u/First-Tutor-5454

Built this as a family PC for the living room recently.

• Shiny Snake G350
• MSI Project Zero B650M (back connect)
• Ryzen 9700X
• Onix Lumi Intel Arc B580
• Sama 750w PSU (white)
• 32GB T-Force DDR5 rgb
• Arctic Freezer 36 A-RGB cooler
• Thermalright TL-M12QW and QRW fans

Notes:

• On this board, the CPU slot is closer than usual to the top PCI slot, so I was limited in my choice of air coolers. With the Arctic Freezer 36 there is only 1-2mm of space between the cooler and GPU. Others I tried were hanging over the PCI slot and keeping me from plugging in the GPU. Even though it wasn't my first choice, I like the Arctic Freezer 36. Pretty good performance at a good price, looks good, and the snap-in fan design saves a tiny bit of space by not requiring clips and gives it a cleaner look.
• Lumi B580 needs its own rgb header to control colors, so I just left it and the RAM on default rainbow
• Many/most builds bring the GPU power cable up and over from underneath the card, but I came from the top/side to avoid blocking the ONIX LUMI badge
• Back connect is really cool, don't know if I can go back after trying it (though I don't think I'd use this particular mobo again due to the cpu slot placement issue mentioned above, unless I was using aio)

Idle temps:

• CPU: 46
• GPU: 44

There are a lot of feelings about Blood: Refreshed Supply's launch cost of $30. Recent thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boomershooters/comments/1trkr50/blood_refreshed_supply_worth_it/

Just noting it's currently on sale for $20.99 at GOG and Steam:

https://www.gog.com/en/game/blood_refreshed_supply

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3884520/Blood_Refreshed_Supply/

I know many think this is probably what the regular price should be. In any case, just wanted to share this for anyone who's been wanting to get it and didn't want to pay $30. I never had Fresh Supply + its initial cheaper upgrade path, so I jumped on this.

If you own Fresh Supply, are mad, and are planning to downvote, please remember that this is the only way to play Blood for those of us who don't have Fresh Supply.

75% off at Steam. According to isthereanydeal.com this matches the all-time low.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1678430/PowerSlave\_Exhumed/

60% off! Short but sweet from the creator of DUSK. According to isthereanydeal.com this is an all-time low.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1935660/Chop\_Goblins/

There have been a few lively threads about this recently, and I just happened to come across this while randomly listening to youtube at work. It's Civvie's review of Boltgun, but it's as much about drilling down into the core design elements of boomshoots. He explains why he doesn't actually consider Boltgun a boomshoot and mentions a few other games (Ultrakill, modern Dooms). Starts around 2:58:

https://youtu.be/d3Nz8maBmxk?t=178

I will transcribe a few choice sections:

>“Boltgun is not a boomer shooter and [marketing people] are only calling it that because it has chunky pixels.”

>"I wouldn't even call Ultrakill a boomshoot. It's more of a character action game that I am absolutely terrible at. Dusk and Amid Evil, with their level design and the way enemy encounters are generally more fluid and happen organically as you progress through a level, that's boomshoot."

>"Boltgun, and I want everyone to know this before going in, is a lot more like Doom 2016 than it is like a [boomshoot]. Not to say it isn't a good game, but without the open level design that rewards exploration - a thing that Boltgun only occasionally does..."

He goes on to point out how the game pays homage to Doom's E1M1 but:

>"...but look what happens when you're in that Doom 1 homage: I 'guess' having a locked room invasion inside of a tribute to the most famous FPS level ever is a blend of old and new...the times you're locked into an arena to purge a wave of enemies like you just purged a gore nest in Doom 2016 happens in most levels, sometimes more than once, and I'd say that this is way more reflective of Boltgun's gameplay than something like the original Doom. Not Doom Eternal though, because it isn't so fussy that you have to swap weapons every quarter second so you can maximize your damage output against different enemies."

>"There's a lot of corridors that connect to arenas that connect to corridors that connect to arenas and that's the progression of the game."

He goes on to criticize how the weapon strength mechanic is unclear/opaque.

On secrets:

>"I do know that picking up this power-up counts as finding a secret, because I think the majority of secrets in this game are power-ups that you pick up that are in full view of the player and are usually not hidden. That's not very boomshoot of you Boltgun."

More on combat:

>"Boltgun's combat, like I've said, is less like an old-school game, since in general the enemies are faster and the game delivers them via teleportation inside an arena most of the time...you might think at the start that you're in for a classic boomshoot with the aforementioned E1M1 shoutout, and the first enemies you meet being soft to enhance your power fantasy feel..."

Anyway, the point of this post isn't to say anything about Boltgun specifically, but to highlight what one popular voice that spends a lot of time with retro games and their modern descendants thinks makes a good boomer shooter and where certain modern titles, including those that explicitly call themselves boomer shooters, sometimes depart significantly from core design elements.

- having chunky pixels does not make a boomshoot

- open level design that rewards exploration (I would explicitly add backtracking and key hunting, but generally really having to understand the map and how its parts fit together)

- enemy encounters as a general rule happen organically during level progression rather than in locked-door arena invasions

- well-hidden secrets that further encourage exploration of the map's carefully authored spaces

All-time low is $7.49 but this is pretty close!

Link to game: https://www.gog.com/en/game/citadel_remonstered

From the announcement at r/gog :

>Citadel Remonstered – a Doom-style FPS made for the Atari by a team that apparently didn’t know that making Doom for the Atari wasn’t technically supposed to be possible. They made it anyway. It’s now preserved on GOG.

From the official description:

The game is a PC remake of the classic 3D FPS 1995 Amiga game “Citadel”. It reuses the original assets and maps to provide a retro feeling, while adding modern gameplay and graphical enhancements.

• Full re-write of the original Amiga game for modern platforms
• Level graphics updated including textures and enemies
• Some level maps updated for better playing experience
• Touch and Xbox controller support added
• Difficulty re-balanced
• Training options include additional levels
• Intro and outro are available from the main menu
• Quicksave/quickload support added (F5/F9)
• Added 3 levels of graphics details. For full retro experience change details to low. For the most immersive experience use high details.
• Added weapon auto-change and weapon switching using the mouse wheel
• Added support of full screen modes (F1/F2)