your favorite game for each setting.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: your favorite game for each setting.

How about science documentaries? Fairly popular on public television over here. Can you learn from them. Arguably you can learn things from them that you could NEVER learn from a book - so short of actually entering a lab, or a wild place, its the best you can do.


I would suggest the same for say a war game (of the relatively historically accurate variety) You can learn things from it that would be very difficult to explain in a book. Short of actually fighting a battle, its the closest you can get to understanding a commanders real problems. Which is why actual militaries use wargames. And at least some commercial wargame designers (like Jim Dunnigan) also worked with the military.

Now I suspect the folks who play say, The Ardennes Offensive, are more interested in World War II then they are in the art of the TBS game. While, OTOH, the folks who play Civ, or MOO2, MAY be more interested in the art of the TBS than in history or science fiction. So it seems to me that discussions that focus on game "genre" tend to bias us towards certain types of games, and towards certain aspects of those games. Which is why i wanted a thread with a different focus.

[Static Universe]

History:
Transportation Tycoon
Civ II

Science fiction:
SMAC/X
Starcraft
X-Com
Elite

Fantasy:
HOMM II/III
Master of Magic
Myst
Riven
Warcraft

Post-apocalypse:
???

Contemporary life:
Capitalism
Sim City 2000

Abstract:
Alchemy (on MSN games/shockwave games/wherever)
Princess Maker II
Super Mario Bros II/III

Nature:
???

[vmxa1]

Post-apocalypse:
???


How about Fallout?

[Static Universe]

Originally posted by Static Universe
History:
Transportation Tycoon
Civ II

I'd forgot to add "Seven Cities of Gold" to my history list.

[Zero]

history - battlefield 1942 erm... return to castle wolfenstein? and ww2 combat simulator games from microsoft
scifi - UT 2k3, Q3A, starcraft, Wing commander prophecy
fantasy - soul calibur II, warcraft Marvel VS capcom 2, guilty gear XX
contemporary life- counterstrike? c&c generals? madden 2k4
nature -
post apoc -
abstract - games like eternal darkness and alice could fit in here i guess.


99% of the game I like could fit under one category called battle/war. Or 99.99% if u called in violent games.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Zero
history - battlefield 1942 erm... return to castle wolfenstein? and ww2 combat simulator games from microsoft
scifi - UT 2k3, Q3A, starcraft, Wing commander prophecy
fantasy - soul calibur II, warcraft Marvel VS capcom 2, guilty gear XX
contemporary life- counterstrike? c&c generals? madden 2k4
nature -
post apoc -
abstract - games like eternal darkness and alice could fit in here i guess.


99% of the game I like could fit under one category called battle/war. Or 99.99% if u called in violent games.

well to you too - I appreciate your trying to take this in a different (the opposite?) direction from where I was going - thats exactly the conversation I wanted to start

Battlefield 1942 - yup, though I didnt mention any FPS, and i dont tend to think of them as history games, you are completely correct, an FPS in a historical setting does belong there.

RTCW? Dont really know it - doesnt it involve time travel? - I would suggest that since time travel does NOT occur in history, and is however a convention of science fiction, that it belongs in Sci-fi - in the same way Mike Uhl's "Time Threat Paradox" scenario for Civ:TOT is sci-fi, and in the same way that Stirlings "Island in the Sea of Time" is normally shelved with science fiction.


C&C Generals: Dont play C&C myself - isnt that set in an alt universe where WW2 had a different outcome? Now I realize that some would call many of the history games I like "alt history games" but they generally start with a historical setting, however much abstracted (even Civ2, if you start on a historic map, and dont worry too much about the names of some of the starting civs) - the alt history starts from there. But a game that starts out with different units and techs based on an alt history that happens before the game starts is not a history game - and when taken into the present era, do not thereby become contemporary life games. A cont. life RtS should let Americans fight Pashtuns, Russians fight Chechens, etc. If it is too have Russians fighting Americans, it should be under a believable scenario, with a contemporary point of departure.

Dotn know about the Counter strike setting.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Stuie
History:
Civ3
Operational Art of War would be a close second, followed by the Total War series.

Science fiction:
Tie Fighter

Fantasy:
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic

Post-apocalypse:
Fallout 2

Contemporary life:
What was that Britney Spears dance software called? Never mind...
I'll go with High Heat 2004 since you've neglected to include any other category that might encompass sports.

Abstract:
Microsoft Excel. Weeee!

Nature:
Nothing comes to mind.

TOAW is high up on my "to buy" list

What version do you have?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Static Universe


I'd forgot to add "Seven Cities of Gold" to my history list.

Never heard of it - whats it about?

[Dis]

that's an 80's game.

It is similar in tone to colonization- though the gameplay is more action like.

basically you are exploring the new world.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
TOAW is high up on my "to buy" list

What version do you have?

Century of Warfare, affectionately known as "COW". What an acronym!

If you see it, buy it. TOAW: COW is hard to come buy but very much worth the price. It contains everything from the entire series.

[lord of the mark]

Re: your favorite game for each setting.

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Fantasy
1. Myst
2. Zork
3. Collosal Cave

Change that

Fantasy:
1. Baldur's Gate
2. Myst
3. Zork
4. Colossal Cave

[Cookie Monster]

Century of Warfare, affectionately known as "COW". What an acronym!

I got that! Great game btw and it does have everything in there.

History: (in no particular order)
C3C
Civ2 TOT
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
TOAW:ACOW
Talonsoft's 12 O'clock High
HOI
EU
Medieval Total War

Science Fiction:
SMAC(X)
GalCIv
MOO2
Stars!

[General Ludd]

History:

Victoria
Europa Universalis
Hearts of Iron
WW2 Online

Sci-Fi:

X-Com
SMAC
Master of Orion 2
Uplink

Fantasy:

Master of Magic
MMORPGs (I don't want to list any one in particular because, frankly speaking, none of them are really that good. But I love 'em anyways)
Age of Wonders
King of Dragon Pass
And an honourable mention for Dominions. (good idea, but not executed as well as it could of been, I think)

Contemporary Life:

SimCity 4
Transport Tyoon
Railroad Tycoon
Roller Coaster Tycoon

Post Apocolyptic:

Fallout, I guess. Although I wouldn't rate it in my top favorites. I have a nagging feeling that I'm forgeting a game in this category, though.

Nature:

Inherit the Earth. (A great adventure game I played when I was younger.)

[Urban Ranger]

Re: your favorite game for each setting.

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Now games hasnt reached that point, a sign I think of the immaturity of the medium. The technology and the issues it generates still dominate. But at least for me, that is not the reason i play games. I think we should start to think differently - our real interests are NOT 1. Spreadsheet management (TBS) 2. Fast clicking (action games) 3. Fast clicking with some spread sheet management (RTS) 4. Puzzle solving (Adventure) 5. Managing character stats (RPG's) etc.

Rather our interests are History, fantasy, science fiction, etc.

You're insane LotM

We play games for fun, not because they are history, fantasy, SF, etc.

Games are traditionally divided into various genres because players tend to find some of the genres more interesting than others.

I like Alpha Centauri more than Civ 2 not because it's SF instead of history (what?) but because it's more fun. I don't like RTS games because they are not fun to me. I like RPGs because I like intricate stories and wonders of exploration. Etc. Etc.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Re: your favorite game for each setting.

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


You're insane LotM

We play games for fun, not because they are history, fantasy, SF, etc.

I dont see your point. I go to the movies for fun. And yet i pick a movie based in large part on its subject matter. The subject matter IS PART OF THE FUN.

Similarly i read books for fun. Yet I tend to think of the books ive read by subject matter.

If games are a medium just like films or books, WHICH THEY CAN BE - then the subject matter is relevant.

Now I guess I must admit - some people DO find the mechanics of whichever game they play fun. Fine. Thats your privilege.

But i think it makes no less sense to approach games by subject matter. Certainly not insane.


In fact I daresay there are millions out there who buys games cause their interested in the subject matter.

All those teenage girls who buy the Sims - their mainly interested playing house, not in "simulations" oer se. Loads of people who play Simcity are interested in cities and urban planning. Most of the people who buy deerhunter games are - guess what - interested in deer hunting.

Of course these people are the dreaded "sunday gamers" Not the "hardcore" gamers who want the latest RTS who cares what the subject matter is - after all most of the clone type RTS are lousy models of ANY particular subject matter anyway, Right? whats fun to these people is making units, pushing the units, and big melee fights. And FPS' who cares about the subject matter, its mainly about shooting things, right? (which would mean it IS about the subject matter, just defined differently)
Rant over.


Now I'll admit lots of folks who play CIV dont do it with any interest in history. And lots of people dont understand the real historical nature of Civ - they get caught up in the inaccurate details and miss the underlying themes.