What are we playing?

Since we've had a few threads focused on specific games, thought I'd post up a general one that folks can converse about any of the "Darkside" (RPG, FPS, RTS, ***MMO) games they happen to have on tap currently.

Doesn't matter what platform (PC, Console or Mobile) feel free to post away. Tell us about the fun your having, issues or hints you've come across.

TM



Me personally, I've been playing Skyrim (yet again), jumping in and out of BG3 and the Anniversary version of Halo 2 remastered for PC. Been having some issues with the first two, but surprisingly the Halo games have been running smoothly for me. I've heard multi-player has been having issues, but I've been focused on the single player campaigns and those seem to be going great, so props to 343 Industries.

Right now I'm playing Bioshock Infinite and Skyrim SE, slightly modded (so far).

Bioshock Infinite is a lot of fun, though I'm finding that more than two hours of gameplay makes me dizzy. There's a lot of swooping around, which is a blast. And it's non-stop action, with good exploration potential, a decent story, and fantastic graphics. So far I'd give it a 9.0 because it does what it does really well.

And then there's Skyrim. This time I'm a mage from the start, though I can Sneak and open locks. So far it's Destruction/Restoration, simply because of the spells that are available in the early game. I'm also using Conjuration. No training so far, simply because the early levels of any skill are so easy to raise anyway. At Level 9 the only Attribute I've raised is Magic, which does create interesting situations in a fight, even with Lydia. I'm going to try to follow the Magic trees all the way up in at least a few schools. Not sure exactly which combination I'll use, but we'll see as the game progresses.

I am halfway through the VGA remake version of Quest for Glory 1. I first played this game around 1990, so it's been quite a while!

It is every bit as good as I remember: engaging characters, fun puzzles and plot. Many Sierra games had a point-based system by which you could keep track of your progress. I currently have about 240 points out of 500 points possible.

Very cool old game. I tried going back to play some of the similar old TSR games like Curse of the Azure Bonds from the Forgotten Realms series, but I'm sooooo spoiled by good graphics now I didn't last long.

I played a few of the QFG games back in the day. Loved them.

Boo hoo! Nothing right now... that video card died after a week. Can't even play Plants V. Zombies Garden Wars 2 with the on-board graphics. So, I'm doing a little romping in Psychonauts!

I am on pause with Psychonauts right now, I loved the game but I am on the last fight in the game and I just can't beat him.... hoping a rest will help when I go back to it. LOL

Winfrey, as you know, I was so frustrated with the fire demon fight in the Milkman Conspiracy that I just put the game down for a couple of months. When I had to connect to my on-board graphics - and this is before I had updated the drivers and it was kind of laggy! - I was bored one night and went it. Beat it the first try! I laughed at myself! Trying to beat the Den Mother now. Is the last boss fight the bullfight? I can't remember.

It’s the Boss fight. You have 3 levels of fighting . I did the first 2 one more to go.

I remember that one... don't think I ever beat it!

The hard part is you have to jump on his arm and hit him in the face. I have a hard time getting the exact spot jumping up to make a hit. No where else works..

Me too. In fact I played them all and still re-play both QFG 4 and QFG 5 from time to time.

Currently, though, am still just re-dipping in and out of Oblivion and Morrowind

I'm playing Hidden Folks this very moment, and enjoying it a lot. I'm hoping for a sequel, but haven't heard anything. For those unfamiliar, it is a 2017 hidden-object game in the spirit of a "Where's Waldo?" book. But if this game were a book, each page would be as big as a wall in your room. This game has *humongous* areas for you to look for needles in hay stacks, sometimes literally.

Getting bored, so started playing Zanzarah for the umpteenth time! Still on my on-board graphics. The mouse issues in this game from Steam are nearly impossible to deal with, so will probably go back to Psychonauts. Hopefully this weekend I'll open up my case and install this new graphics card and get back into Metro Exodus.

I've finished Oblivion and am now blasting my way through Bioshock Infinite and Skyrim.

Yeah, I've read some reviews about the older game playing much better on early hardware than the so called, "optimized" releases. Too bad, those were fun games. Maybe some dev will come out with an independent patch. Considering it's similarities to Pokémon, I'm actually kind of surprised that it hasn't shown up in the Nexus. I wonder if it's platform isn't mod-friendly.

I don't think Zanzarah was optimized at all. There may have been a tweak or two, but it's barely playable from Steam. It was never a money maker, but is a pretty popular older game.

I have Zanzarah running great on my Windows 7 computer. It's the Steam version, and I did have to tweak settings a bit per the instructions on the technical thread. No problems now.

Yes, it ran perfectly on my Windows 7 drive too. I'm just to lazy to reconnect that drive and boot into it!

I'm still really enjoying Bioshock Infinite, just playing for an hour or two at a time. It's a bit fast and furious for a whole day of playing, but really fun in small doses.

I'm currently playing Vintage Story (Minecraft but better, different) and Tyranny (RPG)

Finished off the remastered versions of Final Fantasy VII, VIII & iX, currently replaying FFV & Trails of Cold Steel III and waiting for Bravely Default Ii after beating the demo.

I have been working my way through the Resident Evil games. Finished 1 original, 1 remake, 2 remake, 3 remake and about 2/3 of RE4.
To make it clear, Raccoon City has a lot of well fed zombies right now because I'm terrible at actions games. And RE4 are just terrible.
Clumsy control, can't get my controller to work at all, so I have to use the keyboard and mouse. And, no sub-titles. That is rather important for me since English is not my mother tongue, and while I have no problem understanding the written word it's not everything I understand when spoken.
Not a big fan of being a baby-sitter for a lousy teenager either, but that is part of the game

I've been replaying Tomb Raider Anniversary and Tomb Raider 2 . Can't remember how many times I have replayed both! Thinking of starting other TR games I haven't replayed in a few years.

I played RE4 a long while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, though there were a few difficult areas. Maybe it is time to play another one. Which would you suggest as best next to RE4?

I've just started Thief Gold. I saw that the Thief games were just 97 cents at Steam and GOG till Jan 5, so I picked up the first two games at Gog, thinking they would probably run better on Win 10. I have both on disk, but they would be harder to get running. It has been 20 years since I played them, but I am still surprised that I am not recognizing any of the game. It is like playing for the first time. I just finished the prison mission and am having a great time with this old game.

That sounds great, Pokey! Replaying these old games can be even more fun than the first time, in my experience.

Pokey, I played both of those as recently as two years ago, but I haven't been able to get either one running on my new computer -- otherwise I'd be running through them again. I wonder why they wouldn't run?

You might (or more likely might not) recall that I am a fanatic about those two games. I've played them at least 20 times each. The only other game I've played as often is the original Deus Ex GOTY.

The first three Thief games have many, many fantastic fan-made-missions, too.

Lucky you, running through these games after so long.

hagatha, you might try one from GOG. It may be more likely to run than some others. I've played quite a few of the fan missions. Great fun!

Morrowind bought on Gog does not start. I was hoping for an uptodated game!!! When it finally starts,
It looks exactly as the CD. Mods that usued to make it look perfect even for 1920x1080 resolution in win 7 are not there or if you find then, dont apply!!! win 10, I like less and less. I paid $4.89 : You get for your money, it seems! Can`t even get my money back!!! Dont know why.

GOG has always refunded my money for a game and for any reason, so I am not sure what the difficulty is with that.

You can find their refund policy here.

Also, there are some good mods out there that will run Morrowind on Windows 10 with the screen resolution that you want. Just try googling for it.

Currently playing 'Someday You'll Return'. The way things are going I'll be playing this a long time!

I hadn't heard of this game so I just looked it up. Psychological horror. Are you enjoying it?

Yes. So far so good. But I'm only at the beginning of chapter 3 (of 12).

Have fun!

I'm currently playing Braid, a 2008 puzzle game made by the makers of The Witness. Both games share two things: innovative puzzle designs, and meaningless story "fillers." Both games use stories as mere window-dressing to make the games seem "deeper" than they really are. But the puzzles are truly memorable. Braid combines time-manipulation and platforming, and the result is truly unique and fun. The Witness has you figure out the correct patterns on various electronic grids, and the methods with which you deduce those patterns are very creative.

me too teassoc - been at it on and off for quite a while now.
it keeps me coming back though

Not a PC game, but Bravely Default II on the Switch is a great RPG.

Trying to decide on my next game, so I'm futzing around in Fallout 4 building a settlement, which is something I always fall back on when I'm between games.

I think I might go for Red Dead Redemption next.

EDIT: I mean Red Dead Redemption II, of course. I keep forgetting there was another one.

Well I never managed to complete it. Got within the final few minutes but was never quick enough to get on a bridge to the very top mountain peak.

Currently playing The Sinking City and loving it with its HP Lovecraft background.

I'm downloading Elder Scrolls Online, since I've had it for ages. I've never played an online game before. Feeling a bit trepidatious.

Pleased to see a couple of people enjoying Braid: that remains one of my favourite gaming experiences, and I was interested to see that its success financed the making of the Witness which I also enjoyed.

Recent top scorers for me when it comes to solving puzzles have been Baba Is You (in a league of its own) and Stephen's Sausage Roll: both excellent and humorous meaningless fun!

Gorogoa is another absorbing puzzler, boosted by great artwork and an enigmatic story line.

Other than that, I am considering replaying the whole HalfLife saga which is still amazing, and revisiting a couple of other older games I previously enjoyed (including Desperados in particular).

Hagatha, how are you getting on with Elder Scrolls online?

ESO is fine. It's beautiful-looking, and the music is great. It's Elder Scrolls, but it's somehow lacking, like eating diet ice-cream. I can imagine spending $15.00 a month for a membership to access all of the game, but I'm aghast at the cost of buying the bragging rights stuff that people's avatars display. I saw a cool companion dog I thought I'd get, but it would have cost me about $25.00. For an imaginary dog,. Unbelievable.

I'm playing it for a few hours at a time, alternating with my umpteenth Fallout 4 game, which is most notable for the fact that I have done almost nothing in terms of the quests but I'm already at level 50, and that is with the experience points turned off for settlement construction.

The trend for in-game purchases does not appeal to me, but I suppose that for those who wholly immerse themselves in online gaming, a virtual dog may be almost real (and quite valuable if it can be used as an aid in combat)...

No, the said dog is a non-combat companion that just travels with you. And a lot of the gear is just clothing, or a steed, and the like. Ornamental. mostly.

But it's perfectly possible to play without spending money that way. There are free houses, if you really must have one.

I just finished the Last of Us and The Last of Us 2, man I was drained emotionally and mentally, about to start Days Gone.

I'm playing Bard's Tale I in the remastered version of the trilogy from Steam. Speaking as someone who played all the originals in the day, I think the changes they've made are perfect. You still grind, but nowhere near as much. There's now an automap. The UI is incredibly helpful, taking away thousands of keystrokes it previously to achieve the same thing. But all the maps, monsters, puzzles etc. are the same. And if you want to play it with the old mechanics, you can tick some or all legacy mode options.

to GameBoomers heiress_software.

Good to know about the remastered Bard's Tale as I did play the original and have been wondering how I would feel about the new releases.

I just started Alien Isolation. It is not an easy game..no hand holding. I had to ask for help finding my way around and I don't often have a problem with that. Then I came to a power panel that I spent an awful long time figuring out how it worked. And I haven't even met the alien yet! I've heard he is pretty scary.

For some reason I had missed this game (despite being a fan of the films) so I googled and found this review which was so good I went to eBay to buy a very cheap used copy to run on my old Xbox 360, so many thanks for the mention! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxXG_-YJEiI

Pokey, that game looks like it will be really scary!

I hope you enjoy the game, Lex.

Lex, that game is languishing in my enormous pile of un-played games.

Do let us know how you like it.

It may sit in my unplayed pile for a while as I have just bought a slew of games very cheap in the Steam sale (largely on flotsam's recommendations) including Forgotton Anne and Candle which I have just started playing, but I will probably at least dip into it once the disc arrives and I will certainly keep you posted on progress.

Great! This time of year has a curious way of increasing the to-play pile, doesn't it?

Maybe some kind of malware will come along that redirects my web browser every time I go to GOG, Steam, and Big Fish games.

Marian, I would have to add Macgamestore and probably a couple of others to that list...

I have finally got myself to stick with games that are like other games I play. Otherwise I end up with even more games that will never be played.

I am liking Alien Isolation a lot, but it is hard. I finally met up with the alien and he killed me three times before I got past him. In the beginning I was lost and had to ask for help. Getting around is at times is hard. There are few save stations. I have been trying for quite a while to get past an android who is blocking my path to the next objective. I am still having fun. It is a very good game.

It sounds very challenging, but fun! Thanks for keeping us posted, Pokey.

I'm obviously playing Days Gone, which is a relatively easy game to get into, has a big world to explore, and allows you to nuke huge hordes of zombies with jars of napalm -- because doesn't EVERYONE secretly want to do that?

Pokey, I should give Alien Isolation a go just to see what it's like.

Hagatha, I think you would enjoy the game. It is not easy, but very enjoyable. Early in the game you can explore without being killed often. When I got to the third mission there seemed to be a lot more of the androids, who are hard to kill. Finally got past that part and ready to take on the next mission.

My Alien Isolation disc has arrived for the Xbox 360, so I am ready to give it a shot, but I may try to finish Forgotton Anne and Luna The Shadow Dust first so that I do not have quite so many partly played games at the same time on my iMac...

Sounds like a plan, Lex!

Is it like System Shock 2? It sounds like it. SS2 is still one of my favourite games ever!

Yes, I would say it is quite a bit like System Shock 2, which is one of favorites too. I just got out of one large building--wasn't easy--and took the transit to a medical facility and it reminds me of SS2 though more realistic. The place is dark and empty except for one worker who has a job for you to do before he will help you. The facility is huge. After a lot of exploring, I got lost and then got killed by the alien. Decided it was time to quit for the night. I know I am going to die a lot.

If it is like SS2, that's a strong recommendation.

Sigh. So many games. So little time.

Okay. So now I'm on to The Outer Worlds. So far, so good.

EDIT: Outer Worlds: fun game, not really story-driven. Fairly linear, fun graphics, and an interesting levelling system. Sort of reminds me of a mixture of KOTOR2 and Mass Effect 2 without the story.

Okay, so I got bored with The Outer Worlds, BG 3 is not playable for me at the moment, so I thought I'd download Alien Isolation and give it a go. If that failsme , I seem to be in the mood for a replay of Prey, too.


EDIT: Phooey. About 30 minutes into Alien Isolation I encountered a game-breaking bug with one of the power generators. No way to proceed.

Sorry to hear about you Alien Isolation issues (I have yet to fire it up): Prey was quite good fun, but Black Mesa would be my choice if you have a machine on which it will run (sadly I don't as it is only available for PC rather than iMac)

Update: Black Mesa is currently on a deal from Steam (at least in UK) saving 75%, and I am going to try a download called WINE which may allow me to play it on the iMac after all (don't know whether the other sort of wine may help...)

Black Mesa? I think I already have it. I'll check it out.

I was quite enjoying Alien Isolation. Just the right leel of uncertainty and creepiness. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the game to see if that will help. I wasn't very far along in the game so I might restart it and see if I can get past the glitch.

Hagatha, sorry that you are having this problem. I hope someone in the Steam community will come up with the answer. I had a problem at the same point but it was because I couldn't see the circle going around the E. After watching some videos it was clear.

I see you got past that part. Glad to see it. Those guys helped me a lot. I'm about to leave the medical center and I'll sure be glad to get out. That is the hardest part of the game.

Pokey, I've got stuck again. Or maybe unnerved. The game is remarkably atmospheric. I actually got the creeps when the Alien saw me, or heard me, and I raced up the stairs into a locker. I'm leaving the game on my computer so that I can have another bash at it when I feel a bit more like exploring a ship with an Alien roaming around!

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to Days Gone for another hit of zombie madness. At least in that game I have weapons.

I haven't hidden in a locker yet. Under tables or desks or moving around furniture to keep out of his sight works better. Right now I think the androids are worse. I am stuck too, with two androids who are hard to get by. This is about the middle of the game. Hope you return to the game soon.

I have weapons, a flamethrower, shotgun, revolver, stun baton, and a mechanic's jack.

Just started Death Stranding (did anyone play?) and Braid comes after that. Hope you are enjoying Forgotten Anne Lex.
And I will definitely put Alien Isolation on the list!

My son played Death Stranding. He enjoyed it.

I started Death Stranding and was thoroughly enjoying it and then reaized I needed a controller. I bought one, but still haven't got around to learning how to use it. I should really go back to it. It's an intriguing game and quite original.

But I'm still enjoying my second run through Days Gone, Alien Isolation. I played Black Mesa a couple of weeks ago and that was great, too. I got tired of Outer Worlds, though.

Thanks for the heads up on the controller hagatha. I started with the mouse/keyboard but will switch and see how it goes.

Lex, I found driving round uneven terrain very difficult with a mouse and keyboard in Death Stranding. That said, in the last year I've played cyberpunk and Days gone extensively, and both of those games require travel on bikes (or cars, in Cyberpunk) so I might be more adept at it now. We shall see.

For some reason I can't get into Red Dead Redemption2, though. I've started it twice now. So far it's completely scripted and linear with commands flashing when you need to do something. Boooooring!

Hagatha, just wondering if you have gotten past the prologue in Red Dead Redemption 2 where you are stuck in the snow. Because that part is linear and is more or less a prologue (for about three hours). After that, there is a whole open world to explore that is every bit as open as Skyrim and that holds true for about 90% of the rest of the game.

Players who never get past the prologue aren't really seeing what most of the game is like, thus my query.

Marian, I suspect that's the case, but I got stuck on one sequence where clicking the wrong pixel on another character lost us a sneak fight and after about four tries I got fed up.

Plus I wanted to use a different strategy from the scripted one, which required us to sneak up on enemies from their front instead of from behind them, which, you know, any RPG/Action player will tell you is the best strategy for a surprise attack.

The game is still on my computer so I haven't given up on it yet, but I really don't enjoy heavily scripted games and this prologue is agonizingly long.

Yes, that all makes sense. Just letting you know that if you can get past the prologue I think you would find the game *much* more to your liking.

You aren't the first person who was put off by the prologue. Later on you have a lot more options with sneaking, etc.

Well, I had to quit Alien Isolation. I was about 3/4 through. There is a minigame that gets harder as you progress and with my husband's help we were even able to do it at the hardest level, but it took quite a few tries. This time I got one try (8 seconds) and in the next couple seconds there was an explosion and that was the end of my game. I couldn't find a way to get by the glitch. I really liked the game except for that one minigame. There were some others that were easy. I would still highly recommend the game. I didn't hear of anyone else with my glitch, but there were a few with a different one that was possible to get by.

I just finished a replay of Fable The Lost Chapters from 2005. Such FUN!

I've just started to replay Gothic III Forsaken Gods (enhanced) - having nearly finished my first play of it at the weekend.
I really like this game and on a second play through will feel better able to attempt more quests.
A ploy I often use with an RPG 😊

I'm still working on Death Stranding. I took a break for a few days, went back for a third game of Days Gone, which is fast-moving and like second nature to me now.

Elex II has dropped so once I'm done with Death Stranding I'll probably start that one.

Morrowind for the (?) time !!

Having just finished Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods (enhanced version) which I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed

I've been trying to get back into Red Dead Redemption 2, but I keep being foiled by the controls, which on the PC version are appallingly bad, the worst console port I've ever seen. I consider myself to be a pretty experienced gamer, but this is defeating me.

The game also makes you play things over and over endlessly if you fail the mission, the hints it gives you in the middle of a fast-moving event aren't correct or are simply not there when you need them, and I'm STILL trying to get past the intro chapter.

I guess I'm destined never to play this game.

Now, that does NOT sound like fun, hagatha!

I just finished Ghost of a Tale. Ran into a glitch towards the end of the game and couldn't get any help for developer or multiple forums. Naturally it wouldn't let me proceed to finish the main quest! I just kept messing with it and all of a sudden after a couple of error screens, it went through and I got to finish the game. I liked it.

Also recently finished Metro Exodus. I love the Metro games, but the second one is still my favorite.

I'm glad you liked Ghost of A Tale, Drac. Some day I will get back to it.

Thank goodness you were able to finish Ghost of a Tale! It does look like a good game.

My son absolutely loved Red Dead Redemption 2 and had none of the problems that hagatha has experienced. Different strokes for different folks!

Thank goodness you were able to finish Ghost of a Tale! It does look like a good game.

My son absolutely loved Red Dead Redemption 2 and had none of the problems that hagatha has experienced. Different strokes for different folks. He did play the game with a controller, though!

I haven't completely given up on RDR2. I started playing again a little while back and got farther in, though not to the end of the Prologue part. It's still on my computer, ready to be played.

Hopefully someday you will feel that your persistence paid off. And maybe you will - after all, you have to be pretty intrepid to play Death Stranding.

I'm not finished Death Stranding, either. I'm quite a long way in, though. It's...different. I like it! But sometimes it feels like work, and if I'm after something a bit fluffier and less taxing on the brain I'll always start a new game of Skyrim or Fallout 4.

I've discovered that rather than abandoning a game, I should leave it on my laptop -- plenty of room for several large games there -- and just pick up again when I feel like it. Right now I'm playing the entire Mass Effect series, which falls into the "fluffier" category.

That all sounds very sensible to me.

Having purchased it in a sale several months ago but struggled to get into it at that time, I am now having fun with Hollow Knight: has anyone else tried this platformer?

My son played it and really enjoyed it.

... I believe one of my granddaughters is also playing it...

He said he hasn't played the DLC yet. It is supposed to be even harder. My son thinks it's the best rogue-like game in the last 10 years, period. The sequel may finally come out next year; it is called Silksong.

My life circumstances got in the way of gaming, and because I've been feeling rather mindless, I defaulted back to another game of Fallout 4, which I can play in my sleep, with a few new mods; notably the entire Point Lookout DLC from Fallout 3. It's a bit glitchy but playable, and it really is the entire DLC.

Soon I'll be getting back to my Mass Effect marathon.

Ya know, when the brain and emotions are not firing on all cylinders, I can't think of anything better that a good old game like Fallout 4!

Fallout 4 in particular is good for me because settlement building, especially with dozens of mods added, can fill up a whole day. It's fairly creative, too. But eventually I get bored with it and move on to something else. It's getting to be that time.

I've been keeping an eye on the the news about Cyberpunk DLCs. I'm one of the few people who liked the game just the way it was, because it ran perfectly on my laptop. I could see room for improvement in the romances, which were pretty lame, and the vehicle driving was a pain. Having some new content sounds good, and when I finish my Mass Effect games I'll think I'll go back into Cyberpunk.

This update for Cyberpunk was released on GOG about a week ago - maybe you already noticed this.

My son liked the original game just the way it was, too. He is thinking it's probably about time for a replay.

So I'm back to my Mass Effect marathon, though at this rate it's more like a stagger.

I'd forgotten how clunky the controls are. It took me about three hours to remember them, and even then I had to look some of them up. Why they don't appear in the Controls menu is beyond me.

Anyway, it's still fun.

I have gone back to Dead Space 2. I can't believe I actually got through it last time! I will put it down to my gettimg older brain

I'm also noticing that ME2 seems harder than it was back in the day. There's a lot of naughty words being yelled at the computer.

Started Skyrim Special Edition last night and will keep it installed and dip in and out - as I do with other RPGs.

Certainly enjoyed the bit I've played so far

I am very glad to hear that, Mad! Have fun.

Love hearing that, Mad!

Thank you both !! I've made more progress now and am liking it even more

What class of character are you playing, Mad?

My preference was always for an Assassin/Thief developing into Mage-oriented skills later in the game. So much fun!

I'm playing a "Soldier" type right now who will no doubt end up being a "Goodie" !! 😁

But it's very early days and I'll probably be playing on and off for months, with dipping in and out, so who knows what could happen ??

But I've never managed to accomplish being a Baddie" 🤡

Same here, Mad. I really have tried to be a thief, but they want me to kill so many people that seem innocent! Then I tried to be an assassin and they want me to kill so many more innocent people!

Alternatively, you could try playing as an archer/mage with longswords for the odd close-up encounter. That combination is deadly. A sneak archer is formidable.

I watched a couple of Youtube videos of a guy playing as an archer and he was deadly!

Thanks, hagatha

Not too much fighting yet as I'm not very far into the game - but my current weapons are two iron swords - one in each hand.
[I think that's about the best for the skill I have right now ]

i recommend Sneak. Sneak is the easiest skill to learn. Just sneak everywhere you go, and you'll level that skill, and your character, in no time. And you can backstab with it, which is very useful for blade users.

At higher levels and with good equipment you can easily kill dragons with archery. Combining it with Sneak, you can take out most enemies without a scratch. I usually level Sneak, Archery, and Thieving skills all the way to the top.

I do find sneaking very useful - even at this early stage.

And I do want to learn archery.

However, I can't find the screen where your chracter is fully portrayed and with skills etc all listed.

[I did download a manual though so maybe I should take a more in-depth look at it !! ]

Mad, for me it was the Tab key where I could find my inventory, my skills, my magicka etc.

Did you know that you can train certain skills really easily? If you want to train your lockpicking skill, for instance, find the hardest lock you can and keep trying to unlock it. You need a good supply of lockpicks, so stock up. This trick is best used once you've got some cash to spend on picks, so perhaps mid-game.

I've already looked there. Draclvr, But it doesn't take you to a full screen that shows your stats.
And when I went online with the same question it appeares that this Special Edition doesn't carry one.
Which seems very weird to me

So I need to ask someone who is currently playing this edition but I don't know anyone who is

And hagatha.
Thanks for more tips. Always appreciated

Edit :

I'm thinking I might ask for a GOG Refund and then buy the full Anniversary Edition as opposed to this Special Edition.
No stats screen is not good for an RPG player of my inferior abilities

Mine doesn't either and from what I understand, none of the game versions has that kind of page. What Skyrim has is in the Skills options when you press the tab key. You have to move through each of the skills options to see where you are in each ability. A huge pain in my opinion, but that's the way the game is. Tab brings up Skills, Items, Map, and Magic. When you level up, you get a "perk" which you used to up whatever skills you are concentrating one.

You also have to "activate" some magicka after you "learn" it. Shouts are very useful, but you have to activate them and then manually assign them a quick key.

I might be wrong, but I don't think from what I've read, this menu is any different in the other versions. You can only change it by downloading a mod. I got used to it, but sure didn't care for it.

Thanks, Draclvr. Only it's not the info I wanted to hear !!

I actually DID apply for a refund for The Special Edition, Draclvr, and then spent the "refund" plus the "difference" to buy The Anniversary Edition - and I immediately found some slight differences between the two - and am happier with the Anniversary one !!

Plus, I've made really good progress now and am very much enjoying myself

Good news, Mad! Have fun!

Hi, The Skyrim character skill record is more graphical as opposed to a formal Character Sheet. It's supposed to reference back to old TOS stuff about divining knowledge from the heavens (or Aetherius as it's known in the Elder Scrolls canon). That said, there are Character Sheet mods available for the Special Edition on Nexus Mods . Not sure about the Anniversary Edition, haven't investigated anything on that one.

I haven't personally used any of those SE mods becuase I'm still using the original version (many of my mods didn't transfer over to the new versions), so can't speak if they are good or not. If you're interested in basic game stats (i.e. how many locks you've picked and so on) hitting "J" on the keyboard brings up the Journal and the center tab "Stats" has varied numerical stats on your game, though not the specific character skills for which you're looking.

TM

Hi.
I'm used to the stats. "Indication System" now and am mostly coping alright - which is a good thing because I never bother with Mods 😑
And I am making enjoyable progress (slowly as is my style) through the game.
Plus I've used the Journal right from the start. It's definitely useful
Thanks.
Mad

This is what I like to hear! The Journal is definitely useful. Have you killed a dragon yet?

No. I'm doing small misc. size quests for now to try and "better" myself in every way I can 😑

EDIT :

Because of health issues, I can't do the long playing sessions I always used to be able to do, Draclvr, so I know full well my progress will be sloooooooow

That's a good idea Mad.

Even though the game will level adversaries with your character, the further you get from Whiterun, the more you'll hit tougher opponents. The first dragon encounter within Whiterun Hold (related to the golden claw quest from Lucan in Riverwood) can be hard, but you'll have a bunch of guards to back you up. It's mainly staying out of the dragon's line of (actual) fire that's important. Also, know that dragons have both standard elemental attacks and ranged attacks, so distance isn't always a help. They can also melee with their wings and tails, which usually staggers your character. So using cover with ranged attacks and/or spells or just keep moving while attacking helps. The nice thing about that quest is that it will lead you to another that will give you your first "Shout" (Thu'um), which is probably one of the most useful ones. I usually try to hit that quest around levels 6-10.

Skyrim is sort of like Oblivion in that you can also try to evade enemies. Some can be outrun, others not so easily. Bears are hard to get away from at lower levels because they tend to swipe at you when you're running. A good trick is to head for an incline that's just steep enough to run up, and then lob arrows or spells down at them. They will hide, but it may give you a chance to slowly pick them off or plan a different avenue for escape. If you're being pursued by a dragon that's too much for you because you are low on health or equipment, ducking into a cave can help too. Oh yeah, and once you start coming across beasties that have a prefix of "Ice" or "Snowy" (i.e. Ice Wolf or Snowy Saber Cat) watch out. Just like Oblivion's Timberwolves, those pack a much bigger punch, especially at lower levels than their more common counterparts.

The aspect I like the most about Skyrim is the sandbox element, because I'm not much for linear gaming. Since I've been playing the game for so long, I'm not so worried about quests. I'll usually build a character type based on an idea that I have about a character's backstory that I'll dream up in my head. Then just hit the country side and see what I come across. For me it's sort of theraputic. If I can't sleep or need to releive some tension, I'll jump on and play for an hour. It's fun to try the different races and build different character types to see how they work out or how NPC's respond to them. My first couple hundred hours of gameplay was born from an effort to build a character that could take on a Legendary Dragon. I went through tons of characters, building each up to level 70 or more, only to have them flung to the side on their first encounter with said Dragon.

I hope you have fun with it.

Hi there 🙂

And thanks for all your RPG wisdom !!
However, I am very amateurish as regards RPGs, really being an Adventurer, and so I play them "absolutely" for the fun of it and don't aspire to any great heights

I do enjoy myself, of course, or I wouldn't ever buy any, and I have played several over the years AND managed to finish quite a few, to my own surprise !!

But I tend to dip in and out and can take eons to make any significant progress - which would probably drive you and other RPG professionals insane

However, I DO know where to come for serious advice when I need some.

Cheers.

Mad

Mad, just wander.

The first time I played Morrowind, back in the dark ages, I completely missed the part about there being a Main Quest. That was partly because the original Journal was awful, but it was also because I had no clue.

But I was utterly charmed by the idea that I could just go where I wanted, and the only thing holding me back in certain areas was the difficulty. That's the best way to approach these big games, in my opinion. I still do that with all of the Elder Scrolls games even now, and with the Fallout games, too.

In my current, long-running game of Fallout 4, I am at level 78 and still haven't really started the Main Quest. My baby got stolen, and...I'll get around to looking for him one of these days.

It's the journey, not the destination.

I agree with the journey. I usually try to avoid the destination as long as I can.

"But I was utterly charmed by the idea that I could just go where I wanted, and the only thing holding me back in certain areas was the difficulty. That's the best way to approach these big games, in my opinion. "

That's exactly what I do, hagatha. And I only touch on "Main Quests" when I feel like it

I think the first major RPG I finished was the original Baldur's Gate .... way back when.
But I really enjoyed it so found older ones to have a go with and also went on to newer ones later.

All good fun

EDIT :

Really enjoying myself and getting better in lots of ways every day.
But I will have to make time for improving my lock picking. I'm hopeless at it

I'm back to Days Gone as a time-filler before I get really serious about finishing Witcher 3, which I will transfer over to my new computer tonight.

Days Gone is one of those games that just slipped under the radar but is really quite excellent; I really wish they had gone ahead with the originally planned sequel, which I would have bought in a nanosecond. I've played it three times already, moving up the difficulty scale each time -- once you've completed the game you can start on a harder level with all of the gear you got in the previous game. Parts of it are quite difficult but because I know the landscape it can feel pretty zen (unless you run into a horde of 500 zombies) roaring around on a motorcycle to the next quest. I play the way I used to play Deus Ex, as a game I can go back to any number of times, playing a bit differently each time.

Right now I'm replaying Prey, the 2017 game.

For anyone who has not played, it, it's in my top 10 and I highly recommend it. It's part sneaker, part shooter, part RPG with branching character development choices. It has an intriguing mystery story line and an amazing game world. I played it three times back to back when I first got it, it's that good.

I think I played Prey 2017 twice in a row. I know I've played the original Prey game from 2006 at least 3 times. Love these games! Just don't have time for anything immersive right now.

I loved that first Prey, too. I think I went through it twice. It was very different for me at the time.

The thing I love about Prey 2017 is that you can get hopelessly lost if you venture outside. I went out to do one small quest and never did find the way back in to the Arboretum. I ended up going back in somewhere else and backtracking. Only trouble is that the Typhons respawn and I keep running out of ammo.

Yeah, that and floating around outside trying to avoid enemies and get back in! I got lost more times than once!

I've been having more trouble staying alive in this game. Needed to upgrade my guns, always the low-tech solution. And I absolutely love that Typhon power that allows you to turn into a mimic/coffee cup/ rolling oxygen tank etc. I think I'll upgrade that one all the way this time. I just realized that you can turn yourself into a working turret.

I don't think I ever changed myself into a turret, but a definitely possibility for the next playthrough!

Trouble is, I'm enjoying myself so much I haven't done the last of the early packing and now I have to scrunch it all in today.

LOL! I don't find that to necessarily be a bad thing! Sometimes your brain just NEEDS a break, scrunching be dam*ed!

Would you believe I am playing Tomb Raider 3 on my old Sony Vaio desktop computer! I'm in the jungle right now...still have the original game disk too! What's amazing is I still remember parts of the game!

Gerry

Gerry, sometimes I just want to play something easy to give my brain a rest and going back to the classicgames is the way to do that. Recently I tried to play Thief and Deus Ex GOTY but alas they no longer work properly on modern computers, so I rolled a few BG characters instead and played for a few hours. I won't finish the game, of course, but it's fun to have it sitting there on my computer and peck away at it when I'm bored.

Thief and Deus Ex GOTY both will work properly on newer computers but not without, in most cases, the use of third-party programs and a lot of tweaking - and if one can't/won't do that, unfortunately you will probably run into issues.

I can't believe that Baldur's Gate 3 is so close to its release date!

Thief and Deus Ex GOTY run but they are so dark it's impossible to play and adjusting the gamma on both the game and my computer changed nothing. I know there are tweaks out there but it seems too difficult to deal with. I have an older Dell computer that might still run them if I ever get the urge again. It's sad, though, since these are two of my favourite games of all time.

Hagatha I haven't played Thief in years. I'll have to find it in my stack of old games. Not sure if it will work...it always had "glitches" when I played it years ago.

I remember MANY years ago many of us on the old Adventure Company forums were playing Dracula The Last Sanctuary. Parts of it were also very dark and it was hard to move around. A woman and her daughter solved it by putting a heavy blanket over their heads to block out all ambient light and played that way! The picture in my head was hilarious!

Hagatha, there are also fan patches out there to fix the issue you described. Fortunately with most of these problems there are dedicated fans out there who are also good at troubleshooting and programming that are bound and determined to get around these obstacles with older games. Without them, there are quite a few older games I continue to play that would otherwise be nearly impossible to get running. My hat (if I wore one) is off to these people.

Totally agree with doffing a hat to the folks who keep the older games running. Whenever I'm sort of down, I usually throw on the first Neverwinter Nights. There's something about the narration and voicing in that game that makes me feel all warm and homey. It's amazing that you can still play coop and get mods for a 20+ year old game.

I played Thief and Thief 2 fan missions for a great many years thanks to TTLG and the modders there. Some of them were epic, with multiple episodes and long story lines.

Starting up Baldur's Gate III again since the production release. WOW! What a beautiful game!

Larian continues to impress, already two patches since the original release containing both bug fixes and content suggested by the gaming community.

I loved the Thief games and am about ready to start one again. I am playing Subnautica now. It is great game for exploring the ocean and crafting items like the seamoth, which zips around and under the ocean like a sports car. Great fun.

Hi Pokey...long time no see. How are you doing?

Gerry

Good to see you here, Pokey.

I was thinking the other day about all the great discussions we used to have here in the Darkside forum about the Might and Magic games among others, and the group playthroughs. I miss those days. It was so much fun!

I actually took two days off from working on gardens and canning and did a little gaming in Assassin's Creed Unity. I got this game for free a long time ago and it's been installed, but I've hardly played it. I got far enough that I'm finally starting to enjoy it!

I'm doing good, Gerry. Getting old but still getting around and playing games. Yes, Marian, those were great days playing games with others. I recently finished up Gothic 2 NOTR for the third time. This latest version was a lot harder than the one I remember. I do check in to Gameboomers pretty often to see what is going on. I've had trouble signing in, so haven't been posting. It did work this time---so I'm back for now.

Hey, Pokey! Great to see you here.

Pokey, you can ask Ana (BrownEyedTigre) about sign-in issues, should it continue to happen. I am glad that it worked this time for you!

The original Gothic is being remastered and should be out one of these days - I mention this in case you don't know that is in the offing.

I absolutely enjoyed the original Gothic - so much indeed that even the jumping etc didn’t deter me

(Liked the ones that came after as well !!)

I am very interested in the re-make 🤞

I loved the Gothic games. Played them each several times.

Hey Pokey, great to see you on the forum again!