GWJ Conference Call Episode 683

The Outer Worlds, Modded Minecraft, Autochess/DOTA Underlords, Solitarica, Your Emails, and More!

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Amanda, Cory, and Julian catch up on the mailbag with your emails: Seasonal Games, Miss-heard and Missing Out, New Dad suggestions, and Scratching That Itch.

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.

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00:01:48 The Outer Worlds
00:06:41 Modded Minecraft
00:12:26 Planet Zoo
00:17:27 DOTA Underlords
00:27:01 Solitairica
00:30:53 Your Emails

Last winter I made a point of buying and playing Frostpunk on the night it hit -30°F, just for that immersive experience. That was my most deliberate shot at seasonally-themed gaming.

Here’s the project page for the Dungeons Dragons and Space Shuttles Minecraft modpack. Lots of details there for what it has to offer. It definitely ratchets the classic Minecraft experience up to 11 (Maybe 12).

The show notes have a link to the GWJ Modded Minecraft thread (as does my signature, Cory ), and we have a channel in the GWJ Discord. Even if you want to try going it solo, feel free to drop by and chat with us. We have a few good tips to share.

Hearthstone's version of autochess 'Battlegrounds' started open beta yesterday.

Agathos wrote:

Last winter I made a point of buying and playing Frostpunk on the night it hit -30°F, just for that immersive experience. That was my most deliberate shot at seasonally-themed gaming.

I've tried the reverse, playing games in cold settings during the hottest parts of summer to see if it makes me feel cold. It actually doesn't work too well.

So...I am the anonymous idiot who forgot to leave his name on the email, I was not trying to be anonymous. It was a Saturday morning while at my daughters's soccer games, so I was rushing the email and just forgot to finish it properly.

Thank you for reading my email, giving some great feedback, recommending some games, and providing the Sherlock Holmes entertainment. Sorry to burst your bubble, I am not from Europe. Born and raised in the same zip code within San Diego, California. I believe that Amanda is correct in that any game I am looking to scratch a certain itch, especially a 25ish year old itch, will not feel the same as I am in a completely different place in my life.

Believe it or not, I have Satellite Reign, which my best friend gave me a code for, and I bounced off it real quick. Maybe too quick, as Steam says I played it for a whole six minutes back in early 2018. Xenonauts looks like something I would enjoy, so I will check a look at that, as well as the sequel. Planet Zoo looks like it is too involved for me, maybe leave that one for The Game King. What I liked about Aerobiz was the competitive business nature, even at the age of 11 when I first got my hands on it.

- Jason (got it this time! after having to edit my post...)

Oh, this American remembers Metal Marines! I thought it was pretty cool, but I only rented it a few times and never owned it so I can hardly claim to have mastered it. I remember hitting a significant difficulty spike and that was it.

I'm also still a little salty that I couldn't find Ogre Battle anywhere even though Nintendo Power was giving it pages and pages of promotion. Apparently they only manufactured a handful of cartridges for sale in North America

@ mistir - my latest jam is Football: Tactics & Glory. It's XCOM where X = soccer.

And don't worry if you don't know or care about soccer - neither do I, but it's a bloody great XCOM-a-like that just happens to use studded boots instead of plasma rifles. Entirely turn-based and one-handed, and scratches that same itch of raising a stable of characters from nobodies to undefeatable superheroes.

A single match takes < 10 minutes, and it's been eating my life.

I've been wondering if there was a "XCOM, but it's [A Sport]" out there.

merphle wrote:

Here’s the project page for the Dungeons Dragons and Space Shuttles Minecraft modpack. Lots of details there for what it has to offer. It definitely ratchets the classic Minecraft experience up to 11 (Maybe 12).

The show notes have a link to the GWJ Modded Minecraft thread (as does my signature, Cory ), and we have a channel in the GWJ Discord. Even if you want to try going it solo, feel free to drop by and chat with us. We have a few good tips to share.

I joined the server a couple of weeks ago and I can't thank you enough for how helpful and supportive you and Oddrune have been. Thank you so much for being such gracious hosts. Please let me know if there is anything you need from me!

Agathos wrote:

I'm also still a little salty that I couldn't find Ogre Battle anywhere even though Nintendo Power was giving it pages and pages of promotion. Apparently they only manufactured a handful of cartridges for sale in North America :(

Yes, Ogrebattle on the SNES was very hard to find! Every Blockbuster and Hollywood Video here in San Diego had their one copy, if they even had one, rented and then never returned. The $50 fee was much less than the $100+ it was going for. Luckily, I had a cousin who decided to purchase a copy from FuncoLand for a mere $130. Sounded crazy back then to pay that much for an SNES cart, but still no where near what some classic cartridge games go for these days.

Also, it was re-released on the PSX which seemed awesome at the time. For some reason though, it didn't feel quite the same. Maybe it was the long boot up screen or the load times...

Jonman wrote:

@ mistir - my latest jam is Football: Tactics & Glory. It's XCOM where X = soccer.

Thank you for mentioning this. Even though I am American, I really enjoy football. Already downloaded the demo on Steam!

Ogre Battle! Not only did I play it, but I still have the strategy guide for it. Over the years, I have cleaned my apartments and houses 10-20 times, and when I come across it, I think about tossing it, but never do.

A huge Aerobiz and Aerobiz Supersonic fan here. Was excited to hear it mentioned. Have wanted a spiritual (or literal) successor for years. Even a board game in the same vein would suffice?

My friends and I use to rent Aerobiz Supersonic and run our airlines against each other. One players last name was 'Fraser' and he named his airline 'Frais-Air' and... Yes, Aerobiz is that good.

blueoysterjoe wrote:

Ogre Battle! Not only did I play it, but I still have the strategy guide for it. Over the years, I have cleaned my apartments and houses 10-20 times, and when I come across it, I think about tossing it, but never do.

If you haven't by now, I don't think you should. Strategy guides really don't take up that much space, and I am sure it brings back memories.

Ryan.pinnguaq wrote:

Even a board game in the same vein would suffice?

YES!

Thanks everyone for your messages! This was such a wonderful read.

I remember Metal Marines on PC more than SNES. It had a neat presentation - the only game I know of doing this - where everything was presented in Windows 3.x style windows that you could move and resize and all that; your base, the enemy base, stats, etc. When missiles launched, they'd fly directly out of the frame of one window and into the other. No gameplay significance, just a cool visual effect...and I think something that we could stand to revisit in modern games. The idea of a game having multiple viewpoints and windows. Starcraft where you could keep an eye on multiple forward bases. XCOM where you could tag a distant enemy to keep an eye on them. Stuff like that.

So here I am sitting down on a Sunday afternoon and putting on my favourite seasonal game of fall, Ogre Battle 64 - Person of Lordly Calibre. Then I put on the Conference Call and hear you mention Ogre Battle not once, but twice while I'm playing.

It's a mess, there's so much the could have been done better, but it has some really fun aspects. I've played it (pretty much) every fall and winter for the 20 years its been out now. My nostalgia is high of course, but I still hope somebody finds away to make a new game out of the idea.

I seem to remember that Ogre Battle was a bit of a mess even for its time. Maybe that's why I bought the strategy guide ..

On the autochess discussion, I think it's pretty tough to grasp the appeal after just an hour of play, especially if you spend that hour between 3 different autochess games. It took me 4 or 5 games to start figuring things out. I can only really speak to TFT, as that's the one I've spent the most time in. There is strategy in creating synergies, properly positioning units, managing your economy, knowing what items to build, knowing what champions and synergies to pursue based on your item pool, knowing when to re-roll vs. level up, and knowing when and how to transition/pivot. It's closer to a CCG than a tower defense game.

A Youtuber named Scarra made some great beginner guides for TFT when it was released. Sadly, most of them are a bit outdated since TFT season 2 uses a completely different set of champions/synergies, and there have been a ton of champion/item balance changes, but the core strategic concepts are mostly the same. I would recommend playing a good 4 or 5 games before checking them out: brief beginner guide, economy and experience, positioning, items, and transitioning + pivoting.

tjkendon wrote:

So here I am sitting down on a Sunday afternoon and putting on my favourite seasonal game of fall, Ogre Battle 64 - Person of Lordly Calibre.

I have such strong nostalgia for this game. I haven't played it for close to 20 years now, but it was possibly my most rented game at Blockbuster before getting it for Christmas later that year.

With regards to new dad gaming suggestions, I can attest that the baby bjorn (or tactical baby vest as we liked to call it) was worth every penny. I spent a lot of quality time with my son strapped in and napping while going for hikes, doing chores, and playing 3DS and switch games. Handhelds were great for new parent gaming when you only have a few minutes here and there and need to pause at a moment's notice. Some of my favorites during this time were Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and Zelda BOTW.

As he's gotten older, he likes to watch Splatoon 2.
I gave him an old wii classic controller with some broken buttons that he likes to play along with. It actually helped him learn colors as he has fun shouting the team colors when the round starts. Multiplayer gaming is tough with a baby or toddler running around, but a three minute round of Splatoon was usually achievable.

As a Gamer Mom, I too will agree with Julian on the carrier idea. I didn't use a Baby Bjorn, I first had a huge sling and had a Manduca and another system. Regardless of what you're using, carrying your baby can save your life. No, this isn't hyperbole, but my babies just wouldn't sleep in their bassinets at first, and maternity leave with next to no help meant I had to find something to save what scraps of my sanity I had left. Beyond carrying, maybe you can rig something up during meal times too. I have fond memories of breastfeeding my eldest while playing Skyrim, I had a whole system with a scarf bunched up to keep him in position on the desk.
Beyond that, I second Amoebic's advice. Mobile games comprise the bulk of my gaming as a parent, now. (though I do still play on my PC once they're in bed) The cold hard truth is that your gaming habits will change once you become a parent. But that's okay, and it doesn't make you any less of a gamer.

Eleima wrote:

As a Gamer Mom, I too will agree with Julian on the carrier idea. I didn't use a Baby Bjorn, I first had a huge sling and had a Manduca and another system.

My wife and I used both a Baby Bjorn and a sling with our kids.

I spent a lot of late nights with a restive baby in my left arm playing mouse-only games back in the day. Tons of Civ2 and 3. It felt like none of my kids ever cared to actually sleep at night for the first few months.

When my youngest was a baby, I would come home from work around 930, take her from my girlfriend so she could get some sleep, then play Rocket League until I passed out on the couch with my baby. Every now and then, she would wake up crying, and anyone in the group who didn't know I was playing with a baby in my arms would ask why there was a baby screaming in their ears.