blueshogun bringing out their feelings made me want to too. My problems are not GDNet related. They can't be solved by a "Report" button.

I'm getting tired of games. Tired of playing the same garbage over and over. I have problems with even Sky Rim. It plays like a console game from years ago, and its level-up system is boring. I would barely know, because it didn't hold my attention for more than 5 minutes.

Indie games were once all about innovation. But now we are in a "graphics matters most" age where even indie games tend to get affected. How many people have overlooked No Brakes Valet? I rest my case.

I'm tired of being randomly scared any shooter game I play. I'm not a sissy, but it's not calming to hear a meathook in Half-Life 2 talk to itself over and over. There are better ways of scaring people than bleeding their ears.

I end up playing kid's games, like Sonic, and at 25 years old, just because I can play them in a monotone way without ever really thinking.

But regarding the forum, I think it's pretty well. People don't hate on me as much anymore, and most pretty much have a welcoming attitude. I like listening to L. Spiro's stories. I like hearing about people's projects. Etc.

Hear hear, you and I both. I agree mostly, just not about the shooter part. I like being startled from time to time. Doom 3 and Alien versus Predator Gold were great games to play at night for an extra thrill.

The gfx thing is very annoying, and I personally find certain gfx trends annoying, such as the ever so popular "pixel art" thing, especially when it's referred to as "8-bit". There's nothing 8-bit about it, unless it uses a real colour palette like on a real 8-bit platform. Then, they refer to slightly less pixelated games as "16-bit". No, just... no.

AAA games don't really hold my interest anymore. It reminds me of this PC magazine article I read in 2005 how he predicted that people will begin losing interest in game consoles. After the current gen consoles being brought to the scene (PS3, 360, Wii). At the time, I was thinking that this old white man didn't know what he was talking about. Now I agree with him. The level of excitement just went into a free-fall with the last generation of consoles, and my interest in AAA gaming has fallen on the same path in 2008. Games started getting lackluster with nothing to offer but overrated gfx, gaming shows started to disappear, gaming forums started to die off, all around 2008. The current state of consoles beside the indie scene is rather depressing.

Shogun.

Funny, I'm getting increasingly jaded by indie games that try to appeal to some retro-NES nostalgia. I know half the time it's just a marketing veneer over the reality of scarce development resources, but the whole "used car salesman" approach to it just makes it worse in my book.

I've actually got a lot of respect for indie games that try to push high-quality visuals. Sure, 99% of them are survival sandboxes, but that's the flavor of the month I guess.

I'm sure that's rather oppositional to and unpopular on this particular board given the number of indie devs here, but just like with your grievances, nobody really cares about honest opinions as long as the board doesn't get inundated with them (*cough* politics and religion *cough*).

Funny, I'm getting increasingly jaded by indie games that try to appeal to some retro-NES nostalgia. I know half the time it's just a marketing veneer over the reality of scarce development resources, but the whole "used car salesman" approach to it just makes it worse in my book.

I've actually got a lot of respect for indie games that try to push high-quality visuals. Sure, 99% of them are survival sandboxes, but that's the flavor of the month I guess.

Damn, does that mean I no longer have a chance to ship a pixelated 2D TBS?

Now I feel sad

My first couple of posts on this site (other than the ones attempting to help others) were for this purpose, to get down I to the meat of game development, and to feel out the industry.

I immediately noted the whole graphics deal with my post on why Tomb Raider games are not good.

I noticed how "dumb" games have become, and how the game mechanics are usually "do what makes the most money."

Dug even deeper to understand the origin of games dating back to the Prussians, and I am sure before.

It should be an social outlet that brings people together, but the way the digital world is set up, it separates people.

I miss split-screen and co-op. Going to my friends house "in person."

People texting away on their cellphones and can't see the person sitting next to them.

The mobile game just an occupation to keep their mind off their life troubles temporarily like drugs. No wonder people literally get addicted.

I like to play games for mental exercise and socializing. Why would I make them? To help people in those areas perhaps?

About 8 - 10 years ago games were still not mainstream. The general public still thought they were the domain of spotty pale teenage boys who sat in darkened rooms and never went outside.

Those in the know shrugged this off and in forums like this one muttered that games were still in their infancy and just wait one day they will be one of the biggest entertainment mediums in existance.

Now we are in an era when this has happened and almost everybody now plays some kind of video games be it mobile, console, browser, fixed odds machines or PC. For this to happen they had to be dumbed down.

It is the same thing in other industries which is why you never have Die hard or Transformers being given an acadamy award because these are the dumbed down films. And you don't get the "What does the Fox say" being given a Grammy.

To have actually signed up and post on this forum gives me the impression that you have more than just a passing interest in games. You can consider yourself a connoisseur and expect something a little bit more meaningful than Flappy Bird.

I'm getting tired of games. Tired of playing the same garbage over and over. I have problems with even Sky Rim. It plays like a console game from years ago, and its level-up system is boring. I would barely know, because it didn't hold my attention for more than 5 minutes. Indie games were once all about innovation. But now we are in a "graphics matters most" age ... I end up playing kid's games, like Sonic, and at 25 years old, just because I can play them in a monotone way without ever really thinking.

Allow me to introduce NetHack.

For decades it has gained labels like the best game ever and the greatest game you will ever play. A frequent quote: "The dev team thought of everything."

About 35 years old, it still has occasional active development. Text based, but graphics front-ends exist if you really want them. RPG. Hardcore mode only (death is permanent). Single player, although you can find bones from past games.

Simple enough game in theory: Procedurally generated dungeon, roughly 50 levels. Roughly 5 side quests. Every detail of the game is documented online.

With everything documented online and plenty of spoilers, it should be easy, right? Nope. Many people play the game for multiple years before winning it the first time, or give up in frustration.

Some evidence for "the dev team thinks of everything":

Potions and alchemy: Dip your arrows in a potion of sickness, suddenly poisoned arrows. You have your traditional potions of healing and full healing. A potion of acid or paralysis is best when thrown at monsters, but in rare cases can be nice for emergency cures... Potions of water also can be blessed (holy water) or cursed (unholy water) which can help/harm various object as they become blessed or cursed, and affects monsters. Heal a friendly demon with some unholy water, or drink some holy water when you are cursed with certain conditions. You also get potions of polymorph, potions of fruit juice, and potions of booze. Ice boxes are normally used for keeping corpses and food cold, but some players will pack up an ice box full of booze for... well, their own reasons in the game.

Lots of magic. Have a pile of magic rings? Polymorph yourself into a metal-eating monster and eat some rings to gain their magic abilities. Or just polymorph yourself into a monster and gain their abilities like flying/floating, telepathy, fire breath, extra arms for weapons, and more. Polymorph into a female egg-laying creature, lay some eggs, hatch them and grow your own army. Spells range from spells of protection and healing to fireballs to the finger of death. Spells are best when you cast them, not so nice when you get attacked with a touch of death.

Many things have good and bad variants, and since objects are unidentified at first, you need to be cautious until you know what it is. You might have an amulet of lifesaving, or an amulet of choking. A ring of regeneration or slowed digestion can be good, a ring of hunger not so much. Stealth and protection are good, aggravate monsters, less good. Gauntlets of Fumbling or Fumble Boots are less than ideal if you want to hold weapons or walk. The bad items also generally are cursed, meaning you cannot take them off by yourself; find a priest or holy water or an incubus or other method.

Pets. Often you start with a kitten or puppy or pony. But you can tame most anything. Pet demons are convenient, a pair of succubus/incubus pets will seduce male and female monsters so they'll conveniently be naked (no armor) when you attack. Pet dragons can be fun. Pet angels, elementals, and assorted divine beings are also nice. A pet lich or vampire can clear out a level for you as you sit back with your ice box of booze. The ultimate pet is an Archon, basically an angelic demigod. Dual wielding, blinding radiance, claws, spell casting, regenerating, flying, nasty creature. Many arms so they can dual wield while holding an awesome shield. They can wear armor (gloves, helmets, boots) and can come with unique weapons (the unique Demonbane sword with +demon bonus or the unique Sunsword with +undead bonus). Other angels see them as a lord of their kind and do their bidding.

Pets can also be a problem. One time I had a pet gremlin. Gremlins are usually fun to have around when friendly. They can remove some problem conditions from you. They have 2 claw attacks and a poison bite attack. They are pretty speedy, somewhat magic resistant. They are inherently evil. They have a habit of jumping in the water to reproduce, which is the important bit of my story. Me and my pet gremlin went down a level in the dungeon. I didn't realize it was the Medusa's Island level. Being an island, the level is mostly water. My gremlin jumped in to reproduce. When pets reproduce, there is about a 2/3 chance their offspring will also be tame, so immediately I had about 5 pet gremlins and about 3 non-pet gremlins. Then I took a step, and all the gremlins jumped in the nearest water again, spawning a bunch more gremlins. Repeat with every step I took. Without thinking, in a matter of moments the map was filled with my tame gremlins and monster gremlins. Standing still they fought each other and spawned more gremlins. I couldn't move without stomping on a gremlin. Ultimately the gremlins filled the entire level, making movement impossible as they filled the board faster than I could kill/displace them. I will probably never tame a gremlin again.

Deities. Part of the game involves serving your patron deity, either lawful good, neutral, or chaotic evil. When you are in a bad situation and in good form with your deity, pray for help. Prayer can heal wounds, uncurse items, protect you for several turns, fill your stomach, and invite other divine help. Or you can offend your deity, and they can send demons/angels against you, blast you with lightning, and disintegrate your possessions. You can even change religions, but be careful about it. Don't piss off your god if you want to win.

So much more. Steal from shopkeepers, or train your pet to steal from them. Rob vaults. Donate money to priests/priestesses for blessings. Pray. Make burnt offerings at an altar to get blessings. Make out with incubus/succubus. Study spellbooks. Use a magic marker to write magic scrolls. Wish for items from genies. Drink from a sink (yes, it includes the kitchen sink). Kick down doors. Chop down trees. Dig new passageways and shortcuts. Pry off gems from a throne, or sit on thrones as they are magical --- maybe get a wish, maybe summon an audience of monsters, maybe gain some insight or royal ability, or maybe order a species of monster to a genocide death, thrones are great magical objects. Visit a beehive and eat the royal jelly. Get robbed by leprechauns and nymphs. Get punished with a ball and chain. And on and on and on.

NetHack is an RPG with a lot of depth, and they don't focus on graphics. You won't get endlessly headshoted by teenagers or cheaters, or listen to the steady stream of profanities from 12-year-olds. You will curse yourself for not remembering that you had an answer to a problem in your pack; death while carrying a scroll of genocide or a scroll of teleportation is frustrating, because you could have read it and potentially survived.

When other games fail, let NetHack entice you.

And just for fun, another little description from BitGamer under "the best games you've never played" top item:

The classic example would be the first time I picked up the game back in the early nineties. I hadn’t bothered to read the manual, just jumped in for a quick taster session as the Samurai class for some rainy day RPGing.

I spent the first five minutes kicking my pet cat against a wall (Ed: No actual animals were harmed in the making of this article) until I decided to wander the level properly. I gathered up every single item I could on the assumption it would prove useful, including weighty enemy corpses. Later, I found a coloured potion on the floor, picked it up and, without thinking to identify the potion or establish if it were blessed or cursed, I drank it.

Then I went blind.

All the graphics disappeared from the screen except for the text parser and I, encumbered from all the newt corpses I was carrying, stumbled around until I found the stairs down to the next level of the dungeon. You can probably see where this is going – because I was blind I fell down to the stairs. Then, because I was encumbered, my backpack fell on me and hit me for a medium amount of damage. Then, because I was holding a sword at the time I fell, the game told me I had impaled myself on my own sword.

And the sword was poisoned.

“Do you want your possessions identified?” The game asked me. It’s a bit late now, I thought, as I restarted the game and plunged headlong in again, laughing uproariously.

I haven't given up hope, but some aspects grate on me. So many games are the same basic concepts plus maybe one or two new mechanics and a lot of gloss. They mostly still have the same glaring flaws that games 10 years ago had.

Looking at most FPS/TPS/RPG games, plots on rails, cutscenes, NPCs that are obvious automatons, interaction by killing. Maybe one game in ten addresses one or two of those issues. Where are the innovative approaches that revolutionise the industry? Where's the next standard tool that fixes an area of gaming like octrees and A* did? Maybe I'm being too negative... there's sensory systems and various planners etc around, but they're used well so rarely.

I'm more interested in those edge problems - learning AI, managing player experience, increasing the efficiency of simulated content, improving procedural generation, making NPCs act more naturally, tweaking how player-centric the world is. But the player expectations (and hence my own expectations) is that these must be sitting on top of fantastic models with great textures, good animation, stunning lighting/shadowing, fancy shaders, hours of voice samples, path planning, avoidance, etc. I get trapped by the AAA expectations.

And let's not even mention multi-player, that cesspit of tweens bad-mouthing as they perfectly shoot one-hit-kill weapons at a single distant pixel while constantly bunny-hopping and (if possible) invisible or invulnerable. Oh, there goes a perk for punishing the n00bs! If you didn't play the last five games 20+ hours a week, you're already dead. I like multi-player games where a new player can quickly get to acceptable competence, e.g. loses 4/1, not 40/1. The hardiest soul needs to win sometimes. If you mentioned it, you would be accused of sucking. Sure, some genres I suck at. But why should it be that some genres (which I may enjoy) are considered hardcore, and therefore game quirks will be exploited to the max by a majority of players? What happened to the fun? Think of camping, zerg rushes or unblockable moves. The recipient usually does not enjoy it. Unless they find a counter to that seemingly dominant strategy, there is no point in them playing that game. At all. If a strategy is dominant that relies upon intricate knowledge of the game, especially if it runs counter to real-life experience, that strategy is game-breaking to most players in my opinion.

Allow me to introduce NetHack.

NetHack, successor to Rogue, is OK. But it's a gateway drug. It is raiding daddy's valium from the medicine cabinet compared to the neck-vein mainlined heroin that is Dwarf Fortress. Now that guy has thought of everything, and he's adding even more.