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Mac+
9" monochrome
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
 
2012-02-14, 06:39

Hi all,

Old man - feeling nostalgic, has a few iTunes vouchers up his sleeve and has never played a game on the Mac.

Thinking of splurging on one or two SW type games.

Was tempted by KotOR, but I don't have any special controllers, so not sure how I'll go with rapid movement light sabre/gun battles. Plus my reflexes are slow so I doubt I'll do any good as a starter.

The other one I was considering was Empire at War because that is turn based but I have never played a strategy type of game before.

I should add, I'd probably play these alone - I have never played a game online with a team-mate before and doubt I could commit to being online at specific times.

I think Capella plays some SW games, so if she stumbles in here I'd love to hear her first hand advice. At the same time, if anybody else has some advice re these types of games, feel free to chime in.

Cheers.

All I want is a simple life
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Last edited by Mac+ : 2012-02-15 at 06:03. Reason: Capital C for Capella! (then I took a second bite and fixed some formatting and naming errors)
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Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
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2012-02-14, 09:12

You have summoned me and I have come! Sadly, there's only three SW games I can offer advice from. But you did ask about one of them!

KotOR should be perfectly fine as a game. When I first played KotOR (around '05), I had only really played the Myst series of games, Star Wars: Jedi Academy, and a bunch of educational games in the '90s. It was my first ever exposure to an RPG and all of its attendant tropes (character classes, picking your powers as you level up, assigning attributes, etc). If you've ever played either a computer-based RPG or a pen-and-paper like D&D, you should be able to figure out the mechanics a lot faster than I did. Plus, it's partially turn based. There are options in the settings to have the game pause after every turn. This freezes combat and permits you to select your next move on a specified enemy, plus lets you tab between your team members and select their moves. It allows for focus-fire and coordination that's really nice. Furthermore, in the middle of a turn you can whack spacebar and pause combat and sit around flailing about "oh what do I do?!" So honestly, it's not going to count as a "twitch" type game.

If you do go for KotOR, do. not. look. up. story. spoilers. I swear, just PM me for help. There is a moment in the game that works wayyyyyy better if you come at it virgin. The story is amazing. Your companion characters have distinct personalities and depth. Some of them you'll want to punch in the face. Some of them you'll want to give huge hugs and never let go. You really get the Big Damn Hero feeling near the end. I cannot say enough good about this game. It's one of my favorite experiences of all time.

I have never touched Empire at War so I cannot comment on it. Although now that I have Boxen, maybe I should.

I've also played Jedi Academy, which is based on the Quake engine and is thus exactly what you think it is. Okay single-player story, lots of fun multiplayer. Can be traditional Quake FPS gun combat, or lightsabers in 3rd person. I've been playing it off and on for yeaaaaaaars and haven't gotten bored yet. That is all real-time twitchy based combat and there's no power points or special abilities beyond "pressing the right keypress sequences". I am probably objectively pretty terrible, but I love starting a 6 man game on my floor and then trash talking the shit out of everyone, so I don't even care. But if you're planning on single-player only, honestly, you should skip it.

I have no idea what the current compatibility of SW games is on the Mac, btw, so I cannot be as helpful on the goal of "getting games to run". My 3 games are all Windows versions over in Win 7 (sometimes an adventure in itself!). I know KotOR had the port, but that's going to suffer from the fact that it was a PPC port. If you have a way of running the Windoes versions in BootCamp, it might be a better idea.

"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras
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Mac+
9" monochrome
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
 
2012-02-15, 04:10

Thanks Capella - you are a gem!

I don't think I have ever played a computer based RPG (definitely never a pen and paper like D&D) but two games come to mind from my past (they may be RPG - I don't know) - Loom on the Mac and Force Unleashed on iPhone. Sort of like you are a character, you learn a new skill and implement it in order to solve a puzzle or progress on your journey. If that's the case, then I'll give KotOR a shot and will PM you as I go through no doubt!

I'm not particularly adept at moving quickly and shooting via the computer controls, so the first person shooter games are something I shy away from. Especially since I'd be playing by myself, that's good advice to skip Jedi Academy.

In this sense, I think Empire at War will appeal to me. I much prefer to think about my next move and see what happens and being in the SW universe this might hold my interest... or quickly bore me, time will tell.

As for the platform, I looked these games up on the App Store and since I don't do Windows/BootCamp will have to trust they all run fine natively on OS X Lion.

Thanks again Capella - truly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

All I want is a simple life
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