Topic: Is that a... Challenge??

[D2Disciple]

Well, here it is, Labor Day weekend for those of us in the US of A. I, for one, am glad for the extended weekend and the opportunity to get some rest and relaxation (not to mention the opportunity to catch up in schoolwork, as well). Everyone have a great weekend, don't drink and drive, stay safe, and enjoy yourselves! 

To tie my recent silence, happy Labor day wishes, and Descent all together, however:

I took some much needed time away from the books yesterday to take my beautiful girlfriend out to dinner and back to my parents' house to chill - the barbecue was delish.

But later on we were downstairs watching some football on TV. Bored, I picked up my new laptop and began downloading all three Descents from GOG.com - they make it so easy to have Descent everywhere! - and also both D1X- and D2X-Rebirth. Curious as to why I was sitting with my laptop and moving around files and such, my girlfriend asked me what exactly I was doing. So, for the first time for real (she has heard some of my Descent music remixes), I got to introduce her to Descent 1.

I fired up D1X-Rebirth and jumped into the first level on Hotshot. Suddenly, she made a connection that I had not - the old, old CTF-like game called "Hover!" that came on the Windows 95 CD, which is actually a bit Descent-like, though not as nauseating. Since I'm building her a new computer right now, she asked if she could have Hover! installed on it (which is incidentally available from this website for some old-school fun). Apparently Hover! had a certain nostalgic response that Descent elicited, because she also asked if Descent would be installed on her new computer - and since I still have my old Descent disks, I am delighted to do so. She was also thoroughly impressed with D3.

Furthermore, after telling her that she would probably get a bit frustrated without a good joystick and that the game is brutally difficult, she accepted the challenge and told me that she could take me and that she would one day beat me at my own game.

I knew I picked the right girl!

[NUMBERZero]

Gamer girl! Isn't that every gamer man's dream? 

[SaladBadger]

Heh luck at it's finest. And you said one time in #PD-Reunion that you were having a lot of bad luck!

Although I believe full well that she could get good at it, if she tries enough. And expirments with different control schemes. I've found that some people can be effective with keyboard but the learning curve is too high for it to be worthwhile. Mouse can feel VERY presice but has some downfalls compared to Joystick. Joystick is of course the leading descent controller. I personally can't stand it though. It's really all based on user perference. Pick one and learn it. You can get really good on the last two mentioned here.

[NUMBERZero]

The only drawbacks of the mouse is the lack of buttons. I've been in games where it becomes completely impossible to tell the difference between mousers and JS. Keyboarders actually have a limit as to how good they can get. And you can acheve precision with a joystick. Just turn on the 0.0 deadzone command, crank down or up the sensitivity, and you are set. I used to have a really chunky feel when trying to precisely aim at something. The Saitek has a big deadzone no matter what and I'd keep having to push further and further and by the time i made it over the "hill," it moved too far and fast. I used to slide to aim precisely' but I just turned down the sensitivity and the precision up close and far away weny waaaayyyyy up!

There I go. Off topic giving opinions and tips

w00t for my first post on PD using the Wii internet!

[Ronin RedFox]

Watch out D2Junkie.. Girls are naturally good at video games.. Ive met a few that were INSANELY good. So be careful..  

Don't say i didn't warn ya...

[Scyphi]

Hey...I like Hover! That's a fun arcade-like game.

[-<WillyP>-]

She's a keeper!

[Foil]

The only drawbacks of the mouse is the lack of buttons.

There is a distinct drawback to using mouse, namely long continuous turns, because a mouser can't continue turning past a certain point without ever-so-briefly pausing to re-set the mouse. 

As a joystick player, if I can draw a mouser into a close-up dogfight, I have the advantage.  Of course, no good mouser will let you do that. 

Now, that disadvantage is offset by the advantage of mousers in turn-direction change (e.g. turning left->turning right->turning left again).  Mousers can change turn directions on a dime, which is ever-so-slightly faster because of the extra movement a stick has to do.

As long as there's no 'mouselook' involved, I think it's generally pretty even, and just boils down to skillz.