The CRPG Addict(crpgaddict.blogspot.com)

149 pointsby Tomtevor 4 Jahren23 comments

crpgaddict.blogspot.com

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/

23 comments

Another recommendation for CRPG fans - "The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games ". The first edition is gorgeous. Looks like they are publishing a new edition next year [1]. A PDF of the last edition is freely available on this page [2]

[1] https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/the-crpg-book-a-guide-t...

[2] https://crpgbook.wordpress.com

shak3zzvor 4 Jahren

I have this book. Can absolutely recommend it.

visitectvor 4 Jahren

I've enjoyed several write ups from The CRPG Addict - it's a true internet treasure. In particular, I appreciate how he treats each game as an individual artifact. That's not to say he doesn't reference other games when reviewing a title - he does. But the descriptions and discussion seen firmly grounded in understanding what the creators were _trying_ to accomplish, rather than pitting one title against another.

kbensonvor 4 Jahren

Somewhat. He does note when what's offered is significantly above or below the status quo of the year he's working through. I think what he trys to do is make sure it's viewed in the context of how it was originally received and played.

Sometimes things get points or credit for originality or doing something well or first or before common, but also some titles will get criticized for omitting something to it's detriment which was pretty standard by that time.

password4321vor 4 Jahren

Barely relevant:

"Inside Gaming" Humble 25 eBook Bundle from MIT Press for $18 running for the next ~2 weeks.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/inside-gaming-mit-press-b...

> design, development, and theory to the history of your favorite consoles, RPGs, MMORPGs, and more

--

"The Summer Fireball Game Bundle" StoryBundle 9 eBooks for $20 running for the next ~2 days.

https://storybundle.com/games

danarisvor 4 Jahren

I'm a regular reader (and occasional commenter) of this site. It's a fascinating look at the history of what's probably my favorite genre of game. His taste in games isn't always the same as mine, but he's always clear about why he likes or dislikes things, and what the games provide.

He recently revisited Wizardry IV: Return of Werdna, notorious for being a very difficult game, and did a stellar job of going through not only how he got through its various puzzles and challenges, but more in-depth analysis of them and the game's lore...including the elusive "Grandmaster" ending, which may be the first hidden "perfect" ending to a CRPG.

TMWNNvor 4 Jahren

CRPG Addict and Jimmy Maher are and have been simultaneously doing gigantic, multiyear histories of computer gaming that are invaluable resources. May they enjoy long lives and good health!

pdwvor 4 Jahren

Also worth checking out:

Jason Dyer's blog, https://bluerenga.blog/, where he's playing through all adventure games. So far he's made it to 1982.

Jeremy Parish's youtube channel, where he's going through the game libraries of the post-1984 consoles in chronological order.

the_lonely_roadvor 4 Jahren

Huge fan and check back regularly. I don’t read most of the articles but am eagerly awaiting Betrayal at Krondor which should be right around the corner. He loosely goes in order of release and is in 1993 right now I believe.

markus_zhangvor 4 Jahren

I'm waiting for the 95~99 years, guess it's going to take a while...

barbsvor 4 Jahren

Along similar lines - Tobold's MMORPG blog, which has been going since 2003 (!).

http://tobolds.blogspot.com/

astrobe_vor 4 Jahren

Thanks for the link. The author has articles about "game theory" such as monster scaling, randomness, or game economy. It is not as advanced as what an actual game designer would write, but it's definitely food for thoughts.

DiggyJohnsonvor 4 Jahren

I’m writing a book about Why We Play mmorpgs, and this site is invaluable - something that should be obvious to anyone interested in the subject.

barbsvor 4 Jahren

You may be interested in Tobold's MMORPG blog, which has all sorts of interesting insights and has been going since 2003

http://tobolds.blogspot.com/

wyldfirevor 4 Jahren

> It's hard to count the number of Dungeon Master-inspired games that I've played since the 1987 original almost 12 years ago: the Eye of the Beholder series

I always thought EotB was inspired by "The Bard's Tale". I played the C64 port EotB felt similar.

bodhiandpysics1vor 4 Jahren

So the history is actually really well described in crpgaddicts blog. First there was wizardry (basically all rpgs both in the us and japan are descendents of wizardry, some with the mixture of ultima). bard's tale is a wizardry clone (its wizardry in a city). Dungeon master is an attempt to make a better wizardry, taking advantage of the mouse and the amiga's graphics (its basically wizardry in real time). EotB is a dungeon master clone.

btillyvor 4 Jahren

I played Bard's Tale as a kid. Sadly it was a pirated copy and I was missing some of the documentation.

I got stuck because I didn't realize you actually needed a bard to sit on a throne to get past a particular puzzle. Since I never leveled a bard, I never got past that...

davesquevor 4 Jahren

Really neat. I see he has an article on something called Angband. I remember playing something like that called Moria. I looked it up and it sounds like Angband is basically like a fork of Moria.

gotorazorvor 4 Jahren

Angband is a fork of Moria. https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Angband_(game)

philsnowvor 4 Jahren

Angband itself also has dozens of forks[0], mostly bolting on additional mechanics like SAngband (skills Angband), or new content like ZAngband (Zelazny Angband), adding multiplayer like MAngband, all the way to an almost total rewrite to be more faithful to the Tolkien canon like Sil [1].

[0] http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php/List_of_Angband_variants

[1] https://www.amirrorclear.net/flowers/game/sil/

markus_zhangvor 4 Jahren

I read his blogs once per week. Really admire his skills and dedication. I probably won't touch 90% of the games he played.

philsnowvor 4 Jahren

I think about this a fair amount. Either games these days are completely different or I am; now that I've played streamlined modern games I don't have the time or patience to deal with games that are incredibly fiddly or have rough edges all over the place.

I have been trying Kerbal Space Program recently for the first time. I put it off many times because I opened it up and looked at the controls settings and saw ~100 key bindings to remember (depending on the build/launch/orbital situation) and bounced right off. Now that I'm in the career mode I see that the bindings that you actually have to know get introduced slowly, but if the game came out today I think it would benefit from more polish and hiding the complexity before you're required to think about it.

drschwabevor 4 Jahren

Obligatory plug for Mattchat if you enjoy CRPG Addict

https://www.youtube.com/c/MattBarton