appiah4 wrote on 2023-10-25, 18:30:

BetaC wrote on 2023-10-25, 04:55:

I feel like I spent a good $10 today.
IMG_2494.jpg
Both seem to be mostly complete, which is rather nice.

Absolutely underrated games, I thoroughly enjoyed finishing both.

I was actually very bored throughout the first game. It took several attempts over the years before I was able to muster the willpower to force my way through it. I never could finish Half-Life 2.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-10-25, 18:30:

BetaC wrote on 2023-10-25, 04:55:

I feel like I spent a good $10 today.
IMG_2494.jpg
Both seem to be mostly complete, which is rather nice.

Absolutely underrated games, I thoroughly enjoyed finishing both.

I never finished it back in the days.

I finished it this summer... and its longer than i thought.
I wanted to finish it on period correct hardware and (important !) with good sound.
No flashlight mod. Real experience.
I used my top 2005 system with an SB X-Fi sound card. Really impressive sound effects.

In my opinion, it did not aged very well. Too much scripted jump scare, no wide-screen support (at least, not in the version i used). But still really worth playing once.

Edit :

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-10-26, 03:03:

appiah4 wrote on 2023-10-25, 18:30:

BetaC wrote on 2023-10-25, 04:55:

I feel like I spent a good $10 today.
IMG_2494.jpg
Both seem to be mostly complete, which is rather nice.

Absolutely underrated games, I thoroughly enjoyed finishing both.

I was actually very bored throughout the first game. It took several attempts over the years before I was able to muster the willpower to force my way through it. I never could finish Half-Life 2.

Yes. I found it quite repetitive halfway through. But i pushed until the end

acl wrote on 2023-10-26, 09:49:

no wide-screen support (at least, not in the version i used). But still really worth playing once.

I don't think any version has that from the in-game menu out of the box. But you can set it by editing a config file.

I've never beaten the expansion. I got to the last boss, then I just stopped playing.

Bought Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.

Works well with my Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo build 🙂

Well, Christmas came early for me. I also have a T-Rated copy of Oblivion Collector's edition coming in in a few days to complete the collection, but this is far more spectacular.

It's mostly complete, and only has some minor damage to the box. I really can't complain.

Picked up Age of Empires II gold edition with The Age of Kings and The Conquerors expansion. Just the CD sleeve version no purty box and it's a mite scuffed up so didn't bother with pic.

Edit: seems to install and run fine on Windows 7.... annoyingly long time to load with CD thrash even though you did a "full" install though.

More games... found cheap at the thrifts. FS X don't got the manual boo, hope there's a pdf somewhere. That 10,000 games, I know it's highly likely to be 99% shovelware/shareware, I thought that there was a small chance that since it's a 2005 compilation, that there might be a few pre-2000 commercial releases that were stripped of protection and cd requirements, since 5 years old in "game years" was "dead" at that time. Might take me forever to find out though, 10K games is kind of a lot. It defeated the previous owner, only the first disk of three was unsealed.

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-12-10, 23:02:

More games... found cheap at the thrifts. FS X don't got the manual boo, hope there's a pdf somewhere.

I hope these can become useful:
Manual (uploaded by Microsoft): https://archive.org/details/fsx-manual
"Fundamentals": https://archive.org/details/MS_FLIGHT_SIMULAT … 04_Fundamentals

There is also those once the basics are there:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X for pilots: Real World Training by Jeff Van West & Kevin Lane-Cummings - https://archive.org/details/microsoftflights0000vanw
A fun way to enjoy FSX: Tips, Trick and Trips by Adam Howe & Scott Slauger - https://archive.org/details/isbn_1557556741 (not downloadable)
Wiley Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots: Real World Training - https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7139846
Microsoft Flight Simulator as training aid by Bruice Williams - https://archive.org/details/microsoftflights0000will (not downloadable)

CrazyCatman wrote on 2023-12-12, 12:26:

I hope these can become useful: Manual (uploaded by Microsoft): https://archive.org/details/fsx-manual "Fundamentals": https://a […]
Show full quote

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-12-10, 23:02:

More games... found cheap at the thrifts. FS X don't got the manual boo, hope there's a pdf somewhere.

I hope these can become useful:
Manual (uploaded by Microsoft): https://archive.org/details/fsx-manual
"Fundamentals": https://archive.org/details/MS_FLIGHT_SIMULAT … 04_Fundamentals

There is also those once the basics are there:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X for pilots: Real World Training by Jeff Van West & Kevin Lane-Cummings - https://archive.org/details/microsoftflights0000vanw
A fun way to enjoy FSX: Tips, Trick and Trips by Adam Howe & Scott Slauger - https://archive.org/details/isbn_1557556741 (not downloadable)
Wiley Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots: Real World Training - https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7139846
Microsoft Flight Simulator as training aid by Bruice Williams - https://archive.org/details/microsoftflights0000will (not downloadable)

Thanks very much and for the extra pilot stuff, I was thinking of taking it "seriously" as prep to take some real world lessons sometime.

Picked these up the other day for 10 dollars a peice.

Wooo LOOM there is a game I haven't seen for a good number of years, kinda want to replay it now.

Ask me about Loom.

I have never played Loom. That box I got the other day is my second Loom box. Though its missing the audio tape. My other Loom box has the tape. I need to play that in the near future.

Loom is amaaazing game! Definitely one of my all-time favorites. Although it plays just fine with Adlib, you will NOT be disappointed if you can manage to listen to it on a genuine or emulation MT-32. This game is a work of art with music as a foundation of its gameplay (you interact with the world by playing music).

The intro sequence is just incredible. The game starts out playing a full orchestra on your synthesizer. It really is a masterpiece.

Here is a recording form YouTube. I don't know how to describe it but it's so much more dramatic in person, at least it was for me. Especially when compared side-by-side with Adlib.

I'm really gushing but it truly is an amazing game.

https://youtu.be/SVYI2logmXs?si=BAusKzL403MYfc4g

How is the Amiga version of Loom compared to the PC version's Adlib and MT-32 soundtracks? I never played it to be honest, despite having played almost all Lucasfilm adventure games. I want to fix that. I'm considering an Amiga run though, not sure if I'd be missing out on anything?

I think that the Amiga version is just a port of the EGA version. There is also a VGA CD "talkie" version, but a lot of the lines were cut to compress all of the audio onto disc. The talkie version also does not include the cool portraits.

I game predates VGA and pioneered the concept of dithering colors, so it still looks great in EGA. I think the EGA version is a little better, but the VGA and talkie one is good too, if you don't want to read or don't mind missing out on some of the minor plot details.

YES! just take a look here (and scroll down a bit)

https://www.markferrari.com/about

The landscape between the Zak and Monkey images is a perfect example...

I have looked at all three versions and Loom EGA is indeed a much better looking game than Loom VGA. That said, I can't say the same for Monkey 1 EGA vs VGA - VGA Monkey is definitely the better game here. I think the Amiga versions of both games are a great middle road for both music and video. Loom soundtrack in particular sounds pretty damn good on Amiga, almost comparable to the MT-32 one in fact..

I agree that Money Island VGA is best. Loom EGA is definitely the definitive version. It's much less noticable due to the expertly dithered artwork and backgrounds.

Max Payne 3: I was always only mildly interested in. I liked the first one and loved the second, but the tone shift I've seen in the trailers kept me away. Last vintage market I found it for cheap and also on the Xbox I don't have to deal with RSC so I got it.

Halo 3: I already owned the German version, but I have a strong preference for English versions for my collection.

Uncharted: Also a game I already owned, but in this case, it was the Essentials version which I upgraded to the non-essential one.

Shivering Isles: Probably the best piece of DLC Bethesda ever created. I already had the base game and the Knights of the Nine DLC pack so it's all complete now.

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl: I already owned the Radiation Collector's Edition, but I just wanted the common variant as well.

Hitman: Blood Money: The last Hitman I'm interested in having a physical copy of.

I'm starting to run out of shelf space...