Some thoughts I find myself thinking again and again while playing video games.

Why are some demos on Xbox live co-op only? Cant you just let me play it single player?

Do you guys remember when ALL first person shooters had really annoying ladders? Don't even try to think of any exceptions. Just trust me, they were all that way. I dreaded every time I had to climb one. You had to be looking just right or you would either not move, or you would just fall to your death. You seriously had to quick-save before climbing one.

I could listen to Russian accents all day long.
"Its not a bite, I scratched myself!"

This latest generation of games sometimes use this slight haze-like effect. It always makes me start adjusting the brightness and contrast of my TV/Monitor. I eventually realize that's the way the game is supposed to look, and give up trying to fix it.

Remember when games had health? Remember how awesome that was? I guess games have progressed beyond such outdated concepts. Some games have progressed so far, they've gotten rid of the distracting bar on the HUD, and replaced it with the much less offensive red blurry screen to show that your hurt.

Turok has the best delivery of a line in a video game. Probably not really, but its awesome none the less. "Guessing they're Kane's men, coming to make sure we're all dead. Surprise!" Watch it here starting at 1:45 Its really a lot better when you see it in high resolution though. The facial expressions really help the delivery quite a bit.


Go ahead and post any of your own thoughts, if you feel like it.

I remember Turok Evolution had absolutely horrible ladders. You basically had to be facing away from them, run backwards, and then move forwards in mid-air in the hopes of grabbing them.

I remember old turok games being bad in general

MobiusArcher wrote: Some thoughts I find myself thinking again and again while playing video games. Remember when games had health? Remember how awesome that was? I guess games have progressed beyond such outdated concepts. Some games have progressed so far, they've gotten rid of the distracting bar on the HUD, and replaced it with the much less offensive red blurry screen to show that your hurt.

I guess it's a matter of different tastes I'll take well thought out HUDless design over this any day.

I generally prefer a light HUD under most circumstances. The exception would be in WoW, where I run so many mods during raids that I get about a 100x100 pixel square in the middle to see with.

As far as a health system, I like them all, but I'm really fond of the system in like operation flashpoint dragon rising, where you take damage in specific areas and it affects your performance and the wound dressing / medic system.

Themaster032 wrote: I remember old turok games being bad in general

The original had my favorite FPS weapon of all time. Small nuclear device. Good times.

"NTHGTHDGDCRTDTRK"

Themaster032 wrote: I remember old turok games being bad in general

They were actually pretty good if you ask me. Gamespot game Turok 2 a 9.0, so im not the only one who liked them. I did play them on the 64 though. Its quite possible that any PC version may have sucked.

I loved Turok back in the day, but most early 3d efforts just don't hold up very well. It will be interesting to see what games from the mid to late 90's will be remembered as classics. It was a strange time for games.

I suppose you have a point LC. I really haven't played any of the old Turok games in a really long time.

My votes for classic 3D games go to Mechwarrior 2, Soul Reaver, and Shogo.

Clearly, Bubsy 3D will be remembered as a hallmark of the 3D era.

I know of some games that don't have huds and don't show your ammo.

I hated running out of ammo in games like that. Always seemed to be as I was about to win.

My problem isn't with the lack of HUDs, its with the red blurry screen. Its not so bad if its just red, I guess. Its more the blurry part that I hate. If just the edges of the screen were red and blurry I would be OK with that too.

Brodoin reminded me of something else. I wish more games would deal with ammo by the clip instead of by the bullet. It just doesn't feel right when i fire off five shots and then reload, then fire off another five shots, and then reload again. the rest of the bullets in the clip should be lost. Its much more realistic and immersive that way.

MobiusArcher wrote: My problem isn't with the lack of HUDs, its with the red blurry screen. Its not so bad if its just red, I guess. Its more the blurry part that I hate. If just the edges of the screen were red and blurry I would be OK with that too. Brodoin reminded me of something else. I wish more games would deal with ammo by the clip instead of by the bullet. It just doesn't feel right when i fire off five shots and then reload, then fire off another five shots, and then reload again. the rest of the bullets in the clip should be lost. Its much more realistic and immersive that way.

I agree with the red, blurry screen. I remember a couple times where the "you are getting shot" red blurry screen in games has actually caused me to die because I couldn't see well.

You have a point. While it is good to top off your clip before going into a fire-fight, it's unrealistic to keep those leftover bullets from the other clip. You don't see your character refilling the clip, either. It would be realistic to lose the rest of the clip too. I can see that in FPS war games, especially.

I am sick and tired of tutorials that don't teach you jack. Case in point: Republic:the Revolution. I would love to play this but I CAN'T FIGURE OUT THE INTERFACE OR WHAT TO DO. The "tutorial" basically just shows you pictures of the interface and states "see the manual for more detail." Panzer General II is the same way. They give you a "tutorial" scenario and tell you to follow along in the manual. If I wanted to read through the manual I wouldn't need a tutorial. If you're not going to use the tutorial to properly teach the player how the game works, don't even waste the time programming it. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!

buddha420 wrote: I am sick and tired of tutorials that don't teach you jack.

Agreed. I'm also sick of tutorials that take way too long because they think I'm an idiot. For example: Instead of just telling me what the action button does, they feel the need to hold my hand step by step through everything it does. They usually do it with way too much dialog in between each action. Its not very common, but some games will even load separate levels for each little thing they want to teach me.

MobiusArcher wrote: Its not very common, but some games will even load separate levels for each little thing they want to teach me.

I hate that It's like "Man, guys, you can just teach me everything all at once! It's cool! I'll get it!"

Personally, I prefer tutorials where it just gives you a normal level and says on-screen "Press B to melee" "Press A to jump" without stopping to teach you it. If you already know everything, there's no pausing to learn it, if it's your first time playing, it gives you a bit of time to learn stuff.

FPSes seem to do this best.

I started playing FarCry 2 today. For some reason I keep expecting dinosaurs to ambush me.

MobiusArcher wrote: buddha420 wrote: I am sick and tired of tutorials that don't teach you jack. Agreed. I'm also sick of tutorials that take way too long because they think I'm an idiot. For example: Instead of just telling me what the action button does, they feel the need to hold my hand step by step through everything it does. They usually do it with way too much dialog in between each action. Its not very common, but some games will even load separate levels for each little thing they want to teach me.

Or the games where the "tutorial" is really just a large manual you can read while you playing the game IE Space Empires 5. Evil Genius is the perfect way IMO to have a tutorial. Does anybody really need to learn how to "lasso" a group of units anyomre anyways?!