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by Havoc
P.S what's this Elite thing?

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Until you've tried docking with a rotating Coriolis class Space station you don't know what gaming is...

As Monster said, it was anything but a shoot 'em up. I still have someone thousands of bits of paper tracking trading prices and variations from numerous visits to countless worlds. You had a chart of various ship specs so you could try and manually spot who was shooting at you, and what their strengths and weaknesses were. There were the missions. The dreaded Thargoids (it's been a while, forgive me if some of the details are wrong). This was a game that took over your life and fired your imagination. NOTHING has ever matched this game.

If I remember rightly there was a release of Elite in the mid-nighties for the PC. Never really captured the old magic, or took advantage of the improved technology in the decade or so since the original release. This is a game that is a prime example that technology is no match for programmer imagination.

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by MonSTeR
LOL - Not quite.

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by JJ
it was anything but a shoot 'em up

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Thanks for correcting my (forgivable ,I hope ) inaccuracies regarding the nature of Elite, guys!

Granny's Garden (think that was what it was called, it's really old and for the BBC computers I think, and had the scariest witch on it ever! "I'M WATCHING YOU..." *shudders*)
Tekken
Crash Bandicoot(all of them)
Ghost Busters (for the Atari)
Super Mario Brothers
Sonic
The Sims (all of them too)

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by vampire_dust
Granny's Garden (think that was what it was called, it's really old and for the BBC computers I think, and had the scariest witch on it ever! "I'M WATCHING YOU..." *shudders*)

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I SO REMEMBER THAT!!! It was a really cool game...and the first one I ever finished

In no particular order, and I admit upfront I am a bit of PC-centric gamer...

Halo - the strapline "Combat evolved" pretty much sums it up but would have been way better on the PC though

Half-Life - great atmosphere and enemy commando AI, wasn't so keen on the weird Xen levels though

Mortal Kombat - Street Fighter II may have the more complex gameplay but MK atmosphere and audacity give it the edge for me

Elite - open-ended gameplay that allowed you to progress as you saw fit. Great dogfighting action too - still can't believe that Braben could have so completely failed to grasp its importance in the sequels

Wing Commander series - actually manages to more or less deliver on the cinematic experience promise

Doom/Quake series - Id are still the masters of the FPS and Deathmatch

Diablo I/II - simple hackfests but incredibly compelling as you seek those extra-special magic items

Warzone 2100 - one of the few RTSs I can actually abide because it has a production/research/experience system that actually makes sense

Grand Theft Auto 3 - this game is so hilariously antisocial, it's also brilliantly open-ended with lots of hidden depths and gems. Plays way better on the PC than the PS2 - shooting people actually becomes a viable option, not to mention being able to put your own face and music into the game

Civilisation series and UFO: Enemy Unknown - two massively addictive strategy games, the sort you start playing "just for a few turns" and then realise the sun is rising...

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by Ming
Diablo I/II - simple hackfests but incredibly compelling as you seek those extra-special magic items

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i have a terrible ability to become addicted and play things to death. Lost more hours to those two than i care to think about

I could still maybe play through all of Dungeon Master on the atari.

Played some of the might and magic titles to death too. I am rpg girl.

Currently addicted to Morrowind (Dan and i have a copy between us, which leads to fighting...) but i ought to be playing Neverwinter Nights as i said i'd beta a mod my dad is co-writing. Shouldn't 52 yr olds have better things to do with their time?

grand theft auto: vice city hasnt left my ps2 since i bought it, club gt on arcade is an absolute classic as is outrun, manic miner, trashman and the amiga version of star wars, must also mention medal of honor on the ps2 its is superb

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by Watcher girl
(quotes)

i have a terrible ability to become addicted and play things to death. Lost more hours to those two than i care to think about

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I really wish you hadn't said that. I am feeling the urge to reinstall Diablo II as I type...

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by MingWarzone 2100 - one of the few RTSs I can actually abide

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Well, I like most RTS games, but Warzone 2100 is up there with the ones I like perhaps a bit too much... shame the copy actually belongs to Havoc!

Usefully, I found out a way of tranferring all research from one savegame to another, so I just use cheats to research everything and have all flash lasers and stuff while the enemy doesn't even know how to make a tank! Fun!

As for GTA 3/Vice City, I haven't even played either of them yet... (must rectify that eventually)

I think most of my issues with the RTS genre stem from my coming from a board wargaming background so most RTSs don't fit with my idea of strategy - the idea of turning up on the battlefield and then building your army irritates me, as does the way the whole harvest/build mechanic seems to have been adopted without question by most RTSs.

The episodic nature of most games also annoys ie having to restart research tree with each scenario, usually makes no difference whether you complete your mission with one unit intact or a thousand etc.

Another annoying frequent omission is formations, with your units shambling around as an ill-defined mob, especially in man-to-man type games.

There are RTSs I do like and which avoid most of those traps but they are fairly few and far between. Warzone 2100 is one, the Myth series is another, as is Warrior Kings.

BTW, Warzone 2100 is out on ultra-low budget (£4.99), published by Sold Out!

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by General Ming
BTW, Warzone 2100 is out on ultra-low budget (£4.99), published by Sold Out!

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I know, that's the copy I'm borrowing off Havoc!

General?!? When was I demoted?

Fair enough re: WZ2100. Just though I'd mention it

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by COMALLFOR Ming
Another annoying frequent omission is formations, with your units shambling around as an ill-defined mob, especially in man-to-man type games.

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Try C&C Generals, they actually fixed that: your units co-ordinate attacks and even attack the things they should, so a U.S ranger takes on red guards instead of overlord tanks.

BTW: can I actually have warzone back please, oh and has anyone heard of Earth 2150, it's supposed to be a WZ2100 sequel?

Cheers, sounds promising. How does production work in Generals?

I'm pretty sure Earth 2150 is a totally unconnected to Warzone 2100 (apart from both being SF RTSs). E2150 was developed by TopWare in Germany, WZ2100 by Pumpkin/Eidos. The storylines are also unrelated.

However, while Eidos shut down its Pumpkin studio a while back and they've now reformed as Pivotal (and have recently done Conflict Desert Storm for SCi), there appear to be some guys continuing to work on WZ2100. See http://www.newst.org for details.

Another good WZ2100 site is http://www.strategyplanet.com/warzone2100

UT2003 rocks

It does indeed, although I miss the Assault game mode from its predecessor and I still think Q3A still has the edge for pure Deathmatch.

Quick thought - anyone else here on Xbox Live? I finally got round to setting up my test account after managing to get a length of ethernet cable long enough to reach from my ADSL router in my bedroom to my living room...

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by Jayjay
(quotes)
it was anything but a shoot 'em up.

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But it could be a pretty good one if you chose to play it that way. I used to have much fun doing the bounty hunter thing and jumping into an anarchy system fully tooled up with military lasers. Hmm... is there a nostalgic smiley?