Games ... (Re: [plug] SCSI and Dual CPU's ...)

[Trevor Phillips]

Peter Caffin wrote:
> 
> This is very definitely true. However, most new games focus pretty much on
> deathmatch play. One of the things I liked about the old Doom style games
> was Co-op mode. It was one way I could get my GF involved in computing :).

Yeah, I miss Co-op in games. Last good Co-op FPS we played was Hexen II.
OTOH, we DO play a lot of StarCraft/BroodWar co-op.

> >   - I like Keyboard + Mouse for control; most games I play (FPS and RTS)
> > are best with mouse.
> 
> Personal preference, I think ;).

Well, a mouse makes a huge difference for RTS's, with lots of unit
selections, scrolling, etc ... Will be interesting to see how the
Nintendo StarCraft goes. (PSX's do support mouse...)

And for FPS's, I switched to mouse shortly after Doom Shareware release,
and haven't looked back! Most die-hard FPS'er will choose mouse over
joystick/keyboard. I've tried some console FPSers, and the dicky li'l
joystick drove me barmy. ^_^

The only real game-style I prefer on a console is beat'em'up's, and of
those, the only ones I got into were the Toshinden ones (you can dodge
to the side! ^_^). Hammering those PSX controllers was easier than
hammering particular keyboard keys. OTOH, you can get similar
controllers for PC's now.

> With the anti-aliasing qualities of most reasonably "fuzzy" TV sets,
> though, this tends not to be *that* much of an issue, IMHO. Some of the
> games systems are a bit under-powered for 3D-fests involving complex
> models.

Another issue is TV rights. ^_^ Bit hard to play Console games, when the
kids wanna watch something...

> >   - I use my PC for other things too. ^_^
> 
> Nothing I use on a day-to-day basis needs much more than the Cyrix P150
> I've got. Every time I'm tempted to upgrade, I end up thinking of the
> cost:benefit ratio ;).

... because nothing is Time-critical. ^_^
Yeah, I can do most work on a lesser machine, but it DOES make me less
work-effective. Just small things like the time to open a new Netscape
window, or the time to switch virtual work areas, or the time to compile
code...

> Demos for Sony Playstation, for example, appear on cover disks of some
> games magazines. There's often even a demo disk stashed in behind the disk
> you've just recently bought. Bonus.

And for PC's I can download demos for free, within hours of their
release. ^_^

> > (Yeah, I know consoles are a lot cheaper... ^_^)
> 
> That's the deciding factor for me, I guess. That and the fact that the
> new games running on 3D cards still can't render the hoards of enemies in
> that we used to get with Doom. Aside from pretty renderings and high
> resolution, the games on PC are dull as dishwater.

The number of baddies is a game design issue. Yeah, people tend to make
less, and make 'em nice, which is why Doom was so great, coz there were
hoards of bad guys!!

Your generalisation isn't too accurate though; there are LOTS of good
games for PC. Thing is, there are LOTS of games total! This is where
demos come in handy.

My fave games currently include:
  - StarCraft (+ BroodWar): It's not the prettiest, or most
feature-filled RTS, but gameplay is great!
  - HalfLife: A FPS that not only looked pretty, but had a GREAT story
and brilliant environment interaction. Can't wait for the Add-on pack!
^_^
  - Team Fortress Classic: Uses HalfLife engine - Class-based
multiplayer Team game 
  - Requiem: Ok, so I've played the demo only, but I wouldn't mind
buying this game! Apart from the "Angelic Powers" (which are really
cool), it goes back to the Doom days of More Bad Guys. There's one bit
where hordes of li'l Demon Rats which are mostly teeth are chasing you
FAST. Only takes one Balefire to kill one, but there's no end to 'em!
  - Quake2/3 - Classic online Deathmatch

Of these, most require or benefit from a faster PC. StarCraft will run
on a P90, if a bit sluggish, but on a large 8 player map (eg; 5 human vs
3 comp co-op), a P120 will bog RIGHT down. Really need a P200+ to keep
the gamespeed going.
Requiem is rather light on the tech requirements (for a recent game).
That is, it runs fine on a P200MMX with Voodoo1. ^_^
On the same system Q3A also runs pretty well, once you drop the detail
right down. But then you see it on a faster machine and ... (And
frame-rate and resolution DO affect how well you can play)

> With the consise specs that developers have to work with, they seem more
> able to focus on the gameplay instead of the "Gee-wiz! Our maps include
> curves!" thing.

PC games ARE getting away from the Gizmo's tho. Thanks, mostly I think,
to Half-Life which showed what a GOOD single-player game is.

-- 
. Trevor Phillips             -           http://jurai.murdoch.edu.au/ . 
: CWIS Technical Officer         -           T.Phillips at murdoch.edu.au : 
| IT Services                       -               Murdoch University | 
 >------------------- Member of the #SAS# & #CFC# --------------------<
| On nights such as this, evil deeds are done. And good deeds, of     /
| course. But mostly evil, on the whole.                             /
 \      -- (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)                          /