Sim City, Sims, and another one where you built an ancient civilization from the ground up. I don't play now, because I don't have that computer anymore.

I thought it was fun.

Or maybe it was "Civilizations" .

I loved Age of Empires

Thanks. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of this game.

I like building cities

Until I got the hang of it, those poor bastards had all manner of disasters happen to them.

always gave those kickass priests. I loved that cheat. It was one of the few I used other than revealmap.

Because that includes anything from the lowly Solitaire, up to games that require custom-built computers for processing and graphics power.

For example, the most resource-intensive "gaming" I do on my desktop computer is pinball. The games are nice and more complex than the old ones that often came with store-bought computers, but aren't resource hogs like the games requiring specialized hardware.

The other games I play the most are a nice jigsaw program called Jigsaws Galore, and Clickmania. I have no interest in what most people call "gaming"

I could never understand people that can play games for hours and even days at a time. Seems to me that would be as bad a time waster as watching TV.

Not the same in games.

Sure, the game may try to steer you in a particular direction, but you don't have to follow it.

And other games at that site regularly.

on both counts. Subtract FFXI with Baldur's Gate and that's a very similar list to mine. I also play the older Call of Duty games.

your life only has meaning if you focus 24/7 on the depressing existence of yourself and others. Any small joy you might experience playing, crafting or spending time with friends playing a game is totally wasted. You are better off spending hours on the Internet making fun of those that do. Only then shall your life move to a higher level of experience.

This was sort of in response to formercia who posted on the Sim City thread.

If you have time to play games, you're not busy enough.

The World is burning while you fiddle with your Joystick.

To each his own. What will you tell your Grandchildren? Oh, wait, you gotta get laid first.

Have had that guy on ignore forever.

I alerted and the vote was split 3-3.

I guess it's okay now to use sexual insults in regards to peoples recreation.

Cheers!

no worries

I have a sneaky feeling I'd like to confirm....

Interactive television.


Instead of having the story dictated to me, I want to influence the story.

Computer gamers are a subset of television watchers. A subset that wishes to keep their mind slightly more engaged.

We are both self-employed and work long hours. We have very active lives with work, spiritual practices, and physical activity like walking and martial arts. But for fun at home, we watch very little TV which is often mindless and only passive entertainment.

Playing a video game is much more interactive and mentally stimulating. It is also fun to be able to play together though it is harder these days to find local co-op games.

Cheap hobby

I don't play nearly as much as I did 8-10 year ago, but I still play maybe 10-15 hours a week

I must have missed the previous thread.

Wish I could find a Rook game online too.

on the weekends for maybe 2-3 hours after the rest of the family is in bed and sound asleep. Love that little slice of downtime.

with my niece and nephew,it was and is a great bonding experience that we enjoy and look forward to.

Fuck the rigged shithole of a system known as society!

How else do you think the AI got all those tanks, despite the fact you cut off all their resource supplies?

I'm always surprised when I see anyone over 21 playing video games.

The average age of gamers is 30.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/average-age-of-us-gamers-now-30-6380546

It's a good strategy game, but many of the best scenarios take too long to play very often.

to move entire groups at once instead of each individual unit. That saved a hugeamount of time until reaching contact, when I went back to individual units. Very good game and detailed under the hood, I played the free version for years and finally bought the full version recently on one of Shrapnels "sales" so I could play full screen.

Yes, the 'A' hotkey! I use it the same way as you. The 'Fast Artillery' setting also saves lots of time. I wish the airstrikes moved a bit faster. I swear one of the old iterations used to have a function that allowed a unit to fire all of it's weapons at once, but I haven't been able to access it for years, so maybe I'm imagining things. I wish there was a function that allowed various units to engage a target at the same time.

I like the 'Map Generator' and scenario building functions. I prefer large scenarios over small ones, so I often choose one of the larger maps and customize the features, then add the max amount of units/points. Sometimes I'll use the auto deploy to save time, but I usually like to position my own units. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to bust out GoogleEarth and build a scenario based on some areas around where I live.

I did the same as you, playing the free version for a long time before getting the disc. One thing I like is that they have continued to add updates at the Shrapnel Games site that are pretty easy to install, even for a computer illiterate such as myself. I still haven't taken the time to figure out the MOB hacks, etc., that are possible.

Have you seen SPWAW? Same type of game, but a WWII environment.

Using tigers and waffen ss. I will have to look at spmbt as ive not tried it yet.

You guys are the first I've ever met who are familiar with either SPMBT or SPWAW, but then I'm 57 and most of my friends don't play computer games.

You can get SPMBT as a free download from the website.

How many scenarios I've lost when I had nothing but some ratty old Shermans to face down a couple of Tigers...

I think a dos version of SPWAW or SPWW2 was my first game. It was either that or Red Baron. I haven't played it in years but remember Shermans vs Tigers never working out well. I definitely preferred playing Soviet with the T-34s and katyushas. Haven't played in years but now I'm going to have to download it.

I really like the diversity of SPMBT though, you can set up just about any post-WW2 engagement you want of any size, though the variety of scenarios it comes with is huge. And the ai is not bad, I just got my ass handed to me in one of the Falklands scenarios last night. Most of the scenarios I build myself are a smaller number of units on small to medium maps, either insurgents/irregulars vs mixed mech/infantry or armor vs armor, so they're like quick moving beer and pretzel type games compared to the bigger scenarios that can take me 15 minutes or more per turn.

The other Shrapnel game that's grown on me is Salvo!, their Age of Sail game. It has a demo on the Shrapnel page. It seemed at first like it was tedious and had a really clunky interface, until I learned to set up squads and initial orders on the battle map and use the 'f' button until the ships are close to engagement. Then I take control of the key individual ships. crews and ammunition. Along with the campaigns and battles, there's a downloadable battle generator/editor that lets you customize the rigging and ship conditions. The only downsides are the developer vanished, (the game is very stable but no improvements), and the only current activity around the game is a group in Spain that's made some downloadable scenarios and appears to have a pbem ladder going.

These games are like the old standbys for me, because they've always installed and run on every pc or laptop I've tried. Minimal system requirements and old, old graphics, but under the hood game detail and game play options better than many more graphically pleasing 3d games. And I don't know if it's a getting older thing, I'm 57 as well, or just personal preference, but I more and more prefer turn based to any sort of real-time game.

Mass Effect - Oh Liara, I do still love you








Fallout
Skyrim
Bioshock

I play avidly, about 2 hours after work every night and a few hours on the weekend. I love multiplayer, playing with others. I have gotten to be rather good. I notice that I tend to be more patient and less "run around like Rambo" compared to the other players.

No one knows I'm female, although my player name is clearly female (there are plenty of guys who will have similar player names so you can't judge gender by someone's name or clan tag). I don't use my headset much.

I work in a very stressful job and playing CoD:BO2 relaxes me in a way. I know it's not reality. I don't own weapons of any sort and I'm a pretty laid back person in real life, with a very happy demeanor and disposition.

I guess I know what's real and not real. As for playing the fiddle while Rome burns, people in the direst of circumstances throughout history have sought ways to entertain themselves. Entertainment soothes the soul.

Yes, I know there are problems and the whole world is going to crap, but I don't see playing games any different than knitting or tending to cats or writing poetry - all of which are diversions plenty of people have. Video games to me are a diversion, as is college basketball or knitting or DU even

I'm thinking of Flash games that maybe take up to an hour or two to get through (at the most). I also have a large collection of "ports" of classic arcade games that I can play with an emulator program like MAME. The one I've spent the most time on is Rygar, which is from 1986, I think.

I spend so much time in front of a computer screen - for work, for my side job, for entertainment, for news, when things like Everquest (Evercrack is what my friends who played it called it) back in the early part of the century, I didn't get caught up into it, and I'm glad I didn't, but I've enjoyed watching my friends play on rare occasions.

This is my current time-waster. Just five levels of being a cowboy and beating up others in a saloon.
http://www.miniclip.com/games/saloon-brawl/en/

TlalocW

Played it from the day it came out until shortly after EQ2 arrived (which I hated).

WoW has my drug of choice for the last 9 years, although I will admit I play alot less as I age. I totally do not have the stamina for all night raiding

Had their own guild with their own website where they planned their next missions or whatever they're called.

Early on, before one of them got the total hang of it, he had to go on a quest by himself to kill some monster and bring the head back to a certain town to get some weapon or some such thing. Another guild member waited for him at the town while he did that, and when the first guy was successful and got back to the town, instead of "whispering" to his friend, he apparently asked the entire town, "Who do I give head to?"

He had to log off for a day because of all the messages he started getting.

TlalocW

I play games a lot. I love all kinds of games. I have games on my computer, PS3, Vita, Ipad, and DS. I hate watching TV, I find most movies boring, and my chemo brain can't focus too long on reading. So I spend most of my days playing video games and watching my Great Courses lectures. And surfing the net.

On edit: But then again, maybe I should get a fucking life. Because I'm obviously a loser for wasting so much of my time playing video games while the world is burning. That I sometimes don't even have the energy to leave my couch is no fucking excuse.....especially for not getting laid. Why would my gf want to sleep with a lazy gamer anyways?

Listen, don't pay any attention to all that. Some people say stupid shit because they aren't critical thinkers and do not think before they speak/type.

If you enjoy those games and it helps you to do something when you're not able to do much else, you keep doing it. There is nothing wrong with you playing games.

I really hope that you'll feel better soon. In the meantime, play away!

Anything more involved I don't have time for, but am in awe at what hubby does with minecraft.

Usually go on kick in which I play games for a few days during my free time, then I don't play any games for about six months. I used to be able to play games like Civilization, Sim City and what not for hours upon hours straight, but I no longer get as much enjoyment from that.

Having played a few Travian servers. My definition of Avid play might be distorted. Currently taking a break, been known to go whole days without logging into some type of game even if it's just the Farm.

I was never a big gamer, but when my kid started college I put her PS3 in my bedroom for the blue-ray player, and tried some games.

The jump from playing Centipede to Heavy Rain was a system shock.

Now I'm pushing 50 and also have an Xbox and love video games.

Just got the new Tomb Raider, and Far Cry 3, L.A. Noire, Fallout 3, New Vegas, Forza 4, and the Uncharted series top my favorites list.

She and I have both been playing video games since we were pre-teens growing up with Pac-Man & Galaga, River Raid on the Atari 2600, and Castle Wolfenstein on the Apple IIe.

We are not big on going out to parties, clubs, movies (too damned expensive these days anyway), etc and we are not big TV watchers. So our fun is an occasional movie or TV series on BluRay and video games.

She is currently playing new DLC on Skyrim on the PS3, Kirby's Mass Attack on the DSLite, and Sonic Adventures DX on the Gamecube. I am into RPG's, SHMUPS, and FPS's so I am currently playing Kingdoms of Amalur on the Xbox 360, Dragon Quest V on the DSLite, Ikaruga on the Dreamcast, and Black on the PS2.

We have more classic consoles and video games than I am sure we will ever have time to play.

It's such a joy to have an entire 80s arcade on your PC.

Of course, the controls of these games leave little to be desired. The PS/PC model controller's not really that good at the dime-dead stops and turns I need for, say, Ms. Pac Man and Dig-Dug. For some reason, I cannot control the target sights in Star Wars at all.

For games like Robotron 2084 and Black Widow, however, they're just fine.

Here's an example.

http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-joysticks-and-game-controllers/product/x-arcade-tankstick-includes-usb-cables/

For the original Star Wars, I've had the best luck using a flight stick that's normally for sims. I had to tweak the MAME settings to make it work right.

I've been looking for something better for Star Wars and maze games. Thanks!

The old Atari vector Star Wars had a unique controller that resembled an aircraft yoke, and is essentially an analog stick, which is why I suggest using a flight-simulator controller. I happen to have an old Microsoft Sidewinder flightstick that works OK.

I wonder how well Star Wars would play on a yoke controller...

My solution was to soft-mod the original Xbox. I then use the emulators MAMAoX and CoinOPS to play every, and I do mean every, arcade game in existence.

An original Xbox can be had for $30.00. Softmodding is easy and very safe. Instructions are all over the internet. If you PM me, I can even put you in touch with a guy who has a little kit for $20.00. Then I got an Xbox to PS2 adapter. I use a "PELICAN PL631 PS2 Arcade Fighter Fully Analog Joystick" which costs about $25.00. Having a real arcade analog joystick really helps with games like Star Wars and all the fighters and SHMUPS.

Plus playing them in 720p through composite on my 32" HDTV with speakers is a blast!

You can ALSO get ePSXe on Google Play, drop a PSX .iso or two on your phone, grab the PSX BIOS from any of a thousand or so sites online, and play.... wait for it....

FINAL FANTASY 7 ON YOUR PHONE

I play World of Warcraft and just bought an Xbox 360. I put in a healthy amount of game time, but still do volunteer projects on weekends.

Frankly, it's good to have a mental off switch. My job is high stress, so being able to forget about it at the end of the day is a very good thing.

I write reviews as well as post news items I find interesting in the DU Gaming Group here at DU. I find gaming to be an excellent way of relaxing... And I do relax from time to time, I can't spend all my time saving the world.

Sim City but it sounds like there are kinks to work out.

I also like problem solving games, I just did The Room on my iPhone, which I loved and would love if more games were like that.

I teach teenagers, I feel like at least a glancing knowledge of popular culture is handy for that.

I play Civ 4... But I seem to always "cheat" and I'm not sure Civ 5 would be worth the investment. What did you find is the biggest difference?

So much was changed in Civ 5, some people feel it is a different game entirely. There is less reward to getting a large amount of territory and building up a huge military. There are more benefits to building up your cities, with different culture trees you pursue through Social Policies.

If you like to play a more cultural victory game (which I do) the game seems more balanced for that than in previous Civ versions, IMO. The military aspect is still there, the focus seems more on quality than quantity -you can't stack military units.

There was an expansion lately that brings religion back into the game and I'm still exploring that. You get more flexibility in tailoring your nation's religion, which is kind of fun.

but I was able to play at will last night, so perhaps they've finally fixed it.

That was a disastrous launch. EA really, really borked it up. Mentioning that it "wouldn't be as bad as the Diablo III launch" didn't help a bit.

Find you're self a copy of EDuke32. Get it to run correctly under Win 7, without using a second level XP machine. You must get both 'Duke talk' and music to work. No joystick, trackball! And run it from a memory stick at that!

So OK, every now and again (rarely) I blow up 'oogies' while America burns. The real fun was getting Duke to play on the Win 7 map.
For extra points, try talking IL2 into running with out the install CD mounted.

The very 'bestest' 'puter game is the 'puter it's self.

My husband (49 year old software engineer) is a gamer, and has been forever. I remember him hacking Moira to kill the B with a very hard biscuit, and later Marathon to make bullet-proof bobs (because he felt bad about bobs getting shot). Right now I think he's playing Dark Souls, Dead Space 3 and EvE.

And not very often. I did like most of the Myst games, but haven't bothered with them for a few years.

Many things seem like a waste of time or resources, like commenting on an internet forum, reading a book, pursuing hobbies, watching Father Ted, sleeping. &tc. A person still has to live, and one needs ways to cope. I wish I knew a way that I could contribute more to helping the world, within my peculiar range of skills and limitations. If I think too much about your question, it points me toward depression and panic.

Just to get the secret dot.

Mostly RPGs because I like good stories, but I'll play pretty much anything except sports games. I'm a big fan of MMORPGs as well. Playing SWTOR currently. I like it a lot despite the negative hype.

Really?

Great fun.

I have Aces of the Pacific for DOS, all three Microsoft and I'm struggling to get IL-2 Sturmovich to work.

Aces High http://www.hitechcreations.com/

2 weeks free sign up w/ no credit card required. prob the best MMOLG community. need a joystick to play.

My favorite scenarios offline and in online servers are Pacific theatre ones.

I've flown Microsoft CFS's 1, 2, & 3, and IL-2 is the best hands-down, especially in terms of flight model accuracy.

Exactly what issues are you having with IL-2 Sturmovik? Maybe I can assist.

that's the main problem.

I run it on Win 7 and others i know use Vista. One thing with the this game is that with Vista and Win7, you do not install them into the program files. Just make a folder called "Games" or whatever, and just put it in the "C" drive directory and direct the game path to there.

Here are some links that offer help with various IL-2 / Win7-Vista issues:

http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/547073-IL2-and-Vista-64-Problem?highlight=install+vista

http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/384991-IL2-1946-Vista-Game-not-starting?highlight=install+vista

...along with John Tiller's Battleground Civil War, Napoleonic Wars, and Campaign Series (WWII). I like to mix and match modifications to add more historical realism to the games.

Roger Wilco, Leisure Suit Larry... all those old Sierra games bring back fond memories.

Now, I mainly like RPGs, especially the Elder Scrolls Series. Been a fan of that since Arena came out. The big thing now is Skyrim but I keep going back to Morrowind. Probably because I've modded that game so much, I find it near perfect.

All mammals play. It's in our DNA and without it, I think we'd go mad. So Rome is burning. I tend to that as much as I can but when I need a break, you better believe I play.

She and I both love that series. I also have Morrowind modded to near perfection. It just never gets old. I have it on both an older Dell running XP plus I have a modded version of the GOTY edition on my original Xbox. Seeing it in 720p on the big screen is just amazing.

half life.

I was really into it before, but recently, no. First person shooters were some of my favorites, but not online, single player only.
I also am a huge rpg games player, such as Oblivion, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, Gothic, etc
Not really an MMO player though.

I'm very picky about what games I want to play, so I can go for long stretches (like, years) where I don't see any new games that interest me. I'm glad to see the revival of old-school rpgs that is coming. RPGwatch.com is one of my favorite websites for game news.

I also am really into board games. Not games like Monopoly, but sophisticated board games called Euro games that are made for adults and have a focus on sophisticated strategy. Boardgamegeek.com is a great website that tracks these games.

Now that the Meta forum is closed, that leaves me time to play some of my back catalog of PC games to catch up on. I was spending way too much time "playing" in the Meta forum.

I have some adventure games to play that I bought and never got around to playing.

are a great release and distraction, both of which most of us need. The Espoused One and I (both in our 50's) play Borderlands 2 maybe 5 or 6 hours a week. I also LOVE to play Cribbage but can't find anyone locally to play with so I play online. I miss the interaction of a live opponent but at least I can keep my chops up for the time I'm able to play IRL.

a Baseball game

The latter process is a hell of a lot of brain candy; surprising how complex that process can get.

Which was longer ago than I thought. I guess it was wasting too much of my time.

I'd rather play the guitar any day.

My neighbor tried to interest me in playing some team games on his PS2, but he stopped asking after he found out that the first thing I'd usually do is shoot my own teammates and leave 'em for the zombies while I make my own getaway.

Well, *I* had fun, anyway.

Took a break from Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3 and Skyrim. Deciding if I should get Naruto Shippuden 3 for my ps3 or 360. Gamer here, but hardly on the level I use to be in my late teens. They're great time killers, but hardly a waste of time.

Gaming has been a regular part of my life for 30+ years, and only a couple weeks ago did I make the decision to gradually wean myself off and give them up for good....

I certainly understand wanting to reduce the time you play (i've done that several times myself) but giving them up seems like a dramatic step.

Bryant

and gaming has been getting in the way for too long (I've got a really competitive nature, and can't stand not being "good" at a game, no matter how much effort it takes)...I'm loath to use the "A"-word, but more and more of my friends and family were pointing out how much of a detriment it was becoming...

(FWIW, I mostly play shooters-sports-driving games)

An "oldie" but a goodie. Managed to tear me away from the latest Call of Duty franchise entry for now.

Hurray for getting high-speed internet soon!

At least, not yet. Too expensive. But it sure would come in handy with these newer machines so you didn't have to drag them down to Starbucks just to download new content.

and I think of Fallout as a PC series, so I just assumed.

From NES, SNES, Playstation, PS2, GameCube, PS3, and PC games along the way.

I tend to favour strategy games more than others - SimCity, Civilization, that sort of thing. My reflexes have never seemed to be good enough for high-paced action games.

Quite a few MMORPGS - Guild Wars, Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online, EVE Online are the biggest.

And eagerly awaiting the next Half Life rollout

"Skyrm" and "The Rest of Us."

I haven't bought those last two yet.

Thanks for the thread, el_bryanto.

I44 since squad-based WWII infantry is fun and DCS A-10 and P-51 - you can't find better flight sims

been "fiddling" since the mid-eighties when my little daughter got her first Nintendo system and I've proudly defeated Ganondorf in all of his incarnations, even as the games and the consoles grew more and more expensive. I saved up for three years to finally be able to play Zelda on a Wii console...tho the Skyward Sword is the only game that I've ever purchased for it.

For me, it may be wasting my time, but I find that pushing those control buttons keep my hands from becoming useless for the work I still must do...I no longer can obsess and play nonstop, but simply go to Hyrule as a sort of physical therapy for myself.

I don't think that gaming in itself necessarily makes anyone lazy or apathetic to the plight of the world. Most of the kids I personally know who once were my daughter's little companions, fighting over the buttons, have grown into extremely conscientious adults, some still battling demons on a screen but also deeply concerned with the affairs of our nation.

Zuma and Quest for Atlantis on the computer. I'm just a HUGE gamer, as you can see.

I play everything from FPS to RPG to Sports games. You can find me spending a lot of my spare time on my Xbox 360. Hell gaming kept me out of trouble while I was at SIU.

Sims 3, Sim City. Dungeons and Dragons Online, Forsaken World - I find it relaxing and a good way to escape reality when it gets a little stressful.

Was hoping at least one other person played it on ps3 and might want to squad up for a few conquest matches...Carry on.

Pm me your handle..

So it says I havent posted enough to pm someone. So you can pm me your handle and I will add you. My handle is GreenyMac. Whenever you add me just send me a msg letting me know its you. Look forward to squadding with you sometime soon. Ptfo!

...the Lord of the Rings game for pc, and then before that a couple of low-res ones. But now I seem to have lost all interest - I just can't summon up any interest whatsoever in playing or watching someone play.

Once you know how the whole things works mentally, that its more or less pushing your own little mental pleasure-buttons, I just can't. To be bluntly honest, it feels too much like sitting there and jacking off, and there's too much to do in the real world and never enough time anyway.

Solitaire. Spider Solitaire, and Freecell...

With Bonnie's Bookstore, the story behind the game is of no interest to me and I pass up reading it, but enjoy making words...

Don't like exciting games - I used to, but just play to relax and keep my brain awake. I have a tv next to the computer, and "listen" to the tv while I play something or other..

I've been an avid Sims player since the original Sims came out in 2000.

The newest expansion pack for Sims 3 - University Life - came out the same day as SimCity and I've been playing it constantly.

One thing I enjoy about Sims, I can create Sims of people/politicians I don't like and make bad things happen to them. Drowning a virtual Cheney in a pool with no ladders gives me great pleasure.

I also work full time, am a competitive bodybuilder, runner, and will be attending an Ivy for my MSW in the fall.