Back in the 90's the Doom craze was real. Doom mania didn't quite hit Nintendo level highs as there wasn't a Doom cereal or cartoon. That said, iD Software did fun things with the brand and one amazing creation from that era was a Doom comic book, the a story of a psychotic marine that absolutely loves killing Demons with his fists. This guy has such a crazy obsession with carnage the story hugs the bizarre but contains a special glow that only the 90's could produce.
Want some dialog for posterity sake? I am sure you do.
"I'm cookin' with gas! I've gotta handful of vertebrae and a headful of mad! Yeah, that's your spinal cord baby! Dig it! Who's the man? I'm the man!... Read All
Back in the 90's the Doom craze was real. Doom mania didn't quite hit Nintendo level highs as there wasn't a Doom cereal or cartoon. That said, iD Software did fun things with the brand and one amazing creation from that era was a Doom comic book, the a story of a psychotic marine that absolutely loves killing Demons with his fists. This guy has such a crazy obsession with carnage the story hugs the bizarre but contains a special glow that only the 90's could produce.
Want some dialog for posterity sake? I am sure you do.
"I'm cookin' with gas! I've gotta handful of vertebrae and a headful of mad! Yeah, that's your spinal cord baby! Dig it! Who's the man? I'm the man! I'm a bad man! How bad? Real bad! I'm a 12.0 on the 10.0 scale of badness! I don't need a gun... guns are for wusses!"
Doom guy said it folks, guns are for wusses. Who knew? Obviously Doom guy.
Read the whole blood soaked issue at Doom World below.
Bethesda's newest behemoth of a game, Fallout 4, has captured many hours of my time, and I've collected a lot of useful tips and tricks along the way. Here are some things to help you out in your journey if you've yet to jump in, or if you want to replay it before the incoming DLC.
I'm not sure if this is my kind of game. Should I play it at all? If you want to know what I think of the game, hit up my review: http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/posts/2738/fallout-4-review-of-the-first-156-hours But that's not all, it's so good someone sued Bethesda for making such a good game: ... Read All
Bethesda's newest behemoth of a game, Fallout 4, has captured many hours of my time, and I've collected a lot of useful tips and tricks along the way. Here are some things to help you out in your journey if you've yet to jump in, or if you want to replay it before the incoming DLC.
OK, I'm convinced. I'm a completionist and I want a nice map that shows me significant locations. Well, you're in luck! https://fallout4map.de/c/ This is the most important thing on the list, so it comes first. It's an interactive map for those of you trying to find every quest, bobblehead, skill magazine, and so on. Some of them include links to youtube videos or guides on how to find them.
While we're talking about maps, this map shows you all the settlements with a suggested supply line diagram to connect them all. I wish I had this to start with, because my supply lines were a mess! https://i.imgur.com/WqMeDpF.jpg
But what if I need more info? The fallout wiki is your friend: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Wiki This one may seem obvious, but while you need at least one tab for the interactive map, this should be in your second tab. Dedicated players have written about nearly anything you could ever want to know here.
What if I need to fix a problem or cheat my way out of a situation? Console commands! http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_4_console_commands You can use these to cheat your way to greatness, but even the purest of playthroughs will probably end up with a few bugs. Often the only fix is to use some console commands to get around them. Many stuck quests, missing NPCs, and other bugs can be squashed with a few commands.
I've heard leveling is different in this game. What do? Now that you have your reference material handy, let's talk about leveling. If you're used to previous Fallout games, this might take some getting used to. You assign your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats at the start like always, but you don't have a separate set of skills that you level up like before. Instead, each time you level up you get a point you can spend on a perk. Theses perks are dependent on you having a particular S.P.E.C.I.A.L. trait high enough. For instance, to pick stronger locks, you need the Locksmith perk, but if you don't have a Perception of 4 or higher, you're out of luck. But, you can also choose to spend your perk points to raise S.P.E.C.I.A.L. traits if needed.
Since there's no max level, you could theoretically have a perfect character, but you'd need to be over level 200 to pull that off.
I want to craft things, what do I need? Fallout 4's crafting system is pretty deep, from tweaking your weapons and armor to building giant towers for your settlers to live in. But for any of that, you're going to need materials, and when you're fresh out of the vault you don't have many of those. Pretend you're a pack mule and bring along a companion to help carry stuff, because nearly everything can be scrapped for materials. Early in the game, you may think you need money, but you barely ever do. Anything you were planning to sell may be better used as scrap for your crafting projects.
This heavily depends on your play style though. If you aren't interested in building, that's fine-- you don't need to do it much.
Most settlements have all the crafting stations you need to craft armor and weapon mods, cook food, and build stuff for your settlements. Sanctuary and Red Rocket, the first ones you come by, have all the crafting stations, but if your chosen settlement doesn't, you can build them. When you try to build something, it will tell you the materials you need, and if you don't have them you can highlight that kind of material so that it shows up more easily when you're out scavenging.
You mentioned building for your settlements. How do I do that? Settlement building is a new mechanic that can add hours of fun and infinite replay value if you like it. I'm not going to go into detail on it here, because there's an amazing youtube channel for that: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk0f3EHEals0u3PF6kfNixg
It's kinda lonely in the wasteland, I want some company. Your faithful buddy, Dogmeat, is your first companion, but there are many others. Dogmeat will always love you no matter what, but the other companions require some wooing to really like you. Also, many companions will participate in conversations with other NPCs, and some will initiate conversation with people they know.
Companions replace the antiquated karma system. A shady character might like it when you get stoned, run around naked, and steal from people, while hating when you do nice things for people, and some are the opposite. Some love you tinkering with things, one particularly difficult to please companion hates you doing anything with technology or talking your way out of things. The wiki has a full list of what companions love and hate.
Most companions can be romanced when they like you enough and you pass a speech check. You can even romance as many as you want, and as long as you don't flirt with the others in earshot you'll never have issues. You homewrecker.
Many companions have quests at about half affinity. These are some of the best quests in the game and can significantly change the character.
If you weren't convinced by all that, companions give you special perks at max affinity. So collect them all and get them all to love you!
I heard something about a robot saying your name... Your robot butler, Codsworth, who can become a companion as well, can say nearly 1000 names. So if your character's name is on the list, you can have a more personal experience. The list ranges from normal names like "Bob," to sci-fi names like Scully, Ripley, and McFly, to more absurd names like "MISTER BOOBIES!" Watch this video for a fun look at it: https://youtu.be/TpoQgaTazmc And of course, the wiki has a full list: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Codsworth/recognized_names
Ripley, eh? Nice. Alien is my favorite movie. If you like aliens, then have I got news for you! The alien easter eggs from previous Fallout games haven't been forgotten, and you can get the alien blaster here as well. To start, go east and slightly south of Oberland Station, walk into the woods, and look for a crashed alien ship. There will be a green trail of alien blood that you can follow to find the alien and get his blaster. This may require a random encounter to happen, where you'll hear the sound of a crash and your companion will comment wondering what happened. You can also find it by turning on Relay Tower 1DL-109 and following the radio signal like you would the others. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/UFO_crash_site
Wait, what radio signals? There are various locations called Relay Tower [letters and numbers] that will boost the signal of any nearby radio transmissions. When you turn on the relay towers, you will discover three new radio signals that you can tune into. To begin with, they're faint and full of static, but when you get closer to the source of the transmission, the signal clears up. These radio signals lead you to some loot, but more importantly you can find some of the best unmarked locations in the game this way. There are guides on the internet if you get stuck on them, but you should try to find them yourself. It's more fun that way!
Are there any quests I shouldn't miss? Sure, here are a few. I won't include any spoilers in these descriptions, except for minor plot details. One thing I love about the Fallout games is the sense of humor You NEED to play the Silver Shroud questline, which you can find in Goodneighbor. When you start doing the quest, you owe it to yourself to play along in character. It's hilarious. I won't spoil it any further than that.
Also, there's a quest called Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution, where you try to get a crashed ship back to sea. But there's a twist. And it's hilarious. Head to Bunker Hill and walk east toward the coast.
Head to Covenant. You can get there early on, and it might be one of the earliest introductions to moral choices regarding synths that you'll encounter.
Find Vault 81. It's a populated vault and you'll need to do some things to get in. Once you're in, eventually someone will send you on a quick quest to find a lost cat. Adorable right? When you get back, something has gone wrong, and you go on a quest to help the vault dwellers. On this quest, you meet one of the best companions, and this new companion gives you one of the best quests in the game.
Find Cabot House, and don't take no for an answer when trying to get in. This quest line is bizarre and amazing.
What other things do you want to know about Fallout 4? This is the first post with general information, but there may be more if the interest is high enough, for things like how to get all the endings, etc.
Bethesda has released some details on the first three DLC that will be released for Fallout 4. The first two are minor additions similar to the Hearthfire add-on for Skyrim, but luckily not as minor as horse armor.
Automatron: March, $10 The Mechanist (who you may remember from a hilarious Fallout 3 sidequest) has unleashed a horde of robots on the Commonwealth, and it's up to you to stop him. In addition, you can harvest their parts to make your own handy robot companions, with hundreds of options to choose from!
Wasteland Workshop: April, $5 In addition to adding new options to settlement building, this add-on lets you capture creatures from the wasteland, and tame them... Read All
Bethesda has released some details on the first three DLC that will be released for Fallout 4. The first two are minor additions similar to the Hearthfire add-on for Skyrim, but luckily not as minor as horse armor.
Automatron: March, $10 The Mechanist (who you may remember from a hilarious Fallout 3 sidequest) has unleashed a horde of robots on the Commonwealth, and it's up to you to stop him. In addition, you can harvest their parts to make your own handy robot companions, with hundreds of options to choose from!
Wasteland Workshop: April, $5 In addition to adding new options to settlement building, this add-on lets you capture creatures from the wasteland, and tame them or run your own fighting pit.
Far Harbor: May, $25 This one looks beefy. They say it's the largest add-on they've ever created, so this seems to be more in line with the Shivering Isles expansion to Oblivion (literally the greatest DLC ever released) rather than the smaller chunks we've gotten used to in modern Bethesda games. Far Harbor takes you to Maine, where Valentine's Detective Agency sends you to investigate a missing person and a synth colony. This one also includes higher level weapons and armor for you to slaughter your enemies more easily. And we can hope that there are more settlements that need our help for Preston to mark on our maps.
Bethesda also stresses that these aren't the only add-ons coming to Fallout 4; they're planning $60 worth of content in 2016.
If you're planning to get these, you should grab the season pass now. They're making more than initially planned, so on March 1, the price is going up from $30 to $50. Still a better deal than buying them all individually, but $30 is better than $50.
In addition, Bethesda is hard at work on the Creation Kit and some Survival Mode changes. They plan to continue releasing free content/mechanics updates through patches. The most recent patch added weapon debris for video cards that can handle it, added visual cues to help determine where settlers are assigned, and more, along with fixing some bugs and making some performance improvements.
Since we don't know what extra DLC they are adding it's hard to say how great this is going to be and based on past Fallout DLC I am not so disposed to think this will be better than the main game stuff. That said, from what they've talked about so far this seems like a solid dose of "more of what people want." More building stuff? Check. More missions featuring robots? Check. Wasteland Pokemon simulator? Check. Huge new campaign in a totally new area? Check. All that seems like a solid $30 value but the Fo3 DLC was hit or miss for me so I have some reservations.
The part that's harder to gauge is the extra content. They say it's a solid $60 and I trust that intention so I am really curious what it's going to be. Simply based on what we know now the $30 is a good value and just one more DLC would still make it a good deal.
Anyways, I wasn't planning on getting it but with the Greenman deal plus the price jumping to $60 later I pulled the trigger.
So... very... weak.
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/17/2016 at 04:12am
I haven't been disappointed with any Bethesda DLC (not counting horse armor). Some has been better than others, but they've all been solid (except horse armor).
Horse armor? That sounds fun. How could horse armor be bad?
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/17/2016 at 07:27pm
You know, horse armor gets shit on a lot, but it was a good addition to the game. It just shouldn't have been as expensive as it was on launch, that was the problem.
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Halo was the game that launched the XBox console into a gaming powerhouse. Bungies first person shooter is a classic and deserves a place in the halls of some of the best games of all time. Coming out originally on the XBox and more recently with the Halo Master Chief Collection on XBox One, Halo is still a fun game modern audiences will like. But what if you want to come back and play Halo today and don't have an original XBox or want to get an XBox One? In 2003 Bungie teamed up with Gearbox to launch Halo on PC and this version is completely playable and if you want to relive this classic sans an XBox, this version is where it's at.
I picked up Halo Combat Evolved on... Read All
Halo was the game that launched the XBox console into a gaming powerhouse. Bungies first person shooter is a classic and deserves a place in the halls of some of the best games of all time. Coming out originally on the XBox and more recently with the Halo Master Chief Collection on XBox One, Halo is still a fun game modern audiences will like. But what if you want to come back and play Halo today and don't have an original XBox or want to get an XBox One? In 2003 Bungie teamed up with Gearbox to launch Halo on PC and this version is completely playable and if you want to relive this classic sans an XBox, this version is where it's at.
I picked up Halo Combat Evolved on PC recently at Fry's Electronics for $20 and it came with a CD install disc, box, key and game manual. The installation was painless as you simply enter the key and the game installs quickly. The game comes all on one CD so it's not quite as long as Fallout 4 that has a hybrid DVD/Internet install process. After the game installs I recommend you install the latest Halo PC patch from 2014.
The 1.0.10 patch bumps the game version, strips out the CD play requirement, removes GameSpy and modernizes the game for Windows 7. After the game updated I maxed the video settings and reconfigured the default controls to something resembling a more modern shooter.
The games online multiplayer is still intact as I was able to browse Internet games and join a few. I wasn't the worst person playing which was odd as I expected the game to be rife with hackers and aimbots. The multiplayer felt just like I remember it and it's nice to see a few hundred people still having fun with it.
I never fully completed the original Halo as I really never owned it and only played it with friends a bit at a time. I've always liked the chill nature of the Halo story and the lush world is enjoyable to be in. The graphics are a bit dated now but after you are in the core gameplay itself is strong enough to keep you going. My only complaint about gameplay is that it's a bit one note. Go here, kill bad guys, go there and kill bad guys. The shooting is fun but so far into the game it's somewhat repetitive. The game only lets you save with checkpoints meaning that if you have only a few minutes to play here and there and you don't fully make it to a checkpoint you lose progress. This isn't a huge deal, but something I noticed as I stepped away a couple times.
There have been rumors flying for years that Microsoft would port Halo 3 and the like to modern PC's and bring the whole collection to Steam but so far this hasn't materialized. If you want to come back to Halo I'd suggest nabbing the box copies and playing those. Currently you can play Halo and Halo 2 on PC and whereas i'd love a modern port to Steam so far this is our best option to play outside the XBox ecosystem.
Another of the big features of Halo, that made it so fun, was the adaptive AI. You actually felt like you were playing against sentient creatures, taking cover from your fire, and trying to maneuver to better attack positions. The tension was palpable, and the details and fluidity of the environments (sounds and visuals) made for a beautiful, excitingly immersive experience. Seeing the arc of the mysterious Halo in the distance right from the beginning, and realizing that was what you were traversing on, gave you pause to just sit and imagine what was going on. Where some games are busy with forward progression and unnecessary clutter, Halo allowed for an appreciation of the environment. The vagueness of the story stirred the imagination, and was never over-sold to be more than it was ever really going to be.
Microsoft was smart to scoop Bungie up when they did. It's likely that Halo would have drifted into obscurity if it maintained it's initial path as a Mac exclusive. With the current struggles that they are facing with the XBone console, I'm sure you'll see more of those, and more importantly newer games, make the transition to the Windows 10 environment, a la Quantum Break.
Wow, I'm impressed that there was a patch released in 2014. That's a long support cycle.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/17/2016 at 03:54am
> Another of the big features of Halo, that made it so fun, was the adaptive AI.
Yeah, you know they did a good job with this and even now the AI is pretty solid. I think the sounds they make and such heightens this more too and each bad guy type has it's own style and part in the caste system which adds to immersion. They never even talk about that it's just obvious from watching them act in the world.
> The vagueness of the story stirred the imagination, and was never over-sold to be more than it was ever really going to be.
This is a strength of Halo. Just enough to be good, not as much to be mysterious. They kind of wanted to do this later with Destiny and they didn't seem to pull it off as well.
That said, Halo is a fairly simple game and I think they were going for the same thing with Destiny. Both seem like games stripped down to those essential mechanics it's just that so many years later, maybe Destiny needed to be more?
> Microsoft was smart to scoop Bungie up when they did. It's likely that Halo would have drifted into obscurity if it maintained it's initial path as a Mac exclusive.
Yeah, would have been sad to be a Mac only game. That said, it seems to be tied exclusively to the XBox which honestly I consider sad for nearly the same reason. That said, Halo reaches a wider audience but just doesn't intersect with me much these days.
Do you think we may see a modern Halo running on PC anytime soon?
MS has been making a push for PC lately, so it's possible. I'm not sure how inclined they are to jump into Halo without Bungie, they may wait a bit, but I think they're trying to keep Windows in people's thoughts for gaming.
343 Industries seems to be doing a decent job with the Halo franchise, although I found Halo 4's campaign play to be less interesting (i.e. I didn't finish it), and I haven't played 5. The multiplayer has evolved to keep with the times, for better or worse. Bungie is great at making multiplayer shooters, but they fumble a bit when it comes to telling cohesive stories. They like to play with mystery, but they seem to do it without direction, so there isn't much of a payoff. Halo's stories are better discovered in the novels. Halo 3 ODST was one of the best Halo games, in terms of storytelling, I think because of the separation of the multiplayer aspect, and this is where I think Bungie has dropped the ball with Destiny. Creating a divided community from day one (Crucible vs PVE) was an unfortunate consequence of their design. It's not entirely their fault. I just don't think they know any other way, and the cost is too high to risk experimenting with better ideas.
I think you'll see all of Microsoft's first-party games come to PC very soon, at least the new stuff, with classics coming along the way. They obviously want to continue supporting PC, and I think it's smart.
They did the Master Chief Collection with 343 (and other studios), which was an upgrade of all the original games to HD. I'm sure they could handle PC ports (or remasters, or whatever you want to call it), given enough time. I doubt that Bungie will ever touch Halo again :(.
"Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016."
This fills my heart with fan girl excitement. This year Star Wars Rogue One will launch but next year we will all be able to bask in Episode VIII. Rian Johnson, the director of Looper is at the helm of Episode VIII and I have no doubt it should be pretty darn incredible.
http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-viii-now-filming
"Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016."
This fills my heart with fan girl excitement. This year Star Wars Rogue One will launch but next year we will all be able to bask in Episode VIII. Rian Johnson, the director of Looper is at the helm of Episode VIII and I have no doubt it should be pretty darn incredible.
In this episode I talk about the upcoming changes to Hearthstone while I grind my dailies. I play my Raptor Rogue, Dragon Priest and my brand spankin' new aggro Mage deck. In one of my matches I go down to 1 hp and still bring it around for the win making a very fun Hearthstone moment. I note that the decks I see most play now are really aggro, do you find that to be true in what you are seeing right now?
Check more on the upcoming Hearthstone changes below and let me know what you think of these matches? Should I have played differently or is there a deck you have been having fun with I need to play?
... Read All
In this episode I talk about the upcoming changes to Hearthstone while I grind my dailies. I play my Raptor Rogue, Dragon Priest and my brand spankin' new aggro Mage deck. In one of my matches I go down to 1 hp and still bring it around for the win making a very fun Hearthstone moment. I note that the decks I see most play now are really aggro, do you find that to be true in what you are seeing right now?
Check more on the upcoming Hearthstone changes below and let me know what you think of these matches? Should I have played differently or is there a deck you have been having fun with I need to play?
About Wild and Standard... Last year HS released 3 expansions. BRM in April, tGT in August, and LoE in November. With the change to a new format, will Blizzard continue releasing 3 expansions per year? More? Less? What do you think jdodson?
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/14/2016 at 04:43pm
2 adventures and one expansion per year sound great. Adventures are nice because, essentially everyone can get the cards. Expansions are nice be use there are so many new cards. And keeping it to 3 means there is enough shake up in a year to be fun and acessable.
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One important goal of Beardo Games is to create weird games and there is no better example than the launch of their new game Smooth Operator. Smooth Operator is a couch co-op mobile kissing game where two players both select a character and attempt to follow the on-screen prompts to keep the kissing mojo strong and gain a high score. If you want to score well you will need to work with your partner to execute an array of tongue moves that would make Sharon Stone blush. If this all sounds strange, donāt feel bad, the game is but itās also fun and well worth a look.
I first met Beardo Games at a Portland Indie Game Squad event where they had a booth. Smooth Operator is a... Read All
One important goal of Beardo Games is to create weird games and there is no better example than the launch of their new game Smooth Operator. Smooth Operator is a couch co-op mobile kissing game where two players both select a character and attempt to follow the on-screen prompts to keep the kissing mojo strong and gain a high score. If you want to score well you will need to work with your partner to execute an array of tongue moves that would make Sharon Stone blush. If this all sounds strange, donāt feel bad, the game is but itās also fun and well worth a look.
I first met Beardo Games at a Portland Indie Game Squad event where they had a booth. Smooth Operator is a hilarious game to watch people play and even more so if the people have no idea what to expect. Iāve really enjoyed interviewing local Portland Indie Game Developers and I wanted to do this interview a bit differently. I asked my friends at Beardo if they were interested in doing a video interview and the results are embedded above. I also was able to sneak in a few more questions you can checkout below.
If you are looking for a uniquely strange two player kissing game, you need to check out Smooth Operator available on iOS today!
jdodson: Indie Games have changed so much in the last couple years. With most change there is good and some bad. Has any of this change helped or made certain parts of making games harder for you?
CHRIS: The overall accessibility of game making tools has made it easier to prototype ideas super fast-- a good thing! At the same time, they're so accessible that I've seen two ideas I had get made into games before I got around to making them myself.
jdodson: What games have you been playing lately you recommend people take a look at?
MILES: With a brand new baby I don't have a ton of time to play games as of lately. I have been actively "playing" Neko Atsume. And as well Simpsons Tapped Out, strictly for research of another game idea.
CHRIS: I've been playing Xenoblade Chronicles X and it's great but requires a lot of time. On my phone I've been playing a lot of Space Forest Dilemma by PapaQuark Games. My last recommendation is for handheld: Project X Zone for the 3DS is a lot of good, stupid fun.
KATE: I played Read Only Memories a few months ago- really enjoyed it. I also only recently got around to finishing the last Resident Evil Revelations. Twofold has also been fun on my phone.
jdodson: VR seems to be a new technology that is getting a lot of attention. Is this something you are taking a look to for any of your next projects?
MILES: Iāve been super amped about VR in general. But, with that said we haven't really put a whole lot of thought into a VR Beardo experience as of yet. I assume it would possibly be a close up experience of glistening Beards in some way.
CHRIS: We are, and we've had a lot of ideas floating around for possible VR projects. I'm excited to try and subvert people's usual expectations for VR games by finding some less than obvious applications.
jdodson: What games have you played that have influenced how you approach making them now?
MILES: I personally appreciate and enjoy unusual games, specifically my top influential game is probably Katamari.
CHRIS: Jet Set Radio and Katamari Damacy are at the top of Beardo's collective influences list along with Street Fighter II, but for me personally, I've been influences heavily by Atari 8-bit titles like Necromancer, Shamus, and Alley Cat by Synapse Software, and by all kinds of awful or not traditionally fun games like T&C Surf Designs for the NES and JJ & Jeff for the Turbografx 16.
jdodson: Thanks for taking the time to do the interview, I really appreciate it. Anything you want to say as we wrap things up?
Starting fresh with RPM Racing then moving to The Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, Blackthorne, The Death and Return of Superman, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Justice League Task Force, Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness, Diablo, The Lost Vikings 2, StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War, Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Diablo III, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm,... Read All
Starting fresh with RPM Racing then moving to The Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, Blackthorne, The Death and Return of Superman, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, Justice League Task Force, Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness, Diablo, The Lost Vikings 2, StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War, Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Diablo III, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, World of Warcraft: Warlods of Draenor, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, Overwatch and World of Warcraft Legion Blizzard has made quite a few impactful games in it's 25 year run.
As we all tip our hats to our favorite purveyor of all things CRAFT what are some of your most beloved Blizzard game memories? Also wondering what the first blizzard game you played?
Huh. I knew about RPM Racing, The Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, and Blackthorne, then all those awesome Blizzard titles we all know and love, but I never knew about The Death and Return of Superman. That was probably my first Blizzard game. Weird!
In terms of the standard games we think of as Blizzard games, Warcraft II was my first.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 02/11/2016 at 02:55am
I think I barely remember playing Rock n' Roll Racing with a friend on their SNES, but I didn't pay attention to the developer. Years later, when I got a PC, I got into Warcraft II after seeing the review in PC Gamer (maybe I played a demo, I can't recall). After that, I played Warcraft.
I picked up Starcraft when it came out. In fact, I traveled half an hour to Wal-Mart in another state (West Virginia) because I had trouble finding it locally. I really enjoyed it at the time and then again at least a few times years later (which includes the expansion). When I got my new beast of a PC, I got Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm. More recently, I finished Legacy of the Void and I have the new expansion pre-ordered.
A few or couple of years ago I got into Diablo III (because of Cheerful Ghost), which was the first I've played of the series. After that, I found the Diablo II Battlechest in KMart for $2, so I bought it, but I didn't spend very much time playing it. I do have a demo for Warcraft III, but haven't spent much time with it either.
I think I haven't played many of the other games. I also played Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, but not as much for the latter.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 02/11/2016 at 03:38pm
I first brushed up to Blizzard seeing Blackthrone, Rock N Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings in Nintendo Power. I always wanted to play them but since the games I could own was limited, I merely dreamed of playing them. The Lost Vikings in particular looked really fun, but alas no Vikings for 90's Jon.
My first actual experience with a Blizzard game was Warcraft: Orcs and Humans on floppy disk. I played through the humans and orcs campaign and loved all of it. The game was a bit easy after you figured out a solid build order and the magic users were super overpowered so, essentially you made a couple of them and summoned stuff to wipe out the bad guys. That said, it's a really solid DOS game and I really enjoyed the simplicity of it. Hopefully they can port it to modern systems because again, it's a pretty solid game but I haven't played it recently.
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Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Review
Recommended
Achievements, trading cards, updated graphics, ATB change, controller support
Minor UI issue
Optional characters
This is one of those Final Fantasy games that I actually have quite a few copies of. I have the SNES cart, which is actually called āFinal Fantasy IIIā and I have the PSX version. Now, like other FF games, I own it on Steam. I was not disappointed with this version, in fact I enjoyed it yet again.
Changes: Along with Steam achievements and trading cards, this version contains updated graphics, like the other FF games on Steam. The other major change for this version was the ATB. Instead of having a bar that gets more full and indicates... Read AllReview
Recommended
Achievements, trading cards, updated graphics, ATB change, controller support
Minor UI issue
Optional characters
This is one of those Final Fantasy games that I actually have quite a few copies of. I have the SNES cart, which is actually called āFinal Fantasy IIIā and I have the PSX version. Now, like other FF games, I own it on Steam. I was not disappointed with this version, in fact I enjoyed it yet again.
Changes: Along with Steam achievements and trading cards, this version contains updated graphics, like the other FF games on Steam. The other major change for this version was the ATB. Instead of having a bar that gets more full and indicates when your character is ready to perform an action, the action menu rises to a point on the screen.
Controller support: Since I played using my Xbox 360 controller that I bought specifically for PC gaming, the controls I'm going to mention refer to that. I didn't customize the controller because I was happy with the default settings. When on the over world map, I was able to press X (which is square on a PS3 controller) to get a tip from the game as to what I was supposed to do. This was really helpful, even though the map usually has an indicator of where you're supposed to go next. Using the controller was really a great experience.
Minor UI issue: The main issue I had with the game's UI was that I never could figure out how to exit the game without tabbing to Windows and closing it that way. After clicking on the Save button, that button changes to āGo To Title Screen,ā which was a slight bother because I sometimes accidentally selected it. Otherwise, I found no other way to go back to the Title Screen to Exit the game. There's also a Quicksave option, but I never used it.
***Now for some slight spoilers and tips***
Optional charactersNow I'd like to address the things I did and didn't do and give you some tips. I did find all of the game's optional characters. I think I usually get Mog and Umaro (the Yeti) when I play this game, but I'm not sure if I ever got Gogo (the Mimic) before. I probably never really used Gogo before, but I found him (or her?) to be a really helpful character. I found Sabin to be one of my most powerful characters as his final Blitz attack does a lot of damage, so I often used Gogo's Mime action right after Sabin's final Blitz. This was extremely helpful, especially during the end of the game.
At a certain part of the game, the world changes from the World of Balance to the World of Ruin. During this time, the game gets very difficult. One of the things I missed out on in this part was that you can actually go back and save Shadow. Therefore, Shadow was no longer available to me. So, he was the only character I was unable to save during the World of Ruin before going to Kefka's Tower.
Kefka's Tower was a difficult place to be, especially since the game makes you divide up into three different parties. This is necessary as three parties are required to step on different switches so that your parties can access various areas. I didn't really like doing this as I was quite comfortable using only a party of four. I liked using Terra and Celes for magic and I enjoyed using Sabin, Edgar, and Cyan for their abilities that were very strong and/or ability to attack multiple things at once.
One of the most important things I missed out on was having multiple characters learn Ultima, which is the strongest magic in the game. The walk though I was reading recommended this and I suffered a bit for not following that advice. I did get the Cursed Shield, but it never changed to the Paladin Shield. I also missed out on getting Mog to learn one of his dances which can't be learned during the World of Ruin. Other Dances can be learned (as he levels up, I think) and I may not have learned all of the others.
The walk through I read also recommended taking Gau and Strago to the Veldt to learn special abilities. However, I grew a bit tired of waiting around for enemies to use certain spells for Strago to learn. I got a bit impatient waiting for Gau to get some more Rage abilities, too. I probably should have paid more attention to Gau's Rage ability because I didn't really recognize the enemies in the list that he could copy. I could have easily looked them up, but I didn't bother.
So, even though some of the difficulty in the game can be frustrating at first, it gets more enjoyable once your characters get more powerful. As I mentioned, the game doesn't get extremely difficult until a certain point. So, it's still very enjoyable in the early parts. This game is definitely a great one in the series. It has an epic story, music, and contains many things that appear in other games in the series. I definitely recommend getting this on Steam.
I am going to pick this up because I never actually owned it. I always borrowed it from Adam, who also loaned me Final Fantasy II as well as Mystic Quest. That said, I plan on picking this up soon but the reviews on Steam are not great.
Azurephile Super Member Post Author
wrote on 02/11/2016 at 02:45am
Awesome! I also have FFII and Mystic Quest. Anyway, I didn't realize the reviews on Steam weren't great. I guess I didn't pay much attention to them. I did notice that FFIV: After Years doesn't have a good rating, which I understand, because it's pretty difficult, although I down own 2 copies of it (one for the Wii and one for the PSP) and I intend to buy it again on Steam (some time after I finish FFV). I did buy FFV on Steam after finishing VI, but I haven't started it yet. It's one of the few games in the series I've hardly played.
Back to FFVI, I hope this post helped you in your decision to get it. I really was not at all disappointed with the Steam version. I enjoyed it just as I enjoyed the original SNES and PSX versions.
Yeah, it did. Thanks Greg! Let you know when I pick it up.
Azurephile Super Member Post Author
wrote on 02/11/2016 at 11:14pm
Wow, I just looked at some of the reviews of the game, after I wrote my recommended review. I didn't have any of the issues those others had. My experience with this version seems to be unique. I hope your experience with it is as good as mine.
awh nice. 6 is probably the best in the series. even today. the story is tight. the characters are well done and their different abilities actually give you a reason to play each one. unlike ff7 ( which is still fantastic, but the depth came from materia, not really individual skills, at least not as much as 6.) and the music is still among my favorites. i have the SNES kart and a sweet GBA copy that I still play from time to time. looking forward to picking this one up.
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"Amazon Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform, 3D game engine for you to create the highest-quality games, connect your games to the vast compute and storage of the AWS Cloud, and engage fans on Twitch.
You can use Amazon Lumberyard to build rich and engaging games with the highest ceiling of quality through its comprehensive and proven toolset, and runtime performance that has been highly optimized over many years. With Lumberyard, you get a full-featured editor, native code performance, stunning visuals, and hundreds of other features like performant networking, character and animation editors, particle editor, cloth physics, UI editor, audio tools, weather effects,... Read All"Amazon Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform, 3D game engine for you to create the highest-quality games, connect your games to the vast compute and storage of the AWS Cloud, and engage fans on Twitch.
You can use Amazon Lumberyard to build rich and engaging games with the highest ceiling of quality through its comprehensive and proven toolset, and runtime performance that has been highly optimized over many years. With Lumberyard, you get a full-featured editor, native code performance, stunning visuals, and hundreds of other features like performant networking, character and animation editors, particle editor, cloth physics, UI editor, audio tools, weather effects, flocking AI, perception handling, camera frameworks, path finding, and more. You also have full access to Amazon Lumberyard source code, making it easy to customize the technology to create differentiated gameplay."
Amazon going all-in, releasing their own "triple-A" game engine, absolutely free to the public. Built off of the foundation of CryEngine, and tailored for deep integration with Amazon Web Services and Twitch. The fact that you can use Lumberyard to build a game, then release that game commercially, without any payment to Amazon, is very interesting. The are counting on a lot of developers taking advantage of AWS, of course, but what does this mean for the rest of the game engine field? When will Adobe, Apple, and Wal-Mart release their 3D game engines?
It is Android only, it would have cost even more (and needed a lot more work) to make an iphone version. And the three of us that made it all had android phones lol
Also "Beyond Tic Tac Toe" isn't just a game, it's an experience. We all know tic tac toe. This really takes it... well beyond that into a realm of something ethereal.
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That is so very cheesy. I love it.