by Rex Claussen » Mon Jan 02, 2023 0:11
Well, amigos, the Year 2023 is here; I wish you all the very best.
When I last posted I indicated I had gathered a lot of momentum on Map 32 of
Parallax. Alas, that momentum dissipated once I had rediscovered a 2010-era game called
Red Dead Redemption. A few weeks ago I started playing it on an XBox One (the game was only developed for consoles). It is the first "open-world" game I've played, and my first console game to boot. It took quite a while to get used to the XBox controller and its controls, but I've gained a general proficiency. I also needed to learn and understand the many elements of this action-RPG game, including "quick travel" to locations I've already visited, the almost mandatory use of the targeting system known as Dead Eye, and the concepts of morality & honor. To top it all off, I had played for at least one week before I realized how to use the map.
At first I somewhat ignored the main missions in favor of bounty hunting, helping strangers, and searching for all manner of goodies. But, of course, one can't indefinitely wander around aimlessly looking for cougars and wolves to bag. The main missions, after all, tell a story and to make progress one needs to accomplish those missions. Mostly, I have been doing fine with the shoot-em-up types of missions; where I'm challenged is with the horse and carriage races. There is a required horse carriage race that winds around hilly and rocky terrain, and it's easy for a novice console player to sail off the track over a cliff or get stuck between rocks and spend (what seems like) an eternity backing the carriage out before getting back on the track. One such mistake is all that's needed for the player to come in dead last in the race and have to start over. I must have played and failed that mission dozens of times before I got lucky and won the race.
The story-line is also extensive, moving from the Southern USA into Mexico and back. After about 3 weeks of playing I have just started the Mexico mission. I can already see the difficulty ramping up so I'm dreading what might follow. I have amassed about $3500, a small fortune for that era. I've also found 3 treasure caches, amounting to another $500, and plenty of goods that I can sell for a few hundred dollars. So far I haven't found a pressing need to spend my money, aside from an excellent game device known as an
Improved Campsite which I can use to save progress and use "quick travel"; and another that allows me to buy or rent property where I can save games and replenish my ammo, etc.
At any rate, this is an engaging game that I wish I had played sooner. I will need to make an uncommonly high effort to pull myself away from this game to pursue other endeavors, including DooM editing. But I'll try. (In related news, Jeff Ligda has started composing new music for
Parallax and it promises to rival the music he made for
Paranoid and
Paranoiac.)
Keep on truckin'.
Well, amigos, the Year 2023 is here; I wish you all the very best.
When I last posted I indicated I had gathered a lot of momentum on Map 32 of [i]Parallax[/i]. Alas, that momentum dissipated once I had rediscovered a 2010-era game called [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption]Red Dead Redemption[/url]. A few weeks ago I started playing it on an XBox One (the game was only developed for consoles). It is the first "open-world" game I've played, and my first console game to boot. It took quite a while to get used to the XBox controller and its controls, but I've gained a general proficiency. I also needed to learn and understand the many elements of this action-RPG game, including "quick travel" to locations I've already visited, the almost mandatory use of the targeting system known as Dead Eye, and the concepts of morality & honor. To top it all off, I had played for at least one week before I realized how to use the map.
At first I somewhat ignored the main missions in favor of bounty hunting, helping strangers, and searching for all manner of goodies. But, of course, one can't indefinitely wander around aimlessly looking for cougars and wolves to bag. The main missions, after all, tell a story and to make progress one needs to accomplish those missions. Mostly, I have been doing fine with the shoot-em-up types of missions; where I'm challenged is with the horse and carriage races. There is a required horse carriage race that winds around hilly and rocky terrain, and it's easy for a novice console player to sail off the track over a cliff or get stuck between rocks and spend (what seems like) an eternity backing the carriage out before getting back on the track. One such mistake is all that's needed for the player to come in dead last in the race and have to start over. I must have played and failed that mission dozens of times before I got lucky and won the race.
The story-line is also extensive, moving from the Southern USA into Mexico and back. After about 3 weeks of playing I have just started the Mexico mission. I can already see the difficulty ramping up so I'm dreading what might follow. I have amassed about $3500, a small fortune for that era. I've also found 3 treasure caches, amounting to another $500, and plenty of goods that I can sell for a few hundred dollars. So far I haven't found a pressing need to spend my money, aside from an excellent game device known as an [url=https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Improved_Campsite]Improved Campsite[/url] which I can use to save progress and use "quick travel"; and another that allows me to buy or rent property where I can save games and replenish my ammo, etc.
At any rate, this is an engaging game that I wish I had played sooner. I will need to make an uncommonly high effort to pull myself away from this game to pursue other endeavors, including DooM editing. But I'll try. (In related news, Jeff Ligda has started composing new music for [i]Parallax[/i] and it promises to rival the music he made for [i]Paranoid[/i] and [i]Paranoiac[/i].)
Keep on truckin'.