I couldn't resist Resident Evil 4 for long. I played a little dystopia, tried some new HL2 mods, and quickly booted up RE4. This time I abandoned the mouse altogether, and just played with the keyboard. At this point, I have basically picked it up, but its very awkward to play with just a keyboard. Still, an AMAZING game. Combat is both fast and deadly, and somehow methodical. Ammo is extraordinarily scarce, yet there is just enough to get you through.
Oh, and the shotgun, even base shotgun, is the most fun weapon ever. It just BLOWS enemies apart, 5-6 at a time. Great game, god awful port.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
So THAT is what a 65% means
I did end up getting RE4. Now, please remember I have seen this game on the GC, and it is amazing. But it is the WORST PC port I have ever seen. I tried playing with the keyboard for awhile, and that is hard enough. The fire key is enter, you use both shifts, and move and move camera with WASD. Its basically terrible. I eventually got a mouse hack working, but it is so jerky and imprecise it is actually WORSE for aim than keyboard. I REALLY need to get a controller up and working.... Then it would be just RE4, but on the PC. (and with terribly compressed cutscenes, they seriously look worse than the game itself)
Also, Mario Cart DS is amazingly fun, my friend and I played download play during school. Every race was close and fun.
Also, Mario Cart DS is amazingly fun, my friend and I played download play during school. Every race was close and fun.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Well lookee there
So I have been checking up on Resident Evil 4 (PC) for about 5 months now. I really enjoyed what I saw of the game on the gamecube, and was eagerly awaiting the port.
It finally came out a week or so ago. The reviews were flatly terrible. Bad graphics (loss, not no addition of, LOSS) of particle engines, fog, lighting etc. And apparently the textures were terrible. Sure, the bothered to make it support every resolution known to man, but it looked like crap. And here is where it gets REALLY good. NO mouse support. Zero, none. Now, a week and a half later, (and a 70meg patch) it is looking better, and the community has hacked most effects back in, and rather amazingly, total mouse support. For $20, I really can't overlook it, but it will mean buying either an adapter for my GC controller, or a new PS2 controller and adapter.
Another interesting note is that the Tomb Raider: Anniversary demo just released on Steam. Now, I remember playing the demo for TR2 back in the day, and it was HARD for me. The demo for TR:A was not much of a problem now, but it was a real blast from the past. I had totally forgotten the really epic and amazing feel of a correctly done Tomb Raider game. And dear god the control sceme, it is so freaking intuitive, I never ONCE fell or jumped or ANYTHING that I didn't want to, whoever put that together deserves some real praise. Last note on it is that it looks damn pretty too, and has good physics and guess what, on max settings it runs at like, freaking 100FPS on my box. Who the hell is working on that game, and why are they not putting more quality like that out?? (seriously, go play it, its rather amazing)
It finally came out a week or so ago. The reviews were flatly terrible. Bad graphics (loss, not no addition of, LOSS) of particle engines, fog, lighting etc. And apparently the textures were terrible. Sure, the bothered to make it support every resolution known to man, but it looked like crap. And here is where it gets REALLY good. NO mouse support. Zero, none. Now, a week and a half later, (and a 70meg patch) it is looking better, and the community has hacked most effects back in, and rather amazingly, total mouse support. For $20, I really can't overlook it, but it will mean buying either an adapter for my GC controller, or a new PS2 controller and adapter.
Another interesting note is that the Tomb Raider: Anniversary demo just released on Steam. Now, I remember playing the demo for TR2 back in the day, and it was HARD for me. The demo for TR:A was not much of a problem now, but it was a real blast from the past. I had totally forgotten the really epic and amazing feel of a correctly done Tomb Raider game. And dear god the control sceme, it is so freaking intuitive, I never ONCE fell or jumped or ANYTHING that I didn't want to, whoever put that together deserves some real praise. Last note on it is that it looks damn pretty too, and has good physics and guess what, on max settings it runs at like, freaking 100FPS on my box. Who the hell is working on that game, and why are they not putting more quality like that out?? (seriously, go play it, its rather amazing)
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thems be fighting moves
I had read (on Megatokyo and elsewhere) about a new doujin fighting game called Big Bang Beat that was reasonably heavily anticipated. A few days ago, one of my friends was playing the demo on his laptop at school, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. I gotta say, its a spectacular game from what I have seen, and its a fighting game for the PC. The demo only has 2 characters and 2 stages, but still, its pretty nifty stuff. A good combo system, passive blocks, aerial comboing, 2 different power charge meters, and multi-life combat. Graphics leave a little to be desired, but they look fine in motion.
The sad part is that I can't get it. The game is being released in Japan, and there is NO way it will ever come NEAR the US. I often wondered why there were no fighting games for the PC, turns out they just never leave Japan. Anyway, its nifty, got check it out.
The third section of DLs is what you want, most of the mirrors are down, but some work fine.
The sad part is that I can't get it. The game is being released in Japan, and there is NO way it will ever come NEAR the US. I often wondered why there were no fighting games for the PC, turns out they just never leave Japan. Anyway, its nifty, got check it out.
The third section of DLs is what you want, most of the mirrors are down, but some work fine.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Back again, maybe more?
So its been awhile....
Basically, I had stopped updating cause CS season was over for me, and I was annoyed that we didn't make im. But enough about that.
I have since gotten Oblivion working about 90% (best yet) and it runs mods smoothly. Quite a bit of fun, but just as I started to get into it, my friend started playing Baldur's Gate II again. And he just HAD to tell me about it. Its not long after some one mentions BGII that I get the urge to play it again.
See, when I first played it, I spent most of a week at the beach on a laptop eating sour cream and onion pringles and drinking mountain dew while I pounded through the game. In retrospect, I was a poor RPG player, and I really had no feel for fully understanding what was going on and appreciating it. To compound matters, I had played until the final part of the final battle with the final boss of the expansion to the game, and was completely and utterly stuck. Now, with BGII urges stirring in me once again, I would have gone and dug up those saves (which I have kept for YEARS, across 2-3 computers!) but I lost my HD over spring break, and that entire part of my life is gone.
So here I am, pushing aside Oblivion (which finally works), ignoring CSS, playing a little Starcraft and Dystopia, but mainly I'm back to Baldur's Gate.
It really is one of the best, if not THE best game I have ever played. Nothing like it. You want character interaction- I've seen my party erupt into sides and actually fight after issues got bad enough. You want combat- AD&D epic, by the rules. Now graphics, its years old, I give it that.
But anyway, I now have a thief I am running through named Edofix Gen. (damn I love that name)
As for other games, I actually started playing starcraft again about a month ago at the urgings of my old team. We hang out and SC these days. Turns out I blow. Enormously. Terran, which is the race I study to play well, is even worse than my Protoss. But still, great game. Which made me all the more excited when SC2 was announced, not that I hadn't called that weeks ago. If you haven't read up on it, go do so, and watch the 22min gameplay video, its really worth it. Over here.
Anyway, I hope to keep putting updates on here in some fashion resembling regularity.
Basically, I had stopped updating cause CS season was over for me, and I was annoyed that we didn't make im. But enough about that.
I have since gotten Oblivion working about 90% (best yet) and it runs mods smoothly. Quite a bit of fun, but just as I started to get into it, my friend started playing Baldur's Gate II again. And he just HAD to tell me about it. Its not long after some one mentions BGII that I get the urge to play it again.
See, when I first played it, I spent most of a week at the beach on a laptop eating sour cream and onion pringles and drinking mountain dew while I pounded through the game. In retrospect, I was a poor RPG player, and I really had no feel for fully understanding what was going on and appreciating it. To compound matters, I had played until the final part of the final battle with the final boss of the expansion to the game, and was completely and utterly stuck. Now, with BGII urges stirring in me once again, I would have gone and dug up those saves (which I have kept for YEARS, across 2-3 computers!) but I lost my HD over spring break, and that entire part of my life is gone.
So here I am, pushing aside Oblivion (which finally works), ignoring CSS, playing a little Starcraft and Dystopia, but mainly I'm back to Baldur's Gate.
It really is one of the best, if not THE best game I have ever played. Nothing like it. You want character interaction- I've seen my party erupt into sides and actually fight after issues got bad enough. You want combat- AD&D epic, by the rules. Now graphics, its years old, I give it that.
But anyway, I now have a thief I am running through named Edofix Gen. (damn I love that name)
As for other games, I actually started playing starcraft again about a month ago at the urgings of my old team. We hang out and SC these days. Turns out I blow. Enormously. Terran, which is the race I study to play well, is even worse than my Protoss. But still, great game. Which made me all the more excited when SC2 was announced, not that I hadn't called that weeks ago. If you haven't read up on it, go do so, and watch the 22min gameplay video, its really worth it. Over here.
Anyway, I hope to keep putting updates on here in some fashion resembling regularity.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
End of a season
Well, the CS season ended rather un-satisfyingly. We lost our last match on de_cpl_fire because we hadn't practiced, and we played a good 1/3 of the match with 4 players due to........ emotional strife between players. Not that it mattered. We had 4 forfeit wins, 3 too many to make playoffs, and someone didn't schedule makeups. So yea, season over, and we had the skills to make CAL-im.
On a brighter note, I upgraded my fans and re-wired my case, and things seem alot more stable, though Oblivion with mods still hates me. Will try NWN2 soon.
Mostly spending my time working on my WC3 map.
On a brighter note, I upgraded my fans and re-wired my case, and things seem alot more stable, though Oblivion with mods still hates me. Will try NWN2 soon.
Mostly spending my time working on my WC3 map.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Forfeit forfeit and more forfeit
And yes, its another week of forfeit. Thankfully we also did our de_nuke makeup match. I played near my worst ever on CT side, but PerfeXion and 3k more than made up for it. 17-13 us.
Monday forfeit was a pain... I really like de_contra. It is a hard map for both sides, with lots of mindgaming and a ton of hard shots, but it is fun. Too bad the other team just couldn't make it for unknown reasons. This means we should have 3 makeups left, but we forgot to schedule de_strike (all the better since we blow at it).
On the CKD front, I haven't had alot of time RECENTLY to work on it, but it is plodding along. I hope to have heroes implimented tonight, and soon a variable 3rd section (scaling by players and random pathing) Then its onto better squads and spells again. Also, something is wrong with how it handles tons of zerglings (8players or late game 4 players) and they can suddenly become non-aggressive. I THINK this is an engine limitation, but I will be looking into it more.
Remember, tjhsst.edu/~dkohlbre for the map and updates.
Monday forfeit was a pain... I really like de_contra. It is a hard map for both sides, with lots of mindgaming and a ton of hard shots, but it is fun. Too bad the other team just couldn't make it for unknown reasons. This means we should have 3 makeups left, but we forgot to schedule de_strike (all the better since we blow at it).
On the CKD front, I haven't had alot of time RECENTLY to work on it, but it is plodding along. I hope to have heroes implimented tonight, and soon a variable 3rd section (scaling by players and random pathing) Then its onto better squads and spells again. Also, something is wrong with how it handles tons of zerglings (8players or late game 4 players) and they can suddenly become non-aggressive. I THINK this is an engine limitation, but I will be looking into it more.
Remember, tjhsst.edu/~dkohlbre for the map and updates.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Week 6 and moar!
AAAAnnnd another forfeit.... bastards never even contacted us for the match.
We are scheduling make up matches for the ones we have missed, hopefully that will help our RPI.
In totally CS-related news, I have started working rather hard on a WC3 map. It started as a direct port of a Starcraft map (in korean, so we called it crazy korean defense) but has become much, much more.
Our first testing session was tonight, and we ironed out (I think) almost all the bugs. All that remains is actual content addition. Those of you that have WC3, please check it out and post me bugs/suggestions.
Newest version should regularly be at http://tjhsst.edu/~dkohlbre/Wc3/index.html
Seriously, people actually like this, and I intend for it to go somewhere.
We are scheduling make up matches for the ones we have missed, hopefully that will help our RPI.
In totally CS-related news, I have started working rather hard on a WC3 map. It started as a direct port of a Starcraft map (in korean, so we called it crazy korean defense) but has become much, much more.
Our first testing session was tonight, and we ironed out (I think) almost all the bugs. All that remains is actual content addition. Those of you that have WC3, please check it out and post me bugs/suggestions.
Newest version should regularly be at http://tjhsst.edu/~dkohlbre/Wc3/index.html
Seriously, people actually like this, and I intend for it to go somewhere.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Weeks 4&5
4 went wrong... We currently have a bye loss (as do they) but we played a match (which we lost, thanks to Wu and I really playing pretty damn bad.)
Week 5 was one of the best experiences I have ever had with CSS. de_Train is very far from my favorite map, it is very CT sided, and very AWP friendly. The saturday before we played, we practiced for hours, and Wu and (mainly) me blew. alot. I worked hard, and by practice on Monday I was doing ok, not great, but ok. We played the match, won 5 T side (which we played first) and it was looking good, till they took first 3 on our CT side. We pulled it together, and were 15-14 our favor on the last round, which we promptly lost. After a bit of a scramble to find out the OT rules, we started up OT (3 rounds on each side, 10k starting money.) OT we pull some good stuff, and then screw up CT again, tying 3-3. So it goes to OT-2 same thing again. And yet again, we (Wu, me and Tao) promptly pull some stupid stuff, and it goes 3-3. So we go to OT-3, seriously, the match had gone on way longer than any of us expected, and even our good players were a little nervous. We take only 1 T. CT round 1 we win, with the best cover I have ever seen. (Perfexion literally stood ONTOP of Wu while Wu got the defuse... they both died, but we won) Sadly, we lose 2, and then it goes to the last round. Looking like another OT, but it goes bad from the first few seconds, and the other team (U238) wins in triple overtime.
I have to say, most fun match I have ever played, and the most stressful. Still, THIS is why I play CSS. For those moments when they come inner, and I dick the awper with a well placed pick shot, nade the planter, and pick the guy going for the bomb for the win.
THAT is what CS is about, split-second timings, teamwork, and flashbangs. Nothing like it in the world.
Also, gratz to PerfeXion, he pulled some of the best rounds I have ever seen him do.
Week 5 was one of the best experiences I have ever had with CSS. de_Train is very far from my favorite map, it is very CT sided, and very AWP friendly. The saturday before we played, we practiced for hours, and Wu and (mainly) me blew. alot. I worked hard, and by practice on Monday I was doing ok, not great, but ok. We played the match, won 5 T side (which we played first) and it was looking good, till they took first 3 on our CT side. We pulled it together, and were 15-14 our favor on the last round, which we promptly lost. After a bit of a scramble to find out the OT rules, we started up OT (3 rounds on each side, 10k starting money.) OT we pull some good stuff, and then screw up CT again, tying 3-3. So it goes to OT-2 same thing again. And yet again, we (Wu, me and Tao) promptly pull some stupid stuff, and it goes 3-3. So we go to OT-3, seriously, the match had gone on way longer than any of us expected, and even our good players were a little nervous. We take only 1 T. CT round 1 we win, with the best cover I have ever seen. (Perfexion literally stood ONTOP of Wu while Wu got the defuse... they both died, but we won) Sadly, we lose 2, and then it goes to the last round. Looking like another OT, but it goes bad from the first few seconds, and the other team (U238) wins in triple overtime.
I have to say, most fun match I have ever played, and the most stressful. Still, THIS is why I play CSS. For those moments when they come inner, and I dick the awper with a well placed pick shot, nade the planter, and pick the guy going for the bomb for the win.
THAT is what CS is about, split-second timings, teamwork, and flashbangs. Nothing like it in the world.
Also, gratz to PerfeXion, he pulled some of the best rounds I have ever seen him do.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Round 3
And, after a week of solid practice, lots of school work and other work put off, and time spent memorizing strats; the other team does a no-show.
Thats right, we are now 2-1-0 with one forfeit win. de_nuke, after all that work turns out to get us a no-show match.
Next week is de_strike, a map I have played a grand total of two times. Thankfully, its a simple map. Unfortunately, I have to spend alot of time doing the work I have neglected.
Other games are 100% on hold these days. Though I might be buying a DS in the next month of so. (Then its Phoenix Wright time!)
Thats right, we are now 2-1-0 with one forfeit win. de_nuke, after all that work turns out to get us a no-show match.
Next week is de_strike, a map I have played a grand total of two times. Thankfully, its a simple map. Unfortunately, I have to spend alot of time doing the work I have neglected.
Other games are 100% on hold these days. Though I might be buying a DS in the next month of so. (Then its Phoenix Wright time!)
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Round 2
Well, our player got banned, and the match overturned to 0-16 loss.
Good news is we won the next match (bit of an upset really) 17-13. Bad news is we got nailed again (someone's computer had problems and couldn't record, they naturally disputed him.) Looks like we got around it though.
All I have to say on the matter is:
Freemoneymatches.
FFA continues to be fun, sadly I have no time for anything but CSS these days. Will update as season continues. (next map is de_nuke... should be interesting)
Good news is we won the next match (bit of an upset really) 17-13. Bad news is we got nailed again (someone's computer had problems and couldn't record, they naturally disputed him.) Looks like we got around it though.
All I have to say on the matter is:
Freemoneymatches.
FFA continues to be fun, sadly I have no time for anything but CSS these days. Will update as season continues. (next map is de_nuke... should be interesting)
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Post-Week 1 CS:S
Well, first match SHOULD have gone well. In fact, it did. We won 26-4.
But there have been some complications. One of our standard players had misunderstood the time of the match, and we had to use our alt. (perfectly legal.) Our alt. is a former CAL-i player, and pretty much dominated the other team. Half-way through the match, the bug where the server boots everyone cause too many switched teams at once happened, and everyone had to rejoin. The problem was that our alt. forgot to start recording the match again in second half. He is good enough that he got disputed by the other team for hax, and now he has NOTHING to show to prove that he wasn't. As of now, it looks like he will be kicked off, and the match will be overturned, but otherwise we will be fine. I will post more updates as I find out.
On another note, I started playing Final Fantasy Adventure again. Quality game, and damn annoying. Its like zelda, but FF style. Also, all the items have a name, an icon, and NO DESCRIPTION. You tell ME what a "pillow" or an "eyedrp" is supposed to do. Still, interesting weapons and a good magic system make up for it.
X-COM is back in my life as well, I got it working on my laptop, and I play it on the bus these days. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING has come close to that game for me. It is such a brilliant tactical game. All I can say is go find a copy online (abandonware these days) and play, play until you have seen every aspect of it.
But there have been some complications. One of our standard players had misunderstood the time of the match, and we had to use our alt. (perfectly legal.) Our alt. is a former CAL-i player, and pretty much dominated the other team. Half-way through the match, the bug where the server boots everyone cause too many switched teams at once happened, and everyone had to rejoin. The problem was that our alt. forgot to start recording the match again in second half. He is good enough that he got disputed by the other team for hax, and now he has NOTHING to show to prove that he wasn't. As of now, it looks like he will be kicked off, and the match will be overturned, but otherwise we will be fine. I will post more updates as I find out.
On another note, I started playing Final Fantasy Adventure again. Quality game, and damn annoying. Its like zelda, but FF style. Also, all the items have a name, an icon, and NO DESCRIPTION. You tell ME what a "pillow" or an "eyedrp" is supposed to do. Still, interesting weapons and a good magic system make up for it.
X-COM is back in my life as well, I got it working on my laptop, and I play it on the bus these days. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING has come close to that game for me. It is such a brilliant tactical game. All I can say is go find a copy online (abandonware these days) and play, play until you have seen every aspect of it.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Catching up...
So I haven't been updating.
Just too much to be doing these days.
Here is the quick version:
I found out how to make Oblivion stable, so I have started playing it again (post on it later)
Vista is... not happy with games like DMC3, so those have kinda been put to the side.
I am playing CounterStrike Source CAL-o Season 7. This will be taking large amounts of my time as I am the weakest member of the team (free money watches | f$w) by far. Should be a blast though. To help with that I have bought my first monthly cost gaming related thing. ESEA. $6 a month for access to their CS servers, and worth every penny.
Another high point was the updates to PCSX2 (a PS2 emu) It seems it can now run commercial FMVs with no trouble, sadly, framerates are still unacceptable on most games for actual play. MAJOR advances though, they deserve praise for this release.
PS: Go watch ALL videos of Crysis you can find, looks to be a real winner for DX10.
Almost forgot, GS2 is nearing an end... gotta love power leveling.
Just too much to be doing these days.
Here is the quick version:
I found out how to make Oblivion stable, so I have started playing it again (post on it later)
Vista is... not happy with games like DMC3, so those have kinda been put to the side.
I am playing CounterStrike Source CAL-o Season 7. This will be taking large amounts of my time as I am the weakest member of the team (free money watches | f$w) by far. Should be a blast though. To help with that I have bought my first monthly cost gaming related thing. ESEA. $6 a month for access to their CS servers, and worth every penny.
Another high point was the updates to PCSX2 (a PS2 emu) It seems it can now run commercial FMVs with no trouble, sadly, framerates are still unacceptable on most games for actual play. MAJOR advances though, they deserve praise for this release.
PS: Go watch ALL videos of Crysis you can find, looks to be a real winner for DX10.
Almost forgot, GS2 is nearing an end... gotta love power leveling.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Saturday, December 23rd
So I really haven't been playing games almost at all... I dunno why, other things are just taking my interest.
However, LAN last night. Was supposed to be for HoMM3, and WAS for most, but because of some random stuff, I only got in a little of one game. HoMM3 is amazing though; very very complex strategies you can pull. I got in a little CSS and HL2:DM, but the real highlight for me was playing the new Garry's Mod 10. Talk about an improvement. The UI/menus are totally overhauled, and the tools are way more stable. Also, from looking at the site, it seems new stuff is always coming out.
Since The Ship is having a free weekend, I checked it out. Nifty game, nifty ideas, mostly good execution, and playing it is a problem. The problem is that identifying players/AI/random people is FAR too easy. Also, the lack of any sort of built in communication with other players ignores an entire possible part of the game; selling information.
GS2 is nearing an end, I got the second party in it, and combat actually requires a lot of thinking now. With 8 characters and 4 actions per round, you really have to choose carefully.
The lack of updating should be gone this week, no work and lots of LANs!
However, LAN last night. Was supposed to be for HoMM3, and WAS for most, but because of some random stuff, I only got in a little of one game. HoMM3 is amazing though; very very complex strategies you can pull. I got in a little CSS and HL2:DM, but the real highlight for me was playing the new Garry's Mod 10. Talk about an improvement. The UI/menus are totally overhauled, and the tools are way more stable. Also, from looking at the site, it seems new stuff is always coming out.
Since The Ship is having a free weekend, I checked it out. Nifty game, nifty ideas, mostly good execution, and playing it is a problem. The problem is that identifying players/AI/random people is FAR too easy. Also, the lack of any sort of built in communication with other players ignores an entire possible part of the game; selling information.
GS2 is nearing an end, I got the second party in it, and combat actually requires a lot of thinking now. With 8 characters and 4 actions per round, you really have to choose carefully.
The lack of updating should be gone this week, no work and lots of LANs!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Sunday, December 10th
Finally, my friend and I continued our NWN2 game. She wanted to be main char, and so had to go level up a new character to the exact point we were at, save, and import my character as secondary. (kinda strange you can't just change main char when exporting/importing is so easy) It was great, except that whatever the last patch did, it seriously screwed up something. Both of us were getting around 10-15FPS, when we HAD been getting 50ish. It was almost playable, but we gave up in the end. Note: it has a very nice crafting system, I really like how you have to find books that explain the recipes, but you then can just write them down...
As usual, I played WC3 TDs with friends, nothing really special this time.
As usual, I played WC3 TDs with friends, nothing really special this time.
Saturday, December 9th
Well, I again (rather foolishly) tried to play Oblivion...
For whatever reason (looking at you, Vista drivers) the screen will regularly stop rendering. I can still see HUD, I can still move and do stuff, I can still see inventory. But I can't see the world or my character. I hope this is some simple DirectX issue or a NVIDIA driver issue... but we will see.
I also a tried to play X3 again. Good game, but incredibly complex and slow. It works, but even though they are on version 2.0.02 (2.0?? dear god thats a lot of patches) the storyline mode is completely broken. I will try to play it on a non-story mode at some point... when I have 10 hours to spare making trade runs.
For whatever reason (looking at you, Vista drivers) the screen will regularly stop rendering. I can still see HUD, I can still move and do stuff, I can still see inventory. But I can't see the world or my character. I hope this is some simple DirectX issue or a NVIDIA driver issue... but we will see.
I also a tried to play X3 again. Good game, but incredibly complex and slow. It works, but even though they are on version 2.0.02 (2.0?? dear god thats a lot of patches) the storyline mode is completely broken. I will try to play it on a non-story mode at some point... when I have 10 hours to spare making trade runs.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Weekend Extra
This week's older game will be FreeSpace 1.
FreeSpace was made by the same team that created Descent. Interestingly enough, they are vastly different styles of games (though they are in the same genre.)
FreeSpace is a mission-based space flight sim. The basic plot is that Humans and Vasudans are at war when the Shivans show up and start indiscriminately blasting people out of space. The Humans and Vasudans (of course) join forces to fight the greater foe. While this plot is not exactly unique, and many space sims have used it (*cough*WC:Prophecy*cough*) it works pretty well. This is because they bothered to include factions within each side that are not happy with allying with their former enemies.
Combat in FreeSpace was well done, a semi-airplane set of physics makes the dogfighting both easier and more enjoyable than strict Newtonian physics would have been. The weapons are a real gem in this though. You begin with just simple energy weapons that deal no shield damage, and unguided low-yield missiles. As the game progresses, technological breakthroughs are made by the combined scientists of the Humans and Vasudans. This means that every few missions, new weapons show up. But you don't just get these weapons, oh no, often you have to test them, or fly the prototypes from point A to point B. And what happens there matters, you can get them earlier by playing well.
Ships are handled in basically the same way weapons are, new ones as they are developed. There is a great variety in ship types; interceptors, space-superiority, light bombers, heavy bombers, etc.
I should talk about the customization abilities next. Again, when the game begins, you are just a wingman in some squad. As the game progresses, you eventually make your way to squad leader, and then eventually leader of 4 squads. At the beginning of a mission, any ships you are allowed to control are given a recommended loadout, the fun is in that you don't have to keep that at all. The mission might say to use a heavy bomber wing, 2 interceptor wings, and a light bomber wing. But you can change it so that each squad consists of 2 bombers and 2 interceptors, or really anything you want. This adds a level of customizability to the setup of missions, not just the mission itself. Also, the weapons, ammo, and ships available are actually kept track of. So if you take those three brand new space-superiority fighters out on the mission, and get them all killed, good luck trying to field any until the next supply run. This adds a whole, almost hidden, level of resource management across missions.
The last is really the best. Non-linear mission structure. Or, well, something close to it. Essentially, your performance on missions (and what actually gets done, yes, often you are allowed to fail objectives) determines later missions. Suppose you are given a secondary objective of destroying a specific cruiser in a mission, but it warps out before you can finish it off, it WILL show up in some later mission to cause you strife.
Sure, the graphics are old, but otherwise, it ranks as the most entertaining space sim I have played. Ranked right up there with X-wing and TIE Fighter as one of the best. Sadly, it has not been majorly influential on the genre, and people still get excited over such old ideas as non-linear mission structure.
FreeSpace was made by the same team that created Descent. Interestingly enough, they are vastly different styles of games (though they are in the same genre.)
FreeSpace is a mission-based space flight sim. The basic plot is that Humans and Vasudans are at war when the Shivans show up and start indiscriminately blasting people out of space. The Humans and Vasudans (of course) join forces to fight the greater foe. While this plot is not exactly unique, and many space sims have used it (*cough*WC:Prophecy*cough*) it works pretty well. This is because they bothered to include factions within each side that are not happy with allying with their former enemies.
Combat in FreeSpace was well done, a semi-airplane set of physics makes the dogfighting both easier and more enjoyable than strict Newtonian physics would have been. The weapons are a real gem in this though. You begin with just simple energy weapons that deal no shield damage, and unguided low-yield missiles. As the game progresses, technological breakthroughs are made by the combined scientists of the Humans and Vasudans. This means that every few missions, new weapons show up. But you don't just get these weapons, oh no, often you have to test them, or fly the prototypes from point A to point B. And what happens there matters, you can get them earlier by playing well.
Ships are handled in basically the same way weapons are, new ones as they are developed. There is a great variety in ship types; interceptors, space-superiority, light bombers, heavy bombers, etc.
I should talk about the customization abilities next. Again, when the game begins, you are just a wingman in some squad. As the game progresses, you eventually make your way to squad leader, and then eventually leader of 4 squads. At the beginning of a mission, any ships you are allowed to control are given a recommended loadout, the fun is in that you don't have to keep that at all. The mission might say to use a heavy bomber wing, 2 interceptor wings, and a light bomber wing. But you can change it so that each squad consists of 2 bombers and 2 interceptors, or really anything you want. This adds a level of customizability to the setup of missions, not just the mission itself. Also, the weapons, ammo, and ships available are actually kept track of. So if you take those three brand new space-superiority fighters out on the mission, and get them all killed, good luck trying to field any until the next supply run. This adds a whole, almost hidden, level of resource management across missions.
The last is really the best. Non-linear mission structure. Or, well, something close to it. Essentially, your performance on missions (and what actually gets done, yes, often you are allowed to fail objectives) determines later missions. Suppose you are given a secondary objective of destroying a specific cruiser in a mission, but it warps out before you can finish it off, it WILL show up in some later mission to cause you strife.
Sure, the graphics are old, but otherwise, it ranks as the most entertaining space sim I have played. Ranked right up there with X-wing and TIE Fighter as one of the best. Sadly, it has not been majorly influential on the genre, and people still get excited over such old ideas as non-linear mission structure.
Friday, December 8th
Well, this week (and weekend) are going to end up being very game light, which is too bad.
I played WC3 TDs with people tonight, Maffa TD is interesting, it is hard, but as you figure out build sequences, levels become very easy. Then you loose on the next one, modify the build a little, win easily, and loose on the next one. Most TDs have some level that always makes you loose, or some build that always wins... Maffa changes that a little.
Also, more GS2, as usual.
I played WC3 TDs with people tonight, Maffa TD is interesting, it is hard, but as you figure out build sequences, levels become very easy. Then you loose on the next one, modify the build a little, win easily, and loose on the next one. Most TDs have some level that always makes you loose, or some build that always wins... Maffa changes that a little.
Also, more GS2, as usual.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Wednesday, December 7th
I finally played some more of Oblivion. I got in about an hour, and had some great dungeon delving, but also discovered an interesting bug between Vista and Oblivion. After about 45 min, the screen goes black and refuses to render the world anymore. One can still see their inventory and such, but nothing else. Upon quitting I noticed that an error message had come up, saying it was out of video memory.... Really puts a cramp on marathon sessions :P
Oh, and I spent 30min trying to get another spirit ring in GS2.... the forging system is REALLY aggravating.
Oh, and I spent 30min trying to get another spirit ring in GS2.... the forging system is REALLY aggravating.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Tuesday, December 5th
So I forgot to post for a few days... mainly because I didn't actually play anything besides a few rounds of a WC3 TD. (tough one too...)
Today however, I gave in and installed Oblivion on my Vista install. And then proceeded to take more than an hour getting mods. The last time I tried to play Oblivion, I spent 3-4x as much time on GETTING MODS as playing the game. This game is so heavily improved by mods, that its actually BAD, simply because you spend too much time imagining the game, and too little playing.
To be fair, I did play some. My current set (I'll list next time I play) looks great, and plays great. As usual with Vista, some graphical problems (though not unplayebly bad)
GS2 includes one feature (that many RPGs do) that annoys me greatly. Random item forging. You give some guy an ore, and he forges one of a few random items out of it. Why is this annoying? Because I have to spend 30 minutes loading my save game before I give him the ore, and repeatedly forging it until I get the item I want. Seriously, if the item is not dictated by earlier events, just let the player choose, and save time. Otherwise they 'break' the system, and get bored doing it.
Today however, I gave in and installed Oblivion on my Vista install. And then proceeded to take more than an hour getting mods. The last time I tried to play Oblivion, I spent 3-4x as much time on GETTING MODS as playing the game. This game is so heavily improved by mods, that its actually BAD, simply because you spend too much time imagining the game, and too little playing.
To be fair, I did play some. My current set (I'll list next time I play) looks great, and plays great. As usual with Vista, some graphical problems (though not unplayebly bad)
GS2 includes one feature (that many RPGs do) that annoys me greatly. Random item forging. You give some guy an ore, and he forges one of a few random items out of it. Why is this annoying? Because I have to spend 30 minutes loading my save game before I give him the ore, and repeatedly forging it until I get the item I want. Seriously, if the item is not dictated by earlier events, just let the player choose, and save time. Otherwise they 'break' the system, and get bored doing it.
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