well dark I firmly believe that we are getting to used to our sound/ graphics systems. No longer does one have to go to dos, no longer do we need to do anything but point and click. If we have a system crash, put a disk in, reboot, push this key, and that key and then wait, then load all our stuff without knowing what it all does. when we get into dos its time to reformat because that will get the nice smooth interface we are happy for back. My point is that unlike loads of the new generation I was brought up on the old systems they may have been clunky and single tasked but I never got bored with them. When something needed configuring it needed configuring. If something broke, you could just reinstall that module. if some file broke at bootup you could often buypass it and fix it. A game well in the beginning you had to read it and it was up to you what you made of it. Now most people shoot things because thats what you need to do. I now wander if eventually all we will have are dumb coots that only know graphics, well not all dumb, some programmers/ systems people would know linux but still I feel sad for the old days. you can't just push alt g anymore and or let the reader read a game in a console you need to navigate cursor here and navicursor there. You completely lose what you need to imagine because you have to concerntrate on playing the dimpled thing. I wander what would happen if a virus or something wiped windows. And all people would have to use dos to get back their systems. I wander if everyone would reformat. The old generation may last for the next 100 years but after that? I think I am one of the last dos wizzards out there. I do wish that some day I could get parts and a place to store my keynote gold or get an system with an internal voice card again or find out how to replace my keynote sa battery and get another 386 system. Thats probably not going to happen. At 07:28 p.m. 6/01/2009, you wrote: >Hi. > >appologies for yet more random thoughts, but after waking up last night and >not wanting to do anything serious, I found myself playing some more Eamon >delux. > >In my usual predictable way I've started with the first adventures and gone on >from there. I've thus far completed, ---- ie, found everything obviously or >obscurely findable, rescued all those that need it, and smacked every monster >in all of the beginners adventures, and all the Don brown adventures accept >for the castle of count fuey. > >now for my thoughts. > >Many of these adventures were, ---- Donald brown's in particular were written >in 1980, in the days of low computer power, and before many of the >sterriotypes in fantasy game playing (even D&D was I believe only about 7 >years old or so at that point). > >Thus, they are fairly symple, you wander a dungeon, smiting monsters and >grabbing loot. > >The odd thing is, how addictive and fresh I actually find them. > >While I freely admit the stock description dungeon passages and rooms can be >really irritating, ---- especially in large dungeons, to enter a new room, get >a modicum of description, find a unique object/mmonster, ---- even if all that >makes it unique is it's name and attack value, is actually proving to be >astoundingly fun. > >When I ask myself why I, the one who dislikes grinding is perfectly happy with >a monster hacking dungeon crawl I get a one word answer, ---- exploration! > >The dungeon rooms, elements and passages are unique enough to satisfy me that >I'm actually getting somewhere new, and give me the feeling that I actually >moving around a dungeon map exploring. > >Only some dungeons in Sryth, ---- those with a high proportion of unique room >descriptions which do not rely as much upon the generic map have given me this >feeling. > >while I've also got it from gamebooks, sinse they obviously are more focused >on a centralized narative approach than actually exploring a location, I don't >usually get the sense of space. > >Again, interactive fiction and the Zork successors have done this very well, >---- though I often find myself really hitting my head against a wall in >several of the cave crawl style interactive fictions if the puzles are too >obscure (especially when we get into guess the verb situations). > >Pluss of course, sinse Eamon does have the combat elements, your exploration >always has that sense of danger. > >when I met the principle character in laire of the minotaur, I really did have >an "oh heck!" moment, sinse with those few lines of description about the >minotaur, I was already thinking of a huge, bull headed beasty, ---- and when >he took a swing at my girlfriend I had another one. > >Admittedly, my gf was entirely superfluous to the adventure and didn't do >mutch beyond holding inventory items and fighting along side me, but at that >stage I was so much into the adventure that I really did want to see her get >out alive (sinse I'd gone in to find her anyway). > >I'm impressed in general in Eamon about how litle is needed to evoke this >sense, and it makes me all the more irritated at stat grinding games, where >the monsters are merely names and sets of acconpanying stats, and may be >always found in one location by clicking "fight" > >Just my thoughts. > >Beware the Grue! > >dark. >--- >Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org >If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. >You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. >If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, >please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
--- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
