Titan Quest Fans Forum

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Pazuzu on 04 February 2018, 01:09:34

Title: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Pazuzu on 04 February 2018, 01:09:34
Hey guys, i wanted to suggest that we talk about our titan quest history/background here. Like, when did you first play titan quest, how did you find out about it, at which point in your life, and so on.

I will start


I got an original copy of titan quest back in 2005 or 2006, so did 2 of my best friends in highscool (yea i was in highschool). Immediately got to love the game, and shared it with another friend of ours, the 4 of us would play titan quest after school for several months. They stopped playing after awhile though since we were about to finish highschool and had other priorities, like jobs and university! But i kept the game disks.

 I remember my PC would really lag whenever i launched titan quest, i was using a single core hyper threaded pentium 4 clocked at 3ghz back then, with like 512mb of ram and an 80gb hdd, my gpu was a gt 5700LE :D . After a year or so i got a new PC from the money i was getting from my university scholarship, it was a dual core athlon with like 2gb of ram and a gt 8600 graphics card. The Game would run much better on that one, but still a bit laggy at times. Funny thing is that many years ago you actually needed a good PC to play titan quest, the only time i was able to play TQ in max settings without any lag was around 2010-2011 when i upgraded my PC to something modern.

 Long story short, i never really got tired of titan quest.
It is true that there were times in the past 12 years when i stopped playing TQ, but i would always eventually return to the game. What helped me the most was tq.net forums where i registered several years ago, and since then TQ has been something like a more permanent activity in my every day life. I've played many games in the past 15 years, spent years playing online MMO's too, but the only game im still playing after 12 years is titan quest.
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Typhon on 04 February 2018, 01:56:15
I found it back in March, 2011 at a thrift shop for $1.00 (Yes! And Immortal Throne for another dollar for a total of $2.00), not to mention that the discs were in extremely good shape surprisingly and the original big box came with a skill tree thingy. I had already played games like Diablo 1 and 2 but had never heard of this particular game although I did get it due to the price and the fact that I like Greek Mythology. When I booted it up at home on my then Windows XP I was greeted with the normal setup stuff but I had later figured out that I needed a CD key, which was luckily easily found online. When in-game it ran gloriously on it despite its superb graphics (I didn't  have a gaming pc, nor do I now, but that computer was off the shelf quality in walmart *aka* crap) I hadn't really seen a game that lovely from such a perspective and it was mind blowing.

It was relieving to see another game like Diablo with its clicking style of combat/looting/etc. since I don't have many of them like that but I was having fun with the Hunting Mastery shooting everything from afar (never really liked archers in these types of games anyways). I had fun listening to every bit of dialogue, killing every monster, and picking up every piece of loot I could find. Until... Egypt happened. I quit the game for a good 3 months or so just because I couldn't force my hand through that world, it was physically punishing for me but when I got further through I enjoyed it a bit more and pushed through the rest. Something I'm glad I did.

On a snowy day I stayed inside, determined to push up through to the final boss, which I knew was close. Then I met Typhon, and his meaty four arms of course. Dying about 16 times, about 4 more times than what I had done by the dragonians if I remember correctly, I finally beat him and listened to that glorious music and Zeus's all important speech telling me how awesome I really am. I had finally installed Immortal Throne afterwards and realized that I could've played with it the entire time :o but that added god knows how many hours to my playtime. I dropped it for about 2-3 years and have picked it up fairly recently, looking to forums to join and dropped by titanquest. net where I met most of you. I got all kinds of neat ideas and tricks from that website that it's not even funny and now I'm here, playing through Anniversary Edition and slaying Norse monsters. I would love to be more active in Titan Quest Anniversary Edition but life often times gets in the way and other games that I would like to try out as well slow my progress in Ragnarok. Walls of text ftw!
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Medea Fleecestealer on 04 February 2018, 10:40:32
Well, I guess you could say it was a lucky chance buy for me.  I came late to gaming in general, must have been in my late 40s  :o when I got my own PC as opposed to sharing my husband's.  I played city builders: Zeus: Master of Olympus (was this a foreshadow of what was to come?), Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, early Anno stuff, Port Royale, Children of the Nile.  I'd thought occasionally of trying an RPG, but never got around to it.  Then in early 2007 I spotted the Royal Edition of Two Worlds in our local Media Markt store.  It looked interesting and was in English so I bought it, installed it and played it.  Most importantly I enjoyed it.  I played it several times, though I never could get the hang of a caster in that game.

We were going to go to the US in November 2007 to visit my relatives there and because my home state was celebrating it's 100th birthday.  So I made a list of a few RPGs to try and buy while I was there: Morrowind, Oblivion, and a couple of others I can't remember now.  We were in the local Best Buys and I was picking these up for purchase and saw a Gold edition of TQ/IT on the shelf nearby.  I didn't know much about it except that it was an RPG like the others, but reading the blurb on the back it sounded like I'd enjoy it since I like Greek mythology, etc.  So that got added to the purchases.

Once back home I installed the games and tried them out.  Didn't really like Morrowind or Oblivion, but kept at them for a bit.  It wasn't until some time in 2008 that I got around to installing TQIT.  I'd also purchased the strategy guide for it (I'm a sucker for those) so that helped me understand how it worked, but like Typhon I kept hitting a brick wall.  I was getting more and more frustrated, but I wanted to continue to play the game.  So I tried to go to Iron Lore's website to see if I could find any information/advice that would help me, only to find the company had closed down.  So I googled and that came up with titanquest.net and that was it.  There was so much info there and many helpful members of the forum willing to help me with their advice.  I learnt a lot there and became a better player.  I beat Typhon and danced around the room with joy.  I went on to beat Hades.  I was hooked.  Needless to say I became a member at TQ.net and over the years was able to pass on my own knowledge of the game to others. 

Because it was the very first forum I ever joined I wanted a username that reflected the mythology in the game itself.  Now I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the film "Jason and the Argonauts" (which is another story), but thinking of that film brought to mind the character Medea who helps Jason steel the Golden Fleece.  So Medea Fleecestealer I became. :)

You could say the game has been a continuing influence on my life over these last 10 years since it was on TQ.net that I first saw news of a new project by some of the devs who'd worked at Iron Lore.  As I enjoyed TQIT so much I was pretty sure I'd like whatever they were doing so I went to their website, pre-purchased a copy and joined the forum.  As we all know that became Grim Dawn.  I upgraded my purchase during the Kickstarter and started playing the game as soon as it was out in alpha.  In 2016 I was asked if I'd like to become a playtester for GD (come on - who wouldn't!).  And now that TQ.net has folded here I am the proud owner of the new TQIT/AER forum.

So lucky chance buy?  It certainly was for me.  :)
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Malgardian on 05 February 2018, 22:54:17
My story is similar to pazuzu's in the way that I got the original TQ (without IT) some time in 2006/7 (don't remember the exact year) from a bargain bin (well, I say bargain, but it was still 10 bucks back then) in my local electronics store. As I only had an old laptop from 1995 back then, I knew that I couldn't run it, but I still bought it in the high hopes that I would eventually own a computer powerful enough to run it. That didn't happen for some years, though, so I mainly played it at my best friend's house or on the computer of my cousin (7 years older than me) at family gatherings. As it always got uninstalled from my cousin's computer after the family meetup and because I had no idea where the save files were I always started anew and always only got till Delphi. It was only years later (ca. 2009) when I finally got a second hand computer that could run it that I got past Delphi and got to enjoy the rest of TQ. At that point I also bought the Gold edition (again from the bargain bin).

In 2010 I joined the tq.net forums on a whim, but never really posted there until 2011/2012. In 2012 I read the last bug report thread of the then already disbanded Fanpatch team and thought: "Hey, it's all here: Bug reports and in most cases even how to fix them! Let's try to learn how to apply those fixes and roll our own patch!" Which is what I did :) I even learned enough C# back then to cobble my own installer together, which was a nice learning experience!

The rest of the story is mostly just taking part in the efforts to move pre-AE TQ tools over to the post-AE world, which also was not something I thought I could do until I tried it. Surprisingly enough it worked!

EDIT: Just hit me: My patchfix is almost 6 years old! Daaaaamn...I'm getting old...
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Cygi on 06 February 2018, 14:12:25
My first time? Gold Edition in 2009.

And with Defiler's mods, so it was already better experience.

But before reaching Megara, I was close to abandon this game out of boredom and repetition, you know - grassland, cave, grassland, cave...until I saw the beach before Megara.

And I was hooked.
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Elfe on 08 February 2018, 22:38:19
For me everything started about 10 years ago when I first saw the original Titan Quest on a school mate's computer.

I loved staffs so much i kept bothering him all the time that he should use them and since he would purposedly always use swords it got me so frustrated that i bought the game myself just to be able to play using a staff.

On my first run I tried to get past megara but always failed on the way to the cyclop and got frustrated after about 10 tries so much that I donwloaded a trainer and ran through the entire rest of the game using it. Later on I discovered that legitimate playing can be fun, too :P

One year later i started playing online and discovered the modding world which finally kept me here until now and also set the base as to how i got involved into informatics and studying exactly that right now.
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Medea Fleecestealer on 09 February 2018, 07:28:07
So it influenced your choice of career Elfe.  Cool.  :)
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Malgardian on 09 February 2018, 23:28:12
Same for me, Elfe. It was the first game I did more extensive modding for (other than some dabbling in Warcraft3's editor). I was already studying Geology, however, so programming is only a hobby for me ;)
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: botebote77 on 29 April 2018, 07:31:12
necro mode.. but instead of saying how i got into TQ, I'll just try to remember the different characters I've played.. (there may be more i just can't remember).. before i got into TQ, i already played different RPGs and MMORPGs so i wasn't a total noob.. can't remember the exact order of these:

TQ:

druid - my very first character in this game.. was still learning the game and i can't remember what build i was aiming for.. probably nothing.. just playing and adjusting.. didn't even finish normal.. was just playing on a not so good PC in a certain gaming shop.. had a lot of freezes

TQIT:

prophet - my first character in TQIT.. self-found.. i think it was ice shard and distort reality build? but not sure anymore.. finished

conqueror - stopped somewhere in epic.. got too bored to continue.. felt it was too much mindless leftclicking :)

elementalist - tried lots of different tactics.. played it ice sharder.. played it VO and eruption.. eruption and hiding in stone all day.. but late game i got >90% CDR and found that lighting bolt alone can beat the whole game.. this was crazy.. monsters can't even get near me.. finished

assassin - dual wield melee.. might be the only time i enjoyed playing a pure melee.. finished

Poinas' ternion harrowing build - stopped somewhere in normal.. found it too difficult to follow

ice shard paladin - stopped because it was just time to stop playing TQ.. i stopped too many times playing this game only to come back each time.. but this was the only time i enjoyed playing defense

haruspex - this was crazy.. i started with the idea of playing a decent archer casting distort reality when mobs get close.. later i thought "I'm not even casting distort?".. and then even later "sh!t this is too OP I'm just standing in the middle of a mob and I'm not even getting hit".. and then to make it worse, whenever i play multiplayer with my nephew, he doesn't want to play in the same area as me because I'm clearing mobs before they even get to melee range.. i googled and i found in forums it was because of very high DA and scatter shot was OP.. of course i finished it.. no deaths iirc.. the class was just an abomination back then.. even someone who wasn't following any build can make it immortal

ranger - spear melee with no pets.. first time i started trying permanent call of the hunt.. stopped because again it was just time

i also played brigand and oracle but those characters were not mine.. i also played my nephew's conqueror.. it reached legendary but he also didn't finish it because he also found it boring.. i think i also played a melee dream.. harbinger? templar? can't remember.. i never reached 100% CDR on any of my characters

TQ UL and SV:
can't really remember.. i think i played 3-4 characters here.. 2 of which i think was hunting/warfare and occult/defense

TQAE/R (it was only sometime in AE that i started trying crazy builds):

bonecharmer - self-found.. started as straight up melee.. late game i thought about equipping CDR.. i discovered it was about 65% to get permanent call of the hunt and unearthly power.. finished AE but did not continue to ragnarok content

knifethrower sorcerer - also self-found.. was going really well until i accidentally deleted it somewhere early legendary

assassin - started playing it the same way i played it in TQIT but felt that i get more and more squishy the more i progress.. tried traps somewhere in legendary and found that it really works well with battle standard.. from a combination of throwing crazy ideas with another caster lover over at reddit and me finding Key of Elysium, i came about the melee petmaster caster assassin build (lolz).. finished AE but did not continue ragnarok content

avenger - deleted it in its early teen levels

ternion oracle - deleted it in its early teen levels

knifethrower sorcerer - i really liked it so i made another one.. it's the one from my guide and the one from my videos :) .. finished ragnarok but skipped act 5 normal and epic

illusionist - i also tried lots of different builds here but settled for pets and traps.. with throwing knife and throwing weapon.. still somewhere in act 5 legendary but i feel like continuing it from time to time.. also skipped act 5 normal and epic

physical damage ternion - this was a joke build.. just made a lvl 60 character with the help of defiler.. actually it's a nerf because i didn't bother giving it quest rewards like bonus skill/stat points, health points, total damage bonus and resistance bonus.. i just tried if it's viable in legendary and yep somehow it is.. but very difficult to equip

stonespeaker - started as lvl 40 but deleted it somewhere in normal

haruspex - the mage build.. currently dancing with 3 Fafnirs

thunderer - it's the one from my videos :)  somewhere in epic.. i also plan to continue playing it from time to time

petmaster skinchanger - somewhere in epic act 5.. guhh can get really boring

dreamkiller - uhhh.. what happened to this character of mine? can't remember.. but it's a str/int caster/trapper build
(nevertheless i made sure to try every skill in every mastery :) )
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Deepblue on 29 April 2018, 10:10:08
I really can't remember any of the first stuff.

But...

On the old Steam version with the fanpatch (or both I should say)

In the Athenian swamp I come across one of the turtle heroes. As I'm kiting it and avoiding the fishmen, I find the second......oh god harder to kite now, these things have ranged attacks and are quite fast........and now I see the 3rd creeping into the corner of the screen there. I now have all three of the turtle heroes on my ass (plus a crapload of fishmen) and they don't stop. "What the hell..." is all I can think of at this point.

RNG hates me, even way back then.
Title: Re: Your Titan Quest Story
Post by: Medea Fleecestealer on 29 April 2018, 11:12:16
Happened to me a few times as well Deepblue.  The RNG god is unkind sometimes.  ;)
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