Any games caught folks' attention lately?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Has anyone got a version of Red Storm Rising that works with a C64 emulator? Every version I try seems broke.

[Sardaukar]

15 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Has anyone got a version of Red Storm Rising that works with a C64 emulator? Every version I try seems broke.

Fond memories. Broke a joystick when playing RSR on C64 avoiding those torpedoes.

I think DosBox versions "should work". 

E.g. https://www.myabandonware.com/game/red-storm-rising-qz

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

It was great. In fact playing Cold Waters, I kept reflecting how much better a sonar model RSR seemed to have.

Thanks, Ill try that out.

[Sardaukar]

14 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

It was great. In fact playing Cold Waters, I kept reflecting how much better a sonar model RSR seemed to have.

Thanks, Ill try that out.

I have Cold Waters with Epic Mod but haven't really tried it yet. Too many games nowadays...

[Stargrunt6]

Battletech for PC.

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but at $10 on a Steam sale, I couldn't pass.  I've been getting into the table top game as well, painting the minis and all.  

The PC game is the tabletop version, turn-based and all. It maintains the hex-based maps, so fellow grognards rejoice.  With it being PC, you not only get 3d graphics but a pretty nifty fog of war effect too.  You can play the story mode as well as skirmishes, the former has some role-playing elements which enhances the experience.  

BT and I go way back but I never committed to it deeply, unfortunately. My brother bought the 2nd edition box set when we were kids and we played a little then. He also bought the novels, which I never read until a few months ago (Decision at Thunder Rift).  

I also have had MechWarrior Online, but I'm not too impressed with it. I hate freemium games. Also, it uses the Unreal engine, so it feels more like a twitch shooter than it does a simulator.  I have it to play with friends, even though I suck.  

[Stuart Galbraith]

Some 2 decades ago, I played MechCommander, which was from Microprose I think. I wouldnt mind playing that again, it was excellent. Even the illustrations in the manual were excellent, although in retrospect I suspect it points to why Microprose went bust...#

Edited August 26, 2022 by Stuart Galbraith

[Stargrunt6]

3 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Some 2 decades ago, I played MechCommander, which was from Microprose I think. I wouldnt mind playing that again, it was excellent. Even the illustrations in the manual were excellent, although in retrospect I suspect it points to why Microprose went bust...#

Nah, Micro Prose went bust because gaming moved on. Consoles started dominating, sims got less popular.  It really is a shocker that sims didn't last through the 2000s due to the GWOT making all things military super popular.

I saw so many clothes at the mall with fake military patches.  One pair of shorts was covered in them, literally.  Only the finest in Walt apparel.

[Stuart Galbraith]

8 hours ago, Stargrunt6 said:

Nah, Micro Prose went bust because gaming moved on. Consoles started dominating, sims got less popular.  It really is a shocker that sims didn't last through the 2000s due to the GWOT making all things military super popular.

I saw so many clothes at the mall with fake military patches.  One pair of shorts was covered in them, literally.  Only the finest in Walt apparel.

Im not sure I buy that. There are plenty of sims still for sale on Steam. DCS steadily grew in popularity all through the 2000's and 2010's. What seemed to fall out of favour was sim lite. Its almost like the community split, the gamers went the way with CO, Battlefield or other multiplayer games, and the hardcore element went with DCS, Steel Beasts or Dangerous Waters.

It will be interesting to see if a fusion occurs again, there are certainly sims being release (Tiny Combat Arena, GHPC) that seem to be aiming for this area, and the reception seems to be enthusiastic. After all, DCS nut that I am, sometimes you yearn for something that doesnt take 20 buttons just to start up...

Edited August 27, 2022 by Stuart Galbraith

[Peasant]

Battle Academy. It's a turn based, square grid, "strategy" (more like tactics) game where you control a company-battalion sized force of infantry/tanks and artillery.

Of note is a well designed morale system where a massed fire against a single unit will eventually force it to retreat and regroup for a few turns, before it attacks again. This will be your main crowd control method of stopping enemy tank assaults when your anti-tank guns are not strong enough to outright destroy them.

[Stargrunt6]

17 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

 

It will be interesting to see if a fusion occurs again, there are certainly sims being release (Tiny Combat Arena, GHPC) that seem to be aiming for this area, and the reception seems to be enthusiastic. After all, DCS nut that I am, sometimes you yearn for something that doesnt take 20 buttons just to start up...

I play Sky Rogue for that very reason.  It's a cheap rogue-like combat flight sim, virtua-style.  I can use BCM without reading a 300pg manual.  Only downfall is ground attack missions with dedicated aircraft is very difficult due to difficulty with dogfighting enemy fighters.  

[Sardaukar]

War in the Pacific - Admiral's Edition is 80% off!

If you really want to ruin your life (and marriage), get this... 😜

https://www.matrixgames.com/game/war-in-the-pacific-admirals-edition

[DB]

Apparently Square Enix titles are highly discounted on Steam at the moment. Hitman Collection, for example is 87% off. they've divested all of their non-Japanese development houses, apparently. (Information was from The Mighty Jingles, so may be completely inaccurate!)

[R E lee]

For quality of AI opponent, Old World ( like civ only for the ancient period) and Deity Empires ( Fantasy Empire building) War Tales if you like a Merc band rather than an Empire and UG Civil War, all available on steam, often at a discounted price.

Edited September 13, 2022 by R E lee

[Stuart Galbraith]

Rimworld is a lot of fun.

[sunday]

Space RTS full of eye candy is back.

 

[sunday]

From the makers of Verdun, now WWI mountain warfare in a FPS

https://www.ww1gameseries.com/isonzo/

[R E lee]

On 8/30/2022 at 12:12 PM, Sardaukar said:

War in the Pacific - Admiral's Edition is 80% off!

If you really want to ruin your life (and marriage), get this... 😜

https://www.matrixgames.com/game/war-in-the-pacific-admirals-edition

Have you tried War in the East 1 or 2?

[Sardaukar]

57 minutes ago, R E lee said:

Have you tried War in the East 1 or 2?

I have both plus War in the West too.

[R E lee]

35 minutes ago, Sardaukar said:

I have both plus War in the West too.

T1 is prob the most re played turn of the war, so in single player,  how do you approach T1 as Germany?, and how it leads into future turns, what does the  outcome of Air/ground war exchange rate like?, do you favour deep pockets or close pockets in the ground phase?.

[Angrybk]

Probably spent about six million hours playing the Total War: Warhammer games and I'm still utterly terrible at them. Tried getting into that Crusader Kings 3 game but it seems more like a job than fun. Cyberpunk 2077 is actually very good once they worked out all the bugs, highly recommend. 

[Sardaukar]

7 hours ago, R E lee said:

T1 is prob the most re played turn of the war, so in single player,  how do you approach T1 as Germany?, and how it leads into future turns, what does the  outcome of Air/ground war exchange rate like?, do you favour deep pockets or close pockets in the ground phase?.

I rarely play Germany.

[R E lee]

31 minutes ago, Sardaukar said:

I rarely play Germany.

Ah ok, but dont you find it to easy to win as USSR, and  not a challenge?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Just seen this advertised on Twitter. Might be a good replacement for 'Distant Guns'.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1738890/Naval_Hurricane/

[Sardaukar]

12 hours ago, R E lee said:

Ah ok, but dont you find it to easy to win as USSR, and  not a challenge?

In WitE 2, AI is pretty good defender.

[R E lee]

1 hour ago, Sardaukar said:

In WitE 2, AI is pretty good defender.

Well the AI has unlimited movement points, so can re set its defensive line while the human player has to play by the mps of a unit, (the AI air routine will self destroy the LW by running it into the ground by over use, and  as it flys day and night 7 days week in all weathers, its operational losses are always high, as USSR it can afford those losses, while the LW cannot) so it appears to defend better by cheating, destroying its own air assets, a unit in AGS during the Soviet turn can re set to being in AGN for the next Axis turn. Against the Axis AI you can be in Berlin late 42 early 43 nine games out of 10, with a field army of 7 to 8 million, so i dont find it interesting to play as SU in single player. Axis AI will under perform relative to a human in every respect, its T1 attacks will be 3200-4200 range while a human can top 6000 and suffer half the AI losses to inflict that. Ground war is very similar, its T1 pockets are not good and can be broken as SU, and 00s of 000s dont become pows, while a humans pockets usually hold and they do. To get the best out of the game engine, playing as Axis is a challenge to get a win,  while playing as USSR is when do i want to win.