Mass Effect... annoying battle cut scenes
Andrew MacPherson
amount of money from EA downloads. I'm enjoying it quite a lot, despite the third
person viewpoint, but some of the unskippable cut-scenes during/before battles are
really getting on my t*ts. Why do games designers insist on such daft ideas?
Oh well, I guess I can't complain considering how little I paid for the game. :-)
Andrew McP
PS Yes, I do have subtitles on and skip the text bits
Rand Al'Thor
"Andrew MacPherson" <mcp.a...@DELETTHISgmail.com> wrote in message
news:memo.2009122...@mcp.andrew.c...
It would have been nice to be able to skip these, especially if you are
repeating the mission. Although GTAIV has its faults, uyou can skip these
scenes in that game by just pressing space.
Spoiler on last boss:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
The most annoying cut scene is halfway (would you believe!!) thru fighting
the last boss after which you are returned with the last boss back to full
health and shields!!!
Rand
Andrew MacPherson
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
> The most annoying cut scene is halfway (would you believe!!) thru
> fighting the last boss after which you are returned with the last
> boss back to full health and shields!!!
Ah, nice to have something to look forward to. :-) Never mind, I've decided to play
at the lowest difficulty setting now. That got me past my first major annoyance,
and frees me up to just get on with the storyline and exploring with a minimum of
effort. Normally I wouldn't do that (to maximise bang for buck and also play it as
the designers intended), but I bought Dead Space on Steam yesterday, and have
barely started Mirror's Edge. A glut of cheap gaming is piling up on my HD! :-)
Andrew McP
PS I've recently started reading Book 1 of the Wheel of Time, in the hope of
finding a halfway decent fantasy series to get my teeth into. So far I'm enjoying
it more than I thought I might, after reading some reader reviews. I've been
mainlining Donaldson over the last 12 months, and wasn't sure I was ready for
something a little more 'mainstream'. :-)
Shawk
>
> PS I've recently started reading Book 1 of the Wheel of Time, in the hope of
> finding a halfway decent fantasy series to get my teeth into. So far I'm enjoying
> it more than I thought I might, after reading some reader reviews. I've been
> mainlining Donaldson over the last 12 months, and wasn't sure I was ready for
> something a little more 'mainstream'. :-)
What type of fantasy? My all time favourite is Stephen Kings Dark Tower
series. I must have read those seven novels 5 times so far...
alanrco
"Andrew MacPherson" <mcp.a...@DELETTHISgmail.com> wrote in message
news:memo.2009122...@mcp.andrew.c...
OMG! Sorry to have to say but the WoT books gets slower and duler as the
series goes on. Too much description and not enough action either. To top it
all, and inconsiderately :) the author died before completion. There is
rumours that someone else is going to continue them, so if your really keen
on reading all the 12 current books, all I can say is, GOOD LUCK!
Series I would recommend: 'Otherworld 'by Tad Williams or 'The Dark Tower'
by Stephen King (although this series had a naff ending)
Alan
Andrew MacPherson
> What type of fantasy? My all time favourite is Stephen Kings Dark
> Tower series. I must have read those seven novels 5 times so
> far...
I wasn't aware of King's fantasy stuff, and I've never been one for horror, so
haven;t paid much attention to him. Amazon reviews of his fantasy now make me wary,
but I will investigate. As ever with this stuff, one man's meat can be another's
poison. :-)
I have a soft spot for Stephen Donaldson, who can be an awkwardly verbose and
turgid author when he puts his mind to it. Which is most of the time. :-) I
recently discovered his SF series (Gap) which was unexpectedly superb (IMO) and
that led me back to his Fantasy novels, many of which I read in the distant past. I
wasn't disappointed, and especially enjoyed re-reading The Mirror of Her Dreams and
the sequel, then getting back into the epic Covenant stuff. Very character-led,
introspective work which can be hard going at times though.
For 'fun' I tend to read David Gemmill. The books can be somewhat formulaic and
predictable, but that guy could *really* tell a story effortlessly, and make you
care about people... just before he killed them off. :-) Shame fate killed him off
prematurely too. :-/
And of course when talking about books I am compelled to say that my favourite
story of all time is Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Technically SF, but the boundary is
very blurred for me.
And it'll be even more blurred if I don't get to bed and have some sleep before
work. I got carried away earlier in Mass Effect. It definitely has the 'just one
more section before I quit' factor.
Andrew McP
Andrew MacPherson
> OMG! Sorry to have to say but the WoT books gets slower and duler
> as the series goes on.
I've a feeling I've read the first couple a long time ago. Mainly because I have
the third on my bookshelf, but no memory of ever reading it. I think a mate may
have loaned it to me about 15 years ago. :-)
I was seduced into re-trying the series by some reviews which say the series gets
better as it goes along (for a while anyway), and I do like a long reading project,
and the sense of continuity that can bring. So I will make my way through the first
just to see if I can get inspired by the universe.
Thanks for the warning though, and for seconding the King recommendation. Looks
like The Dark Tower is going to be testing the New Year postal service for me. I'll
investigate Tad Williams too. He's not an author who's crossed my radar before.
Andrew McP
Shawk
> sh...@gmx.com.3guesses (Shawk) wrote:
>
>> What type of fantasy? My all time favourite is Stephen Kings Dark
>> Tower series. I must have read those seven novels 5 times so
>> far...
>
> I wasn't aware of King's fantasy stuff, and I've never been one for horror, so
> haven;t paid much attention to him. Amazon reviews of his fantasy now make me wary,
> but I will investigate. As ever with this stuff, one man's meat can be another's
> poison. :-)
I'm the opposite. Loved the horror stories of King (and others) and
then someone bought me the first Dark Tower book one Xmas. It sat on
the shelf for probably a year until I had nothing at all to read (and
I'll read the backs of cereal packets if I have to). I picked it up,
spent a few hours getting into it and then went to Amazon and ordered
the other books. Wonderful books with a World made as believable as
LOTR by a writer at the top of his game (I'm a fan)
> I have a soft spot for Stephen Donaldson, who can be an awkwardly verbose and
> turgid author when he puts his mind to it. Which is most of the time. :-) I
> recently discovered his SF series (Gap) which was unexpectedly superb (IMO) and
> that led me back to his Fantasy novels, many of which I read in the distant past. I
> wasn't disappointed, and especially enjoyed re-reading The Mirror of Her Dreams and
> the sequel, then getting back into the epic Covenant stuff. Very character-led,
> introspective work which can be hard going at times though.
>
> For 'fun' I tend to read David Gemmill. The books can be somewhat formulaic and
> predictable, but that guy could *really* tell a story effortlessly, and make you
> care about people... just before he killed them off. :-) Shame fate killed him off
> prematurely too. :-/
>
> And of course when talking about books I am compelled to say that my favourite
> story of all time is Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Technically SF, but the boundary is
> very blurred for me.
Aah good - a writer I know ;) Though I haven't read the Hyperion books
- I'll look out for them.
Fantasy-wise I'm a newb so thanks for the recommendations (I'm taking
them as recomendations whether meant or not)..
> And it'll be even more blurred if I don't get to bed and have some sleep before
> work. I got carried away earlier in Mass Effect. It definitely has the 'just one
> more section before I quit' factor.
A game I like but don't have the time to commit to....
Mark Morrison
mcp.a...@DELETTHISgmail.com (Andrew MacPherson) wrote:
>For 'fun' I tend to read David Gemmill. The books can be somewhat formulaic and
>predictable, but that guy could *really* tell a story effortlessly, and make you
>care about people... just before he killed them off. :-) Shame fate killed him off
>prematurely too. :-/
His first book, Legend, set the template for later books, and I've
loved it ever since reading it. So many great characters, lots of
great fight scenes. Of course, due to the number of fight scenes,
there weren't many characters left by the end. :(
Mr Rob
wrote:
>I'm the opposite. Loved the horror stories of King (and others) and
>then someone bought me the first Dark Tower book one Xmas. It sat on
>the shelf for probably a year until I had nothing at all to read (and
>I'll read the backs of cereal packets if I have to). I picked it up,
>spent a few hours getting into it and then went to Amazon and ordered
>the other books. Wonderful books with a World made as believable as
>LOTR by a writer at the top of his game (I'm a fan)
We have very similar tastes.
I rate the Dark Tower series of books (that I have read so far) to be
amongst the best fictional works that I've ever read. I own them all
in hardback (they are massive tomes in comparison to many). I still
have "Song of Susannah" and "The Dark Tower" to read.
I'm currently reading "Bag of Bones" for the second time and have
"Duma Key" and "Cell" to read. I did try to make a start on "Cell" but
it struck me more as a James Herbert style novel in the vein of "The
Fog" or "The Rats" rather than a King book. The pacing and style is
most unlike Stephen King in my opinion. I'll have to go back to that
at some point. I had the same feeling about "Black House" to a lesser
degree.
I own every novel that King has written (that I know of) including
those he wrote as Richard Bachman and co-wrote with Straub. I dread
the day when he stops writing.
I'm also a big fan of the early stuff by James Herbert, Dean Koontz
and Clive Barker. I was a big follower of Clancy too, back when he
wrote novels based around the Cold War.
--
Rob
Shawk
Yup... very similar. I have almost all King books and yes, Cell is not
like his others but i wouldn't class it as Herbert either, maybe a
Herbert/King/Crichton cross :)
I loved Herberts earlier books and his later one's are probably as good
but I think my taste started to change. I wanted less shock and more
character.
Having said that I did however get into and read all of the Brian Lumley
Necroscope books which are a little blood n guts. Good though. I think
you'd like them.
Koontz is a big favourite of mine. Always has been. I love the way he
can write a horror and then a thriller with nothing supernatural at all
and for them both the be as good as each other. I have just finished
his Frankenstein books which were pretty good.
Books I read over and over are the Vampire Chrinicles by Anne Rice.
Aside from horror my favourites will always be between James Patterson
and the Alex Cross series and John Connolly's Charlie 'Bird' parker
series (which do have a sometime supernatural air about them)...
Sheldon England
>
> Books I read over and over are the Vampire Chrinicles by Anne Rice.
Assuming you mean the trilogy ... I tried. I really did. I quite enjoyed
the first book (Interview with a Vampire) and this prompted me to get
the three-book set. But I was about half way into book two when I read
the word "preternatural" for the 354,567,255th time and declared that if
I saw the word again I would be done. Just one paragraph later I closed
the book and never returned. :(
I'm currently re-reading some early William Gibson stuff (Mona Lisa
Overdrive) after polishing off the Heritage Universe trilogy by Charles
Sheffield.
- Sheldon, who played Mass Effect through three times
Shawk
> I have read and loved ALL of the books mentioned above.
> Currently I am on my second complete read through of Lee Childs "Jack
> Reacher" novels; talk about action...they are terrific.
Yup... love them all, in fact just re-read 'One Shot' and 'The Hard Way'
again within the last month.
(The wife complains that I have a study full of old books that I've
already read but I do like to re-read them - the good ones several times)
Shawk
> Shawk wrote:
>>
>> Books I read over and over are the Vampire Chrinicles by Anne Rice.
>
> Assuming you mean the trilogy ... I tried. I really did. I quite enjoyed
> the first book (Interview with a Vampire) and this prompted me to get
> the three-book set. But I was about half way into book two when I read
> the word "preternatural" for the 354,567,255th time and declared that if
> I saw the word again I would be done. Just one paragraph later I closed
> the book and never returned. :(
I actually meant all ten books :) That word also went round and round
my head and its in the other books too but it didn't have the same
effect on me. I was able to ignore it quite successfully and really,
really enjoyed the World and lore that Anne Rice had crafted. There are
some wonderful stories there.
> I'm currently re-reading some early William Gibson stuff (Mona Lisa
> Overdrive) after polishing off the Heritage Universe trilogy by Charles
> Sheffield.
Not had the pleasure - what type of stories are they?
Xocyll
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
>Shawk wrote:
>>
>> Books I read over and over are the Vampire Chrinicles by Anne Rice.
>
>Assuming you mean the trilogy ... I tried. I really did. I quite enjoyed
>the first book (Interview with a Vampire) and this prompted me to get
>the three-book set. But I was about half way into book two when I read
>the word "preternatural" for the 354,567,255th time and declared that if
>I saw the word again I would be done. Just one paragraph later I closed
>the book and never returned. :(
There's more than a Trilogy.
http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-VampireChronicles.html
Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
Shawk
> Sheldon England <sheldon...@netscape.net> looked up from reading the
> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
> say:
>
>> Shawk wrote:
>>> Books I read over and over are the Vampire Chrinicles by Anne Rice.
>> Assuming you mean the trilogy ... I tried. I really did. I quite enjoyed
>> the first book (Interview with a Vampire) and this prompted me to get
>> the three-book set. But I was about half way into book two when I read
>> the word "preternatural" for the 354,567,255th time and declared that if
>> I saw the word again I would be done. Just one paragraph later I closed
>> the book and never returned. :(
>
> There's more than a Trilogy.
> http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-VampireChronicles.html
>
> Xocyll
Strange... Anne Rice is quoted as saying "I think the eleven novels of
the Vampire Chronicles are best enjoyed as a complete and finished work"
but I know of only 10 (unless she's counting Vittorio the Vampire which
wasn't part of the chronicles...) Having said that the last two should
never have been written in any event. She'd moved on, was probably
contractually required to write books she wasn't really interested in
anymore and it showed.
Sheldon England
> Sheldon England wrote:
>
> I actually meant all ten books :)
There were 10 (or 11)!?!?
> That word also went round and round
> my head and its in the other books too but it didn't have the same
> effect on me. I was able to ignore it quite successfully and really,
> really enjoyed the World and lore that Anne Rice had crafted. There are
> some wonderful stories there.
I realize there are only so many ways to describe things that are not of
the natural world but ... I was younger then, Maybe I would have more
patience now.
>> I'm currently re-reading some early William Gibson stuff (Mona Lisa
>> Overdrive) after polishing off the Heritage Universe trilogy by
>> Charles Sheffield.
>
> Not had the pleasure - what type of stories are they?
William Gibson is often credited as being the founder of the cyberpunk
concept. A near future, gritty world where corporations rule everything,
where elite hackers travel cyberspace by jacking their brains in, where
cybernetic enhancements are fairly common, where AI exists, and where
extremely high-tech lives beside vintage and old. I once read a review
that claimed Gibson took the future worlds of Asimov and Heinlein into a
back alley and beat the crap out of them. They are not to everyone's taste.
The Heritage Universe is set in the far future when the Milky Way is
mostly colonized by the three major intelligent species (humans are one
of them) plus over a thousand ancient artifacts that have been
discovered, created by a race long disappeared. An event brings a group
of scientists, rogues, government agents, and troubleshooters together
-- leading to a series of adventures and discoveries about .. life, the
universe, and everything (if I might borrow the phrase). Would make a
good movie trilogy, IMO.
- Sheldon
Shawk
> Shawk wrote:
>> Sheldon England wrote:
>>
>> I actually meant all ten books :)
>
> There were 10 (or 11)!?!?
>
>
>> That word also went round and round my head and its in the other books
>> too but it didn't have the same effect on me. I was able to ignore it
>> quite successfully and really, really enjoyed the World and lore that
>> Anne Rice had crafted. There are some wonderful stories there.
>
> I realize there are only so many ways to describe things that are not of
> the natural world but ... I was younger then, Maybe I would have more
> patience now.
>
>
>>> I'm currently re-reading some early William Gibson stuff (Mona Lisa
>>> Overdrive) after polishing off the Heritage Universe trilogy by
>>> Charles Sheffield.
>>
>> Not had the pleasure - what type of stories are they?
>
> William Gibson is often credited as being the founder of the cyberpunk
> concept. A near future, gritty world where corporations rule everything,
> where elite hackers travel cyberspace by jacking their brains in, where
> cybernetic enhancements are fairly common, where AI exists, and where
> extremely high-tech lives beside vintage and old. I once read a review
> that claimed Gibson took the future worlds of Asimov and Heinlein into a
> back alley and beat the crap out of them. They are not to everyone's taste.
Aah... I knew the name and now I know why. These are definite probable
maybe's then... ;)
> The Heritage Universe is set in the far future when the Milky Way is
> mostly colonized by the three major intelligent species (humans are one
> of them) plus over a thousand ancient artifacts that have been
> discovered, created by a race long disappeared. An event brings a group
> of scientists, rogues, government agents, and troubleshooters together
> -- leading to a series of adventures and discoveries about .. life, the
> universe, and everything (if I might borrow the phrase). Would make a
> good movie trilogy, IMO.
Actually... that sounds right up my street. Thanks for that.
QV
"Mr Rob" <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> wrote in message
news:hfdkj5huq0ibmim9e...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:10:25 +0000, Shawk <sh...@gmx.com.3guesses>
> wrote:
>
> I rate the Dark Tower series of books (that I have read so far) to be
> amongst the best fictional works that I've ever read. I own them all
> in hardback (they are massive tomes in comparison to many). I still
> have "Song of Susannah" and "The Dark Tower" to read.
>
Perhaps you're better off not finishing the series.
This is one rare case where I wish the author would do a re-write that would
make even George Lucas blush. I thought the first 5 books bordered on
brilliant and had introduced several interesting premises that seemed to be
leading to an epic conclusion. Instead the last two books imploded into a
disappointing, self-indulgent train-wreck that relied too heavily on
coincidences, past novels, and deus-ex-machina contrivances.
Shawk
> "Mr Rob" <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> wrote in message
> news:hfdkj5huq0ibmim9e...@4ax.com...
>>
>> I rate the Dark Tower series of books (that I have read so far) to be
>> amongst the best fictional works that I've ever read. I own them all
>> in hardback (they are massive tomes in comparison to many). I still
>> have "Song of Susannah" and "The Dark Tower" to read.
>>
>>> Rob
>
> Perhaps you're better off not finishing the series.
>
> This is one rare case where I wish the author would do a re-write that would
> make even George Lucas blush. I thought the first 5 books bordered on
> brilliant and had introduced several interesting premises that seemed to be
> leading to an epic conclusion. Instead the last two books imploded into a
> disappointing, self-indulgent train-wreck that relied too heavily on
> coincidences, past novels, and deus-ex-machina contrivances.
A little self-indulgent yes (it 'is' King after all). Relying too
heavily on coincidences and DEM? Nah, no more than other similar
series... IMHO they were all great, fun, enjoyable reads...
Which is kind of the point of reading fiction...