This past weekend was the last beta weekend for The Secret World with next weekend being the head start for those that pre-ordered and release on Tuesday. I created an Illuminati this time, again initially choosing Elementalism followed by Blood this time after gaining a few Elemental skills. These two have some nice multiple target skills (or chains as they're called in this game). Also, Elementalism has good single target damage skills while Blood is there for healing/damage resistance.
Also on the agenda this weekend was From Dust. Overall, I really enjoyed the game. Since I finished the story line levels, I will start on the Challenge levels sometime. I will say that the end of the story line is rather anti-climatic. I do need to go back an redo a couple of those levels to unlock some of the Challenge levels.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Gone Digital: The Secret World BW3
This past weekend was the third beta weekend for The Secret World. The last time they had it, I played a Templar. This time around they had opened up the Illuminati and the Dragon factions. I chose the Dragon since that is what I plan on playing at release. For the most part, the majority of the beta has little real faction difference about it. Nevertheless, it was still fun and interesting. My Templar character went mainly elemental/blades with a little blood thrown in. The Dragon on the other hand started out blood and added blades after ranking blood some. Overall, the solo ability of both seem to be roughly the same.
As far as the playability goes, I did find a few bugs. They were mainly annoyances rather then game breakers. For instance, when I would sell something, the vendor window listing the items would blank out until I scrolled it. To me, for a game this far along and this close to release (July 3), things like that should not be there. Hopefully this weekend's beta will have fixed all of the ones I noticed.
I will have to say that I love the real world integration SW has. For one mission/quest you needing to get into someone's computer. You could get a hint ("music of the seasons") plus a nearby item was a picture of a nighttime scene with fireworks. If you did a web search on the hint (using the in-game or an out-of-game browser), you could discover the password. Another mission had you look up the duration of songs to get maps coordinates. Only once did I have to ask for in-game help, and that was because the item I was looking for was bugged and partially inside a table.
As far as the playability goes, I did find a few bugs. They were mainly annoyances rather then game breakers. For instance, when I would sell something, the vendor window listing the items would blank out until I scrolled it. To me, for a game this far along and this close to release (July 3), things like that should not be there. Hopefully this weekend's beta will have fixed all of the ones I noticed.
I will have to say that I love the real world integration SW has. For one mission/quest you needing to get into someone's computer. You could get a hint ("music of the seasons") plus a nearby item was a picture of a nighttime scene with fireworks. If you did a web search on the hint (using the in-game or an out-of-game browser), you could discover the password. Another mission had you look up the duration of songs to get maps coordinates. Only once did I have to ask for in-game help, and that was because the item I was looking for was bugged and partially inside a table.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Gone Digital: Guild Wars 2 BWE2
Guild Wars 2 had its Beta Weekend Event 2 (BWE2) this past weekend. I played in the first one and this one. I had some fun trying out the various professions I would want to play at release: Mesmer, Thief, Necromancer, and Engineer. Although I played all four the during the first BWE, I just continued with the mesmer and thief this time around. I say continued since we were able to keep the characters we had at the end of BWE1.
Given my love of controllers, I was really looking forward (before BWE1) to making a mesmer. The devs had basically said that the mesmer profession would be the most difficult to master, and I can see that. Most of the mesmer 's skills inflict various conditions on the enemies along with some skills granting you and allies buffs, this seems like a good thing. What's not good is the fact that more then a few of those skills do so randomly. I don't mean that they randomly apply the conditions but rather that the condition they apply is randomly chosen from a list. Granted most of their skills have set conditions that are applied but I much prefer to use skills whose effects (damage/buff/debuff/etc) that I can rely on. I would much rather use a skill that has a 30% chance of applying confusion each time it's used than a skill that applies a condition every time it's used but only 30% chance of that condition being confusion.
Another big thing I disliked about this version of GW is the effective de-leveling of your character when you go into a lower level area. I understand the need to do this but it's the way it's done. The is no notification what-so-ever when this happens. You are just have your effective level reduced to what the game thinks you should be at for that area. I dislike this game mechanic a LOT. Two things that would make this more acceptable is an in-your-face notification that your effective level is being adjusted whether up (if your moving to a more level appropriate area) or down. I also want to be able to constantly see what my effective level is if it's not my actual level. A combination of these the additions would make this unfortunate game mechanic more acceptable.
On more positive notes, I did enjoy running around with the memser. I definitely feel that I need more experience with it to truly get the hang of the profession. I have all of the weapon skills unlocked except for the trident (yes, trident. Underwater combat action, baby!) That one I didn't get around to using, mainly since I didn't have one. My favorite combo so far is the sword and pistol.
The thief on the other hand I am in love with a lot. Right now my favorite weapon combo here is dual-wielding pistols. I can definitely see why the thief is a dps profession. A skill unique to the thief is the Steal skill. It lets you shadowstep to your target and steal one item from that target. This replaces the Steal skill from a skill based on the item stolen. This new skill lasts until it is used at which point the Steal skill returns and goes on cooldown.
Given my love of controllers, I was really looking forward (before BWE1) to making a mesmer. The devs had basically said that the mesmer profession would be the most difficult to master, and I can see that. Most of the mesmer 's skills inflict various conditions on the enemies along with some skills granting you and allies buffs, this seems like a good thing. What's not good is the fact that more then a few of those skills do so randomly. I don't mean that they randomly apply the conditions but rather that the condition they apply is randomly chosen from a list. Granted most of their skills have set conditions that are applied but I much prefer to use skills whose effects (damage/buff/debuff/etc) that I can rely on. I would much rather use a skill that has a 30% chance of applying confusion each time it's used than a skill that applies a condition every time it's used but only 30% chance of that condition being confusion.
Another big thing I disliked about this version of GW is the effective de-leveling of your character when you go into a lower level area. I understand the need to do this but it's the way it's done. The is no notification what-so-ever when this happens. You are just have your effective level reduced to what the game thinks you should be at for that area. I dislike this game mechanic a LOT. Two things that would make this more acceptable is an in-your-face notification that your effective level is being adjusted whether up (if your moving to a more level appropriate area) or down. I also want to be able to constantly see what my effective level is if it's not my actual level. A combination of these the additions would make this unfortunate game mechanic more acceptable.
On more positive notes, I did enjoy running around with the memser. I definitely feel that I need more experience with it to truly get the hang of the profession. I have all of the weapon skills unlocked except for the trident (yes, trident. Underwater combat action, baby!) That one I didn't get around to using, mainly since I didn't have one. My favorite combo so far is the sword and pistol.
The thief on the other hand I am in love with a lot. Right now my favorite weapon combo here is dual-wielding pistols. I can definitely see why the thief is a dps profession. A skill unique to the thief is the Steal skill. It lets you shadowstep to your target and steal one item from that target. This replaces the Steal skill from a skill based on the item stolen. This new skill lasts until it is used at which point the Steal skill returns and goes on cooldown.
Prometheus
I ended up seeing Prometheus yesterday. Overall, it was an enjoyable movie; but it had flaws. Without going into details, there were several parts where I felt that things could have been done better, both in the script as well as the directing. For instance, how can you get lost after you just used your super-duper mapping gadgets? Second, if you're going to infect someone, don't make it somewhat obvious by doing it right in their face. Anyway, the movie was an interesting attempt at an Alien prequel, but I do feel a little let down. I would have to rate this one a 7 out of 10.
Friday, June 08, 2012
E3 and Aliens
So E3 2012 is over. I watched some coverage on G4 on tv; but for the most part, I just got my E3 fix from online sources. Below are the titles (along with current level of interest) shown at E3 that I was mainly interested in. Some were already out there but a couple were announced there. I'm sure there are 1 or 2 others that are escaping me right now, but these are the main ones.
Star Wars 1313 (watch)
Dishonored (can't wait)
Neverwinter (watch)
Elder Scrolls Online (watch)
Watch Dogs (can't wait)
Assassin's Creed III (can't wait)
On another note, Prometheus starts today. This will be seen this weekend even if I have to go solo. As a prequel to one of my favorite movies, I just hope that it turns out well.
Star Wars 1313 (watch)
Dishonored (can't wait)
Neverwinter (watch)
Elder Scrolls Online (watch)
Watch Dogs (can't wait)
Assassin's Creed III (can't wait)
On another note, Prometheus starts today. This will be seen this weekend even if I have to go solo. As a prequel to one of my favorite movies, I just hope that it turns out well.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Node-based Design
I've been a programmer since I was about 12 or 13 (thanks C-64 / BASIC) and doing OOP for many, many years. I have also been created other worlds slightly longer than that (thanks Cousin Bob / D&D). Between these two hobbies, I gradually had the two coalesce over the past several years. I'm not sure why I never really wrote anything down (a bad habit of mine when I have interesting thoughts). Those thoughts have become more concrete over the past few years even if still somewhat disjointed. Those pieces all fell into place when I discovered The Alexandrian, a blog by a kindred gaming/writing spirit, last week.
Over the few days, I have perused the blog and found many good posts. Some of those mirror my thoughts above. After reading the posts of Node-based Scenario Design and Advanced Node-based Design, I realized that this was almost exactly what I had been tried to figure out but put down neatly and with great detail. I was overjoyed to see that someone else not only had similar ideas but also had the resolve to write it all down coherently. Another really good series of posts, Jaquaying the Dungeon, talks about making "dungeon" maps feel more dynamic and realistic rather then linear. Without going into detail here, I strongly suggest reading those posts as well as the Node posts. Those articles helped me expand my ideas as well as fill in the gaps I didn't realize I had.
Someone asked the question of whether or not Justin (the blog's author) had consider using mind maps to supplement his node-based ideas, but I never saw (or just missed) a reply. As I was reading the original node posts, I too immediately thought of mind maps. I have attempted a few times to use mind maps for gaming (both video and tabletop), but unfortunately I did not get very far. I think the problem was with the software (freeware) I was using rather then the concept. Granted after the (failed) attempts, I'm undecided if working up a mind map is really worth the effort. Creating an adventure let alone a world/campaign is time-intensive enough. Although it would be easy (not to mention, cool) to see how everything connections visually rather then just on paper or in your head.
One last thing, I also really liked his concept of the Three Clue Rule.
Over the few days, I have perused the blog and found many good posts. Some of those mirror my thoughts above. After reading the posts of Node-based Scenario Design and Advanced Node-based Design, I realized that this was almost exactly what I had been tried to figure out but put down neatly and with great detail. I was overjoyed to see that someone else not only had similar ideas but also had the resolve to write it all down coherently. Another really good series of posts, Jaquaying the Dungeon, talks about making "dungeon" maps feel more dynamic and realistic rather then linear. Without going into detail here, I strongly suggest reading those posts as well as the Node posts. Those articles helped me expand my ideas as well as fill in the gaps I didn't realize I had.
Someone asked the question of whether or not Justin (the blog's author) had consider using mind maps to supplement his node-based ideas, but I never saw (or just missed) a reply. As I was reading the original node posts, I too immediately thought of mind maps. I have attempted a few times to use mind maps for gaming (both video and tabletop), but unfortunately I did not get very far. I think the problem was with the software (freeware) I was using rather then the concept. Granted after the (failed) attempts, I'm undecided if working up a mind map is really worth the effort. Creating an adventure let alone a world/campaign is time-intensive enough. Although it would be easy (not to mention, cool) to see how everything connections visually rather then just on paper or in your head.
One last thing, I also really liked his concept of the Three Clue Rule.
Monday, June 04, 2012
Limitless
Overall, this past weekend was a good one. Ang and I watched Limitless which turned out to be a pretty decent movie. For the most part, the main character did almost exactly what I would have done in his situation. I even called the ending about 20-30 minutes into the movie. Whether that means it was just that predictable or I'm just that awesome...well, I'm going awesome. Either way, it was entertaining.
I also finally got around to pinning Vasuro's arm back on her. I'm really not happy with the final outcome but at least it's back together and holding (for now). Next time I do a metal mini, I'm going to pin the pieces at the beginning whether it needs it or not.
On the Diablo front, I've managed to get the barb, hunter, and wizard all up to Doom in Wortham with the hunter a little beyond. I then started the witch doctor (MojoJojo) and got him to Reign of the Black King (Skeleton King here I come, again).
One last note, I picked up the updated version of the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. Since I had purchase the previous version just under a year ago, they (ProFantasy) sent me a voucher for this new version. So rather then full price, I only had to pay 5$. I can't wait to start playing around with CC3 again.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Movies and Games
Ok. So Ip Man 2 was not the next movie. That ended up being The Speed of Thought. I was not really sure how good is was going to be since I had not heard anything about it, but it turned out pretty well. For being a movie about telepathy and mental powers, it did a nice job of portraying them. It was a little cliche at times but nothing too bad.
On another note, I just watched the GTTV first look at the new Star Wars game: Star Wars 1313. In it you play a bounty hunter on Coruscant. I will have to keep my eyes on this one. I also saw the new Dishonoured over there too. That one is already on my list to pick up.
On another note, I just watched the GTTV first look at the new Star Wars game: Star Wars 1313. In it you play a bounty hunter on Coruscant. I will have to keep my eyes on this one. I also saw the new Dishonoured over there too. That one is already on my list to pick up.
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