I’m not the kind of a simulator player who builds cockpits in their basement. I admire them though, something small inside me wishes to be one of them. No, I’m the kind of simulator player who grabs a beer and sets out to have some fun.
I dream and fantasize of seas. Being a pisspoor swimmer though, I bought Ship Simulator Extremes. The comic pretty much describes how my first try went. The controls aren’t complicated but while it’s easy to get the ship moving, turning is an all different thing. I won’t even speak of the wizardry that is towing. I eventually learn to play of course, but some of the fun that I find in simulators is in seeing what would happen if I – a person of no skills – was put to do something. In this case, steer a ship.
I enjoy the occasional sim and Dwarf Fortress because they let me lose when I suck and have fun doing it. Modern games push the player towards the end in fear that the player might get frustrated and quit before the final boss or something, but in doing that they lose much of the fun and game. Games are turning into movies where you can press a button and imagine that it made a difference. I never got far in Die by the Sword, but boy did I love that game.
Also, I’d like a survival horror game which is more about trying to survive than killing huge amounts of zombies.