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Okay this is absolutely ancient, but bear with me alright?
The biggest influence on me from games is the truly archaic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_...rs_(video_game) Yes, the original from 1983. My father brought me into gaming with a few games like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Empire, but none held my attention solidly until that one. The idea of building an interstellar empire of my own dragged at me despite my young age in 1990 (I was five) and that lead me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion and the final cement to make me a 4x grognard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master...tle_at_Antares . To be fair, I did detour into Doom (yes the original) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor...of_the_Shadows but it was the idea and gameplay behind Reach for the Stars, leading to MoO and MoO 2 which stuck with me and kept me interested in games as a hobby, artistic medium and engineering puzzle. That is what lead me to 2006's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_the_Stars and it's superlative expansions, then into the sad situation of SotS 2 (I dodged MoO 3 fortunately, which has only one good part, the EPIC opening sequence that any writer should see.)
For the past year or so, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaris_(video_game) has been my go to source for scratching that itch to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and (as needed) eXterminate. Don't get me wrong, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_of_a_Solar_Empire is great for what it is (that in smaller scale with a militant focus and quicker pace) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Space along with it's sequel have their own good points but.
Well, I wouldn't have been into games in depth if not for my dad sitting with me and brutally critiquing my ideas for what to do in Reach for the Stars. Yes, I'd have played games, Doom and Raptor would have gotten me into gaming, but without the intellectual strategic bent I would never have discovered the original Command & Conquer (the first game I had to go to multiple places to get a copy of back in 1995) in looking for another 'thinking game' outside of the Civilization series. (which I never really liked that much for it's setting.)
Hell, my love of space and empires brought me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Wars in 1997 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Wars:_Vengeance in 1998. Those two games and the brutally complete narrative they collectively tell (when you cut the numerous branches away) have shaped how I look at the world! Things can go many ways and failure isn't necessarily the end. Those games introduced me to some of the best classical music I've found, (Dvorak for example) So ultimately I'd say it's Reach for the Stars. It wasn't the first game I played, or the most played, but the simple amusement of a game like Mario Bros or cathartic twitch shooting of Raptor or Doom didn't stick with me. The galaxy spanning empire building of Reach for the Stars and the other 4x games I played did.
The biggest influence on me from games is the truly archaic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_...rs_(video_game) Yes, the original from 1983. My father brought me into gaming with a few games like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Empire, but none held my attention solidly until that one. The idea of building an interstellar empire of my own dragged at me despite my young age in 1990 (I was five) and that lead me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion and the final cement to make me a 4x grognard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master...tle_at_Antares . To be fair, I did detour into Doom (yes the original) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor...of_the_Shadows but it was the idea and gameplay behind Reach for the Stars, leading to MoO and MoO 2 which stuck with me and kept me interested in games as a hobby, artistic medium and engineering puzzle. That is what lead me to 2006's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_the_Stars and it's superlative expansions, then into the sad situation of SotS 2 (I dodged MoO 3 fortunately, which has only one good part, the EPIC opening sequence that any writer should see.)
For the past year or so, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaris_(video_game) has been my go to source for scratching that itch to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and (as needed) eXterminate. Don't get me wrong, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_of_a_Solar_Empire is great for what it is (that in smaller scale with a militant focus and quicker pace) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Space along with it's sequel have their own good points but.
Well, I wouldn't have been into games in depth if not for my dad sitting with me and brutally critiquing my ideas for what to do in Reach for the Stars. Yes, I'd have played games, Doom and Raptor would have gotten me into gaming, but without the intellectual strategic bent I would never have discovered the original Command & Conquer (the first game I had to go to multiple places to get a copy of back in 1995) in looking for another 'thinking game' outside of the Civilization series. (which I never really liked that much for it's setting.)
Hell, my love of space and empires brought me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Wars in 1997 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Wars:_Vengeance in 1998. Those two games and the brutally complete narrative they collectively tell (when you cut the numerous branches away) have shaped how I look at the world! Things can go many ways and failure isn't necessarily the end. Those games introduced me to some of the best classical music I've found, (Dvorak for example) So ultimately I'd say it's Reach for the Stars. It wasn't the first game I played, or the most played, but the simple amusement of a game like Mario Bros or cathartic twitch shooting of Raptor or Doom didn't stick with me. The galaxy spanning empire building of Reach for the Stars and the other 4x games I played did.
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