Help! I'm on night shift!

[Urgat]

Ok, so starting tonight, I'm on night shift in some weird hotel where there's only students, till the end of July. I've worked there before, and, from experience, there's is absolutely nothing to do, especially during summer, and even more so on night shifts. Doing the rounds a couple time, taking out the trash a couple times a week and handing over some mail to 3 people. Now I can take books, but a night lasts 9 hours. I just can't read for 9 hours straight.
So I have a notebook (you know, these mini laptops). It's not very powerful, it's got a tiny screen, but it works fine nonetheless.
What I need is a game that can last a while, is free (coz I'm a cheapstake), can be downloaded (well it's a given if it's free anyway, but even though, there's no DVD drive on the thing), and can run fine on a crappy machine. Oh, of course, there's no internet, so it has to be an offline game. Any idea?
Oh, in case you're wondering, the boss is almost a friend (he hired me in a couple other hotels already), and the first time I worked there, he was pretty explicit: I should bring stuff to pass the time, or I'll end up dead from boredom (and he was right. I've almost finished writing a whole damn novel there). So no worry about being busted by the boss

[blackcherry]

Do you have a DS? Passes the time pretty well for me. Thought perhaps one of those games that can last forever like those offered by the humble indie bundle. Its a pay as much as you want for 5 games charity and the games are of high quality all single player and fun. More importantly, very cheap if you want to pay nothing.

[Steam_Giant]

If you like WWII games I would recommend "Sudden Strike 2", its a fantastic game and free to download http://www.gametop.com/download-free...udden-strike2/

Im also hearing good things about "FF Endless Nova" http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/33...less+Nova.html

[Torga_DW]

I've got a classic that will run on any computer: nethack

Its one of the original fantasy dungeon crawls, from back in the 80s. It set a bar so high that most games in the genre fall short, even today. I'm pretty sure this is where the concept for diablo came from, but never quite managed to reach. You descend into the dungeon of doom to find the amulet of yendor. In theory it can be done, although i've never managed to achieve this, nor anyone i know. The game won't just let you win if you play it long enough. I recommend giving it a try, it might go a long way to occupying your time.


Heres links to the two graphical versions that i know of:
http://www.darkarts.co.za/vulture
http://users.tkk.fi/jtpelto2/nethack.html

and in case you feel like going old school, heres the original version that uses only text characters to represent the game:
http://www.nethack.org/v343/ports/download-win.html

[Urgat]

Thanks Well it's too late for tonight (I'm already facing the Ordeal of Boredom, see...), but I'd give them a try... excepted I realise this kind of games would have me meet a quick "game over" if someone comes and asks me something as I couldn't realistically say "hold a sec, I'm killing that mob and I'm all yours" xD. Guess I need a turn-based game or something like that :/

[Torga_DW]

nethack is turn based

[blackcherry]

Fire emblem/advance wars. Turn based, but say goodbye to your evenings, possibly your life for a while.

[Urgat]

nethack is turn based

Ah then I think it's settled

Fire emblem/advance wars. Turn based, but say goodbye to your evenings, possibly your life for a while.

Those aren't free, though, I believe?

[Sojourner]

Dwarf Fortress.

I won't provide a link, because there is no obvious 'right' version to get of this notorious indie game. It's nigh-impossible to play the stock version because the ASCII tileset is just too hard to read, so I strongly recommend getting a version that's bundled with a custom tileset. Google should provide.

[RealMikeBob]

You could try AFnord's thread http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...-pay-for-games

Or there is always Gog.coms free selection http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue/?price=free

[Lord Cedric]

Mount and Blade from Taleworlds is fully downloadable. Though not "free", but playing the first 6 levels is completely free (and it takes a while to level). I had an absolute blast playtesting the original of this game. Now it's sequal is out called Mount & Blade Warbands which should stil lhave the free to lvl 6. So many factions to choose from and all battles are different. The campaign is turn-based, though the combat is not. However you can pause the game in mid-fight.

I have also played Sudden Strike II (when it was first launched) and had an absolute blast with it. It's a good tactical game.

If I can think of any other ones, I'll let you know.

- Lord Cedric

[Steam_Giant]

Thanks Well it's too late for tonight (I'm already facing the Ordeal of Boredom, see...), but I'd give them a try... excepted I realise this kind of games would have me meet a quick "game over" if someone comes and asks me something as I couldn't realistically say "hold a sec, I'm killing that mob and I'm all yours" xD. Guess I need a turn-based game or something like that :/

Dont most games come with a pause function?

[Urgat]

It's 9.22PM, and I'm back to Boredomland. I ended up sleeping almost all the day and doing menual shores, so I couldn't prepare for round two, hargh.

Dwarf Fortress.

I won't provide a link, because there is no obvious 'right' version to get of this notorious indie game. It's nigh-impossible to play the stock version because the ASCII tileset is just too hard to read, so I strongly recommend getting a version that's bundled with a custom tileset. Google should provide.

Mmh yeah, I always meant to try it, but it looks so bad... xD

You could try AFnord's thread http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...-pay-for-games

Or there is always Gog.coms free selection http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue/?price=free

Thanks, I'll check those. I remember AFnord's topic actually, now that you mention it.

Mount and Blade from Taleworlds is fully downloadable. Though not "free", but playing the first 6 levels is completely free (and it takes a while to level). I had an absolute blast playtesting the original of this game. Now it's sequal is out called Mount & Blade Warbands which should stil lhave the free to lvl 6. So many factions to choose from and all battles are different. The campaign is turn-based, though the combat is not. However you can pause the game in mid-fight.

I have also played Sudden Strike II (when it was first launched) and had an absolute blast with it. It's a good tactical game.

If I can think of any other ones, I'll let you know.

- Lord Cedric

Oh, I got M&B already, bought the cheap version befor it was released. No way this can play fine with the notebook though, and I've played it way too much already, conquering all of Calradia for the Nords and stuff . Thanks for the suggestion though.

Dont most games come with a pause function?

Well boredom tends to switch my brains off There is, of course, that option, but it somehow eluded my feeble mind.
Did I say 9 hours btw? My shift lasts 11 hours >< (from 9PM to 8AM). Looooooooong. Know one of the worst parts? Activity is almost zero on Warseer during that time, and it turns out that's one of the things I do most, browsing Warseer. I think I need a life...
Well at least it pays alright.

[Sojourner]

Mmh yeah, I always meant to try it, but it looks so bad... xD

It does look pretty primitive, but don't let that fool you. It's basically the most complicated thing in the universe. Once you get used to the vintage graphics, you stop noticing them - and the learning curve is simpler with the advanced tilesets.

I think it'd definitely satisfy what I think is the main objective here - the consumption of time.

[witchunter180]

Holy moly! Mechwarrior 4!!! been trying to find a copy of that for years! Too bad the download freezes after an hour :/ Still really cool, I'm glad I looked up that thread!

[ctsteel]

You might want to try looking up some abandonware sites too - get a bunch of older adventure etc games that are all standalone/pre-internet-reliance era, and have a selection to play from.

[witchunter180]

Well finished the MechWarrior 4 download. Had a nice little virus attached to it, now can't play

[stazba]

2 choices (both of which I have had hours of fun)

1. Emulators. Anything lower than PS1 will likely run on your netbook. Great if you remember and love old NES/ Super NES/ Arcade games like I do and want access to literally thousands of titles that each take up almost no room on your harddrive, but not a good choice if you worry a bit about legality.

2. DOSbox + abandonware games. DOSbox is a DOS emulator, and abandonware games are older DOS games which are completely free and legal to download. There are some GREAT old PC games you can get and without a doubt they will run on your netbook.

Both options will take you downloading the software + games to a flash disk and then transferring to your netbook as well as a bit of setting tweaking, but there are tons of online support to help you with this.

cheers

[Satan]

Battle for Wesnoth. Turn-based and entirely free. Google it.

[Sotek]

Baldurs gate is probably old enough to run pretty well and its on GoG