Random Thought of the Day: PC Games Are Weird · 8:10pm May 28th, 2016
Ever had this happen to you? You like something, say, PB&J and while your friends like it as well, they are also fond of things you may find unusual such as eating their apple pie with a big ol' slice of cheddar cheese on top? You try to like it, even giving the thing a few tentative bites and while you can see the appeal, you also realize that maybe, possibly, it's just not for you.
I'm no stranger to computers myself. Even way back when I was still living in Acapulco, I'd been exposed to PCs since I was about eight years old. We(my sister and I) even had a couple of games back then. I faintly remember playing a Star Wars(maybe?) game that was in first person while my sister had a Barbie thing, where you can accessorize her and do other kinds of girly stuff.
I... kinda liked to play it too. Bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.
...
Ahem!
Anyway, even when we moved to here to the States, I kept on playing PC; I distinctly remember two games I couldn't get enough of, one being FIFA soccer and the other a Jurassic park thing that looked kinda like a board game. The simulated voice exclaiming 'Danger Zone!' is still clear and vivid in my head even if I can't recall the name of the frikkin' game. >.<
Then along came Sony with its PS2 and the possibly evil company dug its hooks deep into me, with Nintendo following soon after. PC games quickly became a thing of the past. Spyro, Pokemon, GTA, Kingdom Hearts and Marvel vs Capcom immediately became my go-to games and even now, almost fourteen years later, I've yet to touch another PC game. Hell, I even tried playing my uncle's X-Box when I was younger but by some damnable Sony sorcery, I couldn't make heads or tails of the controller and its weird buttons.
Anyway, I got a brand new laptop late last year and so I decided to take a few, tentative steps back into the world that is PC gaming. The results were... less than encouraging. First game I decided to try my hand on was Overlord 2, as I played the first game in my PS3 and enjoyed it. It became apparent quickly enough just how different a beast PC gaming is from consoles.
My thumb instinctually kept searching for an analog stick to rotate the camera and the first few minutes were a blurry, confusing mess as I tried to adjust to the novel idea of moving the cam with the mouse itself. Movement controls utterly bamboozled me. I could have gotten used to moving with the arrow keys, but using the WD... uh, two other keys I can't remember? Space bar, Shift, Ctrl. I kept on hitting the wrong keys, bumping into things, dying because I had to keep my eyes on my hands to make sure I hit the right buttons and overall playing with the prowess of a five year old. No, scratch that. A five year old could play better than me. I've been removed from the PC gaming community for so long that these new games are alien to me... at least where the controls are concerned.
After several losses and bouts of frustration, I rage quit Overlord and instead decided to try my hand at something else. I went and bought FNAF(keep in mind, all I knew about the game at this point was that it was of the horror genre) hoping it would prove a more fruitful experience. Oh, how wrong I was.
I enjoy horror and FNAF would be the... second horror game I played. Yep, I got spooked at the atmosphere and those jump scares really got to me the first few times. I died my first playthrough. And the second. And the third. And by this point in time I found myself wishing the game would give me a frikkin' clue what I was supposed to do! So to my chagrin, I had no choice but to go and look for videos that would be of help.
I haven't the faintest clue why people seem to think it necessary that they need to film their reactions at the jump scares of the game, screaming their heads off and freaking out all the while us poor sods nearly go deaf at their inane yelling. I mean what the fu--
Deep breaths... Deep breaths...
Suffice it to say, FNAF just wasn't for me either and now I can't help but wonder if PC games are something I can ever get back to. I try, I want to, but those weird ass controls are really killing it for me.
So I decided that I will give it one last try to determine whether I should continue or just lay it off entirely. I'm deciding whether I should buy Dead Space, Far Cry 3, or Dragon Age Inquisition. I've heard good things about Dark Souls from a friend of mine but since the controls are still awkward to me, I don't think I'll be able to get past the basest of enemies. Then again, if there are any PC gamers out there reading this, I'd be open to other suggestions, maybe something that'll give me the 'PC experience', if such a thing exists.
Well, we'll just have to wait and see where it goes from here. Until next time, everyone.
Well, if you try to get into PC gaming again, my dear Arre, I would highly suggest that you DON´T start with a ruthless killer like Dead Space or heaven and hell forbid, even a Souls game! Those are games that take it as a given that you can use your keyboard+mouse combo blindley (figurativley spoken).
The movement keys are W (Up), A (Left), S (Right), D (Down) by the way and Space is usualy jumping, E is Interaction/Using and R is normaly Reload/Draw or sheat a weapon.
Also, there are a lot of PC games nowadays that actualy use a controller (some X-Box thing) as main means of control instead of K+M.
Games like Dagon Age are a pretty decent start into PC gaming when your thing is RPGing, as it has a good mix of thinking and slashing, plus you can pause mid-game for tactical reasons. Makes fights a lot easier when you are able to calm down now and then.^^
Another nice start for a Beginner are of course strategy games like Command & Conguer or Warcraft. These tend to take you by the hand for the first few missions and showing you the robes before throwing you into the meatgrinder.
Hope that could help a bit friendo.
Yikes.
Yeah, I was really leaning towards Dead Space. Much as I like a challenge, I don't think I'd enjoy being butchered at the very start.
Well, since Dead Space is no longer an option--at least until I level up--I guess I'll have to start exploring other possible choices.
Command and Conquer, huh? I think I've heard of it. It's kinda sorta like Civilization, no? But is it a point and click game or do you have to make use of other keys? I wanna get my fingers used to clicking all the keys a PC gamer would normally use. Part of the reason why I couldn't get very far with overlord is that while it was fun to play, it didn't get my blood pumping as much as, say, God of War or Bioshock.
But yes, it helped a bit. Thanks :)
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Hmhm, Dead Space tends to do that. Don´t throw it outta the window just because I said it is soul crushing hard for a "console to PC convert". There is always the Easy mode to start a game with (at least I think there is, never played Dead Space much).^^
Yes, it´s kinda like Cultures, only more action based and with lots of guns, massive tanks, deadly crystals that also double as cash and one of the most charsimatic bad guys in the history of video games. Mostly you click with the mouse but you move the camera around with WASD and make use of hot-keys for your armies.
I know I'm a bit late.
You're actually pretty close. It's full name is actually Jurassic Park III: Danger Zone. I would know because I still have that game.
As for the controls thing, yeah your situation is understandable. Even though the almost constant switching that I do between console and PC comes naturally to me, I shall do what I can to help.
One of the games I recommend is Mount and Blade Warband. Seriously, that game is FUN. It's made even easier by having shortcuts but I never really used those until I got a G700s a long time ago. A mouse that has served me faithfully.
If you ever feel like your fingers are all over the place too often, I recommend a gaming mouse. My personal favorite is the G700s. A bit pricey, at first glance, but as I said before, it served me faithfully for over three years until I had to get a new one. Well, the old one works just fine, it's just that... it randomly double clicks for no reason when I'm trying to click only once. Suppose I could still program the keys to work differently if that's the case and the thought hadn't really occurred to me until recently but I've already got a new mouse. But I haven't gotten rid of the old one. I can still make use of it.
But yeah. My G700s has made gaming life on PC so much easier and fun. I can solo bosses on LOTRO that are made to be fought by twelve or sometimes twenty-four people. It's satisfying when you're a squishy light armor class.
If the main OCs of Daring and Her Human were voiced, what would they sound like?