I'm too lazy to check, but in my head I always put the 'start date' to
these threads as March 2006, which means that with this post we're
starting year 17 of this tradition. Raise your hand if you were here
from the beginning!

Given that I've recently gotten my Win9x machine up and running, no
surprise most of my games are tending to the "old" side of the
spectrum. Heck, I was probably still playing these games back when
this thread got started!

Hectic Monday Morning Summaries
---------------------------------------

* M-25 Racer (replay)
* Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition (replay/new)
* Star Wars TIE Fighter 95 (replay)
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (replay, in progress)

Lazy Sunday Afternoon Summaries
---------------------------------------

* M-25 Racer (replay)
You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
at all, which you probably haven't. For one thing, it was released way
back in 1999, and it's quite possible some of you weren't gaming back
then. But even if you were a huge PC gaming nerd, it's likely you
missed out on this import from the Netherlands. It was a small game
released by a small company, with a tiny marketing budget and an even
tinier market penetration. The developers - Davilex - created only a
handful of titles before they closed forever.

And I'd say that's a shame except that none of their games were
particularly notable. The best of their games were racing titles -
most sharing a common theme of zooming down national highways
("Autobahn Racer", "M-25 Racer", "A-2 Racer", "US Racer") and thus
were all fairly interchangeable (whenever the company did diverge from
the formula -such as with such classic titles as "AmsterDoom" or
"Speedboat Racer- it never went well for them). "M-25 Racer" was just
another of their forgettable games... except it was the first one I
encounter and I fell in love with it.

The game itself is... ordinary. It's an arcade racing game with
mediocre handling down a small handful of tracks , with unimpressive
AI and a tiny selection of unimpressive cars. Visually, it wasn't too
bad (its colored lighting effects give it a slight edge over 1998's
"Need for Speed III", even if its car models were less detailed). I
loved the game's sound, though; from its eclectic techno-rock
soundtrack, to the satisfying 'bong' when I ran over a speed camera,
to the quiet chirps of the birds as I raced through the countryside,
the soundscape really helped fill up the world.

The maps were fun too. There were only a half-dozen or so maps, but -
taken one after another - they toured you through all the tourist
spots of England: from Piccadilly Circus in London, down the eponymous
M-25 motorway, to Oxford, past ancient Stonehenge and through sleepy
English hamlets. It captured the essence of that island quite well and
even today - having come to know the reality of the place much better
- I still sometimes see it through the lens of that game.

The racing itself was fairly satisfying, if not particularly
challenging. The roads varied from narrow cobblestoned lanes to wide
highways, populated with plenty of traffic and unhappy policemen
waiting to chase you down. The AI was adequate at best, usually only a
threat when driving vehicles superior to yours. There didn't seem to
much in the way of rubber-banding, fortunately, but that also meant
that - once you got a significant lead on your opponents - it was
unlikely you'd lose unless you made some stupid mistake.

The game's biggest fault was that it was -as I said- rather small.
With only a handful of tracks and cars, you could play through the
whole game (the bulk of which consisted of three six-track
tournaments) in one or two sittings. Once you had done that, you could
complete various time trials or race down your favorite maps a few
more times, but after that? There just wasn't enough new content. And
with the lack of any multiplayer there was little reason to keep
playing.

Still, as short as it was, while it lasted the game was fun. It's
never going to be remembered as a classic, and it's not the sort of
game I could ever recommend anyone else hunt down to play themselves
(good luck finding a copy anyway; it's not available on any digital
storefronts) but for its time? It was a good enough diversion between
the bigger, better games, and I'm glad to have spared it a few more
hours.

* Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition (replay/new)
"Terminal Velocity", the sci-fi flight sim from 1995, had one major
thing going for it: a tremendous sense of speed. Whizzing mere meters
above the jagged terrain was a thrill few games of its time could
match. The rest of the game was forgettable; not necessarily bad but
too simplistic to be memorable.

The "Boosted Edition", the 2022 remaster, weirdly lacks the original's
eponymous velocity. While pushing back the fog layer - once necessary
to keep up framerates - makes the game's world look more expansive, it
costs the game the claustrophobic closeness that made it feel like you
were moving so quickly. With everything visible, you get a better idea
of how far away things really are... and how slow you're really
moving. By pushing back the fog, the developers cost the game its
soul.

Worse, they didn't improve any of the other parts of the game. The AI
is not only as predictable as ever, but - without the concealing haze
- you can see that it only reacts once you get within a certain
distance; otherwise, the ships just hover in place waiting for you to
get near. Because they can't dart back into the fog but instead are
always fully visible, the AI no longer seems as adaptable; no, instead
you see that they're just making big circles.

Meanwhile, the levels - although now featuring (slightly) upscaled
textures, feel all the more empty in their vastness. There's no
surprise to them, and with the original game already feeling fairly
repetitive after just a few levels, this only makes things worse.

I'm no fan of remasters in general, but this one is particularly
poorly done. The original game was lackluster to begin with, and this
remaster stripped away the one thing that made it special. If you have
a yearning to play the game, go with the original. It's not a great
game, but at least you could go fast.

* Star Wars TIE Fighter 95 (replay)
Don't get me wrong; "TIE Fighter" is a great game. It's been ranked as
one of the top (if not /the/ top) space-flight simulator games pretty
much since the day it was released, and it well deserves that
position. If you're going to create a new space-flight simulator game,
it will be compared - and probably compare poorly - to LucasArt's
seminal game.

But "TIE Fighter" isn't without its flaws.

"TIE Fighter 95" (a.k.a., the TIE Fighter Collectors CD-ROM edition)
utilizes the updated visuals of "X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter" engine, and
the game looks surprisingly good, if a bit pixelated. The 640x480
resolution is a bit confining, largely because - with those the giant
pixels - it's harder to make out what you're looking at in the
distance - but it all still feels and looks authentically "Star Wars".
It sounds great too, although the digitized soundtrack - replacing the
all-MIDI iMuse system of the original - sadly lags behind the action.
Ten minutes after I kill the last bad guy and I still get victory
flourishes as the soundtrack struggles to catch up.

The game shows its ages in other curious ways too. For instance,
you'll want a joystick, a peripheral once common to PC gaming
computers but now much less used. I've argued that the "Wing
Commander" games can - with a little bit of practice - be played
enjoyably with a mouse, but don't even try it with "TIE Fighter". A
stick is an absolute necessity; preferably one with a hat, throttle
and rudder. You can play with a keyboard (if you're a masochist!) but
on a good stick with a plethora of buttons, the game becomes much
easier.

It can be nastily difficult at times, especially if you - like the
good Imperial pawn that you are - try to achieve all the bonus goals.
The missions are all heavily scripted, and there's an optimal route
through most of them; kill the wrong enemy too soon and you may end up
in a world of hurt; leave that same enemy until the end and the
mission becomes a cakewalk. It's a game that benefits - if not
outright requires - you to play and replay each mission.

Still, the game remains a triumph in design, especially if you
consider the limitations of its development. It's a long game, though
(partly due to the grindy nature of its levels) and, I admit, I didn't
actually get all the way through all its campaigns. After a few
battles, I started tiring of the repetitive battles. Games of the 90s
often confused quantity with quality, and it definitely shows in "TIE
Fighter."

But it's still one of the best of its genre, and if you haven't played
it, you really need to. It's one of the stalwarts of classic PC
gaming, up there with "Doom" and "Half Life" and "Kings Quest". It's
not perfect (and there are times you might even wonder how anyone ever
found it fun), but it earned its place as one of the greats.

Last month, I mentioned Book of Demons and Diablo 4 public beta. Both
were good. I also played free Hellcard and Across the Obelisk on Steam,
but they were turn based card game and OK. I might go back to my
original Skyrim game later. I haven't touched it since 11/22/2022. I
hope I still remember how to play it. :P

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm too lazy to check, but in my head I always put the 'start date' to
> these threads as March 2006, which means that with this post we're
> starting year 17 of this tradition. Raise your hand if you were here
> from the beginning!

> Given that I've recently gotten my Win9x machine up and running, no
> surprise most of my games are tending to the "old" side of the
> spectrum. Heck, I was probably still playing these games back when
> this thread got started!

> Hectic Monday Morning Summaries
> ---------------------------------------

> * M-25 Racer (replay)
> * Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition (replay/new)
> * Star Wars TIE Fighter 95 (replay)
> * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (replay, in progress)

> Lazy Sunday Afternoon Summaries
> ---------------------------------------

> * M-25 Racer (replay)
> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
> at all, which you probably haven't. For one thing, it was released way
> back in 1999, and it's quite possible some of you weren't gaming back
> then. But even if you were a huge PC gaming nerd, it's likely you
> missed out on this import from the Netherlands. It was a small game
> released by a small company, with a tiny marketing budget and an even
> tinier market penetration. The developers - Davilex - created only a
> handful of titles before they closed forever.

> And I'd say that's a shame except that none of their games were
> particularly notable. The best of their games were racing titles -
> most sharing a common theme of zooming down national highways
> ("Autobahn Racer", "M-25 Racer", "A-2 Racer", "US Racer") and thus
> were all fairly interchangeable (whenever the company did diverge from
> the formula -such as with such classic titles as "AmsterDoom" or
> "Speedboat Racer- it never went well for them). "M-25 Racer" was just
> another of their forgettable games... except it was the first one I
> encounter and I fell in love with it.

> The game itself is... ordinary. It's an arcade racing game with
> mediocre handling down a small handful of tracks , with unimpressive
> AI and a tiny selection of unimpressive cars. Visually, it wasn't too
> bad (its colored lighting effects give it a slight edge over 1998's
> "Need for Speed III", even if its car models were less detailed). I
> loved the game's sound, though; from its eclectic techno-rock
> soundtrack, to the satisfying 'bong' when I ran over a speed camera,
> to the quiet chirps of the birds as I raced through the countryside,
> the soundscape really helped fill up the world.

> The maps were fun too. There were only a half-dozen or so maps, but -
> taken one after another - they toured you through all the tourist
> spots of England: from Piccadilly Circus in London, down the eponymous
> M-25 motorway, to Oxford, past ancient Stonehenge and through sleepy
> English hamlets. It captured the essence of that island quite well and
> even today - having come to know the reality of the place much better
> - I still sometimes see it through the lens of that game.

> The racing itself was fairly satisfying, if not particularly
> challenging. The roads varied from narrow cobblestoned lanes to wide
> highways, populated with plenty of traffic and unhappy policemen
> waiting to chase you down. The AI was adequate at best, usually only a
> threat when driving vehicles superior to yours. There didn't seem to
> much in the way of rubber-banding, fortunately, but that also meant
> that - once you got a significant lead on your opponents - it was
> unlikely you'd lose unless you made some stupid mistake.

> The game's biggest fault was that it was -as I said- rather small.
> With only a handful of tracks and cars, you could play through the
> whole game (the bulk of which consisted of three six-track
> tournaments) in one or two sittings. Once you had done that, you could
> complete various time trials or race down your favorite maps a few
> more times, but after that? There just wasn't enough new content. And
> with the lack of any multiplayer there was little reason to keep
> playing.

> Still, as short as it was, while it lasted the game was fun. It's
> never going to be remembered as a classic, and it's not the sort of
> game I could ever recommend anyone else hunt down to play themselves
> (good luck finding a copy anyway; it's not available on any digital
> storefronts) but for its time? It was a good enough diversion between
> the bigger, better games, and I'm glad to have spared it a few more
> hours.

> * Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition (replay/new)
> "Terminal Velocity", the sci-fi flight sim from 1995, had one major
> thing going for it: a tremendous sense of speed. Whizzing mere meters
> above the jagged terrain was a thrill few games of its time could
> match. The rest of the game was forgettable; not necessarily bad but
> too simplistic to be memorable.

> The "Boosted Edition", the 2022 remaster, weirdly lacks the original's
> eponymous velocity. While pushing back the fog layer - once necessary
> to keep up framerates - makes the game's world look more expansive, it
> costs the game the claustrophobic closeness that made it feel like you
> were moving so quickly. With everything visible, you get a better idea
> of how far away things really are... and how slow you're really
> moving. By pushing back the fog, the developers cost the game its
> soul.

> Worse, they didn't improve any of the other parts of the game. The AI
> is not only as predictable as ever, but - without the concealing haze
> - you can see that it only reacts once you get within a certain
> distance; otherwise, the ships just hover in place waiting for you to
> get near. Because they can't dart back into the fog but instead are
> always fully visible, the AI no longer seems as adaptable; no, instead
> you see that they're just making big circles.

> Meanwhile, the levels - although now featuring (slightly) upscaled
> textures, feel all the more empty in their vastness. There's no
> surprise to them, and with the original game already feeling fairly
> repetitive after just a few levels, this only makes things worse.

> I'm no fan of remasters in general, but this one is particularly
> poorly done. The original game was lackluster to begin with, and this
> remaster stripped away the one thing that made it special. If you have
> a yearning to play the game, go with the original. It's not a great
> game, but at least you could go fast.

> * Star Wars TIE Fighter 95 (replay)
> Don't get me wrong; "TIE Fighter" is a great game. It's been ranked as
> one of the top (if not /the/ top) space-flight simulator games pretty
> much since the day it was released, and it well deserves that
> position. If you're going to create a new space-flight simulator game,
> it will be compared - and probably compare poorly - to LucasArt's
> seminal game.

> But "TIE Fighter" isn't without its flaws.

> "TIE Fighter 95" (a.k.a., the TIE Fighter Collectors CD-ROM edition)
> utilizes the updated visuals of "X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter" engine, and
> the game looks surprisingly good, if a bit pixelated. The 640x480
> resolution is a bit confining, largely because - with those the giant
> pixels - it's harder to make out what you're looking at in the
> distance - but it all still feels and looks authentically "Star Wars".
> It sounds great too, although the digitized soundtrack - replacing the
> all-MIDI iMuse system of the original - sadly lags behind the action.
> Ten minutes after I kill the last bad guy and I still get victory
> flourishes as the soundtrack struggles to catch up.

> The game shows its ages in other curious ways too. For instance,
> you'll want a joystick, a peripheral once common to PC gaming
> computers but now much less used. I've argued that the "Wing
> Commander" games can - with a little bit of practice - be played
> enjoyably with a mouse, but don't even try it with "TIE Fighter". A
> stick is an absolute necessity; preferably one with a hat, throttle
> and rudder. You can play with a keyboard (if you're a masochist!) but
> on a good stick with a plethora of buttons, the game becomes much
> easier.

On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?

Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
Valley and some Serf City.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

>What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?

Dead Space Remake
This got its hooks in me good: I played through on Hard, then Impossible,
then Impossible NG+, in a little over a month (I paid for two months of EA
Plus, so $33, which is fair to me). On the NG+ playthrough I used the Hand
Cannon super-weapon that you are given upon finishing Impossible, as
Impossible itself is very nerve-wracking at points -- game over if you die
once -- mostly to see the 'Alternate Ending'; the devs put a bit more effort
into this ending than you usually see, as there are several new and subtle
dialog voice-over changes before the actual ending cinematic. If you aren't
a hardcore deadspace fan, just watch it on youtube as it is a bit
underwhelming.

Not sure what I'll play next -- perhaps start Portal RTX, or a console game
as I've been ignoring the ps5 for months.

rms

On 2023-04-01, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hectic Monday Morning Summaries
> ---------------------------------------
>
> * M-25 Racer (replay)
> * Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition (replay/new)
> * Star Wars TIE Fighter 95 (replay)
> * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (replay, in progress)

March hasn't been a great month for me and gaming, usual life gets in
the way yada yada....

Puzzle Agent (Steam)
A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.

Professor Layton - Katrielle and the Millionaires Conspiracy (Mobile)
I have played all the Layton games with my daughter on Nintendo D@, and
maybe the GameCube (!?). This is an old game came out on mobile a few
years ago. We're having nostalgic fun together going through the
puzzles, loving the graphics and dialogue. I like the time together as
much as the game. Wish Level5 would make more.

MS Flight Sim 2020 (PC)
My go to game to unwind and do some small plane flying on some bush
craft challenges. Learning to left hand the joystick so my right is free
to use mouse and keyboard. The aerodynamics of small planes is a bit off
so turbulence can still be an issue. Currently flying through the Nevada
canyons.

Son is playing:
GTA V
FarCry 6
Watch Dogs 2

RenMas

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

Adios
-----

This was a freebie from Steam although it was already on my Steam
wishlist. Now if you don't like walking sims then look away now. The
premise (no spoilers) is a pig farmer who at some point got involved
with the mob and allowing them to use his pigs to dispose of bodies but
now he wants out. It's basically a number of different scenes on the
farm between him and a hitman set to convince him not to do it. I
enjoyed all three or so hours of it as it was interesting to see the
backstory unfold with the conversations.

One minor complaint, to guide you between scenes the place white line
boxes on the screen with a distance. Not so great for immersion.

Something a bit more problematic, the regular price of £14. I find it
hard to recommend it at that price as it's both short and I don't see a
lot of re playability in it.

Books
-----

Selected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick
----------------------------------------

I picked this up as Philip K. Dick is an author that I've kept meaning
to read but never quite got around to so what better way than to get
about twenty short stories. I've read about six of them and it's rather
nice to have a book that you can pick up one evening, pick a story and
then finish it. It now goes next to Necronomicon which is a big old
collection of H.P. Lovecraft. You just have to remember to put a postit
note at the start so you know what you've read.

Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett
------------------------------

Yep I can't keep away from his books. Starting up railways, goblins
integrating with humans, leisure travel and dwarf zealots. What's not to
like.

On 01/04/2023 19:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> * M-25 Racer (replay)
> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
> at all, which you probably haven't. For one thing, it was released way
> back in 1999, and it's quite possible some of you weren't gaming back
> then. But even if you were a huge PC gaming nerd, it's likely you
> missed out on this import from the Netherlands. It was a small game
> released by a small company, with a tiny marketing budget and an even
> tinier market penetration. The developers - Davilex - created only a
> handful of titles before they closed forever.

I did have to chuckle when I realised the M-25 referred to the motorway.
The devs have obviously never used it as otherwise the game would have
been called M-25 Stop Start Traffic.

On 4/1/2023 6:13 PM, rms wrote:
>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
>
>   Dead Space Remake
> This got its hooks in me good: I played through on Hard, then
> Impossible, then Impossible NG+, in a little over a month (I paid for
> two months of EA Plus, so $33, which is fair to me).  On the NG+
> playthrough I used the Hand Cannon super-weapon that you are given upon
> finishing Impossible, as Impossible itself is very nerve-wracking at
> points -- game over if you die once -- mostly to see the 'Alternate
> Ending'; the devs put a bit more effort into this ending than you
> usually see, as there are several new and subtle dialog voice-over
> changes before the actual ending cinematic.  If you aren't a hardcore
> deadspace fan, just watch it on youtube as it is a bit underwhelming.
>
> Not sure what I'll play next -- perhaps start Portal RTX, or a console
> game as I've been ignoring the ps5 for months.
>
> rms
>

BG3 and loving it even tho it's early access. I'm a sucker for the series.

Also playing The Witcher 3 and ES V

D.

On Sun, 2 Apr 2023 11:15:36 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>On 01/04/2023 19:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> * M-25 Racer (replay)
>> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
>> at all, which you probably haven't.

>I did have to chuckle when I realised the M-25 referred to the motorway.
>The devs have obviously never used it as otherwise the game would have
>been called M-25 Stop Start Traffic.

What what? This game is unrealistic? Next you'll be telling me a Mini
Cooper can do 250mph or that Stonehenge isn't five miles away from
downtown London. My entire understanding of England would be turned
topsy-turvy! No, you must be mistaken. Never before has there been as
realistic a depiction of driving in the UK as this game. Why, look,
they're driving on the wrong side of the road* and everything! It MUST
be accurate! ;-)

* No, I'm sorry, all you people in the UK; it /is/ the wrong side of
the road you're driving on. Because it certainly isn't the /right/
side of the road you're on.

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
> > Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?

> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
> Valley and some Serf City.

Project? ;)
--
"Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples." --John 18:2. It's Psalm Sunday of Holy week after a nice quiet April 1st until its late night. Spring finally came late, but "summer" is next week. :O
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 02/04/2023 18:43, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Sun, 2 Apr 2023 11:15:36 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>> On 01/04/2023 19:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>>> * M-25 Racer (replay)
>>> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
>>> at all, which you probably haven't.
>
>> I did have to chuckle when I realised the M-25 referred to the motorway.
>> The devs have obviously never used it as otherwise the game would have
>> been called M-25 Stop Start Traffic.
>
> What what? This game is unrealistic? Next you'll be telling me a Mini
> Cooper can do 250mph or that Stonehenge isn't five miles away from
> downtown London. My entire understanding of England would be turned
> topsy-turvy! No, you must be mistaken. Never before has there been as
> realistic a depiction of driving in the UK as this game. Why, look,
> they're driving on the wrong side of the road* and everything! It MUST
> be accurate! ;-)
>

Oh yet, it's was more that I found it somewhat strange the a group of
people sat down and agreed that was a good name for a game. Pretty much
nobody outside of the UK will have heard of it and for those in the UK
it doesn't exactly evoke racing. The M-25 even gets a mention in the
book Good Omens as Crowley the demon claims it was his invention.

>
> * No, I'm sorry, all you people in the UK; it /is/ the wrong side of
> the road you're driving on. Because it certainly isn't the /right/
> side of the road you're on.
>

Yep it does seem a bit silly that we never changed although their is
some evidence I believe that it's slightly safer as most people's
dominate hand stays on the steering wheel.

To be honest though I think a large part of it is the little Englander
mentality of we do it right and it's those continental Europeans that
have got it all wrong. You should have seen all the fuzz when it was
made mandatory that metric measures had to be displayed on goods sold.
The fact that it didn't mean imperial units couldn't also be displayed
and behind the scenes companies already predominately worked in metric
didn't matter. It was the big bad EU telling us what to do. Saying that
I am of an age that I struggle with metric measures to varying extents.
If someone tells me their body weight in kgs them I'm pretty much lost.

On 02/04/2023 02:30, Geeknix wrote:
> Puzzle Agent (Steam)
> A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
> agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
> interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
> spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.

I've got both 1 & 2 free with Amazon Prime and yes I agree a nice way to
spend a few hours.

On 2023-04-03, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
> On 02/04/2023 02:30, Geeknix wrote:
>> Puzzle Agent (Steam)
>> A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
>> agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
>> interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
>> spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.
>
> I've got both 1 & 2 free with Amazon Prime and yes I agree a nice way to
> spend a few hours.

There is a 2, a 2, Puzzle Agent 2. Ok that is on my purchase list now...

cheers for heads up.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On 2023-04-03, Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
> On 2023-04-03, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>> On 02/04/2023 02:30, Geeknix wrote:
>>> Puzzle Agent (Steam)
>>> A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
>>> agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
>>> interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
>>> spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.
>>
>> I've got both 1 & 2 free with Amazon Prime and yes I agree a nice way to
>> spend a few hours.
>
> There is a 2, a 2, Puzzle Agent 2. Ok that is on my purchase list now...
>
> cheers for heads up.

bought and playing....

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
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On Mon, 3 Apr 2023 09:44:21 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>On 02/04/2023 18:43, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> On Sun, 2 Apr 2023 11:15:36 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>>> On 01/04/2023 19:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>
>>>> * M-25 Racer (replay)
>>>> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
>>>> at all, which you probably haven't.
>>
>>> I did have to chuckle when I realised the M-25 referred to the motorway.
>>> The devs have obviously never used it as otherwise the game would have
>>> been called M-25 Stop Start Traffic.
>>
>> What what? This game is unrealistic? Next you'll be telling me a Mini
>> Cooper can do 250mph or that Stonehenge isn't five miles away from
>> downtown London. My entire understanding of England would be turned
>> topsy-turvy! No, you must be mistaken. Never before has there been as
>> realistic a depiction of driving in the UK as this game. Why, look,
>> they're driving on the wrong side of the road* and everything! It MUST
>> be accurate! ;-)
>>
>
>Oh yet, it's was more that I found it somewhat strange the a group of
>people sat down and agreed that was a good name for a game. Pretty much
>nobody outside of the UK will have heard of it and for those in the UK
>it doesn't exactly evoke racing. The M-25 even gets a mention in the
>book Good Omens as Crowley the demon claims it was his invention.

I think the name 'M-25 Racer' was only used for the UK release;
elsewhere it was - as mentioned - called "London Racer".

>> * No, I'm sorry, all you people in the UK; it /is/ the wrong side of
>> the road you're driving on. Because it certainly isn't the /right/
>> side of the road you're on.
>Yep it does seem a bit silly that we never changed although their is
>some evidence I believe that it's slightly safer as most people's
>dominate hand stays on the steering wheel.

<shrug> I don't really care one way or the other; I was just making
the tired joke ("if you're not driving on the right side of the road
you must be driving on the wrong side, hahahaha bet you never heard
that one a million times before, oh you have, bummer") that UKsians
are probably sick of. In some ways I actually prefer the left-hand
drive since - as a driver - you can see more of the landscape rather
than having half your view taken up by oncoming traffic. Who wants to
pay attention to that? ;-P

At least the UK has delineated 'sides' and people stick to them, which
is more than can be said about drivers in other parts of the world.
Really, so long as traffic laws are obey universally and sanely, it
doesn't really matter to me which side you drive on.

Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop the "haha, UK drivers are on the wrong
side" comments though. I'm a sucker for bad jokes. ;-)

On 4/2/2023 10:02 PM, Ant wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
>
>> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
>> Valley and some Serf City.
>
> Project? ;)

Screen captures from a long running TV series.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>Puzzle Agent (Steam)
>A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
>agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
>interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
>spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.

A Nordic town would be in Scandinavia or Finland, outside the jurisdiction
of the American FBI. It's actually set in a fictional town located
in Minnesota.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

On Mon, 3 Apr 2023 08:29:44 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 4/2/2023 10:02 PM, Ant wrote:
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>>> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
>>> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
>>> Valley and some Serf City.
>> Project? ;)

>Screen captures from a long running TV series.

Oooh, I smell an "Eastenders" fan-site in the making! ;-)

On 4/3/2023 11:53 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2023 08:29:44 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 4/2/2023 10:02 PM, Ant wrote:
>>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>>>> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
>>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
>
>>>> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
>>>> Valley and some Serf City.
>
>>> Project? ;)
>
>> Screen captures from a long running TV series.
>
> Oooh, I smell an "Eastenders" fan-site in the making! ;-)
>
What is an "Eastender"?

:P

No, different show, 'Stargate: SG-1'.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Sons of the Forest

It's quite good.. most games in this genre, with the exception of
Valheim, didn't grab me but this one did.

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 4/2/2023 10:02 PM, Ant wrote:
> > Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> >> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
> >>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
> >
> >> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
> >> Valley and some Serf City.
> >
> > Project? ;)

> Screen captures from a long running TV series.

Which one?
--
"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night." --John 19:38-39. Slammy coldy windy colony Holy Mon. after a mostly quiet weekend & sleeping >7 hrs.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
....
> No, different show, 'Stargate: SG-1'.

I need to resume watching that. I stopped after S3 E8. :(
--
"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night." --John 19:38-39. Slammy coldy windy colony Holy Mon. after a mostly quiet weekend & sleeping >7 hrs.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 03/04/2023 12:00, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2023-04-03, Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>> On 2023-04-03, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>>> On 02/04/2023 02:30, Geeknix wrote:
>>>> Puzzle Agent (Steam)
>>>> A small puzzle adventure set in some Nordic town were you play an FBI
>>>> agent sent to investigate mysterious goings on. A short game with some
>>>> interesting unique puzzles, some hard some not so much. A good game to
>>>> spend a couple of hours on in a comfy chair.
>>>
>>> I've got both 1 & 2 free with Amazon Prime and yes I agree a nice way to
>>> spend a few hours.
>>
>> There is a 2, a 2, Puzzle Agent 2. Ok that is on my purchase list now...
>>
>> cheers for heads up.
>
> bought and playing....
>

Hope you enjoy it.

On 03/04/2023 16:05, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2023 09:44:21 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>
>> On 02/04/2023 18:43, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>> On Sun, 2 Apr 2023 11:15:36 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>>>> On 01/04/2023 19:49, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>>
>>>>> * M-25 Racer (replay)
>>>>> You may know this game also as "London Racer", if you've heard of it
>>>>> at all, which you probably haven't.
>>>
>>>> I did have to chuckle when I realised the M-25 referred to the motorway.
>>>> The devs have obviously never used it as otherwise the game would have
>>>> been called M-25 Stop Start Traffic.
>>>
>>> What what? This game is unrealistic? Next you'll be telling me a Mini
>>> Cooper can do 250mph or that Stonehenge isn't five miles away from
>>> downtown London. My entire understanding of England would be turned
>>> topsy-turvy! No, you must be mistaken. Never before has there been as
>>> realistic a depiction of driving in the UK as this game. Why, look,
>>> they're driving on the wrong side of the road* and everything! It MUST
>>> be accurate! ;-)
>>>
>>
>> Oh yet, it's was more that I found it somewhat strange the a group of
>> people sat down and agreed that was a good name for a game. Pretty much
>> nobody outside of the UK will have heard of it and for those in the UK
>> it doesn't exactly evoke racing. The M-25 even gets a mention in the
>> book Good Omens as Crowley the demon claims it was his invention.
>
> I think the name 'M-25 Racer' was only used for the UK release;
> elsewhere it was - as mentioned - called "London Racer".
>
>>> * No, I'm sorry, all you people in the UK; it /is/ the wrong side of
>>> the road you're driving on. Because it certainly isn't the /right/
>>> side of the road you're on.
>> Yep it does seem a bit silly that we never changed although their is
>> some evidence I believe that it's slightly safer as most people's
>> dominate hand stays on the steering wheel.
>
> <shrug> I don't really care one way or the other; I was just making
> the tired joke ("if you're not driving on the right side of the road
> you must be driving on the wrong side, hahahaha bet you never heard
> that one a million times before, oh you have, bummer") that UKsians
> are probably sick of. In some ways I actually prefer the left-hand
> drive since - as a driver - you can see more of the landscape rather
> than having half your view taken up by oncoming traffic. Who wants to
> pay attention to that? ;-P
>

To be honest here I've heard a few people say we drive one the wrong
side of the road (they seemed to be serious about that, which was
strange) but that's actually the first time I've heard that joke.
Admittedly it didn't help that I had to pause to think which side of the
road we do drive on and I feel by then the moment had been lost!

> At least the UK has delineated 'sides' and people stick to them, which
> is more than can be said about drivers in other parts of the world.
> Really, so long as traffic laws are obey universally and sanely, it
> doesn't really matter to me which side you drive on.
>

Something I have heard which seems plausible is that compared to its
peers UK drivers are less aggressive and more considerate. If that's
really true I don't know.

> Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop the "haha, UK drivers are on the wrong
> side" comments though. I'm a sucker for bad jokes. ;-)
>

On 03/04/2023 19:53, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2023 08:29:44 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 4/2/2023 10:02 PM, Ant wrote:
>>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>>>> On 4/1/2023 1:21 PM, Ant wrote:
>>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN MARCH 2023?
>
>>>> Not much because I've been busy with another project. Just some Stardew
>>>> Valley and some Serf City.
>
>>> Project? ;)
>
>> Screen captures from a long running TV series.
>
> Oooh, I smell an "Eastenders" fan-site in the making! ;-)
>
>

You're not my mother; yes I am.

Then the famous drum beat.