• Member Since 4th Dec, 2011
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AdmiralTigerclaw


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Jun
9th
2014

CiG Reader input... · 9:01am Jun 9th, 2014

Okay, so I'm having a devil of a time working on this next chapter. Mainly because balancing Chrysalis' personality is not easy when you're trying to entertain readers with a trip to Wal-Mart. Especially from 'Gazer's' perspective.

But I'm getting there. What I want right now though, is an opinion and feedback on thoughts.

Namely, Chrysalis' selection of video games.

To begin, the personality I'm putting together for her shows impatience in the short term (Instant gratification NOW!), but persistence and patience in her Long Game ('I'm willing to spend hours setting up my plans...') with a thrill for power.

Given this traits, I'm seeing her love of games going to those with simpler controls, but a range of gameplay types. And yes, she's getting addicted to games.

So far, my selection has been that she'll generally like tablet games, but get bored with them fast... Then move her on to platformers such as the classic Sonics and Marios. She'll (try to) play battletoads... once. That won't end well.

(It's good thing that happens early... The attempted changeling genocide of all toads everywhere will be averted in this fic.)

For more advanced games, I'm thinking her thrill of riding in the truck, and driving in general (won't spoil the current chapter), will turn into an attachment to NfS Hot Pursuit. While on the strategy side of things, she'll end up playing Star Craft, and of all things... DEFCON. (Easy interfaces, but more and more interesting plans once she gets going.)

Mainly the personality I'm trying to cater to with her game selection will be either simple, short adrenaline rushes, or distracting strategy, without being too hard or frustrating for her to win.

I want some thoughts on her gameplay addiction. It started with the tablet, but now that she's tasted electronic entertainment as a way to get rid of hours upon hours of boredom, she can't ever imagine going back. And there will be boredom. With no 'human' identity, she can't exactly go out and get a job... so she's stuck. And this is going to be an important 'tweak' to her character that helps cull her ambitions. (IoW: Video games keep the nasty Swarm Queen pacified. Her thirst for conquest restricted to the digital battleground.)

Give me your ideas.

Report AdmiralTigerclaw · 879 views · Story: Change is Good ·
Comments ( 46 )

Plague Incorporated, perhaps? Or one of the "Four-X" type of games like Crusader Kings or Civilization?

Frozen Synapse, Civilization, Sins of a Solar Empite are pretty strategic.

You can never go wrong with The Sims... especially with cheat codes, especially when it comes to letting her manipulate characters, I see her having a character married to one person with like 8 sims being strung along.

Team Fortress 2, quick rounds, some gore, and a lot of comic scenarios. Perfect for the long run

Singularity.

World of Warcraft would make the most sense due to the extra free time. Civilization would also work for the same reasons.

Inb4 someone suggests Minecraft.
Perhaps witnessing Chrysalis lord over testificates, while trying not to starve to death would make for a funny paragraph or two.

Any Total War game would be something she could relate to I would think, I can imagine her plotting the downfall of kings and truly enojying it.

She might also jump on the sandbox wagon (Minecraft, Terraria, Prison Archtect), that is a timesink that anybody could be caught in if you have the free time.

Supreme Commander. Throwing thousands upon thousands of units at each other into a meat grinder might be pretty appealing.

2190532
Hearts of Iron or Europa Universalis if those aren't complex enough for her, but her impatience might put these two out of her interest. I tried Hearts of Iron III and found it unfriendly to the user.

Civilization seems about right, it definitely gets along well with megalomania. There's even a selection of pony mods on Steam Workshop, including Changelings. She might also enjoy tactical shooters like Rainbow Six.

I imagine Chrysalis wouldn't handle cooperative games well unless her team was willing to follow her orders and able to win. I can see her trying League of Legendsor Battlefield and losing her temper when people won't obey her.

2190614
Oh damn, completely forgot Europa Universalis.
E: There's also the XCOM series.

I could see her getting into a classic turn-based strategy game as well. Throw some Disgaea at her. Playing as the ruler of the Netherworld would probably appeal to her.

She might also end up getting into the shooters. Halo, Gears of War, that sort of thing.

Hmm, I have some suggestions.

Civilisation is certainly one, the "one more turn" mentality should keep her occupied for nights to come (and drive Gazer up the walls)
Other suggestions would be Stealth/Infiltration games like the Metal Gear Sold and Splinter Cell series.
On this level R.U.S.E. should also catch her attantion. Combining massive scale strategy with with deception and misinformation is pretty much her forté

I'll be fair that I don't know much about the game (having never played it) but what about Prototype? From what I understand it's basically the perfect game for going completely crazy evil, given that seemingly the whole point of it is to consume and destroy people and grow stronger and do evil stuff.

Admittedly I could be completely wrong. I've only heard talk about it through the grapevine after all, but if I'm anywhere close it seems like the perfect kind of power-mad game for her to play.

2190656

As a (huge) fan of the MGS series, I don't think that's the sort of thing her personality type would take well. You're constantly at a disadvantage in those games and are constantly in a struggle to remain hidden as opposed to conquering your foes. Plus with her lack of knowledge about the human world being a thing, I'm not sure she'd fully understand the gravity of Snake's missions and would be thus less enamored with the story being told.

What about 4X games? I think that would suit her much better than the RTSs.

Civilization, the Total War games... those seem like they might really draw her in, as they give her the ability to throw together grand, long-term plans. The other interesting thing about Civilization is that the best way to win in Civilization tends NOT to be conquering everyone else; that's a lot of work and gets very tedious, as well as being potentially risky. Building up your own civilization while avoiding wasting too many resources on war can really help you out. This could potentially also potentially accidentally teach her a lesson.

DEFCON is an interesting game, but I don't think she'd particularly like it because you can't actually WIN at DEFCON - you just lose less than everyone else. Plus, honestly, I've never really found it to be all that deep - yeah, there's some stuff to it, but it is pretty limited in a lot of ways.

StarCraft and Starcraft 2, and RTSs in general, might annoy her because they're very APM intensive - there is quite a bit of strategy there, and they're multiplayer games so you get to triumph over the enemy, but there's a lot of twitch involved as well, and also a lot of rote memorization that I'm not sure she'd be eager to engage in - Starcraft seems like it would upset her as she lost to rushes before she got to play the "real game".

Civ 5, TF2, portal, plants vs zombies, the incredible machine (I see gazer having this one already) and the binding of isaac for no reason except its a personal fav of mine :derpytongue2:

I'd vote against pure multiplayer titles. The more time she spends online, the more likely she would be exposed to ponies before she's supposed to be. Games where you can easily upload content (Source Engine sprays come to mind) would also be bad. I'm assuming this is taking place either now or next Sunday AD due to the Galaxy Tab 2 being one or two upgrades old, so one could be reasonably sure one would be exposed to ponies to the internet through user generated comment, avatar pictures, and sprays.

What about trying a Fallout game? Mostly just because the oscilloscope cover reminds me of a Pip Buck Boy 3000.

Hmm simple games with long term strategy. I get the feeling she also wouldn't like any sort of random chances in her game (ie playing civ and spearmen beating tanks).

Even though it isn't simple, having her play Crusader Kings 2 would be pretty fun. All the sneaky underhanded trechery a shapeshifting queen could want.

For actually simple with grand strategy, Civ games, Sins of a Solar Empire, Total War games. XCOM might be another, though it's less grand strategy and more tactical strategy.

2190714

I'm liking your thoughts on this Titanium. Chrissy might 'poke' at Civ V, and the next thing Gazer knows, she's been up for two days straight playing as Marathon... Now I envision him picking her up and tucking her in after she falls asleep at the keyboard. (A 'dawwww' moment.)

Chrissy: *Mumble* "I'll... get you, ... Monty..."

Toby(Gazer): =3

Plus it helps her more effectively view the life of a civilization in a condensed perspective.

So between video games and an environmental science class, her outlook gets warped... But in a good way.

On top of that, just the thought of her making a comment: 'Ponies need to hurry up and develop digital technology so I can play more games. ... Because the best way to keep Changeling Queens like myself from launching a campaign of conquest, is to distract them with all kinds of little toys. Especially if they can simulate conquest.'

What about something like Dwarf Fortress. I mean, if there's a way to get around the whole low-tier graphics thing and it's amazing complexity, it makes for a lovely way to build giant monuments and write sweeping epics.

2190864 I was about to suggest that myself. Hmmm... Maybe she could secretly be the one who came up with the whole "Mermaid Farming" thing.

I'll agree that Civ would be pretty good. Just remember, it's not a proper civ game if Gandhi doesn't nuke someone...

I also think Portal would be amusing, just to see her reaction to GLaDOS

What?


With steam you and her taste for conquest. You have got to introduce her to Age of Empires II. And... (Okay I am going to cut that off there before I turn this into a soap box on how amazing it is.)

As for other games. Empire Total War, or Napoleon Total War would work, maybe even Europa Universalis IV would work. Controls are easier then past games, and is a little more in depth then the total war series. Also It can be like Empire only, it is real time and not turn based, and It can be addictive, one more territory, let me core this one last providence.

These guys just cut off my trade, I will show them why that is not a good idea. ((Err, yeah a bit addidicted to that game as well. But if you have to pick one, AoE II for the win.))

And don't say that it won't work, Steam has it in HD, duel monitor, and compatible with everything up to Windows 8.

Fistful of Frags since its free, and similar to TF2 in which the only goal is to kill everything that moves.
Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Planetary Annihilation, and other strategy games. World of Tanks is relatively easy to get into, but it requires being patient and not charging into the battlefield like a lunatic.
I suggest against Dwarf Fortress.

Attempt #1

I have successfully integrated the human computer's external interface to my systems and have and reviewed the games instructions.

I have selected an area with a difficulty worthy of a Dalek Supreme, chosen my supplies and am now in the process of-WHERE DID THAT LAVA COME FROM?

Attempt #2

This Fortress has been relocated into a colder climate. I am now in the process of digging a-SWIM YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN INTELLIGENT BEING! SWIM!

Attempt #3

WHERE DID THREE MILLION CATS COME FROM? HOW CAN THEY FIT INTO A CAGE! AND WHY DO THE HAVE THE SAME EFFECT AS A THERMOBARIC BOMB! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! EXPLAAAIIIINNNN!

Attempt #4

[UNINTELLIGIBLE SOUNDS OF INTENSE RAGE.]

Attempt #5

HOW CAN A CREATURE LIKE THAT EVEN EXIST, LET ALONE SLAUGHTER THESE INCOMPETENTS? WHY IS THERE NO FUNCTION TO EXECUTE MY MILITARY COMMANDERS? AND HOW CAN SOMEONE INGEST FOOD WHILE A MONSTER MADE OF FLAMING VOMIT IS TEARING THEM TO SHREDS! EXPLAAAAAAIIIIIIINN!

Attempt #6

Fortress has been successful, although the denizen's ability to ignore fire is disturbing. This is likely some sort of programing erro- NO! YOU ARE NOT THIRSTY! YOU DO NOT REQUIRE ALCOHOL! OBEY! OBEEEYYY!

Homura heard Dalek Sec long before she reached the warehouse; it was a sound of unending frustration and anger, long ago rendered incoherent and void of meaning.

She continued on her way, reaching the warehouse and giving a polite knock on the steel roll-up door. There was silence on the other end, before the curtain was rolled upwards by electric motors, revealing Dalek Sec, who was in the process of furiously shaking an old monitor.

Instant gratification? Achievement Unlocked flash game series, or maybe Infectonator. Heh.

Hmm. For consoles... Duck hunt. Seriously though I'd like to see her reactions to FlOw, Journey and Flower.

Tetris is fun, but not sure how she'd take it.
RTS would definitely be a genre that she'd initially like playing, but unless she gets a good APM, she'll dislike losing. kekeke
MOBAs require too much cooperation. I can see her ordering her team around, only to get reported as a toxic feeder.
4X turn based I would think would be best for conquering, though it'd be interetsting to see her play Overlord.
I really want to see her play Sims. "Dance my puppets!" Or maybe Portal, with GLaDOS insulting her a lot.

On the one hand a good horror game like Amnesia: The Dark Descent or one of the better Silent Hills could give her some perspective on what its like to be the helpless civilian against an army of monsters. On the other hand I'm not sure she'd have enough patience to get through the slower tension building parts that all the best of them have. Perhaps the Dead Space Triliogy, it gives a good feeling of loneliness and helplessness while being actiony and fast paced.

Uhm... I wonder if Chrysalis would like to play first person games like Left4Dead 2, Dishonored or Skyrim.
Especially in Dishonored, I would like to see if she kills the guards in the first level or she just slips past them... or maybe she just refuses to play a game involving murder.

Please, please, PLEASE toss some horror games at her. :D

I'm thinking Dead Space. That shit is terrifying, until you get jaded to the monsters and just shoot them to pieces like a clinical mass-killer. (and it takes about two games to get to that point)

Then she can have nightmares, and refuse to admit it, but d'aw moment anyway when Gazer catches her staying up when he's up working.

*end fanbrat-style word-vomit*

Okay how about this game, Prototype.

Not only would this game give Chrysalis an output for some of her pent up anger, but it would be the closest to being a changeling (shapeshifting) that she might experience in games.

"Yes! Flee! Flee before my power you tiny ants! Eyahahaahahahaahaahaaaaaaaa!"

The main lead up to this would be about how Chrysalis has happy dreams that night of body surfing on Twilight Sparkle's corpse while destroying all of the ponies army in a giant explosion.

Morbid yes, but so in character with the dark queen. :P

The obvious joke would be epic failing at Civilization when she tries to run it like an iron-hooved dictator and everyone revolts on her.

Mass Effect, if you want to plant an early seed of "good isn't wimpy", though the interface might be a bit complex for her attention span. A good JRPG would work as relatively laid-back strategy while also teasing her with ideas of friendship and redemption -- Chrono Trigger, Fire Emblem, or one of the SNES Final Fantasy games would work. Suikoden's tendency to portray enemies as not necessarily evil and then win them over could really start making her think about turning around. Once Gazer starts hearing her real backstory, he could pick it specifically for that.

The hard part there is that she might not have the attention span to sit through anything with enough story to hit the themes that would actually mean something.

I'm thinking one really gruesome horror game is an obligatory gag. Dead Space or Amnesia, probably. And Gazer makes her play it at night with the lights off.

A mental image that makes me smile but wouldn't be good for the story (mostly on account of being relatively niche and most of the audience wouldn't know it) would be something like one of the recent Ys games. Very simple controls, but it would kick her ass right into the ground and feed it to her the moment a boss shows up -- but does so in a way that brings out her stubborn side because she can see and analyze what she's doing wrong instead of just dying repeatedly to NES-era fake difficulty.

League of Legends could fit the bill fairly nicely, there's tons of instant gratification every time you get a kill or other important object and it has a complex meta game on several levels surrounding the game itself too, even if the individual games aren't that long.

One thing I'd suggest, even if you don't do too much with it, is that, with her self-centered-ness, boredom, and inexperience with the gaming industry, she'd initially pick a lot of games based on her "gut." Whatever looks the most interesting. Which doesn't necessarily mean that she would enjoy the actual game. So she learns to investigate what she's getting.

I think FPS and RTS, especially multiplayer, would be too frustrating for her. She might be able to go for the long game, but if she can't have fun in the short game then she's just going to break things. And I think most multiplayer FPS and RTS would require more time/effort to get good enough at than she could stomach.

After some thinking if Chrissy gets into the gaming scene she might end up on gaming forums and chat rooms where she learns about "super hard," games that only a "real gamer," can beat and she loves proving her superiority if only to herself. So while things like Dark Souls or Mike Tyson's Punch Out might not appeal to her personality she might strive to beat them just to prove that she can.

I wanna see her do something like Dark Souls.

Needs a turret defense game or two. (Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders works for both that, plus obligatory FF mention.)

Also, Earthbound or Chrono Trigger. Because classics, man.

One idea on the board to go with her desire for fast racing games... The Burnout series.

Chrissy: "OUT OF MY WAY PEASANTS!!!!"

Deus Ex might be interesting for her.
And Burnout is a good choice. Hot Pursuit, the newer versions have a similar feel. Since Criterion made it.

Since Toby/Gazer is an engineer I wouldn't be suprised if he had a SimCity game somewhere. Those could help Chrissy get a glimpse of what keeps modern human society running. She propably won't play one herself, but I could see her hovering over Tobys shoulder as he plays and question him about the things happening on screen.

I had a sudden thought, I'd love to see Chrysalis read about EVE Online and some of the social engineering going on there. Huge player faction setting up an automatic bounty system for destroying high tier mining ships? While having a strangle hold on the resources need to build said ships? Chrissy would aprove.

She'd probably surprise us all, and become addicted to Sudoku.

Another vote for Planetary Annihilation here! While I think that the Supreme Commander series has a good thought pattern behind it, the ability to bring it to multi-planet activities on top of being able spawn and control hundreds (thousands?) at a time with only power and minerals holding you back is awesome for instant battles that can become revengeful with ease. :pinkiecrazy:

If she does touch The Sims, I'd be rather shocked if she either becomes disturbingly addicted or finds it disdainfully banal.

2191105
You forgot about the first 5 times before Toby showed her the DF wiki and another 10+ fail-forts in which she curses the UI and insanely detailed requirements for a functional fort before attaining #1. ;)

2197755
The quote is actually for a dead fic featuring Dalek Sec trying to play Dwarf Fortress, and ended up violently shaking the monitor.

2197915
Reading comprehension of -1 due to mental exhaustion strikes again! :rainbowlaugh:

Starcraft 2 as a relentless barcode cheeser, playing random.

Proxy 2 rax for terran
8 pool as zerg
Cannon rush as protoss.

... Dark Souls would be delightful to see Chrissy play, in my opinion.

Oh! Dynasty Warriors as well. Because charging into enemy ranks and utterly slaughtering them is a bit cathartic.

I bet you're wondering why you have a new post on this some 40 odd weeks later. But, I'm sure something like this has happened to you. Your thoughts are drifting and for whatever reason you remember a post or conversation you had months ago and think of something absolutely perfect. Fortunately internet forums are eternal.

Chrysalis has to play Last of Us. If something like acid blooded Aliens that are 100% fictional freak her out. Imagine how bad it'll be when she finds out the cordyceps fungus is real. Although as far as humans know it mostly only affects "Hive Insects." More fun if when they get to Equestria, Gazer the gamer geek that he is realizes that his fancy new vocal cords let him do a dead ringer impersonation of a clicker.

Any Equestrian businesses that sell fungicide are about to have a record year.

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