Want some games? 'Course you do! Want to pay? 'Course you don't! Then
you've come to the right place.

In 'celebration' of the death of the Bethesda launcher (and migration
back to Steam), the company is offering three free games:

Elder Scrolls: Arena https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812290/The_Elder_Scrolls_Arena/

Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1812390/

and,

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1873030/

I don't think there's much to say about the first two: they're classic
DOS-era computer role-playing games and odds are that, if you're
interested in that sort of thing, you probably have them already.
They're a bit of a chore to play nowadays, between the pixelated
graphics, clunky controls and lack of QOL features, but even from the
start you could see Bethesda wrestling with the formula that would
eventually become Skyrim and Fallout 3. They can actually edge close
to fun, if you're especially forgiving of the dated mechanics.
Personally, I think they're worth adding to your library just for
their historical value alone, but I'm weird.

Enemy Territory was "Return to Wolfenstein's" multiplayer mode
expanded and made into its own product (it originally was an Id
Software game, but was acquired after Bethesda ate Id). For its time,
it was a fantastic multiplayer title (although, in my opinion, not
quite the equal of Unreal Tournament) and help move the industry away
from pure deathmatch conflicts that dominated the market. Nowadays,
its more of a historical relic (if there is even anyone playing
anymore), with most of its best ideas plundered and improved upon by
modern games. But if you missed it the first time, here's a chance to
give it a look and see why it was so beloved, even if it isn't quite
up to modern standards.

No idea if these games are going permanently free-to-play or if it's
just a temporary thing (regardless, if you claim it now it'll be yours forever). Grab 'em while they're free, that's what I always say.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

WET was fun back then. :)


Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Want some games? 'Course you do! Want to pay? 'Course you don't! Then
you've come to the right place.

In 'celebration' of the death of the Bethesda launcher (and migration
back to Steam), the company is offering three free games:

Elder Scrolls: Arena https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812290/The_Elder_Scrolls_Arena/

Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1812390/

and,

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1873030/

I don't think there's much to say about the first two: they're classic DOS-era computer role-playing games and odds are that, if you're
interested in that sort of thing, you probably have them already.
They're a bit of a chore to play nowadays, between the pixelated
graphics, clunky controls and lack of QOL features, but even from the
start you could see Bethesda wrestling with the formula that would
eventually become Skyrim and Fallout 3. They can actually edge close
to fun, if you're especially forgiving of the dated mechanics.
Personally, I think they're worth adding to your library just for
their historical value alone, but I'm weird.

Enemy Territory was "Return to Wolfenstein's" multiplayer mode
expanded and made into its own product (it originally was an Id
Software game, but was acquired after Bethesda ate Id). For its time,
it was a fantastic multiplayer title (although, in my opinion, not
quite the equal of Unreal Tournament) and help move the industry away
from pure deathmatch conflicts that dominated the market. Nowadays,
its more of a historical relic (if there is even anyone playing
anymore), with most of its best ideas plundered and improved upon by
modern games. But if you missed it the first time, here's a chance to
give it a look and see why it was so beloved, even if it isn't quite
up to modern standards.

No idea if these games are going permanently free-to-play or if it's
just a temporary thing (regardless, if you claim it now it'll be yours forever). Grab 'em while they're free, that's what I always say.

--
:) LV-426 day! Another slow week? Is spring break even over? Spammers and heat wave are back again though as usual.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Elder Scrolls: Arena >https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812290/The_Elder_Scrolls_Arena/
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall >https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1812390/
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory >https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1873030/

Oh thanks for these Spalls, grabbed them! I still haven't played any ES game :( I think I'm hoping for a all-in-one mega-graphical package for Morrowind :)

rms

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:49:21 -0600, "rms"
<rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:

Elder Scrolls: Arena >>https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812290/The_Elder_Scrolls_Arena/
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall >>https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1812390/
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory >>https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/1873030/

Oh thanks for these Spalls, grabbed them! I still haven't played any ES
game :( I think I'm hoping for a all-in-one mega-graphical package for >Morrowind :)

Well, there's the Morrowind Rebirth mod, which combines a bunch of
graphical updates and gameplay tweaks into one (relatively)
easy-to-install package.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/morrowind-rebirth

There is also "Morroblivion", which updates the third game to the
fourth game's engine. Unfortunately, it's unfinished and development
has all but slowed to a crawl, with most modders moving on to Beyond
Skrim. (https://beyondskyrim.org/)

While there was a lot to like about "TES3: Morrowind", it always felt
just a /bit/ too alien for my tastes, and its mechanics just a bit too
clunky. I was more comfortable in "TES4: Oblivion", and "ES5: Skyrim"
was sublime. Going back to play the third game - even with fan-made
mods and tweaks - is still a very rough experience.

As to the first two games, while I can appreciate them for what they
are, they aren't ones I'd ever recommend except to the most ardent
fans of the series or grognards who dig classic RPGs. Don't get me
wrong, you can still have fun with those games (I think "Arena"
weathered the test of time better than "Daggerfall") but neither game
is so good that it surpasses its aging technology or mechanics. But
they're nice to have available to compare and contrast to modern
games; a sort of 'see how far we've come' example you can hold up in
contrast to the newest and greatest.

(Often forgotten - even by Bethesda - are the two side Elder Scroll
games: "Battlespire" and "Redguard". The former is an unpolished dungeon-crawler that lacks a lot of the depth people except from the
franchise, and suffered greatly from bugs and performance issues. Even
today it's problematic to get it running smoothly. "Redguard" was a
departure from the series, owing as much to "Tomb Raider" style
adventuring as traditional CRPGs. It had a lot more character but was
fairly short and linear, and lacked the openess and options that the
other games boasted. Also, coming from the early era of 3D games, it's
aged rather poorly. But for its time it was a fairly decent, B-list
game. But neither of them are really worth digging up to play).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)