Random thoughts on various new and old games (indie, classics, abandonware)

[Binky]

This is mostly just a thread where I can mess around without stepping on anybody's toes.

Done

Spoiler

1. Sid Meier's Colonization (1994)
2. Conquest of the New World. The Deluxe Edition (1996)
3. Emperor of the Fading Suns (1997)
4. Centurion: Defender of Rome (1990)
5. Camelot Warriors (1985)
6. Hannibal (1994)
7. Alone in the Dark (1992)
8. Sword of the Samurai (1989)
9. Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (1993)
10. Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (1995)
11. Myth: The Fallen Lords (1997)
12. Rogue State (2015)
13. Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye (1995)
14. KGB (1992)
15. Street Rod (1989)
16. Legions of Ashworld (2014)
17. Dreamweb (1994)
18. Low Blow (1990)
19. Crisis in the Kremlin (2017)
20. Aliens versus Predator (1999)
21. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1997)
22. The Lost Tribe (1992)
23. Conan: The Cimmerian (1991)
24. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1993)
25. Egypt: Old Kingdom (2018)
26. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993)
27. Shigatari (2017)
28. Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
29. Law of the West (1985)
30. Prehistorik (1991)
31. Inquisitor (2012)
32. The Lost Vikings (1993)
33. King of Dragon Pass (2015)
34. Leisure Suit Larry, VGA remake (1991)
35. Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind (2019)
36. Shogun: Total War (2000)
37. Executive Suite (1982)
38. Floor 13 (1991)
39. Europa Barbarorum (2005)
40. Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok (2014)
41. Until I Have You (2016)
42. Stronghold (2001)
43. The Adventures of Maddog Williams in the Dungeons of Duridian (1992)
44. Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
45. Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
46. REDCON (2016)
47. Bioforge (1995)
48. Mortal Kombat (1992)
49. Ostalgie (2018)
50. One Must Fall: 2097 (1994)
51. Life and Death (1988)
52. Veil of Darkness (1993)
53. The King of Chicago (1988)
54. Mad TV (1991)
55. Black Moon Chronicles (1999)
56. The Clue! (1994)
57. Kingdoms of Germany (1994)
58. Blackthorne (1994)
59. Rockstar! (1989)
60. 4D Sports Boxing (1991)
61. Death Rally (1996)
62. Lula: The Sexy Empire (1998)
63. Alien (1984)
64. Dungeon Keeper (1997)
65. Headline Harry and The Great Paper Race (1991)
66. Colorado (1990)
67. Champion of the Raj (1991)
68. The Rise & Rule of Ancient Empires (1996)
69. It Came from the Desert (1989)
70. Battle Bugs (1994)
71. Metal Mutant (1991)
72. Zeliard (1990)
73. Burntime (1993)
74. Hidden Agenda (1989)
75. Storm Master (1991)
76. Imperialism (1997)
77. Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight (1992)
78. Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness (1988)
79. Revolution '76 (1989)
80. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns & Ahriman's Gift (2001)
81. Deep Sixed (2018)
82. Blade Warrior (1991)
83. Life & Death II: The Brain (1990)
84. Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo (1988)
85. Machiavelli the Prince (1995)
86. Project Firestart (1989)
87. Heart of Darkness (1998)
88. Black Sect, remake (2012)
89. Future Wars: Adventures in Time (1990)
90. Dragon Lord (1990)
91. The Abbey of Crime Extensum (2016)
92. Beasts & Bumpkins (1997)
93. Archimedean Dynasty (1996)
94. Sub Culture (1997)
95. The Great Escape (1987)
96. Vengeance of Excalibur (1991)
97. Heart of China (1991)
98. Shadow Watch (2000)
99. Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition (1989)
100. Transarctica (1993)
101. Zeppelin: Giants of the Sky (1994)
102. Ecstatica (1994)
103. Millennia: Altered Destinies (1995)
104. The Lost Patrol (1990)
105. DragonStrike (1990)
106. Flashback (1992)
107. Budokan: The Martial Spirit (1989)
108. Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat (1995)
109. Rock Star Ate My Hamster (1988)
110. Dark Seed (1992)
111. Gorky 17 (1999)
112. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (2001)
113. Daughter of Serpents (1992)
114. Sacrifice (2000)
115. Operation Stealth (1990)
116. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)
117. Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy (1998)
118. Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
119. Zeno Clash (2009)
120. Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim (2000)
121. Zeus: Master of Olympus (2000)
122. Hammer of the Gods (1994)
123. Dink Smallwood (1997)
124. Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth (1995)
125. Rise of the Dragon (1990)
     
126. Future Cop: LAPD (1998)
127. Fantasy General (1996)
128. The Dark Eye (1995)

Sid Meier's Colonization (1994)

It is the Year of Our Lord 1492 and the Grand Poobah of your country has authorized you to go forth and find new lands for fun and profit.

Laaaaaaand! Sweet virgin territory! 'Cept there just one small niggle. It's already full of people: Aztecs, Arawaks, Apache,... And to make matters worse, other Grand Poobahs have also sent their flunkies loyal subjects to this land. So there you have it - little old you stuck between the whims of your sovereign, other Europeans, and the natives. So many possibilities, so many choices.

Dealing with the natives is what makes the game fun for me:

• You can convert them to your favorite flavor of Christianity and they'll provide you with a steady stream of converts.
• You can enslave or wipe them out and gain much loot.
• You can trade with them (tax free!). Perhaps even sell them muskets and horses and incite them to wage war against other palefaces. Since there is no smallpox in the game, an Aztec Empire with two dozen cities, guns, and horsies can lead to amusing crimes against pixels

  Spies report: Aztecs burn Spanish colony at Isabella. Spanish governor vows revenge.

• Learn from them. Why wait for schools, colleges, and universities to be built, and colonists to be educated? You can unload a galleon full of colonists near a seaside Cherokee capital and have 6 units of farmers next turn.
• They can also provide you with food when you're in a pickle.
• Should you and your sovereign part ways, they can assist you in your struggle.

PS.
Almost mandatory when talking about Colonization: Kiss pinky ring.

Spoiler

 

[Binky]

Conquest of the New World. The Deluxe Edition (1996)

It's disappointing that you can't play as one of the native tribes in Sid Meier's Colonization. Thankfully, Conquest of the New World scratches that itch. Play as one of the five European powers or a High Native civilization in the New World during the Age of Exploration.

In Colonization, all you had to do was move your units into tiles where the enemy was. Here, you also get to participate in tactical combat. Flanking, combined arms, colony raids, hit and run attacks,... beautiful. While playing as one of the Euro colonialists was all fine and well, the real fun and challenge was playing as the High Native civilization in the Conquistador scenario - you against five Euro gits. Now, the natives are limited in their technology, so you have to hit the Euros hard and fast before they get too strong. Alas, that was the fate of my native vs foreign hordes game. Managed to destroy 3 Euros, but the last two proved too strong. Large, fully developed European armies with infantry, cavalry, and artillery against the High Native ones consisting only of infantry and cavalry were just too much.

Game also has some nice flavor things like naming landmarks, newspaper with current events, and sweet music.
Conquest of the New World - Credits Music
Conquest of the New World - Native combat track

 

[DalekFlay]

Interesting list. Will read.

 

[Falksi]

Looking forward to seeing how this goes

 

[Binky]

Emperor of the Fading Suns (1997)

Intro
Read by the magnificent David Hattersley Warner

Now a new Dark Age has descended upon humanity, for the greatest of civilizations has fallen, leaving ignorance and fear scattered among the ruins of many worlds. Even the stars are dying.

Thus begins EFS. I've written about this game elsewhere on the Codex, but I'll go over it again because its qualities merit it and because the game is currently abandonware (sadly). If I had to use one word to describe it, it'd be "melancholy." Mourning and yearning for the lost Golden Age.

While there are aliens like the Symbiots and the Vau present in the game, it is humans and their factions who are the star of the show. These factions being the Noble Houses, the Church, the Merchant League, Imperial Bureaucracy,... And then there are the factions within these factions. All vying for supremacy, all vying for control.

Some of the game features:

• Carrot and stick diplomacy. Vote for me and I'll give you cash, tech, maps, alliance, a ministry,... OR if you don't give me something I want, I'll attack your homeworld, ask the Patriarch to excommunicate you, unleash the plague, and generally be unpleasant to you.
• Cool music (e.g. Emperor of the Fading Suns OST - Sanctus)
• Excellent flavor text (right up there with Darklands and King of Dragon Pass)
• Nice art
• One of the finest post-apoc settings
• And a ton of bugs, glitches, and bad design choices

Scheming, backstabbing, brute force is vital to get elected Regent and then Emperor. Machiavelli would be proud. Example: You offer to give all your votes to a leader of a rival House at the next election, provided he makes you the Commander of the Imperial Fleet. He gets elected, you get the ministry... and then proceed to destroy his fleet and bombard his homeword with your new armada of highly advanced ships - ships that were supposed to protect humans from the alien menace. Beautiful.

Screenshots
Archives, main screen, diplomacy

Spoiler

When it rains, it pours

Spoiler

Signing the Holy Writ is a bad idea.

Moneygrubbers declaring the Third Republic. NOT good.

Plague

Rebellion

Famine

Symbiots popping by for tea and crumpets.

The Inquisition wants to borrow some sugar.

Best case scenario?
You get yourself crowned Emperor. The people anxiously await the new dawn. Victory! SOL RENATUS!
Except you don't find out why the suns are dying. Or how to stop or even reverse the fading. Hence, Emperor of the Fading Suns. Alternative title could have been Captain of the Titanic. Or God-King of the Lepers.

A recent indie game called Crying Suns has a similar vibe (if nothing else). And Iron Tower's Colony Ship RPG with its damaged, malfunctioning ship and backwards, ignorant crew seems to be headed into similar waters (atmosphere-wise).

 

[Binky]

Centurion: Defender of Rome (1990)

Snag territory by force or diplomacy. Galley slave difficulty doesn't need much in the way of brainpower. Balanced army, stand fast will solve most of your problems on the battlefield. I'll admit it is amusing to see a huge barbarian army turn around and run because their "I lead from the front!" general charged your troops all by his lonesome and got slaughtered.

On galley slave mode, elephants are overgrown, cuddly balloons that pop when they graze a sword. Harder modes transform them into battering rams that will smash through your lines with ease. And on emperor mode, full cavalry armies have been reputed to make grown men sob like little girls. Playing on emperor, I cringe inwardly every time a marauding army spawns in Parthia or Scythia. They need to be taken out of the picture as soon as possible.

Always avoided naval combat and chariot races like the plague. Ships are way too expensive to risk them in battle. And gladiators get you more bang for your buck. I found diplomacy entertaining as hell and often tried to get as many provinces as possible to join me peacefully. Your rank, army size, treatment of provinces, etc. all matter when negotiating with foreign leaders. Apart from bedding Cleopatra, my favorite negotiations would have to be with the barbarian leaders who tend to communicate in ALL CAPS.

This fucking guy.

 

[Binky]

Camelot Warriors (1985)

This is quite possibly one of the hardest, most bizarre C64 games I remember playing. A brave knight must find four mystical items:

• The fire doesn't burn (Light bulb)
• The mirror of wisdom (TV)
• Other world voice (Telephone)
• The elixir of life (Coke can)

Despite being armed with a sword and fully armored, our knight can only swing his sword upwardly. Thus, knee-tall critters prove to be too much for our noble hero, who must jump over them like a grasshopper. And he later gets turned into a frog. Yup.

Has got a pretty nice version of Scarborough Fair for an intro.
Longplay on Youtube

 

[Binky]

Hannibal (1994)

Lead Hannibal's Cartesian (sic) army all the way to Rome and succeed where he failed. Played this obscure German game about 20 years ago - found it on Home of the Underdogs (peace be upon that site). Was instantly intrigued. Play an enemy of Rome for a change? Hell yeah! And it looks so very, very inviting. All those cities just waiting to be liberated.

There are over 700 cities on the map, according to the manual. I just know that some madman dedicated player out there conquered each and every one of these dots.

Situation at the start of the game.
Green - core Carthaginian territory
Dark green - Carthaginian colonies
Light green - friends of Carthage
Dark Blue - Greek colonies
Yellow - Egyptian colonies
Red - Roman core, colonies, and friends
Light gray - Neutrals

To win the game only one city needs to fall: Rome. The Roman Republic has more cities, a larger population, and more cash. Carthage has more mines and elephants. Mines provide most of your cash, so getting as many of them as possible is vital to your success in the war. Bringing Numidian cities into the fold is needed to get access to large numbers of horses and elephants.

Cities can be allied with or they can be captured after a siege. When a city falls you can make it a colony, pillage it and make it a colony (bad idea - mistreat your colonies and they'll rebel), or destroy it (really bad idea - you'll only get other cities to join Rome). Attrition is your main enemy. Getting your armies to Italia without losing the majority of your men to exposure, starvation, desertion, etc. is the main challenge.

Mostly followed Hannibal's plan. Marched into Italia, capturing cities along the way (especially friends of Rome), allying with locals, and smashing Roman armies. Turning red and dark red into green as quickly as possible is all that matters. I expanded my territory in Africa and Spain. That meant more mines, elephants, horses, and mercenaries. While Joy of Baal was conquering the north of the boot, Mago invaded Sicily. When the entire boot sans Rome was green, I brought three large armies to siege it.

The downside? The game is a massive time sink and the UI is horrible. I wanted to replay it a bit, for old time's sake. Quickly changed my mind. Now I know why I didn't bother trying to do cool things like uniting Phoenicia with Carthage, marching all the way to the Tigris river, or laying siege to great cities like Alexandria and Antioch.

Great idea, horrible execution.

PS. Fun fact: Hibernia has a city with a gold mine. Cartesians and leprechauns fighting over pots of gold?

 

[Binky]

Alone in the Dark (1992)

You can throw a gramophone at a zombie.

My friend's brother telling me about the cool new game he was playing.



It'd be easier listing the things you can't throw at a zombie in this game. You can emulate a belligerent drunk: drink from a flask, throw it at the green menace, and then start punching and kicking it in the face. Or just use a sabre. Or a dagger. Or a pull out a revolver and shoot the bastard. Or blast it with a rifle. Or shoot it with a bow.

The atmosphere is superb. The isolated old house. The creaky floors, the howls, the closing doors,... True, monsters bursting through windows stop being scary once you figure out you can kill them. Except some monsters couldn't be killed at all, only avoided. And some beasties required research to find out how to bring about their demise - that's where all those books lying around came in handy. And that's how I first learned about ol' Lovecraft.

However, once you get under the house the game loses a lot of its magic. Those tunnels are mind-numbingly boring. No scares, no tension. Just lots of walking, running, jumping, and fucking around with that lamp.

The game's finest moment for me had to be the library. Oh, it's too dark. I'll use the lamp. Nice books. What the fuck is that? Uh, I can't harm it, time to run. It's walking through the fucking bookcases! Where's the exit?! The lamp is out of oil. It's pitch black.

The finest Alone in the Dark game. The only Alone in the Dark game, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

On Emperor of the Fading Suns, you got any advice for starting that crap out? I gave that a shot a few years back and man, after all the difficulty I had getting it to work, I hadn't the faintest idea of how to play that game in the slightest. That's with a manual, too.

 

[Binky]

Kinda hard giving advice without knowing what gave you trouble. The in-game tutorials explain the basics pretty well, in my opinion. Have you played any other Holistic Design game, like Machiavelli the Prince? If not, I'd recommend trying that first before playing EFS, as it has some similarities and is an easier game to get into. Back to EFS: I'll assume that your game wasn't modded.

Start a new game. Put all Houses under human control and beginner difficulty - focus on one House and immediately end turn when it comes to others. Turn off plague, rebellion, and food consumption, leave the tutorial on. All this is just so you can learn the ropes. Once you know the basics, you can start an actual game against the AI. And then you can either mod the game and/or play against human opponents.

Engineers build cities (labs, farms, factories, etc.) and roads. Build a few labs to research faster. And then it really depends on what you want to do. I'd recommend building a strong fleet as soon as possible. Avoid trading with the Merchant League, strive to be self-sufficient. Find planets where the resources you need are. Don't try and conquer every planet or one turn will last ten hours. The goal of the game is to get crowned Emperor and others acknowledging you rule, not to smash every army. All you need to do is to snag enough sceptors (sic) to get yourself elected Regent and enough strength to fend off attacks from other Houses once you declare yourself Emperor. A hard and fast strike on the homeworld of a rival House should provide you with five sceptors. Protect your nobles. It's game over if they die.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Nah, like the whole thing, basic things, not even approaching winning it. Information overload on a scale I usually don't have in a game. I'll definitely go through that first.
Also, there are mods for it? I just thought it had a fan patch...its not like 1.13 is it?

 

[Binky]

Sword of the Samurai (1989)

Never gets old.

The honored ancestor of Total War games. Start as a lowly samurai and claw your way to the top. Duels will be fought, children shall be sired, battles will be won, and melee encounters shall be avoided like the plague - especially on no-dachi difficulty. Pretty fun to play even today... as long as you pick a clan renowned for its generalship and the same for your family advantage - drilling troops is way too repetitive. You can get lots of honor easily by marrying some respectable lady (preferably a rival's daughter - gain a friend and pay no land in dowry), the rest via winning battles and duels.

It's pretty nice seeing rivals work against each other. Game's all about the importance of honor and everyone and their grandmother is skulking around doing dishonorable things: kidnapping, extortion, assassination, theft, inciting rebellion, killing guests,... You must slaughter dozens of goons all by yourself if you do cloak and dagger stuff. Gozaemon and pals however, can simply hire several ninjas to kill all your guards and then waltz in to do you harm. This is especially bullshit when you're a daimyo - your entire castle gets littered with the corpses of your men. Might as well have a child with a stick protecting you.

Never managed to overthrow my daimyo on no-dachi - kudos to anyone who succeeded clearing all three floors of his castle after beating him in battle. Apparently, you can never get the 300-year shogunate fair and square. Have to tamper with the game or something. Dishonorable to the very end. If anyone finds a screenshot or even a text of the event, let me know.

Some screenshots

Spoiler

300-year shogunate pic finally found

Spoiler

 

[Binky]

Nah, like the whole thing, basic things, not even approaching winning it. Information overload on a scale I usually don't have in a game. I'll definitely go through that first.
Also, there are mods for it? I just thought it had a fan patch...its not like 1.13 is it?

Last time I played the game, I used the Emperor Wars mod:
https://sites.google.com/site/emperorwarsfadingsuns/home/changes

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I remember some guy was on a quest to beat the high score in SotS and never managed to do it. Always came up a little short. If it wasn't messing up in one of the one-against-many sections it was getting screwed over by one of the other daimyos rebelling. I do remember him saying he hastened a few of his daimyos to their deaths, but I think even if his posts are still around somewhere, he only took shots of his scores. I believe he eventually concluded that you can only equal the top score, not beat it. Such a strange way to start off a high score table.
Also, I suggest giving Covert Action a shot, its in the same vein as Sword of the Samurai and Pirates, but instead you play a CIA agent stopping crime.

 

[Binky]

I imagine plenty of guys were on the same quest. I tried a few times, then realized it was pointless and moved on. This was my most recent score:

Spoiler

My best score back in the day was the same except with unsurpassed honor and ability + around 200 more men. Still got the 200-year shogunate.
Found this conversation on Youtube:

I've been trying to get the 300 year reign for almost 20 years now, can someone show me the final picture and description, please? I finished it twice on No-Dachi, getting maximum pointage is a pain.

It's impossible to get without cheating, hex editing the save file, to give you more troops.

I vaguely remember playing Covert Action. No idea if I found it fun or not.

 

[Binky]

Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (1993)

The original Prince of Persia asked a very important question: How many people are you willing to kill for a hug?


In the sequel, our acrobatic orphanmaker returns to once again bring death and destruction to Persia. Murder, theft, vandalism, sacrilege, witchcraft, loitering, disturbing the dead, joyriding, animal cruelty, heavy drinking... The lovable sociopath will stop at nothing to be reunited with his love.

Time limit and single difficulty. Don't like it? Tough titty.

I loved the fat guard's sword skill in the original and often restarted the level to fight him over and over. Shadow & Flame bumps up (some) of your enemies' parry game. They can actually put up a fight instead of just being movable practice dummies.

Game had plenty of memorable moments: fighting that skeleton on a collapsing wooden bridge, taking a carpet for a ride (flight?), fighting shrieking flying heads with a broken sword, dying and stealing a blue flame, etc.
But what I most appreciate about it is the fact that the same rules apply to your enemies (well, human enemies). No guards walking through lava here. Push an enemy from a great height? He's dead. That wall blade? Mr. Birdman gets cut in two. Those spikes? What's good for our Prince is good for the guard.

The last level in the ruined city will always be seared in my memory. Managed to jump on that horse after many, many tries. Finally. Ride. Ride! Swift as the wind! Oh look, forgot to kill the snake. Try again. Bastards.

PS. How many people you reckon rage quit at that point? Was that supposed to be some digital rite of passage?
PPS. This guy is a dedicated troll and I salute him.

 

[Binky]

Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (1995)

Time travel adventure. Ever wanted to explore Da Vinci's workshop lookin' for clues? How about using cloaking tech to avoid guards, then snoop around the royal chambers of a castle during a siege in the Middle Ages? Or use a universal translation chip to decode writing on a Mayan temple? Buried in Time's got you covered... if you can stomach the FMV sillyness.

You soon get an AI companion named Arthur who, despite occasionally spouting pop culture references, is actually useful, entertaining, and informative. He provides you with hints if you get stuck and historical tidbits. Even if you find him annoying (which I surprisingly didn't), he can stay silent almost the entire time. He'll only comment and help if and only if you want him to. No constant unsolicited smartass remarks.

Game's got a pretty nice soundtrack. The Da Vinci gardens and Mayan temple grounds being my favorite.

I'd recommend this to any history buff. Or any adventure gamer, for that matter.

Unrelated comment:
Occasionally, I check video game actors and voice actors on imdb to see whether Castle Guard 2 was the start of a long and glorious career, an embarrassment, fallen on hard times job, they needed money for cocaine, or whether they were friends, family, or developers pressganged into "acting" by the studio. Sometimes I find interesting results.

Spoiler

Fallout 2's Sgt. Arch Dornan is also Deadwood's Con Stapleton. Never would have guessed it.

 

[Ninjerk]

Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (1995)

Time travel adventure. Ever wanted to explore Da Vinci's workshop lookin' for clues? How about using cloaking tech to avoid guards, then snoop around the royal chambers of a castle during a siege in the Middle Ages? Or use a universal translation chip to decode writing on a Mayan temple? Buried in Time's got you covered... if you can stomach the FMV silliness.

You soon get an AI companion named Arthur who, despite occasionally spouting pop culture references, is actually useful, entertaining, and informative. He provides you with hints if you get stuck and historical tidbits. Even if you find him annoying (which I surprisingly didn't), he can stay silent almost the entire time. He'll only comment and help if and only if you want him to. No constant unsolicited smartass remarks.

Game's got a pretty nice soundtrack. The Da Vinci gardens and Mayan temple grounds being my favorite.

I'd recommend this to any history buff. Or any adventure gamer, for that matter.

Unrelated comment:
Occasionally, I check video game actors and voice actors on imdb to see whether Castle Guard 2 is the start of a long and glorious career, an embarrassment, fallen on hard times job, they needed money for cocaine, or whether they were friends, family, or developers pressganged into "acting" by the studio. Sometimes I find interesting results.

Spoiler

Fallout 2's Sgt. Arch Dornan is also Deadwood's Con Stapleton. Never would have guessed it.

I played JP1 on my dad's girlfriend's old Hewlett-Packard. I still remember there being some really old proprietary GUI that tried to mimic walking around inside of a building and your programs would be lined up on a shelf (like GOG) and there was a kids' playroom thing that, when quitting, would always say, "Alright everybody! Out of the pool!"

JP1 confused me for the longest time because if you took a wrong turn early on a little fly or something would buzz around the screen and then you'd be zapped into oblivion because you created a paradox somehow. It was pretty cool once I figured out how to play the game and managed to beat the evil robot in the sub pen or w/e it was. Everytime I see JP2 on GOG I wonder what ever happened to the rights to JP1.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I played JP1 on my dad's girlfriend's old Hewlett-Packard. I still remember there being some really old proprietary GUI that tried to mimic walking around inside of a building and your programs would be lined up on a shelf (like GOG) and there was a kids' playroom thing that, when quitting, would always say, "Alright everybody! Out of the pool!"

JP1 confused me for the longest time because if you took a wrong turn early on a little fly or something would buzz around the screen and then you'd be zapped into oblivion because you created a paradox somehow. It was pretty cool once I figured out how to play the game and managed to beat the evil robot in the sub pen or w/e it was. Everytime I see JP2 on GOG I wonder what ever happened to the rights to JP1.

Isn't Pegasus Prime on there? Pegasus Prime being a remake of the first one. Because if you try the OG first one or Turbo there are considerable GUI issues, assuming you can get it to run.

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

Sword of the Samurai (1989)

Never gets old.

The honored ancestor of Total War games. Start as a lowly samurai and claw your way to the top. Duels will be fought, children shall be sired, battles will be won, and melee encounters shall be avoided like the plague - especially on no-dachi difficulty. Pretty fun to play even today... as long as you pick a clan renowned for its generalship and the same for your family advantage - drilling troops is way too repetitive. You can get lots of honor easily by marrying some respectable lady (preferably a rival's daughter - gain a friend and pay no land in dowry), the rest via winning battles and duels.

It's pretty nice seeing rivals work against each other. Game's all about the importance of honor and everyone and their grandmother is skulking around doing dishonorable things: kidnapping, extortion, assassination, theft, inciting rebellion, killing guests,... You must slaughter dozens of goons all by yourself if you do cloak and dagger stuff. Gozaemon and pals however, can simply hire several ninjas to kill all your guards and then waltz in to do you harm. This is especially bullshit when you're a daimyo - your entire castle gets littered with the corpses of your men. Might as well have a child with a stick protecting you.

Never managed to overthrow my daimyo on no-dachi - kudos to anyone who succeeded clearing all three floors of his castle after beating him in battle. Apparently, you can never get the 300-year shogunate fair and square. Have to tamper with the game or something. Dishonorable to the very end. If anyone finds a screenshot or even a text of the event, let me know.

Some screenshots

Spoiler

This game look fucking awesome.

 

[Binky]

Myth: The Fallen Lords (1997)

Before he left, Alric told us that Madrigal had fallen.

The blows keep on coming.

To fight a losing war. You can not flee. Where will you go? Where will you hide? You can not bargain. The enemy is not interested in diplomacy. You can not surrender and submit, for to lose is to die. Your only choice is to fight - to the bitter end. A game of Pyrrhic victories, last stands, desperation, and grim determination.

You will lose men and you will feel those losses. It is in your best interest to try and keep most of your troops alive and well. That goes double for veterans. Oh look, a Wight.

Casualties.

I do appreciate devs coming up with new beasties in games and not just constantly spamming the same tired orcs, skeletons, and zombies. Ghols, Soulless, Trow,...
The Trow. I remember when I first encountered one of these bastards.

Yeah. And later you attack the Trow city of Rhi'anon. Attack. Trow city. The game provides some music to put you in the mood: River of Blood.
...
Buttocks were clenched.

Some of the game features:

• Real time tactics
• No base building or resource gathering
• Friendly fire. Watch where you throw those explosives!
  
• Memorable music
• Interesting lore
• Story inspired by Glen Cook's Black Company and with a Celtic flavor. The course of the war from a grunt's point of view.
• Nice art
• Nice cutscenes

Some screenshots from MobyGames & other places

Spoiler

Found out about the Black Company because of this game. You can't get it on GOG or Steam because... because... Ah, fuck it. I don't know. They don't want us to have nice things?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Sword of the Samurai (1989)

Never gets old.

The honored ancestor of Total War games. Start as a lowly samurai and claw your way to the top. Duels will be fought, children shall be sired, battles will be won, and melee encounters shall be avoided like the plague - especially on no-dachi difficulty. Pretty fun to play even today... as long as you pick a clan renowned for its generalship and the same for your family advantage - drilling troops is way too repetitive. You can get lots of honor easily by marrying some respectable lady (preferably a rival's daughter - gain a friend and pay no land in dowry), the rest via winning battles and duels.

It's pretty nice seeing rivals work against each other. Game's all about the importance of honor and everyone and their grandmother is skulking around doing dishonorable things: kidnapping, extortion, assassination, theft, inciting rebellion, killing guests,... You must slaughter dozens of goons all by yourself if you do cloak and dagger stuff. Gozaemon and pals however, can simply hire several ninjas to kill all your guards and then waltz in to do you harm. This is especially bullshit when you're a daimyo - your entire castle gets littered with the corpses of your men. Might as well have a child with a stick protecting you.

Never managed to overthrow my daimyo on no-dachi - kudos to anyone who succeeded clearing all three floors of his castle after beating him in battle. Apparently, you can never get the 300-year shogunate fair and square. Have to tamper with the game or something. Dishonorable to the very end. If anyone finds a screenshot or even a text of the event, let me know.

Some screenshots

Spoiler

This game look fucking awesome.

The Codex has a Let's Play of Sword of the Samurai, started by RK47 (images now missing) and re-initiated in the same thread by Kalin (images still present).

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Alone in the Dark (1992)

You can throw a gramophone at a zombie.

My friend's brother telling me about the cool new game he was playing.



It'd be easier listing the things you can't throw at a zombie in this game. You can emulate a belligerent drunk: drink from a flask, throw it at the green menace, and then start punching and kicking it in the face. Or just use a sabre. Or a dagger. Or a pull out a revolver and shoot the bastard. Or blast it with a rifle. Or shoot it with a bow.

The atmosphere is superb. The isolated old house. The creaky floors, the howls, the closing doors,... True, monsters bursting through windows stop being scary once you figure out you can kill them. Except some monsters couldn't be killed at all, only avoided. And some beasties required research to find out how to bring about their demise - that's where all those books lying around came in handy. And that's how I first learned about ol' Lovecraft.

However, once you get under the house the game loses a lot of its magic. Those tunnels are mind-numbingly boring. No scares, no tension. Just lots of walking, running, jumping, and fucking around with that lamp.

The game's finest moment for me had to be the library. Oh, it's too dark. I'll use the lamp. Nice books. What the fuck is that? Uh, I can't harm it, time to run. It's walking through the fucking bookcases! Where's the exit?! The lamp is out of oil. It's pitch black.

The finest Alone in the Dark game. The only Alone in the Dark game, as far as I'm concerned.

I used to do speedruns of this, competing with my younger brother.
Game took about 15 minutes (probably less) to beat when you knew what you're doing.

 

[Binky]

Rogue State (2015)

A lighthearted post-Arab Spring country simulator.

The monarchy has been overthrown. Democracy was promised. You're the Glorious Leader of Basenji and your job is to "ensure stability" for 5 years before the elections.
Kinda reminds me of Democracy, Tropico, and Hidden Agenda. But mostly of Democracy.

Your job is to keep people happy while doing your thing. Your thing might be transferring your nation's cash into your private Liechtenstein bank account. It might be trying to build a replica of North Korea, or Saudi Arabia. Or just a place where people can honor their traditions, like hunting goats with grenades (actual Basenji tradition), without those UN pansies embargoing your country.

There are 3 difficulty modes and an endless mode. 4 optional scenarios can be unlocked, like starting with nukes. You have about 70 turns per default game and 4 actions per turn.

These are the people you need to keep happy:

• Your ministers
• The military
• 3 neighboring countries
• USA
• UN
• the Qarifii (an ethnic minority)
• Basenjis (divided into patriots, capitalists, fundamentalists, and liberals)

Even on hard, it's fairly simple to keep everyone happy. Well, except your brother Farouk, but he's a bitter, envious bastard who'll be sabotaging your efforts no matter what you do. Since he's a hero of the Revolution, you can't just shoot him in the head. Give him a ministry where he'll do the least harm.

You'll be getting minister requests. Society and culture will change. People will be become more religious/patriotic/liberal/entrepreneurial. Wanna have more religious people? Simple. Build religious schools, promote their faith, tell liberals to go stuff themselves, and so on.

A few of the things you can do:

• Authorize special projects: hydro dam, great firewall, assassin program, a space program, and a nuclear one.
• Invade neighboring countries and/or assassinate their leaders. These are border skirmishes not wars of conquest, so they're not worth it. Way too expensive.
• Deal with a crisis: epidemic, terrorism, or market crash

Screenshots

Spoiler

Step right up! Buy three goats, get one free! Come one, come all!

Haram.

Agent Snowflake... Also, look how happy everyone is. This never happens in Hidden Agenda.

An article when you raise the tax raise: "Public assured that income tax increases are temporary. Government promises to spend the money wisely."

Screenshots pt. 2

Spoiler

Boyfriend, huh? I think Basenji'll be getting some significant foreign investment.

Madre de Dios! Es el Pollo Diablo!

I found it worth playing for the humor alone, but then again, I'm easily amused. Apparently, the game was simplified because some players found it too hard. OK, fine. But why not include the hard(er) stuff as well? It has difficulty modes. No one is forcing people to play on the harder ones. What a waste. It could have been so much more.