Isolation: Any Gamers? Even Old Ones?

He, my 1060 was also making loud noises under load so I went for a 2070 Super. Pleased with the results so far.

Getting a new GPU can be like getting a new computer sometimes - especially if you can take advantage of the visual upgrade.
 
Half way through Doom Eternal. Fantastic shooter, takes everything from 2016 and turned it up to 11.

My gtx 970 is feeling long in the tooth, still managed high setting on Eternal (which is medium because it goes low < medium < high < ultra < ultra nightmare). Very long lasting for a very low price of £230 black friday deal on the year it was released. That means it's now 5.5 years old card, I estimate it has mined about £100 using my excess and free solar power.

I'm also eyeing up VR, Specifically for Half Life Alyx. After talking to some people more with VR experience, I've decided VR is best to try before buy. A friend of mine has full blown Valve Index and brand new PC built for HL Alyx (we are huge Valve fans), so when this is over, I hope to try it on his setup first. nVidia is said to release new rtx 3000 series in September, so that's when I'll upgrade my PC for HL Alyx.
 
Played nearly all the FP Shooters single player over the years, my wife is an avid Lara Croft player plus others....all games completed except the final 'Shadow'.
Sadly I am stuck in Battle Field Bad Company as my reactions are shot and my wife can't finish her final TR due to the shakes!!
What a pair of poor old souls we are but at least we have had our share:LOL:

PS. Would love to have a go at Alyx as I've completed all the other Half Life games...but the cost just isn't worth it in my case!
 
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We are big fans of half life as well unfortunately my PC is too old now for gaming, out of date, we have played on Xbox for a few years now
Having a his and hers gaming PC just isn’t an option
 
I'm in my 60's been playing games for yonks and pretty much owned most of the consoles over the years and am currently the owner of a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One X. I'm a big fan of the cinematic story and character driven games I enjoy getting lost in the worlds they create. My favourite of all time is probably the Mass Effect series, I've lost count of the times I've played that through, even writing about it now is making my trigger finger itch, perhaps one more play through :).

Others I rank high on my list are, in no particular order, Gears of War, The Last of Us, Halo, Witcher 3 and all the Uncharted Series. Recently I've enjoyed playing Control by Remedy. I also liked the Half Life games and the new one is probably the only current game that would tempt me to try VR, but I'm not gonna buy a PC just for that one game. Could be tempted if MS brought out a VR set for the new upcoming Series X though.
 
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jakeblu said:
I'm in my 60's been playing games for yonks and pretty much owned most of the consoles over the years and am currently the owner of a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One X. I'm a big fan of the cinematic story and character driven games I enjoy getting lost in the worlds they create. My favourite of all time is probably the Mass Effect series, I've lost count of the times I've played that through, even writing about it now is making my trigger finger itch, perhaps one more play through :).

Others I rank high on my list are, in no particular order, Gears of War, The Last of Us, Halo, Witcher 3 and all the Uncharted Series. Recently I've enjoyed playing Control by Remedy. I also liked the Half Life games and the new one is probably the only current game that would tempt me to try VR, but I'm not gonna buy a PC just for that one game. Could be tempted if MS brought out a VR set for the new upcoming Series X though.
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I'm more of a retro gamer and I enjoy platform, puzzle, side/vertical scrolling shooting games. So I haven't been that interested in recent versions of the Xbox and PlayStation, as they don't have a vast library of the games I enjoy. That was until, I was able to demo some V.R. stuff on the PS4, and wow! - my mind was blown. I bought myself a PS4 Pro and the VR kit because the experience was so intense.

Maybe as you already own a PS4 Pro, you could consider the PlayStation VR set up? I know that it isn't as good as a high end PC VR rig, but it is still compelling.
 
I've spent the last few days becoming more and more obsessed with Factorio. 46hrs in the last 4 days have been spent building a huge spaghetti mess of a factory.
 
cpuk1983 said:
I've spent the last few days becoming more and more obsessed with Factorio. 46hrs in the last 4 days have been spent building a huge spaghetti mess of a factory.
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That's Factorio for you! I have a shameful 1500 hours in that game. Replayability is brill. Finished the game? How about a "No Spoon" run, or a "Lazy Ba$tard" run, or a modpack...
 
Uncle Fester said:
I'm more of a retro gamer and I enjoy platform, puzzle, side/vertical scrolling shooting games. So I haven't been that interested in recent versions of the Xbox and PlayStation, as they don't have a vast library of the games I enjoy. That was until, I was able to demo some V.R. stuff on the PS4, and wow! - my mind was blown. I bought myself a PS4 Pro and the VR kit because the experience was so intense.

Maybe as you already own a PS4 Pro, you could consider the PlayStation VR set up? I know that it isn't as good as a high end PC VR rig, but it is still compelling.
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There was nothing on the PS4 VR that interested me to be honest, it also seemed a lot of money for something I would rarely use. Mind you, thats the case with the PS4, I mostly play on the Xbox, with the PS4 primarily for the very few exclusives they have that I want to play.
 
Harlequin565 said:
That's Factorio for you! I have a shameful 1500 hours in that game. Replayability is brill. Finished the game? How about a "No Spoon" run, or a "Lazy Ba$tard" run, or a modpack...
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It's one of those games ive had for ages on my account and barely played, taken some real time to learn it and can't believe what I've been missing out on.
 
I've beat Doom Eternal campaign. It was epic :D Highly recommend this to any FPS fan, especially fans of old school shooters.

I also managed to put an order in for Oculus Quest VR headset at John Lewis, dispatched and delivering tomorrow. It's out of stock everywhere, 25% or more inflated price on eBay. If VR isn't for me, I can still sell it without loosing any money.
HLAlyx already bought and downloading on Steam. Let's see how well my 2011 i7 2700k (req i5 7500), and 2014 GTX 970 4GB (req 1060 6GB) will handle this 2020 game. People have managed to play HLAlyx on this graphics card. Still planning to wait end of the year for release of RTX 3000 and newer Ryzen to completely upgrade my PC.

jakeblu said:
Recently I've enjoyed playing Control by Remedy.
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Have you played Alan Wake and Quantum Break by same company? They are all fantastic story driven cinematic games.
 
wyx087 said:
I've beat Doom Eternal campaign. It was epic :D Highly recommend this to any FPS fan, especially fans of old school shooters.

I also managed to put an order in for Oculus Quest VR headset at John Lewis, dispatched and delivering tomorrow. It's out of stock everywhere, 25% or more inflated price on eBay. If VR isn't for me, I can still sell it without loosing any money.
HLAlyx already bought and downloading on Steam. Let's see how well my 2011 i7 2700k (req i5 7500), and 2014 GTX 970 4GB (req 1060 6GB) will handle this 2020 game. People have managed to play HLAlyx on this graphics card. Still planning to wait end of the year for release of RTX 3000 and newer Ryzen to completely upgrade my PC.


Have you played Alan Wake and Quantum Break by same company? They are all fantastic story driven cinematic games.
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Think you'll need the pc cable to go along with the Oculus Quest to play Half Life.
The rift S is the one that connects to the pc, the quest is a standalone unit primarily.
 
PaulF said:
Think you'll need the pc cable to go along with the Oculus Quest to play Half Life.
The rift S is the one that connects to the pc, the quest is a standalone unit primarily.
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Yes, you are correct. The Anker cable recommended by Oculus has already been delivered. I've also set up ALVR to try playing wirelessly.

The i7 2700k is said to be less than 10% slower than i5 7500 at stock speed for single core, multi-core i7 is still faster. I've applied 30% overclock to my 2700k to compensate.
The GTX 970 4GB is said to be around 10% slower than 1060 6GB in games at stock speed. I've got a stable 6% on top of 10% factory-overclock.
Only deficiency will be on the amount of VRAM. I'm willing to drop resolution scaling factor to see if it helps. Target is only 72Hz, lower than 80Hz of Rift S or 90Hz for Vive.
 
wyx087 said:
Have you played Alan Wake and Quantum Break by same company? They are all fantastic story driven cinematic games.
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Played them both, great games. Alan Wake seems like years ago now and I really enjoyed Quantum Break even though it received a mixed reception. Both are my type of games. Remedy of course did the Max Payne games and I loved the first. I'm a big fan of action games with a supernatural element.
 
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RM Tracked 48 ended up taking almost a week to get here, My Oculus Quest VR headset was sent on Saturday, delivered on Friday. On the bright side, I was able to play loads over the weekend.

The recommended link cable isn’t recognised by Oculus software, might be because the motherboard isn’t charging the headset for some strange reason. Also might be dodgy cable (it's their recommended Anker cable, and data confirmed working), might be Intel 2000 CPU chipset is too old.... too many unknowns. My hardware is below minimum by both Oculus and Half Life Alyx standards.


Fortunately I was still able to play HLAlyx wirelessly using free ALVR, within line of sight to the router. Playing on low setting, game still looks immense. So far, only noticing a few dropped frames with hologram in Russell’s lab. Everywhere else it’s butter smooth and very immersive. On chapter 4 now.
Controller tracking is spot on, the touch controller feels natural. Flick and grab works great. I’ll get a strap to allow Valve Index-like grip release for granade throws.

Overall very happy with Oculus Quest. It's a fantastic all-in-one headset for abstract games (eg. Beat Saber, Superhot), it can also double as wireless PC VR headset for truly wireless immersive experience. Not having wires to trip over is so liberating, and built-in games works anywhere, allowing total freendom.


I think my experience shows VR gaming actually isn't too expensive. £400 on Oculus Quest headset, I'd say it delivers 75% full VR experience, excellent for most VR games except those going for graphics immersion. The wireless experience works out of the box and is cheaper than PSVR+wand hardware (which doesn't work without a PS4). Then, for immersive PC VR, I'm playing the very latest 2020 AAA VR game using a 2014 higher-mid-tier graphics card in a computer originally built in 2012. All these parts would cost no more than £300 second hand these days.
 
I'm an older gamer, as in, haven't had a modern console (Xbox/PS) for years although I do have a switch. Recently picked up the Xbox one X and honestly, I remember why modern gaming frustrates me. Downloaded the update whilst I was working today for COD. Thought I would have a quick game this evening whilst I had half an hour spare so renewed my LIVE subscription (another cost) and went to play and realised I had to hard restart the console. New I need to download another 18GB pack so won't be doing anything tonight.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I'm an older gamer, as in, haven't had a modern console (Xbox/PS) for years although I do have a switch. Recently picked up the Xbox one X and honestly, I remember why modern gaming frustrates me. Downloaded the update whilst I was working today for COD. Thought I would have a quick game this evening whilst I had half an hour spare so renewed my LIVE subscription (another cost) and went to play and realised I had to hard restart the console. New I need to download another 18GB pack so won't be doing anything tonight.
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I've had Rainbow 6 Siege on the PC and some of the updates are big, the last update a few weeks ago was over 60GB :eek:
 
gman said:
I've had Rainbow 6 Siege on the PC and some of the updates are big, the last update a few weeks ago was over 60GB :eek:
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Good lord. And I thought a 6Gb patch for Mount & Blade II was a pain...
 
I’ve just finished the Final Fantasy 7 remake and kind of devastated that I’ve spent 60 quid for 1/4 or 1/3 of a game. Plus in all likelihood the character progress won’t be carried over to part 2, which will be another 60 quid.

But I’ll have to buy it because the remake of the first part is out of this world.
 
Pete R said:
I’ve just finished the Final Fantasy 7 remake and kind of devastated that I’ve spent 60 quid for 1/4 or 1/3 of a game. Plus in all likelihood the character progress won’t be carried over to part 2, which will be another 60 quid.

But I’ll have to buy it because the remake of the first part is out of this world.
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I'm also noticing a lot of games are pretty much still beta when they are released and charged at full price. Then there's a horde of DLC which quickly follows at a cost when it should really have been part of the original game in the first place! It's crazy that DLC comes out so quickly.

Don't get me started on microtransactions.
 
There was supposed to be a culling of micro transactions but as you say they seem to be becoming a regular feature again, pay to win essentially. Totally wrong.
 
OMG they use some ancient and insane CAPTCHA and it constantly calls for you to prove you are not a bot, otherwise you can't play.

It's a combination of multiple selection which takes you on to more and more of them and then you get the ones where you click the image and they slowly (and I mean SLOOOOOWLY) fade out to another image and keeps going for ages. Then, it will end as if all is well and you click login and it goes through the whole CAPTCHA process again lol There are times when there are clearly no required images yet it says you've got it wrong. And even when it's all eventually accepted, it will then tell you that it can't log you in for some unknown reason.

I'm so glad I didn't pay money for this. Uninstalling it soon.
 
gman said:
OMG they use some ancient and insane CAPTCHA and it constantly calls for you to prove you are not a bot, otherwise you can't play.

It's a combination of multiple selection which takes you on to more and more of them and then you get the ones where you click the image and they slowly (and I mean SLOOOOOWLY) fade out to another image and keeps going for ages. Then, it will end as if all is well and you click login and it goes through the whole CAPTCHA process again lol There are times when there are clearly no required images yet it says you've got it wrong. And even when it's all eventually accepted, it will then tell you that it can't log you in for some unknown reason.

I'm so glad I didn't pay money for this. Uninstalling it soon.
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Wowcher. Meanwhile after a day of "bandwidth is limited to your area" I'm at 67%. And I'm starting to think I don't particularly want to play GTA5 anyway.
 
I got in fine today, although the CAPTCHA is still a little bit of a pain. I suspect they are looking at the full size photo was designing it and then shrink it and reduce the quality, not realising that you now can't see that for hydrant 500m away.

It's good fun, although like the previous ones the open work novelty wears off fast because about 95% of buildings you can't get into. It's a little repetitive. Huge map, excellent visuals and weather effects etc. Lots of nice little touches, especially with the audio.

I think following the story is the best way to play it once you explore the map.
 
Went back and played phantom pain a few weeks back on pc
 
Just completed Lone Echo, that was a very special and emotional experience. This game is totally up there with Half Life Alyx as one of best VR game and amonst best games I've ever played.

So far, my top 5 VR games:
1. Half Life Alyx
1. Lone Echo
3. Moss
4. Pistol Whip
5. Super Hot

Boneworks is nice, but most of the time I wish it would dial back physics for more polish. But this is probably due to HLAlyx is polished to perfection.
Distant last: Doom VFR. It's worse than original Doom natively on Quest!
 
Always been a gamer here.

Games currently on my PC at the moment

Derail Valley
Mirror's Edge
Amnesia 1 & 2
Oxygen Not Included
DiRT4
Euro Truck Simulator 2
American Truck Simulator
The Gold Club 2019 Feauting PGA Tour
Ori and the Blind Forest
theHunter Call of the Wild
Farming Simulator 2019
SnowRunner
Maneater
TT Isle of Man - Ride on the Edge 2
Wolcen Lords of Mayhem
Car Mechanic 2018
Wreckfest
House Flipper

I'm in a VTC (Virtual Trucking Company) for Euro Truck). Amazing community.

I'm on the pc every day and I'm sick of it. I'm trying to get out more.
At some point I may give up gaming altogether and concentrate on photography.
 
Just put 4 hours in today playing The Last of Us 2 Amazing game
 
Xbox user but really only play fps games online.
Been on pubg for near on 3 years exclusively but it’s dying abit now they added bots.
Nothing worse really tempts me either after playing pubg, war zone was to arcade with to much bullet sponging.

Not even sure if I will pick up the new Xbox this year.. I always say that and end up with it though.
 
pmac said:
Xbox user but really only play fps games online.
Been on pubg for near on 3 years exclusively but it’s dying abit now they added bots.
Nothing worse really tempts me either after playing pubg, war zone was to arcade with to much bullet sponging.

Not even sure if I will pick up the new Xbox this year.. I always say that and end up with it though.
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I'm mostly an xbox player, only bought the PS4 for the uncharted's and TLOU.
 
Just had my third go at getting No Mans Sky to a point where I'm not horribly confused by controls & stuff.

'Finished' the story tonight and thought it was great. Very pretty game if you have the hardware. "The best camera is F12" :)

20201009193845_1.jpg
 
Didn't know there's a story mode!

I had been meaning to get into that game. How did you get into it?

I only tried once in VR, but controls felt horribly complicated.
 
I'm so close to getting VR, probably the Quest 2 but it still seems like there's only a handful of good games?
 
wyx087 said:
Didn't know there's a story mode!

I had been meaning to get into that game. How did you get into it?

I only tried once in VR, but controls felt horribly complicated.
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I bought it on sale a year ago (IIRC). I found the flight controls awful until I messed around with the sensetivity. I also cannot fly in 1st person mode and have everything 3rd person.

Flight Controls: Locked/Normal
Smoothing 20
Look Sensetivity 15
Flight Sensetivity 40

The UI and game mechanics are janky, but the tutorial teaches you *how* to do it, and then I went on YouTube to find out *why* I should do it.
I don't think there's a story mode per se, but I followed the "Artemis Path" missions without getting sidetracked by secondary things.

I think any VR game would make me want to vom. I can't manage any game with a first person view. Am glad this isn't VR exclusive and plays perfectly well with KB & Mouse.
 
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