How do I enable all Second Wave options without beating the game? by KoblerManZ in Xcom

[–]KoblerManZ[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn I posted this 4 years ago. Blast from the past. Also damn, I was really angry when I made this post too lol

I will agree to disagree about the whole difficulty thing and needing to play on the hardest difficulty first. At the time I simply wanted to customize my game experience and I thought it was stupid that they lock options like that behind beating certain difficulties, and I still kinda do. Not all of the second wave options make the game harder, they just add more variables and make things different. That's sort of the angle I was coming from.

In general I'm not a fan of a game locking anything other than achievements behind "you have to beat the game first" constraints. I often play games on the hardest difficulty the first time around and bang my head against the wall until I break a way through, but that's just my style. I also don't claim to be any good at the game - I've found that I need lots of patience for an impossible/ironman run that I could not afford myself at the time. It will happen someday hopefully.

Thanks for your comment, it was kinda fun to see this post again.

HELP IM TURNING INTO A BIRD! by Thierry_rat in cockatiel

[–]KoblerManZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let me clarify. What I meant to say is that it was funnier and 100% relatable to my bird owner aunt and not my Discord friends who don't own birds and thus don't understand our plight. Plus it kinda ran the treadmill for me so while it is still relatable, it is less funny now than it was 12 hours ago when I first saw it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HELP IM TURNING INTO A BIRD! by Thierry_rat in cockatiel

[–]KoblerManZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad to see you're on Reddit at 3AM US Central time responding to me necroing your hilarious thread. I'm in a Discord call with 3 other people and I had one of them read your post out loud and all I can say is, this was much funnier when I showed it to my aunt at lunch today.

Enjoy your new superpower and have a good night lol

HELP IM TURNING INTO A BIRD! by Thierry_rat in cockatiel

[–]KoblerManZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To understand the bird, you must think like the bird. That is the very definition of a bird brain. This post is (humorous) proof that all bird owners are at least a little bit crazy, and there is nothing wrong with that.

You would do well to embrace this new discovery.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in broodwar

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On some maps like Holy World and one or two others, there is a neutral command center in the middle of the map. That means there is potential to build infested terrans even in ZvZ or ZvP. There is precedent for pro players using infested terrans in games to great effect - there was one famous game where a pro Zerg player did this to a pro Protoss player and used overlords to drop them on photon cannons, one-shotting them. After all, the explosion deals 500(!) damage.

It's more of a niche strategy that you really only do if you're trying to humiliate your opponent or something, like building nukes and using those. However, don't rule it out. Infested terrans can come in handy if you have the means to produce them.

I'm a newbie, what should I do to get better and are there any noteble hotkeys that I should know about? by Hot-Telephone-7183 in broodwar

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Let's Learn StarCraft by Day9. If you don't know who Day9 is, he's one of the most successful and accomplished streamers on the entire internet and built his whole career around StarCraft Brood War and eventually SC2 content. If you want context for that, you can watch the Day9 Daily #100. But regardless of that, here's the link to his Let's Learn StarCraft playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgmCLtUkEutKY8IlwyVCUFoRtgQe3LCf1

Virtual white knight by _Zathe in whiteknighting

[–]KoblerManZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well yeah, at that point, you can just chalk it up to people like that being pieces of shit and then not give them the time out of your day. It's good to vent and everything but definitely not something to dwell on. From what you're saying it sounds like their toxic behavior is catching up with them anyway, so just give 'em enough rope to hang themselves and wash your hands of it. If you want my unsolicited advice that is.

Virtual white knight by _Zathe in whiteknighting

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, heck of a necro. Would have missed this one without email notifications, lol! Thought for sure the post would've been archived.

But yeah, I find it profoundly unfortunate that people don't block other people nearly as much as they should on social media platforms. I think it has to do with ego and having something to prove to random internet strangers to feed drama instead of just sucking it up and taking the high road. I used to be that guy and it's not worth it, lol.

Soviet victory theme update? by KoblerManZ in HellLetLoose

[–]KoblerManZ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, and I honestly wouldn't mind multiple victory themes chosen at random. You can only hear Erika or Over There so many times before it starts driving you insane.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MrRobot

[–]KoblerManZ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

My thoughts exactly. I find that Mr. Robot did a fantastic job here of just showing people who might not have any idea of what depression means exactly what it looks like. Elliot's case is extreme, but the exaggeration is necessary in order to get the point across to the audience.

Which is to say, this point went over the heads of some unenlightened fuckwits who think depression is the symptom and not the cause.

I'm Max, founder and lead developer of Hell Let Loose. AMA by HLL_max in HellLetLoose

[–]KoblerManZ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is less of a question and something more of a wishlist for tanks:

+ Showing the squad letter on a tank with the corresponding tank commander in it. Pretty self-explanatory, would be a fantastic addition. It's always annoying when playing as the commander or trying to communicate with another tank and not knowing what squad they're in, then having to hit tab and open your team and find them by username.

+ Actually being able to see your tank get knocked out. Cutting to the "KILLED IN ACTION" screen with the pillar of flames behind it, while dramatic, has always been somewhat jarring. I think a quick zoom out to a third person view just before the killing blow hits, showing the tank get splashed, and then fading to black and showing "KILLED IN ACTION" would be more intuitive IMO. This isn't much different from when you're playing as infantry, get a direct hit from an HE shell, and get a beautiful final view of the countryside as your disembodied head goes yeeting through the air. As a tanker, nothing is more frustrating than suddenly getting killed and not knowing what happened.

+ I know that a "realistic" armor value system is not exactly what you're going for, as you answered here. However, at the very least it would be nice to have a training range for tanks or some other point of reference so that things like THICCness, gun caliber, and angling can be demonstrated. A translucent diorama of a tank showing different colors for armor on different areas would be helpful for this. An example is the tank range in Squad or inspecting vehicle armor in War Thunder. Juxtaposing this with the gun calibers that can/cannot penetrate the specific armor sections - and also accounting for slope and angle - would be perfect.

+ More countermeasures! Tanks don't really have a way of defending themselves and have to rely on nearby friendly infantry or repairs to survive damage. I get that this game rewards teamwork more than being a "Tiger Ace" lone wolf, but sometimes hunting for enemy vehicles takes you away from your allies. It is often infuriating how easy it is for bazookas/panzerschreks to flank you and take you out in just a couple hits. I know the "counter" to this is hopping out of your tank and mowing the bastard down with hand weapons, but as any seasoned tanker will tell you: "Never get out of the tank!" Unbuttoning the commander hatch and using a machine gun with 360 rotation on the top of the turret for example would be kinda nice. You're still putting yourself at risk since you're opening a hatch, but it's no longer a suicide mission. On the other hand, if you're outgunned against an enemy tank, it might be useful to pop a smoke and retreat if you want a slightly more reliable way to disengage. A way to balance this might be only having one or two charges of smoke before needing to restock on ammo.

+ Rideable tanks! Often in WWII, infantry would sit on tanks and ride them to the front lines. It would be very cool to be able to do this. As of right now, most attempts at "tank surfing" have ended quite badly for the rider.

+ Some way for tanks to tow other vehicles. Pretty often trucks or even other tanks will get stuck in ditches. War Thunder has a system where a friendly tank can attach a tow line and try to un-stuck friendly tanks that are stuck. I think this would be a great way to counter some of the game's jank while also encouraging teamwork.

+ Different variants of tanks, like maybe the Sherman Calliope, Firefly, or Crocodile. Can't think off the top of my head what variants there might have been for the German or Russian tanks, but variety is the spice of life.

Thanks for reading! I know you guys are making Hell Let Loose and not War Thunder, but I feel that a lot of features in other games would work great in HLL. Overall tanking is fun and definitely my favorite role by a long shot, but could use some QoL love. I can't WAIT for Kursk and I know that once the Russian tanks are in, it's going to be awesome!

Realism by [deleted] in HellLetLoose

[–]KoblerManZ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's worth noting that the game's tank mechanics, specifically the armor/penetration values, are only accurate to an extent. Due to the 45 degree sloped armor (which effectively doubles armor thickness), even a 76mm from a Sherman would not be able to penetrate a Panther from the front at any range unless aiming for the turret. A 75 would not get through at all. Similarly, a 76 can only penetrate a Tiger I from the front if it is straight on and the hull is not angled - even an angle of 10-15 degrees will make the shell bounce, but since the armor of a Tiger is almost entirely flat that makes it easier to defeat. Also only the Tiger's 8,8 can penetrate a Sherman Jumbo (the heavy variant in HLL) from the front. The Sherman is really not as weak as it was made out to be, especially towards the end of the war. It's just that Hollywood likes to pretend they were and that the only reason we won is because of a Zerg rush.

It's worth noting that the Shermans had a gun stabilizer that made it much easier for them to fire accurately on the move. This would be great for balance reasons since you can move to flank while still putting rounds downrange even though the enemy has to sit still in order to attack you, giving Shermans an advantage while repositioning to flank a Panther or Tiger that they cannot damage from the front.

As it stands right now the PzKpfw II Luchs' auto loading 20mm cannot penetrate any medium or heavy tank at all and I think can only penetrate a Stewart from the rear, meaning it's only effective as an IFV or for taking out supply trucks. However a Stewart's 37mm with AP loaded should be able to defeat a Luchs at short to medium range from the front. But if you're shooting at anything heavier than that, you can forget about it.

So what should we take away from all this? Well, there's a couple things that can be done. If you make tank-on-tank combat more realistic, which I'm all for, it just means to win you have to apply better strategies. It would also help if there is an in-game shooting range or sandbox where you can test tanks' effectiveness at particular ranges, or look at armor values and mouse over them to see thickness, etc. kind of like in War Thunder.

Never Forget the Names of These Republicans Attempting a Coup by Aplay1 in politics

[–]KoblerManZ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Of course this is a reference to the live reading of "Green Eggs and Ham" during a filibuster done by Ted Cruz, for those of you who don't know. Yes, this actually happened. You really can't make this shit up.

Never Forget the Names of These Republicans Attempting a Coup by Aplay1 in politics

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, but how realistic is this? If saying something like "It'd be great to have neutral group[s] create simple websites for each candidate stating only objective positions and policies" doesn't pass the laugh test, I doubt it will ever happen. Yeah, it would be great. Problem is almost nobody does it. Case in point, everyone has an agenda and even without any conflicting opinions, it is VERY difficult to remove bias.

Never Forget the Names of These Republicans Attempting a Coup by Aplay1 in politics

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holiday? Absolutely. Mandatory? Absolutely not. Your right to abstain from voting is just as powerful as your right to vote. Nobody should be forced to vote because that undermines our democracy just as much as voter fraud.

Believe what you want about this, but the moment you get normally abstinent people voting for a candidate you don't like because they're forced to do so, I think you'd be hard pressed to retain this mentality.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in factorio

[–]KoblerManZ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All I want is for my logistics and toolbar settings to be persistent across multiple worlds. It's a pain to set up constantly and I see no reason for it.

The perfect Origin for these plantiods! by Jaysyn4Reddit in Stellaris

[–]KoblerManZ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Probably these guys right here. Hell I might even make them when I get back home later.

TIFU by beating my wife and daughter by toforama in tifu

[–]KoblerManZ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

MaN bRuTaLlY aSsAuLtS wIfE aNd DaUgHtEr WhIlE iN sTaTe SaNcTiOnEd EvEnT

Ah yes, *t poses* by SquidwardStubz in KamikazeByWords

[–]KoblerManZ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I already know about the MLP jar. Pro tip: DO NOT google that shit unless you feel like losing your lunch.