Getting Over the Hump

[MengJiao]

Yes, it is.

I find that I tend to stick to the familiar more so now than in the past.  I played a lot of WWII/WWI flight sims in the past so, for me, Rise of Flight was fairly intuitive and I was able to ease right into it.

By contrast, I just haven't been able to get over the hump with the DCS titles.  I find myself constantly struggling to remember the procedures to set up a specific system or subsystem and I end up shelving the games in frustration.

Same with Sword of the Stars II.  I want to play it but I'm lost when I fire it up and I just can't muster the energy required to learn how to play it.

Pretty much the same here.  RoF was quite an experience, but conceptually not mind-boggling.  Now I'm mesmerized by CLOD and -- after a few runs with the difficulty up all the way -- I'm playing it like I did RoF and Il-2: without complex engine management and without going online.

So there's one answer -- I play complex games, but with a lot of the complexity turned off.

I'll probably deal with DCS in the same way.

And I've stopped playing 4x space games.

So I guess, that's another way to deal with certain kinds of complexity -- I just don't do it once I see if it is fun or not.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

This is getting more depressing than I expected. So without Herculean effort I'm doomed to play the same games forever? Say it aint so !

Not necessarily.  Sometimes you struggle a bit but finally get the a-ha! moment and things just start to click.  I had that with the Achtung Panzer games recently.  I mostly just played quick generated battles and avoided the campaigns because I didn't fully understand the operational aspects of the game such as command control, resupply, repair, and reinforcement.

The impetus to write up a campaign AAR is what pushed me to play through the campaign system.  The AAR I've been posting here is one I've writing up as I play.  It is actually my first full play-through of a campaign with the game series ever so I've been learning as I've been playing/writing and things really started clicking around the 4th-5th turn. 

I think part of the problem I have with learning new, complex and unfamiliar games stems from the cheap prices and instant availability that the internet affords us these days.  In the days of 3.5" floppies (and earlier) I had more time but less money and, as I lived in a rural area, no local access to software stores.  As a consequence I'd get a new game once every few months so when I did I learned to play it and played the hell out of it even if it was only mediocre, overly difficult, or obtuse in terms of interface or feedback.

Now it seems like I'm buying 5-6 games a month so unless it's something I really, really wanted, I'll put it aside if it's proving too difficult to get into.  I've got dozens of games on my HD or in my library that I really would like to learn to play.  I tell myself I'll get back to them someday and honestly learn to play them (and I even mean it) but the reality is that I really only do get back to maybe 20% of them. 

[TheCommandTent]

So I have Victoria II - Heart of Darkness and Rise of Flight queued up. Both have steep learning curves and intimidate me. How do you all deal with learning new complex games and not getting frustrated and giving up?

I've run into similar situations and find that reading some good AARs helps.  Even more than that there are some great "Lets Play" series on YouTube that introduce you to game mechanics and help you get a feel for the game.  YouTube videos really helped me learn CKII.

[Gusington]

Yeah I have been doing a lot of that lately with CKII, Victoria II, etc. But after a while I get burned out! It feels like studying or working sometimes.

[panzerde]

This is getting more depressing than I expected. So without Herculean effort I'm doomed to play the same games forever? Say it aint so !

What works for me is not trying to grapple with a really complex game until/unless I'm in the mood to get immersed in the subject.  I'm all about Ancient Rome right now, for example.  So, in addition to playing almost nothing but AJE and HPS's Roma Civil Wars (and soon Gallic Wars) I'm reading a couple of books about the subject, watching documentaries, etc..  I'm reading about the Great Civil War and playing the HPS game scenarios as I reach chapters in the book about the battle.

I find the net effect being that it's a lot easier for me to master the complexities of a game when I'm really motivated to explore the history and "live out" what I'm reading about and watching.  I just can't force myself to learn a complex game (or a not so complex game, for that matter) when I'm not interested in the subject as a whole.  When I am, I find I pick it up much more quickly because I'm thinking about it even when I'm not playing.

This doesn't mean I'll ever be good at some games, but I'll at least learn to play them.  There are very few RTS MP games where I'll ever be anything but cannon fodder; my reflexes will never be fast enough again to do that.  If it's about a subject I'm interested in, though, I'll probably learn it.

[MetalDog]

I wish I had some valuable insight into this that would help you Gus, but I don't.  The best way I could think of would be to get a friend to play with you.  That way, you can figure things out together.  Plus, you could compare notes and help one another with concepts/gameplay/idiosyncracies that baffle the other one.  I would offer to guinea pig for you, but it would require voice chat.

[MetalDog]

Oh yeah, and I take WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY too long for you.

[Gusington]

I'm a solo player type of guy, you know that. Unless I am playing with online buddies in a game that is not at all complex like Warlock or Left 4 Dead.

So I played about an hour's worth of Victoria II as Egypt, starting a Grand Campaign in 1836. It didn't take long for the Turks to declare war on me. I've got army production and movement down and even scored some naval victories. But trade and economic production are complex. For example...how do I build a factory?

I switched between getting smacked around in Victoria II to wrestling with my TrackIR and trying to get it to work in Rise of Flight with the help of Tuna. I got the interface setup but the TrackIR didn't seem to be working in game. The little green light was on saying the camera was active, but I would move my head (like an idiot) and nothing would happen in game.

I think I have taken on too much complexity for one evening. I am tempted to buy the newest Tomb Raider and stare at digital bewbs...

[Bison]

I think that's why I'm finding racing to be a great gaming experience.  I know how to drive so now it's just a matter of learning the tracks and the best way to navigate them at high speed.  Fun and exciting.

[Gusington]

I haven't played a driving game...ever. 15 years ago I was tempted to buy the first Gran Turismo for the first Playstation but I bought Civ II instead and played it for like 3 years straight.

My thing here is that I know if I can just get over the hump in Victoria II or Rise of Flight they will become go to games for me that will last years and that is valuable to me since games like that are rare.

[Bison]

Well good luck in your brain racking experiment.  I thought I'd like Vicky II as well.  I quickly realized I didn't like it and moved on.  TBH I only really like to play 2 paradox grand strategy games.  CKII and EU:Rome.

[Gusington]

I actually put CKII aside to learn Victoria II because that's the era I'm into now. CKII strikes me as easier. I hope.

In Rise of Flight I may have no hope :(

[Bison]

I think CKII is just more interesting because you have so much direct imput into what happens with your dynasty and it's rise or fall.  I never, ever felt anything I did in Vick 2 really mattered at all.

[Gusington]

Yeah you warned me about that. That and the fact that there are 100000000 things going on and twice as many messages coming in at any moment about how I've f'd this or that up. It's like whack a mole.

[MetalDog]

Someone gave great advice bout this in the Vicky thread, I think it was PanzersEast, and he said to start the game and just start doing things.  Don't worry about goals and such, just get in to it.