I played through the Act 1 of Freespace 1 on a modern PC using FS:O. I managed to get an XBOX 360 controller working fairly well with the game using GlovePie (but the control scheme floating about on the interwebs is kind of shit, so I had to make my own). I kind of breezed my way through it; I did not remember the levels being so short and so fast, to be honest. Maybe that's because it's the first Act, maybe it's because I'm playing on Easy (you kind of have to, in order to get used to the controller.. It's NOTHING like a joystick without some kind of auto-aim assist) but it did not give me the 'feels' I was hoping for.

That said, it will probably pick up in Act 2. Besides, Freespace 2 is what I've always been in love with, not Freespace 1.

appiah4 wrote:

I played through the Act 1 of Freespace 1 on a modern PC using FS:O. I managed to get an XBOX 360 controller working fairly well with the game using GlovePie (but the control scheme floating about on the interwebs is kind of shit, so I had to make my own). I kind of breezed my way through it; I did not remember the levels being so short and so fast, to be honest. Maybe that's because it's the first Act, maybe it's because I'm playing on Easy (you kind of have to, in order to get used to the controller.. It's NOTHING like a joystick without some kind of auto-aim assist) but it did not give me the 'feels' I was hoping for.

That said, it will probably pick up in Act 2. Besides, Freespace 2 is what I've always been in love with, not Freespace 1.

I've hoped SCP would some day get similar mouse controls like Freelancer has, as in the movement won't stop and keeps going in that direction until you change it. That way you would have the accuracy of a mouse without grinding your mouse pad to shreds. Just the thought of fighting A-Wings with TIE bomber in TIE Fighter still sends chills down my spine. There was some half assed attempt by someone once but it never really went beyond proof of concept.

I can't remember how difficult FS1 is as it's been a while, but FS2 starts just fine on medium difficulty but then gets pretty damn hard later on. At least if you try to get all the objectives done.

I don't know if they "fixed" this "oversight" or not with FSOpen but, one of the "Special Ops" missions in Freespace 2 can be easily dealt with by simply killing the people you're spying on as fast as possible before they're scripted to turn hostile.

For some reason they don't turn hostile as you start killing them one by one...

DracoNihil wrote:

FuzzyLogic wrote:

None of this Rebirth BS.

Well no need to be rude, it's one of the better sourceport projects for first two Descent games...

No rudeness was intended. Only a dash of smug elitism for humor. Hence the smiley: 😏

DracoNihil wrote:

I can't play Descent 1 (or 2) without it being on Insane or it becomes boringly easy... heh. Descent 2 made things harder by making the robots lead their shots and able to use doors. Not to mention also pathfind stalk you through the level.

You must be one of those Descent gods I've been watching on Youtube. It's hard believe how good some people are.

Now that I finished Stonekeep and Medal of Honor Allied Assault, I'm taking a short break and auditioning a few candidates for my next pair of games. Included on the RPG side are:
Pillars of Eternity
Balrum
Eschalon Book2

On the FPS side:
Metro 2033
Bioshock
Wolfenstein: The New Order

clueless1 wrote:

Now that I finished Stonekeep and Medal of Honor Allied Assault, I'm taking a short break and auditioning a few candidates for m […]
Show full quote

Now that I finished Stonekeep and Medal of Honor Allied Assault, I'm taking a short break and auditioning a few candidates for my next pair of games. Included on the RPG side are:
Pillars of Eternity
Balrum
Eschalon Book2

On the FPS side:
Metro 2033
Bioshock
Wolfenstein: The New Order

For RPGs on your list I've only played Pillars of Eternity and I personally don't recommend it, then again I've never enjoyed the Baldur's Gate real time pausable combat system in any of these games. I think I would have actually enjoyed them if they had been true turn based. Maybe I'm not the best for an opinion for this particular selection.

For FPS I've played all 3 and would rank them in the following order : Bioshock, Wolfenstein, Metro 2033. You really can't go wrong with any of them though so pick what you feel like at the time.

Shagittarius wrote:

For RPGs on your list I've only played Pillars of Eternity and I personally don't recommend it, then again I've never enjoyed the Baldur's Gate real time pausable combat system in any of these games. I think I would have actually enjoyed them if they had been true turn based. Maybe I'm not the best for an opinion for this particular selection.

For FPS I've played all 3 and would rank them in the following order : Bioshock, Wolfenstein, Metro 2033. You really can't go wrong with any of them though so pick what you feel like at the time.

Thanks, I do appreciate your opinion. I did play Baldur's Gate 1 and really liked it, so I think I'll be okay with the real-time pause combat. But Balrum...I'd never heard of it before a couple of days ago, then snatched it up on the last day of the GOG Winter Sale. It is isometric, turn-based, with some neat Minecraft-like elements thrown in. You can develop mining, farming, and cooking skills, grow your own food, etc. And you have a pet companion that goes on quests with you and helps in combat. Graphically, it looks a lot like the Eschalon series (which looks like a modern take on Ultima VII). I played Eschalon Book 1 and LOVED it, so I know I'd like Eschalon Book 2. I'm pretty sure I'll really enjoy all three, it's just a matter of what order I'll play them in.

clueless1 wrote:

I did play Baldur's Gate 1 and really liked it, so I think I'll be okay with the real-time pause combat.

Pillars of Eternity is VERY similar to BG1, so if you liked that you should also like PoE.

While I think BG1 has its charms I've never been able to play it all the way through before getting dead bored, way too much combat and very little other content for my liking. PoE is exactly the same, I think the furthest I got in PoE was about half way through and I felt like at least half of the content in that ~50% could have been just cut from the game entirely and the game wouldn't have lost anything important, just excessive time consuming fat. But then again I've always been more of a Planescape: Torment fan than a Icewind Dale fan, I'm sure those who play these games for the combat alone really like PoE.

Crank9000 wrote:

clueless1 wrote:

I did play Baldur's Gate 1 and really liked it, so I think I'll be okay with the real-time pause combat.

Pillars of Eternity is VERY similar to BG1, so if you liked that you should also like PoE.

While I think BG1 has its charms I've never been able to play it all the way through before getting dead bored, way too much combat and very little other content for my liking. PoE is exactly the same, I think the furthest I got in PoE was about half way through and I felt like at least half of the content in that ~50% could have been just cut from the game entirely and the game wouldn't have lost anything important, just excessive time consuming fat. But then again I've always been more of a Planescape: Torment fan than a Icewind Dale fan, I'm sure those who play these games for the combat alone really like PoE.

Hmmm. In my middle age I do tend to do better with shorter RPGs, and PoE does appear to be a 60+ hr game, which could take me 2-3 months. FYI, if you like a really good, short RPG, try Eschalon: Book 1. One of the better RPGs I've ever played (and I've played a lot of them, starting back in the early Ultima and Wizardry days) and it can be beaten in ~25 hrs. And it's free at both GOG and Steam.

clueless1 wrote:

Hmmm. In my middle age I do tend to do better with shorter RPGs, and PoE does appear to be a 60+ hr game, which could take me 2-3 months. FYI, if you like a really good, short RPG, try Eschalon: Book 1. One of the better RPGs I've ever played (and I've played a lot of them, starting back in the early Ultima and Wizardry days) and it can be beaten in ~25 hrs. And it's free at both GOG and Steam.

I think got to that half way point in 60h or so.. though I am a compulsive completionist.

Thanks for the recommendation, but Eschalon is a bit too old school for my liking 😀

Crank9000 wrote:

clueless1 wrote:

Hmmm. In my middle age I do tend to do better with shorter RPGs, and PoE does appear to be a 60+ hr game, which could take me 2-3 months. FYI, if you like a really good, short RPG, try Eschalon: Book 1. One of the better RPGs I've ever played (and I've played a lot of them, starting back in the early Ultima and Wizardry days) and it can be beaten in ~25 hrs. And it's free at both GOG and Steam.

I think got to that half way point in 60h or so.. though I am a compulsive completionist.

Thanks for the recommendation, but Eschalon is a bit too old school for my liking 😀

Do you mean graphically? Because it's actually super easy to get into, there's no long character creation process, minimal micromanagement (no NPCs), etc. My least favorite thing about the game was the 800x600 limitation, but I just adjusted GPU scaling in my Nvidia drivers to keep aspect ratio at 4:3 and I was good to go.

Smash Broooooooooooooooooooos

Having a blast.

clueless1 wrote:

Do you mean graphically? Because it's actually super easy to get into, there's no long character creation process, minimal micromanagement (no NPCs), etc. My least favorite thing about the game was the 800x600 limitation, but I just adjusted GPU scaling in my Nvidia drivers to keep aspect ratio at 4:3 and I was good to go.

No, graphically they look just fine to me. It's the gameplay that just doesn't seem too appealing to me and it seems to lack those things I enjoy in RPG's, like a interesting story and quests, memorable NPC's with quality dialog and a world I'd be interested to explore.

I'm also somewhat picky 🤣

Just started Dragon Quest XI last night. So far I'm loving the art style and turn based gameplay. I can already say this is 5X the game that Final Fantasy XV was. I finished that game but I still can't figure out why. I think it was pretty awful for many reasons, the biggest of which is it was just barely a "game".

Crank9000 wrote:

clueless1 wrote:

Do you mean graphically? Because it's actually super easy to get into, there's no long character creation process, minimal micromanagement (no NPCs), etc. My least favorite thing about the game was the 800x600 limitation, but I just adjusted GPU scaling in my Nvidia drivers to keep aspect ratio at 4:3 and I was good to go.

No, graphically they look just fine to me. It's the gameplay that just doesn't seem too appealing to me and it seems to lack those things I enjoy in RPG's, like a interesting story and quests, memorable NPC's with quality dialog and a world I'd be interested to explore.

I'm also somewhat picky 🤣

Fair enough. 😉 Out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite RPGs besides Planescape Torment?

clueless1 wrote:

Fair enough. 😉 Out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite RPGs besides Planescape Torment?

Quick and dirty top list, games with RPG elements (Deus Ex, System Shock 2 etc) not included.

1. Fallout 2
2. Planescape: Torment
3. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (expansion for NWN2)
4. Fallout 1
5. Baldur's Gate 2

Witcher 3 might find itself on that list but I still haven't played that, my old GPU doesn't have enough horsepower to play it and I haven't bothered to get a new one just to play one game, it's really rare occasion that a new AAA game that interest me gets released these days.

I started playing Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games in December and I'm currently between missions 13 and 14. The former is the sneaky one, where you can't mess around with the 4 or 5 enemies, or they blow up the house with the mission goal in it. I managed to complete it, but accidentally overspent with the arms dealer right before the next mission. Now I have negative funds that I can't make up on the next mission and I don't want to let any of my mercs go to compensate... 🤣

Anyway, what a fun game! I never cared too much for the strategic and management bits of Jagged Alliance (or XCOM), especially revisiting sectors that keep changing hands gets boring pretty fast imho. I only ever played the demo of Deadly Games, so quite happy to finally catch up with this one. Still really playable, good interface (how did we ever play XCOM with its rows and rows of buttons??? not to mention the random encounters/environments) –- too bad it's only VGA resolution. Somehow I love the grainy, clean model railroad style and color palette; XCOM's graphical style always struck me as cartoonish and all over the place, especially Terror from the Deep with it's deep sea blues and yellows.

Let's see if I can plow through all 36 missions of the single player campaign.

Oh, my standard mercs are always the same:

Hitman
Scope
Dr. Cliff
Ice

so far supplemented with Wolf, Sparky (repairs), Buzz and Bud.

clueless1 wrote:

Now that I finished Stonekeep and Medal of Honor Allied Assault, I'm taking a short break and auditioning a few candidates for m […]
Show full quote

Now that I finished Stonekeep and Medal of Honor Allied Assault, I'm taking a short break and auditioning a few candidates for my next pair of games. Included on the RPG side are:
Pillars of Eternity
Balrum
Eschalon Book2

On the FPS side:
Metro 2033
Bioshock
Wolfenstein: The New Order

So I'm 11 hours into Pillars of Eternity and it looks like I'm going to continue to the end. So far, loving the story and really appreciate the auto AI settings for the NPCs. Great atmosphere, music, etc. and I love that the bulk of your XP comes from solving quests rather than combat (similar to Realms of Arkania). Speaking of combat, so far it's been rather light and not grindy at all. My biggest concern is it seems like it will be a super long game, and I'm afraid if it takes longer than a few months to finish, I will get burned out on it. After 11 hrs, I'm only in the first town (in the Temple of Eothas, 2nd level), with two NPCs (Aloth and Eder). My guy is a Paladin (I almost always choose a paladin-like character when I have a choice).

On the FPS side, I've played almost an hour of Metro 2033 and I'm really enjoying it as well. I believe I will stick with it. The premise is very believable and the atmosphere what I imagine it would be like in a post-nuclear underground Russian community. Being of Russian descent and understanding some of the language, it's cool to hear some words thrown out that I recognize.

clueless1 wrote:

So I'm 11 hours into Pillars of Eternity and it looks like I'm going to continue to the end. So far, loving the story and really appreciate the auto AI settings for the NPCs. Great atmosphere, music, etc. and I love that the bulk of your XP comes from solving quests rather than combat (similar to Realms of Arkania). Speaking of combat, so far it's been rather light and not grindy at all. My biggest concern is it seems like it will be a super long game, and I'm afraid if it takes longer than a few months to finish, I will get burned out on it. After 11 hrs, I'm only in the first town (in the Temple of Eothas, 2nd level), with two NPCs (Aloth and Eder). My guy is a Paladin (I almost always choose a paladin-like character when I have a choice).

Yeah, I liked the first 20-30h too. Unfortunately the story goes "bye!" soon and the game doesn't really offer much more than monster smashing dungeon after dungeon and countryside after countryside for who knows how many dozens of hours. I don't really get why they forcefully made the game so long while they clearly didn't have much to fill it with.

If the game would have been around 40-50h long and kept the story strong the whole way through in all likelihood I would have really liked it. From what I've heard/read about the sequel it didn't change things for the better from my point of view and since it flopped pretty badly I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

Crank9000 wrote:

Yeah, I liked the first 20-30h too. Unfortunately the story goes "bye!" soon and the game doesn't really offer much more than monster smashing dungeon after dungeon and countryside after countryside for who knows how many dozens of hours. I don't really get why they forcefully made the game so long while they clearly didn't have much to fill it with.

If the game would have been around 40-50h long and kept the story strong the whole way through in all likelihood I would have really liked it. From what I've heard/read about the sequel it didn't change things for the better from my point of view and since it flopped pretty badly I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

Hopefully, I have a different experience than you. I'm playing on Easy and all the characters are on auto AI to hopefully mitigate things. There's only a handful of games I DNF'd since I started replaying (mostly) old classics back at the beginning of 2016:
Eye of the Beholder
Fallout
Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams
Albion
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Far Cry 1

Let's hope PoE does not make this list.