<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(thebes @ Sep 23 2007, 04:15 AM) [snapback]312636[/snapback]</div>Perhaps you should try their new games. The do-over of Defender of the crown or something like that (Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown).

I miss the flightsims golden age, approximately from the late eighties to mid nineties. Flight simulation (specially combat..) was a very succesfull genre and I had lot of fun with milestones like Falcon 3.0, Fighter Bomber and Red Baron.

These days this kind of games simply lost its appeal. These days, the most recent jetfighter flight sim, if my memory serves me well, is Lock On: Modern Air Combat (the first one. I coun't Flaming Cliffs as and addon). It's a shame.....well there's even Falcon 4.0 Allied Force, but this genre seems to be paying tribute to the "consolization" of videogames.

I recently submitted a game review for the site. I'll only say that it's a flight simulator of classic status from 1987. :whistling:

In general I would say the focus nowadays is too much on graphics, too little on gameplay (or even basics such as pathfinding, they simply don't test enough) and very little on innovation. It's been ages since we've seen a truly new type of games appearing.

Also, most modern games tend to come with a 100 page manual where it takes you at least half an hour of reading before you can start playing. I love those intuitive games where you could discover at least 80% of the game without any manual. Take for example Transport Tycoon or Alpha Centauri, both games with endless possibilities; you could play these without a manual for ages, and only browse through it for some details to refine gameplay afterwards.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(another_guest @ Sep 28 2007, 08:19 AM) [snapback]313597[/snapback]</div>I disagree. Games don't come with manuals anymore, but in some few page pdf synopses. Games are a lot more easier to learn today than few years back.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Morrin @ Sep 28 2007, 12:00 PM) [snapback]313612[/snapback]</div>Exactly; in the old times the manuals were humongous, some of them including heaps of additional information that wasn't exactly necessary for the game, but would interest the gamer anyway. MicroProse simulators and strategy games were probably the best examples of this.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Morrin @ Sep 28 2007, 10:00 AM) [snapback]313612[/snapback]</div>I disagree. Games don't come with manuals anymore, but in some few page pdf synopses. Games are a lot more easier to learn today than few years back.
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I agree Morrin. Back in the day, PC gaming was a 'hobby' - now it is a 'pastime'. PC gamers used to salivate at a new Microprose Simulation like Red Storm Rising with it's 100+ page manual that not only explained the game , but also gave a history of sub warfare, etc! Oh yes, and a keyboard overlay too! Even regular games had decent, well written manuals, like Activision's BattleZone, which had a 100 page manual laid out like a Nuclear Weapons manual, along with coffee cup rings, stains and handwritten notes! Most games today, even if they give you a manual at all, it is usually less than 30 pages and literally just explains how to play the game (sometimes not even that!) Sometimes they do try, so for example, the STALKER manual tries, with a fake ring binder design, first person writing and 'sellotaped' notes stuck over the original text!

So I am completely with you Morrin. PC gaming has declined because of the break in the link between gamers and publishers. Today, with all games coming in the same DVD box with the same type of manual paper, you know, that grey background, 'glossy toilet paper feel' and even the same fonts used, gaming has become a 'commodity'.

The fact that gamers more and more are buying the 'Collector's Edition's', which in many cases are only a couple £/$ more than the original game shows how much gamers old and new want more of an 'experience' in their gaming. And that including the way the game is packaged!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Timpsi @ Sep 28 2007, 10:19 AM) [snapback]313616[/snapback]</div>Exactly; in the old times the manuals were humongous, some of them including heaps of additional information that wasn't exactly necessary for the game, but would interest the gamer anyway. MicroProse simulators and strategy games were probably the best examples of this.
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Wow! Thinking the same things at the same time almost exactly! :)

Well, there is at least one thing that has improved over the years.

Remember the 'story journals' that came with old RPGs? Every now and then the game would give you the page and the passage numbers, which you then had to dig up from the journal and read what was happening in the game. This was necessary as the disk space was very limited back then and by moving the lengthy descriptions of events to a booklet they could save up a lot of space on the floppies..

The result was of course that the said games are completely unplayable without the booklet. That is something that will surely never make a comeback. :)

Heh, when I mentioned manuals, I was referring to lengthy pdf's. At least that's my experience.
Back in the days I could play almost any game right away without any need for a manual.

Or take for example Alpha Centauri: the thing has a huge manual but I've only needed it after playing several games, just to figure out the finer details.

Back in the day, games that needed it would give you a nice tutorial.
Good times.