Obscure, classic, Indie or just plain 'WTF?' games to try?der=0>

[Smips]

@Drystan: Oh trust me, I know how bad WC1's unit controls were... I think I only played two missions in it because of that. I'm sure if I was a older when it came out and played it before WC2 I would have had more appreciation for it, but it's a travesty compared to WC2.

[Drystan]

Once you get used to the AI and that side of it, it's not that bad for nostalgia. I finished WC1 recently (and enjoyed much of it,) but the final levels are basically tech to the final unit that summons Demons/Water Element, and spam them. Keep a couple Demons/Water Ele's around for defense (some enemies spawn randomly in your worker/harvesting lines,) and send off a few to whittle them down.

I'm currently trying to give Slave Zero and Chrystalis a go, and will probably go for a run of Incubation too. I'll give TBoI a shot too if I can find a file for it.

I've been enjoying this thread.

Edit: And after not even 5 minutes, I've died in Crystalis. XD
Edit #2: I don't think Crystalis is quite right for me. After dying 5 times, I'm already resorting to a YT walkthrough to see more of it. Can't work out what to do with the windmill (although, I probably should talk to *everyone,* but oh well.) I tried talking to the walking tiger things, and that didn't work out too well...

I know what happened. I explored 'path A - deadend' first, then found one guy who progressed the Windmill Quest, then I didn't explore 'path A - deadend' again, assuming it was still empty as it was empty the first time... Some sleeping guy spawned there after I talked to the guy who progressed the quest...
If I resort to save stating this early... Let's think twice for the moment. XD

[skiffcz]

but the final levels are basically tech to the final unit

Lol, thats how I basically play any rts/tbs I fortify myself, tech until nukes/battlecruisers and profit Rts/tbs without nukes or battlecruisers is not worth playing (homam be the exception). Just a list:

SC - both
homeworld - battlecruisers
dune - nukes (of COURSE I play Harkonnen!)
CC Generals - nukes
civ4 - nukes
earth series - nukes

Btw, earth 2140 and 2150 are awesome games too.

[Drystan]

Ugh... I can see what you mean, but... I don't have anything to argue that point. XD Versing AI, that's all you really need.

In Civilisation II though (large maps/many cities,) once the AI gets Democracy and nukes, it's pretty much GG. The AI can build a nuke in one city, but launch it from any, so until you have perfect defense, you're gonna get nuked and paradropped pretty much every turn. Of course, the idea is to be advanced enough that the AI doesn't reach such a powerful point (I'm not a pro at Civ, so I come across this occasionally.)

In SC, you don't need to go mass BC/Carrier to win, although versing AI, it's definitely up there as a pretty easy win - just wall yourself off, and it's GG. The thing about WC1 is that one Demon will last long enough to be recast by the time it runs out of energy. And one Demon kills everything in one or two hits, with a massive amount of hitpoints. Plus, in the final level, it doesn't take any time at all to tech to Demons (you don't have to worry about random rushes or being attacked from various angles if you know the map.)
Once you have one Demon/Water Ele, you can hold anything the AI sends at you, and to get to it doesn't take long at all. Get two, and their own Demon/Water Elementals mean nothing.

It wouldn't work versing humans though, including Carrier/BC in StarCraft. The danger in WC vs AI is that if you explore too much, you either lose too many units while exploring, or they chase you back to your base and end up overwhelming you. It needs a fine balance, and you will need to restart often if, like me, you like exploring the map and scouting their base/mineral/gold locations.

But yes, VS AI, walling off and teching to the final unit will usually work. Difference in WC is that it takes almost no time to tech though.

[Smips]

Sorry to hear Crystalis didn't work out for you, Drystan! Perhaps, someday you will be ready .

[spearv]

@Drystan, regarding HC/Ironman/Immortal D1. All those styles of game become an item lottery at some point, it is fairly tough to get out of normal difficulty (I have dozens of dead Rogues to prove this!). But! There are plenty of tactics available to make the impossible possible. Like warriors never turning off their machine until they die / complete normal so as not to lose the block bonus they're created with -> use scenery to never engage more than 2 enemies at a time -> win!

I guess the appeal of that style of gaming for me is that there's this nice place where tactics/skill/luck/knowledge of game and the seat of your pants meet up to make for some fun. Sadly I lost my most progressed characters to wiped hard drives or other such misfortunes. I had an Inronman Warrior get through normal in extremely strong shape, real potential to go all the way (lucky item drops).

--

A game I managed to forget entirely in my first post... Championship Manager.

I got on board with that series when it was first released, in the English league, losing all my best players to foreign teams, unable to buy from abroad and getting thrashed in Europe. I progressed somewhat with CM Italia (discovered centralised tactics), went on to adore CM2 and 97/98 (I lost a summer to multiplayer games of that with friends, junk food and McDonalds). But nowadays it is rare for me to play anything but CM3 (01/02). I tried CM4 a few times, but really haven't heard enough positives about later games in the series to bother with them (or the splinter series).

Since buying my most recent machine, I edit database by hand to keep track of the major tranfers and some key promotions/relegations in order that the game has a sort've ongoing feel to it and doesn't get as watered down as long running games tend to get. I give myself a little freedom to edit some stats up and down a bit to keep it interesting (largely this is to make it possible for me to take over small clubs and enjoy playing them at high levels, rather than winning the European Cup with an 8000 capacity stadium it may be closer to, say, 80,000).

A little while ago I had a dream that involved playing CM3 with a MEGA-tactic. Upon waking up and counting at least 12 players on the pitch, it was not surprising that it was so effective in my dream. I'm sort've inclined to attempt to recreate it anyway, just figuring out one position to skip!

[Pyrotechnician]

I have so many games that I can recommend but can't think of them right now, remind me to get back to you tomorrow when I haven't had a couple drinks haha.

[Pijus]

A recent game that I love dearly: Euphloria. It's sooo relaxing. It's almost magic.

A game from my teenage years that no one's heard about: Urban Assault. It's a mixture of strategy and action. You build tanks and planes, and then you drive them. It's awesome.

EDIT: Forgot to mention Oolite. It's a free recreation of the original Elite, which is a space game from before I was born. I hear it's the best one. Of all space games.

[IncubatorJones]

Another +1 to Binding of Isaac here. Just started playing it again recently, 35 mom kills and 54 deaths so far, pretty good.

Anyway, here's a WTF game Just a flash game, but still

http://games.adultswim.com/cream-wol...line-game.html

[Goryani]

Maniac Mansion (yes, it's a lucasarts game, and it's actually good).