Messages

61

Song of the Day / [chillwave?]Toro y Moi- Goes By So Fast

« on: May 20, 2022, 11:49:52 PM »

So like I'm drinking again, and iunno when I drink I partake in music more than I do when I don't. But like this track...ohh boy ohh boy.

It's like modern, but like 60's? But like not vaporwave, but kinda? BUT ALL FUKIN GOOD jeeeeeezzzzzzzzz

62

Gaming / Re: FFVII Remake

« on: May 20, 2022, 09:18:48 PM »

The PS5/XBS, on the other hand, are actually fantastic PC alternatives. Zen 2 paired with a solid GPU, NVMe SSDs, tons of RAM and cores…it's basically the perfect blend of components for a living room box.

I mean right now my ps5 loads games faster than my pc does on my samsung m.2 ssd...like from the ps5 dashboard I can be LOADED IN GAME in death stranding OR ff7r by the time you can count to 10. So booting up the game, skipping to the title screen, selecting your file to load, loading the game and being loaded ready to play, 10 seconds. It's a novelty I am still impressed with and I applaud. Load times last generation seemed to be the worst they've been yet, and seeing it do a 180 is very satisfying.

Honestly, if Microsoft ever partnered up with Valve to bring Steam to the Xbox Series X I'd spend a lot more time in the living room. That thing would make a solid Steam Machine.

I really hope not. Any reason for windows OS to have a gaming focused competitor is a good thing. I await the day valve has a proper OS that you can game on without using windows. 

63

Computing / Re: The Keeb Thread

« on: May 20, 2022, 09:10:52 PM »

So like, I decided while I went crazy on the steering wheel...the further I go down keyboards the more I don't really want to "build" one.

Wanted to try new switches, in a hotswapable keyboard, in something that isn't going to give me double inputs like my corsair keyboard.

Ducky One 3 tkl with cherry mx brown switches

I've used this thing less than 20 minutes as of this post so this is just initial impressions.

So the main 3 types of switches are clicky, tactile, and linear. From what I see online nobody likes clicky switches, so it's whether you want tactile or linear switches. My last keyboard had cherry reds, so I've heard good things about browns and not so much about clears so that was my decision made for me.

Pressing a single key it's very hard to feel the tactile "bump", but typing on it feels quite different than with the linear keys. And this gets to why I am kind of happy I didn't dump $400 on a new keyboard, pretty much all of this stuff (as what seems to me) is totally subjective. I like keyboards and I think the different switches are cool, but I'm not "into it" into it, yknow? I just want a premium feeling thing that feels and looks nice, and from what I can see with this board, it's the single nicest feeling keyboard I have personally experienced. I can't say browns > reds, they both feel nice to me to be totally honest. However this thing looks/feels/sounds good to me, and my first impressions is pretty positive.

It looks a lot nicer in person than it does in the pictures/videos I've seen, and feels a lot more hefty/solid than my last board.

Kinda reminds me of a knife I bought.



Benchmade Bugout in carbon fiber and s90v steel. Looks pretty nice in the pictures, then you get it...and the real carbon fiber pattern has this cool 3d effect that doesn't show unless you're handling it in person. And it's sharp as heck, and STAYS sharp as heck. You can read about s90v having insane edge retention, it's one thing to read that. However seeing your knife feeling as sharp as the day you got it with months of casual use, that's another thing entirely. Mine is still one of the sharpest knives I own, and I have a lot of newer stuff with less use. Now sharpening s90v is neigh impossible for an amateur so there's that...but this is a keyboard topic so back to that...

Seeing and using this keyboard feels like that, it looks nice, but it's a lot nicer than the videos/pictures portray.

AT LEAST FOR SOME SIMPLETON WHO'S ONLY USED 2 MECH KEYBOARDS, take my opinions with that giant grain of salt.

Now maybe in the future I'll see how easy or not so easy yanking out switches is on this sucker so I can play with other switches. Currently eyeing gateron milky yellow, and ink black...but I'm kinda content enough with these normal cherry mx browns where I think I'll be content for a little while. Feels pretty damn good to me, and could be placebo effect, but I swear my typing is 20% faster on this thing too.

64

Random Chat / Re: Weight Loss

« on: May 12, 2022, 01:32:39 PM »

...will try to keep this up.

So like all the other times, I didn't. In fact with my hiatus from work and taking it easy in general this year...I have reached my heaviest weight ever, 225lbs.

Always told myself if I started to get fat, I was going to do something about it, so I guess this is an attempt at that. Normally when I go without food for a while my torso gets somewhat thin, but this time it's like I feel bloaty all the time, even with a nearly day long fast. Think my body is telling me that I am no longer young enough to get away with eating trash all day, low activity level, and beers beers beers.

...and with my last relationship recently ended(mutual, we're still on good terms, yay for being adults I guess), I need a positive goal to work on right now. Pretty much what sparked my weight loss journey the last time, so may as well make the best out of an unfortunate situation.

GOAL WEIGHT 185lbs. Updating when I can motivate myself to make any progress.

*edit*

So...some progress > no progress? If I really tried I would be farther on, but yknow how it be.

Currently sitting at 216lbs. I'd wager most of that is just water weight, but my pants noticeably fit better now so it doesn't only reflect on the scale.

Doing bike riding when I can, although way less than I should. Half ass lifting when I can, going to try and step it up tomorrow.

And uhh half ass dieting to be honest. I bought an air fryer, and it's great for chicken and fish and whatnot. I don't know how people hit 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, but I'm just trying to hit ~100grams protein a day, and I think I fail most days. Breakfast is 4 eggs, during the day I'll have a greek yogurt with grapenuts added. Lunch I try and skip, using protein shake throughout the lunch/dinner time to keep the hunger away. Dinner I try to have meat of some kind, usually the less healthy option...for now...but yknow, baby steps. It's not too bad so far, eggs at 9am keeps me satiated till at least 3-4 pm, and the shake can curb that till easily 7ish.

Cutting alcohol too, from 3+ drinks...every...day...to like ~1 every 2 days. That probably helps more than I think it does.

PROGRESS? It'll feel better when I'm under 200lbs, again.

*edit*

212lbs, my jeans fit really good now. Did have a beer yesterday, but it's one of these, 3.7% abv, 110 calories, pretty guilt free imo. It ain't two hearted, but it's a good enough compromise until I can hit my current goal of I guess 200lbs.

The hardest part so far is that my appetite isn't what I think it is. If I eat the right stuff, I don't need a lot in the day. The hard part is that I think about food every hour of every day more or less, and I always want a snack or the next thing. Wanting doesn't mean needing, and wanting to eat doesn't mean hungry, and hungry can be pushed back an hour to keep me satiated longer.

tl;dr

so far so good, taking it day by day.

65

Gaming / Re: FFVII Remake

« on: May 12, 2022, 01:22:53 PM »

Oh jeez, I thought Interwhatever was just a PS5 port with moar graffix and a few little things added. I didn't realize it had DLC with that much extra content. Definitely something to look forward to if I manage to get my hands on a console.

It comes with the ps5 version, but you have to buy a dlc if you're upgrading from a ps4 version. Considering ps5 games cost more money...seems fair enough to me.

Character development in general has been one of the best parts of FF7R so far, though I do kinda think they blew their Sephiroth load a bit too quickly and too often. As you mentioned, the way they handled Aerith is significantly better than classic FF7, so I'm looking forward to their treatment of Yuffie. It's been a while since I did a full play through of the OG version, but I remember being more annoyed than enamored by the spontaneous diversion to Wutai, so hopefully that part is handled a bit more gracefully if they decide to migrate that over.

I recall replaying the ps4 port of the original ff7 and not even doing wutai until late game, didn't even know it was optional for the most part.

I kinda feel that if I do wind up winning the console lottery I may hold off on this until part 2 is on the horizon. Kinda seems appropriate to refresh myself on the FF7R lore before jumping into the next title, eh?

I mean you can, but who's to say when the next part releases, on the ps7? I think giving the original a playthrough up to the end of whichever part is a fun idea so you can see all the little things you thought they just made up, but ended up being in the original. Like Johnny, I didn't even remember he was in the original.

Also, speaking of the PS5: is there any reason to hang onto my PS4 Pro if I get a PS5? Have you noticed any compatibility issues so far?

Honestly, aside from transferring your saves and whatnot over...I don't think so? I've been able to throw in various ps4 discs like mgsv ground zeros, the wipeout collection, ff7r (obviously), no issues. Going digital however...same thing, stuff on your psn seems to work fine. Like the ps4 ff7 original port, burnout paradise, ff8 remaster, downloads/works fine.

I'm not a fan of throwing out old consoles, but in my case it seems to do all what the ps4 can, only better.

66

Gaming / Re: wut specturr'z playing

« on: May 04, 2022, 02:30:40 PM »

That game to me I consumed from this old old old let's play. So I am surprised when I see it brought up in more recent times, because that thing ain't new at all. Though due to this, seeing how the game is played, it seems like you can get most of the experience not playing the game then as you could playing it. Entertaining 45 minutes nonetheless.

The concept for that game would make for an interesting movie.

67

Gaming / Re: FFVII Remake

« on: May 04, 2022, 02:15:54 PM »

At least Squeenix has been dipping their toes back into that well with stuff like Bravely Default (traditional FF-style) and Triangle Strategy (FFT-style).

Yeah I picked up Triangle Strategy, and the only bad part about that game is that it came out the same day Gran Turismo 7 did...so...in the 7 hours I played that game, it is quite good.

Apparently Intergrade allows you to use turn-based controls for FF7:R's Normal difficulty. Have you tried messing around with that at all?

Not at all, being as I assume "Normal" difficulty is the way the game was intended to be played, I didn't see much point in fighting it. The combat does get better the more acclimated you get to it though, in my case it took about half the game...but I don't hate it anymore.

It's going to be interesting to see what part 2 looks like, seeing as it's going to be exclusively on current gen consoles. The screenshots of part 1 on PS5/PC look noticeably better, but designing it from the ground up for newer hardware can make a pretty substantial difference.

I just JUST came off finishing INTERmission, which is ps5 only, so I'd guess the game'll look more or less the same as the base game on ps5. I couldn't tell any difference, it all looked the same "very very good" to me.

Speaking of INTERmission, lemme summarize it without spoiling it.

It's anywhere between 4.5 and 6 hours depending on how fast you want to smoke through it. I took my time and came in at just over 6, but I could see doing it in 4 or less.

Iunno what's up with Square on THIS project making characters so damn likable, because usually they don't. They turned Yuffie from a worthless skipable character in the original to a very likable character with very meaningful story hooks to get her to join the main party in the next part.

I felt playing as cloud in combat was kind of "meh", Barret, Tifa, and Aeris were all a lot more fun in comparison. My preference towards Barret. Yuffie is really cool, she goes melee, but can throw her giant shuriken and mash square to do non elemental ranged magic attacks. She can burn an ATB to change that non elemental to whatever of the 4 elements you want, and it lasts until the battle ends or you change it. She can also block at the last moment to negate all damage it seems, but I never got good at it. They do motivate you to try with certain weapon upgrades that do things like "gain regen if you block an attack at the last moment" which is a really good idea, makes the average player want to engage with the mechanic over ignoring it.

Being a ninja, she is quite nimble. Climbing around the environment and going over balance beams and whatnot with her is a lot quicker/more effortless compared to Cloud and co. So even outside of combat she's got her own flare. Plenty of ranged things you can hit with her shuriken for puzzles and traversal, well implemented.

She has access to one party member in the 2 chapters of this DLC, and he is non controllable. You ONLY control Yuffie in this DLC. This is really nice because he actually builds up ATB on his own. Being only two characters the controls make a lot more sense. You can hit the right trigger to access his spell/ability list with ease. You can hit left trigger to do a "synchronize" which allows you to fight in tandem, and use special powered up abilities that use ATB with both characters, at the expense of building less ATB. You can freely toggle between the two modes in combat, it feels really good. He can be fully equipped like any other party member, items, materia, upgrades, limit breaks, the whole kit and kebang.

They figured out a way to get Fort Condor into the game. Remember that psuedo rts strategy minigame in the original? Well it's like a psuedo card game/strategy board game with some collectable elements...it's really fun. It's like the old card games in 8 and 9, except it's not a card game...but it has card game elements sorta. It's unique and pretty neat. I hope they put more time into it and reintroduce it into part 2, it would be cool to play randos in matches to get rewards. Also the graphics for the units evoke the rough look of the ps1 units, it's charming.

Story pulls a Half-Life in which takes place during several chapters of the main game, and you do play the "Blue Shift" or "Opposing Force" eye view of a few scenes, if you are familiar with the original Half-Life. Pretty neat, places Yuffie into being actually relevant to the story, and doesn't feel "tacked on".

Music is great..like..wanna listen to in my free time great. If you like Jazz at all...ohh boy do they have a segment of the game with a phenomenal series of jazzy tunes.

The ending was...really good. They recommend playing this DLC AFTER finishing the main game for a reason. Out of left field you are hit with a good few cutscenes that tease part 2, introduce a cameo/"ohh hey that's coming back", and also some...surprises...ohh boy. I beat the original game 2-3 times, and some of the thing's I'm seeing make me know where the game is going, but also...not. More than I could have asked for, plenty of surprises to come.

Besides wanting more, I can't really think of anything to complain about. This is a good time, made my time waiting to get a ps5 worth it. Now if only Square could make their other Final Fantasy games half as good as this...I ain't even touch FF15 if you paid me to play it

68

Gaming / Re: 2022 The Backloggening

« on: May 03, 2022, 12:14:11 AM »

8. Final Fantasy VII Remake



Ohh boy how to summarize this game. SPOILERS will be talked about sorta probably.

~44 hours played, INTERmission DLC not played yet (but doesn't count for game completion so making this post while it's fresh)

This game, besides the combat, feels like the ultimate love letter for fans of the original ff7. What they ended up shipping feels to me like one of the best produced games ever made. In terms of characters, voice acting, music, graphics, there ain't many games that can take all of those things to THAT level. I played up to the second time you visit wall market on the original game before finishing this to get a gist of where this game is. They add a lot, A LOT.

Midgar is like 3-6 hours in the original game, and this game is like 40. Chapter 1-2, and the first little bit of 3 are in the original, then it's all original content up to...chapter 7? They'll take something insignificant like that Johnny character and make him into a full fledged side comedic relief character. I thought he was original to the remake, but he is indeed in the original outside the honeybee inn as a random NPC. Small scenes like the sewers, or climbing to shinra tower in the original end up as over an hour long fully produced levels.

There's easter eggs everywhere. From the save point icon being on the rest benches, to the "PH System" being what you use in hojo's lab to communicate between parties.

The music is without a doubt the best they have produced. To the point where I low key want "remake" treatment done with the ost for 8 and 9 as well. I don't even want to link any in particular because the whole damn package is so good.

The characters are probably the single best part of this game. They steal the show. Everyone is awesome, but in particular Aeri"th". They did a fan freaking tastic job with her. I didn't care about her at all in the original and didn't care when...she was no longer a playable character. They did a 180, I think she may be one of my favorite characters in videogames period. She's almost like a Yuna type roll in this game, where she is the important mcguffin character, but the way she's acted puts Yuna to shame. I could gush all day, so I'll stop, but to say they exceeded expectations is understated. I had no expectations or care for the character, and they made her a favorite.

Odds and ends, positives.

-Nice job showing off Reeve as a good guy, they do in the original but you can easily forget he's an important character.
-Red XIII + voice acting = muy muy muy bueno
-I love Barret, and they did him justice in this game.
-Do play Crisis Core FF7 on psp, the first Zach scene at the end of the game IS the end cutscene of Crisis Core...and either they go beyond, or retcon some stuff. Won't know until the next part.

Odds and ends, negatives.

-Combat...went from a 2/10 to a 6/10. Enjoyed it a bit more, but near the end of the game with all the bosses that wouldn't die...wished the combat was turn based jrpg.
-The end. Can't really knock this game because A LOT of games do this, but why did they have to add like 3 more bosses AFTER the original ended? Just gimmie the credits already. At least it wasn't a 4 hour cutscene like in Death Stranding...
-Hard Mode? I haven't played it, but I thought about it up till...the end of the game with all the bosses. Thinking about doing that without items, and with benches not replenishing MP. GONNA PASS, NOPE!
-Ghosts/time stuff. It sorta feels like the original game happened and exists, and the remake also exists but in a seperate timeline? And the ghosts exist to make sure the OG game timeline happens instead of any "new" events the remake may add? Again a part 2 will need to explain this, but I could have done without it. We also didn't need to fight Sephiroth or have that dumb ghost bayonetta boss fight at the end.

Besides that, I think I went a full 180 on this game. Once I got past Chapter 3, I had a hard time not playing it. I can say having finished it, DESPITE THE COMBAT I STILL DON'T CARE FOR, I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this one, to my surprise.

Will post in the game specific thread when I finish INTERmission.

*edit*

F it, Turks theme. My favorite track? No. Great? YES!

69

Gaming / Re: FFVII Remake

« on: April 27, 2022, 12:54:43 AM »

So with the acquisition of a Playstayion 5, I decided to put a good effort into ff7r for once.

First a few random notes. If you got ff7r on ps4, maybe keep it around if you wanna do it on ps5 because it's a free upgrade if you have the digital OR physical version, assuming you have a disc ps5 for said version. You do have to pay $20 for the ps5 expansion thing that is included in the standard ps5 version. This is fine, because that is an expansion priced as such, and ps5 ff7r is like $70, so if you snagged the physical ps4 version for like $20, you're still saving $30.

FAR AS I KNOW the Yuffie expansion is totally separate, you gotta select it on the title screen and they recommend you beat the game first.

AND some thing with how the synergy materia works, costs no mp or atb...so if i am cloud and I do a skill like braver or assess or a magic spell, an ally with synergy linked with any elemental materia will cast it FOR FREE on ps5 version. Otherwise I think it's unused on ps4 because your characters not in control by you have no atb to use spells anyway. Kinda dumb how that specific thing is ps5 only when there's no technical limitations behind it...but it was a factor to me not wanting to get too deep in the ps4 version.

I have about ~20 hours played, I am on Chapter 9, and I just beat Hell House.

A few positives with my experience thus far.

Everything besides the combat is really really good.

The music is excellent, the graphics even though I'm not a graphics whore are fantastic. Looking at the sky to see midgar, to Aris house, to the broken highway area before wall market are all executed very well and do the original justice in my opinion. Big attention to detail in every area, like the load icon and the graphics from the benches being the old save point graphic.

The writing and character dialogue is great. They sound more like real people and less like JRPG characbters. In the original game I really never gave a shit about Aris at all, but you really can't hate her in this game. She's adorable and has tons of personality. I really enjoyed the scenes where she tried giving Cloud a high 5 and it failing..again...and again, they made it feel natural. I pretty much like everyone except Cloud, but I don't think they could make Cloud very likable without retconning him. 

Over a year later and I can give this old post a somewhat educated reply on certain points.

As far as the story changes I enjoyed, I'll say that I love how the game actually gives you more of a reason to give a shit. In the original FF7 it felt like some important characters really weren't given enough of a build-up. Like, you're told that Tifa is your childhood friend, but the game doesn't really show them prior to the scene with them in the bar ("give me something hard"). The remake changes that significantly and does a far better job building her up (among others). There's also a few things in the original that were very subtle (so subtle that you'd be forgiven for forgetting about them even being plot points) that they ended up bringing out into the forefront.

This might be the best part about the game so far for me. There's a lot of games with character development, and I don't care about them. This game with the obvious nostalgia and love for the original, and knowing that game, it makes me want to play them in tandem to see the differences as I get through the game. For a company that made ff10 and 12 and 13...I don't think anything they've made comes close...except maybe dragon quest 11...but that's apples and oranges.

The game generally looks good and runs smoothly (seems to run at a stable 30fps on a PS4 Pro), though there is noticeable texture pop-in. I chalk that up more to me not being used to playing games with streaming assets from a hard drive on a console. Something something PC Master Race, yadda yadda. This is the first HDR-enabled game I've played (I can't for the life of me get HDR working on my PC) and the added dynamic range definitely makes a difference throughout the game.

Spoiled baby on ps5, load times are neeeeeearrrrrrrrrrrly nonexistant, and looks flawless to me. To be fair to the ps4 though, the load times always sucked on that console from the first time I got mine.

The combat system wore out its welcome at around the 12 hour mark for a lot of reasons. Prior to that I generally enjoyed it and just dealt with the little cracks that were starting to fester, but it eventually got to the point where it became a frustrating slog, so I just switched the game to easy mode in order to preserve my sanity. Let me just detail a handful of situations that I've encountered numerous times during my playthrough.

Playing the beginning of the game a third time now, that shield guy at the beginning almost wiped me because I did not understand the awkward un-intuitive combat. The materia system was great in the original, but in this game it feels more frustrating somehow. There's battles I enter, go "don't have the materia that covers this guys weakness" and I just want to reload my game. That...shouldn't be a thing, but it happens a lot.

I'm not at all opposed to a hard game, and generally welcome them (I enjoy Soulsborne games and have clocked a decent number of hours in various Monster Hunter titles), but the problem with FF7:R's battle system is that it seems to have an identity crisis. The way it's built makes it seem apparent that it doesn't know if it wants to be a straight up action game or an RPG and ends up sending moxed messages. On one hand, sure, you can dodge in real-time, but on the other hand it still feels like if the game wants to hit you with an attack, it'll hit you.

I am still on normal, but I wouldn't call this an easy game at all. Due to it being one of those games with a party, and you can only direct control 1 at a time, when someone dies, you can end up in shit creek real quick. I am beginning to understand the combat more however. Setting shortcuts is MANDATORY for making combat feel anywhere near fluid. Doing some of the combat arena stuff right now I can blast some people with Aris, snap to Cloud and plonk an ability, to snap back to Aris to move or build atb or whatever. It is a weird middle ground where it very much IS an action game, but you have to master a different skillset than the standard.

The game also seems to break previously established rules. Remember how limit breaks were intended to be a character's iconic last-ditch attack? Imagine my surprise when I found out that they can miss. I've triggered cross-slash in front of an enemy, only to have them wander off camera during the wind-up animation, leaving Cloud to aggressively attack the air. Did I mention that you're vulnerable during this wind-up animation? I've had enemies come from off-camera and start wailing on Cloud during the animation, shaving off hundreds of health points during an unskippable animation that locks him firmly in place.

Having done a crosslash limit break to an enemy, to have it casually take 3 steps back...I don't use those style limit breaks unless I have em rooted. I will not defend the system, however with the stagger system, and whatever the state before stagger is called that the enemy doesn't move, and ice magic, there's options to set up a limit break hitting.

Healing spells follow three distinct steps: playing the animation, removing MP, and restoring HP. The problem is that there's a surprisingly long gap between when the game removes MP and restores HP (feels like around half a second). If you die between those two events, the game will take your MP without restoring your health. Really nice given how much smaller the MP pools are now.

You don't even need to die, they can just bitch slap you and knock you over and you lose the mp, take the damage, and don't cast the spell. Pretty annoying, makes you think more before you act.

The game gets really stun-happy around the 12-16 hour mark. Stuns are pretty much what you'd expect: temporary debuffs that completely prevent you from moving. The problem with them is two-fold. First of all, the stun debuff is never shown on your character panel ("am I stunned for a quarter of a second or five seconds?"). Second, too many enemies can do it, and too often. It reminds me all too much of when my friends and I would attempt to clear World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade raids with three overleveled people before Blizzard patched the challenge out of old raids.

I do agree with you, but also somewhat disagree? It's annoying yes, but that to me just forces me to dodge/block/pick my spot better. The one part where having other party members feels "good" to me. Barret is stunned, auto swap to someone else to build some atb to toss him a heal or recovery or something. Being stunned doesn't mean "sit there and do nothing" in this game because you can switch to another party member, and that feels pretty fluid to me. 

On top of that, there's no rhyme or reason regarding which attacks can be blocked or dodged, and the only way of knowing is to get hit. I've seen plenty of cases where Cloud was able to block a massive attack from a giant monster, yet a normal-looking attack from a human-sized enemy would break his block (and lock him into a combo, naturally). Similarly, there are more cases than I can count of Cloud getting hit despite being noticeably outside of the range of an AoE attack. Again, if the game wants you to take damage, you're going to take damage. Period.

This part is one of the bigger problems with the games combat as I play more. I was fighting Shiva, and I would try to dodge certain attacks and it wouldn't work and I'd get hit, so I'd start blocking which works great, except that other attack you can't block. Or that one attack you can block, but then it explodes and you have to evade it. This is fine the third time you fight her and understand "block this, dodge this, don't get hit by that, block then evade that" but the game doesn't properly communicate a blockable spell from one you need to dodge. They could easily make clever use of spell graphics or sound effects to communicate this to the player as a lot of games do. Tekken 7 is a 3d fighting game, you have attacks you can sidestep, and there's attacks which can hit lateral movement. Said attacks that hit stepping, you see it with a white swoosh communicating that this attack is hitting those lateral movements. So when you get hit by it, you can see as the person getting hit, what they did, and can use that information to counter it later.

Just to give you an idea, on normal I went from having to struggle to survive due to all of the above issues piling up, to being able to mash square to win. That's not offering multiple difficulty levels, that's giving the player the option to neuter the game. Still, when faced with the choice between frustration mechanics and actually being able to enjoy the story, I chose the latter. Sue me. If I want a challenge (and a decent combat system) I'll play Soulsborne Hunter instead.

I can't make my final judgement until I finish the game, but where I am so far, the combat is beginning to click. The square button not being the death dealing mechanism you would expect, combined with the pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time feeling of juggling 3 characters at once, feels REALLY REALLY awkward. But right now I to tend to enter combat with the feeling that I sorta know what I'm doing...sorta. I think it mostly boils down to what enemies I'm fighting. I have noticed that you "pick a main and rip" through most fights. Some fights need Cloud as the point guy, and in chapter 9, Aris is point and Cloud is support. Hitting weakness to cause a stagger with Aris, to swap to Cloud rapidly get 1-2 atb and let em rip before stagger ends, is starting to feel more natural, and with that, starting to be more fun.

One more nitpick. I know Cloud is the main character, but if I have a party, just...let me walk around outside of combat with them please? If I'm using barret, I enter combat as Cloud, and switch to Barret...combat ends, and I am back to cloud...to enter a combat and have to swap back to Barret. Wouldn't it be nice if you wanted to play Tifa, and the game just let you retain control of Tifa? Sure Cloud is the MAIN character but he isn't the ONLY character...

I take back nothing I said about this game from earlier posts, as that is how I felt about the game at that time. I also felt the same way a few weeks ago when I tried playing it on ps4 again.

If I have to say what the biggest flaw to this game is right now, the combat isn't "bad" as it is EXTREMELY UNINTUITIVE. It is OFFENSIVELY unintuitive. With that, it's very hard to even grasp the "correct" way to play the game, and the game not exactly being easy, and having quite a few hard bosses (HELL HOUSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE), it's very easy to be frustrated. That combined with the fact that I am an old man who likes turn based games and final fantasy hasn't been like that since the early ps2 era. I understand why it is real time, because the kids don't like turn based, and I know more than a few people that wouldn't touch a game if it was taking turns, if that game isn't called pokemon...

TL;DR

Warming up on the game...starting to get used to it's quirks.

*edit*

I should also mention that if this were any other game I wouldn't give it another chance. The only reason I am even able to make this post is because I have wanted to play this game since this ps3 tech demo in 2005 when I was in high school. Having played the original back in the day, and having wanted a modern remake since I was literally a kid...it's nothing short of amazing that I didn't get the game on release, or even have any care to attempt to get past the combat until now.

And the funny thing is that old tech demo that looked too good to be any game I'd be playing in my lifetime doesn't even hold a candle to what they actually released...on a last generation console, let alone a modern one.

70

Gaming / Re: 2022 The Backloggening

« on: April 23, 2022, 11:06:16 PM »

7. Astro's Playroom



So Tuesday I get an email from sony saying "yo Wednesday, 2pm EST show up and buy a console". Which was like great, it worked. Throw them my email to buy a console, and roughly 3 weeks later they got consoles. Show up, wait, get put randomly in queue, wait more, get selected...try and buy the thing as fast as possible while trying to not make any errors in my information. AND...I got lucky, paid for the fast shipping because...these things don't grow on trees and I'd like it now, so it shows up Friday.

Cool, get the thing situated in the entertainment center and get things set up, go to transfer my ps4 saves/account stuff over. QUICK AND EASY That started at 5pm, "finished" at 11pm...alright. Pay $10 to make my Gran Turismo 7 the ps5 version, start the download...uhh...it's Saturday right now and the download should finish in the next 45 minutes...I ain't got the fastest internet and GT7 is a hundred gig game, but like...it'd be done yesterday if it was steam download speeds...at least the ps5 can download things in rest mode, which the ps4 and switch can't seem to do, so that's cool at least.

But my new toy! I've nothing to do with it! The heck is this game on my console? Well figured I'd mess around with it to test the new "Dual Sense" controller.

I thought this was just a tech demo for the controller, which it is...but it's a lot more fleshed out than it has any right being. Finished all the levels and got all the collectables, it's a pretty cool little mario ish thing. The new Dual Sense controller is actually really cool, the haptics feel fantastic. The mic sounds a thousand times better than the 20's era radio sound of the ps4 controller. And the triggers will give force feedback depending on the game, and they can take a good bit of force to depress. Even if using on pc with games that take no advantage of the features, it's somehow more comfortable than my previous favorite controller...the ps4 controller. The thing doesn't really look very attractive, but it makes using my switch pro controller feel like a significant downgrade in comparison.

The game...the game...it's cute. It's controller tech demo, but also PlayStation museum filled with cameos from crash bandicoot, to parappa the rapper, to death stranding, to more obscure stuff like vib ribbon. I know it's free, and if I wasn't waiting for GT7 to download I wouldn't even bother trying it. But it's a surprisingly good time, I wouldn't mind shelling $10-15 to play a small fun little platformer thing.  I was never a fan of the ps3 era (never owned a ps3, only played one like...twice, hated the controller, wasn't interested in little big planet, uncharted, killzone, whatever), and ps4 had Knack...which you couldn't pay me to care at all about that showing off the new console, but this feels charming to me. I like it.

Good job Sony, this was more than any controller tech demo had any right to be.

*edit*

GT7 on Dual Sense is crazy. The ps4 version looks great, and you can easily see the road in wet conditions, but on ps5 the wet spots are like photorealistic. AND THE CONTROLLER PICKS UP RUNNING THROUGH PUDDLES, the force feedback was already elite enough on ps4 to where I noticed how good it was, but this is next level. Mind you the ps4 version runs fantastic and looks fantastic, so the upgrade isn't THAT much better, but in the spots you see it, it shows. Dual Sense ain't replacing a DD wheel, but it is nice for those who (rightfully) aren't willing to invest in a wheel.

*edit*

I don't know how I just noticed this but outside of game the triggers have no force feedback so feel like ps4 triggers more or less. But in game when the force feedback is on, I actually notice the break trigger is a bit more stiff than the accelerator...

I didn't even buy a ps5 thinking about the controller one bit, but this thing is the coolest console controller I have experienced since my first time using an n64 analog stick.

71

Gaming / Re: 2022 The Backloggening

« on: April 18, 2022, 09:53:31 PM »

Yknow what would have made swtor a truly great game? IF THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT AN MMORPG. I used to be a big fan of the genre, and I'll admit there's still something about it to this day that draws me to it. But like you think about playing an mmorpg, and remember that 90% of it is just boring, or "podcast" gameplay. To this day I still like classic WoW, but like even that is still...90% boring with the majority of the appeal being nostalgia anymore. I enjoyed my time with them re releasing classic, but being a solved game, you can't really get the same experience twice. Too many people taking the game too seriously, second job all over again. I did download elder scrolls online, and I think what that game is doing is great...but, literally under 30 minutes into playing the game, I can see all the ways they design the game to keep you playing, and not in the fun way. I didn't want to play skyrim a 5th time, and that game isn't going to scratch my itch unfortunately. I think the mmo genre and the fps genre to me are more or less "that's neat, but I ain't going to play it" for a majority of them. There's exceptions like WoW classic (but not tbc..even though I enjoyed tbc), and DOOM!, but I think my tastes have changed.

I think that's it for my mini rant. Would be cool if there was less mmorpg, more traditional rpg with maybe a couch co-op or online co-op option? Didn't divinity do that? Another game on my ToDo list whenever I get to it.

6. Star Wars Episode I: Racer



So I was watching some youtubes, and seen this game...5 minutes into the video I said to myself "don't care if it's a barebones no effort port, TAKE MY $15!" ...and like 3 hours later I beat it...again...sorta?

I "beat" this game before, but it goes on the list because KID ME CHEATED! There's one stage called "The Abyss" that I remember being horseshit impossible. I somehow got a cheat working where the game went autopilot and won first on that stage.

...So like, I beat the tournament mode, all stages first place, without cheating this time.

Not really a racing guy till recently, but this was one of 3...racing games I enjoyed a lot as a kid. This game, Diddy Kong Racing, and F-Zero GX. I remember this game being stupid hard, even harder than F-Zero and beating it...well all of the other levels, was a big accomplishment for kid me. Even playing the game on the N64 years after the fact, the "rly fast rly hard" aspects of the game stayed in tact.

This port is straight up easy. The Abyss still kinda horseshit, but taking the 2 parts actually slow makes it not that bad. Doing some reading, I guess a lot of stuff works off FPS and higher FPS gives you more traction or something? Not to mention 60fps smooth as butter with a modern controller, I think those two things along make wrangling the sheer speed of this game a lot more manageable. Play the same thing on a real n64 with that horrible controller...not so easy.

This game still holds up. The port kinda sucks, online multiplayer would be cool...any kind of graphics update to make it not look like an n64 game would be cool...but as is the core game is still fast and fun. Tournament mode you win money to upgrade your pod, there's pit droids you can buy, a junk yard to buy cheaper but damaged parts(that pit droids can fix after the next race at the expense of doing said race with lower stats on a certain part), it's a cool little mode with some soft rpg features. Good roster of riders to choose from, 27 tracks...and that's more or less it. Not a massive game, but it's a good time. Not a great port, but for the price of a few steaks? Still a good value to me. Having finished tournament mode I may max out all my stats and keep the game on the switch to do time trials on every so often. It's a good pick up and play for a few races type of game.

Port was no effort but still functional, game still super fun, recommended!

*edit*

54 second hotlap on Abyss, what a way to take on a childhood nightmare but to turn the tables and get some good laps on the sucker. STILL PRETTY BULLSHIT LEVEL, imagine a race track where if you make a mistake on turn 1 or 2, you fall to the lower track which is 30 seconds slower...one mistake on any lap means last place baby!

72

Gaming / Re: Racing Sims

« on: April 13, 2022, 04:38:11 PM »

The only reason I ended up getting my Series X is because they had some program where you could effectively reserve a console if you used a special financing option that covered both the system and two years of GamePass Ultimate. It was slightly more than the combined cost of both (I think it was like $40 more?), but 1) it's still way cheaper than buying it from a scumbag scalper, 2) I would upgraded to GamePass Ultimate anyway (I was already a GamePass PC subscriber), and 3) you can unlock dev mode and install RetroArch, and it's one of the most powerful off-the-shelf emulation boxes money can buy.

Beginning of the month there was actually series x consoles on amazon for like...28 hours. I was tempted to snagging one, but the only exclusives I want to play is...the next elder scrolls game, and that won't be out for a while. Playstation I'll have GT, final fantasy 7 (figured since I now plan on buying a ps5, pointless to spend time on the ps4 version I only spent 2 hours on), more death stranding because I'd totally play it again, and street fighter 6 whenever that hits. Still hard to tell myself no to a new console when I am in the market for one. I did sign up on the playstation website to drop me an email when they feel like selling me a console, so maybe they'll drop me a line in a few...months...

Oh no, you're definitely not alone. There's a pretty big adjustment period with any dedicated controller, but I think steering wheels are probably one of the most extreme cases of that. I think the only thing that's easier with the wheel is shifting with a clutch (Forza lets you do that with a gamepad, but it never felt right to me).

You pretty much have to work up to a point where the wheel becomes second nature, to the point where its primary advantages over the gamepad win out. It's not at all surprising that wheels give you more granular control over the vehicle, but one thing that they don't have is input dampening (except in Horizon, apparently, which is another good reason to avoid that game). Racing games apply a bunch of input filtering on gamepads in order to prevent rapid thumb movements from causing the controls to spaz out. That's good because it makes them actually playable (and prevents pad players from having a turning speed advantage in competitive games) but it does allow wheel players to make faster steering corrections. When you get to that level your times will probably improve over your old pad times.

It's a lot, the more I play the more I think I have to adjust stuff. Now my arms are getting tired from how far the wheel is...but it feels about the same distance as my daily driver. I do typically drive with my right hand on 5 o clock position, resting my arm on the center console thingy. So maybe I just got weak arms, but even then in high traffic or bad weather I am 10 and 2 and I don't notice fatigue driving. There is a huge advantage in steering, but also it's harder because the force feedback does make precise movements a bit more challenging to pull off. As well as big sweeps of the wheel are just more demanding in general. PRACTICE PRACTICE, in the end it'll be faster.

Biggest impediment is the way I am playing GT. I am a power gamer a lot of the time and path of least resistance, get all the things the most efficient way possible...and that is unfortunately the opposite of "getting better at wheel" when I am using pad to gradually cut my times a good 4 minutes faster per run AND making an attempt to learn manual transmission while doing so(no clutch, just paddles or X and Square buttons on pad). After either A I get tired of farming for cash, or B they nerf the method soon I can try and figure out how to learn the game efficiently.

- There have been cases where the Performance Points (PP) do not calculate correctly if the maximum output of the engine is adjusted with a Power Restrictor, or if extreme settings or specific operations are performed on a Fully Customisable Transmission.

They didn't patch it in yesterdays update, but it's a known issue...at least it's an issue this time, and not just arbitrarily saying fuck you swipe your credit card this time. The reason I am playing manual in the first place is the gearing to get the car below 600pp basically makes gear 1, 2, and 3 worthless, and on automatic transmission it's really difficult to get to 4th gear if you slow down enough to kick it into third. With manual you can just...yknow, stay in 4th gear.

Oh, one more wheel question: I'm not sure if you tried playing any Windows racers with it, but do the Fanatec drivers let you adjust angle limitations? The wheels on Formula 1 cars, for example, have as much of a turning radius as normal cars. My dad's G923 lets you adjust that. It obviously doesn't limit the physical range, but it makes it so that if you turn the wheel, say, 180 degrees, it counts as a full turn.

VIDEO REPLY BECAUSE yknow showing > telling

*edit*

Trying moving wheel away from my couch changes things. Not better...but I think a lot of my issues were adjusting the settings on the wheel and in game, AND my sitting position. Will have to figure out a better setup in this living room that is also portable enough to put away.

73

Gaming / Re: Racing Sims

« on: April 11, 2022, 09:09:59 PM »

Then again, GT7 is actually out and FM8 kinda isn't. But I have a copy of FM7, which is still hella fun?

Tough call. Easy for me since the last xbox I bought was the 360. I'm almost 80 hours in on GT7 so I think regardless of it's problems, it's a good enough game where I am still playing it. One thing to mention, since GT7 is a "live service" game, it makes you play differently than a normal game.

There's a...bug? Probably, that takes the dodge tomahawk x which is a 1200 or something PP car, and you can mess with the gear ratio to a point where it knocks it down to 560. You then take this car which has stupid speed and grip into the wtc600 race on tokyo expressway. 12 laps, ~500,000cr payout, ~850,000cr with clean race bonus (even ramming walls and bumping other cars, for whatever reason I ALWAYS get clean race bonus). It's just too damn good not to do.

How is this a problem? Well it makes me feel like doing this race non fucking stop because I know goddamn well it's getting nerfed on Thursday. AND I GET IT, it's too good, I wouldn't complain. BUT time is ticking, knowing they have taken things away means this will not exist very soon, so if I have time to race, I feel like I have to race. Kinda sucks. There's other races that are less efficient (although quite good, this race is busted) it just feels like those can wait until this gets nerfed, because likely those'll stay, and this one won't.

tl;dr

You wanna play old game that ain't changing for shit, or new game that changes several times a month?

I don't know anyone who owns a PS5, yet I know two other people that own the Series X. I'm not sure if Microsoft's just not selling as many units or if they're just legitimately doing a better job with the whole manufacturing thing.

On one hand I could probably do without it, but on the other hand the new Patchet & Clank game looks incredibly fun, and despite my mixed feelings of the FF7 Remake so far I would like to see more of it.

Not sure if it's like this where you live, but I've noticed in a few stores there isn't even a section they'd stock playstation consoles. Like there's switches behind glasses, the xbox section usually has mostly nothing or a single series S console, and the playstation section...isn't there? Like you can buy games and controllers, but not even a section they'd stock a console. I noticed this at a target today and found it kind of strange...although I understand not wanting to waste space for something that isn't going to be there. It's like looking for bigfoot or something. Like why stock ps5 games and controllers but not even have an empty section for ps5's? HEY YO WE SELL NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES AND CONTROLLERS BUT NO NINTENDO SWITCH! Child me would have issues believing it.

AANNNDDDD a few notes on the wheel. Messing with settings is making things easier, looking up the fanatec recommended settings makes steering easier, but they see the force feedback toned down, which also makes things easier but less immersive. Will need to do more googling and experimenting with settings, would like a balance between immersion and improving my skill. With some of the grinding I've been doing on GT I have been going back and forth between the wheel and controller. The wheel can be physically fatiguing, and my times on pad still blow the pants off my  wheel times. I am improving enough to actually play the game instead of crash everywhere, but it'll be some time before im actually confident with the thing.

Being a bit discouraged, I have noticed I am not alone. Going from pad to wheel is like "way more fun, more immersive, but god damn is it hard and my times are worse".

74

Gaming / Re: Racing Sims

« on: April 08, 2022, 08:29:11 PM »

I'm curious: does the brake pedal have spring tension on it? Like, it doesn't just go to the floor when you press it lightly, does it?

I have video.If you're curious about anything else and I'll see what I can do.

It kind of seems like if I want to get a console-compatible wheel I'm going to have to pick a faction, at least for the time being. Since I've got the SeX I'm probably going to get a wheel that works with that, and after that I might look into getting something that I can hook up to the PS4.

Or maybe a PS5, if those things ever actually come out.

Yeah I'd go with where the majority of your hours will be spent. Gran Turismo vs Forza, with...everything else being pc so at least you can use whatever on that platform.

And good luck to both of us finding a ps5. Shoulda bought one last November when I seen them in person...

75

Gaming / Re: Racing Sims

« on: April 08, 2022, 02:19:07 PM »

It's honestly kind of hilarious how batshit insane diehard GT/Forza fans end up getting, especially when you consider that neither title is really considered to be full sim. It's like when Eggman completely lost his shit because I dared to criticize some of the worst elements of GT5 (which. from what I can gather, is considered by fans to be the worst game in the franchise, at least prior to this recent GT7 debacle). Pretty sure his meltdown is documented on this iteration of s.net if you need a laugh one of these days.

Well to be fair Eggman would argue over everything...I had my share of internet nerd arguing with him. Didn't help that I wasn't exactly that mature back then either. I think he was bad mouthing Shadow Complex for not being Super Metroid, and like, it isn't, but doesn't mean it can't still be a great metroidvania (which it IS). Not all games need to be the best ever to be worth playing, and no game is immune from criticism.

I dunno. I love both franchises for different reasons. Not sure why the concept that both games can be flawed in certain ways is controversial, but, y'know, console wars.

Pretty pointless to pledge allegiance to a multi million/billion dollar company who literally doesn't care about you. I do see less of that in our age bracket, so maybe it's an age thing.

If you've ever played Far Cry 3: you remember the bit at the beginning where it showed the pictures of their vacation shenanigans?

I beat the game, but I swear those "friends" were meant to be insufferable? That said, I do have less tolerance for that stuff now a days, I'm not opposed to skipping dialogue/story anymore if it isn't entertaining "cough" inquisition "cough".

I would say that the biggest mechanical issue I’ve run into so far is the dynamic environment system. One of the big features in the game is that the time can transition from day to night (and vice versa) and the weather than change. It looks fantastic and the devs have every right to be proud of it. However, I think they’re a little too proud of it. I know weather can, at times, be unpredictable, but I somewhat doubt that 20% of all races start with a clear, sunny day and end in torrential downpours.

If you eventually get GT7, it also does this. Shorter races are mostly unaffected, but some races start rainy and end dry or vice versa. The final cup has a few VERY VERY DARK races, and on Nurburgring goes from dark to light. Makes racing harder, but also looks really really nice. Not sure to which extreme, but it totally has time transitions, weather, and wind.

Music stuff

I really wish I could change the music in GT7...it isn't horrible, but you have no say over what plays in the menus. AND FRANKLY I DONT WANT MY CAR RACING GAME TO SOUND LIKE A WEDDING, classic stuff is great, but wrong context. Hopefully ps5 version lets me play some chill beats or something, but ps5 is a hoax doesn't exist, what was I talking about?
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Wheel Stand 2.0 + Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro.

The Great
-stand is rock solid, ROCK SOLID, very well constructed
-having never experienced a FF wheel, this 5nm wheel has more force than my SUV...literally. I mean it makes sense for a car going 100mph to have, but one is my actual SUV, the other is a videogame. It's an experience.

The Good
-the pedals are better than expected, they kinda look cheap, and foam on the break...PRETTY GOOD. Not outstanding, but well built and nice to use.
-the paddle shifters on the wheel feel VERY nice
-rubber texturing on the wheel also feels very nice

The Bad
-wheel stand is ROCK SOLID...AND HEAVY AS A ROCK. Very stable, but comes at a cost. However would I trade weight for stability? On a cheaper wheel, sure, but on this thing with the power it cranks out, no.
-wheel comes with no screws. all the wheel came with was a few metal brackets you can use to bolt to a stand, but no bolts. wheelstand 2.0 had me covered with the correct bolts/washers/nuts I needed, but ymmv depending on your wheelstand of choice.
-I know for what this is, the price is considered a bargain (at least in the sim racer community) but ohh boy, entry level DD aint cheap no matter how you slice it
-the buttons on the gran turismo wheel feel very cheap. offset by them mostly being only used to menu, and to toggle TCS mid race, but it does make the wheel as a whole feel like a cheap third party controller, despite the nice rubber/paddles.
-wheel is a tad small. Not the end of the world, and you can buy bigger wheels for the stand, but as far as what I'm using on playstation, wish it was a bit bigger.

The Ugly
-my gameplay with this thing. I expected to be slightly better than pad off the bat, what I got was I am SIGNIFICANTLY worse on wheel. I might need to dial in a few settings, but it's VERY hard for me to clean lap even an easy course like monza with this thing. I have no legacy skills with wheels/racing games and doing a little reading, there can be a large adjustment phase. That said, I find turning with 0 TCS to feel a lot more forgiving on wheel than on pad with moderate TCS. While in the now, I'm so bad I can't even race circuits for money...the good is that it will eventually get better than pad.

Conclusion
This is a very expensive toy, but considering it can be used outside of just one game, I think it's worth it. Might not get my moneys worth out of it in a year, but over the years as games come and go I should have enough mileage on the thing to have it be overall worthwhile. In ACC just feeling the grass, through the wheel, it's a level of realism I don't encounter in games. I just need to run easier tracks for the next while until I can get a hang of this thing. Large learning curve.

Do I recommend it? If you aren't going to miss $1000 for a game controller, sure. However if given the opportunity, I would try before you buy. I like it, but I am a crazy person and I really have no other wheels to compare it to, so take all of my opinions with a grain of salt. Racing game novice such as myself should have went with a Logitech, but my mind was GO BIG OR GO HOME, so yknow. Definitely something I want to have my friends try, my girlfriend tried this thing and was laughing and smiling, so definitely a cool thing to show to people who are over.

*edit*

Spent so long typing I forgot GT7 got patched.

ALWAYS ONLINE...ain't going anywhere. They've said nothing, but GTSport far as I read did the same thing, so fact of life. I myself don't like it, but I played diablo 3 world of warcraft, persona 5 with a dlc (GOD FORBID I HAVE A DLC MAKING IT SO I CAN'T PLAY OFFLINE SONY!), sucks but that's just how a lot of games are. Not defending it, but if my choice is not playing a game, and playing the game, I'm going to play it.

But they added a bunch of stuff.

Biggest thing to me is the circuit experience. Basically most tracks in the game have a mode where you can play through each sector with a specific car, and you can go for bronze silver gold like the license tests. Then you have a one lap challenge, and this is for almost every track. Some tracks like the small oval just have the one lap, since it's so small. The BIG oval special course X or whatever doesn't have any due to it being like a 16 mile long oval which is mostly driving straight, good for testing top speed. But they added monetary awards for getting all bronze, and another for all gold. AND it's retroactive...so getting all gold on everything? Is about 47 million credits...in total. You can't repeat the awards, but if you wanted to go into a track and go for all gold, you can get typically around 800k-1.2 million on average. Now I am too horrible at the game to do gold...but this is a great change. I did all bronze on Spa pre patch, all I had to to was go to circuit experience for the track then exit, and I was awarded my all bronze money. Honestly imo, if circuit experience was the only content in the game, it would be $60 worth of content, in my opinion. It's a great mode to play when learning a track, because it makes you do each sector, then you do a full lap made easier with the practice you got from doing the sectors.

They also added a few more races, tweaked money on other stuff. Some physics changes, so actual gameplay stuff.

It's a good start, and in a place where I'd be happy to recommend the game...again...

Here's hoping they continue, because I know there's more work to be done to the game. But it seems pretty good right now.