Any gamers around here?

[the_antithesis]

Has any of you ever found some unfinished game scenario in an old game you have played for a long time and continued to play it where you left from yeeeears ago?

Well, not really the same, but I've been playing an old world in Minecraft lately. The villagers are a bit more interesting now and I've had a village I've bred up back when villagers would breed if there were enough doors around. But I've finally moved a village to under the lake, where they fucking belong. Now I have to move all the librarians to the library I've built or them. But first, I found a glitched area near my original base and there's a taiga village in it, so I'm going to build that thing up for a bit.

[the_antithesis]

Know what I find odd. The kids know what the hell Zork is. Turns out it was an aster egg on a Call of Doody game or something, so kids in their early twenties have actualy played a bit of Zork.

[Hydra009]

Know what I find odd. The kids know what the hell Zork is. Turns out it was an aster egg on a Call of Doody game or something, so kids in their early twenties have actualy played a bit of Zork.

Wouldn't surprise me.  I played Galaga while playing Mortal Kombat 3.

[drunkenshoe]

Amazing game.  Rampart or Dungeon ftw, though I do have a certain fondness for Fortress.  Maxing Luck and/or Morale makes it Easy mode.  Logistics or Pathfinding is super useful.  And finally, Artillery is just plain fun.

Rampart? Interesting. You can smell the grass, can't you? I love all of them but my faves are Dungeon and the one I like to call Swamp (Fortress) I guess. Rampart, Stronghold, Necropolis, Inferno...I think the Tower and the Castle I like less, the least Conflux. I get periods with each according to my mood. Lately, I have been playing Necropolis. The end notes of the theme music of that castle sounds like the music interpretation of why comedians seems so sad and so good at real dramas. If that makes any sense to you. Undead is not a horror or evil theme to me, it is eternally pityfully sad and melancholic. It's unbearable.

The game is amazing. If the notion of 'which one is the best' in any concept wasn't vastly stupid, I'd nominate this game for the all time best. Because it is not that the game got old so good, it seems it got younger.

But the most amazing thing is a game's connections to our personality and our lives and for rare games, its repository capacity. The timing in many different levels, what we like init, what we avoid and what we do in the game, how we play the game. Do we really play every game? Or some games provide extra space for playing them without playing the game?

I had PCs -upgraded as they came out as a kid, 386, 486...- and nothing before that. The very first game I've played was Space Commanders though...then, Tom Cat (Alley Cat? not sure.), Prince of Persia, Indiana Jones...etc. Then Civilisation II of course. I loved that game so much and always resorted to the cheat mode at some point. But never played or liked any other Civilisation game after. Eventually, Heroes II, III Dune 2000...at some point Red Alert... but most importantly the Sierra historic city building series. That was a big impact on my game world. Those games were/are for me, I was like YES! Casear II,  Phaorah is the best I guess, probably the best Ancient Egyptian city building ever made and it is close to HoMM III in it is league. Anno games...mwah. But then I lost contact with that world because I've started to work, I had no time for playing games and I used laptops. (Gawd I hate laptops.) The game technology jumped leagues. The PC tech jumped leagues...

Anyway, at some point I quit my job my, changed my life, I had time to check the game world. Watching the vids and seeing the new games, I was pretty intimidated. It was a completely different world. I wanted to start somewhere but I didn't know what I would like and it seemed like a huge crushing world. A short time after I got my last PC, I got Steam, but it was just there, I was staring at it... Mike was trying to get me into ope nworld RPG games so I would kill some bad energy. (I was working on this huge, crazy book everyone has passed since the 60s and I was pretty stressed out of my mind, lashing out at everything.) I was like 'oh ok...but I don't think I can play that, I never did before... I also could get addicted too...eh err...no, yes, no, yes, no, yes, I will...' LOL He finally 'took my hand' as it were and threw me into Skyrim; 'Get a sword and run!'.

I didn't know the first thing about the first person open world RPG games, let alone a huge one like this. Zilch, none, nada. I mean I knew the classes, weapons in general...but that's it. (I remember seeing Warcraft yeeears ago when it got out, I never liked it.) Let me put it this way, I have played Skyrim straight a full month, day and night after I first started, but couldn't really accomplish anything by the time I was around level 35 because it took me ages and ages and ages to figure out that you can actually use bows most of the time and save yourself a lot of potions, deaths. I kept running at everything with just a sword in hand and died most of the time. It was pathetic. Second thing is that I wasn't aware that the game automatically starts set at Adept, so you could actually lower it when you stuck at somewhere deep in a dungeon. I have played like that maybe more than a year. And eventually had to stop around that level because I couldn't pass a small boss doesn't matter how many times I have tried. (I swear, I'im not stupid.) I kept getting lost and lost and lost...and I fell in love with the game probably because of all that. I mean in real life, my navigation skill is in minus. But the game... Mike kept going 'yeah that's the point go, get lost, you'll figure it out'... LOL  That game did wonders for my bad direction sense by the way. Now, I'm still bad but not that cringe worthy. So Skyrim has become as space for me.

However, I realise that this wandering around and getting lost is not so natural and innocent as I thought. People say, 'yeah everbody enjoys a game differently. There are no musts or have tos in a game'. Yeah but it is a good, honest mirror just because of that. Nobody watches you. It's safe. That was what I saw so naked in all those old Heores game saves. When you look at the game, it is obvious that I've started in the lowest difficulty to wander around, just played the map to the map and didn't engage any oponent and just going around with a huge army, tons of precious artefacts and enjoying the scenery, getting in and out of the nooks. Yes that's what I used to, still do with games. Same reason, why I avoided to finish Skyrim for a few years, even after realising what to do and never played with mods in that period. It happens with the city building games too, but they are different, and for example it became more apparent with Anno 1800 lately. This attitude just got a bit better because I just got old enough to see it.     

Playing the games just to play the play, the map, not the game. That's a stupid, bad attitude you if you replace it into real life. And mine fits perfectly. I'm alienated and lack ambition to a dangerous degree. I have no patience, I can't do things I don't like even when I need to. If I can't do something good, I disregard it. I overthink about everything in the most crucial detail, 'collect' everything I can. I'm carrying tons, but I don't have anything. It's chaos. You should see my 'puzzle map'. *Whistles... I'm obessive about certain stuff, I can break everything for nothing and then throw it away when angry. But then I don't care about any scores, winning. I couldn't care less. In game, or in life. But life is not a game. It's fucked up. Mephala, you bitch.

Anyway, all the personal stuff aside, the whole gaming thing has become a new experience for me lately. It's interesting in a new level. I'm having an epiphany thanks to my fave games.

[drunkenshoe]

Well, not really the same, but I've been playing an old world in Minecraft lately. The villagers are a bit more interesting now and I've had a village I've bred up back when villagers would breed if there were enough doors around. But I've finally moved a village to under the lake, where they fucking belong. Now I have to move all the librarians to the library I've built or them. But first, I found a glitched area near my original base and there's a taiga village in it, so I'm going to build that thing up for a bit.

I remember you saying that Minecraft is a genius way to keep those potentially dangerous freaks away from guns years ago. Because it made sense. I'd never thought of that way before.

[Hydra009]

Rampart? Interesting. You can smell the grass, can't you? I love all of them but my faves are Dungeon and the one I like to call Swamp (Fortress) I guess. Rampart, Stronghold, Necropolis, Inferno...I think the Tower and the Castle I like less, the least Conflux. I get periods with each according to my mood. Lately, I have been playing Necropolis. The end notes of the theme music of that castle sounds like the music interpretation of why comedians seems so sad and so good at real dramas. If that makes any sense to you. Undead is not a horror or evil theme to me, it is eternally pityfully sad and melancholic. It's unbearable.

I like Necropolis, but it's extremely reliant on Liches and necromancy.  That and they don't play well with others, so adding another faction's forces to your army isn't very helpful.  Unless they take huge losses, they just kinda snowball into an unstoppable force with little finesse.  Just farm enemies till you have a ludicrously large army and you can kill dragons with the skeletons lol.

Let me put it this way, I have played Skyrim straight a full month, day and night after I first started, but couldn't really accomplish anything by the time I was around level 35 because it took me ages and ages and ages to figure out that you can actually use bows most of the time and save yourself a lot of potions, deaths. I kept running at everything with just a sword in hand and died most of the time. It was pathetic.

That's a completely viable path and how I usually play.  Heavy armor and shield, keep an alteration armor buff up, and sprint to the target.  It usually works pretty well.

I kept getting lost and lost and lost...and I fell in love with the game probably because of all that. I mean in real life, my navigation skill is in minus. But the game... Mike kept going 'yeah that's the point go, get lost, you'll figure it out'... LOL  That game did wonders for my bad direction sense by the way.

Getting lost is the point.  I set out all the time in a random direction in open-world games just to see what I can find.  In Morrowind, I literally stop to smell the flowers.  Most of the time, I get distracted by bandits or some minor quest or explore some abandoned tower.

However, I realise that this wandering around and getting lost is not so natural and innocent as I thought. People say, 'yeah everbody enjoys a game differently. There are no musts or have tos in a game'. Yeah but it is a good, honest mirror just because of that. Nobody watches you. It's safe. That was what I saw so naked in all those old Heores game saves. When you look at the game, it is obvious that I've started in the lowest difficulty to wander around, just played the map to the map and didn't engage any oponent and just going around with a huge army, tons of precious artefacts and enjoying the scenery, getting in and out of the nooks. Yes that's what I used to, still do with games.

That's what I do, too.  No stone unturned.  I don't even really like engaging the enemy faction, but I have to keep their growth checked to get more time to explore.

[Hydra009]

When I was replaying Morrowind, when I first started off, I barely even remembered how to play.  Having to read NPC dialogue and figure out what they wanted me to do in the quests was really counter-intuitive after Skyrim.  And your character starts off so poor and powerless - literally just the shirt on your back - that I despaired that I'd ever be able to finish the main quest.

But I relearned Morrowind's non-standard system and climbed the ranks.  And I had a blast doing it.  And when I got back up to a godlike level, I feel like I earned every bit of it.  And it wasn't just that my character got better - I got better - more knowledgeable about the geography and the characters and how their factions fit with each other.

[Blackleaf]

I really like that enemies DON'T scale to your level pre-Oblivion. Yeah, I know it can suck to enter a dungeon filled with enemies you're too weak to handle, but when all enemies in the game get more power as you level, it doesn't feel like you're getting more powerful. Unless you abuse a skill to break the game (which is easy to do, like using a 100% chameleon spell in Oblivion) it feels like you're just trying to keep up as bandits somehow upgrade themselves with rare armors and weapons. I feel like if they just made combat more strategic, with dodges and stuff, rather than just flinging swords until someone dies, they could offer the best of both worlds. Have enemies with set levels, but make it possible to beat them with enough skill. Or you can retreat and hire a mercenary to help kill them. lol

[Hydra009]

Yeah, Morrowind does a good job of communicating that by making the ambiance of high-risk areas super intimidating.  Those daedric shrines look nasty from afar and have super hard enemies surrounding them, so you know not to mess around with them until you get higher level.

Fallout New Vegas does a good job of that as well.  Are you sure you want to go north from Goodsprings?  SUPER sure?  Well, alright...

[Mike Cl]

All this Morrowind talk is making me want to reload it.  And I will--but right now I'm back with Grim Dawn, a hack and slash sort of like Diablo II, The Expansion, from 2016.  If I don't get at least 4000 hrs worth of replay in a game, it feels sort of like a failure. :)  I have almost that with Morrowind, and I'm closing in on 3,000 with GD.

[drunkenshoe]

I like Necropolis, but it's extremely reliant on Liches and necromancy.  That and they don't play well with others, so adding another faction's forces to your army isn't very helpful.  Unless they take huge losses, they just kinda snowball into an unstoppable force with little finesse.  Just farm enemies till you have a ludicrously large army and you can kill dragons with the skeletons lol.

Yeah they don't tolerate diversity but I think that's related to morale and the spell tree. Morale is naturally very low. Destroy Undead spell has a counterpart (forgot the name) and it is already a weak class. You don't mix undead to other armies in the end.  You go the other way around if you will. Other classes have similar strong penalties too. Try putting zealots in rampart...I used to write those down years ago. But I'd say Necropolis relies on vampires because they instantly generate in battle. They'll carry you a long way.

Liches are a luxurious troop if you ask me. Their defense is very low. If you face an army with good range troops, or more than one long range unit, you'll lose most of them and if they have a decent number they will be the first target. Even in sieges you need huge amount of skeletons to make the castle long range units to avoid them. But they are not like gogs in Inferno, so they can damage multiple amount of troops without giving any damage to the near by friendly units. I think that's the only positive quality they have. They are like mages in Tower a bit.

You can get legions of skeletons, but they melt like ice in desert sun and you already need them as decoys more than other class first level troops. They are better than troglodytes sure but you can't have trogs in those amounts, so completely different role. A decent Swamp, Dungeon or Conflux army would melt that easily and if you stretch a normal game to get legions of skeletons, you'll be bound to face that. Phoenixes and black dragons are extremely difficult to kill after a certain number, former is resistant to all spells, Phoenix will always go first and they will attack to them. And while a good wizard can kill a good amount of skeletons by sneezing, he will also have genies to land on them first moment. Bone dragons won't hold.

Vampires first and then wraiths are the spine of a good necro army in my opinion. But I rarely mix classes. You have to keep your eye on the luck and morale all the time and when 2-3 troops freezes mid battle it goes bad.

That's a completely viable path and how I usually play.  Heavy armor and shield, keep an alteration armor buff up, and sprint to the target.  It usually works pretty well.

I want to go with a different way with Skyrim. I've never used anything other than two-handed, heavy armour, sneak, archery for combat. Something different could be entertaining but it will be difficult to change a habit I guess. 

Getting lost is the point.  I set out all the time in a random direction in open-world games just to see what I can find.  In Morrowind, I literally stop to smell the flowers.  Most of the time, I get distracted by bandits or some minor quest or explore some abandoned tower.

Yeah it is good when you do it on purpose, lol. It's good now. For the first experience, it was stressful for me. 

I liked Morrowind but couldn't adjust. It was weird. I should have a go at it again.

[Mike Cl]

Okay, this is you guys fault!  I downloaded Morrowind from Steam last night.  I went thru getting off the ship and getting into town.  I can now open menus, but I cannot close them.  What a frappen pain in the butt.  I have googled chrome to find out how to close menus in the game with win. 10.  All I can come up with is the use the buttons on the top right hand side of the menus.  The buttons can be depressed, but they don't leave.  Frustration..............................

That theme song for the game sure opened the flood gates of good memories of playing the game! 

[Blackleaf]

There are some really good mods for Morrowind that can make it look like it was made a decade later than it was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTLJHjVXJms

[Hydra009]

Okay, this is you guys fault!  I downloaded Morrowind from Steam last night.  I went thru getting off the ship and getting into town.  I can now open menus, but I cannot close them.  What a frappen pain in the butt.

I believe the default inventory button was right-click.  I remapped that to a keyboard key.  You should be able to do the same by going into Options->Controls.

[Hydra009]

After I beat Morrowind my usual way (Redguard fighter, no stealing, no murder), I've decided to try it a different way: Dunmer conjuration/mysticism thief.  And instead of being BFFs with the Imperials and Fighters Guild, I'm going with the Thieves Guild and the Tribunal Temple.  Completely different experience.  But I gotta say, gaining levels in the beginning of the game is so hard!  This game is so tough at first, but gets progressively easier.

And I must admit to downloading a mod that gives merchants more coin, otherwise half my playthrough would be offloading to Creeper and the talking mudcrab.