/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1896981]

What are some games you'd say has great adventuring and exploration?

[Anonymous No.1896986]

I'd say The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Though that's not considered retro yet.

[Anonymous No.1896991]

Exile: Escape from the Pit

[Anonymous No.1896992]

>>1896981
Ultima
Unreal

[Anonymous No.1896997]

LSD: The Dream Emulator
>>1896981
If it offends people, they can just pretend you said Daggerfall.

[Anonymous No.1896998]

>>1896997
Mean to quote >>1896986

[Anonymous No.1897002]

>>1896997
Daggerfall sucks

[Anonymous No.1897003]

>>1896981
Tomb Raider

[Anonymous No.1897024]

Betrayal at Krondor

[Anonymous No.1897049]

>>1896981
King's Field series

[Anonymous No.1897061]

>>1896981
Text adventure games like Zork and Infidel. But I know those aren't to many people's tastes.

[Anonymous No.1897104]

>>1896981
The Exile series, from Spiderweb software.
And the old ones are apparently free to play these days (first one is from 96).
Looks and plays a lot like Ultima.

[Anonymous No.1897227]

Lots to discover and an unparalleled sense of adventure.

[Anonymous No.1897462]

best sandboxy, undirected exploration.

[Anonymous No.1897682]

Dragon Quest III

[Anonymous No.1897748]

>>1897462
Take that shit somewhere else. Deadly Towers is almost the worst game ever made.

[Anonymous No.1897757]

Young Merlin (snes) isn't too bad, but the cart section frustrates some.

[Anonymous No.1897764]

>>1897748

Disagree, it's just deeply flawed.

[Anonymous No.1898934]

It's really hard to find a game with a huge and detailed world at the same time.

It's useless to explore a large area, if there's nothing interesting in it.

The game that IMHO has the best balance between the two is.. not /vr/ yet.

[Anonymous No.1898942]

>>1897002
I wish unmeasurable lengths of pain upon you and your entire lineage.

[Anonymous No.1899381]

>>1898934
It really depends on whether or not the world itself is actually interesting to look at.
You could stuff a world as big as Oblivion with uncountable amounts of quest npcs, randomly generated treasure, and pointless cookies, and it still wouldn't be as interesting to me as the relatively "empty" world of Xenoblade, which is mostly engaging because the design of the world is varied, colorful, and very, very well thought-out from an artistic perspective. Meanwhile, Oblivion mostly re-uses the same brown and grey textures for the vast majority of the game's land.

I just can't be as interested in miles of realistic terrain as I am in running around the exterior of a humongous colossus, jumping between floating ethereal islands, or crossing loose hanging bridges over forest waterfalls.

There's a point where the world's aesthetic detail can be it's own sort of filler. Stuffing it to the brim with NPCs and obtrusive interactables doesn't add depth to the game. There are already pointless optional fetch quests, if you'd like to incessantly grind or appease OCD urges.

[Anonymous No.1899441]

>>1897462
>sandboxy, undirected exploration

You're small time.

[Anonymous No.1899473]

>>1898934
>It's useless to explore a large area, if there's nothing interesting in it.
And it's not really exploring if points of interest are always 10 steps away from each other. I'd say the ideal is a big world with lots of cool stuff, with a lot of ground to cover in between them.

[Anonymous No.1899484]

>>1897462
>>1899441

>both games were developed by Japanese teams
>both games were published by Broderbund
>both games are incredibly obtuse and open ended
>there's a good chance that no one will never beat those games without obscene dedication and a guide
>one game is infamous for it's sheer difficulty, the other is more or less a lesser title

[Anonymous No.1899532]

>>1896981
irl

[Anonymous No.1899557]

>>1899532
>not playing the superior sequel

[Anonymous No.1899570]

>>1898942
Daggerfall sucks.

The cities are boring and lifeless, NPC's are just walking dolls who all have the same stock lines.

There are thousands of towns, but very little reason to visit any of them. They all just have the same stores, the same temples, the same guilds, and of course lots of empty houses.

There are thousands of dungeons, but exploring them is kind of boring. The combat is clunky, the treasures are mostly just the same "you found 50 gold!" or "you found some slightly better armor!" you see in every RPG. Or, occasionally you'll find a map that leads to a "secret" dungeon that's no more awesome than the dungeon you were just in. Yippee!

Oh, and did someone say "procedural generation"?

99% of the game's towns and dungeons were computer generated. Don't even expect a professional level of quality in the game's map design, you won't find it. The only people who like Daggerfall are poorfags who can't play Morrowind and Oblivion.

If I wanted to comb randomly generated dungeons for loot, I'd play Nethack, at least Nethack has a goal to look forward to.

If I wanted to explore gloomy labyrinths in 90's 3D, I'd download one of countless fan-made levels for Doom or Quake. At least those games have decent combat.

If I wanted to "roleplay" and create a story about my character in a single player game, I'd play Fallout. At least Fallout has unique NPC's and some neat dialogue trees.

If I wanted to experience the absolute worst of these three things, I'd play Daggerfall.

[Anonymous No.1899582]

Civilization games

[Anonymous No.1899627]

>>1899570
>The world wasn't tailored to make my character feel like the center of the universe
>Must mean it's a shit game

[Anonymous No.1899634]

>>1899627
>game has shit design
>must mean it's a shit game

[Anonymous No.1899640]

>>1899634
>tfw I liked the design of Daggerfall

I want more games like it.

Daggerfall > Morrowind > Oblivion = Skyrim > Arena

Guess which I started with.

[Anonymous No.1899663]

>>1899441
No in-game maps
No in-game tips
No tips or maps in local gaming magazines (I'm an eurofag and LotW was never released here)
No help available at the local Nintendo Hotline as LotW was never released here
No internets to search FAQs or maps from
No fucking clue on where you are supposed to go or what you are supposed to do in the first place
No instruction manual to even look up the overall goal of the game
Random exploration only
FINAL DESTINATION

Has anyone beaten this motherfucker legitimately without any kind of help? I sure as hell didn't...

[Anonymous No.1899712]

>>1899663
beating this without help is like beating La-Mulana without help. Just good fucking luck.

[Anonymous No.1899742]

>>1899381
>I just can't be as interested in miles of realistic terrain
Eh, that kind of stuff is what attracts me, probably since I can't do it IRL. Make it explorable with places to uncover, things to learn and the like, all for adventuring and you probably got yourself a deal.

[Anonymous No.1899839]

>>1899570
Stop posting this pasta. At least be fucking original with criticism.

>>1899627
Stop replying to pasta.

[Anonymous No.1899876]

>>1899557
That one is okay, but I also really like this one...

[Anonymous No.1899902]

>>1899712
i got so tired of having to look things up after 10 hours i quit. i really wanted to finish it...really... they said they will tone down the puzzles in LM2 at least

[Anonymous No.1899918]

>>1899839
the pasta is spot-on, though. Why should I bother making my own?

[Anonymous No.1899940]

Legend of Zelda really has great adventuring and exploration if you think about it.

[Anonymous No.1900157]

>>1899940
Its what made me make the thread in the first place.

[Anonymous No.1900165]

I know it's already been mentioned, but I like exploring in Daggerfall.

I don't really know many retro games. I came here thinking about asking for more games like Daggerfall.

[Anonymous No.1900191]

>>1900165
I got so pissed off at the mechanics of the game and trying to fight in the first dungeon, I decided it wasn't worth my time. Sad because I had high hopes.

[Anonymous No.1900195]

>>1900191
That was me and Arena. I didn't have that problem with Daggerfall though.

To each his own I guess.

[Anonymous No.1900697]

>>1899532
the game is like the most bullshitting rip-off of GTA I ever seen.
The NPCs won't allow you to do anything, you can't do jack shit unless you get some boring job and pay up the ass for everything, and going outside naked is enough to get six stars

[Anonymous No.1900753]

>>1900697
>going outside naked is enough to get six stars
For me it is two. Max.

And you get free sex out of it.

[Anonymous No.1900943]

ultima 4 and fallout 3 are sister games

both have a stupid main quest, but lots of neat stuff to stumble upon if you get into the exploring mindset

[Anonymous No.1901238]

;)

[Anonymous No.1901278]

>>1897061
>But I know those aren't to many people's tastes.

I think the problem with text adventures is that they ask as much from you as you do from them. If you're not an imaginative person you're wasting your time with them.

[Anonymous No.1901283]

>>1899640
>Daggerfall > Morrowind > Oblivion = Skyrim > Arena

I almost completely agree, except I'd say Daggerfall = Morrowind.

[Anonymous No.1901346]

>>1899663

My dad actually did this. Drew maps himself. I used to watch him play when I was a kid, that game was great. I loved that room that had the volcano exploding in the background.

He also beat Deadly Towers with no tips and no internet. I don't even fucking know.

[Anonymous No.1901356]

>>1896981

I enjoyed exploring in this game quite a bit.

[Anonymous No.1901375]

>>1899532
>"Oh shit what's over there. That house.... it looks haunted! Lets check it out"
>"Excuse me sir, this is private property"
yea real fun adventure

[Anonymous No.1901389]

>>1899532
>"Oh shit what's over there. That house.... it looks haunted! Lets check it out"
>"Excuse me sir, this is private property"
yea real fun

[Anonymous No.1901563]

>>1901278
There are some that have static pictures, like most games from Magnetic Scrolls and Level 9. I found the pictures in Silicon Dreams trilogy to greatly help set the mood, even though I was running the ZX Spectrum files (which have fairly basic graphics, compared to say Amiga version). And as far as the interpreter is concerned, you can use modern one like Gargoyle, which is more user-friendly (configurable text rendering, more convenience commands, etc.)
http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/
Also check out the screenshots to get an idea:
http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/screenshots.html
I configured mine to have white text on black background to have more old school feel, but it can be setup any way you like. Heck it might even be possible to use the old Amiga Topaz font (if you got that installed on your system) and the old whilte/blue/orange/black Workbench 1.3 theme (like in pic).

[Anonymous No.1901575]

>>1901356
What game is that? From the screenshot I'm guessing it's something that plays similar to Elite/Frontier, Space Rogue, SunDog (Atari ST), etc.

Or maybe it's more RPG-like and closer to MegaTraveller and Starflight series?

[Scribblehatch !!BVtfJ4cByZU No.1901605]

>>1896991
MAH NIGGA

[Anonymous No.1901674]

>>1899742
>since I can't do it IRL

What

[Anonymous No.1901681]

>>1901575
That`s Star Control 2. A classic.
Check: http://sc2.sourceforge.net/

[Anonymous No.1901697]

>>1901674
Some people can't afford plane ticket or even to take time off work to travel somewhere like that. And some people are too sick/old/disabled to make long trips. Or there are other factors, like they have to take care of young kids at home, or their old parents, or whatever... Not everyone is an independent, carefree 20-something, and even that doesn't last forever. I was at that stage once, but now I'm more interested in saving money, especially since times are tough and jobs scarce these days.

[Anonymous No.1901705]

>>1901674
I'm pretty sure he meant it isn't an option for him to travel to places like that. Even if you could, what is there to find there? Treasure, magic items, terrifying bosses? Personally I love old ruins and shit like that, but exploration means uncovering something that is previously unknown. If there is some kind of fund that let's me become an explorer, link please.

[Anonymous No.1901723]

>>1896981

[Anonymous No.1901815]

Amulets & Armor

Apparently it's also possible to make new levels for it now...

Also, I think Hexen is good for exploration.

[Anonymous No.1901875]

>>1901705
Pretty much everything is explored, except the ocean floor. You could become an archeologist.
It's boring as shit.

[Anonymous No.1902251]

Dragon's Dogma, especially your first times at night and traveling through the various forests

imo it's one of the best pure adventure games in a while, I've gotten a ton of memorable moments just traveling the world and exploring dungeons

[Anonymous No.1902343]

>>1898934
>m-muh morrowind

[Anonymous No.1902351]

>>1902343
>>>/v/

[Anonymous No.1902353]

>>1902351
/v/ loves to suck Morrowshit dick, so you fuck back off to >>>/v/

[Anonymous No.1902354]

Might and Magic series

[Anonymous No.1902390]

>>1902343
>>1902353

I wasn't even talking about Morrowind.
It's another non-/vr/ game.

[Anonymous No.1902509]

>>1901389
I think when this level of realism was first incorporated into vidya, then RPGs began a decline.
>doors to virtually all the houses in the Imperial City are locked at night-time or in day-time when the inhabitants are out
>inhabitants get pissed when you go inside to explore
>even moreso if you steal their shit while they're watching
>don't feel like restarting the game & redoing the tutorial dungeon just to develop a thief class character, solely to explore people's homes
>implying this concession to realism isn't a loss of one of the more fun & immersive parts of old-school RPG town & village exploration

[Anonymous No.1902530]

>>1896981
Arcanum

[Anonymous No.1902531]

>>1901697
>>1901705
I attended uni in a state capital city, and there were actually interesting areas to explore where you'd find obscure fountain gardens in spots off the main thoroughfares where the regular 20k+ student body *never* bothered to venture, weird folds in the layouts of large buildings where you could indulge herbal supplements unseen, as well as certain trees that were ideal for climbing.

I tried to recreate this in my current city and couldn't really find shit, apart from following some streams or finding out-of-the-way areas of the downtown park. Don't expect to find much though other than broken glass.

[Anonymous No.1902534]

>>1899557
I don't like Outside. It says free-to-play on the cover, but once you get involved, its either pay-to-win, hours of needless grinding, and/or manipulating the in-game mechanics. Plus, leveling up somehow makes your character WORSE after level 35 or so. Huge fucking rip-off.

[Anonymous No.1902538]

>>1902531
UT Austin?

[Anonymous No.1902552]

>>1902538
A different southern uni: USC (as in, South Carolina). Actually has a nice campus within the city of Columbia.

[Anonymous No.1902692]

>>1898934
But Might and Magic 6 is retro, anon.

[Anonymous No.1902758]

>>1902251
I really want to like Dragon's Dogma, but I feel like exploration becomes a pain pretty quickly, since there's monsters and bandits basically EVERYWHERE, and they get in the way of actually getting anywhere.

[Anonymous No.1903884]

>>1901674
Responsibilities nigga
Hell, I loved to pack things up and just wander around the US like the Natives, the explorers, and hobos did back in the day, but leaving work, school, and family is just out of the question.

[Anonymous No.1903969]

>>1903884
Family is the big one. If you don't have any ties though go at it.

[Anonymous No.1904201]

>>1902692
While M&M6 is pretty good, I think that the best game world can be found in Gothic 2 NotR

[Anonymous No.1904452]

>>1899640
>Daggerfall > Morrowind > Oblivion = Skyrim > Arena
I'd put Skyrim before Oblivion without thinking but your list is pretty good

[Anonymous No.1904467]

>>1902509
>implying Elder Scrolls games aren't easy as fuck to break however you want (before Oblivion at least)
>implying a jack of all trades isn't what you end up with anyway
>implying you can't steal and kill shit with no repercussions

[Anonymous No.1904468]

Jet Set Willy 2

[Anonymous No.1904473]

>>1896981
I love that picture so much. I like how the dungeon entrance is really plain looking, and partially hidden. It really gives the feeling of being ancient and abandoned, unlike modern Zelda dungeons which all look like Las Vegas attractions.

I feel like Daggerfall ALMOST managed to recapture that feeling of isolation and hidden-ness, but the fact that you can quicktravel to all the dungeons kinda ruins it.

>>1899570
Waiter, this pasta is stale.

[Anonymous No.1904573]

>>1902509
I dont mind that in the case of houses that have people living in them. It makes sense.I was making an argument against places like old abandoned buildings. They look rotten creepy and fun as fuck to explore but irl what happens is someone will call the cops on you and you're done.

[Anonymous No.1904587]

For me, a perfect exploration based game involves:

-Unique environments, none of that same pointless shallow shit for miles and miles
-Secrets everywhere
-Some actual objectives
-Little to no restriction on what you can do (fuck invisible walls, if I see that I must touch it)
-Some form of territory control where I actually feel that is satisfying to be able to get through this or that place after accomplishing something (like fighting some enemy that was in the way)
-Some proper way of fast traveling that doesn't mean warping to different locations (that could mean vehicles or skills that make it faster)
-More secrets

[Anonymous No.1904626]

>>1901346
Gamers were tough back in the day. Wasn't nobody complaining about game balance or that something was unfair, except maybe in some magazines. But gamers just sucked it up and stared that game down and said "Fuck yeah I'm gonna beat that bitch." or "I'm gonna get my initials in 1st place hi score on that arcade machine down at the 7-11". And if you think having to make maps on graph paper is a big deal, well you just didn't grow up playing tabletop D&D, because those computer games were like child's play compared to what a real hardcore DM would put you through (while still remaining within the bounds of the rules, in that sort of "fair" way). Quite simply: a real human DM knows how to exploit players' weaknesses, whereas a computer game is just a dumb, unadabtable algorithm that's easy to master and bitch-slap around.

[Anonymous No.1905043]

>>1904587
GTA: SA?

[Anonymous No.1905059]

>>1896981
Ultima Online.

[Anonymous No.1905421]

>>1902534
>WORSE after level 35
Sounds like somebody never actually played the game like you're suppose to. The College Expansion packs are free if you actually did all the School quests and prepped your Job Class stats BEFORE getting a job.

[Anonymous No.1906307]

>>1905421
>The College Expansion packs
yeah, talk about pay-to-win

[Anonymous No.1907036]

Ultima: The Stygian Abyss

[Anonymous No.1907741]

>>1897764
I'm with you. Why does everyone seem to hate it? Did a YouTube reviewer say it was bad or something?

[Anonymous No.1907838]

>>1907741
>Did a YouTube reviewer say it was bad or something?
AVGN did.
But it was a special where the viewers got to pick or write the episode, so it I guess it already had a hatebase before then.

[Anonymous No.1907873]

>>1907741
Worse, AVGN said it.

[Anonymous No.1907876]

>>1907838
Nigga, Seanbaby started this hatetrain

http://www.seanbaby.com/nes/nes/w20-01.htm

[Anonymous No.1908260]

>>1907838
>got to pick
meant "pick the game"

[Anonymous No.1908591]

>>1904626
D&D is really what we all want to play, we just want a graphic representation.

[Anonymous No.1910482]

>>1908591
DnD games are boring though

[Anonymous No.1910529]

>>1896981
Todd's Adventures in Slime World! Is this a well-known game? Played the heck out of it on the Lynx.

[Anonymous No.1910554]

>>1907838
>>1907873

No, AVGN didn't. That episode was entirely written by fans. He just read the lines they sent in.