You Won't Believe This~

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I bought the game specifically to get the FG-42...In a game...

You can use the Fg42 in at least one of the Call of Duty games as well. The WWII games in the CoD series are great, if you like old guns and enjoy FPS games, you'll love CoD. The graphics and AI in the first ones are a bit dated, but on the other hand: You can pick them up for less than $10 each on eBay. Sometimes you can even find them at Wallyworld in that price range.

Originally Posted by cirelaw

What hardware do you need beside software to play these games? Which game would select for a neophite like myself~~

IMO, PC is the best platform for FPS games, especially if you haven't tried games like this before. Aiming with the mouse is way easier than with a game controller. The first CoD games will run great on an older PC, but the later ones will of course be more demanding on your hardware. Just start with the first in the series, then work your way up until the computer bogs down...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

You can use the Fg42 in at least one of the Call of Duty games as well.

IMO, PC is the best platform for FPS games, especially if you haven't tried games like this before.

I came up through the id software games back in the '90's. Doom was released in '93 and pretty much set the bar for all computer games. As well as a lot of the other software we use every day. And even affected the way we use the Internet.

Newer games use humongous amount of CPU/GPU power, and RAM. The best way I've found to run even these games I have (Doom 3, Quake 4) on older systems is to get the most mHz CPU and the most RAM your system will handle (the motherboard sets the limits). Lately I've expanded my PCs to more than one HDD and setting up swap files on each HDD of ~650MB per HDD. Now I can up my screen res from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768 without crashing/freezing. Makes a huge difference. You also need the best video card your motherboard will accept, to take some of the load off the CPU.

I've stayed away from flight sims, and I'm not a big fan of solving mysteries or puzzles. I just like the shooters. I do have several auto race sims, centered around Grand Prix Legends and a hack of an old Nascar sim that replaces the stock cars with world sports cars and their tracks. these are amazingly detailed in the physics of the cars and the details of the tracks. When you get this far, a wheel and pedals are required.

Speaking of which, my first FPS game was Doom 2 and I could not get past the first level without being killed off. This was in 1995, no Internet yet, just BBS's. I got involved with IRC and was directed to game BBS's and finally got some help in the form of walkthroughs and cheats. I also found that a trackball (Logitech Trackman Marble) was best for me for all PC duties. Now all 4 of my PCs have Trackmans.

The learning curve for FPS games was steep for me. I still suck at it and use cheats almost exclusively. I enjoy playing the games leisurely and enjoying the scenery/surroundings.

I used to Beta test some games and even some game engines, which got me into the Beta testing community. That led to Microsoft and testing for them gets you free operating systems. Adding name brand video cards got me free games. A typical PC software game runs about $60 new.

What makes most games popular is the ability to make your own levels and play them in the game itself. At one time I made up a model of my workplace and populated it with demons from Doom 2 and played it in Doom 2 as an 'add-on' level. Kind of an architectural exercise.

You can also play against other people online, or by yourself in multi-player mode using 'bots' to simulate opponents. Fun.

I'll see if I can find CoD on eBay and pick it up.