tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83451261912706113252024-03-27T21:54:36.088-07:00Best cRPGsA blog on the best Computer Role-playing Games, written by a cRPG veteran.Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.comBlogger3861125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-70416594470802270312024-03-05T20:05:00.000-08:002024-03-19T16:27:50.893-07:00M1 Tank Platoon MS-DOS 1989 MPS Labs<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>M1 Tank Platoon MS-DOS</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CBEYcBlu13172UEZ_0dKlsBErN26LujnbSwXDgiVTd8awkv-nISTE92g4E1Zgo6hLfVro1PZYcUEVH6Qg6t3vnxdnuQgrcOIz6h68_nYkMNOwlR2n3byz8U7FcJ_QVnFWkPXJayBSAsAD4Oip8Ha94UEBaYUXyEhcsXV6YQBAIi-HgFU5hX9piQo-KAy/s2000/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CBEYcBlu13172UEZ_0dKlsBErN26LujnbSwXDgiVTd8awkv-nISTE92g4E1Zgo6hLfVro1PZYcUEVH6Qg6t3vnxdnuQgrcOIz6h68_nYkMNOwlR2n3byz8U7FcJ_QVnFWkPXJayBSAsAD4Oip8Ha94UEBaYUXyEhcsXV6YQBAIi-HgFU5hX9piQo-KAy/w640-h200/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" title="M1 Tank Platoon MS-DOS, 1989, MPS Labs 320x200 16:10" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>M1 Tank Platoon is an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">armor-simulator</a> developed by MPS Labs in 1989 for <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a>, Atari ST and MS-DOS.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to cover M1 in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a>, but it misses out by one month. Thus, I will highlight M1 here. This is the 12th computer game from the 1980s that I have reviewed.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>M1 Tank Platoon is a fully real-time 3D tank-sim displayed in 256-color VGA at a resolution of 320x200. The graphics are 3D flat-shaded: terrain, buildings, armored vehicles and aircraft are represented by polygonal models. Explosion effects and smoke plumes are 3D as well, not sprite-based.</div><div><br /></div><div>Due to CPU-speed and RAM-size restrictions in 1989, MPS Labs were not able to represent the heavily-wooded or undulating terrain of the European countryside. Thus, battles take place mostly in wide-open terrain dotted by hills and buildings.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>M1 could run on as little as 4.77 MHz 8088 or 8086 microprocessors with 384 KB RAM in 4-color CGA. However, MPS Labs recommended running M1 on i80386 with 640 KB RAM in 256-color VGA, which resulted in smoother framerates and allowed for increased graphics detail.</div><div><br /></div><div>In assuming the role of an undefined platoon commander, players direct the actions of four M1 Abrams battle tanks in <i>single engagement</i> or <i>full campaign</i> versus Soviet forces in Europe. [1]</div><div><br /></div><div>There are two modes of play that update in real-time and are switched between on-the-fly: simulation mode and strategy mode. Action-sim mode is first- or third-person whereas strategy mode is top-down.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, command and control is dual-layered. It was not common for 3D ground vehicle or flight sims of the era to feature dual-layered command and control.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51Ym1tlzF111aiJ50HAPHULQhTFRWYNfA4f6QO12cmbP6BKEZX2zJHam9hCUZUuWrkJJ8KE0cVkKvuo4kurvNzarv_-OYX_WrJgbOxZTf_iGJRCzpdYmT3LQb6dkl83hq_r9eOuYpag40wC0WVQBa70aKsz8nuLKH7DntpooisE_azscU5rVwGetfrG9Y/s1600/m1%20tank%20platoon%20graphics.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51Ym1tlzF111aiJ50HAPHULQhTFRWYNfA4f6QO12cmbP6BKEZX2zJHam9hCUZUuWrkJJ8KE0cVkKvuo4kurvNzarv_-OYX_WrJgbOxZTf_iGJRCzpdYmT3LQb6dkl83hq_r9eOuYpag40wC0WVQBa70aKsz8nuLKH7DntpooisE_azscU5rVwGetfrG9Y/w320-h100/m1%20tank%20platoon%20graphics.webp" title="m1 tank platoon graphics" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Players <i>directly</i> control only one tank in action-sim mode by switching between commander, driver and gunner vantagepoints. However, players can issue commands to the other tanks in the platoon as well as call in artillery and air support (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Combined-Arms-Civilization-2.html">combined arms tactics</a>). [2]</div><div><br /></div><div>As in flight sims and other tank-sims of the era, action-sim mode is switchable between internal first-person views and external tracking views. External tracking views that could be rotated 360 degrees were novel in the late-80s.</div><div><br /></div><div>As it pertains to combat, M1 naturally emphasizes the gunner's station. When assumed by the player, this is the vantagepoint that can most impact outcomes on battlefields. And it is also the most fun and well-designed aspect of the M1 simulation. At the gunner's station you can toggle the thermal viewer and switch between 120 mm main gun and the coaxial machine-gun. You can also switch between armor-piercing Sabot and HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) ammunition.</div><div><br /></div><div>M1 also emphasizes defensively positioning tanks behind the crestlines of hills: the turret's line of sight extends over the crestline while enemy targeting of the tank's hull is blocked by the crestline (the "hull-down" position).</div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, M1 de-emphazies Soviet artillery in comparison to 2D wargames such as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Steel-Panthers-Wargame.html">Steel Panthers</a>. You are not going to spend hours trying to dig out enemy artillery in M1. Instead, you are contending with the speed, volume and manoeuvrability of Soviet armor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Therefore, M1's gameplay is fast-paced and exhausting at times; its action-levels akin to the dogfighting flight sims that would become popular in 1990.</div><div><br /></div><div>Top-down strategy mode is a zoomable <i>mapboard</i> that gives an overview of the battlefield in real-time. The mapboard shows various terrain features while highlighting mission objectives and friendly and hostile units (if visible). The mapboard is as well-designed as other aspects of M1; that is, it is pretty much perfect for an action-sim but not on the level of a proper turn-based wargame.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another fun aspect of M1 is starting off with a fledgling tank platoon and promoting its crewmen through six levels of skill to become expert wrecking crews.</div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the time of its release (1989), M1 Tank Platoon and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-Sphere-Inc.html">Falcon</a> (1987) were two of the most technically advanced and well-presented home computer games in the world. From its slicky-drawn HUD bitmaps and smoothy-updating 3D viewports to its sophisticated controls and combined-arms tactics, M1 was an unquestionably professional product on par with any flight sim of the late-80s.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">M1 also came bundled with a manual that rivaled flight sims of the era in terms of page-number and depth of research.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If you click on the image below and mouse-wheel up and down, you can see the difference in aspect ratio between 320x200 and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Non-standard-Square-pixel-VGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel 320x240 resolutions</a>. Thus, some of M1's 2D graphics were drawn for 16:10 aspect ratio and others for 4:3. And the 3D geometry looks proportional in 4:3, but not the interior bitmaps (e.g., the dials are vertically stretched in 4:3). This technical quirk could have been solved by non-standard VGA coding routines.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1g-YGw3i0OpDNux9RRVis-CYz3AcmXODZbY3vcWTst6VX-f6XdVxtimobup3lN2ERCNnSlrbtnZw-leSiZcX8pjoGvZGQKDwdkAPfVM9KUCNKuGwIzVkQEjoKfS22rDrBnTXyOOWbMYwgrizVS_t1lSQuWb2hriMGqC5ICfztECU2NxgVBVJkPVGVmsJ/s2000/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1g-YGw3i0OpDNux9RRVis-CYz3AcmXODZbY3vcWTst6VX-f6XdVxtimobup3lN2ERCNnSlrbtnZw-leSiZcX8pjoGvZGQKDwdkAPfVM9KUCNKuGwIzVkQEjoKfS22rDrBnTXyOOWbMYwgrizVS_t1lSQuWb2hriMGqC5ICfztECU2NxgVBVJkPVGVmsJ/w320-h120/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" title="M1 Tank Platoon MS-DOS, 1989, MPS Labs 320x240 4:3" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If M1 came out only a few years later, it could have taken advantage of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a>, i80486 CPUs and much more RAM.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As with many computer games of the late-80s, M1's gameplay is stronger than many 90s computer games; and its mechanics-complexity is on par with similar computer games that came out one decade later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the end and in retrospect, it was really just hardware technology that let M1 down. Or rather, M1 came out too early; it was ahead of its time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If only MPS Labs could have seen the future... what was coming just around the corner from Intel, IBM and Microsoft.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That said, if M1 <i>was</i> a part of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">90s computer game history</a> I would rank it alongside the big four. That's how good I consider it to be, even in its late-80s state.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As an aside, M1 came out before the <i>Persian Gulf War</i> brought the M1 Abrams to mainstream attention (1991).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Note that M1 was not the first 3D simulator to feature realistic <i>multi-unit</i> command and control: that was <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Carrier-Command-Amiga-1988.html">Carrier Command</a> (1988).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Late-80s was Big on Tank Sims</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>TANK: The M1 Abrams Tank Simulation</i> (Sphere Inc., 1989) was the other highly advanced tank simulator of 1989. In fact, TANK has the most advanced 3D engine out of the lot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuw0Pih-ddKOQsZ5h9rcnOnnw_Otb64L4i-NkKs56dcD3JyRwRcuXRx9J_f5m787KEUIOwIsPGrNTeX0YuaaSsisss_8QnKRegkMSayENvbk-cKWTwY-P454_xNzZeIXstM1rPAkbkE1yLwa1S7xwxKn_ZuRHz-RS06LJGJyLbEfF0ypWOBpSy8cGxeGy/s3200/TANK%20The%20M1%20Abrams%20Tank%20Simulation%20Sphere%20Inc%201989%20MS-DOS.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="3200" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuw0Pih-ddKOQsZ5h9rcnOnnw_Otb64L4i-NkKs56dcD3JyRwRcuXRx9J_f5m787KEUIOwIsPGrNTeX0YuaaSsisss_8QnKRegkMSayENvbk-cKWTwY-P454_xNzZeIXstM1rPAkbkE1yLwa1S7xwxKn_ZuRHz-RS06LJGJyLbEfF0ypWOBpSy8cGxeGy/w320-h120/TANK%20The%20M1%20Abrams%20Tank%20Simulation%20Sphere%20Inc%201989%20MS-DOS.webp" title="TANK: The M1 Abrams Tank Simulation" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Abrams Battle Tank</i> (Dynamix, 1988) was popular in the late-80s as well. However, ABT is more of an arcade-sim than M1. Still, ABT is quite a lot of fun even though it isn't as realistic as M1. If you just want to jump in and get blasting, this is the tank-sim for you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk828PJPLy_RDv1tspcTkdMVWNcOZRbFZSJRn5yRj_G92PIMjIQJnZFlk3yVnPe0wDV4KdB_xpPxsk5gMPE_EihQG5ze3_dnFFNT_vLNFJV4dYcOsN8t0404QHMeZJ5PP-GUskA-lTfZ2Zwsm5loJleNtlOoNyLoXIVQli3jJG3aUhOzU5h45VECl7r18/s4000/Abrams%20Battle%20Tank%20Dynamix%201988%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="4000" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk828PJPLy_RDv1tspcTkdMVWNcOZRbFZSJRn5yRj_G92PIMjIQJnZFlk3yVnPe0wDV4KdB_xpPxsk5gMPE_EihQG5ze3_dnFFNT_vLNFJV4dYcOsN8t0404QHMeZJ5PP-GUskA-lTfZ2Zwsm5loJleNtlOoNyLoXIVQli3jJG3aUhOzU5h45VECl7r18/w320-h100/Abrams%20Battle%20Tank%20Dynamix%201988%20ms-dos.webp" title="Abrams Battle Tank Dynamix 1988 ms-dos" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Steel Thunder: American Battle Tank Simulation</i> (Loughry, Accolade, 1988) is another good tank-sim from the late-80s, but its viewport is exceedingly small and its graphics are sprite-scaled rather than 3D flat-shaded.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dcCBGC9AJyq02GMOv8HFAoVB0XpDC1pQSP0o4z3uynEF9rMBimVuT-lapQn2G3ZjhyuWH1gh03kaNJt5ToiU_1eBr4V7THkdi-ScukS6PGcES02X8IifpHrWpy3x6uczcUplY-_xm1HDZk2WMwAuj-SNHEDc0rajrnZumyUuAlP8VKLiHhP7AqiQ0ml1/s2000/steel%20thunder%20ms-dos%20American%20Battle%20Tank%20Simulation%20accolade%201988.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="2000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dcCBGC9AJyq02GMOv8HFAoVB0XpDC1pQSP0o4z3uynEF9rMBimVuT-lapQn2G3ZjhyuWH1gh03kaNJt5ToiU_1eBr4V7THkdi-ScukS6PGcES02X8IifpHrWpy3x6uczcUplY-_xm1HDZk2WMwAuj-SNHEDc0rajrnZumyUuAlP8VKLiHhP7AqiQ0ml1/w320-h150/steel%20thunder%20ms-dos%20American%20Battle%20Tank%20Simulation%20accolade%201988.webp" title="steel thunder ms-dos American Battle Tank Simulation accolade 1988" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Sherman M4</i> (Loriciel, 1989) employed flat-shaded geometry with 2D backgrounds:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixP5Cs-wCHdivViNmw77r8UnPkjVCv4_R_GBQlcWSEZ7MZ9IIId6XgQ9CJnjG-U1cuoXNmnymX2wcIuP9-xBqUJ0nbB7mW0imQLRa5v6xFbXsnmUom_RA0mPnC0sCiQFIRXtEFNRnUrx-lgZ7K-ey_YXRh-CGrCPBHvqLzTNg9AYdjOlvwFKx0Vz5d8YKn/s3000/Sherman%20M4%20Loriciel%201989%20MS-DOS.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="3000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixP5Cs-wCHdivViNmw77r8UnPkjVCv4_R_GBQlcWSEZ7MZ9IIId6XgQ9CJnjG-U1cuoXNmnymX2wcIuP9-xBqUJ0nbB7mW0imQLRa5v6xFbXsnmUom_RA0mPnC0sCiQFIRXtEFNRnUrx-lgZ7K-ey_YXRh-CGrCPBHvqLzTNg9AYdjOlvwFKx0Vz5d8YKn/w320-h120/Sherman%20M4%20Loriciel%201989%20MS-DOS.webp" title="Sherman M4 Loriciel 1989 MS-DOS" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">M1 Tank Platoon Controls</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Controls are a combo of keyboard and joystick or keyboard-only. The Amiga version supports kb/m and joystick.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">M1 features thorough and sophisticated controls that need to be memorized.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h4 style="text-align: center;">Viewpoint Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>TC Unbuttoned: F1</li><li>TC Buttoned: F2</li><li>Gunner: F3</li><li>Driver: F4</li><li>Outside Tank: F9</li><li>Outside Any: F10</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">OP & Platoon Leader Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>OP to Next Tank: Shift F9</li><li>LDR to OP Tank: Shift F10</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Standard Vehicle Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Sabot (AP) Ammo: 1</li><li>HEAT Ammo: 2</li><li>Main/Coax: 3</li><li>Computer(Normal)/Battlesight: 4 </li><li>Input Battlesight Range: 5 </li><li>Manual Range Input Shift: 0-9</li><li>Magnify Vision: 7</li><li>Night Vision: 8</li><li>Turn to This Facing: 9</li><li>Smoke Generator On: =</li><li>Smoke Generator Off: -</li><li>Smoke Grenade Salvo: Backspace</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">TC Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>View / Aim Up: Down Cursor</li><li>View / Aim Down: Up Cursor</li><li>View / Aim Left: Left Cursor</li><li>View / Aim Right: Right Cursor</li><li>Fire Machine-gun: Return</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Gunner Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Elevate Gun and Coax: Down Cursor</li><li>Depress Gun and Coax: Up Cursor</li><li>Rotate Turret Left: Left Cursor</li><li>Rotate Turret Right: Right Cursor</li><li>Fire Laser Rangefinder: Space bar</li><li>Fire Gun or Coax: Return</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Driver Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Decelerate / Move Back: Down Cursor</li><li>Accelerate / Move Ahead: Up Cursor</li><li>Turn Left: Left Cursor</li><li>Turn Right: Right Cursor</li><li>Brake: Return</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Vehicle Orders</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Advance Fast: a </li><li>Advance Slow: s</li><li>Halt: h</li><li>Backup: b</li><li>Left Turn: 1</li><li>Right Turn: r</li><li>Move to: *</li><li>Turn to: **</li><li>Fire at Will: f</li><li>Cease Fire: c</li><li>Engage to Front: e</li><li>Engage to Rear: d</li><li>Engage to Left: <,</li><li>Engage to Right: >.</li><li>Smoke Generator On: +=</li><li>Smoke Generator Off: -_</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Platoon Orders</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Advance Fast: a</li><li>Advance Slow: s</li><li>Halt: h</li><li>Backup: b</li><li>Left Turn: 1</li><li>Right Turn: r</li><li>Move to: *</li><li>Turn to: **</li><li>Fire at Will: f</li><li>Cease Fire: c</li><li>Form Wedge Shift: W</li><li>Form Vee Shift: V</li><li>Form In-Line Shift: I</li><li>Form Column Shift: C</li><li>Form Echelon Left Shift: L</li><li>Form Echelon Right Shift: R</li><li>Smoke Generator On: +=</li><li>Smoke Generator Off: -_</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">H.Q Radio Net</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>A-10A Jet: j (Mavericks & 30mm GAU)</li><li>AH-64A Helicopter: a (Hellfires & 30mm Chain-gun)</li><li>OH-58D Helicopter: 0 (Machine-gun)</li><li>107mm Mortar Bombs: b (high explosive barrage)</li><li>107mm Smoke Bombs: s (smoke screen barrage)</li><li>155mm HE Shells: h (high explosive barrage)</li><li>155mm WP Shells: w (smoke screen barrage)</li><li>MRLS 227mm Rockets: r (large high explosive barrage)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Simulation Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Outside Tank: F9</li><li>Outside Any: F10</li><li>Map Objectives On/Off: Alt m</li><li>Pause Game: Alt p </li><li>Accelerated Time: Alt a</li><li>Boss (Hide Game) Alt b</li><li>Quit Game: Alt q (exit to DOS)</li><li>Adjust Vehicle Graphics Detail: Alt d</li><li>Adjust Volume: Alt v </li><li>Reset Joystick: Alt j</li><li>Adjust Battle Speed: Insert</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Mapboard Controls</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Mapboard: F5</li><li>Your Tank: F6</li><li>Next Platoon: F7</li><li>Next Vehicle: F8</li></ul></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[1]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h4 style="text-align: center;">M1 Tank Platoon Single Engagements</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Blitzkrieg</li><li>Meeting Engagement</li><li>Hasty Attack</li><li>Assault</li><li>Defend Position</li><li>Rearguard Action</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">M1 Tank Platoon Campaign</h4><div><br /></div><div>The M1 Tank Platoon campaign starts off with Outfitting and Briefing screens.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Outfitting</i> allows players to review and transfer crewmen as well as set tank ammo loudout (e.g., no. of HEAT / Sabot rounds).</div><div><br /></div><div>(The next two screencaps were taken in the Amiga version).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWl6PShGE5YGqoByNqphlYLzURduKADud_4e0fGxZJhTh9ZUywyMOrfkx8y9UenwCK5wpboiqJheDoDUSE-X1wbC7kRbWQUeG5fnfJcea7uHSAayoqJbqpkg7X72fQgQmGRepAhdLaCE_uhuGrFzWgwPrCczCvKjS2FNn8JpaHaSFcFS2vqxb5a2RydXe/s1600/m1%20tank%20platoon%20campaign%20outfitting.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWl6PShGE5YGqoByNqphlYLzURduKADud_4e0fGxZJhTh9ZUywyMOrfkx8y9UenwCK5wpboiqJheDoDUSE-X1wbC7kRbWQUeG5fnfJcea7uHSAayoqJbqpkg7X72fQgQmGRepAhdLaCE_uhuGrFzWgwPrCczCvKjS2FNn8JpaHaSFcFS2vqxb5a2RydXe/w320-h100/m1%20tank%20platoon%20campaign%20outfitting.webp" title="m1 tank platoon campaign outfitting" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Presented on the mapboard, <i>Briefing</i> consists of mission orders (primary and other objectives), force attachments, enemy unit identification, enemy equipment estimate, intelligence summary and weather report.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUe4bkrIfPmdzAyeqxX1iDLSdohQEd3GQdNqcD78W5zvSFHz0BmVoAJFrUscl2ol_fCBEJArx-xmU6yf7Td4NEA7FR_6jC7LWMcKuwY8HdCneCdVOJhWY5yJA8MyS9ahLS_8JaJISbD6RhDTZpUbYY-4sTzY_mtB-yoxkWpCDPAvbP9SxHEDiMnTB7Zi6X/s3000/m1%20tank%20platoon%20campaign%20briefing.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="3000" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUe4bkrIfPmdzAyeqxX1iDLSdohQEd3GQdNqcD78W5zvSFHz0BmVoAJFrUscl2ol_fCBEJArx-xmU6yf7Td4NEA7FR_6jC7LWMcKuwY8HdCneCdVOJhWY5yJA8MyS9ahLS_8JaJISbD6RhDTZpUbYY-4sTzY_mtB-yoxkWpCDPAvbP9SxHEDiMnTB7Zi6X/w320-h100/m1%20tank%20platoon%20campaign%20briefing.webp" title="m1 tank platoon campaign briefing" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[2]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h4 style="text-align: center;">Artillery & Air Support</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>M113 Infantry Track</li><li>M2 Bradley</li><li>M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles</li><li>M901 Missile Carriers</li><li>M163 Air Defense</li><li>Artillery Support (Bombardment and Smokescreens)</li><li>Air Support (Apache Gunship and A-10 Warthog)</li></ul></div><div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Soviet Units</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>T-80 Tank Platoon</li><li>BMP & BTR Motor Rifle Platoon</li><li>BRDM-3 Missile Carrier</li><li>BRDM-2 & BRM Recon Vehicle</li><li>Forward Observer (FO) and Forward Air Controller (FAC)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Unit Types</h4><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li><b>Main Battle Tanks</b>: Ml, M60, T-80, T-72, T-64, T-62, T-55</li><li><b>Helicopters</b>: AH-64A, OH-58D, Mi-24 HIND</li><li><b>Attack Jets</b>: American A-10A, "Thunderbolt II", Pact Su-25 "Frogfoot"</li><li><b>AFVs</b>: IFV, APC, Armored Car</li><li><b>Unarmored Vehicles</b>: Jeep, Truck</li><li>Dismounted Infantry</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: center;">M1 Tank Platoon Formations</h4><div><br /></div><div>It is important to employ the correct platoon formations for the likes of cover and concentrated fire. Bunching up the platoon is the height of foolishness in M1.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Wedge</li><li>Vee</li><li>In-line</li><li>Column</li><li>Eschelon Left/Right</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/MechWarrior-1-BattleMechs-Dynamix-1989.html">MechWarrior 1 1989</a>.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Back to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">16 bit Combat Flight Simulators</a>.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A part of: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index).</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-44587981304783631232024-03-04T17:21:00.000-08:002024-03-23T18:59:10.815-07:00Baldur's Gate 1 versus Baldur's Gate 2: Reflections<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You are reading the best computer-game commentary on the internet. Two examples:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">History of Shoot 'em Ups on IBM PC & Amiga</a></li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Like I said: best computer-game commentary on the internet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>BG1 vs. BG2: Reflections</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkpSJbn94aD2HchYqfFK3HFmYSh8LqbrbDYH5RKBBDx05PZe0dHQVBwTNuRABzc0LHTgbh5SW1IdZWfiYytC5mMT29j06bK2_wMh1v5jzfCP8EeO4ViIshGCVtnH6x3_7ODPxpc_B5ibn/s1280/bg1+vs+bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkpSJbn94aD2HchYqfFK3HFmYSh8LqbrbDYH5RKBBDx05PZe0dHQVBwTNuRABzc0LHTgbh5SW1IdZWfiYytC5mMT29j06bK2_wMh1v5jzfCP8EeO4ViIshGCVtnH6x3_7ODPxpc_B5ibn/w640-h240/bg1+vs+bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 1 versus Baldur's Gate 2: Reflections" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Back in 2020 the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> inflicted blunt-force trauma on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2</a>'s undeserved critical and community acclaim with its now-famous <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-1-vs-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-vs-BG2.html">BG1 versus BG2</a> article.</div><div><br /></div><div>The shock-waves primarily impacted <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">sensitive subreddits</a> and a few fake <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> communities, but my seismic instrumentation continues to detect aftershocks throughout the greater Baldur's Gate community, even four years subsequent.</div><div><br /></div><div>The article has been influential not just in terms of content but also in its form: the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">language</a> employed by the article influenced the Baldur's Gate community; added to its literacy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus did the article serve its purpose -- to instruct.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, it seems that some in the Baldur's Gate community are of opinion that such an article should not have been written; that its conclusions are "wrong" or "bad".</div><div><br /></div><div>But can I just say: BG1 versus BG2 is an <i>opinion-piece</i>, an informed and well-argued opinion-piece. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Newsflash</i>: People can write opinion-pieces! Who would have thought that possible?</div><div><br /></div><div>To hold a view, to express that view via argument, to publish an opinion-piece -- wow. Such a novel concept, call the press.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! People can not only hold views, they can actually argue them!"</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Who would have thunk it.</div><div><br /></div><div>All <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-vs-crpg.html">cRPG versus cRPG</a> articles are opinion-pieces. One could argue that a bad game is a good game and that a good game is a bad game. As long as one makes a convincing or at least plausible argument, who cares.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just as the journey is more instructive than the destination, so too is the argument more instructive than the conclusion.</div><div><br /></div><div>For me, computer-game comparisons are naught but stimulus for <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">critical commentary</a> that appeals to epic-level neck-bearded grognards.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, everything I write about the Baldur's Gate games is 100% factual. I challenge readers to cite a single factual error on BG1 or BG2 in that article: readers can learn a lot about both BG1 and BG2 by reading that article even if they don't agree with the conclusions drawn by the article (due to their bad taste).</div><div><br /></div><div>I have written more on Baldur's Gate than anyone in the game's 25-year history; that is, ¼ of a century. And the cRPG Blog is proof of that: 400k wordcount on Baldur's Gate, in length the equivalent to several novels, more than anyone else on the planet.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you to the millions of readers that have read my <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate commentary</a> over the past decade.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><div><blockquote><i>Then, as often happens in human endeavors, the wild-eyed hack comes along to snatch a piece of the pie. In the name of the quick buck and click the hack cares not for the endeavor, the creative process or genre legacy, but only of shortcuts, leeching and leveling down to the lowest common denominator.</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div>cf.:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/03/Computer-Game-Infographics-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-1-vs-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-vs-BG2.html">BG1 versus BG2</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Baldur-Gates-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/08/Morrowind-overrated.html">Rock-bottom Low-brow Dragging-of-the-knuckles Gaming</a></li><li>A part of: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">A Thorough Rubbishing of Computer Game Journalism</a></li><li>Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-58111511592228229312024-02-02T14:37:00.000-08:002024-03-25T21:36:38.856-07:00Fallout's Place in 1990s Computer Game History<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>Fallout's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-2i_OZuiLFZkBntjZesT-D92DzDqEvEa8uX1tUSVdd2tlmR7sYgwLxUYDl0RUxz7ZItMTcYEmEzDOafY_yxR6AND9vKHyCQTby6HSGd4ialJOEJ2FBLKTZoLeJE0ABnryAq5HKGtwqbO/s1600/Is+Fallout+1+or+Fallout+2+better.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1280" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-2i_OZuiLFZkBntjZesT-D92DzDqEvEa8uX1tUSVdd2tlmR7sYgwLxUYDl0RUxz7ZItMTcYEmEzDOafY_yxR6AND9vKHyCQTby6HSGd4ialJOEJ2FBLKTZoLeJE0ABnryAq5HKGtwqbO/w320-h120/Is+Fallout+1+or+Fallout+2+better.jpg" title="Fallout's Place in 1990s Computer Game History" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>This article is an overview of Fallout's place in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s computer game history</a> <i>as it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine-specs</i>; that is, this article places Fallout in history as it pertains to Interplay's ability or willingness to harness available software and hardware technologies in 1997.</div><div><br /></div><div>I recommend that you read my 1990s computer game history, which stands as the best tech-lite overview of 1990s computer games on the internet.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you were referred here by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">reddit RPG Games</a> or a fake <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">cRPG commentary</a> site or channel: <i>go back there and never come back here</i>. Your fake-readership is not wanted on the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> was developed by Interplay in 1997; <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Fallout 2</a> by Black Isle Studios in 1998.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout and Fallout 2 are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">computer role-playing games</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout was not only the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/RPG-Rankings-Top-10-Best-PC-RPGs-of-All-Time.html">cRPG Formalizer</a>, it was technically impressive as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout was released for Windows 95 <i>and</i> MS-DOS 5.0 -- unlike its contemporaries, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo</a>. And Windows-exclusivity made neither Baldur's Gate nor Diablo more advanced than MS-DOS Fallout.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, points go to Interplay for supporting dual-platform in 1997.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Windows 95 with DirectX 3.0a, Fallout ran well on Pentium 100 MHz CPUs and 16 megs of RAM. In MS-DOS, Fallout needed 32 megs of RAM.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout was one of the few 2D <i>MS-DOS</i> computer games that displayed in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.htmlhttps://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a> 256-colors. Notable others include:</div><div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Panzer-General-1-Wargame-1994.html">Panzer General</a> (1994)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-2-RTS.html">WarCraft 2</a> (1995)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/The-Settlers-Amiga-1993.html">Settlers 2</a> (1996)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">Empire Deluxe</a> (1993)</li><li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V2JiF59N_EcUV4SvLOYpsLpIBpBbXV8aX1_Q_XAF5shRvVQsIRtCOLW4xD91uS60-N4h2_etx705EV3-hVUzv9fxt0bdhYqINblEznmRTwQguZ-B1wd_fyXDxG4RtRLOpttKBGMGsEmOVI3W0n0rKls_qD-wakUJBEQa2P0RXJRhhnw9JXsuxlyr6hn1/s1600/crusader%20games%20origin%20systems%201995-96.webp">Crusader: No Remorse / Regret</a> (1995-96)</li><li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOo5fxiQrMqOPhbq4QWcFC0ax3h0oqpys_5e6znsK6LPS8FaLj5CSPgxWut-gyis4k9TzdMqqUdKDlYkeLyGB1-LeEBjTLrlF5ife5x_jgrcfnEnUElIME-R2cFVJ_-i753qeNyz4zAgAyCK0UipQVVY_5kJeXhLpfHTFc9tTqzELdF12fjx2ipg7bNo_/s1600/SimCity%202000%201993.webp">SimCity 2000</a> (1993)</li><li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDaTtyucZn_i6iwHpYBL51XFH-R53m4czmKGes6vsl6ckTnAdDQ2C-yv_sriqpem0Bp0gWV9rvAqFBlgplfWIPVPoEXSqO33lkqGkHKc2MMW_uAVhU54CGN1qxuLsKJggI7o9xy2es7hxsNObKVhkSJLboPwhsHjm62l3LX_N33EqyD9w_ElGbgXnPlcr/s1600/z%20real-time%20strategy%20game%20bitmap%20bros%201996.webp">Z strategy game</a> (1996)</li><li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuZXJdf5hH03asWdneCm9yfqLOrxiU6lakw_6Lu4I2XanB9JqRL232mDHCMWPe_QJP04gd4STWRqQlVuyNdQ0sDNvII1zZJ_ZlEXe3aX0q6_upEtZx-BdhCYXtaosBCY_5lFsgDD792j6goF8X7KUiUTN88QEydhOs4vWE7_T5bgpppYRQyWQOt-v5Hq_/s2000/mortal%20kombat%20ms-dos.webp">Mortal Kombat 3</a> (1995)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div>None of the above are as advanced as Fallout. The Crusader games don't even feature <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">screen-scrolling</a>: they are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Flip-screen-Computer-Games.html">flip-screen computer games</a> that evoke 8 bit computer-gaming. Empire Deluxe and SimCity 2000 are not graphically advanced even for 1993, but do feature complex mechanics. Z is garbage. And WarCraft 2 is graphically advanced but mechanically simplistic in comparison to Fallout. Of those games Fallout was easily the most impressive.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Fallout was like the best adventure game you had ever played, multiplied by 100.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Moreover, for those that played Fallout before Baldur's Gate (<i>real</i> cRPG veterans), BioWare's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> was not technically impressive in comparison. You knew that within <i>seconds</i>: when the game <i>had to load a completely new area just to show the interior of the Candlekeep Inn</i> (no <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">seamless transition</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Diablo needed Pentium 60 MHz CPUs and 8 megs of RAM whereas Baldur's Gate needed Pentium 120 MHz CPUs and 16 megs of RAM.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout and Diablo were distributed on one CD-ROM, Baldur's Gate five CD-ROMs (6 with the expansion). <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Baldur's Gate graphics</a> explains why Baldur's Gate "needed" 5x CD-ROMs.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Fallout's Technical Case</h3><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Assuming equivalent hardware specs in 1996-8, Fallout's screen-drawing routine was faster and smoother than those of Diablo or Baldur's Gate. Diablo ran at a pathetic 25 FPS max whereas Fallout and Baldur's Gate ran at 60 FPS max. But Baldur's Gate was drawing from gigantic TIS files as the screen scrolled, making the engine <i>chug hard</i> even on high-end PCs of the day. Whereas Fallout's tiles had much less overhead -- more efficient <i>and</i> more functional.</li><li>Fallout's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-isometric-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">trimetric perspective</a> is superior to Diablo's isometric and Baldur's Gate's "whatever" perspective.</li><li>Fallout's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">turn-based combat system</a> is superior to Diablo's real-time combat system and Baldur's Gate's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Basic-Combat-System.html">round-based real-time pauseable</a> combat system. The slowness of Fallout combat was not a <i>technical</i> limitation, as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/sfall-Fallout-2.html">sfall</a> proves.</li><li>Consider also Fallout's aimed shots via its tactical targeting system.</li><li>Environmental interaction in Fallout far exceeds environmental interaction in Diablo or Baldur's Gate. Consider how much is added to adventure-game mechanics via Fallout's mouse-over feedback. And consider the tactility of placing an inventory item onto or into a placeable (item-placeable-<i>combining</i>).</li><li>Some doors are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Destructibility-in-games-Destructible-environments.html">destructible</a> in Fallout. You can only bash <i>open</i> doors in Baldur's Gate. Fireballs do not impact placeables, f.e.</li><li>Fallout and Diablo feature precise movement and positioning, Baldur's Gate does not.</li><li>Fallout's character building system (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/Fallout-1-SPECIAL.html">SPECIAL</a>) is far superior to those of Diablo and Baldur's Gate.</li><li>Fallout features <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">seamless transition</a>, Diablo and Baldur's Gate do not.</li><li>Fallout and Diablo feature better pathfinding than Baldur's Gate.</li><li>Fallout's overworld is mechanically superior to Baldur's Gate's worldmap.</li><li>Fallout's scripting system is far more advanced than those of Diablo or Baldur's Gate.</li><li>Fallout's user interface is superior to those of Diablo and Baldur's Gate. Fallout's UI is more functional and employs animated panels, rotating paperdolls and bitmap overlays.</li><li>Fallout's sprite animation system is superior to those of Diablo and Baldur's Gate. Fallout has death anims, ladder-climbing anims and other incidental anims that Diablo and Baldur's Gate don't even bother with.</li><li>Fallout's dialogue system is superior to those of Diablo and Baldur's Gate.</li><li>Diablo and Baldur's Gate do not have talking heads.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpzyZz75kPwgUFqb5YgATukFVdhvnz7aytcVEV-wJI-G2T-S8SWlX6Zf5DDVVsPvuOhpDsKhT8oTF2vc2fi8aKhlpb3pA8WvfTJNMGcxw3M2BiTeTsGvHNc7PKm7jxfFwVSUxeYd6vfs6IaNyW-s4o7FZIZ8Yib6l7Ew9636vLyzYZr_xw9J5YMQNGw/s3381/talking%20heads%20fallout%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="800" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpzyZz75kPwgUFqb5YgATukFVdhvnz7aytcVEV-wJI-G2T-S8SWlX6Zf5DDVVsPvuOhpDsKhT8oTF2vc2fi8aKhlpb3pA8WvfTJNMGcxw3M2BiTeTsGvHNc7PKm7jxfFwVSUxeYd6vfs6IaNyW-s4o7FZIZ8Yib6l7Ew9636vLyzYZr_xw9J5YMQNGw/w320-h84/talking%20heads%20fallout%201.jpg" title="Fallout Talking Heads" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, Fallout and Diablo <i>lose</i> technical points for lacking <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/RPG-Full-Party-Control-FPC-Marquee-Selection-Companion-AI-full-party-chargen-building-inventory-management.html">Full Party Control</a>. And Fallout would lose points for being un-networkable as well, but I don't care about multi-player.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, Fallout is one of the most technically advanced 2D computer games of the 1990s. Fallout's engine was capable of things that no other engine-developers of the time even <i>thought about</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1BfJsyVgL2N8lIo4elGr3_l0IIvyeOZCpr9lMoVghw6jyu2qVqO9IiOCDzPWozjOb8pJfUw3LzG7bWZFhBFoczCTOBVMv0A9gA_D_wCEG3PNJBLpwaDmJTaokRC2QBJTDZcxYUHCBz-L/s700/go+for+the+eyes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="700" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1BfJsyVgL2N8lIo4elGr3_l0IIvyeOZCpr9lMoVghw6jyu2qVqO9IiOCDzPWozjOb8pJfUw3LzG7bWZFhBFoczCTOBVMv0A9gA_D_wCEG3PNJBLpwaDmJTaokRC2QBJTDZcxYUHCBz-L/w320-h153/go+for+the+eyes.jpg" title="aimed shots via the tactical targeting system" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout rendered point-and-click adventure games redundant because Fallout <i>was</i> an adventure game, but it came complete with <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-stats.html">stats</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">reactivity</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">combat system</a> as well: a pure cRPG.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQujqba-0_RgycOnMuchFrBSk7qebq1-lntjBQg_MXNBKBKAV0BUo2i78SutF5bhiXYxt4cGvAQQuz6ttC6axFvKmOn7dFSyXQa3G9prQi2iBh8kj7TK-RH-ca7wFejeMF3HDxuuKPEJaLqbmZPlCWl97CwUN2i088lEtKSQSHuzHCyn0zXdP1BhQVcQ/s2400/Best%20Build%20Fallout%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQujqba-0_RgycOnMuchFrBSk7qebq1-lntjBQg_MXNBKBKAV0BUo2i78SutF5bhiXYxt4cGvAQQuz6ttC6axFvKmOn7dFSyXQa3G9prQi2iBh8kj7TK-RH-ca7wFejeMF3HDxuuKPEJaLqbmZPlCWl97CwUN2i088lEtKSQSHuzHCyn0zXdP1BhQVcQ/w320-h120/Best%20Build%20Fallout%201.jpg" title="Fallout Best Build" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And cRPGs are inherently superior to P&C adventure games. There is nothing such adventure games do better than cRPGs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Such adventure games only exist post-Fallout because of ignorance, inertia and the casual demographic that loves on-rails narrative and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematization</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that is coming from someone who loved <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGM0rkGcEXvfnmNvykFxdVISWQf_8iClFFt-bYZ5HU4tZ1UzKjCbDuttG9LB7WNua8Yt86ka7dk6wXkWZWPOJeJsNdrE9ohApEqoU37E1uF39y_8cRlKUoKz5SkM662r-UU3iJ0pTZWF6fiRj_9By2vmEWVWXPfXTOgaLS8RQWF9zb3P9Ce3ppPtaxz9e/s1200/secret%20of%20monkey%20island%201991.webp">The Secret of Monkey Island</a> and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgJQJAHqshM5fhjH_1IfTwJYIJE8Xq8mJxq7ENPegH8XkSHjyaFXCQ_nHScj2ONtxFi5Rpjfrh2LecQbrQTfBm4JUVX1HvhTwSNRGXcnwuZ0W6tl4tWamTuVM_u2q1CqqG1289x4Hyc6KU8tgKrlbSel9DVZnLTwwuULhA9KfqYVoK_HgnkSWCOWb26os/s1600/beneath%20a%20steel%20sky%201994%20MS-DOS.webp">Beneath a Steel Sky</a> back in the day -- but who after Fallout <i>never played an adventure game ever again</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Because Fallout was like the best adventure game you had ever played, multiplied by 100.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>An example of adventure-game pedigree in Fallout 2:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvyqM3qsNIxOzOZJhGMQ9riF7SXNyNIoD6AR3SW4skSaTxTRrUnpRGR0KNxhbVZNYYKEB3t7__PaoKyKN8cTubQ3eDkbe8twpICk6PrpOJ3X86eJuA46hHwl0zvw1V6X51HRebLhZi1GM/s1600/01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="800" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHvyqM3qsNIxOzOZJhGMQ9riF7SXNyNIoD6AR3SW4skSaTxTRrUnpRGR0KNxhbVZNYYKEB3t7__PaoKyKN8cTubQ3eDkbe8twpICk6PrpOJ3X86eJuA46hHwl0zvw1V6X51HRebLhZi1GM/w320-h162/01.jpg" title="adventure-game pedigree in Fallout 2" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fallout 2 is even more advanced than Fallout in terms of UI and controls, but it is just a sequel built on the Fallout engine (incremental rather than ground-breaking).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/s2349/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="800" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/w320-h161/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" title="Fallout 2" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>That said, on a technical level <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2</a> (1999) thrashes Diablo, Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate: JA2 is the most technically advanced 2D computer game of the 1990s, no question.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, Fallout has a better engine for <i>role-playing a character</i> than Jagged Alliance 2 does. And Fallout's dialogue system is far superior to that of JA2.</div><div><br /></div><div>Relative to available software and hardware technologies, Fallout's engine is the best <i>pure</i> <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">cRPG engine</a> ever coded. No other pure cRPG broke harder ground than Fallout, not even <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/arcanum-of-steamworks-and-magick-obscura.html">Arcanum</a>'s much more advanced engine of 2001.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Fallout Tech-specs</h3><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Minimum CPU: Intel Pentium 100 MHz (x86, 32 bit)</li><li>Minimum RAM in megs: 16 MB (32 MB MS-DOS)</li><li>Video Memory (vRAM): 1 MB</li><li>Operating System: MS-DOS 5.0, Windows 95-11</li><li>API: DirectX 3.0a: DirectDraw (VESA MS-DOS)</li><li>Distribution Media: 1x CD-ROM</li><li>Resolution/Aspect Ratio: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">Square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a> 4:3 ONLY</li><li>Color depth: 8 bit (256 colors)</li><li>3D Hardware Acceleration (Direct3D, OpenGL): No</li><li>Audio: Sampled speech and full OST</li><li>Input Device: kb/m</li><li>Multiplayer: No</li><li>No. of players: 1</li><li>Hard disk space (full install): 600 MB</li><li>Framerate cap: 60 FPS</li><li>Graphics: Displayed in 2D, but 3D-prerendered</li><li>Playing field perspective: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-isometric-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">Trimetric</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Lilura1-Role-playing-Game-RPG-Technical-Terms-Modes-of-Movement-Running-Climbing-Teleportation-Levitation-Death.html">Movement</a>: Point and click</li><li>Combat System: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">Turn-based</a> (action-points) with targeting system and reviewable combat feedback monitor</li><li>Dialogue system: Dialogue trees, dialogue window is horizontally-centered in viewport, but not extendable</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/02/user-interface-evolution-part-i.html">User Interface</a>: Switchable modes, multi-layered display, click and drop, icon-based inventory</li><li>Avatars: Pre-rendered sprites with 8-way rotation</li><li>Area Make-up: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Tile-rigged area design</a>, non-randomized (static, no RNG)</li><li>Playing field triggers: Tile-based coords</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">Seamless Transition</a>: Yes</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Destructibility-in-games-Destructible-environments.html">Environmental Destructibility</a>: Some doors only (placeable)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Verticality-in-games.html">Gameplay Verticality</a>: Does not feature height-mapped terrain</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling</a>: 8-way <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchorless edgescreen autoscrolling</a> (limited radius)</li><li>Fog of War: No</li><li>Automap: Separate UI mode, no real-time updating</li><li>Environmental Interactivity: Mouse-over feedback and examine feedback</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">Cinematization</a>: FMV cutscenes, talking heads, end-slides</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>cf.:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Baldur-Gates-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Diablos-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li>A part of: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a></li><li>Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-41377659725756299942024-01-27T22:14:00.000-08:002024-03-25T00:27:39.889-07:00Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/s2500/diablo%201.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="800" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/w320-h196/diablo%201.jpg" title="Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This article is an overview of Diablo's place in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s computer game history</a> <i>as it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine-specs</i>; that is, this article places Diablo in history as it pertains to Blizzard North's ability or willingness to harness available software and hardware technologies in 1996.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I recommend that you read my 1990s computer game history, which stands as the best tech-lite overview of 1990s computer games on the internet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If you were referred here by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">reddit RPG Games</a> or a fake <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">cRPG commentary</a> site or channel: <i>go back there and never come back here</i>. Your fake-readership is not wanted on the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo</a> was released by Blizzard North in 1996.</div><div><br /></div><div>In terms of artistry and Roguelike game-logic Diablo is a masterpiece, but in terms of 2D engine-performance Diablo is only solid at best. When the viewport is static Diablo looks great, but when the viewport <i>scrolls</i> Diablo is just barely passable.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you even understand what I just wrote? If not, read <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">screen-scrolling in computer games</a> to get up to speed.</div><div><br /></div><div>From <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Diablo and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> both came out in 1996, but Quake's 3D rendering engine powering along at 40 FPS while shifting around thousands of Gouraud-shaded polygons made Diablo's 2D engine chugging along at 20 FPS while shifting around 20 sprites look like a complete joke.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Diablo's biggest failure was its lack of super-smooth, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">per-pixel hardware screen-scrolling</a> in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a> at 50 FPS.</div><div><br /></div><div>Diablo's scrolling routine does not even match Blizzard's own <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Non-standard-Square-pixel-VGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">non-standard square-pixel VGA game</a> of 1993.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since Diablo's viewport is not <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchorless</a> like <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> but rather <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchored-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchored</a> as in arcade-game scrollers, it would have been better if Blizzard North chose to sacrifice any aspect of Diablo that got in the road of delivering the smoothest gameplay possible, even if that meant lowering sprite-counts.</div><div><br /></div><div>When an isometric-scroller is avatar-anchored and action-based, it should lift its framerate standards to the point of the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">classic shoot 'em up</a>. On the other hand, avatar-anchorless or avatarless computer games can get away with low framerates and jerky edgescreen auto-scrolling since many of them are not action-based (e.g., <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/The-Settlers-Amiga-1993.html">city-builders</a> or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">turn-based strategy games</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>What would you rather play: an action-based computer game that shifts around 100 sprites simultaneously at 20 FPS (with jerky scrolling) or one that shifts 20 sprites around simultaneously at 50 FPS (with smooth scrolling)? No Arcadian or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amigan</a> would choose the former: the latter is going to be more enjoyable to play; the latter is going to feature better gameplay.</div><div><br /></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>If Diablo employed turn-based combat and three-character control, it would have been an apex-level 1990s computer game. (Its framerate and scrolling would also have been passable under such a combat system.)</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Note that Blizzard <b>Entertainment</b>'s <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-2-RTS.html">WarCraft 2</a> (1995) had silky-smooth, per-pixel hardware scrolling in SVGA 640x480, but not Blizzard <b>North</b>'s Diablo (1996).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGltM_QqINwf1pd5pSQIM4USuCqxnCnEP-ZOtUi-y4WS-Dt-axN-u_zhVtWX0B2EH4LNFXFulBgIzQjxTeA7ggOFXsvgf9HrD_witOm5WAsCF6Ky9lG6T4qf1n8jtA5Jg5NNsJ0x6fQDV91QaFDgHNpkomd6gdJML3ZyH-lWo-blr3JqQh0FbzuxFNsQ/s1920/warcraft%202%20resolution.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGltM_QqINwf1pd5pSQIM4USuCqxnCnEP-ZOtUi-y4WS-Dt-axN-u_zhVtWX0B2EH4LNFXFulBgIzQjxTeA7ggOFXsvgf9HrD_witOm5WAsCF6Ky9lG6T4qf1n8jtA5Jg5NNsJ0x6fQDV91QaFDgHNpkomd6gdJML3ZyH-lWo-blr3JqQh0FbzuxFNsQ/w320-h160/warcraft%202%20resolution.jpg" title="Blizzard Entertainment's WarCraft 2 (1995)" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, as it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine specs, Diablo cannot be placed in the first-rank of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Games</a>. However, in respect to Roguelike RNG and artistry Diablo is top-tier.</div><div><br /></div><div>But artistry has little to do with engine-performance. Given a palette range and fixed dimensions a tile is a tile and a sprite is a sprite, regardless of artistry: the trick is scrolling the viewport and moving the sprites <i>smoothly</i>. And getting the engine to tap the hardware to a level such that smoothness is maintained when the on-screen action <i>scales</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>As Diablo shows, that is easier said than done.</div><div><br /></div><div>An isometric-scroller running at 20 FPS might have been acceptable in the early 90s on i80286es running MS-DOS, but not in 1996 on Pentium 60s running DirectX Windows.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides, smooth isometric-scrollers <i>with undulating terrain</i> predate Diablo by one decade. While not as complex as Diablo, nor did they require anything above i80286/M68k.</div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Diablo Tech-specs</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Minimum CPU: Intel Pentium 60 MHz (x86, 32 bit)</li><li>Minimum RAM in megs: 8 MB</li><li>Video Memory (vRAM): 1 MB</li><li>Operating System: Windows 95-11 (Supports NT 4.0)</li><li>API: DirectX 3: DirectDraw</li><li>Distribution Media: 1x CD-ROM </li><li>Resolution/Aspect Ratio: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">Square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a> 4:3 ONLY</li><li>Color depth: 8 bit (256 colors)</li><li>3D Hardware Acceleration (Direct3D, OpenGL): No</li><li>Audio: Sampled speech and full OST</li><li>Input Device: kb/m</li><li>Multiplayer: TCP/IP Battle.net, modem, serial cable</li><li>No. of players: 1-4</li><li>Hard disk space (full install): 600 MB</li><li>Framerate cap: 25 FPS</li><li>Graphics: Displayed in 2D, but 3D-prerendered</li><li>Playing field perspective: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-isometric-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">Isometric</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Lilura1-Role-playing-Game-RPG-Technical-Terms-Modes-of-Movement-Running-Climbing-Teleportation-Levitation-Death.html">Movement</a>: Point and click</li><li>Combat System: Fully Real-time click to attack</li><li>Dialogue system: Viewport-overlayed scrolling text, no dialogue trees</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/02/user-interface-evolution-part-i.html">User Interface</a>: Switchable modes, click and drop, grid-based inventory</li><li>Avatars: Pre-rendered sprites with 8-way rotation</li><li>Area Make-up: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Tile-rigged area design</a>, randomized (RNG dungeons)</li><li>Playing field triggers: Tile-based coords</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">Seamless Transition</a>: No</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Destructibility-in-games-Destructible-environments.html">Environmental Destructibility</a>: Placeables such as barrels</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Verticality-in-games.html">Gameplay Verticality</a>: Terrain is not height-mapped</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling</a>: 8-way <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchored-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Avatar-anchored screen-scrolling</a></li><li>Fog of War: Yes</li><li>Automap: Toggleable overlay</li><li>Environmental Interactivity: Zero</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">Cinematization</a>: FMV cutscenes, scrolling text</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>cf.:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Baldur-Gates-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/02/Fallouts-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Fallout's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li>A part of: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a></li><li>Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-4747693634406971452024-01-27T17:20:00.000-08:002024-03-25T00:27:39.888-07:00Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/s4500/baldur's%20gate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="800" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/w320-h81/baldur's%20gate.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate's Place in 1990s Computer Game History" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This article is an overview of Baldur's Gate's place in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s computer game history</a> <i>as it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine-specs</i>; that is, this article places Baldur's Gate in history as it pertains to BioWare's ability or willingness to harness available software and hardware technologies in 1998.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I recommend that you read my 1990s computer game history, which stands as the best tech-lite overview of 1990s computer games on the internet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If you were referred here by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">reddit RPG Games</a> or a fake <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">cRPG commentary</a> site or channel: <i>go back there and never come back here</i>. Your fake-readership is not wanted on the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> was released by BioWare in 1998.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was a good computer game and a great <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">computer role-playing game</a>: the cRPG All-rounder that helped spark a Role-playing Renaissance.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, it saddens me to say that Baldur's Gate does not constitute an apex-level highlight of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a>, a decade that spanned 1990-99.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is not because Baldur's Gate is a bad computer game, it is because other computer games were just so much better.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/s7300/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="800" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/w320-h108/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" title="Sid Meier's Civilization by MicroProse (1991)" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>For example, as it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine specs while at the same time featuring top-notch gameplay or interpretable interaction, Baldur's Gate cannot reasonably be placed alongside these juggernauts:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization</a> (MicroProse, 1991)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Frontier: Elite 2</a> (David Braben, 1993)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a> (id Software, 1993)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> (id Software, 1996)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>And that is only four out of 20 apex-level masterpieces of the 1990s. None of the four computer games listed above had the luxury of DirectX. And both Quake <i>and</i> Baldur's Gate required Pentium 100 CPUs and 16 megs of RAM to run well. Which was more impressive?</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, Sir-Tech's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2</a> (1999), a contemporary of Baldur's Gate, and a computer game of comparable scope, smashes Baldur's Gate to pieces in every single way on the technical level (e.g., game logic + engine-coding + graphics coding + UI-coding).</div><div><br /></div><div>And Interplay's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> (1997) beats Baldur's Gate hands-down as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, if those two are second-tier Baldur's Gate must be a third-tier computer game of the 1990s.</div><div><br /></div><div>As it pertains to technical design, BioWare made four main mistakes with Baldur's Gate, namely:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Eschewing <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">tile-rigged area design</a> in favor of pre-rendered TIS backdrops</li><li>Omitting seamless transition</li><li>Not coding a good pathing routine</li><li>Debateable: Employing round-based real-time pauseable combat instead of discrete <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">turn-based combat</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>The above alternatives constitute long-standing preexisting design-standards that Baldur's Gate failed to meet with its <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Note how the mistakes are related as well: without tile-rigged area design you can't have seamless transition in 2D computer games. And tile-rigged area design and turn-based combat systems usually alleviate if not eliminate in-combat pathfinding issues entirely.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9w-zem_0t0vTbQigRzennIyWyy2MgStzi1OdXjPZhgQAlanrYrWK1l8NLIF9y8LmNqB_wt441iLX22dsy2WCzVNAswbjI9eoOJeqdhvLDU3KtZnqf0H3-ZU6zVdOrSZK3xOPcuQdOzYiBUwfcpmSUPZBhXDjjYjoNg1_QP3v6d8hgIwRacfUXMi46W4t/s3000/trimetric%20perspective%20fallout%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="800" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9w-zem_0t0vTbQigRzennIyWyy2MgStzi1OdXjPZhgQAlanrYrWK1l8NLIF9y8LmNqB_wt441iLX22dsy2WCzVNAswbjI9eoOJeqdhvLDU3KtZnqf0H3-ZU6zVdOrSZK3xOPcuQdOzYiBUwfcpmSUPZBhXDjjYjoNg1_QP3v6d8hgIwRacfUXMi46W4t/w320-h97/trimetric%20perspective%20fallout%201.jpg" title="¾ top-down isometric TIS backgrounds (Baldur's Gate) versus tile-rigged trimetric area design (Fallout)" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div>If Baldur's Gate did not make those mistakes it could have been placed in the vicinity of Jagged Alliance 2 and Fallout without raising too many eyebrows, mainly because Baldur's Gate would in addition boast of a complex <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Vancian-Magic-System-Spellcasting-Mechanics-Casting-Time-Spell-Disruption.html">magic system</a>, an analogue of which JA2 and Fallout lack (their "psionics" are limited).</div><div><br /></div><div>As it stands, though, Baldur's Gate must be placed in a lower, but still highly respectable, league in computer game history: that of the third-rank -- which would place Baldur's Gate in the Top 50 of 1990s computer games -- an amazing achievement for a cRPG that was developed by a fledgling company.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Citations:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Baldur's Gate Graphics</a> gives one dozen reasons why tile-rigged area design is superior to pre-rendered TIS backdrops.</li><li>The virtues of seamless transition are highlighted in, you guessed it, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">Seamless Transition</a>.</li><li>Baldur's Gate Pathfinding is covered in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Perspective-and-Basic-Gameplay.html">Baldur's Gate Gameplay</a>.</li><li>And as for round-based RTwP combat, consult <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Basic-Combat-System.html">Baldur's Gate Combat System</a>.</li></ul></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is important to remember that the original Baldur's Gate did a ton of things right. Thus, the moniker of <i>cRPG All-rounder</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Baldur's Gate Tech-specs</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><ul><li>Minimum CPU: Intel Pentium 100 MHz (x86, 32 bit)</li><li>Minimum RAM in megs: 16 MB</li><li>Video Memory (vRAM): 2 MB</li><li>Operating System: Windows 95-11</li><li>API: DirectX 5.0: DirectDraw</li><li>Distribution Media: 5x CD-ROM (6 with expansion) </li><li>Resolution/Aspect Ratio: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">Square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a> 4:3 ONLY</li><li>Color depth: 16, 24 or 32 bit</li><li>3D Hardware Acceleration (Direct3D, OpenGL): No</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Music-and-Narration-OST-and-VOs.html">Audio</a>: PCM 16 bit 22050 Hz sampled mono sound effects; ACM 16 bit 22050 Hz stereo music; EAX</li><li>Input Device: kb/m</li><li>Multiplayer: Internet, LAN</li><li>No. of players: 1-6 (co-op)</li><li>Hard disk space (full install): 2500 MB (2.5 GB)</li><li>Framerate cap: 60 FPS (60 AI updates per second)</li><li>Graphics: Displayed in 2D, but 3D-prerendered</li><li>Playing field perspective: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-isometric-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">pseudo-isometric bird's eye</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Lilura1-Role-playing-Game-RPG-Technical-Terms-Modes-of-Movement-Running-Climbing-Teleportation-Levitation-Death.html">Movement</a>: Select, point and click</li><li>Combat System: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Basic-Combat-System.html">Round-based real-time pauseable</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-party-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-companion-based-reactivity.html">party-based</a>, click to attack, reviewable combat feedback, automated scripts, event-based auto-pause</li><li>Advanced control: Marquee selection, modals, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Lilura1-Role-playing-Game-RPG-Technical-Terms-Formational-Movement-Positioning-Tactical-Formations.html">formations</a></li><li>Dialogue system: Dialogue trees; dialogue window is dedicated and horizontally-centered in viewport; can be extended vertically; is reviewable via scrolling</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/02/user-interface-evolution-part-i.html">User Interface</a>: Switchable modes, multi-layered display, right-click pop-up windows, click and drop, grid-based inventory</li><li>Avatars: Pre-rendered sprites with 8-way rotation</li><li>Area Make-up: TIS prerendered, non-randomized (static, no RNG)</li><li>Playing field triggers: Invisible polygons (coords)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">Seamless Transition</a>: No</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Destructibility-in-games-Destructible-environments.html">Environmental Destructibility</a>: None</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Verticality-in-games.html">Gameplay Verticality</a>: Height-mapped terrain</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling</a>: 8-way <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchorless edgescreen autoscrolling</a> (area-wide radius)</li><li>Fog of War: Yes</li><li>Automap: Separate UI mode, no real-time updating of position</li><li>Environmental Interactivity: click-on playing field markers for text-based feedback</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">Cinematization</a>: FMV cutscenes (250 MB), scripted sequences</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>cf.:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/02/Fallouts-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Fallout's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Diablos-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li>A part of: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a></li><li>Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-51936484622204292312024-01-19T16:57:00.000-08:002024-03-20T03:07:15.211-07:00History of 1990s Computer Games<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>History of PC Games 1990-99</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfJqFqcCO5qkbdnpKFnZOLWgj9Zt1anISSBav0ODIGEK1Ss3qZaU_wZXe22CW4IB5V3EQ2rkHHTio-P2ctyTHohg3YwPP5IFnPihrPMEbS1eHmFjPDd2BdPQMtHVWdG7Ge9gJslHINHY8HWiiNbUXdy4awI4sJWms7J9hzUkna9Ln77T703LfhD9MkyjU/s2500/History%20of%201990s%20Computer%20Games.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2500" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfJqFqcCO5qkbdnpKFnZOLWgj9Zt1anISSBav0ODIGEK1Ss3qZaU_wZXe22CW4IB5V3EQ2rkHHTio-P2ctyTHohg3YwPP5IFnPihrPMEbS1eHmFjPDd2BdPQMtHVWdG7Ge9gJslHINHY8HWiiNbUXdy4awI4sJWms7J9hzUkna9Ln77T703LfhD9MkyjU/w320-h160/History%20of%201990s%20Computer%20Games.webp" title="History of 1990s Computer Games" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">By <i>1990s computer games</i> we are referring to personal computer games (PC Games) and microcomputer games that came out in the decade spanning 1990-99. Thus, we are referring primarily to MS-DOS and Windows games as well as those that tapped hardware independently of operating systems by auto-booting volumes from ROM chips.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the 1990s computer games increased greatly in complexity, creativity flourished and developer technical and artistic prowess hit a high point of refinement; so much so, that many 1990s computer games have not been surpassed in the three decades that followed their releases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 1990s was perhaps the best time to be a computer-gamer. At least, I long for that decade more than any other due its concrete innovation and evolution in both hardware and software technologies. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was such an interesting and exciting time to be a computer-gamer. You would not understand unless you lived through this prime-time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Incremental advancements were not commonplace in the 1990s: it was a decade of long strides and leap-frogging, a decade of computer-game excellence and big-league competition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">No computer-gamer or commentator could keep apace with such rapid progression in such a competitive arena. No computer-gamer or commentator knew what was going to come out next, but chances were it was going to be good because things had been good for a long time already.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The expectation was always that computer games would just keep getting better as the 1990s progressed. Or rather, it was <i>a given</i> that computer games would keep getting better. No one questioned it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And no one questioned the 1990s in the decades that followed -- no 2020 journo would be so insolent -- because the 1990s was objectively a good time for the computer game industry, even though there were casualties and increased <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematization</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Standouts of 1990s Genre</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For <i>pre</i>-1990s computer games that I have covered, please refer to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This section is an overview that is designed to get the reader thinking about what we are dealing with here. This is a broad and complex subject that few commentators could undertake without exposing their bias and ignorance immediately:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Readers seeking U.S-only computer game commentary will not find it here: British Commonwealth and Contintental European computer game history is important as well.</li><li>Likewise, readers seeking IBM PC MS-DOS and Windows-only commentary will not find it here: microcomputers had impact. [0]</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With that said, the overview:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As it pertains to technical prowess in harnessing machine-specs while at the same time featuring top-notch gameplay or interpretable interaction, in my estimation the computer-game genre peaks of the 90s are as follows:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Adventure Game: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGM0rkGcEXvfnmNvykFxdVISWQf_8iClFFt-bYZ5HU4tZ1UzKjCbDuttG9LB7WNua8Yt86ka7dk6wXkWZWPOJeJsNdrE9ohApEqoU37E1uF39y_8cRlKUoKz5SkM662r-UU3iJ0pTZWF6fiRj_9By2vmEWVWXPfXTOgaLS8RQWF9zb3P9Ce3ppPtaxz9e/s1200/secret%20of%20monkey%20island%201991.webp">The Secret of Monkey Island</a> (LucasFilm, 1990-91)</li><li>Business Simulation: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8g9_dSV1q2Z1Qbj6DVfTZrYYLtw73fjVrQMUlvphfqjL0zepX6F6yCh2Mcy1BjH-60II2WRAQJCLNY05jugaOtaInNVkGUwbRD8EmAjgIR2Vd0t_I2bj6eim5UfXTnAEI7UnG4bcb5_4JACzlAmFeTUYr4Q_T6z8v3l1HHsXAqt6YhWRv8QztCuGqrFs/s1600/Railroad%20Tycoon%20MPS%20Labs%201990.webp">Railroad Tycoon</a> (MPS Labs, 1990)</li><li>Civ-style Game: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization</a> (MicroProse, 1991)</li><li>God Game: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Powermonger-Amiga-1990.html">PowerMonger</a> & <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Populous-Amiga-1989.html">Populous II</a> (Bullfrog, 1990-91)</li><li>Side-scrolling platformer: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sKPz4H6yS72SfTzt1IvxGGLkvqNJcPk3OMH3-VAIpQc3pQGyd5ZsSdFiX4nMwarZvVpPdMtGlwID7Ct60vRrtgbkVcZ8StQZXR66UXkUtyUyIpO8MSH05hWhP5Uetxnsr-DfnZZEnM0WTQVkJckAzuKQvUyXvpOxsmviy881rbW6qbaqIPgnAVUnPrDj/s1600/commander%20keen%20games%20ms-dos.webp">Commander Keen</a> (id Software, 1990-91)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">Combat Flight Sim</a>: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">Falcon 3.0</a> (Sphere Inc., 1991)</li><li>Cue sports simulator: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibElizm21emTD9A8iHGIOVDQSHg8k_SQC__siI0VjWUAgwOjWkyTN7J01PPYDtG6M9_NAj_6RIThohqpTPlXHQq1LQM4CFteW5cG7R9maXqNbc9sst8U6HTbVIxc2DLg7rJDLwPF5GGwBqQNAbsQKV6kxeI66ydzfa7NRXdPoQ8KNn0_omcU-V_18LEDhY/s1600/jimmy%20white's%20whirlwind%20snooker%20Archer%20MacClean%201991.webp">Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker</a> (Archer MacClean, 1991)</li><li>Puzzle Game: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gbWi2W602qWJxfKLeJzaAJpyeI2UhiZyiwuEaWSJyot-2wNO3HLA2nLqekPx1N_vdStfQAfn6iFSjU0Fk05rN1TRFh2Cr_7NiBhEmYn9PSU5geXsZupJcGBJkOlCf-wsLLTUcHwnU_d-smmlhzLii_NVPUKdSmr5FyCm7g011maprlN08TdeTKhDWXOb/s1600/lemmings%20games%20DMA%20Design%201991-93.webp">Lemmings</a> (DMA Design, 1991-93)</li><li>Motorsport autoracing simulator: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Formula-One-Grand-Prix-MicroProse.html">Formula 1 Grand Prix</a> (Geoff Crammond, 1991)</li><li>Multi-directional scrolling run n gun: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0qdQtQG-ohvMDmuzfJChb5igVALY6J2OtggWqPbJ7LTVQwr9MPH4sXFoMLXu-vEd0GxSj-pc9M-Qra2ZMNM_0hNS0bE8wBbSSQLeXBUScQYCsXvgTUZPn-VySIqR8EzcjE1gW-fRdIpCUt77lRCDgqHIM3fWP_SKN5_HWv9Evic6heuvBFdj85n1tpFl/s1849/turrican%20Amiga%20games%201989-1990.webp">Turrican</a> (Factor 5, 1990-93)</li><li>Arcade autoracer: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOlFOsuTlAl2_pQmDCWVH6VFJ56TedNGF26FuzgT9ukWKq0FQ9qGucfE4YPGKi74Xw0VCryteyrSYYtBA7zcjXlxepdepY-kmLARcxC3z90TW-LugugcB-fB32F54V1NC126wn405PLFZt89ZrnGsmCIZpVhyPXFa53hPWYvazjQCFwZks1pacbEX9k75/s1600/lotus%20turbo%20challenge%202%201991.webp">Lotus Games Amiga</a> (Magnetic Fields, 1991-92)</li><li>Golf simulator: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4o4dh0QT28ynROmxSL4feI29iTAf2Ou4wBSr3qKnd3bgexasgqknRd5Zhd8n4nhQuU1C-XpnT0HFpYdn9q1dvW2_S1o28zq88bc6TAtdxBBZDmvT199CVTc0c_KT2NLmTh50XZ4Rvr6YhyNuy21v8s8qJgiToRvXU6zkyGUUFXbsesAKAlodxf4aBXrYK/s1600/links%20386%20pro.webp">Links 386 Pro</a> (Access Software, 1992)</li><li>Multi-directional scrolling platformer: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXBE6yPm-BMV0yABAudG_uZVn1sKxVgZRkyCP0mUrsXMUzR6Pt7QZqfrpfFt3HujNEsTQiMLhnNnSTEXCFY8wDUN_6-e-CYpyDTAqrZ6EhnIHvftUgFt6BZ6g_ypt6IDSPbrIpEqhKF1nKR6aQgJ3wVFjjdo5URm3_CFoJlkA5m7Ok0odjOahZ6nYttdK/s1600/bc%20kid%20factor%205%201992.webp">BC Kid</a> (Factor 5, 1992)</li><li>Cinematic-cerebral platformer: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWAi0qwGuqUlzsUUlr4V-f5LIQBPu3SZj9Dv8cE6ty8TaeH0S5vIPQcpy7Zw0btDoZ0hIDlhji7rfv4lG5zPYNl2MMfIBr6DIDcdoi9oLOCnkHLqoK9I6pngigms7iWH-3LnwSKToxgg0C4xRYNas9oriUtucKJEa3fvQsRKx5WQ55Ooba-pMR0e04XuI/s1600/Flashback%20Delphine%201992.webp">Flashback</a> (Delphine, 1992)</li><li>2.5D FPS: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a> (1993, id Software)</li><li>City-building simulation: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOo5fxiQrMqOPhbq4QWcFC0ax3h0oqpys_5e6znsK6LPS8FaLj5CSPgxWut-gyis4k9TzdMqqUdKDlYkeLyGB1-LeEBjTLrlF5ife5x_jgrcfnEnUElIME-R2cFVJ_-i753qeNyz4zAgAyCK0UipQVVY_5kJeXhLpfHTFc9tTqzELdF12fjx2ipg7bNo_/s1600/SimCity%202000%201993.webp">SimCity 2000</a> (Maxis, 1993)</li><li>Top-down run n gun: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqRcAuPmXLCfwDc-8nRCc3GwaC7SpLE0r2oBQGcVqxt37iexQQHCXPuRgO3hY0kS4TV8MMOD1qIszJD2NVKMhrH_ivRtvFOiy77UyGNEqEGeu7g_ft8EkBvJuFaxmeH0JNor0lkqhOqWKCIyN7_xzZ_vFZ-dvhNoDRSYCLSmVccAFuOlceCYbk9wuEuqTv/s2500/Chaos%20Engine%20Bitmap%20Brothers%201993.webp">Chaos Engine</a> (Bitmap Brothers, 1993)</li><li>Space Combat Sim: Star Wars: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfVvBjkWlx1x0maPraLJSpBzBSWByAgTSKLCKSUlAp2Im_1KRLAlTGjrnyA14KZfEZbrqvSYwhXT4x4L-X4w3Azvwyez7wZkhFGB9LNdI6aPMYfoT8U6LJEi7awNXjsO4Ov6odCAIcYyHlH07Gog_USWfbvilT-u7QxgmEVxSbDkluTSjQ1VGuHF1Uj4s/s2000/X-Wing%20TIE%20Fighter%20Totally%20Games%201993-94.webp">X-Wing & TIE Fighter</a> (Totally Games, 1993-94)</li><li>Space Flight, Combat & Trading Sim: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Frontier: Elite 2</a> (David Braben, 1993)</li><li>Versus Fighter: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuZXJdf5hH03asWdneCm9yfqLOrxiU6lakw_6Lu4I2XanB9JqRL232mDHCMWPe_QJP04gd4STWRqQlVuyNdQ0sDNvII1zZJ_ZlEXe3aX0q6_upEtZx-BdhCYXtaosBCY_5lFsgDD792j6goF8X7KUiUTN88QEydhOs4vWE7_T5bgpppYRQyWQOt-v5Hq_/s2000/mortal%20kombat%20ms-dos.webp">Mortal Kombat 1-3</a> (Probe Software Ltd., 1993-95)</li><li>Team sports game: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Best-English-Football-Games-Amiga.html">Sensible Soccer</a> (Sensible Software, 92-98)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">TBS</a>: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic</a> (Simtex, 1994) [1]</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-rts-reviews.html">RTS</a>: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer</a> + <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-2-RTS.html">WarCraft 2</a> (Westwood & Blizzard, 1995)</li><li>Isometric shooter: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V2JiF59N_EcUV4SvLOYpsLpIBpBbXV8aX1_Q_XAF5shRvVQsIRtCOLW4xD91uS60-N4h2_etx705EV3-hVUzv9fxt0bdhYqINblEznmRTwQguZ-B1wd_fyXDxG4RtRLOpttKBGMGsEmOVI3W0n0rKls_qD-wakUJBEQa2P0RXJRhhnw9JXsuxlyr6hn1/s1600/crusader%20games%20origin%20systems%201995-96.webp">Crusader No Remorse / Regret</a> (Origin Systems, 1995-96)</li><li>Wargame: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Steel-Panthers-Wargame.html">Steel Panthers</a> (SSI, 1995-97)</li><li>Vertically-scrolling <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">shoot 'em up</a>: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVNSz0S3s0Yl0R7CRH2VY1VbgmT639ZQPHgXEEOJVQrNXmFtwvla7d3ONJ2tDxPxDhrecARs97Mv89RXWprJqSjImZO95PT92phZXq-vd22YQljJXHgs1Pb_sDA4KNxXGhulsCcIdEVQFJV1cO48bNDoAYwZpFqrXasaXl9r4XdEJ3EbUZjXkKp4-_6rG/s2000/tyrian%20ms-dos%201995.webp">Tyrian 2000</a> (1999)</li><li>Horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ4I6PSdN3hT1aq1TvgMGVO1zp0goS3rNFDVVJiob65pAdW7-3ipYboC6kRAsYflGiLbqMPc9gzhWdgbQcW9f8oJ-SIlcxleojd65sjyZ5UrR9G4tpsSaoOQQZsQ98WgFnJMCNq59ml6lC3TxdaRwXefPsPSdIufPUdNdzOBR7PJBB37N4Tghqz6Vlazj/s3000/disposable%20hero%20amiga%201993.webp">Disposable Hero</a> (1993)</li><li>Hack & Slash: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo</a> (Blizzard North, 1996)</li><li>Fully-3D FPS: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> (id Software, 1996)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> (pure): <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> (Interplay, 1997)</li><li>Stealth: Thief: The Dark Project (Looking Glass Studios, 1998)</li><li>Action cRPG: System Shock 2 (Irrational Games / Looking Glass Studios, 1999)</li><li>Action-adventure: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SDh7XDioTJkfOCfeCKKlxWN7VjCUXGFpsijLfhYRl24B8vALWAxOzOqOl9_YujkE7PjCIPAuARlRGeVaRbr4hyluVbax3VvtUcT5t5kXNHEx8mE10SEWRKx1lEGo2oveopVcrxZRCFpJ2HCD-PQl7nZXFVk5K_LwlMXTDEkGf2k0JUfaQPX3OgouoFGv/s2000/grand%20theft%20auto%202%20windows%20original.webp">Grand Theft Auto 2</a> (DMA Design, 1999)</li><li>Isometric <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">tactics</a>: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2</a> (Sir-Tech, 1999)</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div>Not all genre can be given equal weight. For example, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">turn-based strategy games</a> are extremely strong throughout the 1990s.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a simple matter to identify the high-point of cRPG, RTS and FPS, but not TBS. And that is coming from someone who has deep-delved the four <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">greatest Civ games</a> and the two <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/x-com-ufo-defense.html">greatest X-COM games</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Qlq7vEKz2EHNfKfCKKhyGXjk-UOnA_WH3mFD-RtquiUz_dauBhWtv2uX9uiQo-c3wbcakIPlSZ6FGzggexDh2ZAAEzWymgdSCv-LPvsJnM2fidZjD5HQwssa7OH-94xPtt0icnzypANmy5kYUyIT25Ji6M-zeGCffSGCMjG6QpTk9Q06nKFAcZSySi1p/s2862/Civ%20game%20cities.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="800" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Qlq7vEKz2EHNfKfCKKhyGXjk-UOnA_WH3mFD-RtquiUz_dauBhWtv2uX9uiQo-c3wbcakIPlSZ6FGzggexDh2ZAAEzWymgdSCv-LPvsJnM2fidZjD5HQwssa7OH-94xPtt0icnzypANmy5kYUyIT25Ji6M-zeGCffSGCMjG6QpTk9Q06nKFAcZSySi1p/w200-h92/Civ%20game%20cities.jpg" title="Civilization computer games of the 1990s" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, indeed. I would like to see anyone argue against Sid Meier games being god-tier.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Tech-Evolution & Revolution Summary</h3><div><br /></div><div>As it pertains to hardware and software engineering, the 1990s constitutes a transitional phase in that we go from:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>i80x86 to Pentium [2]</li><li>Motorola 68k up to 68040 and OCS/ECS to AGA (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a>) [2.1]</li><li>8 bit ISA bus to 16 bit ISA and VL bus to PCI bus</li><li>Mode 13h to Mode X [3]</li><li>IBM VGA to SVGA (320x200 to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel 640x480</a>) [3.1]</li><li>2D to 3D dominance [4]</li><li>Software-rendered 3D to hardware-accelerated 3D via GPUs [4.1]</li><li>Flat-shaded 3D to texture-mapped 3D</li><li>MS-DOS to Windows 3.11 to 95 to 98</li><li>Pre-API computer games to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Advent of the API</a> of circa 1996 (DirectX, OpenGL)</li><li>Bleeps & blurps to sound cards becoming the norm via Sound Blaster</li><li>ST506 (IBM PC) and A590 sidecars (Amiga) to SCSI and ATA/(E)IDE hard disk drives</li><li>Diskette to CD-ROM as distribution media</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The early 90s was a turbulent time in that computer-game hardware and software standards had not been finalized. There were contenders and casualties at this time, but by the mid-90s things had settled down when IBM, Intel and Microsoft came out on top and the microcomputer went out with a whimper, having been wrecked beyond recognition. [2]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the mid-90s a better stage could not have been set for the game-design talent that would come onboard or refine itself via magnum opus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And as it pertains to the all-important gameplay, the 1990s exhibits a mastery with which no other decade contends. [5]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The Big Four of the 1990s: Civ, Doom, Frontier & Quake</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now we can outline Killer App influence and the apex of tech-prowess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is common knowledge that the biggest computer game of the 1990s was the immortal classic <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a> by id Software (1993).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Doom was the <i>Killer App</i> of the 90s.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dwarfing Blizzard's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-Orcs-and-Humans.html">WarCraft</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/StarCraft-1-Review.html">StarCraft</a> <i>taken together</i> (94-98), it is not even possible to assess the impact Doom has exerted on computer game culture and industry for three decades and counting; its influence is seminal, incalculable and multi-faceted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second heavyweight contender is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization</a> by MicroProse (1991), which became the most prestigious franchise in computer game history due to its educational value. Civ is as playable in 2024 as it was in 1991.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/s7300/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2452" data-original-width="7300" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/w320-h107/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" title="Sid Meier's Civilization by MicroProse (1991)" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But since the shadow of id Software's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> looms large as well, it must be stated unequivocally that, in terms of influence, id Software are the undisputed King-developer not just of the 1990s, but of all-time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sKPz4H6yS72SfTzt1IvxGGLkvqNJcPk3OMH3-VAIpQc3pQGyd5ZsSdFiX4nMwarZvVpPdMtGlwID7Ct60vRrtgbkVcZ8StQZXR66UXkUtyUyIpO8MSH05hWhP5Uetxnsr-DfnZZEnM0WTQVkJckAzuKQvUyXvpOxsmviy881rbW6qbaqIPgnAVUnPrDj/s1600/commander%20keen%20games%20ms-dos.webp">Commander Keen</a>, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZAUJtz2r6P6U-_KL2erLRx-SQLz5tq8bvxN2DHYWR0hzo11CspuKXDEO6t5niSp1dQxGX7BcQglTafs7abrSVUvkEqdeWwyea0pc5isVFoWEHMNfCMvrEI1uZdPtpAH4VFWRgB_cjGPAANBVUJyWYSTpEnef3OS5CC71Frdz_4beK_Jias2ypR_tYIew/s2000/wolfenstein%203d%20id%20software%201992%20ms-dos.webp">Wolfenstein 3D</a>, Doom and Quake. It doesn't get any better than that. Imagine coding Doom and Quake from the ground up. And even <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a> has its origin in Quake's engine core.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Commander Keen id Software trail-blazed smooth <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">screen-scrolling</a> routines; in Wolf 3D and Doom, 2.5D; in Quake, 3D rendering engines, robust networking and modability via QuakeC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is what you call colossal influence. But not only that, relative to available technologies Quake is the most technically advanced computer game ever coded:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>No computer game came close to matching Quake's graphics quality or high-impact, high-speed gameplay. No computer game came close to conveying the friction and intensity of Quake's combat; the weight and energy behind its earthquake-evoking battles.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Diablo came out in 1996 as well, but Quake's 3D rendering engine powering along at 40 FPS while shifting around thousands of Gouraud-shaded polygons made Diablo's 2D engine chugging along at 20 FPS while shifting around 20 sprites look like a complete joke.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">But there is a third heavyweight contender that goes by largely ignored yet deserves to be mentioned alongside Doom and Civilization: Braben's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Frontier Elite 2</a> (1993).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yes, Braben's own <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4iohUhDvNO1OGbAJK0jzZ5AsbY41J0lq5kQge9yDmtfm6LWwQECs_KjjBdtLkDvBCWLIUBQvrnYDLiqwR64r6PSMinRFhgQqif_1_i42YUQ-GOcpUBiXX0WK7t00jeQleLlk02CBhHs6zKlXkEBJEKHRn3W4pjOjO7fQjy0gqBreVaxDFVUZrjawJnCw/s3000/elite%20amiga%20version.jpg">Elite</a> of 1984 was seminal and therefore more influential, but to my mind Frontier represents coding and design prowess of the highest order.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Frontier ignited imaginations like no computer game before it. And that goes beyond entertainment and into the realm of significance to humanity. It is a work of genius, a digital artifact.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Frontier ran on <i>1985</i>-tech yet anyone who played it in 1993 felt like they were playing something from the future: it was the space-age subject matter coupled with the lightsourced geometry, physics engine and spartan color scheme that made Frontier a futuristic experience, a computer game that evoked the scope of Asimov's <i>Foundation</i> (1951).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, Geoff Crammond's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Formula-One-Grand-Prix-MicroProse.html">Formula 1 Grand Prix</a> and Sphere's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">Falcon 3.0</a> (both of 1991) deserve to be placed in the vicinity of Frontier historio-technically; F1GP for ground-vehicle realism and Falcon 3.0 for flight physics via the math coprocessor.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Papyrus-Design-Group-Racing-Computer-Games.html">Papyrus Design Group</a> were also front-runners through their Indy and NASCAR sims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, I would be inclined not to place <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Dune-2.html">Dune 2</a>, any RTS, or any pure <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> in the same league of historical significance as the abovementioned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That does not mean that RTS or cRPG genre lack greatness or god-tier examples, it just means that I don't consider them <i>as</i> historically significant as the rock-hard ground-breakers, industry catalysts and thought-provokers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On an absolute level (not relative to available tech):</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>The most technically advanced 2D computer game of the 1990s was <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2</a>.</li><li>The most technically advanced 3D computer game of the 1990s was <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake 2</a>.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reader will note that Doom, Civ, Frontier, F1GP and F-3.0 came out in the space of just three years, from 1991-93. Thus, in terms of trail-blazing uncharted technical territory it could very well be the case that 1991-93 constitutes the greatest three years of computer-game development in history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Chronological List of 1990s Computer Games</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html">hyperlinked</a> list of 1990s computer games that I have so far covered on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a>. The computer games are listed in chronological order, from oldest to newest.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In time, depending on how much time life gives me, this will become a thorough historical account that acknowledges the talented hardware and software engineers that made such computer games possible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Readers will note a technical slant to my coverage, a technical slant that employs layman's terms from the perspective of a computer-gamer of the 90s. Tech-lite, if you will. Which is the language of most 90s computer-gamers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I do not explore stories, themes and characters; as a rule, they bore me as someone who grew up on classical literature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My focus is on the technical and on gameplay. Computer games that lack gameplay get ripped to pieces in my commentary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1990</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW802W4gOUC4farbGTa_UcPxyq12nCm9modrZYVW6yAvCjb9P1E1ddMpEifu-n-T3n8ZEe-l88pnINOJOMx1-qeRPrHVSxMJcHWsHUQXbRuCe1_IHXqWiUk6hyphenhyphenslme3y9HpfgG9Va67K8YbiUJfidAlxrhoTJxk5R-qLvPsbNbXDsBz1Sa74HwfjRqQdvo/s2000/BattleTech%20The%20Crescent%20Hawks'%20Revenge%20MS-DOS%201990.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW802W4gOUC4farbGTa_UcPxyq12nCm9modrZYVW6yAvCjb9P1E1ddMpEifu-n-T3n8ZEe-l88pnINOJOMx1-qeRPrHVSxMJcHWsHUQXbRuCe1_IHXqWiUk6hyphenhyphenslme3y9HpfgG9Va67K8YbiUJfidAlxrhoTJxk5R-qLvPsbNbXDsBz1Sa74HwfjRqQdvo/w420-h200/BattleTech%20The%20Crescent%20Hawks'%20Revenge%20MS-DOS%201990.webp" title="BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BattleTech-The-Crescent-Hawks-Revenge-Review.html">BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge Review</a>: Real-time 2D Tactics Pioneer.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">BattleTech tactics include concentrated fire via Fire-at-Will, defensive fire, taking cover, ammo conservation, overburn toggle, jumpjets, movement rate adjustment, firing-on-the-move, formational movement and flanking maneuvers.</span></div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ROZZN6k9p4bgIJtgOZTuj_0cY5lQgWXxvkl--8jiyPayPrRGr4suljnP-NlKDG-CZPXZIsgL7WdvhgNMEX52wHsXCyTY5-apXCsegmN199VcdsMaxI287ouCXyAtYaodbYO-KNDFQ4VBbhiUGTU5wKtGWdnTaMgCUiyd25wRgaWTUqCOEt6poN9Oe5C6/s2764/PowerMonger%20Amiga%201990.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ROZZN6k9p4bgIJtgOZTuj_0cY5lQgWXxvkl--8jiyPayPrRGr4suljnP-NlKDG-CZPXZIsgL7WdvhgNMEX52wHsXCyTY5-apXCsegmN199VcdsMaxI287ouCXyAtYaodbYO-KNDFQ4VBbhiUGTU5wKtGWdnTaMgCUiyd25wRgaWTUqCOEt6poN9Oe5C6/w420-h200/PowerMonger%20Amiga%201990.jpg" title="PowerMonger Amiga" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Powermonger-Amiga-1990.html">PowerMonger Review</a>: Wargame / God Game Hybrid.</div><div style="text-align: center;">PowerMonger's 3D topographical map is an underrated technical achievement that has no peer in the late 80s and early 90s. I would venture to state that PowerMonger's map was one of the most impressive tech-graphics achievements of the 16 bit microcomputer era. And i<span style="text-align: left;">f some computer games can be said to have "soul", PowerMonger is one of them.</span></div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1991: The Birth of 4X</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb3FecxUPhCqCKFS3WcWEdyx9_i2JGAMQzMsjGLiT2FKYtltsO1INLwO9W3XnQ6hguAIAD1Q6tyLY3pTElhdv2QWgzqi3RKF9dj34ixcineXrC1GqM7wicAPxT8MCAzHMECi_Z3ya47woBHlDHkd3gNVVjHWttEuVI_ZoXzoxEaZHcSIaTxWlHPwNNDxS/s1200/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb3FecxUPhCqCKFS3WcWEdyx9_i2JGAMQzMsjGLiT2FKYtltsO1INLwO9W3XnQ6hguAIAD1Q6tyLY3pTElhdv2QWgzqi3RKF9dj34ixcineXrC1GqM7wicAPxT8MCAzHMECi_Z3ya47woBHlDHkd3gNVVjHWttEuVI_ZoXzoxEaZHcSIaTxWlHPwNNDxS/w420-h200/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.jpg" title="Sid Meier's Civilization 1 Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization 1 Guide</a>: The Seminal Civ Game.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Civilization campaign kicks off in 4000 B.C. of Antiquity but progresses through the epochs of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Industrial Age, culminating in a Space Race and looming Nuclear Warfare. Computer gaming does not get more prestigious than Civ.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3_LilHVoPNAErS1qc9d55sbtjhgDi3yxQE276tYIZYY-f-6AnmuxF91fSdDE9C1sS86uZQECuFTCObO2l2zeseGDnyjLFWV915O45Fbg7QCZwkJ0kUontjDYuHHI8BhV8mtSQv0u7L2HWPH1SDoHibEmF_eUnQkjUZd_o3jkaSTQIAtTyyh38sRvJ7yG/s2000/F-117A%20Nighthawk%20Stealth%20Fighter%202.0%20MicroProse%20MPS%20Labs%201991.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3_LilHVoPNAErS1qc9d55sbtjhgDi3yxQE276tYIZYY-f-6AnmuxF91fSdDE9C1sS86uZQECuFTCObO2l2zeseGDnyjLFWV915O45Fbg7QCZwkJ0kUontjDYuHHI8BhV8mtSQv0u7L2HWPH1SDoHibEmF_eUnQkjUZd_o3jkaSTQIAtTyyh38sRvJ7yG/w420-h200/F-117A%20Nighthawk%20Stealth%20Fighter%202.0%20MicroProse%20MPS%20Labs%201991.webp" title="F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 MicroProse MPS Labs MS-DOS 1991" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/F-117A-Nighthawk-Stealth-Fighter-2-MicroProse.html">F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0</a>: VGA Stealth-fighting at its finest.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nighthawk constitutes a solid incremental advancement on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/F-19-Stealth-Fighter-MicroProse.html">F-19</a> rather than a revolution in stealth-fighting simulation.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4W6GfmzjmEs92p4O2mzAHkSoymMegU9qywu2RRAkS8FldOGZNUF_WFQnz1s6mzOY-f-iNRVDYj4tXrpcRvay1oVvACS0dNfYOsfN7na39dhyphenhyphen_8YUn5f5kTpxUk9UMeUdH86rE8o_XhpiwrSHBeDDX6D36q1A7QEo9x94YnLP2hLUHtcknpqKTI_g9lv1e/s3200/combat%20flight%20simulators%20PC%2016%20bit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4W6GfmzjmEs92p4O2mzAHkSoymMegU9qywu2RRAkS8FldOGZNUF_WFQnz1s6mzOY-f-iNRVDYj4tXrpcRvay1oVvACS0dNfYOsfN7na39dhyphenhyphen_8YUn5f5kTpxUk9UMeUdH86rE8o_XhpiwrSHBeDDX6D36q1A7QEo9x94YnLP2hLUHtcknpqKTI_g9lv1e/w420-h200/combat%20flight%20simulators%20PC%2016%20bit.jpg" title="Falcon 3.0 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">Falcon 3.0 Review</a>: Tapping the Math Coprocessor.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Falcon 3.0 marks the point at which MS-DOS becomes the clear-cut best platform on which to play flight sims; the point at which the ST/Amiga flight sim aficionado must go out and purchase a PC if they want to play the most advanced flight sims with the best performance and visuals.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5VQNsqp4h0zPKDiJkBB2ByfGvnD50JDMBzs7exgLQAgZcU_oGoOu47tOuO-R2xv5r-dmt5xVcd6g83HGRV0AKckgvLlz4bmrbwfnK4p-RPcvihPGhGMbIY6MWKUm46Tp-7N69JbwG11RDIKsxB7nlvZkMpFR-HJMocv2u0YLTLdaphFHwaj6WOtArofK/s1600/Formula%20One%20Grand%20Prix%20MicroProse%20Geoff%20Crammond%201991-92.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5VQNsqp4h0zPKDiJkBB2ByfGvnD50JDMBzs7exgLQAgZcU_oGoOu47tOuO-R2xv5r-dmt5xVcd6g83HGRV0AKckgvLlz4bmrbwfnK4p-RPcvihPGhGMbIY6MWKUm46Tp-7N69JbwG11RDIKsxB7nlvZkMpFR-HJMocv2u0YLTLdaphFHwaj6WOtArofK/w420-h200/Formula%20One%20Grand%20Prix%20MicroProse%20Geoff%20Crammond%201991-92.webp" title="Geoff Crammond's Formula 1 Grand Prix" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Formula-One-Grand-Prix-MicroProse.html">Formula 1 Grand Prix Review</a>: The Best Formula 1 Simulation.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The simulation is tight and accurate: on-rails and downforced in comparison to the average arcade racer. F1GP does not feel anything like an arcade game.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqkvmewTaTI26FiymbPP8Hox65WY7PtuAosJLt8_auh9Pw1OYr-6xVKw9hecYyWGk0r7zvXxh62TXrpa0_LC0spAKTteoYHQKaTKIPY3HRekFt0f9NBORKCPSUQxBjJuf3vv7vH8lfLP-5pvK4nD61b8rwtH9Wo8FB6FJ6h1yZhMfPURs-OdXaxa8Dj_/s2000/gunship%202000%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqkvmewTaTI26FiymbPP8Hox65WY7PtuAosJLt8_auh9Pw1OYr-6xVKw9hecYyWGk0r7zvXxh62TXrpa0_LC0spAKTteoYHQKaTKIPY3HRekFt0f9NBORKCPSUQxBjJuf3vv7vH8lfLP-5pvK4nD61b8rwtH9Wo8FB6FJ6h1yZhMfPURs-OdXaxa8Dj_/w420-h170/gunship%202000%20ms-dos.webp" title="Gunship 2000 MS-DOS" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Gunship-2000-MicroProse.html">Gunship 2000 Review</a>: The Most Advanced 16 bit Gunship Sim.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Gunship 2000 tactics involve stealthily weaving through canyons, manoeuvring around hilly terrain and flying at low altitude along rivers, aka nap-of-the-earth flight. Then the gunship pops up seemingly out of nowhere to give enemy forces the surprise of a lifetime -- with dead-eye firepower.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1992: The Birth of RTS</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSf_PTgIG466xYwgX-uZBJoXf_6kLocYC6g5g8dDFhRfOtUmalXkYalvqaIZa0I5OHvgHbXJ0wsXvwhXtL1wxqXCViCeOnXrwH-2iG9isJvb456LlMbCIdIxk1X3ztK7CTlozropLvrjZ2U3KtCDflZVqGYyyiO2fRcQ3gtg4H4eiB-tpZ5Jv4idv-w/s1200/darklands.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSf_PTgIG466xYwgX-uZBJoXf_6kLocYC6g5g8dDFhRfOtUmalXkYalvqaIZa0I5OHvgHbXJ0wsXvwhXtL1wxqXCViCeOnXrwH-2iG9isJvb456LlMbCIdIxk1X3ztK7CTlozropLvrjZ2U3KtCDflZVqGYyyiO2fRcQ3gtg4H4eiB-tpZ5Jv4idv-w/w420-h200/darklands.jpg" title="Darklands Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Darklands-Review.html">Darklands Review</a>: Mythic-medieval role-playing in an open-ended gameworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In Darklands the player controls a band of up to four heroes (a party of adventurers) in search of fame and fortune. To this end, the heroes explore the overworld to battle the mundane and the mythical.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXCLc0pAfElYIiLLNSnLATtJ95-XQoIT_JNOBxPbFONPW2zwXIMRJtliKYYA3tTLLmHz0AP9WWPVs-MCYzKFVYRp3FrAyJCSr_wFsKp-K0oRvwT0X-WVU0vQPu3hfcfPHtNqDjForas2gLP6Af3DADhIZgLab4Kg4Ro_vXvCaZ7rsRLtET9iISe6mpw/s1304/dune%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXCLc0pAfElYIiLLNSnLATtJ95-XQoIT_JNOBxPbFONPW2zwXIMRJtliKYYA3tTLLmHz0AP9WWPVs-MCYzKFVYRp3FrAyJCSr_wFsKp-K0oRvwT0X-WVU0vQPu3hfcfPHtNqDjForas2gLP6Af3DADhIZgLab4Kg4Ro_vXvCaZ7rsRLtET9iISe6mpw/w420-h200/dune%202.jpg" title="Dune 2 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Dune-2.html">Dune 2 Review</a>: The Formalizer of RTS.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bases get big, evoking not so much Herbert's <i>Dune</i> but rather Asimov's <i>Trantor</i>.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1993: The Killer App</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xIeTu8JktSukGr6oYGAAt5a9oDI1VMqU4vBzx3MUHPrZVfhF415Du-CVZ4ecK3T6YVhQ-cplCfXEW3HxZXsxTxoCndF-TOPIqfopdiO0Oii08AiB4huAS4YgHCDFJpxZAzV2Ieg-Uy47M3ZgJjm1F1MFEgnFEnDsgSSZfHqk9bX_Zpg6FYI1RNN4NSKx/s2500/Doom%201%20Review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xIeTu8JktSukGr6oYGAAt5a9oDI1VMqU4vBzx3MUHPrZVfhF415Du-CVZ4ecK3T6YVhQ-cplCfXEW3HxZXsxTxoCndF-TOPIqfopdiO0Oii08AiB4huAS4YgHCDFJpxZAzV2Ieg-Uy47M3ZgJjm1F1MFEgnFEnDsgSSZfHqk9bX_Zpg6FYI1RNN4NSKx/w600-h150/Doom%201%20Review.webp" title="Doom 1 Review: A Hellish 3D Game by id Software, 1993" width="600" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom 1 Review</a>: A Hellish 3D Game by id Software. An Immortal Classic.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Coded by Carmack, the Doom engine is most notable for its efficiency in shifting around a ton of sprites and texture-mapped geometry at high framerates. Doom is all about high-speed gameplay driven by efficient code.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9DiugusoaeR2-W07R4nYX38Gm7NDX3Om3bjDG_HgXoo2sY1dEKSX2c04fN_ZQiyuartmYGOFSGMvhBqpbl7PnJc71Y1LEcf5eandA9BAsjZwiVf1LHSQN6U22CatJAOucx0AwhVNd-2wqeMtzVnFwModdCQMh0Tjtqb0QsjyFgR359A51RFSJHjEGW8M/s2500/empire%20deluxe%20ms-dos%20wargame.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9DiugusoaeR2-W07R4nYX38Gm7NDX3Om3bjDG_HgXoo2sY1dEKSX2c04fN_ZQiyuartmYGOFSGMvhBqpbl7PnJc71Y1LEcf5eandA9BAsjZwiVf1LHSQN6U22CatJAOucx0AwhVNd-2wqeMtzVnFwModdCQMh0Tjtqb0QsjyFgR359A51RFSJHjEGW8M/w420-h200/empire%20deluxe%20ms-dos%20wargame.jpg" title="Empire Deluxe Wargame" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">Empire Deluxe Wargame</a>: Origin in the 70s.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Empire Deluxe features massive maps and campaigns that can go on for thousands of turns. Truth be told Empire Deluxe plays better than most modern strategy games, yet runs on toasters.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EcLw76jG8Dsp2TNscjGAhvR__MgmF9w1XgMAhvVckJhW1hfx27vL15wOd-xWkk03V-XkHq499NX1nqGP1O7SvzMPcM6HCVEvRQVtEqtjD4KU2wkgCnceLVpE8l_-KkLSyFU7GSpJh05LHgM-uUZa0dAuHs_rLmFJoEkgud2ZcdgNt3HrMVlsCGK-MPcQ/s1600/frontier%20elite%202%20graphics.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EcLw76jG8Dsp2TNscjGAhvR__MgmF9w1XgMAhvVckJhW1hfx27vL15wOd-xWkk03V-XkHq499NX1nqGP1O7SvzMPcM6HCVEvRQVtEqtjD4KU2wkgCnceLVpE8l_-KkLSyFU7GSpJh05LHgM-uUZa0dAuHs_rLmFJoEkgud2ZcdgNt3HrMVlsCGK-MPcQ/w420-h150/frontier%20elite%202%20graphics.jpg" title="Frontier Elite 2 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Frontier: Elite 2 Review</a>: The Greatest Spaceflight Sim Ever Coded.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Frontier is notable for its open-ended gameplay, hierarchical design, momentum-based Newtonian flight physics and god-tier procedural generation within a 400 KB executable.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mQELi57KZAt-ZpAg2LzMC2sqaCoVt0TYoJ8s-Twvdw5CWRfQE3bvWv161k3vTeDetMhgF9HfPn97aS_BsTatLSgN4MIc0n-F_-7OBfSHC8gIGJOLASOyQVW5y3Kj4JqZ4-8KLoJmSqvSpJiD_lCTBtosUiwDJjT6Db78S8yuZ7UjCABBOb18zLREE5g3/s2000/IndyCar%20Racing%201%20MS-DOS%201993%20Papyrus%20Design%20Group.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mQELi57KZAt-ZpAg2LzMC2sqaCoVt0TYoJ8s-Twvdw5CWRfQE3bvWv161k3vTeDetMhgF9HfPn97aS_BsTatLSgN4MIc0n-F_-7OBfSHC8gIGJOLASOyQVW5y3Kj4JqZ4-8KLoJmSqvSpJiD_lCTBtosUiwDJjT6Db78S8yuZ7UjCABBOb18zLREE5g3/w420-h200/IndyCar%20Racing%201%20MS-DOS%201993%20Papyrus%20Design%20Group.webp" title="IndyCar Racing 1993" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Papyrus-Design-Group-Racing-Computer-Games.html">IndyCar Racing by Papyrus Design Group</a>: Smooth, real-time texture-mapped 3D.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfxRnIqhEGZrq97ObFlT_3X_1sDWyRXRlKdojC07SwbSutlCZkgOjzYnhpp72pBqOt_4h4t-dO76NPWD8jTCvmyeLnfegg3bcECaiNnUcNcv_fD00JDs-WaX06G1K4bHAXmDHGWJchGTuzzTHa7Aw7DmVbJRLWgvvmWHrpHr4Aa63C5ybA2FoKVuCUw/s1600/master%20of%20orion%201%20races.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfxRnIqhEGZrq97ObFlT_3X_1sDWyRXRlKdojC07SwbSutlCZkgOjzYnhpp72pBqOt_4h4t-dO76NPWD8jTCvmyeLnfegg3bcECaiNnUcNcv_fD00JDs-WaX06G1K4bHAXmDHGWJchGTuzzTHa7Aw7DmVbJRLWgvvmWHrpHr4Aa63C5ybA2FoKVuCUw/w420-h200/master%20of%20orion%201%20races.jpg" title="Master of Orion 1" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/master-of-orion-1-review.html">Master of Orion 1</a>: Deep-space colonization and galactic conquest.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcVzihMf5TH4Yid4Vp9SZfXmgyjKgfRfZ9rWDt8pDTRqc5WRtsC7h84B_ctIU0WigDGKXOND55hHszyayr6QPoA7QkXYcGEM_Jv7uJp5dut23HknHMC681LB3EnlIkSG3MuL-HRG_0LZvbM27T1Aufic2ktdUTf6X1i9dY1waWC_9ObFk1Td9hP3aPdvD/s2500/The%20Settlers%20Amiga%201993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcVzihMf5TH4Yid4Vp9SZfXmgyjKgfRfZ9rWDt8pDTRqc5WRtsC7h84B_ctIU0WigDGKXOND55hHszyayr6QPoA7QkXYcGEM_Jv7uJp5dut23HknHMC681LB3EnlIkSG3MuL-HRG_0LZvbM27T1Aufic2ktdUTf6X1i9dY1waWC_9ObFk1Td9hP3aPdvD/w420-h200/The%20Settlers%20Amiga%201993.jpg" title="The Settlers Amiga" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/The-Settlers-Amiga-1993.html">The Settlers Review</a>: Real-time strategy game and medieval city-builder.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The player does not have direct control of any settlers or combatants; control is abstracted and indirect -- based on vague priorities and proximities -- yet everything is unceasingly real-time and played out before the eyes in every detail.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1994: TBS Greatness</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIOQ9prYhmoMuUabn-1In9V0xYlXF-BFecocEjLqdxM5WfFC1PoK11wEtXGfr5hfeo3NwmdYOuyBZSfHd3GgAfYwnkU-JsTD_WALcpFSvI0WWL0gv7yMpZiqlSLgCRI8kGOL1Cf9TBb3hxdnDVhEh0df04HoRk0-lERjjQ-UNmxOy_bCXGtVNVC3gs9KX/s1200/Sid%20Meier's%20Colonization.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIOQ9prYhmoMuUabn-1In9V0xYlXF-BFecocEjLqdxM5WfFC1PoK11wEtXGfr5hfeo3NwmdYOuyBZSfHd3GgAfYwnkU-JsTD_WALcpFSvI0WWL0gv7yMpZiqlSLgCRI8kGOL1Cf9TBb3hxdnDVhEh0df04HoRk0-lERjjQ-UNmxOy_bCXGtVNVC3gs9KX/w420-h200/Sid%20Meier's%20Colonization.jpg" title="Sid Meier's Colonization Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/sid-meiers-colonization.html">Sid Meier's Colonization Guide</a>: The Greatest of All Civ Games.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In assuming the role of Your Excellency, Viceroy of the New World of The Americas, the object of Colonization is to establish colonies, build wealth and assemble an army in the New World before declaring independence from the tax-hiking Crown and defeating the King's attempt to quell the rebellion in a War of Independence: all-out-war between the Rebel Continental Army and the Royal Expeditionary Forces, complete with Tory unrest, Native councils and foreign intervention.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnph-DDhXwm3hXDc-40klNAmGH5EGacNeOG_h9z3EblCbiSEpm10KkbOJS3k0EauipcnnwulW0jAfzEvc1ks30p9JnVracejpExuhlXrzaJ0QCB64cgYILDv-eZyQAsoCKrDSC5y8CLZvEXiGQDMJoWkNo-2tiaddUdfQueyFZjhKVE_TDAr_uFIq9w/s2219/torin%20the%20chosen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnph-DDhXwm3hXDc-40klNAmGH5EGacNeOG_h9z3EblCbiSEpm10KkbOJS3k0EauipcnnwulW0jAfzEvc1ks30p9JnVracejpExuhlXrzaJ0QCB64cgYILDv-eZyQAsoCKrDSC5y8CLZvEXiGQDMJoWkNo-2tiaddUdfQueyFZjhKVE_TDAr_uFIq9w/w420-h200/torin%20the%20chosen.jpg" title="Master of Magic Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic Review</a>: The Greatest TBS Game of All-time.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Master of Magic's majesty rests upon its superior Wizard-War mechanics. If you want to play as a Wizard there is no greater game than MoM. Indeed, as it pertains to playability there is no greater <i>computer game</i> than MoM.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPoafgvDqhWcUbXOaXqkpK6WAd7aLbd-G5vtEmqr84ofAeUGv6MNkMf_70XyWWFYiaD5XV7V-WAvo-C3PVSss5J-0tzJM7W11EgE_OYfhuBXycAqDvJqwncD7V5VpDBoJXO5czP8H3-OIETZf9BGCrIDWynU8Kbrba8IdmDjxL1yQXFYVzv9JV4UlZZg2/s2500/panzer%20general%201994%20MS-DOS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPoafgvDqhWcUbXOaXqkpK6WAd7aLbd-G5vtEmqr84ofAeUGv6MNkMf_70XyWWFYiaD5XV7V-WAvo-C3PVSss5J-0tzJM7W11EgE_OYfhuBXycAqDvJqwncD7V5VpDBoJXO5czP8H3-OIETZf9BGCrIDWynU8Kbrba8IdmDjxL1yQXFYVzv9JV4UlZZg2/w420-h200/panzer%20general%201994%20MS-DOS.jpg" title="Panzer General 1 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Panzer-General-1-Wargame-1994.html">Panzer General 1 Review</a>: Slicky-presented Tactics & Operations-level Wargame.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Constituted by 30 or so stats each, there are a whopping 350 units of ground, naval and air type in Panzer General. From infantry units up to the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, unit battle performance is impacted by unit level, vs. unit-type, terrain-type, weather, suppression and rugged defense.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Q5fWOXQOPMVE3J_yIJc0dMzi2o6jYHIMKJICs_j4HX86H8hVR7o2cwskFxc1l3j-QW26upMMi078qO494xBIpQBs-PSyLHsNpVLAqNeM1g_1igjKJEncqhp81aZJXz4Wzv93Gsn5m27I53i_0g2g3ElwTw7MbL7ATDyLVqbvps9GHGkSJ4vxoi9z9A/s2400/warcraft%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Q5fWOXQOPMVE3J_yIJc0dMzi2o6jYHIMKJICs_j4HX86H8hVR7o2cwskFxc1l3j-QW26upMMi078qO494xBIpQBs-PSyLHsNpVLAqNeM1g_1igjKJEncqhp81aZJXz4Wzv93Gsn5m27I53i_0g2g3ElwTw7MbL7ATDyLVqbvps9GHGkSJ4vxoi9z9A/w420-h200/warcraft%201.jpg" title="WarCraft 1 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-Orcs-and-Humans.html">WarCraft 1 Review</a>: RTS Popularizer I.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Warcraft substitutes the spartan, sci-fi color scheme of Dune 2 for a much more colorful palette suitable to its generic fantasy theme. No doubt, colorful graphics that appeal to the masses helped to popularize Warcraft.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqmbDnvm791Bpixf5oWp4gWtB2DC60bzqNU03AxZHkxqtScBRuQa9naXnzj772Aq5Ojc72W14kwpzLSF9_Xx-5Rqhi6-KGwGSp4C9Hmp04n4inLH0IGdQ2gijNBClTkuXch-j5Z_qTWlh9caHCe9IPhIE_Fg5sC_wr215Es-Glx5mhxb82rLaV0rAuA/s1600/x-com%20ufopaedia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqmbDnvm791Bpixf5oWp4gWtB2DC60bzqNU03AxZHkxqtScBRuQa9naXnzj772Aq5Ojc72W14kwpzLSF9_Xx-5Rqhi6-KGwGSp4C9Hmp04n4inLH0IGdQ2gijNBClTkuXch-j5Z_qTWlh9caHCe9IPhIE_Fg5sC_wr215Es-Glx5mhxb82rLaV0rAuA/w420-h150/x-com%20ufopaedia.jpg" title="X-COM UFO Defense" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/UFO-Enemy-Unknown-X-COM-UFO-Defense-Battlescape-Perspective-Combat-System.html">X-COM UFO Defense Review</a>: The Seminal X-COM Game.</div><div style="text-align: center;">X-COM's Battlescape is highly advanced even by today's standards; the work of trail-blazing visionaries. Indeed, the Battlescape is a masterpiece of combat system design and indicative of coding wizardry. That it can be so immersive, atmospheric and engaging almost three decades after its release -- well, that's proof.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1995: RTS Boom</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBLkPbx7X3bsXjWPiqqv6xSyIx7STsXZcjGc2dIIw2sPBl1g07H0uqefwgHC6pXxx-py_AnPrH2u0ZHyi0eZkU4zMxFA2esvH6L3A4qIc7Tf2HZyQOyekHFfgNcKelCPMjSN6EkL358p8b-ljJ95sBm68gIOSBxi6eGnUCqa7MoRf1RozQ9sPufsWWA/s1600/command%20and%20conquer%201%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBLkPbx7X3bsXjWPiqqv6xSyIx7STsXZcjGc2dIIw2sPBl1g07H0uqefwgHC6pXxx-py_AnPrH2u0ZHyi0eZkU4zMxFA2esvH6L3A4qIc7Tf2HZyQOyekHFfgNcKelCPMjSN6EkL358p8b-ljJ95sBm68gIOSBxi6eGnUCqa7MoRf1RozQ9sPufsWWA/w420-h200/command%20and%20conquer%201%20map.jpg" title="Command and Conquer 1 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer 1 Review</a>: RTS Popularizer II.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Setting aside, the main difference between Command & Conquer and Warcraft 2 is that, as a rule, C&C is more about commanding swarms of combat units whereas WC2 is about commanding smaller forces which consist of stronger or more capable combat units, such as spellcasters and Heroes.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP3xuwIkI-Y0ExiFhS3dl_BXg_XTYU8kVsumavmNTQpJ4Xc0dlQOOMAU3NE8mrh-snp5Ep6oNDhpvGqSD1iTKWrPH5jsqQvTwqcUabDAGby8GVwRdbdrIDv_3jIzl2CooTG6Rgk8tUAxlc8Cb5t8rTWzZPt6gP28dstY0v275vz4DtIox2ETOTYNwPVkb/s2000/frontier%20first%20encounters%20elite%203%20ms-dos%201995.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjP3xuwIkI-Y0ExiFhS3dl_BXg_XTYU8kVsumavmNTQpJ4Xc0dlQOOMAU3NE8mrh-snp5Ep6oNDhpvGqSD1iTKWrPH5jsqQvTwqcUabDAGby8GVwRdbdrIDv_3jIzl2CooTG6Rgk8tUAxlc8Cb5t8rTWzZPt6gP28dstY0v275vz4DtIox2ETOTYNwPVkb/w420-h200/frontier%20first%20encounters%20elite%203%20ms-dos%201995.webp" title="Frontier: First Encounters Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Frontier: First Encounters</a>: The Return of the Thargoids.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Over its prequel FFE features more complex geometry, procedural texture-mapping, FMVs and digitized speech, but it did not support SVGA 640x480.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyRImLYsAzlKJgwIKtPoc41BA6YC4_SBgUu1PtL3Q477NFiXQmz_wdCGzWYCl56zs0OBU6dkrmUAhcJMXXH8afXnV_3ixlMgx03vaJe-ZAOpbloo1FIawWT15JL5iY9yL40Hb9odGpIO-UnvqoCPPtbabqbB13-h6H9ANWRbBmy3e2_wETFpCphrloidw/s2000/steel%20panthers%202%20turn-based%20wargame.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyRImLYsAzlKJgwIKtPoc41BA6YC4_SBgUu1PtL3Q477NFiXQmz_wdCGzWYCl56zs0OBU6dkrmUAhcJMXXH8afXnV_3ixlMgx03vaJe-ZAOpbloo1FIawWT15JL5iY9yL40Hb9odGpIO-UnvqoCPPtbabqbB13-h6H9ANWRbBmy3e2_wETFpCphrloidw/w420-h200/steel%20panthers%202%20turn-based%20wargame.jpg" title="Steel Panthers Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Steel-Panthers-Wargame.html">Steel Panthers Review</a>: Combined-Arms Tactics Wargame for Grognards.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Steel Panthers franchise is notable for its historical realism and complex combined arms tactics. In its campaign and scenarios Steel Panthers treats the Western Front of the Second World War as well as other large-scale battlefields in Europe and the Pacific.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpXqit3V7k03btcqw_doyX5GDpbGsBhSJmcZd8XmdO-qmZ1IKLD8cotCz5slJoY8M_Aaa3p7IC_hZ9bRIXq_3A5SCLT2jVjdODlAJw049mlXYYL0ZbKx_Pfs6d0Xwm2f85TCENBGLE72PDoD7NQumAWAy0uFj66LV67IfxTVUjkLLEg-zu3XQKgrodQ/s1200/warcraft%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpXqit3V7k03btcqw_doyX5GDpbGsBhSJmcZd8XmdO-qmZ1IKLD8cotCz5slJoY8M_Aaa3p7IC_hZ9bRIXq_3A5SCLT2jVjdODlAJw049mlXYYL0ZbKx_Pfs6d0Xwm2f85TCENBGLE72PDoD7NQumAWAy0uFj66LV67IfxTVUjkLLEg-zu3XQKgrodQ/w420-h200/warcraft%202.jpg" title="WarCraft 2 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-2-RTS.html">WarCraft 2 Review</a>: RTS Popularizer III.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In Warcraft 2 technical proficiency in design, coding and aesthetics hit a highpoint of refinement. Indeed, given the brief interval between the original and the sequel, the advancements in gameplay and presentation made by the sequel are staggering.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1996: Epic</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/s2500/diablo%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/w420-h200/diablo%201.jpg" title="Diablo 1 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo 1 Review</a>: Shrewd streamlining of Dungeons & Dragons.</div><div style="text-align: center;">What I like about Diablo is that it knows what it is and what experience it is trying to deliver. Above all its gameplay is focused, refined and pick-up-and-play, but its outward appearance of simplicity veils an inner complexity, nuance and design genius that is revealed to players through replays, meaning we can't begin to appreciate or understand the depth of the game by playing once only.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1v_OsXUtQJVXGH_HMvAAB_8WygQn7tHBp1t0GmFqgwqFUH15nWkd3PntBJctk5nb5m1bsCMGszBbcmnW5i45j67TNYPdyBiKqEvUwsgr0kulNyWhB8tTaZLTPQpUjPaGJl3HwYFQ9l752JnlG-MSGAq94RJOdzOzSroht92xE-DYOgJjat-kH5QDYGGF/s1600/Civ2%20Guide%20Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1v_OsXUtQJVXGH_HMvAAB_8WygQn7tHBp1t0GmFqgwqFUH15nWkd3PntBJctk5nb5m1bsCMGszBbcmnW5i45j67TNYPdyBiKqEvUwsgr0kulNyWhB8tTaZLTPQpUjPaGJl3HwYFQ9l752JnlG-MSGAq94RJOdzOzSroht92xE-DYOgJjat-kH5QDYGGF/w420-h150/Civ2%20Guide%20Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%202.jpg" title="Sid Meier's Civilization 2 Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ2-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-2.html">Sid Meier's Civilization 2 Guide</a>: The Ageless Civ Game.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is rare that sequels eclipse originals, but Civ2 is far superior to Civ1 in terms of strategy, tactics, user interface, presentation and playability. This is due to the Advent of the API: the difference between Civ1 and Civ2 is far greater than the difference between Civ2 and <i>any</i> subsequent TBS.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYahBSdWIrO4bWgRv4jkZjIWngl4hYdBV_qI8muWAZj9z9syLq50-DVRxKJfnoxvnXrwB2Wkd8nhec8Av_kFkOFhhmd5_wMp_72c17czNlFf11iCURbpC-rpwcXoy7Ll_62fTg3nE5f6LmyajU0kfEVHsYLbQjbGfaCSfjRdNskaeawU8S3taKNwxOjMq/s3000/quake%201%20review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYahBSdWIrO4bWgRv4jkZjIWngl4hYdBV_qI8muWAZj9z9syLq50-DVRxKJfnoxvnXrwB2Wkd8nhec8Av_kFkOFhhmd5_wMp_72c17czNlFf11iCURbpC-rpwcXoy7Ll_62fTg3nE5f6LmyajU0kfEVHsYLbQjbGfaCSfjRdNskaeawU8S3taKNwxOjMq/w600-h150/quake%201%20review.webp" title="Quake 1 Review: A Nightmarish 3D Game by id Software, 1996" width="600" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake 1 Review</a>: A Nightmarish 3D Game by id Software: The Best FPS Ever Made.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Quake's engine pushes around several thousand Gouraud-shaded polygons while maintaining 40 FPS at 640x480 resolution on Pentium 100s with 16 megs of RAM -- <i>insane</i>.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBLkPbx7X3bsXjWPiqqv6xSyIx7STsXZcjGc2dIIw2sPBl1g07H0uqefwgHC6pXxx-py_AnPrH2u0ZHyi0eZkU4zMxFA2esvH6L3A4qIc7Tf2HZyQOyekHFfgNcKelCPMjSN6EkL358p8b-ljJ95sBm68gIOSBxi6eGnUCqa7MoRf1RozQ9sPufsWWA/s1600/command%20and%20conquer%201%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbPa6head1BQLooMYW_1GDFOJtFFn_MTIoTphj8tX_KS9VKm3OqmnEEWQ_ObzM8K3roe-B21pW0xGt2hHjDqzTXEaEwRy0lV90OgMOc4LnJbObgcLogIMLy3gdlKA5zfrV7IOW_gx6LCgeVcgAuDxrQ3B7aYKkztxAWzWQVSTeRXhbL2bxADCDzjTHfA5/w420-h200/Command%20and%20Conquer%20Red%20Alert%20Review%201996.jpg" title="Red Alert Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-Red-Alert-Review.html">Red Alert Review</a>: RTS Design Mastery & Optimization.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is inarguable that Red Alert was one of the most polished and professional game releases of the mid-90s. The game oozes with design and coding expertise. Not only did they hit their stride with Red Alert, Westwood practically aced every aspect of RTS design.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1997: cRPG Formalized </span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVeTV0gA57ZnIGmJ87R-lU28l41ghkcB9MxHKLOJvtQ5tY8aMubdb4Lw4xXHNNTehsMjBHJgIT2cFnGmIZDoUkieZnYRwiX4RvELZrzkXKO7cqraZG1ABbbXjKQ4c5Q0UdM9XtPp1VQbrEvDStWRP74Cv5N3LbSzXwIFyua2vDSqjC3xvN2A9dRiQ1qKj/s1600/The%20Master%20Fallout%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVeTV0gA57ZnIGmJ87R-lU28l41ghkcB9MxHKLOJvtQ5tY8aMubdb4Lw4xXHNNTehsMjBHJgIT2cFnGmIZDoUkieZnYRwiX4RvELZrzkXKO7cqraZG1ABbbXjKQ4c5Q0UdM9XtPp1VQbrEvDStWRP74Cv5N3LbSzXwIFyua2vDSqjC3xvN2A9dRiQ1qKj/w420-h200/The%20Master%20Fallout%201.jpg" title="Fallout 1 Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout 1 Guide</a>: The cRPG Formalizer.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I refer to Fallout as <i>The Formalizer</i> because it set most of the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-design.html">cRPG Design</a> standards that are adhered to by elite cRPGs that have maintained distinguished legacies for almost three decades.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gSuB_WAu8dhakijLSaTxmrHXNdCdV1Zyy71mUI3R0eOd9qYwkOAW05Pu99DpnCWk8f5cPxFRyfkNbPBJKoaL485oyBMU4LzJWzH9BfYJ73cyuK9CbNCbYxv1cFG4T054jJyR825pROZQgJTio0Ttn7-T1AVaYgkukqgRmPIOWvM39muHgziUSk54QCNV/s1600/marsec%20heavy%20launcher%20x-com%20Apocalypse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gSuB_WAu8dhakijLSaTxmrHXNdCdV1Zyy71mUI3R0eOd9qYwkOAW05Pu99DpnCWk8f5cPxFRyfkNbPBJKoaL485oyBMU4LzJWzH9BfYJ73cyuK9CbNCbYxv1cFG4T054jJyR825pROZQgJTio0Ttn7-T1AVaYgkukqgRmPIOWvM39muHgziUSk54QCNV/w420-h150/marsec%20heavy%20launcher%20x-com%20Apocalypse.jpg" title="X-COM Apocalypse" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/X-COM-Apocalypse-Walkthrough-Guide-Part-I-Cityscape-Strategy-Battlescape-Tactics.html">X-COM Apocalypse Guide</a>: The Most Ambitious TBS Game.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Apocalypse is awe-inspiring in its complexity, atmosphere and tactics-strategy; it is a work of broad vision, tremendous ambition and coding wizardry.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1998: Genre Popularizers</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/s4500/baldur's%20gate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/w420-h120/baldur's%20gate.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 1 Original" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1 Review</a>: cRPG All-rounder that helped spark a Role-playing Renaissance.</div><div style="text-align: center;">As of 2024 I have published over 500 hyperlinked articles and half a million words on classic Baldur's Gate. In length the equivalent to several novels, no one in the world has written more on Baldur's Gate than I have over the game's 25 year aka ¼ of a century history. Note also that my commentary is supported by 1,000 screencaps and 200 infographics, all based on the historically significant original Baldur's Gate.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/s2349/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/w420-h200/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" title="Fallout 2 Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Fallout 2 Guide</a>: A Massive cRPG.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Black Isle's Fallout 2 was not as good as its god-tier predecessor. It was larger, offered a lot more content, made some improvements to companion control and the interface in general, but it lost something of the intimacy and pacing of the original Fallout 1, got carried away with pop-culture references, and muddled the lore and world.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/s1800/half-life%201%20review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/w600-h150/half-life%201%20review.webp" title="Half-Life 1 Review" width="600" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life 1 Review</a>: The <i>Source</i> of Scripted Sequences.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Half-Life was released more than two years subsequent to Quake and one year subsequent to Quake 2. Considering that two years in the 1990s was akin to a life-time in terms of software and hardware engineering advancements, does it show?</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2K35PAjcH2PmTc4LUYXvLtI6_s8P2o9AUDfHOyLjNIdFpz82_8q-B-RFmFgJJqSZdnQAo6p-EtMmFIs_pLQeLeQ6kizUPe63WkuQpXOP1jPJIecJLgTNRN9SmDWqQgK3ZGU8qgzSluSyKTQ1-CqnVMOWr3jBNDMROPxF4wr7XYjEQcGwOSCZAk2jqv_o/s2500/starcraft%201%20review%20-%20species%20and%20episodes.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2K35PAjcH2PmTc4LUYXvLtI6_s8P2o9AUDfHOyLjNIdFpz82_8q-B-RFmFgJJqSZdnQAo6p-EtMmFIs_pLQeLeQ6kizUPe63WkuQpXOP1jPJIecJLgTNRN9SmDWqQgK3ZGU8qgzSluSyKTQ1-CqnVMOWr3jBNDMROPxF4wr7XYjEQcGwOSCZAk2jqv_o/w420-h200/starcraft%201%20review%20-%20species%20and%20episodes.webp" title="StarCraft 1 Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/StarCraft-1-Review.html">StarCraft 1 Review</a>: RTS Super-Popularizer & Whac-A-Mole.</div><div style="text-align: center;">StarCraft unit sprites <i>overlap</i> on the playing field to the point that several will be stacked on top of each other. Unit sprites should never overlap in such games. Imagine if a shoot 'em up lacked collision detection? It would be castigated.</div></td>
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<th style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">1999: God-tier</span><br /><br /></th>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt2pBv2jaDrxuI-c1oNf7ax37u2LWgywBtGnVjHT6bKu59iQj2doxS-pUR_fqvBOtWLTyqg92HQMAgfzRykg0KZErQ-pFkz9eSD5ogRSZG7saoFtnk0x-bawgc0_IBxCK6A-FOkhj_q9X/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt2pBv2jaDrxuI-c1oNf7ax37u2LWgywBtGnVjHT6bKu59iQj2doxS-pUR_fqvBOtWLTyqg92HQMAgfzRykg0KZErQ-pFkz9eSD5ogRSZG7saoFtnk0x-bawgc0_IBxCK6A-FOkhj_q9X/w420-h200/1.jpg" title="Icewind Dale 1 Original" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1 Review</a>: Refinement of the Generic.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In Icewind Dale Black Isle eschewed the deep reactivity of their own Planescape: Torment, and the non-linear exploration of BioWare's Baldur's Gate, in favor of a campaign focused on dungeon crawling & tactical combat.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2nRR6g8VtwNai4Uo-1FnqEmFuUEczZ87tMLve1mwbW6-LzWGqwFZlkqGFFWMqjORcrI56tbUpziLT56pwdGCmMVwoBtlti69MxLYpW894CL5kUyN0Ytazbrys8UlBPwWqvedig-yUBDjiyooVYIIEVWwr_SrVrvwjRescUBwr2ztUm2AQhu1e4aeVQ/s2000/queen%20crepitus%20jagged%20alliance%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2nRR6g8VtwNai4Uo-1FnqEmFuUEczZ87tMLve1mwbW6-LzWGqwFZlkqGFFWMqjORcrI56tbUpziLT56pwdGCmMVwoBtlti69MxLYpW894CL5kUyN0Ytazbrys8UlBPwWqvedig-yUBDjiyooVYIIEVWwr_SrVrvwjRescUBwr2ztUm2AQhu1e4aeVQ/w420-h200/queen%20crepitus%20jagged%20alliance%202.jpg" title="Jagged Alliance 2" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2 Review</a>: The Best Mix of Tactics & Strategy.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Strategy is seamlessy integrated with tactics. By that I mean switching between tactical mode and strategy mode is not at all jarring. It doesn't feel like we're playing two different games but rather one very well thought out game. Both modes feel like they belong; they are not tacked on or frivolously employed. They are rock solid and integral in every way. And that is called King-tier game design. Something that no modern tactics developer has been able to replicate.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHqgmmnfdYZEy1ZLWga4NuXdORLUgkfFcfHgB9xw93wE5X1JwYApUUjB5ARRCRZGE0U-CtxYGqXcWArsv_ZZVeqmP3vOJK6y5jBbamVBbjuTTgXP8HxoUsPMyP8DLRs0TyWlRoI5VRlGb/s1600/planescape+torment.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHqgmmnfdYZEy1ZLWga4NuXdORLUgkfFcfHgB9xw93wE5X1JwYApUUjB5ARRCRZGE0U-CtxYGqXcWArsv_ZZVeqmP3vOJK6y5jBbamVBbjuTTgXP8HxoUsPMyP8DLRs0TyWlRoI5VRlGb/w420-h200/planescape+torment.jpg" title="Planescape Torment Review" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Planescape-Torment-In-Depth-Retrospective-on-the-Original-Incarnation-Part-I.html">Planescape: Torment Review</a>: Reaches Narrative Heights.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Planescape: Torment does a good job of translating the world, powers and factions of the PCSC into a cRPG. While it tells a personal story of an immortal in search of the reason for his immortality, its scope is far-reaching and stretches across the planes...</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNWuJq7BuC39e7U1Fi0fZcZfSfeNPts1iiVm6wCIv0FuiNCL-iC09xniTMfnFB4PnLYRZe2jAy4XGSOtw-354si-PmT8r2ywCoL-cWm9mFmgIi2ua6TRO5muXlIJ8rZNQ0RzcgfCYH9-04N6X8TmGdxGMXUZxCNgQkxwX9pEuQUU8GNZiGPCA46fK1g/s1200/Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNWuJq7BuC39e7U1Fi0fZcZfSfeNPts1iiVm6wCIv0FuiNCL-iC09xniTMfnFB4PnLYRZe2jAy4XGSOtw-354si-PmT8r2ywCoL-cWm9mFmgIi2ua6TRO5muXlIJ8rZNQ0RzcgfCYH9-04N6X8TmGdxGMXUZxCNgQkxwX9pEuQUU8GNZiGPCA46fK1g/w420-h200/Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri.jpg" title="Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Guide" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/smac-guide-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri.html">Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Guide</a>: The Most Complex Civ Game.</div><div style="text-align: center;">By reason of dying Earth humanity embarks on a mission to colonize the earth-like planet of Chiron of the Alpha Centauri star system. But during the 40-year voyage on Starship Unity the leaders divide into separate factions each of which has its own utopian vision for the future of humanity.</div></td>
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<td><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik6Eb1zhyshUr7DAIpqqcnK7UKmxfsmg6BydpuBGt8g6q7VV4ulCeTYb-tiTOEEdSOflByJfcx14ODKRnvBaOFWD2g1uw5Y35kJUq0Mi325Pm3t1duqNczMrIGUbFsx5MnP-sfuV5qM8ylVn3J_Tc10_tSI8iMl-e4WcNZGPGR7vJGIQPSSkxcLTmcbg=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEik6Eb1zhyshUr7DAIpqqcnK7UKmxfsmg6BydpuBGt8g6q7VV4ulCeTYb-tiTOEEdSOflByJfcx14ODKRnvBaOFWD2g1uw5Y35kJUq0Mi325Pm3t1duqNczMrIGUbFsx5MnP-sfuV5qM8ylVn3J_Tc10_tSI8iMl-e4WcNZGPGR7vJGIQPSSkxcLTmcbg=w420-h150" title="Durlag's Tower" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Baldurs-Gate-Durlags-Tower-Walkthrough-Guide-Part-I-Ulgoths-Beard-Ike-Hurgan-Stoneblade-Erdane-Demon-Knight-Ghost-of-Daitel-Kirinhale-Riggilo-Bayard.html">Tales of the Sword Coast</a>: An expansion for Baldur's Gate.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The legendary Durlag's Tower -- the jewel in the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a>'s crown -- is a multi-level dungeon crawl added into the base campaign by the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, the existence of which is revealed to us upon reaching the far-northern town of Ulgoth's Beard.</div></td>
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<br /></div><div><span style="text-align: justify;">[1]</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>TBS peak is practically <i>decade-long</i>. I consider MoM to be the absolute apex of the genre, but I could also argue in favor of MoO, Civ1-2, Colonization and SMAC.</div><div><br /></div><div>TBS is the GOAT genre of computer games.</div><div><br /></div><div>[2]</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">486 to Pentium</h3><div><br /></div><div>The Intel Pentium CPU constituted a <i>massive</i> upgrade on the i80486. And thanks to Intel's thorough documentation assembly coders quickly got up to speed in respect to optimization.</div><div><br /></div><div>While they don't tell the whole story by a long shot (and should not be taken as gospel), the following benchmarks in MIPS are good enough <i>indicators</i> of 486 versus Pentium power:</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a></b> (1993) ran well on i486DX-33 CPUs (<b>11 MIPS</b>) and 4 MB RAM (Software-rendered, MS-DOS-only). i486DX2-66 (<b>25 MIPS</b>)</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a></b> (1996) ran well on Pentium 100 MHz CPUs (<b>190 MIPS</b>) and 16 MB RAM (Software-rendered in MS-DOS or hardware-accelerated via OpenGL through GLQuake in Windows)</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a></b> (1998) ran well on Pentium 166 MHz CPUs (<b>230 MIPS</b>) and 32 MB RAM (Software-rendered or hardware-accelerated via OpenGL or Direct3D in Windows only)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>The jump from Motorola 68k in the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a> 500 up to 68020 in the Amiga 1200 was also big; so too the jumps from 020 to 030, 040 and 060, but the Amiga lacked computer-game market penetration by the mid-90s. Again, these benchmarks are only <i>indicators</i>, not gospel:</div><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li>Motorola 68000 clocked at ~7 MHz came in at <b>1.2 MIPS</b> (Amiga 500)</li><li>Motorola 68020 clocked at 14 MHz came in at 5 MIPS (Amiga 1200)</li><li>Motorola 68030 clocked at 50 MHz came in at <b>18 MIPS</b> (accel. A1200, 2000, 3000)</li><li>Motorola 68040 clocked at 50 MHz came in at 50 MIPS (Amiga 4000)</li><li>Motorola 68060 clocked at 75 MHz came in at 110 MIPS (accel. A1200, Amiga 4000) [2.1]</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest jump for generalist Amigans was going from A500s to A1200s accelerated by 030s in the mid-90s; it was huge.</div><div> </div><div>While Quake was ported to the Amiga by clickBOOM/PXL in 1999, the Amiga was pretty much done and dusted as as a computer-gaming platform by the mid-90s.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[3]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The Advent of High Performance VGA Modes</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknP0R0JrGqwvdogU5_zcIGeRbKFU68_rOz90V5z3DkZbRvuwmnKJdRLcWNEXwS3zJX6MdSKo7nxJkZexFtk6-WMVuLAFO1ginoNrGFTETiiLOqFCYPR8DCAqg3N8WgoYHnv2pk58Un2Qvhh8PnMg3lNlzyXlpEcf0b6-bJglaF-yXkIUo9x9SQXEo7mO3/s3000/best%20ms-dos%20platform%20games.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1563" data-original-width="3000" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknP0R0JrGqwvdogU5_zcIGeRbKFU68_rOz90V5z3DkZbRvuwmnKJdRLcWNEXwS3zJX6MdSKo7nxJkZexFtk6-WMVuLAFO1ginoNrGFTETiiLOqFCYPR8DCAqg3N8WgoYHnv2pk58Un2Qvhh8PnMg3lNlzyXlpEcf0b6-bJglaF-yXkIUo9x9SQXEo7mO3/w200-h104/best%20ms-dos%20platform%20games.webp" title="best ms-dos platform games" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the early 90s the IBM PC caught up to the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a> in terms of 2D capability via VGA. And it caught up to the Amiga's soundchip via sound cards. And the IBM PC had more raw processing power, more RAM and more HDD pedigree than Amigas. Moreover, it had the market.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus, the Amiga was well and truly <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">doomed</a> as a computer game machine by the mid-90s, but as early as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">1991</a> it was evident that Amigas could not contend in 3D computer games; only in 2D computer games did the Amiga contend. It is, however, quite a feat that 2D computer games on the Amiga rode 1985-tech for <i>one decade</i>. Bow down to the original <i>Alienware</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>CPU-speed, RAM-size and HDD-capacity aside, it was IBM's <i>Video Graphics Array</i> display controller along with breakthroughs in non-standard VGA coding techniques that improved the performance and fidelity of MS-DOS computer games.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the 90s <b>IBM VGA</b> Mode 13h was commonplace:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>VGA Mode 13h: 256 colors at 320x200 <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">nonsquare-pixel</span></b> resolution.</li><li>VGA Mode 12h: <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">16 colors</span></b> at <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">640x480 square-pixel resolution</a>.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Circa 1993 non-standard VGA modes became more common (such as <b>Mode X</b>), improving pixel-display performance and proportions:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>VGA Mode X: 256 colors, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Non-standard-Square-pixel-VGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel 1:1 aspect ratio at 320x240</a> to 360x480 resolution + page-flipping + parallel pixel processing + <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">per-pixel hardware scrolling</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Mode X computer games were mostly ports of Amiga and Sega Genesis games. However, there were several good-quality Mode 13h and Mode X MS-DOS exclusives. In the above infographic only EWJ and Rayman are not MS-DOS-exclusive or MS-DOS-firsts, which is impressive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some may say, "Oh, those are just 2D platformers, simple and casual games!", but <i>non-standard coding routines</i>, <i>the level of VGA-tapping</i>, allowed MS-DOS and Win95 to contend with Genesis and SNES 2D games via Mode 7-style effects and suchlike. And some MS-DOS and Windows platformers offered more features and more complex controls than their console-counterparts. Moreover, they did not often slow down in framerate when the screen got busy (SNES Super R-type).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now we can compare a sample of the Amiga platform-game catalogue from 1989-96. This is not about whose catalogue is best, these are only <i>samples</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWna_lKGoiEj2jPQ83pYTXOyFgSHJM-R_x36xgtmqJ9fewgfBEv4bVchTFLgxGoavALlzUD3l6P5ISjLVznkE4iRILHuJX_2d6jVaB1EkjzT2xKdNWUd5elSBTuNkdJMtfs6-nSBtnksY5gU_1M-HWpSU-Ih-OB72zrqtzjlGAn8FmKlB2IzuP1aGpUAiv/s7000/best%20Amiga%20platform%20games.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2800" data-original-width="7000" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWna_lKGoiEj2jPQ83pYTXOyFgSHJM-R_x36xgtmqJ9fewgfBEv4bVchTFLgxGoavALlzUD3l6P5ISjLVznkE4iRILHuJX_2d6jVaB1EkjzT2xKdNWUd5elSBTuNkdJMtfs6-nSBtnksY5gU_1M-HWpSU-Ih-OB72zrqtzjlGAn8FmKlB2IzuP1aGpUAiv/w200-h80/best%20Amiga%20platform%20games.webp" title="best Amiga platform games" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Again, some of those Amiga games rival Genesis/SNES games even though most of them were coded to run on late-80s tech that could do more than just play games (an Amiga 500).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>SVGA</b> then stepped in to become commonplace circa 1996 [3.1]:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>SVGA: 256 color palette (8 bit color depth) at <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">640x480 square-pixel 1:1 aspect ratio</a></li><li>SVGA: 16.7 million color palette (24-bit color depth) at 800x600</li><li>XGA: 1024x768</li><li>SXGA: 1280x1024</li><li>UXGA: 1600x1200</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>SVGA 640x480 was not just about 4:3 square-pixel resolution in 256 colors from a palette of 256K. It was also about hardware cursors, increased clockspeed and increased display memory (256 KB for VGA, 1-4 MB for SVGA). Line-draws, square-fills and poly-fills -- they were 30 times faster in SVGA.</div><div><br /></div><div>The above-enumerated advancements had a big impact on computer game fidelity, bitmap display performance, sprite animation and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-stats.html">stat presentation</a> screen-space that <i>facilitates player-interpretable interaction</i> in complex computer games.</div><div><br /></div><div>Square pixel resolutions, seamless big-bitmap switching and shifting as well as smooth hardware-scrolling enhanced gameplay, make no mistake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Big-bitmap shifting in X-Wing:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcm90lA9Qxj2-Tz8U1qoZqB93hsSrSnelfPHuj8GWj2BSp4zNcG9OjBw0M8QmWwvaidmn6sM2EfpQw_GbvXeiROELM3ukq4hFxlvde3Ou_myXOlL7uyoDxq26t8-GSbwt0acsAGN2voVTdb5BjqSX51rhyphenhyphenyiAUVi6qgpdPCGpnTqJc3IS18JkPpBbbQtV/s1600/2d%20vga%20graphics%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1600" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcm90lA9Qxj2-Tz8U1qoZqB93hsSrSnelfPHuj8GWj2BSp4zNcG9OjBw0M8QmWwvaidmn6sM2EfpQw_GbvXeiROELM3ukq4hFxlvde3Ou_myXOlL7uyoDxq26t8-GSbwt0acsAGN2voVTdb5BjqSX51rhyphenhyphenyiAUVi6qgpdPCGpnTqJc3IS18JkPpBbbQtV/w200-h50/2d%20vga%20graphics%20ms-dos.webp" title="2d vga graphics ms-dos" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>For example, on either MS-DOS 5.0 or Windows 95 with DirectX 3.0a, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> (1997) displays and functions gloriously in SVGA 640x480 256-colors. You would not want to play Fallout made for VGA 320x240 in 1996: that would <i>suck</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Note that a few Amiga games featured VGA-comparable resolutions and color depths. Jim Power (1992) featured 12-level <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">parallax hardware scrolling</a> and over 200 on-screen colors yet ran at 50 frames per second on Amiga 500s from <i>Jan. 1987</i>. And JP is just one example of a dozen that could be given.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9XlreAUXWoAZH8_UQidW4WVptdRVyy9Qe0eiL_Q8iSI6hMMKbNe58MboqgUl-cRADHXc0_OD1MlmfQR-HdhJD5Dl-jqBVx22cFuYkZBaZvmXhOJor7M8o2J3X4MozOXuBVLvQGaYTTwww8TZ8Y1qombEMcyFuKFX1TKnaV8_yR98F3iRGxVnJs1kE11H/s1600/Jim%20Power%20in%20Mutant%20Planet%20Amiga%201992.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1600" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9XlreAUXWoAZH8_UQidW4WVptdRVyy9Qe0eiL_Q8iSI6hMMKbNe58MboqgUl-cRADHXc0_OD1MlmfQR-HdhJD5Dl-jqBVx22cFuYkZBaZvmXhOJor7M8o2J3X4MozOXuBVLvQGaYTTwww8TZ8Y1qombEMcyFuKFX1TKnaV8_yR98F3iRGxVnJs1kE11H/w200-h81/Jim%20Power%20in%20Mutant%20Planet%20Amiga%201992.webp" title="Jim Power in Mutant Planet Amiga 1992" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>2D power, son. 2D power.</div><div><br /></div><div>cf.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Non-standard-Square-pixel-VGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">Non-standard Square-pixel VGA Games on IBM PC MS-DOS</a> (320x240)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">Square-pixel SVGA Games on IBM PC MS-DOS</a> (640x480)</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGltM_QqINwf1pd5pSQIM4USuCqxnCnEP-ZOtUi-y4WS-Dt-axN-u_zhVtWX0B2EH4LNFXFulBgIzQjxTeA7ggOFXsvgf9HrD_witOm5WAsCF6Ky9lG6T4qf1n8jtA5Jg5NNsJ0x6fQDV91QaFDgHNpkomd6gdJML3ZyH-lWo-blr3JqQh0FbzuxFNsQ/s1920/warcraft%202%20resolution.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGltM_QqINwf1pd5pSQIM4USuCqxnCnEP-ZOtUi-y4WS-Dt-axN-u_zhVtWX0B2EH4LNFXFulBgIzQjxTeA7ggOFXsvgf9HrD_witOm5WAsCF6Ky9lG6T4qf1n8jtA5Jg5NNsJ0x6fQDV91QaFDgHNpkomd6gdJML3ZyH-lWo-blr3JqQh0FbzuxFNsQ/w200-h100/warcraft%202%20resolution.jpg" title="VGA and SVGA comparison" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>MS-DOS and Windows versions of Fallout did not have smooth <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">screen-scrolling</a>. Not even Windows-exclusive, DirectX <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo</a> had smooth scrolling. Fallout has a good excuse because its viewport is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchorless</a> with edgescreen auto-scrolling, but Diablo has no excuse because its viewport is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchored-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchored</a> as in arcade-game scrollers. And it doesn't matter that Diablo is more complex than stock shooters or platformers because Diablo requires <i>Pentium 60 MHz CPUs</i> with <i>8,000 KB RAM</i> (<b>140 MIPS</b>) whereas stock shooters and platformers ran on <i>7 Mhz microprocessors</i> with <i>512 KB RAM</i> (<b>1.2 MIPS</b>).</div><div><br /></div><div>100 times the computational power and that is what Blizzard <i>North</i> came up with: non-smooth scrolling at 20 FPS for an arcade-action game of 1996, yet Blizzard <i>Entertainment</i>'s WarCraft 2 (1995) runs in SVGA with smooth scrolling...</div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Diablos-Place-in-1990s-Computer-Game-History.html">Diablo's Place in 1990s Computer Game History</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>My view is that if you can't make a computer game scroll smoothly on a per-pixel basis, make it <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Flip-screen-Computer-Games.html">flip-screen</a> like the Crusader games.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 90s <i>2D computer games</i> there was no need to go beyond 800x600 and 256 colors: no one was going to make <i>pixel</i>-art computer games in resolutions above 800x600 and 8 bit color depth. And that is why even many <i>640x480</i> 2D computer games -- scores of them -- feature <i>pre-rendered</i> backdrops/sprites or a mix of hand-drawn and pre-rendered backdrops/sprites.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pre-rendered backdrops and sprites were necessitated by the sheer scope of some 2D computer games. Without 3D-modelling one would need an army of artists and animators to hand-draw graphics assets.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Game History</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Baldur's Gate Graphics</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>And in 90s <i>3D computer games</i> there was no reason to go beyond 1280x1024 on 17" Trinitron CRTs. Quake looked glorious at 1280x1024 on such supreme monitors.</div><div><br /></div><div>VGA computer games enabled the IBM PC to finally surpass the Amiga in 2D games by 1992 (IBM PCs already had blatantly obvious 3D supremacy by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">1991</a>).</div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPOMJLahyYeBOoz7RD-HrQLVmBeD5aolTDUdvDwdoiVk9yESTAq2cmg9P-HJMAZ-SxjcNj9-7ZOOey9_s3vFhKD2ExA_ju-O-fDpCKsjEfZPo_uvUOw0KGTCn3SYhTJHwIrTiS3aGQm5J_ydd_dsYBvd41qc6XJ3g1vBLCnZEnOqj4Iu_rHni9rsq8F0G/s1600/vga%20graphics%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPOMJLahyYeBOoz7RD-HrQLVmBeD5aolTDUdvDwdoiVk9yESTAq2cmg9P-HJMAZ-SxjcNj9-7ZOOey9_s3vFhKD2ExA_ju-O-fDpCKsjEfZPo_uvUOw0KGTCn3SYhTJHwIrTiS3aGQm5J_ydd_dsYBvd41qc6XJ3g1vBLCnZEnOqj4Iu_rHni9rsq8F0G/w200-h100/vga%20graphics%20ms-dos.webp" title="vga graphics ms-dos" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div>But overtaking 2D Amiga games in the early 90s was not exactly a great achievement. Consider Amiga graphics in 1986 (38 year-old graphics as of 2024):</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/s3000/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="800" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/w200-h94/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" title="Defender of the Crown Cinemaware Amiga 1986" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>You can't do that on MS-DOS in 1986. I would not even waste my time posting MS-DOS screencaps of DotC.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can read about the Amiga's doom in my <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom Review</a>.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[4]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The Advent of 3D Graphics Cards</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSgpysm35Ly3ZXdQZ7bGzOeyhLm6J0Dt9zj2d2cOTdhkPJEYFM9eE5rSm4cL7svena1jbqGAAFZIM_-emcCY167RviQKDb3nO_H5RIx8BHVGn1EJFEOenZyK74bGrwCbkjbsg1azpIUwIzl2-9m7HAoUylTCQVwZsp-5VTuykogSicZZKTFhyrcKZPLnF/s4000/half%20life%201%20versus%20quake%201%20graphics.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSgpysm35Ly3ZXdQZ7bGzOeyhLm6J0Dt9zj2d2cOTdhkPJEYFM9eE5rSm4cL7svena1jbqGAAFZIM_-emcCY167RviQKDb3nO_H5RIx8BHVGn1EJFEOenZyK74bGrwCbkjbsg1azpIUwIzl2-9m7HAoUylTCQVwZsp-5VTuykogSicZZKTFhyrcKZPLnF/w200-h75/half%20life%201%20versus%20quake%201%20graphics.webp" title="The Advent of 3D Graphics Cards" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">GLQuake</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a> (1997-98) powered the 3D computer game industry from the late 90s onwards. The conversion of the computer game industry to overwhelmingly 3D in nature was one of the biggest events in computer-game history; for a long while afterwards, 2D computer games did not even <i>exist</i> in the eyes of the masses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2D was considered old-hat by the in-crowd of the "aughts" (2000-2009). In their estimation even 3D shovelware was superior to a 2D masterpiece: polygons good, pixel art bad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>It was blind fanaticism.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a rule, the aught-gamer's vision of computer games was limited in comparison to the 90s gamer: the aught gamer was obsessed with the <i>polygon-pusher on Windows</i> whereas the 90s gamer had knowledge of 2D, 3D and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">2.5D</a> computer games that ran on wildly different hardware and operating systems.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The 90s was non-standard, experimental and revolutionary; the aughts standardized, formulaic and incremental. The aughts was also the decade that dumbed down computer games to pander to the console crowd. For that reason alone the aughts could be called "The Terrible 2000s." Some of the worst games of all-time came out in the 2000s. The 1990s was just so much better.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fanatical aught-obsession with 3D went so far as to all but ruin entire <i>genre</i>. Under the weight of 3D expectations some traditionally-2D genre were crawling on hands and knees <i>begging hard</i> for FPS-like popularity by three-dimensionalizing even though they did not benefit from z-axis gameplay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Truth be told, it was a sorry sight, saddening, just sad to see, one could almost shed a tear -- but since that is a different decade entirely, I refer readers to the unpalatable facts enumerated in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Game History</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before the advent of 3D graphics cards 3D computer games were software-rendered aka CPU-rendered; that is, the CPU was doing the heavy lifting in rendering the polygons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The original Quake was software-rendered by the CPU and accelerated via VESA 2.0 Local bus in 256-color (8 bit color depth) linear framebuffer mode (LFB) that supported up to 1280x1024 resolution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, GLQuake is hardware-accelerated Quake using the OpenGL API and texture object extensions on 3D graphics cards such as 3dfx Voodoo (opengl32.dll). GLQuake added support for many more and higher resolutions as well as windowed mode via <i>-window</i> and realtime shadow-casting via <i>r_shadows 1</i>. At resolutions above 800x600 GLQuake featured much smoother framerates than software-rendered Quake; the same is true of Half-Life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the late-90s, the <i>perceivable</i> differences between software-rendered and hardware-accelerated computer games were almost non-existent; in fact, most people were not able to distinguish the one from the other. And most people were <i>not</i> running Quake and Half-Life above 800x600 when they came out; to think otherwise is romanticism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">3dfx PCI Voodoo graphics cards only offered 3D acceleration, not 2D acceleration. So yes, you could push around thousands of texture-mapped polygons but it wasn't going to do a damn thing for your <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Tyrian or Raptor shoot 'em up</a>. However, Nvidia's Riva 128 (NV3) featured both 3D and 2D onboard acceleration by mid-1997. [4.1]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 1998 you could SLI 2x Voodoo2 12 meg boards (for example) whereas OpenGL cards on NT workstations offered 64 megs stock-standard on a single monster-board (for real-time previewing of what would become ray-traced renders).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the late-90s there was a yawning gulf in performance between computer-game graphics cards and NT-workstation graphics cards: gaming PCs and personal workstations were completely different worlds and there was zero cross-compatibility. Most computer games did not support Windows NT, including Quake. And you weren't running any graphics-workstation software on Windows 3.11, 95 or 98.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[5]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Some pre-API computer games of the 1980s and early 90s were masterpieces unaccelerated so one can only imagine how good they could have been if their release was delayed by just a few years; if they were able to harness 2D hardware acceleration, square-pixel resolutions and Pentium CPUs.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/M1-Tank-Platoon-MS-DOS-1989-MPS-Labs.html">M1 Tank Platoon 1989</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CBEYcBlu13172UEZ_0dKlsBErN26LujnbSwXDgiVTd8awkv-nISTE92g4E1Zgo6hLfVro1PZYcUEVH6Qg6t3vnxdnuQgrcOIz6h68_nYkMNOwlR2n3byz8U7FcJ_QVnFWkPXJayBSAsAD4Oip8Ha94UEBaYUXyEhcsXV6YQBAIi-HgFU5hX9piQo-KAy/s2000/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="800" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CBEYcBlu13172UEZ_0dKlsBErN26LujnbSwXDgiVTd8awkv-nISTE92g4E1Zgo6hLfVro1PZYcUEVH6Qg6t3vnxdnuQgrcOIz6h68_nYkMNOwlR2n3byz8U7FcJ_QVnFWkPXJayBSAsAD4Oip8Ha94UEBaYUXyEhcsXV6YQBAIi-HgFU5hX9piQo-KAy/w320-h100/m1%20tank%20platoon%20mps%20labs%201989%20ms-dos%20version.webp" title="M1 Tank Platoon" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>To expand, it is arguable that some pre-API computer games exhibit <i>stronger</i> gameplay than their highly sophisticated API-era counterparts; that gameplay in pre-API computer games is only let down by technical limitations, such as (to cite one example) jerky screen-scrolling due to the lack of 2D hardware acceleration in non-<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amigas</a>, which impacts playability.</div><div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Best Graphics in 1990s Computer Games</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgJ98TipYwKxbKb_vIbN2CFe_DtY0XpLEzyGj8n7toIQ7XIsvBqmhFTDBDwzAtQYEYFwjrqtm-e7V0C4DA1DSa1PeDq2KDxNQtYbGLIu4q8WUscRxtI4I2_OlKGN4nUIwpZ9s_NpRfKn87g8xtD4dYKgtAmin8qEXEerWHSKAdqzgjk60NUNGY6g3qhA/s3500/shadow%20of%20the%20beast%20amiga%20games%201989-92.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="800" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgJ98TipYwKxbKb_vIbN2CFe_DtY0XpLEzyGj8n7toIQ7XIsvBqmhFTDBDwzAtQYEYFwjrqtm-e7V0C4DA1DSa1PeDq2KDxNQtYbGLIu4q8WUscRxtI4I2_OlKGN4nUIwpZ9s_NpRfKn87g8xtD4dYKgtAmin8qEXEerWHSKAdqzgjk60NUNGY6g3qhA/w320-h128/shadow%20of%20the%20beast%20amiga%20games%201989-92.webp" title="Best Graphics in 1990s Computer Games" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>As it pertains to early-90s graphics, the 2D highlight was <i>Shadow of the Beast 3</i> and the 3D highlights were <i>Frontier</i> and <i>Falcon 3.0</i>. (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a> was not fully 3D, but is an overall highlight in graphics.)</div><div><br /></div><div>In the mid-90s, the 2D highlight was <i>Diablo</i> and the 3D highlight was <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the late-90s, the 2D highlight was <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2</a> and the 3D highlight was <i>Quake 2</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>On IBM PC the fastest 2D scroller that was <i>ultra</i>-smooth (per-pixel) was <i>Jazz Jackrabbit</i> (1994).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Q_yHm8-dzUa7xCGR3LB3b70q7zE80MHGQy_gAt4DIo8-fr62TgGXPKd6sobPXMP84g9wazlKBhjSZDLUFjp_Tm_b_yh3jmbL5X2xHx6U87OymZoj41TRtkZcAw0atEnJmKJK90GNxOQi_xF-yESf-ZC0rjgB_Hk4DZPsnYxMCADRXAedO9PLC25Yuaox/s2000/jazz%20jackrabbit%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="2000" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Q_yHm8-dzUa7xCGR3LB3b70q7zE80MHGQy_gAt4DIo8-fr62TgGXPKd6sobPXMP84g9wazlKBhjSZDLUFjp_Tm_b_yh3jmbL5X2xHx6U87OymZoj41TRtkZcAw0atEnJmKJK90GNxOQi_xF-yESf-ZC0rjgB_Hk4DZPsnYxMCADRXAedO9PLC25Yuaox/w320-h80/jazz%20jackrabbit%20ms-dos.webp" title="jazz jackrabbit ms-dos 1994" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Shadow of the Beast</i> featured the most levels of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">parallax scrolling</a> (13).</div><div><br /></div><div>The best background color schemes were found in <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGM0rkGcEXvfnmNvykFxdVISWQf_8iClFFt-bYZ5HU4tZ1UzKjCbDuttG9LB7WNua8Yt86ka7dk6wXkWZWPOJeJsNdrE9ohApEqoU37E1uF39y_8cRlKUoKz5SkM662r-UU3iJ0pTZWF6fiRj_9By2vmEWVWXPfXTOgaLS8RQWF9zb3P9Ce3ppPtaxz9e/s1200/secret%20of%20monkey%20island%201991.webp">Secret of Monkey Island</a> and <i>Beneath a Steel Sky</i>:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgJQJAHqshM5fhjH_1IfTwJYIJE8Xq8mJxq7ENPegH8XkSHjyaFXCQ_nHScj2ONtxFi5Rpjfrh2LecQbrQTfBm4JUVX1HvhTwSNRGXcnwuZ0W6tl4tWamTuVM_u2q1CqqG1289x4Hyc6KU8tgKrlbSel9DVZnLTwwuULhA9KfqYVoK_HgnkSWCOWb26os/s1600/beneath%20a%20steel%20sky%201994%20MS-DOS.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1600" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgJQJAHqshM5fhjH_1IfTwJYIJE8Xq8mJxq7ENPegH8XkSHjyaFXCQ_nHScj2ONtxFi5Rpjfrh2LecQbrQTfBm4JUVX1HvhTwSNRGXcnwuZ0W6tl4tWamTuVM_u2q1CqqG1289x4Hyc6KU8tgKrlbSel9DVZnLTwwuULhA9KfqYVoK_HgnkSWCOWb26os/w200-h96/beneath%20a%20steel%20sky%201994%20MS-DOS.webp" title="beneath a steel sky 1994 MS-DOS" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The most impressive sprite-shifters of the 90s were Doom and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/StarCraft-1-Review.html">StarCraft</a>; and the decade's ultimate polygon-pusher was Quake 2.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">Cinematic</a> platformers had the best rotoscoped animations:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-_vooQH0hCqomLZFLm9eHf2_O9wRhEn06h-c2oGrBWy0pDuB4tgppc9udPuRlYKEbpgi-sCrP2IpFhw7k6rg2OJ0Td0ee5-6O-l0L9JDiM1h6Zl2uh-hf8Pi12ZsfWfJ4KemgjqR4NNTK39muDqJv4wDsawzT73ig3-fJo9vqYsBkod4CoY9HwtlXXUj/s2000/cinematic%20platform%20games%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-_vooQH0hCqomLZFLm9eHf2_O9wRhEn06h-c2oGrBWy0pDuB4tgppc9udPuRlYKEbpgi-sCrP2IpFhw7k6rg2OJ0Td0ee5-6O-l0L9JDiM1h6Zl2uh-hf8Pi12ZsfWfJ4KemgjqR4NNTK39muDqJv4wDsawzT73ig3-fJo9vqYsBkod4CoY9HwtlXXUj/w200-h75/cinematic%20platform%20games%20ms-dos.webp" title="Cinematic platform games MS-DOS" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>cf. Amiga versions of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wcKoBGyT47SE1ZW4Vs9MjWfs_ZWs-ISeqbt3t7q2PnOAjQsZhdbqd0gkeYg3Wxk87OtK3WdzOgtEb0ohwAbAeypTP8vyaqiej1mYo5osUaMbflGSvFpY5bqt_Oxoee4mBWPhWrK5GTDtDT7rDV3XighaKz8LyIOTX2EWQ4JMCmK0gOzUcA4OPS74QKe8/s1920/cinematic%20platform%20games%20rotoscoped%20originals%20Amiga.webp">Another World and Flashback</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The MS-DOS ports of the <i>Mortal Kombat</i> arcade games (1-3) are notable for their responsive controls and digitized motion-captured sprites; they are practically 1:1 arcade-perfect ports. Running on 1987-tech the Amiga versions of MK1/2 also verged on arcade-perfect, but the MS-DOS versions were the most accurate arcade conversions by far.</div><div><br /></div><div>The MS-DOS and Win95 versions of MK3 were coded for <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel SVGA 640x480</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuZXJdf5hH03asWdneCm9yfqLOrxiU6lakw_6Lu4I2XanB9JqRL232mDHCMWPe_QJP04gd4STWRqQlVuyNdQ0sDNvII1zZJ_ZlEXe3aX0q6_upEtZx-BdhCYXtaosBCY_5lFsgDD792j6goF8X7KUiUTN88QEydhOs4vWE7_T5bgpppYRQyWQOt-v5Hq_/s2000/mortal%20kombat%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuZXJdf5hH03asWdneCm9yfqLOrxiU6lakw_6Lu4I2XanB9JqRL232mDHCMWPe_QJP04gd4STWRqQlVuyNdQ0sDNvII1zZJ_ZlEXe3aX0q6_upEtZx-BdhCYXtaosBCY_5lFsgDD792j6goF8X7KUiUTN88QEydhOs4vWE7_T5bgpppYRQyWQOt-v5Hq_/w200-h150/mortal%20kombat%20ms-dos.webp" title="mortal kombat ms-dos (1993-95)" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo</i> (1995) was another good arcade conversion for MS-DOS:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSDF87DScgdAo9eoaWhcqlxoZfljqtKUVRNP9KGTjh3czB7gQ3K0V8mYnCTll4CD8q-A35M6OWjoqxI_FOr32naFYGY8YAWwCav0N4cf16Y5VtV2jTNm2wrkP3d-eBcWbpRXqa5gtEC-C2oXlrjg7_mgvFtzRLeNHpkVtp1qrDGe-oUXkuEOTzHU5qreA/s2000/Super%20Street%20Fighter%202%20Turbo%20MS-DOS%20version%201995.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2000" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSDF87DScgdAo9eoaWhcqlxoZfljqtKUVRNP9KGTjh3czB7gQ3K0V8mYnCTll4CD8q-A35M6OWjoqxI_FOr32naFYGY8YAWwCav0N4cf16Y5VtV2jTNm2wrkP3d-eBcWbpRXqa5gtEC-C2oXlrjg7_mgvFtzRLeNHpkVtp1qrDGe-oUXkuEOTzHU5qreA/w200-h100/Super%20Street%20Fighter%202%20Turbo%20MS-DOS%20version%201995.webp" title="Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo MS-DOS version 1995" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>To see how much Street Fighter evolved from the late 80s to the mid 90s, please refer to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Street-Fighter-Games-MS-DOS.html">Street Fighter Games MS-DOS</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>[0]</div><div><br /></div>On the other hand, I do not cover non-Western platforms because I did not own, for example, Japanese microcomputers back in the day. Thus, the weakness of my computer-game history is that, with the exception of some arcade ports, it is only <i>Western</i> in treatment range. Forgive me for not having experienced every computer game on every machine world-wide during the 1990s; unlike <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Commentary.html">posers and pretenders</a>, I only commentate on what I experienced first-hand.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">cf.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a>.</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a>.</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Commentary.html">Criticism of Computer Game Journalism</a>.</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Game History</a>.</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">The Cinematization of Computer Games</a>.</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index).</div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-83832562500289535982024-01-13T16:11:00.000-08:002024-03-20T01:15:34.615-07:00Computer Game Cinematization<span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div>A 2000-word <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html">hyperlinked article</a> on Computer Game Cinematization.</div><div><br /></div></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">The Cinematization of Computer Games</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjv1EiV6NFwA7ATWMcPRqzasjTLDKn1HGc_utbCl3mDtlzPf8FxTdsLGkHY6IqGKzm2PXFYh5wGrJ5dcqOGr-XxcUcvY_21FKoa6L3UChZow1Z0zRvbM-HQ-CJWU8oUyx-jqqiJqfv6w95ceC6F39z1na8eX0r5NoL00buyFBlgfzM3sDnt-JvkFH_7_1j/s1600/The%20Cinematization%20of%20Computer%20Games.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="1600" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjv1EiV6NFwA7ATWMcPRqzasjTLDKn1HGc_utbCl3mDtlzPf8FxTdsLGkHY6IqGKzm2PXFYh5wGrJ5dcqOGr-XxcUcvY_21FKoa6L3UChZow1Z0zRvbM-HQ-CJWU8oUyx-jqqiJqfv6w95ceC6F39z1na8eX0r5NoL00buyFBlgfzM3sDnt-JvkFH_7_1j/w640-h194/The%20Cinematization%20of%20Computer%20Games.webp" title="The Cinematization of Computer Games" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cinematization is the process of employing traditional motion-picture techniques in computer games in order to increase computer game prestige, presentation and world-narrative immersion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Depending on mode and degree of employment, cinematic techniques can either positively or negatively impact player engagement, but no example can be given in which cinematization has improved gameplay whereas numberous examples can be cited in which it has adversely impacted playability and ruined replayability.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">At their best cinematics improve computer-game presentation and drive narrative without interrupting gameplay, but at their worst cinematics put players into prolonged passive states rather than active gaming states; that is, players are waiting rather than inputting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Computer-Game Cutscene</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Computer game developers have a propensity to over-cinematize primarily via lengthy, unskippable cutscenes and scripted sequences. This is mostly due to the fact that classic motion pictures garner more prestige than classic games, and cinematics sell.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The computer-game cutscene is a mode of cinematic presentation that drives narrative outside of player input and game-engine mechanics; that is, in the vast majority of cases cutscenes are bolted on rather than integral to or seamless with gameplay; they are usually 100% non-interactable.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Triggered by in-game actions via scripts or upon completion of level, chapter or the game itself, cutscenes update the state of play by displaying text, images, animation, CGI or live-action audio-visuals. Thus, in many instances cutscene aesthetics are divorced from in-game graphics.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">FMV intro of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> (1998), pre-rendered in 16-bit color:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh1ELLGtzCUNUtSrR8GooiLeVRvHKvoyXM035EJrV6jvh8mURvYQIBX_xlBgtCM59YXgk7h3AVSP6f8mvsov4uIRsFN1hwq8eneMzzdDzhZx6VsnbxtRtxEBmf4Gq_FLSLCnbodqOkbB7/s1600/intro1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="1200" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfh1ELLGtzCUNUtSrR8GooiLeVRvHKvoyXM035EJrV6jvh8mURvYQIBX_xlBgtCM59YXgk7h3AVSP6f8mvsov4uIRsFN1hwq8eneMzzdDzhZx6VsnbxtRtxEBmf4Gq_FLSLCnbodqOkbB7/w320-h135/intro1.jpg" title="FMV Cinematization" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Graphics-Backgrounds-Sprites-and-Animation.html">Baldur's Gate Graphics</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cutscenes can be as short as a few seconds or last several minutes; there are no guidelines or rules for cutscene duration or frequency: some of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful computer games in history feature high-frequency, long-duration cutscenes whose playback cannot be skipped or even fast-forwarded.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cutscenes are usually unskippable because some developers fancy themselves as cinematographers, yet have no such background. In some computer games the simple act of sitting down at a campfire to rest "necessitates" a cutscene. And even when cutscenes are indeed skippable, there are so many that we find ourselves constantly clicking through them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>If someone were to argue that cutscenes furnish narrative, I would respond that player-generated stories that evolve within frameworks of potentialities are superior, and that driving narratives are unimportant and even get in the way of gameplay.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The iconic intro of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization</a> (1991): An example of mild cinematization: an intro and an outro. In-game cutscenes can be disabled.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifoqdQbgsvgqvyFmvsjUMLDHHvgBrMgvZ3yL98T7Pn5fvc8McVfGBtsbEEw9mUXXWTUsD6Go-vRdzkhl2YcWEbDiXLnTCmlp1rWx2VsdbHAWlrL5sUmtxPt0pZmsPRoTLfSwg7Qd_oNorR9k_VjEUymULHFeV9B3QV3gcX02mrRmVIYGFvyXN_EHRxqG_x/s1600/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201%20intro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifoqdQbgsvgqvyFmvsjUMLDHHvgBrMgvZ3yL98T7Pn5fvc8McVfGBtsbEEw9mUXXWTUsD6Go-vRdzkhl2YcWEbDiXLnTCmlp1rWx2VsdbHAWlrL5sUmtxPt0pZmsPRoTLfSwg7Qd_oNorR9k_VjEUymULHFeV9B3QV3gcX02mrRmVIYGFvyXN_EHRxqG_x/w320-h150/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201%20intro.jpg" title="Civilization Cinematization" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Pervading most computer-game genre cinematization has been somewhat of a scourge since the early 90s, but with the advent of graphics chipsets and color depths that verged on photo-realism (as early as 1983) cinematic games began receiving undeserved acclaim, since they lacked playability: style over substance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Cinematizers: Cinematronics & Cinemaware</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div><div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Cinemaware derives its insiration from the movies, not computer games ... our interactive movies combine sophisticated computer graphics with classic movie themes and characters. -- Cinemaware, 1986.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>And that is why Cinemaware's computer games lacked gameplay.</div><div><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/s3000/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1406" data-original-width="3000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/w320-h150/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" title="Defender of the Crown Cinemaware Amiga 1986" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Just look at how popular <b>Cinema</b>tronics and <b>Cinema</b>ware games were in the early- and mid- 80s, yet most of those games played awfully and had no replayability to speak of. [1]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(That said, Cinemaware's <i>Defender of the Crown</i> has a special place in my heart; one of the most beautiful computer games ever made.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Gameplay" in Cinematronics games consisted of hitting the fire-button and directing the joystick at precise moments in response to a series of preset scenes featuring rotoscoped animations and digitized backdrops and audio.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cinematronics games were basically <i>interactive cartoons</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Players endured extra-long load times and diskette-swapping just to "play" (via trial and error) ports of the <i>Dragon's Lair</i> LaserDisc arcade game (1983).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If you got one input wrong you started again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Players were only persisting with Dragon's Lair because the audio-visuals were striking; captivated by the expert animations and sampled speech appearing on their <i>1985</i>-tech <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amigas</a> in 1989, they wanted to see and hear more of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 1989 the Amiga version of Dragon's Lair set one back £45. How much was an animated feature film on LaserDisc?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That said, Cinematronics games pioneered digitized graphics and audio compression techniques; that is, they made a contribution to the computer game industry even though gameplay was an after-thought.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOJ2Jqw7WlNwXbhuYdJsX6R72LAjPj8NecNpYu1_YgvR-ZfEaPMeF6m1H9PXCBRLYmqqcoCbG6J1FKoIlJ4Dg9Rm0XMBGL2uwF5PV2CrkjroFaBJP0syQTZNuBnBmy1_vCEsBbyRFdip6rFowzrUCmOfsAuQe8Fqeh-KvO5b5Sh62weGypsxaXoj2GVKO/s2000/The%20Cinematization%20of%20Computer%20Games.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="2000" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOJ2Jqw7WlNwXbhuYdJsX6R72LAjPj8NecNpYu1_YgvR-ZfEaPMeF6m1H9PXCBRLYmqqcoCbG6J1FKoIlJ4Dg9Rm0XMBGL2uwF5PV2CrkjroFaBJP0syQTZNuBnBmy1_vCEsBbyRFdip6rFowzrUCmOfsAuQe8Fqeh-KvO5b5Sh62weGypsxaXoj2GVKO/w320-h111/The%20Cinematization%20of%20Computer%20Games.webp" title="Computer Game Cinematization: Dragon's Lair (1983)" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What Dragon's Lair shows is that extreme examples of cinematization existed long before CD-ROM became common: on <i>six</i> 3.5" 880 kB floppy diskettes (6 MB unpacked).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cinematization via Full-Motion Video (FMV)</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">An FMV fad followed when CD-ROM became stock-standard in the early 90s:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote><b>Game logic</b> = 500 <b>k</b>B, <b>FMV</b> = 500 <b>M</b>B.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Most FMV "computer games" were just about filling up the CD with live-action digitized video footage, but as always the masses were taken in by the marketing -- hook, line and sinker.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"Wow, video running on my computer! But not just video, interactive video!"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">FMV computer games were just point and click adventure games that employed very little in the way of coding and mechanics: click here, watch some video; click there, watch some more video.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Riveting stuff -- coasters for the coffee table.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">However, the FMV fad assisted in the adoption of CD-ROM as standard storage media, which is how the complex computer games of the late-90s would be distributed (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Advent of the API</a>). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And the FMV craze expanded the computer-game demographic dramatically.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Source of Scripted Sequences</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After the FMV fad had run its course <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a> took up the mantle of cinematization via its scripted sequences that, while not denying players control of Gordon Freeman nevetheless limited what actions players could take until the scripted sequence concluded.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Mainstream commentary celebrated scripted sequences as a virtue, not a vice:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"You have the freedom to derp around while waiting! It's innovative!"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Evidently, they were not veterans of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a>. Because Doom and Quake players would feel trolled by enforced wait-states.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>Half-Life's introductory <i>tram ride</i> overlayed by cinema-style credits says it all: Half-Life's narrative is <i>on-rails</i> and presented via scripted sequences and voiced NPCs; this game wants to emulate the Silver Screen; it wants cinematic prestige; it wants to be seen as a professional product -- and it is.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/s1800/half-life%201%20review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="800" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/w320-h86/half-life%201%20review.webp" title="Half-Life Cinematization" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But as it pertains to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-design.html">computer game design</a> it is difficult to cite a positive contribution from Half-Life: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Doom and Quake broke rock-hard ground whereas instead of tilling Half-Life cinematized a pure action genre and devolved the FPS simply because it wanted to differentiate itself from id Software's Quake, which was unassailably sophisticated in 1996.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Half-Life was built from Quake's core.)</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After the mainstream success of Half-Life, not many computer games would be free of scripted sequences.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>For game-flow, and providing they are skippable, it is actually less jarring to employ end-of-chapter intermission cutscenes than suddenly interrupt gameplay by forcing players to wait and watch. But of course, players should never be waiting and watching unless they are in full control to act at-will.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2D & 3D Cinematization</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wcKoBGyT47SE1ZW4Vs9MjWfs_ZWs-ISeqbt3t7q2PnOAjQsZhdbqd0gkeYg3Wxk87OtK3WdzOgtEb0ohwAbAeypTP8vyaqiej1mYo5osUaMbflGSvFpY5bqt_Oxoee4mBWPhWrK5GTDtDT7rDV3XighaKz8LyIOTX2EWQ4JMCmK0gOzUcA4OPS74QKe8/s1920/cinematic%20platform%20games%20rotoscoped%20originals%20Amiga.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wcKoBGyT47SE1ZW4Vs9MjWfs_ZWs-ISeqbt3t7q2PnOAjQsZhdbqd0gkeYg3Wxk87OtK3WdzOgtEb0ohwAbAeypTP8vyaqiej1mYo5osUaMbflGSvFpY5bqt_Oxoee4mBWPhWrK5GTDtDT7rDV3XighaKz8LyIOTX2EWQ4JMCmK0gOzUcA4OPS74QKe8/w167-h200/cinematic%20platform%20games%20rotoscoped%20originals%20Amiga.webp" title="cinematic platform games rotoscoped originals Amiga" width="167" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In numberous guises cinematics are employed in both 2D and 3D computer games. In 2D computer games cinematization includes scripted events, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wcKoBGyT47SE1ZW4Vs9MjWfs_ZWs-ISeqbt3t7q2PnOAjQsZhdbqd0gkeYg3Wxk87OtK3WdzOgtEb0ohwAbAeypTP8vyaqiej1mYo5osUaMbflGSvFpY5bqt_Oxoee4mBWPhWrK5GTDtDT7rDV3XighaKz8LyIOTX2EWQ4JMCmK0gOzUcA4OPS74QKe8/s1920/cinematic%20platform%20games%20rotoscoped%20originals%20Amiga.webp">rotoscoping</a>, full-motion video cutscenes, digitized stills, wipe transitions and traditional animation sequences (cel-based).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">3D computer games employ much of the above as well, but they also employ cinematic cam movements and angles, along with shadows and lighting that evoke (but do not match) traditional motion picture cinematography.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That said, 3D graphics are no more capable of or susceptible to cinematics than 2D graphics. In 2D and 3D computer games the effect cinematics have on players is equivalent, but the <i>means</i> of achieving the effects differ:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Cam versus screen-scrolling</a></li><li>Polygons versus sprites and bitmaps</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It should be obvious that cinematization has nothing to do with realism of graphics aka fidelity: ASCII-based computer games can evoke cinematics just as well as ray-traced computer games; monochrome palettes just as well as 32 bit color depth; Z80s just as well as Ryzen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>Cinematization is not fueled by tech advancements: it is <i>presentation</i>.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unskippable intro from <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/The-Settlers-Amiga-1993.html">The Settlers</a> (1993):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcVzihMf5TH4Yid4Vp9SZfXmgyjKgfRfZ9rWDt8pDTRqc5WRtsC7h84B_ctIU0WigDGKXOND55hHszyayr6QPoA7QkXYcGEM_Jv7uJp5dut23HknHMC681LB3EnlIkSG3MuL-HRG_0LZvbM27T1Aufic2ktdUTf6X1i9dY1waWC_9ObFk1Td9hP3aPdvD/s2500/The%20Settlers%20Amiga%201993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="800" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzcVzihMf5TH4Yid4Vp9SZfXmgyjKgfRfZ9rWDt8pDTRqc5WRtsC7h84B_ctIU0WigDGKXOND55hHszyayr6QPoA7QkXYcGEM_Jv7uJp5dut23HknHMC681LB3EnlIkSG3MuL-HRG_0LZvbM27T1Aufic2ktdUTf6X1i9dY1waWC_9ObFk1Td9hP3aPdvD/s320/The%20Settlers%20Amiga%201993.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But sometimes, to match the production values of their visuals cinematized computer games employ extensive voice acting (VOs) for non-player characters, but reading is faster than listening to disinterested actors who often botch linguistic stress through their mechanical delivery; laughable, because it shows they don't even understand or care about what they are reading aloud in the recording studio. And who can blame them? Most <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">computer-game writing</a> is enough to put anyone to sleep, even if they are being paid to stay awake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Conclusion on Cinematization</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cinematics and VOs have usually slowed down player progression <i>through</i> computer games and impacted the technical performance <i>of</i> computer games. FMV-based cinematics are also more likely to present compatibility problems due to screen-resolution switching, desktop color-depth demands and third-party executables that load Bink video files or *.biks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Scripted sequences have also been known to glitch out or lock up (e.g, Half-Life).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Moreover, both cinematics and VOs often get in the road of gameplay if not ruin the free-flow of gameplay entirely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-_vooQH0hCqomLZFLm9eHf2_O9wRhEn06h-c2oGrBWy0pDuB4tgppc9udPuRlYKEbpgi-sCrP2IpFhw7k6rg2OJ0Td0ee5-6O-l0L9JDiM1h6Zl2uh-hf8Pi12ZsfWfJ4KemgjqR4NNTK39muDqJv4wDsawzT73ig3-fJo9vqYsBkod4CoY9HwtlXXUj/s2000/cinematic%20platform%20games%20ms-dos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-_vooQH0hCqomLZFLm9eHf2_O9wRhEn06h-c2oGrBWy0pDuB4tgppc9udPuRlYKEbpgi-sCrP2IpFhw7k6rg2OJ0Td0ee5-6O-l0L9JDiM1h6Zl2uh-hf8Pi12ZsfWfJ4KemgjqR4NNTK39muDqJv4wDsawzT73ig3-fJo9vqYsBkod4CoY9HwtlXXUj/w320-h120/cinematic%20platform%20games%20ms-dos.webp" title="Cinematic Platform games MS-DOS" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even cinematic rotoscoped animations slow down gameplay via increased number of frames on sprites that put players into <i>micro wait-states</i> (Prince of Persia, 1989). But realistic fluidity of sprite animation does not translate to better gameplay, it only slows it down and decreases player input-rate.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>The reward for completing computer games used to be seeing your score and name lit up on the high-score table. Then, the reward became watching an outro.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While cinematization positively impacted aspects of computer-game presentation and gave computer games more prestige in the eyes of the cinema-going masses (thereby growing the industry greatly), the bottom line is that developers have over-cinematized computer games throughout history -- and games are to be actively played, not passively watched.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>Computer games are to be actively played, not passively watched.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If one finds themselves constantly watching or clicking through cutscenes while playing a computer game, one may like to consider watching a motion picture instead, because the quality of cinematography in classic motion pictures far exceeds that of computer games by virtue of greater pedigree and grand tradition.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Just like if one is constantly <i>reading</i> or clicking through dialogue while playing a computer game, one may like to consider reading a book instead.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Genre Examples of Cinematization</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Due to the FMV fad and advent of CD-ROM, practically every commercial computer game of the late-90s employed FMV intros, outros and cutscenes. Most FMVs can be disabled by renaming the video files or creating blank videos with the original video filenames. However, most players did not know that back in the day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cRPG Cinematization</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpzyZz75kPwgUFqb5YgATukFVdhvnz7aytcVEV-wJI-G2T-S8SWlX6Zf5DDVVsPvuOhpDsKhT8oTF2vc2fi8aKhlpb3pA8WvfTJNMGcxw3M2BiTeTsGvHNc7PKm7jxfFwVSUxeYd6vfs6IaNyW-s4o7FZIZ8Yib6l7Ew9636vLyzYZr_xw9J5YMQNGw/s3381/talking%20heads%20fallout%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="800" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpzyZz75kPwgUFqb5YgATukFVdhvnz7aytcVEV-wJI-G2T-S8SWlX6Zf5DDVVsPvuOhpDsKhT8oTF2vc2fi8aKhlpb3pA8WvfTJNMGcxw3M2BiTeTsGvHNc7PKm7jxfFwVSUxeYd6vfs6IaNyW-s4o7FZIZ8Yib6l7Ew9636vLyzYZr_xw9J5YMQNGw/w320-h84/talking%20heads%20fallout%201.jpg" title="cRPG Cinematization" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> games end-Chapter FMV cutscenes cannot be skipped unless they have been watched at least once (1998-2002). Or unless you know the *.ini lines to add. In addition to scripted cutscenes <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Planescape-Torment-In-Depth-Retrospective-on-the-Original-Incarnation-Part-I.html">Planescape: Torment</a> employs cinematic spellcasting sequences that take control of TNO from players (1999).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Fallout 2</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/arcanum-of-steamworks-and-magick-obscura.html">Arcanum</a> employ FMVs that interrupt gameplay (1997-2001). As if the Pip-Boy or Journal are not enough to keep players up to speed on events. These three cRPGs also added end-slides that are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">reactive</a> to the inputs and oversights made by players during the campaigns.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A disciple of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a> (1998), <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Deus-Ex-1-Best-Weapons.html">Deus Ex</a> (2000) constantly interrupts gameplay with jarring scripted events and laughable VO quality. Deus Ex should have been an emergent sandbox rather than plot-driven like Half-Life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/08/Morrowind-overrated.html">Morrowind</a> (2002) chargen is heavily-laden with scripted sequences that hand-hold players in case they have never played a computer game before.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Watch and listen, enter your name. Watch and listen, choose your race. Watch and listen, choose your stats. Watch and listen, watch and listen, watch and listen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Again, VO quality is laughable. Other than its chargen Morrowind is only lightly cinematized, however (but still features only bare-bones gameplay).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Adventure Game Cinematization</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGM0rkGcEXvfnmNvykFxdVISWQf_8iClFFt-bYZ5HU4tZ1UzKjCbDuttG9LB7WNua8Yt86ka7dk6wXkWZWPOJeJsNdrE9ohApEqoU37E1uF39y_8cRlKUoKz5SkM662r-UU3iJ0pTZWF6fiRj_9By2vmEWVWXPfXTOgaLS8RQWF9zb3P9Ce3ppPtaxz9e/s1200/secret%20of%20monkey%20island%201991.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGM0rkGcEXvfnmNvykFxdVISWQf_8iClFFt-bYZ5HU4tZ1UzKjCbDuttG9LB7WNua8Yt86ka7dk6wXkWZWPOJeJsNdrE9ohApEqoU37E1uF39y_8cRlKUoKz5SkM662r-UU3iJ0pTZWF6fiRj_9By2vmEWVWXPfXTOgaLS8RQWF9zb3P9Ce3ppPtaxz9e/w200-h150/secret%20of%20monkey%20island%201991.webp" title="Adventure Game Cinematization" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Point & Click Adventure Games</i> are one of the most cinematized of computer-game genre.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>The Secret of Monkey Island</i> by Lucas<b>Film</b> Games (SoMI, 1990) cinematizes its text-based dialogue; even going so far as to time the display of its text for cinematic effect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The player watches and reads. And often only reads a few words at a time. Feel free to call that "pacing" if it helps you sleep at night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">SoMI also contains numberous 2D-animated sequences that are pre-scripted.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">From <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/RPG-Rankings-Top-10-Best-PC-RPGs-of-All-Time.html">Best Computer Role-playing Games</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout</a> (1997) not only formalized the cRPG genre but also rendered an entire classic genre redundant: the point-and-click adventure game. I used to play adventure games all the time: Secret of Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky -- you name it, big fan. And those games have a special place in my heart. But after Fallout I never played an adventure game ever again, only cRPGs like Fallout.</blockquote></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Flight Sim Cinematization</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Gunship-2000-MicroProse.html">Gunship 2000</a> (1991) profile, theatre, aircraft and armament screens are accessed via interactable cinematic bitmaps. Again, it's all about production values coming at the expense of efficient interaction via basic menus.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">RTS Cinematization</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/StarCraft-1-Review.html">StarCraft</a> were big on professional FMV-based presentation. In some versions of C&C games you can disable FMVs by ejecting the CD-ROM or unmounting the ISO. This does not disable the soundtrack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">StarCraft missions are often interrupted by scripted sequences that drive its narrative via waffling NPCs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The sequences can be skipped with the Esc-key in base StarCraft, but not in the Brood War expansion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">TBS Cinematization</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cinematization can be disabled via menus in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Sid Meier's Civilization</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ2-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-2.html">Sid Meier's Civilization 2</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/smac-guide-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri.html">Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As always, the GOAT-genre exhibits class by not enforcing cinematic wait-states.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[1]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">List of Cinemaware's Cinematized Computer Games</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_sRnXTR4E-1OuPDji2OII68xHFnEXoxNRl_oW6ATkl-0BlGRfSnLniSYXAh0479HWd2DsLCsAPdGfcCqjfaWKGNGnuHQvDS0SEjhnVMwRVs2IrhHlLdkHImKT9wLrht6MY9_4n6ZMD98Q7Ir3Pr1Xzal6cQAlP4mXmPWyXhg2MvlEZXpPw4Z2mBEQmRM4/s1600/cinemaware%20interactive%20movie.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_sRnXTR4E-1OuPDji2OII68xHFnEXoxNRl_oW6ATkl-0BlGRfSnLniSYXAh0479HWd2DsLCsAPdGfcCqjfaWKGNGnuHQvDS0SEjhnVMwRVs2IrhHlLdkHImKT9wLrht6MY9_4n6ZMD98Q7Ir3Pr1Xzal6cQAlP4mXmPWyXhg2MvlEZXpPw4Z2mBEQmRM4/w320-h100/cinemaware%20interactive%20movie.webp" title="Cinemaware Interactive Movies 1986-1991" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Cinemaware's prolific and professional output on the Amiga from 1986-1991:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Defender of the Crown (1986)</li><li>S.D.I. (1987)</li><li>The King of Chicago (1987)</li><li>Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon (1987)</li><li>Three Stooges (1987)</li><li>Rocket Ranger (1988)</li><li>Lords of the Rising Sun (1988)</li><li>It Came from the Desert (1989)</li><li>Antheads: It Came from the Desert 2 (1990)</li><li>The Kristal (1989)</li><li>TV Sports: Football (1988)</li><li>TV Sports: Baseball (1989)</li><li>TV Sports: Basketball (1990)</li><li>TV Sports: Boxing (1991)</li><li>Wings (1990)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">List of Cinematronics' Interactive Cartoons</h4><div><br /></div><div>Cinematronics' LaserDisc games and ReadySoft Amiga ports:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Dragon's Lair: Escape From Singe's Castle (1983) (Amiga, 1989)</li><li>Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp (Amiga, 1990)</li><li>Dragon's Lair 3: The Curse of Mordread (Amiga, 1992)</li><li>Space Ace: (1983) (Amiga, 1990)</li><li>Space Ace 2: Borf's Revenge (Amiga, 1991)</li></ul></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>cf. <b>Critical Computer Game Commentary</b>:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990 Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Communities.html">Reddit RPG Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG Writing</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-reviews.html">cRPG Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-3761512583720511272024-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:002024-03-23T20:33:14.323-07:00Criticism of Computer Game Journalism<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<div><span style="text-align: justify;">A 6000-word </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html" style="text-align: justify;">hyperlinked article</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> on Computer Game Journalism.</span></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Criticism of Computer Game Journalism</h1><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQ9K1ph6ZLRxKPZWbKWkXN8O2JYgbbJvD-R6KqaaFtooiS3JjCfLoEIITSI997NuaVn_VVkN5FCru73O1qk0jLdF8nufpXSwLsxuinhC_nCtwFN-ZJDz809fClQ81LQInzMgFBpS7J-CTcqJpUgYvKqUoIaAU4HkKSjch8E9KZd6DpjjyOiKP4DYfM8Iy/s1600/Criticism%20of%20Computer%20Game%20Journalism.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="1600" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQ9K1ph6ZLRxKPZWbKWkXN8O2JYgbbJvD-R6KqaaFtooiS3JjCfLoEIITSI997NuaVn_VVkN5FCru73O1qk0jLdF8nufpXSwLsxuinhC_nCtwFN-ZJDz809fClQ81LQInzMgFBpS7J-CTcqJpUgYvKqUoIaAU4HkKSjch8E9KZd6DpjjyOiKP4DYfM8Iy/w640-h194/Criticism%20of%20Computer%20Game%20Journalism.webp" title="Criticism of Computer Game Journalism" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><i>Then, as often happens in human endeavors, the wild-eyed hack comes along to snatch a piece of the pie. In the name of the quick buck and click the hack cares not for the endeavor, the creative process or genre legacy, but only of shortcuts, leeching and leveling down to the lowest common denominator.</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This article was written by the author of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Games History</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The author's own computer-game commentary is not perfect or above criticism. However, the author's computer-game commentary is some of the best on the planet, unlike the objects of the author's criticism.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This article criticizes contemporary computer game commentary as well as yester-year professional computer game journalism.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The article then goes on to criticize computer game commentary and chronicling on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">reddit</a>, YouTube, Metacritic, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Wikipedia</a> and fan-wikis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The object of this article is to identify and describe the problems associated with computer game commentary, both past and present. Several solutions are given to computer game commentators, such as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Attain English language proficiency: <i>Get Educated</i></li><li>Acquire gaming pedigree and aptitude: <i>Get Good</i></li><li>Dedicate to honest coverage not click-bait: <i>Get Real</i></li><li>Can't do that?<i> Get Out.</i></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">No article like this exists on the internet; this article is original in both form and content. No computer game commentator has ever written an article remotely comparable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the reasons are obvious: the problem with the computer game industry is not the developers, it is not the publishers, it is not the games -- it is the <i>critics and the commentators</i> that have let down the industry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The object of computer-game criticism is to set standards and lift them, not bring everything down. But computer-game criticism itself is in the direst need of a wake-up call.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div></div><blockquote><div>In the 2020s computer game commentary has reached levels of stupidity, ignorance and laziness never before imagined. We're talking three-decade lows that make you long for the days of monthly magazines. Computer-gamers would rather read one magazine per month than get a constant stream of drivel from rank-amateurs...</div><div>Present-day gaming commentary is filled with blatant lies and obvious attempts to deceive. It is primarily the <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">fanatically fame-hungry e-celeb YouTubers</span></b> that are responsible. Thus should their click-bait be written off on-sight.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First up, let's talk specifically about <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">computer role-playing game</a> commentary. After that we will talk about computer game journalism in general.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Computer Role-playing Game Commentary</span></h2><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The object of cRPG commentary is to assess computer role-playing games either as a whole or in one or more categories of their <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-design.html">design</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such commentary is characterized by constructive criticism of cRPG creations: it gives reasons for its assertions and it compares the cRPG with what came before as well as the genre-yardstick and <i>Formalizer</i>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Best-Builds-Sniper-Slayer-Stats-Traits-Perks-Tag-Skills-Weapons-Armor-Companions.html">Fallout 1</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such commentary does not just evaluate cRPGs as they are in themselves but also <i>in relation to</i> their peers and predecessors, but comparisons are uncommon because most commentators lack erudition and experience, which they only <i>affect</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Without the employment of correct terminology and expressions formal and authentic commentary on classic computer games is impossible. That means commentary should not employ memes, in-fashion or current gen ephemeral vocab or expressions in reference to classics and concepts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">the language of the era should be employed</a>; a language that has been naturally acquired and refined over years of gaming <i>in</i> that era; a language that forever eludes the charlatan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As it pertains to authenticity in classic-game commentary the form is as important as the content. And anyone seeking to undertake commentary would do well to remember that. And if you're getting into commentary just for the clicks your "content" isn't going to be worth a damn, though you will get the sheeple onboard.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>If casual readers cannot understand your writing or relate to what you have written - <i>that</i> is king-tier commentary. Never stoop down to their level. If anything, seek to separate.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Criticism of cRPG Commentary</h3><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you noticed how excellent expressions such as "cheap knock-off", "cashgrab", "pale imitation" and "leveling down" are rarely employed in present-day cRPG commentary, even though they fit modern cRPGs like a glove?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">How "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">casual</span></b>" no longer has a negative connotation in gaming?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">How utter mediocrity in game development is celebrated?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">How meaningless buzzwords litter reviews?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">How <span>self-conscious</span> or over-confident the reviews are?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you noticed the lack of English language proficiency in commentators?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Noticed the overuse of superlatives, qualified by nothing?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Noticed that no examples are given to back up contentions that <span style="color: #ff00fe;"><b>RPG Games</b></span> are masterpieces?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Noticed the lack of comparisons between the reviewed <span>RPG Game</span> and classic cRPGs?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you noticed how some developers loiter around, litter in and patrol public forums like they are trying to control the reception-narrative of their game?</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is how abyssally low cRPG commentary has fallen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Though to be fair, it was never that good to begin with.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>In comparison to independent cRPG commentary <span>mainstream RPG Game commentary</span> is an absolute laughing stock in both content and form; that is, <i>what</i> is said and <i>how</i> it is said.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many so-called commentators don't communicate in an authentic <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG language</a> because they lack the genre <i>pedigree</i> required to do so. That is, in treating the classics they are commentating way out of their depth because they have no reference points and lack historical context:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>They weren't there, they didn't play the games when they came out, they are playing them for the first time and have no idea what they are talking about.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Naturally, they also employ incorrect, misleading and inconsistent terminology that only serves to confuse readers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or they remain deliberately vague so as not to expose their blatant ignorance. They avoid examples because furnishing examples requires <i>understanding</i> of the subject matter. Rarely will any sentence begin with, "For example, ..."</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>Don't barely literate commentators realize how easy it is to pick apart and mock their scribblings?</div><div>Where does their boundless confidence come from when they can barely string two words together?</div><div>Has no one ever pulled them aside and said, "Uh, you can't write. Please go and learn English?"</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Indeed, commentator literacy levels are laughably low. Thus the tendency of these twaddlers to take refuge in the more forgiving and informal <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">video format</span></b> in which marathon-length <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">blabberings</span></b> are not only par for the course but celebrated by viewers with room-temperature IQs and free time in alarming abundance.</div><div><br /></div><div>But if one were to skim over <i>transcripts</i> of such videos they would discover that, more often than not, almost nothing of value was said over the course of <i>three hours</i>. And what <i>was</i> said could be put into a bullet-list and skimmed over in a few seconds flat.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>But the problem is: that has usually <i>already</i> been done -- by the writer and original thinker.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Have you noticed how the top comment on many YouTube videos <i>is</i> an actual bullet-list that summarizes the video? This is done by normal people with common sense that want to help others, unlike the video-uploader. And it just proves how inefficient many videos are at conveying info to users that want <i>answers</i>: wasteful of time, energy and bandwidth. It just goes to show that a lot of videos are <i>disservicing</i> users, that they are <i>not</i> what users want to see but just what they are being <i>led to see</i> by biased search engine algorithms that favor tedious videos over the concise written word.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mainstream <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Game</span></b> video-viewers are more impressed by rambling multi-hour videos than they are by concise writings that give them more information <i>instantly</i>. Possible illiteracy aside, that is because video-viewers are more interested in <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">killing time</span></b> than they are about being efficiently informed. Imagine having <i>hours of your life</i> to waste on listening to what often amounts to naught but drivel.</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, video-viewers often come across videos through mindless channel-surfing rather than concerted <i>quotation-mark</i> searching. Much like the video-uploader themselves, their interest in the subject is fleeting.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the hours-long video <i>finally</i> ends the humble, self-effacing rambler often proclaims to have covered every aspect of the cRPG in its entirety, when in reality they took on the tip of the iceberg.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>The fly buzzes from one game to another. It knows a whole lot of nothing about everything. And in covering everything shallowly, it covers nothing.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>I also have to wonder if some of them realize how stupid they sound. And aren't they embarrassed by their ridiculous voices and graceless body language?</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Criticism of Professional Computer Game Journalism</span></h2><div><br /></div><div>Even in the genre's 90s heyday much of computer game journalism was unfairly critical of complex computer role-playing games and blatantly promotional of <span>casual, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematic computer games</a></span>. [1]</div><div><br /></div><div>As a rule, the commentator of the 90s did not even <i>begin to</i> understand the cRPG. However, that is somewhat understandable since the genre was trailblazing new paths that were not well-understood by the <i>arcade game aficionada</i> aka <i>Arcadians</i> that dominated computer game commentary. And at least they <i>covered</i> the games in one way or another.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in the 2020s too much <span><b style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Game</b> commentary</span> centers around the <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">feelings</span></b> the reviewer has while <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">derping about</span></b> in-game rather than appraising the game itself; that is, the self-centered casual seeks an <span><b style="color: #ff00fe;">emotional</b> and <b style="color: #ff00fe;">aesthetic</b> experience</span> above all else.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Which is exactly what <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-3.html">Baldur's Gate 3</a> taps into; what it <i>is</i> by design.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many current gen commentators have egos the size of Jupiter yet no gaming erudition or experience to justify such. Every aspect of the game is covered in reference to <i>themselves</i>; the game itself being naught but <i>stimulus</i> for self-aggrandizement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">But enough of Unlettered Egotists. Let us focus on Literate Professionals</h4><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While 80s and 90s computer game journalism can be criticized for this and that shortcoming, at least it led the way and broke new ground. Some of it was even great. In terms of form, content and integrity, 80s and 90s computer game journalism is head-and-shoulders above the <i>gibberish</i> that is all-too-common in the 2020s. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is simply no comparison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In fact, veteran gamers of the 16 bit era stopped taking computer game journalism seriously circa 2000, if not before. Truth be told, since circa 2000 I haven't met a veteran gamer who <i>hasn't</i> laughed or sneered when "journalism" is uttered in reference to computer-gaming.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Highly literate computer-game journalism is lacking in erudition on computer games, but erudite computer-game commetary is lacking in professionalism.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, there is good computer game journalism in 2024. But the combo of highly literate + erudite is not easy to find. And this is not true of literary criticism or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematic criticism</a>, which I acknowledge for its refinement, professionalism and competitiveness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The game journalists of the 90s would often write off complex cRPGs due to their bugs and incompleteness. However, in doing so they failed to enumerate the innovations made by such experimental cRPGs. It is very rare that one would encounter a complex computer game with zero merit. There is always <i>something</i> present that is worth elaboration even if the game ultimately fails as a complete package.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And in retrospect, such games have stood the test of time better than generic packages that took no risks (aka cult classics).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I mentioned above that arcade-game commentators were ignorant of cRPGs. Allow me to explain: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>When you have been <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">writing about shoot 'em ups</a> for years on end, genre such as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">turn-based strategy games</a> are simply <i>out of your league</i> until you give them the attention that you gave the shoot 'em ups (and vice versa).</div><div><br /></div><div>You cannot bluff your way through a genre, and you cannot diminish a genre's importance based on the fact that you do not understand it.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>Many a heyday reviewer began their reviews of cRPGs with --</div><div>"I don't usually go in for this sort of game, never really liked them, but"</div><div>-- and it is right then and there that readers tune out because if reviewers dislike and/or lack understanding of <i>a genre</i>, who cares what they think of one its games?</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>That would be like football journos writing about fencing or equestrian events. A football journo would not even have the <i>vocabulary</i> to write or speak about fencing or horse-riding (and vice versa).</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>A commentator without genre <i>pedigree</i> and <i>aptitude</i> has no business appraising a game of that genre.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Game Journo Unwillingness to Focus on the Game</h4><div><br /></div><div>Another odd trait of some 90s game journos was their propensity to go off on ridiculous tangents. So let's say they are reviewing a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Panzer-General-1-Wargame-1994.html">wargame</a>. Well, instead of covering the <i>basic</i> mechanics of the game and its scenarios or what have you, the journos were often too busy talking about the <i>historical era</i> in which the game was set. But if I want to know about history I would read a history book written by a historian, not a computer game review.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is fine to mention history in passing but not at the expense of game info.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, these journos would ramble on about <i>anything</i> upon which a game was based. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">Combat flight sim</a>? Ramble on about <i>real</i> fighters -- hell, dedicate <i>half</i> of the review to them! -- when anyone who wanted to know about fighters would (back in the day) read a <i>military aircraft</i> magazine, not a gaming magazine.</div><div><br /></div><div>And in a sad attempt to elevate the status of their commentary, game journos of the 80s and 90s often referred to the great works, minds and events of history -- as if such had <i>anything</i> to do with the game being reviewed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Probable reasons for this odd behavior:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Reviewer wanted to come off as erudite (when <i>anyone</i> can affect erudition via basic research)</li><li>Reviewer needed to pad the article out because they barely played the game itself</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Readers could have been given much more info on games if journos would have actually bothered playing and writing about the games. But it is much easier to ramble on about subjects that have already been richly covered (such as world history) than it is to explain the ins-and-outs of a new game, isn't it.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Because to write about a new game one must first play it, then get good at it, and then write something that has been never been written before.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>It is much easier to <i>rehash</i> than it is to write something <i>original</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>To meet their wordcounts in the easiest manner possible, journos also loved to ramble on about the <i>lineage</i> of each and every game as well as what developers thought of their own games, but such subjects are best covered in articles and interviews, not reviews.</div><div><div><div><br /></div><div>Game journos put too much stock into developer intent and what developers thought of their own games, when what actually matters to the <i>gamer</i> -- the consumer of the product, the person that shells out their hard-earned cash -- is the game itself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Indeed, the dev-cycle (how the game came to be) is also utterly irrelevant to the gamer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, it is much easier to simply <i>relay</i> what this or that dev <i>said</i> than it is to play the game, get good at it, and then write about it.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Game Journo Ignorance of Hardware & Software Tech</h4><div><br /></div><div><div>Game journos were often ignorant of the computer hardware games were coded to run on. If you don't know the basic hardware specs of specific PCs, microcomputers and chipsets, how can you assess a game's mechanics, GUI, graphics or sound? What was passable on 8 bit micros and 286es was guaranteed <i>garbage</i> by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a> standards. [2]</div><div><br /></div><div>Amigans always wanted to know if the game tapped into the Amiga's custom chipset (and to what extent), since that is what separated Amigas from PCs, STs and 8 bit micros from 1985-1991 [3], but rarely did reviews provide technical info on games that revealed developer coding prowess in harnessing machine specs.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Likewise, game journos often failed to report on the absolute <i>basics</i> of games, such as their resolutions [4], perspectives and combat systems. Imagine reaching the end of a lengthy review yet you don't even know if the game is real-time or turn-based or isometric or top-down (back in the day many reviews did not have screencaps). But the journos never failed to tell you about the plot, theme and setting, which are naught but window-dressing in comparison to the nuts and bolts, but great for upping wordcounts that fill in that whitespace.</div><div><br /></div><div>From <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling in Computer Games</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>[...] but most of those journos didn't know about framerates or polygons; they almost never spoke of geometric complexity or draw distance even in vague terms; they really had no idea about the graphics engines of computer games; they had no eye for such; no language for such; they should have been reviewing desktop publishing programs.</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: center;">How to Spot Non-Gamer Commentators (who are legion)</h4><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Rather than treat the games themselves, they talk <i>around</i> the games.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Barely scratching the surface of mechanics or gameplay, they scribble away in long-form on merely the tangentially-related, most of which they scavenge from external sources while citing authorities whom they usually worship (and this they call "research"), such as the developers whose <i>works</i> they are supposed to critically appraise.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whereas if they treated the game <i>itself</i> they would never need to cite externally or refer to authorities since in having <i>played the game</i> their word counts just as much as anyone else's (a factual article or well-argued opinion-piece).</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2020s "retrospectives" they even stoop to citing <i>journos</i> of the game's heyday; that is, what journos thought about the games back in the day when they reviewed them (e.g., what "score" the journo gave the games).</div><div><br /></div><div>Having no thoughts of their own due to an inability or unwillingness to play the games, their commentary mostly centers around what this or that person said about the games: <i>parroting</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And to compensate for and conceal their lack of direct experience with the games, they write in a thick and heavy formal register that employs as many big words and obscure references as possible.</div></div><div> </div></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Shameless Present-day "Journo" Trawling of Game Subreddits</h4><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2024 there are mainstream game "journos" that create topics on <span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">subreddits</a></span> in order to ask fans <i>basic</i> questions about <i>20 year old games</i> for which they are preparing to write "retrospective articles".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Imagine needing to ask <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">fans</span></b> basic things about games before you can even <i>begin</i> to write an article. Imagine not just playing the game yourself but instead cobbling together the experiences of randos.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>A retrospective is <i>a looking back at something</i> but in order to look back one must first have <i>been</i>. Haven't been? You can't look back. It's not a retrospective but rather a bluffer's guide written by a newbie.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have written <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Preamble.html">20-part retrospectives</a> on 20 year old games. I didn't ask a single soul a damn thing about the games yet these "journos" can't even write <i>one</i> article about a game without consulting a mob.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bowing and scraping for tidbits before a rabble, what a disgrace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is a novel idea -- if you don't know about a game and don't even want to play it, spare us your ignorant scribblings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And that's the difference right there:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Real commentators write only about what they know through direct and extensive experience whereas the day-laboring <i>hack</i> leeches off the experience of others for second-hand info, and then pretends to know everything after the fact.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Imagine being such a <i>hack</i> that you think <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">subredditors</span></b> can inform you about a game. Imagine thinking that subreddits are even <i>representative</i> of a game's community or in any way, shape or form constituted by a game's experts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some PhD students conducting "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">reddit research</span></b>" on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-isometric-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">isometric cRPGs</a> do not even know what isometric <i>means</i>: they think 3D computer games with rotation cams are isometric. /facepalm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>Also, since the above stoop to tapping <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">reddit</span></b> imagine how much they leech from genuine commentators, without giving credit.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Blogging About Computer Games</h3><div><br /></div><div>Only a handful of independent computer game blogs can compete with subreddits, fan-wikis and ranking sites that are written by armies of 1,000+ lost souls.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>These are big blogs with 10 year histories that are made up of hundreds of posts, written usually by one dedicated and genuine commentator. Everyone else gets steamrolled until they put in the hard yards for years or get a lucky break somehow.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn't matter how much you know or how well you write: low-quality collective commentary wins even if it is completely wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Super-simple, accessible, illiterati-focused English wins. Click-bait wins. Spammers win. And the leeches win as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beware of employing correct terminology: the masses prefer vague and misleading terminology. Dumb down your vocab or your commentary does not exist for the masses.</div><div><br /></div><div>You may not lift the standards of discourse, you must adhere to the low standards of the masses or you will never be read.</div><div><br /></div><div>That said, there are measures that can be taken to bypass such nonsense, but it is not the purpose of this article to go into them.</div><div><br /></div><div>If subreddits did not exist for the subjects my blog covers, that paltry 13 million views garnered by my commentary as of Jan. 2024 would be 130 million, but that assumes I would not be competing with hundreds of other commentators that would spawn in the absence of reddit echo-chambers.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if that were the case (as it once was), commentary diversity would be much greater than it is now. </div><div><br /></div><div>As it was before reddit came along to <i>cattle-ize</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And on top of that, each blog would look different and have a different layout: individualized.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><blockquote>"This article is a <span style="color: #ff00fe;">stub</span>. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." (In the meantime, we'll leech as many views as possible with our <span style="color: #ff00fe;">stubs</span> that rank above completed articles. *SMUG*)</blockquote></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Wikipedia and Fandom Wikis are prime example of soulless collective commentary, yet they benefit from search engine bias in that search engines often index their article <i>stubs</i> above actual commentary. Stubs are pages that contain <i>zero</i> content (just a URL and a Heading) yet stubs are often ranked <i>above</i> the labor of genuine commentators.</div><div><br /></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><b>How to kill off independent computer game commentary</b>:</div><div>Rank useless Fandom wiki stubs above actual articles.</div><div>Rank throw-away reddit comments above dedicated articles.</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>How do you think many commentators respond? Just look around -- It's the old "If you can't beat 'em join 'em." Or maintain independence but <i>become like them</i>: insipid and disservicing. Afterall, it pays off. It's rewarded by algorithms that index content.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course it isn't enough for fan-wikis to just rank first, that won't do, they must also hog the second spot as well. Given enough slack they may rank from first to tenth by 2025:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>It's all about diversity of commentary in a competitive arena, you see.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>What they do is create a second wiki with a different name, URL and layout from the first. That second wiki covers a broader or more specific topic, but a topic that is nevertheless inseparable from or strongly related to what is covered in the first wiki. In this way, all the articles in the first wiki can be applied to the second, just with a slightly different slant.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fairness the second wiki should not cover first-wiki subjects, but they do anyway. And of course the wikis link to each other to ensure that independent commentary can only achieve third rank at best. A very distant third rank.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last year (2023) it was possible for independent commentators to achieve first-rank if they published an exceptionally informative article, but in 2024 the algorithm changed dramatically: reddit, wikis, rankers and YouTube vids started getting <i>insane</i> indexing boosts, burying independent written commentary under mountains of stubs, click-bait and shitposting. Don't expect the pendulum to swing back towards the center in the future; have no faith in rebalance -- the algorithm went the full nine yards this time.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div><div>In the 2020s, as if reading and writing have fallen out of fashion, barely any developers or ex-developers blog in epic long-form. Instead, many of them prefer to hang out on social media or upload videos of themselves babbling a bunch of BS to viewers that are more interested in industry gossip than game design. But if search engine algorithms started favoring the written word over the video, these developers would start hammering away on their keyboards immediately. Because they choose their platform based on popularity; medium of communication is an after-thought to <i>attention-seekers</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to read highly literate developer blogs, you're looking mostly at 1980s developers. You know, 8 and 16 bit designers and coders that helped build the foundations of the industry. These guys still write in long-form in the 2020s; they are a completely different breed from the average 32-64 bit developer, most of whom have never penned beyond X-posting.</div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Criticism of Wikipedia cRPG</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ever the authority on every subject imaginable, Wikipedia calls cRPGs <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Role-playing Video Games</span></b>. In 30 years of playing cRPGs I have never heard a soul refer to cRPGs as Role-playing Video Games, aka <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPVGs</span></b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia is poor when it comes to basic cRPG commentary. Not only are the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG Definitions</a> and categorizations distorted and poorly written, but the articles are often put together by people who want to <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">spam their own content</span></b> in citation footnotes, which is shameless, unsportsmanlike behavior. [5]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you somehow find yourself reading Wikipedia or <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Fandom Wiki</span></b> articles, you should ask yourself:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Who or what group wrote the article and why did they go out of their way to write the article?</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because no one paid them to do so and nor is the article their property, so what is their motivation?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div></div><blockquote><div>Do you really think the average Wiki-writer is publishing articles out of the goodness of their heart?</div><div>Wisen to cynicism, son.</div><div>Many of them are spammers and propagandists.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For example, people that are genuinely interested in a subject (enthusiasts or experts) usually have their <i>own</i> platforms or write for <i>exclusive</i> platforms that give them freer rein on writing style and content presentation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They do not spend their days reverting edits on Wikipedia articles, all the while quibbling about trivialities with others (such as which spammer gets cited in the footnotes).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyone can cobble together sources and then scribble out articles. And anyone can do so without having direct experience with the subject matter. Many of those who write for wikis and ranking sites are about as far away from "authorities" as you can get: unable to gain independent authority on subjects in the competitive arena of search engines ("the wild"), they sponge off pre-established ranking power instead. [6]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In so doing independent commentators become fewer and fewer, viewpoints become less and less nuanced and writing styles become samey and sterile. At that point commentary on a subject is all but dead. Pack up your bags and go home, there is nothing to see here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As an aside <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">chronicling</span></b> is the lowest form of commentary: the highest form is <i>criticism</i>. Has been so since day one of literate humanity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And encyclopedias have always been the lowest form of chronicle, long before the advent of Wikipedia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Got no flair or original thoughts, but good grammar? Write an encylopedia article.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Criticism of Metacritic</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A fave citation of Wikipedia articles, the Fandom-owned Metacritic calls computer games "PC <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Video Games</span></b>". In 30 years of gaming I have never heard a soul refer to computer games as PC video games.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Metacritic's <span style="color: #ff00fe;"><b>authoritative <span>sources</span></b></span> the top two computer games <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">of all-time</span></b> are Disco Elysium and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-3.html">Baldur's Gate 3</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Metacritic's sources have <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ2-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-2.html">Civ2</a> ranked at 12th and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/smac-guide-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri.html">SMAC</a> at <i>54th</i> -- below all kinds of AAA trash.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moreover, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/UFO-Enemy-Unknown-X-COM-UFO-Defense-Battlescape-Perspective-Combat-System.html">X-COM UFO Defense</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Frontier-Elite-2-Review.html">Elite 2: Frontier</a> are not even ranked highly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">one week after its release</span></b>, Baldur's Gate 3 is supposedly the <i>top-rated computer game of all-time</i> according to Metacritic's <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">authoritative sources</span></b>.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That tells you all you need to know about mainstream computer game commentary: it is an absolute laughing stock devoid of credibility.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Common Errors Made by "Experts" of cRPGs & Computer Games</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>It is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a>, not RPG or <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Game</span></b>.</li><li>It is <i>RPG</i>, not <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">TTRPG</span></b>. You don't rename what came first based on what came after. You rename what came after based on what came first (cRPG).</li><li>It is <i>computer</i> game, not <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">video game</span></b>. There are computer games, there are arcade games and there are video (console) games. The existence of mobile phone games is not acknowledged by my commentary except in this sentence, which has just ended.</li><li>Only console gamers call cRPGs <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">WRPGs</span></b>.</li><li>You don't refer to microcomputers in terms of "first, second and third etc. <span>generation</span>." You refer to them by their <i>microprocessors</i> and <i>chipsets</i> (8 bit, 16 bit). "Generation" has no heyday employment, signifies nothing, and is a completely fake and manufactured current gen term that gaming veterans wouldn't be caught dead employing. When someone says "16 bit" everyone knows <i>exactly</i> what computers they are talking about. If a commentator employs "generation" you know right then and there how new they are to computer games.</li><li>Games with 3D cams do not <i>scroll</i> by definition. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling</a> is exclusively a 2D screen-updating coding routine. There is no such thing as "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">cam scrolling</span></b>". Cam movements are referred to with <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematic</a> terms, such as <i>trucking</i>. Journos have incorrectly referred to 3D viewports as scrolling ones since the <i>1980s</i>. Four decades later, they still can't get it right.</li><li><b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Black borders</span></b> don't exist, only resolutions and aspect ratios do. The game does NOT have black borders. You are simply running the game wrongly, aka User Error.</li><li>It isn't <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">THACO</span></b> but <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2-Best-Lowest-THAC0.html">THAC0</a>.</li><li>It isn't Rouge but <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Neverwinter-Nights-NWN1-Best-Builds-Rogue-Finesse-rapier-dual-wielder-at-will-Sneak-Attacks-Shadowdancer-Hide-in-Plain-Sight-HiPS.html">Rogue</a>. This is not a typo but a consistent error symptomatic of lack of basic literacy.</li><li>It is <i>avatar</i>, not "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">toon</span></b>." Don't read or listen to any commentator that writes or says "toon."</li><li>It is not elevation, but <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Verticality-in-games.html">verticality</a> (height <i>and</i> depth, up <i>and</i> down).</li><li>In Middle-earth and D&D, it is Elves and Dwarves, not dwarfs and elfs.</li><li>The plural of Drow is Drow, not Drows. And it is Duergar not Duergars.</li><li>It is <i>dual</i>-wielding, not duel-wielding. Example sentence: The dual-wielders are dueling. Likewise it is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-BG2-Best-Dual-Classing-Guide-How-Does-Dual-Classing-Work-How-to-Dual-Class-Dual-Class-Combinations-Rules-Prerequisites-Dual-Downtime.html">dual-classing</a>, not duel-classing.</li><li>The abbreviation for Neverwinter Nights is not <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">NVN</span></b>, but NWN.</li><li>It is PC (Player Character), not <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">MC</span></b> (Main Character) or <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">main</span></b>.</li><li>It is "<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">the original Baldur's Gate</a>", not <span style="color: #ff00fe;"><b>OG</b></span> Baldur's Gate.</li><li>Warrior is not a class in most RPGs. Warrior is a general term that encompasses warrior-type classes such as Fighters, Barbarians and Paladins.</li><li>A class or build that primarily casts spells is a <i>spellcaster</i>. The only other acceptable term is Magic-User.</li><li>It is divine and arcane spells, not cleric and mage spells. Because Clerics are not the only class that can cast divine spells and Mages are not the only class that can cast arcane spells.</li><li>In round-based and turn-based games, it is DpR and DpT, not DPS.</li><li>It is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">turn-based combat</a>, not <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">turn-base</span></b> combat.</li><li>Baldur's Gate is not a turn-based game just because its <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Basic-Combat-System.html">combat system</a> can be set to auto-pause at round's end. Baldur's Gate plays <i>nothing like</i> TB games.</li><li>A damage-dealer is not a tank. Tank refers to AC, HPs, damage reduction and illusions (defense). Tanks can also "tank" spells (MR/SR). That said, a damage-dealer can be a tank as well. Tank is both a noun and a verb (a tank and to tank).</li><li>In <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/AD-and-D-2nd-Edition-cRPGs.html">AD&D 2nd Edition</a>, the class is <i>Mage</i> not Wizard. And vice versa for 3rd Edition. Likewise <i>Thief</i>, not Rogue.</li><li>You cannot use D&D to refer to AD&D2. Doing so is just downright lazy, ignorant and wrong.</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Civ games</a> are not <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Populous-Amiga-1989.html">god games</a> or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Panzer-General-1-Wargame-1994.html">wargames</a>, they are general <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">turn-based strategy games</a>.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Afterword</h3><div><br /></div><div><div>To no surprise this article has been criticized more than praised. And all criticisms of the article have been weak.</div><div><br /></div><div>I get it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I got it a long time ago:</div><div><br /></div><div>Many gamers love their mainstream commentary and click-bait.</div><div><br /></div><div>And many of them love it when the history of computer games is distorted by <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">e-celeb YouTubers</span></b> who did not even live through the eras that they "cover".</div><div><br /></div><div>But this article will continue to be expanded upon regardless of its reception.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Veteran Casuals</h4><div><br /></div><div>Several so-called "veteran computer gaming communities" have recently complained that the history of computer games is not being covered properly by commentators; that certain historically significant computer games are being entirely ignored.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this was known to me long ago; it is one of the reasons I began writing about computer games. And the ignorance or glossing-over is not confined to this or that <i>game</i>, but actually extends to <i>genre</i> and even to <i>platform</i>: the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga</a> and other microcomputers are largely ignored.</div><div><br /></div><div>And get this: unknown to the veterans the "ignored" computer games they mentioned were already covered by me --- respectfully and with a touch of reverence.</div><div><br /></div><div>But again, it seems that many of these veterans only read <i>mainstream</i> commentary and grossly distorted computer-game histories churned out by e-celebs.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Such veterans are part of the problem, not its solution. They fell from grace long ago and no longer have a leg to stand on. Worse than stock casuals gamers, you can find such veterans wallowing en masse in any public computer-game forum, criticizing lone wolves and giving the Big Guns a free ride day-in, day-out and for decades on-end.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Footnotes</h4><div><br /></div><div><div>[1]</div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">The Cinematization of Computer Games</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>[2]</div><div><br /></div><div>And 3D games that tapped into <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">math coprocessors</a> were technically lightyears ahead of those that didn't. And even though hardware screen-scrolling existed since 1980, the tech was barely acknowledged by journos: choppy scrolling was deemed acceptable.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Screen-scrolling in Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchored-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Avatar Anchored Screen Scrolling in Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Avatar Anchorless Screen Scrolling in Computer Games</a></li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div>[3]</div><div><br /></div><div>Unknown to many journos (and developers), "16 bit" did not automatically mean "better". For example, the sound, sprite and screen-scrolling capabilities of the Commodore 64 remained superior to those of the ST and IBM PC long after journos and devs deemed the C=64 "obsolete". You don't just go by bits, RAM and clock-speed, but also by <i>custom chips</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>When reviewing hardware, game journos put a lot of stock in <i>MHz</i>. But consider:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>MOS Tech 6502 clocked at 1 MHz comes in at 0.43 MIPS</li><li>Motorola 68000 clocked at 8 MHz comes in at 1.40 MIPS</li><li>Intel 80286 clocked at 12 MHz comes in at 1.28 MIPS</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, the C=64's 6502 is relatively superior. And stock Amigas destroyed stock 286es without even factoring in the Amiga's custom chips, which freed up its CPU even more, effectively giving it more MIPS.</div><div><br /></div><div>[4]</div><div><br /></div><div>Is it a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel resolution</a> or a disproportional abomination?</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>[5]</div><div><br /></div><div>The same references are repeatedly listed in multiple-article footnotes (spam).</div><div><br /></div><div>[6]</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Why</i> can't they compete in the wild, though? It is often because they can't write something original, engaging and thorough that would be picked up by search engine algorithms; they have no thoughts of their own. They can't put in the hard yards and build something from the ground up. Thus, they employ short-cuts, collaboration and other cheap tactics.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <b>Critical Computer Game Commentary</b>:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/03/Computer-Game-Infographics-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990 Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">Shoot 'em Ups MS-DOS versus Amiga</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Communities.html">Reddit RPG Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG Writing</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-reviews.html">cRPG Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-22904396802990653022024-01-12T19:44:00.000-08:002024-03-23T19:24:32.891-07:00Hyperlinking Articles to Create Knowledge-bases<span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This article was written by the author of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Games History</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">A Guide to Hyperlinking in Articles</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A hyperlink is simply a string (e.g., a word) or an image that when clicked on links to a different page or another section of that same page. For example, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> (a hyperlinked string) leads to an index of coverage on that computer game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">For argument's sake, you are an independent <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Commentary.html">computer game commentator</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Let's be specific.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You have posted (for example) 100 articles on <i>one</i> computer game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You have written a multi-part retrospective, a walkthrough, several opinion-pieces and dozens of guides on one specific game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And since each article relates to the others and refers to the others, your article contains hyperlinks that join the articles together into a knowledge-base.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>"How dare you, an independent commentator, link one of your articles to other articles of yours? Don't you know that only SEO-driven fan-wikis and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Wikipedia</a> are allowed to deepen and expand their commentary via hyperlinks? How dare you seek to be read beyond one article!"</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">At least, that seems to be what some folk think. Because they never criticize link-stuffed wikis, only the independents. When it comes to computer game commentary, it is like they only want fan-wikis and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">reddit RPG Games</a> to exist in 2024 and beyond. [1]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But I just want to say this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>If, when writing Article B, you have covered Subject A that Article B refers to, you should link to subject A's article (Article A) in Article B. And Article A should link back to Article B when Article B's subject is referred to.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Expand on that through 100 articles and the result is a <i>tightly-woven tapestry of hyperlinked articles that constitute a useful knowledge-base</i>. And if you are a concise formal writer you are going to refer to subjects often. And the link between one thing and another is going to occur to you often due to your erudition on the subject.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now of course, indexes aside, one should not hyperlink every second string as link-stuffing is unsightly, distracting and can adversely affect reader experience.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But hyperlinked articles benefit readers by deepening the commentary from the broad to the specific or from the simple to the complex (and vice versa): a <i>gradation</i> of coverage.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It is not just about going from the universal to the particular and vice versa: you can also expand into the seemingly unrelated, showing the connection between two or more things.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here is an example of a hyperlinked article opener:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote>The Fighter Build is a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/03/The-Temple-of-Elemental-Evil-ToEE-Best-Builds-Index.html">ToEE Build</a> for Troika's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> of 2003, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/the-temple-of-elemental-evil-toee.html">Temple of Elemental Evil</a>.</blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the opening line of the article, the subject is established and the build index, the game index and the genre definition are given along with the name of the game, name of the developer and the game's release year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And note the <i>degrees</i> of coverage linked to:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul><li>genre</li><li>game</li><li>builds</li><li><i>specific</i> build</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And from there we link to weapons, spells and mechanics: the nitty-gritty.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Simple. There is nothing to criticize here. Those who criticize the above are just jealous, green with envy. Because they don't have their own knowledge-base built from the ground up, like you do.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[1]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One of the biggest <i>hyperlink-stuffers</i> in internet history is Wikipedia, whose articles are never criticized.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A supreme example of odious link-stuffing is furnished by my criticism of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Afterword</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Note also that most fan-wikis are not ads-free like my site has been for 10 years. Next time you are browsing a fan-wiki that purports to be dedicated to a <i>classic</i> game, have fun getting <i>new</i> games shoved into your face. And even <i>non</i>-game content. Because who doesn't want to know about the latest X-Men movie while they are learning about <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">classic 1980s shoot 'em ups</a>?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There is also a correlation between subredditors and fan-wikis: subreddit moderators often <i>start up</i> the fan-wikis for their subreddit communities to contribute to, the links to which they <i>spam like mad</i> when any question is asked by some blow-in subredditor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So when independent commentary external to reddit-wikis competes with their <i>rabble-effort</i> by virtue of superior literacy and consistency, they criticize that commentary, but only when such commentary can no longer be outright ignored because it has rightly become famous, unlike their generic mish-mash that was scribbled out by an army of lost souls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>To be sure, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Reddit-RPG-Games-and-RPG-Game-Remakes.html">a matter for zoology</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <b>Critical Computer Game Commentary</b>:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/03/Computer-Game-Infographics-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">Criticism of Computer Game Journalism</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990 Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Communities.html">Reddit RPG Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG Writing</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-reviews.html">Computer Game Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-84992384324075362512024-01-12T18:45:00.000-08:002024-03-23T19:44:50.389-07:00Reddit RPG Games and RPG Game Remakes<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<div><span style="text-align: justify;">A 1500-word </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html" style="text-align: justify;">hyperlinked article</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> on Reddit RPG Games and RPG Game Remakes.</span></div><div><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This article was written by the author of:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">History of Computer Role-playing Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">History of Shoot 'em ups</a></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The best computer-game commentary on the internet</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Reddit RPG Games</h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULj8W-pAqbpIme6EM_UTDtvY3aVi2F8soVFQvBLDS-K4R3fNqPKAE7YMDSSXsK6PnyoUt8846DXj_iSY-P0IeKBFkj6igEyEClLHbK0Ag-DBtcdE4M0TaVSv4QiROQFfrQvDxr6QiF24N/s1600/fallout+vs+fallout+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULj8W-pAqbpIme6EM_UTDtvY3aVi2F8soVFQvBLDS-K4R3fNqPKAE7YMDSSXsK6PnyoUt8846DXj_iSY-P0IeKBFkj6igEyEClLHbK0Ag-DBtcdE4M0TaVSv4QiROQFfrQvDxr6QiF24N/w640-h240/fallout+vs+fallout+3.jpg" title="Reddit RPG Games and RPG Game Remakes" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The problem with <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">computer role-playing game</a> fans is that many of them have devolved into <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Gamers</span></b>: they run after everything that's <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">new</span></b> instead of playing, mastering and modding what is historically <i>best</i> and inexhaustible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They are like those flies that buzz from one new novel to the other, yet have never read the classics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus do they lack reference points, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">historical context</a> and good taste.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The natural habitat of such specimens is <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Game </span><span style="color: #ff00fe;">subreddits</span></b>. It is there that they swarm in order to refer to:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>computer games as <span><b style="color: #ff00fe;">video games</b> or <b style="color: #ff00fe;">vidya</b></span></li><li>cRPGs as <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">RPG Games</span></b></li><li>and RPGs as <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">TTRPGs</span></b></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is there that they greet each other as <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">casual gamers</span></b> and celebrate their communal lack of gaming pedigree and aptitude.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Much of Subreddit Commentary is Fake</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The upvote-driven behaviors of subredditors include:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Posting low-effort, recycled <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">memes</span></b> instead of commentary (over and over again).</li><li>Posting tiled tier-lists of their fave games instead of commentary (repeatedly).</li><li>Posting links to Fandom wikis and YouTube vids to "prove" their points (instead of making original arguments).</li><li>Posting tired old promotional artwork (pretending that it is rare, when anyone can Google it).</li><li>Posting a photo of an old game box (pretending that it was found in the basement or attic after 20 years).</li><li>Posting AI-generated imagery "as art".</li><li>Repeating the top comment in the hope that their copied comment will also get upvoted (pathetic).</li><li>Parroting opinions that have proven to garner upvotes in the past, even though they don't hold the opinion themselves (pathetic).</li><li>Starting topics that have proven to garner upvotes in the past (repeatedly).</li><li>Starting a topic in which the OP pretends to have finally beaten a game after 20 years of playing it on and off (a commonly parroted fake-scenario on subreddits, where being a proud giga-casual is in-vogue).</li><li>Naming a popular reddit thing or expressing a popular reddit opinion in a topic that has zero relation to the thing or opinion.</li><li>Expressing their emotions and agreement or disagreement via popular and generic emoticons rather than through their own writing.</li><li>Quoting famous lines from games instead of entering into meaningful discussion.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such upvote-driven behaviors are of no value. Indeed, they represent the demise of computer game commentary in such echo-chambers; the death of commentary on that subreddit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Computer games that receive <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">critical commentary</a> live on, they endure. If no one is publishing critical commentary about a computer game, if all they are doing is posting memes and other nonsense, commentary on that computer game is dead.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don't doubt that many subredditors band together outside of reddit in order to manufacture upvotes that push their petty agendas (such as, for example, manufacturing fake acceptance or noise for a certain mod, game or website).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Subredditors often post nonsense instead of saying something original, interesting or insightful. But since they have nothing to say they reapply someone else's meme or make a tiled tier list on a generic tier-making site.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Laboring under the delusion that upvote tallies are indicative of one's credibility, almost everything subredditors post is tailored to tap into the "upvote" of an anonymous majority.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fake optimism and fake enthusiasm are employed in order to gain upvotes as well. Constructive criticism and even-handedness, downvoted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One could be forgiven for thinking the subreddit was populated by bots. But alas:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before playing a game RPG Gamers want to know everything about it in advance. In this way they can avoid experiencing the game for themselves. They ask their "communities" (<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">subreddits</span></b>) if this build would be ok, if that class would be ok, if it's ok to do this or that, and so on.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh, and let's not forget: "Is such and such <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">viable</span></b>?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the invariable response: "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Absolutely</span></b>!" (a cringe-worthy exclamation that died off in the 90s.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Truth be told, it is pathetic. Just play the game, experience it for yourself, come to your own conclusions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But they don't have the patience to work games out for themselves. Games are to be "beaten" in the shortest time-frame possible, employing as little thought as possible. Then move on to the next game, rinse repeat. To them games are just products to be consumed: the more they can plow through the better off they will be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They wouldn't even bother playing the game in the first place if they couldn't get a bit of social media attention for doing so (an "upvote", a "like").</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The unwarranted attention makes them exceedingly vocal and opinionated for a week or so. Enough time to spread their highly contagious ignorance of the game over reddit like a plague. Then: lose interest and consume next product.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">RPG Gamers advertise new games and ignore older ones like they never existed: they refer to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-3.html">Baldur's Gate 3</a> as <i>Baldur's Gate</i> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/08/Worst-RPG.html">Oblivion With Guns</a> as <i>Fallout</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They even advertise discounts despite the fact that current gen games are a dime a dozen. It isn't like paying <b>£45 in 1987</b> for the latest <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">combat flight simulator</a>, but they act like it is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">RPG Gamers play games because <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">they go on sale</span></b>. But one day they may realize that just because something's cheap, doesn't make it good value.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With attention spans akin to lightning bolts they bounce off dozens of <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">two-dollar cRPGs</span></b> in their <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">backlog</span></b>, which makes them excited: so much so, that they need to tell everyone about their massive backlogs; how many games they "own" (but none of which they play) on their precious digital distribution platform.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">RPG Game Remakes / Remasters by Hack-Devs</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Due to these frivolous consumers and their flippancy, subpar developers make a mint by churning out one <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">cheap knock-off</span></b> after the other, or by tastelessly <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">remastering</span></b> the classics to match casual "sensibilities".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>On a daily basis it is RPG Gamers that clamor for remasters of classic games: they want all classic games replaced with grotesque distortions that match their uncultivated, swine-like palates.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of course these noble remasterers never tire of telling gullible consumers how they have kept the classic game relevant by turning it into a <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">service </span></b>that is regularly <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">updated</span></b> for the benefit of all (always-on internet, constant patching).</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus, are they heralded as heroes for their expertise in what amounts to blood-sucking. They are not only admired and thanked for all their "hard work and dedication", but are even credited with bringing the games back from the dead when in actual fact the games were still selling well before the remasterer came along to "improve" them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If an old classic isn't popular or requires some actual work to "improve", it won't be remastered. And that means 8 bit games from the 1980s have largely been spared from leeching.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What gets remasters are your <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">API era games</a> that already play well, look good and have maintained player-bases that can be tapped for profit; you know, the games that don't <i>need</i> remasters; the games you can wrap pixel-removing shaders around to make them appear as soulless, plasticized garbage that came out in 2024.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amusingly, remasters <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">go on sale</span></b> on such a frequent basis that "sale" almost loses its meaning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But of course the "sales" give <i>hack-developers</i> more opportunities to make "announcements" on social media. As do the incremental "<b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">updates</span></b>" that fix bugs that were not in the original games to begin with (the remasterer injected <i>novel</i> bugs into an <i>old</i> game).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>That is their business model. Truly, a glittering example of entrepreneurship.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The object of such <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">spam</span></b> is of course to replace the original classic with their distorted caricature; to apportion themselves credit for the classic game; to make money off an old game: nostalgia cashgrabs that leech off the classics. [1]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And when the hype of the remaster dies down the hack-dev often drops support in order to soil the next classic, leaving the community to pick up the pieces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remastered games often <i>divide</i> classic game communities between those who play the original and those who play the remaster, but the remaster can never replace the original because the original is historically significant and authentic, unlike the remaster which is not even footnote-worthy yet is often pushed to front and center by mainstream commentary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mutt-level mainstream commentary will even publish <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Preamble.html">retrospectives</a> based on newly-released remakes. Their retrospectives will not even feature a single screencap or passage of commentary pertaining to the original. That is not a retrospective: it is promotion and advertising. SHAME.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A joke when it comes to computer games, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Wikipedia</a> mentions remasters in the <i>first paragraph</i> of its articles. Due to the priority given to such a triviality, one could be forgiven for wondering if hack-devs <i>themselves</i> added the mention. I mean, do we really think shameless self-promotion is beneath <i>hacks</i>?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the remaster not only causes confusion in communities ("Which version are you talking about?"), but also causes the original to be unfairly criticized by ignorant, pig-headed newcomers lacking in historical awareness. [2]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>Then, as often happens in human endeavors, the wild-eyed hack comes along to snatch a piece of the pie. In the name of the quick buck and click the hack cares not for the endeavor, the creative process or genre legacy, but only of shortcuts, leeching and leveling down to the lowest common denominator.</i></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[1]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hack-devs that frequently post <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">micro-updates</span></b> on public forums, yet do not contribute to community discussion, are also shameless spammers. Many of the spammers also loiter in forums in an attempt to control the narrative or reception of their remake. Because their remake cannot speak for itself. It is not good enough. <i>Because</i> it is a remake. Thus, they stoop to generating noise through spam. And their go-to? <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Subreddits</span></b>: the most gullible computer-game "communities" on the internet.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[2]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For example, ignoramuses will complain that a game made in the <i>1990s</i> does not have widescreen support even though widescreen displays were not found in the 1990s outside of graphics workstations, which set one back 20,000 big ones in the 1990s.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They complain about "black borders" when black borders don't exist, only resolutions and aspect ratios do. The game doesn't have black borders, they are simply running the game wrongly, aka User Error.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To them, hack-devs are towering geniuses for merely making games widescreen -- because installing a widescreen mod that came out 15 years ago is beyond the capabilities of casuals, most of whom are of console-stock: just seeing a DOS prompt is enough to make them recoil in horror.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in the time it took the hack-dev to fix all the bugs and add achievements, story-mode, widescreen support and blurry post-processing shaders, the original developer had coded an entire game from the ground up -- 20 years prior.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The original developer is King, the original game is King.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the peasant-level remake?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not even footnote-worthy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>cf. <b>Critical Computer Game Commentary</b>:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/03/Computer-Game-Infographics-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990 Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Wikipedia-1990s-in-Video-Games-Criticism.html">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG Writing</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-reviews.html">cRPG Reviews</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-65791792667835914972024-01-12T04:00:00.000-08:002024-03-23T18:59:58.135-07:00Wikipedia 1990s in Video Games: Criticism<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h1 style="text-align: center;">Criticism of Wikipedia's 1990s in Video Games Article</h1><div><br /></div><div><div><div>As it stands in Jan. 2024, Wikipedia's <i>1990s in Video Games</i> article does not constitute a passable historical account of 1990s computer games, yet it is ranked highly when searching for keyword string "<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>".</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>The article is spam-city: 6,400 words of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html">hyperlink-stuffed</a> commentary (90% on console games) followed by 6,500 words of hyperlinked references to 150 external sources.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>My history of 1990s computer games stands as a far superior overview of 90s computer games and related technologies. Number of sources cited by my article? None. Because I was there, I played the games when they came out. Why would I need to cite anyone but myself?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Wikipedia article does not separate computer game history from console game history. Instead, it lumps together both computer game history and console game history under "video game history".</div><div><br /></div><div>But computer games are not video games: they are correctly referred to <i>as</i> computer games, PC games or microcomputer games (e.g., <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga games</a>). Video games are <i>console games</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>In 30 years of playing computer games I have never heard a soul refer to personal computer games as video games. Instead, commentators and gamers <i>differentiate between</i> computer games and video games because they are not equivalent; not by tech nor by genre focus or input devices. [1]</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Leading critics and developers of the 1990s wrote "computer <i>and/or</i> video games"; they did not lump the two together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Consider also the following high-circulation magazines of the 1990s edited by expert journos and champion gamers:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><i>Computer <b>&</b> Video Games</i> (UK) covered computer games <i>as well as</i> console games.</li><li><i>Computer Gaming World</i> (USA) did not cover console games (with a few exceptions) [0].</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>And in the scholarly manuals of 1990s computer games, no developers referred to their simulators, strategy games or cRPGs as "video games." If not referring to them by specific genre (e.g, our simulator), they referred to them as computer games or PC games.</div><div><br /></div><div>But one need not argue from authority (influential critics and the people that helped build the industry): if the game is coded for a computer and is played on a computer, it is a computer game.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, even if the reader disagrees with the above ("computer games are one form of video games -- I also say VIDYA"), consider the following criticisms of the article:</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div><div>As of Jan. 2024 the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article does not even mention computer games, microcomputer games, PC games, Windows games or MS-DOS games, yet it mentions six consoles by name straight out of the blocks.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>What a laughing stock!</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>How can an article omit mention of MS-DOS and Window computer games in the first paragraph of an article <i>on</i> computer and video games of the 1990s? [2]</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, as of Jan. 2024 the opening paragraph of the article is <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Hyperlinks-in-Articles.html">hyperlinked-stuffed</a> to the max:</div><div><br /></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><b>65</b> "notable video games" are hyperlinked, <b>51</b> of which are console games.</div><div>(<b>78</b>% console games, <b>22</b>% computer games.)</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>But my article? 300 words before the first hyperlink. Yet my commentary is sometimes criticized for its hyperlinkage, Wikipedia never. And yet I have not come close to stuffing an opening paragraph with 65 hyperlinks because that would adversely affect reader-experience. Wikipedia does not seem to care, though. And it gets a free pass from the masses that consider Wikipedia to be ever the authority on every subject imaginable.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article is hyperlinked-stuffed because its "contributors" are trying to spam their fave games to suit their petty agendas, yet the article is not penalized for what comes off as flagrant fanboyism.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, the disservicing article is ranked highly even though 90% of its content is given over to <i>console</i> game history, not computer game history.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Worse than its ham-fisted attempt at homogenization of unrelated subject matter [3], the article insolently devalues the historical significance of computer games by not granting them due coverage.</div><div><br /></div><div>One could be forgiven for concluding that the article was cobbled together and scibbled out by ignorant console gamers that lack computer-game pedigree not to mention awareness of the computer game industries in Europe and Great Britain.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>(Even if the article is subsequently edited, its edit history can be reviewed.)</div><div><br /></div><div>[0]</div><div><br /></div><div>Sad to note that even <i>Computer</i> Gaming World covered a few console-exclusives in a <i>computer</i>-game magazine, yet often looked down its nose at "video games" (by, for example, mocking an A1 arcade-action game for not being a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/combat-flight-simulators.html">simulator</a>, and ignoring many of the greatest arcade-action games of all-time because they were not 1980s <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPGs</a> with the trashiest gameplay imaginable -- yet those arcade-action games were <i>PC-exclusives</i> with good gameplay.</div><div><br /></div><div>It just goes to show that almost no <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">computer-game publication</a> could maintain standards <i>even in their prime.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>[1]</div><div><br /></div><div>For example, kb/m or analogue joystick (IBM PC) or digital micro-switched joysticks (microcomputer) are not the same as controller-gamepads. kb/m facilitates complex strategy games, for starters. 1990s consoles did not have such controls as standard.</div><div><br /></div><div>And as for genre-equivalence as it relates to platform, please show me <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-3-1991-Flight-Sim.html">Falcon 3.0</a> (1991) running on a Sega Genesis console. And who would call Falcon 3.0 a <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">video game</span></b>?</div><div><br /></div><div>[2]</div><div><br /></div><div>There is not one mention of the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Amiga microcomputer</a> in the <i>entire</i> article, yet in the early 90s the Amiga was a king-tier computer game machine in the British Commonwealth and on Continental Europe. Other micros are ignored as well.</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>[3]</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Computer and console games are certainly related in history via cross-platform influence and porting, but computer games and console games were largely opposed in the 1990s: you were not getting <i>Falcon 3.0</i> on the Genesis in 1991, nor were you getting <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i> on MS-DOS in 1991.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the difference is: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Non-standard-Square-pixel-VGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">non-standard VGA coding routines</a> were technically capable of replicating StH 1:1, but the Genesis did not have a hope in hell of running <i>Falcon 3.0</i> at anything above ¼ frame per second. Nor did you have analogue joysticks on the Genesis. Or kb/m as standard.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Computer gaming was far more sophisticated than console gaming in the 90s; completely different worlds; completely different expectations. Which is why computer gamers complained about computer games getting dumbed down for consoles in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">The Terrible 2000s</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Point is: things are different. And the other point is: computer games of the 90s were historically significant, not just console games of the 90s.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><blockquote><i>Then, as often happens in human endeavors, the wild-eyed hack comes along to snatch a piece of the pie. In the name of the quick buck and click the hack cares not for the endeavor, the creative process or genre legacy, but only of shortcuts, leeching and leveling down to the lowest common denominator.</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div></div><div>cf. <b>Critical Computer Game Commentary</b>:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/03/Computer-Game-Infographics-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990 Computer Games</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Computer-Games-Listed-in-Chronological-Order.html">Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">Criticism of Computer Game Journalism</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Communities.html">Reddit RPG Games</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index).</div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-70571461400624006462024-01-02T00:16:00.000-08:002024-03-07T17:22:57.160-08:00StarCraft 1 Review<span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">cf.: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft 1 Review</h1><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieOCYxrIKEDGsGtG7Q4xMWVRNYH-WVBjvUOE8r2MmsMSlsFr_eRjM83ju2Val0KyXdhMJkSpMqL5MZU3mkKFa2d0wEGs81Tikba10XPdnwi2oPCqoqeLn3OoE_9Bwh1D-LSnu71YxusXbQpnU_sGWhwiSQBjDIHV78CaJXrkjQjJZhKWP0-rUEM8J4OY5h/s2000/starcraft%201%20review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieOCYxrIKEDGsGtG7Q4xMWVRNYH-WVBjvUOE8r2MmsMSlsFr_eRjM83ju2Val0KyXdhMJkSpMqL5MZU3mkKFa2d0wEGs81Tikba10XPdnwi2oPCqoqeLn3OoE_9Bwh1D-LSnu71YxusXbQpnU_sGWhwiSQBjDIHV78CaJXrkjQjJZhKWP0-rUEM8J4OY5h/w640-h240/starcraft%201%20review.webp" title="StarCraft 1 Review" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 1998 on Windows PCs, <i>StarCraft 1</i> is a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-rts-reviews.html">real-time strategy game</a> notable for evolving RTS gameplay, controls and presentation to the point of mastery.</div><div><br /></div><div>StarCraft came out three years after Blizzard's own <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-2-RTS.html">WarCraft 2</a> and two years after Westwood's masterpiece, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-Red-Alert-Review.html">Red Alert</a>. And while the WarCraft franchise lost round one of the RTS bout to the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer</a> franchise, Blizzard won the second round thanks to StarCraft.</div><div><br /></div><div>Undisputed, Blizzard then claimed the RTS Champion Belt via the <i>Brood War</i> expansion.</div><div><br /></div><div>A ponderous review of StarCraft would cover RTS basics along with the concepts StarCraft has in common with its predecessors, but I have already covered RTS basics and commonalities in my reviews of seminal RTS games such as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Dune-2.html">Dune 2</a>. Thus, instead of rehashing I will only cover StarCraft in so far as it notably differs from its predecessors. And since StarCraft represents a genre <i>culmination</i> rather than a revolution, this review will not be a long read.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is inarguable that StarCraft was one of the most polished and professional game releases of the late-90s. The game oozes design and coding expertise while not feeling overdone. In nailing every aspect of RTS design square on the head, Blizzard practically exhausted the genre by 1998. Or so it was that back in the day I felt no need to play RTS post-Brood War.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft Species: Variant Playstyles</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2K35PAjcH2PmTc4LUYXvLtI6_s8P2o9AUDfHOyLjNIdFpz82_8q-B-RFmFgJJqSZdnQAo6p-EtMmFIs_pLQeLeQ6kizUPe63WkuQpXOP1jPJIecJLgTNRN9SmDWqQgK3ZGU8qgzSluSyKTQ1-CqnVMOWr3jBNDMROPxF4wr7XYjEQcGwOSCZAk2jqv_o/s2500/starcraft%201%20review%20-%20species%20and%20episodes.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2500" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2K35PAjcH2PmTc4LUYXvLtI6_s8P2o9AUDfHOyLjNIdFpz82_8q-B-RFmFgJJqSZdnQAo6p-EtMmFIs_pLQeLeQ6kizUPe63WkuQpXOP1jPJIecJLgTNRN9SmDWqQgK3ZGU8qgzSluSyKTQ1-CqnVMOWr3jBNDMROPxF4wr7XYjEQcGwOSCZAk2jqv_o/w320-h160/starcraft%201%20review%20-%20species%20and%20episodes.webp" title="starcraft 1 review - species and episodes" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The main thing that stands out is how different StarCraft plays based on <i>species</i> chosen. In Command & Conquer and Red Alert both <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/GDI-Units-Command-and-Conquer-1.html">GDI</a>/Nod and Soviet/Allied faction playstyles were largely conventional (which is not a criticism), but there is a yawning gulf between the humanoid <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Terran-Campaign-StarCraft-1.html">Terran</a>, psionic Protoss and insectoid <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Zerg-Campaign-StarCraft-1.html">Zerg</a> playstyles offered by StarCraft.</div><div><br /></div><div>For example, the Terran playstyle is akin to the GDI/<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Nod-Units-Command-and-Conquer-1.html">Nod</a> or Allied/Soviet conventional militaries that advance technologically, but the Zerg playstyle concerns evolution and mutation of insect-like aliens as well as "the creep", which is an ooze that covers the ground and expands outwardly in real-time as hive colonies are built on its edges.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0QBUMbrUE_NgzT18Yhd-YLZp66u6jUwFr-1V9LvVZ9Ug_jJbXbYJYiheUKL3S5udSwOW_FDw2zHPc8Jd7wVNQkAJQHn7FGUML6gNE46uMh515jaY70UX2jwvl75E4Vs9EJl_04cTjx6OjWABSvIjJaBPdtYgefg3LYvz0656bGXcCnxnj3PCuKKOAxo1/s2000/The%20Creep%20Starcraft%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0QBUMbrUE_NgzT18Yhd-YLZp66u6jUwFr-1V9LvVZ9Ug_jJbXbYJYiheUKL3S5udSwOW_FDw2zHPc8Jd7wVNQkAJQHn7FGUML6gNE46uMh515jaY70UX2jwvl75E4Vs9EJl_04cTjx6OjWABSvIjJaBPdtYgefg3LYvz0656bGXcCnxnj3PCuKKOAxo1/w320-h120/The%20Creep%20Starcraft%201.webp" title="The Creep Starcraft 1" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, Terrans (being humanoids) have the flexibility to build anywhere on level maps. And some Terran buildings can <i>take off</i> via thrusters, slowly propel themselves over the map and touch ground again once a safer or more suitable position has been found. Due to their soak, such moveable buildings can be employed as supertanker decoys: the enemy fires upon the building while the Wraiths, Valkyries and Dropships slip past, unscathed.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Take a second example. In C&C/RA, to repair a building one simply clicked the repair icon followed by a building. And units in need of repair parked in a repair bay (cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Mammoth-Tank-Command-and-Conquer-1.html">Mammoth Tank</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>But in StarCraft the mode of repair depends on species:</div><div><br /></div><ul><li>First, Terrans employ mobile, mechanized Space Construction Vehicles (SCVs) to repair mechanized units and buildings (and the rate of repair stacks with each SCV assigned). In addition, Terrans gain Medics for infantry in Brood War.</li><li>Second, Protoss units and buildings cannot be repaired but have regenerating energy shields and access to shield batteries instead.</li><li>And third, Zerg units and buildings have innate biological regeneration, which is slow and steady.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjCRB5I9pOLB80lXC2qiaZiTW1A1_JHJe2xJi7dovgT0i0BUMuhYj5-0TsztI4zn4tgXv1XJAC3jJshz8NCNz3Il8c0HijvrryIJeDwkt8UFKbmI6b6xFM3Phl-_jOwO0uScndgFddPniEs1CLXJEhxrYdGtsf543taJn-rFp5yS-80BmbeHJ2DhjysAN/s1600/norad%202%20starcraft%201%20general%20duke.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1600" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjCRB5I9pOLB80lXC2qiaZiTW1A1_JHJe2xJi7dovgT0i0BUMuhYj5-0TsztI4zn4tgXv1XJAC3jJshz8NCNz3Il8c0HijvrryIJeDwkt8UFKbmI6b6xFM3Phl-_jOwO0uScndgFddPniEs1CLXJEhxrYdGtsf543taJn-rFp5yS-80BmbeHJ2DhjysAN/w320-h153/norad%202%20starcraft%201%20general%20duke.webp" title="norad 2 starcraft 1 general duke" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Conventional units offer some surprises as well. For example, Ghost infantry units can immobilize fleets of behemoth battlecruisers, cloak themselves to prevent being targeted by other units, and then proceed to annihilate the fleet. It is a surprise because one would think a few infantry units would be no match for a dozen battlecruisers, but they actually eat them alive providing the relevant research has been conducted. And yes, both of those units are <i>Terran</i>: due to factional rivalry some missions involve <i>inter</i>-species battles (f.e, Arcturus' Sons of Korhal versus the Terran Confederacy). [1]</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Even though species playstyles vary greatly and grant clear advantages and disadvantages under different scenarios, they are finely tuned in balance when set against each other. It could be said that Protoss represent quality, Zerg represent quantity and Terran occupy the middle-ground.</div><div><br /></div><div>StarCraft enforces balance by restricting what players or AI could (by rights) build. For example, in some missions players or AI may not have access to a certain unit, upgrade or building. Specifically, in one mission players cannot build air units (no Starport) whereas in another both players and AI can build Tanks, but only the player can acquire the Siege Mode upgrade for the Tanks.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Efficient StarCraft play is highly dependent on micromanagement via hotkeys. However, one needn't be expert in hotkey usage to succeed: marquee selection and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">screen-scrolling</a> suffices. That said, hotkey usage results in much better end-mission scores (naturally).</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The Original Zerg Rush in StarCraft 1</h3><div><br /></div><div>The term "Zerg Rush" is known even to non-gamers. Here is the original Zerg rush that triggers at the end of the 3rd mission of the Terran campaign, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Desperate-Alliance-StarCraft-1-Terran-Mission-3.html">Desperate Alliance</a>:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSyO2XOhYHJ2Nh1v91u4_J9pmCG7HFebQ1t0qPzPbdZC6NW3m4KFKiE3J1TLUo4KIxThtRyPsEUP2nOJ5eHEwZBN9_GtSsQYWIr_2s9FfGwGnqaHw6uWlqHn6c9iEAmbxZLgcTxPFHJeuvlEcK9WRWVah2JrnuCfzRt9pvQQXh1nGFXvL2yORLjD-4Uwq/s2000/the%20original%20Zerg%20Rush%20StarCraft%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSyO2XOhYHJ2Nh1v91u4_J9pmCG7HFebQ1t0qPzPbdZC6NW3m4KFKiE3J1TLUo4KIxThtRyPsEUP2nOJ5eHEwZBN9_GtSsQYWIr_2s9FfGwGnqaHw6uWlqHn6c9iEAmbxZLgcTxPFHJeuvlEcK9WRWVah2JrnuCfzRt9pvQQXh1nGFXvL2yORLjD-4Uwq/w320-h120/the%20original%20Zerg%20Rush%20StarCraft%201.webp" title="The Original Zerg Rush StarCraft 1 (1998)" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It is actually possible, though not so easy, to nip the above Zerg Rush in the bud by <i>taking it to</i> the Zergs early in the mission (which has a 30 minute timer).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgPLurHpSaIpHVBzIOhHhcj4nC2f1OKZ0aUTRnyKjSGwMDETcaFrlZOHjEBrCLifGB3I4e6XbRJFuf_uEn11ZvQRbdMVDl2cRWn_sXHq-zCZzbnrShyphenhyphenzs4yiJEPn434-xY_7VtcpMYrwKikT8D6Y0G3KhtMBVPAFagPEQktOLuRX5dxscc4ud7YKCAhv2/s2000/zerg%20rush%20starcraft%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgPLurHpSaIpHVBzIOhHhcj4nC2f1OKZ0aUTRnyKjSGwMDETcaFrlZOHjEBrCLifGB3I4e6XbRJFuf_uEn11ZvQRbdMVDl2cRWn_sXHq-zCZzbnrShyphenhyphenzs4yiJEPn434-xY_7VtcpMYrwKikT8D6Y0G3KhtMBVPAFagPEQktOLuRX5dxscc4ud7YKCAhv2/w320-h120/zerg%20rush%20starcraft%201.jpg" title="Zerg Rush StarCraft 1" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is the second Zerg rush that triggers at the end of the 9th mission of the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Terran-Campaign-StarCraft-1.html">Terran Campaign</a>, after the Protoss fleet has been wiped out by the player's Terran force. The Zergling horde rushes into the base in overwhelming numbers:</div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3CJUKvk10bAOoKmsBnd8n7h59ysF2aOFm9q6ypcm9G5h6i5i0lZ9nW_dFDHVDpn0_vHk14tGreTvtx1sTc8RPvmUkaMHlTOj-5eAKyrz7jFlTI2c4UtnirJe5iOo25RIbTdUsbQlyQXHYBgCq684sXdQGTSKGHa_Wj_mDi4eKCa9bOkDbKcOATz1Xwxa/s2000/zerg%20rush%20starcraft%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3CJUKvk10bAOoKmsBnd8n7h59ysF2aOFm9q6ypcm9G5h6i5i0lZ9nW_dFDHVDpn0_vHk14tGreTvtx1sTc8RPvmUkaMHlTOj-5eAKyrz7jFlTI2c4UtnirJe5iOo25RIbTdUsbQlyQXHYBgCq684sXdQGTSKGHa_Wj_mDi4eKCa9bOkDbKcOATz1Xwxa/w320-h120/zerg%20rush%20starcraft%201.webp" title="Zerg Rush StarCraft 1" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft Presentation</h3><div><br /></div><div>In addition to playstyle each of the three species campaigns has its own story, narration, sprites, maps, music and FMVs. Also, each species has its own HUD or "heads-up display". The narrative for each species is interrelated as well, fleshing out the StarCraft story, characters and lore.</div><div><br /></div><div>The presentation is A1. In 1998 no game presented itself better than StarCraft. While to my mind they are superfluous many players would have appreciated the <i>animated</i> unit portraits because they give the units more character or personality.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>StarCraft is displayed in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Square-pixel-SVGA-Games-on-IBM-PC-MS-DOS.html">square-pixel 640x480 resolution</a> (4:3 aspect ratio) in 8 bit color depth (256 colors). cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-design.html">cRPG History</a> for more info on the merits of limited color palette ranges.</div></div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOJ5t-N5xNPzK-3zHvfhVt-GbcbrxUfpeEIVj63ST3Uy6XOosDlifcQyyxvzsm5isHzJfe9p421C1a50Nr5oUMCYDE2_cX2PHIn5YiQaXsBu_z_ejb8woJt2N7Yn6HnhM1zjL_CAoPwendfhQfw_FUr-Z3ZypMpGexWBoWp-vSOALiNUGHDiIQ5Wb_JIu/s2500/starcraft%201%20user%20interface.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="2500" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOJ5t-N5xNPzK-3zHvfhVt-GbcbrxUfpeEIVj63ST3Uy6XOosDlifcQyyxvzsm5isHzJfe9p421C1a50Nr5oUMCYDE2_cX2PHIn5YiQaXsBu_z_ejb8woJt2N7Yn6HnhM1zjL_CAoPwendfhQfw_FUr-Z3ZypMpGexWBoWp-vSOALiNUGHDiIQ5Wb_JIu/w320-h80/starcraft%201%20user%20interface.webp" title="starcraft 1 user interface" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>StarCraft's 2D graphics are stunningly drawn and slicky animated. And the viewport scrolls smoothly over battlefields as dozens of unit, projectile and explosion frames are drawn every second.</div><div><br /></div><div>Along with Red Alert StarCraft represents the pinnacle of 2D <i>action</i>-gaming on computers (past or present). Yes, Red Alert and StarCraft are better games than <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo 1</a> and much better than <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/03/Reflections-On-The-Depth-Of-Diablo-II-Game-Play.html">Diablo 2</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Red Alert is not as graphically evolved as StarCraft but Red Alert is two years older and runs on Windows 95 or MS-DOS with no DirectX, yet Red Alert plays just as smoothly and as quickly in MS-DOS or Windows 95 as StarCraft does on Windows of any kind, from 95 to 11.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>As with WarCraft and C&C, StarCraft's campaigns are sweeping yet short. Every time I completed WarCraft and C&C campaigns, I felt like I was just getting warmed up, like the games didn't show me enough of their potential. StarCraft is no exception: veteran gamers can steamroll its 58 missions in a few evenings.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PGgnNWbmCUYGkfkUlei921NQKctKzKRCDIXWkMe0ZqjSkbTUrxNTkf3dcf-1BmQVxWGqe_-dejrjhyphenhyphen2ve9Yc2cPO_Tq58ChOht0Opd_2hLkpCUnOOtwGR_R8h0Mtc0amv4iC-TOXdxjKlUv3IWh9NSgxrjG0oOmwOCP5YZgl0aT7431k_Zv_BcZzC7pw/s2000/StarCraft%201%20Maps.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1565" data-original-width="2000" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PGgnNWbmCUYGkfkUlei921NQKctKzKRCDIXWkMe0ZqjSkbTUrxNTkf3dcf-1BmQVxWGqe_-dejrjhyphenhyphen2ve9Yc2cPO_Tq58ChOht0Opd_2hLkpCUnOOtwGR_R8h0Mtc0amv4iC-TOXdxjKlUv3IWh9NSgxrjG0oOmwOCP5YZgl0aT7431k_Zv_BcZzC7pw/w200-h156/StarCraft%201%20Maps.webp" title="StarCraft 1 Maps (all maps in the original StarCraft 1))" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Being <i>arcade-action</i> in nature <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-rts-reviews.html">RTS</a> campaigns are not as satisfying as the more meditative <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">TBS</a> campaigns that can go on for weeks, months or years. But we must bear in mind that, in respect to replayability RTS is geared for multi-player and mods.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyW_HfW7jWkK49ydoa7Fw-9LGyXjYVeAN6g7vDKa17bg29Y6AoGHG9y43N3zNme6X_unyFl__PJOZ6R_RwqeyOC1OGKR8d_9shg0ZNmZoI2kd2u4JbXLA_DXpIY-R5npUn5p1BneDKgFfzLez7Od7FGnQUpiM89l1BKv3jCHS1Vp5S2FnRTSxQmUoT2wAt/s3000/Revolution%20StarCraft%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="3000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyW_HfW7jWkK49ydoa7Fw-9LGyXjYVeAN6g7vDKa17bg29Y6AoGHG9y43N3zNme6X_unyFl__PJOZ6R_RwqeyOC1OGKR8d_9shg0ZNmZoI2kd2u4JbXLA_DXpIY-R5npUn5p1BneDKgFfzLez7Od7FGnQUpiM89l1BKv3jCHS1Vp5S2FnRTSxQmUoT2wAt/w320-h120/Revolution%20StarCraft%201.webp" title="Revolution StarCraft 1" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And we can also improve our single-player scores by playing more efficiently. Yes, you beat the game. Congrats. But would you show your scores to friends?</div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Revolution-StarCraft-1-Terran-Mission-5.html">StarCraft 1 Revolution</a>.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft versus Command & Conquer</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJe3V2y0R_3J0j1gvINVNOc0s_mM4losDsBgo3Xz-HkGb_cpsP_SGnXa9dyF5VlNkzTz6qD9fnv9PSskqjUmcemhBZRBXeoNYcfui21e6T5GGePmv-jE6d3YkoCXwtpJSVGY4MGNC0vg3ZWAPERos4jZjPPbQybsqYbX2o_0qV7mw6KjdNuFJiFwRfzCK/s2400/starcraft%20versus%20command%20and%20conquer.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="2400" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJe3V2y0R_3J0j1gvINVNOc0s_mM4losDsBgo3Xz-HkGb_cpsP_SGnXa9dyF5VlNkzTz6qD9fnv9PSskqjUmcemhBZRBXeoNYcfui21e6T5GGePmv-jE6d3YkoCXwtpJSVGY4MGNC0vg3ZWAPERos4jZjPPbQybsqYbX2o_0qV7mw6KjdNuFJiFwRfzCK/w320-h80/starcraft%20versus%20command%20and%20conquer.webp" title="StarCraft versus Command & Conquer" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Command & Conquer and Red Alert play faster and are harder than StarCraft even when playing C&C/RA on the easiest difficulty setting. StarCraft does not even <i>have</i> difficulty settings. And as for speed settings, they are tailorable in both games. I replayed StarCraft on the highest speed setting yet still beat the game easily, even though my reflexes are <i>sloth-like</i> nowadays. On the other hand C&C/RA owned me over and over unless I was drinking coffee.</li><li>C&C/RA have a far better soundtrack. I don't think anyone would argue with that.</li><li>It is easier in C&C/RA to differentiate between buildings. In StarCraft, too many buildings look alike.</li><li>There is more variation in StarCraft gameplay due to the profound differences in species. Also, there are three species to C&C/RA's two factions.</li><li>[Subjective] I much prefer the realistic, military spartan color scheme of C&C/RA to the colorful aesthetics of StarCraft. While raw and gritty in presentation, C&C/RA graphics are easier on the eyes.</li><li>C&C/RA do not have built-in cheats. Short of extracting and editing their data files, there is no way to cheat in C&C/RA. Casuals cannot extract and edit data files. Therefore, casuals don't play C&C/RA; it just sits in their backlog gathering dust because they can't quickly "beat" the game by cheating. But StarCraft has lots of built-in cheats like WarCraft. Along with their bright and colorful graphics, cheats are what helped make Blizzard RTS more popular with the masses than it would otherwise have been.</li><li>StarCraft is more complex in terms of buildings and unit behaviors, but that didn't translate into better tactics or strategy. And StarCraft does not require more skill to play. I'd love to see someone play the MS-DOS version of C&C/RA on Ironman, Hard difficulty and Fastest playspeed. But StarCraft Ironman? Not interested.</li><li>In C&C/RA you only have access to one raw resource (Tiberium/Ore) whereas in StarCraft you must employ mineral crystals for smelting <i>and</i> Vespene Geysers for fuel. How does adding an extra resource make RTS better? If the argument is that vespene is rarer and compels players to explore more of the map, just make the mineral fields rarer instead of throwing minerals about maps like confetti.</li><li>Presumably for game balance reasons, sprite size and/or CPU restrictions, you can only marquee select and control 12 units at a time in StarCraft (3 more than in WarCraft 2), but in C&C/RA you can control 63 simultaneously, yet it doesn't break the game.</li><li>Due to the added complexity of units and their upgrades and special abilities, StarCraft offers more than C&C/RA in terms of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Combined-Arms-Civilization-2.html">combined arms tactics</a> (a common focus of wargames such as <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Panzer-General-1-Wargame-1994.html">Panzer General</a>). What that means is that no unit "owns" everything. There is no god unit. Instead, units excel or perform poorly based on specific situations. And each unit is far more effective with the right support.</li><li>StarCraft 1 units can be upgraded, sometimes to a 3rd tier, but C&C units just are what they are. This is another contributer to StarCraft playstyle variability. For example, in playing Terrans one might build towards elite infantry, vehicles or aircraft depending on scenario. However, Blizzard had already pioneered upgrades in WarCraft 2.</li><li>The StarCraft heroes are cool. I always liked seeing how many kills General Duke could amass in <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjCRB5I9pOLB80lXC2qiaZiTW1A1_JHJe2xJi7dovgT0i0BUMuhYj5-0TsztI4zn4tgXv1XJAC3jJshz8NCNz3Il8c0HijvrryIJeDwkt8UFKbmI6b6xFM3Phl-_jOwO0uScndgFddPniEs1CLXJEhxrYdGtsf543taJn-rFp5yS-80BmbeHJ2DhjysAN/s1600/norad%202%20starcraft%201%20general%20duke.webp">Norad II</a> with upgraded armor plating and laser batteries. But again, WarCraft 2 pioneered heroes.</li><li>So again, upgrades, abilities and heroes are not StarCraft innovations but rather mere reapplications of and incremental advancements on pre-established designs. [3]</li></ul></div><div> </div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft 1 Criticism</h3><div><br /></div><div>As with most real-time games there are pathfinding issues in that units sometimes have difficulty navigating through built-up bases. Moreover, units can actually get stuck between buildings in such bases, which means you need to force-attack and destroy your own building to free them or clear paths to plot-critical exits.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Watching units move in the opposite direction you clicked or simply spin on the spot is extremely aggravating: from Diablo to WarCraft to StarCraft, Blizzard's pathfinding routines are lousy.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Also, StarCraft unit sprites <i>overlap</i> on the playing field to the point that several will be stacked on top of each other. Unit sprites should <i>never</i> overlap in such games. Imagine if a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">shoot 'em up</a> lacked collision detection? It would be castigated.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is funny how RTS gets away with poor pathfinding and sprite overlap. Clearly, the genre is not held to the standards of classic arcade-game genre such as shoot 'em ups.</div><div><br /></div><div>The AI sometimes forgets about its units. Sometimes you will come across a few units that are just sitting in a remote region of the map, twiddling their thumbs. This happened in the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-Orcs-and-Humans.html">original WarCraft</a> as well (1994). Units whose groups have been decimated should head back to base or at least attempt to flee.</div><div><br /></div><div>Guess three years was not enough time to fix the AI or pathfinding routines in Blizzard engines.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, I suppose I should deduct a full point from the score I give StarCraft in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-reviews.html">cRPG Reviews</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>StarCraft's user interface does not display time elapsed, killcount or current mission name and number. In addition, StarCraft does not even give you an overall score upon campaign completion.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <i>Brood War</i> expansion introduced a major issue as well: that of repetitive gameplay. Some of Brood War's missions are boring marathon-length slogfests in which players amass 800+ killcounts while they wipe out every last building on a sprawling map to satisfy the mission objective.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, it gets tiresome when the AI constantly picks out and exploits the smallest holes in player defenses, map-wide, when it could not possibly know what those are because it does not have units in that area yet bee-lines its forces to that <i>exact</i> location from the opposite end of the map.</div><div><br /></div><div>At that point, StarCraft just becomes Whac-A-Mole.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft 1 Conclusion</h3><div><br /></div><div>StarCraft exhibits mastery of RTS design, coding and aesthetics, but it doesn't do much new, it mostly expands and refines. [2]</div><div> </div><div>That said, there was nothing left <i>to</i> do except expand and refine because no fewer than five great RTSes preceded StarCraft.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a technical level, StarCraft featured ultra-smooth <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Avatar-Anchorless-Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">avatar-anchorless screen-scrolling</a> that leaves most <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">computer games of the 1990s</a> in the dust. StarCraft also shifted around more and higher quality sprites than most other 90s games. Unit sprite anims need to be taken into account when timing attacks, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>For me at least, StarCraft marked the end of RTS much like <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/smac-guide-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri.html">SMAC</a> marked my final foray into <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">TBS</a>. And that is perhaps the best compliment I can give such games: they represent a finish line, an end.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div><div><div>[1]</div><div><br /></div><div>There are of course <i>counters</i> to cloaked ghosts, but it is not the purpose of reviews to spell everything out.</div><div><br /></div><div>[2]</div><div><br /></div><div>Red Alert came out two years before StarCraft and yet is comparable to StarCraft in terms of coding, design and gameplay.</div><div><br /></div>In terms of <i>single-player</i> replayability Red Alert wins due to its difficulty settings, but the two games are about on par in respect to skirmish map and mission counts:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Mission count: RA = 62 missions / SC = 58 missions)</li><li>Skirmish map count: RA = 24 skirmishes / SC = 44 skirmishes)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>In addition, almost every aspect of Red Alert's combat balance and difficulty is easily moddable via <i>one</i> (extractable) *.ini file whereas Blizzard's bundled <i>StarEdit</i> does not suffice because SE is only for <i>map</i> editing (= you need 3rd party editors to mod StarCraft).<div><br /></div><div>[3]</div><div><br /></div><div>I may review Westwood's <i>Tiberian Sun</i> (1999) in the future. Technically and graphically it is on par with StarCraft (and is a fairer comparison for Westwood), but since Red Alert holds its own versus StarCraft regardless, I don't feel a pressing need to do so.</div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">StarCraft 1 System Requirements</h3></div><div><div><br /></div><div>StarCraft is playable on IBM Compatible PCs installed with Windows 95, 98, NT or XP operating systems, powered by Pentium 90 MHz processors, 16 megabytes of RAM and 80 MB HDD. DirectX 2.0 and SVGA graphics are required.</div><div><br /></div><div>Note that StarCraft was CPU-hungry compared to WarCraft 2. But Blizzard made some optimizations via patches and a CPU throttling toggle.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Back to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-rts-reviews.html">Real-time Strategy Games PC</a>.</div></div></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Dune-2.html">Dune 2 RTS Review</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-Orcs-and-Humans.html">Warcraft 1 RTS Review</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/x-com-ufo-defense.html">X-COM UFO Defense</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer 1 RTS</a></td>
</tr>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic Review</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/ufopaedia-x-com.html">X-COM UFOpaedia</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/X-COM-Apocalypse-Walkthrough-Guide-Part-I-Cityscape-Strategy-Battlescape-Tactics.html">X-COM Apocalypse</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo 1 Review</a> </td>
</tr>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-17537033438594584292023-12-28T03:06:00.000-08:002024-01-19T20:13:59.037-08:00Origin of Counter-Strike: Navy SEALs Quake 1<span><a name='more'></a></span>Part of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>.<div><br /><h1 style="text-align: center;">Navy SEALs: Origin of Counter-Strike</h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrqXZB9z64FZtrZawrMZI0yWfHMaxSfOw3xe4aDGZiuDUbVpEi4v8Or-xOVJKbtIZ4ndVuq4bBB8jz2MSW98x-L9vh1jT5Alqrj_06GfETKDGfMziZa2xKoR2lOiQ-0LAzjkzV2O5ebfjabH5NeIee-ky1vpRbJSMxWcr3d-MP5s55DXe7bhJJUFZz8gM/s2000/Navy%20SEALS%20Quake%20mod%20-%20Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="2000" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrqXZB9z64FZtrZawrMZI0yWfHMaxSfOw3xe4aDGZiuDUbVpEi4v8Or-xOVJKbtIZ4ndVuq4bBB8jz2MSW98x-L9vh1jT5Alqrj_06GfETKDGfMziZa2xKoR2lOiQ-0LAzjkzV2O5ebfjabH5NeIee-ky1vpRbJSMxWcr3d-MP5s55DXe7bhJJUFZz8gM/w640-h214/Navy%20SEALS%20Quake%20mod%20-%20Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike.webp" title="Navy SEALs Quake 1 - Origin of Counter-Strike" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Developed by Gooseman in 1997, <i>Navy SEALs</i> is a historically significant <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> mod that would eventually evolve into <i>Counter-Strike</i> for <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life</a>. Thus, Navy SEALs is the origin of Counter-Strike.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>In Navy SEALs the player assumes the role of a SEAL conducting a few special ops objective-based missions.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtAPlWes1uGjWHBegNjVV13qYvOJmLYMiW8Wi0rEkcxC-bdaJ3NlqUE2EYZGXaRkGanj6Ic_ItwLjL6cFUFmoBCgBHfgKXqtoLlyxvrtZYc1wNdSq8yzHYKPO32UiG-nMCWXbrKm4rWtZxkLOfAo0Q_PjeN8uwZv9mWtbDyUhRiR0udEU6JHMQAAQAkr4/s1700/destroyer%20assault%20and%20aircraft%20demoliton.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="1700" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtAPlWes1uGjWHBegNjVV13qYvOJmLYMiW8Wi0rEkcxC-bdaJ3NlqUE2EYZGXaRkGanj6Ic_ItwLjL6cFUFmoBCgBHfgKXqtoLlyxvrtZYc1wNdSq8yzHYKPO32UiG-nMCWXbrKm4rWtZxkLOfAo0Q_PjeN8uwZv9mWtbDyUhRiR0udEU6JHMQAAQAkr4/s320/destroyer%20assault%20and%20aircraft%20demoliton.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>For example, in <i>Destroyer Assault</i> the SEAL must sabotage the navigation computer, disarm two bombs and shut down the Destroyer's engine. Note that Quake levels were not objective-based; that was introduced in Quake 2.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV1V5ld41q3jhkuXZmN5uzpEfxalYJv_iH9LVEo0zl1pgK78bjuj6zPDy8k1IPbpqZoADgmv-K0W8YcGfHmH34DjZOtV4StPFiBL8OJmN_oa2kE8mpGl_aGL2lX5mRu0AZlVg59oZ2VgfroCgdpkogVCDgNwnwKsMpDAaODljKuBEMP0kQ7yzVP7cF4ik/s3072/navy%20seals%20mod%20quake%201%20weapons.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="3072" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV1V5ld41q3jhkuXZmN5uzpEfxalYJv_iH9LVEo0zl1pgK78bjuj6zPDy8k1IPbpqZoADgmv-K0W8YcGfHmH34DjZOtV4StPFiBL8OJmN_oa2kE8mpGl_aGL2lX5mRu0AZlVg59oZ2VgfroCgdpkogVCDgNwnwKsMpDAaODljKuBEMP0kQ7yzVP7cF4ik/w320-h109/navy%20seals%20mod%20quake%201%20weapons.webp" title="navy seals mod quake 1 weapons" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Gunplay in Navy SEALs is solid. Each of Quake's weapons has been replaced with special-ops variants that have switchable firing modes, and each weapon is custom-modeled with authentic firing and reloading animations.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdPiWYpgLnk-vXvChwPZnh_SqME61eZ0ZX5mLhyGMPVFS837uI2M1xja1NzaJS_qtCzd27UwcXW85GE0tTBFeBqtIrQaMvEhDv52VLBiUl9eHJonDy2oRa5GyiNHbXA3mvu-5ZATJ2BVnuzYX6GZMr2dU816E7JeRW_iACmnGqxmHP2DCMY8U4ZUDOB05/s3072/navy%20seals%20mod%20quake%201%20reload.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="3072" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdPiWYpgLnk-vXvChwPZnh_SqME61eZ0ZX5mLhyGMPVFS837uI2M1xja1NzaJS_qtCzd27UwcXW85GE0tTBFeBqtIrQaMvEhDv52VLBiUl9eHJonDy2oRa5GyiNHbXA3mvu-5ZATJ2BVnuzYX6GZMr2dU816E7JeRW_iACmnGqxmHP2DCMY8U4ZUDOB05/w320-h75/navy%20seals%20mod%20quake%201%20reload.webp" title="navy seals mod quake 1 reload" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Navy SEALs also introduces infra-red sights, crouching, grenade-throwing and scope-sniping to the Quake engine as well as enemy strafing, rolling, dodging and pistol-whipping.</div><div><br /></div><div>The arsenal of the Navy Seals special ops division includes the Heckler & Koch Mk. 23, Mossberg 590 tactical shotgun, Heckler & Koch MP5 Submachine gun, Colt M-16 Assault Rifle and Barrett sniper rifle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insta-kill headshots blow heads clean off, and limbs can be shot off as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Level design is as vertical as it is sprawling, emphasizing multi-angle FPS gameplay and demolitions. Naturally, key targets such as the <i>Destroyer</i> and the <i>Fighter Aircraft</i> are guarded by elite soldiers holed up in advantageous positions. The SEAL needs to take out or avoid 60-70 hostiles per level in pursuance of mission objectives.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-ri8xk-FcMPwbne6WiKxzkUinB15kKC1aTGrQmtv6D8qsQ9WW9TuCtCs5Se-0NYYG0x2V8u0fpMIt7TTtmBGsEhVfRLPzVXPTBtVjBK7AVbi_hxHvaz2qWfmI8x5QOf8wq-wwgyZsFKgbPdJdfkXXtq8XkHl_rdRKuz-oSEkMR0tJ6oDUfrMOQuXPLN9/s2000/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20a.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-ri8xk-FcMPwbne6WiKxzkUinB15kKC1aTGrQmtv6D8qsQ9WW9TuCtCs5Se-0NYYG0x2V8u0fpMIt7TTtmBGsEhVfRLPzVXPTBtVjBK7AVbi_hxHvaz2qWfmI8x5QOf8wq-wwgyZsFKgbPdJdfkXXtq8XkHl_rdRKuz-oSEkMR0tJ6oDUfrMOQuXPLN9/w320-h120/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20a.webp" title="Origin of Counter-Strike Navy SEALs Quake 1 a" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>In the right-hand image of my header screencap, the SEAL started off in a mini SEAL sub (a submersible), swam underwater to the pier, and emerged from the water to pop two hostiles guarding the shoreline.</div><div><br /></div><div>As with Quake and Doom, Navy SEALs emphasizes raw FPS skills and tactics; it isn't a modern cover-shooter that empowers inferior players, it challenges players to get good.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, so much more could have been done to expand the Navy SEALs mod <i>for Quake</i>: the subsequent Counter-Strike featured hostage rescue missions, an equipment purchasing interface, and so on, but Navy SEALs still offers a lot of gameplay for a Quake mod.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjhNw34uU5eMbgxJ4-psuB_aI-hNLb1INGIKwgZxPLLV36iNdag_7Kwz1JpDdNXKrcbzHrotlpvfmjIMcUNyFbn6BkMqpHtRr7_RsCJ9wIuboiGcmILdP1q9JGWtSKZoCqAawmWfxz0f8tHzm8oODw3v3sJ-MzeEKX7dW-mfcFGZmlKb8DrlsOQBOq8vg/s2000/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20b.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjhNw34uU5eMbgxJ4-psuB_aI-hNLb1INGIKwgZxPLLV36iNdag_7Kwz1JpDdNXKrcbzHrotlpvfmjIMcUNyFbn6BkMqpHtRr7_RsCJ9wIuboiGcmILdP1q9JGWtSKZoCqAawmWfxz0f8tHzm8oODw3v3sJ-MzeEKX7dW-mfcFGZmlKb8DrlsOQBOq8vg/w320-h120/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20b.webp" title="Origin of Counter-Strike Navy SEALs Quake 1 b" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>FPS engineering and computer hardware engineering were exploding in the mid-to-late 90s. It was the time of the Pentium, of Windows and of hardware acceleration: big events on their own, let alone when taken together.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW9_4TJINdJsYOXpWVb1AfUCKS4lAtUHtHYUp2fmoiNVeT1cjqGQabaQOX6ykJFA19srqQJJXcDyDC19zJ6vSRFbd2tn2wUCHjFxZ_RQRLOwQZGpz37_8bMskIRMZTT4G60J-Nwf2xD0SW9t2UqW3Jor6BLIGghYE0llTGTHXzCAzM7dBhgwFae84f_VG/s2000/Navy%20SEALs%20versus%20Counter-Strike.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW9_4TJINdJsYOXpWVb1AfUCKS4lAtUHtHYUp2fmoiNVeT1cjqGQabaQOX6ykJFA19srqQJJXcDyDC19zJ6vSRFbd2tn2wUCHjFxZ_RQRLOwQZGpz37_8bMskIRMZTT4G60J-Nwf2xD0SW9t2UqW3Jor6BLIGghYE0llTGTHXzCAzM7dBhgwFae84f_VG/w320-h120/Navy%20SEALs%20versus%20Counter-Strike.webp" title="Navy SEALs versus Counter-Strike" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Quake came out in 1996 -- the perfect time to release such a game. Then Quake 2 in 1997 and Half-Life in 1998. And then Counter-Strike and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Deus-Ex-1-Best-Weapons.html">Deus Ex</a> would follow in 2000.</div><div><br /></div><div>Navy SEALs was part of that lightning-fast evolution: an innovative, technically proficient military mod that is still playable in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPvl60lILLmKUnTHTBdFbr0aXEBENPsCHiuW7dWBeEj_2AnNRTAtyTYLk93bnzMFehgUEiLBW_Q5HMJb7IoFB-jAGhD0q_MEjvGbKGiHPPqcdDQN6kF4-DS_4I5zpP_Slpy64EcpiG_bm7sW0p39EYHRVOZQgWLIvCVsctMZaV9f_7LuFZ9V8ik6SQt-s/s2000/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20c.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPvl60lILLmKUnTHTBdFbr0aXEBENPsCHiuW7dWBeEj_2AnNRTAtyTYLk93bnzMFehgUEiLBW_Q5HMJb7IoFB-jAGhD0q_MEjvGbKGiHPPqcdDQN6kF4-DS_4I5zpP_Slpy64EcpiG_bm7sW0p39EYHRVOZQgWLIvCVsctMZaV9f_7LuFZ9V8ik6SQt-s/w320-h120/Origin%20of%20Counter-Strike%20Navy%20SEALs%20Quake%201%20c.webp" title="Origin of Counter-Strike Navy SEALs Quake 1 c" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Credits: Gooseman; Smilodon is credited with Navy Start, Destroyer Assault and Aircraft Demolition maps; Zakalwe with the Breakout map and Oeland with GLQuake compatability implementation.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Navy SEALs sQuad bots</i> was coded by William for the Navy SEALs mod assets, but only for the <i>Slipgate Complex</i> map (E1M1). An in-game menu can be called up in order to configure player items as well as bot squad composition, aiming precision, respawns and direction of infiltration etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom 1 Review</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake 1 Review</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Half-Life-1-Review-Valve-1998.html">Half-Life 1 Review</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index).</div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-27913013202839830232023-12-24T08:18:00.000-08:002024-01-20T13:57:59.949-08:00Half-Life 1 Review: Valve 1998<span><a name='more'></a></span>Part of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games</a>.<div><br /><h1 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Review: Valve 1998</h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/s1800/half-life%201%20review.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="1800" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvVCkvvzjaEGjqIOsTDGkG3hzmEXU-2aTbQHsUO_0LK4OkPIz5hXTEw0EffXKf71lkz0GaA7nloJV1HA-aSiqQpFF2qzRdO35hheAXmGAt6OwVxWru8KqsD2n7o7jTyTco9RNYLduycFYEBBCHfaiZbBA6lIwpEGdS0aNZmgEzfUmhjz7NVuhZDjZukU2/w640-h172/half-life%201%20review.webp" title="Half-Life 1 Review: Valve 1998" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Developed by Valve in 1998, <i>Half-Life</i> is a first-person shooter (FPS) that employs a heavily modified <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a> engine. Half-Life's <i>GoldSrc</i> engine was coded from Quake's core, but Half-Life does not play, look or feel much like Quake at all: their designs fundamentally differ.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Cinematization via Scripted Sequences</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First and foremost is that Half-Life moved away from the pure FPS experience by adding an in-your-face storyline, NPCs and scripted sequences, none of which concern FPS gameplay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During scripted sequences players usually maintain control of their character (within the current confines), but players must actually wait for scripted sequences to conclude before the campaign can progress; that is, before they can continue playing normally.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though players maintain control of their character (within the current confines), scripted sequences amount to cutscenes or <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematization</a>: it doesn't matter that players maintain control of their character during scripted sequences because players still need to wait and watch passively while events unfold, regardless.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcr7jyyOdwvM9AFEtRFzjNN6jiDtOf62c6rI-xM2PS_PC_8T3EhKepFmWnQyaG85nYX3Rr2SNq1s-iwooHwl5RU_5KpLd4HXnJb3s7Ap9bTz-56-wQjoKjVBmhEEaO3KQDJnTZSooiIm19N_ZWhWZ05AVdBeh3SZPwS0y3KetmVzW-0lqk69gDUhchgMz/s2000/Black%20Mesa%20Research%20Facility%20half%20life%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcr7jyyOdwvM9AFEtRFzjNN6jiDtOf62c6rI-xM2PS_PC_8T3EhKepFmWnQyaG85nYX3Rr2SNq1s-iwooHwl5RU_5KpLd4HXnJb3s7Ap9bTz-56-wQjoKjVBmhEEaO3KQDJnTZSooiIm19N_ZWhWZ05AVdBeh3SZPwS0y3KetmVzW-0lqk69gDUhchgMz/w320-h120/Black%20Mesa%20Research%20Facility%20half%20life%201.webp" title="Black Mesa Research Facility half life 1" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Quake you never need to wait for scripted sequences because Quake is a pure FPS.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Scripted sequences put players into passive states rather than active gaming states. During the first three chapters of Half-Life's story players are mostly just derping around and waiting for NPCs to do something. Indeed, it takes quite some time before Half-Life introduces actual FPS gameplay (about 20 minutes for new players). But load up Quake and within <i>seconds</i> you are blasting away at raging monsters, fighting for dear life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Half-Life's introductory <i>tram ride</i> overlayed by cinema-style credits says it all: Half-Life's narrative is <i>on-rails</i> and presented via scripted sequences and voiced NPCs; this game wants to emulate the Silver Screen; it wants cinematic prestige; it wants to be seen as a professional product -- and it is.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moreover, scripted sequences can annoy players (faulty doors) or glitch out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhABPEAvgHknW1tMoK1iEdwLX8e_nQbBn3WUAx3EjupTlF2XHkj5bcOOORzkDkfIPLvhzgaWlvu1m3GBGcKjc3abCocTC2qbCz1B08TFV6apeBfQOyd-SUgdeYFrp4amdecx8btNikAWMNp2x0Mnkt8W2foHJhDFKgit9p1DXMfMBtKSfeNm4_CTaUdEB/s2000/catastrophic%20resonance%20cascade%20half-life%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhABPEAvgHknW1tMoK1iEdwLX8e_nQbBn3WUAx3EjupTlF2XHkj5bcOOORzkDkfIPLvhzgaWlvu1m3GBGcKjc3abCocTC2qbCz1B08TFV6apeBfQOyd-SUgdeYFrp4amdecx8btNikAWMNp2x0Mnkt8W2foHJhDFKgit9p1DXMfMBtKSfeNm4_CTaUdEB/w320-h120/catastrophic%20resonance%20cascade%20half-life%201.webp" title="catastrophic resonance cascade half-life 1" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scripted sequences have long been celebrated by mainstream <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Commentary.html">computer game journalism</a>; the buzzword "immersive" often being employed in relation to them. And yet Quake is more immersive than Half-Life without them. If someone were to argue that scripted sequences furnish narrative, I would respond that <i>player-generated</i> stories that evolve within frameworks of potentialities are superior, and that driving narratives are unimportant and even get in the way of gameplay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For game-flow, and providing they are skippable, it is actually less jarring to employ end-of-chapter intermission<i> cutscenes</i> than suddenly interrupt gameplay by forcing players to wait and watch. But of course, players should never be waiting and watching unless they are in full control to act at-will.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Note also that Half-Life suffers from perceivable <i>in-area loading</i>: Half-Life displays a loading message in the middle of the screen while it loads one of its "contiguously-linked, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/seamless-transition-crpgs.html">seamlessly-transitioning</a>" levels. [1]</div><div><br /></div><div>Is that immersive?</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 versus Quake 1</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This review is based on the original Half-Life v.46 / 1.1.1.0 hardware-accelerated via OpenGL in Windows. What follows does not delve into post-Doom 3D engine significance because that has already been covered in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake 1 Review</a>. Instead, what follows compares Half-Life with Quake.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrk0RZlk5fLEElYb3kCTvOy5rU0GGLTH7cdUcoDA3GqXXr60M10SunTiM2aDTGUHXxzJYcknDW5b0tUbn8eaDbAIkW0roA_ZmNAgypB7TcVaprPVjlQdYIXslx9SeaazxytRfX2V4VXxu6ZB2yNH9tSOm_vE8ZiDoo_w-KyI36uGd4GMtpZmlJHaC4xWuv/s1600/quake%201%20versus%20half-life%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrk0RZlk5fLEElYb3kCTvOy5rU0GGLTH7cdUcoDA3GqXXr60M10SunTiM2aDTGUHXxzJYcknDW5b0tUbn8eaDbAIkW0roA_ZmNAgypB7TcVaprPVjlQdYIXslx9SeaazxytRfX2V4VXxu6ZB2yNH9tSOm_vE8ZiDoo_w-KyI36uGd4GMtpZmlJHaC4xWuv/w320-h120/quake%201%20versus%20half-life%201.webp" title="Quake 1 versus Half-Life 1" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Half-Life was released more than two years subsequent to Quake and one year subsequent to Quake 2 (1997). Considering that two years in the 1990s was akin to a life-time in terms of software and hardware engineering advancements, does it show?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Not really.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Valve did not have to code an engine from the ground up while at the same time designing Half-Life. And Valve had the luxury of seeing where Quake was lacking in terms of designwork. Does that show?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>In both positive and negative ways, yes.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If Quake was answerable to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a>, Half-Life is answerable to Quake. As it pertains to FPS gameplay, is Half-Life on par with or superior to Quake?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Half-Life is not on par with Quake, let alone superior to Quake.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the above answers demand elaboration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Elaboration</h4><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In regards to FPS mechanics, Half-Life expands on what players can do in exploration and battle (see below), but Quake's limited repertoire is more polished and refined. Quake movement and gunplay simply feels better: control is silkier yet weightier and more impactful (battles that evoke earthquakes), but Half-Life actually plays more like <i>Doom</i> due to its floaty, feather-weight controls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The same goes for graphics: Half-Life has more knick-knacks (placeables) and scripted mechanisms jam-packed into its levels, but Quake's levels are visually superior, tonally consistent and ooze atmosphere. And Quake surface texture-maps rarely show unsightly lines where their tiles intersect, unlike Half-Life texture-maps.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSgpysm35Ly3ZXdQZ7bGzOeyhLm6J0Dt9zj2d2cOTdhkPJEYFM9eE5rSm4cL7svena1jbqGAAFZIM_-emcCY167RviQKDb3nO_H5RIx8BHVGn1EJFEOenZyK74bGrwCbkjbsg1azpIUwIzl2-9m7HAoUylTCQVwZsp-5VTuykogSicZZKTFhyrcKZPLnF/s4000/half%20life%201%20versus%20quake%201%20graphics.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="4000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSgpysm35Ly3ZXdQZ7bGzOeyhLm6J0Dt9zj2d2cOTdhkPJEYFM9eE5rSm4cL7svena1jbqGAAFZIM_-emcCY167RviQKDb3nO_H5RIx8BHVGn1EJFEOenZyK74bGrwCbkjbsg1azpIUwIzl2-9m7HAoUylTCQVwZsp-5VTuykogSicZZKTFhyrcKZPLnF/w320-h120/half%20life%201%20versus%20quake%201%20graphics.webp" title="half life 1 versus quake 1 graphics" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Half-Life addresses several of Quake's issues and omissions. Half-life features:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>(+) Manual reloading of weapons (R-key)</li><li>(+) Hand grenade-throwing</li><li>(+) Weapon Primary & Secondary firing modes</li><li>(+) Fired projectiles leave blastmarks on surfaces via r_decals</li><li>(+) Ability to crouch / duck + ventilation ducts</li><li>(+) Pushable and pullable placeables</li><li>(+) Progressive <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Destructibility-in-games-Destructible-environments.html">destructibility</a> is a norm</li><li>(+) Ladder-climbing</li><li>(+) Surface-dependent footstep sounds</li><li>(+) Models have increased polygon-count and skeletal animation</li><li>(+) Xen Aliens have more interesting AI behaviors. Examples: ceiling-mounted aliens can lift victims upward (Barnacle) and Headcrabs can attach themselves to victims</li><li>(+) DSP sound technology</li><li><span style="text-align: left;">(-) Scripted sequences (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Computer-Game-Cinematization.html">cinematization</a>)</span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;">(-)</span> A storyline (linear narrative)</li><li><span style="text-align: left;">(-)</span> Talking NPCs</li><li>(-) Poor texture-mapping until 3rd-party <i>Blue Shift</i> High Definition Pack (2001) [2]</li><li><span style="text-align: left;">⊝ </span>NPCs have (limited) facial expressions and lip-synch</li><li><span style="text-align: left;">⊝ </span>More use of physics, gravity and special effects (VFX)</li><li><span style="text-align: left;">⊝ Long Jump (Long Jump Module)</span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;">⊝ Flashlight (F-key)</span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Half-Life's DSP sound technology addresses the issue of Quake sound effects not being muted or reduced in volume by the existence of walls, which meant that monsters in adjacent, sealed-off chambers that would otherwise be in the player's presence if not for the walls, could be heard as loudly and as clearly as if they were actually in the player's presence, which could occasionally cause unnecessary alarm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quake 2 had already advanced Quake's vertex animation one year prior to Half-Life and its skeletal animation. But what difference is there in FPS <i>gameplay</i> between vertex- or skeletal-animated models? None. Half-Life employed skeletal animations to facilitate its <i>scripted sequences</i>, not to enhance its gameplay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quake 2 added radiosity lightmaps. Half-Life has color lightmaps but the original Quake didn't need them due to its spartan "monochrome" color scheme ("grayscale" lightmaps were enough).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRX0zmE_CQQlK0GzewEOVLkgcp77uG61AY2hv3Bfei2AKvdKoKWuzXhupzAtZ4cuvZEawZnO7rt6m4auDgxfGRfj2fB_j6dBMuN9Gvc9NmH8CWYISEjaLQ_pVlAkrO_zZw0fBz5S8TOwLBOYqXWOu1ja5-Kr4zcSf9kdCnG4OUP2MzObYit3aXTPd3ya1q/s2000/half%20life%201%20skeletal%20animation.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRX0zmE_CQQlK0GzewEOVLkgcp77uG61AY2hv3Bfei2AKvdKoKWuzXhupzAtZ4cuvZEawZnO7rt6m4auDgxfGRfj2fB_j6dBMuN9Gvc9NmH8CWYISEjaLQ_pVlAkrO_zZw0fBz5S8TOwLBOYqXWOu1ja5-Kr4zcSf9kdCnG4OUP2MzObYit3aXTPd3ya1q/w320-h120/half%20life%201%20skeletal%20animation.webp" title="skeletal animation half-life 1" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quake hides its limitations via tricks and design choices whereas Half-Life's limitations are laid bare by its stark aesthetics, placeable-spam and outdoor design ambition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note that some of Quake's issues and omissions could have been addressed by an extended dev-cycle, since they would otherwise be too puzzling to ponder. But apart from monster behaviors the above bullet-list is trivial.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quake's weakness was its bare-bones designwork (reason: small team + coding an engine from the ground up at the same time) whereas Half-Life's weakness is its <i>over</i>-design via storyline and scripted sequences. Half-Life presumably employed such <i>adventure-game</i> features in order to separate itself from Doom and Quake.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUmLmbdwrS0a8KYG9QO8XOobhpEvgk3Zne5PRojt2NtGGF6YE9UOrZsKtnatYwmhYn4ZGg4IwA3GqVdx32ojZIuVfXUxAODGMAqqbi0WUK1IfjKyuWH0YVKXUJPz4sM5hxDhQeg2kaprY9ndqhCWJ8t7m1DAYBZU2wdIBBS0p-2Lob4yGNk-0MnyDJldT/s2000/doom%20and%20quake%20speedrunning.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUmLmbdwrS0a8KYG9QO8XOobhpEvgk3Zne5PRojt2NtGGF6YE9UOrZsKtnatYwmhYn4ZGg4IwA3GqVdx32ojZIuVfXUxAODGMAqqbi0WUK1IfjKyuWH0YVKXUJPz4sM5hxDhQeg2kaprY9ndqhCWJ8t7m1DAYBZU2wdIBBS0p-2Lob4yGNk-0MnyDJldT/w320-h120/doom%20and%20quake%20speedrunning.webp" title="Doom & Quake timing and scoring" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Due to its emphasis on narrative drive and structure, Half-Life does not employ Doom / Quake end-of-episode <i>Scoring Screens</i> that give players a rundown on killcounts, items looted, secrets discovered and completion times. The removal of this arcade-game legacy affects Half-Life's replayability and arcade-action pedigree.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Couple that removal with enforced wait-states and I saw no reason to replay Half-Life back in the day. And in my 2023 replay Half-Life bored me to tears whereas Quake held up across the board.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Half Life 1 HEV Suit</h3><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRa8Nw2v62awzK4K4p433cumCyDW3fETMai2q54dCCoExMTWsy05pE1CGbKzM9aO3HkCVVnsQyoaBnPX8qucgydQeqMFYd4781RJLSFyxnMNiC0Bw6ELhDKJUJKvc_sILjLVsc4WW2Oudfpdkh9hZFbCb3V-VsuMt4qejdMgNF5HQz9wSHCNlortEn9yRB/s2000/Hazardous%20Environment%20Suit%20HEV%20Suit%20Mark%20IV%20model%20half%20life%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRa8Nw2v62awzK4K4p433cumCyDW3fETMai2q54dCCoExMTWsy05pE1CGbKzM9aO3HkCVVnsQyoaBnPX8qucgydQeqMFYd4781RJLSFyxnMNiC0Bw6ELhDKJUJKvc_sILjLVsc4WW2Oudfpdkh9hZFbCb3V-VsuMt4qejdMgNF5HQz9wSHCNlortEn9yRB/w320-h120/Hazardous%20Environment%20Suit%20HEV%20Suit%20Mark%20IV%20model%20half%20life%201.webp" title="Hazardous Environment Suit HEV Suit Mark IV model half life 1" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once acquired, the Hazardous Environment Suit (HEV suit) indicates the following environmental hazards through its danger monitors:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Poisonous biohazard</li><li>Burning</li><li>Radiation (Geiger counter)</li><li>Freezing</li><li>Acid or corrosive chemicals</li><li>Electric shock</li><li>Drowning</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The HEV suit is functionally a heads-up display (HUD) that shows player health, weapon, ammo, hazards etc. HUD components are not displayed as a solid panel but rather as a transparent overlay. [3]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqx0EIfU7KMUWLLcBSsFHJjOzxw1Hj5FfJhnsln02H303EAPDy1WsjjxHive_J6clNqYsZGo5NIz3JUJeT2LxLz8FQr90mUi-mMSsLCeOB0C5oigKADYMQcWLiJZQNB-e-P194VLL4q2SUPC7xq17QnevUJ_E0KVBOgamelrI6mWkBx8__H4_cZUtdU56k/s2000/half-life%201%20weapons%20HUD.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="2000" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqx0EIfU7KMUWLLcBSsFHJjOzxw1Hj5FfJhnsln02H303EAPDy1WsjjxHive_J6clNqYsZGo5NIz3JUJeT2LxLz8FQr90mUi-mMSsLCeOB0C5oigKADYMQcWLiJZQNB-e-P194VLL4q2SUPC7xq17QnevUJ_E0KVBOgamelrI6mWkBx8__H4_cZUtdU56k/w320-h72/half-life%201%20weapons%20HUD.webp" title="Half-Life 1 Weapons" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">cf. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPi1si5WL3uJ0PmI5cegcDEWqlycWi5Vd8KYifNOPw6X2JIOH6Tt8VGL-h3TyGv5enKzzyPdTHNK-NriTzhzlbaRLEpUyp5Pr3Am-7clkkg2xq3YWErfUrWZhFddoppVcaHJ1WhzbjQfNYCDZJjcicf1NcBOYKZwlmBX0r1yNCjFr7VwSq4-fbtVA6mHr/s1600/quake%201%20status%20panel%20heads%20up%20display.webp">Doom and Quake HUDs</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Specs</h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Comparison of recommended hardware specs:</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom</a></b> (1993) runs well on i486DX-33 CPUs (<b>11 MIPS</b>) and 4 MB RAM (Software-rendered, MS-DOS-only)</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake</a></b> (1996) runs well on Pentium 100 MHz CPUs (<b>190 MIPS</b>) and 16 MB RAM (Software-rendered in MS-DOS or hardware-accelerated via OpenGL through GLQuake in Windows)</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Half-Life</b> (1998) runs well on Pentium 166 MHz CPUs (<b>230 MIPS</b>) and 32 MB RAM (Software-rendered or hardware-accelerated via OpenGL or Direct3D in Windows only)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>The doubling in RAM recommendations is just because Half-Life is Windows-only. Note also that Half-Life runs in SVGA high-color (16 bit color depth: 65,535 colors) whereas Quake runs in VGA 8 bit color depth (256 colors). However, look at my comparison screencaps: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSgpysm35Ly3ZXdQZ7bGzOeyhLm6J0Dt9zj2d2cOTdhkPJEYFM9eE5rSm4cL7svena1jbqGAAFZIM_-emcCY167RviQKDb3nO_H5RIx8BHVGn1EJFEOenZyK74bGrwCbkjbsg1azpIUwIzl2-9m7HAoUylTCQVwZsp-5VTuykogSicZZKTFhyrcKZPLnF/s4000/half%20life%201%20versus%20quake%201%20graphics.webp">Quake looks better</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>For more commentary on color depth in computer games, please refer to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">History of Computer Role-playing Games</a>.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Conclusion</h3><div><br /></div><div>All in all, my conclusion is that Quake represents a loftier achievement than Half-Life.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quake broke more ground, took bigger strides and is more replayable than Half-Life even though it lacks extra features. But Half-Life should also be recognized as a great achievement as well even if one disagrees with its design direction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 PAK</h4><div><br /></div><div>As in Quake, most of Half-Life's assets are stored in uncompressed *.pak files, which are similar to Doom *.wads. The pak files contain compiled 3D maps (Binary Space Partitioning files), models, textures and sounds.</div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Console</h4><div><br /></div><div>The Half-Life console is called up with the tilde key (~). As with the DOS prompt, up-arrow recalls the previous command.</div><div><br /></div><div>The console is activated via shortcut target "C:\Half-Life\hl.exe" -console. You can skip the intro by adding -nointro.</div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 autoexec.cfg</h4><div><br /></div><div>An autoexec.cfg file can be created in the Valve folder. Comment-out text with //.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Savegames</h4><div><br /></div><div>Savegames are stored in *.sav files in the Valve folder. For example, C:\Half-Life\Valve\Save. These include Quicksaves, Autosaves and manual savegames.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>[1]</div><div><br /></div><div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Story</h4><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge28ZmukPEj1QvJDPQafeAm26YohdBthCNuhGktS9A2PAre9jJoE-GY1OGdOwks-g1CyhpdfHHdeKQfh-WyEJ6FwzrYdfRzVZXPOTe-OKrc8Z0h5eFqBKU76hguwPNr6eI_6wQVlD4ShmMeJTsVHj9Mazgws3mJ_8TlfnwsU021qlyjwuRtdgN8sUn17ha/s2000/half-life%201%20endgame.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="2000" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge28ZmukPEj1QvJDPQafeAm26YohdBthCNuhGktS9A2PAre9jJoE-GY1OGdOwks-g1CyhpdfHHdeKQfh-WyEJ6FwzrYdfRzVZXPOTe-OKrc8Z0h5eFqBKU76hguwPNr6eI_6wQVlD4ShmMeJTsVHj9Mazgws3mJ_8TlfnwsU021qlyjwuRtdgN8sUn17ha/w320-h120/half-life%201%20endgame.webp" title="Half-life 1 endgame story" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The Half-Life story consists of 17 chapters broken up into 96 maps or sectors. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist working at Black Mesa Research Facility located in the desert of New Mexico. When an experiment goes wrong (a Xen crystal sample triggered a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhABPEAvgHknW1tMoK1iEdwLX8e_nQbBn3WUAx3EjupTlF2XHkj5bcOOORzkDkfIPLvhzgaWlvu1m3GBGcKjc3abCocTC2qbCz1B08TFV6apeBfQOyd-SUgdeYFrp4amdecx8btNikAWMNp2x0Mnkt8W2foHJhDFKgit9p1DXMfMBtKSfeNm4_CTaUdEB/s2000/catastrophic%20resonance%20cascade%20half-life%201.webp">resonance cascade</a> in the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, causing an inter-dimensional rift), Gordon is forced to take up arms and defend humanity against hostile alien lifeforms that are invading from the dimension of Xen.</div><div><br /></div><div>The storyline is presented via scripted sequences that play out in real-time (usually by voiced NPCs or scripted events). Everything in the story is pre-determined via linear <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-has-the-best-writing-What-RPG-has-the-best-story-all-time-best-top-10.html">narrative design</a> and scripts; thus, campaign progression and outcome are unalterable, unlike <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Deus-Ex-1-Best-Weapons.html">Deus Ex</a> (2000).</div><div><br /></div><div>Format is chapter / initial acquisition of item.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Hazard Course (optional tutorial)</li><li>Black Mesa Unbound (tram ride)</li><li>Anomalous Materials: HEV Suit acquisition</li><li>Unforeseen Consequences: Crowbar acquisition, Pistol acquisition, Grenade acquisition</li><li>Office Complex: Shotgun acquisition</li><li>We've Got Hostiles: Submachine gun acquisition</li><li>Blast Pit: Magnum acquisition, Laser Trip Mine acquisition</li><li>Power Up</li><li>On A Rail: Rocket Launcher acquisition, Satchel Charges acquisition</li><li>Apprehension: Crossbow acquisition</li><li>Residue Processing</li><li>Questionable Ethics: Snark acquisition, Tau Cannon acquisition</li><li>Surface Tension: Hivehand acquisition</li><li>Forget About Freeman</li><li>Lambda Core: Gluon Gun acquisition, Long Jump Module Acquisition</li><li>Xen</li><li>Gonarch's Lair</li><li>Interloper</li><li>Nihilanth (final boss)</li><li>Endgame (G-Man)</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half Life 1 Weapons</h4><div><br /></div><div>Some <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqx0EIfU7KMUWLLcBSsFHJjOzxw1Hj5FfJhnsln02H303EAPDy1WsjjxHive_J6clNqYsZGo5NIz3JUJeT2LxLz8FQr90mUi-mMSsLCeOB0C5oigKADYMQcWLiJZQNB-e-P194VLL4q2SUPC7xq17QnevUJ_E0KVBOgamelrI6mWkBx8__H4_cZUtdU56k/s2000/half-life%201%20weapons%20HUD.webp">Half-Life weapons</a> are conventional, some are experimental <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Energy-Weapon-PC-Games.html">energy weapons</a> and some are organic Xen weapons.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li>Crowbar: Unforeseen Consequences</li><li>Pistol (9mm semi-automatic Glock): Unforeseen Consequences</li><li>Shotgun (semi-automatic): Office Complex</li><li>Submachine gun (SMG, MP5): We've Got Hostiles</li><li>Magnum (.357 revolver): Blast Pit</li><li>Crossbow (it is not a Stealth Crossbow or Tranquilizer Gun): Apprehension</li><li>Gluon Gun (energy weapon): Lambda Core</li><li>Hand Grenade (fragmentation): Unforeseen Consequences</li><li>Hivehand (Hornet Gun): Surface Tension</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/Rocket-Launcher-PC-Games.html">Rocket-propelled Grenade Launcher</a> (RPG): On A Rail</li><li>Satchel Charges (remotely-detonated explosives): On A Rail</li><li>Snark (living Xen alien: bio-weapon): Questionable Ethics</li><li>Tau Cannon (Gauss Gun energy weapon): Questionable Ethics</li><li>Laser Trip Mine (laser claymore): Blast Pit</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Items</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Battery</li><li>Weapon Box</li><li>Suit Charger</li><li>Health Charger</li><li>Health Kit</li><li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRa8Nw2v62awzK4K4p433cumCyDW3fETMai2q54dCCoExMTWsy05pE1CGbKzM9aO3HkCVVnsQyoaBnPX8qucgydQeqMFYd4781RJLSFyxnMNiC0Bw6ELhDKJUJKvc_sILjLVsc4WW2Oudfpdkh9hZFbCb3V-VsuMt4qejdMgNF5HQz9wSHCNlortEn9yRB/s2000/Hazardous%20Environment%20Suit%20HEV%20Suit%20Mark%20IV%20model%20half%20life%201.webp">HEV Suit</a>: Anomalous Materals [3]</li><li>Long Jump Module: Lambda Core</li><li>SCUBA Oxygen Tank (not implemented)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Enemies</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Barnacle: Ceiling-mounted parasite with tongue-based grapple</li><li>Bullsquid: Acid-spitter</li><li>Gargantua: Heavily-armored Xen military grunt</li><li>Gonarch: Spider-like boss</li><li>Houndeye: Dog-like</li><li>Vortigaunt: Fires energy rays</li><li>Ichthyosaur: Aquatic dinorsaur-like</li><li>Leech (Hagworm): Aquatic parasite</li><li>Tentacle: Apply fire</li><li>Headcrab: Similiar to <i>Alien</i> face-hugger</li><li>Nihilanth: Final Boss of Half-Life</li><li>Alien Grunt (Xen Grunt)</li><li>Alien Slave</li><li>Alien Controller (Xen Master)</li><li>Alien Craft</li><li>Boid (Xen Flyer)</li><li>Assassin Black Ops</li><li>Human Grunt (Marines): Shotgunners and submachine gunners</li><li>Zombie (Mawman)</li><li>Automatic Turret</li><li>Sentry Gun</li><li>Tank</li><li>Bradley Fighting Vehicle</li><li>Apache (attack helicopter)</li><li>Osprey (Bell Boeing V-22)</li><li>Fighter Aircraft (Jet)</li><li>Archer, Charger, Chumtoad, Flocking Floater, Panther Eye, Kingpin, Mr. Friendly (not implemented)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Half-Life 1 Expansions</h4><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_DKE0W9h4X5s_1bRqGEgm_dAUphR0_f_SJvS_37t8dfWrxyfJHXj0yi6VeR4o3vco8FpsjCZlNadSQA6agOZ04JOs8JX34gobfddOgBlE6eotLeQHsn5FE0Cjv7j-hw5nshBkPsDBRTEke4AkZroPPTM1KTtqLNT7Y88PPw1zJ0-OvZtVsxKIFX6B7ce/s1800/half-life%201%20expansions.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1800" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_DKE0W9h4X5s_1bRqGEgm_dAUphR0_f_SJvS_37t8dfWrxyfJHXj0yi6VeR4o3vco8FpsjCZlNadSQA6agOZ04JOs8JX34gobfddOgBlE6eotLeQHsn5FE0Cjv7j-hw5nshBkPsDBRTEke4AkZroPPTM1KTtqLNT7Y88PPw1zJ0-OvZtVsxKIFX6B7ce/w320-h80/half-life%201%20expansions.webp" title="Half-Life 1 Expansions & High Definition Pack" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Impacting expansions and the base campaign of Half-Life, Blue Shift (2001) includes a High Definition Pack that increases texture resolutions as well as the polygon-counts of models.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><i>Half-Life: Opposing Force</i> (1999, Gearbox Software)</li><li><i>Half-Life: Blue Shift</i> (2001, Gearbox Software) [2]</li><li><i>Team Fortress Classic</i> (1999, Valve, based on <i>TeamFortress</i> Quake mod)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Origin-of-Counter-Strike-Navy-SEALs-Quake-1.html">Counter-Strike</a> (2000, Valve, based on the Half-Life mod of the same name, origin in <i>Navy SEALs</i> Quake mod)</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Note that Blue Shift is standalone (C:\Blue-Shift\bshift.exe) whereas Opposing Force is run via shortcut target C:\Half-Life\hl.exe -game gearbox. Be sure to add -console -nointro:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>C:\Half-Life\hl.exe -console -nointro -game gearbox</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUT3TB9C4ssw03X03Tcz8vWImtu_d5gNhZS4vrBqPmMlHis8dl-fPuCFoEgpK_BhMK_sWK7Q0OO-2gMQEnzrpAeCI6vtUxDy4zJivPIbdRMhZxBPKO3s02DBSDZFy0jw-qKRx_IrB9iF4Lb3AyPRy6sP0NS6yksOkyn3l90mv-_9wSoiP2L4iQ1HlY_y4b/s1600/opposing%20force%20and%20blue%20shift.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUT3TB9C4ssw03X03Tcz8vWImtu_d5gNhZS4vrBqPmMlHis8dl-fPuCFoEgpK_BhMK_sWK7Q0OO-2gMQEnzrpAeCI6vtUxDy4zJivPIbdRMhZxBPKO3s02DBSDZFy0jw-qKRx_IrB9iF4Lb3AyPRy6sP0NS6yksOkyn3l90mv-_9wSoiP2L4iQ1HlY_y4b/w320-h120/opposing%20force%20and%20blue%20shift.webp" title="opposing force and blue shift" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">cf. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Quake-1-Review-id-Software-1996.html">Quake 1 Review</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Doom-1-Review.html">Doom 1 Review</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2023/12/Origin-of-Counter-Strike-Navy-SEALs-Quake-1.html">The Origin of Counter-Strike</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Back to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index).</div></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-29213375159676722242023-03-19T20:58:00.000-07:002024-03-26T07:25:18.389-07:00Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span>Computer Game Infographics</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl53fCaxg-BanzsxcbpdiFIREb-mjrM7_1da8W-J2BZTWvSslwLkWGc6fDypTtL1XdXkTKULpgAh06g1rEpNQwfov9RoDOoOmC7ZKjxIi0BREhp-L4gug88EOMEjSKRWPu9oUIb83KrsZeMhRs46SB_7J5a1lDQszE7UyM4dU5-lYXffRu9oRYQgkgz-z/s2000/Computer%20Game%20Infographics%20of%20the%20cRPG%20Blog%20by%20Lilura1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="2000" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhl53fCaxg-BanzsxcbpdiFIREb-mjrM7_1da8W-J2BZTWvSslwLkWGc6fDypTtL1XdXkTKULpgAh06g1rEpNQwfov9RoDOoOmC7ZKjxIi0BREhp-L4gug88EOMEjSKRWPu9oUIb83KrsZeMhRs46SB_7J5a1lDQszE7UyM4dU5-lYXffRu9oRYQgkgz-z/w640-h162/Computer%20Game%20Infographics%20of%20the%20cRPG%20Blog%20by%20Lilura1.webp" title="Computer Game Infographics of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1: Liluran Infographics" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">An article on infographics in computer game commentary.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Computer Game Infographic Definition & Description</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Computer-game infographics are screencaps, spliced-together screencaps or croppings that may or may not contain overlaid annotations and descriptions. Computer-game infographics may also feature insets and employ other graphic-design techniques. As a rule, the screencaps are pixel-perfectly spliced together to form a much larger image that can inform readers at a glance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I employ the term <i>infographic</i> in its most basic and literal sense: <i>a graphics-image that contains extra information or illustrates a point</i>. My infographics do not feature charts or graphs, only text. And I utilize graphics from screencaps only, no imagery external to the computer game is employed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">Lilura1</a> was the first computer-game commentator to emphasize high-quality image-manipulated infographics over low-effort screencaps, in great quantity (several thousand infographics).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I generally do not set out to assemble infographics since it is exceedingly time-consuming to do so. For example, it can take three hours to assemble one infographic even when I know exactly how to go about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">As a rule, I assemble infographics when it strikes my fancy. Most of my infographics were assembled on a whim; I don't prioritize infographic-assembly over written commentary. Above all, the cRPG Blog concentrates on its <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">computer-game language</a>: the infographics are embedded for support or initial impact, not to diminish the written word.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That said, I would like to think that, sometimes, a reader will stumble upon one of my infographics, quit out of their browser, and start playing the depicted computer game. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Evolution of Liluran Infographics</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Just like with their writing one is never happy with their infographics. They could always be better. Every infographic is a disappointment in some way, just like every passage of text. But text is editable on-the-fly, not so the uploaded infographic.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzefl8mZ_X1aIE30giCbWFXKFBpAggMlios7OcgZTiAqVuL_zDrjzyDaCTHnx413_JWhix5zPUyUISD2aLM2gI-5FB_z7PDjkvNgvpQuqOzGRR_gXKVQ8y0aQhGD84ucWHWANVNDOKzRKEnz0qBUV58cr2dI7cjwrVtKIz7UZuaO8IHiDwW94Y2p4dKA/s1920/swordflight%20buried%20ruins.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="800" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzefl8mZ_X1aIE30giCbWFXKFBpAggMlios7OcgZTiAqVuL_zDrjzyDaCTHnx413_JWhix5zPUyUISD2aLM2gI-5FB_z7PDjkvNgvpQuqOzGRR_gXKVQ8y0aQhGD84ucWHWANVNDOKzRKEnz0qBUV58cr2dI7cjwrVtKIz7UZuaO8IHiDwW94Y2p4dKA/w200-h110/swordflight%20buried%20ruins.jpg" title="Evolution of Liluran Infographics" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/11/Swordflight-Chapter-Four-has-been-released.html">Swordflight</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">At first, when I started publishing articles about computer games in 2014, I did not know that I would attain non-trivial readership levels. Thus, in the first few months I was just taking screencaps. But I did put some effort into them: taking the screencap at the right moment and at a good angle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">But when I started writing my <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Preamble.html">Baldur's Gate review</a> one decade ago, I thought to splice screencaps together, in columns and rows. In this way, readers get to see more per image-view.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EkxtCLgrfOpEjJ5bpW_uUUu5UVA-TTsUw0CS2j4lOSsNXFU3BxYwgFoKZExAJED_xxJ2QQAMa4CIS70f2YxuoQY905DWcLvi5tthlBT-YyIvC9K7eNwImuM5gohjP7gXIVnpqRoYUaut/s1600/all+1600px.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EkxtCLgrfOpEjJ5bpW_uUUu5UVA-TTsUw0CS2j4lOSsNXFU3BxYwgFoKZExAJED_xxJ2QQAMa4CIS70f2YxuoQY905DWcLvi5tthlBT-YyIvC9K7eNwImuM5gohjP7gXIVnpqRoYUaut/w200-h75/all+1600px.jpg" title="Computer-game Infographic: Infinity Engine Games" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A simple, decade-old infographic of mine (crop, scale, annotate, compress, upload):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLWn_37NzEXNSDAZfB006Q4AAplOzRohk5ouNDczyhlK0E5INjJPJvGd5lIqQi5mgWYs2hIvXHSNpKnArwVja0RazbbIFk76AQR7CLth54qhaU_MWcJ-qc5L_SMVCcF1P-LdJzBbLLndV/s1600/marquee+selection.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="748" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLWn_37NzEXNSDAZfB006Q4AAplOzRohk5ouNDczyhlK0E5INjJPJvGd5lIqQi5mgWYs2hIvXHSNpKnArwVja0RazbbIFk76AQR7CLth54qhaU_MWcJ-qc5L_SMVCcF1P-LdJzBbLLndV/w200-h109/marquee+selection.jpg" title="Marquee Selection" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A simple comparison infographic from 10 years ago (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-1-vs-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-vs-BG2.html">BG1 vs BG2 paperdoll</a>):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5SJOczgb3DKwC4JB2Bu9jfNyNIlYEqevjfNMUz4pBh_4ilsAtOPkx9YC9b04lD425lF5gwXQohvZavl3zEm15d_5oNrN7qBsglSZXvrMzDsGqD9hWmztrIAzUrByrK_VMeGRlf3y_HrF/s1600/paperdolls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="800" height="74" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5SJOczgb3DKwC4JB2Bu9jfNyNIlYEqevjfNMUz4pBh_4ilsAtOPkx9YC9b04lD425lF5gwXQohvZavl3zEm15d_5oNrN7qBsglSZXvrMzDsGqD9hWmztrIAzUrByrK_VMeGRlf3y_HrF/w200-h74/paperdolls.jpg" title="BG1 vs BG2 paperdoll" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">An early example of pixel-perfect image manipulation:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYmx8XBX-08gFo1xAwR7IQ1GbuZPtptZknnMWpv-0Bgj3lNTljRUoHrSyXXFXutLO_J2_COBc1Mqd8dxj5_0ZtmW9yQBJV9qHP0fCV6f7ReAJWmnfbZUhAfwZ69bN5O4O8PLKYHX_6zhSgpzYihRWCsfOfZLPcxm5Qmv3U36PbnAR9kx-gv_2aGHB_Q/s2000/crpg%20stats%20example.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="800" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYmx8XBX-08gFo1xAwR7IQ1GbuZPtptZknnMWpv-0Bgj3lNTljRUoHrSyXXFXutLO_J2_COBc1Mqd8dxj5_0ZtmW9yQBJV9qHP0fCV6f7ReAJWmnfbZUhAfwZ69bN5O4O8PLKYHX_6zhSgpzYihRWCsfOfZLPcxm5Qmv3U36PbnAR9kx-gv_2aGHB_Q/w200-h68/crpg%20stats%20example.jpg" title="pixel-perfect image manipulation" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">A simple trick:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nMOY8ocsCg_n55FpwgLQc1ftfcDioYIuVhxo_fU4eoboh3ROM1KOK1NDQOi9EuUlUohMnsq3BHcnwK2iy2gz-o8J9mfgX2PylwlRbJUj9HEOmoHYggLXP58l0yfMX3paV5WPke0k5vkjtlPai1KBEaxNW5JfIY3BhWukRv1B4-_vVk4VXCEdIMDUog/s900/fighter%20BG1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nMOY8ocsCg_n55FpwgLQc1ftfcDioYIuVhxo_fU4eoboh3ROM1KOK1NDQOi9EuUlUohMnsq3BHcnwK2iy2gz-o8J9mfgX2PylwlRbJUj9HEOmoHYggLXP58l0yfMX3paV5WPke0k5vkjtlPai1KBEaxNW5JfIY3BhWukRv1B4-_vVk4VXCEdIMDUog/w200-h51/fighter%20BG1.jpg" title="Image-manipulation" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">With more frequency I began cropping, insetting, annotating and so on. Thus were my infographics born.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcWF4qWdA3ImMuvemNTQ6gBKtTzy0J6fvWIj_O6wdjnkDMcADoNo3UWag-rfEStkqUt9b5rM98ItRCz_z0_I_mb-516x0I5pheh6T-CHV2pB-lzwSVfgjcqQDK927G9SRhOErSAXOc5QsVT4Kc-rsbznQF9ZPNxHdOxhqBsUEDhSr-U6elanIIMy-VtA=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcWF4qWdA3ImMuvemNTQ6gBKtTzy0J6fvWIj_O6wdjnkDMcADoNo3UWag-rfEStkqUt9b5rM98ItRCz_z0_I_mb-516x0I5pheh6T-CHV2pB-lzwSVfgjcqQDK927G9SRhOErSAXOc5QsVT4Kc-rsbznQF9ZPNxHdOxhqBsUEDhSr-U6elanIIMy-VtA=w200-h100" title="First-phase contiguity: An early Computer-game Infographic by Lilura1" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">My insetting at that point was novel. I had not seen insetting of that level in computer-game commentary before. And not in such quantity either: hundreds of insets in scores of images within one article. And I still have not seen comparable levels of insetting 10 years subsequent. I wasn't trying to stand out, though: I was just trying to make the screencaps more interesting and/or informative to readers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Decade-old, rough-around-the-edges insetting by Lilura1:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNCiNHoKh-WUPxKrQcLp_DubM_G9MSK9S6Qj67CK4Y31uf7Ss8kJnSp6uinbaTt9aYMQIw3VJ4IA4SXJl3C5V4T35hwctvENWVt9x_d6M3tiBwJ1Ody_i6CtXivA168Xv9Z2kVXOhiqvy/s1600/davaeorn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNCiNHoKh-WUPxKrQcLp_DubM_G9MSK9S6Qj67CK4Y31uf7Ss8kJnSp6uinbaTt9aYMQIw3VJ4IA4SXJl3C5V4T35hwctvENWVt9x_d6M3tiBwJ1Ody_i6CtXivA168Xv9Z2kVXOhiqvy/w200-h75/davaeorn.jpg" title="Decade-old infographic insetting by Lilura1" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">As time wore on I started developing more advanced image-manipulation techniques as well as some efficiency-enhancing automation techniques, but there is no reason to enumerate them here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">At this point I am probably as fast and efficient at basic infographic-assembly as a dedicated graphician. However, I have chosen not to further develop such skills because the process remains time-consuming and the development of my writing takes precedence.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Examples of Computer Game Infographics</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhclyzDpflSMrFwyY72d24k8nWohDwz6PxPUFz_WnD_icziZsw1VbI5BpUG_q6GTfVTduNWmrl6TwxHfKiNFPWYfyV7DL2LOQaJqgmLSEmJ7Z3D1nK4C8OV4XGxbgWBlAPXnTNKn0IuuHuaGIVC4tfeHGcTN-QKv-5Qv4QN9hkH35hRjsV8qwhVhDUu5g=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhclyzDpflSMrFwyY72d24k8nWohDwz6PxPUFz_WnD_icziZsw1VbI5BpUG_q6GTfVTduNWmrl6TwxHfKiNFPWYfyV7DL2LOQaJqgmLSEmJ7Z3D1nK4C8OV4XGxbgWBlAPXnTNKn0IuuHuaGIVC4tfeHGcTN-QKv-5Qv4QN9hkH35hRjsV8qwhVhDUu5g=w200-h103" title="Firkraag BG2: Examples of Computer Game Infographics" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Firkraag.html">Firkraag BG2</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The following is an alphabetically-listed sample of infographics assembled by Lilura1 of the cRPG Blog. This is a small selection: the cRPG Blog contains 10,000 original images several thousand of which are infographics. There is not a single image on the cRPG Blog that is not of Lilura1-origin.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Several of these infographics are famous. All are exclusive to lilura1.blogspot.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can browse through the infographics via mouse-wheeling up and down. To see the infographics in their full resolution (1k-5k px), right-click and open in a new tab.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Aielund-Saga-Enhanced-Edition-Walkthrough-Guide-Review-Part-I-Builds-Companions-Items-Weapons-Install-Act-One-Two-Three-Four.html">Aielund Saga Guide</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54DxQwofJv_cJYhsOHbgwIzXfGSIR7wRkYLtHw41piYDDP-Xu7u9Jv0f-WKOavXAYtEGpJxTJAYl5I3Ng1_jHxhbYlEsm_wWtTgyhr95hKF6LQwdFmhMxMtB7sSDPWSfm0MVzEuxDtvHc/s1436/fairloch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="800" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54DxQwofJv_cJYhsOHbgwIzXfGSIR7wRkYLtHw41piYDDP-Xu7u9Jv0f-WKOavXAYtEGpJxTJAYl5I3Ng1_jHxhbYlEsm_wWtTgyhr95hKF6LQwdFmhMxMtB7sSDPWSfm0MVzEuxDtvHc/w200-h105/fairloch.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Aielund Saga" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/arcanum-of-steamworks-and-magick-obscura.html">Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ-KWI8yZC4Hi7TDRJn0CJ3_SgOYBwYzqrwKDzMhmR5QTr-fmGWQL9eMtzGMMBWkpPPwOYATQvTzmmnq_R1fzjQQyWnb7-Cm7nAMzUK05I3whK7VMTSd8ypWDYYNv6cGLDkLdkvzQOnH_-JJxeiNpYd9fZAeIbsDHMZSCpJfQY-EAim2UJsIQ8XqjOLg=s5838" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="800" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ-KWI8yZC4Hi7TDRJn0CJ3_SgOYBwYzqrwKDzMhmR5QTr-fmGWQL9eMtzGMMBWkpPPwOYATQvTzmmnq_R1fzjQQyWnb7-Cm7nAMzUK05I3whK7VMTSd8ypWDYYNv6cGLDkLdkvzQOnH_-JJxeiNpYd9fZAeIbsDHMZSCpJfQY-EAim2UJsIQ8XqjOLg=w200-h93" title="Computer Game Infographic: Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/civ1-guide-sid-meiers-civilization-1.html">Civilization 1</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This took quite some time to put together... it shows my mastery in Civ-building:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/s7300/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="800" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R_iF4XmWx7t1HQn7i-LE4VJGApM1aSGTTFsIPPszljQJNp7I7YCohIrzU9XCVEMn9KFUZmcLDQSypNCm8cOx4eWhkh9F1EO5SKeHaWhbln7r8l-lO7Pm-O55m3Yb8cxguQM93DMJmL4q1TkNNwcm0TUqKFLJworqTSp22RHuIRg4Cpow_AVBwg2m8yIB/w200-h68/Sid%20Meier's%20Civilization%201.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Civilization 1" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I don't want to think about how long it took me to put this together... I think the original is 12,000 px.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That said, this infographic is famous.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/s4500/baldur's%20gate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="800" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/w200-h51/baldur's%20gate.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Baldur's Gate 1" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-walkthrough.html">Baldur's Gate 1 Walkthrough</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkZDhqZeNZZngUgvPKZhTi7m0Xme9_vKjlR9_qo1KgRKgUzWU8F_RwPOsCzPxQhwODfCFj5rW2YsTYiKm0_hqFWA_lCuGXXz33hAOIz61X4swxmP2i_yyeJ5HHiHxSwpkC_nBu6xivd_Ku4AwIHvnfIhevf4RPy2hVvJnOVmOIBXMPhwoti9yNwigKDA=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="800" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkZDhqZeNZZngUgvPKZhTi7m0Xme9_vKjlR9_qo1KgRKgUzWU8F_RwPOsCzPxQhwODfCFj5rW2YsTYiKm0_hqFWA_lCuGXXz33hAOIz61X4swxmP2i_yyeJ5HHiHxSwpkC_nBu6xivd_Ku4AwIHvnfIhevf4RPy2hVvJnOVmOIBXMPhwoti9yNwigKDA=w200-h149" title="Computer Game Infographic: Baldur's Gate Walkthrough" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Boulder-Dash-Computer-Games.html">Boulder Dash</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPDKvHTYdNiTFgV-WxxVNs6Ho0-NO4eeurQ4Gz_7mokPL21OLUjvJ1nQyuDuXu_AQ7day9wtXMZCWQvLH3ChfzE5FtEiyoreyoFJnQMwq4s2H7vJbtcZXzwOjh997R0xXXtZVHUpGIBWa89p1shChykCv4fXsjLWKjwnAdUTrDXRQ4KLy87fXp825oqbW/s2000/boulder%20dash%20c64%20version%201984.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="800" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPDKvHTYdNiTFgV-WxxVNs6Ho0-NO4eeurQ4Gz_7mokPL21OLUjvJ1nQyuDuXu_AQ7day9wtXMZCWQvLH3ChfzE5FtEiyoreyoFJnQMwq4s2H7vJbtcZXzwOjh997R0xXXtZVHUpGIBWa89p1shChykCv4fXsjLWKjwnAdUTrDXRQ4KLy87fXp825oqbW/w200-h83/boulder%20dash%20c64%20version%201984.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Boulder Dash" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Command-and-Conquer-1-RTS.html">Command & Conquer Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBLkPbx7X3bsXjWPiqqv6xSyIx7STsXZcjGc2dIIw2sPBl1g07H0uqefwgHC6pXxx-py_AnPrH2u0ZHyi0eZkU4zMxFA2esvH6L3A4qIc7Tf2HZyQOyekHFfgNcKelCPMjSN6EkL358p8b-ljJ95sBm68gIOSBxi6eGnUCqa7MoRf1RozQ9sPufsWWA/s1600/command%20and%20conquer%201%20map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="800" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBLkPbx7X3bsXjWPiqqv6xSyIx7STsXZcjGc2dIIw2sPBl1g07H0uqefwgHC6pXxx-py_AnPrH2u0ZHyi0eZkU4zMxFA2esvH6L3A4qIc7Tf2HZyQOyekHFfgNcKelCPMjSN6EkL358p8b-ljJ95sBm68gIOSBxi6eGnUCqa7MoRf1RozQ9sPufsWWA/w200-h97/command%20and%20conquer%201%20map.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Command & Conquer" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/06/Combat-Encounter-Design-in-cRPGs.html">cRPG Combat Encounter Design</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsSlxfbkacUJy395qmSBUzoKKkCeZ2787h2A21Nt1KLfw2O74CuIYMlTPFacDPEAx9RBd2vxYwlg-jpLBeucGlLJnGga7S1mlQyFk5aMDnsU2j-CrWEPGs3SJ7e9sx3dUqPF1wAQDhJARP552MJ26sqeOXnu5YQ6gnVKJxrrWXe_YZBdTIAliCySJYA/s2400/avenue%20of%20approach.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="800" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsSlxfbkacUJy395qmSBUzoKKkCeZ2787h2A21Nt1KLfw2O74CuIYMlTPFacDPEAx9RBd2vxYwlg-jpLBeucGlLJnGga7S1mlQyFk5aMDnsU2j-CrWEPGs3SJ7e9sx3dUqPF1wAQDhJARP552MJ26sqeOXnu5YQ6gnVKJxrrWXe_YZBdTIAliCySJYA/w200-h78/avenue%20of%20approach.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: cRPG Combat Encounter Design" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG Reactivity</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I love <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/10/Neverwinter-Nights-NWN1-Best-Builds-Paladin-Divine-Grace-Health-Might-Shield-Favor-Aura-of-Courage-Holy-Sword-Avenger.html">Paladins</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3osGEiba0zPG9wG4FZZ1KWCfy3ssJw79OsaviQk1dusMhwbRP4l8N6AOK4TKXeKLvWemD2sl8p5RiB_Yffxo4w6VpYOZ_MuiT7CsGephzWK4ieyBf-KYstz4sQoLLMY_qCaSFQPjDUgK6/s1600/altar+to+tyr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3osGEiba0zPG9wG4FZZ1KWCfy3ssJw79OsaviQk1dusMhwbRP4l8N6AOK4TKXeKLvWemD2sl8p5RiB_Yffxo4w6VpYOZ_MuiT7CsGephzWK4ieyBf-KYstz4sQoLLMY_qCaSFQPjDUgK6/w200-h113/altar+to+tyr.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: cRPG Reactivity" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Builds.html">Computer Role-playing Game Builds</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECx6UffVFCs0vJ-jMxUHDunK4qBc_ZyKkk0XlXjJRxljKy5N_Oa_FBVcy5emonaOGVEMtlCtUzsCEjbIoMyl6SSV0D8W5bCb2duJ5mSxkmV_E9X8-VbzGX7sDeZbtJVab7jVni-4iAkBDRImcijRKM1kQqB542niGDOrOXtxOhPBW3m_sW8d0ha42sw/s1600/cleric%20of%20gruumsh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="800" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhECx6UffVFCs0vJ-jMxUHDunK4qBc_ZyKkk0XlXjJRxljKy5N_Oa_FBVcy5emonaOGVEMtlCtUzsCEjbIoMyl6SSV0D8W5bCb2duJ5mSxkmV_E9X8-VbzGX7sDeZbtJVab7jVni-4iAkBDRImcijRKM1kQqB542niGDOrOXtxOhPBW3m_sW8d0ha42sw/w200-h114/cleric%20of%20gruumsh.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Computer Role-playing Game Builds" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-stats.html">Computer Role-playing Game Stats</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpcHU-guCmq3jdwSeWLV7GnRiCjOvXvDWhlHMAkyUTWdPdDuqPRlQxGY1UiPOU_qKwZx86V8lvUcq0Gk1lN8Lnk4mTaqbt62VZ7o2V6KCCsgHHy8QgEobQb16BL0l9We0DwpuiMtvipbnzNdUSPWi0K30JlucrUSAaukdzRg1mLEqVgfmHp6voCYXGQ/s1600/baldur's%20gate%20damage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="800" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpcHU-guCmq3jdwSeWLV7GnRiCjOvXvDWhlHMAkyUTWdPdDuqPRlQxGY1UiPOU_qKwZx86V8lvUcq0Gk1lN8Lnk4mTaqbt62VZ7o2V6KCCsgHHy8QgEobQb16BL0l9We0DwpuiMtvipbnzNdUSPWi0K30JlucrUSAaukdzRg1mLEqVgfmHp6voCYXGQ/w200-h85/baldur's%20gate%20damage.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Computer Role-playing Game Stats" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/10/Deep-Gnome-Build-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Deep Gnome</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfAB2orP3CNCIXemASw5Ih2Hjo9dLPhkVwBSwZFEfmsG9S23oM05IOB7xn-OGiR6TTE4ciq610S1BoBHMe3qGBobsB5EztyhjdRa3rKGlHeLY69D5ng-Ub4llWDv-MOVl6AaxIDZEWLHvQszXsaDVvAQz5T8S2Y-_l5tEcbkre3ZYiKnG3-Lb6AHfoQ/s1200/deep%20gnome%20build%20icewind%20dale%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="800" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfAB2orP3CNCIXemASw5Ih2Hjo9dLPhkVwBSwZFEfmsG9S23oM05IOB7xn-OGiR6TTE4ciq610S1BoBHMe3qGBobsB5EztyhjdRa3rKGlHeLY69D5ng-Ub4llWDv-MOVl6AaxIDZEWLHvQszXsaDVvAQz5T8S2Y-_l5tEcbkre3ZYiKnG3-Lb6AHfoQ/w200-h98/deep%20gnome%20build%20icewind%20dale%202.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Deep Gnome" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/diablo-1.html">Diablo 1 Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Another famous infographic:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/s2500/diablo%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="800" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Z-9oMVdPCz-7hUGEwRr-Pm8MiDcQkmWzKKBEJ4y_LNUVa31RaR1zBMh_CfqOKcghYGR-UBeAGGuBDJRLrNougDaVPzuSIWpT9UzWl1YE93aQGuDRBkMGLZbaTyoiJcGuRQsVa1Mt022F-6usnNV-oOF_SzipRfjv3iiUP8zh8BGad1VmB02RxR1G8w/w200-h122/diablo%201.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Diablo 1" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/07/WinUAE-Best-Games-Best-Amiga-Game-Developers.html">Defender of the Crown</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Soul...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/s3000/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="800" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PmeHQ5aU4LHW_UW_2CPFkjBRFSHzSlHinvEIdHUheHLRoo1W0msH5CgIrrcb9IY_LQ3344rXuvQfIpCTg4mdZYGthydneXQ7q9L_qCeSaSldAFutepY9Lf9IptBOtQsOZVgoJGrDNsjHmBevgMYOIVBKPE8HTa4Tmrd_9Jasg-SBTlBlRY1lnGlMMkHT/w200-h94/Defender%20of%20the%20Crown%20Cinemaware%20Amiga%201986.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Defender of the Crown" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/Units-Dune-2.html">Dune 2 Units</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSmZQjoFzTHTN44X46iVCM47X71LqpEEjPzd5P_WtyhdcXwlYPDbKkalUZQ3ICCjhyK9zKFMkaAaAdrP7Y_XBXSOjM224snS8bCZrKMi5QqdPmiALaZzIdZRsJPeVBOZip98i1IZXTHkCnDWTOVkllCrAhcZNCJFcHy_hBq_rHsn849FTGRRxwhTx7eKl/s2551/dune%202%20units.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="800" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSmZQjoFzTHTN44X46iVCM47X71LqpEEjPzd5P_WtyhdcXwlYPDbKkalUZQ3ICCjhyK9zKFMkaAaAdrP7Y_XBXSOjM224snS8bCZrKMi5QqdPmiALaZzIdZRsJPeVBOZip98i1IZXTHkCnDWTOVkllCrAhcZNCJFcHy_hBq_rHsn849FTGRRxwhTx7eKl/w200-h61/dune%202%20units.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Dune 2 Units" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Falcon-Sphere-Inc.html">Falcon Flight Sim 1987</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Exquisite 16 color graphics:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihM--_XEB85fas7uw7wbnxhRdpWPGiRvPUBCTH4626ml_Fgzy6w0blVciLuL_oENIpV4ED_lDfVEJp_zxOFdxP3cgyjSXUxLNMi5Es-8lNri7B1MI_lnqkgZuPDtoUx_dvkUouKYHzHlakHj1Dx8cLMyMZP_PmxfaN1qkf9uR1QYWC4Kv2q5M_zDWWwwSY/s1600/Falcon%20cockpit%20annotated.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihM--_XEB85fas7uw7wbnxhRdpWPGiRvPUBCTH4626ml_Fgzy6w0blVciLuL_oENIpV4ED_lDfVEJp_zxOFdxP3cgyjSXUxLNMi5Es-8lNri7B1MI_lnqkgZuPDtoUx_dvkUouKYHzHlakHj1Dx8cLMyMZP_PmxfaN1qkf9uR1QYWC4Kv2q5M_zDWWwwSY/w200-h125/Falcon%20cockpit%20annotated.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Fallout 2 Guide</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One of my most famous infographics:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/s2349/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="800" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dMUFXXe4hqwrTTsAycD7GT7XUaC5kklVb0aWyk9VSCkYv-nPuIlYIeev2vjN9DL0S9g5oefTJ7qk4IReIoNg4Z6WSjXwpSt2hikw9wTKDLs-WOlhiOKOhAvgMssAeBk3O4GslOBUXiQgYItnDCf4NIp2tKX48818Pkghn8KV1DUXILyjmG_TUN2iiWsj/w200-h101/Horrigan%20Fallout%202%20Boss.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/Kill-Frog-Morton-Fallout-2.html">Frog Morton Fallout 2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnquY1yVHjFN9JHZT2PbEnOo-vax9RvuBBWlkVYuY4n_mRlom5AAP6eRVQmTjSARgAx2N5OtncIl5r269JTJO8T6c2jhCuSKgffOlw2JIQm4Tm0ikiFxdhtxgp90ELurOageejwH4iQh9toSIa_WPrG5vltl90WL4gaa3BXhpoa12_nPt1Qbl7KhptkJr/s2265/Forg%20Morton%20Fallout%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="800" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnquY1yVHjFN9JHZT2PbEnOo-vax9RvuBBWlkVYuY4n_mRlom5AAP6eRVQmTjSARgAx2N5OtncIl5r269JTJO8T6c2jhCuSKgffOlw2JIQm4Tm0ikiFxdhtxgp90ELurOageejwH4iQh9toSIa_WPrG5vltl90WL4gaa3BXhpoa12_nPt1Qbl7KhptkJr/w200-h84/Forg%20Morton%20Fallout%202.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic Frog Morton Fallout 2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Fallout 2 Random Encounters</a></h3></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXElRcGDuayb3WCMbJlJgZFfZS-VUKKBPX3JX1UB70CSeh3Mq4a3Jaz0_RkAGyierwXFRH9_7FSeqc3y731j9bkzaTcWvaaCqqxz9YFlaRnX4NpmZqLnbxlx_ox6-SypQV6LWS0oTv8jXkUdGMO1QJC0SR_cg-udxgXrirUnn-IeQK-pabfbip6nyeLv_/s2801/Random%20Encounters%20Fallout%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="800" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXElRcGDuayb3WCMbJlJgZFfZS-VUKKBPX3JX1UB70CSeh3Mq4a3Jaz0_RkAGyierwXFRH9_7FSeqc3y731j9bkzaTcWvaaCqqxz9YFlaRnX4NpmZqLnbxlx_ox6-SypQV6LWS0oTv8jXkUdGMO1QJC0SR_cg-udxgXrirUnn-IeQK-pabfbip6nyeLv_/w200-h50/Random%20Encounters%20Fallout%202.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Fallout 2 Random Encounters" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Neverwinter-Nights-2-NWN2-Frenzied-Berserker-Build-Deathless-Frenzy-Supreme-Cleave-Enhanced-Power-Attack.html">Frenzied Bererker NWN2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXSRs18inzdRQU4DBNmdxuIBVjkWPJN9DhEPMSZywNQdC8Ciuol9shzxTtf4yOt0hmKSwFqB8BDROYE7l32CqvC6Kwr_N1G05EmymOEgRFk1LVNAiFthFWjJLtr0PdxM-8Quc7Nnjwm2pPmlPeZQdj_6eTCn_FSRW3d8Wg9AgORGfJHnIFASEuI4yHQ/s1600/frenzied%20berserker%20nwn2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="800" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXSRs18inzdRQU4DBNmdxuIBVjkWPJN9DhEPMSZywNQdC8Ciuol9shzxTtf4yOt0hmKSwFqB8BDROYE7l32CqvC6Kwr_N1G05EmymOEgRFk1LVNAiFthFWjJLtr0PdxM-8Quc7Nnjwm2pPmlPeZQdj_6eTCn_FSRW3d8Wg9AgORGfJHnIFASEuI4yHQ/w200-h99/frenzied%20berserker%20nwn2.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Frenzied Bererker NWN2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Formula-One-Grand-Prix-MicroProse.html">Grand Prix 2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR-4F772px3O5khieNPpBp1ZiaiYkc_3jzAXB94FiGo2KNCeiL0hVU0LIcIeaXZmZ2v-cD-rC43yntEp0fLlMCkttmCqgTjnniomQ536HfrfKx4LefqKq3ih699H04tqq1ijkgtde-Kad2AFcxGxRK2ZGoJRl4Cgxn2urmmcyXglqpasRi89OoEGbET6f/s3500/grand%20prix%202%20ms-dos%201996.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="800" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR-4F772px3O5khieNPpBp1ZiaiYkc_3jzAXB94FiGo2KNCeiL0hVU0LIcIeaXZmZ2v-cD-rC43yntEp0fLlMCkttmCqgTjnniomQ536HfrfKx4LefqKq3ih699H04tqq1ijkgtde-Kad2AFcxGxRK2ZGoJRl4Cgxn2urmmcyXglqpasRi89OoEGbET6f/w200-h60/grand%20prix%202%20ms-dos%201996.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Grand Prix 2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Papyrus-Design-Group-Racing-Computer-Games.html">Papyrus Design Group</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eaiJjiYxsxqd4CP4zsZY39CWyrJYtZGz5r5hdov1ezTfqsE0JcIRCCFH9kPI2YeQ_Cp6MgL3l8TTWKWpF_fN3EegoZWU4nSqOwUmC0O4dJJPB-Km9x4hUrojibh-Jl38Q-TnJoHcu_g0MuGJ5cEqLHkz-LocnB3EeLKQwjfaILUcAPdeoMzBNaYblgZ3/s4000/grand%20prix%20legends%201998%20papyrus%20design%20group.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="800" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eaiJjiYxsxqd4CP4zsZY39CWyrJYtZGz5r5hdov1ezTfqsE0JcIRCCFH9kPI2YeQ_Cp6MgL3l8TTWKWpF_fN3EegoZWU4nSqOwUmC0O4dJJPB-Km9x4hUrojibh-Jl38Q-TnJoHcu_g0MuGJ5cEqLHkz-LocnB3EeLKQwjfaILUcAPdeoMzBNaYblgZ3/w200-h60/grand%20prix%20legends%201998%20papyrus%20design%20group.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic Papyrus Design Group" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/11/GRIEF-RUNEWORD-phase-blade-perfect-superior-Diablo-2-Resurrected.html">Grief Phase Blade</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7yc9jXiVU5A0jXA8TafhPkm0C1PKBd0kz3t3A8EeJ4GpWnVo9JeWKDZ2Oof6WSqk5HyMnjEfgWwUgk6HF_VV75ez37vv26p8Ni91F9loiKIjG8ntFbxxAvTW-6pgsCRxqA95UAVPuozoRsQxkmjVQ8rjELxhC3yFXTB3vIRL-wQl5gM9SCSIU_48RQ/s1600/grief%20phase%20blade.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="800" height="62" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7yc9jXiVU5A0jXA8TafhPkm0C1PKBd0kz3t3A8EeJ4GpWnVo9JeWKDZ2Oof6WSqk5HyMnjEfgWwUgk6HF_VV75ez37vv26p8Ni91F9loiKIjG8ntFbxxAvTW-6pgsCRxqA95UAVPuozoRsQxkmjVQ8rjELxhC3yFXTB3vIRL-wQl5gM9SCSIU_48RQ/w200-h62/grief%20phase%20blade.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Grief Phase Blade" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2015/02/Hammerhands-Master-of-Magic.html">Hammerhands</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This build-infographic took aeons to put together... and I made several others like it. However, almost no one has seen them because <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic</a> is for non-casuals.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OGtn_L-RDKXYb7GjCbColE62V5yvuao5tgu1xUC0WEmivN5YuTXQGniiXRcgD5wWFIDYylA708xSHKwaCUKPyLpH9EcYSj1NfAtO5WVh75rHKcN0XJfuz-AzEKSLSShdWz9GmLVrSpjH3AiqyAxOSpni3NS4h_jFnDnx5G6Uv49j6pxh12_9cB3e-A/s1600/hammerhands%20master%20of%20magic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="800" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OGtn_L-RDKXYb7GjCbColE62V5yvuao5tgu1xUC0WEmivN5YuTXQGniiXRcgD5wWFIDYylA708xSHKwaCUKPyLpH9EcYSj1NfAtO5WVh75rHKcN0XJfuz-AzEKSLSShdWz9GmLVrSpjH3AiqyAxOSpni3NS4h_jFnDnx5G6Uv49j6pxh12_9cB3e-A/w200-h113/hammerhands%20master%20of%20magic.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Hammerhands" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographics: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXvLKqE2RzyITx5WtIAryfZE2AbPxFR9be3wcIvgPQDZiITwYAvNleXatL3QMFkMo3LQJYsT4c_-PS08QmjAcaxMBF6d2z45_O2alYCq5YRi5nTP4Mbl9G0ZDMQcV0dTBQ85NQdS641EKnukL1vB8F7_69aRZezHUzWN_a1agO02S3aGmbY1zQ7F7CQ/s2400/dragon's%20eye%20IWD1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="800" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXvLKqE2RzyITx5WtIAryfZE2AbPxFR9be3wcIvgPQDZiITwYAvNleXatL3QMFkMo3LQJYsT4c_-PS08QmjAcaxMBF6d2z45_O2alYCq5YRi5nTP4Mbl9G0ZDMQcV0dTBQ85NQdS641EKnukL1vB8F7_69aRZezHUzWN_a1agO02S3aGmbY1zQ7F7CQ/w200-h80/dragon's%20eye%20IWD1.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Icewind Dale 1: Dragon's Eye" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQmQBIiF3rutDaf6GgZKgJ7yYAue77i3sV53a2ziRibI1iTQxFncphK4RlEW9dQcR3AEoQgDwQHGS9DqyV81vB-cqJbyx2s66KPCvq134lrrUURcOrYGTPXEfHIHWrchdiuIfYWgeuyjV_BUXNXV6RwmhzUDA4pp5VCwYdMmplmikhhq6U2mQUg8IdQ/s2500/severed%20hand%20IWD2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="800" height="58" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQmQBIiF3rutDaf6GgZKgJ7yYAue77i3sV53a2ziRibI1iTQxFncphK4RlEW9dQcR3AEoQgDwQHGS9DqyV81vB-cqJbyx2s66KPCvq134lrrUURcOrYGTPXEfHIHWrchdiuIfYWgeuyjV_BUXNXV6RwmhzUDA4pp5VCwYdMmplmikhhq6U2mQUg8IdQ/w200-h58/severed%20hand%20IWD2.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Icewind Dale 1: Severed Hand" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Walkthrough-Guide-Best-Easy-Solo-Sorcerer-Part-VI.html">Ice Temple IWD2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgkBqMJNayJYpsfJlj-wsw7jajRk9q5yoSAGPCKw88BZJQde1dSqtYOL6H8lykK8M3Yq2iJMBdqs9prDJu9Rby7YYOQlwsTzPIVh92o0FKPyg_o40opAIpiB3y_2EXJmu1AboHAFpI-22n_RIgb0_yoY6DCaVJOPn_naeMB5LapvcPICCLl3EGe7Lmg/s2400/ice%20temple%20iwd2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="800" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgkBqMJNayJYpsfJlj-wsw7jajRk9q5yoSAGPCKw88BZJQde1dSqtYOL6H8lykK8M3Yq2iJMBdqs9prDJu9Rby7YYOQlwsTzPIVh92o0FKPyg_o40opAIpiB3y_2EXJmu1AboHAFpI-22n_RIgb0_yoY6DCaVJOPn_naeMB5LapvcPICCLl3EGe7Lmg/w200-h77/ice%20temple%20iwd2.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Ice Temple" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Irenicus-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Irenicus BG2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I made one of these for a dozen more BG2 characters. Needless to say, it took a while. I know these images are famous due to the number of views they get.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w200-h103/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Irenicus BG2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Iron-Clan-Hammer-Arcanum.html">Iron Clan Hammer</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My fave weapon infographic:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHyhpai4KsEMh4I4j2uyjdlsCfuHJkIGGYdB7vAhSEFWYb97jarjO6suDR8wA1lVjc14eTrkxLfSB7O5LacRilmRsuWBKmoOwKHjWZJI_Yxv0YPA-lhogFrN6-9O1UWZVexNV78zScv8sXHv_wIA2BSbCAyhFtjnFRW3k2twwwlJETBNAUlHS6wO3cg/s800/iron%20clan%20hammer%20arcanum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="800" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHyhpai4KsEMh4I4j2uyjdlsCfuHJkIGGYdB7vAhSEFWYb97jarjO6suDR8wA1lVjc14eTrkxLfSB7O5LacRilmRsuWBKmoOwKHjWZJI_Yxv0YPA-lhogFrN6-9O1UWZVexNV78zScv8sXHv_wIA2BSbCAyhFtjnFRW3k2twwwlJETBNAUlHS6wO3cg/w200-h91/iron%20clan%20hammer%20arcanum.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Iron Clan Hammer" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/04/Jagged-Alliance-2-Retrospective-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Jagged Alliance 2 Guide</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2nRR6g8VtwNai4Uo-1FnqEmFuUEczZ87tMLve1mwbW6-LzWGqwFZlkqGFFWMqjORcrI56tbUpziLT56pwdGCmMVwoBtlti69MxLYpW894CL5kUyN0Ytazbrys8UlBPwWqvedig-yUBDjiyooVYIIEVWwr_SrVrvwjRescUBwr2ztUm2AQhu1e4aeVQ/s2000/queen%20crepitus%20jagged%20alliance%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="800" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2nRR6g8VtwNai4Uo-1FnqEmFuUEczZ87tMLve1mwbW6-LzWGqwFZlkqGFFWMqjORcrI56tbUpziLT56pwdGCmMVwoBtlti69MxLYpW894CL5kUyN0Ytazbrys8UlBPwWqvedig-yUBDjiyooVYIIEVWwr_SrVrvwjRescUBwr2ztUm2AQhu1e4aeVQ/w200-h91/queen%20crepitus%20jagged%20alliance%202.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Jagged Alliance 2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Kensai-Mage-Build-Dual-class-Kensage.html">Kensai Mage BG2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIl5SVovTLPyLL11EngHD9Lt8W0VbR93ySCg8xIr4zn_kDtytJs_H2bhf2ZU-MQ6bUdmgnNnZL4Hhwls_SgIxlrciL0Z9ImNgd5A1h-pmoWwDGyKAo0CtM0nuHXUyhbyRRa29eejIPtqpLl1upM2zrG0Zvl57B9NuPuyfKKYVdtySKcWruZVp4djNVQ/s16000/acid%20kensai%20kuroisan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="800" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIl5SVovTLPyLL11EngHD9Lt8W0VbR93ySCg8xIr4zn_kDtytJs_H2bhf2ZU-MQ6bUdmgnNnZL4Hhwls_SgIxlrciL0Z9ImNgd5A1h-pmoWwDGyKAo0CtM0nuHXUyhbyRRa29eejIPtqpLl1upM2zrG0Zvl57B9NuPuyfKKYVdtySKcWruZVp4djNVQ/w200-h67/acid%20kensai%20kuroisan.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Kensai Mage BG2" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/UFO-Enemy-Unknown-X-COM-UFO-Defense-Battlescape-Perspective-Combat-System.html">Laser Squad</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_juh3JSFgzvXZmLSC3tqDTSew-RgAD07r9XTsQJHlWYVOpkT15ai3SuPNatIh4CgfgzN23voPgKwuphkku0Nfx1n1gD3yMmTAwC0CDwJGLPaYecQWZQKaobtfriOLIyxhzC0OZar-7T5ZpuXlhFMrwNE2hXxcho0DXY6-cjc5bk-87bHbQKInPIO_zVH_/s2988/laser%20squad%20ms-dos%201992.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="800" height="42" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_juh3JSFgzvXZmLSC3tqDTSew-RgAD07r9XTsQJHlWYVOpkT15ai3SuPNatIh4CgfgzN23voPgKwuphkku0Nfx1n1gD3yMmTAwC0CDwJGLPaYecQWZQKaobtfriOLIyxhzC0OZar-7T5ZpuXlhFMrwNE2hXxcho0DXY6-cjc5bk-87bHbQKInPIO_zVH_/w200-h42/laser%20squad%20ms-dos%201992.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Laser Squad" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2015/03/recounting-mask-of-betrayer-part-i.html">Mask of the Betrayer Guide</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVQa7WDzBhK-JkjH9Cv3nR8WahofopaZWO0lmDh1LvFc7HVeo03U_BvaUn2gRkyDx4gwMe0DZlGBfuT3Fgv6ZNDq0GF4Z7izONSSwLi5rb-ZbYqXMUmU_wm5-aQ3KXk-GG21Va0Hcul_ilyfRomfcZ8REj514_Q9t4Qw-lH1KMZiDrhRxhGLCf_VIAQ/s2400/dead%20god's%20vault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqVQa7WDzBhK-JkjH9Cv3nR8WahofopaZWO0lmDh1LvFc7HVeo03U_BvaUn2gRkyDx4gwMe0DZlGBfuT3Fgv6ZNDq0GF4Z7izONSSwLi5rb-ZbYqXMUmU_wm5-aQ3KXk-GG21Va0Hcul_ilyfRomfcZ8REj514_Q9t4Qw-lH1KMZiDrhRxhGLCf_VIAQ/w200-h75/dead%20god's%20vault.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Mask of the Betrayer" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Master-of-Magic-Retrospective-Review.html">Master of Magic Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My glorious High Men empire:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bs9FUYhWbc2H3UNGBzRHnv_twKgS1qO1kHt13jiq4DOcg4fKtzn2cL06PFFzK6Dd8IaHUn5s4h1uLVMUv-OH5pwJozM6zsY5P5u_SOIkJDpnyCq1Rl1g1JUKt7z5bWN7vWaU2SO5k9xXrGwZr60eCQFE4PLYChMJuCaDoEWljFFvX8n9hiEnqBCXbw/s3004/High%20Men%20Master%20of%20Magic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="800" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bs9FUYhWbc2H3UNGBzRHnv_twKgS1qO1kHt13jiq4DOcg4fKtzn2cL06PFFzK6Dd8IaHUn5s4h1uLVMUv-OH5pwJozM6zsY5P5u_SOIkJDpnyCq1Rl1g1JUKt7z5bWN7vWaU2SO5k9xXrGwZr60eCQFE4PLYChMJuCaDoEWljFFvX8n9hiEnqBCXbw/w200-h134/High%20Men%20Master%20of%20Magic.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Master of Magic" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/MechWarrior-1-BattleMechs-Dynamix-1989.html">MechWarrior 1 Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCokQSSVsqu0oHb2FvLOaO1uBMNOxE4eXCm8413CmlVmcATWZQmjvUR-2xEqI7hSqvjqQRiSwfZy4tsNMHJb0zPopGoK_WVawwyVt1ikfl7u0llbczAFMq3sm_JfgnMLuV1mWQibI5mFSv_AD2E53TrwDypK5atUbKiF5TIUjRgFCCEchdE3mOIcD5jcj/s1600/MechWarrior%201%20graphics%20Dynamix%201989.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="800" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJCokQSSVsqu0oHb2FvLOaO1uBMNOxE4eXCm8413CmlVmcATWZQmjvUR-2xEqI7hSqvjqQRiSwfZy4tsNMHJb0zPopGoK_WVawwyVt1ikfl7u0llbczAFMq3sm_JfgnMLuV1mWQibI5mFSv_AD2E53TrwDypK5atUbKiF5TIUjRgFCCEchdE3mOIcD5jcj/w200-h119/MechWarrior%201%20graphics%20Dynamix%201989.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: MechWarrior 1" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/08/Worst-RPG.html">Oblivion With Guns</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Short and to-the-point:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULj8W-pAqbpIme6EM_UTDtvY3aVi2F8soVFQvBLDS-K4R3fNqPKAE7YMDSSXsK6PnyoUt8846DXj_iSY-P0IeKBFkj6igEyEClLHbK0Ag-DBtcdE4M0TaVSv4QiROQFfrQvDxr6QiF24N/s1600/fallout+vs+fallout+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULj8W-pAqbpIme6EM_UTDtvY3aVi2F8soVFQvBLDS-K4R3fNqPKAE7YMDSSXsK6PnyoUt8846DXj_iSY-P0IeKBFkj6igEyEClLHbK0Ag-DBtcdE4M0TaVSv4QiROQFfrQvDxr6QiF24N/w200-h75/fallout+vs+fallout+3.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Oblivion With Guns" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Planescape-Torment-In-Depth-Retrospective-on-the-Original-Incarnation-Part-I.html">Planescape: Torment Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A simple cropped twin-image with bordered text-inset overlay:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3_NI_WHVpyckTu7tQ6MU6NDfGxRsSVsHDQienSORYWaXw_rsBi5ZW3dyyaz47wum2LYCOtMrfMLFpaldUM-wGME-pR5MdqNqQqaeQcX-hGLcNt5So_IJVc3vJc7mmYJhqwgHO8QsZZHm/s1600/raise+dead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="800" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3_NI_WHVpyckTu7tQ6MU6NDfGxRsSVsHDQienSORYWaXw_rsBi5ZW3dyyaz47wum2LYCOtMrfMLFpaldUM-wGME-pR5MdqNqQqaeQcX-hGLcNt5So_IJVc3vJc7mmYJhqwgHO8QsZZHm/w200-h84/raise+dead.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Planescape: Torment" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Powermonger-Amiga-1990.html">PowerMonger Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Soul...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ROZZN6k9p4bgIJtgOZTuj_0cY5lQgWXxvkl--8jiyPayPrRGr4suljnP-NlKDG-CZPXZIsgL7WdvhgNMEX52wHsXCyTY5-apXCsegmN199VcdsMaxI287ouCXyAtYaodbYO-KNDFQ4VBbhiUGTU5wKtGWdnTaMgCUiyd25wRgaWTUqCOEt6poN9Oe5C6/s2764/PowerMonger%20Amiga%201990.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="800" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ROZZN6k9p4bgIJtgOZTuj_0cY5lQgWXxvkl--8jiyPayPrRGr4suljnP-NlKDG-CZPXZIsgL7WdvhgNMEX52wHsXCyTY5-apXCsegmN199VcdsMaxI287ouCXyAtYaodbYO-KNDFQ4VBbhiUGTU5wKtGWdnTaMgCUiyd25wRgaWTUqCOEt6poN9Oe5C6/w200-h94/PowerMonger%20Amiga%201990.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: PowerMonger" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Screen-Scrolling-in-Computer-Games.html">Computer Game Screen-scrolling</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Soul...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgJ98TipYwKxbKb_vIbN2CFe_DtY0XpLEzyGj8n7toIQ7XIsvBqmhFTDBDwzAtQYEYFwjrqtm-e7V0C4DA1DSa1PeDq2KDxNQtYbGLIu4q8WUscRxtI4I2_OlKGN4nUIwpZ9s_NpRfKn87g8xtD4dYKgtAmin8qEXEerWHSKAdqzgjk60NUNGY6g3qhA/s3500/shadow%20of%20the%20beast%20amiga%20games%201989-92.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="800" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgJ98TipYwKxbKb_vIbN2CFe_DtY0XpLEzyGj8n7toIQ7XIsvBqmhFTDBDwzAtQYEYFwjrqtm-e7V0C4DA1DSa1PeDq2KDxNQtYbGLIu4q8WUscRxtI4I2_OlKGN4nUIwpZ9s_NpRfKn87g8xtD4dYKgtAmin8qEXEerWHSKAdqzgjk60NUNGY6g3qhA/w200-h80/shadow%20of%20the%20beast%20amiga%20games%201989-92.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Screen-scrolling" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/sid-meiers-colonization.html">Sid Meier's Colonization Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I only made this because I was enjoying the replay so much:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLQYNosSWUH8v9p0999nKZT25rqlRqEDjyI3cVwP7rGwoWolNYEmAGv1KzruszrOJXOH35HWwlB6PeIgimhL1azSimwtsiINVTxxMRWFOVFsuA9gvHnJC6wQ4L6dVaYS4nNAPk1tAQurDagvmT6bFEOXkrhJLrO_sZeQcwC11nBPQWcIZ__bqqHARhdqh/s1600/Sid%20Meier's%20Colonization.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="800" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLQYNosSWUH8v9p0999nKZT25rqlRqEDjyI3cVwP7rGwoWolNYEmAGv1KzruszrOJXOH35HWwlB6PeIgimhL1azSimwtsiINVTxxMRWFOVFsuA9gvHnJC6wQ4L6dVaYS4nNAPk1tAQurDagvmT6bFEOXkrhJLrO_sZeQcwC11nBPQWcIZ__bqqHARhdqh/w200-h86/Sid%20Meier's%20Colonization.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Sid Meier's Colonization" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/smac-guide-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri.html">Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6_HCOgnqjPevaeDXUjVSxNbF_hXqDm2iUbxfHda-n_CBMHPn_UeaCChI-2OwXy7MOv3gMj3Vo03GUmKAXRtcGkky0_rhS4DcRv-JKvl80SIiR8pRDJDY_VZN5KvtG6BQK3UqmTeXeSfYc6wSbU5cDbar598zAQZBag2TqHDifOeUPHSXp30XdruckQ/s3000/Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri%20factions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="800" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6_HCOgnqjPevaeDXUjVSxNbF_hXqDm2iUbxfHda-n_CBMHPn_UeaCChI-2OwXy7MOv3gMj3Vo03GUmKAXRtcGkky0_rhS4DcRv-JKvl80SIiR8pRDJDY_VZN5KvtG6BQK3UqmTeXeSfYc6wSbU5cDbar598zAQZBag2TqHDifOeUPHSXp30XdruckQ/w200-h54/Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri%20factions.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Fallout-2-Best-Weapons-Small-Guns-Big-Guns-Energy-Weapons.html">Slayer Build Fallout 2</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8GJt-Gdc4-l8YXKVoMplvfld_0uqMFlTY4SqHlZjWX8hoRzllmtEWMFwOZw3HUjmdX11k9kD9V8oHvHibMHPe5CPKPINpUKePrIoLljODv5m5ugGtjN5FlGfD--vt9dyz6-e5hF7GyXwxo-Qm_ThRzU-c1pSHh_np_coe1zfJbCbApwRmFJ4LDW07w/s1600/Slayer%20Build%20Fallout%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8GJt-Gdc4-l8YXKVoMplvfld_0uqMFlTY4SqHlZjWX8hoRzllmtEWMFwOZw3HUjmdX11k9kD9V8oHvHibMHPe5CPKPINpUKePrIoLljODv5m5ugGtjN5FlGfD--vt9dyz6-e5hF7GyXwxo-Qm_ThRzU-c1pSHh_np_coe1zfJbCbApwRmFJ4LDW07w/w200-h75/Slayer%20Build%20Fallout%202.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/StarCraft-1-Review.html">StarCraft 1 Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PGgnNWbmCUYGkfkUlei921NQKctKzKRCDIXWkMe0ZqjSkbTUrxNTkf3dcf-1BmQVxWGqe_-dejrjhyphenhyphen2ve9Yc2cPO_Tq58ChOht0Opd_2hLkpCUnOOtwGR_R8h0Mtc0amv4iC-TOXdxjKlUv3IWh9NSgxrjG0oOmwOCP5YZgl0aT7431k_Zv_BcZzC7pw/s2000/StarCraft%201%20Maps.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="800" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PGgnNWbmCUYGkfkUlei921NQKctKzKRCDIXWkMe0ZqjSkbTUrxNTkf3dcf-1BmQVxWGqe_-dejrjhyphenhyphen2ve9Yc2cPO_Tq58ChOht0Opd_2hLkpCUnOOtwGR_R8h0Mtc0amv4iC-TOXdxjKlUv3IWh9NSgxrjG0oOmwOCP5YZgl0aT7431k_Zv_BcZzC7pw/w200-h156/StarCraft%201%20Maps.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: StarCraft 1 Review" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/11/Swordflight-Chapter-Four-has-been-released.html">Swordflight</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyp-BlQPV0inScJzoeqGswRRzHcJWfZhonFhS3tA113qwNAPiyo6nc7VGTMXaGiOWtjc5DWhKl36U8rrURegjsi6dFhKzoWEiWEQwT4sLAigTVMS1OsSsHtpggwE1GRtEUr-6BKgY2XXf/s1600/thieves+maze.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="712" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyp-BlQPV0inScJzoeqGswRRzHcJWfZhonFhS3tA113qwNAPiyo6nc7VGTMXaGiOWtjc5DWhKl36U8rrURegjsi6dFhKzoWEiWEQwT4sLAigTVMS1OsSsHtpggwE1GRtEUr-6BKgY2XXf/w178-h200/thieves+maze.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Swordflight" width="178" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/02/Temple-of-Elemental-Evil-ToEE-Retrospective-Beginners-Guide-Pro-Tips-Cheats-Best-Builds.html">Temple of Elemental Evil</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Took ages to assemble:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5X7Q8TVxcs3EUyTtP20CA2rs-iTIUCh46iGbZKi4rXF8VIpoBKkfmdGPIXKewUgWubq3t5kRVLr7Z_ODiTyDlJZdrsh1b-F0-kxnjQCjZNkFCv6xAKu7ILj63KEu14KNoHBd-Unr0koLGdzwf-0ysryxpBXsfehcb4tYRg07JcDFan2li4yVUb2C8CQ/s2500/temple%20of%20elemental%20evil.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="800" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5X7Q8TVxcs3EUyTtP20CA2rs-iTIUCh46iGbZKi4rXF8VIpoBKkfmdGPIXKewUgWubq3t5kRVLr7Z_ODiTyDlJZdrsh1b-F0-kxnjQCjZNkFCv6xAKu7ILj63KEu14KNoHBd-Unr0koLGdzwf-0ysryxpBXsfehcb4tYRg07JcDFan2li4yVUb2C8CQ/w200-h81/temple%20of%20elemental%20evil.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Temple of Elemtental Evil" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/The-Settlers-Amiga-1993.html">The Settlers</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Soul...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmNcIdccIVL7CGVaTJpFOQszr96jg3ar9uGo4uruAw3HLHoDYHiS5E_Jummk6nZ19mPLNoE23Mmfz1rwgxG6H77Ooy-cmPvUwHCNi6Fh8WEqBi-cEHtu3dFZNMYDNW3fC1EQy8C0850_hCdY2qOAUjSlRTtUVqxH91GOSi6NLurJfT1XR0e5It3pCKdCk/s2500/settlers%20castles%20and%20knights.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="800" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmNcIdccIVL7CGVaTJpFOQszr96jg3ar9uGo4uruAw3HLHoDYHiS5E_Jummk6nZ19mPLNoE23Mmfz1rwgxG6H77Ooy-cmPvUwHCNi6Fh8WEqBi-cEHtu3dFZNMYDNW3fC1EQy8C0850_hCdY2qOAUjSlRTtUVqxH91GOSi6NLurJfT1XR0e5It3pCKdCk/w200-h83/settlers%20castles%20and%20knights.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: The Settlers" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/retro-tbs-reviews.html">Turn-based Strategy Games</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Shows my mastery of four Civ games in one image:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Qlq7vEKz2EHNfKfCKKhyGXjk-UOnA_WH3mFD-RtquiUz_dauBhWtv2uX9uiQo-c3wbcakIPlSZ6FGzggexDh2ZAAEzWymgdSCv-LPvsJnM2fidZjD5HQwssa7OH-94xPtt0icnzypANmy5kYUyIT25Ji6M-zeGCffSGCMjG6QpTk9Q06nKFAcZSySi1p/s2862/Civ%20game%20cities.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="800" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Qlq7vEKz2EHNfKfCKKhyGXjk-UOnA_WH3mFD-RtquiUz_dauBhWtv2uX9uiQo-c3wbcakIPlSZ6FGzggexDh2ZAAEzWymgdSCv-LPvsJnM2fidZjD5HQwssa7OH-94xPtt0icnzypANmy5kYUyIT25Ji6M-zeGCffSGCMjG6QpTk9Q06nKFAcZSySi1p/w200-h92/Civ%20game%20cities.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: Turn-based Strategy Games" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Verticality-in-games.html">Verticality</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gSuB_WAu8dhakijLSaTxmrHXNdCdV1Zyy71mUI3R0eOd9qYwkOAW05Pu99DpnCWk8f5cPxFRyfkNbPBJKoaL485oyBMU4LzJWzH9BfYJ73cyuK9CbNCbYxv1cFG4T054jJyR825pROZQgJTio0Ttn7-T1AVaYgkukqgRmPIOWvM39muHgziUSk54QCNV/s1600/marsec%20heavy%20launcher%20x-com%20Apocalypse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="800" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gSuB_WAu8dhakijLSaTxmrHXNdCdV1Zyy71mUI3R0eOd9qYwkOAW05Pu99DpnCWk8f5cPxFRyfkNbPBJKoaL485oyBMU4LzJWzH9BfYJ73cyuK9CbNCbYxv1cFG4T054jJyR825pROZQgJTio0Ttn7-T1AVaYgkukqgRmPIOWvM39muHgziUSk54QCNV/w200-h66/marsec%20heavy%20launcher%20x-com%20Apocalypse.jpg" title="Computer Game Infographic: cRPG Verticality" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Warband-Review.html">Warband Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxaios5Kvu1-GYAC2DgAdcrFYQki6hA3R1IY3mBKk8FFPKAP1iA2_V714FRnfVdS5Vy3S9p3VXoaFJfTWC3LbmLCLgxziWkozLo_n_ZyEEzGHtiLgr5OdHOvDe2wNID4ZsMUjJUMN4wA8b1_gqzqlBfOxtAifjHiIiqYHkt3wBxbvUGEOe8UrbpV8-E_m/s2500/warband%20character%20creation.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="800" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxaios5Kvu1-GYAC2DgAdcrFYQki6hA3R1IY3mBKk8FFPKAP1iA2_V714FRnfVdS5Vy3S9p3VXoaFJfTWC3LbmLCLgxziWkozLo_n_ZyEEzGHtiLgr5OdHOvDe2wNID4ZsMUjJUMN4wA8b1_gqzqlBfOxtAifjHiIiqYHkt3wBxbvUGEOe8UrbpV8-E_m/w200-h141/warband%20character%20creation.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Warband Review" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Computer Game Infographic: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Warcraft-Orcs-and-Humans.html">WarCraft 1 Review</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Assembling this wore me out a bit:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Q5fWOXQOPMVE3J_yIJc0dMzi2o6jYHIMKJICs_j4HX86H8hVR7o2cwskFxc1l3j-QW26upMMi078qO494xBIpQBs-PSyLHsNpVLAqNeM1g_1igjKJEncqhp81aZJXz4Wzv93Gsn5m27I53i_0g2g3ElwTw7MbL7ATDyLVqbvps9GHGkSJ4vxoi9z9A/s2400/warcraft%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="800" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Q5fWOXQOPMVE3J_yIJc0dMzi2o6jYHIMKJICs_j4HX86H8hVR7o2cwskFxc1l3j-QW26upMMi078qO494xBIpQBs-PSyLHsNpVLAqNeM1g_1igjKJEncqhp81aZJXz4Wzv93Gsn5m27I53i_0g2g3ElwTw7MbL7ATDyLVqbvps9GHGkSJ4vxoi9z9A/w200-h93/warcraft%201.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Infographics from <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Shoot-em-ups-MS-DOS.html">History of Shoot 'em ups</a></h3><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I started to add more info to the images in this article, mainly because it was fun revisiting the ol' shoot 'em ups. This single article has 100+ infographics embedded. Here are eight:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qyMv8s6wPYHCkhXb79ns0dpC3TtigWGlM000RAmI55my0r6jMYmhP1nAzFZOr1hsX2oXD_KVy2oRFq8aQk_vsSgLkedBgNbkC3y4qdw4NKsivBq9nyWZEVZjYM9XUyjpAPse7RyxDnHd0hqdO6-AiT9S5VBxqmzF67l-kKyUdKPFX414A2UlK_OclCYk/s3000/agony%20amiga%201992.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="800" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qyMv8s6wPYHCkhXb79ns0dpC3TtigWGlM000RAmI55my0r6jMYmhP1nAzFZOr1hsX2oXD_KVy2oRFq8aQk_vsSgLkedBgNbkC3y4qdw4NKsivBq9nyWZEVZjYM9XUyjpAPse7RyxDnHd0hqdO6-AiT9S5VBxqmzF67l-kKyUdKPFX414A2UlK_OclCYk/w200-h81/agony%20amiga%201992.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Agony" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvdmy1F6GK7uEcGEpcPuC2hf5ttMxLT67qnlToT9aKWwDl7YqoYjukMwZ-nLoUPUX2y_vV8FlNk9zRq1fP0A8QtoBCzYKrJoFM-sVVAY3Ex1ie000R7DJmeqRd0JZNYVPqmFPS7RVICQWGPz97x5zxL_NkjkavpIQPe3DYMeTeuZwCmO4dOu8107KsVvW/s3000/zarch%20original%20acorn%20archimedes%201987%20lander%20demo.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="800" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvdmy1F6GK7uEcGEpcPuC2hf5ttMxLT67qnlToT9aKWwDl7YqoYjukMwZ-nLoUPUX2y_vV8FlNk9zRq1fP0A8QtoBCzYKrJoFM-sVVAY3Ex1ie000R7DJmeqRd0JZNYVPqmFPS7RVICQWGPz97x5zxL_NkjkavpIQPe3DYMeTeuZwCmO4dOu8107KsVvW/w200-h80/zarch%20original%20acorn%20archimedes%201987%20lander%20demo.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Zarch" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrlf8kBVA7iROQ5vDcHt0RGL1ro6VISeq5BonnzMfWgl2yQMmSWEcakSkkOaJ6wKoUDcoBzMQ9yh-qHDiSCb8ZDYfe5xaFvBsgqk5DJJrMKOJoG_O_1X1ADAPk6tejwNwCBcdIurgjgMWFRMisxIwUSXZnzhHRVY4uto1493GcdesKzNSGyJro8gCiaeW/s3000/virus%20david%20braben%201987-88.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="800" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrlf8kBVA7iROQ5vDcHt0RGL1ro6VISeq5BonnzMfWgl2yQMmSWEcakSkkOaJ6wKoUDcoBzMQ9yh-qHDiSCb8ZDYfe5xaFvBsgqk5DJJrMKOJoG_O_1X1ADAPk6tejwNwCBcdIurgjgMWFRMisxIwUSXZnzhHRVY4uto1493GcdesKzNSGyJro8gCiaeW/w200-h85/virus%20david%20braben%201987-88.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Virus" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nnyGivZSoBW5ZdYhbe9WP9C3Gkt3Pq4g1A31CJohn56M_9EkksiVWuLEFdFbqxUgvGNJ48O0k1yCNdI2DVGIH1FzWLuvwCXUmc6Vl6oei6qZeh1AgXNq-e2iUkMlUDgjvphRfhAOwWpSUsebGWzvyUialESCb3kefmDc-wu_ENRLQOM1f5YTMI2Vky3m/s3000/oids%20atari%20st%201987%20FTL.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="800" height="63" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nnyGivZSoBW5ZdYhbe9WP9C3Gkt3Pq4g1A31CJohn56M_9EkksiVWuLEFdFbqxUgvGNJ48O0k1yCNdI2DVGIH1FzWLuvwCXUmc6Vl6oei6qZeh1AgXNq-e2iUkMlUDgjvphRfhAOwWpSUsebGWzvyUialESCb3kefmDc-wu_ENRLQOM1f5YTMI2Vky3m/w200-h63/oids%20atari%20st%201987%20FTL.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Oids" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7lnkr80Ss8wlSn_yvmbXiNGExScUQJPNtg8M9cyr7RwI57NlhBls7RoHBli3JZ8O392GnCCaDhOJ74T6sLVoPn3MWGeYaTKzqqbpGGip_eY5ksQzDVwGq9pRiJRxTrr2C7HwGod9ixaFaYb4V_TxR2ppo_7gw6LJ69Ne9cg0iJuXvBtg_c_b__ybpBOU/s4000/goldrunner%20atari%20st%201987.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="800" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7lnkr80Ss8wlSn_yvmbXiNGExScUQJPNtg8M9cyr7RwI57NlhBls7RoHBli3JZ8O392GnCCaDhOJ74T6sLVoPn3MWGeYaTKzqqbpGGip_eY5ksQzDVwGq9pRiJRxTrr2C7HwGod9ixaFaYb4V_TxR2ppo_7gw6LJ69Ne9cg0iJuXvBtg_c_b__ybpBOU/w200-h87/goldrunner%20atari%20st%201987.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Gold Runner" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATRVT5sKH7uXZwDVCuxDm4VpifwyfXsV0NVjeG3_RDo9BX6l7UEIEldIVZGQW-S7fQ_qGxetP85k18HfIm1Ce-USQbeKqFC4ETeRgc1mNyFzPvbQ8FZsO8nHTcKX5Anub36jqCAJq1Hh9PaihaipcF_ILkS1xVsJypC6PTVJkgGxK8ndHJ37VeyCCkut7/s3000/apocalypse%20acorn%20archimedes%201990%20Jordan%20K.%20Key.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="800" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATRVT5sKH7uXZwDVCuxDm4VpifwyfXsV0NVjeG3_RDo9BX6l7UEIEldIVZGQW-S7fQ_qGxetP85k18HfIm1Ce-USQbeKqFC4ETeRgc1mNyFzPvbQ8FZsO8nHTcKX5Anub36jqCAJq1Hh9PaihaipcF_ILkS1xVsJypC6PTVJkgGxK8ndHJ37VeyCCkut7/w200-h106/apocalypse%20acorn%20archimedes%201990%20Jordan%20K.%20Key.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Apocalypse" width="200" /></a></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZFbSNWNlhpsYife-xpO6ax6xpWXLEYR653-qJks2RX2q44CXZxKyZTUuP2jdhd9701XNni_ixGBqR1-X3Cqz82_cDlB3zHtK27x9KMDS4jLqM-n6Ta4MHrBrmTsMdqCcIULD8NN7_eqk40EI1KGfoz7xveIEPXb5dJRcBnG5qPfak8GcEY1DewPAfalq/s4000/star%20fighter%203000%20acorn%20archimedes%20fednet%201994.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="800" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZFbSNWNlhpsYife-xpO6ax6xpWXLEYR653-qJks2RX2q44CXZxKyZTUuP2jdhd9701XNni_ixGBqR1-X3Cqz82_cDlB3zHtK27x9KMDS4jLqM-n6Ta4MHrBrmTsMdqCcIULD8NN7_eqk40EI1KGfoz7xveIEPXb5dJRcBnG5qPfak8GcEY1DewPAfalq/w200-h120/star%20fighter%203000%20acorn%20archimedes%20fednet%201994.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Star Fighter 3000" width="200" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fXiSjR_4nL5FseD0HaSQZpbr9lx6HvGWshKhaNlizqyG7fLFXBwokYQUeGUQa612id6hJcW7lN69q5g5_E11Azsr-VD3u-tl5jHZvpXU0hPHtrlUt7dM2x2AEU36fJJy9syCOcd5XyccGMLuQ6GubJIEFtEh2MP2sjvNAE3injfcyoqQ3rVmuGfu0QyX/s2000/seek%20and%20destroy%20MS-DOS%201996.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fXiSjR_4nL5FseD0HaSQZpbr9lx6HvGWshKhaNlizqyG7fLFXBwokYQUeGUQa612id6hJcW7lN69q5g5_E11Azsr-VD3u-tl5jHZvpXU0hPHtrlUt7dM2x2AEU36fJJy9syCOcd5XyccGMLuQ6GubJIEFtEh2MP2sjvNAE3injfcyoqQ3rVmuGfu0QyX/w200-h75/seek%20and%20destroy%20MS-DOS%201996.webp" title="Computer Game Infographic: Seek & Destroy" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><div><div><blockquote><i>Then, as often happens in human endeavors, the wild-eyed hack comes along to snatch a piece of the pie. In the name of the quick buck and click the hack cares not for the endeavor, the creative process or genre legacy, but only of shortcuts, leeching and leveling down to the lowest common denominator.</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div>cf.:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/03/Computer-Game-Language-of-the-cRPG-Blog-by-Lilura1.html">Computer Game Language of the cRPG Blog by Lilura1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">History of 1990s Computer Games by the cRPG Blog</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/Criticism-of-Computer-Game-Journalism.html">Criticism of Computer Game Journalism by the cRPG Blog</a></li><li>Return to: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-blog.html">cRPG Blog</a> (Master Index)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div></div></div></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-48951383927546441912022-06-10T22:30:00.063-07:002024-02-12T02:06:36.499-08:00SCS BG2<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;">This article was written by the author of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2024/01/History-of-1990s-Computer-Games.html">1990s Computer Game History</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">Computer Role-playing Games History</a>.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h1 style="text-align: center;">SCS BG2</h1><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWjoUNHd6bs0NEtdkbKN7fduoLrSBVR2rN0yPDkHAyPSYSCmqAS2Ifdt797aCkYVbTdTzPRf_mfy_To-dBooXTJcuaQAFxpI-_gBBn1_i3dj6dmOunR_efxKQUMGVndAkLhEBRRRofRmH/s800/sword+coast+stratagems.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="800" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWjoUNHd6bs0NEtdkbKN7fduoLrSBVR2rN0yPDkHAyPSYSCmqAS2Ifdt797aCkYVbTdTzPRf_mfy_To-dBooXTJcuaQAFxpI-_gBBn1_i3dj6dmOunR_efxKQUMGVndAkLhEBRRRofRmH/w320-h156/sword+coast+stratagems.jpg" title="BG2 SCS" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SCS 34.3</b> is the most recent release of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-Arcane-Party-Guide-Part-I.html">Sword Coast Stratagems</a> for BioWare <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPGs</a> of 1998-2000, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note that SCS now requires <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a> to be installed. SCS has also integrated <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a> since v16 2011, and its scripts support <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Spell-Revisions-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Spell Revisions</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">Before Installing SCS BG2</h3><div><br /></div><div>At its core, BG2 is not an actual authentic <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-turn-based-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-all-time-best-top-10.html">tactics cRPG</a>. Lacking even the survival aspect of the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">original Baldur's Gate</a>, BG2 is more of a general cRPG that appeals to a wide audience (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-1-vs-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-vs-BG2.html">BG1 vs BG2</a>). If you seek proper tactics cRPGs designed from the ground up for cRPG connoisseurs, tactics aficionados and champions of resource management (that is, <i>elite gamers</i>), SCS BG2 will not satisfy you because SCS is mostly just an AI mod for a tactics-<i>lite</i> game. Genuine tactical gameplay is offered by <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/jagged-alliance-2-113.html">Jagged Alliance 2 1.13</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/openxcom.html">OpenXcom</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/08/Silent-Storm-Retrospective-Review-Walkthrough-Guide-Tips-Cheats-Mods-Builds.html">Silent Storm</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/the-temple-of-elemental-evil-toee.html">ToEE</a>, not SCS BG2.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moreover, SCS BG2 does not seek to properly overhaul BG2's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/06/Combat-Encounter-Design-in-cRPGs.html">cRPG Combat Encounter Design</a> (CED). Enhanced AI and broad-brush enemy ability and enemy number scaling is NOT enough to make BG2 CED truly tactical or strategic. You also need to factor in campaign structure, area design, mob composition, mob <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Tactical-Formations-in-cRPGs-Formational-Movement-and-Positioning.html">formation</a> and resource management enforced by rest restrictions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/11/Swordflight-Chapter-Four-has-been-released.html">Swordflight</a> have better CED than BG2 because they are focused on the most important aspect of cRPGs, which is combat. As such, their campaign structure, area design, mob design and resource management are tailored to battle tactics and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/05/cRPG-Dungeons.html">cRPG dungeon</a> strategy; their <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-itemization.html">cRPG Itemization</a> is also much stricter. In addition, they don't constantly interrupt gameplay with banal narrative, torrential dialogue and unskippable cutscenes, which are part and parcel of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-design.html">cRPG Design</a> that seeks, above all, to appeal to a wide audience of <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">generalist gamers</span></b> who probably haven't even <b>heard of</b> the above-named tactics cRPGs, let alone played them, let alone played them modded to the hilt for <i>tactics</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is reflected in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/03/cRPG-Communities.html">BG2 community</a> "modding" focus. Instead of combat encounter design and strategic resource management mods, we instead see dozens of lame NPC mods, low-effort kit mods, and sad little spell and item mods -- as if BG2 was ever lacking in NPCs, kits, spells and items.</div><div><br /></div><div>What a laughing stock.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: center;">BG2 SCS Review: Obervations & Criticisms</h3><div><br /></div><div>SCS takes AGES to install. Even if we have an SSD, Super-CPU and loads of RAM. And the installation can bug-out in both batch and incremental install modes, yet <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Tactics-Mod-BG2.html">Tactics Mod BG2</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Ascension-BG2.html">Ascension BG2</a> flawlessly install in the <i>blink of an eye</i>. I have installed them 20 or 30 times over the years; they have never failed me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tactics and Ascension don't have all the features and tailorability of SCS, but they give a solid boost to BG2 difficulty without all the fuss and bother. And let us remember that SCS is <i>built from concepts originated by such older mods</i> and has been in development for <b>15 years longer than them</b>. SCS wasn't the first mod to beef up BG2. Or even BG1 for that matter. For example, SCS employs Dark Side of the Sword Coast kobolds.</div><div><br />Indeed, <a href="http://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/06/Dark-Side-of-the-Sword-Coast-Overview.html">Dark Side of the Sword Coast</a> (June, 2000) is the best mod ever made for an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> game, not SCS. DSotSC works on the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">original BG1</a> as well -- SCS doesn't, never has and never will. SCS doesn't work properly on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Best-Mods-Guide-Quest-mods-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Tutu-EasyTutu-BGT-GateKeeper.html">EasyTutu</a> anymore, either (see below section on bugs).</div><div><br /><b>The original BG1 is harder than SCS BG1 in the BG2 engine</b>, which again -- laughably -- is the <i>only</i> way SCS can be played: in the <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">BG2 engine</span></b>. WHICH ISN'T BG1. More accurately, we are not playing BG1 in the BG2 engine but are rather playing the <b style="color: red;">BG2 engine skinned with BG1 campaign assets</b>: <b>an abomination</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The original BG1 does not have Rest Until Healed, 100% spell learning, Max HPs on level-up, inventory pause, nerfed respawns, nerfed waylays, nerfed poison, nerfed disease, nerfed enemy powers, fast movement, a dozen OP kits, 19 Strength in chargen, invincible summons, OP familiars, blanket ward modals, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Best-Dual-Wield-Weapons-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">dual-wielding</a>, double crit threat range, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Classes-Sorcerer-Solo-Build-Best-Spells-Spell-picks-Stats-Items-Sorcerer-vs-Mage.html">BG2 Sorcerer</a>, and hundreds of extra spells, items and abilities. Want an authentic challenge? Play the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">original BG1</a> -- a historically significant PC game, unlike its sequel.</div><div><br />SCS is now reliant on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a>. <b>Solution</b>: Just play an older version of SCS -- before the bloat and reliances.</div><div><br />Another problem I have with SCS is that it seeks to preserve much of BG2's terrible combat encounter design. SCS modifies the AI and adds optional components that fly in the face of dev intent -- even going so far as to introduce <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/12/Icewind-Dale-Enhanced-Edition-Review.html">Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition</a> spells into the <i>Original BG2</i> (a disgusting option; see also <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/IWDification-Mod.html">IWDification Mod</a>) -- but shies away from adding an option to modify mob composition and mob positioning to <i>a similar extent</i>. That is, SCS only seeks to address one half of combat encounter design.</div><div><br />SCS doesn't give enemies initial positioning <i>formations</i> like Black Isle did in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">IWD1</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">IWD2</a>, and aVENGER did in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/04/Siege-of-Dragonspear-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Siege of Dragonspear</a>. Enemies are not spaced out in lines, files and wedges but rather spawned into <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Z55FcmKmwzl8KmgB-xKeo2B1a77zRaDHPeyXMyfsRHaRx5BhaOvNi_uwX3TEQmKotk6xJVTHTmCdePAP4GvYQr1-xYivAVKDW7GE1bEUCsCwZCpSi5Yxk710rDLQlXxA56r6KKXCCHEr/s16000/waylays.jpg">untactical blobs</a>. If enemy AI is smarter, wouldn't enemies position themselves better in the first place?</div><div><br /><b>IWD of 1999 offers much better combat gameplay than SCS does in 2024</b>. That's because IWD is a proper combat cRPG whereas SCS is built on BG2, whose campaign framework is non-committal in focus. Again, BG2 is a <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">reddit RPG Game</span></b> that appeals to mainstream "sensibilities." A <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">theme-park RPG Game</span></b> through and through, BG2 can't be turned into a tactical cRPG without first being demolished and then rebuilt from the ground up.</div><div><br /></div><div>But since the BG2 community can't stop polishing what amounts to a turd:</div><div><br />It would be much better if mobs of enemies could <i>move in formation </i>and regroup for consolidation, like the player's party can.</div><div><br />There needs to be more ranged attackers (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/11/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Classes-Archer-THAC0-Lord-Stat-draining-Sniper-Called-Shot.html">Archer BG2</a>). And they need to be placed behind obstructions so that avenue of approach is limited. Archers should have terrain advantage. Avenue of approach and terrain advantage are super-basic yet highly impactful tactical concepts that SCS doen't even <i>begin</i> to employ.</div><div><br />In order to eliminate rest-spam, rest restrictions should be enforced in all combat areas. You shouldn't be able to rest to heal and replenish spell slots after every battle. Enforced rest restrictions makes players more careful: they don't want to incur damage, they don't waste spells. Players should be forced to use healing potions and spells if they incur damage. Or backtrack to a temple or inn. Sloppy players should be punished with tedium.</div><div><br />A component that increases mob-size across the board should be added. Mobs in BG2 are pathetically small.</div><div><br />Where appropriate, mob composition should be semi-randomized. The original BG2 barely put any thought into mob composition anyway, so who cares if generic mobs are randomly composed?</div><div><br />For every dialogue segment, a <b>skip dialogue</b> option should be included. Like <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Tweaks-Anthology-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Tweaks Anthology</a> did with Gaelan Bayle's nonsense. Hell, why not remove most dialogue completely, including interjections? For veterans, these are nothing but time-wasters.</div><div><br />Umber Hulks in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1 Original</a> pulsate round-by-round AoE Confusion, even if they don't know we're there (invisible). Why don't SCS umber hulks? In addition, IWD1 Original salamanders have AoE cold and fire auras. Why don't SCS salamanders?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdKIWT_Gqx-D1TGVS19JwhhaFFjPAN2xRv5N2OEtBAjr6qacbLy13BmB_7htbCp8oU7Z1zjq7qLtHWklAvdj48GKc02NpTQhHvjhquq0VQAk347kM02zaT1k0qJoR_2bRZaAE1Gz9nA5a/s1200/1.1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="1200" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdKIWT_Gqx-D1TGVS19JwhhaFFjPAN2xRv5N2OEtBAjr6qacbLy13BmB_7htbCp8oU7Z1zjq7qLtHWklAvdj48GKc02NpTQhHvjhquq0VQAk347kM02zaT1k0qJoR_2bRZaAE1Gz9nA5a/w320-h169/1.1.jpg" title="frost salamander cold aura" width="320" /></a></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rj4jsq_al98YX7kYs-RcrwLUZ069eQgFiDMjw53c4taeySJ3WpujNPriiYXMhdjMRmdAjWMDVi5arYcWcu1qDyckiwWf117Zl0eGup-la4dzrn6QG5A9glTwuYrIwQ9TQHhIyLzxfIHz/s1200/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="1200" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rj4jsq_al98YX7kYs-RcrwLUZ069eQgFiDMjw53c4taeySJ3WpujNPriiYXMhdjMRmdAjWMDVi5arYcWcu1qDyckiwWf117Zl0eGup-la4dzrn6QG5A9glTwuYrIwQ9TQHhIyLzxfIHz/w320-h113/1.jpg" title="fire salamander fire aura" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">SCS Difficulty</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most notably, SCS now (optionally) ties the difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings (the ones the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> can or does <i>natively</i> scale) to the <b>difficulty slider</b>: Options → Gameplay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We can also tailor mod options on the fly through dialogue selections called up by a special ability modal:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZRqFDSdjegcM_IHuSbkwzTccHl2waWH_IXMQreKV-gGL4EVqH50mcMdsb_m4uAG57AuAEwXLjYKNWPsxlihAXjkSH37TujKt0p_2RmApgeAmSWleffqSdm2LFMHzLyz9a_RbR_14L4brNoiYv333wiUYGKCE24BOonRumph-dgJFeEyiTVuLvYBSm_Q=s950" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="950" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZRqFDSdjegcM_IHuSbkwzTccHl2waWH_IXMQreKV-gGL4EVqH50mcMdsb_m4uAG57AuAEwXLjYKNWPsxlihAXjkSH37TujKt0p_2RmApgeAmSWleffqSdm2LFMHzLyz9a_RbR_14L4brNoiYv333wiUYGKCE24BOonRumph-dgJFeEyiTVuLvYBSm_Q=w200-h136" title="SCS settings" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Example: By choosing option 20 for the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Shadows-of-Amn-Side-Quest-Commentary-and-Criticism-de-Arnise-Keep.html">de'Arnise Keep</a>, we get this submenu:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwq7-djkfpt_FBUT3Cm655D1zbttGMG2nLcgVpt-ek1gsmg9pPlvBz2hnBd-SMuC9MphkBhtpQZhDWKDbxomptL7cKbedh8XgJjJ_W-zkm3Xku-B8F-5Bag46L6c9B7nnkMCRSCzU-xOGgqndTpARfRJL5BknyV4R6SeFX25C4l4ySe0L5rFFLBu9GDg=s1018" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="1018" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwq7-djkfpt_FBUT3Cm655D1zbttGMG2nLcgVpt-ek1gsmg9pPlvBz2hnBd-SMuC9MphkBhtpQZhDWKDbxomptL7cKbedh8XgJjJ_W-zkm3Xku-B8F-5Bag46L6c9B7nnkMCRSCzU-xOGgqndTpARfRJL5BknyV4R6SeFX25C4l4ySe0L5rFFLBu9GDg=w200-h84" title="SCS Difficulty" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such customizability is powerful, flexible and useful: we can experiment with different setups without having to reinstall components of the mod every time we want to make a change. On the other hand, it makes our settings non-committal if we're adjusting settings on the fly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">SCS Batch Install</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ability to perform a <b>batch install</b> is cool: we select all of our options first, then let WeiDu install them all at once, while we do something else.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pity it's buggy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/IWDification-Mod.html">IWDification</a> of SCS</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, SCS has optionally added <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/12/Icewind-Dale-Enhanced-Edition-Review.html">Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition</a> arcane and divine spells. If installed, it will probably make the game easier due to having access to more powerful summons, buffs and so on because <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Icewind-Dale-IWD1-Walkthrough-Guide-Part-I-Overview-Character-Creation-Best-Build-Best-Party-Composition-World-Map-Ruleset.html">Icewind Dale 1 Original</a> is famous for its martial buffs such as arcane <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/search/label/IWD1%20Emotion%20spells">Emotion Spells</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Righteous-Wrath-of-the-Faithful-Icewind-Dale-1.html">divine buffs</a>, which together result in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2-Best-Lowest-THAC0.html">THAC0</a> +10, damage +9, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Vancian-Magic-System-Spellcasting-Mechanics-Casting-Time-Spell-Disruption.html">saving throws</a> +8, HPs +7-13 and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/04/Baldurs-Gate-BG1-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Attack-per-Round-ApR.html">ApR</a> +1.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">SCS Item Changes</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumx3Qj5cw4SPOsTux48kdhGCJRy9VJkggMzFZVzWoX3YieO2NwxG2eTDW4cUxYq-GrNRmsjjupI8enfp9aAxjOmNMcQzx5tOGKx_DPaXgQPXLKnAhJX241Zomte2GpfPGgLvPbiqFMddT/s1600/carsomyr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="700" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumx3Qj5cw4SPOsTux48kdhGCJRy9VJkggMzFZVzWoX3YieO2NwxG2eTDW4cUxYq-GrNRmsjjupI8enfp9aAxjOmNMcQzx5tOGKx_DPaXgQPXLKnAhJX241Zomte2GpfPGgLvPbiqFMddT/w320-h141/carsomyr.jpg" title="SCS BG2 Items" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>SCS item modifications are toggled in Stratagems.ini with =0/=1.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>no_item_nerf_balduran_shield (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Shield-of-Balduran-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Shield of Balduran</a>)</li><li>no_item_nerf_magi_staff (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Weapons-Staff-of-the-Magi-SotM-Uncapped-on-hit-Dispel-Magic-8-hour-Spell-Trap-on-equip-Invisibility.html">Staff of the Magi</a>)</li><li>no_item_nerf_mirror_cloak (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Cloak-of-Mirroring-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Cloak of Mirroring</a>)</li><li>no_item_nerf_carsomyr (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Weapons-Holy-Avenger-Carsomyr-5-6-On-hit-Dispel-Magic-Resistance-stackable.html">Carsomyr</a>)</li><li>no_item_nerf_vhailor_helm (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Vhailors-Helm-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Vhailor's Helm</a>)</li><li>no_item_nerf_vecna (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Items-Robe-of-Vecna-RoV-Spellcasting-Time-Reduction-Casting-Speed.html">Robe of Vecna</a>)</li><li>no_initial_change_elemental_arrows (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Best-Arrows-Baldurs-Gate-1.html">Best Arrows Baldur's Gate</a>)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">SCS 34.3 Bugs</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A lot of BG2 mods have <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">installation bugs</span></b> in 2023. I don't remember mods having installation bugs in the past. They certainly had lots of bugs, but not <i>installation</i> bugs. It's really annoying to spend time installing a mod that, in the end, skips a component or even <i>refuses to load chargen</i>. Quality of BG2 modding seems to have taken a nose-dive of late (and it was <i>never</i> high), and that's why I usually stick with old versions of mods -- that actually <i>work</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Installation is pristine BG2: SoA & ToB installation patched to v2.5.26498.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><ul><li>Incremental (step-by-step) installation of "<b><span style="color: red;">Improved Fiends & Celestials</span></b>" component could not install. Batch mode worked, though.</li><li><b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">SCS 34.3 bug</span></b>: Search this document for "<b>Basic Installation</b>" (no quotes). Baldur's Gate 2 hangs while loading <i>chargen</i>. In 20 years of my playing BG2, I have never had BG2 hang while loading character generation. Ever.</li><li><b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">SCS 34.3 bug</span></b>: SCS seems to be playing around with HD rolls under EasyTutu installs. How to test: reduce difficulty to Easy for max HD rolls, make a Dwarf with 19 Con and level to the cap (=120 HPs, as expected). Now install SCS and do the same. You'll get a random HD roll. Uninstall SCS. Do the same. Back to 120 HPs. Next test: Install SCS v20. HPs? 120. Exact same installation foundation.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>I'd like to invest more time in SCS 34.3, but my v.30 setup (see: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mods-Guide-Weidu-log-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Ascension-ToBEX-NPC.html">Best BG2 Mods</a>) has been rock solid for several playthroughs now (even with RR + aTweaks), so I'm not sure how much time I'll dedicate to experimenting with 34.3. Also, the SCS documentation suggests that aTweaks may have compatibility issues with 34.3.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">WeiDu Log for the SCS 34.3 Installation</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h4 style="text-align: center;">TobEx - Core: Beta 0025 + Improved GUI</h4><div><div><br /></div><div>See: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Enable Animation Attack Sounds: Beta 0025</li><li>Make All Attack Animations Genuine Attacks: Beta 0025</li><li>Colorize icon of not memorized scrolls</li><li>Hide "Write magic" button for already known spells and for opposition schools</li><li>Show Hit Points on NPC/Party -> All NPC + Party</li><li>THAC0 and Damage info on Inventory screen</li><li>Dark portraits on party when dragging not allowed item</li><li>Show Total Roll on Character Generation screen</li><li>Journal with folding quests -> Large text area</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">Ascension v1.41 Components</h4><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_WJxvHPqsvWM_KqiGzk0pNIQEsSnk-wOr_3Ihrg3DWh6vbHQ4hhSiKZuico2FsbgvWMHUv869IaBD-y2VXEK5gCvI56YqUCdzlwQon4Fu9neBqFUlKnb7FCsW1HByqIETcWRONbTaSK5nlj7uDXXFvLPkjGHgdbWf1d0t4dnInew6ShKxk4Zhw9GeuQ=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="800" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_WJxvHPqsvWM_KqiGzk0pNIQEsSnk-wOr_3Ihrg3DWh6vbHQ4hhSiKZuico2FsbgvWMHUv869IaBD-y2VXEK5gCvI56YqUCdzlwQon4Fu9neBqFUlKnb7FCsW1HByqIETcWRONbTaSK5nlj7uDXXFvLPkjGHgdbWf1d0t4dnInew6ShKxk4Zhw9GeuQ=w320-h162" title="SCS 34.3" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Tougher <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Abazigal-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Abazigal BG2</a></li><li>Original Tougher Demogorgon</li><li>Tougher <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Gromnir-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Gromnir BG2</a></li><li>Tougher <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Illasera-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Illasera BG2</a></li><li>Tougher <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Yaga-Shura-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Yaga-Shura BG2</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">BG2 Fixpack Components</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a>: Core Fixes: v10</li><li>Game Text Update -> GTU Light (by Wisp): v10</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">SCS 34.3 WeiDu log</h4><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Include arcane spells from <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/12/Icewind-Dale-Enhanced-Edition-Review.html">Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition</a></li><li>Include divine spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition</li><li>Faster Bears</li><li>Improved shapeshifting (<a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Classes-Shapeshifter-Werewolf-Greater-Werewolf.html">Shapeshifter BG2</a>)</li><li>Ease-of-use party AI</li><li>Cosmetic change: stop Stoneskins from changing the caster's colour</li><li><b>Initialise AI components</b> (required for all tactical and AI components)</li><li>Smarter general AI</li><li>Better calls for help</li><li>Smarter Mages</li><li>Smarter Priests</li><li>Potions for NPCs</li><li>Improved Spiders</li><li>Improved golems</li><li><b><span style="color: red;">Improved fiends and celestials</span></b></li><li>Smarter genies</li><li>Smarter dragons</li><li>Smarter beholders</li><li>Smarter mind flayers</li><li>Smarter githyanki</li><li>Improved <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-Arcane-Party-Guide-Part-III.html">Vampires SCS</a></li><li>Smarter <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Throne-of-Bhaal-Retrospective.html">Throne of Bhaal</a> final villain</li><li>Smarter <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/07/Throne-of-Bhaal-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-SCS-Illasera.html">Illasera SCS</a></li><li>Smarter <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/07/Throne-of-Bhaal-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-SCS-Gromnir-Karun-the-Black.html">Gromnir SCS</a></li><li>Smarter <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/07/Throne-of-Bhaal-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-SCS-Yaga-Shura.html">Yaga-Shura SCS</a></li><li>Smarter Abazigal SCS</li><li>Ascension versions of Irenicus and Sendai use SCS abilities and AI</li><li>Make the starting dungeon slightly harder</li><li>Improved Shade Lord</li><li>Spellcasting Demiliches</li><li>Tie difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings to the difficulty slider</li><li>Improved Random Encounters</li><li>Improved de'Arnise Keep ("Tactics Remix")</li><li>Improved Unseeing Eye</li><li>Improved <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BODHI-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Bodhi BG2</a></li><li>Ascension version of Bodhi uses Improved-Bodhi abilities</li><li>Improved battle with Irenicus in Spellhold</li><li>Improved Sahuagin</li><li>Improved Beholder hive</li><li>Improved Drow</li><li>Improved Watcher's Keep</li><li>Improved Fire Giant temple</li><li>Improved Sendai's Enclave</li><li>Improved Abazigal's Lair</li><li>Improved Minor Encounters</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Install Bigger Fonts for Baldur's Gate 2: v0.1.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">SCS 34.3 Basic Installation</h4><div><br /></div><div>Under this <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">basic</span></b> SCS installation (no Improveds, no Smarters), Baldur's Gate 2 <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">hangs</span></b> while loading <i>chargen</i> (new game, starts to load, hangs). The installation is pristine BG2: SoA & ToB installation patched to v2.5.26498, then patched with Fixpack v13. Before installing SCS, Baldur's Gate 2 worked with Fixpack v13.</div><div><br /></div><div>SCS was <b>batch-installed</b>. Note that the above installation (SCS 34.3 WeiDu log) was also batch-installed, yet did not hang.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a> - Core Fixes: v13</li><li>BG2 Fixpack - Game Text Update -> GTU Light (by Wisp): v13</li><li>Improved Spell Animations: v13</li><li>Remove Dual-Classing Restriction from Archers and Stalkers: v13</li><li>Wizard Slayers Cause Miscast Magic on Ranged Attacks: v13</li><li>Include arcane spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: 34.3</li><li>Include divine spells from Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: 34.3</li><li>Faster Bears: 34.3</li><li>Improved shapeshifting: 34.3</li><li>Treat mages' and priests' High-Level Abilities as innate abilities rather than memorisable spells (each may be taken only once): 34.3</li><li>Ease-of-use party AI: 34.3</li><li>Cosmetic change: stop Stoneskins from changing the caster's colour: 34.3</li><li>Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): 34.3</li><li>Smarter general AI: 34.3</li><li>Better calls for help: 34.3</li><li>Tie difficulty of level-dependent monster groupings to the difficulty slider: 34.3</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;">SCS Summon Spells</h4><div><br /></div><div><b>Spell Scroll item codes for testing the new summon spells</b>:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Monster-Summoning-4-Icewind-Dale-1.html">Monster Summoning 4 IWD</a>: <span>CLUAConsole:CreateItem("</span><span>CDIA610</span><span>")</span> Ogre Mages (ghost armor, 52 HPs) and yuan-ti (48 HPs)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Monster-Summoning-5-Icewind-Dale-1.html">Monster Summoning 5 IWD</a>: <span>CLUAConsole:CreateItem("</span><span>CDIA725</span><span>")</span> Minotaur (45 HPs), Troll (50 HPs)</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Monster-Summoning-6-Icewind-Dale-1.html">Monster Summoning 6 IWD</a>: <span>CLUAConsole:CreateItem("</span><span>CDIA821</span><span>")</span> Fire Salamander (56 HPs), Frost Salamander (56 HPs), Giant Troll (101 HPs) </li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Monster-Summoning-7-Icewind-Dale-1.html">Monster Summoning 7 IWD</a>: <span>CLUAConsole:CreateItem("</span><span>CDIA901</span><span>")</span> Umber Hulk (Confusion, 64 HPs), Ettin (80 HPs)</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div>
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<table id="simple_table"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Original</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Tactics-Mod-BG2.html">Tactics Mod BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1 Original</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mods-Guide-Weidu-log-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Ascension-ToBEX-NPC.html">BG2 Best Mods</a></td><td>SCS BG2</td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Best-Mods-Guide-Quest-mods-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Tutu-EasyTutu-BGT-GateKeeper.html">BG1 Best Mods</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Improved-GUI.html">BG2 Improved GUI</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/06/Dark-Side-of-the-Sword-Coast-Overview.html">Dark Side of the Sword Coast</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Ascension-BG2.html">Ascension BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/IWDification-Mod.html">IWDification Mod</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Baldurs-Gate-Key-Quest-Mod-Itemization.html">DSotSC Items</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-Arcane-Party-Guide-Part-I.html">Sword Coast Stratagems Guide</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-The-Drizzt-Saga.html">Drizzt Saga Baldur's Gate</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br /></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-47154379095271750442022-06-10T22:27:00.013-07:002023-12-22T20:38:35.604-08:00Evil Companions Baldur's Gate<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Evil Companions Baldur's Gate</h1><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Evil companions are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html" style="text-align: left;">Baldur's Gate companions</a> of Evil alignment in BioWare's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html" style="text-align: left;">cRPG</a> of 1998-2001, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html" style="text-align: left;">Baldur's Gate</a><span style="text-align: left;">. Evil companions begin to</span> complain if our reputation starts to rise, and may leave the party if it soars. If an evil companion leaves the party as a result of high reputation, they will never be seen or heard from again. Note that Viconia and Sarevok can shift to Good alignment in BG2.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUy6s4hklzZnfS9fkZF-YZ-7M-kItoBdaTqZ_CKQqwdbSlMXAttjy1wqxkqC2VYIHaLCast_eXvP4nr6HNg2Jbvum51aPEeI4PqRrkj8_h2JGkIQdh_QvMyn75HD-L0oXXhIvbEw4aXRQs/s1600/evil+companions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUy6s4hklzZnfS9fkZF-YZ-7M-kItoBdaTqZ_CKQqwdbSlMXAttjy1wqxkqC2VYIHaLCast_eXvP4nr6HNg2Jbvum51aPEeI4PqRrkj8_h2JGkIQdh_QvMyn75HD-L0oXXhIvbEw4aXRQs/w320-h168/evil+companions.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate Companions of Evil Alignment" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">List of Evil-aligned Companions in Baldur's Gate</h3><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are seven Evil-aligned companions in BG1 and four in BG2. The best Evil companion in BG1 is Edwin, and the best Evil companion in BG2 is also Edwin. Companions of Evil alignment are as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Edwin-Odesseiron-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Edwin BG1</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Edwin-Odesseiron-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Edwin BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Eldoth-Kron-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Eldoth BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Kagain-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Kagain BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Korgan-Bloodaxe-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Korgan BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Sarevok-Anchev-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Sarevok BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Shar-Teel-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Shar-Teel BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Tiax-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Tiax BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Viconia-DeVir-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Viconia BG1</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Viconia-DeVir-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Viconia BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Xzar-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Xzar BG1</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0cPC7Jl41g646rBHhRfFMwu7mF3uksvCt7dPLk5_i12OyN6mBnb8ti71ZB7-tBpSlEiDsuich6tOqvBMOX0BFesItaNYqdjJ6JwVqnLIjjN_E4r_Ru2g5Quwfm9vuRoHfcJ-zV937jqzVFFmAkTVfJ0V0J-vF7xGEQrENhhPYeHMrW-uwDzDvS7bVw/s1600/evil%20companions%20leave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="1600" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0cPC7Jl41g646rBHhRfFMwu7mF3uksvCt7dPLk5_i12OyN6mBnb8ti71ZB7-tBpSlEiDsuich6tOqvBMOX0BFesItaNYqdjJ6JwVqnLIjjN_E4r_Ru2g5Quwfm9vuRoHfcJ-zV937jqzVFFmAkTVfJ0V0J-vF7xGEQrENhhPYeHMrW-uwDzDvS7bVw/w320-h87/evil%20companions%20leave.jpg" title="Evil companions leave" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As can be seen above, only BG1 supports a six-person party of Evil alignment but both BG1 and BG2 support six-person parties of Good and Neutral alignment. Note that mixed-alignment parties are viable though factional rivalry and personality clashes may cause problems anyway.</div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3mhoZyFXhYBjM1ZaRMJiU9qG1vJZ9PLbqmmISZoe3-nx7H4J-2emJn8vuRrHSBPfPrFCZgKHqAQtzgRWGRCdsJ7jw5oZjsYZrVwkYmrVaFIRNZ5kQMwegmwP6RWPwLIKmRUTQoPYg2yO/s1600/xzar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="1200" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3mhoZyFXhYBjM1ZaRMJiU9qG1vJZ9PLbqmmISZoe3-nx7H4J-2emJn8vuRrHSBPfPrFCZgKHqAQtzgRWGRCdsJ7jw5oZjsYZrVwkYmrVaFIRNZ5kQMwegmwP6RWPwLIKmRUTQoPYg2yO/w320-h73/xzar.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" title="Baldur's Gate Evil companions leave" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Baldur's Gate companion reactivity consists in reputation, reaction, faction and personality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-II-Reputational-Reactivity.html">Reputation Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-III-Reaction-based-Reactivity.html">Reaction Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-IV-Companion-based-reactivity-Factional-Rivalry.html">Factional Rivalry Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-V-Companion-based-reactivity-Personality-Clashes.html">Personality Clashes Baldur's Gate</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Readers are referred to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG reactivity</a> for a general overview of the concept of reactivity.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w320-h164/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Good-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Good Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Neutral-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
<td>Evil Companions Baldur's Gate</td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Best Baldur's Gate Companions</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-walkthrough.html">Baldur's Gate Walkthrough</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> (Index)</td>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-76561802442319221122022-06-10T22:26:00.013-07:002023-12-22T20:38:56.596-08:00Good-Aligned Companions Baldur's Gate<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Good-Aligned Companions Baldur's Gate</h1><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Good-aligned companions are <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate companions</a> of good alignment in BioWare's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> of 1998-2001, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a>. Good-aligned companions begin to complain if our reputation starts to drop, and may leave the party forever -- or even try to kill us -- if our reputation plummets.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLNPd254GPh1a-dyXy_UwHXleie6dPEdgZpXR9TD7YZsF6lkzkYAnmSkxbbrsZHQe0Mn-cWX4fnhS-ih2RtrHokVxW0AJhLdunKzR-CP3ZmSJ7qRRweKBQj2Ztextgcwaq1qZFc-9Yo-7/s1600/good+portraits.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1600" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLNPd254GPh1a-dyXy_UwHXleie6dPEdgZpXR9TD7YZsF6lkzkYAnmSkxbbrsZHQe0Mn-cWX4fnhS-ih2RtrHokVxW0AJhLdunKzR-CP3ZmSJ7qRRweKBQj2Ztextgcwaq1qZFc-9Yo-7/w320-h126/good+portraits.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate Companions of Good Alignment" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">List of Good-Aligned Companions in Baldur's Gate</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are eight Good-aligned companions in BG1 and seven in BG2. The best Good companions in BG1 are Imoen, Kivan and Coran, and the best Good companions in BG2 are Aerie, Nalia and Keldorn. Companions of Good-alignment are as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Aerie-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Aerie BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Ajantis-Ilvastarr-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Ajantis BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Coran-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Coran BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Dynaheir-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Dynaheir BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Imoen-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Imoen BG1</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Imoen-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Imoen BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Keldorn-Firecam-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Keldorn BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Khalid-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Khalid BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Kivan-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Kivan BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Mazzy-Fentan-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Mazzy BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Nalia-de-Arnise-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Nalia BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Minsc-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Minsc BG1</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Minsc-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Minsc BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Valygar-Corthala-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Valygar BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Yeslick-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Yeslick BG1</a></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>Note that Imoen BG1 does not leave the party even if our reputation is at rock-bottom.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjozwFsdmICCR_1PdhpbtVJ5haP5-l9N-H5-toV8A5EQIUlo5jWt_oXk5H9NGBmDoqV7oXF_GpveAzAxRpx3KFonTChSYtwV1j-PWEFSaYv3VAL9n0YWUq9hQSXXIOyJXIq120auM3Xki/s1600/minsc.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="1200" height="31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjozwFsdmICCR_1PdhpbtVJ5haP5-l9N-H5-toV8A5EQIUlo5jWt_oXk5H9NGBmDoqV7oXF_GpveAzAxRpx3KFonTChSYtwV1j-PWEFSaYv3VAL9n0YWUq9hQSXXIOyJXIq120auM3Xki/w320-h31/minsc.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" title="Good-aligned companions Baldur's Gate" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAe7S-qJTQZuKQwPVE9PYdL2NRjvE20j5E60D8IzAh2qvUX0-2SatzN5a9UNAqnXQQ1_EseVUTQdnOb1XR-AgXxu4Cxbd1PaCGj8XRYtG7bS-cypASuLynTKqPq-dZImq6MWeMlJqly2YEVCKmNN6g0b0Oj2ZTqsr5_ctoIFVMMN-Mkzr2dgv5JXE2g/s1600/good%20companions%20leave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1600" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAe7S-qJTQZuKQwPVE9PYdL2NRjvE20j5E60D8IzAh2qvUX0-2SatzN5a9UNAqnXQQ1_EseVUTQdnOb1XR-AgXxu4Cxbd1PaCGj8XRYtG7bS-cypASuLynTKqPq-dZImq6MWeMlJqly2YEVCKmNN6g0b0Oj2ZTqsr5_ctoIFVMMN-Mkzr2dgv5JXE2g/w320-h80/good%20companions%20leave.jpg" title="Good companions leave" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Baldur's Gate companion reactivity consists in reputation, reaction, faction and personality.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-II-Reputational-Reactivity.html">Reputation Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-III-Reaction-based-Reactivity.html">Reaction Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-IV-Companion-based-reactivity-Factional-Rivalry.html">Factional Rivalry Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-V-Companion-based-reactivity-Personality-Clashes.html">Personality Clashes Baldur's Gate</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Readers are referred to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG reactivity</a> for a general overview of the concept of reactivity.</div><div><br /></div></div></div>
<div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w320-h164/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /></div>
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<td>Good Companions Baldur's Gate</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Neutral-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Evil-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Evil Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Best Baldur's Gate Companions</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-walkthrough.html">Baldur's Gate Walkthrough</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> (Index)</td>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-6124090872813474172022-06-10T19:39:00.018-07:002023-12-22T23:07:59.248-08:00CHARNAME, Baldur's Gate<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">CHARNAME Baldur's Gate</h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJmm3JCuPvPB36ealvQyulbb0Wm96o_ud3DE5D2kc78T5m84j7VeTnn_H5c76ZWdUtuCG8QOrctOtVU_7-JYiQffe7kLopKpin_RT8ttvcRoGm_qWwlzYlSvGrLv3Mk019AFBsgqRGQPtTvByYvVQ0k-EWZnHTqz2qSgBmqMyNzEuzlPt-j6x2h_Yiw/s800/CHARNAME%20Baldur's%20Gate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="800" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJmm3JCuPvPB36ealvQyulbb0Wm96o_ud3DE5D2kc78T5m84j7VeTnn_H5c76ZWdUtuCG8QOrctOtVU_7-JYiQffe7kLopKpin_RT8ttvcRoGm_qWwlzYlSvGrLv3Mk019AFBsgqRGQPtTvByYvVQ0k-EWZnHTqz2qSgBmqMyNzEuzlPt-j6x2h_Yiw/w320-h91/CHARNAME%20Baldur's%20Gate.jpg" title="CHARNAME Baldur's Gate" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>CHARNAME</b> is a name that refers to the player character in BioWare's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> series of 1998-2001, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a>. Charname is simply a shortening of <b>Character Name</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Charname refers to a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Bhaalspawn-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Bhaalspawn</a> who, most notably, defeats <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/Sarevok-BG1-Baldurs-Gate-1.html">Sarevok</a> in Baldur's Gate, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/Irenicus-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Irenicus</a> in Baldur's Gate 2 and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/THE-RAVAGER-BG2-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">The Ravager</a> in the <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Throne-of-Bhaal-Retrospective.html">Throne of Bhaal</a> expansion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Charname is one of the most famous protagonists in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/crpg-history.html">cRPG History</a>; only the Vault Dweller of <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Fallout-1-Retrospective-Review-Time-based-Reactivity.html">Fallout 1</a> contends.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/s4500/baldur's%20gate.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="4500" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXTcghZma4WpnYasgbRWGT2PN_i3iajabtCzYNUM8mwUIGcQJ81lS8vf8g6RiyhlHwITFpCwnst2yQrDKwofX67MrWJFBi1n05_GFYXOkOVhyLTr-b-RuFVrsNDHzImbwPNNaJ7usHJ4t6xHEaewBIDEwhUGc4p7au2J34axTnN54pskj2jVtio1o4g/w320-h81/baldur's%20gate.jpg" title="CHARNAME Baldur's Gate" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>When not referred to by given name, Charname is often referred to by NPCs as the <b>Child of Bhaal</b> or simply as <b>Bhaalspawn</b> (BG2-only). <b>Ward of Gorion</b> and <b>Gorion's Ward</b> are also employed by official text.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">CHARNAME Origin</h3><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYmx8XBX-08gFo1xAwR7IQ1GbuZPtptZknnMWpv-0Bgj3lNTljRUoHrSyXXFXutLO_J2_COBc1Mqd8dxj5_0ZtmW9yQBJV9qHP0fCV6f7ReAJWmnfbZUhAfwZ69bN5O4O8PLKYHX_6zhSgpzYihRWCsfOfZLPcxm5Qmv3U36PbnAR9kx-gv_2aGHB_Q/s2000/crpg%20stats%20example.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="2000" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYmx8XBX-08gFo1xAwR7IQ1GbuZPtptZknnMWpv-0Bgj3lNTljRUoHrSyXXFXutLO_J2_COBc1Mqd8dxj5_0ZtmW9yQBJV9qHP0fCV6f7ReAJWmnfbZUhAfwZ69bN5O4O8PLKYHX_6zhSgpzYihRWCsfOfZLPcxm5Qmv3U36PbnAR9kx-gv_2aGHB_Q/w320-h108/crpg%20stats%20example.jpg" title="CHARNAME Stats" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div>The origin of Charname is found in dialog.tlk, a BioWare <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> file that holds all text that appears in the IE games. The game substitutes the string <b><CHARNAME></b> for the actual name players give to their character in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Ruleset-and-Character-Generation.html">chargen</a>. The string appears over 200 times in BG1 and over 2,000 times in BG2.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we can't come up with a name we like, we can also simply call our character Charname:</div><div><br /></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtJbNv8Vz0Akj3jBo5IkfrA7ZgWue8OXI-O9KK9VZoY0xTA6VCkogYukCQKAYaClu8vlEns6RxTPM9LnNxMNIYlQvxZPn4O60r2ovBHmV_fimhI4JddLsBfSlzuJsa8oI2EBp6Ch6mpH6/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1200" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtJbNv8Vz0Akj3jBo5IkfrA7ZgWue8OXI-O9KK9VZoY0xTA6VCkogYukCQKAYaClu8vlEns6RxTPM9LnNxMNIYlQvxZPn4O60r2ovBHmV_fimhI4JddLsBfSlzuJsa8oI2EBp6Ch6mpH6/w200-h178/1.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" title="CHARNAME vs Sarevok" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1</a> (Index)</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-walkthrough.html">Baldur's Gate Walkthrough</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Preamble.html">Baldur's Gate Review</a></td>
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<td>CHARNAME Baldur's Gate</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Canon-Party-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Canon Party Baldur's Gate</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/Chateau-Irenicus-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Chateau Irenicus Baldur's Gate 2</a></td>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-54612372526043656082022-06-10T16:36:00.011-07:002023-12-22T20:39:51.738-08:00Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate</h1><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Neutral companions are </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html" style="text-align: left;">Baldur's Gate companions</a><span style="text-align: left;"> of Neutral alignment in BioWare's</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html" style="text-align: left;">cRPG</a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">of 1998-2001,</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html" style="text-align: left;">Baldur's Gate</a><span style="text-align: left;">. Companions of </span>Neutral alignment prefer the middleground in terms of reputation. They complain if our reputation soars but won't leave the party unless our reputation plummets. The best Neutral companion in BG1 is Xan, and the best Neutral companions in BG2 are Jan and Jaheira. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgHWN4LVdtIvZqrwf-FqM9Eza2kmcc4J3WybhLB5KuxhAACOLCIG6z7EHLEfOXcdUdBWdGD1RBFDGx5Ek7LEmL_l0pxye8-mpksAqWmFpCChXKfykKzJsCHFiioolsiH9wrMJnC7vcw4R/s1600/neutral+companions.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1600" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgHWN4LVdtIvZqrwf-FqM9Eza2kmcc4J3WybhLB5KuxhAACOLCIG6z7EHLEfOXcdUdBWdGD1RBFDGx5Ek7LEmL_l0pxye8-mpksAqWmFpCChXKfykKzJsCHFiioolsiH9wrMJnC7vcw4R/w320-h144/neutral+companions.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate Companions of Neutral Alignment" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">List of Neutral-aligned Companions in Baldur's Gate</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">There are eight Neutral-aligned companions in BG1 and six in BG2. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Companions of Neutral alignment are as follows:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Anomen-Delryn-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Anomen BG2</b></a></span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Branwen-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Branwen BG1</a></span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Cernd-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Cernd BG2</b></a></span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Faldorn-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Faldorn BG1</a></span></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Garrick-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Garrick BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Haer-Dalis-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Haer'Dalis BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Jaheira-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Jaheira BG1</a> --- <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Jaheira-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Jaheira BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Jan-Jansen-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Jan Jansen BG2</b></a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Quayle-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Quayle BG1</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Safana-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Safana BG1</a></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Skie-Silvershield-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Skie BG1</a></span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Xan-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Xan BG1</a></span></li><li><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Yoshimo-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html"><b>Yoshimo BG2</b></a></span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAXzpvrCsMRI1LiY_T4EYpJbIeSj7UoJm36iZ_DiqZwDkRxHBnPmrLpxHifjso04Q7E0CYMg2j52EVTHtkG8VktFslXOeoeuCK6NGj87-kGitxxNeduAoSXnvxzRaR1NWYshQd5o4D1L0hqPTM9q5bnXgJ2sllBQuEDeKPQVDBs7CnrI0Tng1WOpArQ/s1600/neutral%20companions%20leave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="1600" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAXzpvrCsMRI1LiY_T4EYpJbIeSj7UoJm36iZ_DiqZwDkRxHBnPmrLpxHifjso04Q7E0CYMg2j52EVTHtkG8VktFslXOeoeuCK6NGj87-kGitxxNeduAoSXnvxzRaR1NWYshQd5o4D1L0hqPTM9q5bnXgJ2sllBQuEDeKPQVDBs7CnrI0Tng1WOpArQ/w320-h87/neutral%20companions%20leave.jpg" title="Neutral companions leave" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WL4410hJKskS5Hd1G2_odQXbAC7M3TMJANaLwK6wmPVVO8RVT-GWtc6N9omn8dXpy8MvsD2rcGNKtb1YgHrFgSjMvJ5my_RUktsHOeZKblvCA9w_ykc-VCjt4LS3vQav9h9Wi-ZdLRtg/s1600/jaheira.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="1200" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WL4410hJKskS5Hd1G2_odQXbAC7M3TMJANaLwK6wmPVVO8RVT-GWtc6N9omn8dXpy8MvsD2rcGNKtb1YgHrFgSjMvJ5my_RUktsHOeZKblvCA9w_ykc-VCjt4LS3vQav9h9Wi-ZdLRtg/w320-h94/jaheira.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 5px;" title="Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div>Baldur's Gate companion reactivity consists in reputation, reaction, faction and personality.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-II-Reputational-Reactivity.html">Reputation Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-III-Reaction-based-Reactivity.html">Reaction Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-IV-Companion-based-reactivity-Factional-Rivalry.html">Factional Rivalry Baldur's Gate</a></li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Reactivity-in-Baldurs-Gate-Part-V-Companion-based-reactivity-Personality-Clashes.html">Personality Clashes Baldur's Gate</a></li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Readers are referred to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/What-is-the-best-reactive-RPG-on-the-PC-platform-Which-RPG-has-the-most-reactivity-all-time-best-top-10.html">cRPG reactivity</a> for a general overview of the concept of reactivity.</div></div></div>
<div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w320-h164/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Good-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Good Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
<td>Neutral Companions Baldur's Gate</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Evil-Companions-Baldur-Gate.html">Evil Companions Baldur's Gate</a></td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/05/Best-Companions-Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Best Baldur's Gate Companions</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-walkthrough.html">Baldur's Gate Walkthrough</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate</a> (Index)</td>
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<br /></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-68179069037894065762022-06-10T00:04:00.001-07:002023-11-17T21:15:23.340-08:00Cowards Flight Icewind Dale 2<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Cowards Flight IWD2</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Cowards Flight is an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2 weapon</a> in Black Isle's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> of 2002, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a>. In <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Heart-of-Fury-Mode-HoF-Solo-Sorcerer-Guide.html">Heart of Fury IWD2</a>, Cowards Flight is found on the corpse of Chapter 6's Blahg'mah or Gorg.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cowards Flight is notable for its two on-hit effects and keen property.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Cowards Flight Stats</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><ul><li>Damage: 1d10+5</li><li>Attack Bonus: +5</li><li>Enchantment: +5</li><li>Damage Type: Slashing</li><li>50% chance on-hit Fear</li><li>50% chance on-hit Slow</li><li>Keen: Increases chance of scoring a critical hit</li><li>Weight: 3</li><li>Required Feat: Martial Weapon, Axe</li><li>Type: Two-handed</li><li>Cowards Flight item code: 00HFAXBB</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Cowards Flight is a weapon of incredible manufacturing techniques. The double bearded blade is crafted of the finest steel with a mithril edge. The shaft is hollowed oak with a reinforced steel center. Along the shaft are a series of glowing dwarven runes cast in gold. The weapon is light, fast, and deadly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The weapon was also crafted with two special enchantments. On a successful hit, there is a chance that Cowards Flight will cast a fear and a slow spell upon the target, causing them to turn their back and slowly flee. This allows devastating attacks from an opponent's rear, thus the weapons name. Cowards Flight was crafted by the dwarven smith Braegar of Dorn's Deep.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Backblighter</h3><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Damage: 1d10+2</li><li>Attack Bonus: +2</li><li>Enchantment: +2</li><li>Damage Type: Slashing</li><li>50% chance on-hit Fear</li><li>50% chance on-hit Slow</li><li>Weight: 3.</li><li>Required Feat: Martial Weapon, Axe</li><li>Type: Two-handed</li><li>Backblighter item code: 00AX2HBB</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a> (Index)</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Weapons Icewind Dale 2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Icewind-Dale-2-Best-Weapon-Massive-Greataxe-of-Flame-5.html">Best Weapon Icewind Dale 2</a></td>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-37698793901302551502022-06-10T00:04:00.000-07:002024-01-17T20:27:52.762-08:00Dwarven Ogre Icewind Dale 2<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Dwarven Ogre Girdle IWD2</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Dwarven Ogre is an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2 item</a> in Black Isle's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> of 2002, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a>. In <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Heart-of-Fury-Mode-HoF-Solo-Sorcerer-Guide.html">Heart of Fury IWD2</a>, Dwarven Ogre is found for sale at Conlan's Smithy in <a href="http://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Walkthrough-Guide-Best-Easy-Solo-Sorcerer-Part-X.html">Kuldahar IWD2</a> in Chapter 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>Notable for conferring +6 Strength, Dwarven Ogre is the best belt in Icewind Dale 2.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Dwarven Ogre Stats</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><ul><li><b>Strength: +6 bonus</b></li><li>Item type: Girdle / Belt</li><li>Constant Effect: Under the effects of the spell Blur while equipped.</li><li>Weight: 2 lb.</li><li>Dwarven Ogre item code: 00HFBTLG</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><div>A masterwork any tailor would be proud of, the Dwarven Ogre is a thick leather belt with a fringe of red dwarven hair and hill giant hair woven together to grant the wearer great strength. Fashioned by the dwarven giant slayer, the Little Giant Hohn Burninghair, the buckle of this belt is actually the petrified eye of a firbolg shaman that Hohn fought during his travels.</div><div><br /></div><div>In incorporating the eye into the belt, however, some of the essence of the shaman was transferred along with it, including the northern flu it had when Burninghair laid it low. As a result, any creatures attempting to focus on the wearer will find tears springing to their eyes, clouding their vision, and find their heads begin to become stuffy and cold. For some reason, this enchantment seems to interfere with the perceptions of dead creatures and constructs as well, but the reason for this is unknown.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hohn lost this belt when he was attempting to wade across a stream in pursuit of a fleeing verbeeg giant who had made off with one of his ponies. The belt was washed downstream and eventually ended up in the hands of a simple trapper, who traded the ugly thing to a wandering tinker.</div><div><br /></div><div>This belt grants the wearer tremendous strength and also blurs the vision of anyone looking at the wearer. Due to the tears it causes in the eyes of anyone looking at it, any warrior wearing one of these items is often told to take it off by their companions. When the belt wearer threatens to rip a tree out of the ground and club the requester for asking, however, the matter is usually dropped.</div></div><div><br /></div></div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a> (Index)</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Weapons Icewind Dale 2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Icewind-Dale-2-Best-Weapon-Massive-Greataxe-of-Flame-5.html">Best Weapon Icewind Dale 2</a></td>
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<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-51087126410004723572022-06-09T08:20:00.000-07:002023-12-22T20:40:57.079-08:00Icewind Dale 2 Cheats<span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Icewind Dale 2 Cheats</h1><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7ZNjVztBWZV3_OxeYmX90T-nwQgSyvEf4WkjyxO7nf5Oq0wn8aGsYg0EPu_rB6h2qIzEWKESF_z4TMqLYPwbxcAG-TPvz9Lg3CxT3zMJ22YATjnfGFHF-nJauLb5yQzBBXH_uEg9Zc-H/s1600/iwd2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7ZNjVztBWZV3_OxeYmX90T-nwQgSyvEf4WkjyxO7nf5Oq0wn8aGsYg0EPu_rB6h2qIzEWKESF_z4TMqLYPwbxcAG-TPvz9Lg3CxT3zMJ22YATjnfGFHF-nJauLb5yQzBBXH_uEg9Zc-H/w320-h160/iwd2.jpg" title="Icewind Dale 2 Cheats" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;">This is a list of cheats for Black Isle's </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html" style="text-align: justify;">cRPG Definition</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> of 2002, </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html" style="text-align: justify;">Icewind Dale 2</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;">To enable Icewind Dale 2 cheats, load up <b>config.exe</b> and check <b>Enable Cheat Console</b> under the Game tab. Then, start the game and call up the console with <b>Ctrl + Tab</b>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;">You can now copy-paste commands into the field that appears at the bottom of the screen. Hit the Enter (Return) key to activate the command.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">List of Cheats Icewind Dale 2</h3><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><b>Explore</b> current area (removes fog of war): ctrlaltdelete:explorearea()</li><li>Give experience points (<b>XP</b>): ctrlaltdelete:SetCurrentXP()</li><li>Give an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2 <b>Item</b></a>: ctrlaltdelete:CreateItem("item code", quantity)</li><li>Give the party a certain amount of gold (<b>GP</b>): ctrlaltdelete:AddGold()</li><li>Move to an <b>area</b>: ctrlaltdelete:movetoarea("area code")</li><li>Set current <b>chapter</b>: ctrlaltdelete:setchapter()</li></ul></div></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Hotkey Cheats Icewind Dale 2</h3><div><br /></div><div>Activate in-game <b>hotkey cheats</b> with: ctrlaltdelete:enablecheatkeys()</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>You can now hit <b>Ctrl + J</b> to teleport the selected character to the mouse cursor</li><li><b>Ctrl + Y</b> kills the character under the mouse cursor</li><li><b>Ctrl + R</b> heals the character under the mouse cursor</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Instead of using config.exe to activate cheats, you can add Cheats=1 under Game Options in Icewind2.ini.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></div><div>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a> (Index)</td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Abilities-Attributes-Stats.html">Stats IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Skills-Best-Skills.html">Skills IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Weapons-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Weapons IWD2</a></td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Best-Builds-Icewind-Dale-2.html">Best Builds Icewind Dale 2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Races-Best-Race.html">Races IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Feats-Best-Feats.html">Feats IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Icewind-Dale-2-Best-Weapon-Massive-Greataxe-of-Flame-5.html">Best Weapon IWD2</a></td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Walkthrough-Guide-Best-Easy-Solo-Sorcerer-Part-I.html">Icewind Dale 2 Walkthrough</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Classes-Best-Class.html">Classes IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Best-Party-Composition-Party-Creation-Guide-Party-Size-Powergaming-Party.html">Best Party IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Wizard-Sorcerer-Best-Spells-First-Circle-Level-1.html">Wizard Spells IWD2</a></td>
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<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Icewind-Dale-2-Enemies.html">Icewind Dale 2 Enemies</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Icewind-Dale-2-Heart-of-Fury-Mode-HoF-Solo-Sorcerer-Guide.html">Heart of Fury IWD2</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/02/Icewind-Dale-2-Retrospective-Review.html">Icewind Dale 2 Review</a></td>
<td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/07/Icewind-Dale-2-IWD2-Cleric-Best-Spells-First-Circle-Level-1.html">Cleric Spells IWD2</a></td>
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<br /></div>Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-2769239855559702892022-06-09T04:14:00.595-07:002023-12-22T20:41:08.679-08:00Tweaks Anthology BG2<span><a name='more'></a></span> <div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">Tweaks Anthology BG2</h1><div><br style="text-align: center;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxWDso7Nm-_yFXFNxGI8X1URDyfX6D50ce7pLR7tuPdzllrd0EqqcqwGGDdo-sKV1j-C8TEZvK3xZN0hgguO2mK7izA42xN8bCJBNkBgOU1T_Yub08YIrdda16F5LuKMh4wDNblmm80d5/s1600/soa+tob.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="994" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxWDso7Nm-_yFXFNxGI8X1URDyfX6D50ce7pLR7tuPdzllrd0EqqcqwGGDdo-sKV1j-C8TEZvK3xZN0hgguO2mK7izA42xN8bCJBNkBgOU1T_Yub08YIrdda16F5LuKMh4wDNblmm80d5/w640-h249/soa+tob.jpg" title="Tweaks Anthology" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tweaks Anthology is an <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-The-Infinity-Engine.html">Infinity Engine</a> mod for BioWare's <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html">cRPG</a> of 2000-2001, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2</a>. Tweaks Anthology also includes components for <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1</a>, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-2.html">Icewind Dale 2</a> and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/04/Planescape-Torment-In-Depth-Retrospective-on-the-Original-Incarnation-Part-I.html">Planescape: Torment</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tweaks Anthology includes components from <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a>. Some of its components are also reliant on <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note that Tweaks Anthology v15 does NOT support <b>Remove Summoning Cap for Regular Summons</b> component in original BG2 installations, which <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Ding0s-Tweak-Pack-BG2.html">Ding0's Tweak Pack</a> has supported for over a decade. Thus, Tweaks Anthology allows us to summon 10x <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/08/SUMMON-PLANETAR-HLA-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Arcane-Spells-Mage-Sorcerer-Spells.html">PLANETAR BG2</a>, but not 10x <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">gibberlings</span></b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bravo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Cosmetic Changes</h3><div><br /></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Remove Helmet Animations</li><li>Change Imoen's Avatar to Mage</li><li>Change Nalia's Avatar to Thief</li><li>Change Viconia's Skin Color to Dark Blue</li><li>Avatar Morphing Script</li><li>Weapon Animation Tweaks</li><li>Icewind Dale Casting Graphics</li><li>Baldur's Gate Casting Graphics</li><li>Restore SoA Load Screen Logo</li><li>Restore IWD Loading Screens</li><li>Disable Portrait Icons Added by Equipped Items</li><li>Commoners Use Drab Colors</li><li>Icon Improvements</li><li>Force All Dialogue to Pause Game</li><li>Fix Boo's Squeak</li><li>Remove "+x" From Unique Item Names</li><li>Make Magic Shields Glow</li><li>Unique Icons</li><li>Unique Containers</li><li>Use Character Colors Instead of Item Colors</li><li>Remove Annoying Visual Effects from Equipped Items</li><li>Separate Resist Fire/Cold Icon into Separate Icons</li><li>Enhanced Overlays for Colorblind Players</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Content Changes</h3><div><br /></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>More Interjections</li><li>Alter HP Triggers for NPC Wounded Dialogues</li><li>Reveal Wilderness Areas Before Chapter Six</li><li>Make Cloakwood Areas Available Before Completing the Bandit Camp</li><li>Improved Athkatlan City Guard</li><li>Gradual Drow Item Disintegration</li><li>Breakable Iron Non-Magical Shields, Helms, and Armor</li><li>Improved Multi-Player Kick-Out Dialogues</li><li>Send BioWare NPCs to an Inn</li><li>Add Bags of Holding</li><li>Portable Containers</li><li>Exotic Items Pack</li><li>Reveal City Maps When Entering Area</li><li>Do Not Reveal City Maps When Entering Area</li><li>Add Map Notes</li><li>Stores Sell Higher Stacks of Items</li><li>Reputation Resets in BG2</li><li>Gems and Potions Require Identification</li><li>Shapeshifter Rebalancing</li><li>Multiple Strongholds</li><li>Make Individual Strongholds Available</li><li>Bonus Merchants</li><li>Female Edwina</li><li>Romance Bug Fixes</li><li>Imoen ToB Dialogue Fix</li><li>Use BG1 Walking Speeds</li><li>Allow Cromwell to Upgrade Watcher's Keep Items</li><li>Adjust Cromwell's Forging Time</li><li>Allow Cespenar to Use Cromwell Recipes</li><li>Friendly Arm Inn Hidden Container Restoration</li><li>Move NPCs to Convenient Locations</li><li>Bardic Reputation Adjustment</li><li>Change Cloakwood Mine Chapter End Change Trigger to Non-TotSC Behavior</li><li>Game Ends When the Main Character Dies</li><li>NPCs Respond to the Main Character, Not to Whichever Character Talks to Them</li><li>Make Heart of Winter Accessible at Any Level</li><li>Restore (Most) BG2 Spells and Make Scrolls Available</li><li>NPCs Cannot Pass Doors</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Rule Changes</h3><div><br /></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Two-Handed Bastard Swords</li><li>Two-Handed Katanas</li><li>Two-Handed Axes</li><li>Universal Clubs</li><li>Weapon Styles for All</li><li>Delay High Level Abilities</li><li>Change Experience Point Cap</li><li>Allow Thieving and Stealth in Heavy Armor per PnP</li><li>Allow Arcane Spellcasting in Armor</li><li>Expanded <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/12/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG1-BG2-Best-Dual-Classing-Guide-How-Does-Dual-Classing-Work-How-to-Dual-Class-Dual-Class-Combinations-Rules-Prerequisites-Dual-Downtime.html">Dual-Class</a> Options</li><li>Wear Multiple Protection Items</li><li>Alter Weapon Proficiency System</li><li>Cast Spells from Scrolls (and Other Items) at Character Level</li><li>Limit Ability of Storekeepers to Identify Items</li><li>Multi-Class Grandmastery</li><li>Change Grandmastery Bonuses</li><li>Change Magically Created Weapons to Zero Weight</li><li>Make +x/+y Weapons Consistent</li><li>Un-Nerfed <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2-Best-Lowest-THAC0.html">THAC0</a> Table</li><li>Un-Nerfed <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Classes-Sorcerer-Solo-Build-Best-Spells-Spell-picks-Stats-Items-Sorcerer-vs-Mage.html">Sorcerer</a> Spell Progression Table</li><li>Alter Mage Spell Progression Table</li><li>Alter Bard Spell Progression Table</li><li>Alter Cleric Spell Progression Table</li><li>Alter Druid Spell and Level Progression Tables</li><li>Alter Wisdom-Based Divine Bonus Spell Table</li><li>Triple-Class HLA Tables</li><li>Trap Cap Removal</li><li>Remove Delay for Magical Traps</li><li>Remove Summoning Cap for Regular Summons</li><li>Remove Summoning Cap for Celestials</li><li>Remove Racial Restrictions for Single-Classes</li><li>Remove Racial Restrictions for Kits</li><li>Alter Dual-Class Restrictions</li><li>Alter Multi-Class Restrictions</li><li>Alter Gnome Mage Kit/Multi-Class Options</li><li>Alter Paladin Spell Progression Table</li><li>Alter Ranger Spell Progression Table</li><li>Druids Use 3E Alignment Restrictions</li><li>Loosen Equipment Restrictions for Cleric Multi- and Dual-Classes</li><li>Change Equipment Restrictions for Druid Multi- and Dual-Classes</li><li>Everyone Gets Bonus APR from Specialization</li><li>Enforce PnP Proficiency Rules on Dual-Classed Characters</li><li>Exceptional Strength Weight Limit Changes</li><li>Level-Lock Spell Scrolls</li><li>Allow Mages to Use Bucklers and Thieves to Use Small Shields</li><li>Lightning Bolts Don't Bounce</li><li>Speed Up de'Arnise Keep Stronghold Quests</li><li>Allow Monks to Wear Helmets</li><li>Thieves Can Backstab With More Weapons With "Use Any Item"</li><li>Restore IWD Tooltips</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Convenience Tweaks & Cheats</h3><div><br /></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Max HP at Level One</li><li>Allow HP Rolls Through Level 20</li><li>Maximum HP Creatures</li><li><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Identify-All-Items-Tweaks-Anthology.html">Identify All Items</a></li><li>Easy Spell Learning</li><li>Make Bags of Holding Bottomless</li><li>Remove Fatigue from Restoration Spells</li><li>Remove "You Must Gather Your Party..." Sound</li><li>Change Effect of Reputation on Store Prices</li><li>Increase Ammo Stack Size</li><li>Increase Jewelry, Gem, and Miscellaneous Item Stacks</li><li>Increase Potion Stacking</li><li>Increase Scroll Stacking</li><li>Happy Patch - Alter How Party NPCs Complain About Reputation</li><li>NPCs Don't Fight</li><li>Stop Haer'Dalis-Aerie Romance from Starting</li><li>Neutral Characters Make Happy Comments at Mid-Range Reputation</li><li>No Traps or Locks</li><li>Faster Chapter One and Two Cutscenes and Dreams</li><li>Keep Drizzt's Loot, Disable Malchor Harpell</li><li>No Drow Avatars On Party In Underdark</li><li>Disable Romances</li><li>Accelerate/Decelerate Romances</li><li>Romance Cheats</li><li>Rest Anywhere</li><li>Disable Non-Hostile Rest Spawns</li><li>Alter Hostile Rest Spawns</li><li>Sellable Items</li><li>Stores Purchase All Item Types</li><li>Minimum Stats Cheat</li><li>Sensible Entrance Points</li><li>Taerom Makes Additional <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Baldurs-Gate-1-Ankheg-Plate-Mail-armor.html">Ankheg Armor</a></li><li>Friendly Random Drops</li><li>Never Lose Access to <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Icewind-Dale-IWD1-Walkthrough-Guide-Part-III-Kuldahar-Arundel-Archdruid-of-Silvanus-Orrick-the-Gray-Mythal-Theory-Oswald-Conlan-Aldwin-Eidans-Legacy.html">Orrick the Gray</a>'s Trade Goods</li><li>Recoverable Ammunition</li><li>Recoverable Throwing Weapons</li><li>Give Every Class/Kit Four Weapon Slots</li><li>Death Cam</li><li>No Depreciation in Stores</li><li>Make Party Members Less Likely to Die Irreversibly</li><li>Increase Party Movement Speed and/or Casting Speed Outside of Combat</li><li>Create Interval Saves</li><li>Reset Under Sigil Fog of War</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Joinable NPC Tweaks</h3><div><br /></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Adjust Evil Joinable NPC Reaction Rolls</li><li>Improved Fate Spirit Summoning</li><li>Joinable NPC Tweaks</li><li>ToB-Style NPCs</li><li>Allow NPC Pairs to Separate</li><li>Consistent Stats: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Edwin-Odesseiron-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html">Edwin BG2</a></li><li>Consistent Stats: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Jaheira-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html">Jaheira BG2</a></li><li>Change Jaheira to Neutral Good Alignment</li><li>Consistent Stats: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Minsc-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html">Minsc BG2</a></li><li>Consistent Stats: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Viconia-DeVir-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html">Viconia BG2</a></li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Khalid-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Khalid BG1</a> a <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Double-Class-Comparison-Fighter-Mage-Dual-Class-Berserker-and-Kensai-vs-Fighter-Illusionist-Mage-Multi-Class.html">Fighter Mage</a></li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Montaron-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Montaron BG1</a> an Assassin</li><li>Change <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/02/Korgan-Bloodaxe-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Companion.html">Korgan BG2</a> to Neutral Evil Alignment</li><li>Give <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Kagain-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Kagain BG1</a> a Legal Constitution Score of 19</li><li>Give <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Coran-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Coran BG1</a> a Legal Dexterity Score of 19</li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Xan-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Xan BG1</a> a Generalist Mage</li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Dynaheir-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Dynaheir BG1</a> a Generalist Mage</li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Xzar-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Xzar BG1</a> a Generalist Mage</li><li>Make <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Edwin-Odesseiron-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Edwin BG1</a> a Generalist Mage</li><li>Move Boo Into Minsc's Pack</li><li>Allow <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Yeslick-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Yeslick BG1</a> to Use Axes</li><li>Ensure <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Shar-Teel-Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Companion.html">Shar-Teel BG1</a> Doesn't Die in the Original Challenge</li><li>Don't Auto-Assign Advanced AI Scripting to Party</li><li>Removable NPC Items</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w320-h164/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /></div></div>
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</style><table id="simple_table"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Original</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Tactics-Mod-BG2.html">Tactics Mod BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1 Original</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mods-Guide-Weidu-log-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Ascension-ToBEX-NPC.html">BG2 Best Mods</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/SCS-BG2.html">SCS BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Best-Mods-Guide-Quest-mods-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Tutu-EasyTutu-BGT-GateKeeper.html">BG1 Best Mods</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Improved-GUI.html">BG2 Improved GUI</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/06/Dark-Side-of-the-Sword-Coast-Overview.html">Dark Side of the Sword Coast</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Ascension-BG2.html">Ascension BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/IWDification-Mod.html">IWDification Mod</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Baldurs-Gate-Key-Quest-Mod-Itemization.html">DSotSC Items</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-Arcane-Party-Guide-Part-I.html">Sword Coast Stratagems Guide</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-The-Drizzt-Saga.html">Drizzt Saga Baldur's Gate</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br />Lilura1http://www.blogger.com/profile/00672152692345839654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8345126191270611325.post-38878475447779866392022-06-09T04:14:00.594-07:002023-12-22T20:41:17.094-08:00IWDification Mod Baldur's Gate<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: center;">IWDification Mod Baldur's Gate</h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Nlmn_mNXLVVyWX6NqtNREJ9mC8BDWa0ZPpTaCd2eok-B563LFHS-vcndyZRoYwByd6W3GvD9GjHaFlirhLHCFZBkmrDYnRJ61JdE7dFJPHWOQGnsdRYcVLWsYcil45fMyYgl4lMJ7zRtRdC8MoGtvbMCx4ka8dNroORW_dsZlBYFHt6uc8XQ4QHX4g/s1600/iwdification.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Nlmn_mNXLVVyWX6NqtNREJ9mC8BDWa0ZPpTaCd2eok-B563LFHS-vcndyZRoYwByd6W3GvD9GjHaFlirhLHCFZBkmrDYnRJ61JdE7dFJPHWOQGnsdRYcVLWsYcil45fMyYgl4lMJ7zRtRdC8MoGtvbMCx4ka8dNroORW_dsZlBYFHt6uc8XQ4QHX4g/w640-h240/iwdification.jpg" title="IWDification v5" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">IWDification <span style="text-align: justify;">is a </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mods-Guide-Weidu-log-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Ascension-ToBEX-NPC.html" style="text-align: justify;">Baldur's Gate 2 mod</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> for BioWare's </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/12/cRPG-Definition.html" style="text-align: justify;">cRPG</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> of 2000-2001, </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html" style="text-align: justify;">Baldur's Gate 2</a><span style="text-align: justify;">. IWDifcation also works when running <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1</a> in the BG2 engine (e.g. <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Best-Mods-Guide-Quest-mods-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Tutu-EasyTutu-BGT-GateKeeper.html">EasyTutu</a>).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: justify;">IWDification adds </span><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/icewind-dale-retrospective-review.html">Icewind Dale 1</a> spells, casting graphics and spell and ability progression to Baldur's Gate, thereby "IWDifying" Baldur's Gate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, IWDification does not balance such additions by adding IWD monsters or IWD-esque combat encounter design to BG2. Thus, IWDification is a game-<i>imbalancing</i> mod. Of course, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/01/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mage-Spells-Best-Sorcerer-Spells-Ranked-Tier-List.html">BG2 spells</a> were already over-powered but IWDification only makes BG2 easier than ever.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Example of game imbalance: IWD martial buffs such as arcane <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/search/label/IWD1%20Emotion%20spells">Emotion Spells</a> and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPkMCuKjfhhNSacQC-ynSniYg6Wzo2f8OjEpJq_y0SiIZCY71ERS4Ke9XP85KqoYv7ivHlSQZd23ic-u46UJRRtl9ykzcGLsH_cR3O39ENohudNdsVJ-1BdQtLxg-JHe6f6wnoGxIOxMT/s1600/buffs.jpg">divine buffs</a> together result in <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-and-Baldurs-Gate-2-Best-Lowest-THAC0.html">THAC0</a> +10, damage +9, <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/10/Baldurs-Gate-Retrospective-Review-Vancian-Magic-System-Spellcasting-Mechanics-Casting-Time-Spell-Disruption.html">saving throws</a> +8, HPs +7-13 and <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2020/04/Baldurs-Gate-BG1-Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Attack-per-Round-ApR.html">ApR</a> +1.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And we all know how weak martial <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-enemies.html">BG2 enemies</a> are. They are not tanky like the ones in IWD. Also, IWD has <b>horde-based</b> martial <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/06/Combat-Encounter-Design-in-cRPGs.html">combat encounter design</a> whereas BG2's martial CED (if you want to even call it that) is merely <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">mob-based</span></b>, and thus absolutely pathetic; a laughing stock.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">IWDification is compatible with <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Spell-Revisions-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">Spell Revisions</a> if SR is installed AFTER IWDification. However, SR overwrites some of the IWD spells. Note that <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/SCS-BG2.html">SCS BG2</a> has its own (optional) IWD spell repertoire built-in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">IWDification v5 WeiDu Log</h3><div><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Commoners Use Drab Colors</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Two-Handed Axe Item Pack</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Expanded Polymorph Self</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Bard: Add IWD Bard Songs</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Bard: Use IWD Spell Progression</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Druid: Use IWD Shapeshifting and Ability Progression</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Druid: Allow Elves to be Druids</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Paladin: IWD Abilities and Skills</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Paladin: Use IWD Spell Progression</li><li style="text-align: justify;">IWD Class Updates: Ranger: Use IWD Spell Progression</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>IWD Arcane Spell Pack</b></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>IWD Divine Spell Pack</b></li><li style="text-align: justify;">Additional Portrait Icons</li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note that <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/SCS-BG2.html">SCS BG2</a> also (optionally) adds Icewind Dale spells to BG2. See also: <a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/12/Icewind-Dale-Enhanced-Edition-Review.html">Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition Review</a>.</div>
<div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Walkthrough-Part-I.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/s2400/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jmlAonJbAX5qSWt4UINcxzR08WdXjMKawF7zDzzO0mQO3TqTo-2lr-em0lBuDtPr46HZFjSseLVHVb8fWtMR6cxmvrDR1cMGh44nCx25uzyPEflW3fXzDy13R_ujyITao48B1eEZxJIGCXz0_i9QR-nVRrfWrteIh10ZG9MAMD1O-dauByjQomty5A/w320-h164/irenicus%20bg2.jpg" title="Baldur's Gate 2 Walkthrough Guide" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><div><br style="text-align: justify;" /></div>
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</style><table id="simple_table"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate-2.html">Baldur's Gate 2 Original</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Tactics-Mod-BG2.html">Tactics Mod BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/baldurs-gate.html">Baldur's Gate 1 Original</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-2-BG2-Best-Mods-Guide-Weidu-log-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Ascension-ToBEX-NPC.html">BG2 Best Mods</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/01/SCS-BG2.html">SCS BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2021/04/Baldurs-Gate-1-BG1-Best-Mods-Guide-Quest-mods-Fixpack-Tweakpack-SCS-Tutu-EasyTutu-BGT-GateKeeper.html">BG1 Best Mods</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/ToBEx-Baldurs-Gate-2.html">ToBEx BG2</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Improved-GUI.html">BG2 Improved GUI</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/06/Dark-Side-of-the-Sword-Coast-Overview.html">Dark Side of the Sword Coast</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/Ascension-BG2.html">Ascension BG2</a></td><td>IWDification Mod</td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2018/12/Baldurs-Gate-Key-Quest-Mod-Itemization.html">DSotSC Items</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/06/BG2-Fixpack.html">BG2 Fixpack</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/09/Baldurs-Gate-2-Ascension-and-Sword-Coast-Stratagems-Arcane-Party-Guide-Part-I.html">Sword Coast Stratagems Guide</a></td><td><a href="https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Baldurs-Gate-The-Drizzt-Saga.html">Drizzt Saga Baldur's Gate</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
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