dr_st wrote on 2024-11-17, 12:37:

mannycalavera wrote on 2024-11-17, 11:03:

now i'm gonna try to play Prince of Persia 2 that i understand that it has a more complex gameplay.

Indeed. The levels are bigger, enemies are more frequent and diverse, puzzles are deeper. Some like it, others not so much. To me PoP2 was completely magical. I wish you the same enjoyable experience.

I've played a bit and my first impressions are that there are many more paths and dangers in the mine level. I think I'm definitely going to enjoy it at least as much as the first one. And the music in MT-32 or GM (still didn't decided by one over the other) is total magic.

mannycalavera wrote on 2024-11-17, 13:31:

dr_st wrote on 2024-11-17, 12:37:

mannycalavera wrote on 2024-11-17, 11:03:

now i'm gonna try to play Prince of Persia 2 that i understand that it has a more complex gameplay.

Indeed. The levels are bigger, enemies are more frequent and diverse, puzzles are deeper. Some like it, others not so much. To me PoP2 was completely magical. I wish you the same enjoyable experience.

I've played a bit and my first impressions are that there are many more paths and dangers in the mine level. I think I'm definitely going to enjoy it at least as much as the first one. And the music in MT-32 or GM (still didn't decided by one over the other) is total magic.

You nailed it. The ambient music is something I wished PoP1 had (TBH, some ports, like SNES, did have it). And quite a few levels in PoP2 have alternate paths and optional sections.

I have been playing Baldur's Gate 3 for the last 92 hours, if Steam is correct, and I guess you could say the game grew on me, eventually. That said, Act 2 felt a bit rushed, and Act 3 so far looks like a disorganized, totally incoherent mess. I guess by the time people reach Act 3 they are too invested and enamored to care at that point, but in all honesty it feels like at some point someone decided to cut a lot of content and rush the game out the door, and it definitely shows. Regardless, what they rushed out the door is still in many ways the best 'roleplaying' experience there is on a computer. That said, it is not the best 'roleplaying game' experience I've had. I definitely played vintage or modern RPGs with better narrative and/or better mechanics. That said, as an overall package, Baldur's Gate 3 is good and worth playing. I'll write a more detailed review once I am finished with it.

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-10-28, 01:19:

Champions of Krynn Finished! I had a great time with this one, though it was surprisingly short and much easier than I expected […]
Show full quote

Champions of Krynn
Finished! I had a great time with this one, though it was surprisingly short and much easier than I expected (my experience playing through previous Gold Box games probably helped a lot). It plays pretty similarly to Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and Secret of the Silver Blades, of course. However, it does have some tweaks and changes here and there, mostly due to the unique world of Krynn. For example, there are fewer restrictions on non-human characters, which lets you really go wild with multi-classing.

Unlike Secret of the Silver Blades, each area was expertly designed and a lot of fun to explore with plenty of unique encounters and minor puzzle elements. The designers did a great job at mixing and matching different enemy types to keep you on your toes ever during random encounters. There are even some fun role-playing elements, such as multiple ways through certain areas (combat or stealth) and a fun part where you can go around doing optional little tasks to make a boss battle much easier.

---

This game has really reinvigorated my interest in the Gold Box series, after the slight letdown of Curse of the Azure Bonds and the disappointment of Secret of the Silver Blades. I'm really looking forward to bringing my party into the sequel, Death Knights of Krynn, which I've read combines the nonlinear "open world" structure of Pool of Radiance with the world and mechanics of Champions of Krynn. However, I will probably go in chronological release order and play the first Buck Rogers Gold Box game next.

Secret of the Silver Blades was my first Gold Box SSI AD&D game so it will forever have a soft spot in my heart, but it is not a good game for sure, and its dungeons aged pretty badly. That said, while Champions of Krynn is a good game, but I would definitely not rate it above Curse of the Azure Bonds. The main issue with Champions of Krynn is that it basically rips off parts of the original DL modules into a carbon copy of the Chronicles books, which makes for a very railroady and predictable plot. Death Knights of Krynn is the sequel and the superior game in every way, if you enjoyed this you MUST play the sequel. Also, Pools of Darkness is a great game that actually ends the Forgotten Realms saga on a very high note, upping the stakes to ridiculous heights (fancy making camp in the belly button of a dead god?) and definitely worth playing after Secret of the Silver Blades as well.

appiah4 wrote on 2024-11-19, 13:40:

I have been playing Baldur's Gate 3 for the last 92 hours…

I’m getting mixed messages here 😅 You like it a lot, but not really?

badmojo wrote on 2024-11-19, 22:37:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-11-19, 13:40:

I have been playing Baldur's Gate 3 for the last 92 hours…

I’m getting mixed messages here 😅 You like it a lot, but not really?

It is a long game that starts to lose coherence near the end. It is good, but not perfect as the interwebs would lead you to believe - it does have shortcomings. I would personally rate Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity I/II as better modern rpgs in many ways, but that is my personal preference..

Been enjoying some STALKER2.

The madlads really put a poltergeist right in the tutorial.

Out of the three previous entries, feels closest to SoC.

playing this "half-life 2" thing but with the commentary on. It helps me appreciate it from a developer context, though the long stretches of driving still nauseate me, along with edge-sharpened photosourcing

Not a retro game: Stalker 2...

It takes 150 GB on disk. One... Hundred... and Fifty... GB !!!

I mean... That's insane !

mtest001 wrote on 2024-11-21, 18:27:

Not a retro game: Stalker 2...

It takes 150 GB on disk. One... Hundred... and Fifty... GB !!!

I mean... That's insane !

They must have forgotten the high res texture files.

Isn't the new COD over 200gigs?

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2024-11-21, 18:36:

Isn't the new COD over 200gigs?

I'm not sure, but my son has been playing it since release and our ISP bandwidth limit has been exceeded for the first time in a long time. Between him playing and all the updates it's been getting, it's used a ton of bandwidth the past month. We've been averaging 45GB per day this month when we normally are around 30GB per day. Our ISP allows 1.25TB/mo which is 41.6GB per day average.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2024-11-21, 18:36:

Isn't the new COD over 200gigs?

isn't that about 60-70 HD movies of average length? (taking a guess at 3ish gb per film)

is there that much data in the game? it must be full on 4k plus many hours of dialog / animation and so on

in playing the game would it feel dramatically different to playing a 20gb game from some years back i wonder

To the question above, I'd say no. Call of Duty 4 Remaster is about 6-7x size the original.

Do textures in these modern games really look so great when looking at them up-close?

UCyborg wrote on 2024-11-22, 23:40:

To the question above, I'd say no. Call of Duty 4 Remaster is about 6-7x size the original.

Do textures in these modern games really look so great when looking at them up-close?

Consider that the average GPU VRAM at the time was 512MB vs 8GB now.

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-11-17, 06:54:

The parley option is basically just another option for avoiding combat. I think it's random, but certain groups do respond bett […]
Show full quote

clueless1 wrote on 2024-11-16, 22:21:

Quick question on POR: I'm still doing the beginning random combats in the Slums. How important is Parlaying, in general, and at this early stage of the game? Do you just approach and fight, or does Parlaying have any benefit when it's something like an angry group of Orcs?

The parley option is basically just another option for avoiding combat. I think it's random, but certain groups do respond better to certain attitudes (Haughty, Abusive, etc.). There's also an area later in the game where you can use the parley option to speak a password to patrolling guards to avoid random combat completely. You never have to use it to get useful information or solve a quest or anything, though.

If you want to read up on how the game works, this FAQ is extremely thorough:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/564785-pool- … ance/faqs/73869
It's far more than just a simple walkthrough, as it really gets into the details of how the game works, provides lots of tips (recommended spells, combat tactics, etc.), and even has a nice section on the game interface that does a better job of explaining how to play the game than the manual!

I have that guide up in a tab since day one. 😀

One thing that is frustrating me is the slow pace to level up and the difficulty in doing so. My characters only have ~200 XP and for some reason the Dwarf F/T only has ~100. I lose a character often in combat and reload. Only having one sleep spell for each of my two mages is rough. I either go back to an inn and rest often, or try to get as many victories as I can by save scumming. Granted, my play time is <4 hours at this point, but, any tips for speeding up the combat victories and getting to my first level up? It doesn't help that I only have a couple of hours per week to play. Hopefully with a long Thanksgiving weekend I'll be able to devote some more time to the game. I have gotten the two cure wounds scrolls and between them and the cleric's memorized cure wounds, I have eeked out some victories without losing a character.

clueless1 wrote on 2024-11-23, 15:03:

One thing that is frustrating me is the slow pace to level up and the difficulty in doing so. My characters only have ~200 XP and for some reason the Dwarf F/T only has ~100. I lose a character often in combat and reload. Only having one sleep spell for each of my two mages is rough. I either go back to an inn and rest often, or try to get as many victories as I can by save scumming. Granted, my play time is <4 hours at this point, but, any tips for speeding up the combat victories and getting to my first level up? It doesn't help that I only have a couple of hours per week to play. Hopefully with a long Thanksgiving weekend I'll be able to devote some more time to the game. I have gotten the two cure wounds scrolls and between them and the cleric's memorized cure wounds, I have eeked out some victories without losing a character.

It does indeed take quite a while to get your first level up, due to how little experience enemies give out (and of course split among six characters). You actually earn the most experience points though finding hidden treasure rather and solving quests, rather than through combat, so if you want to level up as quickly as possible you could check a scan of the official cluebook (or that FAQ) and head right to that content. There are I think three hidden treasures in the first area, and also a side quest where a guy asks you to get a potion for him from elsewhere in the same area.

You can also hire a couple of mercenaries (if you can afford them) to make combat a bit easier early on. If you do that, you probably want to just stick with fighters because the game doesn't really know how to use magic users!

Once you get your characters to level 2, things become much easier, so it's just a matter of making baby steps until you get there. You can actually wipe out the random encounters permanently, so even if you aren't earning much gold/exp from them, you are making progress. I think there are 15 random encounters in total in the first area, so once you've exhausted them you can explore the map without any risk (other than the fixed encounters of course), which makes searching for the hidden treasures a lot easier.

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-11-25, 04:05:

It does indeed take quite a while to get your first level up, due to how little experience enemies give out (and of course split […]
Show full quote

clueless1 wrote on 2024-11-23, 15:03:

One thing that is frustrating me is the slow pace to level up and the difficulty in doing so. My characters only have ~200 XP and for some reason the Dwarf F/T only has ~100. I lose a character often in combat and reload. Only having one sleep spell for each of my two mages is rough. I either go back to an inn and rest often, or try to get as many victories as I can by save scumming. Granted, my play time is <4 hours at this point, but, any tips for speeding up the combat victories and getting to my first level up? It doesn't help that I only have a couple of hours per week to play. Hopefully with a long Thanksgiving weekend I'll be able to devote some more time to the game. I have gotten the two cure wounds scrolls and between them and the cleric's memorized cure wounds, I have eeked out some victories without losing a character.

It does indeed take quite a while to get your first level up, due to how little experience enemies give out (and of course split among six characters). You actually earn the most experience points though finding hidden treasure rather and solving quests, rather than through combat, so if you want to level up as quickly as possible you could check a scan of the official cluebook (or that FAQ) and head right to that content. There are I think three hidden treasures in the first area, and also a side quest where a guy asks you to get a potion for him from elsewhere in the same area.

You can also hire a couple of mercenaries (if you can afford them) to make combat a bit easier early on. If you do that, you probably want to just stick with fighters because the game doesn't really know how to use magic users!

Once you get your characters to level 2, things become much easier, so it's just a matter of making baby steps until you get there. You can actually wipe out the random encounters permanently, so even if you aren't earning much gold/exp from them, you are making progress. I think there are 15 random encounters in total in the first area, so once you've exhausted them you can explore the map without any risk (other than the fixed encounters of course), which makes searching for the hidden treasures a lot easier.

Thank you. Now that I know this is normal, I will proceed. Kind of reminds me of Realms of Arkania. Slow level ups, small XP for combat, more XP for solving quests.

Old School D&D has a very grindy experience curve and a very lethal low level game experience. Soldier on and at around Level 3 you ought to feel like you are out of the woods..

clueless1 wrote on 2024-11-21, 23:50:

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2024-11-21, 18:36:

Isn't the new COD over 200gigs?

I'm not sure, but my son has been playing it since release and our ISP bandwidth limit has been exceeded for the first time in a long time. Between him playing and all the updates it's been getting, it's used a ton of bandwidth the past month. We've been averaging 45GB per day this month when we normally are around 30GB per day. Our ISP allows 1.25TB/mo which is 41.6GB per day average.

Apparently Black Ops 6 streams textures, which accounts for a ton of extra bandwidth. We've well exceeded our monthly data limit from Cox this month and will be paying a hefty overage fee. Can't wait for the new ISP in town to be ready for me to sign up for. Fiber 1Gb up/down with unlimited bandwidth for $90/mo. Will leave Cox in a heartbeat once they are ready to rock and roll.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/10/call-o … ffic-this-week/