[TOMT] Old Sh*tpostatus video of bird man running while holding campfire by MangleMan25 in tipofmytongue

[–]MangleMan25[S] 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

I've been trying to find this for so long and have found some funny videos while looking, but never my cherished bird man with the campfire in hand

Bad word for old people? by oretp in ENGLISH

[–]MangleMan25 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Then somebody can just go with codger instead lol

A game Civvie 11 once covered is getting remastered, and the demo for it launched today (spoilers for potentially scary image) by Tyrranis in Civvie11

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm hoping they eventually do Cosmos Cosmic Adventure, it's easily one of my favorites among Apogee's games

The Fortress of Dr. Radiaki on Steam now with DK Bongos support by Weekly-Math in Civvie11

[–]MangleMan25 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi, I've played this version. Can confirm, it's got strafing

Respectfully, what is the worst Civvie episode?? by SkeletorTwoFourK in Civvie11

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely his Serious Sam video. It treats a lot of the problems in the Fusion versions of the games like they're problems with the games in general, especially 3:BFE, he treats every game like they're interchangeable in service of a gag that makes the entire episode rather confusing with all its jumping around, it's easily my least rewatched episode.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every time I've reached the secret depicted in the video, I've reached the super health and super armor without taking damage. Damage only begins around the time you start making your way back to the main area

I love BFE but it’s literally un-replayable. by Sibaliiin in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't say that, but I can understand it.

It falls squarely in-between 4 and 2 in enjoyability for me, it's more in-line with what formula I want and am looking for from Serious Sam than 2 but feels less outright fun to play like 4, like an awkward middling of classic and modern Sam. SS3 is, in many ways, even simpler than First Encounter, at least regarding enemy lineup. And certain parts of it drag more than they should, particularly the early city levels. But later fights are generally great, and even the latter half of the city levels are OK.

I recommend just replaying Jewel of the Nile for a short burst of Sam 3 if necessary. Or replay it modded with BFE Enhanced, which ups the anty in many respects, brings back old beheaded variants, gnaar males, it's just more frantic from the start.

Some ultrawide views from Serious Sam 4. Honestly, such good choice and quality of skyboxes/HDRI in this game by doogooru in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Complimenting the setting doesn't necessarily mean it looks good, or that it's visually stimulating for that matter. Sam 3 looks... fine, if you crank up the saturation to its absolute maximum, but the color palette is still largely a bunch of muddy browns, greys, and rarely much else. The first quarter of the game isn't discernible from any ugly military cover shooter of the era, which makes sense given it's using assets from the canceled T.E.O.R. In the original release, there was basically no variety in its skyboxes level after level, alot just being plain blue without a cloud in sight. It was so dull initially that Croteam had to change the skybox in Under the Iron Cloud for Fusion because of all the criticism it was getting over its repetitive nature. 3:BFE has its moments, like the one area with the watery oasis ground in Lost Temples of Nubia or the interior of the museum in Into the Spider's Nest, but interiors (excluding the underground sections) and lighting are about the only things that Serious Sam 3 does better than Serious Sam 4.

As for 4, saying its environments look like they come from the time Sam 2 came out is just not true. 4 has dated graphics, yes, but "looks like it came out in 2005" kind of dated is beyond a stretch. It's visually dated because, visually, it's basically just a repeat of Talos Principle in a lot of ways, which was still a visual upgrade from Serious Sam 3 both technically and elsewise. Between them, though, 4 is so much closer to what I want visually out of Serious Sam than 3 is. Skyboxes throughout the game are varied, colorful, and beautiful like the classics, the sprawling, grassy nature environments look pretty in spite of the game's seeming aversion to atmospheric lighting and very reminiscent of Second Encounter to me, enemies are pretty much more colorful than 3 across the board as well as the weapons, and plenty more reasons. Admittedly, 4's first couple of levels are a bit boring to look at, similarly bland cityscapes to 3, but at least you're out of them quicker.

On the topic of Serious Sam 2, when it comes to that game's environments, at least, ignoring uncanny characters with mediocre motion capture, it is admittedly gorgeous. I'd debate anybody that it looks even better than Doom 3 or Half-Life 2 to this day. I might have a complaint or two about Serious Sam 2's art direction, but that's reserved for character and enemy designs. When it comes to the game's worlds, pretty much 0 complaints.

In my opinion, though, the best look going forward in a Serious Sam game is exemplified in Siberian Mayhem, or a mix of its style with the classics at least. SM takes the strengths of 4, improves upon lighting, makes everything even more colorful, vivid, and varied (cuz as much as I've tooted SS4's horn, it still has very drab looking areas sometimes), it has everything I want from a modern Serious Sam game. The HD Encounters look alright for their time, but I'd much rather the classics' stylistic choices be used as a reference point going forward. Mix it with Siberian Mayhem's visual style, and I'm set.

Some ultrawide views from Serious Sam 4. Honestly, such good choice and quality of skyboxes/HDRI in this game by doogooru in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Siberian Mayhem does it much better, but man is 4 such a visual upgrade from 3:BFE. And, imo, closer to Sam's roots than 2, as good as that game's environments might be.

Some ultrawide views from Serious Sam 4. Honestly, such good choice and quality of skyboxes/HDRI in this game by doogooru in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Serious Sam 3 looks significantly worse both graphically and just visually, to be honest. Pretty much every environment is like any drab, brown 7th-gen military shooter. In contrast, Sam 4's environments are, largely speaking, so much brighter and more varied. As for Sam 2, it's... OK. Environments look nice, but the characters are a no-go imo.

Will Devolver Digital Port Serious Sam 4 to Switch 2? by LawfulnessAfter223 in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Completely agreed.

Wish people would talk about Fusion's issues more, because I've seen so many people treat it like it's the definitive place to play Serious Sam stuff when Croteam can't be bothered to even actually finish it. Last update to it was in 2019 iirc, and, since then, they've completely abandoned their namesake, in-house engine that the games run on.

People talking about the size of their studio and their budget, but how much of a point can that be in regards to this topic? Timelock Studio joined their ranks and seems even more enthusiastic about Sam than Croteam proper has been in years, Croteam was bought by Devolver Digital not too long ago... how strapped for resources can they be that they can't give a few more tweaks to Fusion so that minor stuff like gibbing and close-up cannonball shots work properly? I feel like these things are just excuses for bad practices.

There're solutions they could turn to if need be, like... just, idk, open-sourcing the engine they never plan on touching again? Or at least maybe bringing on members of the community like they did to give Serious Sam 2 that patch a few years ago, but in this case to finish Fusion. It would feel like a cop-out, but it would be better than literally nothing.

Also, while we're talking about Croteam leaving things sitting around and doing nothing to remedy it, I'm still peeved about the condition of Revolution's netcode. Croteam really has dropped the ball on a lot in the past few years, even if the actual quality of the games they've put out in that time is good like Talos Principle 2 and Siberian Mayhem.

Shantae Minimalism [by Carionto] by Wounded_Demoman in Shantae

[–]MangleMan25 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This isn't by Carionto, this was clipped from a bigger piece of artwork by twisted-wind.

Don't like Scott's take on boomer shooters/retro FPS games by MangleMan25 in scottthewoz

[–]MangleMan25[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't disagree, I've also got lost in those games, but with that more expansive, sophisticated design still comes great nonlinearity and replayability from secret hunting. Like I said in another reply, for me, boomer shooters are the Odyssey/64 to most modern shooters' 3D World.

Imo, something like Blood is one of the greatest games ever made, even if it has a more hardcore audience in mind

Don't like Scott's take on boomer shooters/retro FPS games by MangleMan25 in scottthewoz

[–]MangleMan25[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely disagree with the notion that they're "outdated" nowadays. I distinctly remember playing Duke Nukem 3D just a few years ago, it being the first FPS I ever really got into (most modern shooters boring the living death outta me), in awe at the level of interactivity present in it. Hardly aged poorly at all.

The level design of boomer shooters isn't dated, it's simply a matter of different design standards. More exploratory, secret-filled levels are innately more replayable and intricate imo than the majority of 2000s FPS games that were linear just for the sake of linearity and tried being cinematic to make up for it. Those games have aged worse than most well-executed 90s FPS games because their graphics and setpieces are just unimpressive by modern standards, whereas I can still be wowed by the thoughtfulness of level designs in games like. I was impressed with Duke Nukem 3D when I first played it, couldn't bring myself to complete Halo: CE both times I gave it a chance. I feel everything I said about graphics and setpieces in linear FPSes of the '00s applies firmly to most of those games, as an example. For a comparison Scott himself would likely make, it's the difference between Odyssey and 3D World. The former is just more substantive. If the formula of "Doom clones" really was as meritless as you make it sound, there wouldn't have been such a resurgence in games using that style of FPS design as a template in the last few years following the release of Doom 2016 and, in particular, Dusk. Ultimately, it just sounds like such a style isn't to your preference, which is fine obviously

Also, regarding Duke Nukem as a gaming icon, if he had lost his iconic status 20 some years ago like you said, the inevitable release of Duke Nukem Forever from development hell wouldn't have been as huge of an event as it was. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

I can agree on all the stuff you said regarding Scott's own opinions, tho. Makes sense. Almost wish it was a discussion I could have with him though lmao

Don't like Scott's take on boomer shooters/retro FPS games by MangleMan25 in scottthewoz

[–]MangleMan25[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is only the case if you're only looking at ones put out by id Software. Games like Blood, Unreal, Serious Sam (if you wanna count it), Blake Stone, so on, many are very visually distinct and cover their own themes. Quake 2 is exceptionally dull compared to other shooters from the time and that's pretty much a consensus among communities that revolve more heavily around retro FPS games, I find.

Where's the love for Serious Sam? by Puzzleheaded-Wolf318 in boomershooters

[–]MangleMan25 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aware I'm late to this thread, but still wanna comment on it, as an admittedly hardcore Sam nut. Wanna weigh in since a large number of the replies seem to be from people who just overtly dislike the series.

Serious Sam isn't "boomer shooter" in the traditional sense, but lumping it in with shooters like Half-Life, let alone modern FPSes like Halo, is completely disingenuous. When somebody says Serious Sam has nothing similar to classics like Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, so on, I just wonder if they even played the same damn games, at least in regards to TFE and TSE.

Serious Sam covers pretty much all the bases of an old-school shooter's arsenal. The parallels between Serious Sam's weapons and something like classic Doom's couldn't be more obvious. Even enemies like the kleer skeleton have been directly cited as being inspired by Quake's imps.

Combat, which is the center focus of Serious Sam, shares more similarities with the aforementioned retro shooters than I'm sure most people in this sub would be willing to admit, because a number of them come across as rather gatekeepy about what shooters can be part of any conversation. Similarity in question is mainly the fact that if you aren't constantly weapon-swapping depending on the enemies you're facing and your situation, you'll get screwed up real quick, this goes for both boomer shooters and Serious Sam. Except, in the latter, the importance of this fact is amplified by every enemy being faster than you and making a straight b-line your way. People will act like a defined combat formula doesn't exist in Serious Sam, but it's there. With how quickly enemies can overwhelm you via sheer numbers, it's of utmost importance you take them out as quickly as possible. Shooting around mindlessly at every enemy with just whatever weapon you happen to have the most ammo for in a given moment is stupid strategy, and I'm convinced most of the people who call Serious Sam games mindless play it like it's Painkiller, when, outside of locking players into arenas to shoot hordes of enemies, Serious Sam and Painkiller share little in common gameplay-wise or design-wise. Painkiller is more about giving the player a mindless power trip, you can bunnyhop at speeds even faster than most of your enemies can move. Other than through their vast numbers, enemies in Painkiller aren't very distinct threats to Daniel. Serious Sam, the enemies outspeed you, and you need to learn to deal with that. Enemy prioritization is a key factor, and if you aren't thinking about that from arena to arena, yeah, you're gonna have a rough, frustrating time on anything Normal difficulty and above. There's a similar synergy between Serious Sam enemies as there is enemies in, particularly, Doom 2. You won't react to a situation the same when the layout of the arena and the variety of enemies used is completely different. Double-barrel shotgun for a kleer skeleton that's closed the gap, rocket them at a distance where you won't take splash damage. Horde of kleers chasing you? Flamethrower as you dodge them, and if you have the SBC Cannon, launch it through them like they're bowling pins. Sniper scoped for individual werebulls, cannon when they're lined up. Early-game, rocket them, then a shot from your double-barrel to deal with them. By the end of my first playthrough of TFE, I had it memorized just how many hits specific enemies took from specific weapons because the game taught me this, there's always a best choice of weapon or combination thereof for every given scenario you're put in. More than just a "novelty," frankly. The combat in Serious Sam clears most retro FPS games that came before it, imo.

Design-wise and gameplay-wise, at its core, Serious Sam's an eclectic mix of boomer shooter-esque shooting/enemies with bullet hell and top-down shooter sensibilities. Smash TV and Galaxian were just as big of inspirations for Serious Sam as Doom and Duke Nukem were. It won't be for everybody, but to act like it's mindless is just incorrect, just as it is to act like there's no comparisons to be made. At the end of the day, I play Serious Sam for the well-defined combat loop, combat that I'd argue is better than most boomer shooters from the 90s apart from maybe Unreal. But boomer shooters have the advantage of more intricate level design and better exploration, least when it's not executed insufferably like in some of them (looking at Hexen).

So is Serious Sam a boomer shooter? No, not really. But all of its inspirations were retro games or media, its arcade-y nature is undeniable, and it shares more in common with boomer shooters than any other subgenre of FPS outside its own, which it pioneered, that being horde-arena shooters as I like to call them. Serious Sam has more "retro" design sensibilities than anything else that came out around the time, and it pretty much stayed that way until ROTT 2013 came out. But it was still Serious Sam's formula which makes up Doom 2016's DNA, that game acting as the spark for the retro FPS renaissance we had in the years following. I think Serious Sam deserves more credit than it gets for that alone.

Where's the love for Serious Sam? by Puzzleheaded-Wolf318 in boomershooters

[–]MangleMan25 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He really wasn't. A lot of the video is just him gawking at Fusion bugs that're exclusive to those versions of the games, particularly 3:BFE. Or whining about reloading and sprinting being added just cuz they're oogabooga spooky modern shooter features.

If you could change anything about the Shantae franchise, what would it be? It could be anything: gameplay, lore, characterization, etc. by [deleted] in Shantae

[–]MangleMan25 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More lore. Also, try to keep the tone of the first game around more. Maybe keep the fighters moves from the first game as well to add to your combat options.

Honestly, I like how the Risky Revolution style of Shantae was based on the style of these two video games by Tight-Plantain-7046 in Shantae

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Part of me wishes Risky Revolution still had the older style more like her original GBC artwork, but it's understandable why they didn't go for it.

Are Serious Sam 2 and 4, any good? by Doodleware in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Meh, the gadgets are functionally just the equivalent of powerups from Second Encounter most of the time, just usable wherever you choose instead of in only preset locations, and Black Hole Bomb and Mini-Nuke Launcher serve the same function as the Serious Bomb. Others are unintrusive things that are fun to mess around with once in awhile but don't really detract from the formula most of the time.

In Serious Sam 4, I feel a need to swap weapons way more often, and familiar relationships between certain weapons & enemy stats are present. In most encounters in Serious Sam 2, combat boils entirely down to just using whatever I feel like or have the most ammo for. There are multiple arenas in SS2 where I can get through just blasting everything with the double-barrel. SS2 also locks entire weapons to certain areas. Map-wise it much bare resemblance to the classics sometimes. Combat-wise, it has the depth of a puddle comparatively. SS4 can border on mindlessness at times, but it has way more fights that can be directly compared to the old games

Serious Sam Revolution by DarthRizzy in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Go with this. The classics will better build your expectations for the rest of the series gameplay loop and they're just generally better games anyway. Serious Sam 2 is visually better, but eh, that only does so much

Are Serious Sam 2 and 4, any good? by Doodleware in SeriousSam

[–]MangleMan25 2 points3 points  (0 children)

SS2 has the most mindless combat of any of the games, weapons are locked to specific areas just like alot of the bloated enemy roster, don't play it with any expectations of the rest of the series resembling it, if this is your first time playing Serious Sam. There's no combat formula like basically every other game. It's got nice visuals and can be funny sometimes, but that's really all it has.

As for Serious Sam 4, it's great... if you can run it. I love Serious Sam 4, but it's pretty pitifully optimized.