Sounds way more credible than shrivelled attention span (which, I hope, isn’t even anecdotal). Still, it’s a reason so I’m not at all pleased with it. I want my true-to-tabletop games, dammit! :p
Dan’s observations are actually backed up by a couple studies on the matter. In fact (and unfortunately I can’t find the one in question right now), one study intended to show the effects of violent game addiction and how it can disturb and/or isolate children from their peers accidentally discovered that, in modern children, not playing videogames is likely to be one of the prime isolating social factors. It’s such a broadly enjoyed entertainment medium among today’s American youth, the idea of not playing games is strange to the point of potential alienation.
What a difference a quarter century makes.
Interesting stuff! I’m sure it doesn’t help that there are fewer people in the parent’s generation that play video games than there are in the kid’s generation. I know my brother’s kids act like a pack of starved dogs when I show up because I am the only adult they know that talks to them about video games and encourages them to play games.
Surprisingly, some of their favorite DS games ARE similar to tabletop games with RPG stats, attack rolls, and all that good stuff. The rule systems aren’t quite as complicated, but these are kids after all.
Tyjenks
3005
I love those types of videogames and lament the fact that there are no longer phat manuals, but when I do come across one nowadays, I rarely read it.
I still cannot decide if it is my attention span or my severely limited amount of free time. Probably a combination of both.
Your attention span has changed, thanks to the internet and other ways we receive information now. But your time is also likely lower, too, making it harder to justify sitting down to read a manual.
Still, I don’t know that the IE games required reading the manual. I mean higher numbers were better, and we all could guess which stats contributed to which skills, etc. It’s pretty easy. I liked the manuals for those games, but I wouldn’t say they were strictly necessary. A game can use a system like ADD (heh) today without bogging people down in knowing rules. The computer does most of the work for you.
Not true in BG/IWD/PST/BG2. That’s still 2e rules. High ability scores/hp were better, lower saves and ac were better, etc.
Yeah, quite frankly I think that any PC games with 2E rules would almost require a little reading for a gamer unless they had already played PnP D&D.
I’m sure we can do a good job catching someone up.
lol - too true, peacedog :)
Skorin
3011
I’ve never played PnP D&D, and I managed to beat all the IE games around when they came out without ever looking at a manual or guide (I borrowed them from my cousin, so no manual for me!). Some of the stuff is a little counter-intuitive, but it’s not that hard to figure out that when the chainmail makes your AC go down, it must mean lower AC is better.
Hell, I’ve beaten BG2 with multiple solo characters, on the hardest difficulty, with the Tactics mod installed, and I still don’t really get what the actual numbers behind Saving Rolls or Thaco mean.
Foxstab
3012
CLUAConsole:EnableCheatKeys()
Press = to select entire party. Use Ctrl+T to move.
Since I finished the game, and found out about the cheats later, I felt entitled to use teleportation to move my characters around instead of waiting for the clanky path-finding AI to do it, if ever; as I knew each screen by heart and what’s where on which map, at the time.
peterb
3013
I just did exactly this. Because requiring CDs to be in the drive to play games is completely fucking retarded.
There’s a real point you’ve made here: some gamers attack the game system as a challenge. For them, understanding the numbers and rules which everything is based on is vital. Otherwise, you’re right that you could just approach the game as any other fantasy roleplaying game and pick it up as you go. It’s interesting that your response made me realize the approaches I tended to use with PnP D&D was the same as with the PC games - I would occasionally lapse into “rules lawyer” or “power gamer” modes.
Oh, and here you go for anyone curious -
THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class Zero): the number that must be rolled on a 20-sided die in order for an attack to succeed against an enemy with that armor class. To evaluate your chances of hitting an opponent, you want to subtract their AC from your character’s THAC0 (which is why better Armor Classes in 2nd ED and earlier were lower). If you have a THACO of 20 and you’re facing someone with an AC of 5, you would need to roll a 15 or better (20 - 5 = 15). That means you would hit 30% of the time. FYI - characters would always hit if they rolled a 20, so everyone always had at least a 5% chance of hitting no matter the AC of the opponent.
Everyone starts with a base THAC0 of 20, modified by such things as strength and magical bonuses. Characters naturally get better (lower) THAC0s as they advance levels. Fighters/Warriors have theirs drop by one for each level, the quickest drop of any class. A 10th level warrior would have a THAC0 of 11 (20 - 1 for each additional level). That character would hit someone with an AC of 0 50% of the time. If they were facing someone with an AC of 5, they would hit 75% of the time. If instead you were facing a tougher opponent with an AC of -5, you would only hit 25% of the time (11 - (-5) = 16 or better).
Saving Throws: using a similar 20-sided die approach, these were the numbers you needed to roll or exceed to avoid several unusual deleterious effects such as poisoning, paralyzation, full damage from some spells, etc… Once again, lower numbers were better and they would drop according to class specifics as each class would be a little bit better at avoiding their own personal types of stereotypical damage.
Nice find. I recall hearing the CLUAConsole could cause things to become potentially unstable, but I haven’t had any problems with it before.
Thanks, I think this is a great anti-aging tip for the black isle roster.
peterb
3016
Arcanum: has this game held up well enough to play today?
I found Arcanum highly playable about 6 months ago. I used a resolution mod, and unofficial patch. A lot of people found that game borderline unplayable at release, but those people missed out on one of the best RPGs ever. I personally think the isometric 2D games held up pretty well in general, compared to the 3D games of the time.
Ah, is that resolution mod/unofficial patch for Arcanum still around? Thought I’d ask before going off on a search, if you have a link. I haven’t delved into it yet but it’s installed and waiting for me to finish up some other games.
peterb
3019
Which resolution mod? It doesn’t play as well in VMWare as Icewind Dale, which is sort of a strike against it.
WarrenD
3020
Installed Arcanum a couple of weeks ago with all the fan patches and high-res mod and it works great, here’s where I got it all-http://www.shsforums.net/topic/33528-arcanum-unofficial-patch-extras/
Thanks! I’ll check 'em out.
