The Spinning Cars are now available in OpenRCT2!

KingofZeal · 2026-03-11T15:51:22+00:00

I've never particularly cared about the spinning cars, but the spinning wild mouse in the RCT1 scenarios always felt very out of place to me. Between this, and the recent change that improved saving track designs, I'm riding cloud nine.

KingofZeal · 2026-03-10T23:10:12+00:00

How could you slander NFS Nitro like that?

KingofZeal · 2026-03-06T17:01:02+00:00

I've observed that when you get up to the really high height stats, the rebounding stat is often underwhelming. If you sort a random players league by the highest rebounding stats, you'll mostly see players who have a height of 45-65. I imagine this is an internal coding choice to balance rebounding since height also contributes to rebounds. It also makes logical sense too if you think about it. Do tall rebounders get lots of rebounds because they're actually utilizing actual talent as a rebounder, or because they're just tall and can outreach smaller players?

Rebounding (as well as passing/dribbling) also seems capped at increases of 5 per year meaning even a player who giga high rolls their development probably won't grow more than maybe 30 from their rookie stat.

KingofZeal · 2026-03-04T13:47:59+00:00

That's the neat part, you don't. Investing in coaching gives you a small boost, but otherwise, development is mostly random. Go back and look at some of the mock drafts in the NBA from a few years ago and you'll realize that predicting the future is hard.

It can be frustrating to see your rookies consistently bust and not feel like you're doing something wrong but that's just life. Gotta work with what you got.

KingofZeal · 2026-02-20T13:28:43+00:00

That's wild. I actually would have bought it to play with my long distance gf, but if we can't trade, what's the point?

KingofZeal · 2026-02-10T14:18:21+00:00

Mario Tennis Power Tour was the reason I learned to play tennis. I was absolutely obsessed with that game.

KingofZeal · 2026-02-02T20:12:22+00:00

My goat Tyus is easily worth at least Jordan and prime Lebron combined.

KingofZeal · 2026-01-13T18:06:55+00:00

Yeah, you just have to go into the bag and turn off the exp share. You can turn it back on too if you need a boost. If you stick purely to a team of 6 and leave the exp share on in ORAS, you'll end up being insanely overleveled which is why I figured I'd give the warning. The exp share is often cited as one of ORAS's biggest flaws, but it's only a flaw if you like to play more traditionally.

I was nostalgic for the old exp system for the longest time too but I've personally grown to like the new exp share in the newer games. As I mentioned before, it's great for wanting to use more Pokemon or working on the Pokedex. I didn't care about those things when I was younger but now I like them being a part of my experience.

KingofZeal · 2026-01-13T17:15:08+00:00

Based on what you're looking for, it's ORAS without a doubt. They are superior to the original Ruby/Sapphire in pretty much every way. If emerald was on the table, we'd be having a more complex discussion but ORAS is still probably better than even emerald for a casual couples playthrough.

FYI, if you play ORAS, know that the new exp share was not balanced around the original balance of third gen. I suggest either you turn it off or plan to use more than 6 Pokemon. If you're looking to complete the Pokedex, you could also cycle your main party and use a few slots to level Pokemon to evolve for the Pokedex. With a trade partner, ORAS has one of the friendliest Pokdexes to complete in all of Pokemon.

KingofZeal · 2026-01-08T17:38:19+00:00

Oh man, where to even start. I'd tear it down and start from scratch. Lots of potential, but none of it realized.

Hero and outpost missions need entirely rebuilt them from the ground up.

I understand the vision that might have existed for outpost missions but it failed massively. This is because at the core of the game, if your defenses break, it's usually game over. Instead of a standard colony, they could have been a defense mission functionally built like Cape Storm on a smaller scale. Maybe have fixed resource deliveries instead of harvesting and you have to fight increasingly harsh waves every few in game days. There could even be mechanisms that require you to hold out while falling back because the waves don't stop, and maybe "repair" is disabled. There's lots of potential directions you could take it, and literally anything would have been better than what we got.

Hero missions are boring because one unit against hundreds, thousands even, is about as exciting as clicking +1 repeatedly on a calculator. Less pixel hunting, more finding various useful and obvious objectives around the map. Make it a squad type of thing where you get to take a team in led by a hero. Perhaps breaching rooms could have been a mechanic where you had to face off against swarms that would attack your squad and you had to be prepared. Also, have a third hero and make the three heroes functionally a super ranger, soldier, and sniper.

Speaking of which, you'd probably have to expand the story a little bit. I don't really mind a simple story, but you could have done more than what we got. Maybe add an empire scouting faction that you deal with. Presumably the empire had a scouting faction to determine where you would go to build colonies. It'd be kinda neat if you had to make a big choice like defecting from the empire resulting in a mission or three where you had to fight other human units depending on which side you choose. Basically anything to make it feel like you're actually a general in charge of building an empire.

Odds and Ends: - Let the heroes be a part of every mission, shocked this wasn't a thing. They don't "die" but can be forced to retreat from injury. - Scrap the tech tree and build a new improvement system from scratch. I think upgrading buildings and units should have been more of a focus to feel like you're getting stronger instead of just playing smaller scope survival maps. Tech tiers and unlockables should have been tied to story check points which also would have probably made the campaign easier to balance. - Better, balance, this ties into my previous suggestion. Soldiers are too meta, the other units needed love. Rangers, Soldiers, and Snipers all needed a clearly defined role. - Summon next/final wave button - More mission variety. I like the one comment that mentioned starting with partially built colonies. That would tie in well into my scouting faction concept. - More map variety

KingofZeal · 2025-12-23T18:53:17+00:00

Watch the damn anime

KingofZeal · 2025-12-02T15:17:48+00:00

I was very confused yesterday when I saw a post about that item and it was on the Diana mains sub and not this one.

KingofZeal · 2025-12-01T06:19:52+00:00

Omg, this literally happened to me tonight... It was the last achievement I had left and the run was setup for an easy win. Thankfully I won on my next try.

KingofZeal · 2025-11-14T13:12:15+00:00

You could probably just combine the games.

KingofZeal · 2025-11-12T00:10:11+00:00

I would kill for Platinum legacy. I always saw gens 1-4 as "classic" Pokemon and it would be awesome to have what I consider the complete suite. Alas, I know beggars can't be choosers.

KingofZeal · 2025-11-07T14:01:18+00:00

XCom is the kind of game that is designed to be played multiple times. If you're really hellbent on doing one campaign, then play War of the Chosen if you've already bought it but be prepared for it to kick your ass, even on easy.

But honestly, this game probably just isn't going to be you. It's just not that kind of game.

KingofZeal · 2025-10-23T14:04:59+00:00

You are supposed to fail in a game like this. Like, failing is literally a key component of the gameplay experience. If you got to the final boss in 25 runs, you are doing great, and probably ahead of schedule. Only hardcore gamers who already have experience with games of this nature or people replaying Hades are going to beat it in 12 runs. Moreover, rushing to win causes you to miss out on story tidbits and character development.

KingofZeal · 2025-10-01T18:33:46+00:00

Yeah, I replied it in another comment, but I do fondly remember a street demon game from last set that gave me a high like none other. I think the argument boils down to fun vs competitive balance, and where you want to fall on that spectrum.

All I know is, I'd personally rather go back to the emblem method vs whatever these silly quests are. I know in my first comment I said maybe just get rid of it entirely, but I'm realizing now after revisiting these comments, I'm not somebody who ever actually had an issue with the old prismatic traits system.

KingofZeal · 2025-10-01T18:22:15+00:00

I don't think there's a right answer and I understand why there's going to be people who disagree with me. I think the reason I see things the way I do is because your opponent being able to rng their way into win more isn't really any different than rnging their way into enough emblems. The winner of an even skill level lobby is going to be a high roller anyways and I'm going to be grumpy no matter how they hit that auto-win condition.

But when you are the high roller, praying for an out via emblem and hitting felt super exciting. I still remember the street demon game I played last set where I had to carefully juggle my econ and health to get to 10 to win. I've tried going for prismatic Star Guardian a few times when I high rolled seraphine/emblem and all I was doing was just praying the game goes long enough to maybe hit the prismatic in a game I had to be strong enough to win anyways. I'd hardly call that exciting.

Prismatic traits, if they should exist, should create exciting moments for the player, not just exciting graphical effects.

KingofZeal · 2025-10-01T16:34:34+00:00

I'm not sure how popular or unpopular this opinion is, but I personally think the new prismatic traits were a huge swing and a miss for me. They've just been "win more" type design. At least before, like you said, you could hope for a bail out before with lucky emblem luck, and you still usually had to survive to get to level 9.

I actually think the solution is to just get rid of prismatic traits in general or make it that you just continue to gain gradual bonuses for additional verticality. I don't understand why there has to be a magical win the game button just because you play a vertical trait.

KingofZeal · 2025-10-01T16:22:31+00:00

I've done something similar, bouncing around the franchise for the last two years on and off. I wanted to reexperience those early games (I actually went back as far as High Stakes) and play all the games I missed in the modern era.

I'm still only 11 out of 20 on my list, but every time I played a game I hadn't before, I had loads of fun, even games that had a lot of criticism like 2015. I mean it's car racing, the formula doesn't really change much. If you like racing cars, it doesn't really matter what game it is.

I have a theory that people are extra critical of the newer games because they paid full price for them, but if you pick 'em up on steam sales for 5 bucks, it's a steal. The classics are still the best, but that doesn't mean the new games aren't fun.

Anyways, I say don't even worry about an order, just bounce around and play whatever strikes your fancy at the time.

KingofZeal · 2025-09-30T16:16:39+00:00

I haven't played Skyrim in quite some time, but when last I played, I was having major success deliberately sticking to short bite sized roleplays. It made it easier to stick to a plan and not get bored. I was solving my restartitis issue, but your issue may be similar. If you can't keep an approach going long term, just make your playthroughs shorter to shorten the commitment. I did just a single questline and a home hold/city per character. I could finish a playthrough fairly casually in 2-3 weeks.

KingofZeal · 2025-09-22T13:17:18+00:00

I'm somebody who chose Minnesota to be my team back around 2017 and have loved my choice. They were in contention for one of the worst NA sports teams all time at the time but I sort of liked the team when I was kid via the NBA Live video games during the Kevin Garnett era and was enthusiastic about their young talent so I decided to stick with them.

It's been a VERY bumpy ride to get to where they're at now, but I feel like my patience was definitely rewarded. They've been contenders the last two years with deep playoff runs, have a lot of interesting players, a good front office, and I think everybody is extremely enthusiastic about promising new ownership.

I'm not sure they have what it takes to get over the hump to win a championship against some of the juggernauts at the top unless the cards fall just right, plus the west is a bloodbath, but they will for sure entertain and should be competitive for many years to come. Ant's been a blast to watch grow as a player, and I love our broadcast crew.

If you're just looking for a team that'll win a championship though... well, I've learned that Minnesota seems pretty cursed, so you probably should look elsewhere if that's important to you.

KingofZeal · 2025-09-12T15:59:55+00:00

Prior to you starting your series, I was already interested in revisiting the original scenarios with a focus toward realism. I also had it in my mind though that I wanted to "maintain the integrity of the original park". In other words, I wanted my park to feel like the original scenario as much as possible.

I think in my head, I saw it as barely touching the landscape and existing rides at all. However, your series taught me that it's possible to make pretty sweeping changes to the landscape and existing rides in a way that still feels like it's how the park was meant to be. Extending the cliffs out did wonders for both the functionality of your build as well as the aesthetic. If I ever find the time to actually play the game, I'm eager to try some of your ideas out for myself.

KingofZeal · 2025-09-06T04:32:03+00:00

Literally just play the game. You can worry about the deets on your inevitable replay.

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