Polar Opposites

I've just traversed the equivalent of polar opposites in the gaming world.  I went from the icy, cool, casual dystopian world of VA-11 Hall-A straight into the boiling, frenetic, chaotic pits of hell in DOOM.  Talk about a bi-polar journey!  DOOM, which I bought on a lark because it was 50% off and because I finally convinced myself that the violence can't scar me that much, turned out to a riot of gore soaked fun.

Even though I play a wide variety of games, I will admit that first-person shooters are generally very far down my list.  I am not a big fan of multiplayer games so I usually stay as far away from them as I can.  Single player shooters seem to be a rarity these days--sure, you could claim that many shooters have some sort of single player campaign built in, but that is generally as an afterthought--the bulk of the gameplay is centered around multiplayer.  Oh and then there's the guilt over playing a game that is way over the top violent.  Despite these personal qualms I can say that I would recommend DOOM to anyone who enjoys shooters and who secretly enjoys the cathartic experience of video game violence.

Doomguy doing what he does best.

DOOM is the next generation in the classic shooter series from my childhood.  As a kid it was one of those games that you probably weren't supposed to be playing, but played it anyway (and turned out mostly fine).  Doomguy has returned and is battling the legions of hell as they attempt to enter our universe.

Liked:

--Classic vibes.  The demons, the guns, doomguy in his shiny green suit of armor, the story...all of it was familiar/nostalgic, but it has been improved for a new generation of gamers.  Oh sweet super shotgun...at last I've found you...  Older (let's say "mature") gamers will get it.

--There's a story!  I'm not going to pretend that the story is the focal point of the game (shooting stuff is...duh) but between dismembering demons there is a decent story.  After all his exploits in the early DOOM games, Doomguy was captured by the forces of hell and sealed away for future use (I don't fully understand this because I didn't really play all the games).  Now, with the forces of hell trying to break into the universe, Doomguy has been re-birthed to stop this from happening.  Humans have figured out how to create a source of energy from hell's power and things have started to go wrong.  Corrupt leaders, gates of hell opening, you have to close them and kill the ones trying to do all the evil.  I'm just amazed that there's some sort of feasible story.

--Environments.  Part of the story takes place on Mars in a massive lab complex--one that has been attacked by demons.  The winding labyrinth of halls, ducts, labs, and the occasional large, demon-filled area are spattered with gore and suggestions of demonic presence.  It's all very ominous...and seems gooey.  You do get a good sense at the size of the complex as you travel to the many areas--it's huge!

Once you've progressed far enough you find yourself travelling to hell.  It's plenty hellish--lots of pentagrams, bloody pools, creepy candles,  and bleak demonic landscapes.  I just wanted to get out of there--the horror of the labs felt better than the barren landscapes of hell.

--Weapons.  As I mentioned before, they really tried to stay true to the classic games and keep similar weapons.  There's a weapon for every play style and situation--shotguns for up close and personal encounters, a heavy assault rifle for hard to reach demons, a rocket launcher for explosions, and....the all important BFG for when you need to mutilate an army of demons quickly.  My favorite is the super shotgun.  I like to shoot things from two feet away.

There's also a handy upgrade system that lets you customize your weapons even further.  Want to have mini-missiles on your heavy assault rifle?  No, problem.  Want that shotgun to shoot three round bursts?  Totally.

--Level design that is very intuitive.  You might start out running through some narrow halls and encountering a few demons.  When you hit a large, open room you know that the demon hordes are coming.  These rooms aren't simply horizontal planes....they have a vertical aspect as well.  During the chaos of a demon rush you will find yourself traversing ledges and scaling many levels in a large room.  This design gives players the ability to follow the "always moving" playstyle that is a core part of the game.  I enjoyed having the ability to move up and down and shoot demons from above or below.

--Metal mania.  In my regular non-gaming life I don't listen to heavy metal.  I had a brief period in high school where I listened to a little Metallica, but it was very brief (and Metallica is probably not considered very "metal").  For some weird reason the combination of the raging guitars and Doomguy breaking off the arm of a demon and then clubbing it to death...it just works.  The soundtrack is perfect for the pace and chaos of slaying.

--Tools.  The SnapMap tool allows users to create their own maps and content.  I am a big supporter of any game that allows community creation and interaction.  Personally, I have the creativity of a hyena...which means none...so I won't be making any maps.  I tested out the tutorial and making a map seems relatively simple.  Making a fun, challenging, or unique map...that's a whole other story.  There are singleplayer maps, challenge maps, co-op maps, multiplayer maps, story maps...maps, maps, maps!

--Game modes and replayability.  The story campaign isn't all there is to DOOM.  There's multiplayer (which I will give a wide berth) for those who enjoy slaying others and there's an arcade mode which is more about seeking out the highest score and competing on a leaderboard.

--Challenging, but not too challenging boss battles.  Hard enough that you're going to die a few times figuring it out, but not so hard that you get frustrated and give up.  You felt a small sense of accomplishment after finishing off a boss.

And, I saved the best for last...

--Glory kills.  Once you've staggered a demon there are numerous ways to finish it off and all of them are enjoyable.  It's like 1001 flavors of sweet, sweet violence.  Finding all the unique ways to send a demon back to hell makes killing them even more fun.  My personal favorite is "death from above" but I also enjoy the many varieties where you get to tear off a random body part and stuff it into an eye socket or other body part.  I don't know that I've seen this mechanic before, but now I want more.

There are numerous aspects of DOOM to enjoy and I have been pleasantly surprised.  There were a few minor things that I didn't like so much and are most likely a little nitpicky.  There's a bit of an exploration aspect that I didn't feel fit in with the pacing and energy of the game.  While the heavy metal is banging away in the background I'm searching for a hidden duct or floor panel in order to unveil a secret area that could contain an upgrade or collectible.  Should I be exploring or destroying?  It just felt oddly out of place.

I had to tweak the settings on my graphics a bit because the larger battles with lots of action could get a little slow.  I would recommend turning down the motion blur to low or completely off.  After I turned down this one setting it seemed to solve the problem.

Mostly, I had a good time.  DOOM is a fantastic followup to an old school classic. 

Mixing Drinks and Changing Lives

I've finally made a couple of purchases in the Steam Winter Sale and am happy to say that my restraint has proven to be a good thing.  No, I did not cave and buy the big name titles I mentioned in my last post, but instead opted to go for one big name title (DOOM.  I was hesitant to buy it...but daaaaaang if it isn't fun--but more on that later!  I haven't finished ripping demons into chunks yet) and one indie title--VA-11 Hall-A:  Cyberpunk Bartender Action.  You're thinking "what, the what?"

VA-11 Hall-A (which I am going to refer to as "Valhalla" because it's easier) is a game that you probably haven't heard of and which might not appeal to every gamer.  Trying to pick out genres to describe it is difficult.  It touts itself as a "cyberpunk" game and is set in a sort of dystopian future filled with genetic experimentation, AI's/robots (called Lilim), ominous powerful corporations, massively corrupt police forces...the whole questionable future grab bag.  But you won't be seeing those things directly.  Instead, you will learn about them through people you meet as you play the role of Jill Stingray, bartender at Valhalla.

As bartender Jill must interact with the people who work at the bar--her boss, Dana and her co-worker Gillian (a guy...named Gillian)--as well as the patrons who turn up for a drink.  Every day there is a different story and set of clients.  There is very little interaction with the clients and the "gameplay" hinges on paying attention to drink orders and then "making" drinks.  Each drink has a specific recipe that must be followed and involves dragging the correct amount of ingredients onto a shaker and then making sure that ice is added, a drink is aged, or it is mixed or blended.  That is about as "game" as it gets.

The majority of the game is about the interactions that Jill has with the clients at the bar.  Each character has their own personality and set of joys, problems, or psychoses and the more they visit the bar, the more you get to learn about them.  There are no dialogue options, it's just you sitting back, enjoying the drama in the lives of all the characters and occasionally mixing a drink.  Those interactions also slowly unwrap the story of Jill, the bartender herself.  I've seen the game described as a "visual novel," and that would be an accurate description.

Vallhalla shines in its ability to tell a story with a cast of kooky but engaging characters.  As they return to the bar throughout the game you uncover just a little bit more about their personal story.  And man....are there some interesting stories!  There's Dorothy, the Lilim (a type of AI/robot) who is an upbeat sex worker; there's Sei, a member of the city's paramilitary police force; there's Rad Shiba, a talking dog who wears sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt; there's Jamie, an assassin who also happens to be a really nice guy...and there are many, many more.  The characters are well written and oddly relatable.

Even though there aren't many choices to make throughout the game, those that you do make have an impact on the story.  Remembering someones favorite drink and serving it to them or deciding which purchases Jill should make are all decisions....even if they don't really seem that way.  I thought I was doing pretty well but one choice made me end up with the "bad" ending (which really isn't all that bad).  There are several different endings involving certain key characters from the bar.  I am eventually planning on going back and replaying the story to get a different ending.

I enjoyed Valhalla, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea.  Let me try to break down what I liked...

Liked:
--Anime style without being too....anime.  This is a personal preference.  I'm not into anime.  I don't really have strong feelings about it, but I can appreciate the aesthetic and the fact that some people enjoy it.
--Mixing drinks is simple, but strangely enjoyable.  There is some freedom in what you choose to serve.
--Music/Soundtrack.  One task Jill performs every day is to choose music for the Jukebox.  You get to pick the songs that play in the background.  The music has a fun, retro feel and can impact the mood of the story.
--Well written, relatable characters.  It's fun to get to know the lives of the fictional patrons at the bar.
--Goofy, adult conversations.  There are plenty of more...adult references that will make you chuckle.

Who would like playing Valhalla:
--People who like stories told through game-like mechanics.
--People who like to read.  You are going to read lots of dialogue.  If you aren't the type of person who likes to read in games....probably not a good choice.
--People who like lots of character development.
--People who like relaxing, casual games.

2016--My Conflicted Year in Gaming.

With the holidays firmly under our belts and stacks of cash/gift cards now waiting to be spent, what better way to celebrate than picking up some fantastic new games?  Oh and the holiday Steam sale is currently plugging along at full....well, Steam!  It's a great opportunity, in the words of the twentieth century poet Snoop Dogg, to "Drop it like it's Hot!"  Oddly enough, I'm having a difficult time doing exactly that, which serves as an accurate reflection of how I've felt about gaming in 2016--conflicted.

Where does this confliction come from?  Mostly from the fact that it has become an acceptable trend to release broken, buggy, poorly optimized, or unfinished games to paying consumers.  As I look at my Steam wishlist and see that almost every game on it is currently on sale, I still can't pony up the cash.  Dishonored 2 is a game that I've been looking forward to for quite awhile.  The trailers looked awesome (but that's the entire point of trailers) and I greatly enjoyed the first game.  Unfortunately, there have been numerous complaints about the game running very poorly and that it was released in an extremely poorly optimized state.  There have been patches to address the issues but until I start reading glowing reviews...I think it'll have to wait until a different sale.

Another game on my list is a whopping 67% off and I still can't bring myself to buy it.  Deus Ex:  Mankind Divided was released fairly recently and didn't have the performance issues that Dishonored 2 reportedly did, but did have a very clear aim--to leech as much money from gamers as possible.  According to reviews the main story was short and the only way to finish it up was to purchase day one DLC.  To pay extra...on the first release day!  Ridiculous!  The DLC season pass also featured a number of items that were only usable once.  Plus, there are microtransactions in a single player game.  No, just no.  They can keep their 67% off because I refuse to be treated like an ATM for the big developers to pump money out of.  It's a huge disappointment.  What ever happened to treating customers fairly?

But I don't want to be a total downer; I played some great games in 2016.  Here is a list of some 2016 games that are worthy of celebration:

1.) Stardew Valley.  Never in a million years would I have imagined playing a game about making friends and farming.  I also have very deep seated skepticism about pixelated retro-feeling games.  Luckily I put that skepticism aside and discovered a game with a heart of gold.  This world needs more Stardew Valley's and the enjoyment of being kind, even to pixelated video game people.

My early Stardew Valley farm.

2.) RimWorld.  Although it is an early access game, I have already sunk many, many hours into this enjoyable and quirky survival game.  It has been my permadeath frustrator and has ended in so many ridiculous situations, but I still want to play it.

One of my RimWorld colonies that made it.

3.) Halcyon 6:  Starbase Commander.  I have to admit that I haven't finished this game yet, but I had a blast even getting to the point where I stopped playing.  Managing a starbase and defending the galaxy from a catastrophic alien invasion is the basis of Halcyon 6.  The combat seems to draw from games like Final Fantasy and is a turn-based strategy funfest.  This is another one of those pixelated indie games, but it panned out.

4.) XCOM 2.  Yes, it definitely falls into the category of "games released in a buggy state," but after those bugs were fixed this game turned into an intense followup to Enemy Unknown.  Basic features were improved and new, punishing timers were added to force players into thinking quickly rather than thinking brutally (the "kill em' all" mentality doesn't work well).  If you're a fan of turn-based strategy and don't mind being pushed, this is one you want to play.

5.) The Witcher 3:  Blood and Wine.  I cannot write enough about The Witcher 3, it has quickly become one of my absolute favorites.  The Blood and Wine DLC saw Geralt travelling to the beautiful, sunny region of Touissant to solve a series of murders.  The DLC added a huge new region filled with new monsters, characters, quests, cards, and an interesting storyline.  This is how DLC should be done--a full expansion rather than some half-assed minor features.  If you tried to complete every quest and map feature you could easily sink another 40+ hours into it.

The final shot in Blood and Wine.   Geralt and Yennefer at Corvo Bianco.

 Blood and Wine also features something that I've always wanted in my massive RPG's--the perfect happy ending for my hero.  It's very satisfying to see Geralt return to Corvo Bianco, his new home base, to find either one of his sorceress lovers or a cherished friend waiting for him (if you opt out of romancing a sorceress it will be either Dandelion or Ciri).  It's nice to imagine the "happily ever after" scenario.

Even though there were some clear disappointments this year these five games (or DLC's) would make great additions to any library.

A Pinball RPG Mashup

The most recent addition to the Pinball FX2 collection is a three table set that represents three of Bethesda's biggest hits--the Fallout series, Skyrim, and DOOM.  But how do you translate two massive RPG's and one serious FPS into a pinball table?  Before I go any further in this review, you really have to question your reasons for playing PFX2.  Do you purchase and play specific tables because you are a fan of that specific series or theme?  Or do you play it because you enjoy pinball in all its various shapes and forms?  This is important because depending on your reasons you could either love or hate this set of tables.

If you're the type of player who enjoys seeing how they've managed to turn your favorite game/comic/cartoon into a pinball table, you're going to want to pick up these tables.  I've played a lot of Fallout and Skyrim so I was curious to see exactly what details and features made it into the game.  Both tables incorporate features that fit in with the RPG theme--you can choose to create a character with certain stats.  These stats give you some small gameplay benefits, but don't impact the game much.  As you play your character can "level up" and gain better stats--XP is earned through completing quests and events.  Those quests and events are specific to the series--on the Fallout table you choose from factions like the Institute, the Railroad, the Brotherhood of Steel or the Minutemen.  Completing quests involves shooting the correctly lit lanes, ramps, or orbits.  Once in awhile you encounter enemies and have to shoot the correct targets to down an enemy or to dodge incoming attacks.  It's a strange marriage between pinball and RPG that works on many levels.

My least favorite table in the set is the Skyrim table.  Like the Fallout table it is very RPG focused--you create a character, have an inventory and skills, and can complete quests to level up.  The odd thing about the table is that the gameplay carries over every time you play.  Your character retains their levels and items.  The table follows the progression of the main storyline in the game--you start a specific quest and if you finish it, you advance to the next step in the story.  There are bandits (and dragons!) to kill by shooting them with the ball and chests to loot.  The RPG aspect is neat, but the table itself is a bit on the boring side.  It features my least favorite table feature--something huge right in the middle of the playing field (in this case it's a cave)--that takes up a ton of space.  Your character changes appearance as you equip new items and there's a dragon but that's about it.  It feels like all the thought went into making the RPG elements and very little went into actually designing pinball-like features on the table itself.

The downside of the RPG-like elements in the Fallout and Skyrim tables is that you will have to interrupt play to manage your character.  This is something that true pinball fans aren't going to like--the interruption of the flow of play.  It can be odd and a little annoying.

Those who like pinball for the sake of pinball will enjoy the DOOM table.  Even though it starts off making you pick your difficulty level it doesn't feature the interruptions of play like the other two tables.  This table is chocked full of thoughtful pinball features--spinners, orbits, ramps, weird little rock bumpers, and so much more!  The missions are challenging and fun and the table captures the heavy-metal shoot em' up feeling of the game.  Even though I've never played the newest reiteration of DOOM, this table is my favorite.

I would recommend the table for fans of Bethesda series like Fallout and Skyrim (The Elder Scrolls).  However, I would cautiously recommend this package to pinball fans.  If you want pure pinball there are other (cheaper) tables that play more traditionally.  One nice feature in Pinball FX2 is the ability to play a short demo before you pony up the cash for new tables.  Maybe give them a play before you decide.

Slime Ranching Goodness for the Whole Family

Every once in awhile a completely random game will come along that surprises you.  I was casually perusing a list on Steam and found Slime Rancher.  I was skeptical at first--the slimes just looked too goofy, it looked like a kids game, it is early access--the reasons not to buy it were clearly stacked.  So, I turned to the reviews and they were shockingly good--overwhelmingly positive and people were raving about it.  After playing it for awhile and getting my ranch up and running I can say that the positive reviews are justified.  The rave reviews....maybe not so much.

The entire idea behind Slime Rancher is that you are a novice slime wrangler trying to make your fortune.  Many varieties of slimes inhabit the world where your ranch is located and it's your job to capture them.  As you explore you come across different species of wild slimes that roam around eating and producing "plorts."  These plorts are a valuable commodity and can be turned in for coins.  Using your handy "vac-pack" you can suck up slimes, plorts, chickens, and food resources (slimes gotta eat!).  Once you've captured some slimes you can take them back to your ranch and work on creating corrals to keep them contained.  Corralled slimes need to be fed and will produce plorts whenever they eat.  You can then collect these plorts and sell them at the market that is handily located on your ranch.

My slime corrals in Slime Rancher.

After you've gathered and corralled your first slimes you can work on gathering food stockpiles and then start experimenting.  Two species of slimes can be combined to create a "largo" slime that combines the dietary needs and physical appearance of both species.  Largo slimes will also produce plorts belonging to each of the two species of slimes.  I started off with the basic pink slimes and then crossbred them with rock slimes.  As the plorts start rolling in you can improve your corrals by adding higher walls, a ceiling, or even some music speakers to keep your slimes calm.

With your corrals improved and your slimes happily producing plorts, you can set out to explore the wider world.  You will discover new species of slimes and unique resources to get your slimes producing even more plorts.  Each slime has a favorite food that will make it produce double plorts.  These foods are somewhat rare and must be discovered.  You will also discover locked doors that require a key.  Slime keys can be found by feeding "gordo" slimes until they explode.  Once you've found a key you can unlock a unique zone that holds different species of slimes that can be vacced and taken back to your ranch for corralling.  There are several different zones--a rocky mine, a lush forest, a volcanic crater, and a sandy beach.

Your ranch can be improved to grow crops and once you've gotten enough plorts you can purchase expansions which add new areas with additional space.  Once your ranch has reached a lucrative state you can purchase the slime science addition which allows you to build new items like teleporters and decorative items to spruce up the appearance of your ranch.  You can also continue to improve your characters health, energy, vac-pack, or to upgrade plots on your ranch.  Eventually you will run out of things to do...that's the downside.

I Enjoyed:
--Cute slimes.  Players want to explore to find all the different types scattered around the world.
--Easy to pick up and understand with a limited tutorial.
--Bright, colorful world.
--Management aspect is simple, but someone could spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to maximize profits.
--Family appropriate.  It would be completely safe for your kids to play Slime Rancher.  The most violent thing they will do is shoot water at evil slimes known as "tarrs."
--Hidden objects and areas encourage exploration.  There are treasure pods scattered around the world that can be unlocked once the correct upgrade is purchased.  The challenge is finding them and remembering where they are located.
--Slime science upgrade offers convenient and fun items.  Teleporters cut down on long trips to each zone and adds in decorative items for the ranch.

Needs Improvement:
--It's a small world after all.  For an early access game there is a fair bit of content and by all appearances it looks like the intent is to add more zones.  Once you unlocked all the zones there isn't much keeping you exploring.
--Can get repetitive and grindy.  Once you've wrangled up and corralled a collective of slimes you fall into a definite pattern of feeding, collecting, growing, and other ranch related tasks.  With slime science gathering rare resources requires you to travel to the unique zones (easier for some zones than others) and slowly grind out new items.  It'll keep you playing if you want to build everything.  It would be great if they could add some random events that would encourage leaving the ranch more--something like weather events that feature certain rare slimes.
--A map would be awesome.  Even though the world in its current state is small, it is still easy to forget where a teleporter is or where a certain slime door might be.  I found a volcanic zone but cannot remember how to get back to it.
--More vac-pack improvements.  I wish my vac-pack could suck faster.  Or that it had more than 4 slots!

I would recommend buying Slime Rancher with the warning that it is early access.  The structure that is in place has promise and with some work it could turn out to be a great little game.

Death of a Save Scummer

I've admitted it before, but I will admit it again...I am a shameless save scummer.  My general attitude about saves is "why have them if you're not going to use them!"  And use them I do.  Anytime things get a little hairy there's always that handy quicksave and quickload button.  Go ahead and admit that you do it too, it's alright.  I didn't really think it was anything to be ashamed of until I started researching Iron Mode runs in XCOM:  Enemy Unknown (not for the weak!).  There was so much negativity around saving and re-loading that I realized that I should work towards weaning myself off of the satisfying drug of non-failure thanks to saves.  Now the time to put that into action has come!  And it sucks.  Massively.

What game would be better for testing out my newfound resolve than RimWorld!.  I had managed to successfully rescue two different bands of survivors (on regular difficulty with some scumming) and was feeling pretty good.  So I started up another scenario and opted for "permadeath" mode which only allows you to save when you exit.  Then the failures started to stack up.  I had initially ramped up the difficulty to "rough" only to find out that they ain't a lyin' about it being rough.  My colony would survive for awhile but always seemed to be at least one technological step behind every enemy.  The enemy would be sporting some flashy personal shields and my poor colonists would be trying to club them.  It was a disaster, so I decided to swallow my pride and turn the difficulty down to the "some challenge" mode.

In "some challenge" I lasted longer, but that was about it.  There would always be some crisis that would turn into a "game over" moment.  One time a pyromaniac colonist started setting fires while the rest of the settlers were carting stuff from a downed cargo pod across the map.  By the time they got back the entire structure was engulfed (probably should've made multiple buildings).  The icing on the cake was when the AI decided to throw a raid into the mix.  I could only watch as my colonists got injured and there was no medicine, no beds, and no way to recover.

This is the way the world ended...once.

The subsequent attempts resulted in similar results with only one getting close to completion.  It also seemed like the AI was throwing some real curveballs my way--once I got a horrible random event involving toxic fallout.  Radioactive fallout settled on the map and only those indoors were protected.  Settlers could venture outside, but only for short periods.  Everything on the map besides my settlement was completely wiped out.  Fortunately I had enough food stocks to make it to the end of the disaster--only to watch as my colonists were wiped out by an enemy siege.  In a different playthrough I landed the volcanic winter event (which I think is an intentional way to counter those wussy people like myself who set up in a tropical rainforest zone for year-round growing).  Volcanic winter means that the sun is partially blocked--solar panels generate less electricity and crops and plants grow slower.  While not as catastrophic as the toxic fallout event, it still was a real zinger....and my colony still ended up failing.

My last attempt was the deal breaker.  I had managed to make it to the point where the ship was almost completed--I was just waiting for the coveted AI core event to happen.  Then the sieges started happening.  Sieges have been my downfall because I still haven't fully figured out how to counter them.  If you attack early and have a little luck, you can take them out before they have time to set up.  That strategy worked well until my colonists couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and got picked off one by one.  I was so close!  Just one stinking ship piece (although to be fair, probably not that close because the AI core event was still quite a ways off).

For now I'm taking a bit of a break to let the frustration wear off.  Even though I have failed over and over I feel like I am learning more about the mechanics of the game than I would if I had continued to save and reload.  I'm thinking that personal shields and artillery stations are probably the best plan for countering sieges--I need to step up my defensive game!  Failure isn't always a bad thing--even if it does feel frustrating.

Some day.....some day I will save a colony.

You Think my Tractor's Sexy--Farming Simulator 17

I have officially dipped my toes into the shallow end of the simulation pool and am now finding myself playing games that I would never have considered in the past.  The door to the simulation genre opened when I grabbed a massive pile of Truck Simulator games on sale during the Steam summer sale.  After finding those games oddly enjoyable (am I getting old?) I decided to peruse another branch in the simulation genre--Farming Simulator.  If you secretly have a yearning to drop everything and spend your hours peacefully steering your tractor this series is perfect.

Farming Simulator 17 is the newest entry in the Farming Simulator franchise and was released in November, so it's still somewhat of a new release.  If you pay attention to the Steam Top Sellers list you probably noticed it oddly jutting out among the Civilization VI's and Dishonored II's of the Steam charts.  There's a reason for that--it is an amazingly enjoyable experience.

One of my tractors.  It's the starting model, so not that sexy.

In FS17, players start off with a small farm--three fields, a house, some chickens, a few pieces of machinery, and the basics required to get things up and running.  You also start off with a small pile of debt--gotta pay for those tractors somehow.  Your overall goal in the game....well, that's basically up to you.  You can opt for farming domination--to make enough money to buy out all the fields and become a farming mogul or you could settle with having the best tractors and machinery available.  If you're some kind of tractor or farm machinery enthusiast there is an extremely wide variety of hulking machines to choose from (watch this trailer--I've seen it termed "tractor porn").

New players should start off with the multi-step tutorial which covers all the basics you will need to effectively run your farm.  You learn how to plow, plant, fertilize and harvest your fields.  There are also many handy tips which are not directly pointed out in the core game.  So, if you're thinking of skipping the tutorial, I would say don't.  Once you've mastered the tractor skills you move on to the animal related part of the game.  Your farm can support a number of critters--namely pigs, cows, and sheep (you start off with chickens which require no care and produce eggs that can be sold).  Each animal has basic needs--they all need a source of food and water as well as clean bedding--but all differing care requirements.  The tutorial will teach you the basics of caring for you animals but doesn't go into great depth.  I have spent considerable time looking up details that are not covered in the tutorial.  The good thing is that there are plenty of good sources of information to find answers.

Once you have finished the tutorial you dive into starting your personal farm.  Your fields start in a variety of states--one field is ready for harvest, one field is partially grown, and the last field has just been harvested and needs to be re-planted.  Harvesting is probably the most enjoyable of the farming tasks.  You just maneuver your harvester (very slowly) and watch as all that sweet, sweet moola flows in.  Another aspect of play is keeping an eye on the prices for the crops you are ready to sell.  You can opt to find the best price at the moment or to load your crops into a silo and wait for a higher price to come along.  There are also demand spikes which last for short periods but see drastic jumps in prices.

Each task proves to have its own challenges.  Plowing is slow and methodical (and, thankfully only has to happen every three harvests), planting requires attention so you're not wasting seed and fertilizer, and harvesting requires watching how full your bin gets before you have to dump it.  Once you've completed the tasks on your own farm and are waiting for your crops to grow, you can perform odd jobs on other farms.  These odd jobs are timed tasks that pay a bonus if you complete them quickly.  If you're too slow you won't get paid so plan accordingly.  Doing odd jobs pays surprisingly well (you almost make more than just focusing on your own fields) and are a good way to save some cash.  Your farm needs a good source of cash flow because vehicle maintenance costs and loan interest are debited from your account every day.  Plus, your farm also has operating costs related to purchasing seed, fertilizer, and fuel for your tractors, harvesters, and other vehicles.

Once you've accumulated a decent amount of cash you have to decide on your next steps--do you save up for a better tractor?  Do you buy a new piece of machinery that could help boost your yields?  Do you buy some animals?  Or, if you're really boring and overly responsible like me, you pay off your loan.  I also bought a plow in an effort to boost my yields.

After seventeen hours of play I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of Farming Simulator 17.  There's still logging to do and animals to raise!  When will I ever find the time?  Even if you're skeptical about a game that is about farming, FS17 is a peaceful journey through simulated country living.  It doesn't have the best graphics (there's some online grumbling about that), but it's not a game about the best graphics--it's a game about the joys of growing things.

If you're looking for something more exciting than the basic crop cycle you might want to pass on this one.  Fans of casual, peaceful and relaxing simulation games will enjoy the complicated web of tasks required to run a successful farm.  Pick Farming Simulator 17 up on Steam for $34.99 (or wait for the upcoming Winter sale and grab it for slightly less).

I Game, I Saw, I Conquered now has a Steam Curator Page!

Making a Steam Curator page has been a goal of mine for awhile and now, after a well-timed snow day in which to work, it's a reality.  Like this blog, I am gearing my curator page more towards the games I enjoy and write about here.  My target audience is gamers who are similar to myself--working adults with lives and responsibilities who game for fun.  I wish I could say that I explore a lot of unknown, edgy titles but I tend to stick to the tried and true.

If you're looking for a curator to follow, please consider me.  The link to the curator page on the Steam store is:  I Game, I Saw, I Conquered Curator Page

Thanks to everyone who visits or reads!  I will continue to post reviews, thoughts, and updates on this blog.  Look for the Mars Attacks!  alien to find me.

New Mass Effect: Andromeda Gameplay Trailer!

Well, it was new two days ago anyway.  If you haven't see it, here you go!

Tell me that you don't feel like running around a room doing cartwheels after watching that!  I was very excited but also tried to take a somewhat analytical approach as I did with the previous new video.  Before I begin with my listicle of obsession, let me clarify a few things.  Firstly, I am a huge Mass Effect fan, but not the kind of person who will spend hours reading every conspiracy theory, amateur Reddit/Youtube analysis, or just generally trying to dig up every juicy little detail.  I wait patiently for a new official video to drop and occasionally read an article if it pops up on my Facebook timeline.  There are, most likely, some people who will dissect this video like a middle school biology frog.  I'm not that person--I don't have that kind of time.  Let us begin!

1.) I was completely wrong about the ship in the previous video being the new Normandy.  Apparently it's some sort of ark ship (I read this somewhere) that is carrying a large contingent of people (species, if you will) to the new galaxy.  So maybe we should think of it as a type of mini-Citadel?  The new ship is called the "Tempest" and has a very Normandy-esque outline and feel.  The video opens on a fabulous shot of the Tempest buzzing through a beautiful asteroid field.

UPDATE:  I have totally ignored the Andromeda Initiative stuff that I signed up for awhile back.  I decided to go watch the intro videos and I would recommend them to everyone else.  They shed some light on the backstory--the Hyperion is an ark ship which is carrying survivors from all the Milky Way species to the new galaxy.  I was correct in the assumption that it would function like a mini-Citadel as a center for your activities.  The training briefs also emphasize the fact that you are travelling to Andromeda to establish a new homeworld.  (You get some sort of in-game item if you complete all the activities--so far there are two out of the total of six).

2.) The new environments look siiiiiiiiiickkkkkk and extremely varied.  I am so excited to explore any of these new gorgeous places!  Tell me you didn't tear up just a little when you saw the beautiful planets?  Tell me!

3.) We get to see a city and it looks awesome--a great hub for meeting new characters and embarking on quests.  And, like the hubs in other Mass Effect cities, it looks to be filled with all kinds of interesting activity.

4.) We get to hear more of the female Ryder's voice.  It sounds good, but will it have the same punch as FemSheps magical Jennifer Hale?

5.) The video expressly states "these worlds are big."  I'm cool with open world as long as that doesn't mean losing the story and characters that are the HALLMARK of Mass Effect games.  I sense some very Dragon Age:  Inquisition elements (the map bar in the city scene).  While I am also a fan of Dragon Age, I would really like Mass Effect to keep it's own unique feel.

6.) A new Mako!  It looks like a vehicle that functions normally too.  Haters have always bashed on the Mako and it's completely ridiculous abilities, but I liked the fact that the original Mass Effect still had a very space-y feel.  Yes, some planets would have low-gravity and driving on them would be weird.  I guess the low-gravity, space-y stuff is getting totally tossed out which is sad in a way.

7.) There's a scanning tool.  More and more RPG's seem to be using some flavor of "detection" in them--whether it's Geralt's "Witcher senses" from The Witcher 3 or Lara Croft's "Survival Instincts," an emphasis on details has taken center stage.  I am glad to see some sort of new enhancement added to the omni-tool.  Six hundred years have passed, it should be able to do some amazing stuff that is different than the previous games.

And now, for the best part....

8.) Combat.  It looks glorious.  GLORIOUS!  I always felt like there was too much hunkering down in one spot in the previous games (less so in the third).  The new combat looks fluid and seamless.  A few things I noticed--1.) the UI looks familiar but more streamlined. 2.) There were basically no longer pauses, only short ones which leads me to a few questions.  Can you still issue orders to teammates?  I am getting the impression that combat is moving towards a more Inquisitions-esque combat style...which....yeah, I don't know.  A more fluid combat system is great, but when there are specific "combos" to plan, I had difficulty getting the AI to time it correctly.  I don't trust the AI!  3.) Is combat going to be more individualized?  I didn't see any teammates in the whole combat part of the video.  4.) I very much enjoyed the biotic charge ability in Mass Effect 3 and it looks even better now.

And, the not-so-best part (depending on your personal preferences).

9.) "Everything you need you will have to find or craft."  Inquisition had an interesting crafting system that wasn't too heavy.  You grabbed the occasional animal, vegetable, mineral or killed a dragon to get the rarer components required to craft the best gear.  Then, you could customize your gear to the umpteenth degree to get exactly the stats or look that you desired.  This crafting thing is new...besides adding mods to weapons and armor in the original Mass Effect, all items were purchased or discovered.  This is a very RPG element in a series that has seemed to be moving away from an RPG-like structure.  I am intrigued...but cautious.  Crafting can sometimes tend towards the grindy and depending on how you feel about grinding, it can be tedious.

10.) Already the haters are out in force about criticizing the facial animations in the video stating that they look "rubbery."  I noticed it a bit, but not enough to be too terribly distracting.  BioWare has stated that the animations are in a preliminary stage and that they will be improved by release time.  I think that criticism seemed a little nitpicky, but...to each his own.  (I'm a fan, so completely biased)

There are many, many things to be excited about!

Tomb Raider Risen

Lara clings to a rock wall as she struggles toward the mysterious "Source" in Rise of the Tomb Raider.

I recently acquired the not-so-new release Rise of the Tomb Raider for a fresh 50% the regular list price.  Needless to say, I have been spending my holiday break tagging along with the legendary Lara Croft as she stumbles, tumbles, dodges and weaves through her latest adventure.  Was the adventure worth it?  Definitely!

I enjoyed:

Locations/graphics. From the rocky desert tombs of Syria to the frosty mountains of Siberia, this Tomb Raider game isn't lacking in environmental variety.  One minute Lara is scampering up a mountain and the next she's hiding in some foliage in a lush forest.  The graphics are stunning (my default setting was high) and in each environment you are treated to towering ruins, jagged mountain peaks, or massive domes of icy glaciers.  Toward the end of the game I noticed some performance issues (my computer didn't like the lost city of Kitezh.  I had a little bit of lagginess when moving the camera--probably could have turned down some settings and cured it but chose not to).  Overall, a stunning game!  (Sure, you can point out that it's over a year old now.  It's still quite beautiful.)

Gameplay.  There really weren't any true departures from the tried and true Tomb Raider style of play.  The game is chock full of moments where Lara is adeptly leaping from a narrow ledge onto an inches wide log or narrowly scrambling to avoid a giant piece of falling ice.  This time though, I found myself holding my breath--hoping that she made it to the next crazy jump or that I could time it correctly so that she would dig her axes in at the perfect moment.  The game manages to make it feel as if Lara is constantly hanging on by the edge of her teeth...and that feeling is the pulse pumping, adrenaline racing that makes it extremely enjoyable.

In my earlier Tomb Raider post I mentioned that I often disliked how the series always seemed to be extremely linear.  One very pleasant change that I noted in Rise was the fact that there is more of an open feeling (I am hesitant to say "open world" because it's not at all that).  Rather than one path, Lara is instead placed into a large zone that functions as more of a hub.  In that hub there are a number of tasks to undertake--NPC's provide missions, exploration reveals the location of hidden caches of coins or equipment, hunting wild animals provides hides to be used to upgrade equipment, and, my personal favorite, challenge tombs.  Challenge tombs offer a set of puzzle-like obstacles that, if solved, reward players with a powerful enhancement to Lara's abilities.  Some challenge tombs are relatively straightforward, while others require some thinking and experimenting.  I was able to solve all of them so they are definitely very doable for the average gamer.

Each hub also provides a number of optional challenges which offer replayability.  I know that I only completed a small fraction of the total challenges.  These tasks can be rather serious or silly (I completed a task to catch chickens and throw them into a pen) but provide an added bonus.

Voice acting.  I found myself doing the unthinkable--I was listening to all the journal entries and relic descriptions.  They are acted very well and rather than reading some dull description of something, I enjoyed listening to Lara describe an item she picked up or to the musings of some ancient Greek 

story figure.

Facial animation.  In the cutscene moments I found myself paying close attention to the facial expressions of all the characters.  I am amazed by how realistic they are!  There are some games where you almost have to look away because the mouth movements are so bad--this is not one of them.  I had read this somewhere else and scoffed, but the person who wrote it had a good point.

Stealth kills.  I love watching Lara leap out of a tree and knifing some poor bastard down below; it's magical!  The stealth kill system rewards players for attempting to find unique and stealthy ways to eliminate enemies (or just to avoid them all together--which I never opt for).

I Did Not Enjoy:

Remembering.  Each hub generally wasn't fully accessible to Lara--there was always some small part of it that was blocked off and restricted by the need for some mission specific piece of gear to advance farther.  This is fine, but there was absolutely no way that I was going to remember each  area that needed an advanced item to access.  I wish that the game had a better mapping mechanic so that players could be reminded where these areas are.  If I was more patient I could have gone back and tried to find every metal barrier or broadhead climbing area--or it could have appeared on a map!  Simple solution that probably only irritates completionists like me.

Weird cover system.  During combat Lara can take cover behind certain obstacles.  Once behind cover there is no way to shoot over or around those obstacles--you instead have to poke Lara's cute lil' head out of cover to shoot.  This is a minor gripe, but if it was just a little bit different it would have been a lot easier to use (usually Lara is scuttling her butt off somewhere else so using cover is limited).

I mostly enjoyed this game so coming up with things I didn't like is difficult.  I haven't really delved into the additional gameplay modes which seem to be a solution to that replayability issue that I talked about before.  Lara Croft is still the scrappy, tough, independent heroine who has become one of my favorites and Rise of the Tomb Raider is an intense and enjoyable chapter in her epic saga.

Weekend Cringing

I was pleasantly surprised to check my e-mail and find that one of the games on my Steam wishlist is currently on sale!  Score!  With absolutely no hesitation I snatched up Rise of the Tomb Raider:  20 Year Celebration for 50% off.  After a few hours of downloading I have happily stepped back into the frantic story of Lara Croft and her quest to find some new relic, to bust up some new villains, and to perform some breathtaking gymnastic stunts.

In 2012 I picked up the modernized PC reboot of the console classic Tomb Raider series.  Being that I am not a console gamer I had very limited experience with the series.  A few of the console games had made the crossover to PC and I had played a few of those with mixed feelings (the signature gymnastic movement was fun, but the camera controls/angles were garbage).  With that experience in mind I didn't really expect much when I grabbed it on the cheap during a sale.  The new Lara Croft depicted in the 2012 Tomb Raider was exactly the heroine that I wanted from the series.  She's tough, scrappy, smart, but still vulnerable and feminine without being the tarted up "tits n' ass" character from the console days.

Even though I enjoy Lara Croft as a character I have a problem paying full price for the games in this series.  For me the replayability factor in Tomb Raider is lacking--it's the kind of game that I will play once, absolutely love, and then most likely shelve for a long time.  That doesn't mean that there aren't elements that add to replayability--there are always relics to collect, hidden items to find, new game modes to play--but generally I am just not that interested in going back to try it again.  Therefore, paying $60 for a game that will see one 20ish hour playthrough doesn't translate for me.

There is something about the very cinematic-style gameplay that I love about Tomb Raider.  I don't know that I have played many games that have quite given me the feeling of being in the middle of an action/thriller movie.  Playing Lara is exhilarating--out-sprinting a pack of wolves, jumping from one collapsing pillar to another, watching her catch herself as she narrowly avoids falling over a huge precipice....I just haven't played many other games that have managed to capture those same feelings.  At the same time the linear and cinematic-style of play doesn't offer much in the way of player freedom--there aren't any dialogue options, Lara's path through a level is generally very scripted, and as a player you are simply tagging along for the ride--there are few choices to actually be made.

I have barely dipped my toes into Rise of the Tomb Raider, but so far it feels like a worthy successor to 2012's Tomb Raider.  Once again Lara is investigating the remnants of a long-lost relic from a long dead culture.  Of course her journey isn't going to be easy--she's tangled up in a race for those relics with the mysterious Trinity group--your average gun-toting bad guys lead by an even badder guy with very questionable motives.

A scraped up Lara creeping through a darkened tomb entrance.

The second that you start the game you are thrust into the midst of Lara's story.  There isn't much of a tutorial (if you've played Tomb Raider once you should be familiar with the controls) but instead you lead Lara on a journey up an extremely hazardous frozen mountain.  You quickly learn how to use her now signature ice axes to traverse the frozen mountainside and perform a series of ledge jumps.  Each jump feels hazardous and I find myself physically cringing as Lara attempts to hop onto a wall of ice and dig in her axe.  The movement immediately feels familiar and you get a good feel for how to control Lara's vertical movement.

The first chapter finds Lara searching for a lost tomb in the deserts of Syria.  Similar to the last game, Lara really takes a beating--she's constantly tumbling down a hill, falling through a crumbling ruin, or narrowly avoiding an ancient trap.  A short trip up a narrow mountainside path and Lara arrives at the entrance to the lost tomb,...but not really, it's just a chamber filled with murals depicting scenes related to the relic she seeks.  One new feature in this game is finding items that can help Lara learn new languages in order to better be able to translate.  As you guide her to these murals she improves her language skills enough that she can read a monolith in the middle of the chamber.  That monolith shows her a hidden wall that opens up onto a breathtaking scene of a massive tomb built directly into the wall of a mountain.

The action in Rise of the Tomb Raider is making me hold my breath.  Every leap feels like Lara is barely hanging on.  It's a great feeling.  I am looking forward to many more hours of Lara ascending the face of a craggy mountain or taking running potshots at masked enemies.  You can pick up Rise of the Tomb Raider:  20 Year Celebration (which includes several DLC) on Steam for $29.99 as part of the weekend sale.

N7 Day Mass Effect: Andromeda Trailer--Let's Obsess!

It's about a week late (sorry, it's been a little bit chaotic lately), but on November 7th (N7 day for the rest of the Mass Effect nerds out there) a new trailer for the upcoming Mass Effect:  Andromeda was released.  Here it is, it all it's sparkly space glory:

If you haven't seen it yet, then you are probably gloriously happy.  If you have, just watch it again because there's undoubtedly some small detail that you missed.  There hasn't been a lot of news about Andromeda so every little hint is supremely exciting.  Like BuzzFeed, I also like lists.  Here's a handy list of all the things I enjoy or wonder about in this new trailer:

1.) There's a new ship called the Hyperion pictured in the trailer.  Could this be our new Normandy?  It doesn't look as sleek and cool as the Normandy, but it does look large.  Large enough to hold a new, improved galaxy map and any number of amazing new features.  We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for any other hints about this new vessel.

2.) There had been some conjecture on the timeline for this game but the trailer specifically refers to being adrift for six hundred years.  For me, this settles some of the end of the third game cannon issues that were floating around.  It appears as if the new crew has travelled to this new galaxy and that they are leaving all our our old familiar places far behind them.  As much as I loved the good ol' Milky Way, to have made the story take place there again...well, it just wouldn't have worked.

3.) We get to see the male version of our new Ryder.  He's scruffy, handsome and looks like he'll be more interesting than the male Shepard of yesteryear.  In an earlier trailer we got to see the lady version.  Here's to hoping that they are both voice acted well this time around.

4.) We can safely assume that we will be encountering new alien races in the new game.  This trailer hints at a Reaper-like ominous force.  At one point there is a Prothean beacon-like structure with a large structure/ship looking object projecting from it--at least that's the feeling I got.  There are some interesting aliens walking through the rubble--aliens with weird, round halo-like bony projections.  Are these our new Collectors?

5.) Even if you hated the crap out of Mass Effect 3, you can't deny that there was something unbelievably amazing about taking down a full-size  Reaper in ground combat.  One of the most memorable and intense moments came as you had to use the laser aiming device to take out the towering monstrosity on Rannoch.  I still have fond memories of dying and dying before I figured out the movement pattern to avoid getting one-shot and the glorious moment of victory as you watch the missiles find their target and cripple the giant robot.  It looks like our monstrosity conquering moments aren't over!  There is a distinct squid-like giant robot that bursts from the ground and the movement very much reminds me of the Reaper fight on Rannoch.

6.)  I see some signature Mass Effect moments that make me feel oh so nostalgic and that tell me that this game isn't going to totally leave the swaggery, action-hero style completely behind.  Who doesn't enjoy the shots of your team frantically running and leaping out of a dangerous situation and into the loving embrace of your ship?  Come on!  All those slow-mo leaps are exciting!

I am excited for what I see, but Mass Effect has a special place in my heart so I am a little bit biased.  I hope all the other Mass Effect nerds out there are just as excited and are planning for their next adventure.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Rimworld!

It has been a bit of a video game lull for me lately.  But never fear, my impulsivity usually comes to the rescue in a good or bad way.  This time my random grab turned out to be a great thing.  I picked up the indie survival, strategy, sandbox, [insert random other descriptor] game Rimworld.

In Rimworld you are in charge of a small group of survivors who have crash landed on a random planet.  These survivors each have their own personality, quirks, and skills.  The game starts you off with three characters--you have virtually no control over their stats or skills and are allowed to "roll" to randomize them.  It is impossible to create a perfect colonist with all the skills you want.  This randomness is part of the challenge and can make for some interesting situations later on.

Each colonist has a set of skills that range from shooting to gathering, from extinguishing fires or performing high-tech research.  They also have unique personality traits like being a pyromaniac who randomly sets fires and will never extinguish them or a sluggish laggard who refuses to do any manual labor.  Some colonists have an interest in some skill areas and can raise those skills if they are set to do tasks they enjoy.  Along with these traits is a gender and sexuality set of code that has garnered some eyebrow raising among some sets.  Your colonists flirt with each other, they start relationships--which can be good or bad, and occasionally they get into fistfights if their advances are spurned (once I had one colonist beat another to death).  They also have moods which are directly influenced by their current conditions.  Do they have enough food?  Did they have to sleep on the ground?  Are their clothes in poor condition?  All of these factors can add a mood debuff if they aren't taken care of.

My third colony in its second year.

Initially you get to choose your settlement site and there is some strategy involved in this.  It's something I haven't fully grasped as of yet.  Your colonists crash land and then you set about making a settlement for them.  Colonists have very basic needs--they want shelter, they want to eat, and they want to be protected.  Your first task is creating a shelter, building some beds (no one likes sleeping on the ground), and then making some plans for how to survive.  Planting crops, planning for electricity, temperature, and crafting are all good first steps.

It's when you start to feel comfortable that the game throws a wrench in your gears.  Hostile tribes attack your settlement, a lightning storm starts a devastating fire that wipes out all your crops, a herd of mad animals attacks your settlement...these are just some of the random events that happen along the way.  At the beginning of each new settlement you create you can choose an AI "storyteller" which decides the rate, difficulty, and type of events that are thrown at your little colony.  These storytellers have cool names like Phoebe Chillax who allows for a more laidback approach to play, but who steps it up in the late game.  If you're feeling truly adventurous you can choose Randy Random who will toss anything at you at any time.  I've settled on Cassandra Classic which is a more traditional approach to events.

The difficulty can also vary widely based on the seasons.  The planet goes through a four season cycle where summer and winter can be especially brutal.  Your colonists are prone to heatstroke in the summer and hypothermia in the winter.  Providing appropriate clothing and temperature controls can greatly help with negative mood debuffs.

At first glance Rimworld reminded me a little of Prison Architect, but after playing it....a boatload....I have found that it's a complicated little mess that I enjoy so much more.  The story of your colony can be quite hilarious when spelled out in story form.  My first colony was doomed because I didn't realize that my food was going bad because I didn't have a freezer.  When the winter non-growing season rolled around I tried to scramble and hunt some food, but there was none to be found.  My second colony fell victim to a herd of man-eating muffaloes who rampaged through my camp and managed to disable everyone (I wasn't being cautious enough and told them to attack).  I'm on my third colony now and think I have a better understanding of how things work.  The game will undoubtedly toss a real zinger my way soon and change that.

For an early access game Rimworld offers a vast, quirky, and fun survival game.  There are numerous mods out there that add new storytellers, expand on items in the game, or add any number of new and interesting items.  I was a little hesitant about the $29.99 price tag, but Rimworld has definitely delivered and is well worth it.

Video Game Voices on Strike

In the last few weeks I've been reading and seeing coverage of the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike.  SAG-AFTRA is a union that represents a wide variety of acting related professions including video game voice actors.  It seems that not everything in the video game industry is working as intended and actors have some gripes.  This may not sound very interesting, and I honestly know very little about how actors are compensated for work on games, but there are some thought provoking issues related to gaming all wrapped up in the myriad complaints.

So what are the actual complaints?  One of the biggest issues that the actors seem to be pushing for is for higher pay (not surprising--money tends to be at the center of most strikes).  Voice actors get paid a flat rate for recording sessions but receive no other compensation beyond this.  The union is pushing for a type of bonus pay based on how many units a game sells--for example, if a game was a blockbuster that sold millions of copies then the actors would get extra pay.  Since not every game is a blockbuster these bonuses wouldn't be happening all the time.

Seems reasonable, right?  Good voice acting can take a game to the next level and it's those unique voices that make our favorite characters all that more memorable.  Interestingly enough, one of the people mentioned as part of the strike was Jennifer Hale--the voice of my favorite femShep--and a very prolific video game voice actress.  Remember how awesome femShep was acted compared to the male version?  Yeah, voice acting is pretty important.  But is it more important than good writing?  Or great environmental art?  Or level-design?  That's one of the difficult issues--if you reward voice actors for the work they do, shouldn't you reward everyone when a game turns into a multi-million unit selling blockbuster?  At first glance you want to root for the actors (I am!) but once you read about the issues things get considerably murkier.

One of the other complaints that surprised me was the fact that most voice actors have no idea what game they are acting for when they are hired.  Maintaining the secrecy of a major game series puts voice actors at a serious disadvantage when it comes to negotiating pay.  The actors are demanding that they be informed about what they are auditioning for.

Besides the money issues there are also some "unsafe working condition" type of complaints.  According to the complaints issued by the union, stunt and motion capture actors are frequently forced to perform stunts with inadequate safety supervision.  To me, this seems like a pretty legitimate complaint.  They also claim that voice actors are expected to perform vocally demanding tasks--think of all the acting for weird sounds like getting shot, or falling, or being punched in the face--that could put their voices at risk.

But we all know the big question looming in the back of all our minds...will this delay impact the release of any upcoming games?  I don't know that there is a really clear answer for that one.  Depending on how long the strike goes on it looks like a possibility.  The majority of the striking seems to be targeted toward the big studios (Disney, Activision, EA, etc.) so, maybe?  According to this article only 25% of voice actors are actually members of the union...so maybe not?

Keep your eyes peeled and your fingers crossed that this issue gets resolved soon.  (I'm rooting for the actors, but I understand that the issue of raising their pay is complicated).

If you want to read more about the union demands here is a helpful document from SAG-AFTRA:

SAG-AFTRA Strike

The developers have also fired back with their own website to lay out their side of the story:

http://sagaftravideogames.com/

Oh-oh-oh-oh Olgierd!

A while back I wrote about how I decided to play The Witcher 3 for the fourteenth time (that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's definitely more than I should have played it).  Throughout my current game I have tried to make some choices that are slightly different than the choices in my previous games.  I've managed to discover a few fun moments that I had missed in the previous games  For example, I decided to ride around the map a bit in Velen before I started completing quests.  I met an NPC on the road who was hauling a wagon full of corpses and being attacked by a pack of ghouls.  After you rescue him from the ghouls he reveals that he is hauling plague corpses.  Geralt, of course, informs him that this is most likely a bad choice and advises him to burn the cart where it currently stands and run the heck away.  Later on you run into the guy and he's not doing so well.  I've never had that encounter before.  I also discovered that you can rescue a mage who you witness being burned at the stake.  He's the douchey one from the party with Triss so you might decide that it's better for him to be barbequed.  You'll have to fight off a large retinue of guards, so be prepared.

Olgierd von Everec

But I didn't want to actually write about any of that...too late now, I suppose.  I've reached the point in my current game where I am venturing into the realm of the two DLC's.  The map has unfurled and I am venturing out to the northern part of the Novigrad/Velen map.  The main questline has introduced me to one of the characters who I have to admit that I really enjoy--Olgierd von Everec.

Olgierd is another great example of the amazingly well-written characters in The Witcher 3.  When Geralt first encounters him he seems oddly likable.  He's a bit of a rogue, but the kind of charming rogue that you'd want to follow.  As the story in Heart of Stone gets more complicated he becomes much harder to like.  What kind of idiot chooses his own pride over true love?  The kind of idiot that is Olgierd.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again--CD Projekt Red has some phenomenal writers who know how to make amazing characters.  I love the characters in The Witcher 3 because they are complex, relatable, and more human-like than those in other games.  There are so very few characters that you can chalk up as simply "good" or "bad" and they all have their share of flaws.  I've written about the Bloody Baron (now I can't find it) and how he's another one of those great characters.

One of my different Olgierd experiences from previous games was that I decided to fight him to save the life of a guy that his lackeys were going to kill.  In the past I've just had Geralt weakly argue and allowed the poor NPC to get his head lopped off.  I've been playing on the "Death March" difficulty and fighting Olgierd took about thirty minutes of dodging and hacking (he's very resilient and hits hard).  I have to say I enjoy the end of the fight and the scene where Olgierd's immortality is revealed much more than the option where the manor lady stabs him.  If you opt to fight and then defeat Olgierd, Geralt stabs him and then goes for the full decapitation.  Olgierd's head tips off his body at an awkward angle and then he just does this sort of ironic clap as it's revealed that he can't be killed.

Go back and play it.  You'll find Olgierd to be the same lovable yet hateable rogue that he was the first time you played.

Lamenting My Bad Choices

In another stroke of pure impulsivity I have found myself purchasing a bundle of games that fall on the outskirts of the whole "genres I enjoy" category.  These bad choices are usually the results of some sort of Steam mega-sale and the latest spate is no exception.  It's not that I bought a bad game, it's that I bought a game that I'm horrible at and totally don't understand.  Tip for others:  understand exactly what you're buying and don't be dense!

What did I buy?  A bundle of Endless Legend games and DLC.  They're not the newest games, but they got really good reviews so I decided the sale price was probably worth it.  "But they're great games!"  I've never really understood the complex, hexagonal, super-strategic games that fall into the 4X genre--and yet I just bought a bunch.

So far I am seeing some things that I like.  The factions in Endless Legend have an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy inspired traits.  There is a race of insect-like creatures, some bizarrely creepy stone...things, a sublimely awesome floating lady-mage, mechanical magic monster mashups, and several others ranging from the traditional humanoid-like to the completely strange.  The choices are fabulous, but actually choosing is the hard part.

The Mezari.  I'm slowly killing them with my incompetence.

Once you've chosen your faction you are treated to a short introductory cut-scene that explains the origins of that specific faction.  I chose an outer-spacey humanoid race (for the sole reason that I liked their hair--a very strategic decision) that seems to lean toward more scientific-based options.  They left their world to live on the surface of the planet and with me at the helm they are doomed to a short, sad existence getting stomped into muck by the neighboring faction of bug creatures....but I digress....

Another feature that I am enjoying is that there are some RPG-like elements in the game.  As you explore and meet other factions you have the ability to complete quests.  Each faction has their own unique hero units that can either accompany troops on the battlefield or can be located in a city as a governor.  This hero unit has an equippable inventory and can be improved through spending resources to create new items or receiving items as quest rewards.  Your hero and your troops level up as you battle and explore.  Hero skill points can be used to unlock abilities that either make the individual unit stronger or allow for army-wide perks when locked in battle.

I have absolutely no clue what I am supposed to be doing.  The tutorial pounded it into my head that I should be constantly researching and building.  My small army roams around looking for ruins to explore and has the occasional tangle with roaming troops from other minor factions.  I've encountered a few of the major enemy factions and they are mostly indifferent--should I be attacking them?  Or making peace with them?  They seem to have plentiful resources and armies that vastly outnumber my own.

In the past I very briefly dipped my toes into the epic Civilization V pool before deciding that it was too complicated and slow paced for me.  Endless Legend seems like a slightly more complex pool filled with even more intricacies that I am trying to grasp.  Maybe 4X isn't for me?  I'm going to give it another go and see if I can make some progress toward victory. 

Does Age Make Gamers Less Competitive?

I hate to admit that I'm getting older and that I qualify as a non-typical/"older gamer."  The reality is that I'm no longer a teenager mashing buttons and screaming at the screen (actually I never really was.  We only had dial-up and I grew up in the still pre-historic Internet days of the 1990's.)  As an "older gamer" a couple of different articles about a study caught my eye.  The study isn't extremely recent and was published earlier this year but seems to be getting a lot of commentary and analysis.  If you want to see the actual article and the data attached to it you can read it here: "As Gamers Age" Study.

There are some interesting tidbits to pull from this study.  Here's a list:  (I love lists)

1.) According to the ESA (the fun-folks that do things like run the rating system for games) the average age of gamers is 35.  Yessss!!!!  I guess that means that I'm not old...I'm average!  This was surprising because I have a stereotypical view of gamers--teenagers or college age people who tend to be mostly male.  It's nice to know that the average gamer could be someone like me--working full time and gaming on the side.

MarioKart remains one of my favorite competitive games.

2.) Younger gamers prefer games that are more competitive and males tend to prefer them more than females.  This piece of information makes sense to me.  I loved to play competitive games when I was in college.  Not that I really played anything that was really all that competitive--mostly MarioKart.  Maybe there's something about identity formation and finding something that you're good at.  Or maybe it's just the urge to crush someone and prove that you're superior.  But.....

3.) The desire to play competitive games decreases as gamers get older.  For some reason this discovery seemed to really steam some people.  It's a study that uses a random sample....that doesn't mean that the findings apply to everyone!  Speaking solely for myself, I would agree with this finding.  I used to really enjoy playing competitive games like Team Fortress 2 or Half-Life 2:  Deathmatch.  Not that I made the leaderboard very often or had some sort of winning record.  It was more about the thrill of competing and trying to win.

Now that I'm average, I just want to come home and relax.  I don't want to listen to some irate, crazy yelling because they lost a game or yelling just to be obnoxious.  The games I seek out are the kind that I can play how I want without having to deal with other nutbags.  I like Eurotruck-ing and listening to the radio or cleaning up a level of Viscera Cleanup Detail to unwind.

I tend to agree with the findings in this study but saw a lot of people strongly disagreeing with the findings.

One other cool feature on their website is the ability to build a "gamer profile" where you fill out a short survey and it tells you where you fit in with other gamers who are close to your age.  Check it out and see if you're like other gamers or in a league of your own.

I Just Failed Humanity

"Thanks for Playing."  That's the crushing message that greets you after you've just led the Terran Federation to it's doom in Halcyon 6:  Starbase Commander.  I just learned that the hard way after ten hours of attempting to curb the Chruul infestation.  I'm a little sad--firstly, because I knew the situation was getting downright futile but also because I haven't felt that sting of defeat from a game in quite awhile.  That failure makes me want to jump right back in though.  Well played, game.....well played.

When I first saw Halcyon 6:  Starbase Commander pop up on the Steam top sellers chart I was surprised and skeptical.  Whenever I see pixelated games I am always a little wary--it's been done and it's been done to death (*this is where my brain should have kicked in and made me remember how much I genuinely enjoyed Stardew Valley).  Rather than think about my skepticism I decided to watch the trailer and see if this wasn't just some weird fluke.  Nope.  Not fluk-ey.  The game actually looked like fun--a perfect storm with aspects of XCOM base management combined with Final Fantasy inspired combat.  Since it was on sale I decided to snatch it up and then regret it later.  The regret never came and I've been having fun commanding my pixelated crew to their unfortunate deaths.

But where did I go wrong?  One of the very important skills I seem to have missed was the ability to multi-task.  Not only do you need a fleet of powerful ships to combat the Chruul in the region but you need multiple crews that can carry out tasks and work on your starbase.  My tunnel vision and enjoyment of blasting Chruul ships into oblivion meant that I sunk all my time and resources into one fleet.  By the time I cobbled together a second fleet things were starting to get chaotic.  New structures called "spires" were spawning many Chruul ships that I just couldn't handle quickly enough.  I had to take them down AND continue to collect resources and expand my base.  It was just too much.  I managed to barely fend them off but the crisis became dire when I realized I didn't have enough crew members to crew tier 3 ships.  An uber-Chruul ship was heading toward my base and I had no options for quickly cobbling together a fleet of tier 3 ships.  Once the Chimera arrived it immediately blasted my base into pieces.  Game over.

I've learned a few things from my failure that might help some others avoid the same fate so here are a few handy tips.

Tip #1--Colonies are important.  Don't neglect them or they will get destroyed and then you will lose the resources.  I lost all but one colony that was generating crew members.  It's important in the early game to establish outposts on those colonies.

Tip #2--Train more officers ASAP.  It wasn't my first priority and by the time I had another batch they were too low-level to do much good.

Tip #3--Use your re-rolls.  Having a set of officers with a wide variety of combination options is vital to success.  I did not use my re-rolls and ended up with some weak combat options.

Tip #4--Gather those resources.  Don't let them waste away on planets.  Make a plan for having at least one ship that is dedicated to keeping you supplied.

Tip #5--Build the next tier of ship hangars quickly and have enough resources in reserve that you can immediately start cranking out more powerful ships.  This might be a little bit of wishful thinking and is really difficult, but I think it's possible.

I plan to start my new and improved game 2 soon.  We'll see if I really learned any lessons from my first round of failure.