Early Hours seems like the place for this thread I think...

What are you playing?

Right now, I'm finally finishing up Starcraft (yeah, I know). Rayman 2 is an impressive as many have claimed. Civ2 is still calling me. And I picked up Spider Man for the Dreamcast*.

-Andrew
*The finest console available today.

"What are you playing?"

AOE2, Wheel Of Time, and I will be reinstalling StarCraft yet again for some more 3:00am sessions.

I will also be getting back in to Enemy Engaged - Comanche vs Hokum, Combat Mission, and Steel Beasts.

I think I have burnt myself out on B&W. I will return to it when Lionhead releases some add-ons, etc.

World War II Online mostly...

Then its Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, Test Drive: Le Mans (Dreamcast), Hydro Thunder (DC), Jet Grind Radio (DC), Soul Calibur (DC), Civ II: MP Gold, Shogun: Total War and just about anything multiplayer that I get asked to play.

Tropico will probably steal a lot of time from some of that stuff by tomorrow/Wed. when it comes in at the EB.

--Dave

Played B&W just enough to get to the vortex in level 1, haven't played it since.
Starships Unlimited, Freespace II (for the 3rd time). Plus Earth 2025 web game (games.swirve.com).

Taking some gaming time off to read the third book in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series.

Left to finish:

Summoner-(almost to the end but the game has kind of ground to a halt; plan to finish eventually)

Icewind Dale- (In Chapter 3, got burned out on fighting horde after horde of enemies)

Next to play: Tropico! (Gonna finish my book first though)

Planescape: Torment (finally)

Baldur's Gate 2. I started in December. I'm in
Chapter 5 now. I figure at the rate I'm going I'll
finish the damned thing when Neverwinter Nights is
in the bargain bins.

Been playing Tropico and Kohan off and on. I haven't really been playing games that much lately, though. The weather's started to get nice and lots of family stuff is cropping up, so I've been busy with other stuff. Plus, I just have this kinda itch to delve into something DIFFERENT. I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

Hey Dave, how's the Dreamcast Spidey game? I heard it was great for the PSX, I might pick up the DC version. I didn't know it was out yet. I doubt it's the missing magic game to scratch my itch (I don't have that...FEELING or whatever) but I'd like to check it out nonetheless.

Ah, who am I kidding. I can't afford to buy any games right now. =(

For me, it's been a weird mix; I mean, I've been all over the place. Earlier in the month, it was Black & White. Two weekends ago, I picked up the C&C:TS campaign I'd left rotting for over a year, and advanced the GDI campaign to the penultimate mission. Then some Kohan with friends, some Red Alert 2 on the home LAN, a little Civ2:TOT, a little NASCAR Racing 4, Fallout Tactics...

This evening, I picked up Jet Grind Radio. THANKS, DAVE--NOW I'LL NEVER GET ANY WORK DONE THIS WEEK. This game is like crack; I can see Tropico going onto the pile and languishing unplayed.

;-)

Jason Cross erroneously remarked:

"Hey Dave, how's the Dreamcast Spidey game?"

You mean "Hey Andrew" (or "Hey Bub"),
It's really pretty darn good. It's very loving toward the license and the game is quite inventive. I don't really like the combat controls but the web swinging is aces.

I'd recommend it if you're a Spidey fan. The fact it uses the 70's cartoon's theme song is worth the price.

Andrew "Is he strong? Listen Bud, he's got radioactive blood"

Okay, I know that I'm way behind everyone else, but I'm mostly just playing Baldur's Gate, if it's just me. If friends are over, it's Warcraft 2. Occasionally Red Alert 2. I often get back into Caesar 3, or Zeus, depending on my mood. And, when I'm not in the mood for any of those, I try Rollercoaster Tycoon or the Sims.

I guess I play a little bit of everything.

Soon I'll be picking up BG2, and I'll start it about the time I finish BG, which should be soon.

The core playlist is currently:
Day of Defeat
NOLF Multiplayer (Hey Monolith! More maps, more maps!)
Serious Sam
MDK2
Solar Wars (the tame version of Dope Wars on the Palm, but I find SW closer to Taipan & prefer it)

With occasional blips of:
Combat Mission
Sacrifice
Homeworld Cataclysm
EAW
X-Wing Alliance
D2
Need For Speed: High Stakes (Hot Pursuit mode, of course).

I'm going to need a copy of Spiderman, it seems. I just got a copy of Mr. Driller through Half.com, but haven't fired it up. I need a few more games to complete my list of desired DC games, and Jet Grind Radio is one of them.

I've been through BG and BG2, and am now waiting for Throne of Bhaal. I wish I had more time for gaming!

Playing Summoner and Evil Islands...switching off between the two, and sometimes a few games on HH2002. want to play B & W again after the patch comes out....

I suddenly have been picking up PSO again (Phantasy Star Online...), it really needs a sequel to blow away all console rpgs!

btw, VGA Box + PSO + 19" monitor = BEST RPG GRAPHICS!

etc

Well, my last two games were

X-Com: Enforcer -- 6 hours start to finish. Roughly the same play value as Star Trek: Elite Force, but unlike that game, this one is actually FUN-- and about $20 cheaper. If you liked the "back to the basics" focus of Serious Sam, you will like X-Com: Enforcer. I especially enjoyed the many tips of the hat the game gives to Smash TV. Once, and only once, the scientist announcer intones "Good luck! You'll NEED it!" at the start of a level. I cracked up. Proving yet again the universal axiom: blowing shit up is fun. The more shit to blow up, the more fun there is.

Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns -- Why is the campaign so ridiculously easy (I played on "medium")? I think I spent 8 hours on this. The game has such solid, well-designed strategy foundations, yet it squanders all that on a stupid ass dungeon crawl of a single player campaign. Hmm, the last game I played like that was Ground Control, which Tom LOVED!

Even more annoying is the way my strategy in the single player campaign amounted to "build a lot more troops than the other guy and overwhelm him with sheer numbers." I was able to get away with this consistently. At the end it became a bit more difficult since the computer started with so many more resources than I did. Sure, I toyed with strategy, but it's the same old story-- taking time to micromanage means your opponent is out-building you.

I really, REALLY think that RTS games need to stop with the building. Including building means it's always going to come down to overwhelming numbers. At least with a fixed number of troops, you are on equal footing and the strategy really matters.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"Freespace II (for the 3rd time)."

Good call.. Freespace II is an astonishingly good game. I was just in awe of that campaign. Truly the pinnacle of space combat games to date; I'm not sure how anyone could outdo this one.

I-War 2 is looking good, but it's more of a Privateer/Elite thing, right? Not just combat.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

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Quote:

I really, REALLY think that RTS games need to stop with the building. Including building means it's always going to come down to overwhelming numbers. At least with a fixed number of troops, you are on equal footing and the strategy really matters.

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"And I'd argue that it doesn't defeat the strategy aspect of the game to build buildings"

The problem isn't the buildings per se, it's production. I've played a ton of RTS games, and in every single one, whoever produces the most wins. Barring total incompetence on the part of the player, of course.

It's always better to take time you would spend micromanaging strategy, and micromanage production instead. I remember reading a quote recently about the best Starcraft players in the world-- supposedly they never actually fight battles, they just direct troops using the minimap while focusing on production. This is 100% consistent with my experience.

The strategic lesson this teaches is probably valid; in the long run, if you outproduce someone, you will win. Nothing beats overwhelming numbers. So the most "realistic" war sim would be an economic one, not a combat one. :( Realistic indeed, but not nearly as much fun as BLOWING SHIT UP.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Well, I don't argue with that, but I don't think that's wrong. Whoever has the most resources likely should win. I grant you that perhaps it's not as strategic as just throwing a bunch of units on to the field and hitting it head-to-head -- which should be an option in any RTS -- but is seems so necessary. If you have the ability to control your enemy's production, then you can control your enemy. Isn't that what war is all about. And, if you play your cards right, you still get to blow stuff up. (I submit exhibit A - Tanya.)

I have been playing in the last two weeks:

-- Counter-Strike (I just keep coming back to it)
-- I-War2 multiplayer beta (fun against the bots, it is going to be a pretty pretty game)
-- NHL 2001
-- SFC2 skirmish mode
-- Black and White (I am waiting on a patch to move past land 3)
-- FOT (just got the patch need to find the time to play a full mission)
-- Serious Sam (in the midst of Co-op with my kid, need to finish it up)
-- Syndicate (still fun after all this time)
-- LOMM multi-demo (laggy, not terribly fun)
-- Sin (stuck at a stealth mission that is really annoying, may not finish this one, but hey it was 5 dollars)
-- Sacrifice (trying to finish my 3rd time through)
-- CyberBall 2027 (via MAME)

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Quote:

I-War 2 is looking good, but it's more of a Privateer/Elite thing, right? Not just combat.

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wumpus: The strategic lesson this teaches is probably valid; in the long run, if you
outproduce someone, you will win. Nothing beats overwhelming numbers. So the most "realistic" war sim would be an economic one, not a combat one. :( Realistic indeed, but not nearly as much fun as BLOWING SHIT UP.

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What I'm playing now:

Black and White. I'm most of the way through the second land. The novelty of it is starting to wear off. I'm definitely not addicted to it anymore. I.e. it's not interfering with getting schoolwork done, but I'm still playing it. I don't feel like a god so much as a caretaker... Learning the lightning miracle changed that for a little while tho.

My wife just picked up Baldur's Gate for $20 at Best Buy in order to try something different. (Up till now, she's only been into card games, puzzle games and city/civilization building). She's hooked, and while I'm not big into games in a fantasy setting and I didn't like BG much when I tried it when it came out, watching her playu makes me want to give it a second chance. A friend recommended playing it multiplayer with her, which is easy since we have a home LAN.

Is Freespace 2 as good as some of you guys make it sound? Space combat sims are one of my major favorite types of game, and I've been missing them. I was heartbroken when the Babylon 5 game was cancelled. The most recent one I've played was Tachyon, which was a pretty good game. I-War 2 looks pretty cool, though I missed the first one.

"Is Freespace 2 as good as some of you guys make it sound? Space combat sims are one of my major favorite types of game, and I've been missing them. "

OMG, dude! First, slap yourself for having to ask this question in the first place. Now run out and get a copy! Scoot! Go!

I went ahead and unlocked all the rest of the weapons in X-Com: Enforcer. You collect "data points" and the research item powerups are hidden in each level. Not a bad way to dig up some replayability. This is really not a challenging game. Having a fully upgraded nuke and launching it point blank just to shatter a glass window that's in your way.. ahh, the sheer excess of it all.

It is very much like Serious Sam, but SS is actually pretty difficult on a similar skill level. I had a lot of trouble with the ending.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

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Quote:

Is Freespace 2 as good as some of you guys make it sound? Space combat sims are one of my major favorite types of game, and I've been missing them. The most recent one I've played was Tachyon, which was a pretty good game.

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Still trying to think/fight my way through a seemingly impassable level (Messhall Complex) deep in Alien Resurrection.

FreeSpace 2 is amazing. No other space sim has the sense of scale that FS2 does (other than maybe FS to some extent). That alone is worth the price of admission. It is THE space combat game IMO.

Freespace 2 is amazing. I should probably go back and finish it. My joystick stopped working when I upgraded my processor, and I never got around to fixing it. (Probably a bus speed issue.)

Last month I was playing BG2 again. (I lost my old saved games, and I want new ones before the expansion comes out.) I also spent some time on the Sims before B&W came along. Of course, I recently burned out on B&W and have switched over to playing NOLF. Warlords Battlecry is next on my to-be-played list.

- Alan

Hehe, I'm playing...Fallout. Not Fallout Tactics, not Fallout 2, but the original. Again. Why? It's fun, that's why! :-) I plan to play Fallout 2 next, as well.

I had been playing Kohan, but the campaign is a snooze, though the game itself is very good--the random maps are much better than the campaign. I rather OD'd on it though for now.

I always have a game or two of Combat Mission going as well.

Tropico? I just installed it last night. Looks very nice, but I usually don't do a great job with builder games, so I dunno.

Want to play BGII but by now I'm waiting for the expansion I think.

I'm so jealous of all you guys who got advance copies of Tropico. My wife and I (her more than me) have been waiting for that game for quite some time. You guys who are already playing it...well...suck!

Nothing wrong with replaying Fallout--I just did the same a month or two ago. Best RPG ever made for the PC, as far as I'm concerned.

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Is Freespace 2 as good as some of you guys make it sound? Space combat sims are one of my major favorite types of game, and I've been missing them. I was heartbroken when the Babylon 5 game was cancelled.

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"OMG, dude! First, slap yourself for having to ask this question in the first place. Now run out and get a copy! Scoot! Go!"

and

"Ummm, Freespace 2 takes Tachyon throws it down on the ground and jumps up and down all over it."

etc.

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The Capital Ships in Freespace 2 will floor you. I know I had to pick my jaw up more than a few times throughout my time with that game. Shame it only sold like 7000 copies... :/

You guys have made it the #1 game on my list to try out with my new Sidewinder Precision 2 joystick. It also has some great voice talent as many Interplay games do.

--Dave

I have been playing stick my head in the oven after the Capitals lost their series to the Penguinss in overtime AND my mother-in-law came to stay with us a while. She is the only person I know who crashed my UNIX box just by looking at it. That is a true story

Though it isn't exactly Freespace 2, it is made by the same developers and its pretty good so far of what I've played...Summoner. It was originally supposed to be PC only...

Summoner is not a CONSOLE PS2 rpg as some would expect...its basically like a cross between Darkstone/VTM/Diablo and with a somewhat console rpg presentation (though not by much).

Summoner and Dark Islands are games I picked up by word alone and they are both good. Anybody here playing either of them?

etc

Dan, I'm a Caps fan too (I attended Game 2 of the series at MCI), but after about 18 years of playoff agony (well, there's always '98 to remember), it's hard to get THAT upset about it anymore. :) At least it looks like they'll dip into the free agent market heavily this season to try to get over the Pitt hump.

I picked up Evil Islands yesterday. It's fun, although there are many irritating things in the game so far (horrible voice acting, confounding camera controls, inability to equip or wear things while on the "battle zone", etc.). Reminds me of a better looking Darkstone, rather than something the Rage of Mages makers would do.

CompuExpert had a $24.90 special on Summoner but I think I just missed it.

Lessee, my room's also littered with games barely opened or played or not at all, including Fallout Tactics, Star Trek Away Team and Sheep. Sheep is an interesting puzzle game, but the godawful sound effects are irritating to the extreme. What is it with European gamemakers unable to make sound and voice that isn't annoying? :0

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Dan, I'm a Caps fan too (I attended Game 2 of the series at MCI), but after about 18 years of playoff agony (well, there's always '98 to remember), it's hard to get THAT upset about it anymore. :)

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Wow... I know Xaroc is a Caps fan also. You guys should get together for mourning. I'm in the same boat as my beloved Flyers made an early and ugly exit from the playoffs. Lousy Lindros...may he rot in Toronto.

At least the Sixers won the second game of their series...

--Dave

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Summoner and Dark Islands are games I picked up by word alone and they are both good. Anybody here playing either of them?

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CompuExpert brought back its $24.90 Summonr madness sale so I might give it a plunge.

I think it would be pretty dang funny if the Caps signed Jaromar Jagr as a free agent. Even if he didn't play, he'd be out of the way finally. If ya can't beat 'em, sign 'em! ;)

Between Summoner and Evil Islands...Evil islands is awesome! As I play it longer the game gets better! It almost plays like the solo missions in alot of rts games but with much more customizability... Plus the ability to make your own magic items is possibly the best thing in an rpg since Daggerfall! The magic system in EI is top notch and balanced as well! Also, this is one of the only RPG's I've ever played where the early levels are actually VERY hard. The game is challeneging throughout (tactically and character development wise...the crux of a fun rpg for me). And last but not least, the graphics in EI are some of the best in a "balders gate" style game. I find the battles in EI to be more engaging and challenging and fun than in FoT!

BTW I like the voices in Evil Islands...yes they are "amateuerish"...but they are on par with similar voice overs like Darkstone or Revenant imo. As well, the main character Zak is funny in an odd way, he almost is a "Russian" version of a console rpg hero...and he also makes aside comments to almost every NPC talking (which i never saw in an RPG), though its a small thing it adds to the "original" feeling of Evil Islands.

Nival INteractive now has a HoMM game in the works with full 3d... called Etherlords. This game might actually be the best HoMM "ripoff" to actually be better! (though i liked Age of WOnders the battles weren't as "fun" as in the HoMM games". This is a developer to watch!

BTW, I got summoner from that sale! saw it on GG and just had to pick it up...the only complaint i have with Summoner is that it isn't too customizable...and compared to other rpgs it seems short (i think im near the end of it). other than that, it has awesome graphics. Its kind of cool to compare the two, EI and Summoner, both are 3rd person rpgs, but one is influenced by RTS/RPG games (EI) and the other by console/Diablo games (Summoner).

etc

Geo and DanG, yeah I am a huge fan of the Caps. I run the [email protected] mailing list and go to quite a few games. I think Ted will make the right decisions in the offseason to turn the team around. Besides if you hadn't heard Oates was playing hurt the entire series and Bondra was hurt from game 2 on. Hard to win with your two top players out of the lineup.

Anyway, I smash the Penguins on a regular basis in NHL2001. If you want to play head to head or coop just let me know. I haven't done much with multiplayer other than with multiple people here at one machine but it is fun.

[email protected] Page

-- Xaroc

Hey, I do have the PC NHL2001 as as it turns out. :) I've heard the Internet gameplay is rather laggy unless the host has some serious bandwidth (I don't). It'd be fun to coop sometime.

I work at a newspaper in Virginia, and a real thrill recently was receiving a huge press kit about the Capitals from their PR department. There's a letter from the PR head saying "Ted Leonsis mentioned reading some of your articles about the AOL/Time Warner merger and wanted me to send you some materials about the Caps." Notwithstanding that they just want some publicity out of me, it was a real thrill. :D

Geo, I have a cable modem so I have the bandwidth (when it decides to actually function properly) to host.

Ted is a great guy. He was on my list for a few months and it was bedlam. I have had a few telephone conversations with the guy about the team etc. He is an amazing owner.

-- Xaroc