alanschu

Hehe, there was a quaint charm about the dialogue in Ultimas...like "Name" "Job" and "Bye" hehehe Although it is pretty dated by today's standards

Spellmar seems more hostile than I remember back in the day.

I ocasionaly play PvP in Guild Wars and I have no desire to play a medic, I seen how monks have to deal with healing its not my thing. The problem with online games is PUGs only go as far and get slaughtered by any clan/guild since those guys live for PvP and do a lot of stategy training that PUGs naturaly lack and joining a guild/clan means time investement I really dont feel I can do since I dont live to play one game. Thats a problem with games that end up being more a job that entertaiment, online PvP games are expecialy guilty of that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Lucky for you, what you base your opinion on really has nothing to do with a completely different game, both gameplay-wise and game-mechanic wise. To compare the monk in Guild Wars to the Medic in BF2 is pretty stupid. Furthermore, clans do NOT play organized games on the public servers of BF2 (or really any public servers), so you'll never have to worry about the incident that you describe in Guild Wars. Why you would compare a very deliberate, skill based MMORPG with an FPS is beyond me though.

Ultima 8 was wierd....not the usual ultima experience. Very action oriented....and hard IMO. I got stuck, but the world wasn't very "versatile" in that you were much more limited in what you could do, especially compared to Ultima 7

It's a neat little game. I've only played the demo though. As for snipers.....if you're moving, it's almost impossible to snipe you. You actually have to lead the guy, and it can be pretty difficult to do. It's cool being a medic and jumping into an APC, since it makes your APC a mobile healing station. Also, while yes guys do die relatively quicklky in these sorts of games, medics can be useful because they can actually revive people from the dead. Given that you cannot immediately respawn in this game (there are respawn intervals, usually about 15 seconds or so), so a medic can come in and whip out a defibrilator and zap you back to life. It's actually pretty fun when bullets are whizzing along and that enemy plane is strafing you! The biggest beef I have is the lack of nodes. UT2004 had them, and it was nice because you wouldn't have to worry about some dork sneaking behind the front line and capturing all your rear spawn points because you were on the offensive. But that's just me I guess. I like the idea of an established front, not worrying about keeping a guy in the back protecting your spawn points.

I don't really think this is spoilerish...but meh Wasn't there two expansions for the game? Or was it one for each?

I never did play the expansions. I heard that Forge of Virtue is where the Avatar gets the Blackrock Sword is it not? It sounded like there were "extra area" expansions, where the Avatar would eventually return to Britannia to continue his quest in VII. To use those programs, do I just need to install the games on my HD and go from there?

It's not strictly a 2D plane. There are a number of horizontal planes that you can move to in the space battles, so if you want to fly under the ship, then you can. As for Empire at War's 1vs1 campaign mode.....well...it's better than any other campaign mode I've ever played multiplayer in an FPS (which is none). I'll admit I haven't played many RTS games, but I never noticed a multiplayer campaign mode in C&C, SC, or AOE. I never played RON except for the demo. I don't believe TA (yay for acronyms) had a multiplayer campaign either. I felt that Star Wars Rebellion had a lot of potential, and I'm hoping that this game will actually deliver. Company of Heroes on the other hand....WOW. I have high hopes for this game. I have been waiting for a spiritual successor to Close Combat for a looooooong time. I'm hoping this game delievers. I tried getting into games like Codename: Panzers and stuff, but when I sneak behind an enemy tank and shoot it, and it starts to lose HP at a faster rate...then I go ALT-F4 and uninstall the game. In close combat, sneaking behind an enemy tank pretty much meant death for that tank. I loved the realism and the attention to detail. Hiding a bazooka man in a two-storie building and waiting for that Tiger to go by me, waiting the whole time for the perfect time to strike was intense enough as it was.....watching the Tiger go up in smoke afterwards was absolutely exhilirating. It was also frustrating to be careless with your Sherman and having him move into a long street, at the last second noticing there's a FlaK 88 at the end of the road and scrambling to get him to move before the shoot. BOOM, now I have a huge road block for my tank column and life is going to be much more difficult. Waiting for the perfect ambush with an MG42 squad when defending the Bridge at Son and watching them cut down two whole fully exposed infantry squads was great! Ugh, so many memories.

Heh, if you actually were planning on playing either game (time to dig out the floppy drive, and the old cloth map), you'd be happy to know that I have spoiled so unbelievably little of it..... Besides, it's the fantastic dialogue and problem solving that made the game so great. I honestly could have known the entire plot and still would not have had an ounce of trouble playing it :D

Dosbox. The game runs perfectly, without errors and with music and sound effects. All my old games run fine with it. Having all your party possessed by demons - forcing you to find a way to save them - it was fantastic. Loading all their equipment onto automata takes ages... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When they all dropped their inventory, I immediately reloaded the game because I was NOT going through that crap. It was dumb that everything doesn't remain in the backpack, so I just had them drop them before the encounter :D As for that DosBox...interesting. I'll have to look into it. Although I'm not so sure where my copies of either game are...they're still at my parent's place somewhere. And I hope the cloth map is with the first one, as well as the manual for both of them so that I can actually pass the copy protection That and I need a floppy drive

Sorry, I guess you're right. Although I'd doubt anyone who hasn't already played either of the Ultima VII games is about to pick it up and play it any time soon.

Actually, since we're on the Ultima VII: Part II, I also loved the trial in Fawn. I remember that one time I failed miserably in defending Dupre....but something helps me out along the way to keep the plot moving....but I also remember one time doing a stellar job and everyone being amazed at my performance and getting him off no problem :D I also remember the neat swamp that would always pass you out, and the cool dungeon that. And considering I had my Soundblaster so it was cool with sound. I very much remember one part, when, just after you get the Serpent Earrings, a bigass serpent appears on your screen and starts talking to you. Scared the bejezzus out of me. Getting seduced by Frigidazzi was cool...and watching Fibelircio (sp?) sentence you to the dungeon. And using the daemon sword against the uber-mage to get out of that dungeon. Ahh....soooooo many memories.

The ending of the scene was pretty cool too. The Guardian was not one to mess with. Learning that the Guardian was evil in Ultima VII was cool in its own right. I so wish I could still play these games. The last time I tried was either on my P166 or my K6-2 333....not sure which one. BUT, the game went SO fast, that before I realized it, enough time had elapsed that my guys were passing out from starving so much. If I recall, the part where you meet up with Batlin.....isn't that where your most loyal companions go all loopy? I must say, the one part where you see the demented Iolo in Shamino's castle with the red eyes sent shivers down my spine.

I actually feel kind of bad for it.

I made it to Trinsic in Ultima IX, but then something happened and I quit playing. Then to start playing all the way from the beginning was something I didn't really feel like doing unfortunately. I was hoping to see the end of the Trilogy of Trilogies

Ender, I must admit, I have mad respect for you since you seem to be an Ultima fan. I eventually did finish Ultima IV like you suggested :D But yeah, Dupre was a shocker. Same with finding the evidence that confirmed my suspicions that Batlin was indeed a bad dude, and that I was on the hitlist along with Lord British :eek: Other big moments are: The ending of Torment The ending of Fallout When you take out the Universal Constructor in Hong Kong in Deus Ex, when everything seems to be pointing to the end of the game (and I would have been VERY happy with my purchase just given the game I had played), only to find out there was MORE :D :D :D Reaching the surface for the first time in Half-Life and realizing that the help that was sent isn't very "helpful" One unforgettable moment was with a fun simple game called Uprising...the unforgettable moment was that it forced me to use mouselook, completely changing the way I played FPS games and amplifying my skill in them tenfold. The video at the end of the second act of Duke Nukem, when you find out he wasn't just trash talking when he said "I'm going to rip off your head and sh** down your throat" Beating GoldenEye on 007 mode, with all the cheats unlocked, cementing my claim among my friends and peers as being THE ultimate GoldenEye player (as if my owning them in multiplayer wasn't enough :D) My first Cavalry flank in Rome: Total War with my Heavy Cavalry. Mowing down two whole units of soldiers was immensely satisfying. Convincing Zaalbar to be not so nice to Mission in KOTOR. I am fairly used to Bioware's Evil-Lite approach, but to see that they actually incorporated something as evil and manipulative as this was very cool! Yoshimo's betrayal!!! If I can think of any more, I'll be sure to put them down.

#1 and #2 are easy. 1) Half-Life 1a) Deus Ex (Half-Life wins simply because I had experienced it first...gets more nostalgic votes). For #3, things get much harder...there's soooooooooooo many good ones to choose from. First, I think Half-Life 2....a sequel to #1. Hmm, it was crazy fun and had fantastic graphics and animation, and the game was just super cool. I'm also thinking Ultima VII, because that was the game that finally led me to get my own PC (used to be a SNES and Macintosh boy). No One Lives Forever 2 was fun, and gets bonus points for an actually creatively designed co-op mode (it's co-op mode put the players in control of Unity agents in missions that related to the single player story. Either you'd set things up before Cate got there so she could do her mission...or you'd be part of a "clean-up" crew immediately following the aftermath of one of her missions)....but ultimately....I don't think it had enough of an impact....so I guess this one is out. Civilization sucked away a lot of time....but it doesn't seem to move me as much anymore....probably because it's pretty dated. Pirates! Gold was crazy fun, as was it's current remake...hmmmm. Oooo, Baldur's Gate 2. A very long and ultimately fulfilling game. It was neat as it was the first game I've ever played that had a romance in it. Very neat stuff! Perhaps a little too munchkinish though. Fallout 1 and 2 are both sweet....probably give the nod to Fallout 1 as it was less buggy though. Ack, how could I forget Planescape: Torment. Excellent storyling and a killer ending! I loved that game. Ok, after considering the finalists and giving games I enjoyed a reviewer's tilt..here's the list: 1) Half-Life 1) Deus Ex (meh...let's just go straight up tie) 3) Planescape: Torment 3a) 3b) 3c) 3d) everything else

I'd put a plug in for Ultima VII: Part 2...especially the Videos. I remember my friends oooing and awwing them when they first saw them :D And kirottu, if you look closely, I took the easy way out. I said it was a 100% 3D graphical engine :D

People act surprised by the silence of game developers/publishers. These same people tried being open with their customers when they were with Black Isle, and look at the mess the Black Isle forums became. Sure, you guys say "all you want is an update" but like the cliche goes: Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile. If Obsidian or Lucasarts responds to you, then it sets a precedent. People will begin clamouring for more responses and more feedback, and it sets the bar higher and higher each time, until it's simply impossible to even hope of meeting demand. However, failure to continue to respond leads to angry messages and angry e-mails, because "they responded to so-and-so, the fook did they respond to him and not me?" It eventually gets to a point where failure to have essentially collaboration with the fans (of which there are 1000s of them, each with their own ideas and opinions) that it just makes the situation messy. So what happens when you get your response from Obsidian? You sit back happy with mission accomplished? Or does psychology take over and you are reinforced in doing such acts (and everyone else that witnesses it)? Sadly enough, I blame the silence of developers on the fans.....they're the ones that have outrageous demands that cannot be met...and then cry for blood because they aren't met. Refer to all the stupid things that have happened, like the BIS forum gong-show, or the hacking of Valve to get the E3 code. The guy that did that claimed he did it because Valve wasn't being fair to their customers and whatever other bull he spewed forth. And then Valve became silent for everything, and because they were trying to be open about stuff before hand, people were expecting it and when they weren't getting it they got pissed off (and do stupid stuff like hack Gabe's computer).

It's clealy a 3D graphics engine. Whether or not the game is played in all 3 axes is irrelevant. You can clearly see when rotating the camera the fact that trees have definite height and rotate appropriately with respect to their position in all of the axes. It's fully polygonal, requires Z-Buffers and the like. A 2D game is a game like Baldur's Gate. Clearly the gamestate is not rotateable, objects contain no depth and are static.

What records would Detroit have broken if they had won?

Not having backup for statements has never stopped you. In any case, what do you mean by "gameplay" will be the same style as Aurora? I would bet that even if they weren't using Aurora and completely built a new engine, that since the game is a sequel to an Aurora engine game, there's a good chance the gameplay would be in the same style as Aurora, regardless of whether or not it is Aurora.

That would be interesting, given that it would be March 22nd, 1993. I'd probably start playing basketball a lot more seriously and earlier (although I'd only be two years behind). My brother was killed in a motorcycle accident on September 11, 1994, so at first instinct, I'd probably find a way to prevent that. But....I'd be worried that things could change for the worse. I grew a lot as a person in the aftermath of his accident....and became more extraverted too. I'd also likely work up the nerve to actually ask Sherrie out

Pearl Jam U2 Foo Fighters Audioslave That's all I can come up with at the moment. I like a lot of bands, but I'm not sure if I'd consider them my "favourites" or not.

Should be interesting now that Detroit has evened it up.