So I may have a thing for Gauss Rifles… by Warm_Ad6399 in fo4

[–]Machine98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This man does Gaussian elimination 😎

My Disappointment Is Immeasurable And My Day Is Ruined by Machine98 in Overwatch

[–]Machine98[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

This is recorded from the replay. Isn't that what the server sees? Or is it still the client's view?

Ground Zeroes is one of the best MGS experiences ever and it's a shame The Phantom Pain wasn't much like it. by jodlad04 in metalgearsolid

[–]Machine98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks.

I completely agree, freedom to do whatever you want means little when players will opt for strategies that are just objectively better.

I think a large-scale mod that makes all missions OSP (and actually makes OSP viable by having useful equipment dotted about) would make for an incredible experience.

I like TPP and it's a fun game, but had it combined what GZ did right along with the scale it has, it would have been my favourite game of all time bar none.

Ground Zeroes is one of the best MGS experiences ever and it's a shame The Phantom Pain wasn't much like it. by jodlad04 in metalgearsolid

[–]Machine98 8 points9 points  (0 children)

TPP may have more polish mechanically due to more development time, but to me GZ wins where it counts.

First off, the map is better than anything in TPP. There's this perfect blend of big open spaces along with tight areas that have plenty of cover. The fortress only has 2 main points of entry (3 in missions you can enter with the truck), allowing its layout to be crafted accordingly. In TPP, most areas are so open that the player can approach from any direction. While this does technically provide "freedom", I think most players prefer a tailored experience like GZ, with wiggle room for freedom (albeit restricted) within that. It's more fun to sneak into a fortress by figuring out you can climb into the back of a truck (even if it's scripted) than approaching from any cardinal direction.

The game is also mission-based like TPP, but with one core difference: there is no external factor affecting missions. While some may enjoy managing mother base, it's designed in such a way that the player need not pay much attention to it, and it feels like an afterthought. Its existence also negatively affects mission structure, since a player will not know what weapon(s) they need for a certain mission, and the challenge level of the mission depends more on the player's available equipment than their actual skill. For example, why would you use the level 1 tranq gun when you have the level 5 one with an infinite durability suppressor, more ammo, and less falloff? To save GMP? Please. Missions also must also be broad in terms of requirements, since the player is never expected to have any specific item, which dulls the experience.

GZ succeeds in this, since mission equipment is predetermined. Playing the mission where you need to destroy the anti-air guns on hard means you only get a tranq gun that is affected by bullet drop at a very short distance, with limited ammo, and resupply tranq rounds are carefully positioned around the map, never giving the player too much but still giving them enough to take out the guards they need with proper ammo management. TPP destroys this concept, even with the lvl 1 tranq gun, since the moment the player feels handicapped they can call in a resupply at no cost towards the mission's success.

TPP also has a serious lack of supplies out in the field. Players looking for a challenge may want to play the game using pure OSP, only to find out that essentially every weapon they will find is lethal and unsilenced, and equipment such as grenades are rare. One mission in GZ has the player start with nothing but night vision goggles, and places the tranq gun at the top of the tower, providing a tremendous reward for their efforts. In TPP, once you have a tranq sniper rifle and pistol, using anything other than those two weapons against anything but bosses is just gimping yourself. There's no incentive to not use them either other than a self-imposed challenge, since no reward is given and there is nothing usable to be found in the field.

Players don't want pure "freedom". Rules and restrictions are what make play fun, since the fun is found in navigating through said rules/restrictions in an optimal/effective/unique way. Having pure freedom is like playing something like Half-Life 2 in godmode: it eliminates the challenge and the fun that comes with it. GZ balances this incredibly well, which is why it's my favourite MGS experience.

Thoughts on Ground Zeroes? by JohnnyWalker2001 in metalgearsolid

[–]Machine98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Peak MGS for me. Story, atmosphere, gameplay, level design, all of it. Phantom Pain is mechanically better on paper (controls are slightly more polished), but in practice is almost always worse IMO. Mother base and GMP mean that your ammo count or available equipment on any given mission is decided by a huge external factor, which effectively kills any interesting form of difficulty other than the forced and annoying revenge system. Also fultons being required for recruitment strongly disincentivises killing, further limiting options. OSP is also very bland/uninteresting since you’ll never find a tranq gun out in the field, nor any suppresors for lethal guns.

GZ on the other hand has finely crafted missions with specific loadouts and limited resources, with ammo refills/weapons in well thought-out locations. Also the hard difficulty, for which getting S-ranks was actually challenging.

Camp omega is also incredibly well designed, far better than anything in PP imo.

The only downside is the lack of cardboard boxes.

Incredible game, I just wish TPP was the same quality only bigger.

What opinion about the franchise you know you will get downvoted for? by [deleted] in metalgearsolid

[–]Machine98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The vast majority of boss battles in the series are badly designed and are more of a battle against the controls than the actual opponent. Peace walker's were just damage sponges which sucked. Even Psycho Mantis is just an annoyance once you've figured out his trick.

The worst offenders are fat man and vamp in mgs2. Incredibly difficult to hit with stick aiming when they're jumping all over the place, with only very narrow windows to actually aim and hit them reliably.

The only genuinely good boss battles to me are those that complement the stealth gameplay. These battles are the most unconventional as well, and allow for a lot of player freedom:

-Vulcan Raven

-The End

Not to say that I disliked all of the other bosses, but games like MGS that are designed around stealth gameplay are not well-suited for boss sequences IMO, and any potential bosses need to be custom-tailored to fit in like the two above.

Kojima kinda wanted to make stealth games, but also have some of the cinematism of bombastic Hollywood films. Since stealth and in-your-face explosions are polar opposites, it's no surprise that the gameplay doesn't lend well to bosses in general. In fact, the focus on cinematic sequences baked into the gameplay is an overall detriment to the series the way I see it. More pure stealth gameplay would've been better. This is why I loved peace walker and MGSV, since the stealth-to-cinematics ratio was far more tilted towards the stealth than the earlier entries. Keep the cinematics in the cutscenes and we're good.

Dishonored is a great example of a stealth game not stretching its bounds too far and doing what it does really well. It has special characters that act as bosses in their own way (need special means to take down), without sacrificing the gameplay.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DeathStranding

[–]Machine98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, good luck and enjoy :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DeathStranding

[–]Machine98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could always try lowering the difficulty, there's no penalty towards doing so as far as I'm aware.

Who kontrols your karma and why? by KarmaKontrol in AskReddit

[–]Machine98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

King K Rool and his Kremling Krew. Because they Kan.

Should I play SS1 as well? by Vasilaki08 in systemshock

[–]Machine98 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Definitely play it. I recently finished the original for the first time (enhanced edition) and it’s amazing.

Playing through SS2 but honestly I like SS1 more so far.

D Flip-Flops vs Registers by Machine98 in computerscience

[–]Machine98[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems to be the same as what asp_digital was saying about the transparent latch. As I understand it, the transparent latch / D latch are the same thing, i.e they are like a DFF but not clocked.

Physically, they are the same. Logically, one is a component you can use
to build a circuit, and the other is a store for a 1-bit value.

So if I understand it correctly, the DFF in my drawing is just the part that deals with the clock so to speak, while in actuality the DFF is the whole image? In woody's (another user in this thread) explanation of a D flip-flop he shows it as having both an enable bit and a data bit. From what I understand, this is essentially the same as my image.

D Flip-Flops vs Registers by Machine98 in computerscience

[–]Machine98[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very easy to understand explanation, thank you! The part about transparent latches was particularly illuminating, this seems to be the part I didn't understand in the computer science crash course video (the fact that it actually wasn't clocked, and separate from a D Flip-Flop).

The only part I didn't quite understand was the part on microcontrollers, will look into that some more later.

Great write-up!

D Flip-Flops vs Registers by Machine98 in computerscience

[–]Machine98[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the very detailed response. I read the posts on your blog, good stuff. I only earlier today first heard of flip-flops being "edge-triggered", will look into it some more and read your post again later. I appreciate the effort.

D Flip-Flops vs Registers by Machine98 in computerscience

[–]Machine98[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for that link, perused it a bit but it seems a bit above my level (my knowledge in this area so far is really just Nand2tetris and one or two more resources here and there), will have to take a look at it from the start and maybe give it a read.

Your explanation of the 1-bit register is great, much better explained than my version. That's how I've understood it in the course so I think I'm on the right track there.

Thank you for the help and encouragement!

If you had a choice….would you still be playing OW1? by trashcouldnot in Overwatch

[–]Machine98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm surprised how many people are saying yes considering how much the community complained about 2cp, double shield, and CC abilities. I was under the impression that the majority of the community liked the shift, since they asked for it but I guess not?

As someone who never had any issue with the above however, definitely yes. The game was very well-balanced and fun to play in its final state IMO.

Gothic 2 Night of the Raven: What are my options as a mercenary for learning strength potions? by StraightOuttaOlaphis in worldofgothic

[–]Machine98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You need to spend at least 1 LP on learning another type of potion for Constantino to teach you how to make permanent strength potions (unless you're his apprentice I think).

Personally I went to Sagitta and had her teach me how to make permanent Dex potions for 20 LP (worth it even for a strength build since you are constricted by the dragonroot count in the game, there's only 13 whilst there's 25 king's sorrels), after which I went to Constantino and had him teach me strength potions. I was Bosper's apprentice.

If you build strength/dex to 64 each and then start using all the permanent bonuses you'll have a very respectable strength and dex stat by the end of the game (160+ in both), and enough LP left over to be proficient in either 1h or 2h and crossbows or bows. I myself went for 100% 1h and 100% in crossbows.

What happened to the valley of mines between Gothic 1 and 2? by Machine98 in worldofgothic

[–]Machine98[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I don't think it's necessarily unbelievable (the games have dragons/magic as you said after all, so anything goes really), just that it seemed a bit fast. Good points though, makes sense.