Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 411

Kerbal Space Program Update, EU IV, Distant Worlds, Shadowgate, Five Nights at Freddy's, Genre Resurgences With Community Guest Tboon!, Your Emails and More!

This week community podcast supporter Tboon joins us on the show!

To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.

Chairman_Mao's Timestamps
00.04.05 Kerbal Space Program Update
00.13.29 Distant Worlds
00.20.50 Elite Dangerous
00.21.20 Contagion
00.22.05 Dragon Age 2
00.23.11 Shadowgate
00.24.30 Five Nights at Freddy's
00.27.28 This week's topic: All the genres we love that are suddenly coming back!
00.48.43 Your emails!

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Comments

Damn straight tboon, if you didn't mention us, we would kill you! But since you did give us tf2 folk a nice shout out, I guess we'll just kill you.

Yeah, tboon shoutout! Tboon owns! You guys should have him on every show

Tboon was fantastic. We should have made him host instead.

"Is the desk so bad"- I don't want to be a hunchback in 10 years

drew327 wrote:

"Is the desk so bad"- I don't want to be a hunchback in 10 years :-)

Get a decent chair.

My wife likes to play spectator while I play some games. Since moving to PC gaming it's harder to do that.

A streaming solution that didn't involve a second computer would be attractive to us.

On the subject of how well old space games hold up in the absence of nostalgia: I played Freespace 2 for the first time just a few years ago, using the FS2 Open engine. And I had a great time with it.

For an even more extreme time gap, I played Wing Commander Privateer for the first time about a year ago, and was surprised at how little the graphics mattered after a while.

Great main topic, tboon!

I've heard about this Distant Worlds business. Now that it's priced a little bit better and on Steam I may have to check it out sometime.

Tboooooooooooooooonnnnnnnn!!!

I'm sending a big nerdy email on my feelings visiting retro games for the first time. I played Freespace 2 when it was new but Wing Commander I first played when it hit GOG. I expected a deep complex game requiring a flight stick but actually got a really simplistic and fun arcade style game with a cinematic story that could be completed in a couple hours. WC works incredibly smoothly with just the mouse and a few keyboard buttons. It's visually primitive but the artistic aesthetic makes everything clear and easy to read. It's not for everyone but I think it's just as smooth to play today as an NES Mario game even if it's not as timeless in comparison.

I think to get to Corey(?)'s point about the actual demand of space sims another question than "how many backers are going to play Star Citizen once finished?" would be "How many of these backers have never played a space sim before?"

RolandofGilead wrote:

I think to get to Corey(?)'s point about the actual demand of space sims another question than "how many backers are going to play Star Citizen once finished?" would be "How many of these backers have never played a space sim before?"

FWIW: "Cory."

So in response to the recent podcast's request, I've purchased and am installing Freespace 2. It's a game I've never played, and it's one I've always wanted to, so it's a great time to dive in.

Also, in response to the email asking about a set-top streaming box- It was already done, and failed miserably! OnLive made a set-top box for $100 that streamed all the games from their service, with a monthly fee of $10 for unlimited access to just about every game on the service. It bombed spectacularly and set a standard of streaming games. The connection was fine, the picture was acceptable, but it didn't catch fire like the company thought it would. Why? Lack of demand. No one wants a set-top box for streaming games, when it's just as cheap to go out and buy an xbox or a PS3 for around $150 used and grab a few games you want to play right now and not have to worry about hitting your bandwidth cap for the month. Maybe in a few years, when Google Fiber has taken over the US and bandwidth flows freely, then we'll see another one.

in a few years, when Google Fiber has taken over the US and bandwidth flows freely

Great, now I've got "Uncloudy Day" stuck in my head.

wordsmythe wrote:
RolandofGilead wrote:

I think to get to Corey(?)'s point about the actual demand of space sims another question than "how many backers are going to play Star Citizen once finished?" would be "How many of these backers have never played a space sim before?"

FWIW: "Cory."

Don't be like me and write it as Corey in multiple threads. He really doesn't like that

As an unabashed tboon fan, his presence and all the space game talk made me so very happy listening to this podcast. Thanks guys!

Hey Marzz, did you install the Source Code Project stuff for Freespace 2?

Veloxi wrote:

Hey Marzz, did you install the Source Code Project stuff for Freespace 2?

I know very little about the game, so i just bought it from gog.com, and installed it vanilla.

Honestly I'm not a big fan of it right now! The controls are super complicated compared to stuff that's come out lately. The space combat looks nice and if I invest a ton of time into the game i'm sure it'd be great. But the problem with the game seems to come from a lack of accessibility in the first place. See, I wasn't a serious PC gamer until around the mid-2000's, around 2005. So, i missed out on all the infinity engine stuff, I missed out on Deus Ex, and basically that entire generation. I had a Gamecube and a PS2. Games with the 1999-era standard of spreading controls all over the keyboard because the letters match the action is just something I'm not used to and never got a handle on.

Hell, the very fact that the game had to come with a Quick Reference Guide for the controls is extremely intimidating. The tutorial is nice and actually shows off a lot of the things required for controlling the game, but the issue actually comes from remembering what keys do what action in the heat of the moment. Honestly, yeah. I'm not a huge fan of the game.

It's from a different time, to be sure, but trust me, it's worth it.

To make it prettier (but sadly not easier), download the FSO Installer and go nuts!

http://www.fsoinstaller.com/

Hi all,

I sent in the letter about the streaming box and it seems like due to editing, the entire point of my question was missed. This gentleman below seems to get it.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

My wife likes to play spectator while I play some games. Since moving to PC gaming it's harder to do that.

A streaming solution that didn't involve a second computer would be attractive to us.

I'm not asking for a subscription service streaming from servers and I'm not saying desk gaming is bad.

I want a steam machine, running steam OS whose sole purpose is to stream from my gaming PC to my TV. It's that simple. Minimal ( hard drive space), maybe APU based, $99 price point. I'm not asking for on live or PlayStation now dangit.

I just want to be able to play the occasional game on the couch with my friends or my wife without running a long HDMI cord or using a second PC.

It really is that simple. I thought I explained the premise pretty clearly in my letter, but I guess some context got left out.

Thanks for reading it anyways.

Ah, local streaming. So like a Chromecast or something — just pushing the video to your TV.

I'm (slowly) working my way back through a bunch of old Conference Calls. It was a real treat to hear tboon on this one on the drive in. Kudos on a great topic, and a good discussion!