So I have a lot of free time on my hands.
Ok, that's not completely true. I don't have that much free time on my hands at all. What I really have is no idea what to do with my free time. I'm really hoping some great computer games will come my way to serve as time killers, especially during the holidays and winter months in general.
I'm not trying to throw myself a pity party here, but the holidays are going to be a bit of a drag for me. I have no family to speak of; my only friends in Vermont are work friends. I'm going to be in for some serious loneliness if I can't find something to do with myself.
My hopes is that I will find a good computer game or two (and maybe some books) to just eat up those lonely times. I'm really looking forward to Fallout 3, which is due out on October 28, but in the mean time the gaming scene doesn't look to hot.
I'm trying a 14-day trial of Star Wars Gallaxies. I'm really ambivalent about the game so far. Playing any game in the Star Wars universe has a whole lot of appeal. Star Wars is just plain cool! Being able to create a character and become part of Star Wars is very satisfying for my inner 9-year-old who stared up at the movie screen in 1977 and was just blown away.
On the other hand, the interface to this game drives me nuts. When you scroll the mouse one direction or another, the cursor stays right smack dab in the middle of screen, while the scenery slides and spins around. I personally find it very hard to actually click on anything I want because this interface is counter-intuitive. The problem is that every single computer application in the universe - not just games, but spreadsheets, word processors, web browsers ... EVERYTHING - uses an interface where the cursor slides with the mouse. Perhaps I am an old dog, but I am so trained in how a mouse interface works that the alternate system in Star Wars Galaxies is a real challenge for me.
And that makes combat suck, big time.
I have crawled up the gun turret in the Millenium Falcon to fight Tie fighters, and been hopelessly awful at it. I can barely hit anything!
I've gotten into gun fights with Hutt Mercenaries and got my ass kicked because I just couldn't target any of them.
Ok, it's really cool to shoot Tie fighters from the gun turret in the Millenium Falcon, but it is so NOT fun to always miss.
Sooner or later (like 13 days from now when my trial account runs out) I'm going to abandon Start Wars Galaxies just because I can't handle the interface.
In the mean time ... can anyone recommend a good game? I don't want to put all my eggs into the single basket of Fallout 3.
