Sicarius

A couple of Steam-Reviews

I don’t often write reviews on Steam (or other Storefronts for that matter). But on rare occasions I do, so here’s a collection of the ones I’ve done so far in reverse order of publishing. Just to also have them here on the site.

Luck be a Landlord (28.11.2024) – Recommended

On the surface this seems like a simple and boring slot machine game. But once you try it, you’ll notice that there’s a ton of depth and variation here. To make it through each month, you need to strategize and be methotical and face the chaotic and random nature of the core game head-on.

Sven – Completely Screwed (06.20.2024) – Recommended

100%ed it in co-op with my wife (a fan of the original) and we definitely had a fun time from beginning to end. Not much actual inspiration here for our own bed adventures ;) but despite the cartoony look and the silly idea, its actually a worthwhile and (on higher difficulty levels) surprisingly challenging action/puzzle game. It also stays true to the originals even if it doesn‘t feature everything the later titles offered.

Latte Stand Tycoon+ (Herstellerbild)

Latte Stand Tycoon+ (25.07.2023) – Recommended

Since I left a negative review on the original, it’s only fair that I take a look at the new version.

And what can I say? After reaching day 21 (around 3 1/2 hours of playtime) I can confidently say it’s a definite improvement all around. My (and many others) biggest complain for the original was the missing challenge once you found all the recipes. This is no longer an issue since you design the latte for each individual customer which also minimizes the downtime. The challenge now becomes “which ingredients do I have” and “how can I make the priciest coffee out of them while still satisfying the customer” – and of course doing it under a bit of time pressure. Outside the café the question is all about managing your money and your available time (you physically walk everywhere). There are ton of upgrades to get, many ingredients to buy and even non-permanent upgrades (e.g. a couple of heaters to keep customers happy on a snowy day) to consider.

I of course won’t hide that there are still a couple of issues. For example, the game doesn’t explain that much. But the devs are listening and are actively fixing all the issues and improve the experience. Its already way better than on release. So I’m confident that the few remaining open points will also be resolved soon.

Another positive I wanted to mention was the overall look and sound of Latte Stand Tycoon+. The original was heavily pixelated and you couldn’t tell your coffee from your latte. The pixels are still there but its way more refined and at the same time the world feels more alive. Birds are chirping, butterflies roam around, people are walking about and cars are driving by all while a soothing soundtrack is playing in the background. Very nice.

So if you want to channel your inner barista and brew coffee in a chilled but still challenging setting: Latte Stand Tycoon+ does finally hit the spot.

Broken Reality (18.04.2021) – Recommended

Did I just have a drug-fueled trip through Second Life circa 1995? Could be but it didn’t exist yet back then. Was the trip fun? Perhaps but I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. Is this „game“ a higher artform I can’t possibly understand? Maybe. Am I just plain crazy? Or are the developers? Who knows? Do you? Do they? I don’t. Maybe it’s better that way.

Would never play again…or am I playing it right now?! Help!

Latte Stand Tycoon (18.03.2021) – Not Recommended

Neat idea but the execution is severly lacking. As others already pointed out: You spend the first ingame week finetuning the recipies which is somewhat fun. After that it’s all downhill. It takes until around day 30 or at max 40 to unlock everything, then you adjust the recipies again a bit and that’s it. The story is flimsy at best (the mayor visits a few times) and doesn’t even have an actual payoff at day 90. It’s even worse: It teases you with a new location but you never get to see it as far as I can tell (stopped playing at day 100). Instead your only option is to continue the mundane task of adjusting the coffee each day and then sit there mindlessly watching your money pool rising since you can’t spend it on anything but milk, spice and coffee.

The Executioner (Herstellerbild)

The Executioner (05.08.2020) – Not Recommended

I really, really wanted to recommend this game even if only Chapter 1 is currently available. The setting is utterly unique (and severly depressing), the writing is gripping, the mood set thanks to sound, music and graphics is excellent (and again: very depressing) and the choices you have to make are hard and really matter in terms of what comes next driving the replayability through the roof. But the english version is a jumbled mess to put it lightly:

  • Savegames disappear until you start a new game
  • After loading a savegame the text is in Russian (fixed by going in the Settings and changing it to Russian and back to English again)
  • There are pages of text completely missing (including one that prevents you continuing on a critical path)
  • Broken or wrong links behind the choices (leading to the same page again; living people being suddenly dead, and such)
  • Visible code on the pages because of broken stuff
  • Font issues (especially when special characters are involved)

and many more technical shortcomings.

In the end it makes it not only hard to play the game but also very hard to follow the story – and for a text adventure that is not tolerable. So for now the only thing I can actually recommend about this game is the soundtrack.

I hope the devs will be able to find the help they need not only to finish the story but to get the quality up. The potential is there for a real gem of a game.

Devolverland Expo (12.07.2020) – Recommended

Devolver Digitals style of violent humor is not for everyone. Heck, even the games they publish aren’t for everyone. But at least they always try to do something different. Like this playable showcase of their upcoming games. It’s so simple, yet genius you are left wondering why no one has done it before. It’s not much but it’s unique and I hope others will follow suit. Take the ~30min (plus the time to download 8 GB) and check it out!

Suggestion for next year: Not just trailers but playable demos of the games shown!

Thomas Was Alone (24.08.2014) – Recommended

At first glance the game seems like a very simplistic and not extremely challenging (although there are a few brain-teasers in the last levels) platform-puzzle-game with a low art-budget. But this impression is very misleading. Once you start playing you begin to realize that you actually start to care for lonely Thomas, pessimistic Chris, agile John, insecure Claire, ashamed Laura, gravity-defying James and smart Sarah thanks to Danny Wallace’s soothing narration of their feelings, thoughts and actions. In the end you don’t just want to solve the puzzles to get to the next level – you actually want to help these self-aware AIs escape their 2D-prison inside the network of Artificial Life.

Dishonored (Herstellerbild)

Dishonored (07.10.2013) – Recommended

Times have sadly changed since the glorious days of Thief: The Dark Project, System Shock 2 or Deus Ex and of course even Dishonored can’t hide it’s a game for a modern, more fast-paced audience. But still: The city of Dunwall is an impressively beautiful and very deep character hiding a huge amount of lore behind its walls which hints at a world even bigger and stories even more interesting than Corvo’s Journey of Revenge. Yes, you can go in guns blazing, sprinting through the levels and assassinating your targets in record time. But that’s not the way Arkane Studios intended the game to be played. Its strength which allows it to be even mentioned in one sentence with those games mention above, is the silent approach. Taking your time, exploring your surroundings, strinking at the right time — that’s what it’s all about and it’s here where Dishonored truely shines. A must-play for gamers that want to think before they strike.

Uplink (30.09.2012) – Recommended

There’s no other game out there that captures the feeling of being a (Hollywood-inspired) hacker. It may look simplistic, it may be more than twelve years old but once you’ve completed your first successful hack and experienced the adrenaline rush of constantly having to look over your back, doing everything right and hoping that you won’t get caught, you want more — much more. To the point you risk everything just to get into even the most secure systems.

Spec Ops: The Line (19.09.2012) – Recommended

The most thought-provoking and most intelligent 3rd-Person-Shooter I’ve ever played. What it lacks gameplay-wise (perhaps on purpose?) it more than makes up for through story, imagery and it’s way of playing with the players expectations and turning them completely upside down. Think of how Metal Gear Solid removed the 4th wall back in the day, but way less playful and more serious in tone (and with shorter cutscenes).

Hi Gabe,

I’m sure you are already sick of hearing about this topic but I fear I must address it once again. I’m talking about your Youth Protection measures for Germany.

I myself am from Germany and do in general agree with our YP laws and their implementation. It actually allowed me to access more stuff easier than with the old version of the law. I do however not agree with the way you try to abide by them.

There are so many options to add an actual age check to Steam ranging from fully integrated passport checks and data storage to “just send a small packet to a service provider every time someone wants to view a page”. Instead, you not only try to transfer the responsibility to the publishers/developers but you also accept that as a result literally thousands of games are no longer accessible for German citizens.

For me personally, this is an even greater issue since I’m the Database Master for Co-Optimus.com. My responsibility is to check for titles with cooperative features and enter their information to our database. I can’t do that anymore however because especially with unreleased games most of the time nothing has been entered in your age rating form, yet. And as a result I can’t even access the store page. This is both sad and frustrating.

As such I urge you to rethink your approach to the age gate – even if its just for us Germans. I’m sure there are enough of us to justify the investment.

Thank you and all the best to you and your wonderful team!

Sincerely,

Sicarius

(Ja, diese Nachricht habe ich gerade verschickt. Wird vermutlich nichts bringen, aber man kann es ja mal versuchen.)

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf (Publisher-Screenshot)

Servers shutting down is sadly nothing new in today’s “always-on”-environment. Players can basically call themselves lucky if they can at least continue playing the single-player portion of the game with hopefully only a minimal impact to the overall experience. But there are devs that actually care and don’t just press the off-switch. The current example being HeroCraft with their surprisingly fun – at least on PC where most of the Free-to-Play-elements from the mobile release were not present – turn-based strategy/card collecting game hybrid Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf (2014-2021; iOS, Android, PC, PS4, NSWI, XONE). They actually removed all always-online-requirements prior to shutting down the server on May 16th 2022. Very nice of them.

Sadly, it’s not all good news since one big factor of the game is getting new cards for your decks. And one important way to get new cards besides grinding the missions were the free promo codes the devs handed out each Friday. In the first version of the offline patch, they just removed the online functionality so you were still able to use the “Redeem Promo Code” button to at least get a set of default stuff every time (no matter what code you entered) but with subsequent versions on the road to shutdown they deactivated the button and as such any additional way for you to get cards. Luckily with the game going offline, the door was finally open for modders to have a crack at the title.

Disclaimer

All accolades for the following information go out to Steam User dv and their guide on the topic. The reason why I’m reproducing it here is that while the guide in theory contains all information you need to make the necessary changes, it’s not that easy to understand for everyone. I had a hard time myself until I finally found out the most important tip. So, what follows is a step-by-step guide on how to change Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf in such a way that you can get any card you want using the “Redeem Promo Code”-button.

The Basics

To make the necessary changes you need to have three things prepared:

  • A Hex-Editor (remember those?). I recommend HxD since it’s free and lightweight. That’s the one you’ll see in all the screenshots. But any basic Hex-Editor should suffice.
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf installed somewhere on your computer. Seems obvious, I know but I just want to make sure :smile: .
  • A number system converter that allows the conversion from and to decimal/hexadecimal in different byte-sizes. I’m sure a programmer can do the math in their head but I prefer to rely on an online converter like this one from Tobias Stamm. The page is technically in German but it’s clear enough to understand without any knowledge of the language.
  • The Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Card ID List which contains of all the cards in the game with their internal id.

Once you have everything ready, we can actually start the process:

Step 1: Make the button re-appear

In order to get the cards we want, we are going to use the “Promo code”-system and as such we need to make the button available again. For this we open the file level3 in our Hex-Editor which is located in your steam folder\steamapps\common\Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolf\SpaceWolf_Data. You can find this location also by using the “Manage/Browse local files”-option in Steam.

Once you have it open, use the “Go to”-search option to jump to Offset F02EE.

Offset for the Button Location

If the button is not visible, the value should be 00. Change it to 01 and save the file. When you start up the game again, the promo button is back again and usable.

The button location in the Level 3-file. The value has already been changed.

Don’t worry about breaking anything at this point. If the game crashes on startup because you changed the wrong value, just use “Verify integrity of game files…” in Steam (Properties of the game/Local Files) and it will overwrite your changes.

Step 2: Find the location of the cards

Now that we have once again access to the button, we want to change the cards you receive when entering a code. It doesn’t matter which code you enter because the game only checks if it has at least 8 characters. As long as you enter something long enough, you’ll receive the items.

The content of the promo code packages is stored in the file Assembly-CSharp.dll. You can find this file in the folder your steam folder\steamapps\common\Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolf\SpaceWolf_Data\Managed.

Open the file up in your Hex-Editor and jump to Offset 1C3508.

Offset for the Location of the 1st card

This is where the information for the first card begins. It is four bytes long (=8 characters in the editor). So the 2nd cards then follows at 1C350C and the 3rd at 1C3510. The last byte of the 3rd card is 1C3513.

The location of the three cards

If you have a fresh installation the offset should read E0 15 00 00 EA 15 00 00 F4 15 00 00 which is the default card content of the promo pack.

Step 3: Convert the card id

Now we need to convert the card ids to something we can actually write into the file. That’s where that online converter comes in. You also need to remember that most of the cards come in different flavors. STUN for example can be upgraded to level 4. Young King’s Blade even to level 6. That’s why in the card id-list you’ll find several entries for the same card. In my experience: The highest id of a card is the version with the highest level. To use Young King’s Blade as an example: Level 1 has the id 107400 while level 6 has the id 107405.

All the ids for the card “Young King’s Blade”

Once you’ve identified the cards you want, we need to convert the id from decimal to 4-byte hexadecimal. In case of the linked converter, you input the id e.g. 107405 in the field Dec. Then you press Enter and you’ll see tons of results. The one we’re interested in, is in the row 32 of the column Hex of the table Unsigned. Which in our example is 00 01 a3 8d.

Converting the id to 4-byte-hexadecimal

Step 4: Input the card id

We now have converted the card id to something useful, time to write it into the file. And here’s where the stumbling block I was talking about in the intro comes in: You need to reverse the result (!) from the converter. In our case the value for the file is actually 8D A3 01 00 and NOT 00 01 A3 8D. So the last byte from the converter is the first byte in the file.

Replace the information starting from 1C2F08 with these numbers. If you have another card you want or if you want multiples of the same card: Do the same for the next two cards in the promo pack: Convert the id, input them at one of the offsets (1C3508 / 1C350C / 1C3510) and then save the file.

Changing the value for the first card.

Sadly, there is currently no way to get more than three cards from a promo pack at the same time. If you want several different cards, you need to change the file, get them in the game and then change the file again.

Step 5: Profit!

Once you’ve saved your changes to Assembly-CSharp.dll, you can boot up the game. Enter a promo code and if you did everything correctly, you should receive your desired cards. Yes, it’s that easy!

The result of our change: We received a level 6-version of Young King’s Blade as the first card.

If you entered the wrong values however (=card ids that don’t exist), the promo pack will show up empty and your card library will be broken. Verifying your game files will not fix it! Thankfully you can repair it using a modified Assembly-CSharp.dll-file by dv. It basically forces the game to recheck your library and clear out all illegal cards. You can find it at the bottom of their guide. Just overwrite your file with it, start up the game, press the promo button and all is fine once again.

Changing the other values

You can also change the amount of stuff (booster packs, parts, skill points, and so on) you receive from a promo pack but I see no point in doing that. Forging cards and opening booster packs isn’t really that much fun for me. So I’ll just modify the pack to give me the cards I actually want. That’s why I won’t go into further details about how to change these values.

I hope this guide was helpful to the few people still playing the game. And no, I don’t consider it cheating. Like I said: Getting those cards the “correct” way is teadious and boring and having the best cards doesn’t make you automatically win each mission. You still need to make a cohesive deck with them and make the right tactical decisions. So yes, you can and will still fail many times depending on the challenge even with the best cards in the game :smile: . And PVP has been disabled, so no online advantage as well.

Sicarius

Completion rates

Logo of KotakuAchievements are very useful. Otherwise Kotaku would’ve had nothing to report on Tuesday besides their strange Mass Effect-Week-Stuff. I still don’t really get why now (I think because the final DLC for Mass Effect 3 comes out in the near future but your guess is as good as mine) but I’ve to admit: It’s a very good idea! All those “sentimental” stories from the editors under which the readers can (and will) indulge in their own memories of the series? Ingenious! And of course they repost every review not just for the major games but also all the DLCs they ever published. A perfect way to recycle old content nobody would otherwise give a shit about any more. And of course all of it content (at least until now) fills the page without the need of putting much effort into it. But perhaps the in-depth retrospectives and analysis reports are still to come who knows or, even better, who really cares?

But I wanted to touch on another story published by Kotaku: Half the People Who Got BioShock Infinite on Steam Have Finished It. Not True for That Walking Dead Shooter. The headline basically says it all. He could’ve made it a bit longer I guess but even Kotaku needs their news to contain a bit of actually content sometimes (not always). Okay, enough with the sarcasm. Yes, Kotaku is from my point of view getting worse every day (who thought of that shitty new layout and, even worse, making “Recommended posts” the default view?!) and I especially hate their newfound love for animated GIFs but I’m still reading it so it can’t be too bad, can it? Well, since I also read Jezebel and Gawker I’m not really qualified to respond to that question :smile: .

Completion rates

In the report Stephen Totilo notes that 49,9% of all BioShock: Infinite PC-Players got the final achievement in the game (Tin Soldier) and as such have actually finished the game. Definitely an impressive number considering other reports over the years which indicated a much much lower percentage of completion. Remember the story of why the original ending to Eye of the Beholder sucked huge balls (just a wall of text)? Because the publisher argued that only a small percentage would ever see it so they could just phone it in. Even Square Enix said before the release of Hitman: Absolution that only 20% of the players (both PC and console) will ever finish the game. But it seems like even they were wrong: At least on steam 36,2% have the final achievement “A personal contract”. So it seems at least PC-users are more inclined to finish a game. Totilo also notes that Tomb Raider is sitting at 50,0%, Aliens: Colonial Marines at 42,7% and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct 27,1% which is, considering the quality of the game, still not too shabby.

So it’s definitely interesting to see those high numbers (and seeing someone actually having the idea to look them up). Especially considering huge percentage of players (most of the time 10% or even more) who haven’t finished the tutorial and as such don’t even have the first achievement. And yes, I do have quite a few games myself where I’m one of those people. So many games, so little time. You know that First World Problem. Still developers really love to work with this kind of data and letting it influence the design of the next game by asking the very important question “Why don’t those people play beyond a certain point?”. And I think that’s good. If you see the trend that an unusual high number of players e.g. don’t get the achievement for beating the third boss they can look at it and hopefully come the right conclusions which does not just bring about a patch to make the boss easier. I’m looking at you Blizzard :smile: .

The next step

Now of course I would even be more interested in seeing a comparison between the completion rate of PC gamers and console gamers. Sadly as far as I know there’s no real stats page who counts all of the users. All of the trackers I know only track the users registered on their site which of course is only a very small fraction of gamers.

I would even go so far and argue that those who register for such sites are specifically out to get as many achievements as possible and as such should have an unusual high completion rate. And of course no one could track the high number of people who aren’t online and as such don’t even submit achievement data to an online profile. Perhaps if the rumors are true and Microsoft actually makes the next Xbox require an Always-on-connection there will be a service like that. Of course then they would never ever be able to sell 76 million units (current worldwide sales number for the Xbox 360) but that’s a different story for another time.

See you Monday!

I told you this was a bad idea!(1) I’ll try anything once.(2) There is no failure expect in no longer trying.(3) If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong. (4) I’m never wrong. I once thought I was wrong, turns out, I was mistaken. (5) The time is always right to do what is right.(6) The client is not always right.(7) It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.(7) In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.(9) Prepare for unforeseen consequences. (10) Would you kindly? (11) Yes, my Master. (12) It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.(13) There are two ways of doing this. My way, or the he’s a dead motherfucker way. You pick.(14) Pikachu, I choose you!(15) No, you won’t!(16) I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.(17) I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.(18) I am the law!(19) A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.(20) I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.(21) My education was dismal. I went to a series of schools for mentally disturbed teachers.(22) What! You too? I thought I was the only one.(23) Welcome to the real world.(24) My God, it’s full of stars!(25) And that’s the world in a nutshell, an appropriate receptacle.(26) The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape…(27) The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control emotions by the application of reason.(28) No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it.(29) I dreamt I was a moron…(30) I’m sorry, were you waiting for me to give a damn?(31) Yes, and I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy. I used not to look at myself. I’d hide my face in the dark, I wouldn’t want to look in the mirror and my father teased me and I just hated it and I cried every day.(32) Ma, cry me a river, build a bridge and GET OVER IT!(33) Objection!(34) Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.(35) Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.(36) I eat resistance for breakfast!(37) Enter that room, insect, and it will become your grave.(38) Today is a good day to die.(39) Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.(40) The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.(41) You have died of dysentery.(42) Snake? SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!(43) He’s dead, Jim.(44)

(01) Pumbaa in The Lion King
(02) Lyrics from “I’ll Try Anything Once” by The Strokes
(03) Elbert Green Hubbard (American editor, publisher and writer)
(04) Unknown Source
(05) Unknown Source
(06) Martin Luther King Jr. (American clergyman, activist and prominent leader)
(07) Enzo Ferrari (Italian race car driver and entrepreneur)
(08) Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi (Prominent figure of Indian independence movement)
(09) Edgar Allan Poe (American author, poet, editor and literary critic)
(10) G-Man to Alyx in Half-Life 2: Episode Two
(11) Atlas to the player in BioShock
(12) Darth Vader to Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode VI – the Return of the Jedi
(13) Old man to Link in The Legend of Zelda
(14) The Boss to Conker in Conker’s Bad Fur Day
(15) Ash in Pokémon
(16) Jim Moriaty to Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock
(17) Augustine “Og” Mandino II (American author)
(18) Abraham Lincoln (16th American president)
(19) Judge Dredd in Judge Dredd
(20) Henry Louis Mencken (American journalist, essayist and a bunch of other stuff)
(21) Mark Twain (American author)
(22) Woody Allen (American director)
(23) Clive Staples Lewis (Irish novelist)
(24) Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix
(25) Bowman in the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey
(26) Stan Dunn (Profession unknown)
(27) Pablo Picasso (Spanish painter)
(28) Marya Mannes (American author)
(29) Fernando Pessoa (Portuguese poet)
(30) Squall Leonheart in Final Fantasy VIII
(31) Ryudo in Grandia II
(32) Michael Joseph Jackson (American recording artist)
(33) Jay-Z (American rapper)
(34) Phoenix Wright in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
(35) Samuel Johnson (English author)
(36) George Lois (American art director)
(37) Sam in Serious Sam II
(38) SHODAN in System Shock
(39) Worf in Star Trek: First Contact
(40) Rawlings in Clive Barker’s Jericho
(41) George Orwell (English novelist)
(42) Message in The Oregon Trail
(43) Colonel Campbell to Snake in Metal Gear Solid
(44) Leonard H. McCoy in Star Trek: The Original Series

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