[Tiste Simeon]

I'm finally beginning to get the Witcher III now. Had a lot of fun today - I played most of the Bloody Baron missions as well as the Witches in the swamps missions. I also spent a long time playing Gwent and have beaten a few people but no-one ever gives me Northern realms cards! Anyways I have a bit more skill now and a bit more understanding of the upgrade system etc. Got to level 10 so loads more of the side missions and contracts are now available to me.

[Maark Abbott]

Mentalist, on 13 April 2016 - 02:29 PM, said:

Stupid Norton ate my Sneaky Mod exe. Had to re-install, and haven't dared launch it yet for fear that my paltry progress was wiped.

I find myself not inspired by thought of playing Thief 3. The small levels feel too much like Invisible War, and even the lure of finally experiencing the legendary Shalebridge Cradle isn't a strong enough motivator.

I'll probably power through it to make some progress at some point during the weekend, but so far I'm less than impressed.

RTC makes the entire thing worth it. If you really can't stomach it you could always download a savegame that places you just outside the level and ready to start it.

[Khellendros]

Completed the original 1980s Metal Gear - what a game! Some profoundly unfair bits aside (areas where enemies automatically spot you, unavoidable health damage in some parts, an end sequence where you literally have to guess the final part), and some annoying parts where you have to go back to somewhere at the beginning before making your way back again aside, it was really fun. An impressive level of complexity too for a game of that era, with many of the gadgets and gameplay staples that are found in the MGS games.

Now started playing Slalom, a Rare game from 1987 which is on the Rare Replay collection (which, frankly, is the best curated games collection I've ever played, so many extras included and quality-of-life additions made for the older games (like a really cool rewind function, which simulates a VHS tape rewinding). Slalom itself is about skiing down a course before a timer expires - with other skiiers, sleders, snowmen, and trees in your way.

[Mentalist]

Maark Abbott, on 14 April 2016 - 05:00 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 13 April 2016 - 02:29 PM, said:

Stupid Norton ate my Sneaky Mod exe. Had to re-install, and haven't dared launch it yet for fear that my paltry progress was wiped.

I find myself not inspired by thought of playing Thief 3. The small levels feel too much like Invisible War, and even the lure of finally experiencing the legendary Shalebridge Cradle isn't a strong enough motivator.

I'll probably power through it to make some progress at some point during the weekend, but so far I'm less than impressed.

RTC makes the entire thing worth it. If you really can't stomach it you could always download a savegame that places you just outside the level and ready to start it.

Progress not wiped. Had to make Norton "trust" the modified exe though. Stupid over-protective systems, sigh.

Ventured into the Pagan tunnels, but didn't get far. I don't have a map (you're supposed to steal one once there), and there's so much light!

I think I'll just stop trying to ghost it on this run and break out the blackjack (avoided using it at all so far). should ideal have some time to play for a decent amt of time tomorrow.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 18 April 2016 - 06:56 PM

[Andorion]

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

1. What kind of open world? Are we talking bethesda (elder scrolls)- style, 3D RPG/FPS, or do isometric/2D games work too? Party-based or 1 character? Real-time combat or turn-based? Answer these, and there'll be some reccos,

2. I ain't big on FPS, but I heard that Medal of Honour games were good WW2 spectacle shooters. The original CoDs were Moh clones
EDIT: nvm then. Hmmm. The hidden + dangerous series was supposedly pretty good, but not sure if WWI or II. I believe Operation Flashpoint had some WWII titles as well, though that one was more hardcore , realism (same guys later made ARMA)
/EDIT

3. Well, there's Sim City. See also the Caesar games for Roman-style city-building. Rollercoaster Tycoon is a classic. Tropico is a good variation on the sa theme. Good old Settlers is the gold standard of the genre.

Basically have you bro check out GOG.com. Loads of older, less gfx-intensive titles.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 21 April 2016 - 01:26 PM

[Mentalist]

Double-post:
My T3 woes continue. Apparently, every time my PC wakes up, I have to coax Norton into "trusting" that the modded Thief3.exe is not dangerous. Goddamn PoC nanny-soft AVP...

Needless to say, I discovered this through experimentation, which led to yet another reinstall and killed my mood to play on Tue. So I made no progress. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 21 April 2016 - 01:23 PM, said:

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

1. What kind of open world? Are we talking bethesda (elder scrolls)- style, 3D RPG/FPS, or do isometric/2D games work too? Party-based or 1 character? Real-time combat or turn-based? Answer these, and there'll be some reccos,

2. I ain't big on FPS, but I heard that Medal of Honour games were good WW2 spectacle shooters. The original CoDs were Moh clones
EDIT: nvm then. Hmmm. The hidden + dangerous series was supposedly pretty good, but not sure if WWI or II. I believe Operation Flashpoint had some WWII titles as well, though that one was more hardcore , realism (same guys later made ARMA)
/EDIT

3. Well, there's Sim City. See also the Caesar games for Roman-style city-building. Rollercoaster Tycoon is a classic. Tropico is a good variation on the sa theme. Good old Settlers is the gold standard of the genre.

Basically have you bro check out GOG.com. Loads of older, less gfx-intensive titles.

Uhhh

1. I think one character, real time 3d is what he is looking for. Sort of like Assassins Creed but open world, I guess? (Does this even make any sense?)

Thanks for the other recos. I think he has played rollercoaster though. Are there any business type games?

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 01:48 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 21 April 2016 - 01:23 PM, said:

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

1. What kind of open world? Are we talking bethesda (elder scrolls)- style, 3D RPG/FPS, or do isometric/2D games work too? Party-based or 1 character? Real-time combat or turn-based? Answer these, and there'll be some reccos,

2. I ain't big on FPS, but I heard that Medal of Honour games were good WW2 spectacle shooters. The original CoDs were Moh clones
EDIT: nvm then. Hmmm. The hidden + dangerous series was supposedly pretty good, but not sure if WWI or II. I believe Operation Flashpoint had some WWII titles as well, though that one was more hardcore , realism (same guys later made ARMA)
/EDIT

3. Well, there's Sim City. See also the Caesar games for Roman-style city-building. Rollercoaster Tycoon is a classic. Tropico is a good variation on the sa theme. Good old Settlers is the gold standard of the genre.

Basically have you bro check out GOG.com. Loads of older, less gfx-intensive titles.

Uhhh

1. I think one character, real time 3d is what he is looking for. Sort of like Assassins Creed but open world, I guess? (Does this even make any sense?)

Thanks for the other recos. I think he has played rollercoaster though. Are there any business type games?

There's many business-type games (not my specific area of interest), but rollercoaster are the best-know ones. City management is similar genre, Tropico is like a "resort country tycoon", only with dictatorship.

Re: open-world 3d RPGs... your problem is gonna be all the new ones are GFX-heavy, and won't play nice without dedicated GPU. Morrowind is the best bet.
See also Ultima Underworld 1+2 and spiritual successor Ark Fatalis (though those are more "open-concept dungeon crawlers"). You can try the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games-on min settings they are playable on integrated cards- if the CPU is meaty, since integrated cards try to piggyback off CPU power.

Current First-person RPG craze really started w/ Fallout 3. So if the PC can handle that, check it out. There's a large 3rd person open-world game selection, going back to GTA 3 + its sequels but those weren't really RPGs

System Shock and Deus Ex started the immersive Sim sub-genre of "FPS with powers", but those usually aren't "open world" as such

So yeah, look into Bethesda stuff (Elder scrolls / Fallout 3+) as starting points, and gauge based on your PC' capacity
Edit: it should be noted that AssCreed isn't strictly speaking an RPG. If that's the kind of thing you're looking for, and limited by GFX, the GTA3+ and its sandbox clones are your best bet- Saints Row 2+ (reportedly 2 had a very poor PC port, look for fan fixes / mods), the Saboteur (also fits the WW2 setting req), Prototype, Sleeping Dogs

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 21 April 2016 - 03:05 PM

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 21 April 2016 - 02:57 PM, said:

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 01:48 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 21 April 2016 - 01:23 PM, said:

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

1. What kind of open world? Are we talking bethesda (elder scrolls)- style, 3D RPG/FPS, or do isometric/2D games work too? Party-based or 1 character? Real-time combat or turn-based? Answer these, and there'll be some reccos,

2. I ain't big on FPS, but I heard that Medal of Honour games were good WW2 spectacle shooters. The original CoDs were Moh clones
EDIT: nvm then. Hmmm. The hidden + dangerous series was supposedly pretty good, but not sure if WWI or II. I believe Operation Flashpoint had some WWII titles as well, though that one was more hardcore , realism (same guys later made ARMA)
/EDIT

3. Well, there's Sim City. See also the Caesar games for Roman-style city-building. Rollercoaster Tycoon is a classic. Tropico is a good variation on the sa theme. Good old Settlers is the gold standard of the genre.

Basically have you bro check out GOG.com. Loads of older, less gfx-intensive titles.

Uhhh

1. I think one character, real time 3d is what he is looking for. Sort of like Assassins Creed but open world, I guess? (Does this even make any sense?)

Thanks for the other recos. I think he has played rollercoaster though. Are there any business type games?

There's many business-type games (not my specific area of interest), but rollercoaster are the best-know ones. City management is similar genre, Tropico is like a "resort country tycoon", only with dictatorship.

Re: open-world 3d RPGs... your problem is gonna be all the new ones are GFX-heavy, and won't play nice without dedicated GPU. Morrowind is the best bet.
See also Ultima Underworld 1+2 and spiritual successor Ark Fatalis (though those are more "open-concept dungeon crawlers"). You can try the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games-on min settings they are playable on integrated cards- if the CPU is meaty, since integrated cards try to piggyback off CPU power.

Current First-person RPG craze really started w/ Fallout 3. So if the PC can handle that, check it out. There's a large 3rd person open-world game selection, going back to GTA 3 + its sequels but those weren't really RPGs

System Shock and Deus Ex started the immersive Sim sub-genre of "FPS with powers", but those usually aren't "open world" as such

So yeah, look into Bethesda stuff (Elder scrolls / Fallout 3+) as starting points, and gauge based on your PC' capacity
Edit: it should be noted that AssCreed isn't strictly speaking an RPG. If that's the kind of thing you're looking for, and limited by GFX, the GTA3+ and its sandbox clones are your best bet- Saints Row 2+ (reportedly 2 had a very poor PC port, look for fan fixes / mods), the Saboteur (also fits the WW2 setting req), Prototype, Sleeping Dogs

Thank you!
Looks like I have some research to do. Morrowind looks good though

[Maark Abbott]

Morrowind is brilliant. A few odd design choices (wave your sword in a guy's face and still miss, Cliff Runners) but overall excellent. Never finished the first expansion. That fucking death Bosmer in the city.

[Mentalist]

Cliffrunners can be modded out.

So I've heard. I haven't actually played it myself yet. (It's on The List™. Which is coming along super-slowly, because I've entered another anime phase, and THAT became the timesink of the month(s) )

[Andorion]

Guys, I got Morrowind. Also it says something like GOTY - which means expansions? I Guess? Anyway its runnign nicely, but wow its old! Now the site gamedebate is telling me that with my specs I can run Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim. I have heard of skyrim a lot. Is it worth a shot?

(This entire post probably sounds super nooby, but this is the first time I have actually tried to engage with non rts games)

[champ]

Finally found some time to load up MGS5... I really shouldn't have, this game is going to be crack!

[Aptorian]

Forget Morrowind, Andorion. Just play Skyrim.

Morrowind is a classic game but unless you have nostalgia for the game and desire deeper RPG systems, Skyrim is much more accessible and appealing to new players.

I am looking at the stuff Mentalist has recommended you and while the titles certainly are classics and beloved by their fanbase, many of them are also older, outdated, cult like games.

Since the real limitation for you right now is your PCs performance, I'd recommend going on Metacritic and looking at best rated games by years. Filter by PC and what genre you might be interested in.

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

So assuming your PC might not be able to run the latest and greatest games, here's some recommendations:

1: Skyrim, Fallout 3 and or New Vegas, Witcher 2, Mass Effect 1-3, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

2: They don't really make those anymore but you could check out Enemy Front (it's B tier) or something like Red Orchestra 2, Verdun, Call of Duty: World at War or Wolfenstein 2009. I'd recommend Wolfenstein: The New Order + The Old Blood as well actually all though much of those games do not take place in the 40s.

3: Factorio, Cities: Skylines, Tropico 5.

[Andorion]

Apt, on 22 April 2016 - 07:25 AM, said:

Forget Morrowind, Andorion. Just play Skyrim.

Morrowind is a classic game but unless you have nostalgia for the game and desire deeper RPG systems, Skyrim is much more accessible and appealing to new players.

I am looking at the stuff Mentalist has recommended you and while the titles certainly are classics and beloved by their fanbase, many of them are also older, outdated, cult like games.

Since the real limitation for you right now is your PCs performance, I'd recommend going on Metacritic and looking at best rated games by years. Filter by PC and what genre you might be interested in.

Andorion, on 21 April 2016 - 04:20 AM, said:

This is a recommendation request not really for me, but rather for my brother. His college exams end this week and he wants some new games.

1. An open world RPG

2. A WW2 themed FPS like the original Battlefield 1942 (played Medal of Honour and CoD)

3. A tycoon/management game - like Zootycoon where you build, manage and control stuff

4. Games should have extensive single player mode and not be online reliant as our internet is shit.

Not too high graphic specs please - integrated Intel graphics - but we can run the latest FIFA

I would really like some help with this guys, I know very little about games.

So assuming your PC might not be able to run the latest and greatest games, here's some recommendations:

1: Skyrim, Fallout 3 and or New Vegas, Witcher 2, Mass Effect 1-3, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

2: They don't really make those anymore but you could check out Enemy Front (it's B tier) or something like Red Orchestra 2, Verdun, Call of Duty: World at War or Wolfenstein 2009. I'd recommend Wolfenstein: The New Order + The Old Blood as well actually all though much of those games do not take place in the 40s.

3: Factorio, Cities: Skylines, Tropico 5.

Thanks!

You know I think it would have helped if I had posted my laptop specs here to begin with. I don't think its too bad.

1 TB HDD, 8 GB RAM, Intel i3 5th gen 5010U, Intel HD Graphics, and AMD Radeon R5 M330 Graphics (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)

I can run Fifa 15 on it in minimum settings.

[Aptorian]

I am not really that knowledgeable about what laptop hardware is capable of, but going by the 2 GB graphics card I'd argue it's safest to aim for games that are released before 2013 or 2012.

[Mentalist]

Say wut? If you have a dedicated GPU (which is what the AMD one is), why are you worried about the integrated?

As Apt mentioned, I was mostly talking about older games. Firstly, due to perceived GFX limits, second cuz i'm quite behind the curve when it comes to playing stuff (partially due to having lived with only integrated GFX for better part of 10 gaming years), and thirdly cuz i'm a bit of a retrograde, haha.

Skyrim's getting all kinds of critical praise, and is quite moddable, cuz Steam.
However, since we still aren't sure if your brother is looking for an RPG or open-world ala AssCreed, i'll stick with Sleeping Dogs as the starting recco, and Fallout 3 to get a taste of what open world RPGS are like.

Witcher 2 has a good, not great story, but is by no means open world. Likewise, Mass Effect is not really open world

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 22 April 2016 - 02:51 PM, said:

Say wut? If you have a dedicated GPU (which is what the AMD one is), why are you worried about the integrated?

As Apt mentioned, I was mostly talking about older games. Firstly, due to perceived GFX limits, second cuz i'm quite behind the curve when it comes to playing stuff (partially due to having lived with only integrated GFX for better part of 10 gaming years), and thirdly cuz i'm a bit of a retrograde, haha.

Skyrim's getting all kinds of critical praise, and is quite moddable, cuz Steam.
However, since we still aren't sure if your brother is looking for an RPG or open-world ala AssCreed, i'll stick with Sleeping Dogs as the starting recco, and Fallout 3 to get a taste of what open world RPGS are like.

Witcher 2 has a good, not great story, but is by no means open world. Likewise, Mass Effect is not really open world

Ah. You see I was never entirely sure what a dedicated graphics card would be described as. Plus I thought all graphics cards were NVidia. You see I really wasn't kidding when I said I knew very little about gaming and associated stuff. I suppose this changes the games I can run (my bro and I have identical laptops)

Anyway I showed my brother Morrowind which he likes. He wants Skyrim too. Also he apparently has gotten a multi extension zoo tycoon with dinosaurs which I did not know was possible, but sounds cool

If he does like Morrowind, that narrows things down to open world RPGs right? I saw this game called Dragon Age...

Also I took my own stab at Morrowind today. Went into this trading place, took this sword, intending to buy it, and everybody went insane and killed me. I guess I need to read the manuals?

[Mentalist]

Yes, Morrowind is VERY much a "read the manual" type game. The systems are somewhat obtuse, but can allow you to game them in insane ways (talk to Silencer or Gothos if you want essays on Morrowind). Skyrim REALLY streamlines game systems, but it also removes a lot of the weirdness/originality that Morrowind is most loved for.

Dragon Age are party-based action RPGs. The original, Origins is molded after old-school RPGs and mostly played in top-down fashion. The newest, inquisition, is open-world (but that one may still be GFX-heavy for a laptop, Google if your specs can handle it).

Personally, I had fun with Origins (need to re-play it before tackling 2 and Inquisition). I once started Morrowind, but wasn't feeling it at the time (it's very much a game that requires attention and dedication, and I couldn't focus on gaming like that at the time), but it's certainly one I intend to go back to some day.

Re: PC parts. For CPUs- 2 giants to rule them all- Intel and AMD. For GPUs- used to be Nvidia (the GeForce cards) and ATI (Radeon)
Then AMD bought ATI. So now it makes both.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 22 April 2016 - 04:45 PM