Finished Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The game was pretty short (10-15 hours maybe?) but I didn't have much time for gaming until today.

It was a pretty solid game overall, with some nice variety between the missions. I particularly liked the one where you are encouraged to sneak around in order to avoid hostilities. Thankfully, the "enemies are beaming all around us" mechanic wasn't overused as I feared, though it did make a reappearance during some of the later missions. The story was mostly ok, even though some things made no sense. Like how the Borg couldn't do anything about the new bad guys, yet your team casually disintegrates them using standard issue phasers.

The last boss was kinda disappointing. Blasting it with the portable photon torpedo launcher while circle strafing was all it took. Although you need to do that for 5 minutes straight because of its ridiculous damage resistance.

Finally, a word of caution if you plan on installing the expansion pack - it completely breaks A3D support, causing crackling and distortions while it's turned on. So, if you want working positional audio, stick with the base game + patch 1.20.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-02-16, 18:09:

Finished Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The game was pretty short (10-15 hours maybe?) but I didn't have much time for gaming u […]
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Finished Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The game was pretty short (10-15 hours maybe?) but I didn't have much time for gaming until today.

It was a pretty solid game overall, with some nice variety between the missions. I particularly liked the one where you are encouraged to sneak around in order to avoid hostilities. Thankfully, the "enemies are beaming all around us" mechanic wasn't overused as I feared, though it did make a reappearance during some of the later missions. The story was mostly ok, even though some things made no sense. Like how the Borg couldn't do anything about the new bad guys, yet your team casually disintegrates them using standard issue phasers.

The last boss was kinda disappointing. Blasting it with the portable photon torpedo launcher while circle strafing was all it took. Although you need to do that for 5 minutes straight because of its ridiculous damage resistance.

Finally, a word of caution if you plan on installing the expansion pack - it completely breaks A3D support, causing crackling and distortions while it's turned on. So, if you want working positional audio, stick with the base game + patch 1.20.

This game has been on my wishlist since I played the demo all those years ago.

Regarding length, many games are way too long. often loose interest by 3/4, take a month pause and come back only to realize I forgot how to play it and it is too difficult. 😀

Hah, I end up doing that too, having save games I can't play 'coz I'm out of practice.... I'm expecting a game to get snarky one day "Achievement unlocked, training level completed 50 times."

Heh heh, well I wouldn't be surprised, given the iron-fisted online controls of some modern game companies, to actually see "Sorry, you have played your available quota of Levels 1-3, please pay for new season".

But I too am familiar with that particular form of distraction which can show up when the Finish Line is finally sighted, and the urgency-to-progress recedes. The away period can devastate games that revolve around barely-remembered complex control combos. And/or long endless (but essential canon must-play! 😉 Xxxxxx of Mana) grinds that you were halfway through, and must then (later) consider whether to restart or not.

I either play a game to completion without any sabbatical, or DNF and move on. There's not many I've DNF'd:
Eye of the Beholder 1
Fallout 1
Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams
Albion
Far Cry 1
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Betrayal at Krondor

The reasons mostly come down to poor UI, difficulty too high, got myself into a no-win situation and unwilling to restart, or not interesting enough.

I would urge you to retry EOB1 and Fallout 1 but I can actually see why they may be frustrating from a difficulty standpoint. And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-02-16, 18:09:

Finished Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The game was pretty short (10-15 hours maybe?) but I didn't have much time for gaming until today.

This game was the reason why I spend 4000 Krautmark (2000€) on my very first PC. Until then I did use my dads Pentium MMX, which could barely run anything in 2000.
Athlon Thunderbird 1GHz (Well ok, actually 900... But I had a magical pencil!), GeForce 2 GTS 64MB... Glorious PC Master Race! Filthy PSX peasants! My classmates were stunned by the graphics. 😁 I still regret spending so much. xD But I regret even more not picking a Voodoo5 5500 instead.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-02-16, 18:09:

It was a pretty solid game overall, with some nice variety between the missions. I particularly liked the one where you are encouraged to sneak around in order to avoid hostilities.

You can play that mission in Doom style. But sneaking is way more fun.
Long live the Empire! *salutes*

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-02-17, 09:53:

You can play that mission in Doom style. But sneaking is way more fun.

I did notice that I was allowed to continue the mission after "accidentally" disintegrating a particularly annoying Klingon, but I reloaded and played it stealthy all the way

Long live the Empire! *salutes*

Heh, encountering those mirror universe Terran empire soldiers was the highlight of that mission. Very nice touch by the developers.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-02-17, 10:17:

I did notice that I was allowed to continue the mission after "accidentally" disintegrating a particularly annoying Klingon, but I reloaded and played it stealthy all the way

Let me guess:
Very early during the mission, near a ladder?
That one is nasty indeed!

Back in the day I thought it was unavoidable to get detected and playing the rest of the mission in Doom style is a must.
Took me almost 10 years to realize, that you can sneak through. 🤣

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-02-17, 10:20:

Let me guess:
Very early during the mission, near a ladder?

That's the one!

I needed to reload something like 10 times before I was able to pass him. Felt really good after finally making it though. As a veteran of the Thief games, I was determined to stay in stealth mode as much as possible, and my stubbornness somehow carried me through.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

It's alright once you get used to it. A lot of games, especially RPGs from that time are a lot more janky.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-02-17, 10:46:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

It's alright once you get used to it. A lot of games, especially RPGs from that time are a lot more janky.

For combat maybe, but for inventory management it is pretty much one of the worst of its era..

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 10:51:

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-02-17, 10:46:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

It's alright once you get used to it. A lot of games, especially RPGs from that time are a lot more janky.

For combat maybe, but for inventory management it is pretty much one of the worst of its era..

For inventory management pretty much all Fallout entries are bad, including the recent ones. I guess inventory is one of the more difficult parts. A lot of games fail at them.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

I would urge you to retry EOB1 and Fallout 1 but I can actually see why they may be frustrating from a difficulty standpoint. And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

Rather than retry EOB1, I'm going to just play EOB2. Maybe my next RPG after the one I'm playing now. My issue was I got into a "can't proceed" situation. I can't remember the details but it involved needing a key to move to the next level that I could no longer get and I didn't have a save prior to that moment. I wasn't having such an amazing time up to that point that it was worth bothering to start over. Remember: EOB1 has only 1 save slot and I was playing on a retro PC, so no save states, etc.

As for Fallout, yeah, definitely the UI. There was a point I needed to give a health kit to an injured NPC and the steps needed to get it out of my inventory and into his hands was ridiculous. Again, I wasn't having that much fun up to that point, so it was easy to stop. And Fallout was a game I tried to play when it first came out, so this was technically my 2nd crack at it.

clueless1 wrote on 2022-02-17, 11:36:

Rather than retry EOB1, I'm going to just play EOB2. Maybe my next RPG after the one I'm playing now. My issue was I got into a "can't proceed" situation. I can't remember the details but it involved needing a key to move to the next level that I could no longer get and I didn't have a save prior to that moment. I wasn't having such an amazing time up to that point that it was worth bothering to start over. Remember: EOB1 has only 1 save slot and I was playing on a retro PC, so no save states, etc.

I am not very familiar with EOB1, compared with EOB2 which I have played multiple times (mostly in the 90s, so I don't remember much fine detail).

One thing about EOB1 which sticks in my mind forever is how awesome the intro music sounds in the Amiga version, take a listen. History dictated that we PC boys ultimately won the teenaged PC-vs-Amiga arguments of our youth, but even to this day the Amiga platform can land some pretty heavy punches. The quality of that music matches anything in a modern PC game.

Hearing it for the first time at an Amiga friends house, as a young PC teenager at the start of the 90's who still didn't have a soundcard yet, was mindblowing. And even when I got my SBPro2 soon after, EOB still did not sound near as good as his 'crappy' A500 playing it's sound out of the 1084 screen's speakers. Wonderful stuff.

The game's Amiga versions graphics are really not far off from PC's SVGA graphics either. I first played and finished EOB 1&2 on the Amiga and it's the definitive version for me.

Also, EOB2's Amiga intro has amazing visuals and sound as well.

Shreddoc wrote on 2022-02-17, 20:41:

I am not very familiar with EOB1, compared with EOB2 which I have played multiple times (mostly in the 90s, so I don't remember […]
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clueless1 wrote on 2022-02-17, 11:36:

Rather than retry EOB1, I'm going to just play EOB2. Maybe my next RPG after the one I'm playing now. My issue was I got into a "can't proceed" situation. I can't remember the details but it involved needing a key to move to the next level that I could no longer get and I didn't have a save prior to that moment. I wasn't having such an amazing time up to that point that it was worth bothering to start over. Remember: EOB1 has only 1 save slot and I was playing on a retro PC, so no save states, etc.

I am not very familiar with EOB1, compared with EOB2 which I have played multiple times (mostly in the 90s, so I don't remember much fine detail).

One thing about EOB1 which sticks in my mind forever is how awesome the intro music sounds in the Amiga version, take a listen. History dictated that we PC boys ultimately won the teenaged PC-vs-Amiga arguments of our youth, but even to this day the Amiga platform can land some pretty heavy punches. The quality of that music matches anything in a modern PC game.

Hearing it for the first time at an Amiga friends house, as a young PC teenager at the start of the 90's who still didn't have a soundcard yet, was mindblowing. And even when I got my SBPro2 soon after, EOB still did not sound near as good as his 'crappy' A500 playing it's sound out of the 1084 screen's speakers. Wonderful stuff.

So when I was a teen, I had an Apple IIe and a Mockingboard (an amazing sound card that sadly, only was supported by a few games). My brother was an Atari ST and Amiga guy. So I got to experience the great sounds of these systems prior to ever owning a PC. There was definitely a period of time where the PC had the better specs and arguably better graphics, but the Amiga and Atari ST had the upper leg in music and sound fx.

clueless1 wrote on 2022-02-17, 11:36:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

I would urge you to retry EOB1 and Fallout 1 but I can actually see why they may be frustrating from a difficulty standpoint. And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

Rather than retry EOB1, I'm going to just play EOB2. Maybe my next RPG after the one I'm playing now. My issue was I got into a "can't proceed" situation. I can't remember the details but it involved needing a key to move to the next level that I could no longer get and I didn't have a save prior to that moment. I wasn't having such an amazing time up to that point that it was worth bothering to start over. Remember: EOB1 has only 1 save slot and I was playing on a retro PC, so no save states, etc.

As for Fallout, yeah, definitely the UI. There was a point I needed to give a health kit to an injured NPC and the steps needed to get it out of my inventory and into his hands was ridiculous. Again, I wasn't having that much fun up to that point, so it was easy to stop. And Fallout was a game I tried to play when it first came out, so this was technically my 2nd crack at it.

I think it was a copper key in the second level of the tower.
I got in the same situation and simply hexed one as I didn't want to start over.

Nexxen wrote on 2022-02-18, 00:16:

I think it was a copper key in the second level of the tower.
I got in the same situation and simply hexed one as I didn't want to start over.

I wrote about it in this thread back in the day, so I looked it up:
Re: What game are you playing now?
(it was level 6)

And here are my thoughts of the game up to that point:
"Not so much that I was disappointed, it just didn't have enough good things going for it that it was worth the extra time of backtracking. Having 1 save slot is potentially a killer because you can save your way into a dead-end. I had been manually backing up my save file after each level, so I can restore back if needed. But the lack of music and skeletal storyline just didn't draw me in enough, and having to have a map up on a 2nd computer, plus a physical printout of another map was too much work for a middle-aged gamer. 😀"

Nexxen wrote on 2022-02-18, 00:16:

clueless1 wrote on 2022-02-17, 11:36:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-17, 06:09:

I would urge you to retry EOB1 and Fallout 1 but I can actually see why they may be frustrating from a difficulty standpoint. And for Fallout 1, the UI is pretty bad 🤣.

Rather than retry EOB1, I'm going to just play EOB2. Maybe my next RPG after the one I'm playing now. My issue was I got into a "can't proceed" situation. I can't remember the details but it involved needing a key to move to the next level that I could no longer get and I didn't have a save prior to that moment. I wasn't having such an amazing time up to that point that it was worth bothering to start over. Remember: EOB1 has only 1 save slot and I was playing on a retro PC, so no save states, etc.

As for Fallout, yeah, definitely the UI. There was a point I needed to give a health kit to an injured NPC and the steps needed to get it out of my inventory and into his hands was ridiculous. Again, I wasn't having that much fun up to that point, so it was easy to stop. And Fallout was a game I tried to play when it first came out, so this was technically my 2nd crack at it.

I think it was a copper key in the second level of the tower.
I got in the same situation and simply hexed one as I didn't want to start over.

There are no towers in EOB1, it's a dungeon that only goes down 9 levels (IIRC..)