I use a logitech "attack 3" joystick. I don't like the resistance of it but I've found it works okay once I've gotten used to it.
I think persistance is the key, and I'm getting better at aiming with the lasers and can tell that's making a difference.
I do remember from playing it way back when that managing the speed is crucial so you can "get to the enemies or defense points" sooner rather than later and that that makes a big difference. Knowing when to increase and decrease the lasers so the engines get optimum power is key. But I think so I enjoy it a bit more I'm going to turn off starship collision and mayyybe turn on unlimited missles, since the missions seem hard enough anyway. Maybe it will be like taking it from "hard" to "normal" and still be rewarding (if it is not rewarding I will switch back.)

Also some missions require you to "hang back" and actually defend things rather than just fly around attacking everything asap. But...sheesh, I don't remember it being this hard back in the day, maybe it is the joystick?

Oh and the version I'm playing is the CD-rom '94 version, I think that is the right one?

Thanks! More advice welcome!

That's the correct version. I don't know if the Joystick is good or not. I do know the Logitech Wingman series from way back, those used to be pretty good, but broke rather easily. If you can aim precisely enough and can map all the important things to buttons you should be okay.

As for the remembered difficulty... Well I used to play all the FPS games (Doom, RoTT, Duke, Quake...) on the hardest (reasonable) setting back in the 90's and early 00's. I found Quake 2 really too easy and was disappointed there wasn't a Nightmare mode a la Quake with faster enemies. Nowadays I sometimes get my ass handed to me on lowly "normal". My aim is still pretty good, but my reaction time (evading) has suffered a lot.
That's not as much of a problem with simulator-like games since they are a little slower. But when I recently re-played Freespace I found I had a hard time keeping everything in view (Situational Awareness). Mission with a lot of things going on felt a lot harder than I remembered them (Destroy the containers! Scan them first! Kill the freighters trying to carry off the containers! Disable that ship! Enemy cruiser jumped in! Help!). I guess my head is just a lot more cluttered (job, family, household, school, kindergarten, financial stuff...) which hampers the "data throughput and processing".
Thinking of that, I can remember actually taking breaks before retrying those especially hard missions in X-Wing back in the day. I would take a walk outside, some deep breaths, do some chore to clear my mind and get adrenaline levels down. X-Wing becomes a lot more easy when you're calm and composed inside. Maybe it's a secret Jedi training program.

So... May the Force be with you ;-)

absolutely something I do! 2 or 3 retries and I am like "okay break time then I come back to you!" and usually am much better off when I go back. I did that back in the day too for games like that, it's crazy how well it works.

and...

"thanks, tom!" (like "thanks, han!"

Ok, wasteland 2 out of the way.

If you're still up for it... uhm... that's a peculiar list, especially when i can't find 2 of them on google. I would say Dracula: Resurrection, seems the most interesting of them.


As for my list, i won't remove those games but please something less consuming than Wasteland 2, it took me +60 hours to complete it.

Divinity OS
Might and Magic X
Underrail
Way of the Samurai 4
Stasis
Pillars of Eternity
Technobabylon
Dead State
Xenonauts
Lost Planet 3
Project Eden
Divinity: Dragon Commander
Elliot Quest
Dead Synchronicity
The Masterplan
Full Spectrum Warrior + Ten Hammers
Stories of Bethem: Full Moon
Adventures of Pip
Retro City Rampage DX
Rex Rocket

Oh, this thread is still alive? I did eventually manage to complete Realms of the Haunting. Nice atmosphere and interesting ideas but the default controls were made for people with 3 arms.
I haven't played a single game from your list, so since you want something short, I guess that the above will do. I'm interested in whether it has substance as a game or if it's just full of gimmicks.

And my list:

Advent Rising
Descent 2
Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition
Mousecraft
Myst: Masterpiece Edition
Shadow Man
Slave Zero
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

Eh, kind of, people get less interest onf the forum and there's the other thread that does the same as this one so let's say that the thread is on life support. :) Will do.

Gave up on RCR:DX, since i don't really have a rule for this i have to ask for you to choose another game for me to play.

Thinking of starting a new city builder myself. I own almost every one in here but I've only really ever given months of my life to the SimCity games.

Zeus?
Pharaoh?
Children of the Nile?

Take D:OS and Pillar od Eternity off the list if you still don't want to invest long hours like in Wsateland 2. They're fairly long RPGs (at least, they were for me).

I'll suggest Stasis. I've not played it, but it looks intriguing.
Children of the Nile. Just because.

I don't know. Nile has that whole prestige thing that sounds like a pain in the ass.

Zeus! Just because! :P

I absolutely love the sierra city builders, and of those : Pharaoh definitely! It's especially gratifying slowly building a big monument/pyramid during the course of a level.

Caesar 3 is also very good, and it has the roman theme going for it which always seemed very Asterix&Obelix-y for me. The problem is, compared to pharoah, it's missing some awesome features, like roadblocks which are indispensable for controlling the movements of your workers.

Zeus is also very highly regarded, but personally I prefer the egyptian theme.

OK then. From the above list, I would choose The Masterplan.

Zeus is the best, by far.