Octopus Overlords

The Big Three for me were Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, and Sim City. I played all of those games at more or less the same time. They were my first experience with evolving virtual worlds (or god games, I guess they were called).

If there can be only one, it's Civilization. I was absolutely obsessed with that game for months and months.

Thief

I can't decide between Outlaws, Planescape, or Fallout.

Descent: Freespace

I really should get around to playing Planescape: Torment some day....

This thread gives me too many ideas but

Baldurs gate - was awesome first time round.
Ultima Underworld II incredible - I still remember some of the experiences with that (though wouldn't want to retry it - I bet I would be seriously disappointed with my memory of the graphics)
Xcom
Syndicate
and finally Stars!

Choose one, hmmm Ultima Underworld II amazing for the time.

Tals

Nothing will beat the jaw-dropping paradigm shift of moving to a smooth-scrolling 3d environment. (And it was real 3D, unlike Wolfenstein). Not to mention, it was a great RPG too!

While I agree the game was awesome, it did not in fact use "real 3D" as it faked the Z-axis (or whatever axis that was) when you looked up or down. Wolfenstein simply didn't have an option to look up or down, but UU didn't do it "genuinely" either.

As I recall, the first widely recognized "real 3D" game was Quake. But in my opinion System Shock came close enough, even though the mobs weren't true 3D. Of course, we're talking texturemapped polygons and what not. If we go back even further, I would think a game like the original Star Wars arcade game was one of the first wireframe vector graphics games, at least one of the first I remember.

Why I still think of this crap, is beyond me, but there it is.

Oh, and if I had to pick one game which would have the same impact now as back in the day, it would have to be Bard's Tale or Pool of Radiance. Those games represent the birth of my falling in love with CRPGs, and I doubt I've had a better time with any game since then.

DArtagnan wrote:While I agree the game was awesome, it did not in fact use "real 3D" as it faked the Z-axis (or whatever axis that was) when you looked up or down. Wolfenstein simply didn't have an option to look up or down, but UU didn't do it "genuinely" either.

I was not referring to the technology, but the fact that you could move in a fully 3d environment. (Bridges, flying high into rooms, etc). For the time, this was great stuff, especially compared to the 2d-but-looks-like-it-has-height Wolf3d and Doom.

I would have to say either Ultima IV or System Shock 1 and 2.

Planescape: Torment for me. Still the best and greatest.

I was not referring to the technology, but the fact that you could move in a fully 3d environment. (Bridges, flying high into rooms, etc). For the time, this was great stuff, especially compared to the 2d-but-looks-like-it-has-height Wolf3d and Doom

Oh, I'm sorry, I guess we just have different opinions about what the term "real 3D" means then.

I don't want to seem pedantic, I just want to be fair to the games we discuss. For the record, Doom actually had height in a similar sense to Ultima Underworld with raising platforms and elevated architecture that you could climb.

Probably Total Annihilation, though Duke Nukem 3D deathmatch was glorious and Wing Commander II was right up there as far as first time experiences go.

CivII is a great choice. I still remember the awe I felt when that game was fresh.
I'd vote for Baldur's Gate, however. The character creation system; the party interaction; the D&D setting and rules implementation ... wow. I'd never played anything like it.

Not sure if this counts as being old enough but I recently did this in the real sense. I never played HL1 until this year.

- shaggy

"I'm going to have to pick the Gabriel Knight series. I can't just pick one from the series, it'd have to be the whole thing. I would very much like to erase the whole series from my memory and play it over again."

Kyosho:

Even the last one in the series? I played all but this one for some reason. Is it worth tracking down?

Yes! Some people didn't like the switch to 3d, but I think it was done extremely well. It'll seem a little weird at first, but after an hour, it seems completely natural. If you play any FPSs, you can set up the controls in a similar style, if you like. But if you're asking about the story, it's excellent. Most of the puzzles are decent too (though there's one in particular that's annoying..). You should definately get it.

Edit: It's probably the easiest one to get ahold of in the series. You should be able to buy it at many online stores. Gogamer has it, in fact.

It's too bad you didn't play it before The Davinci Code became popular. I'm glad I played it first. Even if you haven't read it yourself, you probably know what it's about. This game has some....similar themes, you could say. But from a different angle. It should still be good, though.

Hmm...big RPG freakoid here.

Wing Commander (I-III. II was really, really good, I is classic, III was groundbreaking), Strike Commander (I LOVED that game...just reacquired it in fact...thanks JSHAW ).

Ultima VII, especially Serpent's Gate.

Baldur's Gate, the first one.

Fallout 1 or 2.


Ah and my old school favorites:

Wizardry I-III.

Autoduel

Diablo I