What's the last game that really grabbed you?

[Justisaur]

What's the last game that really grabbed you?

For me I'd have to say Dark Souls. I finished it with two characters,
and played many different ones, and even played on up through the second
play-through with one. It was only last year I first played it though,
not when it came out and haven't tried any of the newer ones as the
reviews mostly call the sequels not as good. I'm almost tempted to try
to find a way to play the original Demon Souls.

- Justisaur

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I assume from your last sentence, reviving old titles counts? From
the first sentence I wasn't sure if you wanted to limit the responses
to recently released titles).

Most recent game that grabbed me is M.U.L.E., running under STEem
Atari 8 bit emulator. What a gem! One of the best games ever
written. I sat down and played through an entire game (over an hour),
with a USB "classic" joystick (clone of the old 2600 sticks). What a
great time. I crushed all three computer players, a little too easily
unfortunately, because I neglected to set difficulty to tournament
mode, forgetting that crystite wasn't available as a commodity in
standard mode, and also thinking that since it's been about 30 years
since I played an entire game of it, that my skills would be rusty (I
was wrong, it was like riding a bike).

I've been playing countless emulated ROMS across 4 different platforms
lately (Atari 800, Atari ST, C64 and Amiga). One thing you quickly
realize is that some games aren't quite as good as you remembered
them, while other games truly stand the test of time and are still
great games. I have always been a fan of MAME, and have dabbled with
emulators in the past but not to this extent.

Even among the "craptastic" titles (gratuitious hommage to Mr. Rob
there), there are so many interesting quirks to explore among the
thousands of available games. I could probably get lost doing this
and not have to buy another game for years. Although I'm sure I will
when Battlefield One is released. I decided to pass on Deus Ex :
Mankind for the time being and until it's heavily discounted.

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:27:53 -0400, Rin Stowleigh
<rstow...@nevrhadgmail.com> wrote:

>Most recent game that grabbed me is M.U.L.E., running under STEem
>Atari 8 bit emulator. What a gem!

I also want to say that in terms of game AI, only Counterstrike bots
have matched the level of "convincingness" of the behavior of the
M.U.L.E computer opponents. By that, I mean their movements are of
course simple (choose this or that plot of land, move up or down in an
auction) -- but it's not what they do as much as how they do it. Even
in standard mode, they actually try to bluff at auctions, standing
their ground for a while pretending that they don't need a resource
badly enough!

I don't know why older games get this right better than newer games.
Dipolmatic relations in the original Civilization strike me this way
too -- way more believable that their is an actual human mind behind
the decision making process than the computer.

AI is largely a myth in modern games, because most games depend more
on things like damage / HP modifiers and such to create the illusion
of AI than actual AI itself, but some of these older games did
actually make better strides toward producing true artificial
intelligence in games.

Weird that we have to go back 30 years to see the future, isn't it?

[Zaghadka]

Fallout 4. I logged over a hundred hours on my first run, and I'm
considering a re-run with a female character.

SPOILER SPACE
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I especially enjoyed the MILA quest-line, where I was sent off to put
radios in remote elevated locations. The one where you had to get onto an
elevated train hanging 1000 ft. in the air under an overpass, with no
obvious path, was a blast to figure out how to get to. Took a lot of
careful observation and a truly circuitous route, punctuated by a
surprise glowing deathclaw on the rooftop you needed to navigate, and a
Protectron Guardian on the far side of the train. It was a slice of
awesome, and way more challenging than the quest description would have
you believe. Also, little to no help from the nav system, since it can
identify the point, but can't identify the winding, open-world path to
it.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

[Mr Rob]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>What's the last game that really grabbed you?

No Mans Sky might be the next game to do that, but currently it's The
Division that I can't stop playing.

I'm a sucker for loot based games anyway, but throw in competent
shooter elements, great graphics, and a believable game world, and I
will be hooked every time.
--
Rob

[Justisaur]

I had a hell of a time with that one, but I did complete it, without
resorting to spoilers. Unfortunately the first time I got there I got
killed, but was able to complete it after a reload.

There was just something lacking to fo4 for me, not bad, but it didn't
grab me the way DS, or FO3 (with mods) did.

- Justisaur

[Justisaur]

Rin Stowleigh wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>>
>> For me I'd have to say Dark Souls. I finished it with two characters,
>> and played many different ones, and even played on up through the second
>> play-through with one. It was only last year I first played it though,
>> not when it came out and haven't tried any of the newer ones as the
>> reviews mostly call the sequels not as good. I'm almost tempted to try
>> to find a way to play the original Demon Souls.
>
> I assume from your last sentence, reviving old titles counts? From
> the first sentence I wasn't sure if you wanted to limit the responses
> to recently released titles).
>

Yeah that counts.

> Most recent game that grabbed me is M.U.L.E., running under STEem
> Atari 8 bit emulator. What a gem! One of the best games ever
> written. I sat down and played through an entire game (over an hour),
> with a USB "classic" joystick (clone of the old 2600 sticks). What a
> great time. I crushed all three computer players, a little too easily
> unfortunately, because I neglected to set difficulty to tournament
> mode, forgetting that crystite wasn't available as a commodity in
> standard mode, and also thinking that since it's been about 30 years
> since I played an entire game of it, that my skills would be rusty (I
> was wrong, it was like riding a bike).

I always wanted to play that one, but never did. I'm wary of trying old
games I never played back in the day, as nostalgia plays a big part. I
just couldn't get into Bioshock, Unreal, or Carmageddon recently, which
I've never played before. KotoR and DS really worked for me though.
Maybe I just need to stick to things in this millennium. Although
Bioshock was the same year as DS.

As to the oldest that I actually liked back in the day that I still did
upon replaying it, that was Telengard, a lot of people didn't really
like that one at the time either, I was surprised it held up for me.

>
> I've been playing countless emulated ROMS across 4 different platforms
> lately (Atari 800, Atari ST, C64 and Amiga). One thing you quickly
> realize is that some games aren't quite as good as you remembered
> them, while other games truly stand the test of time and are still
> great games. I have always been a fan of MAME, and have dabbled with
> emulators in the past but not to this extent.

Yep. I loved the original Pool of Radiance back in the day, and I still
like AD&D, but my last really focused attempt at PoR only got about
halfway, with two more spaced out years before that barely got past the
first section of ruins. I found it a strange combination of too easy
and too hard. It was too tempting to just give all your guys 18's in
everything since it was built right into the game, and just reload from
any bad spots. So I made some rules for myself - 3 guys, no reloads.
But at the same time there were spots that were really bad - like the
wights.

I think that's part of why I keep trying 8-bit games, as there are a few
that somehow blend the past goodness with improvements from today to
make a great game. But they too are few and far between in the cruft.

Speaking of emulators, I was playing around with an emulator for NES,
which I never had, I played some of the games, and they were
interesting, but nothing worth playing more than an hour or two. The
one that got me longest was Battletoads, but man was it hard, and it got
too repetitive going back to the same place over and over just to die
and start over. Which makes me want to say to the people that think DS
is hard, "Go play some old games."

>
> Even among the "craptastic" titles (gratuitious hommage to Mr. Rob
> there), there are so many interesting quirks to explore among the
> thousands of available games. I could probably get lost doing this
> and not have to buy another game for years. Although I'm sure I will
> when Battlefield One is released. I decided to pass on Deus Ex :
> Mankind for the time being and until it's heavily discounted.

Deus EX is another one I've never tried.

- Justisaur

[Dimensional Traveler]

I disabled the robotic arms on my computer so buggy games can't grab me
anymore. :P

--
Running the rec.arts.TV Channels Watched Survey for Summer 2016

[Tim O]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I think it was Skyrim. I played a lot of Far Cry 4, but I went to bed
late and skipped work for Skyrim. Only other game I bugged out of work
for because I was so obsessed with it was the original STALKER.

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>

Interesting question. I play a lot of games - and play most of them to
the end - but that doesn't always reflect how engaging I find the
game. As often as note, I'm playing to get value for my dollar, or
just because I want to see how the story ends, or just so I can say
I've finished the damn thing and never have to play it again. Too
often these days, I'm tired of the game long before I get to the end.

When I first considered the question, I instinctively thought "Witcher
3", but I was sure that - in 14 months since its release - there must
have been another "must-play" game. But perusing my playlist from the
last year, it turns out I was mistaken: Witcher 3 /was/ the last game
that "grabbed me" (prior to that, the Stanley Parable, but engaging as
it was the first time, Stanley really lacks in replayability). Witcher
3 had its faults - not least its extremely slow start and it's awful
combat - but its setting and open-world exploration made the game
worth playing.

Unfortunately, too few new games excite me that much; the triple-A
titles all play it too safe and don't take chances in gameplay or
setting. Indie games are sometimes more experimental, but the lack of
polish - not only in graphics, but gameplay and controls - often make
for a frustrating experience.

[Werner Punz]

Am 25.08.16 um 06:12 schrieb Justisaur:

Actually the last games which really grabbed were Okami and Divinity
Original Sin. (I recently Okami started it again on a PS2 Emulator after
having it played years ago on the Wii), if there is one title which
would deserve a decent PC port it is this game.

Heck today I even bought a second hand PS3 to have this game finally in
HD. (The PS3 is the only system up until now which has gotten a HD port
of Okami so far)

As for Divinity Original Sin, I really loved it, it reminded my on the
beloved Ultima 7 in so many ways while not copying its weaknesses, and
the environmental combat scheme was simply fantastic.

Werner

[Mr Rob]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:23:30 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
>wrote:

>>What's the last game that really grabbed you?

>Interesting question. I play a lot of games - and play most of them to
>the end

Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?"

My answer would have to be "not many". I play some almost to the end,
but if it's an ending involving a brainless hitpoint brick of a boss I
uninstall.

There as some games that I seem to forget to play, even though I've
been enjoying them. Usually because another game is released which
catches my eye, or I get the urge to play a game that I've owned for
quite some time.

I don't know how many times I've started Mass Effect 2 (I bet it's
double figures). On my most recent play through I have finally gotten
as far as the "Suicide Mission". Then I somehow got sidetracked my
Mass Effect 3.

I've done the same with Crysis 2 & 3, Deadspace 2 & 3. I've never
completely finished Deus-Ex: Human Revolution. Although I did get
about 85% through it once, but that's another game that I have
restarted multiple times.

I've never finished a single Call of Duty game since finishing Modern
Warfare. The only Battlefield game that I've ever finished is Bad
Company 2.

I haven't finished a Zelda game since Link to the past, even though I
adore those games beyond any other on any platform. I've started every
Metroid Prime game and never finished them, even though they are my
second favourite console franchise of all time.

There are others, lots and lots of them.

I finished all of the Borderlands games but not all of the DLC's. I
finished Hellgate: London and Hellgate: Global scores of times. The
same with Diablo III and Reaper of Souls

I finished all of the Half-Life games and mission packs/episodes. I
finished Unreal and Unreal 2. I finished practically all games that I
played on PC back in those days.

I've never finished Skyrim. I have to be in double figures for starts
with that one as well. Just talking about it makes me want to play it.

I "finish" just about every PvE MMO that I play, usually several times
over.

I love playing games so much but I think I love collecting them as
much as I love playing them.

I reckon I have 1500 PC games alone. Plus 200+ console games spanning
every Nintendo available, a 360, and a PS3. I've sold scores of games
for other consoles, along with the consoles themselves over the years.
--
Rob

[DMP]

Divinity II DKS...for no other reason than its character development as
you played the game.


D.

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 17:40:06 +0100, Mr Rob
<noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:23:30 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
><spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>
>>>What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>
>>Interesting question. I play a lot of games - and play most of them to
>>the end
>
>
>Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?"
>
>My answer would have to be "not many". I play some almost to the end,
>but if it's an ending involving a brainless hitpoint brick of a boss I
>uninstall.

On the subject of game completion....

There was a recent thread about classic Civilization (which I loaded
up and played around with for old times sake, but have not yet sat
down to play an actual game).

For those that have never played, the game will provide a line graph
showing progress of both the player and the computer controlled
opponents, much like many other games do (these days). The only thing
is, it is not displayed until the game is over or you retire. Want an
interim progress report? Just save the game, then retire, then
reload. Hehe.. A bit of a cheat? Sort of, not really.

Well it's an interesting feature because in Civ, you can have an
opponent that's on the other side of the map rising to power at a much
faster rate than you are-- an opponent that you haven't even
encountered yet or you might be blocked geographically from accessing
them earlier in the game. I look at the "early retirement" exploit as
sort of like sending out a spy to figure out who is who :)

The best part of the feature is mentally mapping the downfall of a
particular civilization (whether your own, or an opponent) to a
specific event in the game -- i.e. watching an opponents timeline take
a nose dive just because they got feeling overconfident, and fucked
with you, and caused you to revert to a militaristic stance, crushing
them relentless into a ball of greasy dust.

....getting back to how this relates to game completion, one of the
things I used to do often in Civ is make a game's "ending" not really
The End according to the game (because Civ games can go on for
incredibly long periods of time), but the end according to the fact
that every other opponent is in an irrecoverable state of hopelessness
(i.e. beaten down by war, unable to expand, etc). So the timeline
graph cheat always helped me make the decision on whether to just
declare an early victory and save my time, or finish playing.

You guessed it, about 95% of the time I would just call it a victory
after I flatlined all opponents, instead of actually finishing the
game. The fact that I played Civ so much, yet actually completed so
few actual games is sort of an anomaly for me.

The downside to all of this is I'm not sure I ever once played through
to a diplomatic (rather than military) victory. Always wondered what
that one was like. I just kind of concluded I was better at bringing
other civs to their knees with military might than I was a natural
born diplomat :) Inevitably one of my opponents would start making
unreasonable demands, and I would have to pummel them. Once I did
that, other nations got edgy around me and I would end up having to
dole out same to them.

Maybe one of these days I should try the kinder, gentler approach to
winning. I bet it will be harder, for me at least.

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:36:02 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>I think that's part of why I keep trying 8-bit games, as there are a few
>that somehow blend the past goodness with improvements from today to
>make a great game. But they too are few and far between in the cruft.

One of the things I'm finding joy in, is not just the gameplay itself
but the study of all things related to a given title.

Example, I set out to play "Drol" (a 1983 scrolling shooter for Atari
800 by Broderbund that was real treat back then). Well the author
listed on the credits was Aik Beng (also known as Benny Aik Beng Ngo),
and it reminded me that Benny and Tony Ngo (brothers) also developed
the similarly excellent title "Bandits" (another Broderbund title
that's kind of Galaga-like). But, he lists solely his 2 middle names
(Aik Beng) on Drol, but lists Benny Ngo and his brother Tony in the
credits for Bandits. What's going on there, a little sibling rivalry?

So anyway I start playing Drol and soon realize it's impossible to
pass the first level, because the rocket lizard never appears (long
story but you need to catch the rocket lizard to progress). In
waiting for him to appear, I found a glitch/exploit I'd never found
before, where I could just sit and wait for enemies, drop down and
score a few points, and return to safe zone (potentially running up an
unlimited high score without ever leaving level 1! lol).

So as far as I can tell, the Ngo brothers must have released the Atari
cracked version as an anti-piracy measure (crippleware) that would be
enough to pique buyers interest, but wouldn't let them play the full
game. Either that or whoever cracked it introduced a bug in a bit
flag that prevented rocket lizard from making an appearance. So, no
worries, I ended up playing the C64 version (not as good) instead.

Also it's fun to read the stuff that crackers wrote on their demo
screens back then, taunting each other, flexing their egos, etc. Lots
of good times back then.

[Rin Stowleigh]

Another fun fact about Drol. If you take too long to clear the first
level, these little indistructable things come zipping by to kill you.
They looked exactly like little Roomba vacuums. I had to look up in
the manual to figure out what they were supposed to be.

Well, exactly that, little robotic vacuum cleaners. Except, they were
placed into the game something like 15 years before they were actually
invented as a purchasable product!

[Justisaur]

Rin Stowleigh wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>>
>> For me I'd have to say Dark Souls. I finished it with two characters,
>> and played many different ones, and even played on up through the second
>> play-through with one. It was only last year I first played it though,
>> not when it came out and haven't tried any of the newer ones as the
>> reviews mostly call the sequels not as good. I'm almost tempted to try
>> to find a way to play the original Demon Souls.
>
> I assume from your last sentence, reviving old titles counts? From
> the first sentence I wasn't sure if you wanted to limit the responses
> to recently released titles).
>
> Most recent game that grabbed me is M.U.L.E., running under STEem
> Atari 8 bit emulator. What a gem! One of the best games ever
> written. I sat down and played through an entire game (over an hour),
> with a USB "classic" joystick (clone of the old 2600 sticks). What a
> great time. I crushed all three computer players, a little too easily
> unfortunately, because I neglected to set difficulty to tournament
> mode, forgetting that crystite wasn't available as a commodity in
> standard mode, and also thinking that since it's been about 30 years
> since I played an entire game of it, that my skills would be rusty (I
> was wrong, it was like riding a bike).

I was looking up M.U.L.E. there's an android/ios "M.U.L.E. returns"
which has pretty good reviews (4.3) $3 on android. , and a M.U.L.E.
boardgame. I might pick up the android version.

- Justisaur

[Justisaur]

Mr Rob wrote:

> Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?"

I finish probably 90% of the games I play unless they are unbearably
hard, I lose interest - something else comes along, or 'finish' is a
relative term (MMOs). I rarely replay games after I finish them except
the absolute best (Fallout 2), or those I never finished that people
keep saying are great that I just don't get (Planescape:Torment - I've
attempted at least 3 times over the years).

Lately I've been finishing less and less games, but that mostly consists
of cheap indy games that I give up quickly. I've started trying to go
for refunds on those, even though it's only a couple dollars, I managed
to get refunds on a couple so far.

I'm now tempted to try the more expensive games on my wishlist, but some
games take quite awhile to get into, 2 hours just isn't enough to tell
if a game is worth it, or in some cases even try to get it working. I
actually did try to return fallout 4, as my VC wasn't up to playing it
when I bought it, but I'd bought it with a discount code and it wouldn't
let me because of that. I'm glad it didn't as I bought a new VC and
played through it mostly enjoying it.

- Justisaur

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 15:28:06 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I think the boardgame was just released, the mobile app has been out
for a while. I actually have it on my phone but have not yet played
around with it, mostly because the tiny screen doesn't appeal to me.
I've been meaning to try it on my iPad to give it fair evaluation.

If you never played the original, it's probably better to start with
the mobile versions, because at least then you get ingame tutorial
popups (its not hard to learn, but if you were just turned loose on
the original some things wouldn't make sense at first).

But for me, the Atari 8-bit version is magical, especially playing it
with an old Atari 2600 joystick. Even hearing the original music
scores big points with me (although they did do a good job of
retaining the old music's melody in the mobile version, with updated
sound).

The iOS version has been out for something like 2 years and still says
"coming soon" on the multiplayer option... lol. Oh well, won't hold
my breath there. With the original, it was plenty of fun single
player, but multiplayer could be incredible, because of collusion (or
in some cases lack of cooperation) between players that were right
there in the room with you (multiplayer meant multiple joysticks
plugged into the front of the computer back then). Oh man the funny
shit that took place, the drunken insults, etc. Such great memories.

I'm not much of a board game guy, but the fact that they are just now
releasing a board game of this shows what a special game it really
was.

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 17:40:06 +0100, Mr Rob
<noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:23:30 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
><spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>
>>>What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>>Interesting question. I play a lot of games - and play most of them to
>>the end

>Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?"

Oh, that's an easy one for me to answer. In the last ten years, I've
finished 72.26% of all the games I've played. I actually have a
spreadsheet (mostly to remind me what games I've played, but the
percentages are interesting).

If I give up on a game, it almost always is right at the start, when
it becomes obvious that the game isn't appealing to me. If I get past
the fifth or sixth hour, I tend to stick with it to the end. I make
more of an effort to finish a new game ("gotta get my money's worth");
a replay is more likely to be abandoned (especially if it was a game I
struggled to finish the first time).

>My answer would have to be "not many". I play some almost to the end,
>but if it's an ending involving a brainless hitpoint brick of a boss I
>uninstall.

See, I find I'm far less likely to give up because of a boss fight
than because of the tedium of fighting too-many, too-similar minions.
At least with the defeat of a boss, there's the expectation of
something new: a cutscene, a new new type of world to explore, an
awesome new weapon. Killing the minions just allows me to progress
slightly further into the same level to... kill more minions.

>There as some games that I seem to forget to play, even though I've
>been enjoying them. Usually because another game is released which
>catches my eye, or I get the urge to play a game that I've owned for
>quite some time.

I sometimes put aside e a game with the intent to continue it later,
but even I'm aware that's often a self-delusion and more often than
not, I never go back to it. If I'm interested in a game I'll play it
to the end and then move on to the next. Rarely do I play two games
concurrently. But I often feel that I've either put too much effort
into a title or that it is too good a game (even if I'm not enjoying
it personally) for me to just abandon it, so I convince myself that
I'm just taking a break and will finish it in a week or two. Then two
or three months later, I realize the game has gone unplayed and
self-consciously uninstall it to hide the evidence of my failure ;-)

>I love playing games so much but I think I love collecting them as
>much as I love playing them.

>I reckon I have 1500 PC games alone. Plus 200+ console games spanning
>every Nintendo available, a 360, and a PS3. I've sold scores of games
>for other consoles, along with the consoles themselves over the years.

I've about twice that (the duplicates on steam and gog make the
numbers sort of hard to count ;-) but that's because I've never sold a
game in my life. Once its mine, I'm keeping it. I still have a few
Apple ][ game floppy disks somewhere, even though its been ages since
I've actually had the hardware on which to play them ;-).

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

"Zaghadka" wrote;
"...considering a re-run with a female character."

Is there any other than appearance difference in playing FO4 with
male or female main character ?
(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

[Zaghadka]

On Tue, 30 Aug 2016 18:43:25 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:

>"Zaghadka" wrote;
>"...considering a re-run with a female character."
>
>Is there any other than appearance difference in playing FO4 with
>male or female main character ?

Well, everything is voice acted, so I'm doing it to see what the female
voice acting is like. If it sucks, that'll cut my play through short.

There is no qualitative difference in plot, though. All the quests will
be the same. Might get dull. We'll see.

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

"Spalls Hurgenson" wrote;

>"Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?" >

@@@@

Very, very few indeed :)

I have been playing comp. games for 35 years - on PC's since 1990
nearly all action / shooter action-RPG-adventure & in the earlier years a
lot of
the arcade / platform that ruled the '80's.
I have had nearly all of the big name titles
& still have many unfinished (mostly at around 30% done)

I've completely finished so few I can confidently remember all of them:

Unreal II
FarCry 1st one
Crysis
Crysis Warhead
Splinter Cell 1st one
Borderlands 1 & 2 & pre-sequel
Half-Life 2
Bioshock Infinite
Quake 4
Morrowind
Doom 3
Halo 1st one
Shadow Of Mordor: Middle Earth

Many games do not really ever end Oblivion, Skyrim , Shadow Of Mordor
Gothic 3 al have much to do beside the central quest.

Do online game like World of Warcraft & Elder Scrolls Online
have complete endings ?

(\__/)
(='.'=)

(")_(") mouse (We Are The Incompleters)

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Tue, 30 Aug 2016 20:06:49 +0100, "Trimble Bracegirdle"
<no-...@never.spam> wrote:

>Many games do not really ever end Oblivion, Skyrim , Shadow Of Mordor
>Gothic 3 al have much to do beside the central quest.
>
>Do online game like World of Warcraft & Elder Scrolls Online
>have complete endings ?

I think the same is true of most action game campaigns these days,
most of which involve side quests, or completionist bonuses like
hidden things to find. I rarely do much sidequesting, mostly poorly
thought out time fillers. If I play through the main campaign in any
game I consider it compete, though technically they aren't really.
True completion would be completing every possible challenge in the
game, including a play through on hardest difficulty.

I'm actually glad I don't have that much free time on my hands ;)

[Justisaur]

Zaghadka wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Aug 2016 18:43:25 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
> Trimble Bracegirdle wrote:
>
>> "Zaghadka" wrote;
>> "...considering a re-run with a female character."
>>
>> Is there any other than appearance difference in playing FO4 with
>> male or female main character ?
>
> Well, everything is voice acted, so I'm doing it to see what the female
> voice acting is like. If it sucks, that'll cut my play through short.
>
> There is no qualitative difference in plot, though. All the quests will
> be the same. Might get dull. We'll see.
>

There's different romance options. Certain outfits are only wearable by
males (I don't believe the opposite is true, mods to fix that IIRC),
there's a difference in a certain radio persona you can take on (for the
worse), but Females are otherwise better due to the 'black widow' perk
and prevalence of male opponents.

I personally find the female voices better acted in general, which seems
to be a general consensus across games where there is a choice.

- Justisaur

[Justisaur]

I might have to change my answer, I stayed up really late two nights in
a row so far. I just couldn't put down Cosmochoria. It's an indy 2d
planet terraforming/shooter/alien apocalypse game. That doesn't really
describe it well. One of the reviews described it as 'The Real No Man's
Sky' but I don't think it's really that either. I'm about 3/4 done with
the main quest line after 3 days so it might be a bit short. It looks
like that last 1/4 is going to be really hard so not sure how long that
will take. I'm not sure if it counts as it probably won't be a lasting
game and don't see much potential for replay (you can play with curses
to make it harder, but I don't see much appeal to that.)

It did grab me.

My one disappointment with it so far is all the weapon 'upgrades' are
actually worse than the 1st upgrade.

- Justisaur

[Anssi Saari]

Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> writes:

> What's the last game that really grabbed you?

I think the new Deus Ex: Mankind Divided already did. Even if it's
mostly just an improvement on Human Revolution, it's still great. But,
we'll see.

[rms]

>currently it's The Division that I can't stop playing.
>I'm a sucker for loot based games anyway, but throw in competent
>shooter elements, great graphics, and a believable game world, and I
>will be hooked every time.

I think I'd enjoy this game immensely, at least until the
campaign/level-30, and look forward to giving it a go!

rms

[rms]

>There as some games that I seem to forget to play, even though I've
>been enjoying them. Usually because another game is released which
>catches my eye, or I get the urge to play a game that I've owned for
>quite some time.

I've gotten much better about finishing single-player campaigns that I
start. Abandoning any online multiplayer was a big step; at one point I
realized how addicted I was to L4D1&2 coop games, and decided to uninstall
them. This was like Bilbo giving up the Ring for me: Tough to contemplate,
but freeing. That addictive quality certainly has carried over to how I
approach games subsequently -- trying to find all the flags in Assassin's
Creed 1 is the eye-rolling example -- but even there it's finally broken
through to me that such trivial in-game pursuits are the developers laughing
at us, and I can usually snap myself out of them. Another help is to be
very willing to reduce difficulty to Easy; this greatly reduces the
reload/retry cycle that is another developer technique to extend elapsed
game time. Playing 2 or 3 games at a time is almost certain to make me
reluctant to return to the one of them with a high learning curve, so I
mostly settle on doing one at a time.

Rob also mentions collecting as being just as fun as playing. I find more
and more that, with the death of physical game boxes, that this is less of a
motivator for me.

rms

[Anssi Saari]

Mr Rob <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> writes:

> On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 10:23:30 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
> <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:12:34 -0700, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>
>>>What's the last game that really grabbed you?
>
>>Interesting question. I play a lot of games - and play most of them to
>>the end
>
>
> Another interesting question would be "how many games do you finish?"

I guess I finish most games I get into. Of course, that's relative, what
does "finish" really mean? Or what if it's a moving target like Defiance
MMO which has added some content since I last played?

Then there's the "is it enough to see one finish"? I finished The Talos
Principle for example but I usually want to do all endings. However, I
don't feel like doing 28/30 of the extra star puzzles which would be
needed for the third ending.

Then there's the DLC question. I usually don't feel compelled to finish
DLC if I got it in a bundle. I think there's still two DLCs I haven't
done in Borderlands 2 for example (the pirate one and the hunting one).

Then there are the games that seem like a good idea but I end up
quitting (or dying a lot, thinking of Super Hexagon here). I got PAC-MAN
Championship Edition DX+ on a sale recently for example. Started a game,
got bored and quit. I doubt I'll get back to it. I think I played
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome for some time once and then
didn't bother with it again.

So anyways, in the near future I'll probably finish the new Deus Ex and
GTAV which I just started playing again. Maybe the Talos Principle DLC
Road to Gehenna too.

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Wed, 31 Aug 2016 22:51:18 -0600, "rms"
<rsqui...@MOOyossmanMOO.net> wrote:



>Rob also mentions collecting as being just as fun as playing. I find more
>and more that, with the death of physical game boxes, that this is less of a
>motivator for me.

I miss the boxes, but at the same time I am quite glad they - and
physical manuals - are gone. I love the physicality of the items, but
the sheer amount of space they took up was phenomenal. Long ago I
tossed all my cartons but just the /manuals/ took up two whole
bookshelves.

I feel the same way about discs. I love having an actual thing to hold
as a representative of the game itself - not to mention the security
of the knowledge that I can still install and play the game even if
the publisher goes tits up - but the damn things take up /so much
room/. I've got 15 of those CD binders all filled up with shiny discs
that are incredibly incovenient to store, move and use. I hate the
loss of control that digital distribution represents but damned if it
isn't a lot more convenient ;-)

Mind you, my obsessive need to back things up means that even digital
isn't free of bulk. I have four USB hard-drives filled with downloaded
game backups in my desk drawer. This despite the fact that - thanks
to a recent internet upgrade - it is actually /faster/ for me to
download a game anew than reinstall from the USB backup ;-)

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

Nowadays I tend to often feel that games finish me before I can finish them.
What I mean is that my interest in the story / graphics /combat
is worn out before the the games end ...often loooong before the end.
I just stop caring about the thing & gain a final measly pleasure from
uninstalling it.

Looking at a YouTube video walkthrough often satisfies
any "what's the last bits like ?"desires.

[unibalm]

On Tue, 30 Aug 2016 20:06:49 +0100, "Trimble Bracegirdle"
<no-...@never.spam> wrote:

I've the exact opposite experience. I'm either locked into a game or
uninstall it is usually decided within a few minutes of play. When I
get locked in I usually play to a finish, and what stands out are the
games I replay and sometimes replay many times over.

Sometimes the mechanics break down when I still ought to be immersed
in a game, but that's actually quite rarely - all things considered.

>Many games do not really ever end Oblivion, Skyrim , Shadow Of Mordor
>Gothic 3 al have much to do beside the central quest.
>

I think there's a computer geek word for endless procedural "quests",
but the mere continuation of them doesn't make a game.

I remember setting my Cesna to orbit the planet in MS Flight Simulater
an early 386 edition, where the plane flew over procedurally generated
gfx. By Gawd I was determined to discover something "new". The gfx
were oriented to the world, so were part of the "world", so wow.

[gerem...@gmail.com]

I play some small online games like free slots at http://freeslots77.com I don't have much time for gaming really, so it is my way out :) Do you guys like some free casino games, by the way?

[Justisaur]

gerem...@gmail.com wrote:
> I play some small online games like free slots at http://freeslots77.com I don't have much time for gaming really, so it is my way out :) Do you guys like some free casino games, by the way?
>

I haven't played any in a really long time, my favorite was the
blackjack that came with the intellivision. I used to play that with my
grandpa. I used to like those old adventure games that had some form of
gambling in them. Fallout 2 comes to mind.

- Justisaur

[Ross Ridge]

Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I haven't played any in a really long time, my favorite was the
>blackjack that came with the intellivision. I used to play that with my
>grandpa. I used to like those old adventure games that had some form of
>gambling in them. Fallout 2 comes to mind.

I'm not a big fan of gambling mini-games. It's either a waste of money
or feels like cheating.

Ross Ridge

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/
db //