Games you never understood to play (the right way) - Page 10

lifeschool · 28 December 2011, 13:16

For me, I never understood how to play a game called Warhead. It's a bit like Elite/Frontier/wing commander - only harder. I used to fly around a bit but could never manage to get back into the spacedock and therefore go on to level 1. I guess you had to know how the controls worked.

Other games I could never figure out: Pirates, High Seas Trader, Shadow of the Beast I,II, III, Powermonger, Ports of Call, Starglider II, Burntime, Cruise for a Corpse, Covert Action, Hill Street Blues, Red Storm Rising, Game of Harmony, G Nius, Rocket Ranger, Midwinter I/II, and Last Ninja 3 (although I completed LN 1 and 2 quite often! - is it just me or is this really a poor game?).

I did complete Hacker back on the C64, and I also figured out how to play Critical Mass and Feud on the C64.

lordofchaos · 28 December 2011, 13:38

An interesting theory for me was that some of the programmers must have been bullied at school and had their life made difficult so subconsciously they would take revenge on the fellow game players with insanely unfair level design and difficulty spikes...just a theory though.

s2325 · 28 December 2011, 15:49

What about Pinkie? http://hol.abime.net/1067 On first planet I found egg, some flowers/gears, bouncing arrow, extra life but what to do next? Manual isn't helpful.

Raid27 · 11 January 2012, 19:27

Since this topic is still fairly fresh *ahem* I thought I'd mention a second candidate: "Terrorpods". http://hol.abime.net/1346
Never understood that one..of course I was only 9 when I played it :P

Lurch666 · 11 January 2012, 20:31

I've just remembered a spectrum game I never got anywhere with even though It was an original.Finders keepers (the first magic knight game)Walked around a maze and never figured a way out or what to do next.

onkelarie · 11 January 2012, 21:36

there's a fair amount of games i was intruiged by but never managed to play correctly:

starglider 2
i blowed up everything i could shoot at and always ended up warping to the sun and melt...

mercenary
erh.... looked awesome, the wireframe world, but what to do?

captain blood
i always messed up the conversations with the first alien and got wrong coordinates as a bonus. lost after one warp!

.... and many more games....

dex · 14 January 2012, 00:38

I never actually understood Stryx and I doubt anyone does - just in case you wonder, I got this game in the original case with the manual back in the day, even with that I couldn't get anywhere...

lordofchaos · 15 January 2012, 03:08

I`ve noticed that games made now are completely the opposite of the some of the design philosophies of old, I mean can you imagine nowadays a development team investing all that time money and energy into a game and only 10% of the players are able to finish it...Or is it that the games market is so massive that it has to appeal to a huge audience of gamers with such varying levels of skill, and then theres the dumbing down of games argument...ah well I`m starting to rant now.. Where was I?

I have played lots of 8 bit/16 bit games that were poorly realized and hard to figure out what the hell you should be doing, but there was a sweet satisfaction of working them out, even if it was years later. In a weird way I kind of miss that in games.

Djay · 15 January 2012, 05:20

both on c64 and Amiga... i never worked out Galdregon's Domain http://hol.abime.net/2692

dex · 15 January 2012, 13:41

@lordofchaos: you're definitely right there. However, back then gamers instantly recognized if a game was designed poorly - now that's something I miss in today's gaming landscape

Also games do not necessarily need to be difficult to be fun - balance is the most important thing in my opinion. Most games of today are "progression" games or whatever the right term is (things like Gears of War, Hako or Mass Effect - all of which are great actually) where you are "guided" to the end like watching a movie. There is still a challenge, though. This will be reduced even more in the future: if we are all unlucky, then games will be no more than interactive movies in a few years. (hey Origin's been there only a few years back, wasn't it? xD)

StingRay · 16 January 2012, 10:12

For me that would be Extase. To this day I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in the game. Friend of mine loved this game back then and told me that's it great and stuff. For me it was just one of the "WTF should I do here?" games, maybe a manual would've helped.

16 January 2012, 11:03

LOOOOL StingRay, i just discovered this thread and i was about to write EXACTLY the same thing about "Extase" ah ah ah ah !!! And i have to download the game manual because i STILL don't know how to play this one LOL, and it seems to be a good one

.

s2325 · 05 February 2012, 16:45

Slackskin & Flint: http://hol.abime.net/1971
I should collect eggs to advance but I can find only food and fruits. Also main character is big armored animal but your attack are just small circles from horns.

h0ffman · 06 February 2012, 15:08

Extase is one of my favourite games on the Amiga.. Warhead though!! Had now idea how to even get started on that one!!

Cherno · 09 February 2012, 11:29

Utopia: The creation of a nation

It was fun building things, and sometimes I even managed to create an army of tanks and send them outside the city, but I never figured out how to farm more fuel for my tanks, there were those pink plants in the ground where I assume you had to build some structure above it, but never worked. Also all those advisors were too much for me to understand.

Captive 2: Liberation That game blew me away with it's advanced graphics with smooth scrolling and textured surfaces. It took hours to install the maximum of wall textures on hard disk, but I could never figure out what to do in the game or where to go, the city was just too big and complicated. You could go to the sewers and buy weapons from gun dealers, break into houses and steal cash, kill the owners (and sometimes their giant crocodile watchdogs!) and get keycards for other buildings, or go up onto the raised highways and get run over by cars and helicopters. Also, there was a lot of text involved, with long conversations and a parser interface I think. There were even information terminals with all kinds of stuff, probably completely irrelevant. All I knew is that there were some faulty policebots produced and I had to uncover it with my four bots, but how or where.. dunno. I'd still love to play it through one day, but there are no walkthroughs available so I assume no one else has ever completed it

Patarival · 09 February 2012, 17:26

Back in the day, game sometimes required quite a bit of effort to learn how to play them. And honestly, some of them didn't really give enough information about what you were supposed to do.

My two games that I just didn't know what to do were:

Fate - Gates of Dawn
I really loved the game but to this day I never figured out what exactly it was that I needed to do.

Corporation
Well, "loved" would be a little too much as it was kind of slow but I always found it fascinating.

I really need to find some time to try them again.

s2325 · 20 May 2012, 09:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minuous

Games which are non-intuitive and still don't have longplays: Bonecruncher, Carthage, Elite 1/2, Powerdrome, Quadralien, Hacker 1/2, Mercenary 1-3, Spy vs. Spy 1-3, Starglider 1/2, Third Reich, Vampire's Empire.
I suppose reading the manuals would help for most of these :-)

Mercenary games have also compilation with docs:

Whitesnake · 20 May 2012, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patarival

Back in the day, game sometimes required quite a bit of effort to learn how to play them. And honestly, some of them didn't really give enough information about what you were supposed to do.

My two games that I just didn't know what to do were:

Fate - Gates of Dawn
I really loved the game but to this day I never figured out what exactly it was that I needed to do.

Corporation
Well, "loved" would be a little too much as it was kind of slow but I always found it fascinating.

I really need to find some time to try them again.

I agree with Corporation. I did read about it later on and it is about fighting your way to the top of a corporation building "I think" Although nothing about the way the game looked or played gave me any indication that you were in some kind of office building apart from the cctv cameras.

It did however get good reviews and the game is completely controlled with the mouse.

Akiko · 20 May 2012, 22:30

The sun - I remember playing this Public domain game that came with CU Amiga, you had to shoot at these weird changing symbols as they rotated around the sun, the idea was to match them up somehow before the sun set, I remember blasting away at them randomly but didn't actually know what the hell was going on!

Anna · 21 May 2012, 17:44

The Sentinel - I kept reading about how amazing this game was, but never figured out what the heck I was supposed to do with it.

Captain Blood - Of Course. Only ever played a demo but didn't read the instructions, no idea what to do.

11 January 2012, 21:36	#186
onkelarie Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Spijkenisse / the Netherlands Age: 54 Posts: 525	there's a fair amount of games i was intruiged by but never managed to play correctly: starglider 2 i blowed up everything i could shoot at and always ended up warping to the sun and melt... mercenary erh.... looked awesome, the wireframe world, but what to do? captain blood i always messed up the conversations with the first alien and got wrong coordinates as a bonus. lost after one warp! .... and many more games.... Last edited by onkelarie; 12 January 2012 at 10:29. Reason: made a typo

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28 December 2011, 13:16	#181
lifeschool Local Moderator Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Lancashire, UK Age: 48 Posts: 1,635	For me, I never understood how to play a game called Warhead. It's a bit like Elite/Frontier/wing commander - only harder. I used to fly around a bit but could never manage to get back into the spacedock and therefore go on to level 1. I guess you had to know how the controls worked. Other games I could never figure out: Pirates, High Seas Trader, Shadow of the Beast I,II, III, Powermonger, Ports of Call, Starglider II, Burntime, Cruise for a Corpse, Covert Action, Hill Street Blues, Red Storm Rising, Game of Harmony, G Nius, Rocket Ranger, Midwinter I/II, and Last Ninja 3 (although I completed LN 1 and 2 quite often! - is it just me or is this really a poor game?). I did complete Hacker back on the C64, and I also figured out how to play Critical Mass and Feud on the C64.

28 December 2011, 13:38	#182
lordofchaos TinkerTailorContentMaker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bedfordshire Age: 45 Posts: 1,209	An interesting theory for me was that some of the programmers must have been bullied at school and had their life made difficult so subconsciously they would take revenge on the fellow game players with insanely unfair level design and difficulty spikes...just a theory though.

28 December 2011, 15:49	#183
s2325 Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gargore Age: 44 Posts: 17,789	What about Pinkie? http://hol.abime.net/1067 On first planet I found egg, some flowers/gears, bouncing arrow, extra life but what to do next? Manual isn't helpful.

11 January 2012, 19:27	#184
Raid27 I have a joystick Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Sweden Age: 45 Posts: 179	Since this topic is still fairly fresh ahem I thought I'd mention a second candidate: "Terrorpods". http://hol.abime.net/1346 Never understood that one..of course I was only 9 when I played it :P

11 January 2012, 20:31	#185
Lurch666 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Stoke-on-Trent Posts: 14	I've just remembered a spectrum game I never got anywhere with even though It was an original.Finders keepers (the first magic knight game)Walked around a maze and never figured a way out or what to do next.

14 January 2012, 00:38	#187
dex Eat Electric Death Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Germany Posts: 327	I never actually understood Stryx and I doubt anyone does - just in case you wonder, I got this game in the original case with the manual back in the day, even with that I couldn't get anywhere...

15 January 2012, 03:08	#188
lordofchaos TinkerTailorContentMaker Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bedfordshire Age: 45 Posts: 1,209	I`ve noticed that games made now are completely the opposite of the some of the design philosophies of old, I mean can you imagine nowadays a development team investing all that time money and energy into a game and only 10% of the players are able to finish it...Or is it that the games market is so massive that it has to appeal to a huge audience of gamers with such varying levels of skill, and then theres the dumbing down of games argument...ah well I`m starting to rant now.. Where was I? I have played lots of 8 bit/16 bit games that were poorly realized and hard to figure out what the hell you should be doing, but there was a sweet satisfaction of working them out, even if it was years later. In a weird way I kind of miss that in games.

15 January 2012, 05:20	#189
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	both on c64 and Amiga... i never worked out Galdregon's Domain http://hol.abime.net/2692

15 January 2012, 13:41	#190
dex Eat Electric Death Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Germany Posts: 327	@lordofchaos: you're definitely right there. However, back then gamers instantly recognized if a game was designed poorly - now that's something I miss in today's gaming landscape Also games do not necessarily need to be difficult to be fun - balance is the most important thing in my opinion. Most games of today are "progression" games or whatever the right term is (things like Gears of War, Hako or Mass Effect - all of which are great actually) where you are "guided" to the end like watching a movie. There is still a challenge, though. This will be reduced even more in the future: if we are all unlucky, then games will be no more than interactive movies in a few years. (hey Origin's been there only a few years back, wasn't it? xD)

16 January 2012, 10:12	#191
StingRay move.l #$c0ff33,throat Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Berlin/Joymoney Posts: 6,863	For me that would be Extase. To this day I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in the game. Friend of mine loved this game back then and told me that's it great and stuff. For me it was just one of the "WTF should I do here?" games, maybe a manual would've helped.

16 January 2012, 11:03	#192
Vollldo Posts: n/a	LOOOOL StingRay, i just discovered this thread and i was about to write EXACTLY the same thing about "Extase" ah ah ah ah !!! And i have to download the game manual because i STILL don't know how to play this one LOL, and it seems to be a good one .

05 February 2012, 16:45	#193
s2325 Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gargore Age: 44 Posts: 17,789	Slackskin & Flint: http://hol.abime.net/1971 I should collect eggs to advance but I can find only food and fruits. Also main character is big armored animal but your attack are just small circles from horns.

06 February 2012, 15:08	#194
h0ffman Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Salisbury Posts: 769	Extase is one of my favourite games on the Amiga.. Warhead though!! Had now idea how to even get started on that one!!

09 February 2012, 11:29	#195
Cherno Registered User Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 1,055	Utopia: The creation of a nation It was fun building things, and sometimes I even managed to create an army of tanks and send them outside the city, but I never figured out how to farm more fuel for my tanks, there were those pink plants in the ground where I assume you had to build some structure above it, but never worked. Also all those advisors were too much for me to understand. Captive 2: Liberation That game blew me away with it's advanced graphics with smooth scrolling and textured surfaces. It took hours to install the maximum of wall textures on hard disk, but I could never figure out what to do in the game or where to go, the city was just too big and complicated. You could go to the sewers and buy weapons from gun dealers, break into houses and steal cash, kill the owners (and sometimes their giant crocodile watchdogs!) and get keycards for other buildings, or go up onto the raised highways and get run over by cars and helicopters. Also, there was a lot of text involved, with long conversations and a parser interface I think. There were even information terminals with all kinds of stuff, probably completely irrelevant. All I knew is that there were some faulty policebots produced and I had to uncover it with my four bots, but how or where.. dunno. I'd still love to play it through one day, but there are no walkthroughs available so I assume no one else has ever completed it

09 February 2012, 17:26	#196
Patarival Registered User Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: YouTube Posts: 55	Back in the day, game sometimes required quite a bit of effort to learn how to play them. And honestly, some of them didn't really give enough information about what you were supposed to do. My two games that I just didn't know what to do were: Fate - Gates of Dawn I really loved the game but to this day I never figured out what exactly it was that I needed to do. Corporation Well, "loved" would be a little too much as it was kind of slow but I always found it fascinating. I really need to find some time to try them again.

20 May 2012, 22:30	#199
Akiko Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: UK Posts: 257	The sun - I remember playing this Public domain game that came with CU Amiga, you had to shoot at these weird changing symbols as they rotated around the sun, the idea was to match them up somehow before the sun set, I remember blasting away at them randomly but didn't actually know what the hell was going on!

21 May 2012, 17:44	#200
Anna Registered User Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: USA Posts: 27	The Sentinel - I kept reading about how amazing this game was, but never figured out what the heck I was supposed to do with it. Captain Blood - Of Course. Only ever played a demo but didn't read the instructions, no idea what to do.

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