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9 Jun 06
Sorry it's been kind of a weak week. Perhaps it's best to cut my losses. I should point out that I put the new Sins of a Solar Empire trailer up in the downloads section. The new work they've done on the engine is mighty impressive. Don't forget you have be logged in to download files.
Let's wrap up with a can't miss game of the week. It's Spore (official site) from Maxis. You take your creature from the primeval pond to fighting for survival on land to a nomadic tribe building their characteristics and personality along the way. Once they settle down, you take control of their civilization. You lead them through technological advances, contact with other cultures all the way to world domination. Then you unleash them on the universe where you can meet creatures from other people's spore planets. Look for Spore this fall; oh who am I kidding, look for it in 2007.
Jason
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8 Jun 06
I don't think I mentioned it, but Baseball Mogul 2006 is now free. From the notice, "Baseball Mogul 2006 is 100% free.
As we are a full two months into the baseball season, we want to thank everyone for their great support of the Mogul games, and make this game available to anyone that hasn't already played it."
"This is the full version of Baseball Mogul 2006: the same version that earned PC Gamer's "Editor's Choice" award. There are no ads, electronic licenses or time limits." The Homepage is Here. Or you can grab the download Here.
How did I miss the last two Game Over columns? There's the push for olympic gaming. I'm sorry but I still haven't forgiven the IOC for ribbon dancing so I can't support gaming there. It's even worse without baseball. The other column covers the quiet death of Snow. I remember thinking that Snow didn't seem the best idea in the current gaming climate. There were also the problems that none of the gangster era games seemed to work out regarding controlling an illegal empire while engaging in combat with other factions and the police. I'd guess it probably would have been an average game that just wouldn't have been worth the heat.
Finally, here's something I found interesting. This is a reaction test game using sheep. It's supposed to judge how alert you are. I scored ok even though I was tired. Then I thought to try my G7 gaming mouse. Though I hadn't woken up at all, I moved up a full category and posted significantly better times. That's why I have to remember to use it when I'm playing in twitch mode.
Jason
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7 Jun 06
Some people seem to have the mistaken impression that I think I'm a very good gamer. Don't worry, I know my weaknesses. I used to be quite good at a couple of games. Now I'm lucky to get to average in most games. Part of it is that I don't focus on one game as much as I used to. Mostly, it's that I now only play for fun. When I stop having fun, I move on to something else. That's why I like casual online play. I don't mind losing as long as I'm not being crushed, humiliated or insulted.
I thought I'd go over some of my bad gaming habits so I can dispel this illusion. First is impatience. This gets me in all kinds of ways. Sometimes I'll send units into unknown danger just to see some action. Other times I'll skip something (like a wonder, structure, research, etc.) that should be key to my strategy just because it takes too long, and I could do something else with those resources now. Or it might just be attacking too early.
Next, I can over compensate with excessive turtling. Knowing my impatience, I sometimes counter it with building defenses. I usually take this too far and my assault forces suffer. One scout will come near, and I have to have a full line of anti aircraft guns. Don't get me started on walls.
Third, my lack of patience combined with bouncing from game to game means I don't micromanage well. I never remember which special powers are best against which units. Often I find myself wishing I could do something when I realize (just too late) that I had that ability if I had just pressed the button or used the hot key.
I don't like losing things either. I'll often focus too much on regaining a city, planet or base that I lost when the victory would be closer if I just moved on. It's the same with units that kill my hero or favorite battleship. They must be punished regardless of cost. It's not rational, but it's often fun.
I don't know if this is a bad habit, but I actually like being outsmarted. When someone pulls off a great feint and gets me out of position for their main thrust, I might be a little frustrated at me, but mostly I'm applauding the move. When an opponent counters the tech or type of assault force I'm using, I'm impressed. If they succeed at that fake retreat or perfect pincer movement, I'm the first with the congratulations. It might be soon followed by my resignation, but to me, it's fun to see a well executed plan, even if it's not my own.
Finally, my worst habit is probably my army balance. While I understand combined arms theory, my forces, in practice, tend to be made up my favorite units. I almost never get the balance thing right. That means I usually have to attack with overwhelming force instead of the right amount. That means waste and, too often, defeat.
I'm sure I have more bad habits, but those are the ones that come to mind right now. Feel free to let me know your habits or your thoughts on mine. Now that you know my weaknesses, let me know if you want to beat me up online sometime.
Jason
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6 Jun 06
After hitting a few scenarios unbalanced against me in a row, I'm beginning to understand the hate for Rise of Legends. I don't think it's the fault of the engine. The core game is great. Some of the level design is questionable.
I don't have too much for you today. Debbie's on a work trip, and I have solo parenting responsibility. It's hard to believe how exhausting it is. It's fun, but we don't realize how much we lean on each other until we're flying solo. I have to salute the full time single parents out there.
I'm still soliciting feedback for the 4X project. Any thoughts, even obvious ones, are appreciated. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the simple things.
I put up a trailer for Joint Task Force in the downloads section. It's got some good gameplay footage. If you recall, you have to be registered and logged in to access the downloads. If you are, check it out.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some rest.
Jason
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5 Jun 06
I played some more Rise of Legends this weekend. I don't understand the hate some people are spewing its way. It seems like a good evolution to me from Rise of Nations. It is very different, but it's not too hard to see what they were going for in most cases. I admit that some of the single player scenarios seem wildly unbalanced (one way or the other), but beyond that I like it.
Of course, I'm a sucker for innovation. Help me do more, more easily. That makes me a fan. I certainly feel more in control in a game of Legends than Nations. I love surprising a city with a sudden attack, seeing the opposing army wheel around to come at me, and storming the city to take it quickly and free my troops to deal with the threat. I like that the Vinci labs give me research points. Then when I specialize, I get more plus whatever power/bonus the new building grants.
I really like the hero implementation. They're powerful, but specialized and not unbalancing. I also like how different they are from one another. I only wish they had stolen the aura radius from Warlords Battlecry. Sure, the bonuses weren't huge, but they were important. It kept your hero on the front lines.
I could go on, but I'll just mention one last thing. I love that there are so many interesting decisions on the strategic map. Who do I upgrade? What new unit do I want (or should I upgrade an existing unit)? How can the bonus from the next conquest help my campaign? Do I want reinforcements for the next battle or should I reinforce that border territory with another military district? It's great.
Moving on, I was checking out the TV line up after turning off one of the consoles for the night. I saw a program called "4X Made Easy" on one of the channels. I thought that's great. Here's a little gamer culture invading late night TV. Well it turns out it was an infomercial for some investment software. In this case, 4X stands for Forex which is short for the Foreign Currency Exchange. Bummer.
I decided that gamers should protect their term. So I've started work on an article called "4X Made Easy." Of course, this will be about actual 4X strategy games. If you have any thoughts on general strategies that help you conquer in 4X games, please send them along, and I'll include them in the article. Your help is appreciated.
Jason
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