...and my dog ate my homework.

Okay, so I made myself late to work today. Worth it? If you're my mom, then no. If you're a fan of games: a little bit.

The demo gives you one mission to replay ad-infinitum, and a persistent demo character that you can upgrade til your heart's content. From an outsider's perspective, it looks sort of like a cyberpunk Battlefield 3, complete with weapon and character ability upgrades. I only played a little bit of BF3 in beta, so I can't really speak to any differences between the two.

My only question is if the "Breach" ability is too powerful? It's like the game almost has an "Easy" button. Grenade incoming? Breach to prevent detonation. Enemy shields? Breach 'em away! Squadmate low on health? Breach them back to full health in a matter of seconds. The cool part about it is the fact that more than one person can Breach a single item at a time in order to speed up the breach process, which comes in handy while breaching bosses or reviving teammates.

I only got about 40 minutes in this morning, and I was playing on the easier difficulty, but I'm definitely looking forward to playing more tonight.

Later,

RHD

For the past couple of years, I've been kicking around some game ideas... Now I want to try to make some happen.

I've had some odd aversion towards programming; I don't know why, but it may be related to my own attention span. Or lack thereof.

SO! I've decided to force myself to learn python. Not an ideal language for games, from what I gather, but it's a start. I was inspired by this story I found while searching the Interwebs for "how to program a game" or something similarly amateurish. Then, I decided to post something about it here, for people to glance at half-heartedly, or so that they could ridicule me into either shitting or getting off the proverbial pot.

Either way, I'll probably be side-tracked by something else in the next day or two, and won't post to this blog for another several months.

Later,

RHD

p.s. I'll lose the quotations around "Dev" once I've got something to show for it.

Never in my entire life have I seen a fun and interesting idea hampered by such a clusterfuckingly terrible control scheme as I have in UNO RUSH. "Set your cards in order to send multiple cards into the discard pile! EASIER SAID THAN DONE! Press "A" to attach your pointer to a card? WHY NOT HOLD "A?" The top card at discard changes too quickly for a double tap. Also, thanks for forcing the player to move a card from one end of the hand to the other, especially after several mishaps caused by the games sluggish controls have left the order of your hand making less sense than the diary of a dyslexic with Parkinson's on CRYSTAL FUCKING METH! And what's worse? If you're using any controller other than Player 1 (regardless of which profile you have signed into said controller) you will be signed in as guest, and will receive ABSOLUTELY NO ACHIEVEMENT CREDIT/PROGRESS ON YOUR PROFILE FOR HAVING TO ENDURE THIS BASTARDIZATION OF AN AMARACANFUCKINPASTTAAAAAAAAEEEEEMIWANNACHOKEAFUCKINKITTEN!!!!

In summation, I don't believe that UNO RUSH should be played when one is trying to start their day, highly competitve, or is prone to violent outbursts, as I found myself on the verge of whipping my controller through my television. And I am not one who is prone to violent outbursts.

Now I'm going to play some Superman 64 to help me calm down.

Later,

RHD

p.s. Do not worry, the kitties are safe... for now.

Lately, I've been keeping busy with the Steam Treasure Hunt; the way I see it, I might be lucky enough to be one of three people to win 100 games on Steam! (I almost hope not; I can barely find time nowadays to actually play games I've got.) I do enjoy it, however, because it's made me start playing more of the games that I've purchased, but have never really gotten around to playing. For instance, today had three challenges; Two were achievement challenges for Metro 2033 and Just Cause 2 (which I guiltily bought today for $7.50) and a leaderboard score challenge for Beat Hazard.   

I think I accidentally got Beat Hazard over the Thanksgiving break in one of the many Indie Bundles I purchased. I sort of wrote it off as a straight Geometry Wars clone, just with less 'geometry' and just 'wars;' I'd also written it off because I'd already played Audiosurf, and frankly, how many games do I need to "play with my music?" I was surprised to find that Beat Hazard was actually a bit deeper than that. 
 
Beat Hazard is, at it's core, a very simple game. You fly around space, a la Asteroids, shooting anything and everything that moves, and dodging various projectiles. While doing so, you try to keep your score multiplier, weapon power, and music volume up as much as possible, in order to become the titular "Beat Hazard." The part of the game that really gets me is that there's a Call of Duty-esque leveling system that adds perks to the core gameplay (i.e. increased multiplier bonuses, start with powerups, etc.) I finally managed to set the leaderboard score I needed for the Treasure Hunt, but I think I'm definitely going to go back to the game and explore it a little more. After the promotion is done, of course. 
 
Okay, I think that works for a semi-coherent blog post. Gonna go back to Mirror's Edge. Hopefully this won't suck. 
 
Later, 
 
RHD 
 
EDIT: The GB blog doesn't recognize tab breaks. Duly noted.

Killin' time and killin' necromorphs: despite having Brutal Legend and Mirror's Edge both out on the GameFly account, I've recently picked Dead Space up again. I guess I'm doing it so I don't feel like I'm wasting time while I catch up on shows via Hulu. 
 
I'm getting close to S-Ranking it again, this time on the 360. I'm not sure if I'm doing it because I actually like the game, or if I'm doing it because I feel the need to have the game on my S-Rank list for GB. I have started to notice some things about the game, though: 

• The use of fog to obscure long hallways doesn't only add a creepy ambiance and (presumably) cut down on draw distance, but is also a great mechanic for keeping the player on their toes.
• Ragdoll physics can make an otherwise saddening and disturbing scene and make it delightfully goofy (Obtaining Kinesis Ability)
• The torso dismemberment of Issac is kinda weird looking. Especially with the rig jutting out of his lower torso.
• Fuck the Dividers; for those of you playing at home, they're the tall ones that split up into smaller necromorphs that keep flinging themselves at you.
• There was a clipping issue after a dragging tentacle fight in the game where I clipped through the floor immediately after killing the tentacle, and died. Funny part is that you get to see what appears to be either a fall animation (which never really happens in game) or what appears to be a knockback stagger infinitely looping.

Okay, blogging... 
 
Blogging, blogging, blogging... sounds like a river sport to me now... 
 
*sigh* 
 
Cherry Crush, while a somewhat sound idea, is terrible. Just wanted to give fair warning to all. 
 
 Yesterday I had a job interview for a QA Tester position with a local game developer (intentionally not saying which one.) I think the interview went well; especially considering the fact that I accidentally entered through their kitchen in a suit, it lasted an hour, one of my interviewers called me out on getting the idea to bring in bound copies of my resume and cover letter from a website. I'm not sure if I should send a thank you note or not. Then again, the website says it would be a good idea. 
 
My achievements finally came in on GB! Which is great, because I really needed everyone to know that I simulated 30 years of Madden 06. 
 
On the topic of 360 games, I need to make a quick PSA here: 
 

HURRY UP AND GET DORITO'S CRASH COURSE BEFORE DECEMBER 26! IT'S FREE, AND SURPRISINGLY FUN! I REPEAT, DASH OF DESTRUCTION DOESN'T HAVE BALLS ON THIS GAME. 

Out of boredom during my new overnight work schedule, I've been trying to find new and useful ways to kill time. And since my gaming computer is currently in my bedroom (where my significant other sleeps) I'm currently unable to work through my Unreal Technology books (on her netbook,) so I decided to start building my Gamerscore with various titles procured from Gamefly. And it isn't as easy as just lining up a ton of easy games and blowing through them; currently, availability on Avatar: TLA:TBE is "Very Low" and it usually takes a few days for them to decide to ship games to me... long story, short; I just finished Madden 06 in a day, and it's made me realize even more than I already knew that Gamerscore, while somewhat addictive, is a huge waste of time.  
 
And as I sit in solemn silence, crashing through waves of the footclan, I just can't shake the feeling that I'm wasting more time than I should be during the wee hours of the morning. 
 
May crash soon. Thanks for the rantspace, GB. 
 
Later, 
 
RHD 
 
p.s. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is actually pretty fun. Especially for only $2. Black Friday, for the win.

The recent announcement of  Street Fighter X Tekken (and vice versa) is sort of a scary concept to me. As a Tekken fan, I've had several conversations with people about fighting games, at which some point the phrase, "3D fighters suck," is uttered.  
 
 And for a while there, I disagreed.  
 
I always felt like the Tekken and Soul Calibur franchises were both fun and challenging. To me, Tekken 5: DR was the bees, knees; no projectiles, no super attacks... just a straight fight between a robot with feelings, and a pair of kangaroos with boxing gloves. Just as nature intended. 
 
After the disappointing releases of Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur IV, I had basically given up on Bandai Namco altogether; the inclusion of Star Wars characters to help push a LucasArts game was a heavy burden for a Namco fanboy... but the emptiness felt during the entire playthrough of Tekken 6's Story Mode were the real nails in the coffin. 
 
Now I hear about TxSF. 
 
Namco... I really want things to go back to the way they were. I miss being able to play Tekken with friends, and not have them remind me that they brought over SSF4. I want to look forward to the next Soul Calibur, without having to worry that you'll be including Aang, in order to push a new game for "The Last Airbender," or some other shit that might be deemed equally reprehensible. 
 
But know this: If you can make this game right... Even if it isn't in 3D... without pulling some kind of dubious move... I just might buy Enslaved. 
 
Later, 
 
RHD 
 
p.s. SFxT is definitely gonna be good. I'm sure of it. I just hope that Pac-Man is a playable fighter.

Never thought I'd say this, but I've been having a lot of fun just adding things to the GB wiki.  Just attaching concepts, objects and stuff has been a lot of fun. I've also noticed that there are several empty articles on the site that are from games that I grew up with and have fond memories of; this sort of leads me to believe that I was in to some really crappy games. Then again, I did own Dick Tracy for the NES as a kid.  
 
Okay, that's the exception to the rule. Hated that one. On the other hand, I loved Shaq Fu. 
 
Man... I was a weird kid. :/ 
 
Later, 
RHD