I was born in 1963. I still consider games from the 90's as "old", before the quality if life improvements changed gaming.
As for mods, without playing the vanilla game, ho do I know what mods I want? Also, especially with Skyrim, I know firsthand that it is not a superb game, but a mediocre one, without mods. I want to see how a game was released before changing it, if that makes sense
Now, thanks to Skyrim and subsequent Bethesda titles, my first trip after purchasing their (or most) games is to Nexus mods and finding the "unofficial patch" files. It also helps that I rarely buy games within the first month of release, waiting for them (developers/publishers) to patch it into playability
Also, I think understanding of computers/coding plays into it. I could be way off but it seems to me a lot of people older than me that are still into video games have a better understanding of computers and retain more information of how things used to work, why, and how to fix problems. Where I have issues getting a game running normally without some mod they can fiddle with shit and get it to run on their own.
I remember having to make boot disks to get games to run. But I have no idea the why and how of it. It took me a lot of work and fiddling to make a boot disk that got U7 to run, but I have no idea what xms is or does or why what I eventually came up with worked. The same now. I have no idea what the major mods do the engine of FO 1 and 2 or why it is so much easier to play when I install them, I just know its way easier with more functionality when I do.
So, from a knowledge/understanding standpoint I may default to looking for easy-mode fixes for problems I have that other people don't see as a problem since they know what to do to get things to work on their own.
That's a good reminder of how far convenience has come in gaming and computing in general. What you were doing there was configuring the disk operating system for memory and I/O for the program (game) it was about to run. Often you'd need to configure direct memory address (DMA), serial and parallel port I/O, and even interrupts. Now the OS and games do most of that for you in a much more diverse and complex hardware ecosystem.
This is why I love respins and remasters of old games. They're taking all that manual kludge and moving it into the program where it should be. Try playing Arcanum on a modern OS. You'll need to apply several patches and hacks to get it running mostly right. That's because "back in the day" you could (and had to) configure hardware to run the game as it expects.
The problem with progress is that while improvements are made some good features get cut or left out. Too much focus has been on improving the revenue milking machine while game design takes a back seat.
If someone *likes* all the fiddly memory management mess, you can always resort to DosBox. But even that has quite a number of AIQ's QOL improvements. I like the respins and remasters of older games too, but my financial situation limits how many games I already have that I can buy again.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I was born in 1963. I still consider games from the 90's as "old", before the quality if life improvements changed gaming.
As for mods, without playing the vanilla game, ho do I know what mods I want? Also, especially with Skyrim, I know firsthand that it is not a superb game, but a mediocre one, without mods. I want to see how a game was released before changing it, if that makes sense
Now, thanks to Skyrim and subsequent Bethesda titles, my first trip after purchasing their (or most) games is to Nexus mods and finding the "unofficial patch" files. It also helps that I rarely buy games within the first month of release, waiting for them (developers/publishers) to patch it into playability
Also, I think understanding of computers/coding plays into it. I could be way off but it seems to me a lot of people older than me that are still into video games have a better understanding of computers and retain more information of how things used to work, why, and how to fix problems. Where I have issues getting a game running normally without some mod they can fiddle with shit and get it to run on their own.
I remember having to make boot disks to get games to run. But I have no idea the why and how of it. It took me a lot of work and fiddling to make a boot disk that got U7 to run, but I have no idea what xms is or does or why what I eventually came up with worked. The same now. I have no idea what the major mods do the engine of FO 1 and 2 or why it is so much easier to play when I install them, I just know its way easier with more functionality when I do.
So, from a knowledge/understanding standpoint I may default to looking for easy-mode fixes for problems I have that other people don't see as a problem since they know what to do to get things to work on their own.
That's a good reminder of how far convenience has come in gaming and computing in general. What you were doing there was configuring the disk operating system for memory and I/O for the program (game) it was about to run. Often you'd need to configure direct memory address (DMA), serial and parallel port I/O, and even interrupts. Now the OS and games do most of that for you in a much more diverse and complex hardware ecosystem.
This is why I love respins and remasters of old games. They're taking all that manual kludge and moving it into the program where it should be. Try playing Arcanum on a modern OS. You'll need to apply several patches and hacks to get it running mostly right. That's because "back in the day" you could (and had to) configure hardware to run the game as it expects.
The problem with progress is that while improvements are made some good features get cut or left out. Too much focus has been on improving the revenue milking machine while game design takes a back seat.
If someone *likes* all the fiddly memory management mess, you can always resort to DosBox. But even that has quite a number of AIQ's QOL improvements. I like the respins and remasters of older games too, but my financial situation limits how many games I already have that I can buy again.
Something I definitely don't miss is making sure all your hardware "lines up" for each individual game
As for "remasters", I enjoy many of them, but some just can't help but put their own touch on the games.
One huge reason I like GOG is that they configure DOSBox for you
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
A couple years back I played a DAOC freeshard which was trying to deliver an "authentic" 1.69 old school experience.
I enjoyed it leveling my first character (50) but after working on a 2nd (45) and 3rd, (42) not so much as the old design decisions really wore on me and I quit after 6 months.
Fast forward to 2019 and I recently joined a new freeshard which "rose from the ashes" and was built with the idea of including more modern conveniences.
Yes folks, they made it "easier" and I like it!
Level appropriate high quality gear regularly drops so no tedious grinding of crafting or salvaging skills to earn gold. (Which at level 25 I have 276 gold from vendoring loot or drops in combat.
My Skald is over geared at this point and of course, gear never loses durability even purple so no expensive repairs, so my friends and I spend most of our time doing what we love best...killing stuff!
So, what do I spend gold on? Merchants! You buy them in town for 50 gold and can drop it at your camp for 3 minutes in order to vendor all extra loot, freeing players from tedious runs in town to sell and ....keep killing stuff!
You can even buy another merchant from the camp merchant so no need to invest in advance for spares, which of course stack should you desire to.
Or, one can buy campfires from other players who sell spares in case you aren't getting them by grouping to fight higher level camps.
These are definitely not 1.69 compliant and speed up regeneration of health, endo, and mana while sitting, especially in combat. Not really needed when out of combat unless your class consumes a lot mana.
Maps display where you are on them, and where your friends or group is. A true God send after 6 months of navigating by landmarks and dead reckoning.
There are many other perks I won't go into, but let's just say I have no problem joining the ranks of the "filthy casuals."
And we get to kill stuff...like all the time, did I mention that already, it's pretty great.
Yeah I am having so much fun on there playing my pally.
I mean actual fun. Not just saying it but really secretly cringing at my grind.
I have LOTS of old games on my PC, many from GOG. When I attempt to play them, I find the level of "quality of life" quite lacking.
Basically, I appreciate that old games came with thick manuals. I enjoyed browsing through them before ever getting into a game, just to get the basics down. Usually, though, most lacked any in depth mechanics information. When I boot up a game, I want to play that game, not alt+tab out or pause to look up something in a manual. I love the "mouse hover info" that has been implemented with newer games. I enjoy the in-game help that many have implemented.
I've attempted to play Fallout 1&2, but can't get the hang of them. So many interface buttons with no idea what does what. I've attempted Deus Ex and not gotten far. Civ 2 and 3 are quite different from original Civilization. Then I have all of the old Star Wars games just sitting as I load them up and have nary a clue as what to do
On a positive note, I've enjoyed getting into Beyond Good & Evil, an old game I did not seem to find these troubles with
Now, the old games I played when they were new are the same old games I remember. But remember Star Wars: Galaxies and it's DOS-like command line? I could never play that game today. Doom and Quake takes some getting used to, but I used to love the "no mouse" play of those games (arrow keys to move and ALT or CTRL to fire). But I am quite out of practice for this now
I realize I basically just need to "git gud" and become familiar with these old games, retrain my gaming muscles, but I want play games, not learn them for hours (days?) before getting to enjoy them.
Do others feel this disparity with old games, too? (Yes, I'm seeking validation on an Internet message board )
I feel your pain.. I've been trying to get into the old AD&D games like Pool of Radiance and others that I never tried back then. I hear that it's a fantastic game... but I'm not sure that I have the patience to figure it out anymore.
I feel your pain.. I've been trying to get into the old AD&D games like Pool of Radiance and others that I never tried back then. I hear that it's a fantastic game... but I'm not sure that I have the patience to figure it out anymore.
The D&D Goldbox series of games is on my PC, waiting for me to "unlearn" all these nice habits
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
There are both old and new games you have to 'learn' before playing. Anyway, there are also old and new games with rules and control which are extremely easy to understand. And that wonders me sometimes.
I have no right to say early gaming had to be simple. But c'mon, what's wrong with the modern one? Developers companies which really take care users won't make gaming being too hard. We play games not to learn, but to play, live that tiny gaming life and think about gameplay/strategy/plot, not about control.
You can still play most of the old school games and many of them are free now....The problem is that most of the communities are gone so you dont get the same experience. What I learned most in EQ1 wasn't that it was a great game, but that it was a great community.
You can still play most of the old school games and many of them are free now....The problem is that most of the communities are gone so you dont get the same experience. What I learned most in EQ1 wasn't that it was a great game, but that it was a great community.
I got to thinking about this yesterday. You're right that the communities in those old MMORPGs have gone, mostly. But there is something else that keeps me from going back: They've changed their games. EQ1 now has "hirelings" so grouping is not needed anymore. It may be just my imagination, but even solo fights don't seem as hard as before.
I totally agree that games were not "super-duper great", but the players that played made them fun
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Comments
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
As for "remasters", I enjoy many of them, but some just can't help but put their own touch on the games.
One huge reason I like GOG is that they configure DOSBox for you
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I mean actual fun. Not just saying it but really secretly cringing at my grind.
It helps that there is a very healthy pop too
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I totally agree that games were not "super-duper great", but the players that played made them fun
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR