Topic: The Thread of Totally Awesome Video Game Screenshots [Slow Connections Beware]

@Werehog Yeah, that Batgirl pic really works! Could be a frame in a comic. Nice shots all around. I’ve still yet to play this despite it sitting in my library.

@Tjuz Love the non-photo mode photos! Some of my favourite shots I’ve taken are from ‘Elden Ring’ which also doesn’t have a photo mode. Really forces one to get creative. I also like the second one and have been oddly enraptured by that tree. I’m calling it a Frosted Money Willow.

@AhmadSumadi Very nice shots! The lighting on that last photo is brilliant 😄

@Werehog @Metonymy The tree in that picture truly is striking! I can't take full credit for that picture, as it's basically the view you get as soon as you enter that settlement. It seemed perfectly calibrated from the beginning to give you that wow-factor. Still, might as well capture it and share it! As for Metonymy, do you have a link to the Elden Ring screenshots you made without photo mode? I'd be intrigued to see them if you've posted them here before! Frosted Money Willow is also a shockingly accurate description for this universe, haha.

And Rog, no worries about switching the image hosting site. It was no effort at all. If anything, having made an account for the first time ever on an image hosting site for this one, I've gotten great enjoyment out of uploading some of my older pictures and sorting them into albums! I'm a sucker for some good organisation as I know you are.

@AhmadSumadi What?! Those images look so insanely stunning. I've owned the game for a little bit now and been meaning to get to it eventually, but this has been the biggest push yet with how great that looks. Fantastic work!

@Tjuz it’s a truly amazing game! Finding gems like this (that I likely wouldn’t have bought) is a particular thing I like about PS+.

@Tjuz I’ll try and dig those Elden Ring pics up! A few more Yotei shots:

Just a few more Yotei shots. This game is too pretty!

@Metonymy You're not kidding with how pretty that game is! I'm not particulary interested in Tsushima or Yotei because of the open world of it all, but I've been loving the shots people are posting. I particularly like the black-and-white tree shot, the in-action shot right after as well as the one with the mountain. Good stuff! And of course, I look forward to your Elden Ring shots for when you manage to unearth them.

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I finished up The Outer Worlds 2 yesterday. I have a lot to say about it, which will probably manifest as a long-winded review in the impressions thread, but for now I have some final screenshots to share of the last hours.

@Metonymy Those are some stunning Ghost of Yōtei shots! I love 'em all, but the tree silhouette (second in the first batch) and red mist stand-off (first of the second batch) particularly stand out, they're very dramatic. And you're absolutely right, the game is far too pretty!

You know me too well...!! The site I use has never felt as stable as some of the larger, more recognisable hosting options (and for a while, I switched to Imgur because their server's reliability was way more consistent) but postimages.org have those all-important albums, even for free members, so I was pleased to discover that they're a lot more stable than they used to be.

Anyway, glad you're having fun, at any rate! Looks like it means you'll be sharing more as and when, like your last The Outer Worlds 2 shots, which are very striking! That first one in particular makes the game look real tempting, as does the spaceship's bridge(?) shot. Nicely done!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 got a free update last night after winning GOTY at The Game Awards. It includes a photo mode. I will absolutely play through it again and take photos of everything.

@Werehog Can't say I've ever even heard of postimages.com! It seems like Imgur truly had a monopoly on that type of site. It was easily the one I knew of and would always upload everything on. I wonder how much they'll be affected by the ban and how much Imgbb will be able to eat their market share. Seems like a perfectly valid option to me thus far.

Yup, that's the bridge of your ship right before you dive into the final mission. A nice shot where I see all of my companions for the last time, as then you'll have to select the two to go into the mission with and the others are not to be seen again outside of the game's ending slides. A final hurrah! I'll definitely continue sharing screenshots from whatever I'm playing. Sadly, I've jumped into Cronos: The New Dawn next... which is sorely lacking a photo mode all the same. At least the HUD there makes itself invisible whenever you're not in combat, so that's nice!

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@Kairuuu I'm shocked that game didn't have a photo mode to begin with! I have yet to really get to it after only playing the opening hours when it first debuted. Sounds like the best time to get into it right now though with the update and an inclusion of a photo mode. That game is way too pretty not to give you the ultimate photo mode tools!

@Tjuz Alas, I'm not sure Imgur will care much about the UK's new internet rules. They were the ones who voluntarily blocked themselves after refusing to comply, not the other way around. And with other alternate services available, it's not like there's suddenly a gap in the market or anything.

Sounds like a great moment to capture, that final hurrah! Reminds me of whenever I'd finish a Mass Effect game, hovering over the Share button while waiting to snap those final Shep / Ryder / crew shots. Sorry you're once again lacking a Photo Mode, but you're right, I'm always grateful whenever a dynamic HUD gets itself out of the way! Hope you enjoy the game all the same!

Here with my screencaps from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.

The gallery only covers the main campaign right now. I'm hoping to start The Frozen Wilds tomorrow, so I'll be back to add some snowy shots soon.

Link to the full gallery.

My plush collection back when I used to play Fallout 76, space cat was my favorite. They had a very weird economy on there where in-game currency was almost useless. I traded a lot of very rare drops to get all of those. Most were had only showed up in one-time events. The true EndGame grind. I wasn't there for events so we did business.

The first player I met in the game. They killed me right after taking that pictures then apologized and showed me around the zone. I think they accidentally blew me up.

@Werehog - Those are really good, it's hard to make that game look bad but I really like how you captured the dynamic range especially in that first shot. I really like that black and white portrait too, really nice use of natural light and balanced tones.

@Werehog I initally thought those Horizon shots were from Forbidden West with how pretty they look, but it seems like the original holds up very well still! I'm not sure how much of that is the effect of the remaster, but I'm sure it can't have made such a huge difference in terms of its fidelity. I especially love the first, third and final shot you highlighted. The landscape, the colours, the expertly placed depth of field and lens flare in the third shot! Beautiful stuff. I wish I'd be more into open-world games that I'd want to explore that place myself, but alas. I'll just live vicariously through your screenshots when it comes to experiencing the visuals it has to offer!

@GirlVersusGame That plush collection is so cute! I love that. Was that more of a personal thing or is there genuinely also a market within the game for collecting all the plushies? That picture of the other player is very cool too. A shame he blew you up instantly after, but I'm glad he apologised and you were able to make friends! I guess we could've seen a betrayal coming from someone who looks like that much of a badass.

@GirlVersusGame I have no doubt that I would've bought everything in any store as a child if given the opportunity! Shiny things can be undeniable, so I'm glad to hear that the feeling to need to work for it in games was something enjoyable for you. The way you had a whole operation going to make this possible without getting caught is impressive! Lots of technical know-how involved in making that work properly, it seems. It overwhelms me even just to see the explanation of it all! I'm sure other players appreciated as well that you didn't use this power to crash the economy either. Sounds like you used it all thoughtfully and to your own benefit, but not to other people's harm. If anything, it sounds like they more often than not got a great deal out of selling their items to you. A win-win for everyone involved!

That you were able to finish your plushie collection so quick is great! It was worth all the effort you went through then, and the effort sounds like it was all part of the fun for you. Helps to have a good mind for business in these types of collect-a-thon moments. One of my friends is currently trying to explain the Pokémon trading card market to me as we speak... my mind is not made for these types of transactions, haha. I also had no clue gift parties were a thing. Is that something that was exclusive to you within your friend groups? I can imagine maybe more people who have much of certain items in games or real-life collectibles might do that. Or possibly trading parties where everyone is encouraged to compare their collections and trade!

Hilarious to me that you were just going around nuking your enemies instead of facing them head-on. It's the smart way to go about it I'm sure, but the image of bullying a player only to get your base nuked a second later is cracking me up. Only sweetens to deal to see them leaving bewildered and shocked! Even screenshotting yourself as you're doing the (not so) evil deed, haha. These people sound like a total pain in the butt, so I'm glad you were able to teach them a lesson even if it's not attributed to you! Do you think you'll go back to playing Fallout 76 at some point after all its updates or is it largely behind you?

@Tjuz - It's a little shady but spending that much time online as a solo player just isn't viable especially if I only have X amount of time to play each day. I saw all kinds of game addiction on those games, some people went broke in real life. I saw it as building my own localized economy, it didn't hurt the game or anyone else so it became easy to justify my methods. It would only hurt the game if I did cash-out and I never did, it's not why I was there.

I never saw Pokemon either, only the Sylveon thing, if you ever heard of Build a Bear? I bought all of their Sylveons. It's a kind of cat/dog/fairy thing, I'm not sure but I like it's style. There's something like one million of those Poke'things so I wouldn't even try.

Gift parties generally aren't a thing. It's something I started for my group on that particular game. We'd set a date and just spend hours rotating gifts. Obviously it was me mostly spearheading it but I liked to give back and a lot of those people didn't have the money to pump into a game. A couple of others got onboard like my friend from Saint Petersburg and we'd just do it. I also saw it as 'if I give them this they won't have to run that content 50 times tonight until they pass out'. I don't agree with that kind of cycle of exhaustion, it seems to prey on the player's time. My friend was a sort of treasurer of sorts, we'd inspect peoples builds then compare notes and help them along with what they needed. It was a good feeling, to me the object wasn't actually real but their reaction was and that's what counted.

I had to nuke those people they were what you call toxic. I just wanted to be left alone and there was nothing that was going to stop me from keeping the spot I earned. My back-up only came online when it was a situation like that, I met him on a DeepWeb gamer group, yes we have those on there too. We kept a similar schedule, knew I was only on there to explore the map and earn what I could. He was a good guy. I didn't want to log-in as passive, it was more of an accomplishment to survive in the raw experience. Conan was the same I would play solo, people would raid me then hide my things (but not take them) once I found out who it was I'd contact someone and we'd send a giant Snake or other monster to destroy their bases. Sometimes I'd cook them afterwards too, I needed the extra meat. I once sent a guy back his arm, he never attacked me again. I also once fought a crocodile for three actual hours with a stick, that was the solo experience and that was not an easy game.

I have no doubt that I would've bought everything in any store as a child if given the opportunity!

• Eventually that urge goes away. I only bought maybe ten PS5 games this year, I think I hit a point where the things you own start to own you. If that makes sense, I don't want to be defined by things. Books are the exception because they contain knowledge and you can always apply that to something. The rest not so much.

Do you think you'll go back to playing Fallout 76 at some point after all its updates or is it largely behind you?

• I'm never going back to an online game ever again. Too many people took advantage of my kindness and I just don't have the skill needed to say no, as you've already seen. So the safer option is to just use the PSN for purchases, updates, and nothing else. I considered renting a server on Fallout for just myself but then I couldn't run any events, it would just be me running up that hill again. I haven't gamed in maybe two weeks, but when I do it will probably be something like Rimworld, Cities Skylines or Satisfactory. Online games were fun for a time but they aren't real and neither are the people on there. At least the ones I met. With Cities Skylines I was able to study actual city planning, infrastructure and come away with something more worth while. I never came away with any kind of skill or understanding from online gaming, it's a different kind of experience. It also allowed me to talk to a real city planner offline and know what they were talking about.

That right there is perfection. It's perfect traffic flow from all directions through every main artery. That one intersection too me three days to build, then afterwards I just watched the traffic flow through while I read a book. I never found that kind of accomplishment with real people in a game, only by playing the games auction houses and trade deals. So I can't really say I miss it.

@Werehog Beautiful work! My favourite is the second one. The way the lens flare interacts with Aloy really connects her and the machine. I also think it splits the image in an interesting way.

The third one is so well balanced. The blues and red and depth of field are used to great effect. The machine’s wings and Aloy’s drawn arm sort frame the confrontation for me. Awesome pic!

@GirlVersusGame Yeah, whatever if it's shady if it ends up saving your sanity by not having to dump endless hours into it for minimal rewards! It's very nice of you to be able to help out other players too in reducing their time-sink. I do know of Build a Bear, but I have no idea if we even have those in Europe! Probably, but I've never seen one in the wild at least. My brother was obsessed with Sylveon when he was addicted to Pokemon GO, so it's fun to know you have you many plushies of it!

Haha, I love that you would sometimes cook the limbs of your enemies and send them back. That's hilarious. I've never played Conan, but those kinds of stories as well as giant snakes being sent as troops make it sound very appealing. That is, until I remember it's a survival game where 90% of my time will be spent doing mind-numbing busywork. At least that other 10% is incredibly fun! I think I've gone the opposite way in my buying behaviours. I'm not an impulsive buyer at all except when it comes to video games (apparently). I've gone a bit overboard this year, more so than others. Did I need to buy Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure just a few hours ago? No. Do I still have over 60 other games installed I might end up playing before it? ... Yes. But it was shiny and I wanted it!

It's a shame people took advantage of you even on PSN. Maybe one day there'll be an online game again that you just have to try. It's not like you always have to actively involve yourself with other players or communities after all. I definitely understand that you'd rather spend your time on games or media you feel like you get more out of however. That Cities: Skylines screenshot looks like a really well planned out city! I did use to play the 2013 SimCity reboot a lot, but every one of my cities would turn out some variation of many, many squares. I don't think my city planning as a 13-year old was particularly well planned out or pretty. Since you said the city planning of it all very much interested you though, I'll link a YouTube video below where a YouTuber I liked interviewed a real-life city planner who is also known on YouTube for doing playthroughs of city sims and utilising his real-life expertise in them. You might be interested in it! I found it interesting at the very least, and this is not normally something I think about.

@Tjuz I accidentally deleted my reply but it was something like this. That's City Planner Plays I've talked to him before and couple of the other PC content creators, it's a nice community and games like that are mainly played by Dads, like Satisfactory, Space Engineers and I forgot the other. Also I said that your brother has very refined tastes and that we have at least two Build a Bears in London. One in Hamleys and the other on Oxford Street. I probably also said if you haven't played Conan you aren't missing anything. Imagine a desert, a jungle, some mountains, some forests, a handful of animals and nothing else. That was the game, the Devs then decided to make everything else DLC and when people did drop off they released Dune which seems to be yet another desert. They sold the game on 'the player builds the world' but everything was really unbalanced and I only played because it was that difficult. It had animals you could tame so that's probably another reason why I stayed.

@GirlVersusGame @Tjuz @Metonymy Thanks for the Horizon praise, y'all. Really kind of you, and really appreciate it. The resolution bump, Aloy's brand new character model, and a new lighting system make all the difference to what was already a gorgeous game, at least in terms of Photo Mode shots. It almost pushes itself into "remake" territory, rather than a simple remaster.

@GirlVersusGame I also love your Fallout shots, especially the rather badass one of the player who killed you then apologised and became your guide! The mist makes it very atmospheric!