Author Topic: how did you get intraduced to arcen?  (Read 7235 times)

Offline Cyborg

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #15 on: May 15, 2015, 06:49:28 pm »
I started with 2.x, Zenith remnant. I liked the look of AI war from the moment I saw it, but I probably danced around it for good month before I purchased it. Probably got it on sale, since that's what I usually do. What drew me in was the trailer which advertised massive amounts of ships, and it said things like 5x and 2x in relation to speed, basically showing off that it was a technically impressive gigantic space battle. Well, no lie, the thing was indeed impressive, and it could do so much. The more I played, the more little surprises I found, and I eventually made my way over here probably with some kind of question.


After that, figured out that the developers over here were human and decent people trying to make interesting, fun games. As a community, I think we all have a lot in common, and it's the only game forum I bother hanging out in with any regularity. I own all the games here except for the last Federation Betrayal expansion. I'm still trying to master the base game. The only game I bounced off of was Valley without wind, but everything else, to me, is my kind of game. I just don't do well with platforming games. I don't find that mechanic fun. Shattered haven, which deserved a better outcome, I thought was really good, and I am intending on finishing it. I put in hours, but there are a lot of missions! If any of you haven't played that yet, it's worth your time to check out on sale. It's a smart game.


My favorites in order:
Valley without wind-> Skyward collapse-> Shattered Haven-> Last Federation->Tidalis-> AI war


Because we always get a smart game, I'm curious to see where "Stars beyond reach" appears on this list. Can it compete with last Federation? For me it would be really hard to top Tidalis(Best music and art of the series is right here) and AI war (Best gameplay).
I suppose it could seem like a criticism to play favorites, but it really isn't. I admire all these titles, and because I hang out here so much, I'm well aware of the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into making these kinds of titles. Nothing but admiration for the team, and I am going to stick around here if for no other reason than curiosity as to what could be created with this studio. Oh yeah, and the people rock here, also.

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« Last Edit: May 15, 2015, 06:52:22 pm by Cyborg »
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Offline wwwhhattt

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #16 on: May 16, 2015, 11:32:45 pm »
2009 was the year I got back into PC gaming via indie games, so I probably heard about AI War back when it was released (almost certainly through indiegames.com) - I remember trying a demo out at some point and deciding that some day I'd learn how to play it. Certainly by the time Valley started getting publicity I knew about AI War, and tried out (and bounced off of) the Valley demo when it arrived.

According to steam I bought the 2011 AI War bundle (but didn't get out of the tutorial), and got the rest of their games in a sale a bit later. Skyward Collapse was the first game I got near it's release and after that I've bought just about everything in its release period (some expansions had to wait).

As for the forums, I'd been looking over here once or twice a year to read about whatever games were being made (something I've never really done anywhere else, probably because of the amount of info Chris and that post here), but only signed up a year ago because my USB ports broke, rendering Bionic Dues really inaccessible.

And I finally played my first AI War campaign a few months ago.

Offline Draco18s

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #17 on: May 17, 2015, 10:26:04 am »
I can't tell you when I bought AI War, because I did so via... Stardock? using a coupon (they sent me a coupon for 20% off anything on their store and my friend was like, "AI War.  You won't regret it, also Startdock's the one eating the $5 because it's good for anything, so Arcen will still get their full cut").

I can tell you that Steam recorded that I achieved my Double Godlike on April 15, 2010 @ 8:48pm.  Which it also recorded as my first win.  And I know for a fact that that was Version 3.x, because the look-and-feel of the game was the same then as it is now and the first time I played it was vastly different.

Faux edit: ha, found the "thanks for your purchase" email.  10/13/09 at 6:06pm.  X or Keith might know what version was live around that time.

Offline Misery

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2015, 03:09:39 am »

And now I'm here on these forums most days.  Though not over the past couple weeks or so, because of IRL derpage.  I hate this time of year, I really do....  At least over the weekend I think I can get back to testing now.  I've not been too useful yet in this one as a result.
I'm glad your going to be getting back into this to be honest I was kind of worried about you.(sorry if that sounds weird but its the truth)

Yeah, it wasnt anything major keeping me away.  Well, it IS majorly annoying, at least.  It's the time of year when my pain level is at it's highest (yay, time for more super strong painkillers, ugh) and I cant do mouse-based gaming much at all when my arm is flared up.  I try to avoid doing too much typing when that's going on too.  But it's better currently (for now).

.....also I was being distracted by Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, because that game is a freaking addiction. 

Offline Shrugging Khan

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2015, 05:09:04 am »
I read about AIW on RPS, was intrigued, pirated AIW 3.0, didn't get what I expected from having read about it, stopped looking at it for a while, re-tried without trying to make it suit my expectations, fell in love, bought it a few times over.

Just my normal circle of getting to know a good game  :o

So far, AIW has been the only Arcen game that really did anything for me, but I'm still buying everything the company makes. If I don't like it, I give it to others. Either way, I've fallen for them  :D
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Offline Brenda_Webb

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #20 on: May 18, 2015, 05:33:01 am »
My brother, who is (or at least considers himself to be) the biggest gamer in the family. He introduced me to it.

Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #21 on: May 18, 2015, 11:06:55 am »

And now I'm here on these forums most days.  Though not over the past couple weeks or so, because of IRL derpage.  I hate this time of year, I really do....  At least over the weekend I think I can get back to testing now.  I've not been too useful yet in this one as a result.
I'm glad your going to be getting back into this to be honest I was kind of worried about you.(sorry if that sounds weird but its the truth)

Yeah, it wasnt anything major keeping me away.  Well, it IS majorly annoying, at least.  It's the time of year when my pain level is at it's highest (yay, time for more super strong painkillers, ugh) and I cant do mouse-based gaming much at all when my arm is flared up.  I try to avoid doing too much typing when that's going on too.  But it's better currently (for now).

.....also I was being distracted by Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, because that game is a freaking addiction.
I'm sorry if I sound intrusive but what exactly is wrong with your arm? also I've heard binding of Isaac is pretty good and I've been sorta meaning to get into it but I haven't really mainly because I don't have the time for it at the moment between my current testing ftl and  hearthstone.(although I'm kind of losing interest in it at the moment in till at least the face bullshit ends and fun decks start being used again)
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Offline Misery

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #22 on: May 18, 2015, 12:05:57 pm »

And now I'm here on these forums most days.  Though not over the past couple weeks or so, because of IRL derpage.  I hate this time of year, I really do....  At least over the weekend I think I can get back to testing now.  I've not been too useful yet in this one as a result.
I'm glad your going to be getting back into this to be honest I was kind of worried about you.(sorry if that sounds weird but its the truth)

Yeah, it wasnt anything major keeping me away.  Well, it IS majorly annoying, at least.  It's the time of year when my pain level is at it's highest (yay, time for more super strong painkillers, ugh) and I cant do mouse-based gaming much at all when my arm is flared up.  I try to avoid doing too much typing when that's going on too.  But it's better currently (for now).

.....also I was being distracted by Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, because that game is a freaking addiction.
I'm sorry if I sound intrusive but what exactly is wrong with your arm? also I've heard binding of Isaac is pretty good and I've been sorta meaning to get into it but I haven't really mainly because I don't have the time for it at the moment between my current testing ftl and  hearthstone.(although I'm kind of losing interest in it at the moment in till at least the face bullshit ends and fun decks start being used again)

It's nerve pain, mostly.  Which is very annoying as it's hard to tell where it's even actually at.  For example, you could have a nasty pain in your hand, but trying to deal with that doesnt do a thing, because the ACTUAL spot it's from is up in your shoulder.  That sort of thing.  If you've ever heard of someone having sciatica problems (some sort of nerve very low in the spine), which can cause horrible shooting pains down your leg... enough to stop you from walking just because it hurts that freaking much (had that one too, for awhile), it's kinda like that.   

And along with that is tendon pain and related issues.  Too much of certain motions causes my right arm to flare up, in a similar way to how carpal tunnel works, kinda.  It's alot better than it used to be... there was a period of about a year where I didn't use the mouse for gaming AT ALL because it'd get bad immediately, and I ended up using the controller to control the keyboard and mouse inputs for many games (such as Minecraft, which I got so used to that if I now play it with the keyboard and mouse, I fall off of cliffs over and over or uncoordinated things like that) during that time.  But I've had physical therapy for some time now, so many things are alot better.  That, and pain pills, cyclobenzaprine and Tramadol.

Buuuuuut, because argh, I've also got a bit of arthritis and such around my neck/shoulder (which then contributes to the flare-up; and I'm still young, by the way, shouldnt be even close to having that, but there it is.  Feh), and the other issues there, the weather around here at this time of year, because of the barometric whatsits going bonkers (it storms often here), means that I get the pain really easily right now.  Cant do much about it aside from complain about the bloody weather.  Or at least that's the basics of how it works; my therapist understands alot more and explained in detail, none of which I understood, haha.

So yeah, it was kinda unpleasant over the last month so I havent done much of the mouse stuff, which is kinda annoying. 



Now as for Binding of Isaac, yeah, it's freaking fantastic.  I consider it one of the best games, period.   And I never say something like that lightly.   Uses alot of ideas taken from the very first Legend of Zelda, and the levels play out like the dungeons in that game, except that it's pretty much also a roguelike, as everything is randomly generated.   And kinda like some of Arcen's games it blends another genre into this, as you're shooting things (usually) and dodging stuff, while also doing classic Zelda-ish stuff like using bombs/keys/whatever.  Though what really gets me about it is how the item synergies work out.  There's no other game I can compare this to, because I"ve never seen another one manage this.  You'd have to see it for yourself to get an idea as to what I mean, but it's one of the things that makes the game amazing.  That there's 450+ different items (items mostly meaning things similar to the important things you'd find in Zelda, like the bow or whatever, things on that level, but there's other types too) and that the vast majority of them can interact with nearly all of the others just does so much cool and crazy stuff. 

I could ramble on and on about it, but suffice it to say, I highly recommend it.  Specifically Rebirth;  the original game is great and all, but Rebirth is soooooooooooo much better.  I was really surprised at just how much better it ended up being.  The amount of content in it is just staggering.  The wiki for the game says that it has a good 500+ hours of gameplay in it, and that's pretty accurate (and like with AI War you get players that'll just keep going even beyond that). 

My only problem with it:  you *need* that wiki site.  The game likes to not actually explain what the items do.  It'll give you a single sentence about it whenever you pick one up, which sometimes is obvious as to what it means, like "tears and DMG up" from a couple of simple stat-raising items, or you might get cryptic weirdness such as "tastes like burning" from a particular trinket (the match stick).  A huge part of succeeding in the game is all about making the right decisions (like choosing to take a particular item, or leave it) and it's hard to do that, or even fully use things effectively, when you have no details on just how they work.   


...and I'll stop rambling here, I've derailed it quite a bit at this point I think.  Though, this forum, somewhat par for the course, hah.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2015, 12:07:55 pm by Misery »

Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #23 on: May 18, 2015, 02:13:04 pm »

And now I'm here on these forums most days.  Though not over the past couple weeks or so, because of IRL derpage.  I hate this time of year, I really do....  At least over the weekend I think I can get back to testing now.  I've not been too useful yet in this one as a result.
I'm glad your going to be getting back into this to be honest I was kind of worried about you.(sorry if that sounds weird but its the truth)

Yeah, it wasnt anything major keeping me away.  Well, it IS majorly annoying, at least.  It's the time of year when my pain level is at it's highest (yay, time for more super strong painkillers, ugh) and I cant do mouse-based gaming much at all when my arm is flared up.  I try to avoid doing too much typing when that's going on too.  But it's better currently (for now).

.....also I was being distracted by Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, because that game is a freaking addiction.
I'm sorry if I sound intrusive but what exactly is wrong with your arm? also I've heard binding of Isaac is pretty good and I've been sorta meaning to get into it but I haven't really mainly because I don't have the time for it at the moment between my current testing ftl and  hearthstone.(although I'm kind of losing interest in it at the moment in till at least the face bullshit ends and fun decks start being used again)

It's nerve pain, mostly.  Which is very annoying as it's hard to tell where it's even actually at.  For example, you could have a nasty pain in your hand, but trying to deal with that doesnt do a thing, because the ACTUAL spot it's from is up in your shoulder.  That sort of thing.  If you've ever heard of someone having sciatica problems (some sort of nerve very low in the spine), which can cause horrible shooting pains down your leg... enough to stop you from walking just because it hurts that freaking much (had that one too, for awhile), it's kinda like that.   

And along with that is tendon pain and related issues.  Too much of certain motions causes my right arm to flare up, in a similar way to how carpal tunnel works, kinda.  It's alot better than it used to be... there was a period of about a year where I didn't use the mouse for gaming AT ALL because it'd get bad immediately, and I ended up using the controller to control the keyboard and mouse inputs for many games (such as Minecraft, which I got so used to that if I now play it with the keyboard and mouse, I fall off of cliffs over and over or uncoordinated things like that) during that time.  But I've had physical therapy for some time now, so many things are alot better.  That, and pain pills, cyclobenzaprine and Tramadol.

Buuuuuut, because argh, I've also got a bit of arthritis and such around my neck/shoulder (which then contributes to the flare-up; and I'm still young, by the way, shouldnt be even close to having that, but there it is.  Feh), and the other issues there, the weather around here at this time of year, because of the barometric whatsits going bonkers (it storms often here), means that I get the pain really easily right now.  Cant do much about it aside from complain about the bloody weather.  Or at least that's the basics of how it works; my therapist understands alot more and explained in detail, none of which I understood, haha.

So yeah, it was kinda unpleasant over the last month so I havent done much of the mouse stuff, which is kinda annoying. 



Now as for Binding of Isaac, yeah, it's freaking fantastic.  I consider it one of the best games, period.   And I never say something like that lightly.   Uses alot of ideas taken from the very first Legend of Zelda, and the levels play out like the dungeons in that game, except that it's pretty much also a roguelike, as everything is randomly generated.   And kinda like some of Arcen's games it blends another genre into this, as you're shooting things (usually) and dodging stuff, while also doing classic Zelda-ish stuff like using bombs/keys/whatever.  Though what really gets me about it is how the item synergies work out.  There's no other game I can compare this to, because I"ve never seen another one manage this.  You'd have to see it for yourself to get an idea as to what I mean, but it's one of the things that makes the game amazing.  That there's 450+ different items (items mostly meaning things similar to the important things you'd find in Zelda, like the bow or whatever, things on that level, but there's other types too) and that the vast majority of them can interact with nearly all of the others just does so much cool and crazy stuff. 

I could ramble on and on about it, but suffice it to say, I highly recommend it.  Specifically Rebirth;  the original game is great and all, but Rebirth is soooooooooooo much better.  I was really surprised at just how much better it ended up being.  The amount of content in it is just staggering.  The wiki for the game says that it has a good 500+ hours of gameplay in it, and that's pretty accurate (and like with AI War you get players that'll just keep going even beyond that). 

My only problem with it:  you *need* that wiki site.  The game likes to not actually explain what the items do.  It'll give you a single sentence about it whenever you pick one up, which sometimes is obvious as to what it means, like "tears and DMG up" from a couple of simple stat-raising items, or you might get cryptic weirdness such as "tastes like burning" from a particular trinket (the match stick).  A huge part of succeeding in the game is all about making the right decisions (like choosing to take a particular item, or leave it) and it's hard to do that, or even fully use things effectively, when you have no details on just how they work.   


...and I'll stop rambling here, I've derailed it quite a bit at this point I think.  Though, this forum, somewhat par for the course, hah.
1 my mother years ago had sciatica she literally couldn't go any were without a walking stick and she was 45 or 46 roughly!(ill edit this when I find out the  proper age from her)  so if what you've got is really like that then Christ that sucks(she doesn't have it any more after a surgeon got rid of the disk that was causing the problem but she got diabetes from the adrenaline shots  she had to be on YAY!)(ill edit this when I find out the  proper age from her) 2 I've seen my friend play and it definitely interests me its just that well 1 bla bla bla no time bla bla bla 2 I don't know if it'll run well enough on my laptop for me(I don't think theirs a demo will have to check that) the vague ness  doesn't bother me in the slightest its better than woody in don't starve telling me shock horror that a box is boxy.
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Offline TheVampire100

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #24 on: May 18, 2015, 05:04:42 pm »
I'm pretty much the casual Isaac player: Play a round or two and then stop for some days. A friend of me played it until he got everything (or almost everything, cannot remember) but the game never could me get into playing more than I want. The feeling of loosing everything because you stepped into a messy room wih overpowered enemies and you still having your basic tears... again is too strong for me. That's when I simply have to stop the game, playing soemthing less aweful to me.
I know Rogue likes are meant to be hard and random but I think Isaac is a bit over the top and it all comes down to your luck of "what do I get this time".

Offline Misery

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #25 on: May 19, 2015, 01:33:30 am »
I'm pretty much the casual Isaac player: Play a round or two and then stop for some days. A friend of me played it until he got everything (or almost everything, cannot remember) but the game never could me get into playing more than I want. The feeling of loosing everything because you stepped into a messy room wih overpowered enemies and you still having your basic tears... again is too strong for me. That's when I simply have to stop the game, playing soemthing less aweful to me.
I know Rogue likes are meant to be hard and random but I think Isaac is a bit over the top and it all comes down to your luck of "what do I get this time".

Doesnt come down to that as much as you'd think;  the mark of any good roguelike is that skill can always somehow triumph over the RNG, which is mostly true in that one.  I say "mostly" because there are a few, very few, extremely specific room layouts that genuinely have an element of cheapness to them.   Not the "kill you" sort, but the "you'll take at least one hit here, because derp" sort.   Fortunately with the game's extreme  amount of content, these appear quite rarely, and there's a ton of different items that can be used to protect against the stupid when they DO appear.

Beyond that though, yeah, they can always be beaten somehow.... so long as you havent made really bad decisions and created the sort of build that will screw you over (like one I had where I was firing bombs instead of tears.... which then would turn around and chase me.  Because I grabbed an item that I really shouldnt have, in the context of the other items I had at the time).

Offline crazyroosterman

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #26 on: May 19, 2015, 03:05:07 pm »
since this topics been derailed I may as well do so even more what books are you guys reading at the moment? personally I just started watershipdown.(insert name of author here later)
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Offline Mánagarmr

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #27 on: May 20, 2015, 03:10:19 am »
since this topics been derailed I may as well do so even more what books are you guys reading at the moment? personally I just started watershipdown.(insert name of author here later)
That's a good, but depressing, one. Loved it as a kid and also the movie, even though it scared the beegeezus out of me.
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Offline Misery

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #28 on: May 20, 2015, 04:59:43 am »
since this topics been derailed I may as well do so even more what books are you guys reading at the moment? personally I just started watershipdown.(insert name of author here later)

I think we're not even sure where the rail even is at this point anymore.

Offline Shrugging Khan

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Re: how did you get intraduced to arcen?
« Reply #29 on: May 20, 2015, 08:00:54 am »
I'm currently reading
From Paradise to Golgatha (Keyes)
Neuromancer (Gibson)
War and Peace (Tolstoi)
How Apollo Flew To The Moon (Woods)
Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students (Curtis)
Raufmahrtsysteme (Messerschmid & Fasoulas)
And a few others that I haven't actively read in the past week.

War and Peace I find highly overrated.
Neuromancer, on the other hand, is excellent.

The others are educational.
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