iPad (and now possibly other tablet) Gaming

Thirith on 27/7/2012 at 09:33

Quote Posted by dethtoll

No real comment on BG other than it's bog-standard fantasy and the combat isn't very good but despite what Thirith says Planescape Torment is not a must-play.

It is if you're a story-in-games whore, I'd say. What's great about the game is the choices it gives you and the world it puts you in; in some ways I'd say it's the adventure game fan's RPG. If you're into combat, go somewhere else, because the combat is entirely uninteresting.

On Baldur's Gate: I found the game somewhat underwhelming when I came to it, mainly because it is very generic fantasy - but it came after a long drought in any kind of RPG. Baldur's Gate 2 is where it's at, really - it's still fairly generic, but as far as generic fantasy goes it's among the best.

Renzatic on 27/7/2012 at 09:47

Quote Posted by scumble

Blimey, I hadn't even read the specs of the iPad 3. What kind of power has the thing got to handle that resolution...

Goes to find out...

The specs won't absolutely blow you away. The only thing Apple mentions on their site is that it's an ARM A5 SOC with "quad core graphics", and 1GB DDR2 RAM.

Capability-wise, I'd probably peg it out somewhere around a high res PS Vita. It's surprisingly powerful considering how thin it is, and how long the battery lasts on the thing. Like the GTA 3 port runs at (I believe) 2048x1536 without a hitch, and doesn't look like it's made any graphical sacrifices to get there.

henke on 27/7/2012 at 10:10

Quote Posted by Renzatic

I dunno if you're serious, but...in all the years you've been frequenting TTLG, you haven't once played or looked up info on Baldur's Gate? Man, you are a console tard. :P

I've been hearing ravings about it, and Planescape, since the late 90's, but neither seemed like my kinda thing back then. Fantasy, RPG, isometric, eh. Looking at a gameplay video of the combat now I see that it uses pause-time, which I'm more than ok with. Going back to check out decade old games I missed out on the first time usualy always ends in disappointment though, but I'll check out the iPad version when it comes out.

Renzatic on 27/7/2012 at 10:19

In most cases, that's true, but BG and the rest of the Infinity Engine games have aged quite well. The gameplay hasn't depreciated at all, it's all mouse driven overhead RTS style point 'n click, pretty much like Diablo III and Krater. The only thing that'd be different if they, say, came out tomorrow instead of 10-12 years ago is that they'd use a souped up 3D engine instead of detailed 2D bitmaps for everything. Otherwise they'd be exactly the same.

You can't pay an old game a better compliment. Also, it's a perfect example of little the games have changed over the last decade.

scumble on 27/7/2012 at 11:25

The iPad has resurrected quite a lot of "older" game paradigms less obsessed with a realistic world visualisation. It's all been a bit of a high-end hardware push...

I've still never seen anything as unique as Okami's graphical style, which still looks great after 6 years.

henke on 27/7/2012 at 13:35

Quote Posted by Renzatic

The gameplay hasn't depreciated at all, it's all mouse driven overhead RTS style point 'n click, pretty much like Diablo III and Krater.

Ah, ok. Nice to know it hasn't aged badly, though comparing it to two modern games I have no interest in isn't exactly warming me to it.

Renzatic on 27/7/2012 at 14:33

Quote Posted by henke

Ah, ok. Nice to know it hasn't aged badly, though comparing it to two modern games I have no interest in isn't exactly warming me to it.

It has a similar control scheme, but doesn't play exactly like them. The IE games are more tactical in nature, slower paced. It's less about leveling up so you can spam the latest and greatest fireball spell on the tech tree, and more about positioning, manoeuvring, trapping, and ambushing (or surviving ambushes, which happen quite a bit). Think of them as controlling sorta like Diablo III and Krater, but being closer in spirit to games like Jagged Alliance.

...and if you play it, always make sure you bring a thief.

henke on 27/7/2012 at 16:26

Quote Posted by Renzatic

being closer in spirit to games like Jagged Alliance.

Ok, now I'm interested again. :)

The Alchemist on 27/7/2012 at 18:20

RE: iPad specs, I cant say for certain, being a dedicated devices and what not, but Infinity Edge 2, Modern Combat 3, and Air Supremacy all have rather fantastic graphics, on a 10" screen, at that ridiculous resolution, so I'd wager the iPad 3 has a good bit of oomf behind it.

And yes, about the iPad/touchscreen market game genre tropes, I have been delighted that less twitchy forms of gameplay have rerisen. Not only do I really miss some of those older genres (like point and click adventures) but it's actually very satisfying to play, say, SCUMMVM on the touch screen interfaces. I actually found it to work for RTS's very well, Settlers 3 was very easy and fun to control on the iPad, although I admit my hand gets tired after a while. You lot probably have stronger wrists than I do however, considering. :P

june gloom on 27/7/2012 at 20:38

Quote Posted by Thirith

It is if you're a story-in-games whore, I'd say.

Except the story is terrible, made all the worse by trying to insist that it's not terrible. I don't expect Shakespeare or whatever in my games, but the story in PST is the original pretentious high school goth nonsense. I get that it's partly the fault of the Planescape setting but if anything that's even more reason to skip it. Not to mention that it's not really a very deep story: an amnesiac tries to figure out how to kill himself while talking to a lot of people. 900 pages' worth of talking. All of it the same garden-variety purple prose. That's not depth, just density. (http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/286ahf/reno-911--magic-missile) This is where LARPers come from for god's sake.