Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-04-06, 19:03:

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-04-06, 18:44:

Ok, just tried out the save. I tried each machine with the settings above except for resolution where the Win11 machine was at 1600x1200. No slow down on the Win11 or WinXP machines. The Win98SE machine did slow down but it slowed down regardless of the Vertex buffers being on or off and like I said before the 9800 already runs at closer to 30FPS normally. I think what I'm seeing with the 98SE machine is evidence of what you are seeing, but I cant see it with the more powerful machines.

It's likely that more powerful hardware can just brute force through the issue.

In my case, lowering AA was enough to get rid of the slowdown, so I'm guessing even a slightly more powerful GPU wouldn't have any problems.

On an entirely different note, I personally can't stand AA, I never run it. To my eyes it just makes everything look blurry, I'd rather have jaggies. =) At least old style AA, the AI style AA is a different story.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2024-04-06, 12:42:

UAKM is fantastic, glad you like it ! :) Yes, the hint system is fantastic at not spoiling things too fast. It helps you just en […]
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UAKM is fantastic, glad you like it ! 😀
Yes, the hint system is fantastic at not spoiling things too fast. It helps you just enough without spoiling the fun.
I also really love the fact that with DOSBox you can setup the four CD as separate drives, avoiding disc swapping entirely!
Attention to detail is everywhere in the game's experience, they truly cared about their product.

There is also:
- Mean Streets and Martian Momerandum (but personnaly I can't enjoy them, I started with UAKM and its 3D world)
- The Pandora Directive
- Tex Murphy: Overseer (I'd strongly recommend the MPEG-2 DVD version over the 5 CDs version. The DVD version is the one available at GOG)
- Tex Murphy Radio Theater Seaons 1 and 2 over at the Big Finish Games Youtube channel
- Tesla Effect (the most recent video game)
- Tex Murphy novels (a new one was being written last I heard) : https://bigfinishgames.com/games/tex-murphy-novels/

Sadly the Pandora Directive remaster seems to be temporary halted at the moment due to cash issues / the project taking too much time to complete.
Don't know how true that is, the last bit of news back in January of this year had a ton of videos showing how so much better the restored FMVs looked: https://bigfinishgames.com/the-pandora-direct … video-playlist/

Thanks! That's a lot of stuff to go through! I definitely plan on playing through TPD, TM:O, and TE after I complete UAKM. I really don't like most conventional point and click adventures, so I don't think I'd enjoy the first two games, but maybe I'll give them a chance sometime.

Forza Motorsport 7 on Xbox One X. And I like it.

Still playing Star Wars: KOTOR. The first planet (Taris?) dragged on a bit too long. Some areas like the sewers and the Undercity seemed like filler content, and could have been easily cut without impacting the story. I did like the bounty hunting quests, the arena fights and the Sith base.

Dantooine was better, since you have much more freedom to go about the area as you please. The quests were also a bit more interesting, especially the trial and the family feud. The location itself looks nicer, with the grassy terrain and all. You also get your second Jedi companion there, which makes combat even easier.

BTW, if you're a melee character fighting enemies up front, while your ranged party members are attacking from behind, their blaster fire can actually be heard from the rear speakers on a 5.1 surround system, which is pretty neat. I also noticed EAX being used for reverb in appropriate places, like caves and empty storehouses. That said, while KOTOR's positional audio is decent, it isn't as precise as it was in some other games from that time period, such as Splinter Cell or Max Payne 2. However, this is somewhat understandable, since KOTOR is an RPG, and detecting an enemy's position via sound isn't as important in that genre.

Anyway, I just finished the Jedi training, wrapped up the quests on Dantooine, and I'm about to embark on BioWare's classic "find four things" quest. Will probably be hitting Kashyyyk or Tatooine next.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-04-09, 14:39:

Still playing Star Wars: KOTOR. The first planet (Taris?) dragged on a bit too long. Some areas like the sewers and the Undercit […]
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Still playing Star Wars: KOTOR. The first planet (Taris?) dragged on a bit too long. Some areas like the sewers and the Undercity seemed like filler content, and could have been easily cut without impacting the story. I did like the bounty hunting quests, the arena fights and the Sith base.

Dantooine was better, since you have much more freedom to go about the area as you please. The quests were also a bit more interesting, especially the trial and the family feud. The location itself looks nicer, with the grassy terrain and all. You also get your second Jedi companion there, which makes combat even easier.

BTW, if you're a melee character fighting enemies up front, while your ranged party members are attacking from behind, their blaster fire can actually be heard from the rear speakers on a 5.1 surround system, which is pretty neat. I also noticed EAX being used for reverb in appropriate places, like caves and empty storehouses. That said, while KOTOR's positional audio is decent, it isn't as precise as it was in some other games from that time period, such as Splinter Cell or Max Payne 2. However, this is somewhat understandable, since KOTOR is an RPG, and detecting an enemy's position via sound isn't as important in that genre.

Anyway, I just finished the Jedi training, wrapped up the quests on Dantooine, and I'm about to embark on BioWare's classic "find four things" quest. Will probably be hitting Kashyyyk or Tatooine next.

Thanks for posting your thoughts so far! I played through this for the first time last year and enjoyed it. I, too, was pleased with the EAX reverb and surround effects (even when using virtual surround on just two speakers!).

---

Assassin's Creed II
I completed (and enjoyed) the first game back when it was first released, so I don't know why I never bothered to continue on to the sequel back in the day. I started playing AC2 for "free" last year on the PlayStation Plus service, but decided to cancel that service and just play the game on PC since I had at some point bought most of the AC games on sale.
It's alright so far, though the PC version doesn't seem to support controllers well (or at all in my case). I found a patch that fixes the issue, and also increases the view distance, so it plays and looks great now. It's funny playing this now and seeing how little Ubisoft has changed their formula over the years. The last few AC games add some extremely light RPG stuff (i.e. stats), but largely play the same as this one. I can't imagine playing 1-2 of these every year over a decade without getting bored of the formula, personally.
I remember the assassinations being somewhat involved in the first game, with you having to go around gathering information on your target prior to the kill, so it's disappointing in AC2 that (so far) you are simply told exactly what to do during a cutscene, and then follow the icon on your map and kill your target (even in broad daylight in public for the first target!).

Re-started Tomb Raider Survivor trilogy games following some cleanups.

Lara's scene when she goes after Rourke in the refinery still gives me goosebumps. She looks like a psycho killer.

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-04-10, 02:38:

Thanks for posting your thoughts so far! I played through this for the first time last year and enjoyed it. I, too, was pleased with the EAX reverb and surround effects (even when using virtual surround on just two speakers!).

Cheers! As for me, I played through both KOTOR games back when they first came out, albeit on far less capable hardware. I also replayed the games several years ago, but I wasn't using such a highly overpowered WinXP system at the time, so the experience was a bit different.

Nowadays, I like to run WinXP games at the 1600x1200 resolution, with all in-game settings maxed out, plus AA/AF cranked up as desired, and using an X-Fi sound card for EAX and 5.1 surround. It feels great being able to do all that, since I didn't have access to powerful hardware back in the day. 😀

BTW, your post reminds me, I need to play the Assassin's Creed games at some point. I somehow missed out on those, but I do have the GOG version of the first one now, and I can get the other two for my Xbox360. There are more games in that series of course, but I'm mostly curious about the original trilogy.

I installed Myst last week. I thought maybe I could make some sense out of those random puzzles 20-odd years after I last played the game, but I can't get the transition effect to work, and that's a real bummer, as it ruins the entire experience for me.

So I gave it up for now and opted for Titanic: Adventure Out of Time 😁 I played the demo back in 1996 on my cousin's PC and thought I'd finally give it a go. Also, I always loved how the narrative begins in 1942 during the London Blitz, and then you somehow go back in time to put right what once went wrong aboard the Titanic. That's a pretty unique idea, especially for an adventure game from the mid-90s. I'm not into proper old-school point-and-click adventure games all that much (heck, I've never even beaten one), but I must say this one got me hooked!

Assassin's Creed II
I've become somewhat addicted to this, even though you never really feel like you are accomplishing anything, because you are just following icons on a map and you feel absolutely indestructible. Normally I would have no interest in this, but sometimes it's fun to just turn your brain off and progress through a game like you would binge watch some show on Netflix. There are certainly worse examples of "follow icons in an open world" games. AC2 has got cool characters, a great setting, and the assassin/templar story is fun. It's also not as cinematic and pretentious as these games tend to be, so it still feels like playing a video game. It just drops you in Italy at the height of the Renaissance and leaves you alone. You can head straight through the story missions, or go do all the optional stuff.

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-04-10, 15:27:

Assassin's Creed II
I've become somewhat addicted to this, even though you never really feel like you are accomplishing anything, because you are just following icons on a map and you feel absolutely indestructible. Normally I would have no interest in this, but sometimes it's fun to just turn your brain off and progress through a game like you would binge watch some show on Netflix. There are certainly worse examples of "follow icons in an open world" games. AC2 has got cool characters, a great setting, and the assassin/templar story is fun. It's also not as cinematic and pretentious as these games tend to be, so it still feels like playing a video game. It just drops you in Italy at the height of the Renaissance and leaves you alone. You can head straight through the story missions, or go do all the optional stuff.

being left alone sounds good, i like the idea of 'living' in another time/world during these games, depends on how well and deeply they are realised - if its good its immersive

gerry wrote on 2024-04-11, 16:08:

being left alone sounds good, i like the idea of 'living' in another time/world during these games, depends on how well and deeply they are realised - if its good its immersive

You summed it up better than I could. That's really what's appealing about this game. It just leaves you alone to explore the game world and soak in the atmosphere.

Still on Star Wars: KOTOR. I finished Tatooine and Kashyyyk, while also visiting the Yavin space station. Tatooine was short but sweet, and interacting with HK-47 is always a riot. Since I usually stick with a full Jedi party, I don't get to use him often, but it was hilarious to listen to his remarks during the plot sections where he's acting as a translator. Also, I got a sizable cash influx from winning the swoop race. Much better than repeatedly playing Pazaak for a pittance.

While traveling between planets, that space combat mini game triggers way too often. It's also very boring, and I hate having to do it over and over. IMO, it should have been limited to plot scenarios, if even that.

Kashyyyk was a bit more involved, with the whole plot to free the Wookiees and all. That entire planet felt like one giant quest, with some minor side content sprinkled in, i.e. the Mandalorian hunters and such. Despite playing a light side character, I was tempted to slaughter those tiny monkey creatures that roam the forest area, because they kept making an ear piercing noise every two seconds. I resisted the urge, though just barely. Also, I managed to lock myself out of one of the quests by freeing the Wookiees too early, which got rid of the relevant NPC, since the rebels fought him and his colleagues off.

The game is definitively much more fun to play as you and your party members keep developing new force abilities. The combat also flows a lot faster thanks to that. With three Jedi in the party, it's fun to mix and match their powers. Anyway, two planets down, two more to go, and then it's time for the final stretch

Aui wrote on 2024-03-23, 01:18:

May the force be with you! Good Joystick is a MUST. A close eye on the tactical maps (before and influght) is also very important. Sound is good but the music is also important. Subtle changes in the tune can hint to a new wave of fighters/bombers departing from nearby star destroyers. Have fun - its ine if the most genuine start wars experiences out there (personal opinion)

I agree. Though I need to get into Rogue Squadron more because with VR and a hotas, it might be an incredible experience.

Playing Curse of Enchantia on Amiga 600 without a harddrive on original floppy. I guess I have a bid of an Eidos fever at the moment.

gerry wrote on 2024-04-11, 16:08:

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-04-10, 15:27:

Assassin's Creed II
I've become somewhat addicted to this, even though you never really feel like you are accomplishing anything, because you are just following icons on a map and you feel absolutely indestructible. Normally I would have no interest in this, but sometimes it's fun to just turn your brain off and progress through a game like you would binge watch some show on Netflix. There are certainly worse examples of "follow icons in an open world" games. AC2 has got cool characters, a great setting, and the assassin/templar story is fun. It's also not as cinematic and pretentious as these games tend to be, so it still feels like playing a video game. It just drops you in Italy at the height of the Renaissance and leaves you alone. You can head straight through the story missions, or go do all the optional stuff.

being left alone sounds good, i like the idea of 'living' in another time/world during these games, depends on how well and deeply they are realised - if its good its immersive

This also sounds a lot like Kingdom Come Deliverance once you get to about mid-game. And after you complete the storyline, you are still free to roam the world, explore, and interact with NPCs, which I find surprisingly fun and still do regularly almost 3 years after I beat it.

I'm trying to play High on Life (highly praised by a friend of mine, and is certainly a very fresh experience), in parallel with Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (for DOS Game Club).

My wife, who is not a gamer other than a couple of simple phone games, expressed interest in Hogwarts Legacy after hearing about it from a couple of friends who are playing it on the Switch. So I bought it the other day when it went on a 50% off sale on Steam. I'm hopeful this will be a good experience for both of us. I've tried several times over the years to get her to PC game with me, with no luck.

I spent some time configuring it this morning on my system. It runs surprisingly well on my i5-12600k / RTX2080 system. It is of course completely gpu-bound. The 12600k is barely breaking a sweat at around 20% utilization. At 1080p, I managed to max out all the graphical settings. The only setting not on Ultra is Ray Tracing, which I have set to High. With a combination of DLSS Quality and setting upscale sharpness to 0.25, I'm managing 80-100 fps in the beginning game. Alternatively, I can disable Ray Tracing and DLSS and get similar framerates. If I disable RT and keep DLSS Quality on, framerates jump to ~150. I'm sure there are more demanding sections later on in the game, so I can't be certain these settings will hold throughout the game. I did watch a YT video that analyzed all the graphical settings and apparently RT is not well-implemented in this game, so I may just keep it disabled.

Looks like the game is using 5-6GB of my 8GB VRAM.

I'm playing Tex Murphy the Pandora directive , I've beaten Mean Streets , The Martian Memorandum and under a Killing Moon a while back and now I've started the fourth game in the series.

Its been cool seeing how the series evolved , from a graphical text adventure using VGA and realsound with first person flying sections and some odd narc like shooting sections to a more generic point and click game using CM32L music and voiced talking heads and eventually moving to a 3D first person world with 2D character sprites and making use of FMV and sc55 music.

This game doesn't make another huge technical leap like the previous ones but takes what killing moon did and refines it , it looks a bit more polished and tightened up , the acting budget seems a bit better and the game has branching endings. It's also the last DOS supported tex murphy game.

Honestly compared to what I've seen from other FMV games tex murphy is really good , the acting is pretty competent and its woven into the gameplay well behaving as more of a supplement rather than the main driving force which instead would be the first person gameplay and navigation in which you can then press space and switch to an interactive point and click mode.

From what I've googled the next game overseer is a remake of of the first but redone for newer audiences. There is also a DVD version with higher quality FMV.

The last game which is The Tesla effect resides on steam and is a bit of a throwback to the days of yore.

I'm guessing its going to be very self referential since it was the first Tex game in ages and a love letter to the fans of the series.

I'll be looking forward to those last two after I've gotten through the Pandora Directive.

The Tex Murphy Radio Theater series 1 and 2 are really required to understand the gap between Overseer and Tesla Effect.

https://bigfinishgames.com/radio-theater/

Plus it's really good. 😀

I'm quite glad to see the Tex Murphy series in this topic!

Just finished the human campaign of StarCraft Zerg are up next then Protoss and then onto broodwar