OT: Game Recomendations?

[AgentZero]

While I eagerly await the arrival of my beta CD, I'm looking for something to fill my time with. I've beaten SE4 & Starfury into submission repeatedly this week, & I'm looking for something new. Anyone have any recomendations? I'm looking for maybe a strategy game, or a Privateer-esque space trading game, though I'm open to any other suggestions.

[Atrocities]

I know not of any decent games as you describe. However if you like a good FPS I would recommend:

Farcry
Chronicals of Riddick
Tribes Vengeance
Half Life 2

[Starhawk]

Privateer-esk games would be:

Sid Meier's Pirates'
Pirates: Cutthroats
Privateers! (if you can find it)
Terror on the High Seas (again if you can find it)

[Ragnarok-X]

Freelander or X2 ? Both Space-Simulations where you can haul cargo, do pirate-stuff and have a mostly free life. X2 allows even to mine asteroiuds and construct facilites in space.

[AgentZero]

Yeah, I'm slogging my way through X2 right now. Thing is it takes a looooong time to get anything done. Even a simple cargo run can take 10-15minutes each way, even with time compression on. Anyone remember Protostar, from way back? I remember you could have yourself a very nicely tricked out ship after only about an hour of playing. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if you can actually buy yourself one of them big carriers and go cruising around the galaxy in it?
If so, I'll give it a bit more time, otherwise looks like it's back to KotOR2...

[Baron Munchausen]

Try the Privateer 'remake':

http://priv.solsector.net/

I've wanted to but it's a rather large download and I'm still on dialup. Broadband users should be able to get it without much trouble, though.

[Saber Cherry]

Freelancer is not good. Especially if you expect Privateer. It has so many almost-neat things. It could have been so good. But... no.

Try Escape Velocity Nova. There's a fairly complete demo...

[Starhawk]

FAH Freelancer is great especially multiplayer! you blaspheemer....though yeah the conversations got a bit old.

[AgentZero]

Baron Munchausen said:
Try the Privateer 'remake':

http://priv.solsector.net/

I've wanted to but it's a rather large download and I'm still on dialup. Broadband users should be able to get it without much trouble, though.



Thank you Baron. Thank you so very much. I've been yearing to play Privateer again for a very long time, but haven't been able to on account of it running at an inhumanely fast speed on my PC. Now, not only can I play Privateer again, I can play it with purty graphics as well.

Played Freelancer a bit, but it felt like a console version of Privateer. Dumbed down controls & really rather restricted 'open-endedness'. Now, if someone's gone through the trouble to make a mod that addresses the open-endedness ie: lots more ships/equipment/random missions etc. I might consider popping it back on the HD. If not, I'll stick with my Privateer remake.

[Baron Munchausen]

Heh...

Once you've gotten the feel of the remake, please post a review so I can decide if it's worth the trouble to download 180 megabytes on a 56k dialup link...

[deccan]

Hey, can someone tell me what the difference is between Vegastrike and the Privateer remake is? I tried Vegastrike a while back, but the graphics were pretty bad and things generally lacked polish. The screenshots for this Privateer remake looks pretty good, so I wonder what they changed.

[DarkAnt]

X-Com UFO Defence and X-Com Apoc - excellent turn based strategy games.

For rpg you could try Gothic I or II. Both are great games, but I prefer Gothic II.

For the best rpg I've ever played try Fallout. If you haven't played fallout, this is what I'd recomend above all others.

[David E. Gervais]

I must say Thank You Barron also. I'm downloading the Privateer Remake now. (Oh, and FYI, braodband/DSL/Cable means nothing if the file is hosted on a server with a simple 56k modem. The file is downloading at about 30kbps it should be done in about an hour and a half.

But I'll just head on over to irc #spaceempires and pass the time.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Alneyan]

I feel the main difference between Vegastrike and the Privateer remake is the clearer interface in Privateer; otherwise, they seem pretty much the same to me (except the screens when in a base, much better in Vegastrike IMO). Of course, I have been known to have strange tastes in graphics, so.

AZ: Have you tried running Privateer on Dosbox (a Dos emulator)? It may work out quite nicely, though Privateer will likely require a lot of resources to work properly. I will give it a try in a while. Among other recommendations: Darklands if you like open-ended RPGs, Planescape Torment if you prefer something more story/dialogue driven, or perhaps Arx Fatalis (or the Ultima Underworlds) for a different feel. And there are always the rogue-likes: Angband (and variants), Nethack (*Waves at Dogscoff*) or ADOM.

[deccan]

Another game suggestion I would have is Hardwar (http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=4234) . It's in the same vein, except that instead of piloting a spaceship, you pilot a solar-powered moth through a colony world covered with craters. The most amazing thing about this game is that the detail of the economic simulation is amazing. Raw resources get produced at mines and such and are actually transported by AI pilots to factories to be transformed into manufactured products (engines, components etc.), which are then transported by other pilots to shops to be sold. Human players can bounty hunt, trade, pirate etc, and even buy their own hangar, which they can then open to AI pilots to use to repair or buy things at for a fee.

The main problem with this game is that it's quite short and there aren't very many upgrades and new moths that you can buy.

[AgentZero]

Deccan, you should be careful, that Underdogs site is dangerous! Last time I was there I found me Alien Crossfire and said goodbye to an entire potentially productive weekend. I saw it mentioned in another post that we should be putting links to Underdogs here since the site distributes abandonware which is actually illegal.

Am I the only one who doesn't get that? I have looked, and distributing abandonware for free is still considered illegal, but the argument behind it seems to ammount to:
1) It is illegal for you to use this software without paying those who made it.
2) Those who made it will no longer accept money for it.
3) You can, however, get it for free.
4) But this is illegal, as it violates 1.

As you can see, 2 renders 1 impossible, making 3 the only option, but 4 technically makes this impossible (if one wants to be fine, law-abbiding citizen).
Madness, utter madness. You see what happens when you let lawyers run the world?

[Baron Munchausen]

David E. Gervais said:
I must say Thank You Barron also. I'm downloading the Privateer Remake now. (Oh, and FYI, braodband/DSL/Cable means nothing if the file is hosted on a server with a simple 56k modem. The file is downloading at about 30kbps it should be done in about an hour and a half.

But I'll just head on over to irc #spaceempires and pass the time.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif SE 5 developers are downloading it left & right! Have I made a boo boo? Will this delay SE 5?

And btw, surely no one would put up a server on a 56k connection to make several 180 MB files available? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Baron Munchausen]

Yes, I've got some very good stuff from the Underdogs site. There are many 'old' games out there, compatible with relatively simple machines, which are every bit as good as any of the latest hyped 'hardware busters' that need a 3 Ghz CPU, a Gig or more of RAM, and the very latest 3D accelerators.

[DarkHorse]

David E. Gervais said:
I must say Thank You Barron also. I'm downloading the Privateer Remake now. (Oh, and FYI, braodband/DSL/Cable means nothing if the file is hosted on a server with a simple 56k modem. The file is downloading at about 30kbps it should be done in about an hour and a half.

But I'll just head on over to irc #spaceempires and pass the time.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif




The sourceforge mirror is much faster, I'm getting about 130kb/sec.
EDIT: the Taiwanese sourceforge mirror, I meant

[Mephisto]

*Moderator mode /on*
Please be aware that some of the material at Underdogs might be problematic regarding copyright laws. Shrapnel does not support copyright violations.
*Moderator mode /off*

[David E. Gervais]

Baron Munchausen said:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif SE 5 developers are downloading it left & right! Have I made a boo boo? Will this delay SE 5?

And btw, surely no one would put up a server on a 56k connection to make several 180 MB files available? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



Not to worry, I got it, installed it, didn't seem to be as good as I remembered the original so it has been uninstalled.

..and this is the weekend, even beta testers need to have some down time. (But in many cases 'Down Time' for a beta tester is like "Ok, I'll take a break from bug hunting and try some 'Modding'" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif )

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Atrocities]

BOTF... It is not abandon ware per say, but you can still find it at some sites that cater to such things.... I do not recommend them at all.. Buy the game from amazon.

[Fyron]

It is my understanding that The Underdogs removes all downloads for games where the copyright holder contacts them about doing so and instead provides links for where you can purchase them...

[Gandalf Parker]

They do. They have strict rules and do a fine service. I refer to them sometimes (in private emails)

Unfortunately the concept of abandonware is a wonderful not-yet-legal term so technically, for sites who are concerned with technicalities, its still a warez site for now.

[deccan]

Gandalf Parker said:
They do. They have strict rules and do a fine service. I refer to them sometimes (in private emails)

Unfortunately the concept of abandonware is a wonderful not-yet-legal term so technically, for sites who are concerned with technicalities, its still a warez site for now.



In other words: don't ask, don't tell. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Personally, I think a 8 year copyright limit for computer games is more than enough.

[Ron_Lugge]

8 year long might be too long, but I suppose its reasonable http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Gandalf Parker]

I have no problem with the concept. In fact, many sites which dont allow mentioning theUnderdogs might not have problems with the concept. But it would be kindof rude to try and force the subject.

The copywrite terms make sense in other cases. The only problem at the moment is that software does now have its OWN copyright laws. Personally, the one I really love, is making software copyright a yearly renewable thing. Even charge for it (nothing major, $10/year or something). Like domain names are.

[Aiken]

Interesting. What if game is copyrighted by juridicial person (not physical) and it no longer exists (bankrupted, disbanded, etc) and intellectual property was not sold out? What kind of status it has in western legal system?

[Gandalf Parker]

The concept of abandonware is that if the owner cant be contacted, and the game cannot be purchased, then its abandoned.
http://isp.webopedia.com/TERM/A/abandonware.html
It is in direct response to what you are asking about. NOt being able to contact the owner of a copyright presently does not release the copyright.

But even abandonware sites such as underdogs acknowledges that abandonware is an illegal concept

[Aiken]

There's a difference between inaccessibility of the copyrighted material and non-existence of the copyright holder. In the last case it could go to public domain or become a state property. Or something else (any variants?). Of course such situation almost has no chances to occur in the modern industry, there publishers try to keep allied rights for themselves, but back in 80-90s there were a lot of independent companies, which sank without a trace and left their titles without an owner.

It's a professional curiosity http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Ron_Lugge]

I think it is really simple.

If I can buy it in the store D/L = evil.

If I can't buy it in the store D/L= bad, but OK

edit: Store is a software store, amazon.com, or anywhere else where you can legaly get it.

Hmm, maybe saying this wasn't that good an idea...

[Gandalf Parker]

Oh no, its always a great idea to openly declare illegal tendencys in a public forum which gets archived forever
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Renegade 13]

Good thing you're real name isn't known! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

[Phoenix-D]

He said it was ok, not that he does it. Technicality ahoy! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

(ethical =! legal. And vice versa)

[narf poit chez BOOM]

www.knightsoft.ca (http://www.knightsoft.ca) has a couple of good, old school games - Metal Knights, a 'Mad Generals' sort of wargame, and Star Knights, which has a resource system which goes all the way from raw materials to finished product to putting the product on ships. The rest of the game isn't quite as developed, but I found the resource system to be quite intuitive when I played it.

* Star Knights also has a neat turn mechanism where turns pile up on your off time. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[PTF]

AgentZero said:
Yeah, I'm slogging my way through X2 right now. Thing is it takes a looooong time to get anything done. Even a simple cargo run can take 10-15minutes each way, even with time compression on. Anyone remember Protostar, from way back? I remember you could have yourself a very nicely tricked out ship after only about an hour of playing. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if you can actually buy yourself one of them big carriers and go cruising around the galaxy in it?
If so, I'll give it a bit more time, otherwise looks like it's back to KotOR2...



This was possible with XTension (X1) already. You can buy different carriers (5 or 6) there without limitations, equip them with hyperdrives and use it as a battleship carrier for all of your ship fleets. You were also able to move asteroids (ram) with the carriers, if they had enough energy shield. This often has been abused to destroy competitors (plant stations) without the risk of war, because asteroid collision would be a kind of natural disaster.

I am going to skip X2 just because I know of X3 will be released end of this year...

[AngleWyrm]

My current favorite time waster is Massive Assault. Demo's free, and it's hard to win!

[Gandalf Parker]

I prefer to recommend www.SourceForge.net (http://www.SourceForge.net)
Its legal to mention altho I probably shouldnt since I would guess that its just as damaging to a publishing company for people to find that site. Now THATS a great time killer for any long-time game player. Even more if you have even a slight interest in game development as a beginning programmer, or artist, or musician, story writer, or sound-byte tech.

[Ron_Lugge]

Renegade 13 said:
Good thing you're real name isn't known! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif



Do you have any idea how many Ron Lugge's there are?

At least three that I know of. At *LEAST*. And two of those are computer geeks!

[Gandalf Parker]

Ron_Lugge said:

Renegade 13 said:
Good thing you're real name isn't known! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif



Do you have any idea how many Ron Lugge's there are?

At least three that I know of. At *LEAST*. And two of those are computer geeks!



Thats one advantage I have. Searching for me on google or groups.google will give you hundreds of thousands of hits but they are all me. Or a few by trolls pretending to be me. We can just be thankful that their databases dont go back farther.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[AgentZero]

Starhawk, since you seem rather fond of Freelancer, could you point me in the direction of a few good SP mods?

[AngleWyrm]

I made a Freelancer spreadsheet/database (attached) that lists all possible trade routes in the game. It lists commodity, start/end locations, start/end sectors, run length, and profit margin. Sortable of course. It's about 6.8Meg unzipped.

The last page has all routes of any length, and the rest of the pages are broken out by number of hops.

You can use it to answer questions such as What is the highest profit run? ($1900, alien organisms[illegal] from RuizBase/OmicronBeta to CambridgeResearchStation/Cambridge, six hops)
What is the highest legal profit run? ($1440, Luxury Food from PlanetCambridge/Cambridge to LuxuryLinerHawaii/Sigma19, six hops)
What is the highest profit in one hop? ($630 Luxury Consumer Goods from either RopongiStation/NewTokyo or PlanetNewTokyo/NewTokyo both to AinuDepot/Hokaido)

And more situational questions like what's the highest profit from where I am right now to anywhere? or to a specific sector or location or distance. Or where can I get the most for my current cargo? Stuff like that.

[Longinus]

AgentZero said:
Starhawk, since you seem rather fond of Freelancer, could you point me in the direction of a few good SP mods?



www.lancersreactor.com (http://www.lancersreactor.com)

[PsychoTechFreak]

Baron Munchausen said:
Try the Privateer 'remake':

http://priv.solsector.net/

I've wanted to but it's a rather large download and I'm still on dialup. Broadband users should be able to get it without much trouble, though.



Found another (?) one today:
http://wcuniverse.sourceforge.net/