OMG! Terra Nova Released on GOG!!!

Jarhead0331 · June 25, 2015, 06:17:08 PM

Quote from: Staggerwing on June 25, 2015, 06:02:52 PM
Is Terra Nova one of those early Voxel based games? The screenies remind me of Armored Fist.

It looks similar to those voxel games, such as Delta Force, but I don't believe it uses that technology which was developed by NovaLogic and was a proprietary system.

-budd- · June 25, 2015, 07:35:46 PM

I've learned my lesson on other games, you can't go home again.

Boggit · June 25, 2015, 08:24:18 PM

Quote from: -budd- on June 25, 2015, 07:35:46 PM
I've learned my lesson on other games, you can't go home again.

I don't know if that's always true. I bought the GoG version of Alpha Centauri a month or so back, and it's a blast. It hasn't aged 'much' at all.

Jarhead0331 · June 25, 2015, 08:38:10 PM

Quote from: Boggit on June 25, 2015, 08:24:18 PM
Quote from: -budd- on June 25, 2015, 07:35:46 PM
I've learned my lesson on other games, you can't go home again.
I don't know if that's always true. I bought the GoG version of Alpha Centauri a month or so back, and it's a blast. It hasn't aged 'much' at all.

With this game, I don't think it is true. So far, it seems to be holding up well for me, and its one of the few old classics from GoG that has not let me down yet.

Yes, the graphics are rough now. The resolution is VERY poor, and I don't think there are any settings options to increase it. But rough graphics aside, the gameplay is so interesting and varied and the story so engrossing, that I am still enjoying it very much. I mean, your Power Armor can do everything you would expect it to do. With current games, I find I'm always frustrated by missing features that you would expect to find as standard gear for a futuristic soldier, ie. night vision, zoom, jump capability, etc. Its all in this game, even though so many newer titles omit these capabilities. This is a game that literally just needs a face lift...nothing else needs to be touched or changed. The map features, navigation, squad control, DRONE control, etc. it is all here and it all works well. Young developers of games need to pay attention to this one, learn from it and hopefully use some of its ideas in future titles. Yes, this game had drones, a decade before there were really drones. lol

James Sterrett · June 25, 2015, 08:44:09 PM

GOG's version of TN runs fine straight out of the box for me, and it still rocks.

I can't find the trick for forcing 640x480 anymore, even on TTLG. :(

Hit "o" from most screens to get into options and you can at least select 320x400 instead of 320x200.

Jarhead0331 · June 25, 2015, 08:52:40 PM

Quote from: James Sterrett on June 25, 2015, 08:44:09 PM
GOG's version of TN runs fine straight out of the box for me, and it still rocks.

I can't find the trick for forcing 640x480 anymore, even on TTLG. :(

Did it ever support that resolution? I thought 320x400 was "high res"...ridiculous how far we have come.

James Sterrett · June 25, 2015, 08:54:21 PM

Yes, I used to know a trick for forcing it into that mode. Can't find it anymore. :(

JudgeDredd · June 26, 2015, 12:25:07 AM

Quote from: -budd- on June 25, 2015, 07:35:46 PM
I've learned my lesson on other games, you can't go home again.

+1

I've tried it and whilst I get a nice wee trip back to the past - and enjoyable - it's not long before I have to move on

JudgeDredd · June 26, 2015, 12:28:25 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 25, 2015, 08:38:10 PM
...even though so many newer titles omit these capabilities. This is a game that literally just needs a face lift...nothing else needs to be touched or changed...

Now that is VERY true. It's true of my beloved Strike Commander.

And I don't get why so many new titles seem to be "less" than games of the past. IS it that developers never played some of the classics and therefore are finding their feet as opposed to having that very strong, deep foundation and building on it?

I don't know - but there are titles that just need a face list - lots and lots and lots and it would just be printing money for the developers. If you've already got the code base for the game and all you have to do is put a new graphics engine in, that can't be hard, can it?

Jarhead0331 · June 26, 2015, 05:34:39 AM

Actually, I would imagine that taking an old game and making it with modern graphics is just like making a new game from the ground up. The only thing you gain from the old game is the idea, story, etc. everything else is coded from the ground the up.

I think, ultimately, that we are in the minority about loving these older games with lots of options open to the player. I think the vast majority of the revenue generating gaming world enjoys mindless, simple shooters. The market dictates game development for the most part.

JasonPratt · June 26, 2015, 06:56:50 AM

As great as Strike Commander was, it was only Ace Combat with a slightly more in-depth management overlay. I can fire up my PS2 and play the best AC games (AC4, AC5, and AC0) any time I want, with generally better plots and much better effects. Or I can play the HAWX games. Or for that matter the new PC Ace Combat game. (Sadly the XBox 360 AC game, which is the most recent of the classic alien-Earth stories with the awesome music and heartfelt anime-ish stories, hasn't been ported to PC yet. But still. I could play that if I had a 360.)

Sure, I'll be missing the management of picking missions and spending money earned on them, but I could also fire up one of the Mechwarrior games for that.

Having said that, I admit missing that little detail, which makes a disproportionately large difference in how the game's progression feels.

JudgeDredd · June 26, 2015, 07:26:00 AM

lol

It was the management part that kind of made the game. Choosing missions (though I would hope that was expanded), completing them, earning money, buying weapons, upgrading, story. It was that "running a mercenary outfit" that made the game.

As an air combat thingy, it was good - but that isn't really what made it.

I think if it was just to have a graphics upgrade it would be short on content perhaps and branching, missions etc - but the base model is there

Sorry - dragging this off topic again. I'll shaddup now O0

FarAway Sooner · June 26, 2015, 08:33:59 AM

Only slightly off-topic, but VerHooven's treatment of the Heinlein classic was kinda weird to me. Take a look and read the original. Or, if you've done that, read John Scalzi's Old Man's War. That is pretty much the Gen X version of Starship Troopers and a damn fine read.

The sequels are good, but not as good, and they seemed to get a little more contrived as they went. Old Man's War, however, was a damn fine fine read!