That is fair in the case of fishing, foraging and to a lesser degree farming

If one wants to finish it as soon as possible then there is a pressure to not miss something - a bit of a heresy - but Joja Mart route can ignore that pressure, but it does feel better getting the community center up and running though.

I know the T.V. channel that Pam provides is helpful for fishing and for me I try to set up a schedule where I dedicate a day to get a particular item or to improve a skill to make it easier to get a item I am looking for.

My first two years are usually very busy as my farmer is on a “sigma grindset” and approached as a game getting everything sorted.

I do feel that it plays better when I tried to compromise a bit and try to roleplay like start the day, sort out my fields and animals, have regular meals, visit the town, greet everyone, maybe look at the message board - doing something like fishing, foraging, mining or cave diving for a bit, head to the bar at night for a night cap and then make my way home for the night - especially Friday nights.

I break that habit a bit when it is a really lucky day but I can write that off as a day that my character felt like some “me” time or they are focussed on getting resources for an upgrade to the farm or an item for center

One starts to learn everyone’s schedule and you start to feel part of the Valley as familiarity helps build the “community” feel

That reminds me of the earlier versions where the Grandpa would judge you harshly if you didn’t get enough points and in the worse case scenerio would wonder if he should have given the farm to some other relative at the end of year 3.

But Concerned Ape removed that as it went against the spirit of the game - there is only one time sensitive event in the game and is a friendship event with one of the characters that should be done before the end of year one

I missed it for the longest time, but it does help flesh out that character but besides that, the valley is in a proverbial time bubble where everything can be done at your leisure within the time frame - which is usually dedicating a day for something.

I would say that that the desert dungeon requires planning and being efficient with your time to get to the 100th floor in a day though

Just my opinion - but Stardew Valley, for me, is best enjoyed in the same vein like something like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing.

It is like Sims: Rural. I liked the idea of someone being sick of the corporate drone lifestyle and being given the opportunity to start a new life in the country-side.

While I agree, especially in the beginning that the timers do feel restrictive, farming can be a chore when you are starting out and the stamina can be annoying but it has been built towards an idea that

“This is your character’s life and just enjoy a new start in the countryside”

It does get easier, more streamlined and opens up more options when one starts getting into the specialisations in leveling and gain benefits from progress which brings with it more “set and forget” tasks (like ancient fruit in a green house with sprinklers) which are profitable and if farming isn’t your thing I was going to say to try animal husbandry - which starts out with just giving the animals you buy some attention and food everyday ( buy hay or use a scythe on long grass), open the barn hatch in the morning (when not raining) and close it at night and collect the resource either by picking it up or having the right tool for the animal.

Animal husbandry is a lot of initial setup and then animal maintainence to get a resource, which leaves more time to explore other aspects of the game

I guess it is a game best enjoyed to roleplay as one learns about everybody in the valley and make your mark as someone of important as you can either make your fortune, have a family, make friends or just check off the list of collectables

I do feel it is a bit unfair to compare it to something like Rimworld as it is a great colony simulator in its own right with it having the focus of developing a “blank slate” community of random people in a harsh and cruel world where the player is the “architect” as you create the plan and the pawns enact it.

Comparatively, I do feel Rimworld farming is more involved than in Stardew Valley as there is a lot of external factors to consider like fertility, effective crop placement to avoid disease ruining all your crops if your pawns are too slow to contain it, raiders burning it, weather and events that ruin the crops, etc)

While Stardew it is a cycle of seasonal preparation, planting, watering, scarecrows placement to avoid crows stealing crops and harvesting - it is quite simple although more hands-on in practice and some of these steps can eventually be automated.

I guess Stardew Valley is predictable and consistent without much risk and can come across as a chore whereas Rimworld has a lot of external variables that keeps one needing to have a plan in the back of one’s mind when things go wrong.

Fair enough if you do not find it interesting, it might just not be your style of gameplay. Give credit where credit is due that you gave it an honest go at it and if you do not refund it it, maybe you will enjoy it one day

It is probably been said, but roll with the failures in disco elysium, sometimes the failures bring out a better result. It systems do a great job commenting on your decisions and whether you do your job as a cop or not, it still drives across a very human story

In regards to a game with a good story, I can say OneShot surprised me. It breaks the 4th wall by having you be the character that guides the protagonist through the world as they wake up in another world and go on a journey trying to get back. Simple graphics and one has to read everything, but by the story’s end was I left feeling some emotions in regards to its conclusion.

Had to look it up to check its dates as a kid they only sold rip-off NES machines here, but the oldest game, i enjoyed playing, I found by date was Dig Dug, 2D game where you dig tunnels to get to all the enemies and defeat them by what I can only describe as throwing a bicycle pump nozzle into their mouths and pumping it until the enemy pops like a balloon.

There is the usual like Super Mario Brothers, Contra and I recall playing something where I think Diddy Kong throws barrels and “mario” has to avoid it to save the tied up princess behind diddy can’t recall the name

There is also Bomberman, Lode Runner, Double Dragon( specifically 2), Arkanoid, Ice climber (co-op) and a game I really enjoyed called Operation Wolf

Oldest original game is most probably Pac Man, but prefered the “3D”-like one which allowed pac man to jump in the maze which is newer.

Edit:

My bad, oldest game played in 2024, hmmm, Heroes of Might and Magic 1

Renegade Shepard can be pragmatic on the Tuchunka incident although that requires a commitment from the player through all three games to have been “renegade” on their choices on the matter - sets in motion events where your choice saves one, but ultimately ruined another’s future.

Renegade Shepard does feel less screwed around with as their demeanour “demanding” respect, and mass effect 2 onwards refocuses renegade away from stupid “evil” choices and leans heavier to a " ends justify the means" with a slice of self importance and arrogance

Tldr:

Having too many cultures that have not established a “market share” in politics makes the, people who run a country, job harder as it has to contend with dealing with the potential of new cultures forming and the inevitable culture clashes that follow as differing values and ideals will demand different things.

It fractures and dilutes points of control which encourages politics to try ensure loyalty though aligning itself with views of the majority.

End tldr

Unironically, Stellaris is probably a decent example of the thought experiment played out. Unless a species is built with ideals of the intergration and/or has its proper foundation set then it can quickly spiral out of hand as you have to deal with " a hunded voices asking for one thing".

It is far easier to control and secure a foundational majority based off of one species as it can be more easily guided towards an established outcome.

Adding too many “outsiders” has the potential to cause an imbalance and a shift in thinking which then requires a new paradigm to “herd the sheep” as it were, while still trying to maintain a standard that the base species has become accustomed to.

If it not carefully controlled, it can potentially lead to a fracturing of opinion and thoughts which is a lot harder to manage and “guide” as one runs the risk of isolating one group and in doing so opening up the potential cascade of problems if the ignored minorities builds up steam which then forces leaders to contend with trying to figure out a way to maintain control over the many species bases while still doing it in a way that causes the least amount of disruption to their control.

It would be glorious but that level of attention to the art of “dancing” is a dying breed in games, personally a fan of the “one-stop drop shot” and the “fire man shuffle”

I will also say, the original Fallouts are games of its time. It sold itself off its narrative and as I am playing Fallout 2, it is still enjoyable but I do concede there are moments of frustration that one learns to work around.

It is not a perfect game, but it is a game that was written in a plausible manner that could be considered too real look at human nature at times and in the same breath going off the rails crazy with something out of pocket that can catch one off guard.

It does a great job of allowing one to make it their story, although some of the writing might not gel with everyone it at least framed it well in setting.

It think it gels well with people that can roleplay in a setting as even the combat logs have humour to it. It requires a lot of reading and the people in the videos look like clay dolls but it is bound to envoke something in someone if they are enjoying themselves playing these types of games.

The turn-based nature of the combat can turn people off, but I cannot deny the charm of running up to someone and giving them a concussion by wolloping their head and then going in to gouge their eyes to make them useless in combat and finishing them off with a shot to the groin.

You would have hated the original Stardew Valley Gramp Pa, would give you a stern talking too and declare his immeasurable disappointment (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I can somewhat understand though, I like the timer aspect even if I do not like the feeling of being “rushed”. But I understand, you would hate pathfinder:kingmaker though

I can see them doing a better job of it yes, they are probably the closest to understand the how the older Fallout works and already have experience making games like it too in a more modern setting

Thank you for more eloquently writing what I couldn’t really properly get out

There are things in Fallout 2 that stick with me since the first time I played it more than a decade ago because their are moments that feel impactful - it made me feel guilt for my actions, it made me laugh at something totally ridiculous and it has charm and subtlety that I feel Bethesda games struggle with.

I played and finished fallout 3 and new vegas, played a bit of 4 and besides New Vegas giving me some of that old fallout charm, it does not have as nearly as memorable moments that live rent free in my head

Fair enough, Fallout 2 at least did deal with a lot of dark themes that I don’t see Bethesda retreading.

In regards to the kids thing, there were ways around it, it was more an annoyance having to buy back stuff that got stolen if one didn’t take those precautions and on an evil playthrough could cut the pretense and do it without much consequence besides the perk reputation as the place was a craphole anyway.

The older fallouts needed one to get into the setting to start the ball rolling, it is not a pretty game and would not be above throwing the playable character in difficult situation if they didn’t prepare for it but it had a way with its writing that helped one to roleplay once one got to a point where one got established which is an older game paradigm that isn’t popular nowadays - building a reputation, and once you have one can start to interact with the world proper.

New Vegas scratches that itch, but isn’t completely the same

I suppose it is like playing a interactive book and then falling in love with the writing and systems that represented uncomfortable realities in an interesting way.

Bethesda’s version is toned down

• Cannot kill children in Bethesda games (without modding)
• Fallout 2 dealt with some realities of porn, learnt about terms like being a fluffer if are not fit for porn and if you had the skills it provided a pretty salicious perk image and a stage name among a couple of other changes. Sex referencing was used quite a lot in game - sometimes disturbingly so at times.
• Gravedigging fair enough, there is a perk one gets in fallout 2 that hits you with karma penalty when you do it but otherwise point taken
• Joining the slavers in Fallout 2, you get branded with a facial brand telling the waste “Look at me, I am a Slaver” which had the effect to lock a character out of quests and be automatically branded an enemy of the NCR - which is a choice that can be made in the second town.

I really would not like Bethesda level writing and character gating to muddy the classics. I seriously doubt it will do the old series justice with the level of inappropriate content.

Easiest examples being the thieving children in Fallout 2, it allowed you “solve” that problem if you didn’t have patience and got a negative quirk in the process.

A low intelligence run was almost a completely new experience with a different level of interaction that was tongue-in-cheek look at someone who really struggles with “standard” game narrative.

That not to mention how much of a mess it will be for bethesda to code for a player plus up to 5 party members per encounter ( making Charisma not a “dump” stat). I strongly doubt they can pull it off if it as a company is still struggling to make the player character plus 1 work smoothly.

I also feel that the old fallout’s sense of humour might not fly with today’s sensibilities specifically the level of objectification, a female character can use to their advantage or the level of “male power fantasy” with specific perks and SPECIAL loadout - which I am sure is something Bethesda will try to avoid as they seem to push for a more gamified systems.

And I really do not think they will be willing to make The Brotherhood play a minor role as they are like a “minor” faction that tries to avoid too much attention in setting in their mission to preserve the old tech from repeating the mistakes of the past

I strongly doubt Todd and his team are the right people to devote resources to truly capture the dark world of old fallout into a faithful reproduction. I think it would be toned down and would most likely follow a bethesda vision for the series.

Maybe I am being overly negative, but I feel even if they maybe revamped it with some prettier graphics and modern system sensibilities, it might still lose some of its soul in the process. I am willing to be proven wrong though

Thank you for the information

I guess that is for even older systems that one knows will run within the limitations of 32-bit systems but will not be negatively impacted by it?

The more I know, did throw me off though and changed the keyboard setting to US and haven’t had issues. At least all the other information will be to my liking so that is a happy accident at least.

Appreciate the information, thank you

Thank you for the link, I can definitely have a look at that to get better performance with limited resources

Thanks, and in regards to the sound I think it might be a failure of the mic itself and not a software thing ( seems to not pick up audio on two different devices - tried on one before and now again on the new install seems to be the case - audio just picks up a popping sound and not voice at all) . I probably need to look at a cheap one-off microphone to get me by. 2 Browser stuff is a bit harsh with only 2Gb - need to look at maybe getting firefox lite or something lightweight, but I can get used to 1 tab at a time, can think of it as an opportunity to try work towards something more, but overall pretty impressed by what it is able to accomplish with the old tech.

I feel I have been converted away from microsoft and like what I am seeing with Linux systems so far. I will likely consider it for future systems if I am able to get something more capable later down the line

Thanks I will have a look at it

Edit Exactly as you said, the language prompt that I thought as default language was the prompt for “keyboard language” during installation

Thanks again for the help