"Good Old Games"

DaveLong · 2009-09-25T17:17:14.000Z

The second one was always considered the best. As noted above, the third caused Scorpia to go insane.

Robert_Sharp · 2009-09-25T18:30:26.000Z

I’m not touching Arkania again. Freaking Star Trail or whatever it was called ruined me. i LOVED character creation in that game. It got me so excited. And then I got sick and died. Over and over. Actually, I think I fought something just outside town and died a few times too. Then I quit playing.

Shadari · 2009-09-25T18:42:47.000Z

Robert Sharp:

I’m not touching Arkania again. Freaking Star Trail or whatever it was called ruined me. i LOVED character creation in that game. It got me so excited. And then I got sick and died. Over and over. Actually, I think I fought something just outside town and died a few times too. Then I quit playing.

I think Dave Long would argue that you surely learned a valuable life lesson from that episode – that lesson being that life is fragile and we can die in an instant with nary a warning and therefore you should play shitty games that punish you to no end while you still can! ;)

Cubit · 2009-09-29T07:08:23.000Z

Imperial Glory is now up on GOG for $5.99

GOG.com

Imperial Glory

It is a time of war in Europe. Driven by new ideas of Enlightenment, the hearts of men and women across the continent are inflamed with dreams of freedom and glory. Antagonism between the Empires is at an all time high and war seems inevitable....

Therlun · 2009-09-29T07:18:47.000Z

Cubit:

Imperial Glory is now up on GOG for $5.99

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/imperial_glory

Very poor game. Don’t buy it.

DaveLong · 2009-09-29T07:20:53.000Z

Shadari:

I think Dave Long would argue that you surely learned a valuable life lesson from that episode – that lesson being that life is fragile and we can die in an instant with nary a warning and therefore you should play shitty games that punish you to no end while you still can! ;)

Actually, it sounds like he should’ve worn some boots and dressed for adventuring!

peacedog · 2009-09-29T07:25:06.000Z

Robert Sharp:

I’m not touching Arkania again. Freaking Star Trail or whatever it was called ruined me. i LOVED character creation in that game. It got me so excited. And then I got sick and died. Over and over. Actually, I think I fought something just outside town and died a few times too. Then I quit playing.

There was an encounter right outside of town that was difficult but winnable. You could fight it a couple of times and do like 85% of your leveling right at the beginning of the game!

Therlun · 2009-09-29T07:30:46.000Z

peacedog:

There was an encounter right outside of town that was difficult but winnable. You could fight it a couple of times and do like 85% of your leveling right at the beginning of the game!

Indeed. If you start with a new group (level 1) that first encounter is there to give you a head start. It allows you to advance to level 3 (fewer level than D&D, strengthwise lv. 3 is a seasoned adventurer, but not yet a hero).
If you import a party from the first game you don’t have that encounter at all.

Dave Long:

Actually, it sounds like he should’ve worn some boots and dressed for adventuring!

Listen to this advice… :P

Sharpe · 2009-09-29T07:33:15.000Z

Therlun:

Very poor game. Don’t buy it.

As always, quality is in the eye of the beholder. I got a certain amount of enjoyment out of playing this game as a purely strategic-level beer and pretzels wargame and ignoring the poorly done tactical map. For $6 I may buy it again and play it some more :O.

Therlun · 2009-09-29T07:46:35.000Z

Sharpe:

As always, quality is in the eye of the beholder. I got a certain amount of enjoyment out of playing this game as a purely strategic-level beer and pretzels wargame and ignoring the poorly done tactical map. For $6 I may buy it again and play it some more :O.

Meh, I actually didn’t want to write a review… and still don’t. I would have backed up my statement a bit more otherwise. :P

My problem with the game is that neither the tactical nor the strategic mode is any good, both are awful.

-Capitals are super important, making minor nations the true resource in this game.
-Diplomacy is useless. Neighbour=>enemy. Non-neighbour=>just hates your guts.
-Success causes all AIs to hate the successful nation and declare war, as does being weak (also applies to AI-AI constellations).
-Trade is game breaking profitable and its use grows exponentially with a growing empire.
-Research is an exploitable mess.
-The AI will almost randomly move its armies. Sacrificing stack after stack at sieges and retreating without any reason on the Europa map just to move back next turn.

malkav11 · 2009-09-29T17:24:52.000Z

Well, shoot. I was really hoping for Shadows over Riva to pop up before I blew my one-shot ECA coupon on a whole pile of games (Realms of Arkania bundle, Ishar bundle, Might and Magic bundle, the three FMV Tex Murphy games, Earth 2140 and 2150, Ground Control II - neglected to get Ground Control 1 but I’ll fix that in the near future). But I’m impatient and since they didn’t release it this week even though it looked likely, I have no idea how long I’d have to wait.

Lorini · 2009-09-29T17:58:57.000Z

Somebody just HAD to mention that the Earth series was on GOG. The second series has a 78 page manual too, remember those days?

Sharpe · 2009-09-29T19:00:20.000Z

So I was just installing Imperial Glory (havent played it yet) and the installation screen has a GOG splash pic with the caption “Selling the greatest games of all time, dirt cheap!” Above the caption is a pic with box covers of several classics: Freespace 2, FallOut 2, Sacrifice, and several others. And then I see, peeking out behind one of the classics: a box cover for Lionheart.

Tom, man, you can do better than that. I mean, I know quality is in the eye of the beholder, but Lionheart? Jesus wept.

Seriously, I think GoG is great and I’m just giving you a hard time.

But… Lionheart? Seriously?

Tom_Ohle · 2009-09-30T06:30:30.000Z

Eh, those splash screens were generally created some time ago, likely when we didn’t have a ton of games on the site. Need to go back and revisit those things.

Creole_Ned · 2009-10-01T18:00:04.000Z

PushButton Labs has acquired the rights to The Incredible Machine, re-uniting the series with its creator, Jeff Tunnell. The Incredible Machine Mega Pack is now available on GOG.

Bahimiron · 2009-10-01T19:08:38.000Z

Creole Ned:

PushButton Labs has acquired the rights to The Incredible Machine, re-uniting the series with its creator, Jeff Tunnell. The Incredible Machine Mega Pack is now available on GOG.

SOLD!

Jab · 2009-10-01T19:25:00.000Z

I’m really tempted to grab this, I have fond memories of playing one of the versions back in elementary school. The last version I bought was TIM 3.0.

countzero · 2009-10-02T08:19:34.000Z

I’m thinking of trying the Tex Murphy games. Do I have to start from the beginning (I heard the first two aren’t that great)?

GregB · 2009-10-02T08:25:25.000Z

countzero:

I’m thinking of trying the Tex Murphy games. Do I have to start from the beginning (I heard the first two aren’t that great)?

It’s not that they aren’t great. They was much more dated in terms of interface and gameplay. You can safely start with Under a Killing Moon and go from there. They play a bit like a mix between a graphic adventure and an interactive movie… but in a good way.

Very quirky and much loved. A perfect fit for GOG.

-g

aphoristic_gamer · 2009-10-02T09:25:52.000Z

Tex Rules. Bought all the games.

Shame that the series wasn’t finished, though I heard Chris Jones and others released a radio show to continue the story.