GrogHeads Forum

Digital Gaming => Computer Gaming => Topic started by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 01:28:59 PM

Title: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 01:28:59 PM
AKA the 'Loin Moistening' thread. I'll start. I have fallen head over heels in love with Assassin's Creed Odyssey...so much so that it has awakened an interest in classical ancient history that I have never explored before. Odyssey has led me to dive deeply in to Greek history, specifically that of Athens, Sparta, Corinth...even Syracuse and of course Darius, Xerxes and Alexander the Great. It has also re-ignited interest for me in Macedon, the Diadochi, Seleucids, Bactria and on and on, up to and including the Byzantines.

So, regardless of how much Odyssey is history or myth or a combo of both, it has really stoked me to read about all things Hellenic and heroic.

What games have stirred your previously snoozing historical loins and led you to study topics that you have not previously? Keep it clean - but all examples of nerdgasm are welcome 😎
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sir Slash on June 12, 2019, 01:47:03 PM
Probably the last game that made me want to go grab a history book and read about it was, 'Shogun 2 TW' because I knew nothing about that period of Japanese history. In the category of an old game stirring a new interest in ITSELF, the Enhanced Edition of BG2 has really lit a fire in my desire to play this grand old game again. The changes are subtle but add a lot, new NPC's, new items, and some new quests. I forgot how much fun this game was.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 02:07:31 PM
Are you telling me there's content in the enhanced BG2 that was not in the original?
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sir Slash on June 12, 2019, 02:54:15 PM
Yes, not a lot but it makes a difference. Three new NPC's each with their own quests as well as a new, Gladiators of Thay area which mostly centers around fighting in an arena-- jury's still out on this on though.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Con on June 12, 2019, 02:59:54 PM
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards - inspired me to do research on Leisure suits, lounges and lizards
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Rayfer on June 12, 2019, 03:16:52 PM
Quote from: Sir Slash on June 12, 2019, 02:54:15 PM
Yes, not a lot but it makes a difference. Three new NPC's each with their own quests as well as a new, Gladiators of Thay area which mostly centers around fighting in an arena-- jury's still out on this on though.

If I remember correctly you can also create your entire party from the get-go, not just your own.  This was good for me as I had played the original when it was first released, so being able to craft my own full party to start with was an added layer of gaming enjoyment.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Jarhead0331 on June 12, 2019, 03:18:31 PM
Quote from: Con on June 12, 2019, 02:59:54 PM
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards - inspired me to do research on Leisure suits, lounges and lizards

Can you believe I was going to post the same thing, with the exception that it inspired me to do research on picking up scantily clad women.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: glen55 on June 12, 2019, 04:20:17 PM
Quote from: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 01:28:59 PM
AKA the 'Loin Moistening' thread. I'll start. I have fallen head over heels in love with Assassin's Creed Odyssey...so much so that it has awakened an interest in classical ancient history that I have never explored before. Odyssey has led me to dive deeply in to Greek history, specifically that of Athens, Sparta, Corinth...even Syracuse and of course Darius, Xerxes and Alexander the Great. It has also re-ignited interest for me in Macedon, the Diadochi, Seleucids, Bactria and on and on, up to and including the Byzantines.

So, regardless of how much Odyssey is history or myth or a combo of both, it has really stoked me to read about all things Hellenic and heroic.

What games have stirred your previously snoozing historical loins and led you to study topics that you have not previously? Keep it clean - but all examples of nerdgasm are welcome 😎

For starters, Odyssey has done the exact same thing for me. I barely knew Troy from Sparta before, and in fact DID NOT KNOW that Athens and Sparta fought a series of wars (or a long war) against each other, but I have read probably 8-10 books on the era since I started playing that game, and I'm not throw.

I think the best example, though, is the original Civilization. I was gogfozzled that pottery was such a key early technology, which led to some research showing that is really true, and I have since been fascinated by the era bridging the neolithic era to early civilization, something I had previously completely neglected. I hoped for years that Civilization would come out with a sequel narrowing its focus to the BCE era, and I still jones for a good 4X game that will allow me to steer my band of hardy nomads on up to monument-building and iron weapons.

**
Speaking of which, and leading myself off-topic (y'all don't follow!) I currently have my eye on city-builder RTS Dawn of Man in early development in Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/858810/Dawn_of_Man/)

Kudos to the clan members' for their snappy AI, but as of now things become monotonous in the late game. I'm monitoring it regularly, but I'm a little worried by the pace of development: steady, but somewhat lethargic. It's a great start, if that more that it really needs actually gets added, but as of now I can't really recommend it.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: glen55 on June 12, 2019, 04:24:08 PM
Quote from: Sir Slash on June 12, 2019, 01:47:03 PM
Probably the last game that made me want to go grab a history book and read about it was, 'Shogun 2 TW' because I knew nothing about that period of Japanese history. In the category of an old game stirring a new interest in ITSELF, the Enhanced Edition of BG2 has really lit a fire in my desire to play this grand old game again. The changes are subtle but add a lot, new NPC's, new items, and some new quests. I forgot how much fun this game was.

I hope you've read Shogun. Great book, and while it's a work of fiction it is very deeply grounded in history. Every 5-10 years I go back and read it again and thoroughly enjoy it every time. It gave me a working concept of the Japanese "national spirit" that has never been proven wrong in the 44 years since I first read it.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 04:52:56 PM
Shogun is one of my favorite books ever!

Marry me, glen55.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: glen55 on June 12, 2019, 04:57:58 PM
Quote from: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 04:52:56 PM
Shogun is one of my favorite books ever!

Marry me, glen55.

You haven't even bought me a steak dinner!   :tickedoff:
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: glen55 on June 12, 2019, 05:04:06 PM
And by the way, you can stream that fantastic 1980 Shogun mini-series with Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune for free:

https://archive.org/details/Shogun_Miniseries

Me and the Mrs. (sorry  :-*  :coolsmiley:) watched it just a few months back.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 05:14:02 PM
I have never seen the Shogun miniseries!

We truly are spirit animals.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: glen55 on June 12, 2019, 05:21:57 PM
Quote from: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 05:14:02 PM
I have never seen the Shogun miniseries!

We truly are spirit animals.

You're in for a treat if you have a respectable streaming gadget. It is very faithful to the novel, and you never doubt for a second that Toshiro Mifune is an actual 16th-century Japanese daimyo.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sir Slash on June 12, 2019, 06:47:14 PM
Yeah, but it's got no Godzilla in it so....  ::)  I should've thought about any of the Combat Mission battles causing me to go look up the actual fight if I could find it and see the, 'who, how, why' of it.  :bd:
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Wburn on June 12, 2019, 07:44:46 PM
i'd have to say it was MOO2 that wanted me to read the history of the conquest of the galaxy.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: mikeck on June 12, 2019, 07:51:48 PM
"Empire Total war". Before that, I could tell you nothing about any war in the 18th century except the American revolution and the North American 7-years war theater. Hell, I hadn't realized there was a 7-years war theater In Europe! Pathetic. What, 10 years later and I still can't get enough of the era
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Staggerwing on June 12, 2019, 07:52:51 PM
Quote from: Wburn on June 12, 2019, 07:44:46 PM
i'd have to say it was MOO2 that wanted me to read the history of the conquest of the galaxy.

Who wins?
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 09:10:50 PM
Mburn wins.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: MengJiao on June 14, 2019, 02:11:55 PM
Quote from: Gusington on June 12, 2019, 01:28:59 PM

What games have stirred your previously snoozing historical loins and led you to study topics that you have not previously? Keep it clean - but all examples of nerdgasm are welcome 😎

  Most recently the most recent transmorgification of the old company level grand tactical thing led me to look into the aftermath of the Anvil/Dragoon landings in Southern France in August 1944...which reminds me that all those Graviteam things (op Star for example) made me check on what sources were available for say Operations Star and Gallop.  Oh and all those submarines in Cold Waters, I looked into those a bit.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: em2nought on June 14, 2019, 02:34:21 PM
Funny, but it's also a current thread right now too.  Norm Koger's work in progress shots of Distant Guns sent me off to buy "The Czar's Last Armada".  By the time I was ready to buy the game it had been borked by DRM.  :(
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 14, 2019, 05:56:21 PM
^I think I read that decades ago. It's a great book.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: ArizonaTank on June 14, 2019, 07:14:04 PM
SSI's Great Naval Battles Series....have loved ships with big guns ever since.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 14, 2019, 07:37:11 PM
How long ago was that?
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Staggerwing on June 14, 2019, 09:19:00 PM
Quote from: Gusington on June 14, 2019, 07:37:11 PM
How long ago was that?

IIRC, the first Great Naval Battles game (GNBNA) came out inn the early 90's, with the rest following over the next 5 or so years. I had that first one on floppy and later got that and all the others on CD in the ginormous box set that included the 'Demise of the Dreadnoughts' WW1 game you couldn't get on it's own. I could be mis-remembering but I think only the first one had carrier ops with deck handling that you could micromanage, which made it my favorite despite it's more primitive graphics.

Since SSI was bought by Ubisoft who then buried it in some deep dark hole I don't think we will see the GNB gamers on GOG any time soon. The 'original' disks do pop up on eBay but you will probably need dosbox to run them on anything after Win98.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sir Slash on June 14, 2019, 09:50:56 PM
I'm still holding out for Kampgruppe 2. Probably any day now.  <:-)
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: IICptMillerII on June 14, 2019, 10:37:09 PM
I've always been interested in modern naval warfare, but CMANO really increased my interest. I went from understanding the big picture concepts like Mahan, and how an aircraft carrier is generally protected, to understanding the nitty gritty technical realities of modern naval warfare. All of its complexities and variables, and how different types of ships and armaments change the calculus. Not to mention the air warfare side of things. Now, I can't get enough of throwing a CSG's weight around, and bringing all the options and firepower of a carrier air wing to bear. Watching all those 2D counters move around on a google earth map is a helluva lot more exciting than it first sounds.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: The_Admiral on June 15, 2019, 07:37:35 AM
I'd say Lara Croft and her shorts in Tomb Raider I might have arrived at the right time to start igniting a new interest in the opposite sex. Although obviously she got a bit less blocky overtime, but I had my eyes elsewhere by then :-"
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: MikeGER on June 15, 2019, 09:03:23 AM
 i remember when i got The Battle of Britain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Their_Finest_Hour_(video_game)  it came with a big fat manual with a large historical part... which got me reading more about the "Luftschlacht um England"  and the Luftwaffe in general

IIRC, the book i read then was  "Angriffshöhe 4000" by Cajus Bekker 

this might be the Englisch translation copy 
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0306806045/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_SKpbDbZ7HRV98
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on June 15, 2019, 12:00:31 PM
Their Finest Hour's manual still moistens my loins.

As does Lara Croft's shorts.

Never even heard of Demise of the Dreadnoughts...I think I missed out :/
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Pete Dero on June 15, 2019, 12:44:21 PM
Quote from: MikeGER on June 15, 2019, 09:03:23 AM
IIRC, the book i read then was  "Angriffshöhe 4000" by Cajus Bekker 

this might be the Englisch translation copy 
https://www.amazon.de/dp/0306806045/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_SKpbDbZ7HRV98

Correct :

The Luftwaffe war diaries [by] Cajus Bekker. Translated and edited by Frank Ziegler.

Main Author:    Bekker, Cajus, 1924-
Language(s):    English ; German
Published:    Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1968 [c1966]
Edition:    [1st ed. in the U.S.]
Subjects:    World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, German.
Note:    Translation of Angriffshöhe 4000.
Physical Description:    399 p. illus., maps, ports. 24 cm.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: LilahFletcher on November 03, 2022, 08:44:43 PM
What do you play a lot? Because I've been through many story games, I'm thinking of playing online games with friends.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Old TImer on November 04, 2022, 12:45:02 PM
"Assassin's Creed Odyssey...so much so that it has awakened an interest in classical ancient history that I have never explored before. Odyssey has led me to dive deeply in to Greek history, specifically that of Athens, Sparta, Corinth...even Syracuse and of course Darius, Xerxes and Alexander the Great. It has also re-ignited interest for me in Macedon, the Diadochi, Seleucids, Bactria and on and on, up to and including the Byzantines."

Same exact thing happened to me.  Now I can't get enough of the Wars of the Successors.  Also one of the reasons I was so disappointed in Imperator Rome
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 04, 2022, 01:00:06 PM
^I still haven't recovered fully. And Assassin's Creed Valhalla did the same thing with Viking history.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 01:14:40 PM
Disco Elysium almost got me interested in sobriety.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Father Ted on November 04, 2022, 01:25:48 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 01:14:40 PM
Disco Elysium almost got me interested in sobriety.

I was about to buy this on sale, but if it has that effect maybe I'll save the cash to spend on beer.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 01:30:03 PM
Quote from: Father Ted on November 04, 2022, 01:25:48 PM

I was about to buy this on sale, but if it has that effect maybe I'll save the cash to spend on beer.

I highly recommend the game.  However I don't sugar coat that it'll be a game that makes you feel truly awful.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 01:51:24 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 01:14:40 PM
Disco Elysium almost got me interested in sobriety.

Heh.... same.  This is one of the few games that actually made me feel sad and pathetic for leaning into the drunken moron role-play.   :-\
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 04, 2022, 05:01:40 PM
^I'm reading all this while imbibing.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 05:25:15 PM
.... there's another way to browse Grogheads?  ???
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 05:29:15 PM
Quote from: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 05:25:15 PM
.... there's another way to browse Grogheads?  ???

If there is I haven't found it.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: KaseyBailey on November 04, 2022, 06:00:31 PM
Can Osu be considered a full-fledged video game? Thanks to Osu, I am constantly practicing my aim and shooting skills. Thanks to Osu, I started playing games better.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 06:06:09 PM
Quote from: KaseyBailey on November 04, 2022, 06:00:31 PM
Can Osu be considered a full-fledged video game? Thanks to Osu, I am constantly practicing my aim and shooting skills. Thanks to Osu, I started playing games better.

Osu is a rhythm game.... isn't it?   C:-)
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 06:30:42 PM
Quote from: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 06:06:09 PM

  C:-)

  :hide:
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 04, 2022, 06:47:01 PM
No. No there is not. Never has been.

:nerd:
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sigwolf on November 04, 2022, 08:30:00 PM
I have to admit to never having heard of Osu.  After looking it up, I have no idea why I would want to investigate Osu any further... I don't get it.  Not my thing, I guess.  Grogheads while drinking?  That, I understand.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: JasonPratt on November 04, 2022, 09:11:02 PM
This thread was revived by bots, unfortunately. But still a good topic!

Quote from: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 05:29:15 PM
Quote from: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 05:25:15 PM
.... there's another way to browse Grogheads?  ???

If there is I haven't found it.

That's because it's on the front page.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 09:30:18 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 04, 2022, 09:11:02 PM
That's because it's on the front page.

Huh?  What nonsense are you talking?
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: JasonPratt on November 05, 2022, 12:42:37 PM
People tell me it can be found by searching the main forum page for "Area 51" (no quote marks), but so far I've preferred to let it stay a mythical imagination rather than risk disappointment by the reality.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: em2nought on November 05, 2022, 11:39:51 PM
Ultimate Admiral and Task Force Admiral have me thinking about doing some modeling again.  These Chibi-Maru egg ships are so cute.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmokehana.com%2Fimage%2Fchibi_yamatoclass_03.jpg&hash=1c8202b005b74667d1095b4b200030186e4af06f)
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 06, 2022, 12:53:39 PM
^That is awesome.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: SummerFrog on November 09, 2022, 01:03:14 AM
I've been playing PC games for about 15 years, and I just built a top-notch setup. however, I've since completely lost interest in gaming. I even purchased God of War after waiting years for its PC release. However, I haven't played it continuously for even a half-hour.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: GDS_Starfury on November 09, 2022, 02:00:23 AM
clearly, Having Sex with Hitler has opened up a whole realm of possibilities. 
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: MengJiao on November 09, 2022, 06:46:22 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 04, 2022, 09:11:02 PM
This thread was revived by bots, unfortunately. But still a good topic!

Quote from: SirAndrewD on November 04, 2022, 05:29:15 PM
Quote from: al_infierno on November 04, 2022, 05:25:15 PM
.... there's another way to browse Grogheads?  ???

If there is I haven't found it.

That's because it's on the front page.

  The SGS game on the war with Mexico in 1847-1849 forced me to notice that the US attack was dependent on assembling forces for the invasion at Vera Cruz at Tampico.  Kind of not what
I thought happened in the war plus the assembling invasion fleet would have been very vulnerable to any reasonable seaborne attack -- and the Mexicans theoretically had steam frigates that
could have made a mess at Tampico.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: CJReich46 on November 10, 2022, 02:33:32 PM
Quote from: em2nought on November 05, 2022, 11:39:51 PM
Ultimate Admiral and Task Force Admiral have me thinking about doing some modeling again.  These Chibi-Maru egg ships are so cute.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmokehana.com%2Fimage%2Fchibi_yamatoclass_03.jpg&hash=1c8202b005b74667d1095b4b200030186e4af06f)

Yeah they are. I would love to get a couple. They even make carriers. I bet they would make a killer Lego design. I kind of like that part of any game where you build ships and design them. But yeah Ultimate Admiral had me reading on naval ship design to understand armor- mostly Wikipedia for a primer.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sardalivan on November 15, 2022, 03:35:33 PM
You'll laugh at me here, but the best game of the month for me is Stray. Be a cat, run, meow and knock down cans - it's a DREAM! At first, I thought it was a stupid adventure, and the only fun part is that you are in the cat's body. But then I understood the development of the storyline, and it became more interesting. I've always laughed at games where you play as an animal, but Stray won me over. I even abandoned WoW and only occasionally read updates on https://skycoach.gg/blog. It's the first time I pay more attention to another game than WoW.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 15, 2022, 03:45:00 PM
Tell us more.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Rutillo on November 15, 2022, 10:12:55 PM
I'm a loser.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Gusington on November 15, 2022, 10:29:04 PM
Me too.

wut
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: ArizonaTank on November 16, 2022, 11:14:02 AM
Usually I read a book about a subject in history, and this causes me to search for board and PC games on the subject.

For example, I recently read Dan Jones' excellent "The Wars of the Roses" and this caused me to look at board games: "Kingmaker" by Avalon Hill, and "Blood and Roses" by GMT.  Also, "Field of Glory 2, Medieval" in PC land.

However, I can think of one PC game that did inspire me to learn more; that was "Battles of Napoleon" by SSI. When the game was released, I immediately saw how rich the history of the Napoleonic Wars was and wanted to learn more.

I suppose I could also list SSI's "Age of Rifles" as well. There were so many scenarios from wars I was not aware of, that I immediately had to find out more.
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Sir Slash on November 16, 2022, 11:21:45 AM
Agree with the above!  :clap:
Title: Re: PC Games That Have Ignited a New Interest in You
Post by: Barry Simmons on December 17, 2022, 08:01:00 AM
Well i can't sday exactly, but it seems to me that Mass Effect had great impact, FF series as well. I also remember that i used to play a lof in  Retro Video Game Store (https://www.retrogamingstores.com) thus i have only warmest feelings about them, their quality and atmosphere which they can create, so yes, theese games as well will be the best choice for me