Neurosis and computer RPGs.

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I have this terrible problem when playing computer RPGs. It happened with me when I played the Baldurs Gate series, and it is happening now with Icewind Dale.
You see, it is not very "realistic" to be sleeping for 24 hours straight every two mid/major battles, so I get myself sometimes loading countless times - I really mean countless - because I do want to keep venturing through the dungeons and hacking through the enemies even if most of my characters are nearly dead, or depleted of their spells.
Does anyone else have this problem, or am I just too neurotic?

 

No, actually, that's why there are temples. I had the same problem until I finally broke down and just visited a temple, and I've been doing it ever since. You trade some gold for HP, and you're on your merry way. It can also help to get more priests in your party, and have them stock up on healing spells.

 

Going all the way back to towns is not such a good idea. But you do have a point about stocking healing scrolls. I will try it - unless it is too expensive.

 

I had that mindset when I played BG2 only. But in all the gold box AD&D games, I slept after every battle if it was safe.

I think it is because BG2 tracks time in days and whatnot. So I was reluctant to oversleep or else it will take months to finish. The old games do not track time in days; just hours so you know the day night cycle. Plus it was very quick and convenient using hotkeys (and no resting animation) - just hit 'E' for encamp, 'F' for fix (clerics auto cast heal spells on injured characters and rest 8 hours), 'RAR' for rest a day to rememormized spells. It takes 5 seconds to do, so I do it often.

 

Sometimes a battle looks like short dispatching, but normally they take more time. Several minutes of real time is whole hours of game time. If you aren't a daily fighter, you're going to feel a 30 minute sword duel in your muscles even on the following day. Think about a real fight with slashing through bodies and pulling the blade out, then bashing through something and pulling back again etc etc. Imagine the mental focus of wizards, the spiritual hyperactivity of clerics and their likes. Maybe not 24 hours straight but one would still appreciate some long sleep after that. You will go on if needed and you can't rest, but normally you'd rather get some sleep before.

 

I agree with Chev. Look at, for example, football players. They play for about an hour (or even less if they are substituted) and they are all buggered and need about a week's recovery! After battling something like a dragon, you'd probably be wanting to do the same!

 

After a hard fight I like to rest my heros. They deserve it and I usually need a short break too. It seems natural to me.

 

Most of all, understand that the game was made with that thought in mind. In PnP you'd have no more than 1-2 encounters per day. In a typical CRPG, you're working under the same rules and restrictions, with the exception that you have 10-20 times the number of enemies to defeat. Basically unless you succumb to the game's mechanics and sleep when you can, you're making the game tens of times more difficult than it's really meant to be.

Yes, it can be challenging. I enjoyed it in BG2 when I tried it. But it can also be frustrating, as it often forces you to micro-manage and save/load constantly, which may well take away from the immersion of the actual game.

So what I would say is this: Stop feeling guilty about it and just sleep when you can. That's what you're supposed to do, even if the game displays it poorly. Think of the one dungeon that took 5 days of gametime to complete where you beat up 200 beings of different race, as the exact equivalent of a real dungeon where you beat up 20 enemies of different races, taking just one stop for a quick sleep in some cellar.

It's kinda like in BG2.

** SPOIL **






Do you really think Charname would have made it if s/he'd had to beat up all the things plus the dragon in Suldanesselar, and after that still face off with Irenicus all in a row? While it might not seem 'realistic' to start sleeping in such a dire situation when you know Irenicus is minutes away from reaching his goal, it's not like the game really expects you to not rest at least once.

 

Haha. Thanks a lot. Your reasoning actually makes sense and helped me.
Another point someone made that is pertinent is regarding immersion. It really weakens my feeling of high adventure and fantasy having to reload all the time, which spoils the purpose of these kind of games.