Search found 317 matches

by Mr Creosote
Wed May 19, 2010 11:40 am
Forum: Site feedback & announcements
Topic: Scope of the site
Replies: 22
Views: 6752

Scope of the site

Where does it end? Do games like Citadel of Chaos (or more generally: CYOA) qualify?
by Mr Creosote
Tue May 18, 2010 8:33 pm
Forum: Site feedback & announcements
Topic: New site - bug reports
Replies: 45
Views: 15299

Re: New site - bug reports

Reviews, style sheet and comment field fixed.
by Mr Creosote
Tue May 18, 2010 8:12 am
Forum: Site feedback & announcements
Topic: New site launched
Replies: 6
Views: 2790

Re: New site launched

Haha - excellent! You've already uncovered two organisational problems/weaknesses with your submissions, Mark :D

Jacob, the "comment" field he used is ambigously named. It's only meant for "internal comments" which the admins can read, but we were too near-sighted to notice normal users will think ...
by Mr Creosote
Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:40 am
Forum: Classics
Topic: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu
Replies: 9
Views: 2775

Re: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu

Glad you got it working!
by Mr Creosote
Thu Apr 08, 2010 6:57 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu
Replies: 9
Views: 2775

Re: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu

Yes, that's definitely "saving to a tape file". The tricky part, I think, is that you need to tell the emulator to start recording at the right point of time. Just like you'd press the appropriate buttons on a physical tape drive.
by Mr Creosote
Thu Apr 08, 2010 1:52 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu
Replies: 9
Views: 2775

Re: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu

No, didn't need to do that so far. Do you need to save the emulator state or something on a virtual tape file to continue the game? Both is supported by the emulator in theory (I'm saying "in theory" because I haven't really tried it myself). Saving a snapshot is 6.3, saving to a tape file is ...
by Mr Creosote
Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:17 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu
Replies: 9
Views: 2775

Re: Recommendations of Spectrum emulator for Ubuntu

I use SPECTEMU all the time. It follows the KISS principle which makes it very easy to use for me. Of course, if you're used to wasting your time with a mouse, it can be quite daunting ;)

A commercial emulator (which I haven't used, so I can't say how good it is) is XZX.
by Mr Creosote
Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:56 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?
Replies: 31
Views: 8268

Re: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?

I'm ambivalent about it :D

Disregarding technical limitations (because, as we all seem to agree, most of these overused themes are timeless), I do think it's often laziness which lets authors choose such standard themes (so far for the criticism). On the other hand, if someone just wants to write ...
by Mr Creosote
Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:21 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?
Replies: 31
Views: 8268

Re: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?

Many of these themes which have been listed in this thread as overused, I think, fall into the category of convenient plot devices. Memory loss is an excuse for lots of exposition (which always seems forced otherwise). Time travel, "lazy medieval" and bog-standard science fiction basically set most ...
by Mr Creosote
Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:38 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?
Replies: 31
Views: 8268

Re: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?

Oh, yes - I don't think the memory loss thing has ever cooled down. Just from the top of my head: Deja Vu (by ICOM), Amnesia (by EA), Crime Time (by Starbyte), Babel (by Ian Finley)... In last year's IF Comp, there were three games which had the protagonist waking up after a night of drinking, a ...
by Mr Creosote
Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:21 am
Forum: Site feedback & announcements
Topic: Reviews - your input needed!
Replies: 10
Views: 3959

Re: Reviews - your input needed!

I thought the main reason against using the cruelty scale was that it might not be suited too well for classic games. Though does the winnable/unwinnable scale solve this? As I see it, "unwinnable with no indication" is "cruel", "unwinnable after little or no warning" is "nasty", "unwinnable after ...
by Mr Creosote
Fri Mar 12, 2010 2:51 pm
Forum: Site feedback & announcements
Topic: Reviews - your input needed!
Replies: 10
Views: 3959

Re: Reviews - your input needed!

Are "winnable" and "frustration" distinct proposals or are those two facets of the same fairness model?
by Mr Creosote
Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:21 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?
Replies: 31
Views: 8268

Good point about the narrowness of the mystery genre. I'm a big Chandler fan (yes, I know, he didn't write the Maltese Falcon; the basic style is the same), but I also enjoyed Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Josephine Tey and other British authors. So I don't mind more 'hard-boiled' detective games ...
by Mr Creosote
Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:16 pm
Forum: Classics
Topic: Most overutilized/underutilized themes?
Replies: 31
Views: 8268

This is a very difficult question, because it mostly comes down to preference of themes - at least for me. If I like a theme, I don't mind it being done again, again and again. If I don't, well, the opposite.

For example, I really like mystery games. That genre pretty much got slammed badly in a ...
by Mr Creosote
Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:23 am
Forum: Classics
Topic: Paranormal/Occult/Horror Themed Games
Replies: 24
Views: 8068

The definition of 'classic' and 'modern' given in this forum is quite clear, isn't it? Games written in TADS or Inform in the early 90s (almost 20 years ago) are modern ;)