Giant Bombcast 569: Please Tip Your Jumpmaster

Fun times were had by all!

My very first match in Apex Legends consisted of me killing an entire team by myself with a Peacekeeper shotgun in a single, small room with nothing but a bunch of crates and a healing bot by my side (provided by myself), then proceeded to grab one of my teammates' tags in order to then revive them (first trophy get!). Our team came in 5th place. Immediately following this I got a cool-looking Samurai legendary skin for my Bloodhound legend. It looks pretty rad. This is a good video game.

Will Smith!! (The only one that matters, really.) Perfect for a discussion about a new Battle Royale game.

Stand by for Bombcast.

"Who needs Dr. Mario when you have Tetris Effect?" Yeah, playfields where you can actually the pieces and music that doesn't suck - who needs THAT.

I mean this in a joking manner. But Will has a bad Dr. Mario opinion! :(

that argument that wallrunning wouldn't work on the Apex map feels shallow to me. Naturally, if they decide to not have wallrunning in the game, the map will not be designed with wallrunning routes in mind. If wallrunning was in the game, the map would accomodate wallrunning. Isn't it far more likely that they looked at Titanfall's salesnumbers, the COD blowback to wallrunning and decided to play it safe? The market at large has seen what they offer with wallrunning and said 'no thanks' to that (sadly).

I'm surprised that Brad is blown away by the pinging system given that moba's like Dota & league have had contextual pings for years. Ping an ability to tell your allies it's ready, ping it when you don't have enough mana. Ping your healthbar. Ping a rubick's skill to tell which ability he stole. Ping a cooldown to tell your teammate how long it takes before the skill is back up. ping the minimap or draw some arrows on it to communicate what you want to do. It's cool to see first person shooters take notice and apply that stuff to that genre though.

I like Apex but a lot of the characters look the same. It's hard for me to know who is who by looking at the silhouette.

Brad should check out the GENKI bluetooth adapter for the switch, I got one and it works perfectly.

Yeah thankfully Jason is there to fact check him on almost everything else he says

I don't listen to/watch the Bombcast much these days, but I always check to see if they have a guest that makes it worth the investment of my time. Will Smith will always be worth the investment.

Cats as pets seem like such a non jeff pet to have in that their overall jerks and need maintenance high amounts of busy work for little reward...yet he has them and im not surprised. the easier pick being a dog low attention super rewards and responsive...like a pick up and play game jeff enjoys usually...just when you think you figured jeff out he says naw man....i like Mr. Satan

How is a cat more high maintenance than a dog? You give a cat a litterbox, some food & water and he'll figure it out. None of that walking the dog 3-4 times a day business. And while the overall narrative is that cats are assholes that don't give a fuck, believe it or not but cats have a wide variety of personalities just the same.

PS. just remembered that whenever i get away from my dad's place, i have to swap clothes because his Bordeaux dogs have a very greasy skin. A few headbutts or lean-imprints on your pants and your hands slide right off it. They are very sweet though, but so are my cats.

Jason keeping the Oi! spirit alive.

Oi! Oí! Oí!

Boy does Will love the sound of his own voice. Hard pass on this one.

Is there something I'm missing when people lay down their phone screen first on the table?

Brad: I'd love to see San Francisco under snow to see how it breaks.

Me: Let me tell you about a country called England...

Giantbomb's battle royal expert Will Smith!

k.

Was kinda hoping the new revision of the Switch would be a cheaper non portable version.

For the raytracing conversation it's worth pointing out that this is not new technology for any sector except real time rendering (gaming and some visualization branches).

Raytracing has been the standard rendering method for prerendered footage for decades and was around (perhaps not used a lot) well before Pixar. Pretty much all prerendered material you have ever seen was rendered using raytracing, the only exception in gaming would be things that were rendered in-engine but saved as video files (some games do this). But 99% or more 3D effects for movies and tv shows that you've seen were rendered with raytracing.

The GPU support for raytracing has doubtful impact impact on CGI studios such as Pixar, since pretty much all raytracing engines have been CPU exclusive the rendering farms at these studios will mainly be mountains of CPU's. Utilizing GPU support would mean rebuilding these to include strong GPU's. I could only see that happening if GPU rendering was inherently more effective than CPU rendering - otherwise it would still be more cost effective to acquire more CPU's instead.

Where the GPU raytracing has a niche is mainly smaller studios or hobbyists where rendering is done on local workstations (which would have GPU's because they're multifunctional). This will no doubt happen over time but so far the only rendering engine I am aware of that has GPU support is Mental Ray, which Nvidia acquired a few years ago. It's logical in hindsight that they did this in order to have an engine with existing userbase to test with. GPU support came to Mental Ray well before Nvidia released the RTX cards. I'm not sure if Pixar's RenderMan has implemented GPU support yet but it will probably show up since it's a free to use engine that's also popular with hobbyists and big studios alike.

All I'm doing is thinking about playing Apex. I had a cold first impression and it's grown on me immensely.

@honkalot: I have a friend who was working in visual effects in the late '90s who used to tell me all the time about how if we ever got to real-time ray tracing it would basically be the end-all-be-all of video game graphics, so I've had it on the brain for years. Main reason I was curious about how quickly it will become standard on consoles.

@brad: For sure, I think Will's probably right that it'll be a generation or two of video cards before it'll find its groove in games. I'd love to have it on the next iteration of consoles but I guess if nvidia is not in that business already we'll probably have to wait one more turn.

I don’t think the lower skill level on console in games like CoD and Titanfall makes them better. To me shooters are better on PC and I guess the reason for that is that I’m so bad at them when using a controller. Sure the overall skill level is worse on console but so am I and getting stomped all the time makes a multiplayer game not so fun anywhere. Conversely I’m quite good at these types of games on PC and feel I can actually hold my own. Which place it’s more fun on is more dependent on what you’re most used to, more than anything.

It’s so nobody can see what people are saying to you in text messages.

Wargroove owns bones, its got its hooks in me more than any other recent tactics game. Really dig the art style and the way it feels like a lost GBA game.

I'm really enjoying Apex at the moment. I do wish they hadn't have grind-gated/paywalled characters. That reduces tactical options and leads to grind-to/pay-to advantage issues you get with Rainbow Six Siege or League of Legends.

@haneybd87: But notifications are blocked when your phone is, or just keep your phone in your pocket.

Do you mean notifications are blocked when it’s locked? Most phones default to showing the content of text messages on the lock screen. I left mine that way and most people I know did the same. So this way when you’re alone you still get the benefit of seeing your messages at a glance and when you’re with people you just set your phone down glass down which is no more effort than placing it glass up.

5 minute into the discussion and me being like "What the fuck are they talking about?", someone finally says Apex Legends and I could google what it is.

Come the fuck on, guys, you gotta give some context.

Oh lord, seeing the picture that Brad used for this week's bombcast is giving me the worst flashbacks of shooting this episode.

@haneybd87: I don't mind people way of doing their messages and stuff, it's just always weird people buy protective cases for their phones and then put the screen face first on a table, the part that isn't protected. It's an expensive device preventing possible damage by changing a setting or keeping it in your pocket seems like small sacrifice. Plus when you're in a conversation or in this case a podcast, you're not gonna use your phone anyways.

I don’t know about other cases but all the cases I’ve owned have a 1-2mm lip on the front so that if you set it glass side down the screen never actually touches the surface.

Cats are definitely more high maintenance than people make them out to be, but yeah, dogs can be some real work. I don't know if here's a part in the podcast where Jeff mentions cats being high maintenance or if you're just responding to that other comment, but if Jeff does say something to that effect it has to be because one of his cats is diabetic, IIRC. That INSTANTLY makes any pet like, 10x more high maintenance than any kind of healthy pet.

What if you guys just always had the Wii Shop music playing in the background.

Yeah i think the cat loving guy or girl mistook my point. It was all in play but hard to get through text. I like all pets personally and have a rabbit which has a personality mix most people overlook in that it kinda acts like a dog/cat. It will go to a litter...no walking...cleans itself...it is super stoked to see you like a dog it will constantly want to play like a dog...sleeps with its eyes open and wakes on a dime to sounds thus has super senses like dogs etc. Its a overlooked pet that lives fairly long and just most people dont get it. So i can see why me denouncing cats like they are lame cause they dont fit the mold of a super fun pet isnt fair. sorry.

But my point was more along the lines of how jeff personally likes things and how difficult it is to take care of his cats. So yes the point was specifically about jeff in that his cats (from his description) need alot of care or they get angry. A dog can signal anger too. I would even go so far as to say a rabbit would be ideal for jeff in that it just would not need much care if your not in the mood but is still rewarding you with being super happy when your around. The cat that you have to do all this stuff (from what he explained) for and then they f off and do their own thing seems like the opposite of what he enjoys in games (i used that analogy cause its a gaming site, well aware its not a good one).

Its like those MGSurvive like high maintenance and check ups i though he wouldnt like when a dog just gets food rewards you with super excitement. Jumps to play all day. Wants to walk and keep you in shape. Barks (kinda communicates more noticeably.) etc. Point is dogs just seem more surface level rewards but i get that good care etc makes you notice the points that are more deep and make cats so great and rewarding as well. He obviously noticed the more deep stuff and loves cats cause of that like you.

So Battlefield V has a somewhat similar ping system to Apex Legends, but in a much simpler state. In BFV, you just press RB/R1 to ping a location and it will mark it on your squadmates HUD for a bit and if you hit an enemy/vehicle it marks it red instead of yellow. The ping also doesn't follow the target, just a quick indicator of where/what's going on. It's what has replaced the "spotting" mechanic from previous BF, where you'd mark a target and see them through cover and such. I'm hoping that DICE can iterate on their implementation of the mechanic and move more toward the way it works in Apex Legends for when BFV eventually gets its BR mode. Being able to ping items for teammates is such a nice streamlining of communication for a BR mode.

I listened to this while driving home in the dark, and I almost jumped out of my skin when the Wii shop music started playing. I thought it was a car horn or a police siren behind me for some reason...

Always down to visit the Strangereal!

Maybe for privacy. same idea on why people put tape on their computer labtop cameras maybe someone is watching cue music of conspiracy...that is kinda true these days since our data is being stolen at an alarming rate without our consent...cue fear...cue not caring.

Stop referring to Destiny and Anthem as MMOs. They don't have scale or the player count its a disservice to the genre to add this tag and purposely confuse customers.

I doubt many people that are concerned about privacy are playing EA games. Considering they require running a proprietary client and probably require an internet connection, you can't isolate them very well in a sandbox like firejail.

It wouldn't surprise me if the client doesn't work very well under WINE, so that probably leaves Windows, which is just a privacy nightmare.

@sethmode Jeff mentioned that his cat likes to use his genital area as trampoline if he doesn't get out of bed at a certain time to feed them :). I might be misremembering but i think that was the only frustration that he mentioned during this show. So i figured that the health issues of his cat were out of play, given that any sick pet requires significant care.

@topcyclist

When you check Jeff's instagram, his new cat seems quite affectionate & adventurous to me. If the one downside is that you need to wake up early to dodge a kick in the nuts, i feel like that's one of those pains that's similar for most pets that walk around the house. Dogs want to be fed at a certain time as well and will let you know if you're late.

Most cats are totally up to playing with a ball or a red laserpointer. Or an other cat's tail, or it's own tail. I had 2 cats that liked to chase me around and play hide / seek. Or hold on to my leg and be dragged across the floor. 4 out of 5 cats i had during my life, like to meow or purr at me as a form of communication. 3 out of 5 would show up if you called their name. all 5 would roll around purring as you pet them. Most like to brush up against your leg or sit on your lap.

But when i look at my dad's dogs or my cats, dogs generally get hyped when they see you in a way that a cat doesn't. But after that initial meeting, they just hang out asking for a pet here and there in a similar vein that a cat would. Only getting hype when new guests arrive, they smell a treat or a snack or if they get to play outside. I guess that energy difference between cats & dogs could be seen as a bigger reward to some people? I feel like that could just as well be a downside to a dog, if you're not really willing to entertain the dog enough to satisfy that energy. Now you have a jumping, barking animal around the place that won't stop until you put the time in to get him to calm down & walk his round so that he can relieve himself. And hey, i totally get why that can be fun , but i feel like it's definitly higher maintenance. A cat usually requires a scratching pole in the house though.

I'm not angry or something, this is not really a subject to get heated about :P I just don't get the feeling that Jeff is bummed out about having a cat and would've been better off with a different animal at his place. Well, apart from a non-sick cat, that's never enjoyable to deal with.

@onemanarmyy: Honestly, I was mostly agreeing with you and speculating otherwise. I hadn't gotten to a point where Jeff had complained about his cats so I thought that I had missed something. Dogs are crazy hard work. I apologize if I seemed like I thought otherwise, I was just admittedly speaking without having finished the cast and thought Jeff said something else. :)

You guys should try and mention the name of the game you're talking about for those of us who aren't up to date on all the new stuff. Felt like it was 10 minutes into the conversation before the words Apex Legends were mentioned.

Dr. Mario is a very solid game, in my opinion. I can't wait to hear more about this Dr. Mario World.

Does anybody know the name of the RE2 remake credits song they're referencing?

The Castlevania game that was exclusive to the Wii Shop was Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

@onemanarmyy: Naw never thought he was bummed about it just thought hed pick a dog over a cat if i heard about his persona and stuff from podcast and quick looks. He just comes off as a dog person cause the instant fun they give off vs a cat (from what i know at a glance) and their more time to understand their personality and grow to like them. That said your point about a dog is super true and i never thought of it that way. Dogs definitely act like attention ok im done next person with attention ok....etc. humans like it but i can see how it would be nice to have a cat who genuinely comes to you and more subtly shows affection. Tell you the truth your reasons completely answer my question and i think its exactly why jeff is a cat person. thanks and kudos for not taking my quick take too seriously. XD

Nights is better than Apex Legends