I have a lot of calls to make and receive.
So, I was thinking what to play. I think I will shoot some pool. Very easy to be interrupted without messing up a game.
I remember the absolute worse game to be interrupted was racing. I would freeze the game and pretty much guaranteed to crash shortly after unfreezing the game.
One might say turn based strategy games are good for interruptions, but I find it messes with your train of thought. Like for example playing chess.
I would avoid any real time game that could not be paused.
For me it's Flight Sims or any 1st person shooter >:(.
I think it depends on the length of the interuption. If it's a matter of minutes, the FPS is the worst for me because of the delay in repositioning and reorienting usually leads to my dead. If it's an extended period of time like a few days or a weeks, then it's a complex strategy game. Too easy to forget what I'm doing in the grand scheme of things.
I said pool was easy. So, I was playing 9 Ball. After a call, I shot the wrong ball which gave my opponent a ball in hand!
Worst for me was when I was heavy into WW2OL. You can't pause an MMO FPS so If you were on guard duty at a capture point and you had to step away in RL you could come back to find that the 'NME' had fragged you or, worse yet, that your squadmates had bumped your player avi all the way to the edge of a roof (or cliff if you were away long enough) so when you returned and took a step you fell to your death...
Chess is one of the best to be interrupted...players can come back a year later.
Gus,
Computers can come back a year later, but I find the insights I built go poof. On the other hand, I find pool has no tie in to what you were doing the prior shot.
It depends on timing I think. If a player only has a minute or less to make a move, then I think you're right. If you're not under a time constraint, you may have a better chance. I know I personally would have a good chance to return to a previous strategy, and I'm no Deep Blue.
Suprisingly enough I find FPS's a little easier to come back to after an interruption. Especially one longer then an overnight or day. With strategy games even turned based ones I'll find myself coming back and not fully remembering what strategy or plan I was trying to accomplish. I'll think I know what I was trying to do and continue on with it only to sometimes find out it was not my original intent. (This is why I sometimes take notes along with some games. Yes I know how every nerdy of me) With an FPS I can just jump back in and starting shooting. :)
You just need a lighter turn-based game.
If you're playing a big hex-based wargame scenario, and get interrupted, sure.. you'll be attempting to figure out your big strategy when you get back. But something like Warlock:MoA isn't going to be near as bad as that.
With real-time games, some of those can be easy to get back to but my enjoyment of those is more related to becoming pretty focused on the action at hand while I'm playing. So when I'm only getting short stints, in between being on the phone (or working on stuff, whatever) and playing something, I find it more difficult to get focused on either of them really well. Not a multi-tasker obviously, but if you are then more power to ya. :D
At least with turn-based games, I don't need to ramp back up every time I un-pause it. Dunno if that makes sense to anyone here .. *shrug*
Edit: Lately, I've been playing some of the football/baseball text manager style games when I have a lot going on in-between. All my game strategies are already saved within the game so it's only a matter of adjusting things between each one, and dealing with the personnel & contract stuff one at a time when they come up. Very much a turn-based deal in the base auto-generate mode for the games themselves and the drafts pause each time your turn comes up (so it's turn-based basically). This may not be for everyone, but I've found it's real easy to run while doing other things.
Quote from: Nefaro on August 29, 2012, 09:11:52 PM
You just need a lighter turn-based game.
If you're playing a big hex-based wargame scenario, and get interrupted, sure.. you'll be attempting to figure out your big strategy when you get back. But something like Warlock:MoA isn't going to be near as bad as that.
With real-time games, some of those can be easy to get back to but my enjoyment of those is more related to becoming pretty focused on the action at hand while I'm playing. So when I'm only getting short stints, in between being on the phone (or working on stuff, whatever) and playing something, I find it more difficult to get focused on either of them really well. Not a multi-tasker obviously, but if you are then more power to ya. :D
At least with turn-based games, I don't need to ramp back up every time I un-pause it. Dunno if that makes sense to anyone here .. *shrug*
Edit: Lately, I've been playing some of the football/baseball text manager style games when I have a lot going on in-between. All my game strategies are already saved within the game so it's only a matter of adjusting things between each one, and dealing with the personnel & contract stuff one at a time when they come up. Very much a turn-based deal in the base auto-generate mode for the games themselves and the drafts pause each time your turn comes up (so it's turn-based basically). This may not be for everyone, but I've found it's real easy to run while doing other things.
True some of the lighter turn-based games are easier to come back to.
I like to try and do curls when the Total War battles are loading during a campaign.. I should play Total War more often, maybe I'd get in good shape!
Quote from: Tuna on August 29, 2012, 09:43:01 PM
I like to try and do curls when the Total War battles are loading during a campaign.. I should play Total War more often, maybe I'd get in good shape!
Curling 12oz at a time?? :P
a bad case of... ludus bellum interruptus ;)
How does a tuna do curls?
I'm going to agree with some of the other guys about FPSs being easier to jump back into when returning from an interruption. Sure, your K/D ratio will decrease because everyone loves to kill the AFKers but all you have to do when jumping back in is find cover and return fire.
I hate being interrupted whilst playing TBS games because like everyone else said, you just can't remember the grand scheme of things and end up wasting a few turns trying to get back into the groove. Far far worse IMO then recovering a shot K/D ratio. Empires have fallen because of interruptions. :)