Contract renewals in Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 caught me off guard. I spent so much of my salary budget trying to get more players, I totally didn't expect my star players to want a lot more money on their contract renewals. Now I understand what the Sport Director means, when he says that I should consider renewing player's contracts early to stop excessive salary demands.
I think a good rule of thumb to follow, is to expect a player to demand around 30% of their market value as their annual salary. So, a player that has a market value of 30 million, would want an annual salary of around 9 million. This means that going forward I need to periodically check my player's market value, to make sure I have enough in my salary budget to renew the contracts of players that I want to keep. This also means that I can't continue going on spending sprees during Transfer Windows. Oh well.
Started playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided again. I've already finished this game before. This time, I'm playing in “New Game+” mode, which lets me keep all my weapons and upgrades from my previously completed game. This allows me to play the game a little differently this time around.
I started playing it again because I got tired of re-spawning in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. That game can be tough.
Funny how on my second play-through, I noticed a stash hidden in Adam's bedroom that I've never noticed before.
Also, on this play-through I'm aiming for a non-lethal approach to the game.
Note: If you're new to the game, there might be some mild spoilers in this post that you would want to avoid. Though if you watched trailers or gameplay videos, then they might not be spoilers for you. Anyway, you've been warned.
12/06/2019 – Friday
I initially hated exploring Kashyyyk, the homeworld of the Wookies, but it turned out to be one of the best moments in the game. You get to ride the Shyyyo bird, you get to upgrade to a double-bladed lightsaber setup (ala Darth Maul) and you get a great boss battle against the Ninth Sister. It's also a really beautiful planet once you make it to the top of the tree.
Played Gears 5 for the first time. It is my first ever game from the Gears of War series. Very nice game. A violent game though. It does provide the option to change the “Mature Content” settings, which allow you to dial down gore and swearing in the game. I wish more video games would add those kinds of settings. It's a really good game with an interesting story and engaging dialogue.
One thing that I don't like is the aiming. It doesn't have the aim-assist that I'm used to from games like Division 2.
In Gears 5, if you aim badly, you've aimed badly. Doesn't matter what gun you are using, you're not hitting the target with a bad aim.
In Division and Division 2, your weapon has an accuracy stat that determines how good your aim-assist is. For example, you have an enemy running across the street from you. You point your crosshair in the direction of the enemy and hit the AIM button. Your weapon's accuracy stat then determines how good the aim-assist is going to be, thereby making it easier or harder to hit your target. A weapon with very high accuracy stat even allows you to aim slightly to the side of the target's body and the aim-assist will still pull the crosshair to the middle, giving you a good shot. I like this game design because it gives weapons in the game their own distinct character. It makes for a very engaging way to play the game.
I have a number of gaming journal entries scattered throughout my bullet journal. I'm going to start a “Gaming Journal” collection page to better organize them, but for now, here are the entries that I've fallen behind on.
07/06/2019 – Saturday
Physical Contact seems to be a very important attribute in Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. For defenders, it allows them to get in front of attackers just before they make a shot. The Center Back K. Manolas exemplifies this attribute a lot.
One of the biggest threats in PES 2019 is the low cross. Typically what would happen is, a low cross comes in and the opposing team's striker will seal off my defenders to allow themselves an easy volley in front of goal. I see this happen a lot when playing against elite level teams. When I finally got K. Manolas on my team, I noticed that he was a lot better at defending against the low cross. He would get in front of strikers to clear the ball away.
I love the movie-like lightsaber fight scenes that this game, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, can produce. Also of note is that the graphics in this game are so much better when played on an Xbox One X.
This first video is a fight against a Zeffo Guardian and then a Scout Trooper Commander. This might be the easiest fight against a Scout Trooper Commander that I've ever had in the game.
This second video is a fight against a group of Probe Droids and Scout Troopers. Best way to handle Probe Droids is to use Force Pull and just take them out in melee range.
Normally fighting a group of Scout Troopers is tough, this one went as perfect as it could be. Almost movie-like to me.
It's been awhile since I've played Divinity: Original Sin 2, but after failing on my 5th Ironman Mode attempt at XCOM 2 this was a much needed change.
Note that there might be some spoilers in here especially if you are still early into the game. You've been warned.
I've managed to escape Fort Joy. By doing so, I ended up on a ship, the Lady Vengeance. However the ship is uncontrollable as it is tied to its current owner, Dallis. To wrestle control of the ship, you need to sing the ship a song. The song book is located inside Dallis' chambers in the lower levels of the ship.
A chance encounter between a F/A-18F Super Hornet and an upside down Su-33 Flanker-D fighter jet.
F-35C Lightning II
Quick breather after a hard mission