Whilst I haven't touched World of Warcraft in a considerable amount of time, it doesn't mean however that I am unaware of developments in that camp. And what do you know: Someone played the newest expansion Legion and got to Level 110 within five and half hours.
Well someone's keen.
I guess as long as there are people who are willing to speed-run through their game then there are records to be set.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
Split the Atom
Here's something i came across on YouTube: A classic game from the Amiga, called Atoms!
History will decree that the Amiga folded with the collapse of Commodore circa 1994. But what people may have forgotten is that the Amiga actually had a lifespan beyond Commodore: For a few years afterwards, it proved to be very accommodating that amateur developers, giving them a platform to come up with games of their own - much like how Steam does for amateur developers today. It was an interesting time and one that sadly gets overlooked by gaming historians.
And Atoms was one such game. It was a relatively simple game but damn, if it wasn't a lot of fun. It required players to place atoms in the grid and build up groups of them. Get enough atoms in a box (two in a corner box, three in a side box and four in the rest) and an explosion would trigger sending the atoms in corresponding boxes. The object of the game was to turn all the atoms on the board into the player's respective color. Again, this was a simple game and admittedly it took a while to get going, but once the players had enough atoms, it was possible to send off tremendous chain reactions in attempt to achieve victory. There was fun to be had, especially with multiple people, and it was hilarious to see a colossal chain reaction play out. It may have been brief but it never ceased to function as an entertaining party game.
Looking at this game through the perspective of modernity, there is no reason why a game this simplistic would ever work. It might work as part of collection of mini-games (ie Mario Party) but not as a standalone game. So why does this game so simple work?
The zany music? Yeah lets go with that
Original video located here. Accessed 29th August 2016
History will decree that the Amiga folded with the collapse of Commodore circa 1994. But what people may have forgotten is that the Amiga actually had a lifespan beyond Commodore: For a few years afterwards, it proved to be very accommodating that amateur developers, giving them a platform to come up with games of their own - much like how Steam does for amateur developers today. It was an interesting time and one that sadly gets overlooked by gaming historians.
And Atoms was one such game. It was a relatively simple game but damn, if it wasn't a lot of fun. It required players to place atoms in the grid and build up groups of them. Get enough atoms in a box (two in a corner box, three in a side box and four in the rest) and an explosion would trigger sending the atoms in corresponding boxes. The object of the game was to turn all the atoms on the board into the player's respective color. Again, this was a simple game and admittedly it took a while to get going, but once the players had enough atoms, it was possible to send off tremendous chain reactions in attempt to achieve victory. There was fun to be had, especially with multiple people, and it was hilarious to see a colossal chain reaction play out. It may have been brief but it never ceased to function as an entertaining party game.
Looking at this game through the perspective of modernity, there is no reason why a game this simplistic would ever work. It might work as part of collection of mini-games (ie Mario Party) but not as a standalone game. So why does this game so simple work?
The zany music? Yeah lets go with that
Friday, August 26, 2016
The Sky is Empty
Well No Man's Sky has touched down. But instead of arriving from up above on gilded chariot, it has generated a poor response from both people and critics alike. People are grumbling about it feeling empty and Steam are even refusing refunds.
Well i suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, considering the buildup, was there any hope of the game living up to the rate of expectation? Of course not.
Remember Destiny? That was supposed to be a big deal but it didn't go anywhere.That being said, you'd think everyone would've wised up and not be duped into such a marketing campaign. But no, we never seem to learn do we?
No me of course: I'm still stuck in my cocoon and refuse to acknowledge the changes of the world happening around me. But hey: At least my wall, built from bricks of skepticism, keeps the unwanted out XD
Well i suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, considering the buildup, was there any hope of the game living up to the rate of expectation? Of course not.
Remember Destiny? That was supposed to be a big deal but it didn't go anywhere.That being said, you'd think everyone would've wised up and not be duped into such a marketing campaign. But no, we never seem to learn do we?
No me of course: I'm still stuck in my cocoon and refuse to acknowledge the changes of the world happening around me. But hey: At least my wall, built from bricks of skepticism, keeps the unwanted out XD
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Where are you going?
Earlier this week, I posted some musings about a vague game called Sorcery. This in turn triggered memories of another vague game I played during the C64 era.
Behold: Quo Vadis!
This game is interesting on a technical stand point. As is my understanding, it was the first game in history to boast over 1000 screens! It was so enormous it took some sizable effort to squeeze it into the C64's memory! And it even was doing the Metroid shtick before Metroid was a thing!
And I will admit, from someone with an interest in traditional dark fantasy, there's something appealing in seeing a Crusader knight (as evidenced by the Christian cross on his shield) descending into an underground cavern to fight a horde of monsters.
But I didn't make much progress in the game itself - mostly because I had no idea what i was supposed to do. This may have been my first exposure to free-roaming gameplay but my young mind didn't realize it at the time. As such I was baffled as to where I supposed to be going and what I was supposed to be doing. And even now I admit this game was vague: Why, that ending message that appeared at the end of the game is indeed unclear whether the player had successfully completed the game or not.
But what was particularly frustrating with this game was the stiff controls: If the PC slipped and fell, he would plunge straight down with the player being unable to do a thing about it. The worst part of it was when the player slipped up on the rope and fell a long way down to the lava pit below. It was a long fall and the player was helpless to prevent seeing the PC plummeting to his doom. It was agonizing to watch and very punishing to the player's mindset (like the computer was saying: "Look what you've done you jackass!")/ Needless to say, I eventually gave up on this game and never looked back - until now of course.
Some good ideas but in the end, vague and frustrating.
Behold: Quo Vadis!
Original video located here. Accessed 24th August 2016
This game is interesting on a technical stand point. As is my understanding, it was the first game in history to boast over 1000 screens! It was so enormous it took some sizable effort to squeeze it into the C64's memory! And it even was doing the Metroid shtick before Metroid was a thing!
And I will admit, from someone with an interest in traditional dark fantasy, there's something appealing in seeing a Crusader knight (as evidenced by the Christian cross on his shield) descending into an underground cavern to fight a horde of monsters.
But I didn't make much progress in the game itself - mostly because I had no idea what i was supposed to do. This may have been my first exposure to free-roaming gameplay but my young mind didn't realize it at the time. As such I was baffled as to where I supposed to be going and what I was supposed to be doing. And even now I admit this game was vague: Why, that ending message that appeared at the end of the game is indeed unclear whether the player had successfully completed the game or not.
But what was particularly frustrating with this game was the stiff controls: If the PC slipped and fell, he would plunge straight down with the player being unable to do a thing about it. The worst part of it was when the player slipped up on the rope and fell a long way down to the lava pit below. It was a long fall and the player was helpless to prevent seeing the PC plummeting to his doom. It was agonizing to watch and very punishing to the player's mindset (like the computer was saying: "Look what you've done you jackass!")/ Needless to say, I eventually gave up on this game and never looked back - until now of course.
Some good ideas but in the end, vague and frustrating.
Monday, August 22, 2016
What foul sorcery is this?!
Here's something i came across during my travels on Youtube: A complete playthrough of the Commodore 64 game Sorcery:
You hear people of today describe the 8-bit era (or the 3rd console generation if you prefer) of gaming as being populated by games that are of brutal difficulty. People talk of the Mega Man games and the original Castlevania as being really tough, much like how Dark Souls is described today.
Mind you, that kinda does make sense from a designer's perspective because whatever the game may lack from a technical standpoint, it makes up for in offering a challenge. Make the game too easy and people won't have any reason to play it beyond the first successful completion.
Which now brings me to Sorcery. I played a lot of games on my C64 as a kid and this was indeed among the hardest I've played. This down to two factors: Firstly, this game was nothing short of vague in exactly what is trying to convey. Looking at the video over two decades later however and it seems clear: The player is required to pick up certain objects and use them in a particular combination. And, naturally, there are numerous red herrings abound which makes success in the game more a case of trial and error.
Secondly, there is a time limit that is nothing less than punishing: As established above, the player would need to apply trial and error to find the successful path to victory but the time limit does not allow for such experimentation. Thus it would seem multiple attempts would be required to find the successful path.
Make no mistake: there is little room for error. As indicated by the video ab0ve, the player would need to rush through the game and have their health drained with the dangers lurking at every turn. There are potions that can restore the player's health but they are more a hindrance when the greatest enemy is the clock. If anything I'm surprised someone actually managed to beat this game.
Mind you, when I originally played this, I figured that the vial of poison would be the item that would secure victory. I tried to persuade my brother but he was unconvinced.
Now, years later, it seem that I was right :)
Original video located here. Accessed 22nd August 2016
Mind you, that kinda does make sense from a designer's perspective because whatever the game may lack from a technical standpoint, it makes up for in offering a challenge. Make the game too easy and people won't have any reason to play it beyond the first successful completion.
Which now brings me to Sorcery. I played a lot of games on my C64 as a kid and this was indeed among the hardest I've played. This down to two factors: Firstly, this game was nothing short of vague in exactly what is trying to convey. Looking at the video over two decades later however and it seems clear: The player is required to pick up certain objects and use them in a particular combination. And, naturally, there are numerous red herrings abound which makes success in the game more a case of trial and error.
Secondly, there is a time limit that is nothing less than punishing: As established above, the player would need to apply trial and error to find the successful path to victory but the time limit does not allow for such experimentation. Thus it would seem multiple attempts would be required to find the successful path.
Make no mistake: there is little room for error. As indicated by the video ab0ve, the player would need to rush through the game and have their health drained with the dangers lurking at every turn. There are potions that can restore the player's health but they are more a hindrance when the greatest enemy is the clock. If anything I'm surprised someone actually managed to beat this game.
Mind you, when I originally played this, I figured that the vial of poison would be the item that would secure victory. I tried to persuade my brother but he was unconvinced.
Now, years later, it seem that I was right :)
Friday, August 19, 2016
Soon you will call me remaster
Rumours are circulating that a Mass Effect remaster could be in development. And this isn't just the first game: The entire trilogy could be getting this treatment.
I do welcome the idea of revamping the graphics of ME1 so they are more in line with it's brethren and having some of the weak points in the game(s) ironed out. But at the same time, this is EA we're talking about and it's hard to distinguish what they say from a money-grabbing ploy. So far, there's been no GOTY release of the games that make up the trilogy and no hope of playing ME3 outside of Origin.
But for me? Will remaster be enough to sway me back to Mass Effect? Well, I'm still put off by the fracas over the ending. And whilst the modding community coming up with a solution may be enough of an enticement, I'm still not sold. And the fact that people are still grumbling about that notorious ending is still off-putting.
Still, next year will make the tenth anniversary of Mass Effect. So maybe that would be a good enough as any to go back an revisit this game. And then maybe finally finish the trilogy...
I do welcome the idea of revamping the graphics of ME1 so they are more in line with it's brethren and having some of the weak points in the game(s) ironed out. But at the same time, this is EA we're talking about and it's hard to distinguish what they say from a money-grabbing ploy. So far, there's been no GOTY release of the games that make up the trilogy and no hope of playing ME3 outside of Origin.
But for me? Will remaster be enough to sway me back to Mass Effect? Well, I'm still put off by the fracas over the ending. And whilst the modding community coming up with a solution may be enough of an enticement, I'm still not sold. And the fact that people are still grumbling about that notorious ending is still off-putting.
Still, next year will make the tenth anniversary of Mass Effect. So maybe that would be a good enough as any to go back an revisit this game. And then maybe finally finish the trilogy...
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
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