Steam Sales

[Gormador]

Friends, brace yourself. They are here.


So far, I have 5 games in my basket. Can't let all of them pass the payment step though...

What are your expectations ?
I hope for Assassins Creed 3.

[Ozziie]

Ah you beat me by a whole minute!

I'm going to be picking up Borderlands 2 and Far Cry 3 at some point and I'm sure the flash sales will tempt me over the holidays.

Is this Steam Group still active btw? better than wolves (bettwolves)

[Gormador]

There is : http://steamcommunity.com/groups/betterthanwolves
But it's not that official :-)

And yes, I saw your topic but let the mods judge (wouldn't have mind in any case).

So far, borderlands is already in my basket, and I hope for AC 3 and Far Cry 3 to get in there too !

[FlowerChild]

Oh noes...just when I had begun to recover financially from their Thanksgiving sale :)

[FlowerChild]

AH! Natural Selection for ten bucks in a flash sale!!! <runs in circles>

[Sarudak]

Natural Selection 2? I play that. I've rather enjoyed it. Although last I played the game seemed a little heavily tilted in favor of aliens.

[FlowerChild]

Natural Selection 2? I play that. I've rather enjoyed it. Although last I played the game seemed a little heavily tilted in favor of aliens.

Yes...I was a HUGE fan of the grandaddy mod that spawned it: Gloom for Quake 2.

I've thus been eying this one since it came out, but 25$ seemed a little steep. At 10$ though....

Anyways, I've got 13 hours to decide on the purchase ;)

[Sarudak]

I say go for it. I think I've logged at least 80 hours on the thing. I really love playing as the alien commander.

[Ozziie]

Oh noes...just when I had begun to recover financially from their Thanksgiving sale :)

Tell me about it. Not sure about you but I've almost got to the point where I may never actually have enough time to give each game a good go.

I've added XCOM and FTL to my Wishlist as I'm hoping XCOM may drop even further and I'm not yet fully sold on FTL.

I've never seen Natural Selection until today either so I might have a look for some gameplay on YouTube while it's only £7.50 :)

[Nexus Trimean]

Really hoping for a sale on chivalry. that game looks great, just not quite amazing enough for full price

[FlowerChild]

Tell me about it. Not sure about you but I've almost got to the point where I may never actually have enough time to give each game a good go.

Hehe...it's much the same for me. I just started on Legend of Grimrock a couple of days ago, which was one of the games that I picked up during the Thanksgiving sale, I have a few other games that I bought then that I haven't touched yet, and it looks like there's a new wave incoming already :)

I've added XCOM and FTL to my Wishlist as I'm hoping XCOM may drop even further and I'm not yet fully sold on FTL.

I'd say both games are definitely worth it. XCOM for obvious reasons that anyone will go on about, but FTL really has some unique and excellent design concepts that definitely make it worth the price.

I wish it would have had a more full-featured meta-game to encompass the space combat aspects, but the space combat is good enough that it's definitely worth playing.

[BinoAl]

I'm unfortunately broke this christmas, and I think Ace of Spades is going to be my only purchase unless some christmas money comes my way. Hell, I think some of my extended family might be clueless enough as to what to get me that they'll just give me visa gift cards, lol

[Ozziie]

Really hoping for a sale on chivalry. that game looks great, just not quite amazing enough for full price

My first impression was that it seemed rather clunky. I imagined donning my greatsword, chainmail and suit of armour and then trying to run around swinging at pesky archers and quickly realised that's exactly what they were going for. I can easily see it dropping further than -33% though.

Hehe...it's much the same for me. I just started on Legend of Grimrock a couple of days ago, which was one of the games that I picked up during the Thanksgiving sale, I have a few other games that I bought then that I haven't touched yet, and it looks like there's a new wave incoming already :)

Yeah, heard good things about Legend of Grimrock on here and managed to get it in the Humble Bundle that's running at the moment.

Anyone know anything about Wargame: European Escalation? It's on a daily deal at -75% off at the moment but I've heard the learning curve is steep.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, heard good things about Legend of Grimrock on here and managed to get it in the Humble Bundle that's running at the moment.

I'm quite enjoying it as it's bringing back a lot of memories of old school games like Dungeon Master and Eye of The Beholder, and reminding me of some aspects of gameplay from back then that seem to have been forgotten since in the never ending quest for photo-realistic 3D graphics.

I think it's definitely worth a play, especially from a game-design perspective.

Keep in mind that I'll often play games not just because I find them fun as a player, but also if I think they're exploring areas of design that I haven't seen before (or in this case...haven't seen in a long time), as more a matter of professional interest.

I could say the same with my statements about FTL above. As a player, it might have somewhat limited value, but as a designer, I'm VERY happy that I played it.

[Thieme]

I am really hoping for farcry3 as well like a lot of people i can imagine.
Also FTL is a pretty solid choice imho i like it very much although it is pretty hard even on easy. Sure worth the €7,50.
With Xcom getting mentioned here i checked it out seems pretty cool dunno what to expect gonna see if i can watch some gameplay tomorrow.
As for ace of spades i read a lot of shitty reviews of it BinoAl so you may wanna check those yourself if you don't have much money to spend

[obl1terat1ion]

so far for me i got all of the ARMA II DLC and heartfire for skyrim.

[Ozziie]

With Xcom getting mentioned here i checked it out seems pretty cool dunno what to expect gonna see if i can watch some gameplay tomorrow.

I'm actually pleased to see a number of demos cropping up which obviously allow you to try before you buy. There's one for XCOM and there's nothing that can substitute actually trying something out for yourself :)

As a player, it might have somewhat limited value, but as a designer, I'm VERY happy that I played it.

Out of interest, can you think of any other games that have had a similar effect? I'm sure there's something clever to be discovered in a lot of games but I'm thinking about "Eureka" moments mainly from one developer recognising another developer's genius.

[FlowerChild]

Out of interest, can you think of any other games that have had a similar effect? I'm sure there's something clever to be discovered in a lot of games but I'm thinking about "Eureka" moments mainly from one developer recognising another developer's genius.

Well, compiling a list would require some extensive thought, but from recent memory the games that have had the most impact on me as a designer lately are SpaceChem and Don't Starve.

One of the things that I really love about indie games is that lone developers are much more willing to experiment with different forms of gameplay than commercial studios which are usually preoccupied with capitalizing on existing ideas and franchises. It's thus pretty rare that I'll start flipping out design-wise on commercial games, and I've found myself playing less and less of them these days as a result. XCom is really the only one from recent memory that I tripped pretty hard on. The Mount & Blade series is another, but I find Paradox titles in general tend to straddle the line between indie and commercial game dev.

If you search around on these forums though, you'll likely come across a number of posts where I discuss games as I play them, which will give you a good idea of the kinds of things that I look at in games.

EDIT: Oh, and Dwarf Fortress of course. Crap interface...great game.

[FlowerChild]

Hehe...so as usual, I mention a game that I'm considering purchasing, and a little while later receive a donation with the following note attached:

$10 for Natural Selection? You just remembered that you taped a ten to the back of your keyboard for just such a contingency.

That one gave me a particular chuckle given the Zork-like text-adventure style message along with it, so I thought I'd share it.

Much thanks for that one. As I've mentioned before, there's something about receiving game-related donations like this that always makes me smile. Receiving gameplay in thanks for gameplay just seems right somehow :)

BTW: I really don't expect the above guys, and I'm actually a bit hesitant to mention purchases I am considering on these forums because of it, but it's always appreciated regardless :)

[Ozziie]

Well, compiling a list would require some extensive thought, but from recent memory the games that have had the most impact on me as a designer lately are SpaceChem and Don't Starve.
-snip-
If you search around on these forums though, you'll likely come across a number of posts where I discuss games as I play them, which will give you a good idea of the kinds of things that I look at in games.

I just searched for SpaceChem... It's everywhere! Obviously had quite an impact and I actually remember it being mentioned when you implemented "chemistry elements" to BTW although you did mention that chemistry was only the setting. Again, certainly a developer's point of view that helps you review a game and use it's downfalls to improve your own development. Good example :)

The OP from this thread on RPS has some rules for the Steam sales which we should probably listen to:

Sale rules:
1. Leave it to the last day of the sale to buy something you want unless it is a daily or flash deal. This reduces the chances of you missing out on further savings.
2. Before you buy a game, ask yourself if you’ll actually play the game. A game that is bought for 75% off but never played is a waste of 100%.
3. Make sure the game matches your value, not necessarily the price given. Remember, a game will always be cheaper in the future, or at the very least the same price. Given how long it takes to get to these prices, what are a few more months of potential waiting?

EDIT: On second thoughts I may just choose to ignore rules 2 and 3 and go with number 1 :) A bargain is a bargain... *nods*

[FlowerChild]

I just searched for SpaceChem... It's everywhere! Obviously had quite an impact and I actually remember it being mentioned when you implemented "chemistry elements" to BTW although you did mention that chemistry was only the setting.

Oh no...nothing in BTW has really benefited from what I experienced with SpaceChem (maybe *a bit* of some of the latter assembly-line automation systems, but that was a course I was already on pre-SpaceChem so the influence was rather minimal). As I said, I really didn't view that game as being about chemistry. It was the mechanics that gave me major wood.

RTH on the other hand...well, that's an entirely different matter ;)

[Sarudak]

RTH on the other hand...well, that's an entirely different matter ;)

*scribbles* You tease...

[Ozziie]

RTH on the other hand...well, that's an entirely different matter ;)

I just searched for "Hnnnggghhh" as it's an appropriate response and found this:

Spoiler

Show

Was not disappointed..

On Topic: I just added Crusader Kings II (purely for the Game of Thrones mod, though I'm not quite caught up with the books/series yet) and Civ V to my wishlist :)

[Six]

On Topic: I just added Crusader Kings II (purely for the Game of Thrones mod, though I'm not quite caught up with the books/series yet) and Civ V to my wishlist :)

Crusader Kings II is the only thing I can think of which I might get this sale, I've got some real craving for some medieval strategy. I'm also interested to see how the trading and economy work out in it, because damn I want a decent medieval trading simulator game.

[Thieme]

With Xcom getting mentioned here i checked it out seems pretty cool dunno what to expect gonna see if i can watch some gameplay tomorrow.

I'm actually pleased to see a number of demos cropping up which obviously allow you to try before you buy. There's one for XCOM and there's nothing that can substitute actually trying something out for yourself :)

Hmm thanks hadn't even looked if there was one :S