Two PC classics: Elder Scrolls III and System Shock 2

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SabbraCadabra
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26 Jun 2013, 7:06 pm

Ah.

Idunno, I'd heard about how scary it was, but I didn't really know what was supposed to be frightnening about it.

It probably didn't help that the level upset me quite a bit, as there were game-stopping bugs that forced me to restart the level about 75% of the way through. Twice >_<

Or at least if they weren't game-stopping, I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to progress.


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Dox47
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26 Jun 2013, 10:22 pm

I used to love breaking Morrowind, with the way potions stacked to infinity and governed their derived skills, you could chug tons of intelligence potions and make constant effect enchantments that were way overpowered. Necklaces that let you fly forever, permanent telekinesis rings so you could steal from across the room, insanely high strength buffs on your armor so you could carry tons of stuff and one shot most enemies, rings that cast area of effect damage strength over huge distances that rooted everyone they hit, etc, etc. They've managed to tone that sort of thing down in the more recent games, though you can still do some pretty ridiculous stuff in Skyrim by making full sets of +Archery gear and using more gear and potions to boost your smithing so that you can over-improve your weapons.


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punkguy378
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27 Jun 2013, 12:47 am

SabbraCadabra wrote:
punkguy378 wrote:
basically environment artists model out the environment and sometimes do props as well.


I know ;)

I guess I gave a pretty lame reply, I'm used to people saying "I'm trying to get into the game industry, I went to school for it!" but not actually knowing anything about how to "break in", so I just kind of give my "did you try rebooting the computer?" answering machine reply @_@

punkguy378 wrote:
I will check out Raven to see if there is anything right now. Texas wouldn't be that bad.


I don't think Raven is in Texas. Unless those were two unrelated thoughts.

I know a lot of guys who got their start at Raven, so it might not be the worst idea...


Yeah I know a lot about it (it is a special interest of mine) and it seems there are quite a few wannabe game artists who find out it is not what they thought it was. It takes dedication, patience and raw talent. As long as you have those than you are on your way. I main issue is being a good gamer has nothing to do with it really. Two entirely different things: making games and playing them. And they just probably did not know about the insanely long hours game developers keep during crunch time. It is not glamorous and you will get almost no recognition (well except the warm fuzzy feeling that someone is playing a game you helped build). And for some reason the game industry is like the movie industry's unwanted little brother even though the revenue for games is now higher ($18 Billion total). I mean GTA 4 made about $310,000 dollars on the day of release. Spider Man 3 only made $59,000 on opening weekend. This is just one example out of many.

Yeah for some reason I thought Raven was in Texas but it is actually in Wisconsin. I think because Raven has a tendancy to work with Id software a lot and they are in Texas. Honestly Id software was bought out by Bethesda game studios who is owned by Zenimax Media. I thought it was also interesting that Square Enix bought out Eidos so they now have the rights to Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Thief. Never saw that one coming. Buy outs are extremely common. Unfortunately it is a bad idea for example EA bought out Bioware and pretty much runied the company. I am a Mass Effect 1 purist so I really did not like the second and third turning it into more a shooter. Plus I heard rumors that Dead Space was going to be cancelled but EA denies this claim. Do not shoot yourself in the foot EA, Dead Space is one of your best franchises.



SabbraCadabra
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27 Jun 2013, 5:20 am

Yeah, I always wanted to get into videogames when I was little, but then it got to that point, and it was like "Yeah, I don't want to have to move halfway across the country to get a job that, knowing me, I will probably end up hating."

Plus, I never had the patience to move onto modern tech, or (what I really should've done in the first place) learn C properly.

...sounds pretty lame, I know =)

punkguy378 wrote:
Honestly Id software was bought out by Bethesda game studios who is owned by Zenimax Media. I thought it was also interesting that Square Enix bought out Eidos so they now have the rights to Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Thief.


Yeah, both of those have me worried. Bethesda has a really bad track record of putting their publishees out of business, and with how RAGE did, I would not be surprised if id drowned.

As far as Eidos goes, Looking Glass were always extra, extra generous to the fans, and let them get away with much more "legal gray area" stuff than they should have, as far as reverse-engineering, etc. goes. Square Enix, on the other hand, are the complete polar opposite, and enjoy sending CAD letters to projects that aren't even violating any actual laws =)

I haven't been checking up on the Thief Patch (or whatever they ended up calling it) since it got released, I wonder how that's going. I know they planned on "leaking" a SS2 version of it also, and planned on releasing the source code, but it didn't look like all three got released at the same time, and I know they were worried about EA figuring out what was up (since they still own the copyright to SS2). Maybe I should look into it...if I can still remember my password =|


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SabbraCadabra
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27 Jun 2013, 5:03 pm

I was thinking today, I am totally overlooking the obvious...

I hang out in a level design chat room on IRC, a lot of guys there work professionally. I could PM you the location if you wanted to join us. You could ask for pointers, find out if anyone is hiring, get some critique on your portfolio, or just shoot the breeze (which is what we mostly do).


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punkguy378
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28 Jun 2013, 1:23 am

SabbraCadabra wrote:
I was thinking today, I am totally overlooking the obvious...

I hang out in a level design chat room on IRC, a lot of guys there work professionally. I could PM you the location if you wanted to join us. You could ask for pointers, find out if anyone is hiring, get some critique on your portfolio, or just shoot the breeze (which is what we mostly do).


Oh nice that would be cool. I was on Polycount but I could never get the images to load on there. I have a professional portfolio but it needs a major overhauling. Well, I started work on a crashed spaceship which will be all broken apart and started most of the texture work. Then I lost my computer and got a new alienware. So I need to get 3ds Max 2012 somehow. I have 2010 but my file will not work in 2010 since Max does not allow for newer files on older versions. I hate that. Plus I am no longer a student so student discounts or free Autodesk programs are not possible any more. I could get a crack version but I would be worried with the stability or it maybe messing up my awesome new computer.

Anyways, I would love to join what you are talking about. I really need to get a move on with my portfolio and I just improved my resume so I am going to be applying to lots of places soon.



punkguy378
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28 Jun 2013, 1:29 am

zer0netgain wrote:
SabbraCadabra wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
Frankly, other than the Shalebrook Cradle (sp?) level in Thief: Dark Shadows, SS2 was perhaps the scariest video game I ever played.


So you haven't played Thief (or Thief Gold), then? ;)

...Thief II had some scary bits too, IIRC, but they seriously downplayed the whole zombies/ghosts/action bits in favor of more tactful stealth, which I am very thankful for.


I still have the whole series, but that one level in the third game was the scariest where atmosphere was concerned. If you used the eye zoom, there was this talking effect that was amplified...made you wonder if something was coming up behind you. Thief didn't have that level of depth, but I was amazed when I found that Constantine's sword would kill one of the ghosty guys with a single overhead slash from behind.


My all time favorite series of all time. Got thief 1 and 2 to work on my last computer (with Vista) with the patched exe /ddfix trick from TTLG.com. Thief 3 worked fine without any problems. Got an Alienware with Windows 7 not sure if it will still work.

Sad that Stephen Russell will not reprising his role in Thief 4 and I am just having a bad feeling about the next one.



SabbraCadabra
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28 Jun 2013, 5:06 am

Alright, sending you a PM.

punkguy378 wrote:
Thief 3 worked fine without any problems.


There is an official patch for T3 if you played the game without one. Without the patch, it'll reset the difficulty level to "easy" every time you go through one of those blue portals, or load a saved game...so it's very difficult to beat the game on any other setting (and who would want to play on any setting but "expert"?).


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