General News - RPGS: How Far Have We Come @ Hellforge

Well, to me that didn't get into playing D&D computer games before the age of Baldur's Gate more than years ago, Baldur's Gate (the first one) is sort of old now; by some it could considered ancient.

I, at least, didn't even there had computer games for the PC since the early or mid 1980's before a former co-worker of mine told me about games like Ultima, Police Quest and other such games like Space Quest and Day of the Tentacle and Maniac Mansion. Or the early Lucas Art's Monkey Island games…

To me this then means that games like Ultima IV or Might and Magic 1-4 really are pre-historic as is a game called Wasteland, the inspiration behind the Fallout series. Even some adventure games like King's Quest IV: the perils of Rosella to me is pre-historic or at least ancient. 10 years is a long long time in the computer and gaming department - 20 years is even longer…

And Black Isle didn't make 5 or 10 rpg games totally, did they? They made a game called Lionheart that sort of bombed; then they made the horrible Fallout game called BoS(or PoS) that totall tanked - e.g. didn't sell well.

Games nowadays spoon feed the player on exactly what to do and where to go next. That can be a good thing to get more people interested but it makes it less challenging and realistic. I prefer not to be led by the nose but I'm an old school rpg'er.

I just replayed BG last year, finally all the way thru this time - it definitely wasnt an easy game in the beginning. Like zero hitpoints, and all air on just about every swing. Good times indeed, but it definitely was challenging if you wanted to go off the beaten path a little. I have to go off the beaten path tho, I cant just go from point a to b w/ all that stuff uncovered on either side. It's just the way I roll in rpgs.

The writer of that article is a wuss, cmon get a little blood on your armor lol.

I'm the same xSamhainx. I must explore every nook and cranny. You never know where a potion of Frost Giant Strength that I'll never use but will carry until the end of the game might be lying!

You never know where a potion of Frost Giant Strength that I'll never use but will carry until the end of the game might be lying!

Heh heh. I'm the same way. One-use items might as well by no-use items…

Originally Posted by guenthar
I wonder if this guy was even playing Baldur's Gate since his description is nothing like the game. It is way easier to get lost in a game like Oblivion then in Baldur's Gate and how can you be getting killed constantly in this game only a half hour into playing it unless you were just standing still letting the enemies kill you.

He has a point there, but it is more about the ruleset being problematic than the game. Level 1 AD&D is not very well balanced in that regard (and it was even worse with the turn-based Goldbox games where you couldnt run and snipe). I love BG but I usually cheat to start with enough xp for my character to start at level 2 for that little extra staying power… Heck, besides the final battle I find the first assassin (at the friendly arm inn) might be the most lethal encounter in the game, since he can insta-kill you with magic due to your low HP. You need 3-4 levels under your belt for the ruleset's tactical options to open up.

EDIT: He is way off when it comes to being lost though. You get pretty clear instructions (look for friends at the Friendly Arm inn and then go investigate the Nashkel mines, both very clearly visible on the overland map and requiring juvenile stupidity to be missed) that puts you on a relatively easy path to gain those 3-4 levels. If I were to complain about dated aspects of BG I'd rather complain about some interface and usability issues, which do include a pretty dated journal system (everything goes in into ONE large chunk of text that only can be sorted by chapter giving still humungous chunks) that was improved in the later titles.