Going Retro

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:01 am

Every game I'm playing now is retro. I own many new games including Silent Hunter III, Doom 3 exp, HL2, CoH, WoW, and many other initials, but I keep going back to older games.

I've just started Grim Fandango, having never played it yet. Loving it so far. Playing RealMyst, Dark Forces, Dark Forces 2, Unreal, Ultima Online, and next on my list are Gabriel Knight 2 and Outcast. I would love to get Pandora Directive going soon too, on XP. I am also playing Splinter Cell:CT and Farcry mods (thanks OO effect), but I'm really enjoying the older graphics and game play. I really am digging the old graphics of Ultima Online and the interactivity of the world. Some games don't stand the test of time graphics and interface-wise, but there is a magic there to the older games. With other threads lately about older retro games, I see I'm not the only one going retro. I don't plan on digging out my old Billy Squire white shirt with black sleeves though...

I think after I finish these, I'll go looking for the original Castle Wolfenstein from the mid-80s. After that? Pong?

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:03 pm

Many of the games I play were released in 2000 and before. I think a lot of that has to do with the genre of games I play.(wargames and turn based)

Kobra · Post by **Kobra** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 4:21 pm

Retro is better.

I'm pretty bored of mindless rehashes of old ideas, why not just play the original ones? The new stuff really is quite boring. After gaming for 25 years, i'm pretty tired of the "Been done before" crap coming out nowadays.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 4:26 pm

The beauty of older graphics is that your own imagination tends to compensate by filling in the blanks. That vague, blobby face on that NPC, or the blurry equipment might, in your mind, take on certain details that you personally attribute to a certain personality or style. That doesn't happen when the graphics are photorealistic.

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:38 pm

While I was not a huge fan at the time, now I look back at FMV and really enjoy it. Gabriel Knight 2, Crusader, these are very entertaining. The sarge with the cigar in Crusader makes me crack up each time I watch him.

Zitterbacke · Post by **Zitterbacke** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:58 am

Right at the moment the game I play online most of my time is:

http://www.soldat.pl/main.php

I'd count that as Retro and it is much of fun =)

Ripstar · Post by **Ripstar** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:32 pm

Retro gaming is great.

I am a collector of good games and have them spanning 4 systems going back to the original wire framed Elite. Games that pin point every new innovation in the field.

Some games never lose their attraction. Having a large library of great games means you never are at a loss for something to play.

Not everyone can be a collector, due to time, space, money or whatever, but for those that can, it can be a lot of fun and a real education on the development of the art.

Kobra · Post by **Kobra** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:45 pm

I don't collect anything, because in general, it just adds up to a huge pile of junk you have to move around with you. Also, my friends aren't impressed by collections, and I always feel "Creepy" when other people show me their collections of stuff. It's almost like i'm watching them masturbate or something.

I guess everyones different.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 10:37 pm

I don't collect to impress anyone.
I collect for purely nostalgic reasons.
I have hundreds of games and 6 PCs to run them on. And I do run them.

However, lately I'm starting to regret my collecting ways somewhat. Simply because of the space all this stuff takes up. It's getting to the point where I'm gonna have to get rid of some of this, or move into a larger place. And moving all this would be a huge pain.

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:52 am

Mmmmm, Dark Forces. Star Wars-geek gaming heaven. I gotta reload it soon!

I love retro but at the moment I'm not playing any with the exception of helping my son occasionally with HoMM3.

That said, I *do* play around quite a bit with "retro style" indie games like Dominions 2, Battle of Wesnoth, Hellheron, Avernum, etc. so that should count for something.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:29 am

I don't collect games, either. Quite the opposite; I sell off or give away my old ones whenever my shelf gets crowded. So I have only about half a dozen games at any given time, and those are what I play. I haven't bought a new one in a year or more. Whenever I buy anything, I'm always thinking of how and when I'll eventually get rid of it. If you aren't vigilant, your possessions will own you.

I do have small book and music collections that I've pared back over the years. I don't add to those anymore, either. The Bride of Ironrod collects more than enough junk for both of us.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:20 am

Blackhawk wrote:The beauty of older graphics is that your own imagination tends to compensate by filling in the blanks. That vague, blobby face on that NPC, or the blurry equipment might, in your mind, take on certain details that you personally attribute to a certain personality or style. That doesn't happen when the graphics are photorealistic.

The more photorealistic graphics become, the more aware I am of a game's limitations. When a character looks like a cartoon, I don't notice so much his lifelessness. I fill in the blanks 'cause I'm concentrating on the game. When a character looks human, the same drugged, sleepy responses make me more aware of narrowness of the AI.

The effect's the same across all the genres for me. In an RTS, I didn't mind the goofy resource gathering when it was an orc peon, but make that peon a lifelike 20th century white-robed scientist gathering "research" points? That I mind.

Even in strategy games, limited graphics make me more tolerant. Like the first Civilization with its cardboard counter like units; they were obviously just crude symbols of legionaries, musketmen, and warships. I treated them more like abstract military forces and so if a pike unit defeated a rifle unit, I could shrug it off. When they started to look more realistic, I wasn't so blase.

I'm glad we have the choice though. I like the improved graphics and I appreciate them, but it's good to remember that the old stuff had its virtues.

JSHAW · Post by **JSHAW** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:20 pm

If you aren't vigilant, your possessions will own you.

When my material possessions have the ability to walk ME down to the Pawn Shop and sell ME at a reduced rate, THEN I'll worry.

I don't see that happening anytime in the future.

killbot737 · Post by **killbot737** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:47 pm

JSHAW wrote: When my material possessions have the ability to walk ME down to the Pawn Shop and sell ME at a reduced rate, THEN I'll worry.

I don't see that happening anytime in the future.

You haven't watched Labyrinth lately, have you?

I wish the goblins would come and take away JSHAW, right now! Well, not really. But I already wrote it. OH NOES!

I've been playing SMAC lately, and Stars! of all things. RIP Stars Supernova!

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:08 am

I've been playing No One Lives Forever recently. It might not be as old as some of the games you guys are talking about, but it's still old. It was released in 2000, I believe. Whoa, that's already five years. Maybe it is old. Hmm. I've never finished before, due to various hard drive crashes and things. I think I'm going to this time. I've certainly gotten a lot farther. Perhaps almost to the end now.

I've been doing the "retro" thing a lot lately. Playing a lot of my older games. Not just because I like them, but because my PC isn't quite up to snuff to play the newest ones. Plus I don't have the money to buy a bunch of new games anyways.