On Apr 17 commented on unlimited adventures more adventures: “Well, I got into Unlimited Adventures just in time for the site that cataloged them all and offered them for download to disappear. Does anyone have an alternate link?”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “"I prefer AppleWin 1.20, but it doesn't recognize .woz files." Sacrilege. Where would that emulator even have been without the Woz?”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “That was still a bit of a problem, by the way. I prefer AppleWin 1.20, but it doesn't recognize .woz files. I had already downloaded and used 1.30 for some other game and had no problems with it, but all of a sudden, that version doesn't want to open the file browser when I click on the disk drive. It must be some Windows 11 issue. Fortunately, 1.29 both recognizes .woz files and lets me…”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I'm glad it wasn't just me. I'll have to refer your question to LanHawk, as he prepared the .woz version I've been using. ”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I suppose, however, if you decided to change party composition late in the game and created a couple new party members, spinning them off with just one or two veteran members to grind would help them level up faster than if they were with the entire party.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “Not to mention, an eight-character team is a lot more likely to survive encounters with deadly monsters than two four-character teams.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “It is called "mistphyt". It is a three-headed serpent, with two very small heads. Sort of a hydra that got decapitated just twice (mythological hydras are born with one head, whenever one is cut, two grow in its place). ”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I think this is the first time I've ever seen (well, mentioned as part of an enemy party) a 'pet coyote' in a game.”
On Apr 17 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I just learned from an article about Psygnosis that, fittingly for this blog, the first satellite office they opened was Psygnosis Chester.Also, for anyone interested, a new book on Psygnosis by French publisher Éditions 64k is currently (until 11 May 2025) in the process of being crowdfunded.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “Um, why does the Serpent have arms?”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “The dragon from the game show Tic Tac Dough w/Wink Martindale used to scare the hell out of me when I was a kid. I would yell at my parents "Turn it down! Turn it down!" lol. And of course for years my sister would never let me forget it.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I think the reason it's rare is that in most cases managing two parties is boring compared to managing one. So it was probably seen more often in the early days than it is now. I remember an early Spiderweb game (Exile, I think) had it, but none of the modern ones do.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “Ack, above comment was me.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: ““Well that was goddamn terrifying” - I don’t know exactly why, but earlier graphics like this are much better at making me scared than anything currently made. I look at the monsters in the new silent hill two remake, and while I think they’re neat and have good design, they’re not really frightening in any way. Whereas I still haven’t finished Obra Dinn, because I was too damned scared to play…”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “"Visible objects: Ladder going down" on a screen where absolutely no ladder going down is visible.”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “In 2018 I saw that you skipped this game, and I gave it a try. It took me one week to get the emulation to work, therefore I played it to the end and wrote a full walkthrough for Strategywiki. The latter was just for my pleasure, because the MOCAGH has not only the manual, but also the exhaustive "official spoiler book".Still, how did you get the Apple II version to work ? I had to give…”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “Ultima 4 had eight characters, even if you only created one and had to recruit the rest while playing.Beside this game, you have Pathways into Darkness and Journey into Darkness on the upcoming list. Is the RNG trying to tell you something about darkness?”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “The manual at least lists the (21) most commonly used verbs (page 26). Apparently sometimes in an encounter there is the option to 'hide' as well." "Unlock" is supposed to be a Level 1 sorcerer spell, but I didn't get it yet."Not sure if you only get/learn new spells by levelling and/or need a certain level before being able to learn it from a scroll (or maybe the…”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “The party-splitting and operating the groups independently seems a remarkable option for a 1987 game. According to the back of the box blurb, you can even split up your party into as many as eight different sub-groups. Maybe it's indeed for a puzzle or maybe as a feature in general to advance on different tasks at separate places in parallel in a broader sense (or both). I recall we've…”
On Apr 17 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “Ah, Apple ][ graphics, takes me back. Some like the river actually look quite good, then you've got the wizard with what I can only see as a giant oven mitt on his left hand.I faintly recall playing a game of some sort on the Apple ][ as a kid where I was navigating some dungeon and bribing the monsters was an option (that I think never seemed to work). I was too young to really 'get'…”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I like the amount of pictures, this game looks different.”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “...wow. An Apple II game has more wall sets than Wizardry 6.”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I did not expect a "missed SSI game", and I did not notice it when you listed the upcoming games.This mix of Adventure Games of the "Interactive Fiction" kind and RPG is intriguing. I am curious to see whether you win it without help.”
On Apr 16 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “All the memory management stuff was increasingly less of a problem by 1993 or so as DOS Extenders started becoming common - that removed the reliance on that valuable initial 640k. A huge number of users only had to set up their files once (or just use the defaults) and never had a problem.Where the Amiga retained an edge for a long time is that the hardware was identical within a model and there…”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I think you're right---six was definitely the more common figure, as used by Wizardry, Phantasie, and The Bard's Tale.And yes on The Bard's Tale. As I covered in my "Revisiting" entry from a couple of years ago, the first one holds up very well. ”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “I wasn't sure if "at least as playable as [...] The Bard's Tale" was a backhanded compliment, but apparently the first one was decent and it's the sequels that fell off.Interesting that they went with an 8 character party, that seems a lot and makes me wonder if that just means you need skills from every class to progress, or if it's just for added bulk to withstand…”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “It's not a bad theory, but since rear characters get experience from spellcasting, it doesn't quite work. Also, nothing stops me from rearranging the party order. I think the party-splitting is more likely to come into play for puzzle solving. I just haven't run into the right puzzle yet.”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “He mentioned by e-mail that he had played Phantasie, which also has attacks execute right away, so I suspect that's the more likely inspiration.”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “You mention that inside of dungeons only the first four characters (of eight) are able to attack, and that there are no ranged weapons or spells available yet.Later you are perplexed about being able to split the party in two (groups of four) - isn't it obvious to split the party after entering a dungeon, so every character has an equal chance of participating in a fight to gain experience?”
On Apr 16 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “> Of course, an unspoken of advantage is that DOS games don't require you to have an understanding of how to work an Amiga to get games working smoothly, so sometimes even if those games are worse from an audio-visual perspective, you don't need to figure out how to install an Amiga game in order to play the game without constant disk loading. DOS came with its own set of problems in…”
On Apr 16 commented on game 548 realms of darkness 1987: “The combat sequence, where the turn order determines input sequence but actions happen immediately, reminds me of the early Might & Magic games. I think the first one was out by this time, but possibly not early enough to impact the game design.I'm probably overthinking it, though--I suspect it's just harder to code "take all inputs then shuffle and execute" rather than…”
On Apr 16 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Enemies on the ceiling were present in Captive at least, but I'm not sure if that was before Black Crypt.”
On Apr 16 commented on dungeon hack won one: “This isn't a glitch. In Eob2, the priests on the second level can do the same thing when they attack. It may have been a glitch in EoB2, but this engine was built to act the same way.”
On Apr 16 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"The game lingers for about 5 minutes on the startup screen. [...] You have to be patient."I'll just mention this in case you didn't know, but most emulators have a "turbo" or "fast-forward" feature. You _don't_ have to be patient.”
On Apr 16 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Ah yes, the infamous Maria Whitaker ones. The first Psygnosis Barbarian is a very good action-adventure game, slightly marred by awkward controls; the Palace ones were pretty poor vs-fighters (rad head-kicking goblin notwithstanding).”
On Apr 15 commented on game 484 warlords ii 1993: “I still regularly play warlords 2 deluxe. There are a few "cheats" if you will that I only learned about recently. I've had game for 30 years ish. If a player has 2 heroes grouped together and both are carrying a movement doubling item, their range triples. 3 heroes under same conditions yields a range around 90. 4 heroes under same conditions yields max range of 99. I never…”
On Apr 15 commented on wizardry vi won: “Stumbled onto this post/blog while researching Wiz6->7 transfers, and now that I've finished 6... I got the alternate ending where you ditch the Silver Cross, and even then, my feelings on the story kinda mirror your own.I think what bugs me the most is that the game sets up a surprising amount of nuance by DOS standards. The setup in the manual, the environmental storytelling in the…”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I got so confused by Barbarian and Barbarian II (I remembered VERY different cover art), turns out that the Psygnosis games are unrelated to the much more famous Palace/Epyx games.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “That cover art of "Ork" is the same as the cover of Blue Öyster Cult's Cultosaurus Erectus. I guess it's not all Roger Dean.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Thank you Busca&Seol for a fascinating read and look. I beat the original Lemmings a few times, but always on PC. Since the Digital Antiquarian article ends with links to the original game and an Amiga emulator, here's to throwing away yet another portion of my life trying it.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Probably not the first first-person game, but the first CRPG I noticed with them. ”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Which will release first, Grand Theft Auto 6 or Volume 5 of The Art of Computer Programming?Only time will tell....”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The one thing I still miss from the Amiga is the two mice trick for two player Leammings which you just can't do with the PC.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “1994 was the year I bought my first PC while in college. This was the year of the Pentium and I bought a 486DX100 because the Pentium was so expensive. The Pentium was a superior processor and was probably the reason for the beginning of the downfall of Amiga which had superior architecture over the 486. Of course 96-97 was the beginning of the 3D graphic wars. ”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Probably see Star Citizen and Wayward realms before both of those”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Towers (1993) has a cooperative two-player mode, but it needs two computers connected together.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “This lines up with my experience with Hired Guns: it's a cool product, impressive as a thing to behold, but not really playable or fun like Captive was. The Amiga version had excellent music, that was the highlight.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I have random thoughts at random times of the day - I mentioned this like a scratched vinyl many times, but the first time I played Eye of the Beholder 2 (I played it before the first one) I thought that it was not that far away from Wolfenstein 3D but just with a bit more complexity in the battles and the grid based movement (the first impressions of a whole genre are very important to me - when…”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “It a reassuring thought that the king of computers is still relevant in my household.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The best thing about Psygnosis isn't the games, it's the 80s surreal sci-fi cover art!”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Ha, I never have considered pc part of my identity, and actually the console wars or computer wars have always been weird to me... ”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “We played Micro Machines with four players, three of whom were on the keyboard. It is certainly funny to imagine three adults doing the same though. I remember "some of us" cheating by pressing a lot of keys at once, and not allowing an opponent to steer in crucial moments. ”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Or you do something like this on every first date, most people would not say yes to a second date, but then on the date when it actually works you know that you found the one.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “@Gerry Quinn: No, he mentions a transporter effect he saw there and implemented. Was Black Crypt the first first-person perspective game with enemies on the ceiling?@100FloorsOfFrights: Good catch, it could be. Though I'm pretty sure the general gag of fruits/vegetables or other seemingly mundane objects suddenly being weapons goes back even further. I think I recall seeing it in Looney Tunes…”
On Apr 15 commented on game 313 black crypt 1992: “I can only think "well, everyone has their moments like this" as for the first time I read CRPGAddict talking about loving a song and see enthusiastic agreement in the comments, and then I go check the song out and it is, like, the 840th best Demoscene song of 1992.Seriously if you think this is fantastic you owe it to yourself to look into the likely thousands of other songs using the…”
On Apr 15 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “The GIF doesn't make it 100% clear, but I'm pretty sure he's not stepping on the brown stone -- the frame or two when he's on the brown stone is part of the falling animation. I'm pretty sure this is just badly programmed collision. I was hoping to check, but there doesn't appear to be anyone who's played this game past the first few minutes and put it on YouTube.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Pretty sure it'd make a better activity for a *last* date.”
On Apr 15 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Yeah by about 1995 it was clearly all over for the Amiga. 1993 was the last year you had a clear advantage. It was already 8 year old hardware!”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Both of which will still beat The Winds of Winter to the stands”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Between Star Wars and Dune, the psionic robed cultists thing passes the sci-fi sniff test shockingly well”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “All true unless we are talking about the wizards in the demo scene who rocked the mode X and were able to use .mod music like the Amiga one because of their command of every hack on assembly etc. Anyway, we have to remember again that VGA started being used mostly in 1990 and svga and CD-ROMs were introduced in 1992-1993, meaning that loads of hardware advanced were radical and barely had any…”
On Apr 14 commented on phantasie ii summary and rating: “Found the bastard in the hills just north of Saxlingham.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Recently, the game Tower of Mask went one step further by combining tile-based movement with 360° free mouse aiming and shooting.In this genre there's a pull in two directions: on one side, first-person, tile-based RPGs with a full party and tactical turn-based combat; on the other, first-person, single-character, continuous movement action RPGs.”
On Apr 14 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “If you haven't had your fill of barbarian jokes yet, you might enjoy a brief visit to the mini one-room fangame Conan Kill Everything, playable through your browser via https://iplayif.com/?story=https%3A%2F%2Fifarchive.org%2Fif-archive%2Fgames%2Fzcode%2FConanKillEverything.z5”
On Apr 14 commented on upcoming games warriors of legend 1993: “Shortly after Realms of Darkness and Pathways into Darkness you now have Journey into Darkness showing up on the upcoming list. That's quite a coincidence. Let's hope this is not indicative of your mood... .”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Here it is used as RPG (role playing group) - game”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The Digital Antiquarian has quite a detailed coverage of Psygnosis as part of his five-part 'Games on the Mersey' series covering the story of Imagine, then Psygnosis and leading up to Lemmings.Psygnosis as a company starts showing up in part 3, but the whole series is a worthwhile read in my view and taking it from the start helps to understand where Psygnosis came from.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Oh! Well, thank you for all of the corrections. Turns out they probably published more than developed. I completely forgot about Lemmings, mostly because I never liked it very much. 😅 I always associated them with incredible pixel art, but I guess it really just varies depending on the project. The Adventures of Lomax, Flink, Agony, Leander, and various other games in their catalogue are all…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Hired Guns came with a character editor which was used to create special preview versions for the magazines Amiga Format and Amiga Force by replacing characters in the game with specially drawn caricatures of magazine staff and/or using scanned pictures of them (see here and here on the TCRF site).According to comments from players some included similar images of themselves and friends or even…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Psygnosis definitely did some in-house development as well... One of their very first games, Brataccas, was developed in-house, and their most famous game that they developed themselves would probably be Wipeout later on..But mostly they were masters of marketing, with huge boxes sporting fantastic artwork, they had in-house musicians that would provide their third-party developers with fantastic…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The Amiga version even allowed four simultaneous players. Which would not necessarily mean needing to all hunch together over a single keyboard since I understand you could also use (modified) Sega Mega Drive joypads (in addition to other players using the keyboard or a mouse), with a parallel port adaptor even allowing four joypads/joysticks to be used at once according to the game's…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The wizards are retconned as cultists, I meant to say”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I am pretty sure there was no cross-pollination between Hired Guns and Space Hulk, as they were made by different developers and released by different publishers, but more relevantly, Hired Guns didn't use a sci-fi setting until relatively late in development. The game was in development for years, and was originally fantasy-themed - hence the fact that lots of the enemies are things like…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Just one year before Elder Scrolls 6. ”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Heh, I saw it exactly the same way. ”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The source code of Hired Guns was released a while back, if anyone is interested in taking a stab at their own version of it.I expected it to get rejected for lack of character development. It's really hard to define its genre, and the game is at the same time extremely derivative of a bunch of other games, and completely unique/original because it mixes those genres. I didn't realize…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “@Ross, my memory may be failing me, but 1994 seems to be the year when PC games en masse started using the higher hardware capabilities for PC. This is the time when, if my memory serves me right, you started to really need those 4 megs of memory and could think about going over 3x86 for speed reasons.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The Amiga was the last generation of computers using specialized gaming-optimized hardware to make up for not having enough processing power and ram to do gaming in software. PCs used brute force basically to produce quality graphics, so they needed to be a lot beefier to compete.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Is the banana thing a Monty Python reference?”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Wizard needs food badly!”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “From experience, the concept tends to come from how a lot of DOS games until 1992 which were also on the Amiga would be inferior in terms of graphics and sound. We're talking downgrading graphics even in VGA mode, and rarely even taking advantage of sound cards. Of course, an unspoken of advantage is that DOS games don't require you to have an understanding of how to work an Amiga to get…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I guess it's also a European thing where games were developed specifically for the Amiga, and not just as a port. For most German games, in the (very) early 90s they looked and sounded better on my friends Amiga than on my PC. ”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I've always called the Dungeon Master-style FPSes, but the '90s FPS Wikia called them grid-based FPSes. (which I find slightly off, since that could apply to Wolf-clones too) It is weird that there's about half a dozen games which easily fit in the category despite no conscious attempt from anyone to make such a genre.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Pretty sure that Psygnosis had some in-house pixel artists that sometimes worked on games they published. That, or they tried to maintain a set of standards for their published games, even if that didn't come across in gameplay.Hexx will be interesting, assuming Chet doesn't get hit by the key bug. Amusingly, it's a remake of TAG's earlier game Bloodwych; Sometimes it really does…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “The two-player split-screen mode in Lemmings 1 on the Amiga could be played with two mice, which was absolutely great. Instead of solving puzzles, it's basically an indirect-control RTS game where you set up traps for your opponent's Lemmings.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I think the whole "Amiga version is better" concept comes from comparisons at the time. Emulating an early 90s PC game today would have it running as though it was a very high end and expensive contemporary PC.That a $600 Amiga 500 could compete with a $2,000 PC in most areas was just incredible.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Chet has played Perihelion already, and I'm sure Hexx will come up as he reaches 1994.Shadow of the Beast was developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis, as far as I understand DMA developed only the relatively obscure (being SotB is one of the most well-known games on the Amiga) Turbografx 16 port.Hired Guns was developed by DMA and published by Psygnosis.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Was the idea from Black Crypt shooting monsters on the ceiling, as described in the first image?It's hardly the greatest innovation in blobbers, but somehow it's strangely memorable.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “"...presumably working on Grand Theft Auto VI (2035)."Right on the release date ;)”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “It seems that there is playable leaked beta version.. .”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “A sequel/remake of this game using the Unreal I engine was in development in the late 90s. I remember reading a preview in a gaming mag, and it can be found on unseen64.Ironically, the same issue of the mag also had a preview for X-Com Alliance, which also used the Unreal engine and looked extremely similar (four-player team shooter with splitscreen).Both games got cancelled.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “You could play Settlers 1 split-screen with two mice, or even a mice and a joystick (sic!), and on PC, to boot. It was really weird, though.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Our host played "Perihelion" in 2021. You can read his coverage in 5 parts starting here:https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2021/06/game-416-perihelion.html?m=1”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “"We don't see a lot of cooperative multiplayer games in this era. Swords of Glass (1986) and Bloodwych (1989) are the only two that come to mind immediately, at least in the first-person RPG genre."There's also Swords of Twilight from 1989 which you rejected, although that has a top-down view.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Yes, the banana in HG turns out to be the game's most powerful weapon.”
On Apr 14 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Yeah, Barbarian were made fun in Discworld from the very first novels. I'm not sure if it was Hrun or Cohen musing on their fond love of books, nothing like having a book in a cold lonely night when you are away from civilization and experiencing stomach discomforts.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “It was a bit of a shock encountering the homicidal Lemmings for the first time!”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “A fair summary. The game can be fun, and is interesting from the perspective of an unexplored genre (action blobber?), but it's not an rpg.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Heh, I wonder if this game is the first occurrence of the stupid term "RPG game" being used unironically.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “It it just me or does the character in the lower right in the 7th screenshot not have any pants on?”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “I believe on the Amiga you had the option to play with two mice simultaneously, which I can't remember seeing on any other game. There was also an 'action' level with Lemmings as monsters. I really enjoyed this one. The setting was atmospheric and the level puzzles interesting. You had to split up and coordinate your positioning, with pushable/pullable blocks and underwater areas that…”
On Apr 14 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “And Baldur's Gate 2 was dedicated to Daniel Walker, Bioware's 2nd employee who died in 1999. There is a photo of him in the physical manual too. These may of course be exceptions.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “In a 'Celebrity Review' of Bloodwych Scott Johnston, the designer / author of Hired Guns, says that game and Dungeon Master were inspirations for his own game. Another influence was the film Aliens (the unmanned sentry guns from its Special Edition make an appearance) and he also 'borrowed' an idea from Black Crypt.There is also a 'Celebrity Review' of Hired Guns by Andy…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Great memories from this one! Four teens playing on Amiga 500 on a small black-and-white TV. The music was so good, I think I might have taped it on a cassette. Accidentally (and sometimes less accidentally) shooting each other and failing the mission for the 10th time... 😁”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “As a child, I did play many two-player games on one keyboard. I haven't tried it with three players though. The RPG-adjacent game Gauntlet II officially supports four players on one keyboard, but I doubt keyboards at the time could actually handle that (since they have a limit on how many presses they can register at the same time).Also, now I have the Lemmings soundtrack stuck in my head.…”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “It's hard to distinguish, especially from memory. I've always associated Lemmings with Psygnosis because you saw the big owl logo on startup. Looking at a list, the only games they developed I know at least a little bit are Barbarian and Wipeout.I don't associate them with elaborate pixel art, but apparently they worked with Roger Dean and he designed their logo and a lot of box art.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Correction: maybe Psygnosis only published the game? I just re-read your final paragraph. DMA developed the game. i forget that sometimes they only publish.”
On Apr 14 commented on brief hired guns 1993: “Huh, fascinating. It's by Psygnosis, a classic British development house most famous for their elaborate pixel art, moreso sometimes than the quality of the game itself. They really tried a little bit of everything, finding the most success in cinematic platformers like the Shadow of the Beast series. But they also have first person shooters, many adventure games, shoot-em-ups, and more.…”
On Apr 14 commented on game 8 ultima iii: “Thanks for visiting! I love these old nostalgia stories. I think if you replay it, you might find that a lot of what you remember as "immersiveness" was a product of your own imagination--but there's nothing wrong with that. There's an extent to which these early games provided better templates for imagination than modern games. ”
On Apr 13 commented on game 8 ultima iii: “I know this is an old article, but it brought back a lot of memories. A high school friend and I played Ultima III on his Commodore 64. Many hours went into it, to the point that we had the entire world map memorized. We had moon gate timings recorded in a notebook, and step-by-step directions through dungeons to spots worth re-visiting periodically. We had both recently read the Lord Of The…”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “@Busca, looking at the dark gash, if that is what's tripping up Chet, that is some awful hitbox. That's going awfully far out beyond the visibly different part of it.@Matt, oh, yeah, I knew there was something I had forgotten!”
On Apr 13 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “In practice everyone would resign once you have the crown, except if someone is on the inner region track so a few turns from the Crown in the Dungeon, which can occasionally happen. Alternatively, the Dungeon has a shortcut to the Crown of Command, so that’s another location where you have a chance.”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “The way they are mentioned relatively early on in a contemporary walkthrough ("Thor Hammers are found in your travels, or may be purchased in Llandria.") seems to indicate they were not super-rare in the original game, so no need/reason to multiply them in a cracked version. And it already gives its hitting power as 30, too. I'm guessing it's either a bug / programming error…”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Haven't played it myself, but in the GIF above the bridge main body looks greyish-brown to me without any parts standing out colour-wise (except the thin dark gash I mentioned in my earlier comment) with irregular brownish stones limiting it on both sides and the characters don't seem to touch the latter where they suddenly fall. ”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Wasn't Enchantasy pretty good? (Dedicated to the author's daughter, who died of cystic fibrosis at age 14.)”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “That was authentically funny. The developers should have hired you.”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Curious. My glasses don't even help with this one.”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Colin: Interesting Times was only published the year after this game came out, but maybe earlier Discworld novels which already made fun of barbarian tropes like e.g. Sourcery (with Conina and Nijel the Destroyer & his book by Cohen) were indeed an influence.”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “"If there are any environmental cues, I can't see them."Color blindness again, I'm afraid. The first time I might have thought "so most of the bridge is red stone but these patches are brown stone," but it'd only take falling through the "brown stone" once before I'd know what to avoid.”
On Apr 13 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I think there's been a trend towards more complex and heavyweight Euros (Terraforming Mars, Arc Nova, ...), so the term has shifted a bit. A game like Puerto Rico used to be at the top end of complexity, now it's more like middle-of-the-pack. VK might be referring to those.But classic Euros like Ticket to Ride oder Carcassonne are very simple.”
On Apr 13 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “@VK that's not my experience at all. The average Eurogame can be explained much faster than, say, Risk or Monopoly. Sure, there are a couple of exceptions, but in general their accessibility to newcomers is one of the major reasons why Eurogames are so popular.Accessibility includes the fact that the win condition is not eliminating the others one-by-one. Gaming is a social activity, and…”
On Apr 13 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “@Buck, it's not about length but about complexity. They're just very beginner-unfriendly, when you don't have an experienced player around to guide you through them. Too many moving parts to keep track of! ”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Is the whacky, jokey thing about Barbarians a thing in the Conan universe? Otherwise, it could be the authors of this game had read the Discworld novel „Interesting Times“ which features Cohen the Barbarians geriatric and unwashed Horde.”
On Apr 13 commented on game 480 dungeons of unforgiven 1993: “Ha. Conversely, that caption made me think of The Dharma Bums and St Francis. Is turning one's back on material security intelligent or wise? I couldn't say; but I'm sure vagrancy has had its share of intelligent and wise people. And almost by necessity, that lifestyle demands luck...”
On Apr 13 commented on game 480 dungeons of unforgiven 1993: “This is also echoed by 'Needles' in Fear and Hunger 2, whose use of a 'syringe flail' is also very creepy (to put it mildly; there's almost nothing in that series that isn't in some way, or in every way, horrific. I'm both relieved for Chet that he'll never reach those games, and a little disappointed not to see how he'd react to them.)”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “In fact the 'Plank' spell is the only one the manual says anything about. In the paragraph on 'City Level or Scrolling Map' it states:"Warriors can also travel this level by bridging. To use this feature a party member must possess the plank spell and be able to use the bridge to join two points of the same altitude." Maybe there needs to be a gap to start with, which…”
On Apr 13 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Maybe they were supposed to be one-time throwing weapons, and they accidentally made them regular melee weapons instead?”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “My observations from someone who doesn't play many board games. Absolutely nobody I have ever known really likes Risk, it's just one of those games that seems to exist. They tried to rectify some of the problems with the spinoff games like the sci-fi one and Risk Legacy, but I don't think either of those sold too well. In either event, I find it amusing that people are glossing over…”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Okay, in the legends yes, but how much media actually uses a creature as in the legends? A creature that lies in wait in graveyards tricking people into coming there to be consumed by them isn't something that most games have...except if one of the Deception games takes place in a graveyard.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Doesn't the manual state anything about the spells? Plank seems like such a bizarre spell that it seems insane that they wouldn't tell you anything about it."Despite the way it's spelled here, I'm 99% sure those tiles wanted GAMORRAH."Unless there's another M below the M on the middle left, you can't anyway."It's nice that they dedicated the game to her,…”
On Apr 12 commented on game 314 zerg 1989: “I am glad to hear that my little game was a confidence-building stepping stone for your Ultima ascent. That said, there is still a pretty big complexity gap between Zerg and Ultima Anything, so I think you deserve most of the credit. :)”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “In written text and in a foreign (to me) language, sometimes it is difficult to be sure about the tone of an answer. Therefore, I say to myself: "when in doubt, apologize".”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “The walkthrough of this game makes it seem like a rushed product. Hope you find some fun with it anyways.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I was wondering the same thing.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I figured the Thor’s Hammers were a bug where a missing value resulted in a reference to the 0th item in the item list which just happened to be that weapon.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Seems likely. They might have planned something more elaborate or appropriate to what her words were, then ran out of time to set it up?”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Barbarian jokes are best when they're brute forced upon you.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Yes, from the playthrough so far it sounds like RPG mechanics very deliberately trivialized in this game. Besides weapons and armor, the boss fights have just been find the right spell puzzles.”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I don't think we're even disagreeing, I didn't try to give a definition, I was just saying what the absolute core of a Eurogame is. I think it's mostly an American term anyway.I'm very fond of Castles of Burgundy myself, and Stefan Feld games in general. They are very tactical and I love dealing with constrained resources. In the Year of the Dragon feels like Gothic with a…”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “My Google translate picked up the code above, interpreted it as Arabic and gave me: Look, you are a coward, I swear, I will kill you, I swear, I will kill you.I think it was all the barbarian jokes...”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Maybe the 'True Seeing' potion was what the witch meant by 'detection spell'.”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I think somewhere along the line I forgot that we were only actually disagreeing on the definition of a eurogame, which isn't something that I think is going to be resolved one way or another. All I can really say on that is that I'm pretty sure the board game society I was in back when I was at university, and also my current board game friends both use(d) a narrower definition than the…”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I'm wondering all those Thor's Hammers are because of a crack or something from where you got the game. Seems odd, without knowing anything about game mechanics on my end.”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Gube'f Unzzref ner gur orfg jrncba va gur tnzr. ”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Most Eurogames have pretty short, concise rulebooks. But if you refer to the "the player who last saw a llama in a New York subway between 01:00 and 03:00a.m. starts the game" kind of rules that seem to start off all of the modern ones, I'd agree.”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “The biggest issue I have with (most) Eurogames is getting halfway through the rulebook without losing the will to live.”
On Apr 12 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Just to clarify: you don't have to like Eurogames (though it's really a very broad category that goes well beyond worker placement - you might find something you like), the point was just that there exists a large and popular genre of competitive boardgames that address the very problems Risingson Carlos mentioned.As for Settlers (or rather, Catan): I'd call the robber (including card…”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I never would've expected barbarian jokes to get as annoying as Chuck Norris jokes.Then again, there exist no jokes about Chuck Norris. Only true stories. ”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Why did the barbarian ask Crom to bless his enemies?Because food should always be blessed first!”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “The apparently ubiquitous Thor's Hammers feels like a "we have to release tomorrow and our playtesters say the game is too hard" half-assed solution. (I suspect that's the explanation for a lot of the games you've played with meaningless progression, to be honest.)”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Actual laugh out loud!”
On Apr 12 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “A barbarian, a cleric and a wizard walk into a bar."I'll have an ale," says the cleric. "I'll have a glass of wine," says the wizard. "I'll have what they're having," says the barbarian, decapitating the cleric and the wizard. ”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Clarifying my afterthought to the first paragraph - maybe it's how the interactions are flavoured that puts me off more than the actual mechanics?”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I'm not so sure about that. Eurogame interaction tends to be less 'I play this card to steal that player's stone so they can't build their building' and more 'I hire all the masons and have them do something else so there's no stone in the stockpile so that player can't build their building'. It's more circumspect and has a more genteel veneer, but the end…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Having little direct interaction is more something that follows from keeping all players engaged, rather than something that primarily defines the genre. Eurogames can have a lot of interaction, though, and the lines what makes an interaction "direct" are not really well defined. I'm not sure why Catan would not be considered a good game by todays standards. It's highly rated…”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “It's always the part where he fleas.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “How do you turn gold into lead?Give a barbarian the purse in a gun store!”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “What labor always happens in less than nine months?A barbarian programming a computer game!”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Could the "secret" treasure room of Moc Madure just be the obelisk room that you can't access until he is dead?”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I'd have to disagree with Catan being a codifier of the genre. It's a forerunner for certain, but the genre's developed and diverged significantly enough from Catan that I can't agree with being a part of codifying the genre today. And that is probably for the best; while Catan was a breath of fresh air compared to things like Monopoly, it's not actually a particularly good…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Your second answer is the closest.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “One of the genre codifiers for Eurogames is the Settlers Of Catan, which has a ton of direct interaction; so I think your impression is a little off.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I was under the impression Eurogames were defined primarily by having little-to-no direct interaction, and to a lesser degree by being won based on score after a certain number of rounds.I will say very little can give me a worse first impression of a board game than being told it's a eurogame. There are a few I like, but by and large they sap my will to engage like no other.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “To get away from a bath?To stab someone on the other side?Roads have no meaning to barbarians?”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “merci. I will not die of FOMO today.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I think it was "when he shoves a sword through your stomach."”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Oh, that's what VK was saying. Yes, of course that makes sense. Sometimes I miss the most obvious things.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Is it that the two colors of mana ring are for the two types?”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “What is the hardest part about giving a barbarian a bath? Don't leave us hanging!”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Given that spell recipes are randomized, it may be technically possible to cast and Armageddon spell from a vegan ragout (carrot, mushroom, garlic).”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I love how dragon's blood an carrots are both spell reagents. I just imagine a wizard somewhere lost in a dungeon unable to cast a spell because he has all the rare dragon blood he needs, but some adventurer used his carrots to make stew.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Correct. I haven’t been making the distinction because at no point in the game have I been anywhere near running out of either type of mana.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “There are two mana types - for wizard and cleric spells respectively. ”
On Apr 11 commented on game 314 zerg 1989: “Hey, just discovered that Mike, the original author, has commented here. I gave up Ultima V on the Amiga in 1989 as it seemed a little bit too complicated for me as a 13 year old kid. Then I discovered Zerg, got into it, completed it and was now ready for Ultima V (again). So you are guilty for my Ultima affinity. Thanks Michael!”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Keeping playtimes (relatively) short and predictable, and keeping all players engaged in the game, not only by not having them drop out, but also by keeping games close, implementing catch-up mechanisms, and giving you something interesting to do even if you're clearly losing, is pretty much what defines the Eurogames genre, which a lot of modern boardgames fall into.But yes, not everybody…”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I didn't realize the title of this entry was an 'Avengers: Infinity War' reference until I reached the Gamorrah riddle. Heh!Man, I miss those times when a new Marvel release really meant something special...”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Bringing things back to the present game, one of the barbarian jokes IS, "Why did the barbarian cross the road?" I let you figure out the answer.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “And to clarify even further, the reason I think it's hilarious is that most games would be content to say that you got the crown, you win (like the computer version does). Making the winning condition "everyone else is dead" seems particularly sadistic. I wonder if the decision was influenced by Monopoly, where the only way to win is to bankrupt everyone else.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"In particular, I've never met anyone that wants to play out the crown of command sequence at the end of the game, which you highlighted as a special draw." I should have used better language there. I said it was my "favorite part" because I think it's hilarious, not because I think it's a good gameplay element.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Is that really something I was supposed to do? I couldn't get it to work.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “I've not played the game myself, but from reading your posts this game feels really unfinished, unbalanced, and probably rushed through development - almost like the project manager was a barbarian themself :)”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “ It was an explicit hint given somewhere.”
On Apr 11 commented on warriors of legend ill do you one better: “Really using that Zelda logic in trying to cross lava with a plank, huh?”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “@Radiant Risk in my experience is a strange case as for many 40yo is still THE boardgame. Getting them to play something else is almost impossible and often ends with people saying: that was fun but next time we play Risk.Reminds me way back whem for my friends Tekken 3 could as well be welded in my psone.Never managed to get anybody to play anything else”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Those are even worse in my opinion. If I'm definitively eliminated from a game I can either just chat or get out my handheld console and occupy myself depending on how involved the game is for the remaining players, but if it's score based I'm forced to stay focused on the game and taking actions even when it's completely impossible to win, and I can't drop out because that…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Oh, it looks like Prophecy is out of print. Here's a review of it, though, it's pretty much Talisman improved. https://boardsandbees.wordpress.com/2023/04/24/1135/ At the end of the article, the reviewer points out it's unlikely to be reprinted as Chvatil's Mage Knight design is in the same genre and is superior. I can recommend that one for sure. ”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Also, many boardgames exist where the win condition is something like "first past the goal" or "most points after X turns", not "eliminate your other players one-by-one while they get to sit around unable to counteract".Risk has a big nostalgia factor, but by nowadays standards it's not a good game. E.g. on Boardgamegeek it gets lacklustre scores, averaging 5.6…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “As someone who enjoyed Talisman as a teenager but recognize that modern designs have greatly surpassed it: one modern boardgame to check out that hasn't been mentioned is Prophecy, by Vlaada Chvatil, the designer of Through the Ages. I like to call it Talisman redesigned by a master game designer. Luck is significantly reduced by making movement not subject to die rolls and gives the player…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Cooperative boardgames exist.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Tbh, that's not necessarily a video game adaptation thing. My bf takes ages to think through his turns at Clank! and it being a physical boardgame doesn't really help.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Abacos, I in turn apologize for making you think you needed to apologize. I wanted to clarify, but I wasn't bothered by your original comment.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Yeah there is apoint where you just see yourself slowly losing, slowly dying, and just not enjoying it while the rest of the rest of the players are just pointing at you "HA HA!" and that is when I totally phase out of the game and think why am I there and not doing something more productive like washing the dishes. ”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “It is in my nature.”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Concur with most points listed. It's heavily rng, lending itself to few strategies. The main player interaction is when to gamble, when to think you're "strong enough" to face the trials. In that regard it shares with a roguelike. You random until you think you can push.However there's just some spirit I like about Talisman. Something old and nostalgic. An RPG adjacent…”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"...as ghoul, since there's no distinct lore to them"That's not entirely true, Morpheus, we can trace back the origin of the word 'ghoul' back to Arabian legends where it's defined as an underground dweller feasting on corpses. It' wasn't a stretch to incorporate such kind of creature in all sorts of contemporary fantasy (e.g. H.P. Lovecraft).”
On Apr 11 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “You very much behave like a prude american child sometimes, though.”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “: Why did the chicken cross the road?: Amusing as it is, your question starts with an incorrect premise. ”
On Apr 10 commented on legends of lost realm bit by bit: “When I was a young kid I did not know much, but I was 100% sure mithril was the strongest substance you could make weapons or armor out of--EXCEPT adamantium.How a child who had no exposure to Tolkien nor Wolverine "knew" this is a mystery I will probably never solve, unless there is some like late-1980s shareware/freeware game that had this ranking that I played constantly and totally…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “In Slice & Dice you can play as a ghast can cast spells, and ghasts are pretty much ghouls. But Slice & Dice isn't really a cRPG but more of a Slay-the-Spirelike (or, blah, "roguelike deckbuilder") with dice instead of cards. (Even for a Spirelike it's far away from Chester's definitions of a cRPG, since it does away with the economy in favor of "every other…”
On Apr 10 commented on revisiting wizards crown 1985: “Chet's "Must Play" List? I'm following that :)”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Depends on what you qualify as ghoul, since there's no distinct lore to them beyond someone pointing at some undead creature and saying, "ghoul". I think that Motelsoft monster RPG had one, Morrowind, SMT has them of course, and you could argue that games which allow you to play evil characters who consume human flesh count as ghouls. If you count mods, probably a lot more, I know…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"Some follower is with me, but I don't know who."He looks like an angry elf, and probably because you forgot his name.Some of these encounters are weird if you're playing as a ghoul. The undead and the devil hate you, yet angels and priests don't. I'm assuming that this is what your alignment might effect, yet I can't imagine a ghoul not being evil."British…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I apologize for my mistake, and for having been rude or childish. I meant to have a laugh with you, not at you. ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “The title is meant ironically as in the video is less about making the case (if at all) and more about analysing and chronicling how, since it's beginning, WoW userbase shaped itself, from its casual approach of the early days to being focused on metagaming as efficiently as possible while minmaxing to the extreme and how players who don't adhere to those unwritten rules are (more or…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Experience bij, Captain Kavok!”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I'm interested in the video, but it's 90 minutes long, so I don't know when I'll get to it. Is the title meant ironically, or do they actually make that case?Either way, I suspect the themes of the video are why I've never been interested in MMOs. I don't want anyone else's experience to be affected by my own and vice versa. ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “The actual title of the video is "Why it's rude to suck at Warcraft" ...Sigh. I really need a take my time to do some poofreading before posting ”
On Apr 10 commented on warriors of legend everybodys comedian: “I figured it out later. If you have one, you restore more hit points when you rest at inns. Since HP restores naturally anyway, it doesn't come up all that often.”
On Apr 10 commented on revisiting wizards crown 1985: “I'm convinced and have updated the entry accordingly. ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “This reminds me to never ever start a Risk game unless I'm actually ready to commit for the hours that take to actually play it to the end. Nothing enrages people more than intentionally trying to throw your game even if it's clear you are going to lose.And, while in theory I disagree in pratice I see their point and I'd rather call myself out than be a spoilersport and ruin someone…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Amusing as it is, your comment starts with an incorrect premise. I didn't ask 3 weeks ago "Should I play or Skip Talisman?" I had already announced my intention to play it. I invited people to comment on what I would experience when I did.I probably did write that years ago, but it isn't really accurate. I'm not a child. When it seems like I'm doing "the…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I liked the games that where accompanied by a VHS to play =)”
On Apr 10 commented on phantasy star won with summary and: “Gastrick, I feel that this is a weird entry to post that comment on. I think the comments here have been generally agreeable. Anyway, what kind of blogger would I be if I let the positivity or negativity of comments steer the direction of the blog? ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “This has me thinking about the fad in the 80s for board games that included an electronic component. A game that had the physicality of a board game with an electronic assistant to allow complex mechanics without becoming cumbersome could be a solid experience, especially if the game were designed from the ground up for it instead of a retrofit. Of course, such a thing would drive up costs…”
On Apr 10 commented on phantasy star won with summary and: “Yeah, suggesting to generally ignore all comments recommending any JRPGs, indiscriminately bunching all those commenters into a complaining fanboy category and summarily judging 20 years of JRPG stories as mostly-childish anime sounds like a well-reasoned, informed and thoughtful advice.Not sure what comment sections you have been reading, but besides some fanboyism I've seen a lot of…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “There is a modern relecture of Magic Realm named "Dragons Down", that I happen to own: takes less table space & simplifies token summoning/positioning a lot. Don't know if there is an AI somewhere to fully handle all its repetitive parts; still, makes for lots of fun.”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “This board game was so much of my childhood, essentially an RPG-lite experience, where you accumulated loads of cool cards with cool pictures before making a run to the middle of the table. :-)”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “CHESTER, 3 WEEKS AGO: "Shall I play or skip Talisman ?"EVERYBODY: "Skip it ! Skip it !"CHESTER, TODAY: "I played it !"Years ago, Chester wrote that when he is told to do something, he cannot resist but do the opposite. QED.Nevertheless, this post about Talisman is a good read. ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Not sure about the tabletop games not working so well for computers for the reasons you explained - actually my main issue with tabletop games is the other players, the ultra competitive aspect of it that I always experience, where if you lose you are humiliated and if you don't really care about losing the other players get really angry at you for not being as involved. So I am super ok with…”
On Apr 10 commented on game 546 warriors of legend 1993: “I like how there is this huge pile of upcoming games still to play, and you wonder where they come from and what is still out there. But then it turns out that most of them already belong to an already seen franchise, are clones of a classic or have other strong personal connections to previously played games.”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “As far as good boardgame to computer adaptations go, both Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne on IOS are great. I'm way more comfortable with the computers figuring out the score for Carcassonne, especially with all the expansions ”
On Apr 10 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"two people staring at a computer screen waiting for their turns is not quite the same thing as the same players around a board game table."If it's a dumb reroll of an already existing board game: agree. But if it's designed so from the ground up, there are good counter-examples in the gaming world: Heroes of Might & Magic, Masters of Magic...”
On Apr 10 commented on phantasy star won with summary and: “Agree that DQ3 could be a contender though I'm not sure which version (and he'd have to get over some chibi graphics). Maybe DQ7 too if it ever gets that far but the original game is a slog at points.Strategy JRPGS would be really interesting to see, and most of the prime suspects have been mentioned already. I don't see a way to exclude them other than by choice but I also have a…”
On Apr 09 commented on phantasy star won with summary and: “Better just to ignore all the comments saying to play JRPGs and stick to RPGs released on computers. You can see here how even when you do play them, they're upset that you're not playing the exact ones they fanboy over; and if you do actually play those ones like with Zelda 1, they're upset anyway if you have a different opinion than them on it. After Final Fantasy 1, only Dragon…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “It is a TITLED goose game.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Having copies of both Talisman and Relic boardgames, I can say that Relic keeps the basic gameplay of Talisman but improves on it in many ways - less random, characters have levels with attribute increases, team rules (eg 2 vs 1) and more. Talisman would play much better using Relics system.”
On Apr 09 commented on phantasy star won with summary and: “Final Fantasy IX is sort of Final Fantasy reflecting back on itself and restating its purpose, so I think it's fitting that it Necron just states the point of the last-act boss reveals outright: he's there so the heroes can confront their existential dread and kick its ass.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “@Narwhal: So you are saying Talisman is a very Goose Game.[Leaves the stage before anyone decides to throw any objects.]”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “There's a somewhat modern RPG that lets you recruit a ghoul into your party (since I guess it's a minor spoiler: Funqbjeha Ubat Xbat). When you bring him along, you usually get into custom situations where you have to explain why you have a Ghoul in your party. (You could argue if your party members are player characters. You act for them but you don't speak as them.)”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Now that I think of it, playing Clan Nosferatu in 'Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' comes pretty close to being a ghoul.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"the fact that no one else in the 80s knew how to make a good board game either"Sid Jackson, Wolfgang Kramer come to my mind. Different kinds of games, but that statement struck me as too broad to let it stand.But certainly, you didn't have such a broad and diverse choice of good board games back then.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “At first I was intrigued, but on further examination it looks like a Game of Goose isn't as exciting as it sounds. ”
On Apr 09 commented on game 478 mystic well 1990: “Those people just have a very high openess quotient and this is why they're so terrible [continues for five paragraphs]”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Videogame adaptations have gotten so much better over the years due to the internet for more players and more CPU horsepower for graphics and better AI. There are whole websites built around playing boardgames online like BoardGameArena which has many more modern boardgames better than Monopoly for instance. The quality of the adaptations have gotten so good that I can recommend Dune: Imperium,…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I've played digital Talisman quite a bit and I think because of the super-fussiness (and expense!) of the pieces it is better than the physical one. There are hordes of expansions and some of them genuinely add enormously to the experience. (except now there's a brand new version of the digital game as of this year -- no comment on that one)The game is drastically different when the…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Talisman has a fairly well-done modern digital adaptation—it looks to support all major modern platforms (https://nomadgames.co.uk/talisman-digital-edition). It's a much more obviously-direct implementation of the board game: rather than seeing just a single square at a time, you're looking at the whole board, and it's easy to see how all the squares relate to each other. The AI in it…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I may be badly confused, but I don't remember anything in Dungeon! that would require a game master (or any alternate scenarios)--you just put down the cards and turn them over as you discover them, as I remember? And the adversaries don't move at all, hidden or not.People have been saying that Talisman is too long and luck-based--Dungeon! seems like a nice beer-and-pretzels alternative…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “My wife is a board game fanatic and through incidental exposure, it seems very much to me like boardgame designers have a REALLY hard time hitting that sweet spot where they are complex enough to stay interesting but don't become cumbersome and tedious. Admittedly, I have a lower threshhold than most avid gamers for such things. ”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Ian Livingstone, at least, never lost interest in computer games. He's been deeply involved in the UK computer game industry until very recently.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “A few trivia:- Games Workshop was initially founded as literally what its name says: a company that would sell you manually designed wooden boards and wooden pieces. Then, they start reselling D&D ordered from USA (only 6 initially). RPG were in the ADN of GW, hence the RPG-themed Talisman.- GW managed to land exclusive distribution rights in UK for the cost of ... nothing. Their newsletter…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “The game's description on its box / external backside of the tape inlay (see e.g. here at the MoCAGH) mentions as one of the potential encounters - besides orcs, wizards, trolls, elves, sentinels - also "landlords". It seems either Mr. Harris (if this already was in the original boardgame) or (one of) the programmer(s) of the computer game wasn't too happy with their rental…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I'd be surprised if one of the Fallouts didn't have ghoul as a player option, although of course those are slightly different.There are ghoul player-characters in some Roguelikes, as you'd imagine, although I don't know if they are offered in any of the "main" games.”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I also hate Gloomhaven for the same reason (needlessly complicated and thus slow) and I sold it. On the other hand, I found Mice & Mystics too basic to be really fun, so it's hard to fight the correct balance. However, I kept M&M to play it in the future with my daughters. ”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Agreed (MalcolmM), I've tried the digital conversion of 'Gloomhaven' to see what all the fuss is about, and it turns out to meticulously mimic a CRPG in the tabletop space, making every move needlessly complicated and tedious that I lost interest fast. I'd rather play it with friends around the table, or fire up a purebred CRPG (without a card pool for actions).”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “"Is this the only CRPG in which a ghoul can cast spells?"Better yet, is this the only CRPG in which you can play as a ghoul?”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “I would say one difference between board games (typically multiplayer) and computer games (in the context of this blog, usually played solo) is that in board games you're more willing to accept harsh consequences from a single random event, such as a dice roll. When a die is rolled that could have dramatic consequences for the game, all players watch intently. A negative result can still give…”
On Apr 09 commented on warriors of legend everybodys comedian: “What in the world are fluffy pillows for? The game doesn't have a resting system.My first thought is that it's a joke weapon. I've seen it often, including in one of your upcoming games; an innocuous, "silly" item that can be wielded in combat, and is often better than the game's actual weapons.Can it be equipped as a weapon?”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “There's a Warhammer 40,000 themed version of Talisman too, called Relic, although the mysterious breakup between Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight means that it is out of print.GW's relationship with the game is odd. The GW logo was on the 4th edition box (I haven't seen 5th in the wild), there is an orphaned Talisman page on the GW website that connects to nothing, and GW sells…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Totally agree. It’s very much a roll and move with very little interesting choices to make. It’s just the theming and that there weren’t many better entry level games during the 80s which gave it its fame.Nowadays there’s so many better board games out there, that there’s very little reason to get talisman beyond nostalgia.This is also a big issue I have with games workshop games. Most of them…”
On Apr 09 commented on game 547 talisman 1985: “Being an avid board gamer, I can testify that Talisman looks much more fun than it is. It takes forever, it has almost no strategy, characters are horribly unbalanced. It works better as a social facilitator where the board game is more of a background noise to the gathering of friends.However, I would like to draw some attention to the granddaddy of them all, namely Magic Realm…”
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Hello Chet, I´m looking forward to your thoughts on Spellcraft and Magic Candle 3. I hope that professorship isn´t keeping you up too late each night.
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A Christmas Dungeon Adventure would be funny at this time of year to see :)
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