Post
by Morkonan » Tue, 12. Dec 17, 03:15
Just a note on certain sorts of games:
Minecraft is fun, for awhile. But, it soon turns into "boring" unless you start building contraptions. Then, it becomes fun again. (For awhile.) So, for those with a puzzle-solving creative spirit, like programmers, Minecraft becomes a puzzle-solving-contraption-building game and "exceeds its original programming" because of those enthusiasms.
Terraria is much like that, with similar building and design capabilities. (I think it's the better game of the two, actually, in terms of gameplay.) You're free to play however you wish, but coming up with contraptions and building in switches and circuits can be entirely part of the regular game experience... or not - It's up to you.
IOW, there are games out there that could provide people who like puzzle-solving/programming/creative games with multiple choices of playstyles across many gaming sessions, giving them opportunities for mindless fun and creativity coupled with "hard work," which gives great satisfaction when it achieves its goal. X3TC is like that, for me, with its endless complex logistics chains, the "fun" of setting up different types of system, just because you can, etc... And, if I don't feel like going through all that work, today, I don't have to.
("Gnomoria" is a good choice, too, but it has its faults. There's plenty of interesting building to be done and a great deal of logistics and planning going on. But, it doesn't go really "deep" into anything, which makes the end-game suffer, unless you've purposefully done things to make the game harder. (Or accidentally done them.) Unfortunately, it has some bugs that won't be fixed which could render one's game virtually unplayable... I love the game, hate some of the bugs that, while I can usually fix, myself, cause too much energy to be wasted during play. :/)
If one has to "work hard" at every play session, it's no longer a enjoyable game. The "work" needs to be part of the "fun." When that is all that there is, it loses its luster and becomes "not fun." Games that offer, not require, both sorts of play opportunities are, by and large, great games. (Unless they're "Dwarf Fortress" and visually assaulting the player while torturing them with archaic menu systems...)
X3TC = The best of both worlds in a science-fiction game, for me.