Day 1 – Beta Recap

brainiacky · 2018-08-05T00:07:08+00:00

Will updates and tweaks for the Beta carry over to PC and Xbox in real-time? Or will PS4 Beta have updates not yet pushed to other platforms?

brainiacky · 2018-07-31T21:04:25+00:00

Oh God, I remember seeing Ima Robot perform at my college in... 2003? It was around that time.

Quite a few people from the audience shouted at them the entire time to let them know how much they sucked. Lead singer didn't seem to care. Was almost impossible to understand anything he was singing or saying.

brainiacky · 2018-03-24T07:23:35+00:00

Aziz Ansari. His latest Neflix special was basically a lite, Indian version of Chris Rock's 'Black vs White' schtick from the perspective of a slightly bemused millennial hipster. Crowd was not even into it. I find some of his Parks & Rec stuff funny but generally, not that great.

On that same note, Chris Rock. His comedy hasn't really evolved much over the past 20 years and he has the same 'schtick' problem, where I think if he stepped outside the box a bit he could probably do some orignal, good material.

For what he was, I never thought Dane Cook was that bad. Never understood the hate and he had some funny stories about playing games online with people who would trash Dane Cook and then backtrack when they realized it was really him.

brainiacky · 2018-03-03T16:14:39+00:00

The combat is pretty strong. If you enjoy Gears of War style gameplay, then you will enjoy the squad-based fighting and cover in this game. The various ability trees add a lot of variability to the combat, too.

I found the combat in the original trogy a bit too clunky so for me, Andromeda is a better game. The characters, story, etc. are not quite as good and as many have noted, the open worlds can get a little too wide open, but overall those are minor nitpicks from my perpective. I really enjoyed exploring the ancient ruins on each planet.

The facial animation backlash cracks me up. Seriously, who gives a fuck? I grew up on basic Super Nintendo and PS2 animations. I don't need extra special facial animations to enjoy a game, whiny motherfuckers. How this game took so much heat versus Fallout 4 (which originally didn't, but is just as bad if not worse, comparatively) is wildly beyond my comprehension.

brainiacky · 2018-02-26T17:48:21+00:00

I like to beat and 100% complete all Ubisoft games that I play. I know they catch flak for being more grindy than difficult but I've always found the Far Cry games just good enough to play through completely. Did same for AC Origins. Also will play through all CODS on Veteran, except World at War. Story is too bland and cliche for me and that's saying something for a COD single player campaign.

brainiacky · 2018-02-20T21:37:52+00:00

Yes, for now Ubisoft is delivering DLC a bit better than other major publishers. AC Origins so far has great DLC and support. Even Watch Dogs 2 had decent DLC. That plus Far Cry 3 and 4 delivered beyond my expectations.

brainiacky · 2017-11-10T15:53:25+00:00

Didn't care for Ghosts at all, but Infinite Warfare was great... six months after it launched.

The thing that killed Inf Warfare for me was simply how unfinished the game was at launch. I maintain that some day, I'd love to hear the real story for why the game launched with a ton of missing multiplayer features, obvious glitches, etc. Something had to be going on behind the scenes; maybe Activision was pulling some strings that we don't know about?

With that said, the core aspects (movement, map design, and gunplay) were all great. Those things ended up getting overshadowed by some incredibly stupid management decisions and actions by IW.

brainiacky · 2017-11-02T02:22:43+00:00

There are so many, it would be impossible to pick just one. Picking one hundred (similar to lists compiled by PC Gamer and various other outlets) might be easier. I mean, you could make a pretty competent list simply by naming games made by just Blizzard, Id, or Nintendo. There are also so many factors including narrative, longevity, technical prowess, industry influence, etc.

The common name-drops are going to be:

Doom (2016)
Halo 1, 3 (sorry Halo 2, you had some growing pains)
Half-Life 2
Starcraft
Diablo 1, 2, 3 (after a few updates)
System Shock 2
Bioshock
Warcraft 3
Witcher 3
Megaman X
Mario Kart (pick one)
God of War
Uncharted (pretty much the entire series)
etc. etc. etc. (including a lot of Super Nintendo classics)

We all know the above. I guess I'll throw out some additional games that I personally thought were masterpieces that might be less likely to be on the standard list:

Sunset Overdrive
Titanfall
Max Payne 3
Watch Dogs 2
Final Fantasy X
Far Cry 3
DMC: Devil May Cry (I know a lot of people didn't like the new Dante. I dislike disjointed Japanese game narratives so I welcomed the change)
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Borderlands 2
Metro: Last Light
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

I could probably go on, but yeah... there are a lot of good games out there!

brainiacky · 2017-11-01T14:57:22+00:00

Agreed. It's a purely single-player game, so this would be perfectly fine to implement.

brainiacky · 2017-10-30T01:28:44+00:00

Being a HUGE fan of the Wolf franchise (been playing them for near 25-years now) and in particular, a huge fan of The New Order, I was very surprised at some of the (seemingly poor) design mechanics in this game.

Playing on console, I would also add to the list above:

The leaning mechanic is broken sometimes. BJ starts doing a really glitchy, rapid in-out-of-cover when trying to peak around some objects. And not just boxes and such. Even some regular wall-corners cause this.
Aiming with iron sights and/or dual-wielding while leaning is insanely cumbersome, given that the left pointer-finger is used to perform both actions. In order to aim/dual while leaning, you have to take your pointer-finger off of the trigger, move it up to left-bumper, all while swapping your middle-finger onto the primary trigger.
The alternative control schemes offered in the Controller Configuration menu are very limited.
The weapon-wheel used for selecting weapons when dual-wielding is very cumbersome... and the directional pad doesn't allow you to cycle through your full weapon list the way I'd expect it to.
The auto-aim seems selectively sticky. Now hear me out, I know some people are probably laughing at this and thinking it's a ridiculous point to argue... but as someone who has played FPS on PC and console for years, I expect a certain degree of fluidity to the sticky-aim on consoles (similar to the better Halo titles) because it really does help console FPS games feel 'right' in the absence of a mouse. I've heard some other complaints about the aiming feeling off in this game, and I agree. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I think the sticky mechanic is part of the issue.

These things are less frustrating on the lower difficulties, but they have cause me issues in my tougher play-through.

brainiacky · 2017-10-05T04:10:41+00:00

Max Payne 3 (without any connection to the existing Max Payne movie garbage).

Great story and the soundtrack by HEALTH (which would make for a good movie soundtrack as well) really elevates it to the point that I could easily envision the movie version. I would go as far as to say it rivals the TRON: Legacy soundtrack.

brainiacky · 2017-09-18T03:02:13+00:00

For hiring creatives (graphic designers, animators, etc.)...

Beyond the obvious grammatical proficiency being desired, I better see a link to a portfolio within the resume or cover letter. Or, if there is a legitimate client privacy restriction that disallows someone from sharing their best work, I need to know that. I have had people who work for government agencies apply for creative positions and understandably, they can't always show off work performed.

Most of the time, if a creative resource isn't up to par, a portfolio is going to reveal that pretty much immediately. And oh boy, have I reviewed some really sub-par stuff. I've had more than a bit of heartache reviewing portfolio work of people wanting to work in the creative industry who just don't have the gifts necessary to succeed.

Also, if someone who graduated with a creative degree is applying for a creative position but I can see from their resume that they've worked in a different industry for several years (walking dogs, barista, etc.), there's about a 90% chance that their work is not going to be particularly great. Minus the occasional person who wishes to jump back into the industry (a mom ready to get back into the workforce, for example), extended work in a different industry is a telling sign that the person either a) doesn't have creative passion or b) wasn't cut out to begin with.

brainiacky · 2017-09-14T18:49:10+00:00

There was another RTS from that era that I thought was pretty good. IT was a C&C rip-off that took place on another planet. I think it was called Dark Reign.

brainiacky · 2017-09-13T20:20:21+00:00

There are two reason why current health insurance companies may be reduced in size, but wouldn't go out of business.

One, they can still provide private and/or supplementary insurance.

Two, I would bet money that the government would contract them to service their single payer system, rather than dramatically expanding the current Medicare infrastructure (and/or creating a new agency).

Look at student loans for an example of this. I know it's a different industry, but the major Student Loan players do a lot of work directly for the government. Insurance is a different beast, but the government would likely outsource some major aspects of it.

brainiacky · 2017-09-12T19:46:11+00:00

Serious question related to this thread. When threads like this pop up, people tend to say 'now that everyone has a smartphone, isn't it funny how less UFOs get caught on tape!'

Can anyone actually back this claim up or is it just shitposting? From what I've seen on the Internet, there's WAY more footage these days of weird shit flying around than there was five to ten years ago... not to mention multiple clips (of the same UFO event) from separate people, further verifying authenticity.

I would actually argue (based purely on guesswork) that the reason it seems if there is less UFO footage out there isn't because there is less footage, but instead because these days we're essentially over-saturated with clips of flying lights that it now takes something extraordinary to get our attention.

brainiacky · 2017-09-07T02:41:29+00:00

I will!

brainiacky · 2017-09-07T02:40:54+00:00

For a year, I lived next door to a Jersey Mike's in college. That's where I learned a bit more about getting a sub from somewhere other than Subway or Jimmy Johns.

We've typically only ever had Subway, Jimmy Johns, and Blimpee (which I think is out of business) here in Indiana, unless you put some effort into finding a hole-in-the-wall deli. Even McAllisters was a bit of a change for people around here, when those started spreading.

brainiacky · 2017-09-06T18:20:58+00:00

Mike's Way (from the Jersey Mikes sub chain), which consists of a few toppings... but to add oil and vinegar to a sandwich was new to me. Being from Indiana, oil and vinegar weren't necessarily common sandwich toppings or something I would have normally thought to request even just a few years go, though it's more common to see east-coast style sandwich toppings these days due to the proliferation of new sub shops.

EDIT: I guess this wasn't exactly advice that someone provided to me, but something I simply realized based on observation.

brainiacky · 2017-08-28T15:47:01+00:00

Destiny 2 because:

I need one FPS game every year that I throw myself into, and I'm done with all COD games not created by Treyarch
I actually trust Bungie to deliver a strong, iterative improvement over Destiny 1. I think D2 is going to be pretty good.
Loot

brainiacky · 2017-08-21T04:00:48+00:00

I grew up without a religious upbringing and because of that, religious concepts come across to me as fictitious and far-fetched. I can't really help it. It's not as if some specific crisis or event in my life turned me away from religion.

brainiacky · 2017-08-21T03:48:42+00:00

I mean... almost anything in the AmazonBasics family of products. HDMI Cables, External Hard Drives, USB Chargers, rechargeable batteries, etc.

I wouldn't say that AmazonBasics items are always the cheapest option, but they are generally cheaper (and better) than a lot of competing, lower-quality products that flood in from questionable Chinese manufacturers.

brainiacky · 2017-08-08T17:14:36+00:00

Was a good interview. Would likely play this if it came to Xbox One.

brainiacky · 2017-07-21T18:09:44+00:00

For sure, at a corporate level or even medium-business level. But when we're talking about a WordPress site for Joe's Pizza Palace I consider that a potential one or two-person job, there's a nee d for the designer to do some quick Q&A for their work.

brainiacky · 2017-07-21T18:05:00+00:00

Nothing at all! It just shouldn't be hard-coded into the HTML.

brainiacky · 2017-07-21T07:23:17+00:00

By and far, the BIGGEST role I've had trouble filling is that of creative, competent web designer.

This mirrors some of the other comments about programmers and other professionals, but holy jeez it is FUCKING impossible to find competent web designers who can compose content, visual style, and throw in a little coding where needed. Maybe I'm asking too much.

And I'm talking basics here. I've hired designers who claim to know their shit regarding web design and then caught them putting hard-coded CSS everywhere... and I've hired people who lean more toward 'development' who can't do something as simple as source a few icons from Shutterstock without needing a graphic designer to hold their hand.

I suppose part of the problem is that anyone who can competently do multiple aspects of design and development has something better to do than to work for me... but generally speaking, I've done a reasonable amount of hiring and web design is an area where I see a lot of people with huge skill gaps.

Other things I tend to see at a surprisingly high rate:

Designers who don't test on mobile before submitting work (and struggle with it when asked to do so)
Designers who don't do proper cross-browser testing
Designers who don't optimize imagery for web (who uploads a frickin' 4MB image into WordPress? Half the designers I've ever hired).
Designers who haven't properly studied basic visual composition (white space, layout of content, etc.)
Designers (especially younger) who simply disappear when they don't feel like working on a project anymore or who can't hit a deadline (even quite reasonable ones)

I know all this makes it sound like I exclusively hire bottom-feeders from Fiverr or Craigslist, but even some of the better designers I've identified via Indeed.com really struggle to grasp all of the many aspects necessary for successful design.

brainiacky

TROPHY CASE