The Games Responsible for Breaking Your Virginity

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:01 pm

dragon wench wrote:Well, personally, I was talking about actual age

In that case, I'll go back to the corner now.

Curdis · Post by **Curdis** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:56 pm

The Z wrote:

In that case, I'll go back to the corner now.

That's two strikes DW!

At least light the pilot!

Someone's got to be made an example of, else where's the respect?

@Fable - Oh human beings are much more entertaining, I completely agree. They don't come with a manual for a start. Playing with one continuously for over 24 hours can lead to complications though.

Just some thoughts: As computer games are artifacts of the human psyche, does that get around your objection?

In this interaction (our online conversation) the mechanism is still "pushing pixels" but I am, arguably, a human being? Unless of course I'm some very strange bot, but that was created by a human, and down the spiral we go...- Curdis !

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:16 pm

Curdis wrote:That's two strikes DW!

At least light the pilot!

Someone's got to be made an example of, else where's the respect?

Oh God! The Horror! The Horror!

Forgive me elders!

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:32 pm

I grew up with the coin operated Space Invaders, and later Pac Man and Galaxians, causing a revolution. Problem was I found them boring and repetitive, and never got bitten by the bug like some of my classmates who skipped school to spend their allowance downtown playing. Then I got interested in P&P roleplaying games during the mid-late 80s, and that was the big thing for me. When I got my first computer I used it for work and graphic art, and never considered gaming until a buddy of mine sneakily installed Eye Of The Beholder. That was it. I was completely hooked, and when Ultima Underworld came around, there was no going back. But EOTB took my virginity...

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:17 pm

I still venture through the world presented in EOB. Wonderful game.

I have yet to beat the sequels though.

I just spend hours and hours trudging through the tunnels of that game, doing my utmost to avoid those nasty, wicked spiders.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:09 pm

I have yet to beat the sequels though.

Well, without spoiling anything, I can tell you that the second and third installments get REALLY difficult at some points. Not only because the monsters get more nasty, but the puzzles are darn hard to figure out, which is what made the games great. The second one has the most difficult ending, while the third one is almost too big for a dungeon crawl. Just be aware that putting together a well balanced party is completely vital.

And I don't mind the spiders.... it's those Mindflayers that keeps messing with me.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:15 pm

*nods* Those are exactly the troubles I had with the games. The second, I couldn't get through a certain puzzle. More to the point, I couldn't FIND the puzzle.

The third one was far more troublesome I thought though. I either ended up lost, wading through endless numbers of easy enemies, or being thoroughly stomped into the ground within seconds by enemies far to strong to encounter at the time.

The first one is still my favorite given all of that.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:35 pm

I got so frustrated with the third one I nearly used a shotgun on the PC. I got lost in the woods outside Myth Drannor, and started running into monsters waaaaay out of my league. So I replayed number one and two, maxing out the party and transferring it between games until I started number three again with a bodacius gang of buttkickers that breezed through everything the game could throw at me...

... except the Mindflayers...:laugh: But if you have enough ranged weapons and enough space to move around, you really don't have too much of a problem. Still, moving walls and pit traps full of spikes nearly wiped me out a dozen times...

Philos · Post by **Philos** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:14 pm

I recall seeing EotB but can't recall what the system requirements were for it or its year of release. Would it even run on the newer systems we have now?

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:39 pm

@ Philos, I can run the game on my system.

@ Moonbiter, I didn't run into any Mind Flayers except near the end of the first one. Those were easy for me. I tended to see them, and immediately unleash spells like no tomorrow. They tended to die before they did anything to me. :mischief: Although, there were times they snuck up on me and ended my party.

The naughty shocking surprise cooked up in EOB 2 frustrated me until I found a walkthrough for it though.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:07 pm

Moonbiter wrote:Well, without spoiling anything, I can tell you that the second and third installments get REALLY difficult at some points. Not only because the monsters get more nasty, but the puzzles are darn hard to figure out, which is what made the games great. The second one has the most difficult ending, while the third one is almost too big for a dungeon crawl. Just be aware that putting together a well balanced party is completely vital.

And I don't mind the spiders.... it's those Mindflayers that keeps messing with me.

Spoilerish of EOB2:

The couple of levels in EOB 2 where you couldn't rest and fought difficult monsters (not in the least to mention the one type who ate your weapons and armors

). That stands as some of the most difficult I've encountered in a computergame to date.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:28 am

@ Moonbiter, I didn't run into any Mind Flayers except near the end of the first one. Those were easy for me. I tended to see them, and immediately unleash spells like no tomorrow. They tended to die before they did anything to me.

:speech: A little more spoilerish: There was a huge hall somewhere in second part of number two, where the door slammed shut behind you and locked you in with about 30-40 'Flayers. I think I spent 6 days screaming and cursing, trying to fight my way through that one.

Not only did the initial burst of Mind Blasts veggify 75-80% of the party, but the bastards had so many Hit Points they walked all over what remained of your group. Then you limped straight into the finale, having used up every single healing spell/potion in your arsenal...:laugh: Most of my friends cheated, but I refused to give in.

@Xan: Yes, I remember that part, and I still shudder.

That, and the area with the fireball traps. Those two are legendary. I remember phoning a buddy of mine going "I think there's something wrong with my version of the game, cuz suddenly I can't heal/rest!" The swine just laughed an evil laugh back at me...

Friends, eh?

A great thing about those games was the atmosphere, especially in the second one. It was genuinely creepy, even with cheesy sound effects and those old graphics. That was probably what got me hooked.

Another game I got at roughly the same time was Might & Magic 3, and though it was larger and I really enjoyed it, I still think the EoTB games were better.

Magrus · Post by **Magrus** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:23 pm

You folks have given me the motivation to drop IWD2 and attempt to beat EOB2 now. Which means running through the first one to get the good equipment in it for the sequel. Goodbye reality. :laugh:

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:59 pm

:laugh: HEY! Compared to IWD2, what's the point? If you can't beat the "Temple of Darkmoon," why bother?

The entire rack is on my "retro gaming" project, but I'm stuck on Ultima 6 and I refuse to cheat!

Silur · Post by **Silur** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:44 pm

dragon wench wrote: Thing is, my SO and I are taking a classroom-based course on sailing navigation. Now this is really interesting and I'm enjoying it. But... I'm *extremely* bad at numbers, small details, sequential stuff etc... So, needless to say, doing charting exercises is quite draining for me, and I had just finished that when I logged on..

Make it second nature. The better you get att reading the charts and judging your surroundings (before you hit them

), the less attention you need to pay to the numbers... except when there aren't any surroundings, but then you generally have all the time in the world to get them right... O those first night crossings, waves breaking over your bow, wind screeching in your sails, and you sight a new coast for the first time and have figure out your position before you get to shallow waters - that's a rush! Hardly any fun nowadays with GPS...

My first game was a frogger-clone on the Vic20, sometime around 1981 or so. I didn't get really hooked until Tetris though, and that was years later. Had some really mild infatuations with Underwurlde and Atic Atac on the ZX Spectrum (yes, I know. I'm an unfaithful dog, moving from the Commodore camp to the ZX. Done it a few times since then, too)

The only game ever to make me miss classes and fail exams was Civ. I'm still cautious whenever I look at playing that game or any sequel.

mr_sir · Post by **mr_sir** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:05 pm

The first game I really got into was Chuckie Egg on a BBC B+ Microcomputer

I guess the game that got me into rpgs was Icewind Dale because it was the first one I really played, and the game that got me into console games was probably the first Resident Evil.

REal953 · Post by **REal953** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:34 pm

My first game was Microsoft Minesweeper :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Sparrow · Post by **Sparrow** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:20 pm

My first game was Riven, sequel to Myst. I was amazed at how good it looked on my screen.

But the game that really got me going was System Shock 2. It had character building, RPG elements. I now only play RPGs.