Why have game developers lost their imagination?

[airboy]

First, why can't I buy Star Fleet 1 or 2 that works on a modern machine?  Probably confused copyright or too high a price on old copyright - but I still can't buy it.  Missed it the first time due to work.  Please help me someone - I would like to play these and I'm not graphics picky.

You won't be stealing them. They are available for free with the permission of the developer. It is my understanding that he has even offered suggestions on how to run them best through dosbox.

They are available here: https://www.myabandonware.com/ and there is some indication that Dr. Sorensen is aware that the games are distributed from this site.

It is a legit site. If the IP is owned, they will not offer the game for free. If you want to play these games, this is where you are going to have to get them and you will have to run them through dosbox.  Star Fleet I and II and Star Legion all run fine on my Windows 10 rig.

Thanks!  You are the best!

[Toonces]

Man alive is that site a wormhole.

[Jarhead0331]

Man alive is that site a wormhole.

LoL. Sure is.

[Yskonyn]

Great thread!

I have been thinking about why many new games don't hold my interest for long. I keep coming back to my feeling of 'having seen it all'. There are only a handful games whic truely offer something new and interesting and, ironically so, are mostly obscure indie titles.

Supporting this discussion I feel those indie devs operate much like pretty much all devs back in the days of Star Fleet 2. So the argument made about money and deadlines killing creativity might be very apt.

I also feel there is far too little 'fun' in todays games; great graphics, believable worlds all made sure to feel alive and with lots of places to explore (but is it really exploring?). But the actual gameplay is rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat for dozens of hours...
(Destiny, Assassins's Creed, etc)

What happened to the funfactor?
Its pushed aside by the call for realism, which often gets confused with believability. But imo a believable gameworld doesnt have to be realistic. It can contain very gamey aspects to make the game more fun! I'd like to see more of that.

I am from the Cmdr Keen generation. Late 80's and 90's were my glory gaming days, so my perception is coloured by those experiences.

Anyway, fittingly on topic, I have decided I am going to make a digital pinball cabinet with parts I have laying around after my gaming rig upgrade.
It'll run on Win10 on a i5 4670K, 16GB RAM, Geforce 1050ti, Asus Z87-A motherboard, TP-Link AC1300 dual band wireless card for connectivity and an encoder to translate the arcade buttons into USB controller signals.
The cabinet parts will be arriving shortly and I'll make a thread with photo's for the project.

That'll bring some old school funfactor and competition back to our home, I expect. :D