A thread for spending currency only for greatly discounted electronic transactions

[Polychron]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Universe Sandbox is on sale. I know some of us find it interesting, so I checked their website out and they have a demo

http://www.universesandbox.com/download/

I bought it a while ago and I was quite disappointed, it is highly inaccurate, and quite useless.

If you really into such stuff, try Celestia and patch it with all avaible hi-res texture pack!

[hal]

Originally Posted by Polychron

I bought it a while ago and I was quite disappointed, it is highly inaccurate, and quite useless

How certain are you? An astrophysicist disagrees.

Don’t assume that Universe Sandbox is merely a game for those inexperienced in astronomy, as I found it to offer a plethora of options that will satisfy even the most hardened astronomer (being in astrophysics myself, I know). Beneath the basic level of customization I’ve already discussed lay a treasure-trove of options to satisfy the physicist in me. I attempted to dig for as much physics-based info I could discern from each model and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Being able to accurately solve for the Lagrange Points in my five-star system was impressive enough, but I was even able to switch the physics engine from 2nd-order approximations to 4th-order…and if you understood that sentence, you’ll realize that this game means business. To be frank, I had expected Universe Sandbox to be more of a toy for those casually interested in astronomy, as I’ve come to expect from other titles in this genre. However, I left this review surprised at the sheer amount of depth hidden beneath the surface that managed to even make a physicist double-take once or twice. Despite the game’s neglect of more advanced concepts within astronomy, such as popular topics like dark matter and stellar evolution, and lack of modelling options at sizes beyond galactic systems, Universe Sandbox still managed to provide an interesting experience that went far beyond the common entry-level simulators that clutter the market.

If you tried it, then you might consider this from the developer:

If you're having problems with the simulation flying apart, you're probably turning up the time step too high.

The time step directly relates to how accurate the simulation is. The higher the time step the less accurate; the lower the time step the more accurate it is.

The problem with time step and accuracy is a problem fundamental to gravity simulators. The fact that it's not clear what's going on is my fault. I hope to address this in a future revision.

[Polychron]

The link gives quite interesting thoughts on universesandbox, perhaps I'll give it another chance...

<br>

Wow, DNF is already on sale, 50% off a few weeks later after release!? That means something...

It means that the game sale rates were utterly miserable and the game itself is bull****. We shall wait for x-mas sale... 10 $/€ I am not willing to pay more for this crap after playing the demo. Yeah I know hal, the game is supposed to be better, but the controls were crap already.... so I'll just wait and see...

Portal 2, 50% off!

WAIT or BUY???

How easy is it to find a co-op partner in-game?

[Jackal]

Portal 2 co-op is worth the sale price alone. We had so much fun doing it and it was about a 4-5 hour game for SlayerDragon and I, and we loved it. Still do.

[hal]

Originally Posted by Polychron

Wow, DNF is already on sale, 50% off a few weeks later after release!? That means something...

It means that the game sale rates were utterly miserable and the game itself is bull****. We shall wait for x-mas sale... 10 $/€ I am not willing to pay more for this crap after playing the demo. Yeah I know hal, the game is supposed to be better, but the controls were crap already.... so I'll just wait and see...

Portal 2, 50% off!

WAIT or BUY???

How easy is it to find a co-op partner in-game?

No, even in the review I suggested waiting for a sale. It has entertaining parts, but is not without its flaws (maybe not as flawed as some would lead you to believe). But you're right, analysts have been saying DNF (lack of) sales brought down the publisher's ranking in the last quarter, so it hasn't sold as well as expected.

The realist in me says that the game has nowhere to go but down in price. While a quick 50% off sale is tempting, I see this hitting sub-$20 by winter. Clearly people are anxious to try the game for a discounted price as evidenced by the leap to the top of the Steam charts.

The funny thing about Portal 2 is that the multiplayer and singleplayer modes are altogether different from each other - no rehashed levels whatsoever. So you obviously want to be able to experience that portion of the game. I do think people will be playing it for some time to come, but I haven't tried finding anyone outside of my friends list to play the game. That's something to consider.

Bottom line though, is that we all know Valve loves a good sale and you can all but count on Portal 2 being on sale again. It is a brilliant game though, so if you don't mind spending a few bucks, $24.99 is a great deal.

[shoptroll]

I'm with hal, DNF is going to get a crazy discount at the Thanksgiving or Xmas sale as well. I'm not surprised it tipped up at half off already. If you need to play some Duke go to GoG and pick up 3D and/or Manhattan Project.

Buy Portal 2. No questions asked. Or get the Valve Pack which has their back catalog on sale for the normal price of one game.

[hal]

Summerseals is done!

My haul (about $60 total):

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Post Apocalyptic Mayhem + DLC
Terraria $2.49 woot!
Mafia II DLC Joe's Adventures
Universe Sandbox
Lara Croft GOL DLC: All the Trappings, Lara Croft GOL DLC: Hazardous Reunion
Atom Zombie Smasher
Jamestown
And Yet It Moves
Beat Hazard iTunes DLC, Beat Hazard - Ultra
Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money, Fallout New Vegas Honest Hearts DLC
Fortix 2
Tropico 3: Absolute Power
HOARD
Alien Breed: Impact
BIT.TRIP.RUNNER
Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Magicka DLC
Gratuitous Space Battles DLC

This was definitely a DLC sale for me by the looks of it.

[shoptroll]

Originally Posted by hal

This was definitely a DLC sale for me by the looks of it.

Same:

Bionic Commando Rearmed
Serious Sam HD Double Pack
Magicka: Robe Bundle
Magicka: Frozen Lake
Magicka: Watchtower
Magicka: Final Frontier
Magicka: Marshland
BIT.TRIP.RUNNER

Might snag that Portal 2 book since it's $1 but it feels wrong shaving $1 off a $2 item.

Overall, a really good sale although I think I have most of the repeat sale items by now so there wasn't much for me to buy, and anything I did want to buy will probably be on sale again during the holidays and I'm in no rush to get them anyways. I have to wonder if this is why they did this sale and the treasure hunt about 8 months ago: using games that are on sale to get prizes for other games you might already own was a good angle for them to pursue. Also, it certainly kept me checking every day. Managed to get all the prizes I wanted except for the AAaaaa!! levels which they said they would try to put in the store later and I heard they were incredibly hard which decreased their priority.

[Capt.Toilet]

Saw lots of damn good sales, but because I have 30 bucks to my name till Friday I had to decline. An upside to this is I can finally dwindle down my gaming backlog.

[Polychron]

Holy... this was probably the best sale marathon on Steam ever for me! Better than X-Mas! So many great titles on sale!

Additionally, I also finally bought Portal 2, Borderlands+DLCs, Prototype... what can I say??? Time for a gaming vacation?

I really liked "2nd chances", very clever marketing strategy!

EVERYONE DESERVES A 2ND CHANCE! Even a poor Steam customer.

[Kyllian]

There's a bunch of guys on here that still play Borderlands once in a while
I've seen Hal, JD, N7 and a few others ingame

[Polychron]

Originally Posted by Kyllian

There's a bunch of guys on here that still play Borderlands once in a while
I've seen Hal, JD, N7 and a few others ingame

Yes, I'd love to. I think Kantham even made a friend list with all GameSpy IDs back then, but can't find it.

[BITE_ME]

Stranglehold.
For PC $1.98.
Should I buy it?

[Sjosz]

BITE_ME: Yes, that game is worth 1.98.

For me the Steam sale has also impacted my wallet:

- ID Super Pack
- THQ Pack
- Deus Ex GOTY
- Sanctum
- Terraria
- Witcher 2
- Puzzle Agent 2
- Mass Effect 2
- BIT.TRIP RUNNER

[Polychron]

Originally Posted by Sjosz

For me the Steam sale has also impacted
- …
- Puzzle Agent 2
- Mass Effect 2
- BIT.TRIP RUNNER

Haha, you are funny!

[Sir_Brizz]

Originally Posted by BITE_ME

Stranglehold.
For PC $1.98.
Should I buy it?

Where?

[Festering Anus]

Originally Posted by Polychron

Haha, you are funny!

eat a bunch of ****

[BITE_ME]

Originally Posted by Sir_Brizz

Where?

At a book store I go to.
They have 2 new ones in the box.
Do you need one?
Just PM your address, and I'll send you one.

[Sjosz]

Originally Posted by Polychron

Haha, you are funny!

I didn't own it on PC and it was on sale, surely that's fairly reasonable.

[Agent_5]

Originally Posted by Sjosz

I didn't own it on PC and it was on sale, surely that's fairly reasonable.

Proof that Bioware is ignoring the PC crowd and catering towards consoles. Insert mock rage and drama.

Edit: OT, Zeno Clash is $3.75 on Steam.