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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 2:27:11 GMT -5
Here's another one. In a game that has health potions or magic that cure you from any injury, why are there sick and injured NPCs?
In Skyrim you can walk into camps of soldiers from the civil war (as long as you haven't taken a side yet) and you will see all these soldiers lying on cots with bandages, moaning. Right next to them (available for you to just take) are enough health potions to cure you of way more HP than an NPC soldier has. But, for some reason, nobody uses these potions except when you are fighting a battle. (NPCs and enemies are able to use healing spells and health items in their inventory.)
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Post by bbg95 on Jan 19, 2021 2:48:43 GMT -5
" cutscene incompetence." That is so true. I'm always annoyed when my character who can basically do anything somehow gets captured because he allowed some random NPC to get the drop on him/her during a cutscene. LOL, yes. Like when you have just battled through 50 enemy guards to reach the story goal, and then in a cutscene you surrender because three guards capture you. Yeah, exactly. Tomb Raider 2013 was guilty of basically this exact scenario, and it really took me out of the game.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 3:50:26 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, are you unable to buy the games digitally and avoid the hassle of dealing with customs? Honestly, never tried to purchase digital copies. Guess you can say I’m old school...I’d like to have the physical disc. 😉 That's getting pretty hard to even do. Once upon a time I felt that way too, but I have later learned that with Steam (who is the market leader, but not the only vendor for such things), I actually have more ability to install and play the game on new computers than I did with my physical disks. Have you ever tried to load a physical disk from a 20+ year old game onto a new computer? It's usually a PITA, even if you can find the old disk, and then you usually still have to download the patches anyway. If stream suddenly shut down I would have a lot of games I could no longer play, but that seems unlikely. (There are a bunch of old games on physical media that I once owned but can no longer play too, either because I lost the disks or because they won't even load on new computers.) I haven't played HALO in at least 15 years, I think. I probably still have the disk somewhere in the house, but I have no idea if it could run on any of my current computers. Several old games I own on disk I actually bought on Steam too (usually for under $10) simply because it was easier than going through the dance of trying to load and use code that was compiled for 30-year-old computers.
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Post by XAsstCoach on Jan 19, 2021 4:13:01 GMT -5
Honestly, never tried to purchase digital copies. Guess you can say I’m old school...I’d like to have the physical disc. 😉 That's getting pretty hard to even do. Once upon a time I felt that way too, but I have later learned that with Steam (who is the market leader, but not the only vendor for such things), I actually have more ability to install and play the game on new computers than I did with my physical disks. Have you ever tried to load a physical disk from a 20+ year old game onto a new computer? It's usually a PITA, even if you can find the old disk, and then you usually still have to download the patches anyway. If stream suddenly shut down I would have a lot of games I could no longer play, but that seems unlikely. (There are a bunch of old games on physical media that I once owned but can no longer play too, either because I lost the disks or because they won't even load on new computers.) I haven't played HALO in at least 15 years, I think. I probably still have the disk somewhere in the house, but I have no idea if it could run on any of my current computers. Several old games I own on disk I actually bought on Steam too (usually for under $10) simply because it was easier than going through the dance of trying to load and use code that was compiled for 30-year-old computers. You know, I was just thinking how much I would love to play Railroad Tycoon II again...whether I can install it on my laptop now (found my discs ). Guess by what you're saying, if Steam have RRTc II available in their library it would be updated for Windows 10? If that's the case, I would seriously consider dusting off my Steam account and log back into it. Another hurdle I have to consider is the Great Firewall of China. I'll try to log onto the PlayStation store to see what is available. My worst fear is I can only purchase games from the PS-China store...which could limit my choices. Again, its just pure speculation...but stuff like Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon video...all inaccessible here unless I use a vpn. And even then, the live stream may not grant me access because I'm using a vpn. Its a hit or miss. But you make a good point about accessing the games updated with patches and all. Still recall searching for the Civ 3 (or was it 4?) patches from years ago after installing it on my laptop 4-5 yrs ago. Surprisingly it worked! But was a slightly inconvenient process.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 4:17:53 GMT -5
That's getting pretty hard to even do. Once upon a time I felt that way too, but I have later learned that with Steam (who is the market leader, but not the only vendor for such things), I actually have more ability to install and play the game on new computers than I did with my physical disks. Have you ever tried to load a physical disk from a 20+ year old game onto a new computer? It's usually a PITA, even if you can find the old disk, and then you usually still have to download the patches anyway. If stream suddenly shut down I would have a lot of games I could no longer play, but that seems unlikely. (There are a bunch of old games on physical media that I once owned but can no longer play too, either because I lost the disks or because they won't even load on new computers.) I haven't played HALO in at least 15 years, I think. I probably still have the disk somewhere in the house, but I have no idea if it could run on any of my current computers. Several old games I own on disk I actually bought on Steam too (usually for under $10) simply because it was easier than going through the dance of trying to load and use code that was compiled for 30-year-old computers. You know, I was just thinking how much I would love to play Railroad Tycoon II again...whether I can install it on my laptop now (found my discs ;)). Guess by what you're saying, if Steam have RRTc II available in their library it would be updated for Windows 10? If that's the case, I would seriously consider dusting off my Steam account and log back into it. Another hurdle I have to consider is the Great Firewall of China. I'll try to log onto the PlayStation store to see what is available. My worst fear is I can only purchase games from the PS-China store...which could limit my choices. Again, its just pure speculation...but stuff like Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon video...all inaccessible here unless I use a vpn. And even then, the live stream may not grant me access because I'm using a vpn. Its a hit or miss. But you make a good point about accessing the games updated with patches and all. Still recall searching for the Civ 3 (or was it 4?) patches from years ago after installing it on my laptop 4-5 yrs ago. Surprisingly it worked! :) But was a slightly inconvenient process. I have RRT II for Linux, and right now I only have one Linux computer at home, and it's really old but yet too updated to successfully launch the game (I think).
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 4:21:21 GMT -5
RRT II (including the Second Century expansion) costs $4.99 on Steam. Paying $5 is easier than finding the disk.
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Post by XAsstCoach on Jan 19, 2021 4:46:31 GMT -5
RRT II (including the Second Century expansion) costs $4.99 on Steam. Paying $5 is easier than finding the disk. Damn! You got me convinced now! 😁
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 6:51:11 GMT -5
Looking through the reviews on Steam, I see no complaints that RRT II will not run on current computers.
However, RRT 3 is apparently a different story (maybe because it was a 3d game?). Lots of complaints that while there are some downloadable config files that often get the game to run, people still have problems with it.
Most "best of" lists say that RRT II was the better game anyway, although RRT 3 did allow tunnels, which are missing from RRT II. Some of those mountain maps are very tough to find a place to lay track through, IIRC (and then you often need to use specialized mountain locos). I never played RRT 3, so I can't give my personal opinion on it.
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Post by XAsstCoach on Jan 19, 2021 7:07:00 GMT -5
Looking through the reviews on Steam, I see no complaints that RRT II will not run on current computers. However, RRT 3 is apparently a different story (maybe because it was a 3d game?). Lots of complaints that while there are some downloadable config files that often get the game to run, people still have problems with it. Most "best of" lists say that RRT II was the better game anyway, although RRT 3 did allow tunnels, which are missing from RRT II. Some of those mountain maps are very tough to find a place to lay track through, IIRC (and then you often need to use specialized mountain locos). I never played RRT 3, so I can't give my personal opinion on it. So would I be playing it through the Steam app, or would I just download the game via Steam and do a local install? I tried RRT III but just didn’t like it. Don’t think I really gave it a chance. Come to think of it, I may have bought the disc but had to download it from Steam. Then had to sign in in order to play...something made it into a real turn-off. This was back when I had dial-in internet access.
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 7:37:44 GMT -5
So would I be playing it through the Steam app, or would I just download the game via Steam and do a local install? Most games use Steam for DRM. Usually Steam is just always running on my computers. But some games sold on Steam are DRM-free or else handle their own DRM, and once you download them there is no reason you can't run them completely independently of Steam. I don't know which way this game works. Either way, you don't actually "run the game through Steam". All the game files are loaded onto your computer, but the game may need to check in with Steam for DRM purposes before it will launch. If you decide to delete the game off of your computer it frees up most of the space, but usually it leaves your saved game files and stuff like that. Then if you want to reinstall it, you just do that again. Some games store your saved game info on "the cloud", so if you install your game on a new computer you have access to them. Most games don't, and I wouldn't expect a game as old as RRT II to do anything like that. If you have more specific questions, I would suggest asking Steam. The usual refund policy on Steam is two hours. (I think that means two hours of gameplay.) But for $5?
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Post by XAsstCoach on Jan 19, 2021 7:40:15 GMT -5
U are up late! 😊
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 7:43:19 GMT -5
I am actually up *very* early.
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Post by XAsstCoach on Jan 19, 2021 7:49:38 GMT -5
I am actually up *very* early. LOL! The optimist...cup is half full for you! 🤣
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Post by mikegarrison on Jan 19, 2021 7:54:47 GMT -5
I am actually up *very* early. LOL! The optimist...cup is half full for you! 🤣 I mean that I went to bed at about 4pm on Monday and got up at about 10pm on Monday, so it's been 7 hours since I got up even though it is 5am on Tues.
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Post by bbg95 on Jan 19, 2021 11:47:48 GMT -5
Looking through the reviews on Steam, I see no complaints that RRT II will not run on current computers. However, RRT 3 is apparently a different story (maybe because it was a 3d game?). Lots of complaints that while there are some downloadable config files that often get the game to run, people still have problems with it. Most "best of" lists say that RRT II was the better game anyway, although RRT 3 did allow tunnels, which are missing from RRT II. Some of those mountain maps are very tough to find a place to lay track through, IIRC (and then you often need to use specialized mountain locos). I never played RRT 3, so I can't give my personal opinion on it. So would I be playing it through the Steam app, or would I just download the game via Steam and do a local install? I tried RRT III but just didn’t like it. Don’t think I really gave it a chance. Come to think of it, I may have bought the disc but had to download it from Steam. Then had to sign in in order to play...something made it into a real turn-off. This was back when I had dial-in internet access. Steam has DRM that may require you to be online, at least periodically. RRT II is also on Gog for $5.99, and it's completely DRM-free. Honestly, if you have any concerns at all about DRM or needing an online connection, I would just pay the extra dollar and get it through Gog. But it's up to you. Edit: the reviews on the Gog version are lower than Steam, so maybe it's harder to get it to run? I'm not really sure, but maybe Steam is better. After looking at the negative Steam reviews, it seems some people also can't get it to run there, so it likely just depends on your computer. Gog also has a better refund policy than Steam, as they let you refund it up to 30 days after purchase, even if you've played it, and they also have tech support.
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