General Game News

[Gambit37]

I'm starting this general game news thread as most gaming snippets I post on the forum don't really warrant their own thread.

Impressive Unreal Engine 4 Graphics Demo - all running live on a single nVidia GTX 680
http://kotaku.com/impressive-unreal-eng ... 1364569048

"Hardware" Trailer - interesting looing game from producers of Homeworld.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04 ... ysterious/

[Gambit37]

Detailed information about the new Playstation 4 -- looks very nice indeed!
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... ystation-4

[Ameena]

Hey, good idea, this thread - we can post up cool stuff like new upcoming games/Kickstarters we find and stuff .

[Ser Xav]

I can't wait for this to come out.... http://www.abandonia.com/games/585 ... realtime strategy and decisions, resource management, a test of skill, intelligence, and resolve. Immersive graphics and environments, it's like being there apparently, like fantasy coming to life. Every twist and turn, every nook and cranny looks real. Everything moves and works.

[Gambit37]

He he, I knew you were describing DM even before I clicked the link
By the way, please shorten your Location, it's breaking the forum layout, thanks.

[Gambit37]

Ron Gilbert: "If I made another Monkey Island"
http://grumpygamer.com/5777333

Ron Gilbert: Why Adventure Games Suck and what we can do about it
http://grumpygamer.com/2152210

[terkio]

Ron Gilbert: Why Adventure Games Suck and what we can do about it
http://grumpygamer.com/2152210

I am amazed to read in this article, how well it is applicable to Dungeon Master custom games.

A must reading for authors of Dungeon Master custom games that suck and what they should do about it.

[Seriously Unserious]

Ron Gilbert: Why Adventure Games Suck and what we can do about it
http://grumpygamer.com/2152210

This was an excellent article, thanks for the link gambit.
It expresses a lot of what I already feel about adventure/rpg game design and has a lot of good tips to avoid some of the worst pitfalls that have left me pulling my hair out in frustration at some of the worst puzzle designs I've come across in these types of games.

[Gambit37]

There's an example of bad puzzle design linked to in one of Ron's posts. If you haven't already, you can read it here:
It has got to be one of the most insane things I've ever read -- did gamers really tolerate that, or is it just a bad dream...!?

http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html

Don't forget to read through to Page 2 and 3 with the links at the bottom!

[Seriously Unserious]

That was a truly abysmal puzzle. Stupid as hell, and most of the actions completely pointless and absurd -- and as unintuitive as they can possibly get.

Here's an example of a quality adventure game that's very much alive and well Ridle of the Sphinx. I've played this game myself and the puzzles are challenging, but all are solvable by simply using the info available in the game to work out a solution. If you can't solve a puzzle, go and do something else, chances are you just missed some important clue or piece of info that would lead to a solution, or you need so explore somewhere else first to open something up that makes the solution to that earlier puzzle apparent. Challenging yes, need a walkthough from someone else who randomly solved the unsolvable puzzles by trial and error alone? No.

[Ameena]

Did anyone play the Simon the Sorcerer games? I replayed both of those on the SCUMM emulator thingy a couple of years back. They were cool - point-and-click like Monkey Island or the Discworld gmaes (which I also played...never played the third Monkey Island though). Oh, and I found out that Chris Barrie voiced Simon in the first game! Hadn't even heard of him back in the day but, you know, I've watched Red Dwarf since then .
As far as today's games are concerned, if I had to name a good puzzle game I'd definitely go for Portal (well, both of them, not just the first one) as probably my first thought. Nota puzzle game in the same way as Monkey Island and the others, but still a puzzle game. And I was happy that I managed to solve both games without ever having to look up answers or anything like that...it's more satisfying to be able to work something out for yourself...especially if you're trying for ages and can't get it and then log off because it's about 3am and try again the next day and then get it in about five minutes, as happened in one area when my partner and I tried the multi-player part of the second game .

[Seriously Unserious]

I've heard of Simon the Sorcerer but I never played any of those games.

What's Portal about? that sounds like a puzzle solver I might want to try out.

[terkio]

Here is a worthwhile adventure game: Ceville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiOtLxE3s2k

Playable demo version in here: http://www.ceville-game.com/en/index_en.html

[beowuuf]

What's Portal about? that sounds like a puzzle solver I might want to try out.

Sqeeeeee! Someone who's never played portal!


It's a first person puzzle-me-up where you basically go through rooms, and try to solve them using the cool mechanic of placing two ends of a wormhole like portal on surfaces, and moving instantly around through them. Also, you're being forced to do this against your will by an increasingly funny AI, and so you have the slowly growing story of what's going on and what you can do about that flavouring it all!

And then you have portal 2, which is everything that is cool about portal 1 expanded, and new even cooler stuff added.


Also, I never played Simon the Soercerer, but now you've reminded me about it I do recall it and Chris Barrie being a part of it.

[Gambit37]

^^ And since Beowuuf is a clone of Chris Barrie, he has a vested interested in it

against your will by an increasingly funny AI

If by funny you mean "insane and murderous", then yeah, funny

[Ameena]

Omg you don't know Portal, wow go and get it now . It basically looks like an FPS at first glance but it's actually a really cool puzzle game, with a story to it as you go on. And as mentioned, the second one is along similar lines but basically expands everything, adding in new stuff to...well, everything, basically. And it has a two-player campaign as well (which takes place after the single player story has finished).

[Gambit37]

Wow, this is a blast from the past! Maelstrom RPG republished:
http://shop.chroniclecity.co.uk/epages/ ... s/CHC53601
http://maelstrom.arion-games.com/core.htm

Anyone remember it? I seem to recall playing at least 1 game in that world back in the day. I still have the original Puffin book -- it's priced at £1.95 -- new paperback version is £24!!!

[Seriously Unserious]

Omg you don't know Portal, wow go and get it now . It basically looks like an FPS at first glance but it's actually a really cool puzzle game, with a story to it as you go on. And as mentioned, the second one is along similar lines but basically expands everything, adding in new stuff to...well, everything, basically. And it has a two-player campaign as well (which takes place after the single player story has finished).

I'll definitely take a look at it. ATM I'm busy with Civ 5, which I just got last week and am fully immersed in learning about the changes since Civ 4 and trying to run the Polynesian empire as best I can, what with all the new features and changes I'm getting used to. There's so many changes that Civ 5 is almost a completely different game from all the previous versions. Most of the changes are good though, but I still won't abandon Civ 4 either as Civ 5 is changed enough to be a different but similar game.

[Gambit37]

This December will see the 20th anniversary of Doom!
That makes me feel exceedingly old, somehow making me feel even older than when DM came out... weird.
Anyway, here's an interesting "post mortem" on Doom's development:

http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014627/Cl ... Postmortem

[Ser Xav]

20th anniversary??? My god I remember it like it was only the other day. Trying to revise for exams with a new 120mhz pentium pc with 24mbs of ram and stereo speakers, and a 17inch glass (yes, glass) monitor, and playing doom instead of doing coursework....! What happy days....

[Ameena]

We have a book at work which has been in Clearance for ages, called "Masters of Doom", which I think is about the guys who made it, or something.

[Gambit37]

Yes, that book is worth a read if you have any interest in game dev history.

[Ser Xav]

I haven't played them myself, but have seen some of you lot talking about them quite a bit.... Might and Magic games are on some sort of deal at gog.com this weekend if anyone is interested.

[Ameena]

Someone mentioned that on another forum. I've got MMVI-VIII and they're all good fun. We've for MMV as well, actually, but I think I started it and got killed almost straight away or something (once I actually got it to work, 'cause it needed some tweaking before it could run or something, if I remember rightly).