Lilura's Blog: An Ongoing Codexian Obsession

[anvi]

Is this worth trying?

 

[Lilura]

What's Lillura's take on Age of decadence?

I think it's monocled.

Is this worth trying?

It's King-tier RTwP, so yes. (Infinity Engine is mid-tier).

Have you played Swordflight, btw?

 

[biggestboss]

Too many new entries to link due to skyscrapering: https://lilura1.blogspot.com/

 

[anvi]

What's Lillura's take on Age of decadence?

I think it's monocled.

Is this worth trying?

It's King-tier RTwP, so yes. (Infinity Engine is mid-tier).

Have you played Swordflight, btw?

Thanks I am gonna give it a go. I like 1C and some of the reviews made it sound special. Swordflight is a NWN module?

 

[anvi]

Ok I'll put that on my list =)

 

[Lilura]

If I was ranking mod campaigns in my RPG rankings, I'd rank Swordflight 4th all-time.

 

[MajorMace]

Jagged Alliance II is 1st, this much we know by now.

 

[anvi]

If I was ranking mod campaigns in my RPG rankings, I'd rank Swordflight 4th all-time.

You little tease, tell us about 1st to 3rd.

Yeah! The only modules I ever played were in about 2003. A bunch of janky mmo ones and some good but stupidly short single player ones.

 

[barghwata]

Is this worth trying?

It's easily the best RTwP RPG out there, in fact i would go as far as to say it's the only RPG where RTwP combat was done right, you should try it.

 

[anvi]

Is this worth trying?

It's easily the best RTwP RPG out there, in fact i would go as far as to say it's the only RPG where RTwP combat was done right, you should try it.

Thx gonna get it :D Should I be playing the original or the hard life version?

 

[barghwata]

Is this worth trying?

It's easily the best RTwP RPG out there, in fact i would go as far as to say it's the only RPG where RTwP combat was done right, you should try it.

Thx gonna get it :D Should I be playing the original or the hard life version?

I think you should start with the original, to familiarise yourself with the mechanics and all before jumping onto Hard Life, which is more difficult.

 

[Lilura]

If I was ranking mod campaigns in my RPG rankings, I'd rank Swordflight 4th all-time.

You little tease, tell us about 1st to 3rd.

Yeah! The only modules I ever played were in about 2003. A bunch of janky mmo ones and some good but stupidly short single player ones.

Most of them are storyfag mods. Which is another way of saying that most of them are shit.

My top 10 was as follows (not including mods):

I'm going to have to amend that because now I put even greater weight on combat systems and combat encounter design. I can see ToEE outstripping Arcanum in my next top 10 because Arcanum has too many storyfag tendencies, and its combat is complete shit on a stick. Also, MotB.

Lorefags and settingfags are only one rung above the lowliest of all, the storyfags.

 

[Lilura]

Other grounds for beheadings:

• Not having played Jagged Alliance 2, Silent Storm, ToEE or oldschool RPGs, and yet trying to say ANYTHING about turn-based combat (Larian'tards)
• Playing an original campaign in a sequel's engine, and preferring it (BG in BG2 engine, Fallout in Fallout 2 engine etc.)
• Playing the IE:EEs and preferring them to the original IEs
• Using widescreen mods on games designed for 4:3, and preferring it
• Playing games in non-native resolutions and complaining that UIs/fonts don't scale to 16:9/1080p
• Complaining about Electron's cam or MotB's spirit meter, while not acknowledging their virtues
• Rating PS:T as the greatest RPG of all-time because you are a storyfag cretin
• Calling Oblivion With Guns "Fallout", thereby ignoring the existence of the seminal and superior game by Interplay
• Playing and enjoying the Elder Scrolls games, and not keeping it to yourself
• Saying Jagged Alliance 2 isn't an RPG because it's got good tactical combat, when it's just that no game you think is an RPG does (you're just jealous)
• Saying Dark Sun or Planescape are the best campaign settings in D&D, when Greyhawk is
• Calling someone who plays old cRPGs "a grognard". (shameful term misuse)
• Enjoying dress-up dolly in chargen
• Complaining about Gothic 1's controls just because you lack the basic human intelligence required to use them
• Writing off any great RPG based on current gen fads, trends and "sensibilities"
• Not acknowledging that the original, authentic and authoritative version of a game is the one released and patch by the devs
• Thinking Gothic is hardcore and a masteripece, when it's as casual as popamoles get outside of Morrowind
• Saying ToEE is Troika's worst game when clearly Vampire Bloodlines is an edgy popamole for hipsters
• etc.

 

[samuraigaiden]

This is all awesome - seriously. I especially like how you can enjoy Elder Scrolls games, just as long as you keep it to yourself. But if I may be so bold as to pose a question. Or two.

The Fallout patches by TeamX are considered essential by many, but to my knowledge they were not official or made by the original developers. You are saying that Fallout with the Team X patches applied is not "the original, authentic and authoritative version" or is this an exception to the rule?

Second question, and this is really not important, this is the second time I've read you saying Gothic is "as casual as popamoles get outside of Morrowind". Maybe it's because I'm not a native English speaker, I don't understand exactly what you mean with the "outside of Morrowind" part. Is Morrowind a less casual popamoles than Gothic or is it the most casual popamoles?

Your blog is very cool - and I actually found it via Google before seeing your posts here, so congrats on that SEO too.

 

[Lilura]

The Fallout patches by TeamX are considered essential by many, but to my knowledge they were not official or made by the original developers. You are saying that Fallout with the Team X patches applied is not "the original, authentic and authoritative version" or is this an exception to the rule?

No, there are no exceptions. There isn't a single non-dev patch, fix or mod in the history of the genre that is authoritative. There is only one official version of the game: the one released and patched by the devs.

Is Morrowind a less casual popamoles than Gothic or is it the most casual popamoles?

Morrowind is more casual than Gothic in terms of lethality of gameworld, and combat/control.

Others:

• Saying that isometric or top-down perspectives were invented by or were otherwise due to tech limitations of the time, when they remain superior to other perspectives, and even 3D isometric-esque in most cases, but mostly due to feeble implementations by current gen incompetents.
• Saying dwarves are "master race" in RPGs, when humans are.

 

[anvi]

Perfect.

Other grounds for beheadings:

• Not having played Jagged Alliance 2, Silent Storm, ToEE or oldschool RPGs, and yet trying to say ANYTHING about turn-based combat (Larian'tards)
• Playing an original campaign in a sequel's engine, and preferring it (BG in BG2 engine, Fallout in Fallout 2 engine etc.)
• Playing the IE:EEs and preferring them to the original IEs
• Using widescreen mods on games designed for 4:3, and preferring it
• Playing games in non-native resolutions and complaining that UIs/fonts don't scale to 16:9/1080p
• Complaining about Electron's cam or MotB's spirit meter, while not acknowledging their virtues
• Rating PS:T as the greatest RPG of all-time because you are a storyfag cretin
• Calling Oblivion With Guns "Fallout", thereby ignoring the existence of the seminal and superior game by Interplay
• Playing and enjoying the Elder Scrolls games, and not keeping it to yourself
• Saying Jagged Alliance 2 isn't an RPG because it's got good tactical combat, when it's just that no game you think is an RPG does (you're just jealous)
• Saying Dark Sun or Planescape are the best campaign settings in D&D, when Greyhawk is
• Calling someone who plays old cRPGs "a grognard". (shameful term misuse)
• Enjoying dress-up dolly in chargen
• Complaining about Gothic 1's controls just because you lack the basic human intelligence required to use them
• Writing off any great RPG based on current gen fads, trends and "sensibilities"
• Not acknowledging that the original, authentic and authoritative version of a game is the one released and patch by the devs
• Thinking Gothic is hardcore and a masteripece, when it's as casual as popamoles get outside of Morrowind
• Saying ToEE is Troika's worst game when clearly Vampire Bloodlines is an edgy popamole for hipsters
• etc.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Other grounds for beheadings:]

• Playing and enjoying the Elder Scrolls games, and not keeping it to yourself
• Enjoying dress-up dolly in chargen

Guilty on both accounts. I enjoy playing and talking about Daggerfall. As for enjoying dress-up dolly, if it extends from chargen to in-game paperdolls micro-managing... I guess I'm done for.

 

[anvi]

I am ok with a few things in the list, but most of them are extremely terrible and dragging gaming down to new lows.

 

[Daidre]

If I was ranking mod campaigns in my RPG rankings, I'd rank Swordflight 4th all-time.

You little tease, tell us about 1st to 3rd.

Yeah! The only modules I ever played were in about 2003. A bunch of janky mmo ones and some good but stupidly short single player ones.

Most of them are storyfag mods. Which is another way of saying that most of them are shit.

My top 10 was as follows (not including mods):

I'm going to have to amend that because now I put even greater weight on combat systems and combat encounter design. I can see ToEE outstripping Arcanum in my next top 10 because Arcanum has too many storyfag tendencies, and its combat is complete shit on a stick. Also, MotB.

Lorefags and settingfags are only one rung above the lowliest of all, the storyfags.

Strange that you rate Silent Storm right after ToEE but spit poison at the people who made it like they... I do not know, raped Fallout? Or committed other equally vile sin against RPG.

 

[Lilura]

Guilty on both accounts. I enjoy playing and talking about Daggerfall.

Daggerfall's ok. I'm talking Morrowind and post-Morrowind.

As for enjoying dress-up dolly, if it extends from chargen to in-game paperdolls micro-managing... I guess I'm done for.

I'm mainly talking 3D muppets that Oblivion With Guns made popular with the muppet hogging much of the UI space. Paperdolls such as this are ok:

 

[Dramart]

Not Baldur's Gate II on your list but the bad aged Fallout games, decline.

 

[Latro]

Lilura

TB Mech game from 1996 that falls into your general years of purview. https://af.gog.com/game/missionforce_cyberstorm?as=1649904300

I've heard nothing but really good things about it despite the obscurity, if you wanna give it a go. More tactical than strategy, I believe.

Mods (which require non-GOG iso, fyi): https://github.com/juanitogan/rbxit/wiki/CyberStorm-1
Has both modern res support and enemy combatant adjustment.

 

[Lilura]

Added to my prime Renaissance write-up [link], and credited you.

 

[Tweed]

Missionforce: Cyberstorm was one of my favorites, but it's great tactics marred by lopsided progression and grinding. There's never any reason to do anything but mining missions since everything is tied to cash and you'll need lots of it, there's also no need to bring your own ore extractors because once the map is cleared everything gets automiined. The first solar system's destroy control center mission can be extremely difficult because you're very under-equipped. However, once you finish that it becomes a curb stomp, they start handing you all the really nice hardware and the AI just can't keep up. Hence, the patch to try and rebalance the gameplay.

The other thing is it can get really tedious having to constantly rebalance each HERCs shields every turn as the units move around, ideally you always want the most shields towards the enemy, but that can be a problem when you don't have the entire area scouted.

 

[biggestboss]

Looks like Lilura either wrote up new character builds for TOEE or split up the ones from her old retrospective into new blog posts: https://lilura1.blogspot.com/search/label/Temple of Elemental Evil: Builds