|
|
Post by Ex on Apr 2, 2019 21:17:04 GMT -5
Here's a thread about gaming questions and answers. Rules are simple: Answer a question(s), and ask a question in return.
Edit:
To clarify the concept further...
If you answer a question, you should ask a question in return.
If you answer multiple questions in a post, you don't have to respond with an equal number of questions. Just one question is okay.
Questions asked are directed to everyone in general, not solely the person who asked the question you just answered.
-
My first question; do you generally read a retro game's manual before playing it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Apr 2, 2019 21:22:45 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I often do not RTFM, and it can get me in trouble sometimes. That's not how it was back in the day, though: I'd read the manual cover to cover if I had access to it. Many times, even!
Pertaining to manuals, how often would you say that you've actually been stumped by a retro game if you didn't read the manual? (I have my own answer to this, but I'm curious about others' use cases.)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 7:40:29 GMT -5
A couple of times. I'm glad I did read the manual for Silent Debuggers, there was a lot of extremely valuable information in there. It's always a good idea to read the manual in the case of unusual and more complex games. There are often nice illustrations in there, too, or even short stories that tie with the game. It's basically a companion piece to the game itself. Compare that with the sorry piece of paper that passes as manual nowadays...
Couldn't figure out how to use magic in Shadow Tower without reading the manual either.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Apr 3, 2019 10:13:12 GMT -5
how often would you say that you've actually been stumped by a retro game if you didn't read the manual? Not very often, but it has happened to me a few times I can remember. A few examples... In Fallout Tactics I didn't know how to target non-combatant objects until I read the manual. In King's Field IV I didn't know how to use the warp system until I read the manual. In Zillion 2 I didn't know how to use the other team members until I read the manual. In general these days; I read the manual if it's a sixth gen or older game and is an RPG or strategy title. I will also read the manual for fourth and third gen platformers, in addition to RPG and strategy titles of those eras. Since developers were working with such limited control inputs back then, platformers sometimes used unintuitive button combos to do stuff. Now seventh gen and forward? Nah I don't read the manual. Most modern console games come with slips of legalese as a "manual", with the actual manual already baked into the first hours of gameplay via interactive tutorials. Although with Vita and 3DS, I normally see full digital manuals included on the cartridges themselves, accessible via the OS. But I don't read those either because of tutorials.
-
Do you have any sort of system to decide what game you play next, or do you choose your next game at a whim?
|
|
|
|
Post by toei on Apr 3, 2019 14:50:12 GMT -5
A: I go with whatever I feel, but I do have a loose system that revolves around themes, genres and developers. For example, in February I played a bunch of shmups, and I started to feel like it'd been too long since I'd played a sidescroller. I ended up playing Dragon Fighter. It put in a mood to play similar games, so once I finished it, I moved on to another NES sidescroller with more fighting than platforming - Astyanax. From there I moved on to another fantasy-themed sidescroller, Sword Master. Meanwhile, I've also been looking into Aicom again because of Astyanax, so I'm thinking of playing the second Golgo 13 game next, and I've added Vice: Project Doom to my list of games to play. Once I've had my fill of sidescrollers, I might play a shmup again, or go for a more story-based game. So that's how I pick them: exploring devs and genres, and keeping a list of games I want to play eventually. Also, I like to focus on one game at a time. Juggling multiple games feels really weird to me.
Q: What's the longest stretch you've ever had to replay because you'd lost progress by overwriting a save file, crashing a computer, etc.?
|
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Apr 3, 2019 16:45:09 GMT -5
I'll go with what toei said. For the most part, I just go by gut. I often feel like certain systems haven't gotten much love, and will go for that. Or if I'm in a platforming mood (which, let's face it, is quite often), I'll hit up stuff from there until I'm tired of it and then mix it up. As Ex can attest, I used to destroy JRPGs, but lately I just don't play them as much, mostly because of the time sink they represent, and also because I've almost run out of the truly top-tier entries. As many JRPGs as there are on Super Famicom, for instance, many of them just have a very same-y, seen-it-all-before vibe. And granted, this happens in platformers as well, but it's easier to deal with there because they don't require nearly the time investment and are typically more visceral. Hmm, that got a little off track. Anyway, as far as the next question, I think the most progress I've ever lost that I intend to replay is a ten-hour chunk of time in Growlanser 3, where I had a memory card absolutely crash and burn on me. The most I've lost and will likely never touch again was closer to a 20+ hour save from Blue Dragon, which was obliterated when my 360 went RRoD. Q: Speaking of length of time, what's the longest amount of time you've gone between picking up a game and then going back to an old save file and finishing it off? I think my record is probably Seiken Densetsu 3, where I dredged up my old save from good ol' ZSNES from over ten years ago, and finished it. Turns out I was pretty much right there at the end! |
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Apr 3, 2019 21:16:42 GMT -5
Q: What's the longest stretch you've ever had to replay because you'd lost progress by overwriting a save file, crashing a computer, etc.? I once lost 18 hours in Vagrant Story when my third party PS1 memory card died. That incident taught me to not use third party memory cards, and to record my RPG saves on two cards instead of just one. I did finish Vagrant Story after that, but it was years later. Q: Speaking of length of time, what's the longest amount of time you've gone between picking up a game and then going back to an old save file and finishing it off? In 2006 I took a six month break while playing through Cold Fear. I started it in January on PC, then moved somewhere temporarily where I didn't have room to setup my PC, then in July I moved to a place where I could setup my PC, and thus finished the game. - Have you ever thrown a controller out of anger towards a game? |
|
|
|
Post by Sarge on Apr 3, 2019 21:39:47 GMT -5
Funnily enough, I have some really good third-party PSX cards, but the key to those is to avoid any of the compressed types. Mine were purchased fairly late in the PSX lifespan, probably Christmas '99, and were Performance brand double-sided cards. Not compressed, the button literally switched banks of memory. I also ended up buying a DexDrive, though, so all my old saves from there on out were backed up.
Now, I did have a memory card for PS2 that basically docked with a real PS2 card to make it work. If I remember right, the button swapped between that card's memory and the real one. Well, that one corrupted on me and I lost every bit of data on it (including that Growlanser save). Ugh. But thankfully, I'd gotten a Codebreaker and backed everything up at some point prior, so I actually still had save games from about 20 hours in.
As for controllers, I haven't ever thrown one. I won't say I'm super chill anymore about games (and maybe I never was), but I always had an internal limiter that kept me from breaking expensive stuff. About the worst I'll do these days is smack my chair or something, and mutter a few un-Christian expletives under my breath when I'm really mad.
I actually think the most upset I've ever been about stuff that doesn't really matter was actually Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, when my Spurs managed to lose that game after looking like they'd win the title. I'd invested a lot of myself into that season, and I was really bummed out for a few days after that. They made up for it the following year (talk about a redemption story!), but I'd vowed after that year to not be so emotionally invested in a team.
Q: Thinking of controllers, has there ever been a third-party controller that you liked better than the official ones? Or at least one that was comparable and might have been better in some ways and worse in others?
|
|
|
|
Post by toei on Apr 3, 2019 22:59:08 GMT -5
Now, I did have a memory card for PS2 that basically docked with a real PS2 card to make it work. If I remember right, the button swapped between that card's memory and the real one. Well, that one corrupted on me and I lost every bit of data on it (including that Growlanser save). Ugh. But thankfully, I'd gotten a Codebreaker and backed everything up at some point prior, so I actually still had save games from about 20 hours in. So you were 30 hours in? You must have been really far into it. That makes it even worse. --- I don't think I've ever thrown a controller, but I've done worse. I punched a laptop screen - over some Mortal Kombat clone with cheap AI that I didn't even really care about, no less - and ruined the laptop. The screen looked like a kaleidoscope after that. Oh, and I also yanked my Devil Survivor cartridge out of the DS and threw it across the room at one point. Didn't damage it. I didn't find out until much later in the game that you could save during battles, so I went through a lot of frustration I shouldn't have. I think I actually threw a Genesis game I hated out of my window once, but I'm not 100% sure. I remember getting really mad at the final boss in Aladdin, since I'd always run out of apples and it took so damn many to beat him. Part of it is that I didn't know for a long time that I have chronic hypoglycemia - that is, my blood sugar gets really low, but I don't have diabetes, and I don't know what's causing it. When your blood sugar is low it becomes much, much harder to control your anger, to the point that you'll surprise yourself. Nowadays I'm better about managing it, though. If I get mad at a game, the most I'll do is curse. If it just seems much more frustrating than it should, I'll usually take a break and realize my blood sugar's low again. As for third party controllers, I never messed with those. A lot of them seemed to sport some weird off-brand design, so they seemed cheap and unattractive. I reminded really liking the idea of those controllers that added autofire in the early 90s, though. I imagined it would make you a God at gaming as a child. Q: When's the last time a game made you laugh out loud? |
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Apr 4, 2019 1:07:54 GMT -5
Also, I like to focus on one game at a time. Juggling multiple games feels really weird to me. It's tricky. I'm okay with playing one really long and involved RPG, while taking breaks for shorter games as snacks to break up the monotony. But trying to play say two meaty RPGs in tandem? Nah that wouldn't work for me at all. - Lately I plan what I'm going to play rather wholly. Earlier this year I made a list of "must plays" for 2019, so I'm working on that list. In addition, I makes lists of games I'd like to play for Club Retro. In general life I'm not a "go with the flow" kinda person, so that bleeds into my entertainment ethos as well. - I've never thrown a controller, or damaged gaming hardware of any sort, out of anger. Thankfully there's something in the back of my mind that keeps me from doing it. (I'm hyper vigilant about taking care of my hardware in general.) I have of course been absolutely furious with games before. When I was a lot younger I used to punch the couch sometimes. I think the last time I got really angry with a game was while playing Urban Reign. But I was able to take that anger and then funnel it into a more intense focus on winning. It helped that when you lost in that game, you didn't lose much time, as missions were quite short. It's different when you're playing a game where losing costs you an actual hour (or more) of your life, that you're just not getting back. In that regard you have to chock it up to "additional training gained", or something positive like that. - Q: Thinking of controllers, has there ever been a third-party controller that you liked better than the official ones? In general I stick with first party controllers. It always seems like the knock-offs feel cheaper somehow. I know Logitech made a really great wireless PS2 controller at one time. A friend of mine had one, it felt GREAT. But it was also rare and expensive, I never found one in the wild personally. Actually I just found it on Amazon, new ones cost over $100 still. Now toei is dead on about auto-fire. I likely wouldn't have been able to beat P.N.03 if it weren't for a crappy third party GameCube controller. I bought said controller specifically because it had auto-fire, and to specifically be able to beat P.N.03. Now before you think I'm a wuss, you have to understand that I have a disability in my right forearm. When I was thirteen, a dog ripped my right forearm open viciously. It took 34 stitches to put it back together. And... it was still missing some muscle bits that the dog ate. My motor function is perfect in said forearm to my hand, but I have issues. One issue is twisting my forearm over and over (like using a screw driver) quickly starts to make my arm tired. The other issue is rapidly pushing my thumb down, like hammering on a fire button, also makes my arm get tired quickly. I don't have that problem with my left arm... but most games put all the shooting on the right hand, obviously. So yeah, auto-fire is a thing that matters to me. - Q: When's the last time a game made you laugh out loud? It was while playing New Vegas recently. After dozens of hours of play, I finally picked up my first party member. A female Brotherhood of Steel agent who used a power fist to attack. So she was following me around the wasteland, and we came upon a pack of deathclaws. I immediately started running away, meanwhile she runs up to them and attacks. She attacks deathclaws with punches. Yeah they immediately eviscerated her. I just started laughing at her ridiculous AI, and the irony that as soon as I picked up a party member, said party member immediately got destroyed. The irony being that in Fallout 3 the same thing happened to me. Except that time it was a dog dying to ghouls. (RIP Dogmeat) - What was the last game you played that completely enraptured you? |
|
