If you're a Hardcore Gamer, I could use your help.

Hey all,

I'm in the market for a new adventure right now. I got this quote while looking for a great game, "Well, for one, Valve has crafted a world that is often mesmerizing, and with wildly differing scenarios. It's a journey, not a delve inside grey-walled warehouses and the like." I really agree with this. Except for the exception of F.E.A.R., only because I like the looks of the "areas" in this one.

I am into games that offer only fully immersive environments, so that one can explore freely, well with exception of the level or story-line. In other words, games like HL2 and Oblivion are my favorites. I also like Battlefield 2 even though it is not really an "adventure" type. But, it's the realistic like graphics that I enjoy.

I also can't stand running games in medium settings. So, I am looking for games that are no newer than 2006, atleast for now. The only two I've found so far are Far Cry and F.E.A.R. But, Far Cry looks just a tad simplistic in environments, not like HL2 which offered a wide variety. Fear has nice graphics, but I'm not really into blowing up scary monsters.

Now to get even more specific, I am especially into futuristic style graphics. For example, I absolutely loved the "feel" of Omikron when it was new. Heck, I'm lying, I still like it. "Cities, Future, Nice Graphics, Explorative environments". Or, best 3 out of 4.

So far, I've only found one possibility, that is crysis. BUT, 1. I think it is too new for my system to run well and 2. I don't know that it's really the futuristic scenes I'm looking for. Half-Life 2 really fit my bill but I just hated the fact that you absolutely have to install the Steam Cr@p on my low memory Hard Drive, that really ticks me off, but what am I going to do about it? Oh, and on occasion some serious motion sickness. So right now I have it uninstalled for the sake of other games!

Surely someone has some game ideas for me.

 

I have a couple of suggestions for you GF. First of all, given you want to stay away from the newest most demanding games, I'd suggest you look into something like "Game Accelerator Pro" or "GameOS" (both by the same company, I think). You may find there are free trial versions of one or both in the downloads section here at MG. I have the paid version of Accelerator Pro (it was less than $20) and really like it. I also used the free version of GameOS for a couple of years (it has a "nag" screen, but was very useful to me in eeking more performance out of an aging system).

There may be other similar software I'm not aware of. What these kinds of programs do is either shut down parts of Windows automatically that aren't needed for gaming (Game Accelerator Pro) or, after a reboot, keep those parts of Windows you don't need for most games from starting up in the first place (GameOS). Either way, it reduces the load on your hardware by (temporarily) getting rid of stuff running in the background you don't need anyway and effectively makes your system perform like a more powerful set of hardware.

You can, of course, accomplish something like this yourself by carefully investigating all running processes and shutting down all the ones you're sure you don't need. But this is time consuming and, if you're not careful, you may shut down something you do really need and cause your system to crash or lockup.

In addition, both GameOS and Accelerator Pro offer, in their paid versions, several levels of acceleration. If you find that the most ambitious settings are too much for a particular game or for your system, you can dial down to the lower settings and still gain a substantial effective increase in your hardware's ability to "pull" an otherwise too demanding game. These programs can also enable you to play games you could previously play only at lower detail settings. With these "accelerator" programs you'll be able to run such games at higher detail settings, with more options turned on.

I've used both GameOS and Game Accelerator Pro and found them both to make a noticeable difference when I was trying to run newer demanding games on older hardware. I prefer Game Accelerator Pro because you can just start it running and then launch a game. You only have to reboot once you've finished your game and shut down Acclerator Pro. Then you see a message telling you to reboot, in order to restore full OS functioning. And it works like a charm. It also has a number of other features, including a likety-split fast RAM defragger. GameOS also works quite well but it requires that you first start up GameOS, select the level of "acceleration" you want and then reboot. On rebooting you see a pared down desktop with no Taskbar, no icons, no Start Button or System Tray. You just have a small interface at the top of the screen allowing you to access the GameOS functions (and also replacing the regular Windows Start button and programs). Once you've started a game and finished playing, then you have to designate the regular Windows shell as the preferred OS and reboot again to get back to the normal Windows desktop.

Lest I sound like a salesman, I should say I have no financial interest in either of these "game accelerator" products nor do I personally know any of the programmers or other people involved in the development or marketing of either GameOS or Game Accelerator Pro. But I did, some years back, exchange a few posts in a thread here at MG with the original developer of GameOS. It was through that exchange that I first became aware of GameOS and began to use it. At that time I was attempting unsuccessfully to run Morrowind on a system that was not powerful enough. That is, I could install the game and get it running, but the lag time between pressing a key and seeing something actually happen on screen was so great that it just wasn't practical to try to actually play it. I downloaded and installed the free trial version of GameOS and, sha-ZAM -- using exactly the same hardware as before I was able to play Morrowind and even dial up some of the graphics settings, whereas I'd had to set them as low as possible before and even then couldn't play the game satisfactorily.

So look for a free trial version of either GameOS or Game Acclerator Pro. They may be available here at MG. If not, then do a web search and you should be able to find them. There may be multiple versions of each so find the most recent version you can that's compatible with your OS.

As for games that allow some freedom of movement and are interesting. Well, my favorite in that category that I've been playing recently would have to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Great graphics, pretty good AI, large areas to roam around in and explore and also a good main story line with numerous sub-quests. Only trouble is, I'm afraid even using GameOS or Accelerator Pro your hardware may not be up to the job. And by the way, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s reputation has suffered because the game had lots of bugs when it was first released. And it was the product of a European software company and developers so it didn't get the heavy duty ad campaign a similar shooter might have gotten if it had been released by a U.S. company. Patches have addressed most of the game's problems and it's a somewhat overlooked gem in first person shooters I think. I've been playing it for about 5 or maybe 6 weeks now and the game has yet to lock up or crash on me even once. I did have some problems when I tried to load up one mod I found for the game, but that was apparently mod-related, as I've had no problems at all with the patched but un-modded game after quite a few hours of play now.

 

For older adventure games, try Sacred, but be sure to get the Gold version. It also has a sequel in the works.

The Fallout series have always been free roaming. The Baldur's Gate games were grand adventures. The Might and Magic series was great, very free roaming, and just about DOS era. Dungeon Siege is a fun romp, though it can take quite a while to get through.

Freelancer was also fantastic, and isn't very graphics intensive. It's got dozens of mods after you finish the storyline (Or open SP to completely ignore the storyline.)

Lego Star Wars, and Knights of the Old Republic are also fantastic games. If you like flight sim's, you can't go wrong with X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter.

 

Triaxx2 has a number of fine suggestions there. But I especially like his mention of mods ("modifications"). Have you ever used any mods for games you already own? There are mods available for download (usually free) at many gaming sites. Mod quality varies from poor to exceptionally good. Many download sites have user ratings so you can separate out the stuff that's not very good.

Some mods modify a game so extensively they effectively create a new game. More often a mod adds additional quests or story content to a game and sometimes additional areas to explore. Even more common are mods that address particular complaints about a game. There are, for example, so called "duct tape" mods for Doom 3. The name comes from the idea that there would be certainly be duct table available in the UAC mars base and, therefore, a character such as you play in Doom would surely modify his weapon using duct tape to attach a flash light to it. What these duct tape mods do, of course, is allow you to use both your weapon of choice AND have a light at the same time.

This is seemingly a small change but, of course, substantially alters the feel of the game. Not everyone is going to like changing one of the basic game design decisions, but for someone who might just be beginning to play first person shooters, I suspect it was a very desirable and welcome mod. And even for an experienced Doomer, I think it's fun, once you've completed the unmodded to game, to go back and play now and then with some duct tape.

There were/are many mods for Morrowind that added interesting sub-quests and also additional geography to the game to explore or created a home for your character where he could store stuff, and there was a stock exchange mod that allowed you to invest in the various factions and make money, and many more. There were Morrowind mods that reduced (or eliminated) the pesky flying creatures that attacked so frequently. And often, you could combine mods -- run several of them at once. Indeed, often groups of the most popular mods for a given game are combined into a single package to make it easier to download and install a group of mods all together.

I believe a rather large modding community has grown up around Morrowind's successor, Oblivion, also. Do a search for "game mods" or "<insert specific game title> mods" to look for mods for a particular game you have and would like to add some content to.

In addition, there are sometimes mods that allow you to reduce a game's demands on your hardware to make it more playable on an older system. I recall, again, a Morrowind mod which, in combination with GameOS, enabled my then aging computer to play Morrowind by providing a tool that allowed me to reduce the distance detail to the horizon that had to be calculated. This affected the appearance of the game only slightly (and the appearance of objects, people, and monsters nearby and in the middle distance not at all), but made the game noticeably less demanding on my hardware -- which is to say it made it run more smoothly and made playing Morrowind much more enjoyable with my hardware.

While it's certainly possible that a mod could contain some malware, mostly they are, in my experience, free of malware, legit, no cost add-ons that add replay value, sometimes quite extensive, to popular games. Tools that come with many games, such as the Construction Set with Morrowind, give gamers the tools that the developers used to create the game so that, with patience and imagination, dedicated gamers can create compatible additional game content and share it with others via the internet.

The original Neverwinter Nights also attracted a large modding community. Like Morrowind, it's D & D type stuff, not sci-fi (but not in first person view unlike Morrowind). But it was, and still is, a good looking and interesting 3rd person "top down" moveable camera view RPG. And I think you can buy the original game plus about half a dozen add on scenarios, in the Neverwinter Nights Platinum package for under $20 the last time I looked. That makes for quite a few hours of out-of-box gaming and then there are the many NN mods to explore once you've exhausted the Platinum box materials.

When searching the net for game mods, look for sites that are legit, not warez sites. That is, look for websites associated with computer gaming mags, or other websites you trust or recognize. In addition, if you've never used mods before, look for a site that has not merely lots of mod downloads, but also a forum or at least a good FAQ section that will get you started and teach you the basics of installing mods. Usually it's not too terribly difficult.

But, for example, if you learn how to back up any files that will be changed by a mod, you can easily restore a game to it's "original condition" without having to uninstall and reinstall. And there may be other tips and tricks about using mods that can be helpful. So look for that sort of info on a modding download site, as well as user ratings of mods. And start out using less ambitious and demanding mods and then, once you get the hang of it, move on to more ambitious mods.

One final thing to look for when you see a mod you want to download and try -- make sure it includes a clear set of install instructions and directions about how to use the mod's features. Usually these should be found in an accompanying readme file. Many mods, by the way, are compressed and so you may need a program to extract zip or rar files or whatever. But some mods may be available as self-extracting downloads that you merely have to double click to unpack and install.

 

Neverwinter Nights is still fully supported by Bioware, their employees frequent the site's tech support forums, the modding community is so cheerfully alive you'd think the game was released last year, and the online multi-player mode adds lots of extra hours to the game, if you are into online mnultiplayer games.

As a hopeless Bioware fangirl, Nwn is probably the best game you can find that fits your critera.

 

Another good tip for finding reputable mod sites, is to go to the official forums, and see where people are talking about. Supreme Commander has an official mod system called The Vault. Of course it doesn't work as well as it's supposed to, but...

 

Oh, and for older games... Gametap

 

Thanks Mimsy, I have NWN already. I did like it. I didn't
care for their "bobbleheads" though. I don't know who's
idea it was to make their heads move like that. Also, I
prefer more real looking graphics. For instance, I thought
that the Baldurs gate series looked much better and less
"cartoonish". Just my thoughts.

Sacred was a very nice suggestion Triaxx2. Though, I'm a
little played out on the whole mid-evil thing. And,
frankly, the Elderscrolls series really satisfies that for
me. I have been considering Dungeon Seige for a while,
however. I have a couple of the Might & Magics as well, 7
and 9.

"Have you ever used any mods for games you already own?"
Heck yeah. Got a couple of Oblivion Mods and a sweet Deus
Ex mod right now. I guess I could download another
Oblivion Mod, since that really is my favorite game right
now. You know, If a game could combine all the graphics
and exporation of Oblivion into a Modern or futuristic setting...wow. I
really like inner city levels, especially if you can go
into the different buildings. And, even better if it is
futuristic.

You know, the more I think about it, the more
I think that the sequels to HL2 would be my best options.
I just hate being dependent on the net to be able to play
and install!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I may try to get HL2 episode 1 and the others. I'm a little apprehensive though, because I have had lots of problems with having to do the whole Steam thing. So, I'm still open to suggestions for more 1st person style, exploration games.

 

Sacred is a little more fantastical than medieval. It's also a very german style, so it's considerably different from Oblivion.

If you liked Baldur's Gate and can stand some turn-based combat, you might like Atari's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

 

O.k. I see, that's true. I'm sure I would like it. Wish I could buy 'em all.

Hmm. I didn't know that Atari had another one of these out. I have "Temple" and I liked it...well except for the really monotonous feel of the dungeons, I mean. Thanks.

 

I enjoyed playing Sacred (and as I never finished it, keep going back from time to time), so I'm not knocking it. But it's really closer (though much better looking and more interesting) in style to a Diablo 2 type game, than to Oblivion or even Baldur's Gate. Which is to say it's a real "clickfest" with roaming monsters all over (too many of them really -- but then I felt the same way about Diablo and Diablo 2). But it's a very attractive looking game with a number of different geographic areas and different types of missions. There are also a variety of caves, underground lairs, and buildings to explore at various points. I wish there hadn't been nearly so many darn roving monsters, but I do like Sacred nonetheless. There are different types/character "professions" you can play, including one type which is a vampire during hours of darkness. (The game simulates real-time, but it's actually faster than real time, so there's a 24 day night cycle as you play, as there was in Diablo 2 if I recall correctly.)

In addition, as in Diablo 2, your character is solo most of the time (though occasionally an NPC, or several NPC's, will accompany him for awhile). You can also buy or sometimes find a horse to ride to speed up your cross country travel. And you can fight while mounted, though some spells or special powers can't be used when you're in the saddle.

It's a good game, with a lot of stuff in it, but more similar in genre to a Diablo 2 than Oblivion or even Baldur's Gate, I think. If you get the "Sacred Gold" package that includes the original game Sacred, the Sacred Plus expansion pack, and the Underworld Expansion pack. It also allows you to play any of 8 different character types/"professions". It's a fun game, should be available pretty cheap by now.

 

Actually, you might not like that one. Unrealistic graphics, for one, and I spent two hours patching the thing before it would even run stable. Once it did, it was awesome, but boy was it hard work. All the negative arguments about PC gaming have a new poster boy...

And Atari just published it. It was developed by Troika

 

True, but Troika is defunct. I seem to be the only person in the world who didn't have to stop and patch the game before I played it. You actually already have it, it's called Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, but it's something only a D&D P&P person would notice the difference in. It's actually the sequel to Temple of Elemental Evil, which was written by Gary Gygax. This was written by another author, which is why it's such a massive dungeon crawl, and a bit of a Monty Haul.

Sacred is a far more interesting game than Diablo IMO. And the Vamp isn't required to be a Vamp only at night. The perma-vamp is unforgivably powerful even in the daytime.