Shit Game Time: Carver (Amiga), middle fingers to the poogrammers!

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by Tigerskunk

Just not sure this is the kind of conversation we want here.

Not the kind where we call each other 'little hypocritical ugly nerd'.

[rothers]

It's true, all publicity is good publicity, the video views are climbing faster than previous editions!

[modrobert]

Seems like a challenging game, requires skills...

Jokes aside, it really sucks with games where you have to die (at least once) to progress, remember a game on the VIC-20 where the invisible death traps were randomized. Another game that is pretty good otherwise but have this annoying "feature" is Rick Dangerous.

[malko]

Originally Posted by modrobert

Seems like a challenging game, requires skills...

Jokes aside, it really sucks with games where you have to die (at least once) to progress, remember a game on the VIC-20 where the invisible death traps were randomized. Another game that was pretty good otherwise but have this annoying "feature" is Rick Dangerous.

Really ? I re-played it to end recently and can't see any randomization in Rick Dangerous. Do you have any random trap in mind ?

[gimbal]

I think you can play Rick Dangerous blindfolded if you remember all the traps and the timings.

[Lord Aga]

Originally Posted by Tigerskunk

No, I am just...

You are just accusing a fellow EABer of being a sock puppet account, hoping a mod will ban him. Only because you don't like his posts.

Now, Zeus said he doesn't care, and I'm saying now that I don't care, you can dislike channels and posts to your heart's content. No need to project your need for safe spaces to others.

Moreover, I would encourage you to make your own channel and post whatever you want. I support anyone doing whatever they want. I would just ignore it, or mock it, but certainly not try to make you stop. I know this is a difficult concept for you authoritarians to grasp, you liquid tofu slurper.

[gimbal]

Dude, don't fight fire with fire. It's time to let it go.

(points for originality though)

[modrobert]

Originally Posted by malko

Really ? I re-played it to end recently and can't see any randomization in Rick Dangerous. Do you have any random trap in mind ?

What I meant about "it really sucks with games where you have to die (at least once) to progress" is games where you can't beat a trap on the first try based on skill, but rather you have to learn where the traps are by failing, this applies to Rick Dangerous.

The random trap VIC-20 game was unrelated, but in effect even worse, because now you have to cross a whole screen with an invisible mine field which is randomized each time you reach the level (BTW: it wasn't until I modified the game to show the mines the randomization became obvious).

[r.cade]

Originally Posted by modrobert

What I meant about "it really sucks with games where you have to die (at least once) to progress" is games where you can't beat a trap on the first try based on skill, but rather you have to learn where the traps are by failing. The random invisible trap VIC-20 game was unrelated, but in effect even worse.

Games that have what I call "precision jumping" and "leaps of faith" are what I hate about some designs.

[gimbal]

Yes in that respect Rick Dangerous (especially the sequel) are a personal nightmare But that IS Rick Dangerous. Without it, it would be a very generic platformer with some funny sounds and animations. So yeah you either love it or you hate it.

It's a little bit of brain training added to it I guess, your memory becomes part of the game play. I do remember that I could finish at least the first two levels of Rick Dangerous 2 and knew exactly the pixel that set off all the traps. Took a couple of months but it keeps feeling exciting because no matter how good you get, you can still have a brain slip or miss the exact position or timing.

[khph_re]

Well, this got hot fast!

Confession: I worked on Cat Woman for original box an absolute stinker.

I love Zeus's channel, and it's all done to be funny, and not to have a pop at individual devs.

Most times we don't want to make shit games. Cat woman had a six month dev cycle, they hired whomever was free (lot of takers in the UK, lots of studio closures) and basically told us to 'bring sleeping bags'.

[gimbal]

I'd like to read a dev blog on that one, sounds like... interesting circumstances. Circumstances I don't think really were a thing in the early 90's.

[rothers]

Often programmers are told what to do too - we might know a feature will make a game terrible, but it was not up to us. Often you just end up getting burnt out by some idiot being in charge and just do whatever they say because your spirit is dead

I hear it's the same in the movie business.

Ultimately it's the people with the money who make the decisions.

The number of times I worked on a game and the person in charge didn't know how to code OR the capabilities of the machine. So you end up with junk.

If the game has a 'producer' or 'director' credit aim all the insults at them!

[haps]

The fact that this post by daz got everyone so upset is quite interesting. Correlates with something myself and my hound discussed tonight.

Human beings are inherently stupid.

[gimbal]

Yes but the circumstances under which the crap decisions are made have changed a lot. Back in the Carver days the risk of putting out a game which makes me want to pull out my fingernails (thanks Zeus, I just had to try this one) was low. Game doesn't sell well, shit happens, on to the next title. But nowadays if a game doesn't perform well that puts companies into risk of bankruptcy and it incurs heavy penalties.

I can only imagine you were assimilated to do Catwoman because somewhere in a computer system a checkbox "need a videogame" was still unchecked. That does not lead to quality. In the early 90's licensed games were a business, not a checkmark. And still they were mostly underwhelming to dire... go figure.

[ESC]

What catwoman game are you guys talking about?

[ZEUSDAZ]

Thanks to all those who have placed pleasant positive comments on this thread and who felt they needed to defend what I do ,...but most importantly a VERY special thanks to those who have constantly placed negative words on this thread towards me and my content as it has rocketed my views up on this particular SGT video and gained me even more subs by those curious enough to visit my channel ,...you really are utter planks

[aeberbach]

I enjoyed watching your video. The utter frustration in your voice as you died again and again made me smile!

[DanScott]

Carver is a pretty bad game.. but hey, maybe the programmer and artist were just a couple of guys that really wanted to (had a dream to) make a game, even though their skills were not quite up to scratch????

I've seen worse games to be honest, but I doubt I would enjoy a minute playing this one

Originally Posted by rothers

Often programmers are told what to do too - we might know a feature will make a game terrible, but it was not up to us. Often you just end up getting burnt out by some idiot being in charge and just do whatever they say because your spirit is dead

Sadly, this is an ongoing (40 year plus) problem, and has never been addressed properly.

[malko]

Originally Posted by modrobert

What I meant about "it really sucks with games where you have to die (at least once) to progress" is games where you can't beat a trap on the first try based on skill, but rather you have to learn where the traps are by failing, this applies to Rick Dangerous [...]

In that aspect, a lot of game require a 1st try death. Being trap or enemies moves pattern.
Personally bad sprite collision detection is what I can't stand in a game. Difficulty is something I can handle with patience, but not bad collision detection...

Originally Posted by gimbal

Yes in that respect Rick Dangerous (especially the sequel) are a personal nightmare But that IS Rick Dangerous. Without it, it would be a very generic platformer with some funny sounds and animations. So yeah you either love it or you hate it.[...]

Last level of the 1st one is in that vein too for some parts until you get the pattern and then it's all "easy".

Originally Posted by gimbal

[...] It's a little bit of brain training added to it I guess, your memory becomes part of the game play. [...]

Personally I like it as it is a brain fitness, like with a puzzler