Summary: Risk of Rain is a 2D rogue-like action game that can be played alone or with up to three more players.
20140102:
Players: Michael (2), Josh (3), Chris (4), Me (1)
Input: Three controllers (2,3,4) and keyboard (1)
I was able to get the controllers recognized (three XInput controllers) when I enabled gamepad support in the options menu. While fun and a good break from Spelunky (PC) (2013), the downside to local co-op for Risk of Rain, at least with our seating arrangement, is that the text was hard to read. Actually, the real problem is that the camera follows player one so the other players may end up off the screen. Finally, the characters themselves are pretty small. In the end, playing online co-op would be much more reasonable. In any case, I'm glad the option was included, as having the option is better than nothing.
Prior to today, Michael already played a good portion of the game, I have seen other people play the game, and Chris had read a good deal about the game.
While we didn't get to play much, I certainly got a good taste of it and really look forward to playing more Risk of Rain.
20140103:
Today I played some more Risk of Rain. I managed to unlock the Enforcer, but I'm not sure how.
20140105:
Despite setting up port forwarding, I still had some trouble getting the online co-op working. Eventually I realized that I needed to wait in the Lobby in order for my friend to successfully join. Originally I thought I had to start the game and that he would then join the world, like in Terraria. In any case, the co-op was fun, but my client would occasionally freeze when we used a teleporter to go to the next level. The first time was when we finished the third level, the second time time was when we finished the first level, and another time was when we finished the second level. (I found the problem and solution on 20140108, see below.)
Tip: Press Enter to initiate the chat console.
After we called it a night I played some more and began encountering my own game freezes. (I found the problem and solution on 20140108, see below.)
20140108:
Oh wow, someone posted this:
Delving further, I found that more people were also having problems specifically correlated with having an Asus Xonar sound card.
The tip that was most helpful was the following: (source)
20140109:
Tip: For getting 20 perfect sniper shots, you want to stop the slider when it hits the white. It's easier and faster to stop it when it first comes from the left. Basically get into a rhythm of stopping the slider and firing the gun. It takes a while to get the consistent rhythm. But once you get into it, its easy to fall into a good streak of 20 shots even when missing a couple now and then.
20140118:
My first solo win. In fact, I surprised myself by playing as the sniper, who I thought would be too hard to do as single player. I do, however, owe a lot to having attack drones.
20140119:
Earlier today (around 1AM), two of my friends and I got together to play some more online co-op. In both the second and third run we made it to the boss, but I wasn't able to defeat the final boss.
After going to sleep and waking up in the morning, I decided to read about the final battle. The Risk of Rain Wiki proved useful and I learned some things about the final battle which I hadn't realize while playing the game.
20161110,11:
Players: Tim, Avi, Adam, Ayin; Input: Internet
Yesterday (20161110) and today (20161111) my coworkers and I played Risk of Rain.* Aside from some technical difficulties and bugs, we had some fun.
Problem: Adam's mouse kept trailing towards the bottom right of the screen.
Solution: According to a forum post, the mouse gets misinterpreted as a joystick (on Linux) and he needed to run
Problem: The solution couldn't be applied.
Solution: He had to first close the game.
The game was fun for multiple reasons. Some key reasons include working together, discovery, and advancement.
On the other hand, the dilemma of dying early and being put out of the game continued to be a negative quality of this and similar games. While partially fixed by resurrecting players at the start of every level, an option that offered player the ability to immediately respawn would have been much appreciated.
Note that while I've played through this game before, I did not have my old save file loaded.
*I gifted Adam and Ayin each a copy from my Humble Bundle purchases and Avi bought his own.
Thoughts: Risk of Rain is a fun single player experience, but the online co-op is a solid experience as well.
Risk of Rain (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
Risk of Rain Website
Risk of Rain Wiki (riskofrain.wikia.com/)
Risk of Rain (Gamespot.com)
20140102:
Players: Michael (2), Josh (3), Chris (4), Me (1)
Input: Three controllers (2,3,4) and keyboard (1)
 |
| 20140103: The Commando uses the Plasma Chain to dispose of a Lemurian. |
I was able to get the controllers recognized (three XInput controllers) when I enabled gamepad support in the options menu. While fun and a good break from Spelunky (PC) (2013), the downside to local co-op for Risk of Rain, at least with our seating arrangement, is that the text was hard to read. Actually, the real problem is that the camera follows player one so the other players may end up off the screen. Finally, the characters themselves are pretty small. In the end, playing online co-op would be much more reasonable. In any case, I'm glad the option was included, as having the option is better than nothing.
 |
| 20140104: The Enforcer takes on the Colossus. |
Prior to today, Michael already played a good portion of the game, I have seen other people play the game, and Chris had read a good deal about the game.
While we didn't get to play much, I certainly got a good taste of it and really look forward to playing more Risk of Rain.
20140103:
Today I played some more Risk of Rain. I managed to unlock the Enforcer, but I'm not sure how.
 |
| Press 'LETTER1' to teleport to the final level. Press 'LETTER2' to revisit previous levels. |
20140105:
Despite setting up port forwarding, I still had some trouble getting the online co-op working. Eventually I realized that I needed to wait in the Lobby in order for my friend to successfully join. Originally I thought I had to start the game and that he would then join the world, like in Terraria. In any case, the co-op was fun, but my client would occasionally freeze when we used a teleporter to go to the next level. The first time was when we finished the third level, the second time time was when we finished the first level, and another time was when we finished the second level. (I found the problem and solution on 20140108, see below.)
 |
| "You have died. Maybe next time..." |
Tip: Press Enter to initiate the chat console.
After we called it a night I played some more and began encountering my own game freezes. (I found the problem and solution on 20140108, see below.)
20140108:
Oh wow, someone posted this:
"Any sound loop? Solved [a] similar problem by disabling my sound card (ASUS Xonar)"The OP replies:
"Yes, I have Asus Xonar D1 and I have random sound loop. I'll try this. Thanks."
 |
| The Lemurian entry of the Monster Log. |
Delving further, I found that more people were also having problems specifically correlated with having an Asus Xonar sound card.
The tip that was most helpful was the following: (source)
The solution that works for me, is to turn off "GX" mode in the Asus Xonar driver panel. I've got a Xonar DX and turning this option off fixed the crashing and music for me!That fix worked perfectly for me. If it doesn't work for you, you might look to try this fix.
 |
| This screen shows up after dying. |
20140109:
Tip: For getting 20 perfect sniper shots, you want to stop the slider when it hits the white. It's easier and faster to stop it when it first comes from the left. Basically get into a rhythm of stopping the slider and firing the gun. It takes a while to get the consistent rhythm. But once you get into it, its easy to fall into a good streak of 20 shots even when missing a couple now and then.
20140118:
My first solo win. In fact, I surprised myself by playing as the sniper, who I thought would be too hard to do as single player. I do, however, owe a lot to having attack drones.
20140119:
Earlier today (around 1AM), two of my friends and I got together to play some more online co-op. In both the second and third run we made it to the boss, but I wasn't able to defeat the final boss.
After going to sleep and waking up in the morning, I decided to read about the final battle. The Risk of Rain Wiki proved useful and I learned some things about the final battle which I hadn't realize while playing the game.
20161110,11:
Players: Tim, Avi, Adam, Ayin; Input: Internet
Yesterday (20161110) and today (20161111) my coworkers and I played Risk of Rain.* Aside from some technical difficulties and bugs, we had some fun.
Problem: Adam's mouse kept trailing towards the bottom right of the screen.
Solution: According to a forum post, the mouse gets misinterpreted as a joystick (on Linux) and he needed to run
sudo rmmod -f joydevin the terminal.
Problem: The solution couldn't be applied.
Solution: He had to first close the game.
The game was fun for multiple reasons. Some key reasons include working together, discovery, and advancement.
On the other hand, the dilemma of dying early and being put out of the game continued to be a negative quality of this and similar games. While partially fixed by resurrecting players at the start of every level, an option that offered player the ability to immediately respawn would have been much appreciated.
Note that while I've played through this game before, I did not have my old save file loaded.
*I gifted Adam and Ayin each a copy from my Humble Bundle purchases and Avi bought his own.
Thoughts: Risk of Rain is a fun single player experience, but the online co-op is a solid experience as well.
Risk of Rain (PC) (2013)
 |
| 20140108: The Bandit fighting off the Toxic Beast. |
Relevant Links:
Risk of Rain Website
Risk of Rain Wiki (riskofrain.wikia.com/)
Risk of Rain (Gamespot.com)
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