OK, I’m gonna have to chime in on CivI/II. I still play CivII. The replay value alone of Civ gives it top billing in my list.
I also have to give a nod to MULE, since it was such a groundbreaking game, and I wasted lots of valuable hours enjoying it.
I see a lot of mentions for C&C in its various incarnations, but no mention of Dune 2000, which I thought was the best of the bunch.
And I adore the BG series, merely for pushing the state of the art for RPG games. I actually did roleplay my characters in that game, something I seldom did with other games like Might and Magic.
And another game I didn’t see mentioned was Pax Imperia. The original and the remake (Eminent Domain). The first one would have been tops on my list, but it suffered some severe stability problems, poor support, and some implementation oversights. And it was Mac only iirc. But the concept, and some of the implemented features, were way ahead of their time.
Let’s see… what else to I have on my shelf?
Aha - the original gold box SSI AD&D games were a blast at the time I originally played them.
And also from SSI, Panzer General and Allied General. Awesome wargame implementation, and a tough opponent AI.
Looking forward to Warcraft III, Neverwinter Nights, and Halo!
Sengkelat (and other StarCon fans), have you given Timewarp a go? I recently ran into this (when searching around the net trying to figure out how to get my music back) and it certainly looks promising; however whenever I’ve tried downloading it, it’s never cooperated.
I know that it must have been written by a gerbil running across a piece of paper with ink on its feet.
But that IS all they said, and it’s about as shallow as Britney Spears.
Are you telling me that you find nothing compelling about the mental stress that Jim Raynor goes through when Sarah Kerrigan is corrupted by the Zerg? Or the turmoil Tassadar feels when he knows he must sacrifice his life to preserve his species?
A game is much better when there’s motivation behind your actions other than a desire to make big explosions.
And all TA is is a non-assed RTS with poorly rendered characters who look like a series of boxes and a lazy design team that couldn’t think of a marginally decent story.
That’s what’s been in games since time immemorial. You played well, you get a little reward. You play poorly, you don’t.
I don’t belive you’ve actually played the game. It’s very satisfying to use burrowed Hydralisks to launch a surprise pincer-attack against opponents.
If all you’ve experienced in StarCraft is the zergling rush, then you’ve been playing some very unintelligent opponents (a 'ling rush is a cinch to counter if you spend a few seconds thinking about it). I have only seen the level of “poor strategy” that you describe from Newbies. Perhaps StarCraft is a tad too complicated for you?
They have this little thing called “multiplayer”.
Not very often, I’m afraid. I’ve been caught up in Diablo II, Counterstrike, and for a period of about a week, The Sims (the fact that our StarCraft CDs have been a tad scratched over the past years and are difficult to play reliably may also have something to do with it).
However, if you want to play a real game, I’ll log onto Battle.Net and you and I can really go at it.
Ooh, Starflight was good, I played the Genesis version. I really appreciated someone making a game where one of the puzzles depended on knowing binary - I was SO proud of myself after finding Earth with the help of that probe.
The very first computer we had at home was a Commodore 64. Dad bought it toward the end of my senior year of high school. It was supposed to be for him to write résumés, or so he said. Eventually, the C64 ended up as mine.
There were a bunch of interesting games written for the C64, here’s a short list:
Paradroid
Parallax
Beyond Dark Castle
Elite
Space Rogue
Traz
And, of course, Autoduel. Yes, someone please ask Origin for a Millennium Edition, incorporating the Car Wars Second Edition rules. Here’s a starting point:
The player starts out as a courier, either alone (single player) or for an organized company (multiplayer). The player would probably start of with just a subcompact. As money grows, the player can move up to larger, better armed and armored vehicles, culminating with a 10- or 18-wheeler and a Brotherhood membership. Multiplayer would include a “skirmish” option, two or more organized companies on their own private battlefield.
The game would be in an overhead 2-D view for within a city and in 3-D with a choice of camera angles for arenas or between cities. Not everyone on the road would be looking for a fight. A passing bus or Brotherhood member might get involved in a lopsided fight.
It was a fairly easy to learn game of supply and demand, written back in the 80’s by Daniel (then, Dani now, but unfortunately no longer with us) Bunten of Ozark Mountain Software.
Each round consisted of racing to select a plot of land, then deciding what to produce on that land. The options were food, energy, ore, and crystite. Food determined how much time you had in the next round to perform your duties. Energy was required to allow your land to actually produce anything. Ore was required to make mules, which you need to set up a new plot of land. Crystite was not used, and was considered more of a luxury item. It played the wild card, as the price wasn’t based on demand.
If there was a shortage of a necessary supply, the price went up accordingly. An overabundance, the price went down. Auctions could be held for supplies and land. There was also a random event on each round. From all supplies were lost, to pirates stole all the crystite.
There were many other little things that gave it a unique flavor (remember the wampus?). It was the first game that took advantage of the Atari’s four joystick ports and was much more fun with human counterparts. It even had collusion, which made you want to beat up your friends.
I probably made it sound more complex than it was. It was actually extremely simple to begin playing the game, although I doubt anyone really mastered it completely. Since first listing the game here, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what made it so good. I think it has to do with the fact that there was no exact science to it. You never completely controlled the marketplace, you just had an effect on it. Unlike today, when many games can be easily reverse engineered to maximize scoring (if you do A, B will always happen, etc.)
Man, how have I not noticed this thread until now?
Here’s my list of unforgettables, most already mentioned but some surprisingly not.
Civilization II - absolute classic. I’d still play it now if not for… Alpha Centauri - which improved on it almost every way, but also removed the historical aspect. 3 in Three (Mac) - absolutely brilliant puzzle game, done completely in Hypercard IIRC. Jagged Alliance 2 and JA: Deadly Games - turn-based modern-day tactical combat, with mercenaries with personality. The personalities are what won me over to the series. Tetris - 'nuff said. StarCraft - the best parts of everything that had come before in the RTS genre, with an amazing amount of polish on top. Planescape: Torment - who says text adventure is completely dead? Absolutely beautiful and very different. ADoM and Angband - I’ve been playing these free roguelikes on and off for the past three years. I haven’t yet beaten either but keep coming back for more. Diablo II has nothing on them. You Don’t Know Jack - pure I-know-more-than-you fun. Fallout 2 - the game that always answers, “yes, you can do that too. yes, it’ll work fine.” The Incredible Machine - nothing quite like it has come before or since. Create your own Rube Goldberg devices. Sam and Max Hit the Road - I don’t think I’ve ever laughed quite as hard at a game. Heroes of Might and Magic II and III - the most polished and fun turn-based strategy I’ve ever seen. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - as close to the feel and flavor of the movies as an original game has ever gotten. Logical puzzle solutions in an adventure game, too. Master of Magic - this game is what got me seriously into computer games. Empire-building turn-based strategy with magic and a separate battle system.
I wish more turn-based strategy games were in the works. It’s my favorite computer game genre and where I started, and most games have switched to real-time in recent years. Yes, it is better for multiplayer, but you can’t have as much depth IMO. To anyone doubting the possible quality of turn-based I show my holy trinity of turn-based strat:
Civ 2, Heroes 2, Jag-al 2. Empire building, strategy, and tactics, respectively, at their finest. (Actually, it should be Heroes 3, but the 2s lend a nice symmetry to it.)
BAWHAAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAAHAAHAHA , I almost fell out of my chair. Did you mention strategy and starcraft together?
Comparing starcrap to TA is like checkers to chess.
We are never going to agree on which one is best. SO lets just say to each his own. I won’t get on B-net against you or anyone, as it wouldn’t like my CD-key very well.
However, soon I will have either a cable modem or DSL, then I will find you for Counterstrike.
Perhaps all your days of playing TA has permanently damaged your sense of equilibrium.
I mentioned many things and StarCraft together. But, yes, I mentioned the two together.
More like comparing a J.R.R. Tolkien novel to a Bazooka Joe comic strip… one is well-rounded, full, and masterfully crafted, while the other is a cheap imitation slapped together around a completely unrelated product.
In no particular order:
-Starcraft: Brood War [Completed it a million times, the storyline never dulls]
-Every single Command and Conquer game ever [Zzzzap. Tesla Coil!]
-Total Annihilation [Make your own units!]
-The Sims [Recreate your own life, minus the boredom]
-System Shock 2 [Just plain cool]
-Anything else I forgot [Can’t be that good if I forgot]
TA is pretty cool. I always liked how you can download new units. The Big Bertha cannons also kicked ass. It’s nice to see a strategy game with artillery that can actually fire at long ranges.
Age of Empires II is also a great online real time strategy game. Each civilization has their own units. Hordes of cavalry ransacking villages. Great game.
IMO, the Westwood Command & Conquer series sucked. The original was good but every sequal is just the same game with diferent units. And there are so few units that it turns into a game of rock-paper-scissors (tank beats HMMWV, Hummer beats infantry, bazooka soldier beats Orca gunship, gunship beats tank)
If you have the horsepower, FS2K is a sight to behold. Far better graphics than X-Plane and the flight model is a close call. If however X-Plance could properly model aerobatics, I would say it had a better FM.
I have, but since I used to have a 28.8 connection, I never played multiplayer (which means I was limited to the training missions). I now have a Cable Modem, but I lost the Tribes CD.
I’m waiting 'til I have a couple spare bucks to by Tribes 2. That’ll be amusing.
Wow, this thread is like a flashback. I don’t play many games nowadays but my faves in no particular order (mostly from the pre Win95 golden age of gaming)…
Autoduel (love to see some others mention this!)
Civilization II
Railroad Tycoon
Gunship 2000
Doom (and II)
Empire (and Deluxe)
Castle Wolfenstein 3D
Masters of Orion (the first one)- the worst game I ever played past 2AM on a weeknight
Wasteland
Zork series
Hitchhiker’s guide
Age of Empires Conquerors
Duke Nukem 3D
XCom (and Terror fm the Deep)
Breach
Man, pretty old skool here. I’m not much of a computer gamer (well, since my C64); I’ve been all Nintendo for awhile.
Anyway, some C64 favorites: Accolade Comics - Humor, action, and required three floppies (both sides!)
Jumpman Junior - a pretty addicting platformer
Pretty much any Epyx game: Pitstop II, Summer and Winter Games, Super Cycle… (Yeah, Jumpman too I realize)
Batman: The Caped Crusader - Very hard! But the graphics and music were so sweet.
Well, the few good PC games I’ve been into: Duke Nukem 3D - “Time to kick ass and chew bubblegum… and I’m all out of gum.”
Delta Force - HUGE outdoor battlefields, sniping one-hit kills from 1km+. Makes the dungeon-crawling in most FPS games seem claustrophobic.
Team Fortress Classic add-on to Halflife - I always kinda liked co-op more than deathmatches, so a multiplayer experience with required teamplay is great!
Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds - Amazing atmosphere! Unsupported by the publisher, this game had the potential to be much better though. Breathtaking music, derived from the album of the same title.
Worms: Armageddon - Great for trash-talking when playing hotseat multiplayer.
