The Great Bargain Deals Discussion thread.

EvaUnit02 on 9/5/2011 at 11:34

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJYz7Pj--I) hehe lol

Oh wow, that was dreadful. I've seen pornos with better acting.

The "best" part is when she tasked you with killing rats, near the end of the clip.

Enchantermon on 9/5/2011 at 16:05

Quote Posted by EvaUnit02

Beamdog = a start-up by ex-Bioware guys, like Trent Oster.

Ah, cool.

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJYz7Pj--I) hehe lol

Oh.....wow.

Shadowcat on 11/6/2011 at 09:02

Regarding the current GOG sale, if pinball does anything for you, make sure you pick up the Pro Pinball titles -- three of the best and most detailed PC pinball tables ever made for a total of less than $10.

My favourites are Timeshock and Fantastic Journey, but I think I've seen all the permutations when people have ranked them, so I reckon just get them all :)

Check the GOG forums for solutions if you find you have any performance issues. You probably want motion blur switched off in the options.

Shadowcat on 11/6/2011 at 13:32

Oh, and Jagged Alliance 2 is also particularly awesome (although most people I know who've played it seem to agree with me that it fairly quickly turns quite brutal to newcomers, so don't let your ego get the best of you when you choose your difficulty level :)

henke on 13/6/2011 at 17:43

Anyone know if (and when) there's going to be some kind of big Steam summer sale?

Nameless Voice on 13/6/2011 at 18:11

It was the 24th of June to the 4th of July last year.

henke on 14/6/2011 at 05:25

Thanks for the info, hopefully it'll be around the same time this year. :) I completely missed their Summer Sale last year, won't make that mistake again this year.

Shadowcat on 14/7/2011 at 09:00

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

How do the GOG.com pinball games compare to stuff like (http://www.mobygames.com/game/turbo-grafx/devils-crush) Devil's Crush?

Quote Posted by doctorfrog

Not sure about the others, but the Pro Pinball games are full-on pinball sims, the way a flight sim is a flight sim. They even have operator menus you adjust with the flipper buttons, test patterns for the bumpers and lights, and can even adjust how old or worn out the machine is.

They're really really good. And this is from someone who likes pinball, but doesn't love it.

e: and Big Race USA comes with a frickin' Technical Manual, heck yeah.

Fantastic Journey is the only one of the three which doesn't have a technical manual. I guess the Decline of the PC Game Manual was well and truly under way by the time that came out. I don't know about the original Pro Pinball table "The Web"... GOG doesn't have that one, sadly, and the only one I bought back in the day was Timeshock.

I'm quite annoyed at the reviews I read of Fantasic Journey when it came out, because they made it sound bad and so I ignored it; but now that I have it, it's my second-favourite table next to Timeshock, and I really wish I'd bought it at the time. Sure, it's less complex that its predecessors, but it really is fun to play. I rate BRU last because I think it drains too easily (I also don't like the Video Mode mini-game on that one nearly so much). That's just me though -- I've learned that each of the Pro Pinball tables is ranked #1 by someone.

I've never seen Devil's Crush, but it looks more akin to the likes of Pinball Dreams, or even 3D Ultra Pinball? The pinball games on GOG are (mostly*) all attempts at simulating the real thing. The Pro Pinball tables are leaps and bounds above the others in this respect, as indicated by doctorfrog. You only get the one table in each title, but that table is going to offer more gameplay depth and polish and configuration options than any that the other developers can offer. The only disadvantages are that the Windows versions** can be a little glitchy on some modern machines, whereas the other GOG pinball games are more recent, and probably play nicer.

Pure Pinball I've not played much, but personally I found it a little bland, and I dislike the camera angles***. Dream Pinball 3D is graphically very pretty, and while I've only had a handful of games, the tables at least seem like the sort that you'd be content with if you were playing a few random games in an arcade.

(*) I've noticed the ball can change its appearance and physical properties during a game in Dream Pinball 3D, and there are some distinctly unrealistic particle effects going on as well.

(**) Big Race USA and Fantastic Journey. GOG's version of Timeshock runs under DOSBox.

(***) In fact, both Pure Pinball and Dream Pinball 3D seem to be a bit ridiculous in the camera angle department, IMHO. They both have all manner of camera options for following the ball through the table to show off the design, but they kinda suck at providing angles which are useful for playing (i.e. with the full table in view). Dream Pinball 3D only has one useful angle, but it's pretty decent. Pure Pinball has two with the full table, but they're both too low down, and obscure the features at the top of the table (maybe the developers were all really short?). I just find it crazy that both games have the ability to show the table from any angle at all, and yet they are so lacking. Perhaps I'm missing some extra options.

gunsmoke on 15/7/2011 at 04:19

Thanks 'frog and 'cat! I think I am actually going to jump on one. I bet my daughter would go ape shit over them. I love video pinball games, and I have been looking to get some on the PC. I had no idea they were so hardcore realistic, though! :thumb:

doctorfrog on 15/7/2011 at 06:09

Quote Posted by gunsmoke

I don't think you'll be sorry. I picked up all three GOG ProPinballs at half price during a holiday sale, so if you want to wait and only want one, I recommend Big Race USA. I even wrote a review of it (for a contest, I want more free stuff): (http://drfrog.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/how-big-race-usa-made-me-a-pinball-believer/)