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Welcome to Episode 270We kickoff with Skazz expertly trolling Ram before discussing Skazz's ID troubles ram shock over an emptying Highstreet.Ram shares his simple fix for what he considered S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's biggest problem, the voice acting, this leading to a deep dive on voice acting's crucial role in game immersion and how poor performances can instantly ruin the experience. We explore related complaints about cut-off dialogue in games and Skazz's struggles with reading in-game maps, plus Ram's sister's level design theory.We discuss Remedy's recently released FBC: Firebreak alongside other Remedy titles including the Max Payne remake, and dive into fan theories about Control. The conversation touches on Steam demos making a comeback and how our opinions of Steam have evolved over time.Finally, we explore the unique concept of being a building contractor for Control's Oldest House and debate why concrete is superior to guns in supernatural situations.NotesRemedy new game s

Welcome to Episode 269We begin with Skazz providing updates from our previous episode discussions, including how to acquire Kane & Lynch, which leads into a conversation about Games for Windows Live and the equally problematic Windows Store.Moving on to games, Ram has treated himself to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and is returning to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. He provides a brief history of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, including how ambitious it was and discusses many of the features that had to be cut during development. He then talks about the new game, highlighting the enjoyable combat and atmosphere that is somewhat undermined by the voice acting.NotesA launcher so bad it it blames itself for unrelated problems: Game for Windows LiveApple brief development of a car with Project TitanInspiration for S.T.A.L.K.E.R the classic Sci-fi novel Roadside PicnicAnd a film also inspired by the book: StalkerStep back into the zone with S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of ChernobylWe look forward to seeing you all on the next podcast

Welcome to Episode 268Ram discusses his recent pig acquisitions and shares insights into breeding and managing pedigree animals.Moving on to gaming, Ram has been driving around in a beat-up vehicle trying to navigates and collect resources in a mysterious zone in Pacific Drive. He talks about the zone's dangers, from strange creatures to bizarre storms, praising the game's extensive difficulty options and the compelling stories it generates, though he wishes he had access to a bed for rest.Skazz has been revisiting a cooperative cover shooter from the late 2000s during genre heyday: Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. While the game received unfavourable reviews upon release, Skazz takes a fresh look to reassess the storyline, gunplay, and single-player AI companion to determine whether those critical views were justified.We also discuss our plans to misuse satellite technology to torment the general public with our podcast.NotesExplore a weird and dangerous zone in a clapped out car in Pacific driveA 'Clas

Welcome to Episode 267Skazz tell his woes of removing processors from motherboards and nearly breaking his PC, but has now successfully managed to upgrade his machine. we also learn about Ram 'Methods' of repairing PC.Ram gives us an update of Nicktopia, and how it has completely failed as par normal. He tells tales of taming space cows, devote vegetarians, a lack of antibiotics and not balancing survival skills. He also discuss what he's learnt with his new version. We also discuss how Ram would fair if put in charge in a survival situation, including the worrying way he defaults to building Gulags and farming vegetarians. We do determine realistically he'll likely end up as a resource. We also discuss Skazz's future career as a PCSO, why Ram would be the best bond villain, how many people Batman has 'killed', and a side track into who developing GTA6NotesStill trying to survive the planet in Stranded: Alien DawnWhen ram becomes a dictator, he has been doing some revisionWe look

Welcome to Episode 266 – now featuring blurst of music!We kick off by discussing the remaster of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Reminiscing about the original, with Ram admitting he never quite finished the main quest, while Skazz bemoans his vampirism issues, a glitch fixable only through paid DLC. we also discuss the power of console commands and share thoughts on other Bethesda titles.Ram then talks about his new gaming PC. Although he can’t recall all the specs, and has issue with the overcooling RGB fans. But it at least has an abundance of USB ports. We then take a nostalgic look at The Animals of Farthing Wood. For those in the UK who grew up in the ’90s, this classic prepared us for Game of Thrones, and Skazz does still insists that badgers do not exist.Ram brings back the great empire of Nicktopia with his current gaming obsession, Stranded: Alien Dawn. In this survival game, he talks about managing a group of survivors on an alien planet. Finding a way to balance farming, researching, base building, tower

Welcome to Episode 265Yes, despite what Ram says at the start, it is episode 265Ram continual his descent into being middle aged by trying out some train related games and not having a lot of success, the first is a non-relaxing puzzle game Station to Station which does not gel for him. Next up he Suffers a tutorial bug in railway Empire creating a rage quit, finally picks up something more familiar with Train Station Renovation, cleaning and tidy old train stations and rather worryingly sanding railsWe then move onto discussing the upcoming release of the switch 2, and the costs of gaming in general, including how the pricing is not as bad as it seems. We also discuss the dangers of DLC NotesAnnoying puzzle game Station to StationHopefully you wont get plague by a tutorial bug in Railway Empirebring stations back to life in Train Station RenovationWill you fall to temptation with the new Switch 2We look forward to seeing you all on the next podcast on 24th April 2025, at 18:30 GMT+1

Welcome to Episode 264We return to Hardspace: Shipbreaker, as Skazz has been enjoying a copy gifted to him by Ram, he discuss some of the issue with controller support issues, how much we enjoy chill games and being accidentally incinerated.Skazz then talk about playing through a fan remake of classic game Link Awakening, playing the "DX HD" version, he talks about suffering from scrolling trauma and Nintendo remakeWe then finish off looking at current game night game, Heroes of Hammerwatch, a fantastic top down 2d rouge lite, where you have to advancing through level in a tower whilst being heavily taxed by the town your trying to saveWe also discuss ram becoming middle aged in spirit by visiting a garden centre, getting into 'fancy' coffee and being traumatised by croissantsNotesEnjoy fancy coffee in an Bodum French PressStill cutting them ships in Hardspace: ShipbreakerFan remake of classic legend of Zelda game, Links Awakening XD HDIn comparisons to the Nintendo version of the aboveA gam

Welcome to Episode 263Skazz talks about his experience with the new entry in the Monster Hunter series, Wilds, sadly hes not too keen, he talks about how the series has changed from it early days, and how it has become easier and easier with each iteration. Along with some removal of good features from the previous entry in series. including how they fixed the multiplayer mode from Rise, only to have now broken it again. He also talks about some strange graphic glitches and how the beta the game was better in some way and spoiled the game.Ram has been floating in zero-g in Hardspace: Shipbreaker, a game about dismantling space ships and earning money to pay of a massive debt, much like real life. He talks about the mechanics, burning yourself in a furnace accidentally, and the dangers of grappling and using a cutting laser near fuel tanksWe also have a brief discussion about YouTube euphemisms NotesRobot soon to be 'powered' by AI to catch lion fishNot Skazz's Monster Hunter: Monster Hunter WildsL

Welcome to Episode 262In this episode we talk about Skazz excitement for the new Monster Hunter game, he does have some concerns if this game will be for him.Ram then talks about A Game About Digging a Hole, A cheap little game where you, unsurprisingly, dig a hole.We discuss the recent news of Gene Hackman death, we prove how well the podcast is recoreded, Ram use in a survival situation, Stubborn dogs and people complaining about cheap games NotesThe sad death of one of the great actor Gene HackmanA series that ram does not like, Pride and PrejudiceAnd the almost certainly superior version made better by adding zombiesSimon Pegg recreating an iconic scene from Shaun of the DeadNo prize guessing what you do in A Game About Digging a HoleA classic British personality Fred DibnahAnd the mine he decided to build When it comes what easy vs impossible XKCD says it bestWe look forward to seeing you all on the next podcast on March 13th 2025, at 18:30 GMT

Welcome to Episode 261A Skazz solo episode as Ram has lost his voice to a virus, and even more amazingly, Skazz is in a positive mindsetDiscussion this episode is all about fan support and modding games long after they've been released.First up, he focuses on final fantasy 7 discussing the mod manager 7th Heaven and the script to install it on a steam deck; 7th Deck. He looks at how the some of the mod improve things even adding in full voiced dialog!Skazz then moves onto discuss the original monster hunter and some mods that allow you to play online with friends again with only a little bit of tweaking and letting you re-live the good old PS2 daysNotesThe Classic Final Fantasy 7A non-destructive mod manage 7th HeavenPlus a script to install it on steam deck 7th DeckThe original Monster HunterPlay Monster Hunter 1 online with a new server Skazz request for a fan patch: ChromehoundsWe look forward to seeing you all on the next podcast on Febuaray 27th 2025, at 18:30 GMT

https://numbermatics.com/n/260/Welcome to Episode 260We start this episode finding out why 260 is a special number and discussing what mathematicians are good for Skazz has been playing the next part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, we talk how they've fleshed out the story dramatically, expanding NPC back grounds increasing the game length, we ask if this is a good thing and how the game is somewhat janky in placesRam has been playing a puzzle games based around info-graphics, Metrico+, despite the premise it surprisingly fun, it leads onto some discuss about how to make an art style that resistant to aging, and how we attach a monetary value to games. which pushing onto difficulties in game designNotesYou to can find out whats special about the number 260Apparently they have been dangerous mathematiciansWhen is a game too long? Skazz is finding out in FF7 RebirthInfo-graphics meets puzzle in Metrico+Back to the future town has been featured in lot of filmsHow to fix the Atari ET gameA

Welcome to episode 259We kick this episode discussing missing the classic sodium vapor street lamp and other random lighting technologies, we also look back at how we both kinda enjoyed lock down and some hobbies picked upSkazz then talks about his replay Cyberpunk 2077, apparently Ram had also agreed to play this as first game of 2025 of which he has no memorySkazz discusses the replay value, the major changes they made since we last played and how hes enjoying a different experience playing a female V.Ram reminisces his preferred method of assassination: getting the target to take themselves out. We talk about some of the memorable moments in the game, along with some of the bugs we did encounteredWE also discuss Rams Doggo hurting itself (She's all fine now)NotesThe place where it dark for large chunks of they year is Longyearbyen in NorwayThe classic street light Sodium-VaporRevisiting a favorite RPG Cyberpunk 2077The amazing voice actor for Female V, Cherami LeighWe look forward to seeing you all in

Welcome to episode 258We kickoff by discussing how where going to make a name for ourselves in 2025 and if Ram can be extradited We then move onto games, Ram's been playing Far Cry 6, we have a brief talk about the series and its spin offs before talking about this game mechanics including finding stuff on the maps, ammo tyeps anti frustration features, cockfighting and Ubisoft being UbisoftWe also look at Steam year in review and discuss possible horse ownershipNotesStory's about what life is like in North Koreahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLRPDzs3bRQ&ab_channel=InsiderJust a Tank filling up with at Tesco, nothing to see herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLQiUe3HMRs&ab_channel=TankNutDaveRetake your country from Gus Fring in Far Cry 6https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/far-cry/far-cry-6We look forward to seeing you all on the next podcast on January 16th 2025, at 18:30 GMT

Welcome to episode 257 We kick off with the talking about rams meat, before moving onto games. Ram has been escaping an evil corporation and trying to stay alive in Citizen Sleeper, A nice and simple RPG game with some interesting mechanics using dice rolls to do activity around a dying station. Including doing dead end basic jobs trying to earn money to eat and buy medicine to keep alive, or destroying a man chance at a better life by not babysitting enough. We then move onto 'our' games of the year, with Skazz up first with his top pics have to choose between Scarlet Nexus, Granblue Fantasy: Relink before settling on Ys X:Nordics, he explains how he nearly bounced of the game but came back to really enjoy it. Ram then talk about his runners up with the System Shock remake, and the murder mystery time bending game The Forgotten City. Before settling on the game that he has poured most of the summer into, his Empyrion Galactic Survival! Notes A cyborg escaping an evil corp in Citizen Sleeper Skazz G

Welcome to episode 256 - The Memory podcastWe get right into the games this month, by first discussing the game we've been playing for our Christmas game night special - We Were Here Forever. the fourth game in one of our favorite (barring the third) Puzzle series, we discuss the story, how the games work and the tie in videos. Along with what we did and didn't like about some of the puzzles. We also talk about getting stumped and our differing methodology on how to solve them, including Rams bits of paper Next up Ram has been playing the the spiritual successer to Her Story, Telling Lies, with illegal access to an NSA hard drive, you have to figure out the truth about that happened between four major (and a lot of minor) characters by searching for and watching there video conversations. Ram talk about the story and game play, as well as reveling if he prefers this to it predecessorWe also discuss using our podcasts as a punishment device, and what makes a good stealth gameNotesInteresting facts from the QI

Welcome to episode 255 We kick things off with Skazz admitting he's rethinking his playing the Elder Scrolls series. Despite claiming he doesn't like the games, he owns Skyrim on multiple systems... Ram then shares how he’s gotten into Korean food after binge-watching a variety of Korean TV shows. He gives a quick rundown of how these shows work and highlights some of his favorites. Skazz was initially concerned but felt reassured when he learned that Ram watches the subtitled versions instead of the dubbed ones. Next, we dive into a discussion about modern media. We reminisce about missing the days of 22-episode TV seasons, where there weren’t years-long gaps between season. We also discuss if modern shows are chasing the wrong quality and are we seeing a lack of innovation? We also touch on the infamous curse of disappointing TV show finales. On the gaming front, Skazz talks about playing the recently released English version of Ys 10: Nordics. In preparation, he’s been revisiting the first nine games i

Welcome to Episode 254 We start by teasing what we’ve been playing for our Christmas Games Night special—stay tuned, as all will be revealed later in the year! Next, we recap our recent 24-hour gaming live-stream, packed with a mix of some of our beloved classics and some new experiences: First up was For The King, which dominated much of our game time. Previously, Ram and Zaber, and Skazz and Zaber, had tackled this strategy RPG in pairs. This time, the trio united to confront the big bad and bring order to a chaotic land. We then transitioned into global warfare with the world-ending strategy game DEFCON. Ram had a slight edge, having played the tutorial years ago, while Skazz struggled without a mouse and Zaber forgot to deploy any units—tactical brilliance all around! To lighten the mood, we switched to Golf It!, navigating custom maps while narrowly avoiding copyright strikes. This led to a lively discussion about realistic sporting games. Next, we dove into one of the original looter-shooters, Borderlan

Welcome to Episode 253 In this episode, Skazz takes the lead as we dive into our latest Games Night experience with MudRunner. We explore the challenges of navigating through the muddy landscapes of Eastern Europe using worn-out Soviet era trucks, discussing the fun (and frustration) of getting stuck and relying on winches—either yours or your friends—to pull you free. We also touch on the game's bad points, including its clunky interface and issues with player synchronisation, while also comparing it to Euro Truck Simulator and how the two stack up as driving games. Continuing his horror game streak, Ram delves into The Callisto Protocol, a much-hyped, visually good looking title that unfortunately serves as a textbook case of how not to design a horror game. With a cliché storyline, poor level design, and a dull combat system, it manages to sap the fun out of the experience. The game even makes you accept an agreement to not to cheat in a single-player game. Ram completely ignores this and turns to a cheat

Welcome to episode 252 We start by addressing Skazz’s issues with operating systems and Ram’s annoyances with the YouTube TV app, before diving into the main topic of games. Ram shares another brief update on Empyrion Galactic Survival, where he’s finally made it into space, albeit with a few setbacks—mainly forgetting the laws of physics. He also delves into the game's creative mode and talks about some of his ambitious projects. Next, he talks about Maid of Sker, a game from one of his favourite genres: stealth survival horror. This leads us to discuss the elements of good and bad horror game design, as well as what makes environments feel immersive. We briefly touch on game difficulty levels and the ideal length of games. Skazz brings up Netflix’s game streaming beta, discussing how it works, its performance, and the current selection of games. We then expand the conversation to game streaming services as a whole. We also discuss how Comic Sans will save the world, the perils of operating system updates,

Welcome to episode 251 Skazz shares his thoughts on the game we recently played during game night: Nidhogg. It’s a deceptively simple 2D sword-fighting game with surprising depth in its mechanics and an incredible amount of fun. We also dive into the newly announced PS5 Pro, discussing how a stable frame rate can enhance a game’s visuals more effectively than higher resolution. This sparks a passionate rant from Skazz about how modern games often fall short in terms of gameplay mechanics, and we explore why focusing on graphics isn't the right approach. Our conversation then shifts to movies, with Ram revealing that he’s just watched the entire Harry Potter series—most of them for the first time. This leads to a discussion about separating the author from their work, particularly in the case of J.K. Rowling, and how good things can be pulled from terrible situations . We also take a moment to appreciate the late Alan Rickman’s incredible acting. Finally, Ram gives us an update on his adventures in Empyrio