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<i>Today is the last day for our Hidden Gems Summer Extravaganza! To celebrate today's hidden gem, we're adding soundtracks, artworks, wallpapers, and a reference card to [url=http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/independence_war_deluxe]Independence War Deluxe's bonus content. We've also added soundtracks to Independence War 2's bonus materials today. Pick that game up while you're at it for double the rockin' soundtrack awesomeness.

As our catalog gets bigger and better every week, it's easy to lose track of some of the awesome games that we have to offer. We've been running one day "Gaming Gem" promos for a while now to highlight some classic titles that don't get the love of some of our best-known blockbusters like Baldur's Gate or Duke Nukem 3D. We think every game we're going to be offering on our Summer GOG.com Gem Extravaganza will be an excellent title, and we hope you give them all a try.

Dear Smartypants McAdviceColumnist;

I am looking to pursue a career as a commander of an interstellar dreadnought. What should I do to train myself in preparation? I am 12.

--Starstruck

P.S.
What did you do to make your mother hate you so much she named you "Smartypants McAdviceColumnist"?

Dear Starstruck;

The studious youth looking to command a space ship across the interstellar lanes of space is probably doomed to a life of bitter disappointment and alcoholism, but with that proviso in place I would recommend that you investigate sophisticated simulations like such as "Independence War Deluxe". With Newtonian physics and a realistic flight model, this simulation brings a level of realism unseen in the space fighter sim market. As it turns out, controlling a wallowing space turkey armed to the teeth with particle beams is a more complicated endeavor than flying around in your space superiority fighter, and the skills you would learn from this game would prepare you well for your career.

Although horrible little children who mock others' names are more likely to find themselves in dull jobs like "Xeno-Accountant" or "Spacesuit Protein Spill Recovery Expert".

A complex storyline and branching mission structure combine with respectable graphics and a UI that helps make sense of the intricate issues that a space commander would need to balance help even terrible people like you feel in command of their hollow lives or, at least, the simulation.

Basically, I am suggesting that you pick up Independence War Deluxe for just $2.39, as the happy times that you spend pretending that you have a future will soon be eclipsed by the bleak despair of a grey and dull life wasted.

Best of Luck, Starstruck!

--Smartypants MsAdviceColumnist
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Lionel212008: Since system shock 2 as well as thief 1 and 2 were created by the same developer...Looking glass then it is very likely that they are using the same code which I believe is the 'dark angine'
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Shadowcat: Mostly correct, although System Shock 2 was primarily made by Irrational Games (but it was certainly in conjunction with Looking Glass). And all three of those games do indeed use the Dark Engine. That's the first time anyone has mentioned System Shock 2 in this thread, though.
I believe he was talking about 2 because it were the original system shock then it wouldn't make sense because that one would be way too archiac...regardless, thief 1 doesn't work very well on xp at all so this maybe true.
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Lionel212008: I believe he was talking about 2 because it were the original system shock then it wouldn't make sense because that one would be way too archiac...
That would be a pretty bizarre argument to make anywhere, but at Good Old Games it's completely surreal. You can purchase a great many games here which are older than System Shock (including System Shock's own predecessors, Ultima Underworld 1 & 2).
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Lionel212008: I believe he was talking about 2 because it were the original system shock then it wouldn't make sense because that one would be way too archiac...
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Shadowcat: That would be a pretty bizarre argument to make anywhere, but at Good Old Games it's completely surreal. You can purchase a great many games here which are older than System Shock (including System Shock's own predecessors, Ultima Underworld 1 & 2).
I say this from a developers perspective.....system shock originally came out in the early 90's and using the engine of such an old game (even a heavily modified one) would make little sense...That game is older than the original quake..However it did create the blueprint for modern day 3d shooters.....I do miss looking glass studios,(They created some of the most amazing games that were.... timesinks like ultima underworld, terra nova etc).
Post edited July 26, 2011 by Lionel212008
15ish minutes left...Guess I've finally made up my mind to not get this game...Though it does look very good, and most people think so too...Nah, I'm still loving Heroe's Chronicles, among others, too much right now...Maybe next year ;)
Jolly good sales though GOG. =)
Damn, just went back and saw that it was $2.39, went to add it to my cart and found out it was 5.99 :( darn....
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Neobr10: I think its because of the System Shocks engine, which is also used on Thief 1 and 2.
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Shadowcat: You are confused. The chances of Thief and System Shock having very much code in common are rather slim.
True, sorry, i really got confused. Yeah, i was talking about System Shock 2, which does in fact use the same engine as Thief 1 and 2. Anyway, isnt it possible to get a portable version of System Shock for free? I mean legally.
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=78
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Neobr10: About todays deal, i was kind of disappointed, i was waiting for something really big on the last day of hidden gems.
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Shadowcat: ...and all they gave us was one of the greatest sci-fi games ever made in the entire history of computer gaming.

I-War won't be everyone's cup of tea, so you can certainly be disappointed, but you cannot possibly claim that this was not "something really big" for the final gem in this series.
Yeah, for me it was disappointing because im not into this genre. And youre right, this is a great game, everyone who has played it loved it, that was a terrible statement i made.
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Dynel: Damn, just went back and saw that it was $2.39, went to add it to my cart and found out it was 5.99 :( darn....
Sales seem to begin and end at 12am GMT
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Dynel: Damn, just went back and saw that it was $2.39, went to add it to my cart and found out it was 5.99 :( darn....
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aShcraa: Sales seem to begin and end at 12am GMT
Yeah, I know , I was all up in my work when I saw it was 12:03
Ack; my turn to be confused! Lionel212008, I mistook your first reply to me as being from Neobr10 (or more accurately I at that stage mistook Neobr10 for yourself), and thus when you wrote "he" I thought you (or him) to be referring to the initial mentions of System Shock by ColdZer0 and tarasis, rather than to Neobr10. Hence I thought you were saying that System Shock was too archaic for anyone to be talking about on GOG (which I found surreal), rather than too archaic for anyone to believe that it could have the same game engine as Thief (which I agree with :)
I think that you guys should stop picking on "keeveek" because of his "third world" remark because it were actually I who instigated this : http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/summer_hidden_gems_independence_war_deluxe/post47 , "keeveek" just did not tell you .

For all you guys complaining about this "third world" remark , let me tell you that it seems that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You have absolutely no idea how Western Europe has been more or less taken over by swarms of poor foreigners and their idiotic supporters. And the political climate following that has been atrocious and has developed to the point where anyone protesting against what is happening is beeing attacked - and that also sometimes violently by people that consider themselves so good and in the right that they consider themselves having the right to treat protesters anyway that they feel like. Why the hell else do you think that a guy like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik ]Anders Behring Breivik[/url] got driven to do what he has done ??? (you should know that he attacked other Norwegians and not foreigners, and that ought to tell you a little something about how he felt treated by his own society - not to speak of how people like you will attack me here for writing this post).

With respect to India specifically, then I am a person that actually have been to India, and though India most certainly has acheived great things throughout history, and has got a lot to be proud of, then it certainly also got its problems. There are so many poor people down there who their own extremely rich part of the population apparantly does not feel obligated to help so as a foreigner I were walking in con-men and beggars all the time , I often literally couldn't walk 10 steps on the streets of New Delhi without somone begging or yanking my clothes to get money from me. Also I were put through more elaborate con-artist attempts by Indians who wished either money or to use me to get things or "access help" to get to Europe.

Now , you guys here can come blazing with all the heavy artillery you want but I'll still feel the same way. You see people have been hurting me for more than 50 years where I live for protesting and for being too intelligent - which they hate - so if you think that getting attacked is something new for me then you most certainly do NOT UNDERSTAND anything at all.

With respect to problems where I live then it also ought to be noted that we also got some rather extreme problems with criminals from Eastern and Southern Europe....

So come on.... I am waiting for your "bigotry" and "racist" accusations - if nothing else that ought to be the least of response I have got to get on this !!!
Post edited July 26, 2011 by FiatLux
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FiatLux: I think that you guys should stop picking on "keeveek" because of his "third world" remark because it were actually I who instigated this : http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/summer_hidden_gems_independence_war_deluxe/post47 , "keeveek" just did not tell you .

For all you guys complaining abou this "third world" remark , let me tell you that it seems that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. You have absolutely no idea how Western Europe has been more or less taken over by swarms of poor foreigners and their idiotic supporters. And the political climate following that has been atrocious and has developed to the point where anyone protesting against what is happening is beeing attacked - and that also sometimes violently by people that consider themselves so good and in the right that they consider themselves having the right to treat protesters anyway that they feel like. Why the hell else do you think that a guy like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik ]Anders Behring Breivik[/url] got driven to do what he has done ??? (you should know that he attacked other Norwegians and not foreigners, and that ought to tell you a little something about how he felt treated by his own society - not to speak of how people like you will attack me here for writing this post).

With respect to India specifically, then I am a person that actually have been to India, and though India most certainly has acheived great things throughout history, and has got a lot to be proud of, then it certainly also got is problems. There are so many poor people down there who their own extremely rich part of the population apparantly does not feel obligated to help so as a foreigner I were walking in con-men and beggars all the time , I often literally couldn't walk 10 steps on the streets of New Delhi without somone begging or yanking my clothes to get money from me. Also I were put through more elaborate con-artist attempts by Indians who wished either money or to use me to get things or "access help" to get to Europe.

Now , you guys here can come blazing with all the heavy artillery you want but I'll still feel the same way. You see people have been hurting me for more than 50 years where I live for protesting and for being too intelligent - which they hate - so if you think that getting attacked is something new for me then you most certainly do NOT UNDERSTAND anything at all.

With respect to problems where I live then it also ought to be noted that we also got some rather extreme problems with criminals from Eastern and Southern Europe....

So come on.... I am waiting for your "bigotry" and "racist" accusations - if nothing else that ought to be the least of response I have got to get on this !!!
From my perspective all human beings are bigots or else there wouldn't demarcations amongst nations.Wouldn't you agree?.....The way I see it the situation in India is complex because the deplorable condition of this nation is a direct consequence of public apathy .The country isn't fit to be run by a democracy/ I am a journalist and if I were to apprise the reality of this situation then they would probably have me killed...I see this 'reality' but most people do not and if they do then they lack the power to do anything about it.Those 'beggars' you see in Delhi are part of a mafia like organization and the actual people who run this racket are slave drivers. I perceive my countrymen as being the most 'racist' of all because they are too caught up in the foolish notions of religion, caste and other propaganda to do something to improve the situation of their own country .I could speak a lot about this but I don't think that this is the appropriate forum to do so.
Wow, racism... anyhow:

It's a pity that the special offers are over. I want to thank GOG and any other people involved for making all of this possible and giving us a chance to play so many classics that we either loved ages ago or never got a chance to play until now. There's been some really awesome games which I will certainly enjoy for a long time. I'm among those people who actually bought a new game every single day, just because it was affordable - I also rebought some games that I already owned. It may seem stupid but actually I'm happy that my collection has been expanded by games which I actually wouldn't even have considered buying as there was some REAL gems. My personal favorites are Sanitarium and Dark Reign. Thank you, GOG!

And as for the last game: I haven't tried it yet but the ratings and reviews suggest that it's another space sim classic that one just must know - while I actually never even heard the title until a few weeks ago. So thanks for this hidden gem.
Decided to pass on this one, don't want another space sim atm.

So I ended up with:
Dark Reign
Enclave
In Cold Blood
Septerra Core
The Longest Journey

I intended to get Freedom Force and thought I did but I must have forgot.
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Lionel212008: From my perspective all human beings are bigots or else there wouldn't demarcations amongst nations.Wouldn't you agree?.....The way I see it the situation in India is complex because the deplorable condition of this nation is a direct consequence of public apathy .The country isn't fit to be run by a democracy/ I am a journalist and if I were to apprise the reality of this situation then they would probably have me killed...I see this 'reality' but most people do not and if they do then they lack the power to do anything about it.Those 'beggars' you see in Delhi are part of a mafia like organization and the actual people who run this racket are slave drivers. I perceive my countrymen as being the most 'racist' of all because they are too caught up in the foolish notions of religion, caste and other propaganda to do something to improve the situation of their own country .I could speak a lot about this but I don't think that this is the appropriate forum to do so.
You are completely right about this not being the place to discuss these things - and probably none of us ought to have written about any of this in the first place (because you never knows who tracks or watches you when you are on-line)

But let me just express how amazed I am about the clarity that you have about the conditions in your country, and how sad it makes me that not you either feels free to express your own opinions where you live !!! (but there are so many types of cover-ups and illusions , so while you might hear regularly that Eastern European journalists fear for their lives then you normally never hear that an Indian journalist fear for his/her... This just makes me so sad !!!)

Peace and good fortune be with you my friend.....
Post edited July 26, 2011 by FiatLux
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Ric1987: I intended to get Freedom Force and thought I did but I must have forgot.
Make sure you do get it at some point. Both the Freedom Force games (GOG only has one of them at present) are incredibly fun (and addictive!) games, with excellent production values, and (if you want it) masses of replay value. You can't lose (unless you're late for work the next morning, because you couldn't resist just one more just one more just one more just one more mission... :)