T w e n t y S i d e d
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And the last episode of the week, wherein I do all the right things in the wrong order and plot an efficient route in the most inefficient way possible.
Deus Ex Human Revolution EP33:You Munchkin
Link (YouTube) |
Yes, Josh is a munchkin. I guess that’s what makes him so… “lovable”?
I’ve been thinking more about the looting compulsion I experienced in this game. I’ve been playing through the game again, so a lot of this is coming back to me. I think I’ve identified a couple of bad spots that led to self-defeating behavior:
- Early in the game, I discovered the LIMB clinic sold Praxis kits for $5,000, and I had less than $2,000 at the time. This sent me a signal: There are level-ups available that you can’t afford. You’re in danger of missing them. The massive gap between what you have ($2k) and what you need ($10k) means you need to be bringing in a lot more money. Thus began the looting compulsion. This continued even after I had enough to buy the Praxis kits, because I never knew when more would show up, how many there would be, or how many the game would “expect” me to have.
- Later we have the long stretch through the Pangu, TYM, the ambush, and the Picus building where we have two different boss-type encounters without encountering a single shop. This sent me another signal: You never know when the next shop will show up, so you should always make sure to dump your inventory to the bare minimum before you go someplace new.
- This led to me making extra shop trips, and caused me to show up to the Malik fight with just a pistol and stunner. No grenades. Which means I didn’t have the means to bring down the robot, which means I really had no way to save Malik.
I’m not complaining that this fight was “too hard” or anything. Unlike the other set-piece encounters, this one gave you some freedom and didn’t feel like a lame cheat. You weren’t railroaded into acting like a dumbass, the bad guys just sucker-punched you. I showed up without the tools to win, and so I didn’t. Really, if I’d actually been playing my character I would have allowed ONE INVENTORY SLOT for holding EMP grenades or some other anti-bot tool.
I just find it interesting that the looting and shop mechanics had this unintended impact on my gameplay, and my attempt to make sure I didn’t miss out on Praxis points resulted in me not having enough murder mojo to save my pilot. I called Josh a munchkin in this episode, but I was being a munchkin in my own awkward way, and it led to my undoing. Well, Malik’s undoing.
And yes, saving her on my current play-through felt pretty good.
We’re not going to get the chance to cover it in the show, but I thought her death was a bit lame. You find her body (in pristine condition) in Tong’s chop shop. You can’t say anything to anyone about it. You don’t tell Pritchard. She’s just there, as a bit of room clutter.
The Homeowners, Part II
The fire alarm goes off. This is not some dinky smoke detector powered by a 9-volt. We have a booming, loudspeaker-driven alarm system designed to shake the rafters and let the neighbors know you’ve burned dinner again. I am not happy to be hearing this sound right now. I just quit the day and went to bed a few minutes ago.
Oldest daughter Rachel was cooking a snack just before I came in here, and I strongly suspect this alarm is merely the result of a teenager cooking while using the internet. She’s probably scorched her snack. My wife Heather, being the more responsible one, is already out of bed and throwing on clothes. Resigned, I follow her. Might as well give Rachel a stern talking to about this.
Rachel is not cooking. She finished a while ago, without incident. This smoke is real smoke and not singed starch. It’s coming from the living room. Heather and I meet there and try to find the source.
It smells like someone just pumped 1.21 gigawatts through an Apple IIe circuit board. This problem is electrical. There’s no apparent fire, but something made this smoke. There’s not a lot, and it seems to be dissipating quickly, but I would very much like to know what was burned to make this smoke, even if it’s no longer burning.
We check upstairs. We check the basement. Nothing. No smoke. No strange smell. The living room smoke is gone now, but the smell of fried electrical something is powerful. We unplug stuff and feel the walls. We sniff the outlets and devices, but none of them seem to be the source of the burning smell.
Well, there’s no fire, but there is a burning smell. I can’t ignore this. I guess it’s fire department time.
9-1-1
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Homeowners, Part II”
Deus Ex Human Revolution EP32: The Problem Solver
Link (YouTube) |
On yet another exciting episode of Spoiler Warning: Chris forgets that Walther’s forgot, I talk about Jensen’s character some more, Rutskarn ruins everything, and Shamus forgets to post this episode!
Self Publishing
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Because many people have been asking me, here is a meandering overview of the process and reasoning behind self-publishing.
Note that a lot of what I have to say here is based on my own observations, and on views expressed by author Joe Konrath. This is not an authoritative article. Heck, it’s not even particularly well-informed. I’m one of a growing number of people who have returned from the vast, uncharted lands of internet self-publishing, and I’ve drawn a crude little map of what I saw along the way. As more of us take this trip, the picture will become clearer. Until that happens, we’re obliged to rely on scraps and guesses. If you’re really serious about this subject, I think Konrath is your go-to guy. Check out his blog, and good luck to you.
But for the curious, here is what I learned in the process of self-publishing The Witch Watch:
So, you’ve written a book. You’ve got a big ol’ pile of words in your word processor of choice, and now you want people to read it in return for money. For the sake of argument, let’s just assume the book is good.
In traditional publishing, you would begin by spamming the publishing world with your manuscript. Like a desperate job applicant sending out resumes, you send it to everyone who might possibly have an interest in it. Then you wait. Some will reject you. Eventually. Most will ignore you. If you’re very, very lucky, one of them might express an interest in publishing your work.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Self Publishing”
Deus Ex Human Revolution EP31:
Time to Take Your Medicine
Link (YouTube) |
I do like when games let you explore philosophical ideas like free will, personal liberty, euthanasia, justice, idealism vs. pragmatism, the nature of intelligence, and so on. I like it even better when the game doesn’t beat you over the head with a right or wrong answer, but simply presents a situation and allows you to come to your own conclusions.
I liked this sequence, but I think there’s something off with this Brent Radford conversation. I think the problem is that you’re not allowed to make the most reasonable choices. You can’t call him an ambulance, but must instead kill him or leave him to die slowly. You’re not allowed to leave him with the drug and let him self-administer the lethal dose, but must again choose between direct action or callous abandonment. You ARE allowed to deny him morphine, but it’s not clear WHY Jensen is doing it. Is it because Jensen wants the info, and doesn’t want Radford to nod off? Or is Jensen just really against drugs? Or is he just being a griefing jackass?
Having said that, this is a really interesting setup and I’ve spent a long time pondering it. Radford wants to die. He’s in fantastic pain. He’s suffering and begging for release. On the other hand, he might feel differently after some medical treatment. If he woke up tomorrow in the hospital, he might find himself with a newfound desire to live. It’s one thing to allow a person to kill themselves. It’s another to let them do it while they’re in terrible (but temporary) pain and flying high on drugs. That you gave them. On the other hand, if he wakes up in the hospital tomorrow and DOES still want to die, it’s going to be a lot harder for him to pull off. Maybe he really does place no value on life as a (in his words) cripple. Maybe it’s wrong to force him to live that life. On the other, OTHER hand, maybe he would discover life isn’t nearly as bad as he thought it would be. Maybe he would come to new conclusions regarding augmentation. Then again, he’s pretty old, so it’s not likely he’s got the vigor to snap back from this and find a new way to live life. Then again…
And so on. Aside from the missing choices, this is a really interesting setup. I’m impressed. It’s not often a AAA game really lets you explore stuff like this without it devolving into sanctimony or melodrama.
I’ll even go so far as to say this: Eidos Montreal is scratching an itch that, at one time, only BioWare could reach. BioWare has lost interest in this sort of thing over the last couple of years, and so this game is really a breath of fresh air for me. I’d even go so far as to say that this is the best dialog* I’ve ever seen in a game.
* Best voiced dialog. I think the old-school text games were probably a little lot deeper, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think more text-based AAA games are in our future.
The Witch Watch: Gilbert Is Dead
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Gilbert felt suddenly compelled to wake up. At the same time, he felt that waking up would be wrong, perhaps even rude and offensive. He didn't particularly want to wake up. Quite aside from the proddings of his conscience, he just wanted to keep doing what was already working for him, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to resist. In the military he'd learned that when you're called, you're expected to get out of bed first and then wake up. This habit was deeply ingrained.
The room faded into view around him. Overhead were solemn stone walls, illuminated by a flickering light somewhere off to one side. The walls had alcoves with coffins in them. He was in a crypt, like the kind used by the wealthy to bury their beloved, deceased, and exceedingly well-off relations. It was clean and well-kept, and the only thing remarkable about the crypt was that he was in it.
Gilbert sat up, and he heard someone gasp. His limbs felt numb and heavy. His mind was in much the same condition.
“M-master! Welcome back. Everything has been done according to your wishes,” the voice said nervously.
Gilbert turned and saw a young man kneeling on the cold marble floor. His spectacles glinted in the darkness, reflecting the light of the lantern held in his trembling hand. There was a thin mist on the floor around him.
Gilbert waited for things to settle down inside his head. When he was younger, he'd had a few episodes where he had gone drinking with his fellows and awoken later to find he'd misplaced himself. He found that sitting for a few minutes would do wonders in these cases, and eventually the details would come to him. Usually he just needed one memory to get the process started. Maybe he'd recall what he'd had to drink, or the girls he'd met and what he'd said to them. Or perhaps memories of a fight would surface and explain fresh bruises. Once a piece of the previous evening was in hand, the rest would fall into place and he would be able to remember where he was and how he'd gotten there.
Except, this wasn't happening. His memory was obstinately blank.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Witch Watch: Gilbert Is Dead”
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What is Piracy?
It seems like a simple question, but it turns out everyone has a different idea of right and wrong in the digital world.
Project Octant
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Free Radical
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Silent Hill Origins
Here is a long look at a game that tries to live up to a big legacy and fails hilariously.
Secret of Good Secrets
Sometimes in-game secrets are fun and sometimes they're lame. Here's why.
This is Why We Can’t Have Short Criticism
Here's how this site grew from short essays to novel-length quasi-analytical retrospectives.