Extra Punctuation: Golden Era of PC Gaming
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
I'd say 1992, when Ultima Underworld came out. That was the first of the type of game Yahtzee is referencing in his article. Hopefully Human Revolution, Dishonored, and possibly Prey 2 are signs that the industry is finally ready for those kinds of experiences again.Doom972 said:
Nice Douglas Adams reference there, Yahtzee.
We really need more games like Half Life. Being able to dick around and ignore the entire game is truly a priveledge. But it's made even more special the next time you play the game and actually pay attention to the characters and your environment in order to understand the situation, as if it's another level of interaction altogether. I missed so much in Half Life 2 when I strolled through it the first time and I'm still finding things now when I replay it. Of course whenever Magnusson wants to talk to me I just walk away!
We really need more games like Half Life. Being able to dick around and ignore the entire game is truly a priveledge. But it's made even more special the next time you play the game and actually pay attention to the characters and your environment in order to understand the situation, as if it's another level of interaction altogether. I missed so much in Half Life 2 when I strolled through it the first time and I'm still finding things now when I replay it. Of course whenever Magnusson wants to talk to me I just walk away!
I agree Deus Ex was kind of a peak for pc gaming. But one reason is because that was the last of the "PC Exclusive" games before everything started simultaneously being released for consoles. Consoles which need a 10 foot interface and are limited to 8ish buttons and the short attention span of the console players.
However that isn't a reason to despair. Look at STALKER which was released 7 years after DE. It doesn't have the npc complexity or story branching but it does have the same kind of open world immersion and quirky gameplay that made DE and System Shock 2 so memorable. And hey that was a PC exclusive as well.
I think with Steam and the price competition for .99 Ipad games there is a renaissance of PC gaming on the horizon. There are a ton of smaller, memorable, lovingly crafted games indie games available from Minecraft to Gratuitous Space Battles, to E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy which really is a spiritual successor to DE1.
Even venerable Dwarf Fortress, the granddaddy of quirky, do whatever the hell you want gameplay, got a major update a few months ago.
So the future is hopeful and even thought the AAA landscape may never produce another DE the spirit lives on.
However that isn't a reason to despair. Look at STALKER which was released 7 years after DE. It doesn't have the npc complexity or story branching but it does have the same kind of open world immersion and quirky gameplay that made DE and System Shock 2 so memorable. And hey that was a PC exclusive as well.
I think with Steam and the price competition for .99 Ipad games there is a renaissance of PC gaming on the horizon. There are a ton of smaller, memorable, lovingly crafted games indie games available from Minecraft to Gratuitous Space Battles, to E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy which really is a spiritual successor to DE1.
Even venerable Dwarf Fortress, the granddaddy of quirky, do whatever the hell you want gameplay, got a major update a few months ago.
So the future is hopeful and even thought the AAA landscape may never produce another DE the spirit lives on.
I'd also have accepted the mid-80s to early 90s as a golden age of video games. Not so much for player freedom (I'll grant you turn of millennium for that) but for developer freedom. Technological requirements were low enough that the boundary between developer and company allowed pretty much anyone with enough drive and talent to make pretty much whatever they wanted.
LSL, Commander Keen, the early Ambrosia software, and especially the crapload of demos ranging from tiny one-shot developers to people who lasted until today like Epic (Jazz Jackrabbit, anyone?)
Even more than a fight to break and rectify a game, I miss the feeling that a game might both be high quality for its time and surprise me.
LSL, Commander Keen, the early Ambrosia software, and especially the crapload of demos ranging from tiny one-shot developers to people who lasted until today like Epic (Jazz Jackrabbit, anyone?)
Even more than a fight to break and rectify a game, I miss the feeling that a game might both be high quality for its time and surprise me.
I blame it all on the publisher's for getting rid of developer freedom. think about it. I think publisher's have too much interference in the creative drive in the making of games. because they have to change it to allow the publisher to milk all it's worth.
I still say the Half Life style cutscene is actually worse than the standard "cut away and play a video" cutscene simply because the interactivity is so clearly pointless. It's not like an actual conversation, and not even like acting out of place while attending a live theatre presentation. It's more like acting out of place while watching a movie on your couch. Sure, you can throw stuff at the screen or jump up and down but the only desperation is your own (and perhaps that of your neighbours if you have thin enough walls).
A HL2 vignette is no more truly interactive than a "cut away" scene, but at least the "cut away" style scene isn't vainly pretending that you are actually interacting with the game while watching it.
A HL2 vignette is no more truly interactive than a "cut away" scene, but at least the "cut away" style scene isn't vainly pretending that you are actually interacting with the game while watching it.
I've never actually tried to do anything like that, partly because I'm not a jerk, and after I accidentally killed the subway hostages I quickloaded as soon as Alex got angry. Pity I didn't just keep playing; I'd probably have had more fun once I mastered pistols and the aiming got better.
Also, as for Half-Life 2's 'pseudo-cutscenes', I actually found myself having more fun trying to fit in with the world rather than try to work around it. I'm just not very good at acting like a jerk in games, and the bit in the Assassin's Creed that says 'thou shalt not kill civilians' isn't helping.
Also, as for Half-Life 2's 'pseudo-cutscenes', I actually found myself having more fun trying to fit in with the world rather than try to work around it. I'm just not very good at acting like a jerk in games, and the bit in the Assassin's Creed that says 'thou shalt not kill civilians' isn't helping.
This reminds me heavily of the game Crayon Physics Deluxe (hope I've got the title right) which I purchased with the latest Humble Indie Bundle. In it, you must solve some physics puzzles by drawing stuff with crayons. Never before did I solve so many levels drawing a penis...
In Deus Ex I remember throwing all the chairs at the director's(?) head with basically everything that can be found in the building. In the end it looked like a freaking christmas tree made out of trashcans and pots. Stuff never got old for me.
In Deus Ex I remember throwing all the chairs at the director's(?) head with basically everything that can be found in the building. In the end it looked like a freaking christmas tree made out of trashcans and pots. Stuff never got old for me.
I think it's to do with games becoming more mainstream. In the golden age, the target audience for PC games were gamers who spent ages playing games, exploring every nook and cranny. So developers built nooks and crannies. Now there are more gamers who just like to kick back and blow stuff up for a few hours, so developers make brown FPSs.
It is still feasible to make lots of nooks and crannies. There are just less people ready to buy them than are ready to buy brown FPSs.
I don't really buy the idea that games with lots to explore require too much content creation. Detailed graphics aren't worth ruining the gameplay for. But if a lot of players don't really care about the nooks and crannies, developers can make games that much shinier by not including them.
It is still feasible to make lots of nooks and crannies. There are just less people ready to buy them than are ready to buy brown FPSs.
I don't really buy the idea that games with lots to explore require too much content creation. Detailed graphics aren't worth ruining the gameplay for. But if a lot of players don't really care about the nooks and crannies, developers can make games that much shinier by not including them.
Even though the HL style of taking some control away from the player isn't perfect, I prefer it over to any cutscene, no matter how artfully done. The perfect game, for me, would be the one who can pull off an excellent game without taking away the control from the player. So far, only HL has come close to do doing that, strategy games not withstanding.
I replayed the first Half Life last year (together with Opposing Force and Blue Shift), and Half Life 2 this year, including the episodes. I think they're still very good playing experiences even now, and I'm not much of a nostalgic person.-Dragmire- said:
Half Life starts slow, with the tram ride and all, but very soon it kicks in and I still think it's one of the best game beginnings. It has some pacing problems in the middle (just one or two chapters of the whole thing), though, that I was able to get through quickly in my last replay because I had already played it before.
Anyway, completely worth playing, both games and their episodes/expansions.
Hmm, I have to agree here. But only in my first play through.Zhukov said:
After that, all bets are off.
Love the "Who's thirsty" bit.
The guards in DE:HR aren't psychic, which I always liked, I would build a mini fort of boxes and junk to hide in while doing all my illegal hacking and not get busted.
The guards in DE:HR aren't psychic, which I always liked, I would build a mini fort of boxes and junk to hide in while doing all my illegal hacking and not get busted.