Official NHL Not 15 (14) Discussion/CAG Team Thread - Headsets On Pants Off! New Team!

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n8rockerasu said:
I got it in the Humble Star Wars bundle from a while back. I haven't installed it yet though.

Looking at the Steam forums, it seems like you have to go through a service called GameRanger to get online working. Natively, the game used GameSpy...but of course, they're shut down now. This thread gives decent instructions on what you need to do though.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/6060/discussions/0/613956964604387267/
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Yeah I got it up and running last night. Just need to get the controller working fully.

 
PC Gamer has their Project CARS review up. In some ways...yeah, Assetto Corsa. But...that rain, lol.

http://www.pcgamer.com/project-cars-2/

Also, the consumer Oculus Rift finally has a release date (sort of). Q1 2016.

http://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-rift-release-date/

I'm a little nervous about them being beat to the market by the HTC Vive. It sets up kind of an uncomfortable scenario where the Vive will be out first...but could cost twice as much (and require a beastlier PC). I would imagine hardcore VR enthusiasts will just buy the Vive (I would...but I can't really afford to run dual 980s right now).

So, then the Rift will finally come along 3-4 months later...and even though it will be much more appealing to the average consumer being cheaper and able to run on simpler gaming setups, if most of the hardcore VR supporters already have a Vive, I have to wonder how much impact it will have. I feel like Oculus botched this launch. They had all the momentum in the world and just took too long.

Hopefully the consumer Rift will have some feature that really sets it apart. Almost a year after the DK2 launch, you really hope they would have made more progress than higher resolution, higher framerate, and "more comfortable fit".

 
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moojuice said:
That review seems super short...

It's be interesting to see what the finals specs/price/features will be for the Rift.
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Yeah, now that you mention it, that was a bit short for a review. Maybe the reviewer isn't really a car guy so he can't speak on the tuning aspects of the game, how the cars handle, etc. It was kind of a "this game is fun" review, haha. The game will be out tomorrow though, so hopefully we'll see some more detailed stuff pop up.

GMG still has the VIP deal on it for $37.49...and that usually stays active a bit after the game is out. I think because of how long it's taken this damn game to come out is what's making me so curious about it, haha. Like...ok, what did you spend all that time doing? Plus the screen shots have looked insane...not that my current GPU could produce those results. But still, so pretty...and RAAAAAAIN. :)

EDIT - Nevermind, I'm dumb. It's out today, haha. For some reason, I thought the release date was 5/7. Euro Truck 2 Scandinavia DLC is also out...for $17.99. It's really almost an entire game itself though. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, covering 27 cities, and 80 new cargo types...including livestock. Pretty impressive.

 
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Well, I decided to bite on Project CARS. Two things pushed me off the fence. I found a better deal than even GMG's $37.49 VIP price...cdkeys.com has it for $36.94 after 5% discount code, haha. Kind of silly that $0.55 had an impact, but finding a way to beat an already good deal usually convinces me.

The other thing that oddly convinced me was seeing people on the Steam forums bitch about the game being "too hard" and cars spinning out while only going 15mph. And it wasn't just one person either. Numerous people were saying the game was "unplayable" and the cars were impossible to control.

So, curiosity had me wanting to see what the hell these people were talking about or if they were just damned morons. Any guesses which one it ended up being? lol. Yep...damned morons. In 49 minutes, I set up my G27, got the DK2 working, and ran two practice sessions (one in a thunderstorm :)) and didn't spin out once.

I did have the difficulty dumbed all the way down to Novice because of how bad people made it sound. But yeah, the game plays great and the graphics are gorgeous. My guess is the people having issues with it have all assists off, with pro settings, and don't realize that they suck, haha. But it's definitely not a game that can't be tuned to your liking.

 
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I just ran a couple practice sessions with my 360 controller (still on Novice difficulty) and again, had no issues. I don't know if the handling or feedback in the controller is as good as something like Forza. But there are a crap ton of tuning options in the game. I'd be kind of surprised if once people figure out where the sweet spot is with settings, if it's not a really great experience.

Even with everything on default, it's pretty fun. The driving line is also dynamic too (I remember that was one thing you didn't like with Assetto), and actually changes depending on how fast you're going. The car selection in the game isn't spectacular (still more than Assetto, I think)...but the track selection is crazy. There are A LOT of tracks...both real ones and fictitious ones.

I've also read that the career mode is much more fleshed out than Assetto, and the multiplayer is supposed to be easier to set up, with just regular lobbies you can join. The menu is very clean and easy to navigate with the controller as well. The only downside is currently, the menu isn't in VR, so it's similar to Assetto in needing to take the Rift off between races. I used OBS to mirror it to my monitor though, and that works just fine.

The one thing I really hope for is that the game is as mod friendly as Assetto. I can live with a limited car library if they allow people to make their own. That would up the value tremendously.

 
I'll probably keep a lookout for reviews with controllers in mind. If it's pretty positive, I'll end up picking it up.

I did gave Grid a shot on DK2 yesterday, and it was a awesome, though a bit nauseating after a while lol. I was going to give Asetto a shot too, but I forgot how to initiate it. Then I looked up the directions, saw how much work it was compared to Grid, said screw that, and played Counter Strike instead. If VR really is going to take off, they're going to need devs to make it very easy and accessible. The average Joe isn't going to know how to mess with launch options, etc., or even have the desire to learn/put up with it.

Also, wires. Wires everywhere.
 
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If you can wade through the typical internet nonsense in this thread, there is some decent info to be found.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/234630/discussions/0/613957600531014559/#p1

Basically, it seems like controllers work fine, but some may find the steering sensitivity to be too high depending on the car you're using. The idea is that the game interprets pressing the left stick all the way one direction as the wheel lock position...so like, pressing the stick all the way left is like a 450 degree left turn. If you turn down the steering sensitivity for the controller, it's supposed to get better. There's also actual guides on proper controller setup.

The other issue people have is that it's not consistent across all cars. This kind of seems like a weird complaint to me because it basically amounts to "they did too good of a job". When you consider that had it been the opposite, people would be bitching out of their minds that a McLaren controls the exact same as one of the karts, this seems like a dumb thing for people to get mad about.

Obviously, nobody wants to change their controller settings every time they use a different car, but personally, what I would do before getting into all that crap is just turn some of the assists back on...which would help each car in its own way. But I guess that's not as fun as yelling on the internet, lol. :lol:

 
I also had a pretty awesome moment in Project CARS last night. I took the time to tune my wheel a bit better, and then loaded up a practice session on the California Highway at midnight...in a thunderstorm...in the McLaren P1. It was probably one of the most immersive VR experiences I've ever had. There was just something about being in the dark cockpit...I think it made the boundaries of the Rift less noticeable. And hearing the rain beating on the roof and seeing it splash against the windows...it was awesome.

At one point, my wife walked over and asked me a question, and my brain's immediate reaction was confusion as to how this was happening and where the voice was coming from, haha. That's when I knew it was good.

I then decided to try out the classic stock car in the same conditions. It was then that I learned the stock car has neither headlights nor windshield wipers, lol. At some parts, all I had to guide me was the green arrows of the driving line. That was not as fun, haha.

 
Cool...did they also change it from being soccer? ;)

Hopping on now to play an actual good game...NHL 14. Wait...aw God dammit...

 
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I love the value EA Access offers. 11 games now in the vault. I would love to try team play with someone. Was just talking to Mr. Grand Cru about it yesterday.
 
In theory, EA Access sounds cool, but it just seems like unless you're into all the sport games, theres just not enough content right now.

 
Sports games definitely make up the majority of titles offered. You get 12 games total and 7 are sports titles: 2 FIFA, 2 Madden, NBA Live, NHL, and UFC. Then Peggle 2 is a cheap (in price, not quality) digital title. That leaves you with the excellent Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and 2 shooters: PvZ: Garden Warfare and Battlefield 4.

$30 a year is a bargain to me, but I recognize the limited variety in offerings. I doubt I'll ever use the 10% discount on buying a full game since I can get physical cheaper with GCU, but I'll probably use it on Hardline and Battlefront DLC.

Regarding FIFA 15, I am 4 games in and enjoying it. Ultimate Team is fun. But I don't understand all the rules and I'm playing on retard difficulty, so keep that in mind.
 
All right...here's what I got for ya, Rob.

In general, there's a stance on doing it cheap vs doing it right.

CPU (processor)
Intel is the better performance option. AMD had some years where they could compete, but not anymore (though they're supposed to have some new chip out soon that will allegedly make them relevant again...we'll see, haha).

For this reason, Intel's processors are more expensive. PC Gamer magazine does a lot of "bang for your buck" style comparisons though and they're a great resource for finding out if spending more always means getting more. Even if you don't subscribe to the magazine, you can read a lot of it online (here's their CPU roundup http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-pc-gaming-cpus-processors/)

GPU (video card)
The competition is a little closer here. AMD's Radeon series is still respectable, but a lot of games seem to be tweaked for nVidia hardware. And in general, if you're looking for the best, it usually comes up nVidia. The "it" card right now is the GTX 980. It is a badass...but again, PC Gamer raves pretty highly about the GTX 970..the 980s less robust, but also cheaper little brother.

If you wanted to go more budget minded than those, then you could either look to AMDs offerings (Radeon R9 290x, 280x, 270x) or cheaper cards in nVidia's line like the GTX 960...or going after a "last year's model" type of thing with a GTX 780 or 770.

The prevailing thought on video cards is this is where you want to push your budget as much as you can because it means the longer you can play games on max settings and the longer you can go before needing to upgrade. Here's the PC Gamer roundup for GPUs: http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-graphics-cards/

Motherboard
Again, newest and best is going to cost more.,,which would be an X99 board. But for most gamers, a Z97 board is going to be just fine...and cheaper (just make sure it will fit whatever CPU you go with). This isn't nearly as big of a deal as your CPU/GPU and you can get a very solid respectable motherboard for around $110. It really just depends on many bells and whistles you want and how many expansion slots you need.

Memory
For me, this is really a "whatever is the best deal and doesn't have shit reviews" thing. Crucial, Hyper X, G.Skill, Corsair, etc. I've never seen anyone comment on a real difference. There are different speeds and timings and whatnot...but it starts getting really technical here, and is even too tedious for me, lol. 8GB should be your goal...but if you never want to deal with your PC being slow to load things, 16GB is pretty sweet.

Hard Drive
Solid State Drives are all the rage right now. They boot up like 10 times faster than old school platter drives. They're also supposed to be more reliable...but I've read some stuff lately about SSDs having a limited write capacity, so that makes me nervous about the drive I bought last Christmas. SSDs are also more expensive and you get less storage. Honestly, for somebody building from scratch and having to buy all components, I'd go with a cheaper/larger standard HDD, and use that extra money for getting as good of a video card as you can afford.

Power Supply
You really just need to make sure it can support your card with maybe 100-200w overhead for everything else. Corsair makes some great power supplies. Newegg runs deals on these all the time...often with mail in rebates to help reduce your cost.

Case
Again, your choice. You can go small or big. Again, NewEgg usually has a lot of great deals and choices. The important thing is going to be ventilation...which goes hand in hand with the next component...

Cooling
Gaming GPUs tend to generate a lot of heat. You'll either want 4-5 fans (which is going to get loud)...or some decent liquid cooling. Liquid coolers are pretty neat because they're very efficient and most are self-regulated. So, don't worry...it's not like you have to refill their water or anything. And here's a link reviewing the best ones: http://www.pcgamer.com/closed-loop-liquid-cooler-roundup-8-coolers-reviewed/

And once you've decided on what you want, the best place to see who has the best price is pcpartpicker.com. But lucky you, you have Microcenters in NYC...and they almost always destroy everybody elses prices by a longshot. Honestly, you might be able to get everything you need at Microcenter in one trip, haha. I'd have bought all of my stuff from Microcenter if i had one locally.

 
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Yup, I used PCPARTPICKER.COM a lot as well. I actually started by looking at completed builds in my price range to get an idea of what parts people were building, and then tailoring individual parts based on what I specifically was looking for/wanting to "future proof". If you build out a list and make a mistake in choosing an incompatible set of components, it will usually tell you have a useless heap of parts on your hands too.

That site also aggregates many different retailers too, so it saves a lot of search time. What ended happening though was when I picked out what I wanted, I also checked out ibuypower.com and quoted the same build. It ended up being 150 more, but considering they built and set up the OS and everything, I ended up going with them, just to save the time and potential hassle if I messed something up (besides making sure you connect everything properly, you need to take care of your work area to avoid static and stuff like that too). Then after that, you prepare your butt for
62115134.jpg

 
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Yeah, that's definitely good advice too. There's always the question of how much your time is worth. And I did leave out the OS, haha. Though if Windows 10 is going to be free for Windows 8 users, that might not be as much of a big deal as it used to be.

I do think building a PC is good practice for upgrading in the future though. Or if something stops working, knowing the ins and outs of your PC and what you need to replace puts you in a much better position than if you had to rely on "Geek Squad" at BestBuy, haha.

In other news...everybody needs to go buy this right now.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRaZJ6MRGhI[/youtube]

It's on sale at GMG for $2.40 ($2.99 before 20% coupon). I had to grab it for the "so bad it's amazing" possibilities. And it does not disappoint. An FMV fighting game that amounts to a rhythm game using the arrow keys. It is incredibly corny and over the top. It's probably one of the dumbest things I've ever seen, and I'm so glad that it exists. :)

http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/us/en/pc/games/action/stay-dead-evolution/#item-yt

20% off: JERRYN-EUTRON-GAMING

 
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Yeah, I have built most of my own computers but when I eventually get a new tower PC I will probably get one from a place like ibuypower.  It is rewarding to built your own awesome computer but at this point I would rather save the time.

 
Shadowplayed this clip from Project CARS earlier tonight. Formula A car hauling ass down the California Highway in a thunderstorm at 10AM. I still have assists on, but I don't care when it's this damn fun, lol. There are two spots on this track where you can catch air with most cars...but for some reason, this car wouldn't go airborne. Not sure if it's a glitch, but you can see when it should happen. The nice thing is it allowed me to maintain my speed, haha.

I also need to figure out how to capture the DK2 properly. Because of the screen natively being portrait, Shadowplay picks it up with a resolution of 1080 x 614...and sideways. So, then when I rotate it, it's like less than 720p. One of these days I'll learn how to do it right.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjKhJEdz8Y[/youtube]

 
I miss when we use to talk about random things and hockey. Now it seems as if I go into a PC VR thread. Things will never be the same again. Unsubscribe
 
I miss when we use to talk about random things and hockey. Now it seems as if I go into a PC VR thread. Things will never be the same again. Unsubscribe
 
Sorry, Gary. I know several of us are into gaming on PC now, but consider the timing of things too. The only game we can play hockey together in is almost 2 years old and we've made like 6 teams in it, haha. If EA doesn't royally screw up NHL 16, I'm sure the hockey talk will return. You know we miss you too...in a sexy way. ;)

 
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moojuice said:
That looks really awesome.
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Yeah, I couldn't believe how much the car was just absolutely screaming at the end. I was like "holy fuck I'm going fast!" lol. When this is possible, it's pretty stupid to see people in the forums calling the game "unplayable". I'm not very good at these games (much less controlling a formula car in the rain), but if I can turn a few assists on and drive like a bat out of hell, then the game works just fine. :)

Also, I don't even bother with mirroring with OBS anymore. For the most part, you can navigate the menus in the DK2. You might want to start the game normally a couple times just to get a feel for the layout, but things like "continue", "drive", and car, track, and weather selection are all fairly visible.

So, just put your DK2 in extended mode, set it as your primary monitor, load the game, and you're good.

 
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NHL 15 was a huge disappointment to me. Even after the OTP patch it was a pain in the ass to get in a lobby together if you had more than 2 people. Hopefully 16 delivers but with EA at the helm I will believe it when I see it.
 
I mean, you guys are missing the single most best moment in gaming history. Having sex on top of a unicorn in Witcher 3!
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DSlgEcp5aM&t=21m5s

(21:05 if the timestamp link doesnt work)

So...uh...Brock Lesnar fights Frank Mir in the newest Assassins Creed game...?

 
Well, at least the combat is going to be "more bruthal and more letal than ever before". I mean, it's not like Ubisoft is seeing clear signs that releasing an AC game every year is causing a great reduction in quality. That's not ever a thing.

Either way, I'll be on pins and needles waiting to see how it turns out.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hakrt4XFzbg[/youtube]

:lol:

 
I don't know if its me but, I can not get into any Assassin's Creed game. I feel like I should have read 4 books before I play one game.

We will have Rock Band 4 soon as well!
 
Laughed my ass off watching this guy troll somebody who was using the Godmode hack in GTA Online. He really got this guy good.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEomyJBj_iA[/youtube]

 
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