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STEAM 2013 Announcements & Updates VIII - Don't ask when the sales are starting.

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Acccent

Member
Old Sierra/Dynamix game from 20 years ago.

My dad played it when I was younger (before Tomb Raider made him give up on videogames entirely and never touch one ever again), and I remember some parts of it, the really weird amosphere and music, I have some memory flashes of really strange moments... I should replay it myself sometime, but I'm afraid it'll ruin my romanticized recollections
 

Arthea

Member
Only the first one. I love Asimov and I own two other books in the series, but I want to read them in release order. I haven't been able to track the ones I'm missing yet.

I haven't read anything by Ray Bradbury either, though I started The Martian Chronicles thrice.

Asimov isn't easy to read, he tends to use too many words to say what can be said in few, but foundation is entertaining.
Why would you drop The Martian Chronicles three times? Holy smoke!
 

Milamber

Member
Only the first one. I love Asimov and I own two other books in the series, but I want to read them in release order. I haven't been able to track the ones I'm missing yet.

I haven't read anything by Ray Bradbury either, though I started The Martian Chronicles thrice.

The entire Foundation series starts with Robots, like so...

The Robot Series
The Empire Series
The Foundation Series

Read order follows, as given by Asimov himself...

(1) The Complete Robot - (1982) - The Complete Robot is a collection of thirty-one robot short stories published between 1940 and 1976 and includes every story in my earlier collection I, Robot (1950). Only one robot short story has been written since this collection appeared. That is Robot Dreams, which has not yet appeared in any Doubleday collection.
(2) The Caves of Steel - (1954) - This is the first of my robot novels.
(3) The Naked Sun - (1957) - The second robot novel.
(4) The Robots of Dawn - (1983) - The third robot novel.
(5) Robots and Empire - (1985) - The fourth robot novel.
(6) The Currents of Space - (1952) - This is the first of my Galactic Empire novels.
(7) The Stars, Like Dust - (1951) - The second Galactic Empire novel.
(8) Pebble in the Sky - (1950) - The third Galactic Empire novel and first novel.
(9) Prelude to Foundation - (1988) - This is the first Foundation novel.
(10) Forward the Foundation - (1993) - This is the second Foundation novel. [ this title was not in Asimov's original list; list positions adjusted ]
(11) Foundation - (1951) - The is the third Foundation novel but most of the world knows this book as the first book of the "Foundation Trilogy". Actually, it began as a collection of four short stories, originally published between 1942 and 1944, plus an introductory section written for the book in 1949.
(12) Foundation and Empire - (1952) - This is the fourth Foundation novel, made from of two short stories, originally published in 1945.
(13) Second Foundation - (1953) - This is the fifth Foundation novel, made from two short stories, originally published in 1948 and 1949.
(14) Foundation's Edge - (1982) - This is the sixth Foundation novel.
(15) Foundation and Earth - (1986) - This is the seventh Foundation novel.



Good luck!
 

Turfster

Member
My dad played it when I was younger (before Tomb Raider made him give up on videogames entirely and never touch one ever again), and I remember some parts of it, the really weird amosphere and music, I have some memory flashes of really strange moments... I should replay it myself sometime, but I'm afraid it'll ruin my romanticized recollections

It was a pretty weird game, yes.
Still, younger!me had fun with it, although I found it slightly too "Myst"-y.
 

Pehesse

Member
Anyone here played Rama, the game? Inspired by the novel I think.

I have fond memories of it : it had a super creepy atmosphere (the
museum with your fellow crewmembers
comes to mind), but it had also the sort of super-hard puzzles like calculus in base 21 or something... (kind of like Riven with the alphabet in a sense). I thought the ending segment
with the bombs timer giving you limited time to finish exploring the ship - unless you knew the right codes, in which case you could imput them right away
was quite thrilling as well... but then again, I was so young, maybe I colored those memories, so I should really play it again now with more point-and-click experience under the belt to see if it holds up.
It made me want to read the books though, and I loved the first two (french edition, there were 5 of those). The other three, not so much, but those first two... Ah, memories !

Point and click related, I pushed back playing The Last Express until very recently and loved it. I saw there was a re-release on Steam : is it based on the Ipad version or something ? Does it make the game worth playing through another time if the last time was within the last few months, or should I wait ?
 

Tellaerin

Member
Asimov's writing is wooden. So wooden. : / He was great when it came to mysteries and logic puzzles, but convincing characterization and natural-sounding dialogue were never his strong points, IMO. (Yeah, I know it's sacrilege. Can't help it, though. Even as a kid, my tastes in sf ran more toward Niven (Known Space <3) and Zelazny.)
 
The entire Foundation series starts with Robots, like so...

The Robot Series
The Empire Series
The Foundation Series

Read order follows, as given by Asimov himself...

(1) The Complete Robot - (1982) - The Complete Robot is a collection of thirty-one robot short stories published between 1940 and 1976 and includes every story in my earlier collection I, Robot (1950). Only one robot short story has been written since this collection appeared. That is Robot Dreams, which has not yet appeared in any Doubleday collection.
(2) The Caves of Steel - (1954) - This is the first of my robot novels.
(3) The Naked Sun - (1957) - The second robot novel.
(4) The Robots of Dawn - (1983) - The third robot novel.
(5) Robots and Empire - (1985) - The fourth robot novel.
(6) The Currents of Space - (1952) - This is the first of my Galactic Empire novels.
(7) The Stars, Like Dust - (1951) - The second Galactic Empire novel.
(8) Pebble in the Sky - (1950) - The third Galactic Empire novel and first novel.
(9) Prelude to Foundation - (1988) - This is the first Foundation novel.
(10) Forward the Foundation - (1993) - This is the second Foundation novel. [ this title was not in Asimov's original list; list positions adjusted ]
(11) Foundation - (1951) - The is the third Foundation novel but most of the world knows this book as the first book of the "Foundation Trilogy". Actually, it began as a collection of four short stories, originally published between 1942 and 1944, plus an introductory section written for the book in 1949.
(12) Foundation and Empire - (1952) - This is the fourth Foundation novel, made from of two short stories, originally published in 1945.
(13) Second Foundation - (1953) - This is the fifth Foundation novel, made from two short stories, originally published in 1948 and 1949.
(14) Foundation's Edge - (1982) - This is the sixth Foundation novel.
(15) Foundation and Earth - (1986) - This is the seventh Foundation novel.



Good luck!

And I assume another one is captured by Asimov now.
 

Arthea

Member
Asimov's writing is wooden. So wooden. : / He was great when it came to mysteries and logic puzzles, but convincing characterization and natural-sounding dialogue were never his strong points, IMO. (Yeah, I know it's sacrilege. Can't help it, though. Even as a kid, my tastes in sf ran more toward Niven (Known Space <3) and Zelazny.)

Asimov isn't the best writer, but Zelazny is even worse, he likes repeating things, describing surroundings for pages at no end, etc. Although I do like themes of his works (><)
And Ringworld is like soup opera incarnate, if we talk about Niven.
If you want to know my opinion, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanis&#322;aw Lem and Orson Scott Card are worth reading. David Brin is good too.
Then again, different tastes and all that.

Stuff I can vouch for with my life:
Roadside Picnic

That's great read, I can confirm.
 

Arthea

Member
Not sure how the translation quality is for his works... They have shitload of shitloads of puns/wordplays/neologisms.

I can read in Polish, actually could, haven't done it for years, so it's no problem for me. He can be scary or hilarious or serious or sarcastic, a great writer.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.

awinnerisme8rsbf.jpg


ace-ventura-hump.gif
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Someone photoshop Saiorse into that gif.

Also, dat Ubisoft QUALITY ordering:

3 -> 4 -> 1 -> 2.5 -> 2 -> 3.5 -> 2.75

It's not so much the order that bothers me (due to Brotherhood, Liberation and Revelations not being numbered, they're fated to be misplaced) but rather the inconsistency in naming schemes: 3 and 4 use an acute accent rather than apostrophe, and 3 in particular is the only entry with a registered trademark symbol.

I mean on steam, for Jasec to play, preferably with cards. ;)

There kindasorta is.

JaseC seems more like an Aussie Rules Footy kind of guy.

Aussie Rules > All other rules.

He better stream it if he ever plays (jase playing a game, never!).

Haha, I couldn't stream it now even if I wanted to due to my crippled upload speed (0.384Mbit), but once I get around to switching ISPs I'll receive a bump up to 1Mbit.

Edit: The other day, somebody linked me to a video of the game that perfectly encapsulates just how unfinished it is, but I can't seem to find it. :(
 

Tellaerin

Member
Asimov isn't the best writer, but Zelazny is even worse, he likes repeating things, describing surroundings for pages at no end, etc. Although I do like themes of his works (><)
And Ringworld is like soup opera incarnate, if we talk about Niven.
If you want to know my opinion, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanis&#322;aw Lem and Orson Scott Card are worth reading. David Brin is good too.
Then again, different tastes and all that.

I always liked the mythic and literary allusions in Zelazny's work, and he was an author who could write convincing characters. (Strong characterization and natural-sounding dialogue hold more weight than clever logic problems and puzzle box plots for me, though I know that's a matter of personal taste. Some people enjoy sf, particularly classic sf, for exactly those qualities, and that's perfectly valid.)

Niven's Known Space stuff is space opera, without a doubt. But it's good space opera. His characters are believable, he can write natural-sounding dialogue, and he's good with big picture concepts. It doesn't hurt that the man knows science (and isn't afraid to use it).

I liked OSC's stuff, but his homophobic leanings have really turned me off of him as a writer and a human being. : / The only Lem I've read was Tales of Pirx the Pilot (which I enjoyed), back when I was in my teens. As for David Brin, I must have everything he's ever written sitting on my bookshelf. : )

As far as other sf authors I like, there are probably too many for me to list here. >.> I'm a big fan of Alastair Reynolds. C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series is a favorite of mine. So are Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, particularly the first two books. (There are times when I think he'd've been done better to just end the series with The Fall of Hyperion.) Everything William Gibson does is golden, whether we're talking about his cyberpunk or post-cyberpunk oeuvre.

Sorry for the derail, folks. Guess I'm just happy to discover that there is a sf-GAF. :p
 
Since everyone's talking SF books, I'd just like to say that I finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for the first time yesterday. I quite enjoyed it! Now to watch Blade Runner , which I have never seen. I know there's a couple different versions (Director's Cut, Final Cut) but which is the best one to watch?
 

Turfster

Member
Since everyone's talking SF books, I'd just like to say that I finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for the first time yesterday. I quite enjoyed it! Now to watch Blade Runner , which I have never seen. I know there's a couple different versions (Director's Cut, Final Cut) but which is the best one to watch?
I... you... what... how...
Final Cut is the one you want.
 

Arthea

Member
I always liked the mythic and literary allusions in Zelazny's work, and he was an author who could write convincing characters. (Strong characterization and natural-sounding dialogue hold more weight than clever logic problems and puzzle box plots for me, though I know that's a matter of personal taste. Some people enjoy sf, particularly classic sf, for exactly those qualities, and that's perfectly valid.)

Niven's Known Space stuff is space opera, without a doubt. But it's good space opera. His characters are believable, he can write natural-sounding dialogue, and he's good with big picture concepts. It doesn't hurt that the man knows science (and isn't afraid to use it).

I liked OSC's stuff, but his homophobic leanings have really turned me off of him as a writer and a human being. : / The only Lem I've read was Tales of Pirx the Pilot, back when I was in my teens (which I enjoyed). As for David Brin, I must have everything he's ever written sitting on my bookshelf. : )

As far as other sf authors I like, there are probably too many for me to list here. >.> I'm a big fan of Alastair Reynolds. C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series is a favorite of mine. So are Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, particularly the first two books. (There are times when I think he'd've been done better to just end the series with The Fall of Hyperion.) Everything William Gibson does is golden, whether we're talking about his cyberpunk or post-cyberpunk oeuvre.

Sorry for the derail, folks. Guess I'm just happy to discover that there is a sf-GAF. :p

I can relate, Zelazny does have likeable characters for the most part, only if his writing style was a little more refined and better, he would be one of my favourites.
Niven is in "nope" category for me.
I don't really care much about later OSC books. His Ender's series are good, even great.
Finally I meet another Brin fan! Uplift is wonderful, isn't it?
I think, I only have read House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds and I wasn't really impressed that much. It wasn't bad though.
Hyperion (both books) is another favourite of mine, but does Simmons dropped a ball with Endymion, it's plain bad (both books). We agree on that too.
Not really fan of William Gibson, I even didn't like Neuromancer and I like cyberpunk in general. I think he's overdoing cyber and drugs part.

I would very much advise reading The Futurological Congress by Lem, translation is good and is short and hilarious. I've read it in two languages actually.

Sorry for derailing thread too.

Lem is seriously underread.
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub is a masterpiece.

I know! Most of his books are masterpieces, seriously, and he was translated a lot, still not read enough.
 
I... you... what... how...
Final Cut is the one you want.

Exactly. I don't know either, there's tons of movies I haven't seen, like The Godfather or Rocky. But when I think about watching movies, it makes me depressed somehow. Like, if I watch a movie and I'll think it'll be over soon, similar to how you're at the end of an RPG and don't want to beat the last boss and see the ending because then you'll have to put the game away once you finish. I just solve/ignore this problem by not watching movies very often. I should, though.

And thanks! Was looking at Wikipedia and apparently the Final Cut is the only one where Ridley Scott had complete artistic freedom over.
 

FloatOn

Member
Looks like it'll be between 7.49 - 9.99 in the coming sales, which is a pretty good price for what I played. Consider it!

where do you get your info sir? I want this game for this price. I have DMC4 sitting in my library without having played it or any other game in the series. I kind of wanted to give this prequel a spin before I take a look at the rest.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
where do you get your info sir? I want this game for this price. I have DMC4 sitting in my library without having played it or any other game in the series. I kind of wanted to give this prequel a spin before I take a look at the rest.

He's referring to discounts on other sites in recent weeks, but as far as Steam itself is concerned, Steam Sales is the best resource, although unlike Steam Prices you can't switch between store regions.

Edit: More generally, IsThereAnyDeal is arguably the best resource, especially for current deals, though its pricing data doesn't have a long history.
 
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