Laivasse

I had this experience too. Strangely it was the campaign map screen which was way more taxing on my hardware than the battle graphics. The battles ran like butter but the map tried to melt my graphics cards every time... some weird lack of optimisation going on there. I eventually stopped playing Shogun 2 because the DLC situation confused the shit out of me. Some stuff was in the in game encyclopedia but wasn't available without DLC purchase, so I ended up following long tech trees to build units that weren't available to me. Couldn't be arsed in the end, but I really enjoyed it up until I gave up.

The Xen platforming sections of HL1 are widely acknowledged as the worst parts of that game and can sour your memory of it a bit. I still remember the rest of the game being excellent for the level design and atmosphere. Honestly I can't say which I prefer. HL2 is a much easier game with practically no platforming, but the best parts of it definitely have a HL1 feel to them - the 3 way epic battles, eerie environments and atmospheric lonesome parts like in Nova Prospekt, the railway bridge, etc. HL2 is a lot less enclosed and has a lot more fast paced cinematic-style action to it, though. But really they are from games different generations of tech so it's hard to compare. HL2 rewrote the book on in-game physics at the time and it was like nothing I'd ever seen before when I first played it.

I also got The Longest Journey in the sale and am looking forward to getting round to it. Can't recommend Psychonauts strongly enough though, love it. It took an hour or two to get off the ground for me, but when the dream-entering mechanic came properly into the game it just busted through all my expectations. I've probably gushed about it on here before. I'm playing Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and it's blowing me away. It's my first NFS game since playing the original Hot Pursuit yonks ago on my friend's PS1. Normally I go in for the semi-serious half-simulation type games like GRiD and DiRT (and honestly I prefer the tougher handling in those) but the actual chases in this are so massively enjoyable. I love the absurdity of the car selection and the game world too; the idea that a police force would shell out on $300k supercars just to line them up in roadblocks to be smashed to bits by Lambos with nitro... Hilarious. I was playing and enjoying Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition recently too, but I took one too many beatings online and it depressed me. Not because I can't take a beating, but because I remember being pretty good at online bouts in the vanilla SF4. I even had a couple of replays saved under my profile where I put on a slick show with Zangief, my main. Now I just totally stink and I'm losing to people who're obviously playing for the first time! Don't know what's happened there. Occasionally playing Dwarf Fortress on and off. I was about to quit after 54 of my dwarfs (out of a total of 60) and a baby got massacred by half a dozen poorly equipped goblins. But then a huge load of Polish dwarf immigrants came and cleaned the place up and now my fortress is ticking by nicely again. A minotaur even came to steal my goodies and we beat the snot out of him, so I'm feeling sweet on this game again.

It's not odd at all, it's the same principle that sees people cleared by criminal courts and found guilty of wrongdoing in civil courts for the same issue. Criminal law standards and footballing conduct standards are rightly very different, since a punishment administered by the FA doesn't really compare to a criminal record. Bullshitting about 'sarcasm' might keep the law of the land off his back, but if he escaped a footballing suspension/fine with that schtick it would be outrageous.

I think he could do a lot of good for us, but £15m is the upper limit of what I'd consider a tolerable price for Carroll. A club in our position should probably be spending that amount elsewhere, for 2 or 3 positions, rather than on a single marquee striker who has already failed to perform as a marquee signing elsewhere.

I actually thought his first goal against the Timbers was onside. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does this season. I still maintain that getting Zog firing is important to seeing Ireland at his best. We now have 2 or 3 players who look like they might work well with Ireland, but his interplay with N'zogbia looks the most effortless, even in the short spells I've seen in the friendlies.

Yeah, the airboat escape from C17 to BM East is the first unforgettable sequence in HL2, but there are at least 3 or 4 incredible passages of play like that, or more, to come. Still my favourite game. Since you guys are working through the Orange Box it bears mentioning that HL2: Episode 1 is not nearly as strong in comparison. It has some great moments - the beginning, the ending, and certain moments in the dark - but there are some mediocre periods. Episode 2, however, slammed the quality level right back up to the top.

But don't be too quick to dismiss DF. It's not necessarily any more neckbeardy than, say, Footie Man, it's just that as football fans we already come supplied with all the extra knowledge necessary for that game. There's plenty of humour in DF also - it's more about having your well designed plans come to pieces rather than srs bsns. Now if only I can work up the will to play it some more and risk a headache and bleeding eyes. The interface is a killer.

So I'm playing some Dwarf Fortress here. Although I'm probably not the greatest person to start a discussion on it, since I only have the roughest understanding of how to play, I thought I'd start a topic to see if anybody else plays or is interested in this game. For anybody unfamiliar, think Minecraft in a 2D interface (but the game world is still very much 3D) with 100x the complexity. It's been around in an evolving form since 2006 and it's the archetypal game that everybody namedrops when talking about complexity or ridiculous difficulty curves in games. When you build up some momentum, though, it's incredibly addictive. Essentially it's a kind of plate-spinning city management game and sandbox, where you control a band of dwarves and attempt to keep them alive in a hilariously perilous world, by guiding them in building a nice cosy fortress. The level of complexity is really absurd... just a few examples of what you can do include blacksmithing, beekeeping, embroidery, soap-making, encrusting horse skulls with jewels and underground irrigation via a variety of pumps. Meanwhile you have to shield your dwarves from dangers such as badgers, goblins, elephants, dragons, vampirism, PTSD and eachother (when they go violently insane). There is also a high level of geological realism (rock and ore properties, aquifers, etc.). Some annotated screenies (not mine) to give an impression: The biggest obstacle to getting into Dwarf Fortress is the impenetrable retro interface. A significant time investment and considerable patience are required. This is actually my third attempt to get to grips with this game. The first time actually went pretty well and I quickly mastered concepts like traps and sluice gates, but I gave up due to time constraints. When I tried again I had forgotten everything and gave up, daunted, this time during world creation. This third attempt is falling somewhere between those two experiences, although even if I manage to get no further than this I can say quite confidently that I love this game. Definitely one of the most flexible, immersive and rewarding sandbox experiences around. It's free and is best downloaded as part of the Lazy Newb Pack package, which comes with some graphics tilesets to make it easier on the eyes as well as the essential Dwarf Therapist utility (for keeping track of your individual dwarves). Further reading is essential; you can dive straight in but I recommend doing so while using any one the DF wiki, DF Quickstart Guide, this Giantbomb thread, or whatever Youtube guides you can find, as an accompaniment. There's also a recently published book which attempts to be a complete companion for rookies. EDIT: an hilarious example of the type of story which can dynamically emerge from the game.

I read about this when it did the rounds on some news sites the other month. It's intriguing how it fell so perfectly into line with Orwellian/dystopian speculations about the future of the real world, and fascinating how fine the balance of power has ended up. Many have picked holes and suggested he could resolve the deadlock easily if he did X and Y, but guy in question responded in depth to a lot of these points on the original Reddit piece and it does sound as airtight as he suggests. Could be wrong but I thought he didn't initially upload the save and that the deadlock-breaking theories were based on speculation? It makes me wonder what would happen if someone would keep a Footie Manager save going for 10 or 20 years, maybe try and bring the in-game world up to the year 2500. I imagine Villa would be playing handicap matches of 11 vs 44 against Barca, Real, City and Anzhi Makhachkala, and winning them 1000 - 0 with a team of all-20-attribute cyborgs all on £10 trillion/week salaries. EDIT: I had a glimpse back at the Reddit and it does appear that one or two people claim to have brought the game to a close somewhere in the 40th century (once the guy made the save available). I guess with the exposure this got, some savants were bound to find it...

3-0 after some miserably tragic passing in midfield from Italy. Taking Montolivo off took off the last bit of Italian energy and positivity. Fair enough, though, the injuries have screwed them (although Balzaretti probably should have started anyway). Balotelli's working hard but he's isolated now.

100% penalty. I think the referee felt a twinge of pity that stalled his breath on the whistle.

Really can't stand Lawro here, either. You'd get better co-commentary from any pissed arsehole in a pub. Italy look outnumbered and knackered already. They are pressing too slow all over the pitch. Spain look hungry have turned on the style and the pace. Before the England game, 'pace' was the watchword for how the Italians could be done in, but no team's successfully found runners and ran at them until now. Now that it's happening they look stuffed. Barzagli and Bonucci in particular have been made to look very bad. This game's over already unless Italy find another two gears then break the gearstick off.

Utter madness from Nani to send Alves back. Selfish clearing in the woods.

I'm glad you agree. They're a painfully boring side. Impressive, but so **** dull. Speaking of which 'If you think Spain are boring, it's just that you don't get it'. Sigh. I've only watched ET of this game but theres just nothing there. Theres nothing exciting about them. I wasn't sure who I want to win this shootout since I dislike both teams, but after skimming that article I couldn't be any surer. GO PORTUGAL!

MotM in 90 minutes here by some distance IMO.

Weird tournament. Group games great, knockouts dire so far.

Negredo has been anonymous and Keown's been highlighting his lack of movement. Surely someone like Soldado deserved a place in this spanish side if they're lacking for strikers.

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that, statistically speaking, keepers would save more if they always stood in the centre compared to if they always dived. Of course that leaves out the psychological factor, where players would deliberately pass it into the corners against a keeper who had a rep for standing stock still.

Should have played football instead of playing for pens for 90 minutes of 120. I can already hear the 'we've done ever so well to get this far' lines. It'll go down as another glorious defeat, but in all honesty this was very shit. First opponent of any real mettle and we get sent home after a total bollarkz performance.

Piss off, Ash. Piss right off.

All the bullshit hype about our penalty prep has the potential to look very embarrassing after this.

The referee once again stopping play for a non-serious injury. Even went to hold Diamanti's hand. This trend makes me want to puke.

Good to see Ash is still the biggest diving word removed around even with 11 Italian cheats on the pitch.

All predictions are off now. Both teams have been ridiculously error prone and now they're completely knackered into the bargain. I think we should have Downing or Ox-Cham wide and Walcott up front in place of Rooney. Milner was shit but IMO we should have taken Parker off and put Milner central. He was the only player with the engine for this type of game.