Javdet
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How I got hooked on the drug.
I accidentally stumbled back upon Pasha's post at the beginning of the thread, and I thought I'd scribble something too... I started reminiscing and got such a wave of nostalgia that I probably won't be able to keep it short; I'll even bring in the pre-Heroes era.:)
It all started around '99. My buddy Seryoga and I were huge football fans, but since we lived in a dorm, we didn't have much access to TV broadcasts. Plus, we wanted to watch more than the domestic channels showed (though credit where it's due — back then they managed to broadcast the Italian and English championships, unlike nowadays). My black-and-white set was moody, borrowing from neighbors didn't always work, and besides, what can you actually see on a box smaller than a 15-inch monitor with a terrible signal? There was only one person in the whole dorm — the lucky owner of a fairly large Samsung — but he only shared his passion for football under public pressure during important match days (we'd say: "It's game time — we're watching at the Samsungs"):) . By that time, betting shops had started popping up in Kharkiv like mushrooms, and the more advanced ones were equipped with blue screens. Well, if you're watching football at the bookies, naturally you'll gamble too. Analyzing it later, I realized that was the 1st step toward gaming addiction.:D
Then, for Seryoga's birthday, someone gave him a FIFA 99 disc. No clue why — neither of us even had a computer back then.:D At some classmate's birthday, we installed it, played as a duo on one keyboard (me with the letters, Seryoga with the arrows:smile04: ), and got seriously hooked. That was the 2nd step.
There were no more computers in the dorm than there were TVs — maybe 10-15. Naturally, after 7-8 hours of keyboard hammering, the computer owners started regretting letting uninvited guests near the PC, and next time they'd have weighty excuses — midterms, thesis, work, etc... But we found an alternative — computer clubs. Oh, I forgot, there was another funny moment on Seryoga's next birthday — of all the gifts, the coolest was a PC for free use for 24 hours... man, what a joy that was. :D
My first encounter with a strategy game happened exactly in the club. We dragged along another buddy, but he quickly got tired of shooters and football, and having a bit of experience with strategies, he sat down to play some confusing game called "Cossacks." "Trash," I said, and started playing it too. It turned out to be fascinating, and subsequently, we'd go for all-nighters to clash army against army.
By then, I was financially ready to buy a not-too-fancy PC (mentally I was ready much sooner). The purchase itself became the 3rd and, so far, irreversible step toward this drug.:D
We set up a small network of 6 PCs and mostly played football, NFS, and Counter-Strike. "Cossacks" turned out to be a pretty clunky game and got boring quickly. My stupid nickname came from those times. I wasn't great at CS, more of a victim than a hunter, and since the guys playing terrorists took names like "Hottab," "Osama," etc., I took an eastern one too, "Javdet" — so enemies could tell each other over the radio, "Leave Javdet alone — he's mine." :D After registering on HW, I thought about changing it, but I kind of lagged behind. To be fair, our guys were decent shooters — one guy later took a prize-winning place in Ukraine.
And then, after another battle, everyone goes into the hallway to discuss frags, and they agreed that we needed to play something else. That "something else" was Heroes. We started playing over the network in groups of five or six. After playing this unfamiliar thing for a week and waiting 10 minutes per turn for the opponents (everyone):smile18: (I'm writing this now, and LeBronych is already on turn 20), I delivered my verdict: a children's toy with a stupid name.
But there was still a need for an intellectual game. And so, about six months later, I stopped by a friend's place to nurse a hangover after another dorm feast. He was playing those hated Heroes, reloading a save several times and cursing loudly, but he still couldn't beat the computer. Having received brief instructions: "The main thing is to build something every day," I went home to crush the computer. It was an obsession — for 3 days I forgot the way to the institute, and once I got there, my mind was racing back to my "eared" Packard Bell. And the most amazing thing — I managed to hook people who hated Heroes just as much as I did. :)
In six months, the lion's share of the mechanics was learned by trial and error. And strangely enough, the game didn't get boring; on the contrary, new nuances and features were constantly being found. They still are. :) We played both hotseat and over the network, and I felt "cool." Until Denis, an acquaintance from vocational school, entered the 1st year. In Simferopol, he was part of the Heroes crowd and knew players like Virus, Boy, VVV, who took the top 2 places at one of the St. Petersburg championships (Alex should remember them). Deniska quickly demonstrated the pointlessness of building the capitol. This was a breakthrough. We played several fixes and completely without rules. After a while, I managed to beat the teacher. But the most interesting battles were still with Seryoga. By that time, we had stamps in our passports, and Heroes became a trial for both us and our wives. :D In the time stolen from the family, we played many matches. Although Seryoga played quite well, the score was a landslide — he was always just a little bit short, specifically in achieving the main objective. "A day without a battle is a wasted day." I remember a game of my warrior against Adelka — after anti-magic on 40 geese, he didn't speak to me for 2 days.:D
After graduating from university, I only played single-player. Until technical progress finally reached our street. The first thing in Google was the portal, but I waited half a year for authorization. I registered on HW immediately, thinking I'd play a bit and get bored — but no way. At first, it was hard to adjust to the randomness and I mostly lost. And after the fixes, I wondered why people took Tazar as fathers. Now it's clear.
That's all.
I accidentally stumbled back upon Pasha's post at the beginning of the thread, and I thought I'd scribble something too... I started reminiscing and got such a wave of nostalgia that I probably won't be able to keep it short; I'll even bring in the pre-Heroes era.:)
It all started around '99. My buddy Seryoga and I were huge football fans, but since we lived in a dorm, we didn't have much access to TV broadcasts. Plus, we wanted to watch more than the domestic channels showed (though credit where it's due — back then they managed to broadcast the Italian and English championships, unlike nowadays). My black-and-white set was moody, borrowing from neighbors didn't always work, and besides, what can you actually see on a box smaller than a 15-inch monitor with a terrible signal? There was only one person in the whole dorm — the lucky owner of a fairly large Samsung — but he only shared his passion for football under public pressure during important match days (we'd say: "It's game time — we're watching at the Samsungs"):) . By that time, betting shops had started popping up in Kharkiv like mushrooms, and the more advanced ones were equipped with blue screens. Well, if you're watching football at the bookies, naturally you'll gamble too. Analyzing it later, I realized that was the 1st step toward gaming addiction.:D
Then, for Seryoga's birthday, someone gave him a FIFA 99 disc. No clue why — neither of us even had a computer back then.:D At some classmate's birthday, we installed it, played as a duo on one keyboard (me with the letters, Seryoga with the arrows:smile04: ), and got seriously hooked. That was the 2nd step.
There were no more computers in the dorm than there were TVs — maybe 10-15. Naturally, after 7-8 hours of keyboard hammering, the computer owners started regretting letting uninvited guests near the PC, and next time they'd have weighty excuses — midterms, thesis, work, etc... But we found an alternative — computer clubs. Oh, I forgot, there was another funny moment on Seryoga's next birthday — of all the gifts, the coolest was a PC for free use for 24 hours... man, what a joy that was. :D
My first encounter with a strategy game happened exactly in the club. We dragged along another buddy, but he quickly got tired of shooters and football, and having a bit of experience with strategies, he sat down to play some confusing game called "Cossacks." "Trash," I said, and started playing it too. It turned out to be fascinating, and subsequently, we'd go for all-nighters to clash army against army.
By then, I was financially ready to buy a not-too-fancy PC (mentally I was ready much sooner). The purchase itself became the 3rd and, so far, irreversible step toward this drug.:D
We set up a small network of 6 PCs and mostly played football, NFS, and Counter-Strike. "Cossacks" turned out to be a pretty clunky game and got boring quickly. My stupid nickname came from those times. I wasn't great at CS, more of a victim than a hunter, and since the guys playing terrorists took names like "Hottab," "Osama," etc., I took an eastern one too, "Javdet" — so enemies could tell each other over the radio, "Leave Javdet alone — he's mine." :D After registering on HW, I thought about changing it, but I kind of lagged behind. To be fair, our guys were decent shooters — one guy later took a prize-winning place in Ukraine.
And then, after another battle, everyone goes into the hallway to discuss frags, and they agreed that we needed to play something else. That "something else" was Heroes. We started playing over the network in groups of five or six. After playing this unfamiliar thing for a week and waiting 10 minutes per turn for the opponents (everyone):smile18: (I'm writing this now, and LeBronych is already on turn 20), I delivered my verdict: a children's toy with a stupid name.
But there was still a need for an intellectual game. And so, about six months later, I stopped by a friend's place to nurse a hangover after another dorm feast. He was playing those hated Heroes, reloading a save several times and cursing loudly, but he still couldn't beat the computer. Having received brief instructions: "The main thing is to build something every day," I went home to crush the computer. It was an obsession — for 3 days I forgot the way to the institute, and once I got there, my mind was racing back to my "eared" Packard Bell. And the most amazing thing — I managed to hook people who hated Heroes just as much as I did. :)
In six months, the lion's share of the mechanics was learned by trial and error. And strangely enough, the game didn't get boring; on the contrary, new nuances and features were constantly being found. They still are. :) We played both hotseat and over the network, and I felt "cool." Until Denis, an acquaintance from vocational school, entered the 1st year. In Simferopol, he was part of the Heroes crowd and knew players like Virus, Boy, VVV, who took the top 2 places at one of the St. Petersburg championships (Alex should remember them). Deniska quickly demonstrated the pointlessness of building the capitol. This was a breakthrough. We played several fixes and completely without rules. After a while, I managed to beat the teacher. But the most interesting battles were still with Seryoga. By that time, we had stamps in our passports, and Heroes became a trial for both us and our wives. :D In the time stolen from the family, we played many matches. Although Seryoga played quite well, the score was a landslide — he was always just a little bit short, specifically in achieving the main objective. "A day without a battle is a wasted day." I remember a game of my warrior against Adelka — after anti-magic on 40 geese, he didn't speak to me for 2 days.:D
After graduating from university, I only played single-player. Until technical progress finally reached our street. The first thing in Google was the portal, but I waited half a year for authorization. I registered on HW immediately, thinking I'd play a bit and get bored — but no way. At first, it was hard to adjust to the randomness and I mostly lost. And after the fixes, I wondered why people took Tazar as fathers. Now it's clear.
That's all.
Даже если вас съели - у вас два выхода:smile19:
Зима 2011-12.
Зима 2011-12.