Like any good blogging gaming geek, I have a long curriculum vitae of gaming. 30 some years to be honest. So over time, I have seen a lot and at times I get quite amused at where gaming is now. In that what is "new" really was done over 10 years ago by someone else in a different genre.
For example, the whole First Person Shooter came to its own with DOOM. Not that it was the first but it sort of defined the genre. Castle Wolfenstein 3D (also created by id software) was its prelude. Now, I first played Castle Wolfenstien back on my Apple II in 1981 and when I saw the 3D version I was amused and amazed. Being a good computer geek in college, I spent a good deal of time in the computer lab playing a both Wolfenstien and Doom. It did help that I was on staff in the lab as well. (Look ma, I am getting paid while gaming)
My first impression of Diablo was, "Oo, a graphical version of NetHack." And when I was able to ease my way in to Ulitima Online because I played and completed Ultima (before it needed any numbers) and I was a veteran of MUDs.
So for me. There isn't many new things coming out. However, there are many things that are being improving.
Lets take the next big hype: Warhammer
I was playing this 20 years ago in high school. Both the miniature game and the RPG. So I know a bit about this Intellectual Property. So what is new here?
- Crafting: So far it reminds me of The Elder Scrolls system of Alchemy and Enchantment.
- RvR: Well at least they are building off them selves from Dark Age of Camalot
- Class-Levels: Old as RPGs itself.
- Tome of Knowledge: Lord of the Rings had its Deed system, and many CRPGs had various versions of your personal journal and log.
- Public Quests: This is the most evolutionary idea. It is opening up the whole raid idea with out needing the pre-flight logistics. (getting 24+ of your friends together and coordinated)
Now I am not saying anything of this is a bad thing. I look forward to see how they pull this all off. I am wondering if I will ever find an online game that will keep me interested for more than 2 months.
Showing posts with label backgroud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label backgroud. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Taking a Break and Going Retro
Recently I decided to tinker with my desktop system and upgrade it to Vista. Now I already work with Vista at work and my new laptop also is running Vista. Needless to say I kind of like it. Unfortunately I had to do a complete re-install and not an upgrade (not big loss, I did back up the important bits first.) Though I am running into a bit of a snag. For some reason I have yet to get the OS to see that I now have 4 GB of memory. It only shows 2GB.
On top of that, I just got a pair of Mini-Dachshund puppies. (One is mine, the other is my GF's) So for now the desktop system is turned off and I will work on it later when I don't have to keep an eagle eye over two very active puppies.
This means I am on my laptop for gaming. I can sit in the living room and watch the puppies while on the computer. As it turns out, my laptop, which I just bought, is at least as good as my desktop system for gaming. I just don't like being cramped up on the keyboard.
Now I have a nice 32" LCD HDTV. So I was thinking of getting a console system for the living room. But with the recent laptop purchase and new puppies, I need to conserve cash for a bit. But wait! New laptop has HDMI out and I have a spare cable. Plug-Plug, Click-Click and suddenly I had a 32" monitor on my laptop. Unfortunately the couch is further away then the cable can reach.
So a quick run to Best Buy and I get myself a wireless XBox controller. Plug-Plug, Click-Click and now I have a hacked together XBox. I have a few games in my stash that were cross released to PC and XBox, like Oblivion. However my Oblivion DVD is scratched so I can not load the game on the laptop.
Quick aside: Even if the game was cross developed for XBox and PC it does not mean the PC version will natively support an XBox Controller. So you will need a intermediate program. So far I like the Pinnacle Game Profiler.
So now I am going into the bargain bin and see what I can find. A while back I got a subscription to Fileplanet (long before the Conan Beta) and it turns out I qualified for a few free games though their HitPoints system . So I downloaded a few to give them a whirl.
The first was Sherlock Holmes: The Awakening. This is a fairly simple puzzle adventure game. Nice to play and I was able to get my Xbox Controller to work with it. It was good to getting used to moving with the controller. However I miss creating my own character.
Next up is Deus Ex: Invisible War. I played most of the original Deus Ex when it first came out. I liked the mix of FPS and RPG. It was also a good story and should kept me interested for a while. It took awhile to get running on Vista since it was made a while back, but it was just setting up permissions and compatibilities. Though I need to tune the controller a bit more.
Lastly, I got Myst III, but I will save that till later. Much like Sherlock Holmes, I know that it is a puzzle/adventure game. I would need to have a walkthough handy when I get frustrated with a puzzle.
There are a few games on my Radar as well. First is Mass Effect from Bioware. A XBox to PC conversion. But Bioware makes very fun CRPGs. And later this year....Fallout 3. I fell in love with Fallout 1 and 2. So I hope it lives up to the hype. Granted it is a completely different set of developers, but so far it looks good.
So time to curl up on the couch. Wrangle puppies and play some old fashion CRPGs and Adventure games.
On top of that, I just got a pair of Mini-Dachshund puppies. (One is mine, the other is my GF's) So for now the desktop system is turned off and I will work on it later when I don't have to keep an eagle eye over two very active puppies.
This means I am on my laptop for gaming. I can sit in the living room and watch the puppies while on the computer. As it turns out, my laptop, which I just bought, is at least as good as my desktop system for gaming. I just don't like being cramped up on the keyboard.
Now I have a nice 32" LCD HDTV. So I was thinking of getting a console system for the living room. But with the recent laptop purchase and new puppies, I need to conserve cash for a bit. But wait! New laptop has HDMI out and I have a spare cable. Plug-Plug, Click-Click and suddenly I had a 32" monitor on my laptop. Unfortunately the couch is further away then the cable can reach.
So a quick run to Best Buy and I get myself a wireless XBox controller. Plug-Plug, Click-Click and now I have a hacked together XBox. I have a few games in my stash that were cross released to PC and XBox, like Oblivion. However my Oblivion DVD is scratched so I can not load the game on the laptop.
Quick aside: Even if the game was cross developed for XBox and PC it does not mean the PC version will natively support an XBox Controller. So you will need a intermediate program. So far I like the Pinnacle Game Profiler.
So now I am going into the bargain bin and see what I can find. A while back I got a subscription to Fileplanet (long before the Conan Beta) and it turns out I qualified for a few free games though their HitPoints system . So I downloaded a few to give them a whirl.
The first was Sherlock Holmes: The Awakening. This is a fairly simple puzzle adventure game. Nice to play and I was able to get my Xbox Controller to work with it. It was good to getting used to moving with the controller. However I miss creating my own character.
Next up is Deus Ex: Invisible War. I played most of the original Deus Ex when it first came out. I liked the mix of FPS and RPG. It was also a good story and should kept me interested for a while. It took awhile to get running on Vista since it was made a while back, but it was just setting up permissions and compatibilities. Though I need to tune the controller a bit more.
Lastly, I got Myst III, but I will save that till later. Much like Sherlock Holmes, I know that it is a puzzle/adventure game. I would need to have a walkthough handy when I get frustrated with a puzzle.
There are a few games on my Radar as well. First is Mass Effect from Bioware. A XBox to PC conversion. But Bioware makes very fun CRPGs. And later this year....Fallout 3. I fell in love with Fallout 1 and 2. So I hope it lives up to the hype. Granted it is a completely different set of developers, but so far it looks good.
So time to curl up on the couch. Wrangle puppies and play some old fashion CRPGs and Adventure games.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Introduction and Applogies
I am not a game designer by trade. Not anywhere in the slightest. I know a few personally and I sort of envy their jobs. If I could afford to cut my salary in half and go back about 10 years, I would consider it.
I am however a gamer geek of many years. My older brothers had the good old Blue Box Dungeons and Dragons set, and I took to the game like a fish to water. What better for a creative nerdy kid to explore is passion. It allowed me to create my stories in my mind, yet there were mechanical rules that satisfied my engineering side for structure.
This blog is combination editorial, review, and technical theory articles. Basically it is a journey of the games that I am playing as well as some reflections on games that I have played. This will not be limited to just computer games, but table top as well. Although my main passion is Role-Playing Games, I will talk about other genres.
I am however a gamer geek of many years. My older brothers had the good old Blue Box Dungeons and Dragons set, and I took to the game like a fish to water. What better for a creative nerdy kid to explore is passion. It allowed me to create my stories in my mind, yet there were mechanical rules that satisfied my engineering side for structure.
This blog is combination editorial, review, and technical theory articles. Basically it is a journey of the games that I am playing as well as some reflections on games that I have played. This will not be limited to just computer games, but table top as well. Although my main passion is Role-Playing Games, I will talk about other genres.
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