Avert Your Eyes

OK, Who Stole Those Six Hours

2009-01-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was expecting to return from the holiday induced posting hiatus last week, and initially, that was exactly what I started to do.

My plan was to grab On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two from Greenhouse, and I was about to do just that, when I decided to take a quick look at the other games available through the service. One game in particular caught my eye: Spectromancer, a card based strategy game partly designed by Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering. It seemed interesting, but was only available for Windows. So, I figured, I'd reboot into Windows, quickly check out the demo, then reboot back into Linux to pick up the game I'd initially planned to buy. An hour later, I purchased Spectromancer. Six hours later, I realized I should probably go to bed.

Now, collectible card games have always intrigued me, but I'm consistently put off by the investment required. You end up with a similar problem to microtransaction-based MMORPGs - whenever you lose a match, you can't be sure if it was your strategy that lost the match, or if it was just that your opponent had spent more money. Spectromancer ditches the collectible aspect entirely. The cards you use are the ones included with the game, because they're the only ones that exist. Playing through the campaign will grant you additional cards to use during the campaign, but those same cards are available to anyone who bought the game.

Spectromancer seems simple at first, and in a way it is: You and your opponent both have six slots in which to place cards, usually creatures or structures, which can do a wide variety of things, but usually attack the opposing slot each turn. If there is a creature in that slot, the creature will take damage, if the slot is empty your opponent will take the damage directly instead. The goal is to reduce your opponent's life points to zero. You also have spell cards, which are not placed in slots - they simply have an effect when used, such as healing your life points, hurting your opponent, or raising your stats. The game is simple enough to play that it doesn't have a tutorial, and doesn't need one, but underneath this simplicity lies a strategic depth that will gradually unfold the longer your play the game, and that's exactly what makes it so addictive.

Now the game isn't perfect: your deck is randomly drawn at the beginning of each match, so you'll occasionally find yourself in the middle of losing a match, thinking that you'd be doing much better if you just had a certain card. This is going to happen more often if your strategies often count on a single card or group of cards. The only way to avoid the aforementioned situation is to expect it, and get used to making due with what you have. Thus does add variety to the game, but I can see how it would turn certain people (especially those who enjoy deck building) off.

Spectromancer is only a 20 meg download, and I would definitely recommend trying it out. Unlike most of the games offered through Greenhouse, it's only available for Windows, and I couldn't get it to run using the copy of Crossover Games I acquired when they were giving it away a while ago. Still, if you have the means, I highly recommend giving the game a try, just make sure you've got the next few hours cleared.

Something Approximating Real Time: Savage 2 (Part Two)

2008-12-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

As I promised in last week's post, this week's post is going to continue the theme introduced in said post. So the game remains Savage 2, and the format remains the same. And now, the thrilling conclusion...

2:30 P.M: Following the advice of a comment posted last week (thanks Tex), I've decided to forgo the tutorial, and jump straight online. Apparently the game needs to update itself first. Instead of Alt-Tabbing, I decide to exit the game to start writing this. Savage 2 doesn't like this, and calls me a pansy. Seriously. Nice touch.

2:45 P.M: OK, I'm in the game. I have no idea what to do, so I do what I always do: follow someone who looks like they know where they're going. I die quickly.

3:03 P.M: My first match has finished. We won, no thanks to me. I still really don't have any idea what I'm doing, especially since I was on the Beast team. In the first Savage I almost always went for Humans.

One thing I did notice is how nice the game looks. I'm actually surprised at how well it runs, given its prettiness and the fact that I'm running it on a laptop. Granted, I'm using a gaming laptop, but still. Anyway, I'm taking a quick break for lunch.

4:46 P.M: Back to the game. Tried to join another server, and the program decided to segfault. Awesome. Guess I'll try again.

5:24 P.M: That was epic, thanks in part to the fact that it was a 50 player game. My side (playing as Human this time) won, but everybody on the other team seemed to have a good time as well. This is exactly the experience I was looking for when I downloaded Savage 2.

Closing Thoughts: I guess that, in a way, I picked a good time to get into the game, since Savage 2 recently went Free-To-Play, more or less. You can upgrade your account for cash - something I plan to do, just to support these guys (well, that and out of guilt for never buying the original Savage).

There's no way in hell I plan to delete this game from my hard drive now, as I'm sure I'm going to be logging some serious hours. Savage 2 definitely gets a major recommendation from me. By the way, I've decided that I like the format of these recent posts. Don't expect to see it all the time, but do expect to see them again.

Something Approximating Real Time: Savage 2 (Part One)

2008-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

So this week is going to be a little different than normal. And no, that difference isn't just that there's actually going to be a post this week. Instead of my usual format for posts, I'm going to try keeping a running commentary on the process of trying out a game. It's an experiment, so I'm not sure how it's going to work out. That's what experiments are about. Anyway, on to the show.

7:47 P.M: The game for this week is going to be Savage 2. I was a big fan of the original Savage (at least I was once I got around to trying it), and I've been meaning to try Savage 2 since it was released. Of course I'm downloading the Linux version - it's nice to see a 64 bit version available, since I'm using the 64 bit release of Ubuntu 8.10. The download (only 784MB?) is about 20% completed. It could be faster - right now I've got about 55 minutes to go.

9:05 P.M: OK, so I accidentally screwed up the download. Had to start again. 56 minutes to go. Yep. I'm starting to think that this experiment might be more trouble than I initially thought. Oh, download slowed down. Make that 58 minutes to go.

10:13 P.M: Download finished a few minutes ago. Commencing install. Installation was successful. Damn, that was quick.

10:15 P.M: OK, that's a pretty cool menu screen. The game launches at my desktop resolution (1680x1050) with settings at medium, more or less, some lower, some higher. Everything is running smooth and looking surprisingly pretty - I'll customize the settings later.

10:22 P.M: I'm a little into the tutorial portion, and right now I'm trying to get by using my laptop's touchpad. Obviously, this isn't working, but I don't feel like moving to my desk just yet. Let's see if I can get through the tutorial without a mouse.

10:32 P.M: OK, so I've spawned a Journeyman. How the hell do I get him to repair my damaged tower? Aren't tutorials supposed to tell me how to do things?

Alright, it's getting somewhat late, I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I have to get up extra early tomorrow for a meeting. Given my penchant for quitting, I'm surprised I made it this far. One thing is for sure: next week will be about Savage 2 again. Will if follow this new, experimental format? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Or, you know, look at the title of this post and take a wild guess.

Pause, Unpause

2008-11-27T07:13:00.001-08:00

Okay folks, I know it's been a long absence, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Next week, Avert Your Eyes will return to its normal schedule. Yes, next week. Today is Thanksgiving and, like most of you, I've got Thanksgiving-y things (mainly drinking, eating and lounging around) to do.

So why the long absence? Why the sudden return? Well, lately my day-job has been keeping me busier and busier, so at the end of the day, I really didn't feel like sitting at my desk at home, even for something like gaming. I realized this was a problem, so I did what most of us would do: solve the problem by buying a gadget. In this case, a laptop. A laptop with better specs than my main rig.

So, from now on I'll be able to write A.Y.E. from the comfort of my living room couch, much like I'm doing now. For those of you who've found Thursdays just aren't the same without a little Avert Your Eyes, I'm sorry about being gone, but I'm glad to be back. For those of you who haven't been missing it, why are you reading this anyway?

OIJ)(#QIOJ - aka: Random

2008-09-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

...And we're back. This has been a crazy summer for me, and Avert Your Eyes has suffered as a result. Now that things are winding down, we should be back on track.

This week I decided to take a look at ROM CHECK FAIL, which is another of those mashup games that have been popping up lately. The game basically takes a mix of different classic games, and then randomly selects a backdrop, player character, enemies, and music from these games. So one minute you're Pac-Man in a Super Mario Brothers level finding a dot to eat so you can eat the ghosts, the next you're the ship from Space Invaders taking out asteroids from, well, Asteroids.

Now, when it works, it can be pretty damn fun. The problem is since everything is random, the situations aren't always as ideal as I described above. When it doesn't work out, you're playing as Mario on a Pac-Man level, trying to destroy the bricks from Breakout. How does that even work? Luckily, your only goal is survival. Even that becomes quite difficult, as sometimes everything will randomize and you'll just die immediately from both player character and enemy spawning in the same space. Unfortunately, this happens more often than it should.

ROM CHECK FAIL is still a blast to play, it's just too random for it's own good. The unachievable goals aren't really a problem, so if they can find a way to prevent the all-too-present instadeath, the play experience will be much better. Still, it's only a 6.6MB download, and system requirements are slim, so it's painless to install the game, even if playing it is not.

Yes, Another Apology

2008-08-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

It seems I've been missing posts again. It's been a busy summer for me, and I just haven't really had time for much. Luckily things will be slowing down soon, so AYE should return either next week, or the week after. Hopefully your patience will hold out just a bit longer.

Wait, Has That Been There The Whole Time?

2008-07-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading Avert Your Eyes for a while, and maybe if you haven't, you might know that I once had quite a thing for Eternal Lands. Even recently, I've found myself going back to EL every now and then. I usually play for a few days, get bored, and go back to playing WoW - but still, I've been keeping up with EL for a few years now.

Updates come frequently enough. Some add things I like (eg., when they finally added auto-harvesting), some just add content mainly meant for higher level players that I never get to see, but usually the updates are nothing drastic. That is, until now. What I'm trying to say here is that the most recent EL update is a big deal.

For one, EL now uses your graphics card like it should: ie., It actually uses it. Player and monster models are now drawn using the graphics card instead of the CPU, meaning a hell of a lot less jerky movements. Reflections are now longer mirrored level geometry, meaning water now looks much, much better than it has in the past.

There are lots of other nice little improvements, but I'm glossing over them because I want to get to the major change: there is now a sky. There's a sky and you can see it. I'd imagine right now some of you are thinking "yeah, big deal", which simply shows you've never played EL. No longer is the camera locked in the top down perspective. If you take advantage of the limber, dexterous new camera and bring it down far enough, you will indeed see sky.

The world of Eternal Lands seems much different when you know there's a real honest-to-goodness sky up there, instead of a dark endless void. It feels more like a world and less like a series of maps strung together. It sounds like a simple, nearly useless change, and in some ways it is, but I can't stress enough how different it makes the game feel.

Oh yeah: also, there are bows and arrows. Haven't got a chance to mess around with them.

Okay, My Eyes Can't Even Handle Seeing That Many Bullets

2008-07-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

Tell me: how the hell is it that I had no idea that Kenta Cho had written not one, not two, but three new shooters since the last time I checked? Well, really only two are of any interest to me because the other one uses Microsoft's XNA framework, but still, someone should be telling me these things.

The newest and shiniest of these shooters is Titanion - which, compared to some of Cho's other games (Tumiki Fighters and Gunroar come to mind) is a fairly traditional arcade shooter. Arrow keys control your movement and the control key fires your weapon. It may not be particularly groundbreaking, but it definitely holds up to the high standards that Cho has set previously.

Let me tell you something right away: Titanion is difficult. Really fucking difficult. Either that or I'm just starting to suck at shooters. After quite a few runs through the game, I'd only made it to stage 9. There are so many projectiles flying at you that whether or not you manage to stay alive seems be about 75% skill and 25% pure luck. But hey, this is an arcade shooter, it's supposed to be that tough.

If you've played any of Cho's other games before (and if you haven't, what the hell is wrong with you?) you're probably expecting top notch visuals, and you definitely won't be let down: Titanion is probably his best looking game to date. I was especially impressed by the way you can see the swarms of attacking insects swoop out of the background into the foreground before they start pummeling the crap out of you.

If you're predisposed to not liking schmups, you're probably not going to like this one. Everyone else: give it a try. At 5.5MB (none of Cho's games are particularly large) it's worthwhile downloading, even if you're still stuck with dialup.

Fracas Management - Doesn't Have The Same Ring To It

2008-07-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like we did it. Jack Keane is indeed going to be ported to Linux. It looks like anyone who preordered the game might end up getting it before the end of the summer. It's always nice to see quality commercial games coming over to the platform, so I'm glad to see that RuneSoft got enough preorders to make it happen. Anyway, on to this week's game.

I should mention that I'm a fan of Risk, and by Risk I mean the boardgame, not the concept. There's really nothing like an epic, hours-long battle for complete world domination, especially when you've got a good group of people involved. So when I saw a mention of OpenFracas - a Risk like game of the computer variety - on LinuxGames, I figured it was worth a shot.

Here's the problem: Apparently it turns out that I don't actually like Risk. Apparently I'm more fond of the drinking and smack-talking that goes on when I play Risk with friends than I am the actual game mechanics. A round in a real life game of Risk (at least with the people I play with), can take over 10 minutes, sometimes way over. A round in OpenFracas takes about 30 seconds. How am I supposed to make a long winded speech about my inevitable victory in 30 seconds? How am I supposed to take a piss, grab a beer, and grab a snack in 30 seconds? It just doesn't work.

Of course, none of this really has anything to do with OpenFracas. I would have the same problem with any computerized Risk clone. As software: it runs, it looks better than a lot of other Risk clones I've seen, and it's got some nice sounds. But until I end up having to wait 5 minutes for AI Player 4 to stop talking and roll their dice, it's just not going to be the game for me.

Hasenpfeffer

2008-06-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

So apparently I haven't been keeping up with Sauerbraten well enough lately. If I had, I'd have noticed that the game has picked up a Capture The Flag mode since I last checked.

I don't know what this means, if anything, to most of you, but it's a big deal to me. To this day, CTF is probably my favorite gameplay mode in multiplayer shooters. Sure, other modes are fun, but something about the frantic pace of a good CTF match just gets me every time.

Apparently there are other people who feel the same way. Everytime I log on to Sauerbraten lately, there is at least one CTF match going. Usually there are a few. People seem to be big on Instagib CTF, which can be fun sometimes, but it can also get absolutely insane if you have more than 4 players per side.

Of course, CTF isn't the only thing new to this release of Sauerbraten. There are the requisite new maps, a new player model, new graphical effects, and new single player campaigns. I have to admit though, single player Sauerbraten has never been my thing: too much "walk into a room and instantly see your screen flashing red as you're attacked by monsters on all sides" for my tastes.

This Sauerbraten release is definitely worth your time. One of the only things I think this game could really use at this point are real, honest-to-goodness bots. Human opponents are fun, but they're not always available. I know bots would be tough to implement, but I've still got my fingers crossed that some day I'll see them.

Second Verse, Same As The First

2008-06-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's apology time again. Not only have I missed the past two week's posts, but I can't even get you one this week. Both of my hands are pretty well messed up: my right hand is completely unusable, and my left is barely functioning well enough to crank out an apology post.

Hopefully I'll be back next week, but I can't say for sure. Fingers crossed. Well, I can't actually cross my fingers, but if I could, they'd totally be crossed right now.

Those Little Guys Must Really Like Fruit

2008-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

As usual, apologies are in order. This time, the reason behind said apology is the three week stretch of no posts. Sorry. I can't really say much, other than that I've been busy. It happens.

So anyway, On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness came out last week. If you aren't familiar with the title, it's a game by the creators of Penny Arcade - one which I've been anticipating for quite some time. For a long time it was assumed that if you weren't a fan of the comic, you weren't going to be a fan of the game. I've now had the chance to play through almost the entire game and, honestly, I'm not so sure that assumption was true.

Granted, if you already like the comic (as I do), you're going to find more to like in the game, but there is a lot here to like for anyone who's a fan of games, period. For the most part, Rain-Slick plays like a mix of classic point-and-click PC adventure games and a console style RPG. Those aren't genres you hear of mingling very often, and it could have turned out to be a disaster, but here the two disparate styles complement each other perfectly.

Actually, the combat reminds me a lot of the whole Super Mario RPG/Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga/Paper Mario combat system, which seems an odd fit in a PC game, at least at first. Once you've got an hour or so of gameplay under your belt, it's second nature. There are a few extra nice touches - for example, your party heals fully after each battle, so you only need to worry about keeping yourself alive when you're actually fighting. Most RPG fans have had the experience of being thrown in to a battle with just a few HP left, and it's not an experience most of them wish to repeat.

The other half of the game, the adventure half, is just as fun as the combat - at least it is to me being a fan of Penny Arcade. Most objects can be clicked on for a brief, and often chuckle-worthy at the very least, description. It's this part of the game that could possibly be off-putting to non-fans of the comic, but the game has got so much else working for it - the already-mentioned gameplay, the music, the general atmosphere - that even if you're already sure you hate the comic it still may be worth checking out the demo.

Speaking of which, the demo is available for all three major computer platforms, yes, including Linux, so it's easy to give it a try. The demo can then, if you wish, be unlocked to the full version by purchasing through the new Greenhouse distribution system.

On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness definitely gets my recommendation. There's really no qualifying "unless" statement coming - I just recommend the hell out of it.

Click Carefully

2008-05-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've encountered a good point and click adventure game, so when I saw on The Tome that pre-orders were being solicited for a Linux version of Jack Keane, I immediately downloaded the Windows version of the demo. I'm definitely placing a preorder for this one.

At this point, I could probably describe the game mechanics, but is it really necessary? An adventure game is an adventure game. Pointing, clicking, weird puzzles, you know the drill. Basically, if you've ever played a Monkey Island game (or any of those other Lucas Arts adventure games) you pretty much know what to expect here.

Jack Keane is definitely a charmer of a game. I can't really describe it beyond that. I'm not sure if it's the environments, the characters, the humor, or if it's all those combined (that's probably the case), but there's just something about the game that makes me smile while I play it.

Of course, this type of game isn't for everyone. The pacing and the style are probably not going to appeal to twitch gamers raised on nothing but shooters. But games like Jack Keane are few and far between nowadays, and it would be great to have this particular example ported to Linux.

They need 200 preorders to make this happen, so if you want the game to come to our favorite system, now is the time to act.

This Post Was Not Created Using Only One Button

2008-04-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

I usually don't go for arcade type games, but browsing through the Tome, I came across one that looked too interesting to ignore. Fishie Fishie is an arcade game with a novel concept: you control it using only one button. Initially I was thinking to myself, "How fun can it actually be if you're only hitting one button?" It turns out the answer is "pretty damn fun."

You hold the space bar to turn left, and let go of it to turn right. That's it. Tapping the key at the right speed results in mostly-straight travel. The goal is to eat up smaller schools of fish while avoiding larger ones - if you don't do it fast enough you starve. The game is intensely simple, but it turns out to be much more than the sum of its parts.

The presentation definitely helps: the wonderfully drawn sprites, quirky music, and goofy sound effects all come together to give Fishie Fishie a lighthearted atmosphere and a definite charm. It's one of those games where kids would probably love it, but there's plenty of room for adults to enjoy it as well.

The only flaw isn't really a flaw at all, it just comes from being the type of game it is: games like this, for me at least, tend to get old fast. It's pure, undiluted fun, and a lot like pure sugar, I can't take too much of it at once. That goes for the entire genre for me though, so it's no fault against the game.

Being around a 3 meg download, it's definitely worth checking out for a quick burst of fun, whether you're a fan of the genre (arcade games, not fish-gobbling games) or not.

Linux Free MMO Roundup, Addendum: Auteria

2008-04-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

It's easy to say that I just plain forgot about Auteria during the course of the roundup, but I have the feeling that subconsciously I might have been excluding it on purpose. Mentioning Dark Horizons Lore: Invasion a few weeks back got me to thinking "What was that other Torque engine based game I came across recently?" I remembered, then promptly wished I hadn't.

Auteria just feels so damn... weird. The control setup takes some getting used to: half the time the mouse is directly locked to the camera, almost like an FPS, until you hit a toggle key which puts the mouse into cursor mode, like most MMORPGs. This setup isn't particularly bad, it just takes a lot of getting used to. On the plus side, it does help with autorun, and believe me, you're going to be using autorun a lot.

When you start up Auteria, the tutorial sequence has you running around the town (which consists of three identical looking huts, nothing more) trying to find a specific building, which takes about one minute if you go to two wrong buildings before finding the correct one. You then repeat this, although the process of elimination ensures that it's shorter each time. At this point you may think to yourself "well, at least that's done with." If only it was.

You'll find yourself basically repeating the " go to this place/person, then return to me" task over and over - the only thing that changes is the distance you travel gets longer and longer. Each time you might think "this has to be the last one", and each time you'll probably be wrong.

Now I've got another problem with Auteria, but this one is probably much more exclusive to me: everyone is so damn outgoing. I couldn't go three feet without someone saying hello to me, or speaking a line of a language I don't understand with a question mark at the end, presumably asking me if I spoke their language.

Now, I understand, most people will probably like the friendly playerbase, but part of the appeal of an MMO to me is the ability to disappear in a vast ocean of similar looking characters, and the relative anonymity therein. I want people to know who I am when I want them to know who I am, and not a minute beforehand. With Auteria's currently super-small community, that's just not possible.

I can't say I recommend it, but if you think you can tolerate a molasses-slow start, it may be worth a look. Just bring a book to the computer so you can have something to do during all the autorunning.

First Apology Of The New Season

2008-04-10T05:26:00.001-07:00

Sorry about last week's no-post, but I'm afraid it's going to be the same this week. I've started a new job and I'm still trying to figure out how to make time for A.Y.E, so please bear with me for a bit. We now return to your regularly scheduled lack of posts.

Penalty: Overuse Of Colons

2008-03-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

I remember being intrigued by Dark Horizons: Lore, when it first came out. I also remember being somewhat intimidated. An mech-based FPS taking place in a sort of persistent world seemed like a good idea, but not being able to try out the gameplay mechanics against bots didn't. Long story short: I didn't buy the game. Now, the game has been renamed Dark Horizons: Lore: Invasion and made free-to-play. Plus, what do you know - now it has bots. These two things combined were enough for me to give it another look.

The first thing I noticed is that the Torque engine doesn't seem to have aged well since my days playing Legends. I mean, it still looks alright - it definitely doesn't look bad, but I can't believe I used to be so impressed by it. Anyway, most folks (like me) will happily play a slightly dated looking game if everything clicks in the gameplay department, so that leads us to the question: does it? Yeah, it does.

Dark Horizons uses a class system, like many other games out there, but it also allows some stats to be customized before you take your MAV (that's your mech-like thing) into the game. You can prioritize speed or armor, or go for a middle ground between the two if you like. Once you've adjusted your MAV to your liking, it's off into the game world.

I really like the way movement is implemented in Dark Horizons. Your mech feels as if you're kind of fighting it for control - you don't stop immediately after letting go instead of a movement key, instead your MAV slows to a stop - but it never feels like you're out of control altogether. They've gone a long way towards making you feel as if you're controlling a giant walking machine without overcomplicating the controls.

If there's one problem with Dark Horizons, it's that there just aren't enough people playing it. I'll be honest: small communities bother me - I'm afraid that people will actually get to know me. I much prefer the relative anonymity of a large community. If this isn't a problem for you, I'm sure you'll find much to enjoy with DH:L:I.

Linux Free MMO Roundup Week Five: Regnum Online

2008-03-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

The last week of the round-up is one I've been fearing since the start of the whole process. I knew I'd have to mention Regnum Online, and really didn't want to have to play it again to do so. So, what the hell - I didn't. I know this is a cop-out, but I'm just going to direct you to the previous entry regarding Regnum, and leave it at that.

OK, that's not entirely true. I downloaded Regnum again a few weeks ago, shortly after the start of the roundup. I I figured, naively, that the game might have improved somewhat in the months since I'd last tried it. It hadn't, so I uninstalled it within minutes.

That I can only stand to play the game for minutes at a time (this is, of course, not taking into account the many initial minutes of loading) really says something about Regnum's lack of, well, any redeeming qualities. I'm seeing myself type these words and feel as if I'm being harsh, but in my heart I know that it would only take a few minutes of playing Regnum again before I start to wonder why I'm being so easy on the game.

If you absolutely must play a free-to-play MMO on Linux and for some reason can't play any of the others previously mentioned in the roundup, well, even then I have a hard time recommending Regnum. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Linux Free MMO Roundup Week Four: Eternal Lands

2008-03-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

Anyone who's been reading Avert Your Eyes through it's entire run should be no stranger to this week's game. Eternal Lands has been the subject of a good number of posts, and has the honor of being the first MMO I ever really enjoyed. EL has just recently had a sound-related update, so I figured it was an appropriate time to mention it in the roundup.

I'll be honest, I can't really tell what's different in this update. Except for sound, which I never bothered to use before, I can't detect any major changes. I will say that trying to enable music made the game extremely buggy feeling - the inventory window wouldn't open, trying to get the options window open to turn off music took a few tries - and it stayed buggy after turning music off. A client restart fixed this.

I was able to turn the sound effects on with no problem. After watching my character go silently through all his actions for so long it's very strange to hear footsteps and other sounds. When you attack a creature, there is now strong audio evidence that these creatures aren't, in fact, very fond of being attacked. Who knew?

Eternal Lands is not for everyone. It takes a while to get used to the slow pace - combat is slow compared with other modern MMOs, your character walks everywhere. Of course, when I first played Eternal Lands I didn't notice these things because I didn't have enough experience with other MMOs to know the genre's conventions.

After spending a great deal of time with other MMOs, coming back to Eternal Lands felt awkward at first, but that feeling didn't last very long. I actually find the slower pace relaxing compared to a lot of the other free-to-play MMOs out there. I've got to say, there's still a certain charm there that keeps me playing, if only sporadically, after all these years.

Eternal Lands is only a 43 meg download, so if you've got broadband it's quick enough to try it out. The sound package is seperate, and another 40 meg download. If you enjoy the game I recommend it, but it's far from necessary.

Linux Free MMO Roundup Week Three: Planeshift

2008-02-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

In honor of this being the third week of the roundup, we're taking a turn towards the third dimension. This week's game, Planeshift, is fully 3D, and open source to boot.

I first looked at Planeshift quite a while back, and while I was impressed with the ambition of the project, there just wasn't enough actual game there to keep me interested. It's been long enough since I promised myself I'd take another look, so that's just what I did. Let me say: Planeshift has come a long way from the stuttering crash-fest it was when I first encountered it.

After loading up Planeshift and going through the obligatory character creation stage, I was greeted with a lengthy tutorial. Some of Planeshift's gameplay elements differ from a lot of it's genre brethren, so the tutorial was quite welcome. While I worked through the tutorial, one of the first things I noticed was that Planeshift was running at quite a respectable framerate, something it didn't do in the past.

Now, Stendhal got a lot of heat from me last week for the way it handled NPCs, yes? Yes. Planeshift uses a similar method, but it's implemented in a far superior fashion. Like Stendhal, you talk to NPCs by, well, actually talking to them. Unlike Stendhal, this happens in a seperate chat tab, and it's entirely private. This turns out to be a good thing, because you're going to be talking with them a lot, and you're not always going to be saying nice things.

Quests are obtained easily enough by telling an NPC "give me a quest." Anything besides this simple exchange turns into a frustrating exercise in trial and error. Early after leaving the tutorial area, I encountered a quest in which a woman wanted me to deliver a drink to a nearby NPC named Aleena. I was told that there was some coin in it for me if I returned and told her how the Aleena liked the drink. I tried every variation of "Aleena liked the drink" I could think of, and was invariably met with "I'm just a bartender, I don't understand what you're saying."

Looking past that, the game is enjoyable. Combat is of the typical MMO "click and wait" variety, so if that's not your cup of tea, you'll probably want to look elsewhere. There is a large variety of other tings to do, some implemented, some yet-to-be-implemented, but this is definitely more than a simple grindfest.

Your milage may vary, but overall I'd like to say kudos to the Planeshift team on how far the game has come. I'll be keeping up with it with far more regularity than I have in the past.

Linux Free MMO Roundup Week Two: Stendhal

2008-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

Continuing onward with the theme established last week, this week's game is another open source 2D MMO that draws inspiration from the console RPGs of yesteryear. I present to you: Stendhal.

I'll say it right off the bat: I can't get into this one at all. Everything about it just plain feels awkward. You talk to NPCs by, well, actually talking. For example, you type "Hi" and they say a bunch in return. Do you want me to continue talking? Yes?

"Yes."

This can get annoying pretty fast can't it? Yes?

"Yes."

I'm sorry, but something about that just feels wrong. It's just as monotonous as clicking a button labeled "more", but now you have to type three letters to achieve the same effect. And that's not all: most of Stendhal has this feeling. Is it a novel approach? Sure, but it also leads to less-than-fun gameplay.

Instead of the tried and true MMO combat, i.e. you click on the enemy then watch the combat play out until one of you dies, Stendhal makes you right click, then select "attack". Can't that just be the default? I mean, what else am I going to do? Pet them? Offer them food? Invite them for a night out on the town filled with drinking and dancing? No. I'm going to attack them. That's why they're there.

So now you've finally downed an enemy. How do you pick up any loot it might have dropped? Well it's certainly not done by simply clicking on the corpse. No, instead you have to right click on the corpse and select "look". Again, what else was I going to do?

Everything about Stendhal feels like this: drawn out for no particular reason. Hell that may appeal to you, and if you think it might, it's only a 16mb download for the client without sound. Give it a try. Me, I'll stay far, far away. Yes?

"Yes."

Linux Free MMO Roundup Week One: The Mana World

2008-02-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's literally been years since I've done a roundup of any kind, and a lot has happened in said years. As you might have guessed from the title, the next handful of weeks are going to focus on free (mostly as in beer, but some, such as today's, are also free as in speech) games of the massively multiplayer variety, all of which are available for our favorite operating system. The round-up kicks off with The Mana World.

If you've ever found yourself thinking "I sure wish there was a free to play MMORPG that looked like the SNES RPGs of years past" (and honestly, who hasn't), then boy have I got a game for you. If you don't believe me, take a look at a screenshot or two, I'll wait. See? By the way, that's about as populated as the gameworld has been every time I've logged in.

So, yeah, The Mana World looks nice, if you're into the whole old-school look (which I am). The problem is, there isn't yet a whole lot there under the surface. No character classes (are though there are plenty of customizable stats), no real skill system, and fairly uninteresting combat mean you're probably going to tire of this one easily, unless you're a sucker for grindfests.

The Mana World does have one feature I love: a casino. That's right. Sick of grinding mob after mob for loot to sell? Trade in some of your hard earned gold for casino coins and try your luck. It's not much, but it's a feature I love and one that gives me hope that The Mana World will eventually turn into something great. Seriously, I love me some minigames, so much so that I'll grind for days if I find out there are more minigames available at higher levels.

I'll definitely keep an eye on this one. Even though there isn't a lot to do now, it's got promise. Plus, hey, it's open source. You can't go wrong there. Kudos to The Mana World team, keep it up.

Level 5

2008-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

So last week marked the fourth full year of Avert Your Eyes. Honestly, it doesn't seem to me like I've been doing this for that long. Usually when this time of the year rolls around, I do a sort of recap post, touching on various posts from the previous year, but this year I'm going to do something a little different. Instead of looking back, I'm looking forward.

First person shooters. We've had enough of them. Sauerbraten rules (hell, Cube still rules), so does Warsow, so does OpenArena. Nexuiz, you still suck. My point is this: there are plenty of good open source FPS games out there. If you're starting a game project this year, please, do something else.

The same goes for roguelikes (hey, I guess I am looking back). Not only are there more than enough roguelikes, there are more than enough roguelikes for several civilizations spanning several planets. We also don't need any more ports of old DOS games (DOSBox exists for a reason), barely functional MMOs, solitaire games, or ASCII versions of tic-tac-toe (yes, multiple versions exist).

Here's a thought: why not try something new? Can't think of something totally new, why not mash two ideas together and see what you get? How about a sort of mix between Risk and Final Fantasy Tactics? What about Civilization type game where you can also control single characters in an RPG fashion? Crazy ideas? Maybe, but they've also never been done before (and if they have I'd love to know so I can track them down and play them).

My point is that it took me about a minute of thinking to come up with the above two ideas. Would they be tough to implement? Sure, but they'd also probably attract quite a few people interested in working on such a unique project. They'd also probably be more rewarding when they became playable, at least more so than generic FPS #24003.

At this point, you're probably asking: well, if you're going to bitch so much, why don't you just do it yourself?

Hell, I might.

We've Got More Coming

2008-01-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, it's the four year anniversary of Avert Your Eyes, and usually I use this opportunity to do a retrospective of the last year. I'm still planning on doing that, but at the moment it actually hurts to sit at my desk, so unless I miraculously start feeling better later on today, I'm going to have to put this off until next week. See you then.

So The Battles Cost Nothing? Or Are There No Battles At All?

2008-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

I meant to do this last week, but I was a little busy on the Thursday of last week, so here it is this week. Fuck, that's a week heavy sentence. Anyway, this week's game is another entry into the free-to-play FPS field: Battle Free.

Saying an FPS is battle-free comes off sounding a tad boring. Bad joke, I know. I just had to put that out there. On to business.

Battle Free has been catching an awful amount of flak over at Happy Penguin, and I'm really not sure why. OK, that's not entirely true: the guy who created it responds to several posts acknowledging that he created the game, then in a new post writes "Great game, cant wait to see the next release!" C'mon man, that's just adding fuel to the fire.

That aside, most of the hate thrown at the game is unjustified. So it's not open source. Neither are most of the games listed on the Tome. Go fucking play NetHack and get over yourself. Some people said it's not playable on Linux - not true - that's the platform I tested it on. It uses the Torque engine... so what?

Now onto the game itself. Well, there's not a whole lot there. Four maps, none of the particularly thrilling. Ditto for the weapons, they just don't feel right. Mix those two together and you've got a recipe for... well, I don't know what the hell that's a recipe for but it's definitely not for me.

The guy says he's mainly developing Battle Free to teach his son about game programming. Hey, that's cool, and I'm certainly not going to jump on the bandwagon of relentlessly bashing the guy simply for making a free game available to the public. On the other hand, in it's current state, the game doesn't have much to offer, and I can't really say I recommend it.

Of Course The Name Doesn't Make Any Sense

2008-01-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Well, in the spirit of never doing what I said I was going to do, this week's post has absolutely nothing to do with Secret of the Solstice. Instead, I took a look at another free to play MMO called Dream Of Mirror Online, or DOMO for short.

After trying out so many different MMOs lately, DOMO is a nice change of pace. Sure, you grind your mobs, loot them, sell things, get better equipment, level up, etc... but DOMO has got more than a few things you don't see every day, and a whole lot of quirk to go along with them.

First: instead of restricting you to one class or job, DOMO lets you change jobs and level said jobs' skills in order to mix and match abilities for your character. Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds, but these things never are, are they? Since in essence this job system requires you to re-level your character, DOMO bucks another recent MMO trend and lowers the level cap to 50 (at least for now). That might sound low, but you don't level quite as fast as you might in recent MMOs boasting a level cap of 200 or so.

Item gathering and crafting, two elements virtually non-existent in the free-to-play MMO world, play a part in DOMO as well. There's a wide range of "everyday skills", as they're called, from fishing to logging to alchemy. Sure, most of them involve moving to a specific location (fishing area, logging area), opening a window, then sitting back as your character slowly gathers whatever it is your gathering, but it's still always nice to have more to do than run around killing mobs.

The thing is, there are people only want to do just that, run around killing mobs. And it's this that powers the economy of DOMO. If they don't want to spend hours gathering wood, they can run to a player shop (or stall, as DOMO calls them) and buy it instead. As players become aware of this as a money making tactic, I suspect it's effectiveness will drop, but luckily you can still make enough money in DOMO using the old MMO standby of selling everything you loot.

One last element of DOMO that seems so out of place in a free to play MMO is the plot, ie. it has one beyond a couple of paragraphs on the website. Quite frequently you'll actually encounter cutscenes while playing, and even embark on story-related quests. Sure the cutscenes themselves are basically a three dimensional version of the type of thing you might see in an SNES RPG, and the story missions aren't that different from your basic quests, but it still takes away from the monotony of your typical MMO.

As with Secret of the Solstice, if you're going to be turned off by DOMO, there's a large chance that it'll be due to the anime-inspired, extremely "cute" look of the game. You start off killing things that would make a toddler squeak in delight, and honestly the only not-so-cute enemies I've seen so far are some very nonthreatening zombies. If you can get past the look though, there's more depth to the gameplay side of DOMO than most of its free-to-play brethren.

What Measurment System Is "Freaking Heavy" A Part Of?

2008-01-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

First things first: last week's no-post was due to it being sort of a holiday (at least it was close enough for me to figure a no-post was justified). Anyway, let's get back on track. This week I decided to take a look at Secret of the Solstice, a free-to-play MMORPG currently in the open beta phase.

The look of the game is basically top-down 2.5D, with 3D backgrounds and sprites for characters, enemies etc... The anime influenced art style is nice, nothing we've never seen before, but it's definitely got a charm factor. Actually, I've found myself admiring it's look more than some full 3D MMO's I've tried.

Like quite a few similar games, every starts out the same class type. After levelling to 16 (why 16?) there's a little quest to complete and then you can pick your "guild", which is your job/class/whatever you want to call it. The game seems to assume you've looked around the forums a bit, because the class names (squire, apprentice, neophyte, acolyte) aren't as descriptive as they could be.

Gameplay wise, it's your typical MMO (ie. it's going to be a real grindfest at later levels). It's nice to see that every once in a while, you'll run into an odd quest or two that tries to mix things up a little bit. For example, my level 16 neophyte just completed a quest that consisted of carrying a "freaking heavy letter" (yes, that's what it's called) across the city, only to find that another letter which was "also freaking heavy" needed to be returned to the starter of the quest. Sure, it was a little on the boring side, but the reward wasn't bad and it adds a nice quirk factor to the game.

It's likely that whether or not the game will appeal to you will depend mostly on whether or not you're into MMOs that aren't full 3D, as well as the general look of the game. Me? I'm going to keep playing some more, as there's something about it I like that I haven't yet been able to put my finger on. If I find out what that certain something is, I might tell you next week.

Well, Forget It Then

2007-12-20T08:53:00.001-08:00

Well, I was going to try out Hero Of Allacrost today, but I couldn't get the damn thing to run. See, I used the Windows binary, and it just wouldn't work. I know, I know. This site mainly focuses on the Linux side of things, and Hero Of Allacrost runs on Linux, so why didn't I try it on Linux?

Two reasons. One, I'm sick of compiling things. Two, I'm sick of going through the process of adding repositories to my sources.list (I use Ubuntu). Just provide a damn compiled binary in the source download. It may work, it may not, but at least it's there, at least I know you tried.

Now the rest of this rant has nothing to do with Hero Of Allacrost. You're off the hook (except for the Windows binary not working thing, that's a pain in the ass). But shouldn't this be easier? I mean it's not 1998 anymore, more and more users are coming to Linux, and thanks to Ubuntu and other distros with similar goals, they aren't used to having to compile anything. And even though it's slightly easier, they aren't used to adding repositories to their package managers either.

I know how to compile things, and have been doing so for quite a while, but I'm sick of it. I just don't want to have to do it just to use a new piece of software. In this day and age it's not right to give every other system a simple downloadable binary package, and just provide the source for Linux users.

Hell, you've already made a .deb file to stick in your repository, why not just offer the damned thing for download? If the answer has anything to do with additional libraries only available from your repository, then you're doing something seriously wrong. It's a game, package the whole thing together.

C'mon folks. This isn't rocket science. If it was, various pieces of the rocket would be scattered all over the world, with directions where to find the other pieces in an entirely different location altogether.

So Long

2007-12-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

So it turns out two things I love are going away forever, and both in the same month. First I hear that the Monster Hunter servers are shutting down at the end of the month. Then I hear the same thing is happening to Space Cowboy Online.

I realize that neither of these games have ever been as popular as a lot of games out there, but this is an end of a somewhat golden age of gaming for me. Both Monster Hunter and Space Cowboy Online have been invaluable forms of entertainment for me for the past few years, games I never tired of no matter how many times I'd go back to them.

Strangely enough (or not, really, if you've been reading AYE long enough), it's Monster Hunter that's got me down the most, even though I'll still have the offline component available, while SCO is just plain going away. I've literally had dreams about Monster Hunter before. Yeah, I know, that's weird.

I feel even worse for the poor souls who've just recently bought Monster Hunter. I've met a few people online over the past week or so who had only just purchased the game and were blissfully unaware of the impending server doom. Makes me glad I bought the game the day it came out, but I sure do feel for those folks.

Well, there's really nothing to do now. All the online petitions, letter/email campaigns in the world aren't going to get either game back online. So, all that's left to do is to enjoy the hell out of them while they're still around to enjoy.

Visiting An Old Friend

2007-12-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Anyone wondering about last week's no post, will be glad to know that it was due to an injury (well, you'll be glad to know if you're sadistic). The week before that was postless as well, but it was Thanksgiving's fault.

This week I decided to continue with the free FPS theme and take another look at Warsow, a game I've played and enjoyed in the past. While it's only moved up to version 0.32 since the last time I looked at it, it's definitely continued to improve on what was already a solid base.

Mainly, there's more of everything. Especially maps. Last time I played Warsow, I think there were four or five maps, and maybe two gametypes. My memory could be fuzzy, but I don't remember much more than that. This update is the equivalent of taking one of those little (but tasty) hor d'oeuvre sandwiches and turning it into an actual sized sandwich. Same great flavor, and lots more of it.

I'm glad to see more people online. Warsow has got a lot of gameplay niceties to back up its stylish presentation, and it's nice to see some people agree. Still, momentum seems to be gathering more slowly than I'd like, so if you enjoy the game make sure to tell your friends.

In my opinion, Warsow is simply one of the best free Quake based shooters out there.

Urban? Yes. Terror? No.

2007-11-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

Continuing the theme of Quake 3 mods gone standalone, this week I decided to take a look at Urban Terror.

First things first, Urban Terror is my kind of game, so I'm much more predisposed to liking it than I was with Tremulous. For me, in the shooter world it just doesn't get much better than a good tactical shooter, although the Urban Terror team calls it a "hollywood tactical shooter", and rightfully so.

Installation on Linux may be tricky for some, since there's not really any installation information included in the README (at least that I could find). But, it's easy enough: extract the ioUrbanTerror archive (if playing standalone, like I am), extract Urban Terror itself, then place the q3ut4 folder in the Linux-i386 subdirectory of wherever you extracted ioUrbanTerror.

Even if the gameplay is good, a mod can be ruined for me if the maps aren't up to par. Luckily with Urban Terror, this is not the case. Every map I've played so far has looked great, and was balanced extremely well. Everything looks about as good as a Quake 3 mod possibly can.

Gameplay follows suit, weapons feel well tuned, and you certainly don't get the "cheap deaths" feeling you can get in other, similar mods. One thing I really like is that once hit with a weapon, even if you aren't killed right away, you'll bleed. And yes, eventually, that will take you down.

Urban Terror definitely does not tall into the "play it enough to write about it, then throw it away" category. I get the feeling I'll be playing it on and off for some time.

Boon Spelled Backwards

2007-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to trying Tremulous, a former Quake 3 mod gone standalone. Wow, I can not understand why this is so popular.

First off, a major strike in my opinion, there is no way to change options from the main menu, as far as I could tell. I had to connect to a game, in 640x480 resolution, to be able to change any options at all. I don't think I've ever encountered such a perplexing setup. I'll admit right off the bat, maybe I missed something, but on the main screen I saw three options: "Play", "Mods" and "Quit." No options to be found.

Secondly, I've got to assume that the people raving about this game are playing clan matches. The foundation for some great gameplay is there: buildable fortifications, widely differing character classes for each side, I could see this being a lot of fun. But on public servers all I encountered was a bunch of people calling each other "noobs".

I understand that in any online game there are going to be stupid people who call each other stupid names, but the volume of name calling was fucking unbearable. I quit the game and promptly uninstalled.

Hey, Tremulous is popular, it doesn't need my help. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm never going near the game again.

It's Still Got Elves And Swords

2007-10-25T11:56:00.001-07:00

I remember seeing ads for RF Online a while back and being slightly interested - science fiction themed MMOs are more appealing to me than your standard fantasy settings - but I wasn't quite interested enough to pay for it. It seems RF Online went free to play a few weeks ago, so I figured, hey, I'll check it out.

Upon launching the game, I was greeted by a weepy, sentimental sounding song. Do you really want to start your game this way? Anyway, beyond that, character creation was some pretty standard stuff. After creating your character there's the option to take a short tutorial. What the heck, I took it.

The tutorial really holds your hand. I mean, it shows you how to move the camera (move your mouse, tough to remember), open your inventory (press the "I" key) and target enemies (click on them). After than, you're somewhat unceremoniously dumped into the game world, and given a short series of quests that consist of clicking the "OK" button a few times. No, I'm not kidding.

RF Online is your standard MMO. Get quests (although you don't even need to seek out NPCs, the quests just appear on your screen), kill things to complete quests, repeat. Chances are you know the formula by now and you know whether or not you're likely to enjoy the game.

Despite everything I've said, I've actually enjoyed my (admittedly short) time in RF Online. It's a fine alternative to the other free to play MMOs out there, and a pleasent diversion. I don't know how long it's going to hold my attention, but it's far from a waste of time.

Waiting To Wait

2007-10-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

When I first saw an entry on The Linux Game Tome for a new free-to-play MMORPG I was somewhat excited. For a long time it's basically been Eternal Lands and Planeshift. I like Eternal Lands, that's been established already, but I've played the hell out out of it. Planeshift, while I applaud its developers for making an open source MMO, just really isn't to the state where I find it playable to the point of being fun. So when Regnum Online entered the picture, of course I had to try it out.

First off, let it be known that you're going to be waiting. A lot. When I visited the download page and saw the installer was only around 1 megabyte, I knew there would be additional downloading in my future. After registering on the Regnum Online site and launching the, um, launcher, the download began, although it wasn't too long. I arrived at the character creation screen. Standard stuff. After creating my character, that's when the real downloading began.

It started off saying it had loaded 1 of 1000 or so resources, and that it was downloading about 30 resources. No big deal, I thought. Then each number started climbing. Not just what I had downloaded, but what was left to be downloaded. Eventually I was at 500 of 1200 resources downloaded, then 500 of 1300. After a while, the upper limits stopped increasing and I rode out the rest of the download. Finally I was in the game world. Sort of.

I was initially greeted with a sky, some hazy white geometry, and some green boxes. Must be a graphical glitch, I thought. That's when I noticed, in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, a progress bar. It was downloading, again. Then what the hell did I just download? I waited, and eventually, various textures started popping in to place. Overall, I'd say the wait was about 5-10 minutes.

Once I was finally into the game I was, well, underwhelmed. Barren landscapes, blocky looking characters, and poor performance. Oh, and weird controls. Like many MMORPGs, you can control the camera by holding the right mouse button and moving the mouse, while you move your character with either the arrow or WASD keys. The problem is, your character doesn't move relative to the camera, it moves relative to itself. So if you press the forward key, your character it going to move forward from its own point of view, not yours. So more often than not, you position the camera directly behind your character so movement doesn't feel awkward. This method works, but leaves you wondering why you can even move the camera in the first place.

Gameplay is your standard MMO combat. You click twice on an enemy, and wait until one of you falls down. Somehow, this feels even less fun than usual in Regnum Online, perhaps due to the slow speed of the combat. After making it this far, I'd almost had it. I decided to run to the biggest town on the starter island to see if it got any more interesting there. It didn't. I logged out, and deleted the game.

This is the bottom line: If you want a full 3D MMO on Linux that is fairly complete, well, now there is one. I didn't find it very fun, and maybe you won't either. But, hey, I've seen positive reviews, so maybe it just rubbed me the wrong way. Still, I doubt I'll ever touch Regnum Online again.

A Match Made In Gaming Heaven

2007-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a short post this week, folks. My shoulder has been hurting (which explains the lack of posts the last two weeks) and it's not going to hold up to typing for long. So here we go:

It seems that I finally have a reason to want a Wii. You might have seen a mention or two about Monster Hunter around here a while back, and I think my feelings about it were pretty clear. Hell, I like the game so much I'm still playing it. Sadly, its PS2 sequel never made it to the US, and since I'm PSP-less I've never had a change to try either of the Monster Hunter Freedom games.

I'd heard a little about Monster Hunter 3, but since it was unlikely I'd be able to afford a PS3 until the end of the decade, it still left me slightly heartbroken. And that's when the news broke. Not only is Monster Hunter 3 coming to the Wii, it's now a god damned Wii exclusive.

Those who've played the original know that a big part of Monster Hunter was its unique control system. Actions were mapped to the right analog stick rather than buttons. Now the control aspect of the game can be pushed even further. Monster Hunter 3 and the Wii are essentially a perfect match.

Now. Where the hell can I find a Wii?

Way Better Than ClosedArena

2007-09-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence folks. Anyway, it had been a while since I had given OpenArena a try. The last time I tried it, you may recall, I wasn't too thrilled. I'm very pleased to say that now not only is the game worth playing, it's earned a permanent spot on my hard drive.

The previous time I'd tried OpenArena, it had no bots, was missing textures everywhere, and almost nobody was playing online. There was promise, but nothing was there yet. Now that all the aforementioned problems have been rectified, that potential has been realized.

It's Quake 3, but it's free. What else can I say about it? If I need to explain Quake 3 to you, what are you doing reading obscure gaming weblogs? Of course the gameplay is solid - look at what the game is built on. It's the same tried and true fragfest we've been experiencing for years, and you know what? Sometimes that's exactly what you need.

The maps and models are nice and polished, although some of the weapons aren't quite as satisfying as they should be. The rocket launcher, for example, just doesn't feel as powerful when firing as it should. These are minor missteps that I'm sure will be corrected with time. As far as I'm concerned, it can only get better from here.

Not My Fault. Seriously.

2007-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've got no access to a gaming computer at the moment, so it's looking like no post today. If I happen to get my normal computer hooked back up, I'll try to get a post in later this afternoon.

Sauerbraten Updates. Again.

2007-08-23T10:34:00.001-07:00

One of my favorites, Sauerbraten, had a new release Sunday, and a patch for that new release yesterday. Naturally, I took a look.

The first thing I noticed when I started the newest release of Sauerbraten is that performance was really choppy. I wondered for a moment, then realized that shaders are now used by default. No problem for some people, but with my now-dated system the first thing I did was turn shaders off.

The "new" menu system (not that new anymore) is much more usable than the last time I encountered it. During map selection, there are now thumbnail images of the maps, so there's no more (or at least less) wondering which weirdly named map is the one you're looking for.

For the past year or so, every new release of Sauerbraten has had a "flagship" feature, a feature so prominent that it made it into the release name. Physics edition, water edition, etc... This is the first release of Sauerbraten in a long time that has more in common with what new releases of Cube had, improvments all around.

New maps, bugfixes, improved menu system, gameplay tweaks - it's quite a list, although some of the excitement previous releases carried with them is lost as a result. Not that we could expect that forever, and this is a great new release of a an already-great game, so whatever traces of disappointment there may be, they evaporate quickly.

I'd provide a link for those of you who'd like to see the entire list of new things/changes, but unfortunately the Sauerbraten/Cube forums seem to be a bit temperamental right now, so instead I'll toss you a link to the LinuxGames post that originally drew my attention to the new release. There is a link there to the announcement in the forums which may or may not work for you.

Man Down

2007-08-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Due to an injury, no post today. Again, I know.

Again, I've Got Nothing

2007-08-09T07:31:00.001-07:00

Seriously folks, see you next week.

At Least The Name Is Crazy

2007-07-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

I figured that since Upshift StrikeRacer went to open beta, I'd give it a try this week. Boy, can gPotato find crazy names for its games or what?

The best way I can think of to describe USR is basically this: It's a cart racer that you play online which has cars instead of carts. Then there's some tacked on MMORPG elements that are short one M, and the obligatory item shop which costs you real money. I can see this really appealing to people, as long as those people aren't me.

This just isn't my thing. I've never been that big into car racing games. I've always preferred your Wipeouts and your Jet Motos to your Gran Turismos and your Need For Speeds. I'd probably like USR twice as much if it wasn't a car you're racing. In fact, I guarantee it.

There are some other issues that drive (ha!) me away from USR, though. For starters, you'll probably want a gamepad if you're going to play this. Racers never fare well with keyboard controls, and this is no exception. Secondly, there's no "race against AI" option. You've got your time attack mode, and then there's getting your ass handed to you by other players. Sure it eliminates the "grinding" usually omnipresent in gPotato games, but it ups the frustration level significantly.

Simply put: Check it out, you might like it. I don't.

Wait, So I Actually Have To Know What I'm Doing?

2007-06-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had attempted to take a look at Shot Online, but thanks to the updater not working properly, that attempt had failed. I gave it another try this week and, luckily, the game updated itself without a hitch.

I'd been meaning to try Shot Online for quite a while, long before it became a part of the gPotato family (as an aside - why the hell is it called gPotato?) but I had never managed to get around to it. The idea of a golfing MMO, as strange as it seemed, really appealed to me. Mario Golf: Advanced Tour had successfully proved to me that there is indeed something magical in combining golf with an RPG, so why not give it a try online?

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. I guess that, because of the MMO elements, I was figuring the golfing portion would be a little more forgiving. Don't get me wrong, it isn't realistic, but certain things (putting, for example) are quite a bit tougher than I thought they'd be. I guess I was expecting Shot Online would be to golf sims what Space Cowboy Online is to flight sims - ie. not one.

Approaching the game with a different mindset, I could see myself getting into this. It's just so far off from what my expectations were that it's going to take some getting used to.

Crap Out

2007-06-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the plan for today was Shot Online, but the updater won't work so I can't get the damned thing to launch. That's was I was banking on, so I'm fucked. See you next week.

You Can Totally Go Home Again

2007-06-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised that Eternal Lands is still kicking around. There was a time when it was one of the only playable free MMOs out there, but now those free to play, pay to win MMOs are a dime a dozen (or a dollar a potion, if you'd prefer).

I know it sounds like I've defected, I mean, the game does run on Linux, but it's not open source - go for Planeshift if that's what you're looking for (actually, Planeshift deserves another look from me at some point) - so what is Eternal Lands' continuing draw all about? I used to play quite a bit, so you'd think I'd know, but you'd be wrong.

When I played, people were constantly complaining. Complaining about the in-game economy, complaining about the GMs, complaining about the fact that people could pay for items to make them stronger (and look how that one took off), and generally complaining about everything else that could be complained about. But, apparently, it wasn't that bad, because they're still playing it. Really, what did I expect, they play an MMO - they're bound to complain.

Honestly though, when I last saw the game pop up on The Tome, I had a little twinge of nostalgia. Then that nostalgia turned into me wondering if my old character was still around, or if (the more likely option) a server wipe had caused him to vanish into the ether. And now I'm downloading it again.

Why? I have no idea. But apparently there are a few other people who feel the same way.

I Got Nothing

2007-05-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Seriously, see you next week folks.

This Week: On A Very Special Avert Your Eyes...

2007-05-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

So I played Tales Of Pirates for about 20 minutes. Then I uninstalled it. Too many kids. I guess that if you are a kid you'd probably like the game, maybe even love it, but chances are high that if you're a kid you're not reading this site anyway. If you are a kid and you're reading this site, I'm sure your parents wouldn't be to pleased to hear it.

What's the deal with super young kids and MMOs anyway? With the "free to play - pay to be more powerful" games I guess I can understand it, but it always seems to be kids talking about the latest Dragonball or whatever the fuck kids are into nowadays who have got the $50 (real world money) "Cloak Of Teh Awesome" - not adults.

When it comes to young kids playing games like World Of Warcraft it makes even less sense to me. When I was a kid the thought of getting one of your parents to pay fifteen dollars a month for a game they'd already bought for you wasn't only unheard of, it was unimaginable.

Here's a theory I've posited in one form or another in the past: By getting kids used to subscriptions, micropayments and the like without them having to actually pay for anything, we're creating future adults who are already used to not really owning anything. Of course companies - gaming or otherwise - would rather have it that you never really own any of their products, they make way more money that way.

Parents, is this really the way you want your kids to end up? Chances are, if you live in the United States, you're already so far in debt that you'll probably never pay it off (if you're not, kudos to you). Wouldn't you like to see your kids in less dept than you, not the other way around? If so, then stop letting them use your credit card for subscription fees and micropayments. If nothing else, it gets them out of my hair.

Sick Day

2007-05-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, but I'm feeling like crap, so no post this week. That's all I have to say about that.

I Don't F***ing Get Guitar Hero

2007-04-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

I don't fucking get Guitar Hero.

The fact the so many people are head over heels in love with this game is a complete mystery to me. I'll admit, I never got why DDR was so popular either, but at least there seemed to be other people on the planet who shared my opinion. Is it really possible that I'm the only one who fails to see the entertainment value in pressing a couple of buttons on a ridiculously shaped mock guitar?

Maybe it's my taste in music - every single song on every incarnation of Guitar Hero makes me wretch. Maybe it's that the only game of this type I ever enjoyed was Parappa The Rapper (Um Jammer Lammy sucked). Maybe it's that I actually play guitar - you know, the instument. Maybe it's all of the above but, whatever it is, they lead to the same conclusion:

I don't fucking get Guitar Hero.

Back with a real post next week, folks. Sorry about last week's no-post, by the way.

I May Be Slightly Exaggerating

2007-04-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

It turns out that my fascination with World Of Warcraft was incredibly short lived - I cancelled my account after the free month. I'll play it again, certainly, but I saw no need to pay the monthly fee unless I was going to play the hell out of it. So, it was back to the free MMOs.

I've mentioned Space Cowboy Online before, a game that would probably be much more popular if not for the silly name. My ANI I-Gear has ascended to level 39, but it was level 38 that was more important. You see, at level 38 I-Gears get the third level of their "Frenzy" skill, and it is at this level that the skill shows its true power. No longer content to simply increase the attack power of your missiles, the skill now allows you to fire off an extra volley of missiles with every shot.

With my level 3 "Frenzy" skill attained, I now felt ready to enter the large scale PvP the game had been promising to me from the start. I didn't want to simply charge into BCU territory and start dying immediately, seeing as I'm completely unfamiliar with the their maps, so I waited until I heard that we were being invaded. After waiting a few hours, the moment finally came. I swapped my Power Arrows for my Edrills (to increase my chances of actually hitting the enemy) and headed for the front lines.

Well, not exactly the front lines. The enemy had advanced to one map beyond where I had stationed myself, so I parked outside the gate with a dozen or so others and waited for the storm. At first they trickled in - one or two gears at a time - they were taken down by the mob before I'd even had a chance for my missiles to lock on. Then the attack started. The sky became a flurry of gears in a matter of moments.

I tried to stay on the outside of the battle, hurling missiles at the few stragglers who would venture to the outer reaches of the fighting. Bored, I headed in to check out the action for myself. Did I get shot down? Sure. Everybody did. We'd simply respawn and attack with added ferocity. By the time I took a break to check my inventory, I noticed quite a few Killmarks - an item gained when you down an enemy gear - and to my surprise, some of them had come off of gears much higher in level than my own.

Simply put, I believe that SCO has some of the most compelling player vs. player of any MMO I've ever encountered. I love the fact (and I've mentioned this before) that skill actually factors in to the equation. Even if your opponent is 20 levels higher than you - if you can fly better, you've got a chance, even if it is a slim one.

Made-Up Profanity Is So Much More Fun

2007-04-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

News has been popping up here and there about Beyond The Red Line, a Battlestar Galactica themed mod based on Freespace 2. With a Linux version finally available, I decided that I'd give it a try.

Before I say anything, let me state that I am a huge fan of the series. I don't think I've ever been so excited about new episodes of a television show as I have with Battlestar Galactica. So, basically, keep in mind that, with my being such an enthusiastic fan of the show, you should probably take what I have to say with a grain or two of salt.

I've encountered a lot of mods for a lot of different games in my time, and I've got to say: I think the only other mod I've ever encountered that paid such attention to minute details was Alien Swarm. The difference in this case is that while Alien Swarm was clearly influenced by a few sources, Beyond The Red Line comes right out and says "this is a Battlestar Galactica game."

This admission gives Beyond The Red Line full reign to use anything the meticulously crafted Battlestar Galactica universe has to offer, right down to the slang. That the voice acting - usually a terrible choice for inclusion in a fan-made game - is (surprisingly) so well done speaks volumes about the attention to detail that fills this game to the brim. This is obviously a project that the people involved really care about.

Since I had never played "vanilla" Freespace 2 (which is not required, by the way, this game is fully standalone) I was very glad to find that a tutorial mission was included. Usually an afterthought in mods, or often not even included, a tutorial is essential to anyone who doesn't know their way around Freespace 2. The fact that the tutorial actually manages to be entertaining is just sugar on top.

The rest of the missions I've had the chance to tackle are similarly well crafted, and the radio chatter from your comrades only adds to the already deep immersion factor. It's often hard to believe that the game you're playing wasn't produced by a major player in the industry, albeit with tech that's a few years old.

If you're a fan of the show, definitely download the demo. The developers do warn that if you haven't yet seen all of season 2 (and it was season 3 that just had its finale) you may encounter some spoilers, so watch out for that. And let me reiterate: Freespace 2 is not required to play this game, it's entirely standalone. So, make sure to grab this as soon as possible in case the project is shut down for intellectual property reasons.

Ow

2007-03-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

I'd seen Penumbra: Overture Episode 1 on the front page of the Linux Game Tome before but, until now, had never bothered to check it out. So, guess what today's post is about. Good job.

Penumbra: Overture Episode 1 is a commercial offering from Frictional Games but they do plan on supporting Linux. I say plan on because the full game isn't available for Linux yet, but there is a beta version of the demo available and, yes, it does work quite well. It's a first person game, but not quite a first person shooter, more of a puzzle action mix with a heavy emphasis on the physics engine.

Therein lies the problem. I was really enjoying the demo, but occasionally some of the required interactions with objects felt less-than-intuitive. Very early on you're required to break ice off of a hatch and then open said hatch to get yourself to safety. Picking up a rock to break the ice was easy enough, but the actual act of turning the wheel on the hatch was far too much trouble, to the point where it became frustrating.

That's a real shame because, minor physics quibbles aside, Penumbra is a very well made, very interesting game. The story is well told, the graphics are well done, and the general "feel" of the game is spot on. In fact, I'll even admit that once I got a bit further into the demo, the physics-related problems all but disappeared. That still doesn't diminish the fact that after about a half hour of play, my wrist was starting to hurt from holding down the left mouse button so much to drag various objects around.

Still Penumbra: Overture Episode 1 is a damn solid game. Hell, I might even buy it when the full Linux version is available. I'll just probably doom myself to carpal tunnel by doing so.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me

2007-03-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Short one this week folks, as I'm busy with lots of other things, but I couldn't let this opportunity slip by.

Last week I was talking about the avalanche of roguelikes abound, and now we have this: Doom - The Roguelike. None of the fun of Doom with all of its name! It'll have to wait though, as I'm busy playing Tetris - The Text Adventure and Bejeweled - The First Person Shooter.

Enough Already

2007-03-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since a good old fashioned rant graced the front page of Avert Your Eyes. In fact, it's been far too long. I'm prepared to receive a little heat for this, but it's something that has to be said: I, and many other people, are absolutely fucking sick of roguelikes.

If you don't happen to know what a roguelike is, you could either take a quick look around Wikipedia, or look no further than the venerable Nethack. Now, there is a reason that type of game has become so popular - they can be fun. It really is remarkable how much fun you can have with Nethack given that its entire interface is ASCII (leaving out Falcon's Eye and other frontends).

Yeah, Nethack was fun, but the hundreds of clones and other roguelikes? Not so much. I'm not the type of person who thinks games need great or even good graphics to be worth my time. I am, however, the type of person who gets sick of playing the same game over and over. You say your game is like Nethack but it takes place in a slightly different setting? How the fuck am I supposed to know? Regardless of what some people might say, story has never been any of these games' strong points.

There have been times in the past few months where I have counted no less than four games on the Linux Game Tome's front page that had the word "Rogue" in their name. Four. Out of ten. That is, by far, more than we need. A roguelike's strongest point is how long it can be played for. We don't need twenty new ones coming out every month. They might be somewhat easier to produce, but so are ASCII tic-tac-toe games. It doesn't mean we need to be overwhelmed with them.

In the end, it's up to the developer. They're not writing their games for me, they're writing their games for themselves, and that's how it should be. I just don't see the fun in cranking out clones in a genre that is so specific it's named for its likeness to one single game.

Apology

2007-03-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

No post this week. No real excuse - I'm just busy with other things and had no time for an update. Check back next week.

More Fun Than Actually Being A City Planner

2007-03-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry about last week's no-post (how many times have you heard that before?) - call it a sick day, because that's exactly what it was. Anyway this week I took a look at lincity-ng, a game I'd been meaning to check out since it was Game Of The Month over at The Linux Game Tome.

The original LinCity might have been the first open source game I played. Well, it might have been Xbill or something like that, but LinCity was the first real open source game I encountered. My first time playing the game, I ruined a meal that I was cooking because I had gotten so wrapped up I forgot to check the stove.

For those of you who don't know and have no powers of logical deduction, LinCity was a clone of Sim City. lincity-ng (they're the ones who don't know how to capitalize things, not me) is simply the same game with a new coat of paint. The perspective is shifted from overhead to isometric, and most buildings are now pre-rendered in 3D as opposed to being simple pixel art. It's not minor upgrade either, lincity-ng does look much, much better.

The gameplay is, as far as I can tell, untouched. This is a good thing, as LinCity was always immensely playable. If you're familiar with Sim City (and who isn't, really?) then you'll be able to pick it up right away. If by some freak chance you're not familiar with how the game is played there is now a nice and friendly in-game help system.

The game industry has already proven multiple times that taking tried and true gameplay and putting it inside a new candy shell is a valid method for success, and that rule is firmly in effect here.

Cave

2007-02-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

I was playing Rappelz last week, not really doing much, wondering what there was to look forward to, when my thoughts drifted to World Of Warcraft. I've managed to avoid it for two years now - mainly because I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of paying a monthly fee. OK, entirely because I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of paying a monthly fee.

I figured that after this long, it couldn't hurt to give it a try, so I downloaded the client and set up a trial account. A day later, my opinion on monthly fees had pulled a 180. I'm not going to go on about how great the game is - everybody knows that by now, but the fact that my viewpoint changed so fast does say something.

I suppose it may have to do with the MMO's I've been exposed to. Anarchy Online was great when I was playing it - I wasn't lying when I mentioned how much I miss it sometimes a while back - but Funcom really gave too much of the game away. I already had access to what interested me, so it didn't make any sense to pay for what seemed to me like a minor incremental upgrade. The GPotato games are a special case since they don't charge a monthly fee, but I haven't spent a cent on any of them for the same reasons.

I can finally see why World Of Warcraft has become as popular as it has. For me, it's the cohesiveness of the world, which is the same reason I dug Anarchy Online so much. It feels like a real place, and that realness adds a sense of gravity to the encounters (positive or otherwise) with the other players in the game world.

I'm going to try not to write about it too much - there are literally thousands of other places you can go if you want to read about World Of Warcraft - but damn, I am hooked for now.

Sometimes, I Have No Idea What To Call These Things

2007-02-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

It's a pain in the ass when Thursday comes and I have no idea what to do about an update. Today was once of those days, so today's post is going to be a mix of a few things. At least they're all game related.

First I took a look at Wormux which is, you guessed it, a clone of Worms. I'd been meaning to take a look at it for some time, but the lack of artificial intelligence and online play meant that it was a little less than easy for me to evaluate the game. No online play yet (that's coming in the 0.8 release), but Wormux finally has artificial intelligence. Well, it's certainly artificial, but whether or not it's intelligence is highly debatable. Perhaps the fact that the key to initiating a battle against the A.I. is to name the second player "AI-stupid" should have been a clue.

I'll say this: the game has a nice solid look and feel. The 2D graphics are drawn nicely and have a comfortable cartoon quality. The destructible environments don't generate into pixellated hell, even after a long battle. Once Wormux is playable over the net, it will be a lot of fun. For now, the artificial intelligence is just a bit too keen on getting stuck and walking in place for the duration of its minute long turn for the game to keep any sort of pace. If this only happened occasionally it would be easier to deal with, but it happened to me nearly every turn. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the network enabled release, though.

The second game I checked out was Brutal Chess which is, according to its bio on Happy Penguin, inspired by Battle Chess. For those of you who don't remember, Battle Chess was basically a good old fashioned game of chess with one gimmick: animations of your pieces actually fighting each other when you made a move.

While Brutal Chess is a nice looking front end with the option of picking different chess engines, there is absolutely nothing brutal about it so far. Well, unless you consider plastic chess pieces knocking over other chess pieces brutal. I don't. I am fairly sure that they plan on adding animations over time, as there is built in support for loading md3 (Quake 3) models. They also mention a particle engine, which I never saw used. It may be me, though, I haven't spent too much time with the game.

Lastly, I very briefly checked out Pox Nora. By very briefly, I mean I signed up for an account and took a short look at the tutorial. I'm not one for blindly jumping head first in to multiplayer games, so it may take a while (possibly forever) until I have anything to say about this one. If I actually manage to play it, I'll post my thoughts on it next week.

Level Four

2007-02-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

Three days ago marked three years of Avert Your Eyes. The third year was a rough one, to be sure. Out of the entire year only one month had the four weeks worth of posts it was supposed to have. Two months had only one post for the entire month. A lousy season for sure, but there still were some highlights, and that's what this post is for.

The season kicked off with the demo of Northland - a game I meant to buy. Like many things this year, I never got around to it. Still, you can't deny the appeal of a quirky RTS featuring vikings as the main characters. I still load up the demo every now and then just to tinker around with them.

The award for most talked about game of the year goes to Sauerbraten. I started following it back in March, and continued to follow its progress for most of the year. The game has improved by leaps and bounds since I've been keeping my eye on it, and it seems poised to continue with this momentum throughout 2007. I can't even begin to speculate where the game might be by this time next year. I will however speculate that, by this time next year, nobody will even remember EDM. Good riddance I say. Also, don't forget that Sauerbraten's predecessor, Cube, hasn't yet thrown in the towel. At least not if ActionCube has anything to say about it.

If you combined the GPotato games - FlyFF, Space Cowboy Online, and Rappelz - they'd have beat out Sauerbraten in the most-talked-about category. FlyFF doesn't seem to have much staying power, I haven't even played it since I mentioned it. SCO and Rappelz, however, have had much more play time than their respective mentions might have led you to believe.

How could I mention MMORPGs without giving a nod to one of the more personal series of posts of season 3 - my retreat from Anarchy Online. It was tougher on me than it may have seemed. I'll admit, there are times when I miss it - quite a bit, in fact. There are even times when I think about going back. I don't know that I could, in fact I'm almost sure of it, but it certainly is a testament to how much gaming really can affect you.

Those were the major events of the season, as far as I'm concerned, but they're far from being the only event. At the beginning of the season, the Wii was still called the Revolution and nobody knew a damned thing about it. The year saw the 2.0 release of Glest, two amazing shooters - Gunroar and Z-lock - from Kenta Cho and Jumpei Isshiki respectively, the liberation of Savage: The Battle For Newerth, and probably the last mention of a UT2004 mod on the site.

What will the next season hold? More posts and a more regular schedule, if I have anything to say about it. Aside from that I can't say I know. There's only one way to find out... wait and see. And keep on reading, I hope.

What A Novel Concept

2007-01-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a quite while since I mentioned a UT2004 mod on the site. Hell, it's been quite a while since I've even played a UT2004 mod. Tactical Operations: Crossfire was the only interesting looking thing on the Happypenguin front page this morning, so the choice of topic was fairly obvious.

TO: Crossfire is another mod in the "extremely influenced by Counter Strike" vein, what with the buying weapons and what not, but it's far more of a straight up action game. One stray bullet is not going to kill you, unless it's a headshot or a grenade, and this alone makes it a bit more interesting than the countless Counter Strike ripoffs out there (not that they can't be entertaining).

Weapons sound convincing, voice work is well done, and the music is more than serviceable. The highlight of TO: Crossfire, however, is the map design, at least for me. Each map has certainly had a lot of time and effort put in, not to mention that by this point in UT2004's lifespan, mappers have gotten to know the limitations of the engine very well.

I hopped on a few public servers and had a good enough time. Nearly everybody I played with was far better than me, but what the hell, I've only been playing since this morning. It's good to see that there is a community built around the game, as playing with bots is certainly not as fun as it could be. To be fair, the bots are lackluster in pretty much every UT2004 mod out there.

Next week is the 3rd anniversary of Avert Your Eyes, so a year's recap is in order although, with as many posts as I've missed this year, I could probably just cut and paste every post from this year and it wouldn't be too long of a read. See you next week folks.

Well, They're Used To Shareware Anyway...

2007-01-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

Late last night I decided it was time to scrap my current Linux install and go for something exciting and new. I'm still in the middle of configuring the new install, and I'd like to get back to that as soon as possible, so it's going to be a short post today folks.

Today's subject is AstroMenace, an old-school style vertical scrolling shooter with new-school 3D graphics. It's closest relative would probably be Chromium B.S.U, if you happen to be familiar with it. right down to the (optional) mouse-driven control scheme. An interesting twist is that you earn upgrades to your ship not from powerups, but from money you earn on a per-level basis.

AstroMenace has a bit of a narrative, a welcome addition for those who desire a bit more motivation than "kill it because it's there." It's mostly a gimmick, but it's a gimmick that works well in AstroMenace's surprisingly consistent world. The graphics definitely help this cohesiveness - it almost looks like a 3D space shooter that has been restricted to two dimensions of gameplay.

Something to take note of for those of you who don't happen to run Linux: while AstroMenace is freeware (yes, freeware, nothing open source here) on Linux, it's shareware on Windows. Yep, you've gotta pay. Would I pay if I had to? It's an interesting question but not one I can give a definitive answer to. Would I consider buying it? Sure.

One One One

2007-01-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Well, now that the holidays are out of the way, it's back to posting in full force. Rappelz Epic 3 came out a few weeks ago - essentially it's an expansion pack.

The pace of the gameplay has been sped up, albeit not considerably. It's definitely faster paced, but it hardly feels like an action game as the patch notes would have you believe. It's not just the gameplay that has been sped up, either: experience gain is now nearly doubled and the rate at which you gain job points has been increased as well.

Not everything about the update is sunshine and roses, however. Players started to realize that, once installing the (mandatory) update their stamina was not regenerating when the were logged off, as it had before. Now the only method of reacquiring stamina is stamina potions which are either given as quest rewards or, more commonly, bought from the cash shop. I'm not into paying real money to build a fictional character so, more or less, it means no stamina for me.

As far as I'm concerned, the experience gain was raised, so it evens out: no big deal right? Not everyone seems to share my opinion on this matter. Within a day or so every other message on the Rappelz message board was pleading for the offline stamina gain to be brought back. "Now paying players have an advantage, it's unfair" they cried. Guess what? Paying players always had an advantage and, no, it's not unfair.

The people at Gpotato are in business. A key part of being in business is, you guessed it, making money. It's a free game, folks. Nobody forced you to download it, and nobody is forcing you to play it.

Menus That Abandon You

2006-12-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts over the past few weeks. Last week I decided to migrate AYE to the new Blogger beta - a process that ended up taking the rest of the day - and the week before that I just plain didn't have much to write about.

Sauerbraten had an interesting release last week. Not only have we got some new fancy graphical effects since the last time I checked, but also a host of other tweaks and improvements. The new water effects (which were actually introduced in the "water edition" a little while back) are quite a step up. As shiny and pretty as the new mater may be, I'm not noticing much of a performance hit, aside from on maps that are just plain covered in the stuff. Still, if it's too much for your machine to handle there is - as always - an option to turn it off.

When I hit the escape key to bring up the menu for the first time, I was a bit surprised. Gone is the familiar old menu system we've been used to since the days of Cube, replaced by a fancier and arguably less functional menu system. It's nice looking sure - the menu basically hovers a foot or so off the ground in front of you and you navigate with mouselook - but, depending on where it is you're standing, it can be a downright pain to use. Hit the escape key while you're falling and watch that menu stay firmly planted above you as you continue to plummet.

The single player mode has received a few small updates, including a new (to me, anyway) gameplay mode that appears to be somewhat of a mix between Cube's "invasion" themed DM-SP mode and straight up single player. The new maps are, as usual, very well designed. I know it's quite an engine, but every once in a while I almost forgot I was looking at the Sauerbraten engine instead of something along the lines of UT2004.

I jumped into a few games online to make sure the net code is still holding up alongside all of these other tweaks, and it remains as smooth as ever. Instagib is still an insanely fast experience that will get your hands sweating in the first 30 seconds or so. My only complaint is that you can't download only the updates you need. When Sauerbraten was smaller, this wasn't a big deal, but now that it's pushing 100 megs, it gets a little annoying when you know that half of what you're downloading is already sitting on your hard drive.

I'll return next week. With what? No idea. But, I assure you, I'll be here.

ActionCube or ExcitementSphere?

2006-11-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

This week you get a brief reprieve from my exploits in the world of Rappelz. The reason? A Cube mod (who thought that we'd ever see another one of those?) that's recently come out: ActionCube.

As the name suggests, ActionCube is inspired by ActionQuake (as are most of the various Action* mods floating around). More realistic environments and weaponry meet the fast gameplay Cube is known for. ActionCube takes a more team-oriented approach to the world of Cube, something I've been waiting to see for quite a while.

The release I'm playing is the most recent - before that the Linux package apparently had some problems. The problem with this is that either the master server is still showing the older version, or compiling ActionCube themselves. Every time I've tried to get online, the servers in the server browser simply say "[unknown]" under the "players" tab.

Luckily for me, ActionCube has bots. Not like the monsters in Cube which just run towards you while shooting either - I'm talking actual bots. At the moment, the only single player game type is straight out deathmatch, but that's enough to get used to the weapons and maps before taking it online.

The five maps included are all pretty well designed, and they definitely play very well in the deathmatch mode. How well-balanced they are is something I can't yet comment on since I haven't had a chance to try out the game's team modes. I'll have to get back to you on this aspect (as well as a whole lot more) of the game.

It's easy to wonder why we're seeing a mod for Cube so late in the proverbial game. It seems that Sauerbraten would have been a better choice, although there could be some engine maturity issues I'm not taking in to account. Either way, ActionCube still looks pretty good - there's still life in the Cube engine yet.

So far, I'm enjoying ActionCube, and I'm most definitely looking forward to the chance to actually play it online. I'll report back here either later today in the form of an update, or next week in the form of a whole (or at least half) post. For now, the best way to find out more is to play it for yourself. Keep in mind, this does not need the original Cube. Just download and enjoy.

Yep, Like A Soft Drink

2006-11-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a week since I last touched base (as usual), and Rappelz is still interesting. I guess that's not a bad sign.

My main character on the Tortus server, an Asura Strider, has only made it to level 21 since last week. I mentioned last week that leveling wasn't too fast in this game - I wasn't kidding. I suppose I'd be a bit higher level-wise if I hadn't started a new character: A level 13 Gaia Kahuna.

Yeah, it's a silly name, Kahuna, but it's a fun class to play so far. Unlike the Strider which, in either the melee or ranged variety (I chose ranged), is basically a straightforward class, a Kahuna is a little bit of everything. You've got damage over time spells, direct damage spells, you even get some heals later on. Don't feel like wasting your mana? Well, you're pretty handy with a mace as well.

Still, I've been playing the Strider more, as my Kahuna hasn't even made it off of the Trainee Island yet. Although the leveling is slow, the game hasn't lost its Diablo-esqe reward system. If you're not about to level up, your pet probably is. If you're not about to finish a quest, you're probably on the virge of affording that new weapon or armor upgrade. I've yet to feel the "grind", though at my low level I suppose that's not uncommon. Still, from what I can tell, it seems that even at higher levels the game still maintains its fine pacing.

One thing I neglected to mention last week was the music. Usually in an MMO the music is either annoying or nonexistent. It's almost never likable. I've spent more than a week hearing the music in Rappelz, and I've got to say: not only has it not started to annoy me yet, it's by far the best music I've encountered in an MMO. Epic symphonic swells definitely do a much better job at instilling a sense of purpose or accomplishment than the off-the-rack J-Pop that accompanies your adventures is either other GPotato game.

I've been playing it strictly solo, as is my style, but I hear that around level 30 partying (not that kind of partying) is pretty much required. Actually, I don't mind one bit. I'm sort of looking forward to the prospect of it, especially since I'm not a Cleric. Strange for antisocial me, I'll admit, but I can't deny that I'm waiting to see how my own skills match up against other's. I doubt I'll have information on that by next week, but I won't say that next week's post won't be Rappelz-related.

Rappelz Sounds Like A Soft Drink Company

2006-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

It's always a good sign when I have to tear myself away from playing the game of the week so I can actually write about it, and that's exactly what happened this week. The culprit is Rappelz, the latest MMO from GPotato, which officially comes out tomorrow.

I've got to say that GPotato seems to have a keen eye for highly addictive games, a statement their latest entry supports. It's another straightforward "kill everything in sight to upgrade your character so you can kill everything in sight" MMORPG, but as with their other games, the magic of Rappelz lies in its pacing.

Leveling is actually slower in Rappelz than it is in either Flyff or Space Cowboy Online, but this issue is resolved by adding other methods of character advancement. Not only do you get experience from fighting monsters, you also earn Job Points. These go towards new skills, upgrading existing skills, or raising your Job Level, which is necessary for unlocking higher level skills.

A big point of Rappelz is taming and summoning creatures, and this is something you can start doing fairly early in the game. My character is only level 13, and I've had a pet Pantera (no, not the metal band) since I was level 11. Like you, your pet also gains both experience and Job Points. Unlike you, your creature doesn't need to worry about Job Levels. There are also ridable creatures which you can't own, but you can rent for 6 hour (in game time) periods. These make getting around a lot faster and easier.

Personal shops are implemented - something I think no MMORPG should be without anymore. I love being able to walk away from the computer for a few hours and return to find my character much richer. One issue arises in the form of "stamina", which doesn't effect you character's performance, but the rate at which you gain experience points and job points. The fastest way to regain stamina (besides potions) is to log out of the game, so you may find yourself torn between raising your stamina levels or your cash flow.

There are three different races to choose from: Asura, Deva, and Gaia, each with their own home city. When I first left the Trainee island and arrived in the Asuran home city of Kahlan, I was breifly awestruck. Towering statues spouting flames, huge stone walls rising on all sides around me, this looked like the home city of the race which represents everything dark should look. I've since taken a brief sightseeing tour of both of the other cities (by teleporter, walking or riding at my level would be impossible) and they're both nice looking, but not as impressive.

PVP is possible, but I find it surprising that there is no storyline set-up for it. Sure there are other races, but you're not at war. You just live in different areas. I suppose I've been a spoiled in this area by my time playing Space Cowboy and Anarchy Online, but PVP, especially large scale PVP, is what keeps long time players coming back, in my experience. There just doesn't seem to be much motivation for it at the moment in Rappelz.

The game officially launches tomorrow, so if you want to join in on the chaos that usually ensues on the first day of games like this, I suggest you start downloading soon. The download is 1GB (as in one gigabyte - ie. big) so depending on your connection, it may take a while.

I Love Being Told What To Do

2006-10-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

It feels good to be back. Believe it or not, I'm still not feeling 100% better, but I am feeling well enough to get back in the posting saddle. A lot has happened in the month I've been away, most of it unremarkable. So what do I do, you ask? The answer is simple: I don't write about anything that has happened in the last month.

Savage: The Battle For Newerth is a game that had me interested, but for some reason I never even got around to trying out the demo. Since it was liberated last month, I figured it was about time I tried it out. Honestly, I can't believe I've deprived myself of this game for so long. It was definitely a smart idea on the part of S2 Games, as I'm now also very interested in the sequel.

If you're unaware of the game's concept, Savage is a novel mix of a first/third person shooter, and a real time strategy game. One player is elected commander and sees the action unfold RTS-style, while the rest of the players see the battlefield through the eye of a traditional soldier.

The part of Savage's recipe that appeals to me so much is actually knowing what it is I should be doing. I'll admit it, in most games, I'm just following the largest group of my allies. Having a little notification pop up, telling me to attack, followed by a glowing column of light showing me exactly where I need to go is something wonderful, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, it's not like there's some unseen hand forcing you to bend to its will. If you don't like your orders, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from running off on your own and doing whatever the hell you please. Sure, chances are your team will hate you and your base will end up a flaming ruin, but it's your choice.

The battles I've had a chance to partake in have generally been nothing short of epic. The music is a big help in this case, so much so that even losing is fun due the dramatic score swelling up as your comrades fall around you. If there's one fault, it's the melee combat. It feels clunky, there's no way around that. The best you can hope is that your team does well enough that you'll have access to ranged weapons soon.

I'm going to give Savage: The Battle For Newerth a very high recommendation. I did myself a tremendous disservice by not trying it out until now, a mistake I certainly won't make with its sequel which, like its predecessor, will have a Linux version available from day one.

Don't Support Pointless Forks

2006-10-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Still in recovery, folks, but I wanted to comment on EDM. Basically, some guy who doesn't get along with Sauerbraten head honcho Aardappel decided he was going to take his ball and go home. Thus began EDM. Forks spawned by ego, no matter who's fault, are never a good thing. Do yourselves and the rest of the community a favor, folks: Stick with Sauerbraten.

That's all I've got to say for this week. Hopefully I'll return in full form next week. Thank you for your patience.

Apologies

2006-10-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. No, this isn't a cheap cop out. I've been pretty sick over the past too weeks, definitely not feeling well enough to post. Hopefully I'll be back next week. Hold tight.

Next Up: Underwater Cyclist Online

2006-09-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

So I take a month-long break, then miss a post only two weeks in. Only here at Avert Your Eyes folks, only here. Anyway, as was alluded to last week, this is going to be another Space Cowboy Online post. Take it or leave it - it's all you're getting.

My I-Gear has made its way to the not-so-stately level of 35, something that actually didn't take too long to happen. I've been playing casually at best, with only one long grinding session taking place over the weekend. Weapon drops, at least for me, have been plentiful enough - there's almost always been a new piece of gear a few levels away. Combine that with the skill upgrades, and you've got that whole Diablo II feeling, pushing you to progress.

The main reason this game has got such a hold on me is my recent introduction to the world of Nation Wars. Yes, I've managed to bag a few killmarks (an item that drops when you take down another player's gear), some quite a few levels above my own. It's a great feeling when, after firing off a few Edrills, you manage to take down the enemy gear that almost took you out in one hit. The fact that skill plays such an important part in combat levels the playing field considerably. No longer are you constantly killed by opposing players simply because they log on twice as much in a week as you do.

There, of course, is some bad that's crept up during my playing time. First, it's always annoying when the (much overpowered) enemy decides to invade the area you're currently attempting to level in. All too often will you be happily chasing down mobs when one missile, out of nowhere, turns your gear into a hulking wreck of smoke and metal. The other, far more annoying problem - present in every MMO out there - is the incessant bitching of other players. They get killed, it's your fault - you should have stopped grinding and joined the raid. I've heard this at least 20 times in my time playing, and I'm not exaggerating for effect.

That said, I'm still going to be playing SCO for quite some time, and I'm sure you're going to be hearing about it. Especially if you don't stop grinding and come to Bark City immediately.

Well, I'm Back

2006-09-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

After a month long break I return, rested and refreshed, to the world of Avert Your Eyes. I'd been looking at Space Cowboy Online - a MMO/shooter hybrid - for quite some time now, as it seemed the sort of thing that would be right up my ally. This week I decided to take the plunge, and there is definitely a whole lot to like.

After spending more time patching the game client than I had spent downloading the 983MB installer, I finally made it to the character creation screen. The four "gears", as they're called, are SCO's equivalent of other MMO's classes. Only having four choices may seem limiting at first, especially since there is no branching out at later stages in the game, but different choices in equipment and stat point distribution can produce radically different characters. I, playing for the first time, decided to go for an I-Gear. After choosing your gear, you're introduced to the game's control system by a quick succession of tutorials.

After finishing the tutorial, you'll find yourself standing in Bygeniou city. This is where the game actually begins. You could just hit the Take Off button at this point and start taking out mobs left and right, but the game will take the liberty of offering you missions that help you level up a lot more quickly (I hit level 16 in my first session). These missions usually task you with killing a certain amount of a certain type of mob, but every now and then they mix it up by having you find some items laying around a map or (gasp!) fly through a cave.

The real time combat instantly makes the "grinding" inherent in every MMORPG much more enjoyable, simply because it's so fun. Barrel rolling to dodge enemy missiles and trying to get in to position to return a volley of your own is much more enjoyable than watching your character fight slowly, an eye on your skill refresh meter, wondering how it's possible for 15 seconds to last 30 seconds.

Unlike FlyFF (another GPotato game), which is fun but doesn't give you much motivation to level, Space Cowboy remedies the situation by offering up some very interesting PvP. Upon reaching level 11, you're offered the mission "Decision", which requires you to side with one of two warring nations: Bygeniou City United or Anti-National influence United (I picked the latter). This is the basis of the game's focus on large-scale PvP which, though I haven't yet participated, has got me very excited.

I've only seen a small portion of the game so far, so I'm going to wrap it up for this week. I'm sure that, as interested as I am here, I'll be writing about this one again.

The Odds Are Even

2006-08-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

Had the Z-Lock Linux port dropped last week, bandwidth issues would not have not been able to stop the admittedly-very-stoppable force that is Avert Your Eyes. Created by Jumpei Isshiki, who you can also thank for Area 2028, Z-Lock is another amazing little shooter that manages to fit in a paltry 6mb archive.

Z-Lock's major gimmick is that the power of your ship's weapons are directly proportional to the number of enemies locked on to your ship at any given time. This serves two major gameplay purposes, the first being that odds that would otherwise be overwhelming are swayed a bit in your favor. The second is more interesting: the level of strategy it adds to the game. While smaller fighter-type ships are numerous, there are also larger, slower ships that take a lot of firepower to bring down. Do you take out the smaller enemies first, for safety's sake, or do you leave them hanging around to boost your firepower?

As I've come to expect from pretty much anything evilmrhenry ports to my operating system of choice, Z-Lock is a visually stunning game. No single element is responsible for this as, taken individually, the components are nothing more than simple geometric shapes. As a whole, however, the graphical elements are far more than the sum of their parts. While not as colorful as Area 2028's, the graphics are still a treat.

While it hasn't supplanted Gunroar as my favorite shoot-em-up, Z-Lock is a strong contender in the field. The sheer fun that occurs when you stop paying attention to other things and let yourself really get in to the game is not something to be missed.

I'll try to be back later on today with another update, but other things need to be taken care of first. If I don't return, there is always next week.

Oops: Part 2

2006-07-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

The bandwidth issue I mentioned last week still stands. My remaining bandwidth is barely enough to get to the end of the month, and that's without downloading any large files of any sort. As I watch the floating point number trickle even further down, I realize - there is no way I can do a post this week. So, I'll return next week with either a super feature or a double feature. Either way, I'll do everything in my (extremely limited) power to make up for the two missed posts. See you next week.

Oops

2006-07-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd just get this out of the way, rather than wait until next week to explain: there is not going to be a post this week (well, except for this small post which serves to explain that there is no post). I've only got a tiny fraction of my monthly bandwidth allotment remaining, no backlog of games to touch on, and no "special something" - this is, indeed, the fastest route to a no-post. Next week's post is near enough to the end of the month that I'll be in a much better position for downloading, so hold tight.

"I Will Revenge Grownup Lawolf"

2006-07-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry about that. Once summer arrives it's much, much easier to miss a few weeks worth of posts than it is in the dreary depths of Northeastern mid-winter. Anyway, as I promised you a few weeks back, here are some of my impressions of FlyFF.

First things first - it's an MMORPG. Hence, it's got a lot of the elements that would cause one to describe the game as such, aside from what is clearly pointed out in the first three letters of the genre's quirky name. After you've played one of these types of games, you know pretty well what to expect from the next 15 or so. It's a combat focused MMO, so you're not going to find harvesting, crafting, or any of the trappings of a more complex game here. Luckily, it seems to work for FlyFF, at least in the early stages of the game.

The game's chibi styled characters and generally cartoon-ish look are reminiscent of R.O.S.E Online - something you may or may not find appealing. A less masculine version of myself might call the FlyFF's look charming. I'll just say that I have no problem with the graphics. Much like R.O.S.E, the enemies you find in the game are either cute, disturbing, or both at the same time. If you take a bit too long to think about it, you'll eventually realize that you've just murdered an entire village of serial-killer children. My advice? Just try not to think about it.

I haven't yet run into the "grind" that is the most recognizable trait of most games like these, as my character is only in the low 20s, but I've been assured that it is very much there. Once (or more likely, if) my Magician hits level 60, I'll be able to pick a more advanced job; but beyond that, there isn't much pushing you to level. This is a characteristic of myself I'm sure does not apply to many others, but I really need some motivation beyond "level up to get better gear to level up..." and so on and so forth.

Now, the flying. Yeah, sure, it's fun to an extent, but it serves more as a way to reach far-off places more quickly than it does a fun-dispensing device. This also brings up an interesting point - the economy. My Magician has already obtained the best board (it's like a snowboard, but it can fly!) available in the game, and it was nothing short of very easy to do so. I'm sure that this situation is not exactly what the designers intended. Inflated economies do eventually collapse, and they often tend to take a large section of the player base with them when they disappear.

The final verdict? I'm going to keep playing it here and there, for sure. The combat system is interesting enough (for an MMO, anyway), and the look of the environments is enough to push me to level, simply to be able to explore further, but that can only last so long. Definitely a good enough choice for making a few hours disappear here and there. Days? No.

With A Whimper

2006-06-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

For a long time, it seemed like the moment of which we are now standing on the cusp might never come. Now that I'm staring it right in the face, I know that it has been in the back of my mind for quite a while. Ladies and gentlemen, it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I present to you this: the last Anarchy Online post ever.

Simply put, I couldn't do it anymore. When a game starts to feel like you have to play it, it just really isn't a game anymore. At least, not to me. I should have known what I was getting myself in to - I'm not a guild type of guy. I'm aware that the concept of being a loner in the world of MMORPGs might be an alien concept to some, if not many, but that (excuse me for using an awful RPG pun) is just how I "roll".

Just leaving the game is one thing. The manner in which I left, however, is another. Well, I just stopped showing up. At first, I was even trying to trick myself: "Maybe I'll feel like logging on again soon. Maybe this is just a break." I knew that wasn't true. It started slowly enough - first I stopped logging on often, then not at all, then I stopped even bothering to read the organization forums. Then, one day earlier this week, I uninstalled the game. Perhaps not the most tactful way for the second-in-command to leave his organization, I'll admit.

All that said, I feel great. Until now, whenever I was playing something that wasn't AO, it almost felt as if I was "cheating" on AO with the other game. That's no way to spend your gaming time. Now, I can actually enjoy gaming again, and that's no small victory. I'll be honest, I even feel like playing MMOs again. I'm just going to make sure not to get wrapped up in the game, so yes, it's back to being a loner for me.

Speaking of MMORPGs - I downloaded FlyFF (Fly For Fun) the day after I uninstalled AO. I've only made it to level 14, and you don't get to pick a job until level 15, so I haven't really seen much of the game yet. I will, though, and I'll be back with more on that next week.

Again, Not The Food

2006-06-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, this project hits its rough spots. One of the problems of having an Open Source gaming focused blog is that, if nothing particularly interesting happens over the course of a week, you're left with no subject material. Two times in two weeks I was struck by this nasty occurrence (insert bitching about your favorite game never being mentioned on this site here) but, luckily, the drought has ended.

I'm consistently impressed with the quality of each Sauerbraten release, and the game is only getting better. The most recent update includes a whole slew of new features, maps, and other various improvements. Nexuiz also had a new release this week, a 2.0 release at that. I'll be honest - I'm becoming less and less optimistic about Nexuiz turning in to a game I'd actually like to play, so much so that I haven't bothered downloading it yet. I may not at all, only time will tell.

Back to Sauerbraten. It looks like Nexuiz won't be able to wave its "prettiest open source game" banner (something I never agreed with, anyway) for much longer. Full screen shader support made it in to the game with this release, allowing light bloom and all that stuff the kids go crazy for these days. It's in its infancy stages right now, but it looks quite good already. Enough about the graphics stuff - moving on.

The "Capture" gameplay type (along with the maps this game type takes place on) is, hands down, my favorite new feature. If you've played any of the "Battlefield *" games, you'll be quite familiar with the mechanics at work here. There are various control points scattered about the maps, and your objective is simple: control more of them than the other team does. The "Capture" maps are generally much larger and sprawling when compared to the deathmatch maps, further adding to the Battlefield-esque feel. Make no mistake though, this is still Sauerbraten - you're not playing this game looking for realism. You're still moving at around the equivalent of 60mph, and it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a few shots to bring you down.

The single player mode of the game has been greatly improved since the last release, feeling a little less Quake and a little more Quake 2. Checkpoints have been introduced at various points throughout the levels, and the general layout and design feels a lot more solid than Cube's singleplayer mode did. The respawn points alone are very handy, given the tendency of some of Sauerbraten's mappers to create brutal single player levels.

That's about it for this week, folks. If you already know and like Sauerbraten, make sure you get the new release. If you aren't familiar with Sauerbraten or Cube at all - download it anyway. I highly doubt that you'll be disappointed.

If Guns Can Roar, Can Lions Shoot?

2006-05-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

The "special something" alluded to last week is something I've handily managed to avoid over the course of the days following. Needless to say, but said anyway - that's not something in the cards for today's post.

As someone who keeps as close an eye on the scene as I do, it's nothing other than a damn shame that it's taken me so long to get around to playing Kenta Cho's latest game, Gunroar. It's a mystery to me how one man can consistently create some of the best shooters I've ever encountered, but it's not necessarily one I'd like to see solved. All the Cho trademarks are in place: Abstract blocky yet startlingly beautiful graphics? Check. Crazy music? Check. Frequent boss battles? Check.

While I'm not sure yet if it's going to claim the place of my favorite of the "series", Gunroar is most definitely a strong contender. For the first time in a Kenta Cho game, the element of cover has been introduced in the form of islands scattered about the vertically scrolling levels, complete with emplaced weaponry. This seemingly inconsequential new element gives the shooting a much more tactical feel, as the islands do block shots.

You'll be warned of enemy ships from a distance, as you see their red tracking beams long before you see the ships themselves. Not only is this incredibly handy when the difficulty picks up, it's a nice looking effect as well. In fact, Gunroar may be Kenta Cho's best looking game yet, a fact not to be understated when discussing someone with such an impressive body of work under their belt. Particle effects fill the screen so completely that, at times, you may briefly become confused as to where on the screen your ship is. Luckily, in my time playing, this never became an issue that effected playability.

There are a large number of control schemes available, including gamepad support. The mode I found worked best for me was the "mouse" control scheme, which basically lets you control the game as you would a first person shooter - the WASD keys control movement and the mouse controls aiming.

If you enjoy shooters at all, and have an OpenGL capable videocard, do yourself a favor and download this game. It's only 5.5mb, so even the slowest dialup can fetch this game with ease. If this is your first Kenta Cho shooter, be warned, you'll probably download the rest immediately after trying Gunroar.

Wii-bles Wobble, But They Don't Fall Down

2006-05-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Weeks without posts are starting to become routine around here, but let me assure you, I'm not exactly happy about the current state of affairs. Last week I was still halfheartedly absorbing the E3 coverage, and the only game I'd played all week was the latest alpha of OpenArena, which is in such an alpha state that it didn't really deserve it's own post. Anyway, more on that later.

As I'm sure most folks are aware, Nintendo's Wii had a good time at E3 - enough so that people aren't talking exclusively about the name anymore, but not enough to stop people from dubbing the controller the "Wiimote". I've got to say, over the past week my opinion of the system has shifted from something I was merely keeping an eye on, to something I'm genuinely interested in. If the price point is as low as some people are speculating, I'm even more interested. There's just the one problem, something I was discussing with a friend the other day - I'm not a kid anymore.

When I'm gaming, my primary reason for doing do is to relax. My days of jumping around like someone being stung by bees on the mat that came with the NES Track and Field game are, how do you say, over. I really can't see myself standing ready for battle, sweat on my brow, swinging the controller, shouting "Hyah!", or "Take that!" with each thrust of my pseudo-sword. It's something my neighbors could probably do without as well, especially since I do most of my gaming at night. I suppose we'll see. If the same results can be achieved in a more relaxed fashion, I'll really be inclined to take a look at the system.

I mentioned OpenArena at the top of the post, or rather, I mentioned it's un-postworthy-ness. I suppose, coming from the Linux world, I'm used to the possibility of things labeled alpha being usable. OpenArena is not one of these pieces of software yet. It has a lofty goal for sure - to (as the name implies) implement a completely free (as in freedom) version of Quake 3: Arena. Hey, I'm all for that. But, for now, there's just not a whole lot there. I'm in no way writing the game off, and I'll revisit it again for sure, but there's just not much you can do with the game in it's current state.

Well, that's about all I've got prepared for this week. I've been planning on doing a "special feature" of sorts for the past few months, but it keeps getting sidetracked. Seeing as the loyal people still reading after all the missed posts deserve something special, I'm going to try to pull it together for next week. See, AYE is pretty much a "Oh crap, it's Thursday, what the hell am I going to write about?" thing most of the time, and this is going to take a bit more time than that. Anyway, if it's not up next week, it is on the way, so stay tuned.

Two To The Uh Oh

2006-05-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Once again, apologies are in order due to two weeks of missed posts. Every time update day has come around I've felt like a wet sack of sick - something that doesn't exactly manage to put me in the prime mood for posting. Anyway, enough of that. The linux installer for the 2.0 version of Glest came out on Monday, so I figured I'd give it a whirl and try out the new techs/units.

Although both factions have received some fancy new units and tech upgrades, a lot of the focus seems to have gone towards the Magic faction. It definitely needed it. Previously, Magic was a heck of a lot harder to win a game with than Tech - now it's just somewhat harder. Units still don't seem to stand head to head with the opposite faction's rough equivalents - the new Golems are too slow to be of any use (they're basically defense structures that can move), Drake Riders seem to keel over nearly instantly, and the new Daemons (whatever the hell comes from a Wicker Daemon, I can't remember the name at the moment) don't seem much stronger than their lower-class brethren.

Still, it's the same old Glest we've come to know and love. Maybe a bit too much so, considering this is not a point release upgrade. I'd have loved to see more new maps, maybe a new tileset, and maybe some refinement in the pathfinding code. Hang on a second, what's that other thing? That thing I can hear people screaming off in the distance? Oh yeah. Multiplayer. Actually, I don't give a rat's ass (or any other part of it, for that matter) about multiplayer. Maybe I will when I stop getting my ass handed to me by the (non-Ultra mode) AI.

That handily brings me around to a subject that I've managed to safely avoid over the course of the 2+ years I've been doing AYE - I absolutely suck at real time strategy games. How I still suck at one of my favorite genres is a complete mystery to me. Turn based, that I can handle - I know my way all around Alpha Centauri; Final Fantasy Tactics is like taking candy from a baby; whatever Wesnoth (the AI, not other people) throws at me, I can handle. Change the "T" to an "R", and suddenly I'm curled up in the fetal position on the floor as flames cover the entire viewing area on my monitor, tiny enemy tanks rumbling over the ruins of my base, pissing on my corpse.

I don't know why I continue to take the abuse, but I know that I do. As long as there are games like Glest around to drag me through the dirt - I'll cough it up, wipe the blood from my chin, and grab back on. Keep up the good work, folks.

Out With The Old... In With The New

2006-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the missed post last week. A). I was doing some maintenance on my main box, which ran a bit longer than I expected B). I haven't been doing anything gaming-wise besides playing AO over the past two weeks or so. This week, I'd planned on writing up Glest 2.0, but I'm having a fuck of a time getting it to build, so I suppose I'll hold out for the installer. So get ready for yet another of installment of "What's Going On With Anarchy Online". Go ahead and hit the back button on your browser... now.

For a while there, I was starting to think we were dying out. People started to show up less often, then not at all. I hadn't seen our President in weeks. Eventually even my best buddy within the group hightailed it the fuck out of town. Sure, he gave me his gear, but what the hell was I going to do with it alone? I'm a fucking Trader. It seemed that, at this point, all that was left was for someone to come by and hammer a few nails into the top of our collective coffin, make it official. We weren't dying out. We were already dead.

I'd all but given up. Sure, I'd continue to show my polygonal face, it's something I couldn't not do, but I didn't expect much more than that from myself. When I logged in and saw people - people I didn't know, I was pleasantly surprised. When they kept on coming, well fuck, I damn near shed a tear. Our population had more than doubled, literally overnight. And they're still coming.

Of course, there are going to be a few bad eggs when you have such a large volume of people coming in to the organization so quickly. We're going to have to keep an eye out, and it's not going to be fun having to boot people, but it's a necessary evil. Most of the people coming in are great - a lot of them are quite new to the game so they have the eagerness to explore, excitement, and intensity that the few of us who were hanging around had been loosing. It's hard not to get caught up in their enthusiasm, to the point that it's really reignited my love of the game.

That about wraps it up for this week, you brave few who have continued reading up until this point. You deserve something special, but I doubt I'll be the one to deliver said thing. I'm figuring if nothing comes down the pike between now and next week, I'll boot in to "the partition whose name shall not be spoken" and give Glest 2.0 a whirl.

Mix 'Em Together - Then You've Got Something

2006-03-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

Well, fuck. The GDC has come and gone, and there's not an awful lot to say. Both keynotes I mentioned being interested in last week turned out to be reiterations of what we already been told so far. All in all, it was a real lackluster year for the GDC. So, forget that - I'm not going to rehash the same info you've been reading all week. Two of my current favorite games in the open source scene - Sauerbraten and GalaxyMage - got updates this week. Read on for details.

The latest release of Sauerbraten has two main features. The first - the addition of the Grenade Launcher - finally has me understanding what the whole "Physics Edition" business was in the last release. Although the projectile it fires doesn't exactly look like you would expect it to, it does act how you would expect it to. It's definitely a fun weapon to play around with, especially bouncing grenades around corners, but I have noticed that, at times, there is quite a distinct "skating on ice" effect when the grenade is moving across the floor. I'm sure this will be taken care of in a future release.

The title of this release is "Shader Edition", which gives you a pretty good idea of what the other major new feature in Sauerbraten is. This one, of course, doesn't have any effects on game balance or anything else besides the visual aspect of the game, so I can't really say I feel too strongly about it. Your weapons, as well as the various powerups and various static meshes peppered throughout the levels are all shiny now - that's it. I've noticed that mesh heavy maps take a performance hit from the new shader effects, so it's something mappers are going to have to take into consideration.

GalaxyMage basically has one major update for this release - Network play. Sadly, this mode isn't fully implemented yet. When selecting multiplayer you get a nice unfriendly screen asking you to input the IP address of the server you want to connect to. I've talked about this before, and my opinion on the matter hasn't changed any since the last time I mentioned it. I have good faith that the GalaxyMage team will pick up the slack and tack on a server browser some time in the near future.

Even if they do, I doubt I'll ever experience GalaxyMage's multiplayer mode. In my eyes, this type of turn-based strategy-RPG gameplay just doesn't seem to work in the online world. I'm sure this is an area where opinion vary wildly, but I just can't see it. At the moment, all the multiplayer mode means to me is that I had to install Twisted.

Well folks, that's it for this week. I've no idea what's coming down the pike for next week, so we'll just see what happens between now and then.

GDC '06 - Part 1

2006-03-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

While writing last week's post, I completely forgot that the GDC (Game Developers Conference, for the uninitiated) was going to be happening this week. The aforementioned conference makes up the bulk of this post, but not the entirety. Warning - there are a whole lot of links to Gamasutra, which may require you to register at some point. You can probably use BugMeNot, but honestly I'd deem Gamasutra as a register-worthy site.

First things first. Reaffirming that good things can still happen to good people, Darwinia won the top prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards - something I was hoping would happen. The awards ceremony's bigger, louder brother - the Game Developers Choice Awards, was basically swept by three games. Shadow Of The Colossus was the big winner, an event I have absolutely no problems with. Nintendogs and Guitar Hero were the other big winners, with Psychonauts putting in a small appearance.

On to the GDC. There were two major keynotes at the event yesterday, the first of which was the Sony keynote. Phil Harrison was the main speaker, although there were quite a few others showcasing PS3 demos. Apparently, what was shown was not that different than what we've seen and heard before, but there was a very interesting tidbit thrown out in the Q&A session after the keynote - the PS3 will be region free. Not the system itself, of course, but the software. That's great news already, but it gets me wondering if it will play PS1/PS2 games region-free as well. Not being a mod chip type of fellow, this could finally give me the chance to get my hands on some imports I've always wanted.

The next keynote speaker was Ron Moore (Slashdot link so you can see Cylon misspelled as Pylon), formerly of Star Trek fame, who is now working on Battlestar Galactica. It didn't have an awful lot to with games, from the coverage I've read, but it does give me a long-awaited opportunity to mention who much of a Battlestar Galactica fan I am. The original show I watched for the same reason I watch MacGyver - the cheese factor. The new one is just, well, I don't know what to say except that it's the only show on television I try not to miss an episode of.

That's it for now, but there are two keynotes of interest going on today that I'd like to cover - Satoru Iwata with some info on the Nintendo Revolution (I believe that keynote is going on as I type this) and Will Wright (Spore, man, Spore!), so if I get the chance, I'll be back later today with more on those. Otherwise, you'll get more GDC goodness next week.

Consider This A Stew

2006-03-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the missed post last week, this is becoming too frequent. As the title suggests, this is another hodge-podge post, sort of summing up what would've been mentioned last week and this week's happenings all at once.

First off - Final Fantasy XII was finally released yesterday (sorry about the 1up link). Of course, there are still many months to go until the game makes it out of Japan, but we're getting closer. This particular iteration has had more mixed feelings in the previews than any other Final Fantasy game this side of XI. Honestly, the game could score 1/10 ratings across the board and I'd pick it up without a second thought. When you've got the art director from Final Fantasy IX onboard, that's all I need to know.

I suppose that last week's missed post could be considered a blessing in disguise, as all you would have gotten is a short post about Triplex Invaders. Don't get me wrong, Triplex Invaders is an awesome "schmup", but there really isn't enough material there for a whole post. The game looks awesome, think Kenta Cho's shooters, but even more psychedelic. The game plays, well, like a shooter. The controls are tight, enemies are huge, and the explosion effects are satisfying. Throw in the fact that it's written in my language of choice, and you get a big thumbs up from me.

Things start to move faster at this point, so keep up.Sauerbraten has some more servers up now, and I've been playing quite a bit of the game. It's a bit of a shame that some of my favorite maps have yet to show up in a server rotation, but I keep logging on, hoping to see one of them loaded up. I tried to check out Stendhal, something I've been meaning to do for a while. The catch? I figured I'd run it on my old laptop, which apparently is not up to the task. I might have more on that next week, once I try it out on my main machine.

That's pretty much it for this week, loyal readers. With some more time on my hands, hopefully I can have a double feature up next week, but only time will tell. Anarchy Online can be a demanding mistress, for which an unheeded call can be disastrous. If I can break the spell of the siren song, there is hope.

No, Not The Food

2006-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

Sauerbraten finally popped up on the Linux Game Tome this week, with a release that actually came out late last month. Since it is, after all, the successor to Cube, every release is a reason for me to be excited. The engine has taken shape, so the next few releases should be when it starts to get "really good".

The download is listed as "Physics Edition", and I'll admit, I don't know what that means. At the moment, the gameplay feels nearly identical to that of Cube, but I'll admit I haven't found a multiplayer game going yet, so my speculation is based purely on the single player modes. Speaking of that, the few single player maps included in the package far outclass even the best of Cube's single player maps. It's still pretty much Doom with every dial turned up to 11, but that is hardly a complaint in my book.

Of course, as with it's predecessor, Sauerbraten's main focus is on the multiplayer game. The multiplayer maps (and there are already a ton included) are really impressive. While my two current favorites - "moonlight" and "darkdeath" have already been around for a while, there are plenty of new and impressive maps that have come out since the last release I grabbed. "metl3" has made its way over from Cube, and "roughinery", "serpentine", and "face-classic" have all been ported over from the UT series. "legoland", which is exactly what its name would suggest, is absolutely surreal. There are even a few maps, such as "ladder" and "spiralz" that exist simply as a reference for mappers. If you really want to see how promising the engine is, take a look at the sprawling RPG maps included.

The biggest additional improvement over Cube is the absolutely gorgeous lighting/shadow effects. The aforementioned "metl3" looks significantly better than its Cube incarnation as a result. "nmp7" is another map with some brilliant lighting. Some other minor tweaks include better particle effects and it seems that textures can now be "fullbright". Either that or it's just another case of excellent lighting.

Now, I find myself wishing for two things. The first and more easily attainable is for some more servers to pop up. I'm seriously jonesing for some deathmatch action to test out the playability of the new maps. The second is to see some other projects start up using the Sauerbraten engine. As easy as it is to create maps, it would be great to see some mods with altered gameplay come to the scene.

So, come on. Give this baby a download, and we'll get this party started.

Update: I've had a chance to play a bit of Sauerbraten online, and it definitely plays as tight as Cube. I still don't really understand the bit about "Physics Edition" - the only difference I've noticed is that the "bouncing" effect on stairs seemed ramped up a bit. The larger, sprawling maps definitely make the Instagib mode quite a bit more enjoyable since you can have a fun time with more than four players. We still need some more servers online so, if you're that type, fire it up.

I Really Couldn't Think Of A Title

2006-02-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

A no post last week was bad enough, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you somewhat hanging again this week, as I'm rather sick. So I don't feel entirely guilty about this, I'll give you a quick rundown of my recent gaming activities, and maybe expand on some later if said expansion is required.

First off, just as I said I would, I gave Nexuiz another look, even if it took me a bit longer than I expected to. Long story short - I still dislike the game as much as the last time I played it. The CTF mode, albeit welcome, didn't do much to mitigate the effects of all the other parts of the game I don't like. By the way, I still don't find the graphics all that special - yes, even for an open source game. When I see the "it looks better than some commercial games!" comments (look at the Tome entry linked above), I can't help but wonder what games these people are playing.

I finally got around to checking out Narcissu, which is one of the most depressing things I've ever encountered. It's very well done, and the translation is solid, but stay away from this one if you're looking for something cheery. That's pretty much all I'm going to say about this one, anything else would be superflous.

I also checked out Outgun, which I suppose could be an alright game. I've only had the chance to play with the (newly introduced) bots, so the verdict is still out on this one, as I'm sure the game is entirely different with a little strategy thrown into the mix.

Well, the post ended up being a bit longer than I thought, but I still owe you folks something special. Check back next week, when I expect to be healthier.

Loki: The God, Not The Publisher

2006-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

Before we get started, apologies again for the underwhelming start to this season of AYE. Anyway, the Linux version of the Northland demo hit today, and since I'd never managed to get into the beta, I figured I'd give it a try. The game has obviously aged a bit at this point, but I came away from the demo feeling much more impressed with Northland than I had prepared myself for.

The first thing that struck me is that Northland has a lot of charm working in it's favor. From the little bit of music that plays when two of your Vikings get married, to the grunts and other audio cues given when your minions receive an order, the atmosphere of the game is well fleshed out. Graphically the game, while somewhat simplistic, has a very distinct cartoonish look. It's somewhat strange, since at first glance it may cause the game to seem lacking in depth, which is certainly not the case.

Even the amount of depth in managing your villagers, while not readily apparent, is nearly staggering once you move past the beginning stages. A series of tutorials is available to introduce you to the finer points of the game, and that is certainly appreciated, although the tutorials themselves could use some work. At a few points during the tutorial I happened to find situations where a simple mistake such as marrying a citizen to the wrong person, or turning the wrong farmer into a miller, left me unable to continue.

Combat in Northland is much as it is in similar title and honestly, my least favorite part of the game. This is, obviously, a personal preference - I'm the type of gamer who could tinker away with my town indefinitely. The economic simulation adds another interesting layer of depth to the game, and the combat certainly isn't bad, but I found managing the villagers needs and improving my village as a whole the most enjoyable part of the demo.

The game isn't actually available for Linux yet, but according to RuneSoft, it should be out soon enough. There seems to be a lot to do in the demo, especially if you're like and enjoy the village management, or if you're the type who will play through scenarios with different tactics. Definitely one of the more interesting commercial titles for Linux I've tried recently.

I Call It Pulling A Megatokyo

2006-02-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

What a way to kick off the new season. I woke up today feeling fine - not so much now. Sorry about the no-post, folks. I'll make it up to you next week.

Level 3

2006-01-26T06:18:00.000-08:00

Two days short of two years ago, Avert Your Eyes started off with the same vague ramblings that most sites like this do. I'd never planned on updating with any amount of frequency. In fact, I'll let you all in on a little secret - the only reason AYE updates on Thursdays is that, after a few weeks, I realized all my posts had been on Thursdays and decided it was a fine enough day to update. This week we're taking a look back at the past year, which henceforth shall be known as "The Year With Many Missed Updates".

I ended up writing about the Darwinia demo a mere two weeks after voicing my concerns about Steam. Strange, that - as less than a year later, Darwinia is being distributed through that vile service. That said, it's still great to see such an amazing game finally get some of the spotlight time it deserves. Hopefully it'll get some attention in the independents portion the next time I "cover" the GDC.

I suppose 2005 was a year for firsts as, at the very least, it saw me try my hand at "playing" a creepy visual novel. Another first? Me not liking a space-based game. Another? The complete awesomeness of the Spore video. The year also saw the first time I actually received a rebuttal of sorts from a disgruntled team member. By the way, sorry to say it Nexuiz folks, but your game hasn't gotten any better. I'll be over here playing Warsow while you're working on it. Last, but not least, you can't mention firsts without mentioning NERO.

Before I wrap this up, I'm going to give credit where credit is due and mention some of my favorite games that saw their first releases during AYE's last "season". Some of them I've already mentioned above, such as Darwinia and NERO. Other favorites of mine include Glest, GalaxyMage, and a handful of abstract shooters that finally made their way over to Linux.

Thanks to everybody who's stuck around and kept reading the site through all the missed posts, I'm going to try to make that happen less during the next "season". Although I did complain a little bit, it's been a great 12 months for the scene - let's hope it keeps up the momentum.

Like Mixed Nuts, Only Not

2006-01-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah - I've been missing for two weeks. I guess that's what happens when I walk the streets with a bag on my head and a sign that says "You don't get this joke". Kudos to you if you did. Anyway, given my recent absence, today's post is going to be a hodge podge of a few different things. On to item the first.

It seems that the team behind a game I've always had quite the soft spot for - UFO: Alien Invasion - has gone MIA. Well, that was actually rather apparent a year ago. Anyway, fear not. It seems some enterprising members of our community have stepped up to pick up the workload. If you read what is currently the top post on the LGT page linked above, it seems their missing a few files, so if you happen to have what they're looking for, help 'em out. Watch out! It's item the second.

GalaxyMage has been rolling along rather steadily, hitting us with a 0.2 release that's huge improvement over what was already a very solid 0.1 release. The new features packed in are surprisingly in abundance. Terrain smoothing, random maps, new character classes, and improved A.I. are just a few. While there's still no apparent mouse control, the keyboard controls are as solid as the last release. Not to mention, they do add to the console feel of the game. I've got to say again that I'm really impressed with how this project is coming along. You knew it had to be coming, didn't you? Item the third.

Things have been damn fun in Anarchy Online lately, and apparently I've made a good name for myself within my organization. Last week I received a promotion to Squad Commander, meaning a whole lot more responsibility for myself. Granted, I've noticed this has caused me to log in quite a few times more because I felt like I should than that I really wanted to play. New responsibilities haven't stopped me from gaining level 80 and a nice shiny Yalmaha, which was actually bought for me by an org-mate who I now owe my soul, ass, and my sole ass. This turn of events effectively locks the door I had left open for myself as an escape route, meaning I'm not going to stop playing AO any time soon.

Well, hopefully this week's installment makes up for the lack of posts over the last two weeks. Anything I've forgotten to mention, I'm sure you've already read somewhere else. Next week is going to be special, as it's A.Y.E's 2nd anniversary post, so make sure to stop by.

The Sequel Will Be Called: UniverseKnight

2005-12-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

This week, you get a bit of a break from the deluge of Anarchy Online related posts. That break comes in the form of GalaxyMage, another entry into the ever-growing lineup of Open Source strategy games, but this one's got a twist. GalaxyMage takes the form of a Strategy RPG (although the GM team seems to prefer the term "tactical RPG"), much like Final Fantasy Tactics and mostly everything Nippon Ichi has ever done.

It's no surprise that I downloaded GalaxyMage the minute, no the second, no the very millisecond I saw it pop up on the Tome. Chances are, between the Playstation and GBA versions of Final Fantasy Tactics, I've spent more time playing those games than I have breathing. Really, this is the kind of project I've been waiting for someone to start (and have thought about starting myself) for years. I would have found myself quite inconsolable if, after all these years spent twitching in anticipation, the game was a turd.

Luckily, it's not. GalaxyMage is still in a very early state - the sprite graphics have been taken from Wesnoth and the maps aren't anything that's going to knock you out of your chair - but, it's completely playable. Not that half-assed "Well, it's playable online if you know your friend's IP address" crap either, its got AI. This is a far cry from most of GalaxyMage's Open Source brethren, and earns the game a huge amount of brownie points in my book.

If you've ever played Final Fantasy Tactics, you'll be able to play the game as soon as you find out what key does what. The battle system is nearly identical, of course with the names of skills and such things changed. There seems to be, as far as I can tell, no character advancement system in the game at this point in time, but I'm sure that one is planned.

You'll probably see me writing about this game again - probably more than once. As good as GalaxyMage is in such an early state, it looks like the Wesnoth team may have some competition for the top of the Linux strategy heap on the way.

The Better Team

2005-12-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

So, in case you were wondering - Yes, I picked a character. Yes, I'm going to make you wait longer before I tell you, as to build suspense. Yes, this is another post about Anarchy Online. Proceed.

It's the Trader, I picked the Trader. Yeah, I know, what a surprise. I picked the only character I've played in months. Anyway, there are other reasons I decided to stay with my lovable cash-hungry wrangle jockey. In last week's post (referenced above) I mentioned that my character was, how do you say, without an organization. Well, he's alone no more. As of Sunday evening, I'm proud to say I've joined an org - a great bunch of folks they are, too.

The aforementioned organization will, of course, remain nameless. I can say that I've had such a great time since joining, AO has almost become a different game. Pickup teams - although I'm sure I haven't seen the last of them for good - have gone to being my bread and butter to the equivalent of fast food. I haven't yet met a member of the organization who was an asshole - hell, I haven't met a member who I haven't liked immediately, and I'm not the type of person who goes around liking every person they meet. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I was a bit worried at first that joining an organization (or guild, if you'd prefer) might sap into my time for doing things such as blitzing missions, buying new weapons or, um, blitzing missions. Luckily, that hasn't been the case. If I need the time to do something along those lines (and I have needed it, what with installing a whole new set of implants and trying to blitz a new set of armor) it's mine, nobody's going to bother me about it.

One thing I am a bit worried about, a thing that worries me about the entire MMO genre, is that with my newfound organization, I'll lose out on time for playing other games. I'm sure I'll pull through - after all, if pretty much everyone in the world who does a webcomic can get their work done while remaining completely addicted to World Of Warcraft, I'm sure I can find time in my busy schedule for a few more games. See you next week folks.

The Good Team

2005-12-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

Before anything else is said, apologies are definitely in order. The circumstances surrounding the absence of the last two weeks' posts (and the lateness of this one) are not something I'm going to get into - it should suffice to say that I'd be very surprised if an army of orcs ever tried to invade my house again. It's a sad occurrence, as this marks AYE's 100th post. To see it delayed is to see my own insides wrapped around themselves in a glistening knot of pain. Anyway, it's yet another AO post.

My Trader has been hanging around the Temple of the Three Winds the last couple of days and, being a Trader, it's not like I can just run in there alone and solo everything. Teaming is a necessity, albeit one that usually comes with more than it's share of pitfalls. Lately, though, I'm starting to wonder if some sort of mystical change is taking place in the world of AO. It's the teams - they've... been good. Not just good enough either, I am proud to say that I've been in some damn good teams this last week.

Pick-up teams, as they're called, are all I've got. My character has no Organization (like a guild or clan in other games, for those of you who don't play AO) and no friends (yeah, I know, go ahead and start sobbing now). Well, that last part isn't entirely true, it's just that I haven't seen anyone on my friends list actually logged on in months. So, while the elite (no, not the l33t) sit back knowing they can team whenever they want it, I have no such luxury. I can only hope that some people around my level feel like teaming, and that they'll invite me to their team.

Most of time, I know what's going to happen before the first mob is targeted. This is ToTW we're talking about, not team missions which have the effect of forcing a little team work, whether you want it or not. No, this is ToTW - even if you're not killed instantly, chances are your teammates will train, kill-steal, and generally be assholes to any team in the vicinity. When you find a team who does none of the above, has people who actually know how to play their classes, and just generally stomps on through any mob they may meet, well, you can see why it brings a tear to my eye.

Next week, depending, we may bear witness to the final showdown between my two characters. At last, both the same level - the decision must be made. Who will level beyond 65? Who will continue the down the noble path laid out at both of their feet? Who will... well, you get the picture. Stay tuned, folks.

The Sweet Smell Of Free

2005-11-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

...And we're back. It's been quite a while since an Anarchy Online related post, so that's what this week is going to be all about. Go ahead and groan, I hear you.

So far, I've only gotten my Trader up to level 55. That's not an awful lot, taking into account how many months I've had the character. The other character, my Adventurer, is only level 65. So, we'll knock off ten levels as part of the MMO formula that as levels go up they come slower - and we realize that, were I playing one character, after nearly a year I'd only have a level 110 character in a game where the max is 200(+20 with expansions). What's the point of this, you almost but don't quite ask? Read on, and all will be revealed.

The point I was trying to get to was this: There's quite a few good reasons I don't like the idea of paying monthly fees for a game, and the above paragraph is one of them. In a game where I'll go a month or so without looking at it, I really don't want it eating up my cash just to sit there on my hard drive - ready, shall I ever need it. Nor do I want some sort of 21 day game card solution where every time I let my character sit idle in the game for a second while I hit the bathroom it's costing me money.

I used to look at the AO message boards and, upon seeing the multiple "That's it. I quit!" threads, I'd always think: "Why don't you just stop playing the game for a while?" I could never understand the fanaticism at hand whenever a character class had some changes made: "Play another character, that's what I'd do". I guess you start to look at things a little differently if your character has literally cost you hundreds of dollars to hold on to. Now I'm actually starting to understand a bit.

Hey folks, go ahead and bitch about that new profession nerf - you deserve it, you paid for it. Me? I'll be over here. With my money.

Now With 100% More Seething Fury!

2005-11-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

I suppose that today continues the new policy of picking a random game from the front page of The Linux Game Tome when nothing more pressing is at hand. At least that's what it was supposed to be, but I'll get to that... right now.

This week's pick is VDrift, a racing game. Now, I've been known to enjoy a few racing games in my time but, until now, all of my experience with the genre has been on consoles. Why? Quite simply, I don't own a gamepad. I know they're not exactly something hard to find, but since most of the PC games I play are best played with a mouse/keyboard control system, it's never been high on my list of priorities. Somewhat sadly, I never even got the chance to see how the cars would control with a keyboard, as the game (at least the most recent binary version, which is the version I downloaded) is broken.

I'm not even going to mention the various troubles I had even getting the game to run in the first place, aside from mentioning that if you plan to try running the game without installing it first, you'll need some luck. What really got me is this: The game comes with no default controls configured. The first time I tried to actually play the game, I was greeted with an idling but entirely unresponsive vehicle. I figured I'd take a look in the control section of the options menu and figure out what key did what. Much to my surprise, they were all unbound.

It was a pain in the ass, but I'm not so elitist that I can't be bothered to bind my own controls - that is, as long as it's really possible. Every time I tried binding a key to the accelerator, hitting the key would simply floor the pedal. It was quite effective at stalling the vehicle, but nothing more. The brake key did nothing to alleviate the problem, and there was no binding I could find for deceleration. Frustrated, I tried reinstalling the game a few different ways - wiping out any traces left behind (such as ~/.vdrift) each time. No luck. So, long story short: I'm not playing VDrift right now, I haven't yet played it and, as annoyed as I'm feeling right now, I won't ever play it again.

When the game's README file says things about pressing certain keys to do certain things, it can reasonably be expected that these keys will, in fact, do certain things upon being pressed. It's not fucking rocket science to hard-code some default controls. I know how these things are done, and it's absolutely bullshit that the game is downloadable in such a state. Apparently, from the messages listed in VDrift's Tome entry, compiling the game is an exercise in masochism as well.

Sorry, VDrift folks. Maybe instead of having flashy polls on your web site about which car should be included next, or whether car interior details are more important that more cars or tracks, you should be putting in a little time to ensure that the game runs on a system that's not your own.

Update From The Future: Forgot to post, here it is.

Well, I'm Back.

2005-11-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

So, first things first, apologies are in order. Due to a seemingly conspiratorial series events including the unexpected longevity of an aforementioned sickness, long-term power outages, and a whole lot of being busy with other things, this site has been update free for two weeks now. For that, I'm sorry. The business mentioned above is largely the culprit for yet another problem - I had absolutely no idea what to write today. So, from now on, a new policy can be considered in effect: Whenever I've got nothing else planned, I'm just going to pluck a random game from the front page of The Linux Game Tome, give it a go, and relate my experiences.

This week's pick was Warsow, another entry into the ever growing pool of multiplayer-focused first person shooters appearing on the Tome. I wasn't expecting much going in, which isn't to say I was expecting to be disappointed. It's just that after a while, all the various deathmatch oriented shooters seem to blend together into one twitching mass, at least to me. In a way, I got what I had been expecting, but I did end up quite pleasantly surprised by what I found.

The first thing you'll notice about Warsow is that it has a whole lot going for itself in the style department. It's a Quake 2 based engine(QFusion I believe it's called), but it's cell-shaded - definitely a first for free FPS games. Most of the other features games like Nexuiz and Alien Arena have been cropping up with, such as light bloom, are also in effect. It's not this that really caught my eye, though - I've seen these effects before. It's the way they're used that really shines. The wdm2 map is one of my favorite deathmatch maps ever - credit definitely goes to the way it plays (we'll get to that in a second), but the look of the level is so unique but, at the same time, cohesive - it's a level of immersion I've rarely felt in a deathmatch situation. Not to mention, light bloom (and related new, shiny effects) look much better in a clean, crisp sci-fi setting than they do elsewhere.

When I first started up a local server and took a look around the maps, I wasn't sure if a game with so much style would have any gameplay to go with it. Luckily, it plays just as tight as any of it's peers, even Cube (which is a huge plus in my book). Since I just grabbed it today I've only had an hour or two online with it, but the DM games I took part in (both free for all and team varieties) played smooth and fast. The weapons don't stray from the standard shooter pantheon but they are represented well, and they look and sound great for the most part. Sounds in general are good - the power up and character sounds are especially good, although the rocket launcher sounds lack a little "oomph".

Warsow has definitely got a whole lot of promise. It's only got a small handful of maps, but the gameplay is already solid. Once they've had some more time to add some maps (capture the flag is apparently already supported, just no maps yet), it should be even better. Frankly, it's my favorite of the current multiplayer FPS games floating around.

Sick Day

2005-10-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry, folks, but no post this week. I'm just feeling too ill to produce one. I'll try to make up for it next week with something special.

Who Needs 'Em Anyway?

2005-10-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

If you read Slashdot with a fair amount of frequency, or even if you don't, it's safe to assume that you may have stumbled upon this tidbit by this point. For various debatable reasons, Yahoo (a site I'm sure you can find without my linkage) has decided to close off it's chat rooms to anyone under the age of 18. I'm sure you're thinking: what does this have to do with an obscure videogaming website? Well, I'll tell you. Just give me a moment.

The fact is, as someone who hates children, I'm all for this. Not that I'm the sort who frequents chat rooms - in fact, outside of videogames, it's a concept completely outside of my range of vision. What I'm hoping for here is that, eventually, people under the age of 18 will be barred from any sort of online activity. Videogames, message boards, chat rooms: you name it, they're not allowed. Far from a utopian society, but a step in the right direction nonetheless.

We've got enough of a problem already with the above 30 crowd who decide they're going to rekindle the magic of their youth by never capitalizing the letter "I". Cut out the teenagers who think that words can actually be spelled with numbers and I'll be pretty happy. Ban them from voice chat in online games and I will ensure that you will be paid handsomely, even if it's in blood.

To be serious, this whole measure is entirely overboard on Yahoo's part. It would not surprise me in the least if this decision was reversed in a few weeks time: both Yahoo and Eliot Spitzer doing their best to act as if A.) this never happened, and B.) if it did, they were totally cool for doing it, but they didn't so... back to A.

Anyway, next week will be back to normal (ie. something actually about games), so stay tuned.

That Shadow Could Hide A City

2005-10-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Much to my surprise, I received a Shadow Of The Colossus demo disc in the mail this week. I'd been interested in the game ever since I first heard rumors of a sequel to Ico, so I quickly popped the disc in and gave it a whirl.

As soon as you've passed the logo screens, you can see a strong similarity to Ico in terms of art direction. In the world of videogames, the word "cinematic" in thrown around with such frequency that its meaning has effectively become lost in the rubble. Shadow Of The Colossus, alongside its predecessor, is part of a small handful of games that actually deserve the term. The first time you mount your horse and start to travel, you'll be impressed. As soon as you catch a glimpse of one of the game's titular colossi, you'll be picking your jaw up from the floor with your hands.

Similarities to Ico don't end in the art department. The pseudo-sequel inherits Ico's loose, almost floppy feeling control system. This allows more realistic animation of the player character, and it looks damn good doing so, but the controls do take some getting used to. Once you're used to them, they feel like a perfect fit and you'll find yourself wondering how you ever found them clumsy.

The colossi themselves are, by far, the most impressive aspect of the game. Taller than some skycrapers - they are, in effect, giant moving portions of the game world. The sense of scale is simply amazing. Trying to hang on while the colossus at hand is doing its damned best to shake you off is a pretty harrowing experience, especially when you've still got a long way to ascend to its weak spot. Weak spots on the colossi are found by raising your sword to focus the light on the titan. It sounds easy, and most of the time it is, but sometimes it can take a while, and you can't just stand there while a colossus is swinging a hammer the size of a three story office building at you.

Shadow Of The Colossus is really a game that needs to be seen in motion to truly be appreciated. I had seen quite a few screenshots before and, impressive as they were, they didn't hold a candle to seeing the game move. More so, Shadow really needs to be played, not watched, to get the most out of the experience. Try the demo if you can, otherwise just buy the fucking game, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Anarchy Online: Now With More Green!

2005-09-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry about this one being a day late, my bad. I suppose it's alright, though, seeing as it gave me some time to try out the Anarchy Online 16.0 patch.

This patch has been pretty highly anticipated within the AO community, as it contains quite a few major updates. The one you'll notice right off the bat is that the ground textures have been updated, which gives quite a different look to areas otherwise unchanged. As a side note, this had absolutely no impact performance-wise on my system. If you do find that game running slower than normal, it's possible to set a lower texture quality through the in-game options.

There have been other major changes, most notably the look of the city of Old Athen, which now bears little resemblance to itself a few days ago. The layout of the city has remained the same, for the most part, so it's pretty unlikely that you're going to get lost due to the city's face-lift. If you're the sort of person who constantly gets lost in Old Athen (and they do exist), you're probably not going to notice a difference.

I, as someone who spends a lot of time in Old Athen, think the city's new look is awesome. The buildings are unchanged - still the same drab old Omni architecture - but the remainder of the city now looks like a park. No other city (on Rubi-Ka, anyway, I don't know about the Shadowlands) has as many trees, bushes, and other various forms of foliage. Old Athen has become a much different, much more welcoming sort of place.

Not everywhere has fared so well, even though the changes were merely texture related. Avalon just looks wrong somehow - too green. The texture update had the unintended side effect of making certain places look plain, uninteresting, or both, sort of like an early alpha for an engine where all that's working is the terrain rendering. Luckily, this has only effected a few of the places I've had a chance to look at. Everywhere else looks much improved, especially forested areas.

As for balance changes and life without reclaim terminals, I haven't had any time to see the effects of the new changes. Maybe I'll have more on that next week, maybe it will be something else. It certainly will, however, be back on the regular schedule.

Open Sores: Part 2

2005-09-15T08:51:00.001-07:00

So it's that time once again and, true to my word, what was started last week will come to its conclusion one week hence. If you're looking for an introduction, read last week's post (linked above in case you're not reading this on the main page), because I'm just going to get right into it. Proceed.

Grandeur, And The Delusions Thereof

Okay, so this was sort of touched on last week, but in the context of feature creep, not features planned right off the bat. What I'm talking about, if you're curious, is the over-ambition that sends so many new projects swirling down the crapper before the game is even playable. You want proof? Hop on over to the Linux Game Tome and see how many unfinished, never playable MMORPGs you can find before your eyes start to bleed. Sure, it's one of the most often attempted, hardest to create game genres out there - just because it's the best example of feature overloading doesn't mean it's the only one.

Even if you're using a solid pre-built, pre-tested engine and a solid toolset you don't have to develop yourself, building a game is a demanding task. Deciding you're going to build your own engine and spending three weeks working on the particle systems that still don't work isn't going to make this task any easier. Deciding early on that the open source MMORPG you haven't written any code for yet is going to have features that titles with multimillion dollar budgets haven't properly implemented yet isn't going to help either.

Isn't Everybody As Hardcore As Me?

Now this one isn't strictly limited to open source games, as it effects all games out there, but certain open source games certainly should be looking at their shoes and twiddling their thumbs in shame over this one. Game designers often seem to be at war with the people playing the games they create. People don't play games to be punished (at least not most people), they play them to have fun. There's a reason its called a game.

I think the reason that this seems to crop up in open source gaming so much is plain and simple: A.I. code is hard to write. There's a reason so many of the games coming out on the open source scene are strictly multiplayer focused. The problem is that boosting the hit and attack points of every monster and plopping down forty more of them doesn't boost the fun factor by the same amount. Just because you can plow through them all without a scratch doesn't mean that everyone will, or even want to.

Addendum

So that's it for my bitching, for now anyway. Before I wrap this up I'd like to say that for everything that's been said in the last two posts, I have nothing but love for the open source gaming scene. It's grown by leaps and bounds over the years in terms of quality, quantity and creativity and I'm sure it will continue. Thank you for the great games, folks.