"Good Old Games"

dtolman · 2009-09-08T14:14:01.000Z

scharmers:

Starflight and its sequel are nebulous and glacially paced. The only reason I like them is that Reiche and Ford liberally ripped them off to make the far-superior Star Control 2.

Should exploring the vastness of space be a quick jaunt, with some quick button mashing in between?

Not every game has to be setup for quick play. In Starflight I/II, I really felt like space was BIG. And Mysterious. That I really was Exploring (even if I was exploring places that man had definitely gone before - a long time before). I got more chills from seeing an unidentified space ship in those games than I ever have with a “modern” game (X-Com excepted).

I’d still rather explore a ruin on a random planet in Starflight, than Mass Effect. Isn’t it sad that an old EGA game does exploration of a whole planet better than a modern one can do a small kilometer sized patch?

BrianRubin · 2009-09-08T14:37:09.000Z

dtolman:

Should exploring the vastness of space be a quick jaunt, with some quick button mashing in between?

Not every game has to be setup for quick play. In Starflight I/II, I really felt like space was BIG. And Mysterious. That I really was Exploring (even if I was exploring places that man had definitely gone before - a long time before). I got more chills from seeing an unidentified space ship in those games than I ever have with a “modern” game (X-Com excepted).

I’d still rather explore a ruin on a random planet in Starflight, than Mass Effect. Isn’t it sad that an old EGA game does exploration of a whole planet better than a modern one can do a small kilometer sized patch?

Well said. As much as I love Star Control 2 – and I really, really do – few games have given me the feeling of OMG vastness that the Starflight games did, nor has any game really given me the same thrill of exploration and discovery found in the Starflight games since their release. I still play them once every so often because they work great on DOSBox – archaic interface and all – and still get the same feeling of wow and wonder I did when I first played it.

caesarbear · 2009-09-08T15:46:42.000Z

Hear, hear. No game has matched the impact and fascination of exploring in Starflight.

BrianRubin · 2009-09-08T15:55:31.000Z

caesarbear:

Hear, hear. No game has matched the impact and fascination of exploring in Starflight.

Agreed, IMO the only game that came close was Elite II: Frontier, but for some reason that space was just too empty after a certain point to give you that sense of wonder that the SF games had.

malkav11 · 2009-09-08T21:01:59.000Z

McKertis:

That may be so, but as i learned yesterday Fileplanet is pretty much the only major place left on the web to host the original Battlecruiser3k.

And -that- may be so, but doesn’t make Fileplanet well designed or any less painful to have to deal with.

Ben_Sones · 2009-09-08T21:24:31.000Z

Another vote for the awesomeness of Starflight, and my desire to see it on GOG. Pretty much the best space exploration game ever.

Papageno · 2009-09-08T22:11:43.000Z

I loved how, in the Starflight games (both of which, thank goodness, were ported to the Mac, otherwise I would never have gotten to play them back in the day), the race known as the Spemin were obsequious toadies in the first game, then arrogant assholes in the second (due to having found some übertech in the interim).

Tyjenks · 2009-09-09T07:29:52.000Z

5 Nights straight to midnight with Settlers II. I have not done that in FOR-EVER. At 39, that makes for a cranky Tyler at work and home, but I am building the shit out of some Farms and Mines and Military buildings.

The end game slaughter in which you have to advance your barracks and take over the enemies is still the weakest part, but, since I usually focus on the economy part, by the time I get that far stretched out, I just roll over bitches and it does not take long. SOme of the scenarios are still challenging, so I am all good.

Benjamin · 2009-09-09T09:10:37.000Z

Well I’ve been giving Stronghold a whirl. Somehow I was hoping for more strongholds. I’m about halfway through the military campaign on very hard, and only once have I not built one big wall with tons of archers on it and called it a day.

Many times that wall has been built around the enemy spawn area.

Still, not bad for 6 dollars.

BrianRubin · 2009-09-09T11:21:54.000Z

Papageno:

I loved how, in the Starflight games (both of which, thank goodness, were ported to the Mac, otherwise I would never have gotten to play them back in the day), the race known as the Spemin were obsequious toadies in the first game, then arrogant assholes in the second (due to having found some übertech in the interim).

Oh yeah, and I loved how Spemin “supremacy” totally didn’t last long. Toooooo funny. ^_^

Talorc · 2009-09-09T21:40:39.000Z

Spect:

It works like any other search function out on the Web. The less specific you are, the greater number of returns you’ll get. Try googling “free games” and see what happens. If you want a way to find free commercial games, I’d suggest you pick a few titles you’re interested in and search for them. Maybe you’ll get lucky. Otherwise, I’m not sure anything exists that would do what you’re looking for.

Actually, something does exist:

en.wikipedia.org

List of commercial video games released as freeware

This is a list of commercial video games released as freeware; games that, in their original license, were not considered freeware, but were re-released at a later date with a freeware license, sometimes as publicity for a forthcoming sequel or compilation release. Some of the following games are not freely redistributable software, as they have only been made available as a free download as freeware, but may only be downloaded from certain websites and with the explicit permission of the copyri...

liberatedgames.org

Games blogging for liberated life!

Paul_cze · 2009-09-10T08:20:14.000Z

Nice!

Expendable - installing!

edit - great, it works flawlessly - my retail copy always crashed after loading.

intruder · 2009-09-10T08:28:20.000Z

Paul_cze:

Nice!

Expendable - installing!

edit - great, it works flawlessly - my retail copy always crashed after loading.

Expendable was never released as warez copy at least back when it was new. Not sure it was protected that well or simply overlooked.
I think I own a retail copy + a copy on a cd of a computer magazine.

Paul_cze · 2009-09-10T08:56:27.000Z

Yeah my retail copy is actually a cover cd game of a local games magazine.But it pissed me off when I installed it and it didn’t work, so I am glad GoG brought back working version.1920*1200 and everything maxed out too : ).

aphoristic_gamer · 2009-09-10T09:42:48.000Z

Is Expendable some kind of mindless shooter like we see a lot on XBLA and PSN? I’m saying that in a good way, of course.

tromik · 2009-09-13T14:46:10.000Z

peterb:

Wizardry 8 managed to hit a certain sweet spot in a way that I can’t quite describe. The graphics, while dated even when it was released, still ‘worked’ somehow, and they managed to graft a very FPS-like exploration experience into a “wizardry-like” turn-based combat experience in a way that felt perfectly natural. The UI was pretty good for a game of this type. I got about 7/8ths of the way through when my computer blew up, and I never got around to restarting it (and probably never will).

Played through the demo the other night. I totally agree about the FPS-like experience in a turn-based RPG working rather well. It makes exploration and other bits between combat really enjoyable.

It still looks quite good, as well. It’s from that era when there wasn’t a whole lot of detail or gradient textures or lighting, but everything is just incredibly sharp looking, especially when you crank the display settings all the way up.

nixon66 · 2009-09-13T17:17:11.000Z

Wow, so I picked up the M&M pack on Friday night, and M&M 6 has consumed my weekend and I find excuses to get a little bit more playing time in between things. Forgotten how much fun Might and Magic was it’s been so long. My Mandate of Heaven? Kick the followers of Baa’a ass!

Cubit · 2009-09-17T05:23:30.000Z

GOG has The Longest Journey now.

GOG.com

The Longest Journey

There are two worlds. One we know as our world, a world of science and logic and stark reality. The other world lies behind the veil of sleep; an Arcadian realm of magic and chaos, a realm where dreams may come true. Imagine being able to travel...

Paul_cze · 2009-09-17T07:40:48.000Z

I wish I would like adventure games…I tried to play this, it is no doubt amazing, but the super slow and noninvolving gameplay (click somewhere and watch, click somewhere else and watch) just makes me lose interest.But I might buy this later anyway, just to be able to say I have one of the best adventure games ever made.

Rock8man · 2009-09-17T07:52:18.000Z

Come on Tom. Do you have no in-roads at Lucasarts? Look at what those guys are doing with their Steam versions! You’d do all that work for them, and get better results because you can work miracles!