Currently re-playing Shadow of the Comet on DOSBox, and finally started Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss on my FreeDOS-only retroPC.

Currently re-playing one cooperative game, Killing Floor 2..
Almost new PC here..
Installed gog games: Bio Menace, Blood, MK1, MK2, MK3 and Shadow Warrior..

I’ve been moonlighting for a previous employer recently so my precious 1.5 hours of daily free time has suffered terribly. The moonlighting is coming to an end however so I’m celebrating by launching into possibly my greatest free-time-consuming game of all time – Gothic 3.

On release (2006) it was of course buggy and performed poorly on even the hottest hardware of the day. Being a fan of Gothic II, I pre-ordered, and distinctly remember the pleasure and pain of trying to play this game pre-patch. The world was a wonder and I loved the game-play, but the hero stuttered his way around the countryside as my HDD thrashed. And then of course there was the whole stun lock wild boars fiasco – if one of those bad boys landed the first blow, then there was nothing you could do but sit back and watch him crotch bop you into an early grave.

Anyway, fast-forward 10 years and the good news is that a community of dedicated fans have patched the bollocks out of it to fix the bugs, improve the graphics, and fix the HDD thrashing memory subsystem. On my modern machine – i5, SSD, 960 GTX – it finally plays like it should have all those years ago. And it looks gorgeous.

It’s a ponderous game at times – the nameless hero does things in his own time. Every time you look in one of the countless chests scattered around, he kneels down, opens the lid, and then peers inside. Losing a battle and need a healing potion real bad? He’ll stop dead still, put away his sword, and deliberately chug it down - if he gets the chance, because the world doesn’t wait for him. The bad dudes will keep attacking all the while.

Despite that the combat is fun and plentiful, and there’s a huge array of different beasts ranging from bambi gentle to uber deadly. It’s a hand crafted world so exploration is always rewarded, and a bottomless backpack means that you simply pick up whatever isn’t nailed down (or being guarded by its owner).

Gothic uses a ‘level up for XP and then spend them (plus gold) on new skills with a trainer’ model, so you’re forced back in to towns to seek out someone to teach you how to use a shield, skin animals, etc. But, like having to stop to drink a potion or find a campfire to cook your meat, it’s these more realistic mechanics that make Gothic what it is - a very immersive and satisfying experience.

I came close to finishing it once, but I was a much younger adventurer in those days. This time I’ve set the difficulty level on ‘easy’ and have decided to ignore the plot – I’ll just see where the road takes me.

P-II-400 Quake-II, Red Baron II

486-DX4-100 with GUS - Hexen, Strife.

286-20 Eye of Beholder II, Red Baron-I, Elf...

Indrid Cold wrote:

Currently re-playing Shadow of the Comet on DOSBox, and finally started Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss on my FreeDOS-only retroPC.

Ulitma Underworld ! One of my favorities DOS games, along with the Krondor... But dont't have enough time and quitness to play them)

badmojo wrote:

I’ve been moonlighting for a previous employer recently so my precious 1.5 hours of daily free time has suffered terribly. The m […]
Show full quote

I’ve been moonlighting for a previous employer recently so my precious 1.5 hours of daily free time has suffered terribly. The moonlighting is coming to an end however so I’m celebrating by launching into possibly my greatest free-time-consuming game of all time – Gothic 3.

On release (2006) it was of course buggy and performed poorly on even the hottest hardware of the day. Being a fan of Gothic II, I pre-ordered, and distinctly remember the pleasure and pain of trying to play this game pre-patch. The world was a wonder and I loved the game-play, but the hero stuttered his way around the countryside as my HDD thrashed. And then of course there was the whole stun lock wild boars fiasco – if one of those bad boys landed the first blow, then there was nothing you could do but sit back and watch him crotch bop you into an early grave.

Anyway, fast-forward 10 years and the good news is that a community of dedicated fans have patched the bollocks out of it to fix the bugs, improve the graphics, and fix the HDD thrashing memory subsystem. On my modern machine – i5, SSD, 960 GTX – it finally plays like it should have all those years ago. And it looks gorgeous.

It’s a ponderous game at times – the nameless hero does things in his own time. Every time you look in one of the countless chests scattered around, he kneels down, opens the lid, and then peers inside. Losing a battle and need a healing potion real bad? He’ll stop dead still, put away his sword, and deliberately chug it down - if he gets the chance, because the world doesn’t wait for him. The bad dudes will keep attacking all the while.

Despite that the combat is fun and plentiful, and there’s a huge array of different beasts ranging from bambi gentle to uber deadly. It’s a hand crafted world so exploration is always rewarded, and a bottomless backpack means that you simply pick up whatever isn’t nailed down (or being guarded by its owner).

Gothic uses a ‘level up for XP and then spend them (plus gold) on new skills with a trainer’ model, so you’re forced back in to towns to seek out someone to teach you how to use a shield, skin animals, etc. But, like having to stop to drink a potion or find a campfire to cook your meat, it’s these more realistic mechanics that make Gothic what it is - a very immersive and satisfying experience.

I came close to finishing it once, but I was a much younger adventurer in those days. This time I’ve set the difficulty level on ‘easy’ and have decided to ignore the plot – I’ll just see where the road takes me.

Lovely summary, gorgeous screenshot, hope you get to the end this time 😀

Divinity Original Sin. Wonderful, curious mix of old and new. The combat is challenging and fun, the humour and scripting delicious.

I'm playing Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak (and loving it so far). After I'm done with it I'll play Battle Engine Aquila on my XP rig.

AOE2HD on my W520.

SimCity / King's Quest I & III on my 8086.

Corridor 7
Return to Danger (Spear of Destiny)
Need for Speed Undercover
Wolfenstein (2009)

On my DOS/Win98 machine: the Xargon trilogy and Interstate '76
On my main rig: Painkiller, Mirror's Edge, and GTA V

Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries - never finished it back in the day, decided to give it another go after completing all of MW2 & GBL again. Still like it less 😀
Conquests of Camelot (and probably Conquests of the Longbow after it)
Civilization: Beyond Earth
Trackmania United Forever - got to have al these gold medals (eventually)!
DCS

I'm playing through the Batman: Arkham games again, I've finished Asylum, now I'm playing City, then it will be Origins, then Knight.

Fantastic games, though the series peaked at Arkham City, if you ask me.

I’ve been playing Gothic 3 almost obsessively over the last month but as much as I’ve enjoyed myself, I’m falling short of the finish-line once again. I wasn’t careful enough with the reputation system and now 2 of the 3 factions attack me on sight, which means wave after wave of bad dudes at every new city I visit and probably means that the game’s in an unwinnable state. No regrets though, and definitely not my last adventure in the world of Gothic.

And now from one fantasy open-world to another, I’m moving on to The Witcher 3. It’s received several patches since release last year and 16 free DLC’s are available, so the time is right to connect with my inner Geralt. Apologies for the car analogy but going from Gothic 3 to the Witcher 3 is like trading in my beloved, busted up old Datsun for a brand spanking Rolls Royce. The writing and voice acting are simply stunning, and combined with the most unique and lifelike looking NPS I’ve ever seen, the countless interactions with them seem to have real meaning. Your choice of hero is of course limited to Geralt, but the dialog options and gameplay mechanics give you enough room to move to feel like you’re playing the game your way. There’s humour, sorrow, and genuine gray areas in between.

And the world is so complete and lovingly crafted as to be a thing of beauty. It looks great of course but it’s the million and one small details that makes it – I was dubious that the developers could pull off an open world after the first 2 very restrictive Witcher games, but you can roam the world of The Witcher 3 seamlessly on foot, horseback, by climbing or swimming or sailing a boat. And wherever you go, there’s always something to see and do.

Anyway, I could go on. I got this game “for free” with my graphics card but I feel like I should have paid hundreds for it – thousands even. It’s just so well made.

I'm definitely on a Wing Commander kick lately. Started WC1 in late December, beating it on Feb 15th. Started WC2 right after that and beat it on March 12th. Started WC3 right after that and I'm currently on Locanda 2 (9th mission in). I've been slowly going through System Shock and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis all this time. After I beat WC3, I'm either going to jump into WC4, or take a break and finish up SS and Atlantis. I really want to play both Ultima Underworlds too (I played them when they came out, but never got into them enough to finish them). Other games on my list are Anvil of Dawn, The Secret of Monkey Island, Space Quest 4-6, Gabriel Knight 1-2, and Ultima 7: Serpent Isle. I beat The Black Gate, but like UU, couldn't get into SI enough to get through it. Many months of entertainment to look forward to. 😉

Some great games on your list there. Ultima 7 and UW are on my todo list too.

Been playing the first Unreal, somehow I missed it the first time around.
The music is seriously awesome and I'm playing it using headphones with an Aureal card.
Really enjoying the interesting atmosphere the game has.

I totally agree about Unreal's atmosphere. 😀 The first time I heard the weird Nali sounds I was creeped out and intrigued all at once.
Are you using the unofficial patch and hi res textures? Highly recommended.
Patch: http://www.oldunreal.com/oldunrealpatches.html
Textures: http://www.oldunreal.com/textures.html

Currently taking a break from at-desk-in-front-of-monitor PC gaming and have been spending time with my handhelds. Recently picked up Final Fantasy II for the PSP, and it's a fantastic remake with gorgeous 2D sprite art. Also been playing my Vita a bit too, with Tetris Ultimate and Persona 4 Golden getting regular rotation.

clueless1 wrote:

I totally agree about Unreal's atmosphere. :) The first time I heard the weird Nali sounds I was creeped out and intrigued all […]
Show full quote

I totally agree about Unreal's atmosphere. 😀 The first time I heard the weird Nali sounds I was creeped out and intrigued all at once.
Are you using the unofficial patch and hi res textures? Highly recommended.
Patch: http://www.oldunreal.com/oldunrealpatches.html
Textures: http://www.oldunreal.com/textures.html

Interesting patches and textures, thank you!!

I just picked up Alien Isolation and Singularity on sale, so those are next up. I need to finish The Talos Principle DLC, it's a real brain bender.