Spoonboy

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Viewing 35 posts - 1 through 35 (of 35 total)

  • Spoonboy
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    in reply to: primitivethinking says “Hello!” #7850

    Welcome, primitivethinking!
    Join us on the IRC channel for all (some) of the best (or worst) game discussions 😉


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Unofficial PC Wipeout port #7846

    This works great – thanks for the link dreadnaut! 😀


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Hello, World! #7839

    Hehe, it was like that for me with games like Street Rod.
    And I’d barely looked at Stunts before playing for the recent episode. Now I’m regularly playing in two racing competitions for it! XD


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Hello, World! #7836

    Hi Wesbat, welcome!
    Glad you’re enjoying the episodes 🙂
    Hope they remind you of your favourites and inspire you to try some you didn’t know!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: DGC leaderboard #7584

    This is great 🙂
    I love that they have seen that we are sincerely getting involved with the game, and in the creative ways it is being played nowadays.
    So much so, they have made us part of their official history!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: ZakStunts #7524

    Also, I’ve not tried the Ryoma’s Ferraris yet. Do you mean his 637 Indy, or 641 F1?
    How do they compare with the Indy and McLaren?


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: ZakStunts #7523

    Thanks Marco 🙂
    In fact, the loop used to be where the corkscrew is now, on the other side. I swapped to a corkscrew as I thought it set up for the banking better, but still wanted a loop. Maybe I’ll have a think about putting it at a different point, to turn it more into an advantage than a tough final challenge. Or maybe it should be tough! 😉


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: ZakStunts #7513

    Hi Marco – great lap today!!
    Brooklands is my track, and it was great seeing you drive it on your channel.
    Not so great that you beat my time though! 😛
    Sorry for the confusion about the correct route to take – thanks for understanding.
    Hope you are enjoying driving this, and our other tracks.
    We are planning to add more to the leaderboard soon!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: DGC leaderboard #7512

    Loving the leaderboard! And as DJ_HIP says, the rivalry is great and really encourages me to improve my times 🙂


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: BRKLNDS #7511

    I’ve updated the notes at the top of the track description, so give it a read before you drive, or watch a replay to be sure!
    The start/finish straight is separate from the rest of the track, which is from a time when drivers would run to their cars and jump in to start the race!
    Enjoy the track 🙂


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: A Jet-Powered Epilogue #7342

    Aaaand my first Me262 kill! 😀


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: A Jet-Powered Epilogue #7340

    This is one attacking my formation.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: A Jet-Powered Epilogue #7338

    Here’s some screenshots. This was my first sighting.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Megafortress #7289

    Hi SpaceGameJunkie,
    I never played Megafortress, but I’ve had a look at it online before. It makes me think of F-19/F-117 with its focus on being stealthy.
    Looks like it has a lot of details and controls to get your teeth into – I’ll have to check it out.
    Thanks for reminding me about it!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Getting off the ground in B17 #7096

    Evilcommiedictator, I’ll try to make sure we let you know when we plan to record the episode. Hopefully rnlf or tijn still have your email from previous correspondence.
    Or jump on irc and find us there 🙂


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Getting off the ground in B17 #7095

    Haha I’d agree with evilcommiedictator that the waist gunners aren’t good for much! Don’t think I ever got a kill with one.
    I find the navigator good as a healer, but radio operator would be first choice. It’s not unheard of to need two healers at once, though! To me, a crewman’s medical skill doesn’t seem to have much noticeable effect on heal times.
    I am quite nervous of leaving just one pilot flying. If he gets hit, you’d have to get someone else in the other seat pretty fast. Recently had both pilots injured at once, so the plane started going down. With no time to heal them and the fact you can’t move injured crewmen out of their seats, that was game over…


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Sequels and games it inspired #7077

    I played a lot of Mighty Eighth when it came out.
    It looking absolutely amazing, with graphics that I think still stand up today (and not even in a retro way!). It was certainly an upgrade to the original B17 experience.
    The new compartment view inside the aircraft with animated crew members was a bit clunky, but mostly an amazing game to look at.
    It was popular with the modding community, being quite easy to change things like aircraft skins.
    However, I remember it was quite demanding on my pc, which was quite well equipped at the time. And it was definitely buggy! Damage/injuries seemed to happen way too often, making missions almost unplayable at times, despite patching.
    Through the modding community again, I found an editable file that seemed to have variables for almost all mission parameters, that one could experiment with to help this.
    Even so, I found myself coming back to the original B17 for playability.
    The new batch of B17 games from Microprose look great!
    It’s good to know tthey are still interested in advancing this part of their brand.
    And ‘Bomber Crew’ also looks cool, I’ll definitely give that a try.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Getting off the ground in B17 #7076

    Hi evilcommiedictator – and thanks!
    I remember that you were into Microprose games from the Knights of the Sky episode 🙂
    Do you think you remember B17 well enough to be in the podcast? It would be great to have your expertise as a fellow Microprose fan!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Magazine Reviews #6978

    Thanks for these reviews Pix!
    Yes, sometimes I feel it’s almost more a resource management sim than a flight sim!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Stunt Island (1992) #6869

    Just picked this up at 75% off on GoG.
    Time to get rehearsing! 😀


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: A warm welcome #6516

    Hi and welcome from a fellow UK fan!
    And an Amstrad fan – my DOS days were spent on our family’s trusty 5286 😉


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Introducing: GrandpaGamer #6197

    Welcome!
    I also enjoy some SimCity2k, and it’s a fun episode to listen to 😉
    With your military background, I wonder if you ever played many DOS flightsims?


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Hello from Australia (orig equip-386 SX) #6096

    Hi pana79 and welcome!
    Glad to hear you’re liking the podcast and that you enjoyed the Street Rod episode (one of the few I’ve actually participated in!).
    I also grew up with games like Indy 500 and F-19 (well, technically F-117 ;)).
    Enjoy listening through the previous podcasts, and hey maybe try some for games you’ve never heard of. I’d not heard of Street Rod, but now I love it! 😀


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Hello! #5156

    Hi xtonyx and welcome!
    Hope you enjoy the Street Rod episode. That was the first recording I took part in 😉
    I’d never played it before, but now I go back to it often! Also loved F117, and all those Microprose sims.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Who wants to join the podcast? #5062

    I thought this would be a fun episode to join if you need someone, but haven’t got as much to say on the game as some might, and this week is quite busy for me. But keep me in the loop and I might able to join.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Hi there! #4902

    Hi stdevel and welcome!
    I remember listening through previous episodes when I first discovered DGC. It was great, it felt like an infinite supply! Now, waiting a whole month for the next ep seems like forever XD
    Look forward to your game suggestions.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Syndicate 101 #4477

    Hi Shattered. Only just saw this so sorry for not responding sooner!
    You’ve probably already worked this out, but it raises a good point I’d not mentioned before.
    While you can aim your agents at the inside of each building from the main view screen and left-click to move them around, for precise targets you can also do this via the mini-map. Just left-click on the targets (white-ringed grey circles), and your agents will move to that point. Assuming your Persaudertron is equiped, the targets will be persuaded.
    This can be a useful movement method, as buildings often obscure areas you move through during missions.
    Also useful for getting all agents back inside the red ‘evacuate’ circle at the end – but the mission won’t complete until your persuaded targets join you there.
    Hope this helps!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Syndicate 101 #4412

    Notable Weapons/items:

    Medikit – carry a couple per agent until you have V3 Chest (when health regenerates).

    Minigun – most useful weapon in the game. Powerful, fast, loads of ammo. Once you have this weapon, the game really begins! 😉

    Gauss Gun – rocket launcher, 3 shots. Note: If changing from Gauss to another weapon with all agents selected, make sure they all have the new selected weapon you want (or individually deselect their Gausses). Otherwise they will keep their Gauss Gun selected and with hilarious/messy results! As it’s so expensive and hard to keep safe, I’ll often only have one Guass-equipped agent selected when firing, or equip only one agent with rocketty goodness in the first place.

    Laser: hugely expensive, only 5 shots. Vaporises enemies, and everything they drop. So on one hand, no timed bombs laying around blowing you up! On the other hand, no timed bombs to grab for the 25k! In tough later missions, it might be worth sacrificing this income for safety.

    Flamer: short range, but fun if you like hearing the screams of burning enemies. Notable bc in this game, flames travel through walls! A graphical glitch maybe, but it can be a safe way to clear a building from the outside…

    Energy Shield – gives invulnerablility, but can’t fire while equipped. Depletes over time but does recharge (slowly), if not empty. Can be alternated with a 2nd shield for constant protection, if timed right. But probably not worth the hassle.

    Persuadertron – iconic item. Essential in some missions. Persuade/capture individuals that come within range. Persuading power dependant on Brain version/number persuaded (see manual pic).
    Civilians, Guards, Police and Enemy agents all have different difficulties to persuade, defined by how many you have already persuaded. This that means as the group increases in size it gets easier to persuade higher value individuals, like agents.

    A novel tactic on some missions is to quickly persuade everyone nearby, until you have a group large enough to persuade enemy agents. Then you can run around the map moping them up without ever firing a shot!
    This is useful on missions with large waves of enemy agents.

    Attachments:

    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Syndicate 101 #4409

    Drugs:
    Agent behaviour / performance can be altered by adjusting their drug levels. This side of the game is very useful, but is often misunderstood, or largely ignored by players trying the game out. The manual explains the bars in more detail (see pics), but to explain them with their most obvious behaviour changes:

    Adrenaline (Red) —> Faster/slower movement
    Perception (Blue) —> Higher/lower accuracy
    Intelligence (Brown) —> Higher/lower initiative

    High adrenaline: used most of the time, just to get around the map.
    Low adrenaline can be worthwhile for increased health regen later (with V3 Chest).
    High accuracy useful most of the time.
    Low accuracy can be useful for covering fire.
    High intelligence useful for guarding areas (agents will open fire on enemies by themselves).
    Low intelligence useful for covert missions (agents will not fire unless you make them).

    Killer tip: Left + Right mouse buttons = Panic Mode. Maxes all drug levels.
    Used in firefights. Essential tactic.

    However, the longer drugs are used (bar to right side), the higher the agents tolerance (white line), until the drug has little effect. If that drug is not needed, the tolerance line can be slowly brought back by moving the bar to the left side. Tolerence is controlled better with upgraded heart/brain mods.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: PC Zone Review #4402

    Thanks for sharing, TigerQuoll!
    Loving the demo file. I’ve never played the American Revolt expansion, but this is a great way to see the extra kit that it adds (air-strike/cloak), as well as showing how the original game plays in general.
    Hard not to die though! Lucky there’s not too many missions in the main game that throw that many waves of enemy agents at you all at once!


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Great choice #4401

    Hi MattBurton, welcome! Great that you’re a Syndicate fan! Really looking forward to this myself. I only ever had a 286, so I was playing it on a friend’s pc until I returned to DOS on my own computers later in life.
    I totally agree with what you say about its dystopian atmosphere – that was very appealing to me too.
    And like you I’ve found this game to be one I come back to revisit often, probably more than a lot of DOS games I play.
    If you ever want to chat more about the game, I’m on the club’s irc channel most days.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Aircraft textures #3460

    @sorceress looks like a Fokker Eindecker!
    One of the early enemy aircraft in the game.
    There are some recognisable features, but not sure about the points behind the aircraft. I thought they could’ve been related to the smoke polys (that appear when planes are shot down), or maybe something to do with hitboxes?
    But I really LOVE this point cloud gif.
    Seeing something recognisable from my past, in an abstract way, it feels like opening Tutankhamun’s tomb and finding his fingerprints on a cup 😉
    For those that know the game, this would make a great quiz – guess the object!
    Maybe the patterns/colours are kept in a different file, although @kdrnic’s code did seem to contain colour information?
    The game is about 1Mb and is available on freeware/abandonware sites, if you wanted to see the rest of the files (Or I could post it here? Not sure if posting whole games is ok?)
    Anyway, thanks so much for showing me familiar things in interesting ways 🙂


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Aircraft textures #3441

    I like that theory! Have you noticed this in any other games of the era? (This is a Microprose game)
    A lot of the files have quite decriptive extentions (.pln, .pic, .dat, etc). If only I could get into them.
    And had the ability to do anything with them once I’d got into them..:D


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Aircraft textures #3405

    Ha, I wonder what all those weird file extentions mean…
    As my programming knowledge is practically zero, I naively hoped to find files with flattened-out versions of the planes, that I could easily edit in Photoshop (or MS Paint!). I fear that may not be the case 😀
    I still wonder if these textures can be edited somehow.


    Spoonboy
    Participant
    Podcaster
    in reply to: Syndicate (1993) #3365

    It’s definitely an exciting game. It has quite a tense atmosphere – I rarely feel ‘safe’, no matter how well I’m doing!
    I’m writing a document of useful keys, with hints and tips for anyone that wants to give this game try.
    Will post it here when it’s ready.

Viewing 35 posts - 1 through 35 (of 35 total)