Overview: An off-road driving simulator.
20170924: AM Hours
While watching the 2017 World Championship Play-In matches for League of Legends, I decided to play Spintires, another $29.99 valued game which I had yet to play (see footnote).
Setup: Keyboard.
Steam Game Time: 39 minutes
20170924: Afternoon
I wanted to give the game another try. As my last game save ended with tipping over, I restarted the game. Upon tipping over again, I went to seek help (on the internet) and none of the proposed solutions seemed to apply.
Right. Whatever, I'll just restart just one more time and see what happens.
Tip: Automatic gear shifting makes the game much easier.
Tip: Turning the wheel left and right can help get the vehicle through muddy terrain.
Tip: Using all-wheel drive in certain situations is helpful. I assume it wastes more gas so I didn't use it all the time.
Unfortunately, I reached a point in the game where I went to collect some logs and couldn't figure out what the game wanted me to do. In particular, I wish there was a "less simulated" mode. After all, the game doesn't make me get out and pump my own gas, why should I have to actually load my own logs?
Steam Game Time: 41 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Great graphics
+ Realistic gameplay (physics-based)
Cons:
- Difficult controls. Perhaps I should have used a controller.
- Extremely difficult to use camera.
- Poor gameplay instructions.
Summary:
The depth of the simulation in this game is potentially highly rewarding for any player willing to put the time in to explore and unravel its intricacies.
Unfortunately, my personal preference on game design is that the exploration process can be organic if it's unessential to the gameplay (e.g., discovering a hidden power-up), or if it's obvious (e.g., discovering double-jump when a ledge is too high for a single jump). However, more complicated procedures should be explained or placed in a tutorial.
When applied to Spintires, I'm fine organically discovering the best ways to drive through mud, up a hill, or across a river, but I would like a broad explanation of gathering and delivering logs.
In the end, as mentioned before, the detail and complexity of the game may satisfy some players, but I was left unsatisfied.
SPINTIRES (PC) (2014)
Relevant Links:
SPINTIRES Website
SPINTIRES (Wikipedia.org)
SPINTIRES (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
SPINTIRES (Steam Store Page)
20170924: AM Hours
While watching the 2017 World Championship Play-In matches for League of Legends, I decided to play Spintires, another $29.99 valued game which I had yet to play (see footnote).
 |
| Trying to ford the river. |
Setup: Keyboard.
Steam Game Time: 39 minutes
20170924: Afternoon
I wanted to give the game another try. As my last game save ended with tipping over, I restarted the game. Upon tipping over again, I went to seek help (on the internet) and none of the proposed solutions seemed to apply.
 |
| Constantly turning the wheel left and right seems to help. |
Right. Whatever, I'll just restart just one more time and see what happens.
Tip: Automatic gear shifting makes the game much easier.
Tip: Turning the wheel left and right can help get the vehicle through muddy terrain.
Tip: Using all-wheel drive in certain situations is helpful. I assume it wastes more gas so I didn't use it all the time.
 |
| Using a different vehicle. |
Unfortunately, I reached a point in the game where I went to collect some logs and couldn't figure out what the game wanted me to do. In particular, I wish there was a "less simulated" mode. After all, the game doesn't make me get out and pump my own gas, why should I have to actually load my own logs?
Steam Game Time: 41 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Great graphics
+ Realistic gameplay (physics-based)
 |
| Terrible way to teach a player how to play. |
Cons:
- Difficult controls. Perhaps I should have used a controller.
- Extremely difficult to use camera.
- Poor gameplay instructions.
Summary:
The depth of the simulation in this game is potentially highly rewarding for any player willing to put the time in to explore and unravel its intricacies.
 |
| I don't really understand this log loading game mechanic. |
Unfortunately, my personal preference on game design is that the exploration process can be organic if it's unessential to the gameplay (e.g., discovering a hidden power-up), or if it's obvious (e.g., discovering double-jump when a ledge is too high for a single jump). However, more complicated procedures should be explained or placed in a tutorial.
When applied to Spintires, I'm fine organically discovering the best ways to drive through mud, up a hill, or across a river, but I would like a broad explanation of gathering and delivering logs.
 |
| Making modifications to a vehicle. |
In the end, as mentioned before, the detail and complexity of the game may satisfy some players, but I was left unsatisfied.
SPINTIRES (PC) (2014)
Relevant Links:
SPINTIRES Website
SPINTIRES (Wikipedia.org)
SPINTIRES (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
SPINTIRES (Steam Store Page)
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