The Games Industry thread.

[LDiCesare]

So whats the last game anyone can remember being a severe challange?

NetHack.

[child of Thor]

I think for me it probably was the origonal Elite and the Alternate Reality games, although a few games have foxed me for awhile since. At present i'm finding 'Panzer Dragon Orta' on the xbox tricky.

heres an article on FBI catching warez distributers:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4727919.stm

It might just be my impression, but they seem to be getting big on these kind of activities lately. Good for games devs/pubs - bad for warez.

[DrSpike]

The little guy downloader still doesn't seem to get much flak. Long may that continue.

[Urban Ranger]

So whats the last game anyone can remember being a severe challange?

In what sense? A good number of them have challenging interfaces, meaning that they get your blood pressure up when trying to get anything done

In terms of gameplay, it depends on the genre. I reckon adventure games can be extremely challenging just by means of cleverly designed puzzles, though I am not a big adventure game fan. RPGs less so, since I don't like the kind of challenges via sheer number of opponents or some kind of stupid design decision. For example in Wizardry 8 there is one place where you go into a lake, and in the middle of the lake there is a monster named Nessie that the party can't kill, and I absolutely hate that.

For most other genres the challenges come from the game stacking the odds against the player, which is bogus IMO, or cheating, which just gets my goat.

AI is not easy to write, but you'd figure the developers would have learned a trick or two after 20 years. Besides, computers have been getting faster while humans haven't, so things like evaluation routines can be a lot more accurate. Also, I don't expect a game to be still challenging after a year or two, but it should be competent at the highest level without resorting to cheating.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


In what sense?

just really tricky games really(some fo the complicated old flight sims for example?), ones that you can learn to become better at over time, but at first seem very tough - what i call games that offer a good challange. Cheating or broken games dont really count

EU2 was one recent one for me

More news of the move against file sharer's etc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4735821.stm

and one about Pirates in general:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4729235.stm

maybe all this stuff has always been going on, it just seems that software theft is really becoming an issue lately? [coT goes to check what he's got onhis hard-drive and where the hell he put his software licences ].

[DrSpike]

Play MP and every game is a challenge. Well, almost every game.

[Urban Ranger]

If I want to play MP though I rather play traditional card and board games, or even RPG.

[child of Thor]

True - i've not been overly impressed with the erm.....'maturity' levels shown by many of my on-line gaming experiences. It killed xbox live for me when i tried it out at a friends house.
Still Guild wars does sound my best bet if i wanted to give it a go(WoW, having 'borrowed' a friends char was also a little to 'lite' for my gaming tastes).

Civ2 hotseat holds good memmories for me

[Zero]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Play MP and every game is a challenge. Well, almost every game.

No one likes to play Challenging MP games anymore... thats why PvP games these days are all getting less and less interesting.

Everyone wants to turn fun and competitive game into stupid 7v1comp Starcraft dronerush!!!111!!! or some other form of non-threathening boring style of play. Even in Competitive MP games. And if they cant have fun button mashing and trigger happly shooting things brainlessly in fighting/RTS/FPS genre, than they say the game is stupid and boring and blah blah blah...

And even with 1/100000000000 chance of luck, a brilliantly crafted game comes out, 99.9999% of population will by-pass all the potential of playing it and studying the game's mechanics and system to its minute detail for years because it wont satisfy their A.D.D needs of flashing lights and 66666X66666 resolution ultra graphics to glue their eyes for about 1.2 nanoseconds before they get distracted by something else.

I love the MP games... u know me... but Im getting quickly tired of trying to explain to impatient and whiny people about why i keep kickin their ass when they arent even putting any thought into what they are doing just because they think games like UT2k4 and tekken is about buttonmashing or running around and shooting at everything. And you wonder why game developers are making retarded games. Thats what happens when bunch of A.D.D ritalin deprived kids have the buying power. Bah. im gonna stop trying to fight the inevitablity of this universe, smoke copious amount of dope and watch my sims2 university character try to get a degree so he can be a criminal mastermind. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~

[DrSpike]

A highly entertaining post, and not entirely untrue. However, the MP gaming circuit (for PC games anyway - I wont speak for consoles) is getting more and more vibrant every year.

[Urban Ranger]

What is the point of MMORPG's? The pencil and paper variety has far more social interactions and tend to be much more imaginative.

[Skanky Burns]

How many pencil and paper games can you play from the comfort of your own home safely away from strange people?

[Zero]

Originally posted by DrSpike
A highly entertaining post, and not entirely untrue. However, the MP gaming circuit (for PC games anyway - I wont speak for consoles) is getting more and more vibrant every year.

well alot of pc scenes too, but i must say i havent tried any of the super new mp games like guild wars cause i dont have broadband in my new house...

[DrSpike]

/me points and laughs.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
What is the point of MMORPG's? The pencil and paper variety has far more social interactions and tend to be much more imaginative.

Then you stick with those, and try to keep as many of you as possible out of proper games.