The Happy Birthday Thread

[shadowblade34]

Happy Birthday Dave!

[Cybernetic pig]

Happy Bday Dave. My present to you is to encourage you to play System Shock 2. Do it! Best present ever, you'll see.

[AgentOrange]

Happy birthday, Dave!

I myself probably should have mentioned it was my birthday when it was my birthday, but I didn't notice we had this thread until now.

[DaveW]

Then happy retro-active birthday!

And thanks guys Cybernetic Pig - I will play System Shock 2 someday. Just not anytime soon.

[AgentOrange]

Play SS2 in your own time. Even I find it very hard to get into.

[Cybernetic pig]

I dont understand... The game is very similar to Deus Ex, and I would think DX is much harder to get into. What is it about SS2 that makes it hard to get into? Absolutely brilliant game, every aspect of it.

[shadowblade34]

I dont understand... The game is very similar to Deus Ex, and I would think DX is much harder to get into. What is it about SS2 that makes it hard to get into? Absolutely brilliant game, every aspect of it.

The atmosphere is so much different, and if you actually do make a mistake in a choice. You can be fucked very easily. Added to that, the fact that the game doesn't pause on inventory is very hard for people to get into.

[Cybernetic pig]

Hardcore simulation design, love it. Putting the game on easy should have paused time in inventory though, but you do get more cyber modules & health on easy.

The game should be a breeze for anyone who has completed DX though....it is not that hard really, especially since you can save anywhere, anytime.

[DDL]

Respawning enemies, monster closets, an honest-to-god "die, then respawn" mechanic, three character classes, psychic powers (!), an insane research system (behold my lift full of bismuth and beryllium!), weapons you physically cannot use unless you have the requisite skill level, weapon degradation, an assault rifle that is actually good, ninjas (!!!), a ton of references to the first game that otherwise make no sense...the list goes on.
SS2 is not really "very similar" to DX. And it's in space.

Plus at no point does DX ever claim to be a survival horror game, whereas that's basically exactly what SS2 is.

They both have RPG elements, they both have inventory tetris, they both have 'augmentation' of sorts...um..they're both first person? They both require a degree of actual brain to play? I'm finding it hard to think of other ways in which they're very similar, or even slightly similar.


Though yes, SS2 is also an excellent game.

ooh ooh wait! They both have a basketball easter egg. Ok, that's close enough for me.



...anyway, happy belated birthday, Dave.

[Cybernetic pig]

Snip.

Some of that is standard in many classic RPGs.

SS2 is very similar to DX, yet very different. I shall leave it at that.

Fuck it suppose I better back this one up:

- Strong simulation design, so many similarities here.

- 451 reference (and inputting codes manually).

- Mostly consistent worlds where all fictional aspects are backed up (except that elusive log justifying weapon degradation, awesome mechanic though). Example- HUD is an Augmentation. EDIT: Sorry this one comes under sim design.

- The worlds are rich with detail and optional content for the player to find.

- Choice & Consequence design.

- Excellent, well told & deep stories. This is rare, especially for first person games with guns.

- Reverse difficulty curve.

Some minor ones:

- Leaning, awkward (but I like) ladders, multiple ammo types, weapon modding, Robots with odd (but I like) voices, hacking.

There is more, but this should suffice.

[YeomanTheCastle]

I apologise for taking this thread a bit off topic but I have to reply to this.

SS2 is very similar to DX, yet very different.

That doesn't even make sense. That's a an oxymoron.

- Strong simulation design, so many similarities here.

What does "strong simulation design" even mean? Can you please point out some similarities?

- 451 reference (and inputting codes manually).

So, a single code makes the two similar. Um, okay...

- The worlds are rich with detail and optional content for the player to find.

- Choice & Consequence design.

- Excellent, well told & deep stories. This is rare, especially for first person games with guns.

- Reverse difficulty curve.

Some minor ones:

- Leaning, awkward (but I like) ladders, multiple ammo types, weapon modding, Robots with odd (but I like) voices, hacking.

The ones selected here are examples that are either very weak, very common in many, many other games, or both. Going by this logic, SS2 is similar to quite a fuckton of games. Doesn't that sound a bit ridiculous?

There is more, but this should suffice.

This absolutely does not suffice, but you're not going to find anything else that is going to. So please, don't put the time and effort into finding more examples and spend it on some thing more productive. Like, learning Chinese for example.

And in an attempt to keep this post even remotely off topic, happy birthday Dave, even though I'm inexcusably late to send my wishes.

[Cybernetic pig]

.........

You are not realising my examples combine with DDL's?.

SS2 is very similar to DX in its core design; deep gameplay, strong simulation, the developers focusing on creating a wholesome, believable and consistent world & lastly not scared to challenge the player. Now tell me of one other first person game that is not connected to Looking Glass in some way designed with those four keypoints.
I only know one, Call of Cthulhu: DCOTE, though they likely drew inspiration from LGS when developing that game too.
Well there is Elder Scrolls too, but there is some who say Daggerfall drew inspiration from Ultima Underworld.

It is different in that it is a survival horror as well as a first person role-playing immersive sim, that it is set in space, its storytelling methods are different, and it is arguably slightly more punishing than Deus Ex, though I beg to differ on that one. Of course there are many, many other differences too, but SS2 does share many similarities with DX.

[DDL]

So basically "they're both basically looking glass studios games (even though they're not)"?

Because I was going to say "thief", but then you specifically ruled out looking glass games for some reason.

So..Stalker?

(also, lol@ utter thread derail... )

[Cybernetic pig]

DX is a Looking Glass game, not in name, but in design principles and passion. Same with Arkane and the upcoming Dishonored. LGS didn't die, it lives on through other companies.

Yes derailed, it is only the birthday thread

Was my birthday last month and I didnt get a damn thing. Suppose im getting to that age now

Oh and Stalker yeah probably.

[YeomanTheCastle]

Happy 9th birthday, Trekmon!