Games you never understood to play (the right way)

[capehorn]

Terrorpods. The only working game I ever threw away. I simply didn't have a clue what to do so stopped playing it.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by snarkhunter

There's a rumour going round that some people actually know the purpose of "Weird Dreams"...

To utterly confuse people? If someone knows the purpose of that game, please leave a note here.

[Locash]

Powermonger http://hol.abime.net/1125- I have been playing Bullfrog games since day dot, Populous, Theme Park, Syndicate etc etc. To this day I still cannot fathom out Powermonger, cant even complete the first level.

[mcbpete]

Originally Posted by Locash

Powermonger http://hol.abime.net/1125- I have been playing Bullfrog games since day dot, Populous, Theme Park, Syndicate etc etc. To this day I still cannot fathom out Powermonger, cant even complete the first level.

For years I could only beat the first two levels, but this video helped me no end - [ Show youtube player ]

Hell loads of games I had no idea how to play properly as a kid (and probably still would have difficulty !) -

Syndicate - http://hol.abime.net/2249 - All I used to do was cheat and use the persuade-a-tron on everyone then the gauss gun to blow stuff up

Gravity - http://hol.abime.net/2788 - I remember getting it free on CU Amiga and had no idea if I'd actually even started the game let alone know how to play it

Midwinter - http://hol.abime.net/2469 - I might give it another go but I remember all I'd do is get stuck down a steep slope and very little else happened.

Captive II - http://hol.abime.net/883 - I had a demo of it and would wander about not having a clue about where to go and after a while I'd just die. In fact I'd extend this to every demo I had of 'Dungeon-Master' type RPGs, I never worked out a single one...

Elite / Frontier - http://hol.abime.net/629 - Not having a definite first direction to go in confused me immensely, all I'd do is fly around and eventually get bored or crash.

Utopia - http://hol.abime.net/1824 - I had Sim City so assumed it was just Sim City in space, but nope there seemed to be a lot more to it and I couldn't fathom it one bit.

Zombi - http://hol.abime.net/1628 - Again I got it free on CU Amiga and all I'd do is wander around the mall, killing zombies until all 4 of my people died. I actually understand how to play it nowadays though ! (Although, how the hell do you log off the computer that asks you for the password - if I accidentally click it then I seem to be stuck there forever until I restart the emulator ...)

Team Yankee and Campaign - http://hol.abime.net/1324 / http://hol.abime.net/2914 - I remember trying to figure these out from the Amiga Power demos but couldn't work out what on earth I was doing. Quite a few years later I bought War In The Gulf (the sequel to Team Yankee) for the PC for about £2 and still didn't know what I was doing so would just fire rockets at the buildings.

Exile - http://hol.abime.net/2889 - As with most of the above I think age was the main hurdle for my understanding of the game. I've been slightly more successful when playing it recently but still have no idea where/what I should be doing. I'm not sure if its a) my stupidity or b) if the cracked versions I've played have made the game impossible due to the notorious copy-protection mischief they've put in the game

as mentioned above - Captain Blood - http://hol.abime.net/2924 - I actually played that for the first time earlier this year - Erm ....

I feel very dumb

[freehand]

Captain Blood wtf ?

[Fragger]

PowerMonger? Count me in .. i really had problems with that one.

Other games:

Hannibal (http://hol.abime.net/653)

I really like economy & strategy games, but this one is too hard.

NAM (http://hol.abime.net/937)

Same counts for NAM. i liked the setting, but it was just too hard to understand.

[DDNI]

The Sentinel

Copy, no manual, no clue!

23 years later.... STILL no clue!

[seuden]

Haha mcbpete, looks like you have a lot of learning to do.

Tbh, most RPGs have me stuck on what stuff I should keep or no and what upgrades I should be doing/taking.

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by DDNI

The Sentinel

Copy, no manual, no clue!

23 years later.... STILL no clue!

If you are interested you can learn quickly the basics:
Grab this remake called Zenith. It has some in-game hints that can help.

Be sure to read the key reference (best thing is to have it open/copied somewhere during your first game(s)). Using the 1, 2, 3 keys is probably easier to remember at the beginning.

Read the quick "how to play" guide.

In less than 15 minutes you should have understood the gameplay and have played through one level.

[mcbpete]

Despite the above proving otherwise, weird concepts of games I can grab pretty instantly. Eg the Sentinel - great case in point. I read I had to get higher by making blocks then teleporting onto those blocks and could absorb everything else lower than me - and bam concept grasped in 10 seconds. Extase - grab the resistor things to fill in the gaps on your side, then fill in your lines making sure that the bug things don't get you - simples !

But yeah, for some reason arcade adventures and simulations on the Amiga baffled (and generally continue to baffle !) me ..

[seuden]

Originally Posted by mcbpete

Despite the above proving otherwise, weird concepts of games I can grab pretty instantly. Eg the Sentinel - great case in point. I read I had to get higher by making blocks then teleporting onto those blocks and could absorb everything else lower than me - and bam concept grasped in 10 seconds. Extase - grab the resistor things to fill in the gaps on your side, then fill in your lines making sure that the bug things don't get you - simples !

But yeah, for some reason arcade adventures and simulations on the Amiga baffled (and generally continue to baffle !) me ..

[Adropac2]

Most of the strategy games were too complicated for me with only Supremacy being possible to play at the time.It's great to go back to those games i struggled with because i'm much better at processing it all now.I was 22 about so it's easy to see why i might have struggled back then

Sentinel is suprisingly one game i got into pretty quickly though that was down to how captivating it all was that i had to learn it.Iv'e still got all my codes in a folder and i'm up to about level 1200 and something.Best version was the Amiga thanks to some very fitting music

I'm loving my Amiga a whole lot more these days thanks to my new improved power to understand things and that means a ton of new games to get my teeth into, namely K240, Red Storm Rising, Transarctica etc - always wanted to play them really but never could

A couple of flight sims like B17 and B52 stumped me but i now find the idea of playing them an exciting one

[Adropac2]

Recently started playing Puzzle quest on the 360 and it's made me get the rpg bug a little.Bought myself Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey and having the best time on them now i understand the idea behind turn base a little more- i did already i guess but never cared like i do now

We as players tend to go by first impressions or frustrations met with in a game and really that perhaps isn't in our best interests- we think we know best but iv'e often gone back to games i didn't like and had a change of heart

[TCD]

Originally Posted by seuden

Tbh, most RPGs have me stuck on what stuff I should keep or no and what upgrades I should be doing/taking.

That reminds me of the first time I played an AD&D game (Champions of Krynn). I thought a higher armor class would mean more protection... Was a bit stumped that the game was that freaking hard with an AC of 10

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by seuden

Tbh, most RPGs have me stuck on what stuff I should keep or no and what upgrades I should be doing/taking.

Well some old school RPGs/adventures are unforgivable in the way that you can miss items and get permanently stuck later on for it. Not a good game design if you ask me, I'm glad these things are no longer done on purpose.

The upgrade problem I really only had with Captive to be honest, eventually I am just underpowered for the monsters and I don't have the cash to upgrade more

I can also remember some games, not only Amiga ones, where you just had to take a guess which items were stronger than others - usually only the price in the shops could give you an indication of how powerful an item really was. I really don't like that, I want to know just how much power I am holding in my hands

[deicidal]

Originally Posted by mcbpete

Despite the above proving otherwise, weird concepts of games I can grab pretty instantly. Eg the Sentinel - great case in point. I read I had to get higher by making blocks then teleporting onto those blocks and could absorb everything else lower than me - and bam concept grasped in 10 seconds. Extase - grab the resistor things to fill in the gaps on your side, then fill in your lines making sure that the bug things don't get you - simples !

But yeah, for some reason arcade adventures and simulations on the Amiga baffled (and generally continue to baffle !) me ..

Wether this is true or not but the word that went round where i used to work was that one of the guys had played 10 levels a day of spectrum version for god know how many years and eventually it just crashed, Sid Meiers response was I didnt actually expect any one to try and complete it.

[mcbpete]

I wonder what Geoff Crammond thought about that comment

[deicidal]

Originally Posted by mcbpete

I wonder what Geoff Crammond thought about that comment

Well spotted, I am half asleep. He wrote to Geoff Crammond not Sid, duh.

[coze]

Perihelion - as both a cyberpunk and RPG fan, I really really wanted to get into this game, but couldn't figure out how to get into the first battle even I still dig this game, but I need to spare some time to find/read some manuals which I really can't atm

[spiff]

I also got the CU amiga coverdisk of gravity... didn't get it


But the one that annoyed me the most was Infestation from the psygnosis Monster collection. Had a nice bootscreen with a cool tune.
http://hol.abime.net/2637
Something about interacting with a terminal for an elevator... but what the #¤"#¤ was i supposed to WRITE in the therminal!? Manual was some cheap 5 page on how to load the games.. useless.