Wolfire Games Forums

Ragdollmaster wrote:You like and dislike entire genres because of some arbitrary and nonsensical grading scale that seems to lack any sort of a middle ground.

I guess rating video games based upon how much you liked the game doesnt seem logical

If I'm able to play halfway through the game and take a 16 or so hour break before starting again, the game isn't that great because it failed to pique my interest so much that its practically an addiction.

However, I will admit that puzzle games are easier to walk away from than other genres because it doesnt invoke the OCD tendancies or skinner box techniques or competativeness that other games do.

so ... 9/10?

I dunno, It was really well done but ... yea ... there was a point where I thought "I'm getting tired of this" and that was fairly early into the game. So there is just no way i could ever give it a 10/10.

I would rate the dialog 10/10 though ... Its was just simply amazing.

I loved every moment I hung out with wheatley, [spoiler] and it saddened me that he turned "evil" (really i dont think he was evil, just really stupid) and I had to defeat him. But i still loved the rambling.

And the retarded robot cubes ... I want to make one as a pet

"Hold on. I am going to attempt a manual override on this wall." Haha[/spoiler]

Ragdollmaster wrote:You like and dislike entire genres because of some arbitrary and nonsensical grading scale that seems to lack any sort of a middle ground.

Give me some examples. Exactly what entire genres do I like and dislike? Because I can't think of any.

As for middle ground, there are plenty of games that I consider merely alright.

(Examples: Assassin's Creed (all of them), Farcry 2, Fallout 3, AaAAaa Reckless Disregard for Gravity, Dead Space 2, Zeno Clash)

I just don't talk about them much because... well, why would I? It would be like telling people about the muesli I ate for breakfast. Sure, it filled me up, but it was rather unremarkable and hardly the basis for an interesting dialogue.

Renegade_Turner wrote:You seem to be easily impressed by games that try something outside the norm...

Okay, you have a point there.

But I will not apologise for that. How does that saying go? "Variety is the spice of life" or something? Basically, when the only meal on the menu is steak, encountering a plate of trifle is cause for celebration. Even if the steak is excellent and the trifle is mediocre, the change in flavour will still be damn well appreciated.

Renegade_Turner wrote:... if indie all the better, and heavily against things like Triple A titles, regardless of the quality of their game mechanics. You generally seem to lap one side up and projectile vomit at the thought of the other.

Uhh... no.

Some indie games I do not like: The Void, Serious Sam, Cyrostasis
Some AAA games I like: Mirror's Edge, Bioshock, Mass Effect 2

I have no particular affection for indie games. For every indie developer creating hidden gems and pushing the envelope, there are ten who are busily pumping out sub-par imitations or making yet another iteration of Breakout.

Sure, there are some indie games I really like (the word "Amnesia" just appeared in my head in giant flaming letters), but I like them because I consider them good games, not because they are independently produced.

As for the AAA industry... eh, I'm not sure. The constant pursuit of the mighty dollar tends to result in some pretty fucking bland offerings and a distinct lack of my beloved variety. But I can't really blame businesses for trying to turn a profit. And they make enough good stuff to keep my faith alive.

My only major beef with the AAA crowd is that 99% of them don't have a bloody clue when it comes to narrative or characterization. I'm not going to say I could do better, but I will say that if I was a writer for your average AAA game I would be too ashamed to put my name on it.

Oh yeah, and CoD clones. Fuck CoD clones.

Zhukov wrote:

Renegade_Turner wrote:You seem to be easily impressed by games that try something outside the norm...

Okay, you have a point there.

But I will not apologise for that. How does that saying go? "Variety is the spice of life" or something? Basically, when the only meal on the menu is steak, encountering a plate of trifle is cause for celebration. Even if the steak is excellent and the trifle is mediocre, the change in flavour will still be damn well appreciated.

I gotta agree with Zhukov,

It takes balls to go outside of the norm. So whenever someone does go outside what is considered normal and builds a great game. Those balls deserved to be sucked up to.

... or something like that.

For Assaultman:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... Every-Head

I don't want the unavoidable advertising in my game ... I don't really care about the DLC

How that fact got lost within pages of ranting about advertising is beyond me

Portal is a very very complete game, it has pretty much everythink we need, it has a great story, great dialogue, great puzzles and great graphics...

BUT, all in all i still think that the portal series have been way to short, the puzzles could be more difficult, or they should make a lot more of them.

Renegade_Turner wrote:Ahh, the problem is that companies advertise products. Oh yes, I forgot.

lol

Philipmejdal wrote:BUT, all in all i still think that the portal series have been way to short, the puzzles could be more difficult, or they should make a lot more of them.

I can agree with you. However, I still think that making the puzzles a bit more trickier would compensate for its length. I played the Co-op Campaign with a friend of mine, and as, well, experienced Portal and puzzle gamers, it wasn't nearly as much of a challenge as we would have wanted it to be. Mildly disappointing, actually.

Renegade_Turner wrote:Ahh, the problem is that companies advertise products. Oh yes, I forgot.

It actually is.

Advertising is being continually pushed forward with very few legal restrictions.

take for instance billboards.

Companies buy or rent billboard space to try to catch driver's attention. Why is it legal to try to purposefully distract drivers?

How far is too far? Doesn't anyone else think that there should be at least a line in which the rules for advertising cant cross?

If I developed a method of advertising in people's dreams, would that be ok?

Freshbite wrote:

Philipmejdal wrote:BUT, all in all i still think that the portal series have been way to short, the puzzles could be more difficult, or they should make a lot more of them.

I can agree with you. However, I still think that making the puzzles a bit more trickier would compensate for its length. I played the Co-op Campaign with a friend of mine, and as, well, experienced Portal and puzzle gamers, it wasn't nearly as much of a challenge as we would have wanted it to be. Mildly disappointing, actually.

Keep in mind that there is a huge curb due to intelligence.

your average 10 year old might struggle with the game for days as it is now.

Assaultman67 wrote:

Renegade_Turner wrote:Ahh, the problem is that companies advertise products. Oh yes, I forgot.

It actually is.

Advertising is being continually pushed forward with very few legal restrictions.

take for instance billboards.

Companies buy or rent billboard space to try to catch driver's attention. Why is it legal to try to purposefully distract drivers?

How far is too far? Doesn't anyone else think that there should be at least a line in which the rules for advertising cant cross?

If I developed a method of advertising in people's dreams, would that be ok?

Can I introduce TR,DR for "Too Ridiculous, Didn't Read"?

Assaultman67 wrote:Keep in mind that there is a huge curb due to intelligence.
your average 10 year old might struggle with the game for days as it is now.

Map Packs.

If not, I would be satisfied to see an official update to their Hammer Editor to include easy support for Portal 2. At the time, my friend and I have to go via Alien Swarm and manually import objects and textures to get it to look "Portal-ish", so to have them optimize that would be great. Perhaps we'd even see custom Campaigns with such an update.

I found that some of the single player felt repetitious, mainly about 3/4th of the way through the single player. You really don't need to have played Portal to enjoy Portal 2, they ease you into the puzzles the same way they did in the first one, starting with basics and adding new elements as they go along. The beginning would be easy for people who've beaten the first Portal, I think there's enough references to the events in the first game to make it interesting before they throw you into new areas. Without giving away too much for people who haven't played Portal 2 yet, I think I started to get tired of it when they really started making use of the gel puzzles. I enjoyed the use of the gel (There ARE some neat puzzles there), it was a fun element that allowed you to really mess around with different ways to solve a puzzle, but the narrative was lacking a bit and getting between puzzles became tedious. I just wanted to get out of that area so I could continue on. If an area between levels forces you to spam the portal shots trying to find the exit just so you can get to the next level, I think its failed somewhat. Once you get out of that area, it gets much better.

Renegade_Turner wrote:

Assaultman67 wrote:

Renegade_Turner wrote:Ahh, the problem is that companies advertise products. Oh yes, I forgot.

...How far is too far? Doesn't anyone else think that there should be at least a line in which the rules for advertising cant cross?

If I developed a method of advertising in people's dreams, would that be ok?

Can I introduce TR,DR for "Too Ridiculous, Didn't Read"?

... ahem.

Every time you consciously recognize an advertisement. You now are going to think of tampons.

Why? because I just suggested it.