The Beginner's Guide to Immersive Sims

My preferred way of getting Deus Ex working on modern hardware is actually the Community Update, and I'm disappointed it isn't more well known, since it includes some essential mods, along with the optional Lay D Denton mod, and is one of the easiest ways to get the game working today.

Here i am watching a beginners guide for immersive sims after having played 20 or so 😂 (it doesnt matter charlatan wonder videos are always a must )

Believe it or not, my first immersive sim was E.Y.E. back in an early Steam sale before Dishonored even came out. Cannot say what long lasting impacts it's had on my psyche.

The 2010s were too good, we had two AAA studios releasing immersive sims with Arkane and Eidos Montreal. It's very cool to play deus ex mankind divided and see little influences from dishonored 1 like a few similar refined animations for first person movement and that dash ability the works as deus ex's version of blink. For a moment we had that thing of watching a back and forth between studios working in the same genre like it has happened in the 2000s with IO, kojima productions and Ubisoft making stealth games.

Prey is way underrated. I hated te first two hours. But oh boy after that it exploded for me. One of the best games I ever played. The exploration alone.

Thief the Dark Project. THe game is where I started.

07:57 the game shows this to you more than once I think. You find pre-glood paths and I think you see an NPC demonstrate it while fleeing from an enemy.

You can get Deus Ex games for literally a few dollars during a steam sale, and most modern computers/laptops should be able to run it. the barrer of entry is extremely low

Cruelty Squad is genuinely the best game I've ever played and I'd pay any amount of money to experience it for the first time again.

While it's still in Early Access, I'd definitely recommend looking at Shadows of Doubt for anyone who's into mystery. It's pretty much the closest you can get to being an actual detective in games. The game generates tons of crimes, odd jobs, and other mysterious to solve at any time, and every new games spawns a different city with new civilians, buildings, streets, and so-on.

E.Y.E was my first Immersive sim. I love it

Another one I'd recommend for people interested is Arx Fatalis :)

E.Y.E. is just a wonderful mess. Unless you've played OG Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and the original X-com: UFO Defense (oh, and Diablo 2 for good measure), you will not really understand its systems-- and even with all that, you will still need to trial and error the hacking system before you learn not to get hacked by a door. But once you understand it, there is no game that makes you feel more powerful.

I’ve recently been trying out an indie imsim called Burial Brush. It’s a bit weird but seems promising. A bit Thief ish but you’re a little dude with a grappling hook tail. My current play through is a stealth arson one. Side note : I enjoyed your video!

And here i was Eye being my first and to date only game out of this list, that guide you made for how to overcome the Filter on mars was very VERY handy for getting to experiance the best parts of the game.

It's actually not possible to play dishonored as a normal human. You have to use a power at 2 points, to escape the assassins' makeshift holdinng cell, and to climb the boat lock to get into the palace.. Spent a good while at both points (and several other challenging but doable points) trying to find a way to not leave the bounds of my 100% pure stealth no knockouts/kills/powers/equipment run.

Bit of rambly comment, but: Now, I know it's NOT an ImSim by the primary definition, but I've been playing my Phantom Liberty Cyberpunk 2077 run with the "Pacifist" box-stacker mindset. Mostly this consists of Speccing into Max Cool and Tech To make a Stealthy Active Camo Edgerunner build, Using the (single) Non-Lethal weapon mod, Non-lethal quickhacks, etc, finding alternate entryways, and trying to talk my way out of (or into) situations when possible. I also have a bit of a Self-imposed challenge, As I use the Biosculpted Exotics mod, to never harm another exotic. This has led to some very interesting stealth sections and conversations with NPCs I would normally zero without a second thought... But yeah, I'd personally recommend intermediate ImSim Fans give CP77 a go, just be aware that you're pushing up against some major limitations of the game systems if you don't play it like a Boomer shooter with Damage numbers. :P (and for the love of god, do NOT stuff people in lockers!)

I think one way to define an Immersive Sim is that of a game that doesn't present problems alongside solutions. But rather a game that presents problems, period. And then gives you enough overlapping and robust systems that you can cobble together your own solution, and have it work. "Box Stacking" is not a solution. It's an expression of a physics engine robust enough that you CAN stack boxes and platform off them. AND have the game not stop you from doing it through tons of invisible walls or unclimbable geometry. If the game gives you a gun that shoots sleeping darts, an Immersive Sim is when you can use that sleeping dart on anyone. Not just an arbitrary, designated set of characters, while others are equally arbitrarily immune. To create an Immersive Sim means both doing the work to make sure the game doesn't break (or doesn't break in a way that prevents victory) when the player does some nonsense, AND restraining the impulse to put guardrails around the "intended" experience. That's the difference between aping the forms of an ImSim, and actually making one. What makes it Immersive is an internally consistent set of rules, that the player can use in an intuitive manner. They aren't thinking, "What's the intended solution the game designers built for this problem?". But rather, "How can I use the tools at my disposal to get what I want". In a manner that makes the player feel like they're a person living in that world.

An ImSim is any game where breaking the game is intended, and the final boss sucks.

Human Revolution being referred to as "Baby's 0451" got me good. I genuinely like the game a lot and it's a great description.