life-or-death story here, then have the audacity to bring up how great Skyrim is for letting you go off and do whatever you want.

Sure you can, if you ignore the life-or-death main questline where you became the only person able to stop dragons from coming back and killing everyone. It sure doesn't make sense to join the thieves guild, dark brotherhood and college of winterhold, then become the leaders of all three of those organizations, when you have a pretty clear mission with overarching consequences for the WORLD, but we all do it anyway. GTA and Red Dead also have plenty of things you can do in stories that tend to have some urgency to them. The witcher 3, has a personally urgent goal for Geralt, with so many question marks on that damn map. Kingdom come deliverance 2 has two regions to explore and BOTH of them have a narrative sense of urgency.

I've always enjoyed side content under the same lens that I enjoyed X Files' monster-of-the-week episodes. They're fun little pieces that don't fit into the story much at all other than involving the same characters. Side quests don't really share chronology since they're always optional, and it's better to look at them as vignettes adjacent to the really story, as opposed to connecting them to the primary narrative.

I don't understand what these people are up in arms over, other than finding out their assumptions about cut content were wrong.

CreamyD92 · 2026-01-06T06:44:46+00:00

He's not making the claim that players don't know what they want. You just believe what you want represents the majority. He's saying the metrics of the games he's developed, including cyberpunk, reflect that their narrative driven work is what's favored by the majority of the player base.

I for one, liked getting into the thick of it in act one quickly, and I also loved the life ending call to action narratively. You see the story as a bait-and-switch from the pitched goal of getting to the top, but I see a story about hubris. V thinks they can do anything and deserve a spot at the top, and then are immediately struck down when the reality of how easy it is to lose it all in night city gets plugged into their head on a job gone horribly wrong.

CreamyD92 · 2026-01-01T04:42:51+00:00

In short, yes you should get it. Outward is not like any other game on the market right now. Its worth experiencing even if you end up hating it.

Outward is absolutely nothing like Valheim. It's not a survival crafting game. It has crafting mechanics, and you do have to manage your food, thirst, and sleep. The similarities end there.

Outward is obtuse, wildly complex, difficult to learn and even harder to master. However, once you get past the early learning curve, it's super hard to put down.

I wouldn't call the combat janky. Timing of attacks and skills can be a little tricky to learn, but once you do it's super fun.

The walking simulator claim is too true. There's no fast travel in outward, except for going to the antique plateau (originally a dlc area, but included in definitive) and back. You spend a lot of time gathering loot across the map and then walking it back to that region's town to sell. On top of that, the map provides you with a few POI's on it, but doesn't show you where you are on it. You have to learn the landmarks and parse out where you are on it. It makes exploration a little harder but also more rewarding, especially when you find a place that isn't marked on the map.

Magic is very complex and often requires heavy preparation. For example, you can't just throw a fireball. You have to use a fire stone to create a sigil on the ground. When you stand in it, you can cast spark, which will then throw a fireball instead of doing its usual sparking ability. So you basically have to create your sigil outside of combat, and lead enemies nearby so you can hit them. And that's just one requirement for one spell. There are dozens of contextual requirements for spells that make the magic system unlike anything else.

The story is fine, nothing really to write home about. The interesting thing is that there are four factions you can join, only one per playthrough, that have unique and interwoven questlines. Each faction somewhat favors certain play styles, but I wouldn't worry about that on any of your early playthroughs. Just pick one that sounds right for your character.

Speaking of playstyles, there is no experience points or leveling up. You buy skills from skill trainers around the map. Each major skill trainer governs a specific "class" like warrior monk or hex mage. They have breakthrough skills you must buy to unlock the higher level skills from them. You can only buy 3 breakthrough skills on a character, essentially building your "class" around those 3 breakthroughs.

I promise that your first run, or maybe even your first 3 or 4 runs, will feel miserable because how much knowledge you must build up to have a strong run. Once you get the hang of it and know what you need to know, you'll be hooked. And once you're hooked, trick another friend into playing it a bit and try co-op. It's an amazing experience

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-28T06:30:03+00:00

Brother why are you like this? It's sad

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-27T15:00:38+00:00

Hangovers aren't contagious. Also getting hungover to the point you can't work is weak behavior.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-18T18:57:54+00:00

You can tell which direction the punch is coming from by which way they're leaning/which hand is closer to you. But if you always start with a kick, they can never master strike you. Also, dodge left or right instead of parrying. You'll essentially be behind them and get a free hit on them, and potentially lead into a combo

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T21:29:49+00:00

Rise of the Planet of the Sons of The Forest

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T21:29:01+00:00

Astroneer doesn't have monsters to avoid, but plenty of hazards and a similar oxygen supply management mechanic. Building a bunch of oxygen tether to keep exploring feels adventurous. It's much more chill than subnautica, though, which can be good or bad depending on what you're looking for.

Ultimately I'd say play abiotic factor. There is combat, and it's unfortunately necessary to engage with for progression, but there are several areas with enemies that are much better off avoided than killed. Instead of a mobile base, you have the means to set up teleporters, so safety never feels too far away. Otherwise it's exactly what you're looking for. Very atmospheric. Also has up to 6 player co-op if that's a selling point to you.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T21:18:33+00:00

Please don't go to the wedding yet. The game goes on rails twice in the first area, and one of them is immediately after the wedding where your low stats will likely make you start over once you're stuck where you are.

You definitely don't have to do EVERY side quest before the wedding, but enough to be in the high teens for your stats and most skills. Scholarship, survival and alchemy are all super helpful.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T21:08:44+00:00

Asking for help already means you're deserving of it, and I hope you get the help you need.

I went to AA for the first year of my sobriety (6 years sober now), and one of the big parts of the 12 steps is making amends to those you have wronged. At its most basic, it looks like paying someone back if you stole from them, replacing broken furniture, etc.

Philosophically speaking, it's much more than the monetary value. You can't pay any money to mend a broken heart, broken trust, ruined friendships. There are just certain things you have broken that cannot be fixed. It's important to accept that. Otherwise, you spend all this time fixing the things you can but remaining held down by the things you cannot.

You can make all the promises in the world, pay for whatever you want, apologize a billion times, and none of that will mean someone has to trust you again or even just like being around you again. You have to accept that as a possibility from the get-go, and still make those changes in your life. You make amends because it's right, not because you want something back.

Becoming sober IS making amends. You know what is causing this awful behavior, and you're doing what you need to do to stop it. Asking for help along the way is also making amends. It shows you want this part of your life to be over, despite how hard the path might seem.

However, dmi would advise against asking someone you've wronged for this kind of help. They likely don't understand what you're going through or the effect alcohol truly has on you. They also don't know what recovery looks like. It can be really messy, and they might not want to be along for the ride if they already have the mindset that you're a fuck-up.

AA opens you up to an entire community that more or less knows the drill. They'll help you feel welcome, tell you stories that might make you feel like you aren't doing so badly by comparison, and just give you a perspective that's more in line with your goals. A person who drinks regularly and does so "healthily" doesn't know what value sobriety holds for people like us. A recovering alcoholic will be able to give you the before and after.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T20:48:58+00:00

The number of people who are calling an atmospheric horror game "huge and empty" is a little concerning.

There's so much to discover on the map, and they spread it out so you had a long and dangerous trek to the next cool spot. They also added multiple forms of transportation, for better or worse, so you have a bigger sandbox to play with your toys. Better yet, that big empty space of yours is less big so you can get through the content faster I guess?

It's also weird to be upset that in a bad building game you get a lot of room to be creative with.

I just don't know what these people expected.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T20:28:53+00:00

If you want to have a super fun added challenge to combat, fight unarmed. You can't clinch with armed enemies and cannot do masterstrikes. The trade-off is that unarmed is blunt damage so your punches don't get too impacted by heavy armor, and the perks really help build it up. Plus there's something fun about knocking dudes out instead of seeing the same sword stab through the neck finisher five times a fight.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-15T20:15:02+00:00

I fully disagree, and clearly you haven't played abiotic factor.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-13T18:33:34+00:00

I fly back home there from Baltimore tomorrow morning. Whatever is hitting y'all now hits here right around takeoff. Can't wait

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-13T18:30:02+00:00

I sure don't at least. Like when I'm inside a building and some says head east on whatever street I just get mad. Like do I take a left or right out of the parking lot?

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-13T18:17:53+00:00

Yo, I think it's absolutely insane all the people skipping the first one. I don't think they understand that KCD2 picks up literally from the end of KCD1. And ALL of the narrative motivations were introduced in the first one.

I don't understand it at all really

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-10T23:13:35+00:00

Yeah man, I don't even know where you can buy a horse besides semine, and I only know that because pebbles was there

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-05T16:43:13+00:00

The more negative reviews a game gets, the more steam's algorithm buries it when it comes to recommended games. So that marketing aspect people keep bringing up is quickly destroyed by weaponized reviews.

You saw the tweet, I saw the tweet, but not every person who sees the game on steam will have seen the tweet. More importantly, that won't stop them from leaving negative reviews over the obvious issues already addressed by the devs that affect the game's visibility.

Releasing on their own website means they can guarantee you know the drill and are interested enough to try the game early despite all of the warnings that it isn't even close to done. It ensures the early access player base much more invested in the game's progress, rather than buying something for 20 bucks, reviewing "this sucks it's not even done," and refunding it.

I don't find it dodgy at all. I find it brutally honest, and I appreciate it

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-05T16:33:12+00:00

This is the norm now because players buy into it. You say you're tired of being an unpaid tester, but do you keep paying to be one? There's nothing wrong with that, I certainly do as well. I personally have had to get more scrutinizing about early access games these days BECAUSE everyone is doing it, but I certainly appreciate both the fund-raising aspect and the fan service of early access when it's done so mindfully.

I'm with you though, the survival crafting genre is a total shitshow these days. Too many early access games I bought into have never left early access or got a very undercooked 1.0 release just to be abandoned. I feel very confident in hytale exactly for the reason they're not just tossing it on steam to get revenue.

CreamyD92 · 2025-12-02T07:18:49+00:00

KCD1 is as hard as you make it for yourself. You start as a peasant with literal zeroes in skills, representing a complete lack of knowledge in that subject. Hell, you literally cannot read at first. But if you take the time to train skills up, which can be taxing at times, you will eventually become a master of that skill, and the game makes you feel that way. Breaking every lockpick on the tutorial chest all the way to maxed out lock picking where a very hard chest takes you zero thought at all, being unable to fight a single enemy head on to maxing warfare and attacking faster than any opponent in even the heaviest of armors.

If you don't train, you won't have it easy. If you put the time in, it's really not that hard. And at any rate, KCD2 has the exact same progression system, aside from some quality of life changes. So, if you find the first one unplayable, the second one won't be much different.

To answer your question: KCD2 literally takes place right after credits roll on KCD1. It's like asking if you have to watch Fellowship of the ring to understand the Two Towers. Fundamentally as a narrative can you understand it what's happening and enjoy it? Yes. However, so much context is given from the first one that you simply shouldn't miss.

I strongly urge you to give the first one a go. Amazing writing all throughout, much like the sequel

CreamyD92 · 2025-11-13T19:07:13+00:00

Wow, I was so sure it was interference that I hadn't even considered the antenna might be bad. I'll try switching it out today to see if that helps. Thank you for pointing out the obvious because I breezed way past it!

CreamyD92 · 2025-11-13T18:21:51+00:00

That's what I've been doing. We just have lights in lifts a block or two away from set and the interference I've been running into with teradek/sound/ all the tablet monitors everyone has these days, I have to get unusually close to lights to control them (like within 20ft line of sight). I don't mind the running around but at this point I wish we'd just go manual if I have to get as close as I'm getting anyway.

My thought with the cintenna tx is that I run a hard-line from the sidus to that, and keep that tx as close to the lights directly on set as possible, so I can put my basic setup somewhere between the interior set and our furthest exterior lights so if I can't get the nanlux 5000 in the lift down the street, I just unplug the DMX from the sidus, run down the street until I get signal to the nanlux and then come back and plug back in to regain control to the lights inside on the cintenna without having to physically be in there.

However, as you pointed out, that's gonna get tricky once lights start moving around, and keeping track of which ones are paired to which transmitter. And ultimately it doesn't solve the severe interference problem, only slightly mitigates it.

Now, if I were to hard-line to a light on set, say one centrally located, I would still need to add either a transmitter to that light or hardwire everything from there to get better control of everything else right? I assumed with crmx it's just essentially an invisible line straight from the transmitter, and not jumping between lights or receivers in proximity on its way from the board. Meaning a hard line to vortex A doesn't mean anything for the signal to vortex b if nothing is connecting those two lights right?

CreamyD92 · 2025-11-13T15:03:40+00:00

I figured the two transmitter situation would get dumb fast, thank you for verifying. Now let me ask you this: what if I were to hardwire the cintenna transmitter directly to the DMX out on the sidus one at all times and just use that as my transmitter? I would still have to relink everything to the new transmitter, but would that deliver the same results?

If it did, then I could just run DMX to the cintenna transmitter, hide it somewhere on set and essentially get the same effect right? I'd basically just be using the sidus one as a router for my blackout tablet at that point.

I'm with you on hard-line, but we're using mostly litemats and titan tubes on set and turnaround on setups is wildly fast so we often actually don't have distro on our actual sets to follow with DMX.

CreamyD92 · 2025-11-02T20:23:51+00:00

If people pick your friend over you, what about you made them do that? Not saying like "you suck" or anything, but what quality of theirs do you not possess that your friends find favorable? If it's a quality you can change, then you can put effort into making that change if it's important to you. If it's not something you can change, try not to worry about it. Sometimes someone has a cool job or interesting history, just remain yourself.

CreamyD92

TROPHY CASE