ihavefivehat

So basically what we're saying is that Half Life 3 should be a boat simulator where you are the captain of the Borealis? Let's do it!

I'm in the minority with Wind Waker, because not only did I find the sailing totally tolerable, I also loved the Triforce hunt. I felt the same way... I guess that was just not my particular brand of masochism.

Ragnar just sold me on Crusader Kings II, but the 'cheap' trait I inherited from my father prevented me from buying the expansions. Should I reconsider?

This is super disappointing, but I totally understand. The amount of nerd rage and nerd judgment thrown at that guy is crazy. Just because a lot of people in the industry are able to ignore/deal with that sort of thing doesn't mean any one of them is obligated to. Oh well, here's to his future of peaceful anonymity and/or his triumphant return once he cools down.

Haha, I might have to do a yet more masochistic play through! I've been thinking about this though... the idea of a long, seamless and lonely section in between 'busier' areas of gameplay, where the game doesn't really throw much at you aside from beautiful scenery and a sense of ambiance. It's a really specific feeling which, in order to experience, I normally have to ignore what the game is actually telling me to do, for instance walking across the map in open world games which normally expect you to use fast travel or drive a vehicle. If anyone knows of games which create this experience purposefully I would love to hear about it.

That's very true, and it's something that I haven't put my finger on until now. I once did a playthrough where I didn't use the car or the airboat, but simply walked through those portions of the game (I did have to no-clip a couple times). It really made the game feel like an epic trek. The feeling when I finally arrived at Black Mesa East after the whole airboat section really great, like arriving home after walking cross-country or something.

It seems like what is most problematic about Civ is that its nature as a strategy game necessitates the reduction of peoples, cultures, societies, and idealogies into finite and concrete 'gameplay elements', when their real-world counterparts are infinitely complex both in their actual nature and in the way they are percieved across distance and time. This is going off topic a little bit, but the conversation seems to be leaning in this direction: I've always wanted to see a game about the development of societies with no 'win conditions' or score at all; a game that focuses on fostering the emergence of narrative and interesting scenarios, and which isn't designed to be min/maxed or power-gamed. When I play Civ, like many of you, I have much more fun trying to imagine the culture and arts that would develop in my society, the lives of the people, and what life would be like in my various cities, and how they would view/move through the landscape. (As a side note, I've always wished there was a way to name rivers, lakes, mountains etc.) I would kill to play a game that caters to our preferences rather than those of the average strategy gamer.

that might be the greatest spam post I've ever seen

Wow, who knew suda51 had such a manly voice.

These are not coincidences. A wizard did it.

This guy was in a band called Wizzard.

This game is cool, but yeah the controls are shit. There should at least be a button to center the camera. If you want to play another game with the same concept that's much more streamlined try this: http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2008/01/cursor10.html

Wallenstein RPG is totally wizard.

Legend of Princess By: Joakim Sandberg Available:It's free. Synopsis: A short but sweet fan game that re-imagines Zelda as a 16-bit style platformer. More: http://www.konjak.org/index.php

Hi, my name's food. I'm stupid and dumb and kind of ugly. I tend to smell because I don't bathe and most people consider me unpleasant to be around. I'm also quite fat and I like to eat greasy snack foods and then use my keyboard without wiping my hands. There are little crumbs stuck in my neck beard. video games exist.