I Had a Random Thought (About Video Games)

[Zeusthecat]

Zeus, you have you own house, right? Is this a dedicated media room that you could potentially soundproof?

 

I have the same problem. I hate watching modern action movies because everybody talks in low, gravely voices so that I have to turn up the volume, but explosions are so incredibly loud that I have to turn it down. The same goes for the shotgun in Spelunky. I frequently play that game with the music down but the effects up so that I can listen to podcasts while still being able to hear where the dog is hiding, but that shotgun is so damn loud

 

Yeah, fortunately my home is my own. But unfortunately, it has the whole "open floor plan" setup. So my living room bleeds into the entry way with an open stairwell to the second floor and literally no walls to block the sound from making its way to the second floor. Our bedroom is right at the top of the stairwell and to make matters worse, we have to leave the door open when we sleep or else Zeus will just sit there meowing to get in if he is out and meowing to get out if he is in.

 

Fucking cats and open floor plans.

 

Edit: And yeah Twig, I've definitely resorted to the headphone thing in some cases but I just don't like using headphones if I don't have to.

[SilentBtAmazing]

I feel you dude, I have the exact same problem.

Also I wear glasses right before bed and have a large noggin, so headphones inevitably turn uncomfortable.

[Golden Calf]

Along those lines, why do so many games not have a global volume slider in addition to their music/voice/ambiance/whatever ones?

 

I don't want to have to adjust them all. It's such an easy thing to program!

[Griddlelol]

The addition of headphone jacks to controllers in this generation of consoles is just about the greatest thing ever. 

[kaputt]

The addition of headphone jacks to controllers in this generation of consoles is just about the greatest thing ever. 

Does this work on PC as well (assuming you have a PS4 and a PC)? I was thinking about buying a huge-ass cable just to plug my headphones on the PC, but this would be a much better solution.

[JonCole]

They're still unofficial drivers, so I believe that pretty much none of the extraneous features of the controller are accessible. Namely, gyro, accelerometer, rumble (not 100% on rumble). I think the touchpad can be mapped as a mouse-type thing. I haven't seen anyone try to plug headphones into the controller, as it seems an edge case.

[Griddlelol]

Not that I'm aware of. I tried it with a usb connected PS4 controller and nothing happened, but maybe with updated versions of the driver software it could. Similarly, I've not tried with an xbone controller because I don't own one, so that could work (if it has the jack). 

[tegan]

So I was just thinking a little while ago: you know the dumb assumption that because "not-games" are a thing it means that "real games" are threatened? Well, does that mean that the people who think that think if they got their way, the people making "not-games" would make "real games" instead?

 

"David Cage should go back to making REAL games like he used to. Where's my Cheese Cat-Astrophe starring Speedy Gonzales 2?"

[Bjorn]

I got in the PS3 Nav controller today.  I very briefly messed around with it late this evening, played a single match of ME3 MP and a bit of Torchlight 2.  I like it, a lot!  It's very comfortable and well designed.  In a third person shooter like ME3, it feels superior to using a keyboard.  In something like Torchlight, it wasn't necessarily more functional (pretty much equivalent to KB), but is so much more comfortable to make it a no brainer.  I easily see it replacing my keyboard for most KB/M games. 

 

I didn't do a ton of research on drivers or software.  I just grabbed this to try, which makes windows see PS3 controllers as a 360 pad (including seeing the Nav as just a regular controller).  This makes it super easy to use with Xpadder. 

[miffy495]

I already have all of these things, except the bluetooth dongle. How tough was this to set up?

[tegan]

Did you get any weird mouse acceleration stuff? Like, is your PC registering the Nav controller as actual analog input and the mouse as a second analog stick? Or the Nav controller as digital keyboard inputs? Or some other weird thing like that?

[JonCole]

If I'm not mistaken, the nav controller pairs exactly like a PS3 controller would (they use the same driver), so the analog stick would function just as a left analog stick would in a game. I think the mouse functions just like a mouse, the driver doesn't force it to act like a stick. So I don't think this would work in games where it forces a single control method, only in ones that would let you use the aforementioned controller in one hand, mouse in the other.

[tegan]

My one problem playing Saints Row with Xbox + mouse was that the onscreen button prompts would change depending on whether I had last used the mouse or the controller. Ideally I'd want something that always displayed the right prompts.

[Bjorn]

I already have all of these things, except the bluetooth dongle. How tough was this to set up?

 

It was really painless to set up over USB, I haven't actually tried Bluetooth yet.  I just wanted to play with it a bit last night, but was super tired, and decided against adding the extra layer of making sure the Bluetooth worked as well.

 

 

Did you get any weird mouse acceleration stuff? Like, is your PC registering the Nav controller as actual analog input and the mouse as a second analog stick? Or the Nav controller as digital keyboard inputs? Or some other weird thing like that?

 

Neither ME3 nor Torchlight 2 natively support controllers at all, I was just using Xpadder to map keyboard keys to it (Xpadder sees it as a 360 controller with the drivers I linked to).  So there was no possible conflict with the mouse.  For games that only allow one input method, that would obviously be a problem, but there's likely a work around to get around that (like I know I've just stripped out all the mappings for a controller in game before and setup Xpadder because the in-game mappings were somehow screwy). 

[JonCole]

Guys, Deus Ex Human Revolution is still super good. Just in case you were wondering.

[tegan]

Neither ME3 nor Torchlight 2 natively support controllers at all, I was just using Xpadder to map keyboard keys to it (Xpadder sees it as a 360 controller with the drivers I linked to).  So there was no possible conflict with the mouse.  For games that only allow one input method, that would obviously be a problem, but there's likely a work around to get around that (like I know I've just stripped out all the mappings for a controller in game before and setup Xpadder because the in-game mappings were somehow screwy). 

 

Could you try it with a shooter or something that natively supports analog stick input to see how it responds? I'm interested in trying it myself if it feels okay.

[Bjorn]

Could you try it with a shooter or something that natively supports analog stick input to see how it responds? I'm interested in trying it myself if it feels okay.

 

Yeah, I'll be happy to.  It might be a couple of days though, not anticipating much gaming time in the next day or two.

[clyde]

I would be willing to call myself a "ludo solitairist" instead of a "gamer"(emphasis on single-player) if it was pronounced "soul-lit-tar-ist"; that would sound classy.

[melmer]

The new 'Alone in the dark' game can be played co-op with up to 4 people.

[SuperBiasedMan]

The new 'Alone in the dark' game can be played co-op with up to 4 people.

 

Is it called '4lone in the Dark'?

[chummer]

Guys, Deus Ex Human Revolution is still super good. Just in case you were wondering.

 

Ah! Just downloaded this the other day to play it again. Need to pick up that director's cut DLC as well.

[Griddlelol]

I made a spreadsheet of all the games I want. The idea is to save money by only buying one per month, forcing me to wait for sales on others. I've noticed 2 things:

 

1) Holy shit, the WiiU has some good games coming.

2) Why is everything crammed between September and November?

[Nappi]

2) Why is everything crammed between September and November?

 

Because of Christmas, probably. It is always like that and annoying.

[Justin Leego]

Uhhh so I was wondering... what would people think about having a general Idle Thumbs Plays megathread for finding regularly occurring multiplayer sessions?

 

Been thinking about a couple of topics that came up in the last few pages of the Life thread, this here I Had a Random Video Game Thought thread, and Introverts, social anxiety and video games: finding opportunities to form friendships, hang out with people you like, and play multiplayer games in hospitable and understanding environments.

 

I mean, I know I have a load of Thumbs on my friends lists but, regrettably, hardly ever (if at all) play with you fine guys and girls. I'd certainly like to when there's time and opportunity.

 

For example, across the community right now we have GTA Mondays and there was a good run of regular Payday 2 nights recently too. Then there's Clyde's 50 Short Games By The Catamites club.

 

On top of that, there are loads of free MMOs, commonly owned or bundled games, or sale / bargain bin regulars floating around that can be a lot more fun with friends. Plus having a sort of "here's what's on this week" might be a bit more functional than scouring the relevant multiplayer ID thread for people you think are cool / might be playing a game you enjoy.

 

So why not see if we can get a schedule of regular days and times set up, making it easier to find people to play with?

[Apelsin]

Sounds good to me!