Looks like Blizz is giving the UI for Starcraft 2 some love in the new game Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm in addition to the major 1.5 update of the interface.
Still not in the Beta for Heart of the Swarm... Seems like I am on a "no-fly"/no beta list with Blizzard for not taking part in the Litch King beta when I had it...
Looks like Blizz is giving the UI for Starcraft 2 some love in the new game Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm in addition to the major 1.5 update of the interface.
Still not in the Beta for Heart of the Swarm... Seems like I am on a "no-fly"/no beta list with Blizzard for not taking part in the Litch King beta when I had it...
Well I don't know about "for life" but I've heard Microsoft and someone else will just totally pass you up if you don't contribute to previous betas you've been in.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 10/26/2012 at 04:33am
It makes sense, if I skipped one then give my seat to someone that would play it. Makes sense, more kicking myself for signing up in the first place!
HEY BLIZZ I TOOK PART IN THE WAR 3 FROZEN THRONE BETA!
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Someone's Minecraft creation. And I thought my 8-bit Link I made in Terraria was pretty involved....
Someone's Minecraft creation. And I thought my 8-bit Link I made in Terraria was pretty involved....
Just wanted to remind everyone that tonight we are having an online meetup and play session for Quake Live! It will start tonight 10/24 at 6pm PST.
Ill use this thread to co-ordinate the game, so check back for what specific games we will be in and the sharing of our in-game accounts to play together.
Original Post: http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/657
Just wanted to remind everyone that tonight we are having an online meetup and play session for Quake Live! It will start tonight 10/24 at 6pm PST.
Ill use this thread to co-ordinate the game, so check back for what specific games we will be in and the sharing of our in-game accounts to play together.
You all missed out on some fun! With the exception of the people who kept reciting lyrics from Gangnam Style, the Quake Live games were a blast, and my first real L4D experience was exactly what I had hoped for.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 10/25/2012 at 04:19am
Quake Live was a blast! I still love the rocket launcher!
Left 4 Dead stole the show for me though. After about the 3rd wave we started I was really digging the game and the strategy of it. I really enjoyed helping people and healing, which is odd as I don't particularly like playing the medic in TF games.
This looks promising. The narration is a little grating but the info is worth it.
It looks like the combat will be similar to that of the recent single-player games. The Finesse system sounds interesting. Overall, it seems different from any MMO combat I've seen, which is definitely a good thing.
I'll have to break my rule of never playing MMOs for this one.
This looks promising. The narration is a little grating but the info is worth it.
It looks like the combat will be similar to that of the recent single-player games. The Finesse system sounds interesting. Overall, it seems different from any MMO combat I've seen, which is definitely a good thing.
I'll have to break my rule of never playing MMOs for this one.
Thanks for posting this, I've been interested in The Elder Scrolls Online and this drops some compelling art and information that draws me to think this will be worth checking out!
First off, the art feels like something from Skyrim. The video was a bit artifacty on my phone but it looked like an improvement over Skyrim?
Playing through Skyrim, I kept thinking "This is so awesome... but how much more awesome would it be to have other players playing with me?" So yes, I'm definitely looking forward to this game. I do wonder about some of the random aspects of Skyrim that might be lost, like finding a wheelbarrow at the bottom of a waterfall. Finding one was cool, but with thousands (or millions, depending on how the servers work) of other players, I wonder how much clutter there will be? Now that I think about it, I kinda hope there's a ton of clutter. I think I'm what I'm getting at (I'm not really sure, just kinda typing and seeing what happens) is that I like the sense of "wow, I bet no one has seen this in this world" feeling that is present in Skyrim, which could be lost in an online version. But again, overall, I'm looking forward to this!
MMO's seem to allow a ton of people to play but don't allow the players to make a mark on the world too much. Elder Scrolls Online could change this though for the reasons you cite, like leaving stuff around. Problem is, would such a world turn into a garbage dump eventually? Seriously, it could. Some clan could invariably spend the time to make a mountain of potatoes too :D
My first thought was that perhaps items, after they're dropped, if they're not touched for a set amount of time (whatever that might be), they disappear. But I don't really like the idea of items just disappearing. One of my complaints (a very minor complaint though) of WoW was how quest items just magically respawn. I would like a better way for quest items (or ingredients to create things with) to appear. But with things like ore, obviously someone can't reset that, that pretty much just has to reappear... maybe some sort of mechanic function of the ground where ore would randomly be pushed up to gather, and trees would slowly grow.
That was a long first thought.
My second thought I like a little better, but not much. Perhaps there can be some NPC's that wander around the world, cleaning up random items left by people. Maybe if they were scavengers, and you could buy the items from them (and maybe get lucky and get an exotic item that they found?)?
But I would want to contribute to the mountain of patatoes as well lol
I'm very worried about this. I feel like it is going to just become another mmo like WoW. I'm hoping the combat keeps it different. I also feel like the character models have much more cartoon-y look then what an elder scrolls game should be like. Like the orc they show at about 0:35, He is HUGE. It reminds me of the characters in the old republic that were just like really big fat people. They look ridiculous.
Hopefully a CG user is on the beta and reports back! I know I'll be signing up.
Hopefully the big cartoony ORC is a one off because Elder Scrolls games and grounded in fairly realistic graphics.
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 10/28/2012 at 05:35am
Cartoony graphics are often a way for companies to make a game that looks acceptable in a modern world while keeping the requirements low. Basically, they're trying to make it accessible to more users. Possibly.
On teh intarwebs I found a breakdown of the password save system for the original Metroid. It reads like a technical whitepaper and seems pretty straightforward to construct your own passwords if you so desire.
I sort of inspected a few of my games that used a password save system and noticed patterns that let me modify them. For instance, in Mega Man 2 I collected E Tanks only(did nothing else) and noticed what happened to the password. Collecting the maximum amount and noticing the password allowed me to create a password where at any point I could refill my character back to maximum E Tanks. I was able to do the same to a few other games as well and it was always fun... Read All
On teh intarwebs I found a breakdown of the password save system for the original Metroid. It reads like a technical whitepaper and seems pretty straightforward to construct your own passwords if you so desire.
I sort of inspected a few of my games that used a password save system and noticed patterns that let me modify them. For instance, in Mega Man 2 I collected E Tanks only(did nothing else) and noticed what happened to the password. Collecting the maximum amount and noticing the password allowed me to create a password where at any point I could refill my character back to maximum E Tanks. I was able to do the same to a few other games as well and it was always fun to hack the game this way.
John David Ratliff seems to take this one step higher and lets the entire algorithm out of the bag. I wonder how long this took? Did you ever spend time reverse engineering your passwords to get an advantage?
Oh and the Metroid comic above has been making the rounds online as well and I though it was pretty fun.
I never reversed engineered passwords, but I did like to enter random ones in to see what, if anything, would happen. Similar to the Game Genie post from a while back.
I kinda wish I had done some trial and error like that now. I wonder if there are any more game specific guides out there for old games so you can start with a bajillion lives or whatever.
I did notice that punch out seemed to have entirely random passwords. I had a password for Mr. Dream and then lost to him, and the password it gave me was entirely different. Theoretically I should have just had one more loss on my record.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:00am
The password system could be very sequential but then they use some kind of one off simple encryption / scramble to make it seem randomish.
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To kick off Retro Tuesday I wanted to talk about a game I have been playing recently with my wife. There are not many generes of games my wife and I can agree to playing together save puzzle games and the occasional Mario Kart level. Recently we decided to un-box the N64 and play Dr. Mario and played a few competitive matches.
I consider Dr. Mario practically a perfect game. I hesitantly compare it to Tetris as Tetris literally is a perfect game, but Dr. Mario is a close second to it in my mind to perfect puzzle games. The original NES cart was well done too, top notch music, game mechanics and concept. The 64 game adds on the original by allowing 4 player matches,... Read All
To kick off Retro Tuesday I wanted to talk about a game I have been playing recently with my wife. There are not many generes of games my wife and I can agree to playing together save puzzle games and the occasional Mario Kart level. Recently we decided to un-box the N64 and play Dr. Mario and played a few competitive matches.
I consider Dr. Mario practically a perfect game. I hesitantly compare it to Tetris as Tetris literally is a perfect game, but Dr. Mario is a close second to it in my mind to perfect puzzle games. The original NES cart was well done too, top notch music, game mechanics and concept. The 64 game adds on the original by allowing 4 player matches, different kinds of competitive play and a story mode.
As we were playing Dr. Mario we played a few matches of Flash mode quite a bit. To win flash mode all you need to do is clear all the viruses that flash on the screen. Seems simple but often times the flashing viruses are really buried deep on higher levels it can get tricky.
Dr. Mario has seen a few incarnations since its 64 days with a Gameboy Advance port as well as a Wii Downloadable only port. I never picked it up on Wii because I have an aversion to downloadable only titles on console. I sort of wonder how the version on Wii turned out as this year I picked up Tetris Party Deluxe on sale as it was originally Wii download only but later moved to a disc release and it was very good.
That said, Dr. Mario 64 is an amazing game and there isn't much reason for a modern port. It looks good in full screen mode on my TV and plays just as well. Recently I caught a real bug and wished it were as simple as dropping a few pills on the viruses to get rid of it. Oh well, real live antibodies to the rescue.
I think I heard about "I used to be an adventurer..." before I had a clue what Skyrim was. But now... what if?
I think I heard about "I used to be an adventurer..." before I had a clue what Skyrim was. But now... what if?
The thing is, after you hear it enough times in Skyrim it's hilarious. It makes sense that it broke out into internet culture and 14-year-old girls who had no interest in Skyrim were saying it.
I have been playing Ultima 4 for my blog at www.backlogkiller.com and was shocked to see no entry for the PC version here! It is a free game that is available on GoG for free and set a new standard for RPGs that continues to this day. By getting rid of traditional story and encouraging the player to win by simply being a good person was a brave experiment and deserves all the praise it gets. Despite being 25 years old, it holds up and I am enjoying every minute of it. (Aside from the time spent flying the hot air balloon.)
I have been playing Ultima 4 for my blog at www.backlogkiller.com and was shocked to see no entry for the PC version here! It is a free game that is available on GoG for free and set a new standard for RPGs that continues to this day. By getting rid of traditional story and encouraging the player to win by simply being a good person was a brave experiment and deserves all the praise it gets. Despite being 25 years old, it holds up and I am enjoying every minute of it. (Aside from the time spent flying the hot air balloon.)
I just nabbed this game on my Mac off GoG. Doesn't seem to work too well so I will give it a swing on the PC.
I like your blog, thanks for sharing! Feel free to keep the updates flowin'!
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 10/24/2012 at 05:01am
I'm almost finished and had a good time with it, but it certainly helped that I had a good idea of objectives from previous attempts. It's taking me about 10-15 hours to finish, but if you don't know what to do I would double that. Some stuff is a little esoteric and maybe impossible if you don't take note of EVERYTHING. Definitely worth a play, though.
For sure. I think with many old games there is that "if people didn't know this would be nearly impossible to figure out" kind of elements. Like in Monkey Island or whatever, prob would have just hit a brick wall without a walkthrough for some of it.
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 10/25/2012 at 03:18am
I actually did pretty well Monkey Island. It was certainly more 'fair' than this one. Ultima 4 gives you everything you need, but many of the solutions are a little obtuse. The biggest culprit is the word needed to enter the final dungeon is represented in rune form after ascending each virtue. What look like simple vertical lines or nonsense have to be written down, translated, then rearranged like an anagram to get the word. Most of the other stuff is pretty easy, though.
That's awesome. Now I understand more about why Lord British gets SO much love for this game. I have a ton of love for Retro Games and one I am itching to play and will do so next month...
The Red Wings are calling me back and I am really looking forward to playing Final Fantasy 2/6 again! It has been WAY too long!
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 10/28/2012 at 02:26am
Lost all my progress I made. Turns out I had two copies on my computer: one on the HD and one on a flash drive I was using to test moving save games around. The desktop link was attached to the flash and not the HD meaning that when I deleted its contents to give a friend some files... *POOF*. No more party. Need to restart and cry.
I hear you. One year I set a goal to complete Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past no matter what. The story and feel, for me hold a ton of symbolic and "feeling" that I had to experience. I am starting to feel the same way about Final Fantasy 2(US). Its kind of like I need to do it to re-learn something I had forgotten.
So yeah Will, I totally get that. I think its a sign of something really meaningful when you have that kind of connection to a game or whatever.
Need to return to the Hobbit every few years, nothing brings me to that magical zone quite like reading that book.
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 11/01/2012 at 03:57pm
Well, less than five hours into the restart and I am almost back to the point where I lost my data. I would guess maybe 2 or 3 solid hours to finish. Definitely can be done in under 10 hours.
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 11/13/2012 at 03:39pm
I finally finished the doggone thing. A piece of my past finally left behind. What a good game, too.
Will_Owens Post Author
wrote on 11/14/2012 at 01:34am
The first part of the game (getting virtues, stones, and dungeon diving) took about six to eight hours. Then, the abyss took two play sessions for a total of one and a half or two hours, so I would estimate it to be a ten hour game. As I posted, though, that's if you know exactly what to do. A clean run with no prior knowledge could easily take twenty hours or much longer depending on how quickly you grasp the objectives. The game is really amazing, though, and still comes through as innovative and something special after almost 30 years. It would be tough to get it to appeal to younger people, but if you can get past the graphics, it's super fun.
Rumors have surfaced on the web of a new Borderlands game to be released soon on mobile. A screenshot found by someone on the Gearbox forums. Borderlands on mobile sounds awesome and I will pick this up when it comes out.
Hopefully it will be an awesome slice of one of the best games released this year! Will you pick up Borderlands mobile?
In other Borderlands news, looks like Borderlands 2 shipped 1.4 million units since its launch to date.... Read All
Rumors have surfaced on the web of a new Borderlands game to be released soon on mobile. A screenshot found by someone on the Gearbox forums. Borderlands on mobile sounds awesome and I will pick this up when it comes out.
Hopefully it will be an awesome slice of one of the best games released this year! Will you pick up Borderlands mobile?
In other Borderlands news, looks like Borderlands 2 shipped 1.4 million units since its launch to date. Hopefully that means there is enough interest for more Borderlands in the future :D
You know I was hoping the announcement was going to be some new Borderlands 2 DLC. I mean it's been like a week since the last DLC so I figure we're probably do for some more. :P
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 10/23/2012 at 05:42pm
Over the weekend I got to experience Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. This year one of the mazes was themed on Silent Hill so I thought I'd share my experiences with you guys. While I unfortunately wasn't able to take any pictures at the event I found the above video on Youtube that takes you through the whole maze.
The video doesn't quite do the maze justice but if you're unable to see this in person, it'll give you a pretty good idea of what it was like. For one thing, the video uses night vision so you don't get a sense of just how dark and creepy the maze really is. In the little hallways between rooms it's especially dark and there are thin... Read All
Over the weekend I got to experience Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. This year one of the mazes was themed on Silent Hill so I thought I'd share my experiences with you guys. While I unfortunately wasn't able to take any pictures at the event I found the above video on Youtube that takes you through the whole maze.
The video doesn't quite do the maze justice but if you're unable to see this in person, it'll give you a pretty good idea of what it was like. For one thing, the video uses night vision so you don't get a sense of just how dark and creepy the maze really is. In the little hallways between rooms it's especially dark and there are thin strings hanging down from the ceiling that feel like spiderwebs as you're walking through them. It seems like everything in these mazes is meant to mess with your head. I don't know if it's intentional, but the mazes even smell weird (they don't smell bad, just... kind of weird). This was my third year at Halloween Horror nights, and it's quickly become my favorite thing to do during Halloween time.
One of these years I need to come down and hang with you for the Halloween Horror Nights! I loved this kind of Halloween themed event and this one particularly looks like some of the best around!
I have experienced some good haunted houses in Portland but nothing video game themed!
A lot of places will do that. If you sign up for a beta but do nothing with it, they'll just pass you up.
Banned for life? Sigh.
Never should have signed up for WoW beta's when I never actually played the game.
Well I don't know about "for life" but I've heard Microsoft and someone else will just totally pass you up if you don't contribute to previous betas you've been in.
It makes sense, if I skipped one then give my seat to someone that would play it. Makes sense, more kicking myself for signing up in the first place!
HEY BLIZZ I TOOK PART IN THE WAR 3 FROZEN THRONE BETA!