PC RPG Gaming - Taking the dive

Well if it means anything, the same card in my laptop can run Skyrim on low settings. Does that mean anything? Lol. I figured Skyrim would be pretty demanding on my card and I didn't expect it would be able to play it all, but it can.

Anywho, playing Divine Divinity at the moment, just starting out but it seems cool so far. I'm really excited to get deeper into it and check out what I've been missing all these years.

So Divine Divinity is basically Diablo but with more world interaction and dialog? It really reminds me of Diablo. Just entering the first dungeon and it's got loads of atmosphere. Really liking it so far.

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
In general sharing texture memory with main memory is a losing battle unless you want a slide show. Did you have tons of RAM or just lower all the texture resolutions? I can't image the experience was all that pleasant.

I still think many of the games listed in this thread would crush his poor laptop. Gothic 4? Seriously?!??

It wasn't a slide show. I did have to lower settings and the fact that the resolution was 1366X768 helped.

I guess if it was pleasant or not is all perception.

I normally game with an I7, 16GB mem, SLI-680's all overclocked as far as they will go on water cooling hooked to 3 27" 120hz 3D displays in surround mode at 5780x1080. Compared to that, yes it was very unpleasant but…

Being stuck for 1 week in a hotel on business with nothing but a business laptop. To be able to play the witcher was very pleasant.

Playing the witcher with crappy graphics would be better than never playing it at all imo.

Originally Posted by Fluent
Well if it means anything, the same card in my laptop can run Skyrim on low settings. Does that mean anything? Lol. I figured Skyrim would be pretty demanding on my card and I didn't expect it would be able to play it all, but it can.

Anywho, playing Divine Divinity at the moment, just starting out but it seems cool so far. I'm really excited to get deeper into it and check out what I've been missing all these years.

So Divine Divinity is basically Diablo but with more world interaction and dialog? It really reminds me of Diablo. Just entering the first dungeon and it's got loads of atmosphere. Really liking it so far.

You have big ass backlog from years before so I guess you are officially PC gamer now.As for DD vs Diablo I think diablo had better mechanic and loot but DD has far better writing and more open world and unlike diablo every skill in DD seemed good and worth considering.Very good I hope you as much have fun as I did when I played it first time.

Originally Posted by CountChocula
You might also want to check out http://www.deals4downloads.com/

It's a helpful site that tracks sales deals on Steam, GOG, Amazon, Origin and about a dozen other digital download stores.

Nice… didn't know about that one.

Originally Posted by Nameless one
You have big ass backlog from years before so I guess you are officially PC gamer now.As for DD vs Diablo I think diablo had better mechanic and loot but DD has far better writing and more open world and unlike diablo every skill in DD seemed good and worth considering.Very good I hope you as much have fun as I did when I played it first time.

I'm having a blast so far. Very cool game. Wish it had an autosave feature though. I just died and lost about an hour of progress . I imagine not many of these games have stuff like autosave, or quest markers, or anything like that, so I just gotta live with it. So far so good though.

Originally Posted by Fluent
I'm having a blast so far. Very cool game. Wish it had an autosave feature though. I just died and lost about an hour of progress . I imagine not many of these games have stuff like autosave, or quest markers, or anything like that, so I just gotta live with it. So far so good though.

Keep in mind that most PC games have a quicksave feature. It's better than autosave assuming you don't forget to use it.

I think the DD quicksave is shift-F7, or something slightly odd. If memory serves me, it says on one of the loading screens, but you should be able to find out fairly easily.

I can't believe I forgot this one, but Arcanum is another great old game. It's one of the few examples of steampunk fantasy, and the controls and balance are a bit wonky, but it's definitely worth investing the time to get into it.

Wow. Arcanum looks and sounds phenomenal. Can't wait to try some of these.

And yeah, quicksave is great, I just have to remember to use it. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

DivDiv is not a Diablo clone. You'll find out that there's more to it.

Don't rely exclusively on quicksave. Be prepared if the windows monster eats your quicksave. Many of the games recommended in this thread had budgets lower than the current top Kickstarters. A certain lack of polish should be expected, as well as only 99% technical stability. Even more so if the games were made for WinXP or Win98.

Btw., quest markers, autosave and such stuff are for pussies.

Originally Posted by Fluent
Wow. Arcanum looks and sounds phenomenal. Can't wait to try some of these.

I didn't play it, but it's generally considered a fun but flawed game. Not a waste of time, but certainly not one of the all time greats either.

And yeah, quicksave is great, I just have to remember to use it. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

You know what's even better? 2 independent quicksave slots, like in Venetica!

Originally Posted by Gorath
Btw., quest markers, autosave and such stuff are for pussies.

I don't mind not having those things, it's fine with me. I don't mind having those features, either. I'm good either way. As long as the game gives you some semblance of where to go and what to do, I'm good.

Windows monster eating my quicksave? Is this common? I will keep that in mind, thanks.

Originally Posted by Fluent
Windows monster eating my quicksave? Is this common? I will keep that in mind, thanks.

Yes, it can happen, although there's usually no reason to be afraid if you don't do anything during the save process.
You'll want standard saves too because you may want to go back to correct a decision you're unhappy with. 10 year old Euro-RPGs were sometimes a bit unforgiving.

Save early, save often, use several slots.

10 year old Euro-RPGs were sometimes a bit unforgiving.

Yeah, I kind of noticed that already . I basically failed a quest already because I really had no clue what the hell was happening. It just wasn't explained all that well and I made the wrong decision. Not a deal-breaker or anything, but I do appreciate the strides made in things like quest journals, etc that have been made over the years.

Just gotta be a little more careful in games like these it seems. They aren't idiot-proof .

Originally Posted by Gorath
I didn't play it, but it's generally considered a fun but flawed game. Not a waste of time, but certainly not one of the all time greats either.

Setting is great, quests are good, as is the writing, bugs are bad. Overall Arcanum is one of those games that feel rushed towards the end, but the first 2/3 of the game are great. Also, beware of the mine (you'll know), it has a nasty difficulty spike unless you have the downright broken first necromancy (black) spell.

Originally Posted by CountChocula
You might also want to check out http://www.deals4downloads.com/

It's a helpful site that tracks sales deals on Steam, GOG, Amazon, Origin and about a dozen other digital download stores.

OMG and after we spent years on spamming "deals" thread trying to alert others on the best bargains, now you brought that link up.

I know it is blasphemy but I cannot get into either Fallout I or Arcanum. I've tried several times. I even have an original boxed Arcanum with a manual.

Originally Posted by Fnord
Also, beware of the mine (you'll know), it has a nasty difficulty spike unless you have the downright broken first necromancy (black) spell.

Thanks for the warning. Is the difficulty spike a game-breaker? What happens if you don't have that spell?

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
I know it is blasphemy but I cannot get into either Fallout I or Arcanum. I've tried several times. I even have an original boxed Arcanum with a manual.

not blasphemy at all. I basically forced myself to finish Fallout 1, and didn't finish Fallout 2. Also started Arcanum but didn't get too far into it.

Originally Posted by ToddMcF2002
I know it is blasphemy but I cannot get into either Fallout I or Arcanum. I've tried several times. I even have an original boxed Arcanum with a manual.

You will burn in post-apocalyptic hell and resurrect as a steampunk gon-owner who gets shot by a magic missile!

I don't want to turn this into a Divine Divinity thread, but can someone help me with a quick quest-related thing?



Thanks.