Topic: PC Gaming Thread - page 14. (Read 14350 times)

Dota 2, Sleeping dogs, Just cause 1 & 2, Mafia 1 & 2 and battlefield.

It will be a bit slower (it's dependent on a lot of things and can vary a lot game-by-game, sometimes even unplayable or with some annoying glitches esp. with display) and is generally inadvisable unless you're using pirated software. For mods, I really wouldn't worry about running in VM, especially given how old most mods are for the games you're considering. The "good mods" have probably been downloaded 50k+ times by now over a couple years, at least (pirated software often is, too, though, though sometimes those stats are artificially inflated by malware distributors). Obviously, it's still not 100% safe, so it's up to you.

One of the alternatives is to run sensitive software (like crypto wallets) in a VM when needed rather than running GPU-intensive software on the VM, given GPU drivers are allegedly more finicky. I've heard there's malware in the wild affecting VM-running PCs going both ways (affecting main OS if malware is executed in VM under certain conditions and vice versa), so it's still not 100% safe. I've never actually heard from someone affected by something as sophisticated. You're going out of my area of interest/"expertise," though.

If you're looking to be risk-free, I'd suggest just buying before trying. The chance of getting a mod with malware while using NMM and maybe a script extender is pretty darn close to 0% while I'd say pirated software with many downloads has a malware payload chance closer to .1% based on personal experiences.

OTOH with VMs, it's sometimes, of course, essential to use it, especially when playing older games and sometimes with emulators. If you're on Win7+, for example, you'd probably want to have a copy of WinXP on hand to use play your older games. WinXP is generally a solid choice for games in VM given its relatively low resource usage (esp. if you can find a lite version) and high compatibility.

Is running games in a VM a viable option? That sounds like it might be good. I'd be afraid of it being a bit slow though.

That's another great thing about NMM. Aside from their own moderation, you generally don't have any kind of files which can carry effective malware being used, but rather just changes to game assets. The only executables you ever may have to touch might be a script extender, like SKSE for Skyrim, but these have all been around for a good many years. If you're going to pirate games, though, it's definitely reasonable to run them in VM.

I talked to a scene group a few months ago going over the risk of "fake" scene releases carrying a malware payload (since they don't even sign their releases), and though they're fairly large, they've said it literally hasn't come up, which I've found very surprising given distribution to consumers generally happens on third-party sites like TPB rather than on the scene sites which often still rely on ancient usenet-type technology. What generally happens (if anything, and usually not), they say, is that another group plagiarizes their DRM-circumventions and just changes the loader to show the "faker scene's" name. They still give the cookie-cutter "users need to be responsible for whatever they run on their machine, and diligently check it" response, though.

I would pirate it and try it out before I bought it on steam or something but since I regularly use bitcoin on my computer I don't touch anything that might have malware.

Even the thought of buying it and downloading all these third party mods makes me scared.

I need to set up two separate computers I guess. One for gaming/entertainment and a secure one for email/bitcoin ect.

HOMM series is awesome. Give Armored Princess a try if you're itching for more of the same (though AP lacks the empire-building aspect). Alternately, as someone who also loves HOMM, you might enjoy the Paradox Interactive catalog. I don't think I could recommend them enough to "thoughtful" gamers willing to lose themselves in online wikis (well, outside Dwarf Fortress, which is unfortunately [for me] gearing itself toward Adventure Mode improvements lately, though there's also Liberal Crime Squad, a bizarre cross between DF and GTA, though it's more like some of those early & awesome drug games of DOS I'm unable to find these days). Paradox doesn't have at-all short games, though, and they often have a good many frustrations involved. Lemme know some other games you like and I could almost definitely fire off some games you'd more likely enjoy.

Kohan II is an oldie largely ignored you may or may not enjoy. It's fairly unique, with an unusual system of resource management. Dominions 4 is also probably worth a gander, though it's fairly ugly and cumbersome.

Recent games are getting dull.

Classical games like heroes of might and magic still one of best of all times.

Correct me if I am wrong, and give a recommendation.

Yes! Grab the Nexus Mod Manager, which makes mod management a no-hassle experience where you can install, enable, disable, install, and uninstall with very little effort. Hell, pirate it first if you have doubts -- NMM works with pirated copies.

I'd argue the true freedom comes in the modding tools. Blizzard, for example, releases amazing modding tools for their games, but as soon as they declared they'd go Apple on custom map releases, I put on my avatar face. Very few people have resources to develop a AAA-grade game with all the licenses and staff it requires, but it's possible for a good many hobbyists (or even just one) to create a remarkable, game-changing (pun intended!) mod.

Has anyone had any experience with the modern mods for Morrowind that are supposed to make it feel not so old? It seems there is a large modding community out there, is it worth it to buy it and try to dive in and educate myself on all these mods?

I like games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls because it's not just the campaign. There are lots of sidequests, dungeons etc.

Yeah, it's amazing the amount of freedom these games provide, and how they've managed to create a credible world full of its own mythology and histories; much like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings but in an interactive medium.

Elder Scrolls series are pretty good, they should be played by everyone.

Skyrim for sure, you can experience a lot of awesome things traveling through the skyrims world.

Skyrim "official trailer" (watch all) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY

can someone tell me what version of call of duty they are upto now lol ??
i loved cod4.. stopped playing after cod6.. god knows what number it is these days?
i played on ps3.. but ya.. pc.. console, either to their own.

In order to celebrate the amazing number of one million bundles, Indie Gala is giving away 250.000 Steam keys of Afterfall Insanity Extended Edition game!

https://www.indiegala.com/giveaways

If anyone asks me to buy or not to buy this HB, I would say to don't buy.
Most of them are games that already went in a previous HB and are old games that you probably already got trough a Steam deal.

New Humble Weekly Bundle Contains:

Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians

Spirits

The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic

Tiny & Big in Grandpa's Leftovers

Galaxy on Fire 2™ Full HD

Crazy Machines 2

The Guild II Collection The Guild II Collection


Pay more than the average of $3.76 to unlock:

Risen


The Book of Unwritten Tales Digital Deluxe Edition

ArcaniA


Pay $9 or more to unlock:

Giana Sisters: Twisted Bundle

The Night of the Rabbit: Premium Edition The Night of the Rabbit: Premium Edition

If anyone has played both Rust and The Forest I'd be interested to know which one they think is better.

Sniper Elite V2 is currently free on Steam!