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Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

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Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#111

Post by BobaFloutist »

egeres wrote: post #42

I'm probably being naive, but I feel surprised that in 2025, a platform like Steam (which has existed for well over 2 decades and has around 70M DAU) is having this type of issues. I don't want to downplay the complex engineering behind scale and massive surges of demand, but it's not like it's their first rodeo. What seems to be blocking users from getting the game is accepting payments, nothing computationally comp…

The fact that every platform, even the biggest, richest, and most "has their shit together" you can name, has had this problem at some point, points to it not actually being as solvable as you would expect.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#112

Post by thomasfortes »

techpression wrote: post #57
medwards666 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, if you haven't already tried it, I can heartily recommend Nine Sols as well. Not _quite_ up there with HK, but not too far behind ...

I found Nine Sols to be superior, much more engaging combat and more fluid as a whole, also with much darker story and more evil bosses. Of course taste is subjective, it’s a great recommendation none the less.

Nine Sols was clearly built on top of Hollow Knight, but my take on the combat is a bit different, Hollow Knight and Nine Sols would be like Dark Souls/Elden Ring (HK) and Sekiro (NS), one is focused on fast movement and dodges while the other is more focused on parry and counter attack mechanics.

I enjoyed both games but I found that with the exception of the last boss Nine Sols was a way easier game after you figure out how to parry effectively.

I also enjoyed the whimsical art style of HK a bit more than the (as said in a comment) "taopunk" style of NS, but that's purely subjective.

But if you enjoy metroidvanias both are great games that you should try.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#113

Post by ranger207 »

simlevesque wrote: post #71
heyheyhey wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of the game and genre is the exploration. A guide kinda defeats that. If you don't like the backtracking (I hated it), then the game is probably not for you.

What a weird comment. The whole point of any game is to have fun. If someone enjoys playing a game with a guide, what's the problem exactly ?

It's the thing about type I fun and type II fun, where type I is "fun while it's happening" and type II is "not fun while it's happening but fun in retrospect": if you don't use a guide, the type II fun that results may be greater in quality and impact than the type I fun you'd get using a guide

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#114

Post by ceejayoz »

the_snooze wrote: post #29
i_c_b wrote: post #23

A few years ago, I was feeling dispirited about being middle-aged and had come around to the conclusion that, at least when playing games, my general dissatisfaction and "meh" response to the games I was playing was probably a function of my age rather than anything about the games themselves. I was enjoying some games to an extent, but I wasn't being really grabbed by anything, and I was having a hard time sticking…

I do most of my gaming in the single-player indie space these days. It's really where the fun is. You have a deep time-tested catalog of beautiful and complete experiences that don't try to nickel-and-dime you with drip-fed content or recurring microtransactions. They're games first and foremost, not extraction machines. It's the opposite of the BS you see in big-budget titles.

Absolutely. I've been playing a lot of Stationeers (which, wildly, requires writing assembly on the in-game chips) and Satisfactory lately. Both are clearly labors of love by their small dev houses.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#115

Post by Hamuko »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #83
NobodyNada wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#2 seems like a technically solvable problem: AES-encrypt the preload and distribute the key on launch day.

I thought they already did something like this. I recall some people complaining because the naive decryption process would double the required hard drive space while the bundle was unpacking on release day.

Pretty sure they already do it. I've also noticed that if you have a fast connection (like 1 Gb/s down), it might be faster to download the game when it releases than it is to preload it and then decrypt it, since the decryption process is quite slow.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#116

Post by jtmarl1n »

hinkley wrote: post #109
Figs wrote: post #22

Had no issues getting it on GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong

Reminds me of how I found a switch light by thinking, “what’s the place that would have a Switch that would most surprise people they carried them?”

What place did that turn out to be?

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#117

Post by sixothree »

Zren wrote: post #27
Figs wrote: post #22

Had no issues getting it on GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight_silksong

Wait the original was only $15?! I got Hollow Knight in a Humble Bundle so I had no idea how cheap that amazing game was. No wonder Silksong is only $20. I saw the memes about the devs asking for $20 and assumed it was $20 more like $60=>$80 or something like that.

It was $20 when I got it.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#119

Post by orangeboats »

smegger001 wrote: post #82
egeres wrote: post #42

I'm probably being naive, but I feel surprised that in 2025, a platform like Steam (which has existed for well over 2 decades and has around 70M DAU) is having this type of issues. I don't want to downplay the complex engineering behind scale and massive surges of demand, but it's not like it's their first rodeo. What seems to be blocking users from getting the game is accepting payments, nothing computationally comp…

What I don't understand is why Steam and others don't use a torrent-like protocol on their back-end to reduce their bandwidth requirements large numbers of customers downloading the game at the same time. Back in the day WOW used used it for distributing large patches it seems to be a solved problem.

For any P2P protocols to work, including BitTorrent, you need to be able to access the other nodes. In today's world, that's becoming harder because everyone and their granny are gradually being hidden behind a strict CGNAT.

Re: Hollow Knight: Silksong causes server chaos on Xbox, Steam, and Nintendo

#120

Post by Ekaros »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #111
egeres wrote: post #42

I'm probably being naive, but I feel surprised that in 2025, a platform like Steam (which has existed for well over 2 decades and has around 70M DAU) is having this type of issues. I don't want to downplay the complex engineering behind scale and massive surges of demand, but it's not like it's their first rodeo. What seems to be blocking users from getting the game is accepting payments, nothing computationally comp…

The fact that every platform, even the biggest, richest, and most "has their shit together" you can name, has had this problem at some point, points to it not actually being as solvable as you would expect.

Also considering how Steam gets hammered every big sale launch. Well I am not even sure that hurts their sales that much. So as long as your site continues to somewhat work and you recover in hours it is not in the end big deal.

I think pay to view events might have hardest time as then there is actual need to be available at that exact time.

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