Running a scream test for a scrappy small business on a shoestring budget is sensible.
USA should have better options.
In PlanetSide, there’s just one big map that never resets.
The team I played with would try to bring the front line to a bridge before logging off for the night. Contested bridges were notoriously difficult to cross, so you could count on no major territorial changes happening while you sleep. The zerg was content to snipe across the bridge all night, and when organized Ops resumed the next day, the bridge would simply be bypassed by mass airlift.
IIRC, there have been a few times when one of the three factions controlled the entire map, but it never lasted more than a few minutes. During the PlanetSide 2 beta test, one side came close to taking the entire map, but the whole game crashed because the entire population of all three factions was trying to pile into the same base at the same time. They eventually implemented a mechanic where if too many people were in the same place, the ones who arrived most recently would be teleported to an adjacent map tile.
PlanetSide 1, the MMOFPS that was the former record holder of “Most players in an online FPS battle,” which was eventually surpassed by PlanetSide 2.
In its heyday it was a fascinating sociology study.
During EU prime time, players would self-organize into squads of about 10 players. They would apply light pressure to the entire map simultaneously. Territorial gains would be made by attacking undefended bases.
During USA prime time, players would self-organize into platoons of about 30 players. They would press a few strategic locations with medium force. Territorial gains came from fixing operations (using a small force in an easy to defend location to keep a large population of opponents busy) and local numeric superiority at lightly defended bases.
During Chinese prime time, players would group up into a singular mass. Everyone just ran face first into the meatgrinder. No territorial gains were made.
+1 for BeamNG.drive + Automation
Recreating production cars and racing them is fun.
Optimizing track cars for different locations is a LOT of fun. More power doesn’t always mean faster lap times - what matters is power to weight ratio, paired with getting the suspension, tires, brakes, and downforce just right.
The most fun build I’ve discovered so far is throwing a 2L, naturally aspirated V8 that makes 521 HP, into a Pontiac Fiero with racing slicks. The whole thing weighs just 1159 lbs, and can pull 3 G’s around corners.
I like action games, including FPS, with RPG elements.
Borderlands and Diablo - I like that you can just jump in and start blasting without really having to read anything about the setting or characters
Fallout and Cyberpunk 2077 - slower paced and less immediately fun than the previous two, but the action does keep the story interesting
Pure RPGs can be fun as an engineering project - twisting the game’s systems to create unbalanced character builds.
Up to around level 50 or so, mobs are squishy enough that you don’t need weapons perks at all. Eventually, some super mutants become bullet sponges, and you’ll want some kind of damage boost, either weapon perks or just taking lots of combat drugs as needed.
I like to start new games with a focus on Science and Barter. With one point of Science, you can build Industrial Water Purifiers in your settlements. The excess water they produce can be sold to vendors.
Unique leg armor that increases your movement speed can be purchased in Goodneighbor and Vault 81. The Vault 81 vendor also sells the last gun you’ll ever need. I like to trade water for those ASAP.
Next, there’s a quest from The Railroad that gives a HUGE defensive boost.
The Nukaworld expansion introduced a new kind of knife, the Disciples Blade, and it is by far the best melee weapon in the game. A sneaky ninja melee build wielding a Disciples Blade can beat every encounter. The build doesn’t really blossom until the late-late game, but once it does, you’ll never need to use a gun again.
Yep, never heard of it until just now. A quick trip to youtube for gameplay vids makes the first 15 minutes look pretty good though. The gameplay would totally get repetitive fast, and the vid I watched didn’t get into the skill trees. If the level up mechanics give you more spells to choose from, rather than just increasing the numbers for the 3 spells you start with, I think the game has potential. Right now, it seems like something I would like to try first and maybe buy a physical copy that can’t be disabled when some corporate licensing deal falls apart (and make backups of the installer).
Aviassembly.
Its fun in the way that building airplanes in KSP is fun. The game is small, and the physics are simple, but for $10 its a good value.