Oh wow... you haven't even scratched the surface yet then. Get ready for a lot of plot twists and turns before you even get your first actual party members.
I'm giving Civ 4 a try and I'm not sure if I want to play and play so that I can get the enjoyment of discovering new things and how they work, or just read a guide that will bring me up to speed on the strategies I should be using. One is faster but, if I choose it, I miss out on enjoying the discovery.
I'm giving Civ 4 a try and I'm not sure if I want to play and play so that I can get the enjoyment of discovering new things and how they work, or just read a guide that will bring me up to speed on the strategies I should be using. One is faster but, if I choose it, I miss out on enjoying the discovery.
It's not really a game of discovery, so it's all good. It's a game more about the crazy stories that emerge from gameplay, kind of like Dwarf Fortress.
Ghengis Khan was being a dick, and he took two of my cities, but then Russia rammed him from behind.
I'm giving Civ 4 a try and I'm not sure if I want to play and play so that I can get the enjoyment of discovering new things and how they work, or just read a guide that will bring me up to speed on the strategies I should be using. One is faster but, if I choose it, I miss out on enjoying the discovery.
I'm in pretty much the exact same situation, and I'm leaning towards the just play it. I enjoy solving these sorts of games, despite losing three games in an evening to the computers. I just can't ever seem to get iron.
I also loaded up UT3 essentially to test my new mouse, and immediately rediscovered that these games make me really tense.
Because of the story Totilo wrote on Kotaku about playing Doom for the first time I'm playing some mother fucking Doom. I'm also writing a handy howto with screenshots, and maybe screencaps, showing the best way to get Doom running on a modern PC.
Question about CivIV: While it may be fascinating to see the gameplay that emerges from trying for diplomatic victory. Is there any point trying to learn how to do one or is everyone going to be going for conquest and settling for diplomatic if they can't manage it?
Question about CivIV: While it may be fascinating to see the gameplay that emerges from trying for diplomatic victory. Is there any point trying to learn how to do one or is everyone going to be going for conquest and settling for diplomatic if they can't manage it?
I think the problem with diplomacy is that in the single player game there are buildings and items and such that have a quantitative affect on the attitudes of the other players. In a multiplayer game, those might help you if there are a few AI players, but they are otherwise useless. Other players will do as they please.
Best part of playing so far is the somewhat natural progression you get from the pressures of the game. I took out Rome because I needed more space but now that I've got all I could on my continent, I start building up my army again and some time around then, arrive at gunpowder and galleons and set about colonization of the other continent (I still need to get down how to build a steady army as opposed to a blitzkreig force.).
Also, how do I convince enemy leaders to become friendly with me and attack other nations?
Ok, so I played some more Dragon Warrior 9 lately. Can someone explain to me WTF is up with this JRPG?
Ok, so first of all, it's a lot like Earthbound or Chrono Trigger. No random encounters. You can see the bad guys and avoid them. Once in awhile one will chase you down, that's kinda rare. Bad guys who are way weaker than you will run away. This makes the game very playable. Also, when you do have to fight a bad guy, the fight is quick. Pokemon could learn a thing or three from the speed of these battles. The battles are also easy. I've never been really threatened by normal bad guys. It also doesn't take much XP to level up, and you get tons of gold. The result is that it's a grind, but it's almost tolerable.
What I don't get is that the bosses are so crazy hard. I got to Brigadoon and I gotta fight this snake lady who's giving the White Knight a hard time. She just paralyzes me and owns me. I thought it might have been one of those fights where I'm supposed to lose, but it wasn't. WTF? All the normal bad guys in the same area are chumps who go down easy. How much do you want me to grind them to be able to beat this boss lady? Am I doing something wrong? Is there maybe some trick to beating her or something that I missed? I do actually find myself not talking to lots of townspeople. Unlike the combat, the talking text speed is really slow, and I can't find an option to speed it up.
Regarding DQ IX, in reverse order: You can't speed the text up, nor can you skip it. It's annoying as hell. Yep, you have to grind. For an optimal early party loadout I'd suggest a mage, a priest, and a martial artist or fighter in addition to yourself. Keep at it until you have the best armor and weapons that the local shops sell. By this point all the monsters in the area should be running from you - if they are, that's a good sign. Also, when you get skill points for leveling up, don't spread them around. Sink them into one weapon of choice and either the Shield or your vocational ability. When you get the skill levels up to 100 then you can use that weapon or shield regardless of your class later in the game, and your vocational abilities stick with you as well when you switch jobs. Your spells don't, though, although you do get them back when you switch back to the other job class. As far as the battle with Morag goes, it's just a bitch of a battle. There's no major trick to it, it's just a long slog to the end. Your best bet will probably be to spend the early rounds casting Sap on her and Accelerate on your party, and don't be afraid to burn a round or two healing your party during the battle.
So far it's just me. How do I get more people? Also, how do you get a job? I haven't seen anything related to jobs yet. As for everything else, like buying the best items and min/maxing the points, already doing that.
You haven't been following the "talk to everybody in town regardless of whether or not they look important, search every bookcase and cupboard" rule of JRPGs. To get more people in the party go to the Inn in Stornwell and talk to the people behind the desk. I forget the name of the NPC, but she's the one to the left of the innkeeper. She'll hook you up with three more people for your party. If you don't like the ones they try to give you initially you can throw them back and get a different one. I also suggest making sure at least one of the people in the party is female so you can make use of the female-only armor items that turn up. Also, be aware that the party members you get will likely be several levels below you, so you're going to have to grind them up to your level. The XP distribution will take care of that on its own, so just keep fighting the same monsters in the area around Stornwell.
Jobs don't come into play for another couple towns yet. You're already a Minstrel, which is a jack-of-all-trades - you don't hit very hard and your spells aren't that hot, but you get the job done. There are standard jobs (the typical "fighter, thief, mage, priest, martial artist" tropes) and specialized versions of those jobs as well. Telling you the plot points between where you are and the Abbey would spoil some of the surprise, but suffice it to say you won't have the option to start switching jobs until you get to Alltrades Abbey. Don't sweat that yet, but be aware that there are some side-quests that require you to have a specific job of a specific level in the party.
Is there a cheat to just automatically win every combat, so I can play the game without grinding anything? With fast message text, I bet I'd be able to beat it in an hour or two with this kind of cheat.
Is there a cheat to just automatically win every combat, so I can play the game without grinding anything? With fast message text, I bet I'd be able to beat it in an hour or two with this kind of cheat.
I'm guessing he standard infinite HP and such will be in there as well. The GBATemp Cheat databases usually keep on top of compiling all available cheats into one list.
Got Dragon Quest IX. Several hours in, and I'm loving it. I'm just a sucker for customizable characters, it really gives the game a slightly more Western feel to it, though still not to the extent that like, Dragon Age does, obviously.
Comments
Ghengis Khan was being a dick, and he took two of my cities, but then Russia rammed him from behind.
I also loaded up UT3 essentially to test my new mouse, and immediately rediscovered that these games make me really tense.
Also, how do I convince enemy leaders to become friendly with me and attack other nations?
Ok, so first of all, it's a lot like Earthbound or Chrono Trigger. No random encounters. You can see the bad guys and avoid them. Once in awhile one will chase you down, that's kinda rare. Bad guys who are way weaker than you will run away. This makes the game very playable. Also, when you do have to fight a bad guy, the fight is quick. Pokemon could learn a thing or three from the speed of these battles. The battles are also easy. I've never been really threatened by normal bad guys. It also doesn't take much XP to level up, and you get tons of gold. The result is that it's a grind, but it's almost tolerable.
What I don't get is that the bosses are so crazy hard. I got to Brigadoon and I gotta fight this snake lady who's giving the White Knight a hard time. She just paralyzes me and owns me. I thought it might have been one of those fights where I'm supposed to lose, but it wasn't. WTF? All the normal bad guys in the same area are chumps who go down easy. How much do you want me to grind them to be able to beat this boss lady? Am I doing something wrong? Is there maybe some trick to beating her or something that I missed? I do actually find myself not talking to lots of townspeople. Unlike the combat, the talking text speed is really slow, and I can't find an option to speed it up.
You can't speed the text up, nor can you skip it. It's annoying as hell.
Yep, you have to grind. For an optimal early party loadout I'd suggest a mage, a priest, and a martial artist or fighter in addition to yourself. Keep at it until you have the best armor and weapons that the local shops sell. By this point all the monsters in the area should be running from you - if they are, that's a good sign. Also, when you get skill points for leveling up, don't spread them around. Sink them into one weapon of choice and either the Shield or your vocational ability. When you get the skill levels up to 100 then you can use that weapon or shield regardless of your class later in the game, and your vocational abilities stick with you as well when you switch jobs. Your spells don't, though, although you do get them back when you switch back to the other job class.
As far as the battle with Morag goes, it's just a bitch of a battle. There's no major trick to it, it's just a long slog to the end. Your best bet will probably be to spend the early rounds casting Sap on her and Accelerate on your party, and don't be afraid to burn a round or two healing your party during the battle.
Also, how do you get a job? I haven't seen anything related to jobs yet.
As for everything else, like buying the best items and min/maxing the points, already doing that.
Jobs don't come into play for another couple towns yet. You're already a Minstrel, which is a jack-of-all-trades - you don't hit very hard and your spells aren't that hot, but you get the job done. There are standard jobs (the typical "fighter, thief, mage, priest, martial artist" tropes) and specialized versions of those jobs as well. Telling you the plot points between where you are and the Abbey would spoil some of the surprise, but suffice it to say you won't have the option to start switching jobs until you get to Alltrades Abbey. Don't sweat that yet, but be aware that there are some side-quests that require you to have a specific job of a specific level in the party.
Edit: I think the fact that it's 5 AM is making me have mood swings.
Does anyone one know what collection "Goemon" and "Konami Man" does in the game? I've got no idea what they do.