First new game on Ubuntu: Helldivers 2

 Starting with today's "shit state of the world" report... wait a minute, Ukraine aid has gotten through Congress, and Israel is making offers for a cease-fire in Gaza?  Well, it's a bit early to be calling either truly "good news", but one can hope, right?

Before I get into the main meat of this post, gotta give my updated take on Steam on Ubuntu in general.  The big thing being that, as of right now, anybody wanting to use Steam on Ubuntu should not use the "snap" version that Ubuntu offers as the "safe" version.  That's because at least one game, and likely more, misbehaves if you have that version of Steam installed, but works fine if you have Valve's official version installed - and since that game is No Man's Sky, that's kind of a big deal.  Other games I've tested include Bridge Constructor Portal and Everspace (both of which have Linux-native versions), as well as Skyrim, all without major issues beyond some graphics glitches when I try to push my APU a bit too hard.  Proton is a beautiful thing, and ProtonDB is a wonderful resource.

With a little experience under my belt, I felt safe enough to actually spend money on a new game, in this case Helldivers 2.  Yeah, I'm a little late to the party, but between making the move to a new PC and overcoming my resistance to having anything to do with Sony anything (see my earlier posts as to how I came to leave Playstation for XBox back in the day, if you're interested), I'm not feeling too bad about it.  Early is nice, but seeing how a business runs a game is nice too.

For those not in the know, Helldivers 2 is a futuristic third-person shooter set in a galaxy where you are fighting for "managed democracy" (read space-fascists) against hordes of alien creatures and automatons, in various missions with up to three other players.  Tonally, it's a weird sort of playing-it-straight-for-laughs setup, which is helped by two mechanical aspects of the game: all the missions are Player-versus-environment (PvE), and friendly fire is always on.  Part of the fun is just in avoiding (or not) taking out other players with some of the ludicrously powerful options at hand (think orbital strikes, auto-turrets, flamethrowers, that sort of thing).  And unlike most shooters, when you die, you don't magically respawn (or get brought back to life a la Destiny's space-zombie Guardians), but your replacement dives down onto the planet's surface... they may look a lot like your previous guy did, but the voice change and different patriotic "barks" make it clear that this is somebody entirely new.  The obvious reference point for all this madness is Starship Troopers, but it wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't some Paranoia in the mix as well.

So, how's it play on Ubuntu?  Pretty good, or, as one of the ProtonDB entries put it, it doesn't crash any more often here than on Windows.  I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but the whole at-my-computer-desk thing makes it harder to play for extended sessions, especially once cats get added to the equation.  If it ever comes to the XBox side of the console space, I might just buy it again for $40, just to play it over there... but I'm not holding my breath, and I'm damn well not buying any PlayStation console to play it on now - bad enough that I had to set up an account.  Overall, I'd generally recommend this, outside of those people I know that just wouldn't enjoy anything shooter-y.

A farewell to Windows

 So, to gloss over the increasingly shit state of the world... Ukraine's in ever-more-dire straits due to Russia's invasion (and Republican obstructionism here in the US isn't helping), Israel's not done with Gaza yet... and decided that attacking an Iranian embassy in another country would be a good move while they're already distracted, which Iran (reasonably) took issue with, and decided to respond with drone attacks on Israel last night.  Looks like things are heating up over there, here's hoping we all live through any further escalations.

While that's all going on, I (as usual) am focused closer to home.  In particular, Windows 10 is going away next year, and Windows 11 is a product I don't want in my day-to-day life (outside of work, of course, can't escape it there just yet).  Looking over all the software I use routinely, the only thing that Windows really brings to the table is the ability to use all of my Steam library - you know, that pile of games I've acquired over the years where I've tried things out briefly, then promptly set them aside to come back to some other day, which never comes.  Even cutting that down in half, I've got more games in there than I'm likely to ever come back to, and, courtesy of Steam's Steam Deck efforts, more and more of them can be played in Linux without major issue.  With that in mind, I've assembled a new "daily driver" for home that's just getting a Linux install - if I ever have a burning need for Windows, I can buy it then.

Mind you, that's a lovely idea in abstract, but how well that turns out depends greatly on the state of the Linux ecosystem these days.  With that in mind, I decided to go with Ubuntu... but I've also got some rather new hardware involved (AMD 8700G APU, woohoo!), so I thought going with the recently-released Ubuntu 24.04 Beta would be a good idea.  Long story short, no - this is a "true beta", not a marketing exercise, and it only took a couple of reinstalls for me to decide to move on.

Well, if the bleeding edge is out, then stability is the name of the game... so, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS it is.  The end result is... better, but nowhere near consumer-grade.  Just to call out the issues I've run into so far:  I had to install a terminal-based program to get my audio working properly (I've got a 5.1 sound system that I've used for decades); AMD's graphics hardware drivers involve installing a package using Ubuntu's built in tools... followed by a script in a terminal; Ubuntu's Steam package reacts badly to maximizing its window on the desktop (as in, nothing displays outside of the menu bar, even if you revert screen size); and my personal favorite, their preferred update method resides in their "store" app, which, when I try to update it, won't update because it's in use, and there's no method there to schedule updates for, say, the next restart cycle or anything like that.  All in all, it's easy to miss the (relative) polish the Windows experience provides these days... but it's not enough to make me switch back to Windows just yet.

It's the start of a new Linux adventure here.  Much as I like to keep things simple, especially when it comes to computer gear and the like, I have to admit to being a little excited to see how things go.

Mixed bag: terrible reality, too-good fantasy

 Over two months since I last posted?  That's a bit too long - things tend to back up and fester over those sorts of time frames - so, let's get cleared out a bit, hey?

First, yes, Israel/Hamas is still going on, and still causing untold horrors among the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.  Since both sides are basically full "we can't let the other side exist any longer", I don't expect to see that change any time soon, no matter what pressure anybody else brings to bear.

Then, there's Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  It's been two years since that mess started, and it's going much like I feared back when it started.  Hell, we're still finding new "sanctions" to apply against Russia two years on, which means what should have been a sharp rebuke has instead been a measured display of disapproval, which isn't going to dissuade anybody who's already initiated a war on their own.  Worse still, not having any "skin in the game" for this war means that it's more politically palatable for our own fifth-columnist party, the Republicans, to try and obstruct what little aid we would otherwise be giving.  And for anybody that disputes that characterization of Republicans, let me remind you that it's a bit over 3 years since they tried to overthrow the government, since when they have done exactly nothing to clean out their ranks, instead obstructing even basic functioning of the government in the House of Representatives... at this stage, anybody running for (re)election under the Republican banner is part of the problem, not the solution (unless you think the solution is overthrowing the government, of course).

Well, with all that off my chest, time for a bit of tonal whiplash.  I've played a bit more Baldur's Gate 3 (for those of you "in the know", I've made it across the lake in the Underdark), and I can safely say that, from all that I've seen so far, it's a good game.  A very good game.  Honestly, too good of a game.

What do I mean by that?  This is from the point of view of an older adult, so your mileage may vary, but this is the first game I've played in a long time that holds my attention strongly enough that I can't reliably stop a play session at a scheduled time - yes, basically every time I've played, I stayed up way past my bedtime.  So, being a "responsible" adult, that means that I can only really play BG3 on the weekend... and Friday nights are pretty well spoken for, so that really means Saturday night only.  But, life's never simple like that, so anything that disrupts that schedule (like, say, a return bout of COVID) means I have even less time to play.  In and of itself, a nuisance, but not like there's much to be done about it.

However, it gets worse.  As good as BG3 is, it impacts my ability to play even remotely similar games.  For example, I've still got Wildermyth listed in my "Games that have my attention" section, and it's true, I really do want to play more of that game... but, it's a party-based fantasy tactical combat game at its core, so all I would get out of it right now is a constant reminder that I'd rather be playing BG3.  It's not a total wash, since I can still play some more "sufficiently different" games like Starfield and Slipways to round out my gaming time, but it's a large footprint of my games that I'm basically locked out of until I either finish or grow less enamored of BG3.

So, that's where I'm seeing things now: real problems nationally and globally, while I deal with the very definition of "first world problems" in my play time locally.  Well, better days will come, I'm sure... but of course, I'd rather have those better days right now, thanks.

One more post, before the year is out

 The traditional acknowledgement of the shit state of parts of the world follows.  The Hamas/Israel thing is still going on (a pox on both their houses), and Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues (a pox on Russia, and Putin and his circle in particular).

Right, that out of the way, 2023 is coming to a close, and life is greatly unchanged for me, outside of a couple of bits in the gaming sphere.  As expected, an XBox gift card came my way from my brother, which I put towards finally picking up Baldur's Gate 3.  It's an unexpectedly large game, which forced me to make a decision.  Either Starfield or Destiny 2 needed to go, to make room on the limited drive space of the Series S.  I wrestled with that choice a bit, but, in the end, Destiny 2, in its current state, isn't really geared towards how I'm playing these days, so off it went.  Looks like it's been a bit over a year since I got back into Destiny 2, so it had a good run... and I'm definitely more interested in seeing what Bethesda does in coming weeks to shore up their latest game.

What about Baldur's Gate 3, you ask?  Well, I've hardly played enough yet to give a proper review, but I definitely like what I've seen so far.  Companions with issues, proper turn-based combat, wide ranges of choices to make, no matter how poor (let's just say I've ended up kissing a mind flayer, however unintentionally)... it's a wild ride, and it's hooked me deep enough for unintentional past-my-bedtime play sessions.  How much of that is, for lack of a better term, "nostalgic novelty", and how much is a really good game, I need more playtime to work out... but I'd lean in the good game direction, myself.

Well, that all said, goodbye 2023.  Let's see what the new year has to offer.

What's this? A way to get Bungie executives removed, you say?

 Before I revel in being a terrible person, here's the traditional report on people being terrible in Ukraine and Gaza.  In Ukraine, winter is setting in, so, likely, not a lot of news is going to come in on that front for a while... which is good, because we (USA and Europe, but mostly USA) can't seem to get our act together to keep Ukraine funded for their fight against Russian invaders.  Meanwhile, while there was a ceasefire and exchange of some hostages in Gaza, the fight is back on now... and apparently, the USA had to veto a resolution at the UN trying to force another ceasefire.  The UN is good for many things, but trying to decree the end of active fights, not so much.

Anyways, turning to something I might have a bit more influence over, it's the situation over at Destiny 2's developer Bungie.  According to reports from a couple of days back like this one, the amazingly tone-deaf behavior of Bungie's executive leadership team of late may be due in large part to a simple driver:  self-preservation.  Per reports, if Bungie doesn't make certain financial goals in short order, Sony can wipe out the current board and replace it with people of their own choosing.

Looking at that from a slightly different angle, one result I come up with is:  by not giving Bungie any money in the form of microtransactions or season/expansion purchases, I can do my part to usher the bad-for-customers-and-employees board members out the door.  There are a number of reasons why this isn't a sure-fire, unalloyed good of an action to take.  Most obviously, the current board is likely to cause even more chaos among the employees and players as they seek to avoid their fate.  Also, well, it's Sony who would set the rules thereafter, and they've demonstrated in the past that they're not the most customer-centric sorts either.  That all said, the current state of affairs for both players and employees is pretty bad, and Sony taking over direct control likely wouldn't be much worse (or, if it did become that much worse as an immediate result, it would be that much easier to walk away from the game).

So, yeah, I'm on board.  So long as nobody comes up with a compelling reason otherwise, count me in the camp of "I'm not giving Bungie any money until their current board is removed."  Will that happen before the next expansion launches later next year?  I'm hopeful (the sooner the better, really), but we'll see.

Wildermyth - where did those hours get off to, anyways?

 So, again, Ukraine and Gaza are still ongoing things, but no major changes of late, so we'll leave that there.

Meanwhile, here I am, just two weeks after praising Liberté, supplanting it on my "games that have my attention" list with Wildermyth (Compatibility: Verified), a tactical RPG more in line with games like Disgaea 2 (which I also, reluctantly, dropped from the list for now).  Am I just that fickle, or is Wildermyth just that good?  Arguably, both explanations are valid, but let's focus on how good the game is.  At a glance, it doesn't look like much, due to its "papercraft" style.  Watch or play a bit of it, however, and the good (maybe even unique) bits come to the fore fairly quickly.

Let's start with the more mechanical aspects of the game first.  Your party in any given encounter consists of up to 5 characters, each representing one of three classes.  There's warriors, your standard hit-things-with-big-weapons sorts.  There's hunters, your "good with a bow, but also able to sneak in close" sorts.  Finally there's mystics, who are not your standard fireball-slinging magicians - rather, they're "environmental" magicians, able to "interfuse" with different parts of the environment to produce a range of effects, centered or originating from the pieces they've interfused with.  Just to give one go-to example from my playtime, interfusing with stone things always gives you an option to use an action to chuck a stone discus from that item as a direct attack... however, depending on the skills your mystic has learned, you might also get a passive bonus just for having that interfusion, or be able to create stone walls, or help protect your other characters actively or passively, that sort of thing.

Combine that with a simple grid-based tactical system, where characters lining up next to each other provides a small defensive bonus, while attacking an enemy from multiple directions improves your chances of hitting them, and you end up with a lovely little tactical puzzle for each combat encounter.  Compared to something like Disgaea 2, it's a lot simpler to keep track of your options with a limited number of characters, while the customization of each character still lets them feel like more than "standard third-level fighter".  If this were the whole of the game, it might get easy to get bored after an hour or two, but that's just the start.

You see, each game of Wildermyth is a story of sorts, with a chapter-based setup, and an overworld where non-combat things usually dominate.  Traveling from one region to the next takes time, as does things like patrolling, building defenses against incursions of monsters, establishing outposts for crafting resources, and, especially importantly, recruiting.  After all, people die, or they grow old and need to retire from an adventuring life.  Plus, while the most you can have in a party is 5 characters, that's not to say that you can only have one party - and sometimes, for various reasons, you might only want (or be able to support) three or fewer characters on a particular task - maybe you don't want a full group bogged down while getting your newest recruit up to speed, so they're not just a farmer with a pitchfork out in the wide world facing horrible beasties.  Or maybe a bridge needs built or a mountain pass needs work.  Or maybe, there's a side story that's popped up that's tied to one of your characters.

And there is the real thing that elevates this game above most similar things, the stories.  Usually, there's an overarching story to attend to, but it's not the story.  Things come up during gameplay, and it's not in the form of a quest-giver with a question mark over their head.  Rather, sometimes, things just come up, depending in part on where your group is and what they're doing, and how you react to those events can have a big influence on how your game goes from there.  Just as an example, one event that came up on two games I've played has your group stumbling across a hill that's been shaped to resemble the head of a wolf.  You climb up and don't find anything, but then there's a bit of godly rumblings followed by a voice talking to your hunter about a pact their ancestors made, which you kind of have to acknowledge when the god's name comes unbidden to their lips.  In my first game, my options were to basically either have the hunter offer themselves up to receive the change the god offered, or for the warrior accompanying them to object strongly and loudly.  I went with the flow, and my hunter transformed into a wolf-man, gaining the ability to bite opponents on top of their usual attacks.  The second game, I had a mystic along for the ride, who condescendingly spoke of the "Woof-god" that he had tried to bargain with before, but admitted their faithful made some nice things, which resulted in the hunter getting a wolf-head amulet with some bonuses.

All in all, it's an amazing little bundle of a game.  If anything, the only thing I could point to as dragging it down a bit is that I'm pretty sure it's not an English-first game, and some of the translations are a bit clumsy.  Even with that, what I intended to be a quick "let's fire this game up and see what it's about" session turned into 10-12 hours of straight playtime (excluding the time needed midway to install it on my Steam Deck so I could play it on my couch more readily).  As long as you aren't scared off by anything turn-based, I heartily recommend giving this game a try.

Liberté - a lovely mix of horrors

 The world continues to burn in Ukraine and Gaza, but those horrors are too real and too fresh to be in any way "entertaining".  How about a nice mix of French Revolution horrors and Lovecraftian horrors instead?

Liberté (Compatibility: Verified) is just such a mix.  In an alternate-universe France, around the time-period of our French Revolution, King Louis has died and the crown prince is going through his coronation, when a giant "monster" appears, wreaks havoc, takes the crown, and disappears.  You awaken in the rubble, with a bit of the ol' amnesia at play, get identified as one of the Rebels, hack down a few soldiers with your rapier... and are led to meet with what's left of the monster.  One thing leads to another, you rescue a few more Rebels from the Monarchists, slip away to get the monster quietly established underground (running into (and through) a few Inquisitors of the Congregation in the process), whereupon you get the guiding quest for the rest of the game.  The monster (which calls itself Lady Bliss) sees itself as an agent of balance, while the world its in is wildly out of balance (there's a definite ecological aspect involved as well).  They want you to go out into Paris, which is in the throes of revolution, and ingratiate yourself with each of the four major factions involved (mainly by slaughtering loads of their enemy of choice at the moment), learn what truly drives each of them, and find someone worthy to receive the crown from Lady Bliss.

Now, that's a fun enough combination of ideas to begin with, but honestly it's not that much to hang a compelling rogue-lite game from on its own.  In particular, there's nothing there to justify central mechanics like reviving after dying to start a new run... or so I thought, until I died the first time.  Turns out, you're more pod-person than human, you just absorbed the appearance and memories of an unlucky Rebel named Rene, and you are sufficiently "attached" to Lady Bliss that she can squirt out a new clone of you whenever you die - and you don't have to come back as Rene, if you have unlocked access to other forms while getting in good with the factions.  So, handily, that not only covers respawning, but also different weapons and combat styles to experiment with.

All in all, it's a fun setup for a game, and I'll get some mileage out of it... but it's also fair to note that I likely won't see everything it has to offer.  The gameplay I've seen so far is what I would call "thoroughly adequate", consisting mostly of fights against a few enemy types per faction in fairly close quarters.  In part, that's because most of the fights happen in the streets of Paris, which tend to be pretty repetitive.  In fact there are some maps that, from what I could see, take advantage of your inability to move the camera to present themselves as a different map by simply rotating the map a bit.  Combine that with different "world tiers" that it offers when you go to select a mission, with each tier mainly increasing the difficulty level of the enemies, and it's clear that the intent of the game is for you to get to know the patterns of the enemies over many multiple plays... and, much like souls-likes, I doubt I have the patience.  But, who knows, maybe the story of Lady Bliss infesting everything while the various factions squabble with each other will be enough to keep bringing be back for one more run.