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.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
No, Not The Food
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.
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.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I Really Couldn't Think Of A Title
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.
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.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Loki: The God, Not The Publisher
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.
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.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
I Call It Pulling A Megatokyo
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.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Level 3
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.
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.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Like Mixed Nuts, Only Not
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.
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.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
The Sequel Will Be Called: UniverseKnight
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.
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.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
The Better Team
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.
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.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
The Good Team
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.
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.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
The Sweet Smell Of Free
...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.
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.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Now With 100% More Seething Fury!
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.
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.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Well, I'm Back.
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.
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.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Sick Day
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.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Who Needs 'Em Anyway?
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.
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.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
That Shadow Could Hide A City
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.
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.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Anarchy Online: Now With More Green!
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.
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.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Open Sores: Part 2
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.
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.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Open Sores
This week's post is going to be sort of a full on rant-mode type of thing, so just be aware of what you're in for.
A large portion of Avert Your Eyes is dedicated to open-source gaming and gaming on open-source platforms, so it's obvious that I'm a fan. There are, however, a few things that drive me nuts about the whole open-source gaming scene, and that's the focus of this week's post. Proceed to number one:
If You Don't Like It, Fix It
Anybody who's followed open source gaming for a while has surely run into this one at one time or another. Someone submits a bug report, mentions something they don't like a game, or offers any other form of what could be considered constructive criticism, and is met with the response: It's open source, fix it. Because, you know, everybody in the entire fucking universe is a programmer. Nobody who enjoys gaming could possibly do so without a deep knowledge of how the engine rendering these beautiful scenes works, down to the machine code itself... You know, like how you can't enjoy a cheeseburger without being a butcher. Chop it yourself.
Honestly, I do know how to program - beyond that, I'm a roll-your-own type of guy. The type who runs a backup system he wrote himself, instead of one of the countless backup packages out there, more or less just for the hell of it. That being said, I have little ambition to slop through somebody else's shitty C code to add a feature I'd like to a game I don't care about that much in the first place. Non-programmers are going to hate you for this more than I do. If you want your game to be played by more than a few people, don't ever do this.
You Can't Please All The People All The Time...
...but a lot of open source projects try to. Ambition is a great thing, as long as it's actually within the scope of what you can and can't accomplish. Far too many games have died out when the handful of developers behind them start to become stretched too thin - not only having to accomodate their own feature-creep ideas, but those of the community surrounding the game as well.
It's an easy thing to do, especially if it seems that it's going to bring a more solid user base to a project that's lacking one. One of the problems (among many in this particular case) is that, often, users don't have any idea what kind of effort it would take to implement their ideas, as good as they may be. This, of course, is deliberatly leaving out the shitty, "d00d, w0t dis game n33dz is m0r3 r0ck3ts!! l0lz0rs!" suggestions.
This is starting to run a bit long, it's pushing midnight, and I'd like to get this up while it's still Thursday - so this bit may turn in to a two part kind of thing. I haven't covered all that I'd like to, so unless the Anarchy Online 16.0 patch comes out between then and now and I get sucked up in that, you can expect more. Out.
A large portion of Avert Your Eyes is dedicated to open-source gaming and gaming on open-source platforms, so it's obvious that I'm a fan. There are, however, a few things that drive me nuts about the whole open-source gaming scene, and that's the focus of this week's post. Proceed to number one:
If You Don't Like It, Fix It
Anybody who's followed open source gaming for a while has surely run into this one at one time or another. Someone submits a bug report, mentions something they don't like a game, or offers any other form of what could be considered constructive criticism, and is met with the response: It's open source, fix it. Because, you know, everybody in the entire fucking universe is a programmer. Nobody who enjoys gaming could possibly do so without a deep knowledge of how the engine rendering these beautiful scenes works, down to the machine code itself... You know, like how you can't enjoy a cheeseburger without being a butcher. Chop it yourself.
Honestly, I do know how to program - beyond that, I'm a roll-your-own type of guy. The type who runs a backup system he wrote himself, instead of one of the countless backup packages out there, more or less just for the hell of it. That being said, I have little ambition to slop through somebody else's shitty C code to add a feature I'd like to a game I don't care about that much in the first place. Non-programmers are going to hate you for this more than I do. If you want your game to be played by more than a few people, don't ever do this.
You Can't Please All The People All The Time...
...but a lot of open source projects try to. Ambition is a great thing, as long as it's actually within the scope of what you can and can't accomplish. Far too many games have died out when the handful of developers behind them start to become stretched too thin - not only having to accomodate their own feature-creep ideas, but those of the community surrounding the game as well.
It's an easy thing to do, especially if it seems that it's going to bring a more solid user base to a project that's lacking one. One of the problems (among many in this particular case) is that, often, users don't have any idea what kind of effort it would take to implement their ideas, as good as they may be. This, of course, is deliberatly leaving out the shitty, "d00d, w0t dis game n33dz is m0r3 r0ck3ts!! l0lz0rs!" suggestions.
This is starting to run a bit long, it's pushing midnight, and I'd like to get this up while it's still Thursday - so this bit may turn in to a two part kind of thing. I haven't covered all that I'd like to, so unless the Anarchy Online 16.0 patch comes out between then and now and I get sucked up in that, you can expect more. Out.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Zero To Pissed Off In 32 Levels
Well, it would appear that R.O.S.E Online is out of the open beta period. There will be a closed beta during the month of September (which would be the month that today is the first day of) available exclusively (I think) to Fileplanet (doesn't deserve a link) subscribers (ie. not me), which may (or may not) be followed by another open beta. A much more concise way to put it would be that I am not going to play R.O.S.E online any more. Not just because I can't anymore, either.
My feelings towards the game have changed dramatically between last week's post and now. Once you hit somewhere around level 25, leveling up stops being so quick and painless - quite the opposite, in fact. If you're not constantly having your kills stolen (this assumes that you have found something available to kill), you're being gang-raped by 20 of the same cute thing you couldn't find one of 30 seconds ago. I don't think I've died as much in any other MMORPG than I have in R.O.S.E. Hell, I don't think I've died as much in any game than I have in R.O.S.E, ever.
I think I made it to somewhere around level 32 before I decided to stop playing. It was only as was logging into the game yesterday, knowing it would be the subject of today's post, that I found something was wrong. Like I said above, I really found it hard to care. My entire time playing R.O.S.E felt more like I was trying to enjoy the game, rather than actually enjoying it. The whole process was tiring enough that when I started to play Anarchy Online again, it felt simple, familiar, and welcoming. Not that I haven't enjoyed my time with Anarchy Online, nor will I stop playing it any time soon, but when playing AO solo doesn't feel like a grind anymore, you know you've just come out of a bad relationship.
In other news, Cube had another release this week - I'm sticking this in here because there really isn't enough material to deserve it's own post - which, sadly, may be it's last. After this, the team (or just Aardappel, I'm not very familiar with their development practices) will be moving on to Sauerbraten, which could basically be considered the "sequel" to Cube. Anyway, Cube's maybe-last release is a doozie, throwing in new models for items, weapons, and teleporters as well as a bunch of new maps, both singleplayer and multiplayer. One word of caution - if you like (as most people do) to play Cube online, be wary of the new version. Even though it's been out for a few days, every server in my server browser has the nice little message: [different cube protocol]. Oh, one more thing I haven't mentioned - lots of Cube stuff over at Quadropolis.
My feelings towards the game have changed dramatically between last week's post and now. Once you hit somewhere around level 25, leveling up stops being so quick and painless - quite the opposite, in fact. If you're not constantly having your kills stolen (this assumes that you have found something available to kill), you're being gang-raped by 20 of the same cute thing you couldn't find one of 30 seconds ago. I don't think I've died as much in any other MMORPG than I have in R.O.S.E. Hell, I don't think I've died as much in any game than I have in R.O.S.E, ever.
I think I made it to somewhere around level 32 before I decided to stop playing. It was only as was logging into the game yesterday, knowing it would be the subject of today's post, that I found something was wrong. Like I said above, I really found it hard to care. My entire time playing R.O.S.E felt more like I was trying to enjoy the game, rather than actually enjoying it. The whole process was tiring enough that when I started to play Anarchy Online again, it felt simple, familiar, and welcoming. Not that I haven't enjoyed my time with Anarchy Online, nor will I stop playing it any time soon, but when playing AO solo doesn't feel like a grind anymore, you know you've just come out of a bad relationship.
In other news, Cube had another release this week - I'm sticking this in here because there really isn't enough material to deserve it's own post - which, sadly, may be it's last. After this, the team (or just Aardappel, I'm not very familiar with their development practices) will be moving on to Sauerbraten, which could basically be considered the "sequel" to Cube. Anyway, Cube's maybe-last release is a doozie, throwing in new models for items, weapons, and teleporters as well as a bunch of new maps, both singleplayer and multiplayer. One word of caution - if you like (as most people do) to play Cube online, be wary of the new version. Even though it's been out for a few days, every server in my server browser has the nice little message: [different cube protocol]. Oh, one more thing I haven't mentioned - lots of Cube stuff over at Quadropolis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
