clueless1 wrote on 2024-09-22, 15:31:

You would think Steam would be smart enough by now to know that when the game goes to the menu and/or is minimized, to pause the game timer.

I imagine that would be a non-trivial feature to implement, since every developer would need to add some sort of indicator when Steam would need to track time or not.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-09-22, 15:56:

Here's a screenshot from my system so you can judge for yourself:

Hehe, portable hypernova or a shield.

It's been around 9 months so I don't remember exactly how it looked on my system, but I don't think it was exactly like that. I feel the flame sword also looked a bit different too? There could be some GPU/driver related shenanigans going on, or that screenshot might be showing a specific frame that makes it look different to me while in reality it isn't, hard to tell.

To make matters even more complicated back then I was very bothered by how some models in the game got rendered distractinly close, like a wagon just appeared out of thin air when you got in like 5 meters from it, but now when I played I don't think I noticed that bad draw distance issues at all? The game might be a bit funky in some ways.

Finished Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Pretty short game, with maybe 12 hours of total play time. The final battle was kinda weird for a pure melee character, as you're fighting a flying enemy, but it wasn't actually that difficult. I didn't perform the cleansing ritual on this run, so I couldn't use holy weapons, but my regular gear did the job well enough.

Basically, I kept using the Fire Sword and Lightning Shield until the very end, and didn't have any problems. If anything, that shield might be a tad overpowered, as it can seemingly stun all non-boss opponents. As for the ending, I chose to keep the big bad demon locked up. That way, the protagonist grabs power for himself, and gets to enjoy his life together with Xana.

Revisiting Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was fun, though its lack of polish definitively shows. A few of the levels seemed unnecessarily convoluted, there were recurring issues with quick weapon switching, and some of the platforming segments felt too janky. It took a while until the game started growing on me, but I did enjoy it, and I was well entertained for the majority of my playthrough. In fact, you could say I got a real kick out of it. 😁

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-09-23, 07:21:

Finished Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Pretty short game, with maybe 12 hours of total play time.

I remember Dark Messiah of Might and Magic being quite enjoyable. I feel like it flew under the radar when it originally came out and was underrated at the time.

Makes me wonder whatever happened to the whole fantasy/ FPS style games that seemed to be around in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-23, 13:43:

I remember Dark Messiah of Might and Magic being quite enjoyable. I feel like it flew under the radar when it originally came out and was underrated at the time.

Yeah, it was probably eclipsed by Oblivion which came out around that time.

Makes me wonder whatever happened to the whole fantasy/ FPS style games that seemed to be around in the late 90s and early 2000s.

I think the Dark Souls games may have taken up that mantle, despite being third-person. Though recently, there have been a few Heretic/Hexen inspired titles, like this year's Graven.

There's a few others that are forgotten like Ziggurat (more roguelike and boxy) and Wickland (tried to be competitive, had a lot of hype to appeal the competitive crowd, but waned after release very quickly). Heck, Xbox action RPG Enclave was originally going to be one of these fantasy FPS games so one could maybe mark the decline starting around 2001.

I wanted to like Graven (some friends worked on it) but I feel there wasn't enough QA and more 'yes i love boomer shooter thank u fresch 3d realms god of New 3dFx VooDoo 2 Games' for testing feedback. I don't think my big textfile of early critiques/criticisms/softlocks made it through.

leileilol wrote on 2024-09-24, 00:46:

I wanted to like Graven (some friends worked on it) but I feel there wasn't enough QA and more 'yes i love boomer shooter thank u fresch 3d realms god of New 3dFx VooDoo 2 Games' for testing feedback. I don't think my big textfile of early critiques/criticisms/softlocks made it through.

Heh, reminds me, relative wrote some YA fiction stuff, gave me manuscript to give "a good look at" so I went to town, every missed punctuation, misspelling, awkward piece of grammar, did 5 pages of notes on all that... she looks disheartened when she gets it back... sayyyys she fixed it, is shopping it around publishers for months, finally gets a bite at a small one, editor goes through it and gives her about the same 5 pages of corrections I did 🤣

I played through Myst: Masterpiece Edition live on Twitch yesterday; was rather odd to find out I could play this via ScummVM and sure enough when I downloaded the "offline installer" through GOG, the installer just bundles the DATs and QTW directory with ScummVM in exactly the same setup the ScummVM wiki tells you to do.

I was able to get through the entire game with only minor glitches and discrepancies from the real EXE. Wish I had the original 2000 release of realMyst going on here but its delisted status makes it hard for me to re-obtain again.

leileilol wrote on 2024-09-24, 00:46:

I wanted to like Graven (some friends worked on it) but I feel there wasn't enough QA and more 'yes i love boomer shooter thank u fresch 3d realms god of New 3dFx VooDoo 2 Games' for testing feedback. I don't think my big textfile of early critiques/criticisms/softlocks made it through.

I always find it funny when people say that they wanted to like a game. Isn't that why we play games in the first place? (-:

Finished the Elden Ring DLC.

Victory in that last boss fight felt a bit anti-climatic considering I came within a single hit of beating it on the first try (screenshot below).

The final DLC fight is supposed to be the hardest boss fight in the game and one of the hardest in the entire Soulsborne series. Even with the latest patch it was definitely the hardest fight in the game for me. To the come *that* close to going 1-0 in that fight and missing it... it still kinda stings.

Only took another 40 tries to get it. 😒

Well, I installed Nox and gave it an honest shot, but for whatever reason it's utterly failing to grab me. I may try again, we'll see.

I started playing Mechwarrior 5 again. I keep trying it, because I'm a long time Mechwarrior fan, and bouncing off because it's just so half baked. When it first came out radar was fucking bullshit, and was effectively only line of sight. Plus, they regularly spawned enemies out of nowhere anywhere you didn't have radar coverage... including 10 feed behind you. Drove me up a god damned wall stomping along to my objective, constantly having to turn around and shoot tanks that randomly spawned directly where I had just traversed, just because radar was such bullshit.

I don't know how much of that the developer changed, and how much the Better Spawns 2.2 mod changed, but it's great now. Generally things don't spawn directly behind me, they get dropped off about 500m away with a dropship I can clearly see, and I've found the play experience far less frustrating.

I also play on a 32:9 monitor, which was also pretty fucked. Thankfully there is a 32:9 UI mod which has been essential, which keeps all the UI elements where they should be. The game also defaults to using Vert- scaling, which sucks. I'm going back and forth between using Hor+ in the Unreal Engine config files, and using a mod called In The Pit. They both have trade offs, but I think I'm leaning towards just relying on Hor+.

They've also added all kinds of stuff since I last tried the campaign. Cantinas with side quest that reward mech upgrades, other mercenary companies with fields of influence that might drop into your missions to assist or oppose you. Way more than the standard 3015 weapon variety from Battletech.

I wish there was a comprehensive changelog somewhere, but oh well. I'm not sure everything they changed, but I can confidently say, at least after several nights of playing, that it's finally good now. I'm enjoying it every bit as much as I enjoyed Mechwarrior 2-4.

Namrok wrote on 2024-09-27, 13:54:

Well, I installed Nox and gave it an honest shot, but for whatever reason it's utterly failing to grab me. I may try again, we'll see.

i played Nox all the way through once, and that's enough. I liked it, the early maps/stages especially - but soon enough it becomes a complete and relentless battle fest through repetitive areas, it was a bit disappointing. I don't think i could play through as a different class or with a different approach as i sensed you'd get corralled into the same relentless stages anyway. Might have just been me though, others may have found better ways to play

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-09-25, 16:36:

leileilol wrote on 2024-09-24, 00:46:

I wanted to like Graven (some friends worked on it) but I feel there wasn't enough QA and more 'yes i love boomer shooter thank u fresch 3d realms god of New 3dFx VooDoo 2 Games' for testing feedback. I don't think my big textfile of early critiques/criticisms/softlocks made it through.

I always find it funny when people say that they wanted to like a game. Isn't that why we play games in the first place? (-:

I think it (like many phrases) can be overused. But here is one legit use case:
I am a huge fan of DOS RPGs. If you check this thread over the past 8.5 years, you will see I've completed 19 DOS RPGs in that timeframe. There aren't a lot of decent RPGs left for MS-DOS and I woe the day that I've beaten "the last one". So when I start one, I'm desperate to like it, knowing it will extend my hobby just a bit further. Unfortunately, there have been several I DNF because I just could not get into it for one reason or another. I really, truly, really wanted to like those games! 😉

Those games, if you're curious:
Eye of the Beholder I
Fallout (barely a DOS game)
Martian Dreams
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Betrayal at Krondor
Albion

I think if I wait long enough and try again, I can potentially get into Dark Sun and EOB. But the others, I'm confident no amount of retries will get me into them. I really want to like them, though. 🤣.

clueless1 wrote on 2024-09-28, 10:19:

I think it (like many phrases) can be overused. But here is one legit use case: I am a huge fan of DOS RPGs. If you check this […]
Show full quote

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-09-25, 16:36:

leileilol wrote on 2024-09-24, 00:46:

I wanted to like Graven (some friends worked on it) but I feel there wasn't enough QA and more 'yes i love boomer shooter thank u fresch 3d realms god of New 3dFx VooDoo 2 Games' for testing feedback. I don't think my big textfile of early critiques/criticisms/softlocks made it through.

I always find it funny when people say that they wanted to like a game. Isn't that why we play games in the first place? (-:

I think it (like many phrases) can be overused. But here is one legit use case:
I am a huge fan of DOS RPGs. If you check this thread over the past 8.5 years, you will see I've completed 19 DOS RPGs in that timeframe. There aren't a lot of decent RPGs left for MS-DOS and I woe the day that I've beaten "the last one". So when I start one, I'm desperate to like it, knowing it will extend my hobby just a bit further. Unfortunately, there have been several I DNF because I just could not get into it for one reason or another. I really, truly, really wanted to like those games! 😉

Those games, if you're curious:
Eye of the Beholder I
Fallout (barely a DOS game)
Martian Dreams
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Betrayal at Krondor
Albion

I think if I wait long enough and try again, I can potentially get into Dark Sun and EOB. But the others, I'm confident no amount of retries will get me into them. I really want to like them, though. 🤣.

I'm just being a pedantic nerd (-:

When people say that they really wanted to like a game, I think they mean they were disappointed because it looked like something they would love, but that didn't end up being the case. Apart from a few YouTubers who seek out bad games on purpose, most people play games because they want to like them. You wouldn't buy a game of you didn't want to like it.

Lately I've been playing with old hardware again,so today I decided that I would finally get round to playing Diablo 2. Turns out my main saves are from 2007, then I had a brief stint in 2011, and an even briefer go in 2013. Today.... I'm not sure, I think it has aged too much, and I am not sure I have the patience any more, sadly.

So I tried Redline Racer, turned all the graphics settings up because it's on a Voodoo 5 after all, ran a few laps and got motion sickness that is still with me hours later.

So I tried Deimos Rising, but couldn't concentrate for long, and made the mistake of clicking Registration which told me "your system is too old, upgrade Windows" or some such tosh.

Finally I tried Planescape Torment, which I loved but again - don't think I have the focus for so I ended up faffing about with AA settings to see if they would make a difference - they don't, but I managed to BSOD the system and now something sounds like a fan or something is borked in some way.

What a day.

Started playing Hero's Quest (aka Quest for Glory I).

This was one of my favorite Sierra games growing up, but I haven't played it in probably 20 years.

One thing I didn't remember is how hard the combat apparently is. Had a couple fights and died brutally fast each time. How did I ever beat this game when I was 12?

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-30, 00:37:

Started playing Hero's Quest (aka Quest for Glory I).

This was one of my favorite Sierra games growing up, but I haven't played it in probably 20 years.

One thing I didn't remember is how hard the combat apparently is. Had a couple fights and died brutally fast each time. How did I ever beat this game when I was 12?

I remember playing it when I was 9. I don’t remember being able to finish it. Such good memories. The fighting was brutal. Out of all the Sierra games, the Hero’s Quest/Quest for Glory are my favorite. Which sound device are you using to play the game? I never did find out why they renamed the game to Quest for Glory. I should Google it one day 🤣.

I found this in a computer store many years after.

Started replaying Half-Life 2. Of course, I have the game on Steam, but I decided to replay it in its original form using the Collector's Edition under WinXP. That version of the game still installs Steam, but it doesn't require an internet connection to run, so it's retro friendly. Once installed, it works fine on a fully offline WinXP system. No third-party utilities or DRM removal tools are needed.

I remember being extremely impressed by the graphics of HL2 back in the day, and they hold up nicely even now. The game still looks pretty good when running fully maxed at 1920x1200. On that note, using 8xSGSSAA (forced via Nvidia Profile Inspector) looks noticeably better than the built-in AA of the Collector's Edition, especially with transparent objects like the chain-link fence in the starting area. Using the built-in AA, the fence shimmers as you approach it, but with SGSSAA, the shimmer effect is almost entirely gone. The current Steam version has a better built-in AA implementation, and the fence doesn't shimmer as much when using that, but SGSSAA is still superior.

From what I can tell, Half-Life 2 doesn't use EAX, just DirectSound3D via the Miles Sound System. But even so, the soundstage is excellent, and positional audio on my 5.1 speakers is very precise. Out of curiosity, I compared this to the current Steam version running under Win7. Positional audio still works there, but it's not quite as accurate as in the Collector's Edition on WinXP, at least to my ears. Also, the Administrator's welcome speech has a nice, natural sounding echo under WinXP. This effect seems to be somewhat toned down in the current Steam version.

In terms of gameplay, I recall not liking Half-Life 2 quite as much as its predecessor back then. Don't remember a whole lot about the game, since I haven't played it in years, so we'll see if it suits me better now.

zuldan wrote on 2024-09-30, 08:35:

I remember playing it when I was 9. I don’t remember being able to finish it. Such good memories. The fighting was brutal. Out of all the Sierra games, the Hero’s Quest/Quest for Glory are my favorite. Which sound device are you using to play the game? I never did find out why they renamed the game to Quest for Glory. I should Google it one day 🤣.

I found this in a computer store many years after.

The attachment 01FA280D-CD95-450B-B629-96D445895374.jpeg is no longer available

Nice, the anthology is great to have!

I'm currently using an MT-32. Back in the day we just had PC speaker. The MT-32 adds some nice ambient effects on some of the screens, in addition to much better music.

They changed the name because of a dispute with Milton Bradley over the board game, HeroQuest. I don't know if there was ever a lawsuit, but whatever happened it was enough to make Sierra change the name of the series.

The game will always be "Hero's Quest" to me and it was how I remember first playing it. I managed to get a copy of the original box a few years back. It's one of my favorite pieces of my game collection.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-30, 13:54:

Nice, the anthology is great to have! […]
Show full quote

Nice, the anthology is great to have!

I'm currently using an MT-32. Back in the day we just had PC speaker. The MT-32 adds some nice ambient effects on some of the screens, in addition to much better music.

They changed the name because of a dispute with Milton Bradley over the board game, HeroQuest. I don't know if there was ever a lawsuit, but whatever happened it was enough to make Sierra change the name of the series.

The game will always be "Hero's Quest" to me and it was how I remember first playing it. I managed to get a copy of the original box a few years back. It's one of my favorite pieces of my game collection.

Wow the original box. Very nice to have! I’ve been on the look out for one but don’t want to spend the big bucks they are going for for. Very lucky.

MT-32! Brilliant. Yeah PC speaker for me as well up until 1994. Getting into midi now and it’s the best thing ever.

Thanks for the explanation. Such a shame. Whenever you hear Ken and Roberta talk about their games they don’t seem to talk much about this series. I wonder if it’s because they hate the fact they had to change the name.