T w e n t y S i d e d
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I don’t know. Don’t ask me. I’m not responsible.
The Altered Scrolls, Part 3: Last Notes and IPISYDHT#1
(Questions answered as of August 21, 2015)
For all my joking around in Part 1, I recognize the significant time investment required to play Arena and Daggerfall. Not only does a would-be videochrononaut need to get DOSBox working (not always a trivial feat), but someone unused to older titles will need to scale sheer walls of obsolete mechanics and old-school sensibilities to get far enough to really experience the thing. It’s by no means impossible to do so, but it’s certainly cumbersome. That’s why this post isn’t just an essay; it’s an I Played It So You Don’t Have To. I’m doing one of these for Arena, I’ll do one for Daggerfall, and I might well do one for Morrowind depending on reception.
Directly below the fold will be my final reflections and notes on Arena. Beneath that will go the answers to questions you pose about the game in the comments. These can be simple factual questions, subjective considerations of tone and effect, or, I suppose, more abstract queries. I’ll post responses to each question I get over the remainder of the week.
Then, next Friday, we’ll begin my essays on Daggerfall.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Altered Scrolls, Part 3: Last Notes and IPISYDHT#1”
Sporeler Warning EP 2: These Things Should Not Live
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I don’t have a lot to say here that we don’t say three times in the video. It really is a shame this game never got another shot.
Mass Effect Retrospective 9: Paragade
While Virmire doesn’t feature the worst use of the in-game morality meter / conversation metagame / roleplaying tool, it does have the moment that – for me – perfectly crystallized how silly the system can be at times. So let’s talk about…
Paragade
I've killed thousands of people, but I wasn't RUDE to any of them, so I can't intimidate this guy.
It’s obvious that BioWare never totally nailed down the whole Paragon / Renegade system and what it was supposed to mean. Good vs. evil? Idealistic vs. practical? Merciful vs. Ruthless? Cunning vs. brutal? Doormat vs. leader? Sensible vs. sociopathic moron? You can find examples of all of these in the game.
I understand that BioWare felt like they needed to have this. It’s been a staple of the last few games and I guess fans have come to expect it. KOTOR had it because the game played around with the light and dark sides of the force. Then it was turned into the open palm / closed fist, which was an admirable idea that kind of turned into a philosophical mess in practice. So they tried again here in Mass Effect with paragon vs. renegade.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mass Effect Retrospective 9: Paragade”
Sporeler Warning: Everything Chris Says In This Episode Is About Sex
Link (YouTube) |
- The game Will Wright envisioned.
- The game Wright pitched to the publisher.
- The game the team wanted to make.
- The game they hinted at in the GDC demo.
- The game we thought they were making.
- The game they were able to make.
- The game EA marketed.
- The game we actually got.
This game isn’t very good at all, but I feel strongly that it deserves another chance. There’s a good game in here somewhere.
Experienced Points: Square Enix and the Hitman Ripoff
My column is about how Square Enix is selling the next Hitman game as “Not episodic, but still released in many pieces” and why this is a ripoff.
Also, it’s worth comparing Square Enix with CD Projekt RED and Paradox. Square asks for full price up front, and in return they offer part of a game and a pinky promise that they will finish the rest of it later. CD Projekt asks for full price, and in return they offer a massive game, a complete experience. And then they release free updates and content for months afterward. And if that’s not enough content for you, they also release DLC. Paradox does the same thing.
This is on top of the fact that a Hitman game probably offers far fewer hours of content than either Witcher or (say) Cities Skylines. (Although I’m sure Campster would chastise me for boiling a game down to its playtime, and I concede it’s a terrible metric for measuring value.)
Diecast #117: Mailbag, Text Plays, Licensed Games
Hosts: Josh, Shamus, Joshua, Campster, Josh Viel, Rutskarn, and Cuftburt. Episode edited by Rachel.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #117: Mailbag, Text Plays, Licensed Games”
From The Archives:
Starcraft: Bot Fight
Let's do some scripting to make the Starcraft AI fight itself, and see how smart it is. Or isn't.
Netscape 1997
What did web browsers look like 20 years ago, and what kind of crazy features did they have?
Dead Island
A stream-of-gameplay review of Dead Island. This game is a cavalcade of bugs and bad design choices.
PC Hardware is Toast
This is why shopping for graphics cards is so stupid and miserable.
Who Broke the In-Game Economy?
Why are RPG economies so bad? Why are shopkeepers so mercenary, why are the prices so crazy, and why do you always end up a gazillionaire by the end of the game? Can't we just have a sensible balanced economy?
Bethesda NEVER Understood Fallout
Let's count up the ways in which Bethesda has misunderstood and misused the Fallout property.
Fixing Match 3
For one of the most popular casual games in existence, Match 3 is actually really broken. Until one developer fixed it.
Programming Vexations
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
Steam Summer Blues
This mess of dross, confusion, and terrible UI design is the storefront the big publishers couldn't beat? Amazing.
Joker's Last Laugh
Did you anticipate the big plot twist of Batman: Arkham City? Here's all the ways the game hid that secret from you while also rubbing your nose in it.