Comments on: Gaming Made Me

By: Joseph Wright

Joseph Wright — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:02:50 +0000

i played the original SimCity in the 90′s and until now i still play the latest version of SimCity`-,

By: Jonas

Jonas — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:50:25 +0000

I really wouldn’t mind working on an open, very systemic RPG – I believe it would satisfy my semi-OCD. I love the idea of having this large game world to fill with content; I had so much fun working like that on TNM.

By: EER

EER — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:46:56 +0000

Indeed, it is also in the plot somewhere. But I just ran into the last dwarf on one of my travels/break-ins, and the dwemer culture seemed very advanced at the time, so it is surprising how everyone disappeared at once. Maybe I should play Daggerfall and maybe I’ll find out.

I would probably be disappointed by a SW remake, and yes, there were vehicles. But they were very basic. However, I would just like to have people remember it. Right now not many people outside of the ‘scene’ know it. Even the new generation of gamers (post 1990) have never even heard of it, which is a shame.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:08:19 +0000

Oh yeah SimCity was fun but I could never get a hang of the economics either, and I didn’t know that tax trick.

I’ve read the last of the dwarves is actually in Morrowind as part of one of the plot missions (something with a disease you can get, and you have to find a cure).

I think you would inevitably be disappointed if they remade Shadow Warrior. I do remember that it was very cool at the time though. It even had vehicles, didn’t it? Very cool.

By: EER

EER — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:59:28 +0000

Hotwheels
The first game I can remember playing, the most interesting about it was that you could build your own car! Given my age at the time, this was something that was the pinnacle of gaming satisfaction: driving a car you have built yourself. After this game, I have only ever done this with Nascar 2000 (custom paint jobs using mspaint). This game has more or less started off my gaming career by being simply enjoyable.

Sim City
Another very early entry in this list is Sim City. At 8 I wasn’t a very good mayor. Luckily you could set taxes to 20% in December (just before collecting them), then lower them to 1% during the rest of the year (attracting more people to your city). This allowed me to build very cool cities, and then FLOOD THEM. This combination of building and destroying is also seen in my Lego building behaviour: Build a house, make up a story that involves knocking down the house, repeat. I am tempted to add Settlers, Civilization, Transport Tycoon and The Sims here, but I think Sim City covers this area nicely already

Morrowind
Morrowind was the very first 3D open world game I bought. I remember reading raving reviews and thinking “I WANTS IT”. It’s also one of the first games I have played with serious lore behind it. I got totally involved in everything Morrowind, looking for the lost dwarves (which I know now are not in the game), reading all kinds of books (in-game) on the subject. The game totally sucked me up, and I loved it. Deus Ex and Diablo 2 also fall into this category, but I must say that Morrowind made more of an impression due to the sheer SIZE and 3dness of the game.

Shadow Warrior
Quake
The FPS entry I write with mixed feelings, on the one hand, Quake was the first 3D shooter I have played. I actually created a level for multiplayer in which I accidentally only placed a single spawn point. Telefrags a go, obviously! On the other hand, Shadow Warrior was the first game I ever bought using my very own cash. 100 hard-earned guilders I paid for it, and I have never regretted it. My dad however, was less optimistic about my choice of game, since I was 12, and the game was rated 18+. But the game simply was FUN. They should remake it.

By: Jonas

Jonas — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Yeah sadly I completely missed C&C.

I missed so many games back then, I really find it quite depressing to think about. If I could retcon one thing about my own early gaming habits though, I would make myself play Thief when it was originally released. Man.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:53:13 +0000

Red Alert?! What about Command and Conquer? Or did you just not catch that one in time? I think CnC was the first game on CD that I ever played, and I absolutely loved it. Especially fun was the dial up mp matches…until someone picked up the phone :p

By: Jonas

Jonas — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:47:14 +0000

No, the first game-capable device in my household was a 486 PC, and Doom was one of the first games we installed on it (damn near took up the entire harddisk). I did in fact have a SNES when I was younger, and though I certainly won’t deny that the two games I had for it (Super Mario World and Goof Troop) had some part in shaping my gaming consciousness, I can’t identify any major impact that they had on my taste in games.

But yes, at heart, I’m a PC gamer and an FPS and RPG fan – good thing those are two of the three most popular genres these days (the third being strategy). And good thing I was raised as a PC gamer, otherwise I might never have got into the modding which led me to game development : )

If you had to pick 4 games like these, what would they be? I’d be interested to hear that.

By: EER

EER — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:58:46 +0000

What’s interesting to note in your list is the genre distribution of the four games. You seem to have been mostly ‘made’ by FPS and RPG (and a little RTS), That directly leads to TNM ofcourse.

Also interesting is that you are made exclusively by PC games. Did you have any gaming device before the PC?