6 ms·

It seems like MS Flight Simulator 2020 might hit the right place at the right time. Like many people quarantined, I’ve got a wicked sense of wanderlust right no

It seems like MS Flight Simulator 2020 might hit the right place at the right time. Like many people quarantined, I’ve got a wicked sense of wanderlust right now. Going through MS Flight Simulator 2020 is different than just fooling around on Google Earth because it requires a tiny bit of effort to discover things and I think it will make it a little more rewarding. Looks like it’s time for me to build a cockpit.

sharkweek 6y ago
It’s been interesting - I was a “gamer” for whatever that means many of my teen and early 20s years. Gave it up almost entirely with career/starting a family 7-8 years ago. We’re talking cold turkey, gave the systems away, deleted steam etc. Ever since quarantine started, I’ve been gaming like a fiend every night. Big, open world games especially. Partner has been chill about it as I wait until the kiddo is asleep, but it’s been one of the most sanity-saving activities for me while we hunker down.
- xnyan 6y ago
  No reason it can’t continue after, it’s a balance right?
  - jkhdigital 6y ago
    There are certain people for whom “balance” and “moderation” are nothing but fleeting and elusive ideals (I am one of them). Usually it is much easier to just draw a red line around certain activities altogether.
    - sharkweek 6y ago
      Exactly - I come from a long line of addicts, some recovered and some dead. I am (now in my thirties, less so when I was younger) always extremely careful when I notice an unhealthy behavior taking a hold of me. I’m making an exception for video games during this time because honestly it’s pretty low on the unhealthy scale in my current usage, especially with the accountability of a spouse who knows I can be this way and will call me out if it gets bad.
      - jkhdigital 6y ago
        A kindred soul, as I suspected. I had to quit drinking and video games cold turkey once I got married and had a baby on the way. Still don’t drink but gaming is occasionally okay. As long as I stay far, far away from solo world builder and 4X type stuff.
    - garmaine 6y ago
      You may have ADHD. Consider talking to a psychiatrist.
      - jkhdigital 6y ago
        I do actually, but I had no idea for the first ~34 years of my life. Medication has certainly helped some things but I still get pretty obsessive about stuff.
        garmaine 6y ago
        And I got downvoted to -4 for suggesting it, lol. I’m in exactly the same boat, diagnosed and treated at 34 too. Glad medication is working for you, as much as it does. It’s not perfect.
  - khnov 6y ago
    Playing warzone day and night since quarantine ....
  - untog 6y ago
    Speaking for myself, it won’t. In “normal times” I gave up video gaming because it didn’t feel like a good use of my time. When (if?!) things return to normal that’ll still be the case.
    - thirdsun 6y ago
      Certainly I can't argue with what you deem worthy of your time but I'm surprised by this - obviously it's a question of moderation, but would you feel the same way about reading books, watching films or listening to music? Sure, there might be different grades of quality and value but I think it's all just culture and feeling guilty about filling a free evening or two with such activities seems quite alien to me. However to each their own.
  - Hamuko 6y ago
    Yeah, this sounds a lot like quitting reading books or watching movies cold turkey.
- jv22222 6y ago
  One multi-player game that is a surprising amount of fun is Naval Warfare on Roblox. When you login you join a team of 30 (60 players in total). One team is USA one Japan. You can choose Bomber, Sub, Aircraft Carrier, Battleship. Each craft is manned by multiple players (ie one player controls guided missiles, one flies and has a regular gun etc). There are 3 islands on the board in the middle and anyone can control them. When you control an island you can teleport to it and spawn a plane from there which is a shorter run to bomb the enemy. You win the game by blowing up the enemies main naval base at the other end of the board. You can also change the balance of war by spending a few cents on spawning aircraft carriers and battleships. Any time you pop in, the server is always full so it's always a great game, but also you can create a private server and bring your own group. A lot of kids play the game so sometimes the strategy is not the best BUT if a group of adults played on a private server the strategy is very deep. Graphics are totally basic but it's a great mix of real strategy, action/skill and randomness of playing with 60 real people. Works beautifully on any mobile or any pc no heavy graphics card needed. SO much fun! Perfect game for a group of hackers/colleagues looking for easy to learn fun over few beers. Also perfect for these remote times we live in. https://www.roblox.com/games/2210085102/Naval-Warfare https://www.roblox.com/games/2210085102/Naval-Warfare [BTW I don't know the creators, just a fun game my son showed me!]
  - thelittleone 6y ago
    It’s interesting how some games can have basic graphics and be just as or even more immersive as a hyper realistic game.
    - MattRix 6y ago
      Agreed. Minecraft is the most immersive game I've ever played. Even more so than Half-Life Alyx (which was amazing and immersive in its own way).
      - neuronic 6y ago
        I took part in a survival server around 2010 where everyone slowly got to know each other and their quirks. Built a giant base with a friend with a 100x100 hole down to bedrock and a glass top which you could walk on. The main entry to the base was a large pyramid. We were raided multiple times a day but it was so much fun. Never quite got that again.
- foobarian 6y ago
  I'm in a similar boat. I tried the cold turkey thing, deleting games etc. Cloud makes it harder now see e.g. WoW. Once I thought I solved my game addiction with the clever idea of leaving my Diablo 2 CD at work, thinking it would stop me from playing all night. That night I spent until midnight searching for NoCD cracks (successfully) and then played anyway until it was time to get up. Nowadays I just figure if there weren't video games, I would be drinking or doing hard drugs with much worse effects on my health. I'm also able to moderate better, going through dry spells when I find something else to do for a while, and now and then playing nights (not too late) for a month or two at a time.
  - xianwen 6y ago
    I love Diablo 2. However, I was never patient enough to pass Hell level of difficulty myself. I think I was running mods after I discovered them. Do you play offline? Or do you play on-line? Are there many players online still?
    - gjs278 6y ago
      there are people in battle.bet ladder. you can’t use mods there. you could play open but it’s all hackers. if you want to beat hell mode you have to go as a firewall / frozen orb mage or a necromancer that uses skeletons and corpse explode. you’ll need an act 2 merc as well. good luck lol. if you can get one friend to tank you can do it much easier.
      - DonHopkins 6y ago
        Do you know you're dead? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19213696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19213696 >gjs278 on Feb 21, 2019 | parent | favorite | on: A List of Hacker News's Undocumented Features and ... >go into your profile and mark the ability to see [dead] comments. a lot of them are useful. None of yours are. That's why you're dead.
    - skocznymroczny 6y ago
      Hell was easier to beat in the original game, but later was patched to be much more unforgiving. If you want to beat it solo, and without access to items from other players, you need a really good build and be lucky when it comes to items. Some characters are less dependent on items, for example a necromancer can solo hell naked using skeletons, sorceress is also less dependent on items because most of the damage comes from spells. The worst characters are melee characters because you need very good weapons (crushing blow does wonders on Hell) and very good armor/shield to survive (high resistances are a must because all monsters deal extra elemental damage).
- a_bonobo 6y ago
  Exactly the same for me. My thinking is that I needed gaming because in the daytime, I have no room for myself as we're all cooped up in a small apartment. Games have become my own space where I make the rules, a huge contrast to daytime...
- Tade0 6y ago
  I lost interest in games around 8 years ago, but it was also rekindled because of the current situation. Largely as an alternative to vodkonferencing. I noticed that my approach is different this time. I always regarded Counter-Strike as a glorified shooter, but this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=237KtKF9MDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=237KtKF9MDU changed my mind entirely. Apparently over the years the doodads in these maps started serving as waypoints for throwing grenades.
  - pm90 6y ago
    It used to sorta blow my mind that people would come up with such things. But if you're playing these games repeatedly in a competitive setting, this stuff is bound to be found.
    - Tade0 6y ago
      Moreover it appears that at least some of those pieces have been put there deliberately. And at the same time none of this is obvious for anyone who's not "in the know".
- mikorym 6y ago
  > one of the most sanity-saving activities Another interesting thing about gaming is that it taught me at a very early age that reward requires effort. Even if the process as a whole, and we as humans, are still insignificant. Well, it taught me that, and I was blessed with an extended vocabulary of middle age weapons. Gaming these days and especially playing old games can be quite relaxing.
- untog 6y ago
  Same for me, except with first person shooters. I used to play Counterstrike back in the day but long since lost interest, but now I’m playing the free to play games like Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone. I think the main reason is that it’s an opportunity to turn my brain off (or parts of it off). TV isn’t doing that for me any more, too much opportunity for idle thought!
lmm 6y ago
I moved away from the UK at the end of last year, and honestly the best anti-homesickness thing was Forza Horizon 4. I don't even race much, just drive around and listen to Don Thompson doing a perfect imitation of the radio back there.
dudul 6y ago
Try American/Euro Truck Simulator :) Not the same crazy realistic graphics, but it helps!
ashtonkem 6y ago
My gaming level has also gone up significantly, although I also took on new hobbies to get some non-computer time (for the record, I don’t have children). I bet the devs of KSP 2 are pissed that they’re not yet ready to launch. This would’ve been the perfect time to release that game.

sharkweek 6y ago

It’s been interesting - I was a “gamer” for whatever that means many of my teen and early 20s years. Gave it up almost entirely with career/starting a family 7-8 years ago. We’re talking cold turkey, gave the systems away, deleted steam etc. Ever since quarantine started, I’ve been gaming like a fiend every night. Big, open world games especially. Partner has been chill about it as I wait until the kiddo is asleep, but it’s been one of the most sanity-saving activities for me while we hunker down.

xnyan 6y ago
No reason it can’t continue after, it’s a balance right?
- jkhdigital 6y ago
  There are certain people for whom “balance” and “moderation” are nothing but fleeting and elusive ideals (I am one of them). Usually it is much easier to just draw a red line around certain activities altogether.
  - sharkweek 6y ago
    Exactly - I come from a long line of addicts, some recovered and some dead. I am (now in my thirties, less so when I was younger) always extremely careful when I notice an unhealthy behavior taking a hold of me. I’m making an exception for video games during this time because honestly it’s pretty low on the unhealthy scale in my current usage, especially with the accountability of a spouse who knows I can be this way and will call me out if it gets bad.
    - jkhdigital 6y ago
      A kindred soul, as I suspected. I had to quit drinking and video games cold turkey once I got married and had a baby on the way. Still don’t drink but gaming is occasionally okay. As long as I stay far, far away from solo world builder and 4X type stuff.
  - garmaine 6y ago
    You may have ADHD. Consider talking to a psychiatrist.
    - jkhdigital 6y ago
      I do actually, but I had no idea for the first ~34 years of my life. Medication has certainly helped some things but I still get pretty obsessive about stuff.
      - garmaine 6y ago
        And I got downvoted to -4 for suggesting it, lol. I’m in exactly the same boat, diagnosed and treated at 34 too. Glad medication is working for you, as much as it does. It’s not perfect.
- khnov 6y ago
  Playing warzone day and night since quarantine ....
- untog 6y ago
  Speaking for myself, it won’t. In “normal times” I gave up video gaming because it didn’t feel like a good use of my time. When (if?!) things return to normal that’ll still be the case.
  - thirdsun 6y ago
    Certainly I can't argue with what you deem worthy of your time but I'm surprised by this - obviously it's a question of moderation, but would you feel the same way about reading books, watching films or listening to music? Sure, there might be different grades of quality and value but I think it's all just culture and feeling guilty about filling a free evening or two with such activities seems quite alien to me. However to each their own.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  Yeah, this sounds a lot like quitting reading books or watching movies cold turkey.
jv22222 6y ago
One multi-player game that is a surprising amount of fun is Naval Warfare on Roblox. When you login you join a team of 30 (60 players in total). One team is USA one Japan. You can choose Bomber, Sub, Aircraft Carrier, Battleship. Each craft is manned by multiple players (ie one player controls guided missiles, one flies and has a regular gun etc). There are 3 islands on the board in the middle and anyone can control them. When you control an island you can teleport to it and spawn a plane from there which is a shorter run to bomb the enemy. You win the game by blowing up the enemies main naval base at the other end of the board. You can also change the balance of war by spending a few cents on spawning aircraft carriers and battleships. Any time you pop in, the server is always full so it's always a great game, but also you can create a private server and bring your own group. A lot of kids play the game so sometimes the strategy is not the best BUT if a group of adults played on a private server the strategy is very deep. Graphics are totally basic but it's a great mix of real strategy, action/skill and randomness of playing with 60 real people. Works beautifully on any mobile or any pc no heavy graphics card needed. SO much fun! Perfect game for a group of hackers/colleagues looking for easy to learn fun over few beers. Also perfect for these remote times we live in. https://www.roblox.com/games/2210085102/Naval-Warfare https://www.roblox.com/games/2210085102/Naval-Warfare [BTW I don't know the creators, just a fun game my son showed me!]
- thelittleone 6y ago
  It’s interesting how some games can have basic graphics and be just as or even more immersive as a hyper realistic game.
  - MattRix 6y ago
    Agreed. Minecraft is the most immersive game I've ever played. Even more so than Half-Life Alyx (which was amazing and immersive in its own way).
    - neuronic 6y ago
      I took part in a survival server around 2010 where everyone slowly got to know each other and their quirks. Built a giant base with a friend with a 100x100 hole down to bedrock and a glass top which you could walk on. The main entry to the base was a large pyramid. We were raided multiple times a day but it was so much fun. Never quite got that again.
foobarian 6y ago
I'm in a similar boat. I tried the cold turkey thing, deleting games etc. Cloud makes it harder now see e.g. WoW. Once I thought I solved my game addiction with the clever idea of leaving my Diablo 2 CD at work, thinking it would stop me from playing all night. That night I spent until midnight searching for NoCD cracks (successfully) and then played anyway until it was time to get up. Nowadays I just figure if there weren't video games, I would be drinking or doing hard drugs with much worse effects on my health. I'm also able to moderate better, going through dry spells when I find something else to do for a while, and now and then playing nights (not too late) for a month or two at a time.
- xianwen 6y ago
  I love Diablo 2. However, I was never patient enough to pass Hell level of difficulty myself. I think I was running mods after I discovered them. Do you play offline? Or do you play on-line? Are there many players online still?
  - gjs278 6y ago
    there are people in battle.bet ladder. you can’t use mods there. you could play open but it’s all hackers. if you want to beat hell mode you have to go as a firewall / frozen orb mage or a necromancer that uses skeletons and corpse explode. you’ll need an act 2 merc as well. good luck lol. if you can get one friend to tank you can do it much easier.
    - DonHopkins 6y ago
      Do you know you're dead? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19213696 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19213696 >gjs278 on Feb 21, 2019 | parent | favorite | on: A List of Hacker News's Undocumented Features and ... >go into your profile and mark the ability to see [dead] comments. a lot of them are useful. None of yours are. That's why you're dead.
  - skocznymroczny 6y ago
    Hell was easier to beat in the original game, but later was patched to be much more unforgiving. If you want to beat it solo, and without access to items from other players, you need a really good build and be lucky when it comes to items. Some characters are less dependent on items, for example a necromancer can solo hell naked using skeletons, sorceress is also less dependent on items because most of the damage comes from spells. The worst characters are melee characters because you need very good weapons (crushing blow does wonders on Hell) and very good armor/shield to survive (high resistances are a must because all monsters deal extra elemental damage).
a_bonobo 6y ago
Exactly the same for me. My thinking is that I needed gaming because in the daytime, I have no room for myself as we're all cooped up in a small apartment. Games have become my own space where I make the rules, a huge contrast to daytime...
Tade0 6y ago
I lost interest in games around 8 years ago, but it was also rekindled because of the current situation. Largely as an alternative to vodkonferencing. I noticed that my approach is different this time. I always regarded Counter-Strike as a glorified shooter, but this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=237KtKF9MDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=237KtKF9MDU changed my mind entirely. Apparently over the years the doodads in these maps started serving as waypoints for throwing grenades.
- pm90 6y ago
  It used to sorta blow my mind that people would come up with such things. But if you're playing these games repeatedly in a competitive setting, this stuff is bound to be found.
  - Tade0 6y ago
    Moreover it appears that at least some of those pieces have been put there deliberately. And at the same time none of this is obvious for anyone who's not "in the know".
mikorym 6y ago
> one of the most sanity-saving activities Another interesting thing about gaming is that it taught me at a very early age that reward requires effort. Even if the process as a whole, and we as humans, are still insignificant. Well, it taught me that, and I was blessed with an extended vocabulary of middle age weapons. Gaming these days and especially playing old games can be quite relaxing.
untog 6y ago
Same for me, except with first person shooters. I used to play Counterstrike back in the day but long since lost interest, but now I’m playing the free to play games like Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone. I think the main reason is that it’s an opportunity to turn my brain off (or parts of it off). TV isn’t doing that for me any more, too much opportunity for idle thought!

lmm 6y ago

I moved away from the UK at the end of last year, and honestly the best anti-homesickness thing was Forza Horizon 4. I don't even race much, just drive around and listen to Don Thompson doing a perfect imitation of the radio back there.

dudul 6y ago

Try American/Euro Truck Simulator :) Not the same crazy realistic graphics, but it helps!

ashtonkem 6y ago

My gaming level has also gone up significantly, although I also took on new hobbies to get some non-computer time (for the record, I don’t have children). I bet the devs of KSP 2 are pissed that they’re not yet ready to launch. This would’ve been the perfect time to release that game.