Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Minetest: An Open Source Minecraft Clone

As I make my way across the expanse that is the great plains of the Internet, occasionally I find some interesting bits that peak my attention. Consider one such project in Minetest, an Open Source implementation of Minecraft in C++. Since Free Software is close to my heart, I decided to give this project a spin. Well that and its free so, you know, its not hard to try it out :D

The Minetest project has binaries available for Windows and Linux and I tried the Windows copy. After opening the game up I noticed right away that they kept the overall feel and tone of Minecraft. The graphics are nearly identical and the controls are very close. Minetest misses quite a lot of... Read All

UT3 Black Verdict? RAMPAGE!

I consider the original Unreal Tournament games to be some of the best FPS multiplayer games ever made. I played the heck out of Unreal Tournament and then later went nuts for Unreal Tournament 2004. Now mind you, I am not very good at competitive shooters but Unreal Tournament allows you a fine grained control over bots such that anyone can get in the game and feel like a total bad-ass. I own UT, UT2003 UT2004 on plastic discs but when the recent UT franchise Steam Sale hit, I decided to pull the trigger and pick it up.

Unreal Tournament 3 Black is a worthy successor to the Unreal Tournament legacy. The Steam version includes the UT3 Titan Pack, which adds in a few... Read All I consider the original Unreal Tournament games to be some of the best FPS multiplayer games ever made. I played the heck out of Unreal Tournament and then later went nuts for Unreal Tournament 2004. Now mind you, I am not very good at competitive shooters but Unreal Tournament allows you a fine grained control over bots such that anyone can get in the game and feel like a total bad-ass. I own UT, UT2003 UT2004 on plastic discs but when the recent UT franchise Steam Sale hit, I decided to pull the trigger and pick it up.

Unreal Tournament 3 Black is a worthy successor to the Unreal Tournament legacy. The Steam version includes the UT3 Titan Pack, which adds in a few new game modes as well as maps. After I downloaded and installed all the UT3 Community Bonus Project maps I tore through a few awesome maps and had a ton of fun playing Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The awesome thing is that UT3 was released in 2009 so if you have a relatively new computer you can run it with the settings dialed up and the game doesn’t suffer from any kind of lag.

The game is very polished and overall a very good competitive shooter. I decided to try my luck and head online for a few deathmatches and was surprised to find out I wasn’t too bad. I imagine many people picked up UT3 from the recent Steam sale and were about as good as I was because I scored right smack in the middle out of the pack on the server I was playing on. The community for UT3 is still pretty strong and there seemed to be a few servers that were full of people playing.

Let me know by way of posting in the comments if you have UT3 and would be potentially interested in a Cheerful Ghost UT3 frag night in the upcoming months. Unreal Tournament has as special place in my heart as an awesome shooter and UT3 is a really awesome continuation of that awesome legacy.

If you are just getting started or want to head back into the area, you should nab all the awesome Community Bonus Pack content:

http://cbp.beyondunreal.com/

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/26/2013 at 08:27pm

Picked it up on the Steam sale, per your previous mention, and installed yesterday. I'm totally down for the massacre!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/26/2013 at 08:40pm

Dude, sign me up for the massacre too!

Travis Admin wrote on 02/26/2013 at 10:18pm

I'm always up for a fragfest.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/26/2013 at 11:01pm

Nice, thanks everyone.

Ill try and shoot for something next week. Shooting for a launch of a pretty cool new feature this Saturday and a few other cool CG bits so the fragMENTATION will be next weekish.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/26/2013 at 11:33pm

Sweet action! I'll bring the virtual Doritos.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/27/2013 at 12:02am

Good thing too, virtual Doritos are less calories.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/27/2013 at 07:19am

I just jumped in for a warm-up session. Holy knight, did I get beat down.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/27/2013 at 04:44pm

Did you set the bots to some low skill level? You can also toss in mutators like "Big Head" that will make players that do well MUCH easier to headshot :D

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/27/2013 at 05:08pm

I think I was playing actual humans, but they seemed way too good. Not that I doubt people are probably amazing at that game, but still. At one point, I think I died 5 times in about 5 seconds.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:15pm

I bought the Unreal pack in last year's Summer Bundle. I'm 100% Linux at this point, though, so it's UT2004 only until the rest are brought over. Fingers crossed that older titles like this one get the Steam Linux treatment.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:21pm

There are binaries for all UT games from 2004 backward. I dont know if its in Steam yet, but really should be brought to it.

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The Legend of Zelda: Sundial of Shadows Ep. 1

Very interesting new fan animation released recently called "Sundial of Shadows." The first episode features two characters and takes its time building up the tone and feel of the series. Styled heavily on Zelda Ocarina of Time, the series forgoes voice acting for the text style of the game.

Very interesting start to the series and as such am looking forward to where the show is headed.

Dat Firehose: Stardew Valley, VR Latency & Betas!

If you are looking for a taste of Stardew Valley before launch, Concerned Ape has released 3 tracks from the upcoming page on Bandcamp. Listening to these awesome tracks makes me realize the game can't come out soon enough!

http://concernedape.bandcamp.com/

John Carmack recently wrote about the latency in VR headsets and how to account for it. Proving again that he is one of the smartest people in gaming today building a space company.

http://www.altdevblogaday.com/2013/02/22/latency-mitigation-strategies/

I received a preview Beta of Hammerwatch today and played it for a few hours. The game is a ton of fun and shines in co-op, expect to see more in the next few days... Read All

Finding a Place. The First Few Levels of Anodyne.

I picked up Anodyne last week during The Pirate Bay sale. Since I am a sucker for game soundtracks, I opted for the deluxe version that came with the score. I am playing it on my PC and the game runs flawlessly.

Anodyne is a hard game to write about. From the very start it brought back memories of playing my NES. The moody tone hit me as very Link's Awakening-esque but unlike Link's Awakening that ramps you up, Anodyne hits you with the ethereal mood from the start. As the game continues past the opening area and beyond the first dungeon it opens the colors, music and tone a bit but the underlying ethereal current is always present.

If you are expecting a game to hold... Read All I picked up Anodyne last week during The Pirate Bay sale. Since I am a sucker for game soundtracks, I opted for the deluxe version that came with the score. I am playing it on my PC and the game runs flawlessly.

Anodyne is a hard game to write about. From the very start it brought back memories of playing my NES. The moody tone hit me as very Link's Awakening-esque but unlike Link's Awakening that ramps you up, Anodyne hits you with the ethereal mood from the start. As the game continues past the opening area and beyond the first dungeon it opens the colors, music and tone a bit but the underlying ethereal current is always present.

If you are expecting a game to hold your hand this game isn't your jam. Just to be clear: I am having no problems making my way through this game at all. That said, after the first dungeon the game opens up very wide and if you don't pay attention you can get quite lost. I don't mind taking time getting acclimated to things and love exploring. I started playing Anodyne with the thought that this would be more of an experience than anything else, and to that point it hasn't let me down.

Using the overall design, art and score the game is pulling some interesting punches I don't see too often. When I load up my save and start walking around I am immediately flooded with feelings of discovery and a genuine wonder of what will come next. The game has surprised me with how well it plays to old Zelda and Final Fantasy design notes but then goes an entirely different direction. Often times I am not entirely sure what the game is trying to say with a particular set of events but the open nature of it isn't lost on me. Sometimes there really are few answers to things and Anodyne doesn't try to answer them all.

I have read a few reviews that knock the cryptic nature of the game and cite it as a flaw. I don't think this is a flaw and for me Anodyne works very well because not all games need to round every jagged edge and way point each mission. Its a refreshing take on the genre and its simplicity I consider a strength.

Fighting the 2nd level boss: http://i.imgur.com/qfKSof8.png
Talking to a cat that started following me around: http://i.imgur.com/IJj7UGR.png

If you are interested in reading some information on some of the design thoughts in Anodyne, Sean Hogan blogged about them here.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SeanHogan/20121026/180270/Joys_in_writing_game_music_frustrations_of_the_place_of_games_in_society_and_the_potential_of_games_that_convey_experiences.php

Started a Dark Souls Let's Play

http://darksouls.wdfiles.com/local--files/bows/black-bow-of-pharis-on-hand.jpg

Sundays and Wednesdays, let's do it, all right? Follow the adventures of The Archer on youtube!

www.youtube.com/watchoutforfireballs

(Note, this is not my archer).

Unreal Deal Pack on Steam

Right now on Steam there is a really great deal on the Unreal series of games for $14. You get Unreal 2: The Awakening, Unreal Gold, UT 2004 Collectors Edition, UT 3 Black, and the original Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition.

I know many of you have picked this up in previous Steam sales, but if you didn't know is a good time to add it to your collection. The original UT alone is worth the price of admission.

Get it on sale for the next 24 hours!

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/683/

Community Interview with vdogmr25

Continuing the Cheerful Ghost community interviews, this one featuring @vdogmr25! I want to thank him for taking the time to to do the interview with me! If anyone has any follow up questions, toss them in the comments!

jdodson: You recently posted on Cheerful Ghost that you are having issues with your PC, what have you been playing while your PC is out of commision?

vdogmr25: I just picked up FTL for my Macbook, and that's been fun to play in between classes. I was hesitant because I thought it looked too simple, but the simplicity makes it awesome. I've also been pounding through Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, Pokemon White, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop... Read All

Mew-Genics is a cat simulator

We've been waiting for weeks now. Seventeen weeks of teasers, and finally we know what Mew-Genics actually is: A cat simulator. The player is essentially a virtual cat lady! :)

Mixing elements of The Sims, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Tamagotchi, Mew-Genics aims to create a lively world full of adorable cats that you have to take care of. Edmund McMillen says about the game, "at its core, the game isn't really like anything we've seen before."

This game looks strange and wonderful.

http://edmundm.com/post/43820398014/mew-genics-official-announcement-on-gameplay

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/24/2013 at 08:17pm

You are totally right, this game really does look strange... and wonderful at the same time. I am going to pick this up but after his description of the game I was like "huh, you cat can die of aids." But there is always a dark tone to McMillen games and hope this one is as awesome as it sounds! :D

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/25/2013 at 07:48am

Found this interview with Tommy Refenes of Team Meat: http://youtu.be/nCpW0WbCVzQ

Interesting things, plus he talks a bit about Mew-Genics. This game looks freaky-awesome! I've always wanted to try out that cat-lady lifestyle. I mean, it must be comforting, right?

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/25/2013 at 05:02pm

Thanks for sharing. I liked the parts about Mew-Genics! I kept watching and found the rest of the interview to be hit or miss. Seems like a nice enough guy but I don't relate to much of what he says but I am geek that likes people and he admittedly does not :D

scrypt Supporter wrote on 02/25/2013 at 11:44pm

Work around manipulative/selfish people long enough, and you can easily pick up a jaded perspective, toward them and people in general. At the very least, it can be exhausting. Nice to know that he's self-aware and responsible in his jadedness :) Also nice to know that the world has the good to balance the bad!

Have you seen Indie Game: The Movie yet?

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/25/2013 at 11:46pm

I have, it was a really interesting movie and quite enjoyed it. From any angle it seems like a ton of work but when the output is Meatboy or Fez, it seems worth it.

Then again Tommy can't look at Meatboy code without having it effect him negatively... so theres that :D

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:11pm

The look of it reminds me of the old C64 (Atari 400/800?) game, Little Computer People. Where you had a somewhat randomly generated person living in a small house.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:13pm

Yeah, it does. Sim games have always been very interesting to me. SimTown, SimAnt, SimCity, SimEarth. Man I loved SimEarth, kind of hope that would be made better in Spore. Didn't hear good things about Spore but I SO want to try it out still.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:26pm

Anyone play the Creatures games back in the day? That's what immediately came to mind for me. Much more recent than C64, but it goes to show that things that work well will keep showing up.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:30pm

Yes. I'll have to dig through my web history, but there was an article about the developer of the Creatures series and something new he was working on. Creatures was amazing, if a little too much like child-rearing.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/03/2013 at 07:33pm

Also +1 to @scrypt's comment about working around jaded people. I've been working in technical support (internal & external) for some time now and between the people I work with, the people I work for and the people on the phone, it's extremely difficult not to become disgruntled with the behaviours of others.

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Dat Firehose: FF Rand. Encounter & Linux Ports

OCRemix is hosting the new album "Final Fantasy: Random Encounter" a series of remixes from the original FF game. Very good and well worth the price of free.

http://encounter.ocremix.org/

John Carmack talked about native Linux ports and Wine on Reddit recently. I don't think comparing the sales of Quake 3 to the modern market is fair, but he brings up fairly pragmatic points.

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/17x0sh/john_carmack_asks_why_wine_isnt_good_enough/c89sfto

The awesome kids over at Indie Games compiled a cool list of the top 10 best free Indie platformers. The game "I Wanna Be the Guy Gaiden" looks to fuse Mario World and Contra and leaves me somewhere... Read All