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8 Jul 05
I'm having a bad day. It's not that bad things are happening to me. It's just normal things are turning out badly. So, rather than inflict a bad column on you, I'm just going to throw some links your way for the weekend. Looking at the site traffic, it appears most of you are on vacation anyway.
CDV has released the Panzers: Phase Two demo. You can download it Here. It weighs in at a healthy 450 MB.
I have a couple of links thanks to the kind people over at Octopus Overlords. First, they remind us of the first feature complete release of the remake of Star Control 2 called The Ur-Quan Masters. Obviously they have big plans since the full port is only labeled version 0.4. You can grab it Here.
Next the eight legged ones bring us memories from the past. Back in the early nineties, I used to play a lot of pen and paper RPG's. One of our group's favorites was Twilight 2000. It asked the question what would the world be like if a limited nuclear World War III happened. The answer was basically chaos. Anyway the original rule book is now downloadable for free from DriveThruRPG. Grab it Here. Registration is required.
Gamespy brings the first preview of Supreme Commander from the creator of Total Annihilation. Check it out Here. They also bring us the first Developer Diary for Rise of Legends. Grab it Here.
As usual, Penny Arcade has the most succinct take on the Battlefield 2 patch fiasco. Read it Here. I'll only add that maybe you shouldn't send everyone on vacation before making sure the patch works.
Dubious Quality has a couple of interesting pieces on gaming journalism. Check them out Here and Here.
Slashdot Games brings us the link to an interesting article on id software falling behind the times. Read it Here.
Finally, the rumors of the sex mod for GTA: San Andreas have landed Rockstar a review from the ESRB. Check out the story Here.
Have a good weekend.
Jason
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7 Jul 05
I'm afraid I don't have to much to say today. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of London. Some people have claimed that President Bush's declaration of the war on terror as one of good versus evil is just too simplistic. But each time we witness such barbarism as we saw in London today, I can't help but think there's no more appropriate name for our enemy than evil. Hopefully, the world will unite in the face of this evil.
The world is not as bleak as those enemies would have us believe. There's plenty of love, hope, happiness, fun and diversions. We'll take our time for prayer and reflection and focus on those again tomorrow.
Jason
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6 Jul 05
I recently finished Kohan II. That's not too impressive since I started it last October. Of course, the amazing series of events at the end of that month that interrupted my game play provide me with more than an adequate excuse (not to mention diaper duty). I'll probably write the review I've been meaning to shortly.
I'm not going to write that review here, but I wanted to make one point. Kohan II has perhaps the most beautiful design in a real time strategy game, I've ever seen. It does away with combat micromanagement. Most of the strategic choices are inconspicuously tucked away in the easy to use interface. Resource management is completely streamlined. Research is also simple and elegant while consistently giving you tough choices on when and what to upgrade. You're constantly making strategic choices but all within context of the game. It never feels forced or tacked on.
Jaded logic would seem to indicate that such a great design would be almost unplayable. I'm happy to report that's not the case. It's fun. There's very little down time with the number of options available. The game can be won by many different play styles. It's loaded with little touches from your favorite RTS games. In a sense it feels kind of like a greatest hits of the genre.
As I mentioned in the deals section, it can be had for cheap. What are you waiting for?
Jason
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5 Jul 05
I've been playing more Battlefield 2 single player. I've mainly been playing offline since I've had sporadic play time and it's not nice to leave your team in the lurch. I guess auto balance is on most servers, but forcing players to swap teams isn't that nice either. Besides, judging from my helicopter flying skills, I still need the practice.
I did play around with the commander mode. In the default size (16 players), the commander role isn't a full time job. The AI's not particularly good at following the orders you give either. In a larger game, I could see where a good commander is invaluable.
At its simplest, the commander drops supplies on your troops and artillery on the enemy. Given the limits of the AI, in single player there's not much more you can do. Online, you're more like a real commander. You deal in information and information is power. A good commander could cut off or ambush assaults, then drop arty on the retreat while resupplying his troops.
Of course, it's possible the AI is more realistic than I give it credit for. As a strategy gamer, it's odd watching troops sit there and ignore the orders you've given. You sit there watching the tactical advantage you tried to set up slip away. There's nothing compelling players to follow your orders assuming they even choose to notice you're giving them. I wonder how popular the commander mode will be? Rumors are there's a new patch tomorrow.
Oh, I put some interesting clearance deals from Mwave in the Great Deals section Here.
Jason
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4 Jul 05
Happy Independence Day to Americans around the world. We like to celebrate our birthday. More importantly, we like to reflect on the ideals upon which the country was founded. We certainly know how far we have to go to live up to those ideals.
In some interesting news today, there will be no Ground Control III. That sounds bad, but it looks like their new game will be in a similar vein and using a modified version of the GCII engine. This is one instance where a license could really help. I'm afraid the Ground Control name didn't catch on despite two quality games. Perhaps a new IP or license will be the charm. Massive has proven they know how to make games.
I've been playing a little Battlefield 2 single player to learn the kits and maps and vehicles. I have to say the AI isn't as brain dead as I was lead to believe. Now this could have been dumb luck on their part, but on a three control point map, they fought us for the middle. Then the fell back while we took control. Suddenly our home control point was under attack, then lost. I died and respawned at our captured middle control point (without vehicles, I might add). Suddenly, we were defending against vehicle assaults coming from both control points. We lost badly.
Sure, they do dumb things from time to time. I once saw a jeep trying to climb a sheer slope. My sniper put the driver out of his misery. Overall, it creates a realistic pace of action even if the tactics and skill aren't as good as you might hope.
As you know, I love the small developer trying something different. This week's game is Tribal Trouble (official site) from Oddlabs. It's a RTS designed for light, fast paced play. Vikings are causing trouble for native tropical islanders. You pick a side and lead them to victory using the mighty magic of the tropical chicken. They have a demo available now and support Windows, Mac and Linux.
Jason
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