Anything good in computer games?

[chevalier]

Hi, guys. What have you played lately? I’m looking for something that doesn’t have sex or occultism or jabs at Christianity in it, and preferably doesn’t require too much hand-eye co-ordination to play since I’m getting old these days. I’ve had some fun with Dirt 2-3 racing games lately and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. I guess Grid 2 would be good to have, along with Dirt 4 when that comes out, but what about some other genres?

 

[FrancisBenedict]

What about an adventure.You can usually take those at your own pace.
And I like those games where you have a picture and you have to find objects. I found these ok and my eyesight isn’t too good either, mostly blind in one eye.

God bless +

 

[chevalier]

Sound good, I haven’t played an adventure since like forever. Is there anything worth recommending?

 

[FrancisBenedict]

There are so many, there is even a site of text based ones just like the old days!
Here are some online ones:
web-adventures.org/

 

[Antonio_022]

Hi, guys. What have you played lately? I’m looking for something that doesn’t have sex or occultism or jabs at Christianity in it, and preferably doesn’t require too much hand-eye co-ordination to play since I’m getting old these days. I’ve had some fun with Dirt 2-3 racing games lately and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. I guess Grid 2 would be good to have, along with Dirt 4 when that comes out, but what about some other genres?

Go for Skyrim. It’s a really great game. It’s a completely fictional world so theres no Christianity for anyone to bash. There is not a single drop of occultism but there may be some nudity but that is VERY avoidable.

There isn’t really much coordination when fighting dragons but knowing what skills you have may come in handy.

 

[Kithrus]

I’m kinda insulted that someone would insinuate that video games spend time bashing religion.

That aside there are loads and loads of cheep simple fun games one can both get for free or cheap on the Steam application. Worked just like the itunes apps on ipdad ipods and computer, you purchase what you want from a selection of over 800 titles.

Most of the indi stuff is quite creative and normally doesn’t cost more then 10 bucks.

 

[Dranu]

Real Time Strategy friend! You can’t go wrong with Dawn of War 1 and 2 and Company of Heroes. They are kind of getting older, but in my opinion are the best video games of all time (Dawn of War 2 not as much, but it was still solid).

 

[Elostirion]

If you like Grand Strategy, Europa Universalis IV is coming soon.
Come to think of it, that has Christianity in it… Maybe Europa Universalis Rome (With Vae Victis)?

There’s also more “constructive” games like Terraria or Minecraft (also see Mythruna, sort of like Minecraft but more RPG-like and Kleavelandif it ever comes out).
I’m not sure if they need eye-hand coordination but they may need good reflexes.

Evil Genius is on steam. You play as a James Bond villain and is a dungeon master sort of thing.

Mount and Blade is a fun one. You play as a generally medieval character and get to recruit and command an army in real time. Religion exists but is not really dealt with at all.

There’s also Sim City (I own 4, it’s great. I want to get the new one, but am waiting for a price decrease and if the ridiculous online only requirement will go away).

Tomb Raider is supposed to be good, haven’t got it yet as I’m cheap.

Lastly, there’s Warlock: Masters of the Arcane. It’s a fantasy based slightly campy version of Civ V (Also a ted less complex, but I think it works to it’s advantage).

I’m trying to think of older games, although none have been similar to racing at all in pacing…
All of these are available on Steam. Also try GoG.com for older titles. Haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve been tempted to get Outcast.

 

[DlandFan06]

Hi, guys. What have you played lately? I’m looking for something that doesn’t have sex or occultism or jabs at Christianity in it, and preferably doesn’t require too much hand-eye co-ordination to play since I’m getting old these days. I’ve had some fun with Dirt 2-3 racing games lately and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. I guess Grid 2 would be good to have, along with Dirt 4 when that comes out, but what about some other genres?

There’s always MineCraft but I don’t know how much hand-eye coordination is needed.

 

[chevalier]

I’m kinda insulted that someone would insinuate that video games spend time bashing religion.

Be what you want, but you haven’t seen some of the things I’ve seen. This isn’t the usual diatribe that games are evil just because they’re entertainment and involve a computer. Some titles do take pot shots at religion.

That aside there are loads and loads of cheep simple fun games one can both get for free or cheap on the Steam application. Worked just like the itunes apps on ipdad ipods and computer, you purchase what you want from a selection of over 800 titles.

Yeah, I know, and I’ve got a bunch of them already. I’m looking for recommendations because I’ve run of my own ideas. My once favourite genres are kinda dead for the moment, or I’ve already played the titles, or they don’t appeal to me for some other reason. Kinda wishing to expand my horizons this time.

Most of the indi stuff is quite creative and normally doesn’t cost more then 10 bucks.

Thanks, yeah, I’ve seen some platformers out there. There are also indie adventures and RPGs quite well made, though for the moment I don’t really feel like dealing with yet another non-Christian spirituality (that gets tedious after a number of years).

Real Time Strategy friend! You can’t go wrong with Dawn of War 1 and 2 and Company of Heroes. They are kind of getting older, but in my opinion are the best video games of all time (Dawn of War 2 not as much, but it was still solid).

Been wondering about CoH for a while. For some reason, I’ve always been running into some materials about it but never played the actual game.

If you like Grand Strategy, Europa Universalis IV is coming soon.
Come to think of it, that has Christianity in it… Maybe Europa Universalis Rome (With Vae Victis)?

Yeah, that’s always an option. I’ve played EU1-3 so far and Crusader Kings 1-2 too. I’m somewhat displeased with the portrayal of Catholicism in CK2, but EU was quite clean in this regard.

There’s also more “constructive” games like Terraria or Minecraft (also see Mythruna, sort of like Minecraft but more RPG-like and Kleavelandif it ever comes out).
I’m not sure if they need eye-hand coordination but they may need good reflexes.

That can be fun, I guess! I tend to love widescreen landscapes in RPGs, car races or even maps in strategies, but I remember the logic games of old, those were fun too. Thanks.

Mount and Blade is a fun one. You play as a generally medieval character and get to recruit and command an army in real time. Religion exists but is not really dealt with at all.

What about the random levels (landscapes, dungeons etc.), don’t they get repetitive? What about “farming”? (Waiting for XP/gold/other resources.) I’ve heard good things about that one, but I’m a bit worried about repetitiveness (sort of like the levels in Mass Effect 1) or downtimes due to farming. I had more patience before, but these days I kinda want something to be going on. I know this sounds fussy, but I’m going through some kind of an old gamer’s burnout.

There’s also Sim City (I own 4, it’s great. I want to get the new one, but am waiting for a price decrease and if the ridiculous online only requirement will go away).

Hmm… That might be a good one. Sim City has always been around, though I’ve somehow never really played it. What about Anno 2070, a popular clone, have you seen it?

Lastly, there’s Warlock: Masters of the Arcane. It’s a fantasy based slightly campy version of Civ V (Also a ted less complex, but I think it works to it’s advantage).

I’ve thrown a good number of fireballs in the past, but I’m skipping magic this time. Somebody really should read Verne novels (and a bunch of other 19th century travel literature) and make some RPGs and adventures based on that.

I’m trying to think of older games, although none have been similar to racing at all in pacing…
All of these are available on Steam. Also try GoG.com for older titles. Haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve been tempted to get Outcast.

I tend to browse the sales deals and just consider the games that are for less than 50% of the normal price as opposed to going by whatever titles interest me, though that too. There’s that little Wishlist feature which notifies me when something I like is currently on a promo.

There’s always MineCraft but I don’t know how much hand-eye coordination is needed.

I’m not overly horrible when it’s just the mouse or just the keyboard, I just can’t really do both at the same time too efficiently. But I’m not really great at monkey business either. For illustration, Dirt 2 was a racer than had normal rallies and races but also a “gymkhana” type of event. Freestyling wasn’t that bad (I tended to reach 3rd place as opposed to managing to get #1 in races, eventually, almost always) but timed runs where you had to perform a number of donuts (twirling round a post), spins (spinning around in a small designated spot), drifts and air jumps, were something I failed almost every time (couldn’t even get a bare pass).

 

[meteoric]

Not a big computer game player. Every now and then I dust off some of my favorite adventure games (have to give enough time between plays to forget some of the puzzles). Currently replaying “Grim Fandango”. Although it is set in The Land of the Dead, it doesn’t have any religious themes (it’s mostly a film-noir take off).

Text adventures were referenced, which is interesting, because I’m currently trying to write one based on the Harry Potter books. But there were a lot of them written in the 90’s that are free for the downloading at the Interactive Fiction Archive website.
ifarchive.org/

Tom A.
You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.

 

[Elostirion]

I’ve heard of Anno 2070. Played a bit and thought it was rather repetitive but it wasn’t very long.
M&B can be a bit grindy. They are working on the second one, M&B Bannerlord or something.

I wish there was a mod for Minecraft that allowed a structured RPG to be made from it. Like a D&D plugin sort of thing. I’ve hade minecraft for years and it’s been somewhat disappointing as of late (I think there was a guy who made a server but it was dead last I checked).

There’s the Anhk series. I just got 2 and 3. Fun point and click with lots of silliness (Alcapon-ep for example).

Fallouts are good, I suppose you’ve played them though.

Oh and Legend of Grimrock if you haven’t.

 

[SachieWhitby]

I mostly play Civilization IV, Neverwinter Nights and The Sims Medieval.

Civilization IV – turn-based strategy game thus no hand-eye coordination is required, even if the other civilizations are attacking you or you are attacking them.

There is, however, religion in the game and the way this game deals with it is that whatever religion a civilization founds tends to be the one that it follows and certain leaders are programed to be religion enthusiasts such that they will periodically contact you just to ask you to convert to their religion. This can lead to some amount of hilarity when Queen Isabella [of Spain] tries to get you to convert to Buddhism or Saladin [of the Arabians] wants you to convert to Christianity. The only time I’ve run into a situation where the NPCs convert without me asking is if they don’t have a religion yet when I meet them or the game where I was playing Elizabeth I [England] and Frederick II [Germany] was right on top of me practically from the beginning but offered a permanent alliance [which I accepted.]

I never bought Civilization V as I was put off by the reviews of how bad the combat AI is, among other things. One of the things that I do know that was removed from this version is religion, which means that [unlike Civilization IV] nobody will be going to war with you because you keep refusing to convert to their religion.

Neverwinter Nights – roleplaying game based on the Forgotten Realms subuniverse of version 3.0 D&D, which means that it is a fantasy world/universe and while there is a pantheon of fake gods and various magical classes [including a religious one], there’s no jabs at Catholicism, other Christianity or any other real faith. The thing that keeps me playing NWN is the numerous user-created modules. However the main game does have a brothel in it. While there is no depictions of sex going on and prostitutes just hang out in their rooms [sometimes with another NPC just standing in the room], it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a brothel. There’s also a rogue class, which is pretty much a theif when you get down to it as rogues can pickpocket among other things.

The Sims Medieval – Like every other The Sims game, there technically is sex in that sims can go into the same bed together and someone gets pregnant. However in The Sims Medieval, they’re always trying for babies as birth control didn’t exist way back then. I tend to like this version far more than the other The Sims game because for one thing, there’s only one expansion period and not having a new expansion being released every month makes me happy. Secondly is that you control sims more directly [but only one at any time] so there’s no feelings of hostility because someone left dirty plates all over the house, couldn’t take a shower without splashing water puddles about then used the toaster oven to set fire to the house I spent hours building/upgrading.

 

[Dranu]

Mount and Blade is a fun one. You play as a generally medieval character and get to recruit and command an army in real time. Religion exists but is not really dealt with at all.

.

I’ll double that recommendation! If you get it OP, I would buy the Warband version and download the CRPG mod. The graphics aren’t great but the combat requires a lot of skill and is a great deal of fun.

 

[Razanir]

Civilization IV – turn-based strategy game thus no hand-eye coordination is required, even if the other civilizations are attacking you or you are attacking them.

There is, however, religion in the game and the way this game deals with it is that whatever religion a civilization founds tends to be the one that it follows and certain leaders are programed to be religion enthusiasts such that they will periodically contact you just to ask you to convert to their religion. This can lead to some amount of hilarity when Queen Isabella [of Spain] tries to get you to convert to Buddhism or Saladin [of the Arabians] wants you to convert to Christianity. The only time I’ve run into a situation where the NPCs convert without me asking is if they don’t have a religion yet when I meet them or the game where I was playing Elizabeth I [England] and Frederick II [Germany] was right on top of me practically from the beginning but offered a permanent alliance [which I accepted.]

I never bought Civilization V as I was put off by the reviews of how bad the combat AI is, among other things. One of the things that I do know that was removed from this version is religion, which means that [unlike Civilization IV] nobody will be going to war with you because you keep refusing to convert to their religion.

Darn it! Someone beat me to it. I was actually going to recommend Civ V, though. The AI’s improved with the expansion and they added religion back in.

To the OP’s question: Civilization IV and V might look like they bash religion, but it’s more a consequence of how they implemented religion. I didn’t care for IV the few times I played it, so I can’t speak for it, but in V when you found a religion you pick a real world religious symbol (Star of David, a stylized cross, etc.), can change the name if you want to, then pick a few beliefs that give you bonuses. Examples would be building cathedrals to boost happiness and culture or Swords into Plowshares which makes your cities grow faster if you’re not at war. I think it’s actually a fairly neutral way to handle it. Because remember, this is the game where you can have the Great Wall of Ethiopia being built in the middle of the Great Ethiopian-Siamese War. (That last part actually happened to me)

One bit of religious hilarity, though, like Isabella founding Buddhism. Bismarck [Germany] founded a new religion on my continent. I didn’t want competition, so I sent missionaries over to remove what I was jokingly calling a heresy. The kicker– in-game, it was the 16th century.

But to Sachie’s point, the AI isn’t that good, but then again, when is AI significantly good. It may have improved with the expansion so they’ll think to use ranged attacks to good effect, but it still won’t realize that you probably don’t want to march to war right next to your target’s potential ally. Seriously, I was going to ally myself with a city-state, but Japan decided to attack them… by marching an army right past mine. I forced them into a retreat and won that city-state as an ally.

EDIT: A few reasons I think Civ V is the best of the ones I’ve played (III, IV and V):

1. The tech tree makes sense. You don’t have to finish one era before entering the next like III, but it’s actually intuitive unlike IV. I never could get a grasp on “Pick one of the techs pointing to it, and possibly another one indicated by an icon” instead of “Get everything pointing to it first”
2. No stacks of doom. You can no longer pile theoretically infinite numbers of troops on one tile
3. Resources are friendlier and realistic. You don’t just have to build a road like in III, but you also don’t have to build a road AND improve the tile like in IV. Need that iron? Get it within your borders then build a mine.

 

[Aphraxus]

If you are interested in history and military tactics, may I suggest the Total War series? It’s Real Time Strategy and the battles immerse you in the role of a General commanding his troops on the field.

In particular, I’d recommend Rome Total War (which has the rise of Christianity and its impact on the Roman Empire in an expansion pack) and Medieval 2 Total War (which has you influencing the election of Popes, and redeemingly allows you to convert the Middle East to Catholicism). The battles encourages some actual tactical thinking (terrain, maneuvering, etc) and is incredibly satisfying.

 

[Brendan]

I mostly play Civilization IV, Neverwinter Nights and The Sims Medieval.

Civilization IV – turn-based strategy game thus no hand-eye coordination is required, even if the other civilizations are attacking you or you are attacking them…

FYI, the main title heme music for Civ IV, 'Baba Yetu", is the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili

youtube.com/watch?v=C5rJe-rAjW4

The translation in the link above is a bit off; they subtitle 'Yetu/Our" as “Yesu/Jesus”, but you’ll get the idea