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Sceptic

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Divinity: Original Sin
Admittedly, d2 = better level design might have been just me shooting from the hip. I played both back in the day and remember liking 2’s levels better overall. It’s hard to imagine it having as many pressure tiles and random switches as D1 E2, but we’re talking 13-14 years ago here, so my memory is quite hazy.
Boy you're in for a surprise :P
I have a hunch you'll feel differently about Doom 2 were you to replay it now.

Speaking of memory, I remember Heretic feeling a lot mire open as well, but I only ever played the shareware version.
I think Heretic's levels are closer to E2 or E3 in design, and while I like them and find some very memorable, I think Doom's are still superior. DraQ will also tell you that Heretic is too candy coloured for a person of good taste :P

I'm merely mentioning that looking at the game now, the areas that I had fun the most were EP1 and some more open areas of EP3. EP2 had some levels that were fun, but ultimately spoiled for me due to maze-like qualities, which I've never really enjoyed tbh.
I think some of E1 had some mazey bits too, maybe they were smaller and more self-contained and that's why you didn't mind them as much.

Sandy definitely used the engine in more creative ways than romero did in his EP1 levels. But I just found EP1 to be overlal "elegant" in its design. I feel if Romero were to have started using more teleporters and other innovations that Sandy used, he likely would have toned it down a bit and produced a better flow. But who knows. That's an impossible experiment to run.
Oh I agree, "elegant" is the word I remember seeing used way back then about E1, there's no better description. As for Romero and pushing the engine, he actually did that with Doom 2, and as a result it's harder to tell whose level is whose. That said, one of his levels (and a pretty good one) is literally called "Gotcha!", so you can see where Roxor and I are coming from :P

Incidentally some of the TeamTNT megawads are even more gimmicky than anything id made.

I wonder now, reading all this, what you'll think of Hexen levels... you'll either hate them for the switch hunts, or love them for having everything be interconnected.

Regardless, I just feel like EP1 flows better overall. While I find Sandy' levels too large and oftentime stop the action for puzzles, that while not supremely difficult, break up the action enough that it interferes with the fun factor.
Yeah I actually like that and think it improves the pacing. Nonstop shoot em all would get tiresome after a while (I remember feeling this when playing Wolf3D), the occasional breaks, looking at this inaccessible key or weapon and wondering just how the hell I'm supposed to get to it, has always been something I like about the "old-school" FPS design. It's like listening to music or watching a movie, you need the slower and softer sections to build up into the more gripping ones, and you need the gripping ones to appreciate the slow parts as well. To me that's good pacing (provided neither section drags on too long of course, but I find they don't in Doom).
 

DraQ

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Chrząszczyżewoszyce, powiat Łękołody
What the hell is this fake news.

I replayed Doom 1 & 2 very recently, and I played both with the original controls, i.e. without any mouse, just arrows + ctrl to shoop + alt to strafe, and it works as well as it did 20 years ago.
KB+M is the birthright of the PC master race. :obviously:
Even if you disable vertical mlook and generally play Doom as it was designed, horizontal mlook with simultaneous strafing just doesn't compare. And it's how real pros played Doom even back in the day.
The double-barrel that makes almost all other guns obsolete?
SSG was very niche in D2 as it required effectively melee range to hit with at least half of its pellets, reloaded slowly and didn't add much 1hk capability over normal SG (just pinkies). Yeah, it made pinkies a joke, big deal.
I still ran around with ordinary SG 90% of the time in D2.

You need something like Guncaster's 'Ironblast' to render ordinary SG obsolete, but then you are going to face ammo issues, so still not really.

I think Heretic's levels are closer to E2 or E3 in design, and while I like them and find some very memorable, I think Doom's are still superior. DraQ will also tell you that Heretic is too candy coloured for a person of good taste :P
My main beef with Heretic is that it lacks proper fantasy feel. Most of the time it's just Doom with swapped weapons, monsters and wall textures.

Hexen does so much better job at that.
 

Valky

Arcane
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Trapped in a bioform
Is this game mocking me?
Ata2THl.png
 
Joined
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SSG was very niche in D2 as it required effectively melee range to hit with at least half of its pellets, reloaded slowly and didn't add much 1hk capability over normal SG (just pinkies). Yeah, it made pinkies a joke, big deal.
I still ran around with ordinary SG 90% of the time in D2.

Wat.

It does almost 3x the damage (roughly the same as a rocket) for about a -33% ROF penalty. SSG will hit mid-sized targets (Barons, Manucubi, etc) with 80% of its power at mid range. It's way better for 1-hitting chaingunners (if you don't know this then RIP playing Plutonia), along with lost souls. It's your only hope of stunning an Archvile. Regular shotgun doesn't even guarantee 1-hitting Imps, with SSG you can always kill 2 in a line and sometimes 3. Revenants die in 2 shots compared to 5 from a shotgun. Pretty much the only thing the SSG isn't great at is firing at enemies at different elevations, where the vertical inaccuracy leads to half the firepower hitting scenery.

Did you only play Doom 2 on I'm Too Young to Die? You surely weren't playing any more difficult WADs.

An issue with Doom 2 and many later WADs is that in Doom 1 the chaingun was essentially the superior weapon to the shotgun with the downside of having far less ammo. In Doom 2 this is flipped, the SSG now dominates the Chaingun for the position of bread-and-butter weapon, yet most maps still provide far less bullets than they do shells. It's very common in Doom 2 to use the SSG all the time and still have 100/100 ammo constantly thanks to how ammo efficient it is vs. the amount that shell boxes provide. A box of bullets provides 500 damage. A box of shells? 4,000!
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
Back in FNV, Honest Hearts was boring but Dead Money is still the best IMO...

NTfTgdC.jpg


Although the beep beep beep boom thing was starting to frustrate me.
Managed to power through and got 5 gold bars out of the vault.
 

RRRrrr

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
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I wanted to share an observation, hope it is not too off-topic. Am I the only one to realize that I played games completely "wrong" for a really long time, especially when I was younger and didn't know much English? Back in the day, age 7-8 to 14-15, I spent a lot of time playing, but I never had any manuals or any access to information how tactics and balance works. For example, I spent countless hours playing Starcraft 1 back in the day and only recently found out that the game actually has different types of damage (normal, concussive, explosive), which deal different damage to units depending on their size. I never effectively countered any units and I preferred to just watch cool actions and have battles as big as possible.

With Terran, I only made marines and tanks, with Protoss, I only made dragoons and carriers, and with Zerg, I only ever made hidralisks and zerglings, with occasional Guardians. Had I known about the different counters, I would have had a much more interesting time tactics-wise.

Same goes for Age of Empires 2. I never knew the game had different types of damage and different counters. I only made the units I like visually and recently found out about this when I wanted to play out of nostalgia and read a little about the game. I never considered the importance of economy, that you had to create a constant stream of units and micromanage them a little when possible. Or the importance of scouting your enemies. All I did was infantry (champions) and trebuchets.

Same goes for a number of other games, like the Total War series (where I only knew counters to cavalry), as well as Warcraft 3. And I played those extensively back then.

Gaming is so horrible without Internet, manuals and knowledge of English.
 

Mark Richard

Arcane
Joined
Mar 14, 2016
Messages
1,192
I needed to kill time waiting for the Battle Brothers expansion and landed on Hand of Fate, otherwise known as The Seventh Seal Part 2. The dealer speaks like an old friend, but also acts as an obstacle to overcome. Does he want your soul? Is he a guide to the afterlife? Even if you could ask him, the answer would probably be cryptic and open to interpretation. One thing's for sure - the dealer is key to this intimate predicament. If the writing wasn't precise, if the voice actor didn't knock it out of the park, Hand of Fate would be lifeless and forgettable. So much was riding on this one character, and they nailed it.
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
epLjYlz.jpg


*ethical screeching in the background*

Hm. Fun discovery today. I picked up a laser rifle off a dead Fiend and switched to it because my .45 ammo is getting low.
And wow. This baby has zero recoils, instant hit projectile and great rate of fire. It's also capable of firing max charged micro fusion cell that lowers DT by 10. Maybe the Fiends are very lightly armored, but it sure felt a hell lot better than the slow plasma bolts. Might buy some weapon mods and try it out some more.
 

ortucis

Prophet
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
2,015
Hm. Fun discovery today. I picked up a laser rifle off a dead Fiend and switched to it because my .45 ammo is getting low.
And wow. This baby has zero recoils, instant hit projectile and great rate of fire. It's also capable of firing max charged micro fusion cell that lowers DT by 10.

We already know that Fallout 3/NV has terrible combat, no need to go into details.
 

Baron Dupek

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,870,765
C&C Renegade is neat FPS with cool soundtrack but goddamit these escort missions are awful. Got some doc with supersuit, you think he's more resistant? I guess, he somehow survived running into open fields getting shots to the face from surrounding enemies, multiple times. Died once racing with my rocket, stupid egghead.

edit
jfc that final mission
respawning enemies... I'm lovin it. You open the door and get blasted by rocket launcher goons, tiberium mutants and flame/toxic spray boys who makes great addition in close combat with their explosive suits.
And I have to find 3 keycards, found two and still can't open these fucking doors.
I get some sleep and try again tomorrow.
edit: beat the game, surprised there was no betrayal and squad didn't died in setup like in other games. I'm cool with that.
 
Last edited:

FreshCorpse

Arbiter
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Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
I played Thief Gold tonight for the first time which I bought for about 69p off steam this morning.

I'd never seen it when it came out but it was a fixture for my wife's family. Apparently they all crowded around the new family PC and slowly, slowly, over a period of months, mum and the daughters made it through the first proper level. I think the game was probably made harder for them by the fact that it was in English and they probably didn't speak much English at that time. Jesus Christ it's good. We had a blast playing through the first level and past the (dreaded) zombie to the prison.

I can't believe how well it's held up (I installed TFix and some sound improvement mod). There's a real sense of navigating the level using the map and compass and the guards don't overwhelm you (at least not in the first couple of levels). Additionally, the interiors of the buildings actually make a kind of coherent sense. Lord Bafford's Manor actually resembles a mansion and doesn't have the "gamey" navigation of random, unpredictable and disconnected parts of a whole level. Anyway, really impressed.
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
ZaJq5Ya.jpg


Well, what do you expect when the game continue to spam Robot Scorpions over and over again?
Tried going Lonesome Road - man this is the most tiresome DLC with the constant ragging from Uly. STOP FUCKING LECTURING ME ASSHOLE.
 

ortucis

Prophet
Joined
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Messages
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ZaJq5Ya.jpg


Well, what do you expect when the game continue to spam Robot Scorpions over and over again?
Tried going Lonesome Road - man this is the most tiresome DLC with the constant ragging from Uly. STOP FUCKING LECTURING ME ASSHOLE.


You've failed Mojave. New Vegas 2 imports your old game save and continues fro- OH WAIT, FALLOUT 76!!!
 

Abelian

Somebody's Alt
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
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C&C Renegade is neat FPS with cool soundtrack but goddamit these escort missions are awful. Got some doc with supersuit, you think he's more resistant? I guess, he somehow survived running into open fields getting shots to the face from surrounding enemies, multiple times. Died once in the race with my rocket, stupid suit.
As a fan of the C&C series, I enjoyed Renegade a lot, especially the ability to control vehicles (particularly the Mammoth tank).

Another annoying feature of several campaign missions is clearing out the Nod barracks, which are much larger than the ones in the skirmish scenarios, though I guess it makes it more realistic to have bunks, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. The barracks' layouts are identical, so it makes it a very wash, rinse, repeat process.

As you said, I enjoyed the soundtrack (but then again, Frank Klepacki is one of my favorite video game composers). I also had fun with the weapon variety.
 

Red Rogue

Learned
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The Squat Rack
ZaJq5Ya.jpg


Well, what do you expect when the game continue to spam Robot Scorpions over and over again?
Tried going Lonesome Road - man this is the most tiresome DLC with the constant ragging from Uly. STOP FUCKING LECTURING ME ASSHOLE.
THE BEAR.

THE BULL.

Sent from my SM-J727P using Tapatalk
 
Joined
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Another annoying feature of several campaign missions is clearing out the Nod barracks, which are much larger than the ones in the skirmish scenarios, though I guess it makes it more realistic to have bunks, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. The barracks' layouts are identical, so it makes it a very wash, rinse, repeat process.

I actually rather liked this. It makes you an expert at destroying things like the Hand of Nod, which feels very in-character. Know the architecture, know where to watch for enemies, get in, destroy it, get out quickly. Feel like a badass. The structures aren't terribly long and they are one max per mission, it's not like you need to blow up a dozen of the same building in a row.

Fuck waiting on elevators though.
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Additionally, the interiors of the buildings actually make a kind of coherent sense. Lord Bafford's Manor actually resembles a mansion and doesn't have the "gamey" navigation of random, unpredictable and disconnected parts of a whole level. Anyway, really impressed.

One question: Do you think Lord Bafford's Manor might be somewhat oversized, compared to other buildings in The City in general?

I'm not expecting you to answer right away, it would be better if you could get to play a few more levels first... the fourth one in particular, to name an example.
 

mastroego

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Apr 10, 2013
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10,250
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Italy
I'm trying the Early Access (I know, I know!!!) of The Lord of the Rings - Living Card Game.

I liked the idea that unlike what happens with every other card game I know about, you will be able to know what you pay for.
Also, great art and voice acting.
Just went through the tutorial.
Looks nice so far.
 

Bocian

Arcane
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
1,912
One question: Do you think Lord Bafford's Manor might be somewhat oversized, compared to other buildings in The City in general?

I'm not expecting you to answer right away, it would be better if you could get to play a few more levels first... the fourth one in particular, to name an example.
http://thief.wikia.com/wiki/OM_T1_Assassins
Ramirez's Mansion was originally much larger, but had to be trimmed down to fit the memory footprint. Ref: RPS chat with Greg LoPiccolo. RPS 35:15
 

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