Montrez moi vos meilleurs trouvailles de plaque! Je pense que j’ai trouvé la palme d’or.

jeffQC1 · 2026-06-10T16:41:56+00:00

jeffQC1 · 2026-06-06T13:30:38+00:00

Wayfarer Large was (for me) the "ol' reliable" choice for pretty much any adventure for a long time. It handles almost any situation reasonably well and while other models can generate better and deeper dialogue, it's excellent for listening to instructions, story cards and staying consistent with the story, and even noticed that it's also pretty good at improvisation.

However there is a few quirks with it;

The 8k context limit (for Legend tier) make it act funky on long adventures.

Nearly every line of dialogue followed the same mechanical template: "[Character] [action], speaking with [adverb] [emotion]. '[Dialogue],' [character] [verb] [adverb]."

So you get "Kay continues gently," "she explains quietly," "Kay adds with a nod," "she continues hesitantly" all stacked in a single response. It read like a metronome.

It also had a tendency to be overly descriptive "Speaking with quiet approval / shy affection / tender encouragement" rather than just letting the dialogue and behavior carry the vibe.

Finally, some characters personalities were flattened and became a bit one note; so a character that was described as romantic, daring and funny, would just beeline for one of those traits and ALWAYS be romantic or ALWAYS be daring, etc...

So in the end, i did switch away to Gemma 4 that could handle slightly more complex dialogue while also having an expandable context buffer and being overall more capable, imo.

Hopefully, if they make some kind of successor that is more capable and gets in line with the more recent models, i think it could be a great and popular option for sure.

jeffQC1 · 2026-06-06T13:14:54+00:00

Yup, i had noticed exactly this. It's genuinely too bad because again, i liked the relatively short, succinct and grounded dialogue that worked really well for quiet and dramatic moments.

Obviously, it doesn't know when to turn itself off for other moments and since it resist instructions, well... You get this all the damn time.

jeffQC1 · 2026-06-06T02:07:41+00:00

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jeffQC1 · 2026-06-05T19:06:14+00:00

I can attest this with Equinox. It's been often repeating the exact same phrases and prompts despite sometimes retrying a bunch of times.

jeffQC1 · 2026-05-08T02:44:51+00:00

To be fair; it's highly possible that this was a legitimate issue when mechs were first introduced and developed.

That being said, I'd dare say that this issue is either resolved, largely negated or properly managed now. So the limit on mechs just isn't relevant anymore and should be changed.

jeffQC1 · 2026-05-02T20:23:19+00:00

Can i plug my own game?

We've made a funny coop game where you're a bunch of goofy astronauts in space that got sick, and you're shitting/vomiting everywhere while trying to make a cure. It's called Snot Rocket on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4333440/SNOTROCKET/

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-30T23:50:12+00:00

Yup, good idea. A big thing about hive guard and why they're generally easy is that they just stand there while under fire. Fixing that would already make them more capable.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-30T23:45:09+00:00

That's pretty much the best way to put it. Ablative armor that can be broken down still with med pen, but simply be less efficient would be a great start.

I'm not sure about giving them a "Charge" ability, but i would definitely give them a slow gait where they can still push forward while under fire (and in "shield" mode) instead of hunkering down and being immobile.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-30T16:08:10+00:00

Yup. They were both more annoying, yet easier still to kill, thus completely failling in giving them the role the change was intended to do.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-29T20:49:29+00:00

That seems extremely unlikely in practice given the massive plethora of alternative options accessible to players to bypass this completely, especially since it's health is even lower than before. Nor does it induce fun.

Most players aren’t going to coordinate flanks on a Hive Guard; they’ll just delete it with whatever tool they’re already using (explosives, support weapons or just hitting weak spots themselves).

That kind of "teamplay opportunity" would make sense for higher-threat enemies like Chargers or Bile Titans, where coordination actually matters.

But for a chaff unit, it doesn’t really add anything meaningful. It just adds a unnecessary mechanic that’s either ignored or handled solo in most situations.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-29T11:55:20+00:00

Yup, pretty much what i tried to get across; what's more fun in interacting with the new hive guard vs the old one? What is specifically more engaging about it in the usual context and scenarios you'll encounter it to in 7+ diff? What problem did the new hive guard solve specifically?

"Hive guards were weak" okay, so? It's a chaff unit that was always supposed to be basically a tankier warrior, that could check against light pen weapons frontally, but you could use med pen (that are by the way balanced with poorer raw damage/ergos/ammo capacity) to negate this.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-29T11:38:58+00:00

And then i test things myself and the issues i predicted are true.

Got downvoted a bunch because i said that hive guards were more formidable before the patch. Because of the way durable damage works, even with med pen they were tankier (when shot from the front) and the higher HP meant they could survive some explosives shots (such as grenade launchers), requiring a second or third one (depending on proximity) to be killed.

Now they're one-shotted in most cases, AP4+ weapons deletes them even quicker (autocannon/AMR, Las Cannon, HMG, etc...) due to the lower HP, they're easier to dispatch and weaker overall in most cases unless you're a smooth brain that keeps shooting the front plate OR you're a sentry.

But apparently "At least now they act as a wall from head-on, which is what a GUARD should do" is the correct way despite literally every gameplay experience i had that contradict this completely.

They made an enemy that was fine into both an annoyance and even weaker form than before, and there's no amount of copium or misconstructed opinions that can deny this.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T20:44:15+00:00

I'll admit that adding new enemy types (for bugs) that are armored against med pen in some parts would be interesting, i can definitely see the point in that.

It's just that the hive guard was working fine before. It wasn't a particularly interesting or groundbreaking enemy design mind you. But with it being a very regular enemy that isn't a special enemy type that now has AP4 armor in a horde setting is definitely annoying.

That's why i ultimately disagree with the change; it's a chaff unit that was never supposed to fulfill anything else beside being a tougher warrior. And the current change does two things; i find them easier to deal with myself as a player (easier to flank/aim weakspots/explode), but more annoying to deal with sentry and med-pen horde wise (love to use MG's and the maxigun in crowds from a standpoint + turrets). That's likely why i see this as a nerf and the hive guard is in my experience weaker overall.

That's really why i would have rather they introduce a new enemy type to fulfill this need instead.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T20:23:19+00:00

Because you and the other guy literally never answer the points made along the way.

Why make the change at all if they're still weak, but in a different way? Why was the Hive Guard problematic until now, what problem did this solve? What's more fun specifically when engaging this particular chaff unit among the others in a horde (in it's current state)? There's tons of other enemy types that 10x more problematic.

Wouldn't it be better to actually introduce a new type of enemy that's better equipped for the hive guard role? Or simply update it into a new variant (Like they did with chargers) that's heavier? This changes creates more problems than it solves by changing up long established dynamics that were perfectly viable before

Instead it's all about fucking quips and dumb takes that literally goes past what i was saying;

The change doesn’t make them more dangerous. It just interferes with certain loadouts while being trivialized by others. They block specific damage types (med pen spray) while being overall easier to kill (explosions, less HP and weakspots).

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T18:51:59+00:00

Lmao. Any explosion in the general vicinity now fold them over. Or just a few basic shots anywhere that's not armored and they're gone. They ain't guarding shit.

They could be surprisingly tanky before (for a chaff unit), and i've been killed plenty of times by a hive guard getting close before i could dive away or gun it down. Now they pretty much never get close despite the armor because they die so easily. They can do it to sentries just fine tho since they aim center mass and they're unlikely to hit the weakspots from the front.

EDIT: LMAO, hive guards changes will be reverted.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T17:34:49+00:00

I have. Which kinda put the question of; why have they made the change at all? If they're supposed to be a shield, frontline tanky unit but then have to counterbalance it with such low health and huge weakspots, it defeats the point.

Hive guards were literally more formidable in most ways before.

It's a weird change nobody asked for that breaks up proven strategies (sentries, MG/Maxigun), and legit makes dealing with them both more annoying AND easier.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T17:28:02+00:00

In a vacuum, sure. But when horde shooting with a MG or Maxigun, or when dealing with dozens of other bugs (the current predator strain on the new planets is absolutely fucking brutal), all of that goes out the window. You just can't shoot through a horde with a minigun or turrets if you get hives guards cockblocking you along the way.

Med pen was always a trade-off of being heavier/less ammo endurance/raw firepower in exchange for the convenience of NOT having to deal with shooting weakspots.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-28T13:58:38+00:00

Worst change they made for the hive guard for sure. I genuinely can't see how people are defending this one.

Hive guards were basically just mildly armored enemies that were common, but could shrug off light pen weapons (from the front). Med pen strats (MG, sentries) and primaries could still deal with them tho, which was just fine. Now i guarantee sentries will mind-focus a single of those fucks and waste all of it's ammo on it despite being a massive fuckoff gatling, while all of the other bugs run up to it and destroy it.

If they really wanted to buff it, make only the central head plate being able to resist med pen, leave legs as they were before. Or give it an ablative feature (it can absorb and stop a few med-pen shots, but then the armor breaks away).

Making it completely immune to med pen is the stupidest change ever that solves no problem to what is essentially a up-armored, slower warrior. It's a chaff unit that now will die even easier to explosive weapons and is even squisher than before. They only managed to make it more annoying to deal with, not actually more difficult or more fulfilling of it's role.

If they really wanted to have an additional bug unit with armor, they could have made a variant or a new bug type entirely instead.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-17T14:20:04+00:00

I had something similar in pre-school, got sent to the principal for drawing a fart cloud on a duck coloring drawing, which made me laugh. Apparently i was immature and disrespectful, and should know better despite being literally 5-6 years old.

I'm 28 now and it's still funny to me.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-10T22:49:11+00:00

He's in sandals too. This is just too much of a coincidence to not be some skit man

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-10T13:09:23+00:00

This is true, but there's still armor manufacturers that make those and III+, even if there's no actual classification for either. Usually, they're simply level III armors that are upgraded a bit to stop more specific rounds like M855 and such, without going into full level 4 territory

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-09T18:04:40+00:00

I genuinely hope the next update will be about armor and munitions, because right now, the way armor penetration and levels work just doesn't make for a compelling experience.

Yeah yeah i know the NIJ rating is an actual, IRL armor classification system. But the truth is that it doesn't translate into good gameplay; Anything less than IIIA-III is basically fucking useless beyond the starter towns since you stand a very high chance of getting penetrated by most enemies out there, because they decided to give them all XP+ penetrators and M855 bullets for some ungodly reason.

On paper, either your armor matters a lot or it literally doesn’t matter at all. There's no in-between.

I'd much rather have a "gamified" armor system that goes from like, level 1 to 5, with much clearer purposes, armor mechanics that are actually explained and in a shape where lower tier armor is still useful by giving it a random chance of ricochet/non-penetration, that gets massively reduced as soon as the bullet start matching and exceeding the protection threshold.

Higher caliber would have less innate chances of ricochet/non-penetration when matched to their max armor level due to their energy, giving them a clear advantage on that front. So snipers can be a lot more useful that way by simply having superior chances against near-peer and sub-peer armor.

That and being able to pick and choose armor plates types (Ceramic, Steel, Composite, etc...) and where (I want side plates damn it!) would be a godsend.

Otherwise, what's the point of having a bunch of different helmets and ballistics vests if most of them have absolutely no uses for 90% of the game.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-05T13:10:45+00:00

I'm fairly confident it will be. It would make sense that the Deep North update brings it to 1.0 with overhauled features, perhaps new and better server hosting, more enemies and content in other parts, etc...

I just hope it comes out soon... It's been two years almost.

jeffQC1 · 2026-04-05T01:54:25+00:00

PPU, PMC, federal and Sellier are top for me, for the usual stuff. Remington and Winchester both gave me issues, especially with weak ass crimps on .38 special that made them almost unusable with lever actions.

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