Carl's Guides Mission Statement

As a gamer, I have often fallen back to walkthroughs to help me through the tough spots in video games. At the age of 23, I decided to start my own website for game walkthroughs. I realized I had played many Real-Time Strategy titles and could probably help others by writing down my strategies.

I have become one of the more prominent walkthrough writers by focusing on RTS titles. I find RTS games to be the best aspect of PC gaming. Many people enjoy shooters, but they just aren't for me. I like to play games that engage my mind, and shooters just don't do it for me. Tactical Strategy games either real time or turn-based are my passion. Consoles just can't hold a candle to the PC in this regard.

I evolved as a gamer, starting on the good old Super Nintendo and ending on the PC. I own a Nintendo Wii, but haven't bothered buying an XBOX 360 or PS3. I skipped at least five years' worth of console titles while I was focused on my computer. It still shocks me how often I will repair a person's computer and they don't even know they can use it to play games.

Below are the games that I found most memorable as I grew up and evolved into a hardcore PC strategy gaming fan. I've played hundreds of games, as many people my age have but I'll keep this list for the most memorable titles I've enjoyed.

Nintendo Entertainment System


  • Super Mario Brothers: Like many from my generation, this was my frist game. Back then, I couldn't dream of making it to the end. Only later did I conquer this famous platformer.
  • Super Mario Brothers 3: I was grounded the day this came out for the NES. My dad made a special consideration for me just because of this. I loved this game, and played it often until I finally beat it. Thanks, Dad!

    Super Nintendo


  • Super Mario World: Mario sure had grown up, just like me. This platformer was revolutionary at its introduction. It of course came with my Super Nintendo but like many kids my age, I couldn't take my hands off it!
  • Final Fantasy 3/VI: Final Fantasy 3 was the first time I played a game that actually engaged my mind. I hadn't ever touched an RPG, but this game warmed me up to them. It featured an awesome story and a quest that could take up to 50 or more hours to finish.
  • Chrono Trigger: Final Fantasy 3 was the best, and this one came nipping at its heels. Back in the day that I played this I was always renting games. I think I held this one for a few weeks. The overdue fees cost me a lot of allowance. The coolest additions to the RPG genre that came from Chrono Trigger were the lack of random battles and the ability to combine party members' attacks.

    Playstation


  • Final Fantasy 7: I think I bought a playstation for this very reason. Bringing Final Fantasy to 3d was one of Squaresoft's greatest triumphs. True to form, this game offered dozens of hours of gameplay without unlocking all of the secrets. I got my friend to play his first RPG with this great title. I think we found every stitch of materia without looking at a single walkthrough.
  • Chrono Cross: I loved this game, but it had a lot of expectations to live up to, and I felt it fell a bit short. Still, I spent a lot of time with this one and was grateful to Squaresoft for making an attempt at bringing the glory of Chrono Trigger to the new console.

    PC Games

    At the age of fifteen I got my first computer. It wasn't worth much at all, and was outdated even for its time. I believe it ran a 66mhz processor and had a video card you couldn't even classify today. I started PC Gaming with MUDs, which were text-based dungeons and dragons style RPGs you could play online with others. This was an amazing concept to me. I gradually upgraded my rig over the years. Today I sport a dual core machine with 2 gigs of ram. I don't have an intel core 2 duo just yet, but I do own an athlon 64. Thankfully, PC game developers haven't passed me up much. Truth be told, for a pc gamer the graphics card is often what really makes or breaks the system and I have a nice 8800 GT to help me along.

    Below is an evolution of what I've played on the PC and what stand out to me as the greatest games of all time.

  • Diablo: Diablo was my first PC game. My favorite aspect of RPGs was always developing my character, and Diablo brought it on thick! This game is still revered just because of the things it brought to the table and the fact that it's actually still fun despite its sequels.
  • Starcraft: I never played the original Warcraft games back in the day. I started with Starcraft. This was my first RTS gaming experience. I went on to beat it, even those nasty melee matches. This was also the first walkthrough I wrote.
  • Master of Orion: I probably would have never touched this title if it weren't for Home of the Underdogs. I learned a lot about pcs while trying to get my sound to work in DOS from a windows 95 machine. I learned to love turn based-strategy titles from my experiences with this game. Research and ship technology were all here, a geek's dream.
  • Civilzation 3: This took turn-based strategy to a new level for me. I played this often and could still play it if it weren't for the greatness of CIV4. I look forward to future incarnations of this popular series.

    Below are the games I'm playing now. I play exclusively on the PC other than my Wii tennis. I like that gaming has finally come around to where you can get a bit of a workout.

  • Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
  • Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne
  • Medieval 2: Total War
  • Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators
  • Puzzle Quest
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
  • Civilization 4
  • SW: Knights of the Old Republic 2
  • The Sims 2
  • World in Conflict