[Kazashi]

in reply to: How far did you get within the month? #6069

While I had played it extensively in the past, including a playthrough of MW2 and GBL at the end of last year, I wasn’t able to dedicate a lot of time to it last month.

One thing I did try out was the original Mechwarrior 2: The Clans demo, because while I had seen it in action before I had never had access to a copy until now. And I also played some Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, because the Inner Sphere needed a hero too.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: What control schemes are people using? #5924

For most playthroughs I tend to stick with the keyboard and default mapping. It isn’t the most accurate, as I jerkily try to move the reticle around, but I still get by. I can’t remember if I actually ever tried it with a joystick, I think I left that for later games in the series.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Advice for a first time player #5923

It doesn’t matter which Clan you pick. Basically they’re both sides of the same war, so you’ll play on the same planets with the same Mechs, and the scenarios will be similar. But they won’t be identical playthroughs, so feel free to give them both a try.

And yes, play with the music if you can!

[Kazashi]

in reply to: The Music and Audio #5898

I love the sound design; the clang of the grenades, the rapport of the super nailgun, the ambience strewn through the levels.

The music is fine. It’s not bad, but as has been suggested it seems like it may not be the best match. There were definitely times that it did work in Quake, but I have had it playing in the background with other games to better effect. I just wish I could remember what games they were….

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Preferred version/source port? #5897

Like Jozxyqk I have been a long time user of DarkPlaces. Back in the day I did use other engines, like TomazQuake, FTE, even tried out Tenebrae for a little while…

But yeah, in a large part due to familiarity with DP I turn to it by default, with the exception being the latest release on Kex. Kex feels… fine, I guess. But I’m looking forward to some of those older engines getting updated for the new formats.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Mercenaries #5896

I think the fundamentals are close enough that it warrants being covered along with MW2 and GBL. While you get more Mechs and weapons, and the mission structure is different, there are so many similarities in terms of things like gameplay, graphics, and sound that it’s still Mechwarrior 2 at heart.

Of course, I’d be happy to do a separate episode on just Mercs2, but there are lots of other DOS games to get through!

[Kazashi]

in reply to: My Quake Experiences #5895

@watchful I was involved in a project called Transfusion, which aimed to recreate Blood (in a time before decent source ports were created).

[Kazashi]

in reply to: My Quake Experiences #5846

The computer room at high school was also my first experience with Quake. I didn’t do computer studies, but we had a free period and a teacher decided to drop us off in there as an easy way of supervising a bunch of bored students. Someone who knew what they were doing set up Quake deathmatch and we all passed the time with some excitement.

Eventually my family got our own PC, and I… obtained a copy of Quake. The singleplayer was fine, not as fun as the BUILD engine games that I had also delved into, but it kept me entertained. What I really loved was the other CD my friend had loaned me: it contained a bunch of mods, maps, and tutorials on using Quake’s tools incluuding QuakeC.

One thing led to another and I was involved in an old total conversion of an older DOS game, which was quite the experience, but that feels like a lifetime ago now. I play through Quake maybe once a year, same as with Doom, Duke3D, Blood etc. I didn’t do too well in multiplayer, so I don’t really miss it, but Quake will always have a permanent place on my hard drive.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: How to play Mechwarrior 2 + information resources on the game #5386

Glad to hear that this game has been picked up. Thanks to the Eridani Light Horse for providing information on getting it to run.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: We're going to need a bigger boat…. #2407

All finished.

What to say? It felt like a more challenging experience than the other Build games (I played through Redneck Rampage a few months back and that did feel a bit easier to get through), but also well worth the play. The product quality was high: 2D art, sound, map flow and gameplay all came together really nicely, and I believe it deserves the cult following that it has attained over the years.

I look forward to listening to the podcast, to hear what other people thought of Blood, but I am glad to have played through it again.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: We're going to need a bigger boat…. #2356

While I’m here, I should also add a link to the Blood Wiki. Naturally it contains a lot of info about the Blood series – development history, installation, universe and plot etc. As fan wikis go, it’s a good one.

https://blood-wiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

[Kazashi]

in reply to: We're going to need a bigger boat…. #2355

So I finished the main game with Plasma Pak, and I’ve moved on to Cryptic Passage. While this wasn’t made by Monolith(*) it is generally considered an essential part of the Blood universe.

As it was made and published by external parties there are no added features; no new weapons, enemies or items. What you do get are several large (at least they feel that way to me) levels of imaginative and inspired design, along with new complementary textures.

If you’re finished with the main game, give CP a go. Even if you haven’t finished it, it may still be worth trying CP before the monthly challenge is over.

(*) The company who did make CP was Sunstorm Interactive, who also created a number of addons for BUILD games, and would later make the Deer Hunter series.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Better mouse look #2335

I’m still in the camp of using keyboard-only for BUILD games, even with Ion Maiden. However I spend most days on a laptop where it feels more practical to have that non-mouse setup.

I think the auto-aim cone is narrower than with Doom, I have noticed times that it did not want to pick up monsters especially on a high level of pitch.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Difficulty Challenge #2306

Strafe, jump, run away. I don’t know if that’s particularly helpful, but you’re not wrong about the difficulty.

Early on, the flare gun is your friend. Monks and zombies only need one shot, and the flares have a fairly long range. They do take time to burn though so you might need a corner to lurk around for full effect.

Dynamite is wonderful on groups. Don’t forget alt-fire so you can bounce it around corners.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: We're going to need a bigger boat…. #2302

I have no idea how fast it is running for you in DOSBox, but IMO compared to other BUILD games it feels faster and harder.

On that topic: enemies feel smarter and more aggressive, which I think is mostly achieved by having them chase you down promptly. Their weapons also bite; cultists carry the same kinds of weapon you do (i.e. shotgun, tommy gun, dynamite), and some monsters combine ranged and melee attacks.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: We're going to need a bigger boat…. #2298

If anyone is also interested in trying NBlood:

https://nukeykt.retrohost.net/

Has links to a Win64 binary and source code on GitHub.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Native DOS with modern hardware #2188

Thanks for the comments. I’m going to try resurrecting a slightly older mini-ITX system I have here first before looking into buying anything new. There are still plenty of older parts I have in stock to play with, so I’ll see how that goes when I get some time.

Ultimately I would like to have a few PCs networked up in classic LAN party style, so I imagine affordability will play a large part in what hardware is used.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Native DOS with modern hardware #2165

I haven’t seen that site, though I do recognise Phil from his Youtube videos.

Thanks for the resource.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Native DOS with modern hardware #2161

Thanks for the reply.

As you mentioned, one hurdle faced with modern hardware is that the sound configuration is different. Looking around, it seems that pretty much all attempts to enable sound resort to a SB-compatible PCI card. There seems to be some software/drivers around to extend DOS support to devices like Intel HDA but I need to investigate that further.

Another issue I have come across is VGA/VESA support in newer hardware. Support is not perfect, since it’s not really expected these days.

[Kazashi]

in reply to: Native DOS with modern hardware #2159

That sounds like a good idea: I especially like the concept of dropping cache to slow down the system. While most of the games I would be interested in running come from the mid-late 90s, I would appreciate the ability to also run time-locked games.

By modern I’m thinking more about new hardware that would be readily available on the current market, as opposed to looking around for older hardware second hand. I do have some older hardware available to me, but I’m also interested in what can be done when that older hardware just isn’t there.