Jimquisition: Beneath A Steel Skyrim

[Jimothy Sterling]

You know, i'd have thought that Jim would have been all over the fact that Skyrim is horribly broken, the fact that its sales success is like an invitation for devs to release games in a terrible state then fix them later, and the fact that despite having made such a buggy game, so buggy that on one platform the game literally self destructs the more its played they can still win studio of the year at the VGA's. ...But nope.

Dont get me wrong, Skyrim is a great game, but it represents a massive part of whats wrong with video game development today, and Jim is the type of journo you'd expect to point this out, yet it seems he cant see past his plush horned helmet.

 

[cardinalwiggles]

every week with the same environment (red background land) and the same characters (jim) i find my self really endearing to jim and the environments and shall probably sometime in the future get nostalgic. ahhhhhhhhhh.

 

[Bluecho]

"Such is the fate of the steak that cannot taste itself." That is deep man. I know I thank God for you every day, Jim Sterling.

Remember those old games that had a very limited environment? Resident Evil also comes to mind. Hell, RE3 used most of the same areas from RE2. And why? Cost saving. There was only so much money to be spent on creating game environments, so any time a developer could reuse existing things or fold the plot multiple times over a single area, the better.

This forced the game designers to get creative. They had to make every area able to function as the place where several story threads could happen over the course of the game. And as a result, we as players gave a crap about these places.

Something that strikes me about Team Fortress 2 is that there are only so many maps. Sure we're getting player submitted ones all the time, but the core maps are limited in number. I've spent a lot of time running around Dustbowl and Badwater Bason. And yet when I look around, the maps don't look like a linear succession of corridors. The designers took the time to add little details in the background that make them look like these places actually served a purpose. There are doors everywhere you can't enter, and windows separating the players from consoles and chairs and break rooms and rows of electric tape for the old style computers.

Sometimes, when I have a moment, I stare into these areas to see what I can notice, and I still notice new details. It feels like I'm fighting just outside of a functional workplace. And despite running around the areas for so long, or even because of it, I love them all the more.

 

[MisterM2402]

Yahtzee - 5 Days a Stranger - superb example of what he's talking about, with confined spaces and a growing familiarity. Really need to play it again. The other games in the Chzo Mythos were brilliant too, but I never completed 7 Days a Skeptic (that chase at the end was far too difficult/scary for me! )

Monkey Island 3's music and art direction are just second to none. Even if everything else sucked, it would be a fantastic game for those two things nonetheless. But everything else is JUST as fantastic, so that's a bonus hehe

 

[TheCakeisALie87]

I think that Portal is the best AAA (if you can call it that) example of this. The environments rarely change and the cast is amazingly small. Even Portal 2 pulled this off wonderfully. I still laugh at the call of the Space Sphere SPPPPPAAAAACCE!

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

I'll be honest: The opportunity for wordplay with the title was just as big a determining factor as any for using Skyrim as the comparison.

 

[vidatu]

Didn't read the thread to see if anyone else mentioned this yet, but Beneath a Steel Sky is free on Good Old Games. It really is as good as Jim says, go check it out.

 

[octafish]

For anyone interested, you can download Beneath a Steel Sky for free from GOG and ScummVM's site. While you're roaming GOG for a bit, be sure to grab yourself a free copy of Empire Earth before tomorrow.

I've been playing all sorts of genres that aren't my favorites, like point & click adventures and I've been having a blast. Last summer, I grabbed Broken Sword 1 for free when they offered it at GOG and they also offer the original game emulated in ScummVM and I'd say I prefer the pixelated original over the crisper new version. Also, there's Dragonsphere, wich I haven't played much, but looks interesting enough, also because it's made by Microprose. Then there's Ben There, Dan That, wich is quite funny, along with it's sequel, Time Gentlemen, Please!.

So yeah, I'm in a strict diet of point & click adventures at the moment.

Do yourself a favour then and check out Wadjet Eye games, they have some very interesting, thought provoking games. In fact the latest humble bundle has their Blackwell Trilogy in it if I'm not mistaken. Also don't pass up Sanitarium on GOG.

Because Jim talked about Beneath A Steel Sky on of my favorite games games ever my opinion of him has increased. snip

I know, he can't be all bad if he liked BASS.

Also as far as games with small enviroments go I think we need a Die Hard game, that seems like a safe gamble because it could make for a survival, shooter, stealth thing.
snip

You have no idea how disappointing this is to play. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard:_Nakatomi_Plaza]

 

[Lexodus]

Jim, what did you make of Dragon Age II? That was the game that came immediately to mind when you were talking about what made Beneath a Steel Sky great; I enjoyed it enough to play it through eight times, but others' praise was not so forthcoming. What about you?

 

[Gather]

Small and familar is great... Then you have Dragon Age 2. There were a (Admittedly large) handful of maps reused like something fierce. Although it could have just been an example of "what not to do".

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

You seem to have repeated the same statement three times with a little change in wording... Wonder if that should tip me off to some sarcasm or that is just an editing error...

 

[babinro]

Dear Jimquisition,

You need not look any further than Dragon Age 2. Enjoy the interesting characters and very limited environments. You're welcome.

 

[GoGrapefruit]

I played Beneath a steel Sky recently again, great game.

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

Arkham asylum had the same feeling.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Does Jim actually do any research before he makes his videos?

"Skyrim offers a level of freedom that games have never even dreamed of"... umm I can name plenty that dreamed, least of all previous TES games.

And Telltale the only studio making point & click adventures? What is he smoking? There are plenty of developers around, DOZENS if you bothered to delve below mainstream releases you'd find them.

I think Jim just wants to make videos about whatever his favorite games are at the time, and try to link them together in any way he can. He does have a point though, that bigger isn't necessarily better - and that is why Skyrim fails to compel me, because it seems to believe it is.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Jim, you ARE great and I DO thank Gawd for you. I would lend out my head for your eyeballs but my head is a bit full at the moment.

As for Beneath the Steel Sky and just about every other PnC type of game...I never grew up as a PC gamer so I missed out on about 99% of them. I remember playing Broken Sword on the GBA but not really being a big fan of that one. Aren't the Sam and Max games on the Wii at this point? As for the older PnC ones, even if I could find them would they be compatible with my computer, my OS, etc? Or is this one of those instances when you would smack me on the head and tell me that this is what Steam is for?

 

[Deacon Cole]

Is it just me, or did this episode feel rather padded? He said that smaller games can be just as compelling as Skyrim like four times or something.