Wait, it's summer again? The last time I looked out of the window, there was still snow...

Game: Sam & Max Hit The Road, floppy edition.
Year: Pre-Internet era (i.e. pre-online walkthroughs), pre-caller id era.
Characters: two friends and I; let's call us Tom, Harry and Dick.
Way of playing: Usually each one on their own, acting as hint-systems to each other.
Time: Around noon.
Weather data: temperature 30-32°C and rising, humidity 60%+.
Location: Lab facility, two floors underground.
Conditions: No natural light, no natural air, lights and air-conditioning on, ice-coffee and tea ready.

Tom and Harry are in the lab running simulations for a study about... well, not really relevant to this story. They're a bit behind, as they spent more than a little time earlier discussing moments and dialogues from the game, all the things they tried last evening, and their progress so far.

Phone rings, Tom picks up; it's Dick, Harry gets on the second phone. Dick reports on his progress, and starts yammering about the point he's stuck at, detailing everything he's tried. Tom and Harry have passed it, and chuckle here and there with the things Dick describes. Dick's getting frustrated but doesn't want the solution handed to him. Tom's trying to steer Dick into the right direction, Harry chimes in from time to time. They hang up; half an hour has passed, another half an hour of Tom and Harry making zero progress with the study. But hey, Dick's probably going to make progress with the game, so all's good (isn't it?). They discuss the game for a few more minutes, have a few more chuckles, then return to the task at hand.

An hour later the phone rings again. It's Dick. Again. He finally did it, and has done this and that, but is now stuck at this other point; nothing he's doing works, and it's driving him nuts. Tom and Harry chuckle listening to him. Does he want the solution? No, just a little hint; he wants to do it himself. Tom's trying to steer Dick into the right direction, Harry chimes in from time to time. They hang up; another half an hour has passed, another half an hour spent to get Dick forward, can't say the same about the study though. Tom and Harry resume their work still chuckling and discussing the game.

One and a half hours later, the phone rings. Yep, it's Dick again, happily reporting he's figured things out and is progressing. No, he doesn't want any help this time, thinks he's got the handle of it now. They chat for a while about the game, then hang up. Tom looks at the clock on the wall, another fifteen minutes not working had passed.

A few more hours pass this way, until Tom and Harry wrap up, storing data on floppy disks to take home to process.

Once at home, Tom copies the data to his HDD, and fires up Sam & Max Hit The Road; only half an hour he tells himself, then he'll get to work.
An hour later he's stuck. He calls up Harry. Nope, Harry's been working, and hasn't gotten to that point yet. He calls Dick. Yep, Dick's been pretty productive today, he's a bit ahead in the game, and gives Tom a couple of hints. Tom spends the next hour figuring things out and progressing, then reluctantly exits the game to do some work.
But he's tired, and doesn't get much done. Oh well, he'll finish it tomorrow, along with the new data.

And this is how a couple of weeks went by, until all three of us saw Sam & Max to the end of their, and our, adventure. Needless to say, the study fell behind. Thankfully not by much. More thankfully it was part of our university studies, otherwise we'd be out of a paid job before the summer was over.


We played a good number of adventure games this way back then, and I often reminisce those days of no internet and no online walkthroughs; acting as each others' hint system led to more detailed discussions and exchange of ideas, and made playing this single player games a shared journey.


Joining gogtrial34987 in expressing thanks for this forum-community event; much appreciated.


P.S. I'm not Harry in the above story.

Are you living, by any chance, on glacier beneath Zugspitze or somewhere nearby in some hütte in Bavarian Alps? There you can ski or make snowmen even in August.

It looks awesome, especially for its age!

I wasn't asking about "player", it was a question about monitors and other hardware on the photo. :D

Today I woke up with this song stuck in my head, and I immediately knew I had t o do this. :P


Summer Games

Summer gamin', had me a blast
Summer gamin', happened so fast
I found a game perfect for me
Had graphics cute as can be


Summer games eating away
Uh oh, those summer nights


Well-a, well-a, well-a, uh!
One more go, one more go
Did you get very far?
One more go, one more go
Got a +2 crowbar!


The tutorial started so well
The first level was fun as hell
I lost no lives, but nearly drowned
In a pond that had no ground


Summer game, something's begun
During, oh, those summer nights


Well-a, well-a, well-a, uh!
One more go, one more go
Were the bosses alright?
One more go, one more go
Did they put up a fight?


Some sections were too arcade
But the puzzles were like in Braid™
All in all, that game did rock
I stayed up till four o'clock


A high ping don't mean a thing
On, uh oh, those summer nights


Woah, woah, woah
One more go, one more go
But you don't gotta brag
One more go, one more go
Cause sure the MP would lag


It never tried to hold my hand
Now, that would make it terribly bland
It was sweet, though PEGI 18
Well, it was good, you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


Summer heat, hand and mouse meet
During, oh, those summer nights


Woah, woah, woah
One more go, one more go
How much dough did you spend?
One more go, one more go
Did you unlock the good end?


It turned colder, that's where it ends
I put it down, only play on weekends
But turns out it's just been patched
I'm sure my itch will be scratched


Summer games at 60 frames
But, oh, those summer nights
(One more go, one more go)

It does indeed!
Especially on bigger screen, feels very immersive ; )
However, stealth isn't really an option to beat the game.. Still having fun though.

edit:
Far Cry 2 details vs Far Cry 5 ; p

:D Made my day. Perhaps even my month.
Ladies and gentlemen, competition closed, we've got a winner.

One of my best gaming summer was a few years ago, when I decided it was time to start the first The Witcher.
Everything was ready, drinks on the table, guides to discover all the secrets, the fan that goes up to 11.
Outside it was a hellish heat, and I had sealed myself in the house, avoiding the light like a Nosferatu, but with the computer that looked like a small stove from the heat that it emanated.
And so I began to slash Drowner, save damsels, and gain experience. Despite everything, stoically, and having more fun than ever, in a week I completed the game. Boy, what a fantastic experience!

For the occasion I decided to represent these memories with an image drawn with Paint, which I think summarizes well the atmosphere of the time, I hope you like it!

100% when I read this line, the only thing I could think of was this and I don't really know why.

I was having fun playing some of my old half life 2 deathmatch maps that I had made a few years back and would like to share them with people who may not be aware of them. I put a link in to the snarkpit.net under half life 2 maps jrich3600 are the maps I made, 9 of them. Check them out. The puzzle map is really fun if your into a good challenge, check out the bowling alley in the puzzle map and do some bowling. The puzzle map you can load up and play with friends or single player, the same with my coop adventure map.

JBR_Cooppuzzle_One_Final for the puzzle map.
jr_coop_undergroundescape_v1 for the adventure escape map.

The other 7 maps are multiplayer deathmatch half life 2 maps.

dm_megamallcity_v3 Is full of easter eggs, so even though its deathmatch you can try to find out the secrets and easter eggs that I put into the game.

http://www.snarkpit.net/index.php?s=maps&uid=6861 Link to all my maps. The sears tower one is huge.

Have fun gaming this summer!

Summer. Summer never changes.

The bright sunlight, the heat waves. Graphics card wailing like a banshee in the 40C heat, sweat running like hot tears down my back. Ah, summer gaming!

Going to need ice - lots of ice. Jugs of water (gotta keep hydrated). Snacks. Gonna need fuel - but not those damned crumbly snacks that just get particles jammed down in your keyboard. Jerky, maybe. Or those Bam dates we found in the local grocery store a couple months ago. Or both. Yeah, salt and sweet. Now that's a plan!

Only problem is calls of nature. What to do? A bucket and a hose attachment? Maybe those adult diapers? Nah, that would just lead to some real unpleasantness in the summer heat. Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Involves walking all the way to the toilet, though. Hmmm... that could qualify as exercise, no? Probably couldn't get that one by the wife, but it works for me.

Now, games. What to choose? That backlog's looking ugly and hungry. Eyeing me like so much grade AAA beef. Well, it doesn't scare me. Okay, it does. But I'm going to tame that beast, or at least carve a slice out of it, I swear. GOG Summer Sale really bulked it up though. Might do some damage if it gets the drop on me. Gonna have to stealth install a few games while it's distracted. Yeah, that should do it.

Some Fallout Tactics, maybe more exploration in the Commonwealth of Fallout 4. Heard tell of an alien invasion as well, so going to have to XCOM my way to Earth salvation. Right after I see what the devil's really going on in Hard West. When it gets too hot, well, there's always Frostpunk to cool things down. Maybe some hard drinking and hard fighting with The Dwarves would be in order (note to self: get more scotch). Maybe take a whirl with the Hand of Fate to round things out.

Gonna have to lock the place down. Draw the curtains. Fire up the fans. Lay in supplies.

Solstice is coming.

Summer. Summer never changes.

Hey, I know it has nothing in common with summer and with 3M viewers you may already know it, but whenever someone tries to make fun of gaming I just need to bring this one - my beloved presentation of Skyrim Sneak Logic.

It was actually just a joke.