Azure79

So I got my early beta code and I have Freespace 1 and 2 and Fallout 1 and 2 in my shopping list. I'm thinking of also getting Jagged Alliance 2 Unfinished Business and Die by the Sword. I've never played the Freespace games, so I'm really looking forward to that. I have my copies of the Fallout games, but want Vista compatible versions. I also have a copy of Jagged Alliance, but its this Korean version that I can't stand. Probably why I never got around to completing it. I've heard mixed things about Die by the Sword, your thoughts will be appreciated. I'll let you know how things go. Oh, and if anyone wants access to the beta, they gave me a code to give out, so send me pm if you want it. First come first serve. I'm not sure how many codes they gave out, but if you didn't get one yet, and want to try, let me know.

Tigranes: Yeah, you just missed the Starcraft phase. It was just picking up then. Those were pretty good times too. I started playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms starting from 5 and am currently playing 11. I think they should revamp the game engine into something like the Total War series, but we're talking about KOEI here so I don't have high hopes. Though 11 is still extremely addictive. You should try the sRPG series from KOEI that center on Zhuge Liang or Cao Cao if you haven't. Those games actually got me to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms and eventually other Chinese literature.

I love the Igni sign. I like the combat, but I can see why other people might not find it as fun.

So tell us about your personal gaming history, how you got started, what got you hooked and how you got to playing what you are now. I think the first electronic game I ever played was something my father called Donkey. He was an engineering student and took me to his lab one day. I was around 6-7. He set me in front of a computer and launched a game where a vague donkey shaped object would have to avoid obstacles to the left or right as it sped up a street. All you had to do was press left or right to make the donkey avoid the obstacles. I remember it being fun back then. Then my father got his hands on an Atari system, so I spent many hours playing Pac-man, Donkey Kong and Pit-fall and some other games we had. My father would destroy me on Pac-man, which always sent me into fits of rage. My few other friends had those coleco video game systems and we usually played Donkey Kong Jr. After that in 1987 or so, my grandmother came to visit and bought me a NES. She is still my favorite person to this day. I logged a lot of hours into the NES over the years, trading games with friends, going over to check out the latest game someone had, sharing secrets, reading Nintendo Power. Those were good times. Strangely, my father started to disapprove of my gaming habits and eventually took the NES away. He wanted me to study more and get good grades. Hey, my parents are Asian. So I've never owned a console after the NES, until I got a PS2, which was a few months before the next gen came out, so quite a while. All the good times people had with the SNES, Genesis, Playstation, etc, I missed. Also we moved back to Korea, right about when the SNES was hitting, and consoles weren't that prevalent over there at the time. But it wasn't all in vain however. My father wasn't adverse to buying me a computer, so soon I discovered an entirely new library of games to play. These games were a lot more interesting than the NES. I started with the shooters first, playing Commander Keen and then Wolfenstein then onto Doom and Quake as the years went by. Then I discovered adventure games and then strategy games and finally one fateful day I tried Baldur's Gate and have been mostly into RPGs since. Also living in Korea for years had its benefits for my gaming. I played a lot of Taiwanese games based on the novels of Jin Yong which were basically very linear RPGs, I played a lot of sRPGS developed by KOEI and by developers in Korea. I still have a copy of The War of Genesis 3, which is a superb Korean made SRPG. I had a chance to make some cool Japanese friends during highschool and they introduced me to some pretty cool games as well. All in all, looking back at it, it was great. Share some of your history.

I think he pretty much had this coming. He seems to listen to no one but himself, then proceeds to insult you if you don't happen to agree with him. Probably not the best way to make friends or allies.

That's a really good point. I keep waiting for a new game that will enthrall me for more than a month, but it just hasn't happened in the last few years. The only recent games that I've played over a longer period is Civilization IV. Pretty much agree with this. The only games that came out recently that I've replayed is NWN 2 and The Witcher. Both basically CRPGs. Games I play continuously are Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy game, Starcraft and the old IE games. I also hope for a new game to come out that will captivate me for the years to come.

It doesn't have to be called BG. But BG is a established, recognized name so if the game is made with the spirit of BG, and featuring similar gameplay, why not call it BG to attract attention and potentially generate increased interest for it.

Yeah, sometimes you can perform a coup de grace on the head dog, if you're lucky with Aard. I don't remember that battle being particularly hard. I did have to do it multiple times, but it was because I was trying to keep the witch alive. I thought that if she died during the battle she was dead, but I don't think that was the case.

I think everyone on this forum has had that thought at one time or another. I don't think BG3 if announced, will cause the amount of backlash that Fallout 3 did. Wasn't that mainly because Bethesda was the dev? They're great at making empty open-ended worlds with the same elven ruin and goblin caves over and over again, but they really weren't well-known for crafting, hmm...a good story, good dialog with interesting NPCs and such. They should just make game called Baldur's Gate Gaiden: Minsc and Boo Adventures. I would buy it. How about an entire series following the escapades of the NPCs. BG Gaiden: Imoen meets Elminster, Edwin and the Netherscroll 2. Jan Jansen and the Terrible Turnip, Viconia and the drow orgy. Make them adventure games.

There are a lot of quests where you have to collect so many of whatever items, but these are mostly optional, but they are good source of loot and experience. Also they provide raw materials for your potions, which are a must if you play on the hardest difficulty. I would agree that a lot of the quests aren't that exciting, but for me it was the visual atmosphere and the combat that was great. some people will disagree on the combat, but I liked that you had to pay attention to your sword swings to continue more devastating moves, switch styles on the fly as you battled different opponents and dodge and position so as not to get surrounded. The magic was also fun to use. I especially liked the Aard sign simply because it blew away your opponents. Igni was also useful for some of the tougher monsters. There are a lot of choices to be made while in the game and I liked those. It didn't feel as though there was a good/evil choice. It was just a matter of how you looked at things. I think the devs did a good job in that respect. I'm also interested in the story and how it will unfold. I haven't read any of the Witcher novels, but according to Wiki, the game takes place after the last book in the series where Geralt is witnessed getting killed by an angry mob. Naturally, this brings up questions on where he was during that death and when he re-appeared in the game. Seeing the game's ending, it looks like someone might have held him captive and studied his physiology. I think this will present a nice opportunity for the devs and the author, Andrej Sapkowski, to collaborate and create a nice story which takes us into a conspiracy to destroy the Witchers. There is a community mod out called Deception. Here is the link. http://www.thewitcher.com/community/en/news/690.html I haven't tried it yet, but looks interesting. I'm glad there is so much support for this game as I would like another Witcher game that takes us to other places in the setting.

I love the analogy with the gothic cathedrals. As to NWN2 still looking pretty good - I agree, though it would be sad if they stopped at Storm of Zehir with the expansions. I guess they have to stop somewhere though... Regarding the MoW fiasco - I am not aware of it at all, so I cannot comment. I lost any and all interest in MoW after it was revealed that it would use DRM that requires a connection to the internet each time you play and have stopped checking the relevant forum since then, so I don't know what fiasco has developed around it. Care to enlighten me? I think it has something to do with the game being already finished but deliberately delayed due to Atari getting those DRM measures into place. This pretty much killed my interest in the game.

Since I quit my job and went back to school I've been doing a lot of studying. Today, I listened to an online calculus lecture, did some homework for physics and then I'm planning to play some games later in the night.

I'm just amazed that they are stll working on the project. It must be like a labor of love now. My copy of TSL waits quietly in anticipation. Please keep up the good work!

I've been wondering about that. I look at the console news and see all sorts of older games getting new treatment, like Bionic Commando Rearmed, Prince of Persia...the 2d remake they did and Megaman 9, and I wonder if the PC RPG market can do the same thing with older tech. Of course those games might be less complex to develop for, I'm no programmer, but if some studio used the infinity engine as a basis and started developing shorter episodic content, I would be all for it. The NWN2 build set might make that all moot, but one can dream right?

I would pay money to play a new Infinity Engine Game. I never replayed a game as much as I did and IE game. None of the newly released D&D games seem to have that same tactics/rpg feel that the IE games had. Even if I readjust the camera for an isometric view.

Ack, I watched the Forbidden Kingdom and did not enjoy it all. The only interesting part is when Jackie Chan and Jet Li have their fight. Seeing two kung-fu movie legends going at it was pretty cool. But seriously, for the first movie they did together, it was dissapointing. They needed to lose that goofy karate kid and have the entire movie in the semi chinese fantasy setting. I think the movie would have been better if it was just a full-on Chinese production with a more traditional kung-fu movie setting.

That's what I plan on doing. Playing through the game in tactical view. I don't know why people keep saying game writing can't compare to movies. I'm sure its not comparable to a well written novel, but considering the majority of crap that Hollywood spews out, I actually prefer game writing and cutscenes.

Not exactly, evidently the download contains the blood fix and a no-dvd patch. Yes it does. Another reason I love CD Projeckt. Playing a new game with Polish voiceovers and English text. This is one beautiful game. I don't think I've seen a more prettier game that uses 3d graphics yets looks so gritty and real.

I successfully installed and I'm playing one of the new added quests. Its pretty good so far, though I can't really see any new gestures and stuff. I'll have to start a new game and see how much dialog has been added.

I dunno, is there really anywhere for the story to go? Your PC pretty much comes into his destiny in any of the three endings. I don't really follow D&D, but I head that 4th edition is set years into the future of the current setting? If they make a D&D game would they have to use the 4th edition rules? I wouldn't mind a totally new game with a new storyline set in the future in Baldurs Gate where you hear bits and pieces the history of the Bhaalspawn saga. Heck even some of the longer lived NPCs could make an appearance. Too bad Minsc is human. Edwin would have no doubt been able to survive in some form.

I love CDprojekt for doing this and has made me a fan. I started my download, but I think I'll wait for a faster mirror as well. I can't wait to play the extra quests. I think I'll play in Polish (Is that the original language?) with English subtitles.

Yeah, the reviews have been really mixed. On the one hand I want to check it out because I'm a Star Wars fan but I just don't have the money to blow 60 on a game that I'm not really going to enjoy. Uh...At some point, maybe closer to the bargain bin I'll pick this up. Yup, same here. I'm not spending 50-60 bucks on a mediocre game that I'll beat in a few hours. The only games I am willing to pay full price for anymore are RPGs and strategy games with lots of replay value. I will buy a full priced game if I really like the developer and want to support them. Obsidian, Bioware, Blizzard and Valve usually get my money day one. The Witcher devs will probably get my money too. I really liked the Witcher. It has its flaws, but the overall gameplay I found to be a good mix of action and stats and the story was quite unexpected.

I disagree. I found ME to be the most disappointing Bio game so far. I found the squad gameplay to be monotonous and all the environments in which said battles took place were basically rectangular environments with conveniently spaced boxes of stuff. There were a few cool environments but not much. The last few battles were pretty good, I agree with that. The planets were empty and the side quests were pretty much the same thing over and over. I do agree with your criticisms of the game though. They gave us all this space to explore and it was basically empty. I generally like NPCs Bioware creates, but this time around, they call kind of seemed uninspired. Even Saren was a let down. I did fairly enjoy my experience, but was generally left with a taste of, this could have been so much better. I usually play Bio games again as soon as I beat them, but I haven't really had the motivation to play ME again. I did like the overall story and I'm curious as to how they'll be able to stop a threat so massive in the next game. I also liked the important choices you had to make throughout the game. Everything else was just 'ok' for me I actually like messing around in inventories and reconfiguring my party with better and better equipment and thinking of contingency plans in my head. I like reading the lore presented in the game world, (I loved ME's galactic encyclopedia) I like having total control over my party like in BG and IWD. I like items with history and a little backstory. So basically your game-halting experiences are game enhancing experiences for me. heh. If Bioware brings all this back with Dragon Age I'll be one happy camper.

Quite amazingly, there have been times when girls have had crushes on me. I'm not oblivious to these things but I like after chasing girls, not the other way around. I did date one girl that had a crush on me and it was great until I moved back to the US. Long distance never works.