The Hot Topic Returns

[DANGERMAN]

I'm not going to say that there's no problems with pc gaming, there are definitely. Currently my Xbox Series controller won't work with my pc via Bluetooth for seemingly no reason. It used to work, it works on my Deck and laptop, but now hates my pc 

 

I do think the problems are overstated though. Maf's issues as an example, that computer just needed returning and they'd sort it, he just refused to do that for ages 

 

If physical games were a thing on pc I'd very very rarely touch my consoles. As it is I'd rather have physical, so while the appeal of my library being everywhere via pc is tempting, with every game I've ever bought on Steam still available to play on my current machine, I'd rather have the physical copy and ideally the original hardware 

[one-armed dwarf]

I think if you build a PC yourself it gets far easier to narrow down a problematic component as well. A lot of people go for the prebuild stuff to save headaches, but it's more like paying interest on a future headache that you won't know what to do with because you don't have confidence in doing that type of stuff. Especially as Maf had two PCs and could have diagnosed it with certainty by moving parts around. Also you avoid the issue of a courier coming around moving your entire PC and kicking it around and beating it up if you know exactly which part is the problem lol.

 

But anyway it's a hobbyist thing, PCs can be inconvenient but to me it's mainly cause of how big they are. If you move around a lot, they are not compatible with that lifestyle or not easily compatible I find, they get really annoying.

 

Yeah bluetooth on windows is pretty bad, I think the consoles have their own protocol or something and it just works fine. It's another thing that makes me use controllers less, but I even bought the official adapter MS made for the series controller and that doesn't seem good either. I mostly blame windows though, it seems really buggy and built on top of several OS generations of UI that don't talk to each other very well

[Metroid66]

What I don't understand (and it came as a pleasant surprise) is why do older pc games like Psychonauts, TR Legend, Half life 2 etc, even have options for 4k and widescreen.

 

 

[Nag]

What I don't understand is how a best and worst question turned in to a conversation about the fundamentals of PC's...😭😭

[Metroid66]

 

That's why, my child.

[Maf]

2 days ago I tried playing Suicide Squad on PC it was plagued by stutter and could barely hit 60fps. I put up with it for an hour and uninstalled

 

I remember first time I tried Elden Ring on PC it kept turning my monitor off. I left it for a month, came back to it, didn’t change a single thing and it worked fine

 

”fine” for ER on PC anyway

 

Even playing Indiana Jones on PC for some reason the V-Sync option is unavailable so it has constant screen tearing. I could probably try the Nvidia control panel and force it 

 

But this is the point of reliability. Nearly every single PC game I play has a one problem or another. There’s something easier about console games that, even if it does have a technical issue, you know everyone is having it so it’s kind of shrug it off. But on PC, it’s annoying to be like, ok, what is wrong with mine

 

These are not the worst problems in the world but I think the PC fanboys on here gloss over the constant fiddling basically all games need. If you’re up for it then great, but like Suicide Squad the other day, I couldn’t be assed at all to even Google it or look at the Steam forum

 

Granted that game is dog shit which explains some of my lack of effort, but also there’s that repetitive “oh, PC, here we go again”

[Metroid66]

2 minutes ago, Maf said:

. I could probably try the Nvidia control panel and force it 

Which would have taken all of 3 seconds.

 

Anyway, this thread has been derailed. Highly interesting tho.

[one-armed dwarf]

I dunno man, I have > 200 hours in Elden Ring and never had that issue. I did have terrible performance in some parts tho where the framerate sort of 'catches up', but the straight up broken stuff you're mentioning here is not something I've experienced. I really just think the prebuild guys are fucking you over on that one. I think you just have an undiagnosed hardware problem, which is annoying don't get me wrong and counts as a platform disadvantage cause of the fragmentation of multiple hardware part vendors who will all have different warranties and shit, but is again the kinda thing where if you are getting a PC it's good to know about how it goes together

 

Suicide Squad I've not played tho, if it's a UE5 game then yea they have not been great. But they have their own issues on console as well

 

The issue I've had is more with old games built on older OSes, I could have gotten into it the other day about the issues I was having with FEAR and Crysis. Crysis just doesn't work on my machine anymore, there's a thread about it on GOG but no resolution. FEAR wouldn't work with alt tab but I got it eventually. Still tho, these are 20 year old games and it's likely that most 20 year old games straight up aren't even available on console, or if they are they still don't have the scalability of something like FEAR where you can turn it to 1440p 165fps, which a console could easily do on a power level but not on a software feature level. eg, like the Psychonauts example above

 

But that is the only fiddling I've found myself doing recently. Uh, with pc gaming I mean. 

 

Anyway here's the vsync option in Indiana Jones, I have it turned off for some reason. I've no idea why I had motion blur set to medium here, what am I at

 

 

[Metroid66]

I don't see why the fiddling bit is such a negative.

 

I love putting a new or (realistically, for me) old game and getting it at it's best before a play thru. It's usually just seeing what graphics options work best for the monitor, but I did recently have to Google the choppiness of RotTR. Turned out direct x12 was the correct option for me. Implementing that and finding it to work was as entertaining as landing a stealth ice axe in the back of a baddie's noggin.

[Nag]

 

[one-armed dwarf]

I mean, I'm biased and I can see why it's alienating to others but I find the PC pros/cons discussion more interesting than bickering about Concord and Rebirth's open world for the 17th time tbh. The latter is more a 'lukewarm' topic at this point surely

[Nag]

Take it to the PC thread then...🙂

[DANGERMAN]

28 minutes ago, Nag said:

Take it to the PC thread then...🙂

Unlucky @Nag the mods have a PC bias. Especially Ed with his Steam Deck 

[Maf]

For me v-sync on Idiana is just greyed out. Doesn’t matter what options I select in game, it doesn’t let me toggle. Which I could try the CP, but in game options not even working is something I find frequently and it’s like sigh, to google, then

 

I saw other people have the problem so I don’t think it’s just me. I didn’t find a solution, though

 

Not to annoy @Nag further but to just say, I do actually like gaming on PC. When it works the results are amazing and there is something satisfactory about fixing problems 

 

But let’s not act like they’re not problems and I can go weeks at a time without turning my PC on because I just look at it, no I’m not in the mood for it

 

There’s something really nice about just collapsing on the sofa, hitting the home button and away we go (instal time, not withstanding)

 

Or even better lying in bed at night cozying up to Switch and Dragon Quest 3

 

Tecnhically not on my current top 10 of 2024 and DQ3 has absolutely been one of the greatest gaming highlights of the year. As was Paper Mario TTYD, and currently not as good, but still liking Mario & Luigi Brothership which actually speaking of stutter that game has which really brings down it’s excellent art style

 

Switch is evergreen good times imo and a highlight of every year since I got the OLED model

 

It also works with minimal fuss even compared to the other consoles which is nice

 

There you go @Nag, doing my best to drag it back over here 

[Nag]

That's me fucked then... carry on.👍😁

 

@DANGERMAN

[one-armed dwarf]

I'm not pretending though, which is the thing. I did mention two games I had issues with, and bluetooth issues in windows. But that's it. You just seem to have a particularly problematic system for some reason.

 

Your PC just sounds broken, not like a usual system.

 

Like to be clear I'm not disputing the existence of what Shiny is saying either, when you have a PC port which is objectively terrible. Like Forspoken, you can look up the thread I made here on that game. But issues with nearly every game, that's either extremely poor luck and you are choosing games like Forspoken every time, or there's another factor.

[Maf]

I don’t think my PC is broken because none of the problems are consistent. 
 

Not like at first where every time I turn the power on it was barely hitting 50% performance on every game. But I think I documented that enough at the time..

[Nag]

 

Quote

Nag says... "Being the first question of the new year again it's a fairly obvious one... if you had to make one video game related New Years Resolution what would it be and why?"

 

I'll go back to something I do all too often, double dipping on buying games for different systems is something I really need to stop doing... if for no over reason than it's taking time away from different experiences that I could be having.

[shinymcshine]

Despite loving CRPGs I'll often just skim read long paras of lore & background text and in game books - unless they clearly culminate in a decision point.

 

So I probably don't get as immersed in the game world, as I'm more interested in playing than just reading - however I don't know if it's actually something I'll resolve to change, I'd rather games had a more direct connection between in game background and gameplay choice (even where picking up & reading a book might give you a mini quest or clues to where xyz might be).

[mfnick]

To stop buying games just because they’re in a sale & focus on the ones I already own. Just to cut down on unnecessary spending.

 

Im cheating and putting a second - to stop pushing through on games I’m not enjoying. This is something I’d actually become quite good at but I’ve started to notice I’m slipping into my old ways again recently. Indiana Jones and Black Ops 6 are 2 immediate examples of games I’ve literally just wasted hours not enjoying when I could have played something else. So I need to stop doing that again.