Baker’s Final March

[Baker]

Update:

 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

 

So I started this game and I like it. I’m at the final boss. I played without any guide trying to find every crate in every level, and to no surprise I only found all crates in the very first one. I don’t see myself putting a lot of time in this game soon. There is too much stuff to do. This will sit incomplete on my profile for a long time and I’ll try to do short goals, like getting the insanely perfect relics, and then taking a break again. It’s also mostly because I’m currently hooked on…

 

Pure Pool

 

With a whopping 0.03% completion rate this is one of the rarest games on PSN so I expected this to be tough. But I ‘eased’ my way through all the pool careers. Maybe it’s because I’m a decent Pool player in real life and watch a lot of snooker (way too hard for me) that helped me here, who knows. Unfortunately I’m only level 36. And I need to reach level 126. This remaining grind will take around 100 hours by my estimate. ?

 

I still have the snooker DLC to do with the infamous 147 break. Curious to see how that goes. Luckily I don’t have to play on Master difficulty, no aiming assist, against the ridiculously unfair AI anymore.

 

I might try to set a very fast 100% completion time. Let’s gooo!

[Baker]

I’ve ran into a little bit of a problem. I’ve had this issue for a long time and it’s that my PS4 can’t read discs all that well anymore. Doesn’t matter if it’s games or blu-rays. Usually it eventually will read it as long as I try often enough and reinserting the disc.

 

But now I’ve tried to launch CB4 for over an hour and I can’t get it to work. Tried Dragon Quest Heroes II, nothing. DMC5, nothing. A blu-ray, guess what, nothing.. ?

 

So is there a way for a technical noob like me to fix this? I guess the lens is just dirty or something..

Edited March 17, 2022 by Baker

[rjkclarke]

14 hours ago, Baker said:

Pure Pool

 

With a whopping 0.03% completion rate this is one of the rarest games on PSN so I expected this to be tough. But I ‘eased’ my way through all the pool careers. Maybe it’s because I’m a decent Pool player in real life and watch a lot of snooker (way too hard for me) that helped me here, who knows. Unfortunately I’m only level 36. And I need to reach level 126. This remaining grind will take around 100 hours by my estimate. ?

 

I still have the snooker DLC to do with the infamous 147 break. Curious to see how that goes. Luckily I don’t have to play on Master difficulty, no aiming assist, against the ridiculously unfair AI anymore.

 

I might try to set a very fast 100% completion time. Let’s gooo!

 

Congrats on this! Those Master Careers can definitely be a test of patience that's for sure.

 

I feel like I could have gotten through the careers a little quicker myself had I actually dedicated myself to doing it, which is not a brag, just like your post isn't. But man that damn A.I just infuriated me so much, I would end up just leaving the game for months at a time, just out of frustration. If it played like an actual Pool player, I wouldn't mind at all. The mistakes would feel like mine and mine alone, not the game being unrealistic. The game for the most part feels and reacts the way real Pool balls and tables would, so the name absolutely fits, and then you run into the A.I which is about as far from being Pure as you can get.

 

You're definitely right, I think playing Pool and watching a lot of it, and or Snooker definitely gives you a distinct advantage. I think it did for me, as I've said to you before, especially when it comes to some of the more difficult elements in the game, like precise positional play. I think it'll definitely give you an edge for the147 trophy. That was one of those things where I just kept trying until I got it, because you're running against a little more luck on that one too, with how unpredictably the balls can split on cannon shots, but I'm sure you'll get that nailed down with a bit of perseverance, which I know you have.  

 

For me the grind to Grandmaster grind was half the battle. Once you get into the high 80's and 90's ranges, a four hour session of efficient XP grinding will only bump you up about 5 levels a session. So that really does become a test of patience, again you'll be fine I'm sure, but doing it over a short period of time was not for me. I used a mix of Royal Rumble and the 2P potting the black for quick wins method depending on how "switched on" I felt. It kept it fairly fresh that way even if it took longer, because potting the black ball for about 40 hours is enough to force people into electric shock therapy.

 

Sounds like you've got this though - it'll be funny eventually seeing you and I on probably opposite ends of the Fastest Achievers list, because I'm not sure someone is going to nab that 100% much slower than me anytime soon, what with it taking nearly 6 and a half years ?

[Baker]

14 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

 

Congrats on this! Those Master Careers can definitely be a test of patience that's for sure.

 

I feel like I could have gotten through the careers a little quicker myself had I actually dedicated myself to doing it, which is not a brag, just like your post isn't. But man that damn A.I just infuriated me so much, I would end up just leaving the game for months at a time, just out of frustration. If it played like an actual Pool player, I wouldn't mind at all. The mistakes would feel like mine and mine alone, not the game being unrealistic. The game for the most part feels and reacts the way real Pool balls and tables would, so the name absolutely fits, and then you run into the A.I which is about as far from being Pure as you can get.

 

You're definitely right, I think playing Pool and watching a lot of it, and or Snooker definitely gives you a distinct advantage. I think it did for me, as I've said to you before, especially when it comes to some of the more difficult elements in the game, like precise positional play. I think it'll definitely give you an edge for the147 trophy. That was one of those things where I just kept trying until I got it, because you're running against a little more luck on that one too, with how unpredictably the balls can split on cannon shots, but I'm sure you'll get that nailed down with a bit of perseverance, which I know you have.  

 

For me the grind to Grandmaster grind was half the battle. Once you get into the high 80's and 90's ranges, a four hour session of efficient XP grinding will only bump you up about 5 levels a session. So that really does become a test of patience, again you'll be fine I'm sure, but doing it over a short period of time was not for me. I used a mix of Royal Rumble and the 2P potting the black for quick wins method depending on how "switched on" I felt. It kept it fairly fresh that way even if it took longer, because potting the black ball for about 40 hours is enough to force people into electric shock therapy.

 

Sounds like you've got this though - it'll be funny eventually seeing you and I on probably opposite ends of the Fastest Achievers list, because I'm not sure someone is going to nab that 100% much slower than me anytime soon, what with it taking nearly 6 and a half years

Thanks man. Yeah the AI is pure shit with their totally unrealistic shots. Especially that Michelle Williams, the one you need to beat at the end of the career. I was hyper focused and went 3-0 on Master 8-Ball only to have her clear 4 games in a row without me having even a shot. ? It took me 5 hours to beat her. Luckily 9-Ball was a lot easier.

 

So I’m going through the Snooker career at the moment and I see getting a high break, let alone a 147 there is impossible as the AI plays every shot at lightning pace scattering everything across the table. Just wondering how you did it and how the start with a foul actually works?

 

As for the grind, I think 8-Ball against myself is the way to go. I’m getting around 300-400 xp every 20 seconds or so. But I needed 50 games to gain 2 levels from 36 to 38. The grind is insane and I underestimated it. ?

Edited March 17, 2022 by Baker

[rjkclarke]

50 minutes ago, Baker said:

Thanks man. Yeah the AI is pure shit with their totally unrealistic shots. Especially that Michelle Williams, the one you need to beat at the end of the career. I was hyper focused and went 3-0 on Master 8-Ball only to have her clear 4 games in a row without me having even a shot. ? It took me 5 hours to beat her. Luckily 9-Ball was a lot easier.

 

Absolutely! Tell me about it - she did almost the exact same thing to me multiple times! One of the times I got a false sense of hope, because she pocketed the 8 on herself, so I basically got a free rack on her. That confidence didn't last long when I made a mistake when I was 3-0 up and I barely saw another shot after that. I think if the game had an overhead camera like most Pool games it would definitely shave a huge amount of the difficulty people associate with the game. I think that makes a big difference, and it does limit the shots you can and can't take in this game. 

 

50 minutes ago, Baker said:

So I’m going through the Snooker career at the moment and I see getting a high break, let alone a 147 there is impossible as the AI plays every shot at lightning pace scattering everything across the table. Just wondering how you did it and how the start with a foul actually works?

 

As for the grind, I think 8-Ball against myself is the way to go. I’m getting around 300-400 xp every 20 seconds or so. But I needed 50 games to gain 2 levels from 36 to 38. The grind is insane and I underestimated it.

 

That's another little gripe I had actually - that the Snooker A.I players, just play Snooker as if it was Pool. They will tend to do that. You probably could do it via career mode though. I definitely had a couple of centuries on the way to finishing all the matches, so it could happen. Just don't fixate on trying to do it.

 

I did the 147 by having a second controller as the opponent in the 1v1 mode. I think that's how most people tend to go for it.  It's up to you how do you do it whether you want to start with the free ball or not. That certainly gives you a bit more wiggle room (you don't have to take all blacks this way).  I used to just rebound off of a cushion and smash into the pack as player 2, and hope that I had a shot.

 

If you want to go the route of free ball first (I have since gotten a 147+ break that way, I think like 152 or something,I can't remember off the top of my head. I'd like to record a155 at some point, just for personal satisfaction) - what you do, is make sure that you're controlling player 2 at the start of the match, foul the brown by feathering into it, which should leave a free ball, then as your free ball you either power the brown into one of the two bottom pockets, or if you have the angle, take the yellow or green as a free ball, screw down the table with a bit of side spin if you can and whichever ball you end up taking as your free ball make sure you leave an acute angle on the black to go straight into the pack of reds as early as possible, the way an O'Sullivan, Trump or Robertson would, then go from there. If you're feeling brave and want to trust to luck a bit, you can also screw directly into the pack off the green or yellow and hope you get on the black, but that's a bit less reliable, as the pack can split a bit springy if you hit it in certain spots.

 

Yep that grind only gets bigger and longer unfortunately. You've got this! Just switch your brain off and podcast away!  That's probably one of the better ways to do it - 8-Balling yourself doesn't require as much concentration, it's just a little less fun, that's why I had to break it up a bit ?.... However long it takes, I doubt you'll be sitting at 100% completion in 2028 like the six years it took me to finally get it last year ... slow and steady and all that ?

Edited March 17, 2022 by rjkclarke

[Baker]

On 17-3-2022 at 5:33 PM, rjkclarke said:

 

I did the 147 by having a second controller as the opponent in the 1v1 mode. I think that's how most people tend to go for it.  It's up to you how do you do it whether you want to start with the free ball or not. That certainly gives you a bit more wiggle room (you don't have to take all blacks this way).  I used to just rebound off of a cushion and smash into the pack as player 2, and hope that I had a shot.

 

If you want to go the route of free ball first (I have since gotten a 147+ break that way, I think like 152 or something,I can't remember off the top of my head. I'd like to record a155 at some point, just for personal satisfaction) - what you do, is make sure that you're controlling player 2 at the start of the match, foul the brown by feathering into it, which should leave a free ball, then as your free ball you either power the brown into one of the two bottom pockets, or if you have the angle, take the yellow or green as a free ball, screw down the table with a bit of side spin if you can and whichever ball you end up taking as your free ball make sure you leave an acute angle on the black to go straight into the pack of reds as early as possible, the way an O'Sullivan, Trump or Robertson would, then go from there. If you're feeling brave and want to trust to luck a bit, you can also screw directly into the pack off the green or yellow and hope you get on the black, but that's a bit less reliable, as the pack can split a bit springy if you hit it in certain spots.

Pfff.. That 147 break is going to be very, very tough. After 2 days I just managed to get a 139 break. I ran totally out of position so I had to take a few low colour balls. My biggest issue with it is the aiming line. Sometimes, even though the aiming line is at the heart of the pocket, I miss. It’s very misleading. Any form of side spin and I miss as the line doesn’t adjust to the spin you’re giving on it. So now I only play with screw and top spin but the problem with that is you can quickly run out of position if the balls aren’t situated nicely..

 

I’m trying with a free ball start but by feathering the blue. Pot it in the left corner pocket and the white will travel to the right corner pocket. After that pot the black and cannon in the back of the cluster. But also with this, you need a lot of luck. To get position on a red, or sometimes the black is just tight up. And then it’s already a restart. Like 1 in 10 attempts I finally have a decent start where I can pot a few reds and blacks.

 

Alright. Needed to clear my thoughts a little. ? Back to the attempts.

 

Edit: Well I don’t know what the hell happened but all of a sudden the aiming lines are working like it should. I can finally screw with reverse side without missing. ? This makes positional play much easier. Getting frequent 80+ breaks now but then I get unlucky.. Matter of time before I get this..

Edited March 19, 2022 by Baker

[rjkclarke]

On 19/03/2022 at 3:49 PM, Baker said:

Well I don’t know what the hell happened but all of a sudden the aiming lines are working like it should. I can finally screw with reverse side without missing. ? This makes positional play much easier. Getting frequent 80+ breaks now but then I get unlucky.. Matter of time before I get this..

 

That's the spirit man! You've got this, I just wish I'd had the insane amount of patience you've got to tackle it as quickly as you're managing to. Hey at least I'll be able to wave at you from the other end of the Fastest achievers list.....

 

 

there is a whole lot of luck involved in the 147's in Pure Pool, it does very much play into your mantra I've seen you talk about before,  of just "going until you get it."  Just like real life Snooker, sometimes just a ball running onto a cushion can screw the entire thing up, it's infuriating. I don't want to sound like a broken record too much (second nature to me really ?) but you have got a mad amount of patience by the looks of things, so just stick at it, and sooner or later you'll definitely get it.

 

The fact that from actually playing Pool and watching Snooker that you have shots like screwing with reverse side in your arsenal is going to give you a huge advantage, it'll mean that you're attempts are going to be salvageable if you get a bit out of position, as those kind of shots give you far more choices and allow you to recover a bit better.

 

I don't know about you, but half the problem for me was when I ran out of position, and was a long distance from a red, because long pots with that fairly inconsistent aiming line at distance used to really make me panic, especially with any kind of spin.The fact you have to either take a black or a pretty high value colour at all times just compounds that problem.

Edited March 21, 2022 by rjkclarke

[Baker]

 #318

 

 

Dragon Quest Heroes II

 

Enjoyment: 7/10

Difficulty: -

Playtime: 160 hours

 

After playing my first Musou game with Persona 5 Strikers and liking it I decided to buy this game. Dragon Quest is one of my favorite JRPG franchises so I expected another fun game here. Unfortunately it was kind of disappointing.

 

First off this is much more a tower defence game where you just fight hordes of enemies. And I don’t like tower defence games. The worst part in the game for me is the atrocious AI, but more on that later. Many missions have you defending a certain NPC while also doing other things around a huge map fighting hordes of enemies.
 

These missions can also take a while and when at the end of a long mission the NPC you need to defend gets wrecked because you need to be on the other side of the map that’s just something that should not happen. It only happened a few times though so I eased my way through the story except for the final boss which has a big increase in difficulty over the main game.

 

The story in this game was also very mediocre.

After you finish the story there is some more stuff to do in postgame. Mainly it’s just grinding and getting everything at 100%. All enemies, all enemy item drops, beating a harder version of all enemies, all side quests, getting all Party Powers (a very boring grind) and then the reason this is a UR platinum: Getting all weapons.

Getting all weapons is heavily based on RNG and this is how it works. Apart from buying all weapons in shops (you need a lot of Gold) and trade them for Mini Medals (rare currency) there are 18 Uber Weapons you need to collect. These 18 weapons drop in MP dungeon maps. The online part from this game is completely dead so you have to play solo. These MP maps have much harder versions of boss fights from the main story. If you beat one there is a chance it drops a Would-Be-Weapon. This WBW can be traded in for a random Uber or Giga (weapon for DLC characters you don’t need) weapon for a hefty 50.000 Gold.

 

So. First you need to beat a MP Boss map. Hope it drops a WBW which has a low drop rate. Then trade that for a lot of Gold in the hope you get a Uber weapon you still need. There is also no way to save scum any of this as I experimented a lot with it. The drops are already set and I don’t know how. You can back up your save, play until you get let’s say 5 WBW, trade them in, reload back up save and then the 5 WBW you will get next are always the same.

 

Just this weapon grind took me around 50 hours and I was at the point that I ran completely out of Gold after selling my entire inventory when I luckily got my final Uber Weapon. But I’ve read stories of people who are way past 200 hours for this game and still haven’t gotten it yet.

 

There is however another way to get these weapons but it’s locked behind beating the harder version of the final boss of the game.

 

And here we get to the terrible AI. It’s almost impossible to beat it solo. First of all the enemy AI targets you 95% of the time so it’s hard to get some hits in. Second your AI teammates just stand around and do nothing. Even though you play the entire game with a party of 4 it always feels like you’re playing solo. They just don’t do anything. They only dodge some attacks until they eventually get hit and almost instantly die.
 

You only have 4 revives per battle so beating these last two bosses is ridiculous to the point I didn’t even want to try it. But with 4 human players it should be a breeze as you can really put some damage on these bosses instead of running around and dodging all the time.

 

If you get past this, which I didn’t, you unlock The Maze of the Mighty that can drop a fragment or a shard from an Uber Weapon of the same type you’re currently carrying. Or something like that. I don’t even care. Absolute nightmare of an RNG trophy.

 

Overall I still enjoyed the game though and I might pick up the first DQH game too.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Baker

[Baker]

Today it’s been exactly 10 years since I joined the site so I thought I would make a little update.
 

Even though I haven’t been gaming much at all for the past few weeks because of the WC Snooker. That was an amazing tournament to watch!

Pure Pool

 

What better game to play while watching Snooker than this. I’m slowly chipping away at the insane grind. I told myself I would actively go for the 147 break again as soon as I hit lvl. 100, but I’m going to postpone that until I reach lvl. 125 because it won’t give me any experience going for it. I made quite a bit of progress over the last few days as I’m now lvl. 94. Currently I need to play around 100 games of 8 Ball to gain 1 level. So boring..

 

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition

 

I’ve also been slowly working on this with ‘the guys’. One annoying thing is that the info on this game in terms of what can be done trophy wise is either outdated or inaccurate for many things. Therefore I grinded for 20 hours to infamy lvl. 10 playing solo as I’ve read everywhere power leveling isn’t possible anymore. Except it is. And I gained the last 15 levels in around 1 hour thanks to ExHuman. So much time wasted. I like the game btw, even though it has very clunky controls and the amount of disconnects and game crashes is ridiculous.

 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

 

I’m still trying to launch this game every day but most of the time it just doesn’t work. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made any progress. I’m basically one level away of unlocking a bunch of trophies. I got 37/38 N. Sanely Perfect Relics and all the gems for all levels except Toxic Tunnels. So far this game is much easier than anticipated. Time consuming? Yes. Difficult? No. 

 

So what do you do when your PS4 has a hard time reading the CB4 disc? That’s right. You buy a new disc based game and hope it works. I bought Scarlet Nexus and this will be the next game I’ll play. Looking forward to play a nice relaxing JRPG after all the grinding and repetitive gameplay from the last months. 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Baker

[Baker]

One more quick Pure Pool update to motivate @Mori to rejoin me in the fun. ?

 

Because Scarlet Nexus was delayed in the postal service with one day, should be coming in today, I did a massive grinding session for this game yesterday. I potted black balls for 11 hours straight, with 1111 wins, going from lvl. 101 to lvl. 111. 

 

 

Yeah, I did that on purpose. 

 

So I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With just 15 levels left, which should take around 15-20 hours, I should have the platinum next week. I’m still well on pace to be the fastest 100% achiever in this game which I’m going to try to do. So next week it’s time to retry the Maximum Break trophy. Unfortunately you need a lot of luck for that. It’s one of those trophies that can take 1 hour, but could also easily take 100 hours if you’re unlucky.

 

So, wish me luck. ✌?

[Mori]

You sir are going wild  I really dont want to think about the grind .. 

 

But I am rooting for you to get the fastest achiever. ✊ Given how quick you did the championships, I have no doubt you'll do it.

[Deluziion90]

That’s one hell of a grind. I’m getting flashbacks from Dragonball FighterZ. Never ever will I do a mindless grind again?. Best of luck for that number one spot!

[Baker]

Look. Another Pure Pool update. Because I need to vent some frustration.

 

I’ve been trying the Maximum Break trophy yesterday and today and after at least 100 attempts, probably a few 100 more, because most attempts already end after a few shots, I’ve come very close 3 times now. The last red ball is cursed for me. ?

 

My best is now 118 when the last red, which was a difficult shot in a blind pocket, rattled in the jaw of the pocket. Very unfortunate because I had perfect position on the remaining colours.

 

And just now I potted the last red which was at the other end of the table, but because I need pink or black I needed to screw back across the entire table. And ofcourse, although extremely unlikely, the white went in the corner pocket. ? Just a little bit of another line and I would have had perfect position on the black. That’s just very bad luck.

 

Still I’m happy with the progress as I now know I can do this. I saved the clips. I might make a little compilation video of failed attempts. 

 

Alright. Let’s get back to it.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Baker

[Baker]

Pure Pool

I did it! I got the Maximum Break. I can’t explain how hard this was. But I’ll try in a few days when I reach 100% and write a review. Back to the grind.

[rjkclarke]

4 minutes ago, Baker said:

Pure Pool

I did it! I got the Maximum Break. I can’t explain how hard this was. But I’ll try in a few days when I reach 100% and write a review. Back to the grind.

 

I knew you'd do it! Congratulations you beast!

 

There are so many things that have to go right for the trophy to come together, including holding yourself together which is easier said than done!. Almost like a real 147 in a way.

 

It isn't one you can easily explain the difficulty of. Are you in agreement that this would be a heck of a lot easier if Pure Pool actually gave you an overhead camera? That's half the problem I found, is that the angles aren't exactly what you think they are judging by the aim line, it's almost as if you have to almost play into the jaws of the pocket instead of the heart of it like you'd think.

 

Looks like I'll be waving at you from the bottom of the fastest achievers list after all, good times! ?.... Your inevitable fastest time is going to take some beating, as is my slowest time actually come to think about it

 

Looking forward to the inevitable review.

[Baker]

30 minutes ago, rjkclarke said:

 

I knew you'd do it! Congratulations you beast!

 

There are so many things that have to go right for the trophy to come together, including holding yourself together which is easier said than done!. Almost like a real 147 in a way.

 

It isn't one you can easily explain the difficulty of. Are you in agreement that this would be a heck of a lot easier if Pure Pool actually gave you an overhead camera? That's half the problem I found, is that the angles aren't exactly what you think they are judging by the aim line, it's almost as if you have to almost play into the jaws of the pocket instead of the heart of it like you'd think.

 

Looks like I'll be waving at you from the bottom of the fastest achievers list after all, good times! .... Your inevitable fastest time is going to take some beating, as is my slowest time actually come to think about it

 

Looking forward to the inevitable review.

I was shaking like crazy when I got to the colors. ?

 

There are so many things that can go wrong. Every time you try to split red balls it’s easy to snooker yourself. When you’re far away and can’t see the aiming line anymore. This is where your Master practice from Pool helps a lot. I had to pot a long ball close to the end. 
 

And yeah, an overhead view would help. But not a lot I think. 
 

Right now I think this is the hardest trophy I’ve ever done that requires a single requirement. It’s brutal.
 

I saved the videoclip so I’ll post it next time.

 

And I’ll look up a waving gif. ?

Edited May 9, 2022 by Baker

[rjkclarke]

1 minute ago, Baker said:

I was shaking like crazy when I got to the colors. ? There are so many things that can go wrong. Every time you try to split red balls it’s easy to snooker yourself. When you’re far away and can’t see the aiming line anymore. This is where your Master practice from Pool helps a lot. I had to pot a long ball close to the end.

 

Exactly, I was shaking a fair bit myself. I wish I'd saved the clip where I actually got the trophy, but I didn't realise at the time the PS4 is constantly recording (somehow I only learned that playing Final Fantasy IX last year) so I didn't realise I could have done.

 

You're so right that Master practice from the Pool tourneys really help. I had to pot a long one during my successful attempt too, but thankfully it wasn't too far from a corner pocket. That really throws you that aiming line disappearing at distance.

 

One of my failed attempts was a real heartbreaker, I was on the colours, played a really poor shot on the brown that I underhit massively, and I left myself a pretty long off-straight blue (it was down the table and off its spot).Naturally like a dumbarse I completely whiffed it, the pressure got too much and it just rattled the jaws and to add insult to injury I had the perfect angle on the pink to slot it in the middle and stay on the black.

 

On my actual successful attempt I left myself the most horrible cut-back black ball as my last that no player in real world snooker would ever want to play. White glued to the rail, not much distance from the black it was one of those Zen like moments where something just takes over and somehow you play the shot properly, and it goes in!

 

10 minutes ago, Baker said:

Right now I think this is the hardest trophy I ever done that requires a single requirement. It’s brutal.
 

I saved the videoclip so I’ll post it next time.

 

And I’ll look a waving gif. ?

 

I think it's definitely mine too, as it currently stands.

 

There's just such a monumental amount of variables that can go disastrously wrong with it! Like I said congratulations (and then some ,) you must have such a ridiculous amount of patience to be powering through that EXP Grind, I just couldn't bring myself to do it too often. ?

 

Looking forward to see the whole thing.

[Destructor-8]

On 04/05/2022 at 8:55 PM, Baker said:

Today it’s been exactly 10 years since I joined the site so I thought I would make a little update.
 

Even though I haven’t been gaming much at all for the past few weeks because of the WC Snooker. That was an amazing tournament to watch!

Pure Pool

 

What better game to play while watching Snooker than this. I’m slowly chipping away at the insane grind. I told myself I would actively go for the 147 break again as soon as I hit lvl. 100, but I’m going to postpone that until I reach lvl. 125 because it won’t give me any experience going for it. I made quite a bit of progress over the last few days as I’m now lvl. 94. Currently I need to play around 100 games of 8 Ball to gain 1 level. So boring..

 

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition

 

I’ve also been slowly working on this with ‘the guys’. One annoying thing is that the info on this game in terms of what can be done trophy wise is either outdated or inaccurate for many things. Therefore I grinded for 20 hours to infamy lvl. 10 playing solo as I’ve read everywhere power leveling isn’t possible anymore. Except it is. And I gained the last 15 levels in around 1 hour thanks to ExHuman. So much time wasted. I like the game btw, even though it has very clunky controls and the amount of disconnects and game crashes is ridiculous.

 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

 

I’m still trying to launch this game every day but most of the time it just doesn’t work. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made any progress. I’m basically one level away of unlocking a bunch of trophies. I got 37/38 N. Sanely Perfect Relics and all the gems for all levels except Toxic Tunnels. So far this game is much easier than anticipated. Time consuming? Yes. Difficult? No.

 

Nice progress so far especially since these aren't the shortest of games so I'm sure it will be amazing once you eventually finish all of these up! Great stuff!

 

57 minutes ago, Baker said:

Pure Pool

I did it! I got the Maximum Break. I can’t explain how hard this was. But I’ll try in a few days when I reach 100% and write a review. Back to the grind.

 

Congrats dude! It was only a matter of time since it seems that you were getting closer to doing it. It must have taken a very long time too. Nice work!

[det_gittes]

1 hour ago, Baker said:

Pure Pool

I did it! I got the Maximum Break. I can’t explain how hard this was. But I’ll try in a few days when I reach 100% and write a review. Back to the grind.

 

An amazing achievement! ???

 

You, sir, do not give up easily  and together with @rjkclarke you guys are beasts at Pure Pool ? Now what about the final of the World Championship? Are you guys happy with Ronnie winning the 7th WC title? I do have a weak spot for him (who doesn't? ?), but I've got to say I also like Judd quite a bit (especially now that he's grown out of some of the silly stuff he used to do), so it was tough to see one of them lose, but I guess in the end I'm more happy for Ronnie equaling Stephen Hendry's record than I would have been for Judd's victory (he still has plenty of time to win more titles). And that post-match hug, damn, one of the most emotional scenes I've seen in snooker.

[rjkclarke]

For expletives sake forums, why do you only let me like @det_gittes post once.... Instead I had to like it, unlike it, and like it again, just so that I knew I did it twice!

 

I still think you've got it in you to do Pure Pool yourself if you really wanted to, but as you and I have discussed before the horrendous grind involved is just as much of a pain as the things that are actually challenging.

 

Did somebody mention Snooker again? ?

 

Snooker senses tingling.....

 

 

 

I am really happy with Ronnie winning that seventh world title! I have a weak spot for the guy too, even if he does say an absolute truckload of ridiculous - to use quite a British word, bollocks, from time to time, you just can't deny that guys talent. He is an absolute wizard with a Snooker cue.

 

Especially playing at the level he is at 46..... I mean how mental is it that the professional World Champion is older than the World Seniors Champion, when is that ever that likely to happen in any sport?

 

I have always been a little cautious of Judd, until now that is.  I think he's said a lot of really silly things in the past, but I must admit he really seems to have matured a whole lot, I really warmed up to him, and think I even quite like him now after this tournament, he was so humble after both that amazing semi-final and final, that it's tough not to like the guy after that! Even before that his talent was undeniable. 

 

I ultimately wouldn't have minded who won that final, but as you said, that hug at the end was something really special, as was Ronnie's reaction afterwards in the Eurosport studio. It was nice that he focused on how much whatever Judd said to him actually meant to him, instead of "Yeah, well it's nice to match Hendry's record" or something along those lines.

 

I'm Interested to see what Baker thinks of the final as well! It was such a good tournament across the board I thought.

[Baker]

Probably my favorite tournament of the last decade. The main reason I watch snooker is O’Sullivan. There is just no other like him. So I’m very happy he won.

 

I think the only players that can stop him on these type of long matches are Robertson, Trump & Selby. I love watching Robertson and Trump too, Selby is so boring to watch with his defensive play.

 

This tournament had it all. A Maximum Break, upsets and the best winner. I loved to see O’Sullivan break down in tears after the win. He always downplays it and says he now just plays for fun, but obviously it means a lot to him.

 

Too bad Trump wasn’t in the best of forms. Because a 2019 Trump would be very, very hard to beat.

 

Looking forward to next year and see if O’Sullivan can get an 8th. GOAT ??

Edited July 6, 2022 by Baker

[Baker]

 #319+100%
 

 

Pure Pool

 

Enjoyment: 8/10

Difficulty: 9/10

Playtime: 200 hours

 

It’s done!

 

As a long time pool player and snooker watcher I’ve wanted to play a pool game for a long time. I decided to choose between Pure Pool or Hustle Kings and settled with this one as it’s the far harder and more time consuming one of the two.

 

The base game isn’t too bad if you go into it with the right mentality. And that’s that even if you play flawless yourself, the AI can easily wreck you as it (almost) never misses. It can be very frustrating but I didn’t let it bother me.
 

You have the Amateur, Pro and Master tournaments you need to beat in both 8 & 9 ball. The difficulty is exactly the same except your aiming line will disappear along the way. With amateur having a full aiming line and master none at all.

 

Still I managed to get through this quite quickly and without much problems.

When I completed both careers I was level 36. And then you need to do a massive grind to level 126 to reach Grand Master rank. This was so boring to do. And so I started to listen to True Crime podcasts for the entire duration of the grind which took me around 100 hours of just playing against myself potting the black ball in 8 ball with the secondary player getting me the win.

 

Now the difficulty in this game is definitely the Maximum Break in snooker. It is very, very difficult even though you can play on amateur difficulty and having the full aiming line.

 

Except the aiming line doesn’t work all that well imo. The yellow line where the ball goes is accurate, but the white line where the white ball goes is just an indicator and is never accurate at all. It depends on shot speed and if you put any side spin on it. I never used side spin at all as that also messes up the yellow aiming line. Even so that your yellow aiming line can be set at the centre of the pocket, you will still miss the shot. 
 

I estimate my time spend on the Maximum Break is around 40 hours, making it the hardest trophy, or at least most time consuming trophy I’ve ever done. Because there is also just a lot of luck involved.

 

 

I had good luck with some splits and cannons in this game, and had to do a long pot near the end because I ran out of position. Normally I would just do a ‘Hail Mary’ and hope it goes in, but this time I decided to really look up the potting angle and decided it was exactly a half ball contact shot. Luckily it went in.

 

Now if you watch the video you can see my cue moving like it has an epileptic attack. That is just my old crappy controller. In fact I had to play this game with my old controller as my new controller is even worse as the L3 stick has a mind of it’s own and can move without me touching it. I missed so many key shots because of it I almost broke the controller out of frustration. I think it’s time to buy a new one. ?

 

My overall stats for the game:

 

It was fun but I’m glad I can finally delete this game.

 

And good luck @Mori. You got this!

 

On 21-3-2022 at 0:54 PM, rjkclarke said:

 

That's the spirit man! You've got this, I just wish I'd had the insane amount of patience you've got to tackle it as quickly as you're managing to. Hey at least I'll be able to wave at you from the other end of the Fastest achievers list.....

 

 

 

 

I know at some point there was a faster achiever in around one month. I don’t know what happened but he’s not on the site anymore. And since I also took a 1 month break from this game I think a 1 month completion time is very fast. Still happy to take the 1st spot for a while. ?

Edited May 11, 2022 by Baker

[Destructor-8]

59 minutes ago, Baker said:

 #319+100%
 

Pure Pool

 

Enjoyment: 8/10

Difficulty: 9/10

Playtime: 200 hours

 

It’s done!

 

Congrats! I'm glad you finished it off especially after this week.

 

1 hour ago, Baker said:

I know at some point there was a faster achiever in around one month. I don’t know what happened but he’s not on the site anymore. And since I also took a 1 month break from this game I think a 1 month completion time is very fast. Still happy to take the 1st spot for a while.

 

Nice to see you also got this too!

[det_gittes]

Well, one more time huge congrats!

 

Out of curiosity, playing the shot on the red ball on the rail at 4:16 (by the way, this shot shows quite nicely how useless the white line is), were you certain that you won't clip the other red that you just missed? In any case, I really like your position play in this shot. And as you said, so many things can go wrong! At least the free ball at the beginning gives you breathing room, but still.. Watching this actually makes me want to go for a higher break, not really the max but I don't even have the trophy for 80+, so maybe I'll get lucky with this one.

[Baker]

4 minutes ago, det_gittes said:

Well, one more time huge congrats!

 

Out of curiosity, playing the shot on the red ball on the rail at 4:16 (by the way, this shot shows quite nicely how useless the white line is), were you certain that you won't clip the other red that you just missed? In any case, I really like your position play in this shot. And as you said, so many things can go wrong! At least the free ball at the beginning gives you breathing room, but still.. Watching this actually makes me want to go for a higher break, not really the max but I don't even have the trophy for 80+, so maybe I'll get lucky with this one.

Thanks man.

 

Yeah I was sure I wouldn’t hit the other red as I played it with topspin. Playing with topspin straightens out the white line angle. If I would play it without I would’ve hit it even though the white line indicated I would go past it on the other side. That’s what I meant that the white line is very deceiving. I’m still more perplexed at how the ball at 6.26 went in. I played that all wrong and it was just because of the pace that it went in. Those balls close to, but not on the cushion are terrible to play, especially at an angle.

Fun fact about the free ball start. I hit it way too hard. I always play it much slower, pot the blue ball in the bottom left corner and then the white travels to the bottom right. Pot the black and open up the pack from the back. The way I played it now isn’t really good as you’re usually already snookered on the black. That’s why there is a pause after the first shot as I wanted to restart already. ?

Yeah you should try going back to it. It’s just learning how the balls behave. What I liked about this game as it’s very accurate to real life playing. It took me a while to get an 80 break too, but it gets easier the more you try it. Good luck!