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Post by toei on Jul 10, 2019 14:37:32 GMT -5
I hadn't taken a break like that in a while, but it happens if I either get too busy or get into something else, since I like to concentrate on one thing at a time. Right now it's a bit of both. I'd felt like doing that for a while, too, since most games I'd played lately were just really getting on my nerves. I always come back to it before long.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 10, 2019 20:06:08 GMT -5
Well I took the 10 seconds of my life to look up a Dosbox config for Dark Forces, got it running totally just fine now. steamcommunity.com/app/32400/discussions/0/810938810730516335/I wanted to play in windowed mode though and can't seem to change the resolution. I think it's defaulting to 800x600, I tried windowresolution=1024x768 for another 4:3 aspect ratio but it didn't work. The initial bootup screen changes but not when the game kicks in... Oh well, not a huge deal if I can't figure it out. Knocked out a few levels and it's awesome. No real secret since there's some fans of it here already. Kyle and Jan rock. The level design at times, enemy types, and weapons are a bit plain though. But that got me curious to see when this came out... February 1995, when Duke Nukem 3D was January 1996. Seeing that puts things in perspective and really impresses me. I feel the same about Jedi Knight as well compared to Half-Life or whatnot, Jedi Knight was doing some really cool stuff with its engine before some of the big dogs took all the credit. So it's really interesting to see how Dark Forces predates the Build Engine games.
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Post by Ex on Jul 10, 2019 20:34:33 GMT -5
So it's really interesting to see how Dark Forces predates the Build Engine games.
Yes it's very impressive technically for sure. I personally bought Dark Forces when it released back in 1995, right off the shelves of my small town Walmart. Reviews said it was good, but the game exceeded my expectations. For one thing it ran like a dream, even on my 486 33mhz. I remember decompiling the executable to try and understand the code. The programming minutiae was above my head back then, but I remember being amused at the notes the programmers left each other. "Clean your damn mess up Bob!" Stuff like that. But yes the complexity of the engine, the versatility of the mission designs, the authenticity of the game's atmosphere... just awesome stuff. I'm glad to hear even today that the game holds up.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 10, 2019 21:00:33 GMT -5
The cutscenes are super impressive too. I love how Kyle jokes about how he should have kept working with the Empire for a bigger paycheck in the first cutscene. The vibe and Kyle in general is "rougher" than the norm in Star Wars and I love that about it.
The Dark Forces saga is my canon.
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Post by Sarge on Jul 10, 2019 21:10:36 GMT -5
Oh, I definitely consider it canon in my head. That was what I said when I watched Rogue One: guys, Kyle Katarn did this stuff, and in the very first mission! What are y'all even doing?
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Post by Sarge on Jul 11, 2019 0:54:13 GMT -5
I beat DMC tonight. Spoiler alert: It's still really good.
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Post by Ex on Jul 11, 2019 1:10:00 GMT -5
I beat DMC tonight. Spoiler alert: It's still really good. Nice job man! Glad you've still got the chops 19 years later. - Soul Blazer = Tonight I finished the fourth region (The Mountain of Souls) and got a good ways into the fifth (Dr. Leo's Lab). I've got about five hours invested so far. I was marveling at the palette cycling effects in the underground lake area, Quintet really knew how to work that trick to the fullest.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 11, 2019 6:42:28 GMT -5
I remember hating the music for the lab level.
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Post by Ex on Jul 11, 2019 8:10:44 GMT -5
I remember hating the music for the lab level. I'll admit the lab's soundtrack isn't so hot, a few other tracks in the OST are kinda meh. There are some good tracks in Soul Blazer thankfully, I like these:
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Post by Sarge on Jul 11, 2019 11:07:50 GMT -5
Okay, let's talk about Devil May Cry. Word of warning: this might come across as slightly hyperbolic, but I'm not sure I care. I really, really like DMC after almost 20 years. It isn't without its flaws, of which the biggest are those shifting camera angles that get your controls wonky, jumping controls that are just a bit sketchy, and some pretty large difficulty spikes. All that being said, I'm not sure one can understate the importance of this game to the sixth generation of action games. I don't know that there was anything this fast or fluid up until this point. Devil May Cry effectively spawned an entire genre, the hack-and-slasher/RPG-lite genre that's still rolling today. It does so many things right that I find it hard to fault it for the few things it does wrong. I mean, think about it, you got stuff like God of War, Devil May Cry, Lament of Innocence, Genji, Rygar, Ninja Gaiden... it was tremendously influential, and did much to bring action gaming in 3D up to snuff. It also helps that, even on PS2, the game looks really good. The advantage of those fixed camera angles is that the environments can be a bit more detailed and cohesive. I played on a CRT, and it felt right at home, and to my eyes, it looked fantastic. It also helps that the game oozes atmosphere. The Castlevania comparisons were apt at the time, at least in terms of mood. So, about those difficulty spikes: I think the hardest fights I had, other than right at the beginning when you're more fragile and still coming to terms with the moveset, were against the last form of Nightmare and the last Nelo Angelo fight. It turns out that the last boss has two phases, both of which are pretty easy if you just use your Devil Stars to go into DT and whoop up on them. Going DT on the first phase (which takes the form of a rail shooter!) actually hits him extremely hard with a super attack, so that will go fast. Too bad the controls can't be customized; the flight controls were inverted and it drove me bonkers. The second phase, it's just easier to stay back and pepper him with the grenade gun, and go DT to hit him from a distance when you build meter up. (Or again, use a Devil Star.) Xeogred: Yes, I figured out who Nelo Angelo was. I'd momentarily forgotten, but it came back eventually. Alright, so that sounds awfully euphoric, and I figure I should give it a score to match. 9/10. It's an outstanding game, only held back by a few niggling concerns.
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