Gaming outside your genre comfort zone.

[ExedExes]

This year's big surprise was Baldur's Gate -- it showed me that WRPGs can be accessible to the common JRPG player and are also just as good. I'm sure next months Zork will also show me that text adventures are just as good as anything

BSD, if you want to try more Cave, go to the original DoDonPachi, Progear, and Espgaluda.

[Violent By Design]

This year's big surprise was Baldur's Gate -- it showed me that WRPGs can be accessible to the common JRPG player and are also just as good. I'm sure next months Zork will also show me that text adventures are just as good as anything

BSD, if you want to try more Cave, go to the original DoDonPachi, Progear, and Espgaluda.

I'm not sure if Zork seems that accessible to be honest. Zork looks cool because it just seems like a legendary game, but from what I've read it is probably one of those games where youll just get stuck and not know what to do. I'll probably play more of a linear based text adventure that gets by on story.

[BogusMeatFactory]

This year's big surprise was Baldur's Gate -- it showed me that WRPGs can be accessible to the common JRPG player and are also just as good. I'm sure next months Zork will also show me that text adventures are just as good as anything

BSD, if you want to try more Cave, go to the original DoDonPachi, Progear, and Espgaluda.

Oh man, Zork was a bad choice in my opinion as the game is severely lacking in the interactive fiction world. It is a nice history reference, to be sure, but there are many other games that really fulfill that genre's potential like a Mind Forever Voyaging, which is a brilliant piece of true science fiction. I can't truly complain though as I am happy that a text-based game is being selected at all!

[BoneSnapDeez]

Akai Katana
Deathsmiles
DoDonPachi Resurrection
Mushihime-sama Futari Ver 1.5

well, that's definitely a nice pile. I think y'all know my love for Deathsmiles already, so I don't need to reiterate. But DDP Res and Mushi Futari are both excellent games that I've spent quite a bit of time with and really really enjoy. (I've 1CC'd both Novice Modes). Akai Katana is one I always mean to spend more time on. I feel like it's going to be really great once I figure the scoring out for sure. But every time I play, I feel a little confused.

See that's where the not "getting it" part comes in for me. I play these games just to finish them. I don't care about credits used or high scores or anything. Of course, I don't want to be terrible - if I'm dying every 10 seconds the flow of the game is ruined.

That said, I still prefer old school Lifeforce/R-Type/Gradius type shmups to this new bullet hell stuff.

[MrEco]

This year's big surprise was Baldur's Gate -- it showed me that WRPGs can be accessible to the common JRPG player and are also just as good. I'm sure next months Zork will also show me that text adventures are just as good as anything

BSD, if you want to try more Cave, go to the original DoDonPachi, Progear, and Espgaluda.

Oh man, Zork was a bad choice in my opinion as the game is severely lacking in the interactive fiction world. It is a nice history reference, to be sure, but there are many other games that really fulfill that genre's potential like a Mind Forever Voyaging, which is a brilliant piece of true science fiction. I can't truly complain though as I am happy that a text-based game is being selected at all!

That's a genre I've practically forgotten about.

Never tried a text based adventure. Looks interesting since I love books and point and click adventures, and a text based adventure is basically those two things combined. But at the same time I get really intimidated at the thought of playing one, like I wouldn't even know what to do. :/

[BogusMeatFactory]

That's a genre I've practically forgotten about.

Never tried a text based adventure. Looks interesting since I love books and point and click adventures, and a text based adventure is basically those two things combined. But at the same time I get really intimidated at the thought of playing one, like I wouldn't even know what to do. :/

I understand that intimated feeling and it is very very valid. Many of the older archaic titles punish you for not making the right choices the first time by implementing time in their puzzles. Some games do not even notify you when you messed up irrevocably. I can honestly say that few of the original Text-Based Adventure games at the time remedy that issue.

A Mind Forever Voyaging is a tough pill to swallow initially for a lot of people, because there is only one real puzzle in the game and it deals with some very abstract concepts like being a sentient computer program trapped in a network (which is the very start of the game, but that does change). Also a lot of those obstacles are problems with people's familiarity with the genre. Stick with it though because I find a Mind Forever Voyaging to be one of the best games of all time, even outside of the text-based genre.

I would recommend working on this list http://ifdb.tads.org/viewcomp?id=oymvom4wrawhd4hr writers like Andrew Plotkin are very prominent and he still makes stuff to this day.

A great starting point I would suggest is going with Blue Lacuna, by Aaron Reed, found here http://www.lacunastory.com/. This title is engaging and very accessible. It is forgiving of people's experience and gives a lot of encouragement and weaves in ways to help you understand where to go and what to do next.

[MrEco]

Well, a little update that might interest some of you.


I tried playing some of Ikaruga today. It was my first try with a real shmup. Basically one that wasn't some kind of free flash game off the internet.

And I have to ask a question, to all of you big shmup players here in the community, how in the hell do you do it? I'm not sure if Ikaruga is considered hard or easy compared to the rest of the genre, but so far I've only played on the easiest possible difficulty and at my best I've only barely beaten chapter 2 and then died right away in 3. I'm pretty bad with putting up with all the pressure from the constant bullet spam, and then the environmental obstacles keep killing me as soon as I forget they're there.


However despite that I'm pretty confident that I'll be giving it another try. The game was incredibly colorful and stylish, very fun to watch and exciting even against the more simple enemy encounters. I especially love the 3D transitions between area's. Also during the few moments when I actually did good it was incredible fun.

[jinx]

I tried playing some of Ikaruga today. It was my first try with a real shmup. Basically one that wasn't some kind of free flash game off the internet.

I don't know if Ikaruga was the best choice for a "starter shmup". There are many other games that are much better suited for easing you into the genre. Ikaruga is considered a "Bullet Hell" shmup and the extra mechanics can make it extremely difficult to a novice. I love this game, but it's hard as hell (I suck at shmups).

If you haven't yet, take a look at this thread:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =9&t=42168

There are some great recommendations for getting started.

[Gunstar Green]

Every year or so I'll pick up a WRPG in an attempt to learn to love the genre. It never ends well.

That happens to me with JRPGs and most WRPGs. I'll learn my lesson someday.

I tried playing some of Ikaruga today. It was my first try with a real shmup. Basically one that wasn't some kind of free flash game off the internet.

And I have to ask a question, to all of you big shmup players here in the community, how in the hell do you do it? I'm not sure if Ikaruga is considered hard or easy compared to the rest of the genre, but so far I've only played on the easiest possible difficulty and at my best I've only barely beaten chapter 2 and then died right away in 3. I'm pretty bad with putting up with all the pressure from the constant bullet spam, and then the environmental obstacles keep killing me as soon as I forget they're there.


However despite that I'm pretty confident that I'll be giving it another try. The game was incredibly colorful and stylish, very fun to watch and exciting even against the more simple enemy encounters. I especially love the 3D transitions between area's. Also during the few moments when I actually did good it was incredible fun.

Practice and memorization. You'll probably find yourself getting just a little bit further every time. Ikaruga is about the extent of my own shmupping abilities. Once you start moving into even more psychedelic bullet hells I just can't keep up.

I would check out Radiant Silvergun if you like Ikaruga. It's still hard but a bit easier for beginners to settle into because of the level-up system in story mode that makes you tougher the longer you play.

[ExedExes]

And I have to ask a question, to all of you big shmup players here in the community, how in the hell do you do it? I'm not sure if Ikaruga is considered hard or easy compared to the rest of the genre, but so far I've only played on the easiest possible difficulty and at my best I've only barely beaten chapter 2 and then died right away in 3.

As a "big" shmup player here, guess what, that's the point I make it to most of the time But yeah, what jinx said, check out that beginner shmup thread and find something that isn't so difficult for a new player.