Someone Please Make This RPG!!

Jon Shafer made the following request on the Idle Thumbs forum, " Let's say you had the ability to snap your fingers and a new strategy game would come out tomorrow, exactly to your specifications. What would it be?"


I stretched the rules slightly in my response and included a RPG with tactical combat as a strategy game, mainly because I think RPGs need more help than pure strategy games.  I want a RPG that:

1a) I want time to actually matter. I am tired of being on the all important quest to save the world, but always motivated to try an explore every last nook and cranny of the world. If I really had to kill the foozle to save the world, I wouldn't explore every last inch of the world to earn a couple more coins. I would be focused on getting the job done. Now if I learned about a dungeon that may contain a powerful sword that will aid me in my quest, that makes more sense, but there should be potential consequences if I go that route and take extra time getting my main task accomplished. If my current quest is to save a town from marauding orcs, there should be consequences if it takes me an extra week to get there because I decided to explore for the fun of it. Perhaps the talented blacksmith gets killed if I don't save the town by a certain date and he could have taught me his craft or sold me a great set of armor. 

1b) Now, there could be ebbs and flows of important quests so the player has some time to just explore. Perhaps the important quest isn't revealed until later in the game, so you do have time to take minor quests and do some exploring.

1c) Have different scales of success for completing quests in a timely manner. Solve it fast and everyone is ok. Take extra time and the towns economy takes a hit. Take more time and nothing is left of the town.

2) Have a realistic reputation system. If I steal from a guy in a town but I'm not caught, it shouldn't hurt my reputation. Now if I rob everyone in town blind, I was new to town, and I leave after I am done, perhaps people are suspicious of the new comer. Maybe there is a chance I left behind some clues based on my thieving skills. Maybe not enough to convict me, but perhaps there is some mob justice. Perhaps there is a chance someone in another town hears the news of my actions and recognizes me from a description.

3) Good turn-based tactical combat along the lines of a good tactical wargame, but in a typical fantasy setting (like Dungeons and Dragons). Have a detailed system where there is lots of room for strategizing. No reflect-based combat please.

4) Make death matter, but not common. In RPGs where it is expected you will die every 5 minutes and must save and reload have the effect of making death insignificant. It ruins the tension because the player isn't that concerned about avoiding death. There should be meaningful consequences for bad play, but death isn't the only option. The Dark Souls mechanic is interesting, but I don't think that it should be the common way death is handled. Make me play on with the consequences of my actions, not just reload the last save constantly.


5) Have a good world map and make travel meaningful. Provide clues as to where we need to go, but don't just automatically reveal it. Remember  to make time a resource we must manage. It would be a shame to die of old age before I complete my quest, but that should be an option. Perhaps have the ability to start a family and take over as a child, a la Crusader Kings.


I'm sure there are more aspects for a compelling RPG. Someone please hop on this so I can have really good RPG to play.

The Atari 2600 : Cutting Edge Add-Ons

Like many current computer game players, I cut my teeth on Pong and the Atari 2600. My paper route fueled my growing game obsession. At $40-$50 a cartridge, one game cost a week's complete earnings. By the time we moved from my childhood home, I had acquired over 100 different Atari 2600 games. It is depressing when  I consider how much money I spent, but what's done is done. There were two very cool 3rd party add-ons I owned and I never met another person who has ever heard of them. I know people are out there who played them because there are Wikipedia entries and YouTube videos showcasing them and I didn't post them.

The Starpath Supercharger
This device plugged into the base Atari 2600 unit at one end like any normal cartridge, but also connected to a cassette player line out. Games were distributed on cassette tapes. The additional memory provided by the Supercharger allowed for more advanced graphics. Escape From the Mindmaster featured very primitive 3-dimensional mazes and challenging puzzles.
see: Starpath Supercharger Wikipedia entry for more info.

The Gameline
Like the Supercharger, this device plugged in like a cartridge. Unlike the Supercharger, this device had a built-in modem and connected to a phone line to download games. These were fairly cheap and typically cost 10 to 25 cents to play. I believe you could buy access to a game for a week. There were also contests with Gameline credits as the prize.
see: Gameline Wikipedia entry for more info.

Do you have fond memories of these obscure gaming devices or other devices that were ahead of their time, or was I the only sucker who dumped their paper route money into these time sucks?

About My Reviews

I try to choose games that I believe I will enjoy. This will probably lead to more positive reviews then negative ones. When possible I usually try a demo before I play the game in full. Don't worry though, I won't hesitate to mention the negatives about a game and if I don't like a game the score will reflect that.When I receive a review copy of a game, I will disclose that in my review. These games will receive the same honest review as the ones I purchase. It is possible I will write a review based on a game demo. In that case the review will clearly communicate that it is based on a demo both in the title and within the article.

Sometimes I will write the review before 'completing' the game or beating all of the scenarios. The review will clearly communicate how much of the game I played. The review may get updated if my impressions change after playing more. I will try to do this at the end of the review so it is clear where my original review ends and the update begins.

My review scores are on a 1-10 scale and no part of the scale is off limits. A 5 or 6 is an average game, not a poor one. Perhaps I wish I didn't spend money on it to play it if there are better games available, but I had some fun and it wasn't a loss. To avoid confusion here is a scale using several different terms:

10     A+      Best of the best
 9     A       Excellent
 8     B+      Very good
 7     B       Good
 6     C+      Better then average
 5     C       Average
 4     D+      Below average
 3     D       Poor
 2     F       Bad
 1     F       Horrible 

Hopefully I will give enough details within the review to give the reader enough information to decide whether they may like the game more or less then my score reflects. There are plenty of well rated games that I just didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you Torchlight).

I believe many reviews don't give enough details about the game play itself anymore, and I want my reviews to improve upon that. So my reviews may be a bit more 'fact-based' and contain less one-liners then some reviews. Feel free to comment if you believe I have taken it too far, or just to let me know if I struck the right balance. In the end I want my reviews to be useful to other players.

What makes a good game review?

One of the types of articles I want to try and write is game reviews. I have read a lot of reviews over the years, from my first subscription to Computer Gaming World to the plethora of gaming sites that have popped up over the years. For me, the most common reason for reading reviews was to see if the game you have been anticipating for months (or years) has lived up to the hype. Lately that has changed for me. It is much for exciting to stumble upon a review for a game that I have never heard of, but after reading it I decide it is something I must get. As more and more indie titles pop up, this is becoming more prevalent. It is also fun to root for the small developer to have a blockbuster game because many of us are tired of ‘working for the man’ and would love to create something ourselves that others find enough value in to actually pay for. This can be creating your own game, writing a book, or crafting a block of wood into a piece of art. Anyways, I digress from my original topic. In conversation I tend to bounce a bit from one subject to another and I guess it is the same for me when I write…

What Makes a Good Review?

I needed a way to organize my thoughts about what makes a good game review. I figured if I wrote them in a place where there is a potential reader then I may take it more seriously. Feel free to add your thoughts about what makes a good game review.

What subject matter does it cover?

Sometimes a game can have good mechanics and production values and a player may still not enjoy it because they are not interested in the subject matter. A really good game can overcome that, but not always.

Explain what biases you may have that influence your opinion.

I have a tendency not to enjoy space games. They tend to use terms that don’t make sense to me, like Xenomicrobe production. In an ‘earth-based’ game like Civilization, perhaps this would just be a bonus to agriculture. Hey that means growing stuff!! That is why I am a huge Civilization fan, but didn’t really like Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri introduced many quality game play enhancement to the Civ franchise, but I just couldn’t get into it.

What are the main game play elements?

This one is a no-brainer. If the actions you take and the decisions you make do not sound interesting, chances are the game will not be fun.

 Does the UI provide enough information in an accessible manner to allow the player to make decisions?

A game may be based on quality mechanics, but if you have to click 5 times to drill down for necessary information the game becomes too much work. Paradox’s Victoria had this problem for me. I found I was having to dig into multiple places to figure out my next move that it just wasn’t worth it anymore.

 Does the AI provide an adequate challenge for different skill levels?

 I think most people are looking for a challenge when they play a game. There is a sense of satisfaction for solving a problem in a game and sticking it to the AI. What may be a challenge for me may be a cakewalk for another player.  A game has a much wider potential audience if it can challenge a range of skill levels.

How does the AI adapt to provide an increased challenge?

There are many ways a game can provide a challenge to different players:

-          Receives bonuses to attack, production, etc.

-          Sees beyond the fog of war.

-          Comes at the player with overwhelming numbers.

-          Uses more sophisticated algorithms to determine its actions.

It is hard to provide a challenging AI that doesn’t ‘cheat’ and some players get upset when the AI doesn’t play by the same rules as the player. If it is known to the reviews I think it is something worth mentioning.

Are the graphics and sound pleasing?

This is more important in some genres then others, but the game’s art can enhance the game experience.  It goes without saying that any game-related graphics should be clear and identifiable. Does the art direction draw you into the experience?

How is the technical performance?

High-quality graphics don’t mean a thing if a FPS plays like a slide show. Also, an epic strategy game can become an epic chore if you have to save every two minutes because of game crashes. It is also helpful for the review to include some basic specs of their hardware so others can understand the basis for the review’s comments on performance.

Was the review entertaining to read?

I list this last not because it isn’t important, but it is going to be a big weakness for me until I get more writing under my belt. There are many ways to entertain; humor (Out of Eight), offering insights into games beyond a mere review (Flash of Steel), etc. I hope to someday acquire these skills. Until then I hope there is somebody out there who will find something worth reading at One Guy, Too Many Games. It will be sad if I have to have my wife visit the blog just to see the page views increase because I am not tracking my own visits J.

The Dysfunctional Gamer

Disclaimer: I am not a professional writer as soon will be evident.

My name is Rob C and I am a gameaholic. Well, it probably isn't that bad (is this denial?), but I definitely have some gaming issues. It is a two part problem. Steam and other online distributor holiday sales do crazy things to me -- Railworks Train Simulator on sale for $3, sign me up! I have never really expressed interest in trains; never had a train set, and never wanted to drive a train. Why did I just buy that? I have a fear that I may let a potentially good game slide buy that is a really good deal. I bought 15 games from Steam alone since Black Friday, not including any DLC. Never mind that if I didn't buy so many deals I may have the money to buy a game I really want, like Unity of Command.

The second part of the problem is that I feel I need to rush through these games to get to the next one. This is counter to my compulsion that I need to finish a game that I start. In the past it was very rare that I stopped playing a game before I finish its campaign. Now my problem is that I start too many games at once, and then lose my bearings by the time I go back to the game. If I thought it was a pretty good game, then I feel inclined to start over. This really hurts my quota for completing games. If it was so-so, it gets added to my 'May Play Again' category (I actually have a spreadsheet!). Bad games get dumped.

I think these problems are actually creating a third problem. I am having trouble finding a game I really enjoy. This just fuels the fire for trying more games and feeling more rushed. I am finding more and more games just bore me. I used to love the Heroes of Might and Magic series of games -- and got really excited when Heroes VI went on sale on Steam! I played through the tutorial campaign and the first mission of a 'real' campaign. I think I have had enough. It doesn't seem like a bad game. Why doesn't it scratch that itch like it did in the past?

Do you have any of these issues?