What did gaming lead you to learn more about?
The Elder Scrolls series allows you to practice alchemy with all sorts of ingredients and several tools. The vessels appear in that classic popular image of a chemistry lab, with its varicolored liquids roiling in glass vessels that have fantastic, yet specific shapes. In, at least, Morrowind and Oblivion (the only TES games I've played) there are four tools: Mortar & Pestle (counts as one), Calcinator, Alembic, and Retort (not the "witty remark" kind). I knew what mortar and pestle were as well as their purpose. The names of other three I had never heard of, but recognizing their shapes, I could clearly place them in that classic lab image.
It aroused my curiosity enough to try to find out what purpose they served in the real world. I learned that retorts were used for condensation prior to the advent of water-jacketed condensers. An alembic is simply two retorts connected by a tube and served as the basis for the modern pot still used for making whiskey. Sadly, I haven't found much about the calcinator, except that it appears to be heat-related, and its shape and composition suggests it acts like a crucible.
Is there anything that was introduced to you through gaming that kindled your interest enough to learn more about it, especially things that are not primarily gaming concepts?
Preemptive disclaimer: Yes, I know the thread title ends with a preposition.
Weird. I was was going to start a similar thread, but hadn't gotten around to it yet?!
With me it's the Total War series. Taught me about Japanese and European geography. Honestly, first time I fired up the Medieval game remember thinking 'oh, that's where Sweden is!'
Love thyself (just not in public)
Love thy neighbour (remember to ask first)
Certis wrote:
A Tale in the Desert motivated me to learn how to read Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
(@)
Ultima 7 suggested me to not be a dick to people, I guess.
And I'm learning to play guitar thanks to guitar hero
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
As a child, I was fascinated by the Caribbean maps in the original Pirates!, and it inspired me to learn more about global geography. And The Fool's Errand inspired a brief, ill-advised and very embarrassing love affair with all things Tarot. Those are the first two that come to mind.
Oh, and I'm probably not alone in this one, but Guitar Hero made me buy a guitar.
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
My Website v. 3.0
To add to what Kat said above. I can pinpoint any Caribbean island because of Pirates!
In a more general sense, I always mention problem-solving skills in job interviews and I think I got those largely from video games.
xbox live: Lester King 17 | WoW: Pawley - Holy Paladin
Custer's Revenge taught me how to...... ( nah forget it )
MaxShrek .. Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it.
Horror Vacui
OMG, I think I just shat myself... I haven't laughed that hard in a while...Mex, that's pure comedic genesis; bravo!!!
As for the conversation and what I have learned related to gaming; I've just learned that it's not wise to read some of these tag lines with gas trapped in your bowels"… - brb
...If dat b*tch can't swim, she's bound to drizzown!
Sid Meier's Covert Action made me want to study cryptography when I grew up. I don't anymore, haven't for years, but it still interests me.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Gaming lead me to learn about computer networking. I had to play Quake and Red Alert against other people in my apartment back in college.
Coax + terminators + ipx/spx = ftw!
/sarcasm
This lead to my stellar career in IT, as my bachelors degree in psychology wasn't going very far.
/sarcasm
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Computers
Aviation
Electronics
Networking
Company level tactics on a battlefield
[url=http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game)]Go[/url]
Japanese
I'm sure there is more but I don't know what.
edit: Thanks for reminding me Hemi. I learned sarcasm, cynicism, distrust, anger, hate, yelling, creating new curse words, and other rude things I would never have known had I not been into gaming.
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Dwarf Fortress led me to learn a bit more about geology.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Anything to help. I'm here for you.
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History. Lots and lots of history.
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
I worked for a Homeopathics/Herbal Supplement Manufacturer for a while. A calcinator is used to burn the herbs and then use the filtered ashes in tinctures and extracts. Many of the mineral elements are freed when the herbs are burned. When reintroduced into extracts it serves to boost overall potency. At least, that's how it was explained to me. Could be BS.
X-Wing taught me how Computers work.
My parents bought me the game. Our computers was barely over minimum specs. The C: prompt sat there.... taunting me. My dad handed me the DOS 5 manual and left the room. I learned batch-scripting, Autoexec.bat and Config.sys load sequences, the differences between Extended and Expanded memory, and a whole mess of other things which eventually led to my crippling addiction to computers and drove me to become a hermit living in a cave. Also, eventually PLAYING X-Wing rocked my world and taught me many things about power management, squad tactics, and explosions in space!
Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.
Main thing I've learned is that when I'm walking down the street, to always turn around every three to four seconds to make sure that no one is trying to knife me. Come to think of it, does that mean I've been playing too many multiplayer FPS's?
The realism and skills of players on the old online Air Warrior game also led me to learn a bunch of stuff about air combat maneuvers.
BZ Flag, an open-source free-ware game, didn't necessarily lead me to learn more about something, as much as it directly taught me some very valuable lessons about decision-making, strategy, and self-confidence. BZ is a very simple, slow-paced shooter. It might sound like those characteristics are limiting, but surprisingly, they are what make the game so incredible when played in a limited multiplayer, CTF mode. Because your tank moves so slowly, you are forced to make good decisions or pay the consequences. There's no bunny-hopping your way out of it; no circle-strafing; no spastic, random dodging - you just get hit; get lucky (rare); prolong your death by jumping; or preferably, be smart and not put yourself in a bad position unless it's your intention to distract the other team while your team scores.
Anyhow, the strategy that is inherent to the game* seriously did teach me how to make better decisions (quickly) in BZ, in other games, and in life, and that there are consequences for not thinking before acting. I also learned that no matter how great I think I am and how fast I think I can move, no amount of desire can make my tank thinner or move faster - I have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Another thing I learned is that there's something called "strategy," and it's important. Not only is there strategy on the overall team level, but it also exists on a 1v1 level. Learning to get into someone's head to figure out what they have, what they want, and where they want to go, is huge, and it's a skill that I've learned to use in anything from games to driving.
*as played in the mode described.
Aviation.
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I tried to avoid a list this time, but....
It's better than turning and loking down every alley, hallway, or opening door you pass. Turns out ladies don't appreciate you turning and looking into their bathrooms -- especially not when you explian that you thought they were a zombie, alien, or demon.
Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
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Back in the NES days, I was curious about this strange Japan country that kept putting out all these games. Got some books on Japan, started reading, and started teaching myself Japanese (at which I failed at horribly). Eventually my interest in Japan got to the point where I decided to go there for 8 months to a language school to study the language. This would have been a great idea, were I not more interested in the fact that they are willing to sell alcohol to anyone old enough to reach over the counter (I was 18).
I tell parents all the time, you want your own little computer tech? Buy him/her a game for Christmas that doesn't work (tech support is closed Xmas, and often a few days after).
I am attracted
To moronic, time-wasting
dumb activities
- nsmike
Racing games led me to learn more about how things work under the hood, and how to find the best line on the track.
Tony Hawk 3 for the PS1 was the reason I went out and bought a skateboard, and got all up into the boardriding culture. I got over that awhile ago though.
It's gonna feel like you took a tray full of cookies and BAKED THEM UP IN YOUR ASS!!!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/bravace
Gaming kicked off my interest into computers, which eventually (helped) lead me to my career. Were it not for the slave-like conditions of the industry, I'd probably be trying to create games for living.
Xbox Live: StaatsM
My playing in a World of Darkness online MU* lead me to learn more about guns. I wanted to know what the firearms my character was carrying looked like. Before that, guns were barely on my radar.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Playing the old Magic Carpet and Cannon Fodder games on my step mom's old rig led me to understand the basic workings of a computer. Around the age of 9, too.. so that's not too shabby. I did not fear DOS any more, and once I bought my first game, which was Command and Conquer (not the "'95" edition that had better resolution), I was hooked as more than just a SNES player.
Yet even then we ran like the wind,
whilst our laughter echoed under cerulean skies...
Similar story here. It's not that games taught me much. Rather, getting games to work taught me everything I knew then about computers.
Since during my younger years there was no way in my country to actually buy games, I had to learn assembler to crack some non-working programs. After one particular session of disassembling (it was actually the already mentioned X-Wing) I found out that the passwords are embedded in the .exe file without any encryption. Hooray! Anyway, no such behaviour now, I love original games and am an avid collector. So there, repaying the sins of my childhood. Also lots of DOS and computer innards knowledge comes from that time. And learning to program in C and assembler. I wanted to make games, of course:) And I even did, learning raytracing techniques was fascinating.
Apart from that, I am a huge adventure games fan and they actually taught me a lot of English. One of the most useful skills in the world.
You can't take the sky from me.
I can pretty much echo most of what's already been mentioned here:
Learnt Dos so to get the old games working. And then on Windows. The interest lead to a degree in IT and my current profession.
Games also cemented for me my love for Sci-Fi. Star Wars started it, but games like Wing Commander, Mechwarrior 2 just lead it on from there.
The most important thing that games taught me was how to appreciate an interactive story (from all the Adventure games) and how to come up with my own as I played (for those sandbox games like the Sims, Morrowind and old school RPGS.
I bet even after that he still couldn't figure out what FFVII was about
Oh come on! It was in jest...put down the buster sword you wannable of a wannable who tried to follow his other fellow soldier but is in fact a half clone of this commanding officer who is a genetically altered hybrid clone grown from the genetic material of some gorram space alien who is ...awww...frek..I give up.
Warhammer: Age of Reckoning - Iron Rock - Falvia - Witch Hunter
"When formulating any plan, there is only one variable that can never be properly accoutered for: Boobs." - Greg Dean
Wannable? Dontcha mean wannabie?
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Right. Titan Quest actually insipred me to check up on the Minoan culture.
"Three blokes go into a pub. One of them is kind of stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Yeah, the same for me, and not only the adventure games.
America's Army taught me to distinguish friendly fire from enemy fire, and how dangerous it can be to pick up the enemies weapon to shoot with it.
It also taught me that having the same unlockable weapons for the opposing teams is not cool soundwise.
I'm a very curious person, and games have led me to looking up a lot of trivia. From history to how certain guns look.
Also, Medieval 2 taught me that there was a guy who thought it would cool to mount a cannon on a elephant and shoot with it. And guess what, that guy is so right.
I don't watch, I interact!
A lot of ideas come to mind, but if I had to name the most important thing I learned from gaming (started on C128 and x286 as a kid), its that failure is ok, as long as you don't fail the same way twice (damn, I died, let's try it another way, damn, I died...). Being able to learn from my mistakes, pick myself up and try again is a huge skill to have.
I learned about iterative testing (without knowing that phrase).
Red Storm Rising caused me to pick up Tom Clancy, which in turn caused me to play 688 Attack Sub, Flight Simulator, Falcon series, A-10 Tank Killer, GunShip 2000, which in turned caused me to research more about all of those platforms. Culminated in me taking flight lessons and having my first solo prior to getting my drivers license.
Really, this list could go on forever...
"Listen," he said. "Poor people sweat. Rich people perspire. Me? I'm just cool. I defrost."
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