Finished VTM:Bloodlines. All in all, I think the initial two thirds of the game (minus the sewer section) are pretty good, but the quality drops rapidly during the last third, i.e. after you finish Chinatown and the Giovanni Mansion. Basically, every area from that point onward consists only of fighting, and most non-combat skills become completely pointless.

I say most because Obfuscate can be useful, in certain situations. When fully maxed out, it allows you to perform stealth takedowns without becoming visible. This is extremely helpful against human opponents, so the Leopold Society, the Kuei-Jin Temple and LaCroix Tower become a cakewalk. On the flip side, it doesn't work against vampire enemies, which makes the Sabbat hotel much harder than the aforementioned areas.

The boss fights weren't too hard except for the Kuei-Jin priestess. She has a ton of health, and unless you have some way of dealing aggravated damage, it's very difficult to take her down. Fortunately, there's an enchanted sword in the Sabbat hotel which can do this. With maxed melee skill and that sword, it wasn't too bad, even for a stealthy Malkavian. The final fight against the Sheriff was a cakewalk in comparison.

Ultimately, I sided with the Anarchs, and left LaCroix his coveted key. He sure enjoyed the fireworks. 😁 The Malkavian character had some fun moments, like talking to the TV announcer and having a particular response to the new "taxi driver". I can definitively recommend playing as one, as long as you've already beaten the game once.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-05-30, 13:42:

Finished VTM:Bloodlines. All in all, I think the initial two thirds of the game (minus the sewer section) are pretty good, but the quality drops rapidly during the last third, i.e. after you finish Chinatown and the Giovanni Mansion. Basically, every area from that point onward consists only of fighting, and most non-combat skills become completely pointless.

That's how I remember it being too. And it doesn't help the combat in this game isn't exactly greatest ever. Melee is passable at best and I don't think I've ever even tried a ranged build because it's so clunky, not to mention ineffective against supernatural enemies. Though I do remember bringing a flamethrower to that Kuei-Jin jello-cthulhu fight even as a melee character to take a good chunk off her. I've mostly played as Tremere who can't even get melee to max, doesn't help at the end of the game.

Also the walking animation in third person has always annoyed me, it's so absurdly flamboyant😁

But thankfully best parts of the game are good enough that you can mostly look past the not-so-great.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-05-25, 16:29:

Doing a runthrough of Gateway to the Savage Frontier.

I remember finishing this game and its sequel on Amiga back in the day. The PC version feels somehow inferior but I can not put my finger on why. Anyway, hope to finish this quickly. Gold box SSI AD&D is the CRPG I grew on and I still love them..

Curious how you feel about this one. I started it on my NuXT, and it just felt so bland I got distracted away from it. And I loved Pool of Radiance incredibly, so I don't think I was put off by anything superficial.

I think it was a few things. I'd traversed 3 or 4 plot locations, and the loot was enormously underwhelming. Or maybe I just never found the good stuff somehow. The plot hooks I found extremely weak and unengaging. Maybe you have to be more of a Forgotten Realms fan to care about the machinations of the factions that are central to the plot. Also, the game started my characters off at level 2, and the slow fearful scramble up from level 1 is one of my favorite parts of older RPGs. I think lastly, I got so much experience so quickly, and combat felt so easy, I think I was one level off from cap less than halfway through the game? I know I hit cap in Pool of Radiance, but combat still always felt engaging. I hit cap super early in Curse of the Azure Bonds because I imported my party, and once again, that never caused combat to get boring. But something about the encounter design in Gateway is just so bland. At least as far as I played.

And done. 40.08 hours, 72% completion. It's alright, but I still think, it's not the best in the series. The main story line is marginally more serious than SR3 and 4, otherwise over all less polished. I don't think I'll replay it any time soon or to ever finish the remaining side content.

At the end, the homies never recovered from the busy glitch when I called them and the parts where you go against the attack helicopter are really unbalanced (or fair, so to say), except on the last mission where I also had an attack helicopter, but for whatever reason the rockets didn't launch on mine. According to youtube, I also should have had rockets. That made it very challenging. The only thing that worked, that I had to get close to the enemy helicopters before they launched their rockets. Close range they only use their machine guns and if I stay above them, they can't shoot me, but I can. My heli can only take 2 rockets, the third is fatal and a hit really puts it off-balance. I could just about finish it with two hits from 3 enemies.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-05-30, 14:39:

Also the walking animation in third person has always annoyed me, it's so absurdly flamboyant😁

Even more so with a male Malkavian who wears that pimp outfit at his best armor level. 😁

But thankfully best parts of the game are good enough that you can mostly look past the not-so-great.

Agreed. Despite its flaws, I liked Bloodlines quite a bit. If the developers hadn't been rushed by their publisher (Activision) to finish it prematurely, it could have been a truly great game. In its present state, even with the Unofficial Patch, I would merely classify it as a good game. Nonetheless, it's well worth playing.

It's not retro, but I've been playing a ton of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

I went into it not nearly as hyped as I'd been for Breath of the Wild. I'm not sure I'd been as hyped for any game as Breath of the Wild. I stalked the line all day at PAX South before it released so I could lay hands on it for 20 minutes. I was so impressed I threw a few grand on Nintendo's stock at a time when analyst were insisting they needed to exit the hardware market entirely. I had a midnight preorder for a Switch and Breath of the Wild, and I took a week off from work to really soak it in.

The experience was magical.

But that was before I had kids, so my priorities in life have changed significantly. Even so, despite a worse (IMHO) opening segment that was far too tutorialized and linear, after the game opens up it is so much richer and vast than Breath of the Wild. I was expected a rehash or a remix of Breath of the Wild, but the degree to which they iterated on it is impressive. You'd think after a game like BotW the game designers might be tapped out creatively, but apparently they still had some ideas left on the table to work around.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2023-05-30, 11:26:

It launched today, the 30th of May, on PC.

I have already purchased it and played it a bit. I really like it so far. It still has the vibe of of the original just with better graphics and better controls.

Tonight a little of Leisure Suit Larry 5 on Macintosh with Roland MT-32.

i'm unintentionally playing half life again.... really just started it up to take a quick look at something and have ended up playing through again

it's still magical, that bizarre and vast complex (with its at times equally bizarre layout that handily forms puzzles - eg the rocket test motor fuel and power, the giant air tunnel with boarded off upper section for you to crowbar through. however many times i play i smile at the layout and the impression given of this vast complex

there are also lots of doomed NPCs, for instance the Barney on the platform by the rocket testing stage is doomed when the rocket fires and you cant lead him down the ladder to relative safety, HL had quite a few doomed NPCs that you must effectively doom through your actions

Each time i play i do notice the marines aren't quite a clever as they first seemed all those years ago though 😀 i have to admit that, though they still put up a good fight at times

another recent play was No One Lives Forever 1 on PC, an inventive and fun oriented FPS - but also for me not that compelling, something i can drop into for a while then leave alone

Btw, are there downloadable "modern" Half-Life versions one can still play on a K6 or is the only real solution an original CD + patches?
I still remember my CD-key by heart, go figure why.

You dont want modern aka steam ver of hl. xash3d pre-fwgs would be your best bet if you want a newer version of original hl.

DosFreak wrote on 2023-06-02, 12:47:

You dont want modern aka steam ver of hl. xash3d pre-fwgs would be your best bet if you want a newer version of original hl.

Ah i wasn't even aware of this alternative solution/engine 😀 Thanks, I guess I'll have to find my HL CD again....

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2023-06-02, 12:44:

Btw, are there downloadable "modern" Half-Life versions one can still play on a K6 or is the only real solution an original CD + patches?
I still remember my CD-key by heart, go figure why.

Don't think so, the only digital version is the one on Steam, which is not DRM-free.

The CD release is fairly cheap (bought on eBay for 3€) and, in my opinion, it's better, mostly for the menu 😄

I am also going to purchase the original half life games plus add ons again as soon my retro rig is finished.I got the steam games in my collection as well but on my future retro gaming pc I want to play the originals uncensored.

Unlike Half Life 1 where the blood was added back again after the german version was removed from the index Opposing Force and Blue Shift still have the blood removed. Missing blood in Half life is pain in the behind because in Half Life blood is the only indicator if you are hitting your enemy or not.

I am also a avid collector of physical media games. So adding Half Life to my collection will be really nice. I owned the original Half Life in the 90s but lost it many years ago while moving house. Never had Opposing Force or Blue Shift.

Today I finally started Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.
The controls are indeed not the most precise in gaming history, as I've been warned, and it's a little bit frustrating sometimes, but I've palyed worse, and also Dirk supposed to be an insanely clumsy knight. What's really actually bad is the music and sound design.

Well, according to HLTB, it should barely scratch 5hrs to beat, so I'm already about a quarter way through with it.

But why did the gaming magazine I've read back then chose this for game of the month over Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I don't understand.

System Shock Remake

I played through about half of the Backer Beta a few months ago, so much of this was still fresh when I started the final release last Thursday night. I'm now about 6 hours in. I completed the first level (Medical) in about 4 hours and currently on the Research level. Not a whole lot different from the beta so far. Beautiful graphics, performs phenomenally on midrange hardware, gameplay and feel is extremely close to the original. I'm still not a fan of the new music. It's too quiet, subdued, and in the background compared to the original. And it's mostly different. Elevator music is the same, but most of the other tracks are either completely different or only have hints of the original melodies. There is a new recycling system. You can vaporize junk into scrap, which can then be exchanged in a recycling machine for credits. Credits can be used at various vending machines to buy ammo and stimpacks. It's actually quite satisfying. 😀 Great game and I highly recommend it to fans of the OG.

System:
i7-4790K
RTX 2060
32GB DDR3

Playing with vsync and it's a constant 60 fps with every detail maxed out in the settings at 1920x1080. For fun, I turned vsync off temporarily and the game was playing between 110-140 fps.

i'm not so up to speed on new games but the new system shock seems to have moderate tech requirements in comparison with most games? or perhaps its average

the download is multi GB, certainly bigger than any drive from when the original was released 😀

anyway, if its effectively an all new game with the feel of the old then that sounds promising

gerry wrote on 2023-06-04, 19:13:

i'm not so up to speed on new games but the new system shock seems to have moderate tech requirements in comparison with most games? or perhaps its average

the download is multi GB, certainly bigger than any drive from when the original was released 😀

anyway, if its effectively an all new game with the feel of the old then that sounds promising

It is completely modern in technology. But it is actually quite small compared to most modern games. 8.2GB installed. They basically took the 1994 System Shock and redid it using 2023 technology.

Jazz Jackrabbit

First time I'm playing it for real, and on real hardware. It's really impressive on a CRT with SoundBlaster 16 MIDI.

I had to patch it with TPPATCH (otherwise it made a Runtime Error since the Pentium III @ 800 MHz is way too fast. A Turbo Pascal bug that Tyrian shares with this game.), and my joystick is recognized for the ingame calibration thingy, but it doesn't do anything in game. Sad. But the default keyboard layout is good enough.

I'm playing on Easy and having a blast. I'm usually not a fan of such games, but this 'new' CRT is gonna get used, damn it !

Love the soundtrack. Classic Alexander Brandon vibes ! 😀

Next would be Betrayal at Krondor which I've never played. I already tested it out, and was wowed by the overall atmosphere.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2023-06-05, 11:08:

Jazz Jackrabbit […]
Show full quote

Jazz Jackrabbit

First time I'm playing it for real, and on real hardware. It's really impressive on a CRT with SoundBlaster 16 MIDI.

I had to patch it with TPPATCH (otherwise it made a Runtime Error since the Pentium III @ 800 MHz is way too fast. A Turbo Pascal bug that Tyrian shares with this game.), and my joystick is recognized for the ingame calibration thingy, but it doesn't do anything in game. Sad. But the default keyboard layout is good enough.

I'm playing on Easy and having a blast. I'm usually not a fan of such games, but this 'new' CRT is gonna get used, damn it !

Love the soundtrack. Classic Alexander Brandon vibes ! 😀

Absolutely amazing soundtrack indeed. The songs are tracker files, I used to enjoy playing them in Cubic Player.

The game itself is a matter of taste. It is as obvious a clone of Sonic for the PCs as can be (downright to the 3D-perspective bonus levels).
"Running like the wind" is fun until you hit an enemy/obstacle which damages you, knocks you back and steals your momentum.
On 'easy' the the fun/frustration balance is generally good.

Is your version the 6-episode or 9-episode one? If like it, there are also two Christmas-special versions (Holiday Hare 94 and 95), each adding a couple of Christmas-themed levels, and nice tunes.