Any Portal in a storm

[cyrano]

As promised to Rose.

I've discovered this terrifically fun new game. It's called "Team Fortress Two". What happens is, you sit round the computer with your friends, and you wander the playing field trying to figure out where the battle is, whereupon you promptly get set on fire. The object of the game is to die as quickly as possible. All the chaps say I'm terrific at it.



Actually, there are a lot of things I like about this game, including its general attitude and the tutorials. However, there is a lot that falls through the gaps in the tutorials, like how to move. Or what a nemesis is. Or who these other five people are that don't have tutorials. Or what I'm supposed to do with these things that I occasionally get given. Pop up hints during the game do start to fill in the gaps, and I'm slowly catching up. But any sort of team play on my part seems like a dick move to my fellow team members.

I am slowly getting the hang of using the mouse to change orientation, which is also one of my big sticking points in getting the hang of Portal. That and the rapidly shifting perspective. Portal also has a very nice tutorial (I'm currently in the fifteenth of nineteen chapters) and a completely different but still enjoyable attitude. And I die a lot less.
The thirteenth puzzle was the first one where I had to think more than a minute to figure out my next step, and that was one that involved going back to a previously cleared area to gather a cube for a surprise pressure panel I hadn't spotted now that I could travel back and forth. I felt very pleased with myself. Unfortunately, the fourteenth puzzle involved some twitch work--planning a jump just so, and leaping from platform to platform to avoid certain death. I did finally finish it, but it was tipping my frustration levels and so I decided to call it a day.
I suspect that the computer's commentary is piquant and amusing, and I'm going to see if I can't find a script online because between difficulty understanding what she's saying and the fact that I'm trying to solve a puzzle and not always aware that she's speaking to me, I'm missing a lot of it.
I don't know how much of the game there is left, but given that I haven't finished the tutorial yet, it could keep me entertained for a while.

Comments

[reluctantgenius.livejournal.com]

FPS perspective does take some getting used to. Unfortunately, the best way to learn is to fall into the toxic water a lot.