Reaper978

Thanks for all the good responses everyone. I've gotten some bad responses on doomworld. Rune is awesome, I love that game. Love the sound effects. Everything about it was great. I tried Severance and I didn't much like it, actually. Rune was way more accessible. Is it just me or does Mageslayer and Rage of Mages sound like they should be action-oriented fps's (maybe like Heretic)? In response to the Anvil of Dawn mention: As cool as the concept of the RPG is, I have to say that I don't really like playing them. They don't hold my interest long enough for me to finish them. And I think they're all extremely difficult, or have extremely difficult parts\bosses that ruin it. I really don't understand how people have the patience to play them...? Speaking of things not holding my interest long enough, I've tried mapping and programming in Zdoom, and find it tedious. It's amazing to me that so many people can churn out complicated doom mods. It doesn't seem easy to learn.

Heretic and Hexen seem pretty unique to me, I think they're awesome games. I was wondering if there were any other games in the tradition of Heretic and Hexen? I of course know about Heretic 2 and Hexen 2. I'm also interested in mods for Heretic\Hexen with new content like weapons\textures\monsters. Is there anything noteworthy? I know about Necrosis but that was pretty short, but good though.

As cool as old games can be, there's no getting around the fact that many of them are too fucking hard, and doubtless have stupid parts where you get stuck and can't figure out what to do. A game that comes to mind is Nox. Anybody have thoughts on that game?

While many modern games with gore have been mentioned, I can't help but think that there is a trend for less gore in modern gaming, especially no gibbing. That's really why I posted this thread. I'm not asking for gory games to be more gory than they already are, they're fine the way they are.

Is it just me or have they toned down the blood a lot since the old days of Blood and Duke3d? What happened to blowing up bad guys? It seems to me that a lot of games take inspiration from that xbox game Black, where there is no blood and gore at all, there's just a lame gray puff where the bullet hits. What happened to the violent days of Quake, Half-Life and Duke Nukem? I find the gibs and blood to be part of the fun. I don't think gore has ever been done as well as in Blood. The blood streams off the enemies and contributes to the game's atmosphere a ton, giving it a bloody, visceral feel. It's so freaking awesome. I wish they would have that "blood streaming" effect in other games, and in modern games. Also, I notice in modern games that the ejected bullet casings always disappear from the ground after a few seconds, why is it always like this? It would be so cool to see the casings realistically stay on the ground. I've only seen them stay like that in Blood and Shadow Warrior. I wish there were more Build engine games in the Duke Nukem 3D style that are cool and violent. I wish someone would revisit the style of Duke3d, Shadow Warrior, and Blood, and make a new game with the build engine in the modern era. I've seen the new shadow warrior and think it looks kind of lame. Build is where it's at! Since I like the build engine games and their style, are there any mods\maps\total conversions around (for doom or the build-engine games, or another game) that are definitely worth playing? Or maybe you've heard of other games like that I might be interested in?

I hate the shit youtube is doing now. I hope it doesn't get worse, they have a shite-load of classical music on there.

Yeah. I think most people have at least some need to callously insult and injure others without reason, regardless of how well they've learned to hide it with kind words and smiles. Am I really expected to believe that the average person has transcended their animal roots to become an ethical, compassionate adult? I think it really says something when everyone is willing to work an endless, meaningless grind every day, with a few breaks to make it look like a facet of an advanced, civilized culture instead of enslavement. People have a need to enslave and be "boss". Modern society has sanitation, floss and toothbrushes, plumbing, anesthetic, and temperature control, and while these advances are good things, I think the old habits of racism, misogyny, and a complete ethical vacuum, things which reigned supreme for thousands of years, are still there. I have really horrible dreams, the kind of thing I feel like I would have if I was locked up in solitary confinement. Again and again, it's always images of humans acting unthinkably cruel, acting mechanically and exhibiting an utter indifference for the value of beauty and innocence. I'm inclined to think that this is the stuff that most people are really made up of, with a few good people unknowingly surrounded by it.

I suppose I don't really know where to begin. I've been enamored with games since I was a kid. I think they're awesome. The music, the atmosphere, the violence (or lack thereof, in the Myst games for example), it's all so cool. That being said, at the risk of sounding like a "noob", I think designers have the bad habit of making their games too damn difficult and/or frustrating. This isn't an issue in some games, but I'm tempted to say the vast majority of games are too hard, or have parts that are too hard. If you're good enough to play them like that that's great, but often I can't really imagine how a designer intended for the game to be played. Having to quit a game because it's too hard is a total disappointment. On a related note, I sent this message to someone who does let's plays of a lot of different computer games, and many RPGs. Since he hasn't responded yet, and I don't think he will, I'll post it here, and you can all respond to it. "I admire your ability to play through games from the beginning to end. To me, it's kind of like being able to read a book from beginning to end. I usually end up losing interest at some point, and stop playing. I did that about 1/4 of the way through Arcanum. I wish I stuck it through to the end. I find Divine Divinity to be quite(!) difficult, and don't know if I really want to continue it. I have attention deficit disorder, so I've always had problems starting projects and seeing them through to their conclusion. I've beaten a fair number of games, though nowhere near as many as you have. I've admired games like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and the Temple of Elemental Evil from afar, but I really should play them. They seem like classics that are really worth playing. As with all games, though, I fear that I will be stuck reading walkthroughs or getting frustrated with bosses, or getting stuck at puzzles, as games often provide challenges which I find very difficult or impossible to traverse. How do you deal with these problems? Besides the games I've mentioned, are there any others you might recommend? I think game developers make their games too difficult, and there really should be a difficulty setting when there isn't one. I personally have no idea how anyone can play Skyrim on anything but the lowest difficulty. The enemies just quickly kill you. Most of the games I've beaten are first person shooters, but I've always been interested in the epic, rewarding journeys of RPGs. Maybe you can provide me some guidance on which games to try? GOG provides a good selection." Concerning Skyrim, the lowest difficulty is pretty easy, but the next difficulty up, apprentice, many of the monsters do too much damage, and I'll end up running out of potions midway through the dungeon. Having the quit and backtrack all the way out of a dungeon midway through kind of sucks. I don't really understand how people play it on the higher difficulties. Divine Divinity is freaking hard. I don't see how someone could think otherwise after facing the powerful monsters in the game's first dungeon. If you try to fight them they kill you quite quickly. On one of the levels of the dungeon, I just had to run away from the monsters and get to the next level of the dungeon, I'm not talking about the very end of the dungeon where you run away from the mob of monsters that attacks you. Despite all this, I wouldn't consider myself a novice gamer. I suppose I'm a novice at RPGs and strategy games, though I've gotten pretty far in Lunar: A Silver Star Story, and Final Fantasy VII. I managed to beat the Protoss campaign in StarCraft: Brood War. StarCraft can get pretty difficult. To give you an idea of my playing ability, here are some games I've beaten: I've beaten Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil on Veteran, The Doom 3 lost mission on marine, Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 on Ultra-Violence, TNT on either ultra violence or hurt me plenty, Half-Life on normal, Opposing Force on normal, blue shift on normal, HL2 on hard, Quake first 3 episodes on hard, last episode on normal, Quake 2 normal, a quake 2 expansion on normal, Quake 3 on normal, Max Payne on normal. If memory serves, I beat the first campaign in the original Empire Earth on normal. The original Myth on the lowest difficulty (there's a hard game). I beat Castlevania Symphony of the Night. I've beaten Goldeneye on agent. There's a game that hasn't aged well. Speaking of N64, is it just me or are the Turok games fucking impossible? I also beat Devil May Cry and Silent Hill 2 on normal.

You got it! Thanks a lot! I might get around to playing it at some point.

I used to remember the name for this game, but I can't remember anymore. It looked like a good game, but I never played it. I remember it was 3D, and according to the review I read of it, the units used martial arts in their combat. One of the advertisements for this game (or maybe the cover of it... ?) showed two warriors, one with this gigantic flamberge, and the other with a giant warhammer, about to attack each other. I keep thinking it's called something like "wolf age" but I know that's not what it's called. Maybe you know?

That's basically how it is for me with music. I definitely can't draw the things I see in my head. And ideas come and go so swiftly, getting them all down in time before I forget the idea is a challenge. Anyway, after a long time away from such things, I'm going to try music composition again. I find that such endeavors are quite tedious, however.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't really know what to do with it. I might add more to it, but I really don't know how to map beyond the basics. I brightened it up a bit and started another building, but that's about it.

Chocolate Hexen or ZDoom.

Since I'm probably never going to venture into mapping any further, and I'll probably never finish it, here is my idea of an open field in Hexen: https://www.box.com/s/9mxh5e58evfe4kuoalkw I hope the wad works properly.

If projecting someone's thoughts (or indeed, even understanding them) is so impossible, how is it that I can see my own thoughts and understand them so perfectly?