[off topic] Role Playing games

[Shmi]

Do Orbinauts like role playing games aswell as space sims?

My husband and I were nostalgic about the Dungeon & Dragon games we used to play at University, so we hatched
a cunning plan.  Indoctrinate the children to like playing D&D too!  Which we did, starting off gently with the Talisman
board game. We succeeded, the girl is so enthusiastic she wants to be the Dungeon Master!  Next, get the
14 year old to ensnare his friends - the result, you have enough characters for a decent adventure.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans can come unstuck, and the arrival of 3rd sprog 2 years ago has prevented me
joining in any of those D&D sessions. BUMMER

So Is it just me thats wierd? or do other people like BOTH

sci-fi AND fantasy

realistic space sim AND dice & dinky little lead figurines



Post Edited ( 07-07-04 11:10 )

[DocHoliday]

Hehe, a cunning plan indeed. Heh do Medal of Honor or Call of Duty also count? becase only other games that
COULD be classified as RPG I played were Space Quest and King's Quest.

But honestly, I always had a hard time playing games, where there was magic and potions involved. I just couldn't
grasp how to use all those things. I mean, if you have footmen, archers, catapults and that sort of (realistic)
weaponry you have history to draw upon regarding their use. But when you have the Potion of Health and Mana of
Regeneration (or whatever), you are sort of walking in the dark, ESPECIALLY if you're not a native english speaker
and haven't read fantasy books, to get a glimpse.. The latest example of my trouble with this is Warcraft 3 where it is
all combined in a sort of Lord-of-the-Ringish way

I guess people who like both, must find something in common that I can't

[McBrain]

I play Star Wars Knights of the old Republic.

[freespace2dotcom]

D&D is well, for the more obsessive than me, I sure won't play it. it's not for my type. But.. uh.. super mario rpg
counts. heck rpg is in the name even, oh, and final fantasy. those are the ones I like.

[Shmi]

McBrain wrote:
I play Star Wars Knights of the old Republic.

as does Krytom, and the Jedi Acadamy etc etc.  I only get to be a spectator in these types of games because by the
time Tom has finished with them I've seen most of the interesting scenes and there never seems to be much point in
playing.  Shootem ups leave me cold.

I suppose Doc one can think of magic as a limited resource that can be used up (and has only a n% chance of
working!) sort of medpacks, phasers and tractor beam gizmos but how well these work depend on your skill and luck
(hence the die)

and Freespace the most common weapon for a human fighter is a two-handed sword but I suppose a good DM could
work out the specs of a Katana.

I don't think it matters what the game is as long as it gives us the chance to do the types of activities we
enjoy.  For instance in Civ3 I like exploring with scouts and nabbing all the villages, also beating the other civs to
scientific advances and wonders.  But I'd rather not go to war unless I have to.  

I know some children who enjoy playing the Sims so they can invite visitors for a swim, then delete the ladders while
they are swimming so the poor sims cant get out and end up drowning.  Or only play Zoo Tycoon so they can delete
the fences and watch the tigers having lunch on the visitors!  BTW I'v been asked to ask if Sims 2 is out in the US yet?

I would enjoy multiplayer games (mainly for the CHAT) but never get much chance to play.  We have 3 PC's on a LAN
network but Krytom and Atom have only played Age of Empires with me.  (We were supposed to be allies but Atom
deliberately boxed my scout in with a wall.)  Unfortunately they enjoy games that need speed and fast reactions I
prefer games where my "superior intellect":) would give me an advantage.

[Krytom]

Nah, your just getting slow. Civ 3 is good. It is great fun going to war once you've researched everything cos then
you've got stealth bombers, tanks, radar artillery, ICBMs, the lot. Although war is only fun when you have more units
than the enemy, and more cities.

oh BTW:

Try bringing back the GUPT for this sort of thing in future.

[McBrain]

May I open a new GUPT?

[Shmi]

Please do, bringing up the old GUPT takes forever!!!!

[McBrain]

OK


BTW:

Call me god.

[freespace2dotcom]

and Freespace the most common weapon for a human fighter is a two-handed sword but I suppose a
good DM could work out the specs of a Katana

Oooh~... yes, kanatas can be used two-handed or one-handed. that's a cool thing.

but I'm not sure how that would work out... I'm not much in a game like that... too foreign to me. I've never played a
D&D-like game before...

but yeah, I had civilization: call to power, and quite frankly, I think that's the best of the civ games. I'm a warmonger
that tries for world conquest 9.9 times out of 10. although that's against the computer, against you guys... well.. I
wouldn't be nearly as agressive.. You can even build space cities in orbit! no going to mars though... that game would
be interesting to play online, I think you could even send saved files via email attachments and play over the net. (it's
turn based) so your connection speed wouldn't matter. It would interesting to see how everybody plays. mind you, I
do make alliances with the other powers, no matter how far below they are to me.

[Shmi]

Yes civ3 call to power is great,BTW  have you played the similar Alpha Centauri?

But Civilization III Play the world/conquests is even better, it is designed to be multiplayer! Since neither
Krytom, nor Atom, nor even Krytom's Dad, will deign to play multiplayer with me the only way I can experience
multiplayer is to hotseat and play 2 civilisations at once.  The 2 civilisations can leap ahead on their science research
by working on different topics then trading.  They then proceed to wipe the floor with the other civs sometimes
without a shot being fired.

However it can get tedious swapping civs every turn, so sometimes I let one of my civilisations take over the other
unopposed he he but I guess that is "rather unsporting".

I suppose I could try playing online, now we are on broadband, but lately I've not been so interested in CivIII.  
I've become addicted to this forum instead and to orbiter (or I will be, once I get more adept at the controls)   The
ability to change the time factor is a great advantage.  I plan to be a space tourist travelling to all the interesting
places and taking lots of photos.  As long as I can get there with enough fuel and oxygen,  I'll be content to take it
slow

[McBrain]

Shmi: Try to do a moon mission with the DG!

Download the Descartes landing site and fly to the moon!

[DocHoliday]

Hehe, Civilization. I wasted many years on Civ 1, 2 AND 3 ) The strategy I prefered was to play on real world map,
then get myself in a position of a major superpower and then just keep everyone peaceful, making war only when
forced, at whick point I executed a D-Day kind of a overkill on them and then offered peace. and demanded an
apology too All the while I building my spaceship for Alpha Centauri. The game with that name I also played, but
only briefly. Too alien technology for me again BUT it was fun to have the diplomatic relations I think the factions
were a very good idea. Different philosophies and advantages.

[Shmi]

McBrain wrote:
Shmi: Try to do a moon mission with the DG!

Download the Descartes landing site and fly to the moon!

I have flown from Mir to the Moon does that count?  Although I confess that  I did have my "driving
instructor" sitting next to me and I didn't land at a base.  I prob dont have to download much just find it on
the PC where Krytom has it saved.  Is it possible to have 2 different setups of Orbiter on the same computer say in
different user names? Or am I going to be mucking things up for Krytom when I use it?????

If I could get Krytom's little sister to take her afternoon nap every day I would have more chance to practice on
Orbiter.

Perhaps next week when all my duties as a PTA treasurer are over and the tons (weight) of coins are in the bank.

I'm only going to fly in a DG (for now).  They are great!!!!!  as is Orbiter sound! thanks Dan

Guess which skin I'm going to use?

[Shmi]

edit Getting rid of double post



Post Edited ( 07-07-04 11:11 )

[McBrain]

Shmi wrote:
Guess which skin I'm going to use?

The pink one?

It's possible to have two Orbiter installs on the same Computer.

Just extract the base and the texture folder to a different location.
Or let Krytom do this, maybe he knows how to do this much better!

[Krytom]

Yup.

[Shmi]

Sorry about the double post I dont know how that happened.

Introducing the latest incarnation of Doctor Who!  (my younger daughter Libby:))
sorry you missed them



Post Edited ( 06-28-04 13:00 )

[DocHoliday]

That's right. Just extract the files and don't forget OrbiterSound and DG too. Orbiter doesn't use any Windows
registry at all, so you might as well copy the current orbiter installation to another directory as well That way all is
already set up and you can just tweak it to your preference.

Cheers,

[DanSteph]

Shmi wrote:
Introducing the latest incarnation of Doctor Who!  (my younger daughter Libby:))

LOL she's cute but .... how many childrens do you have 8o

We think that 2 is enough (if there is no accident that would force us to
revise the count)

Dan

[Shmi]

I thought two was perfect too! 1 boy (Krytom) and then 1 girl. In fact, when the girl was at last in
school for the whole day, I thought I could stop being a full time mother.  I completed a PGCE (post graduate
certicate of education) course and then started teaching secondary sciences part-time.

Then a so-called expert in Risk Sciences got a bit careless......

I wouldn't be without her for the world of course, but being stuck at home again with Libby has left me craving some
intellectual stimulation.  Which flying around space using Orbiter should provide!

My middle child didn't want to be left out of the photos:-

standing near the plane she actually flew in real-life!

Those monsters (or more likely Atom and Krytom) had better watch out!

edit: photos deleted to reduce download time on thread



Post Edited ( 07-07-04 11:08 )

[McBrain]

Hehe, watch out, Atom and Krytom!!

[harmsway]

I have three children myself.

http://www.eharm.net/photography/personal/personal.html

http://www.eharm.net/links/about_me/about_me.html

My 14 year old son has played most RPG's you can think of. But what is surprising is he has been clued to RuneScape
for months. I mean that's all he does. My wife has mandated non-computer days for him, just so he can be human a
few days a week. If you don't know of RuneScape it's kind of an online D&D. It goes to show you though that
graphics
are not as important as playability. At least not for my son.

Gene

[Shmi]

Hmmm mandated non-computer days that does sound like a good idea What do you think Krytom and Atom?
on Wednesday's and Thursday's you must look after Libby and are not allowed on the computers.  Ha that would
give me a chance to use the pentium 4 in the evenings instead of being relegated to the old Win 98 PC.

Harmsway, my children are extremely jealous of you living in Florida and working at the KSC.  I
know Krytom has mentioned on this forum his once *in a lifetime holiday in Florida when he saw a shuttle
launch from our hotel despite the lanuch we'd booked to see at KSC being cancelled.  * well it is only going to
be  once now we have to cope with 3 children. To rub it in, Charlotte's Great Uncle tantalises her with
photos of baby turtles hatching on the beach near their florida apartment.

However, I don't envy you your humidity.  The climate here in England is much more comfortable (I say this despite
the thunderstorm which cut me off from the computer for most Libby's nap time  Unfortunately visibility of the night
sky is poor and we visited Grandpa in Cornwall for the last total eclipse only to have it so cloudy you couldn't use and
didn't neeed the protective glasses.  It did get very cold, and the birds fell silent.

Seriously, should I be limiting Tom's time on computers? he does do lots of other stuff, music, trampolining,
more music....Oh dear at every turn I realise my failings as a mother.  Atom's sisters often do jobs for me around the
house without even being asked, and Atom can be quite easily be bribed with food to help with chores.  
EDIT: and McBrain left his chat room to empty the dishwasher!
But my own children are as oblivious to housework as I would like to be. (maybe its genetic or environmental or both)
perhaps this is why Darth Krytom turns to the dark side! Now, If I could only buy a servo like the have in The Sims...



Post Edited ( 06-22-04 18:08 )

[AphelionHellion]

It's strange, all my close friends always seem to be the types who are into RPGs, and I seem to identify with that
"personality" - but I can never get into 'em myself. Too much paperwork, perhaps?
I'm definately much easier to persuade to try new things when they're computer related, and I've played a couple
online RPGs, which I enjoyed (for awhile). I played Runescape for about 9 months(!) How I stuck to anything that long
is beyond me  
Thing is, my problem with MMORPGs is the same thing that makes them "real" - their persistance. I know there are
some newer online RPGs that have "rounds" that may only last a few weeks or so, but games like Runescape seriously
wind up turning me off in that I always wind up comparing myself to others. Perhaps this is more a personal insecurity
than a problem with the game itself?    But seriously, in a persistant online RPG, there are always some characters
who've been there since day 1, and they're level 152 everything and they carry more in pocket change than you've
ever seen in all your adventuring. Of course the frustrating part is when you're in a situation where you can fight other
players (In Runescape there's a wilderness areas where you can do that) and you get attacked and trounced by
everyone.
Worse than that is the people who join at the same time as you but spend unholy amounts of time leveling up. At
least the old time players tend to be somewhat polite and concerned with the state of the game itself - these other
guys just seem to have fun lording it over us folks who have jobs and require more than 2 hours sleep per night.
Something about the fact that you'll never be able to out-level these guys without becoming a recluse just rubs my
sense of fair play the wrong way. And don't get me wrong, my computer is my favorite past-time. I'm no social animal,
not by a long shot. I've got no problem getting home and playing Orbiter 'till bedtime    But I guess that's why I'm
more attracted to multiplayer games such as Tribes or Half Life; if you practice, you can actually be the equal of those
you're facing. Some days you're just "in the zone" and facing people who don't have any more experience than you,
and you can actually win a few games Imagine that!
Am I a poor sport for wanting to kick people's asses occasionally? Perhaps  But it's fun!!
Paper RPGs are more fun in that you're all starting on equal footing, and there's usually a less confrontational
atmosphere. Usually  But I'm never patient enough to learn all the rules...

On a somewhat related subject, how 'bout an Orbiter RPG?

Shmi: I'm in awe. In no way are people in my family at all interested in the same thing (let alone TWO things, RPGs
and Orbiter)! I'm wondering when your other two kids will join the ranks of Orbinauts here. Y'all can be an
expeditionary team in our O RPG