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Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

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Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#61

Post by kangax »

mercurial wrote: post #53
mcv wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm currently playing Fallout: New Vegas, and the real-time FPS combat is remarkably playable (though I normally hate FPS games). The VATS is terrible, and not a good replacement for the combat systems of 1 and 2. After Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1 and 2 were probably among the best CRPGs ever. That was really the golden age of CRPGs. Only The Witcher really added some real value (unfortunately The Witcher 2 has th…

Baldur's Gate 2 was very good too, and was (AFAIK) the first CRPG to develop party NPCs to such an extent. And fortunately, you could dump most of the awful, strangleable NPCs from Baldur's Gate 1.

Amen. Recent Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition (on iPad) was enjoyable trip down the memory lane.

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#62

Post by voyou »

mcv wrote: post #54
pavel_lishin wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually tried playing this. When I left the room in which I woke up, some sort of giant angel thing basically insta-killed me. Considering that this was after 5 minutes of gameplay, I gave up. :/

Well, try it again. It has by far the best writing of any CRPG. I love the Fallouts, but Torment is High Literature. It's the Shakespeare and the Firefly of computer gaming. Allt he great, special unique games, from Star Control 2 to Bioshock to Braid, Torment beats them. It's a game that makes you think far beyond the stuff that's in the game.

The problem with Torment is that it's a great piece of interactive fiction trapped within the RTS-turned-RPG engine they inherited from Baldur's Gate. Torment's strength is the writing, which you have to read through the engine's small and clumsy dialogue system, which becomes painful pretty quickly.

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#63

Post by gavanwoolery »

shin_lao wrote: post #41

For those who don't know, Fallout 2 is probably one of the best RPG for the computer ever . With the proper mods and fixes it's really playable and enjoyable on a recent computer (I really recommend the hi-res patch http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout2_High_Resolution_P... for starters). Fallout 3 New Vegas came close to Fallout 2 in terms of ambiance and game play, but not close enough (mainly because of the c…

I agree - I regard Fallout 2 as one of the best RPGs ever (Ultima 7 was a landmark in terms of sandbox/simulation RPGs, but lacked the strong gameplay mechanics of Fallout 1 and 2). I never played Baldur's Gate 2 (for whatever reason, I am slightly turned off by DnD's mechanics). I also never played Planescape Torment, but I'm sure it is good as well.

Fallout 1/2 are some of the primary inspirations in the game I am currently making.

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#64

Post by adorton »

Anybody interested in these games should snatch them up - Interplay is losing distribution rights to them at the end of December. Who knows how long it will be before they return.

Once "purchased" you will still be able to download them from your games library, even after they are removed from GOG's catalog.

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#65

Post by copx »

mcv wrote: post #55
copx wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>have any RPGs since Fallout surpassed it in allowing the player to truly embody an actual path? Yes, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

Never finished it. Looked really cool, but it was buggy, and I lost interest after I reached that big city. Also, didn't it have that overdone "chosen one" plot? But maybe I should give it another chance.

>Looked really cool, but it was buggy

It was quite buggy on release day, but there were official patches and afterwards unofficial ones. With the newest unofficial patch I cannot say I encountered a single bug.

>I lost interest after I reached that big city.

Too bad, at that point the game truly begins and opens up.

>Also, didn't it have that overdone "chosen one" plot?

It starts that way, which I think is a little satire of typical JRPG plots. I do not want to post too many spoilers but I will say that you are not actually the "chosen one".

Also the "main quest" is only one of many plot lines, Arcanum is a pretty open, sandboxy world full of interesting plot lines and characters.

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#66

Post by warbastard »

bernardom wrote: post #25
danso wrote: post #4

I've bought these games several times before (at discount) for the various OSes and computers I've had. I haven't played many modern RPGs (including Fallout 3+) but have any RPGs since Fallout surpassed it in allowing the player to truly embody an actual path? Not only could you play through making good/evil moral choices, but you could actually win the first game, IIRC, without even firing a single shot (by talking…

Baldur's Gate 2. It's so good that a studio re-made it to work on modern computers- it just came out last month: http://www.baldursgateii.com/ (I have no relation other than a happy customer)

One of my favourite games of all time. I hadn't seen that they were working on an Android tablet version, so I will wait patiently for that!

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#67

Post by angersock »

johnyzee wrote: post #49
angersock wrote: post #35

For the curious, here's the postmortem of Fallout Tactics: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3088/postmortem_micro_... It was a solid tactics game, but there were some rough edges in bringing in the Fallout stuff.

I loved the multiplayer team tactics of this game, possibly my favorite multiplayer game experience ever. It was limited to a few good maps, and, as far as I remember, only a few different weapon types, but worked very well. I never even bothered to play the larger single player game because multiplayer was so good (although I did play Fallout 1 and 2 to death).

Wow, I never actually played the multiplayer at all...the singleplayer, though, was quite good.

Poor game. :(

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#68

Post by blah32497 »

mercurial wrote: post #46
shin_lao wrote: post #41

For those who don't know, Fallout 2 is probably one of the best RPG for the computer ever . With the proper mods and fixes it's really playable and enjoyable on a recent computer (I really recommend the hi-res patch http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout2_High_Resolution_P... for starters). Fallout 3 New Vegas came close to Fallout 2 in terms of ambiance and game play, but not close enough (mainly because of the c…

Both Fallouts are very good, but don't reach the heights of Planescape Torment in terms of writing or character development. I didn't play Fallout 3, but Fallout New Vegas' combat was abysmal. I actually liked the idea of wandering around in the wastelands, as opposed to traveling via the map (that's what Bethesda has been doing all along: exploration games with bad combat and NPCs-as-banks of informations), but I wo…

Looking at "Pillars of Eternity" it looks like a bit of a step back. While I like the artistic style, the whole thing just looks very dated. They're definitely going for the nostalgic demographic here. I think what bothers me the most is the relative lack of interactivity with the environment. There is some lighting things that looks kinda neat, and some water level stuff... but it seems limited. It just looks like a polished Diablo/Baldur's Gate clone.

That being said, I think if the game has a great story then that may be good enough. Though honestly - there really should be a tool like RPG maker so that amateurs can implement their stories in a game using a simple drop and drop UI with maybe some very simple scripting

Re: Free Games: Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics

#69

Post by yareally »

smithzvk wrote: post #59
yareally wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's 3 dollars right now on gog during the sale, so it might as well be free. http://www.gog.com/game/oddworld_abes_oddysee

Indeed, but there are odd economics at work here. How much do you pay for something that you might not use in the next 2 years, or ever? Do you assume it will drop in price? If it isn't already installed, will I ever actually bother when there are so many other distractions competing for my time? We live in a world crowded with entertainment opportunity and it is only getting more crowded with time. (by the way, GOG…

> "(by the way, GOG should pay you a commission for talking me into it)"

Haha, I wish, though GOG provides a service I'm thankful exists so I'm happy giving them a little boost every now and then when appropriate. They've always been good when I've had an issue with a game. I once changed my mind on a game I wanted and decided on getting something else (had not played or downloaded it yet). After dropping them an email, they were happy to switch it out for something else without an issue. Doing the same on Steam would have been like "pulling teeth" with their no refunds policy. I know they also have a new policy that if you can't get something to work and they can't either, they also refund you the money. I'm curious to if that applies to games run under WINE as well (I'm guessing it likely would with as flexible as they are).

I used to have lots of classic games from the mid to late 90s and early 00s. I lost most unfortunately when my parents interpreted me leaving them at home when I moved out as no longer wanting them period. Since the advent of GOG, I've rebuilt most of my collection by waiting for them to go on sale.

As far as prices for older games on there, they tend to stay pretty static for sale/non-sale prices I've noticed. Doubt it will go cheaper anytime soon. Even if it did, to me, a couple of bucks doesn't carry the "buyer's remorse" that spending 50 dollars on a game from Steam carries when it happens to go on sale the day after you get it.

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