2009 October » Troll in the Corner

Champions are you ready?

Oct 302009

I’ve been wanting to check out this game since it came out last month. I unfortunately did not have the resources to get the game, so Ben the creator of “Troll in the corner” graciously stepped in.

When I first started the game I was presented with a download like most MMO’s. It was 700mb and downloaded rather quickly. Every day after that I have had to download a 150mb patch. Now I don’t think this is really a “Normal” thing, I think its just because I just happened to start playing the game near Halloween. They are running events, adding new content and likely patching their patches, so its OK.

When you create your character you are given a ton of choices. The first choice you are given is which power set you want to choose.

I would say that the character creation is standard but its anything but that, as you can see from the picture (Left) there are a good number of powers to choose from. The best part is they give you the option to mix and choose between powers which is selected in the picture. Next they give you the option to pick your gender and change your face. They present you with a series of pre set options as well as a custom setting. Inside of the custom settings there are a ton of sliders for just about every feature of the face, so that you can truly make your face unique. Next the selection of your body type. You are also given a few main body types to select from as well as a custom settings with sliders.

The next major part is the costume or clothing. This is the most detailed part of the character creation process. It is quite similar to the City of Hero’s / Villians costume creation but there are some area’s where its more in depth. There are not as many options as there are in CoX but I blame that on the fact that the game is still pretty new. You can create an interesting array of characters, robots, beasts, aliens, undead or just a snazzy looking human. What really stood out are the extra color options, you can touch up on all the little nicks and cranny’s in your outfit.

The only problem I find with these huge character creation games is the amount of time it takes to create your character. I guess showing it off later is the real prize.

The game starts off with a tutorial, you are in Millenium City which is being attacked by aliens.

A crash from across the street alerts me as I am drinking my morning cup of tea. I quietly excuse myself to the lady’s room, slip on my goggles, dawn my suit as I like to call it and squeeze out of the bathroom window. Just down the street I see the police talking to champions. I make my way to the broken building and and officer pulls me to the side. This is where my story begins.

Next I’ll start going into game mechanics and what I like and don’t like about how they work.

[tags]Champions Online, CO, MMO, MMORPG, Video Games, Cryptic, Super Heroes, Atari[/tags]

Torchlight – the Definitive Review

PC, Video Games 2 Responses »

Oct 282009

Having spent more than a few hours with Torchlight, a new action/rpg-lite from those folks at Runic Games, I have the be all end all of review for you.

Do you like Diablo 2? If yes, you’ll like Torchlight. If no, you won’t.

That’s it. There’s the gist of this review. Torchlight is very much Diablo 2 with updated graphics. Was it worth $20? Well, if you liked Diablo 2 and want a refresh then yes. If you LOVE Diablo 2 and don’t want anyone else treading on it’s sacred territory I’d keep your $20 until D3 arrives.

The rest of this will be details, petty nitpicking and praise for lightweight, fun games.

The Good:

The graphics are much improved, if cartoony. I’ll admit that for the first ten minutes of the game I wasn’t terribly happy with the graphics but they grew on me. The outsized weapons and outfits, the silly beefiness of fighters, the cartoon zombies – they carry their own certain charm.

The game is incredibly easy to pick up and put down. Got 4 hours? Go for it. Got 20 minutes? You can still have a blast.

You now have two inventory screens – yours and your pets. Yes, your dog or cat (the only two options) can carry stuff for you, which is kind of a neat idea. They can also wield certain items (like rings) themselves. A big, fun perk is that you can load them up with the various crap items you’ve found and send them off to town to sell it for you and bring back your cash. Of course, they’ll be away from your side for a minute or so and not fighting for you.

It’s almost exactly Diablo 2 but not quite. Random dungeons, quests from town, slots in equipment into which you can insert things to give them abilities, skill trees divided by path and level, mana and health. Sound familiar? This is a good thing if you loved Diablo 2.

It’ll only set you back $20 and it can do nice big resolutions.

The Bad:

The plot is about as thick as a human hair.

You are limited to three classes. The Destroyer (fighter) the Vanquisher (ranged/rogue) and the Alchemist (magic/pets).

Should you get it? Well I had fun with it. I still have Diablo 2 laying around. Somewhere, possibly in a box. Truth to tell, dropping $20 was easier than finding it and wrestling with it to get it to run on Vista. Plus the updated graphics and resolution are a real perk.

[tags]torchlight, video games, review[/tags]

The Most Amazing, Bizarre, and Wondrous Thing I Have Heard in Years

Technology, Video 1 Response »

Oct 282009

I was planning on writing a quick review of an anime show for tomorrow, part of my plan to force myself to stay writing and posting. Instead I want to tell you about something truly amazing. (And thanks to Alf of Bridge Troll fame for introducing me)

This is a project called “The Symphony of Science.” (http://www.symphonyofscience.com/) Basically they have taken footage of Carl Sagan and other scientists talking about the Universe, some of their most beautiful statements, and turned them into music by digitally adding musical tones to the words and syllables. I know that sounds really strange and “A Glorious Dawn” doesn’t help any by starting out with cut up film of Carl Sagan making very peculiar sounds. (It’s him imitating a Whale Song, BTW) Heck, you might not even like it the first time through at all. I can guarantee though that most of you, if you actually listen to the lyrics, will not only have it stuck in your head after a couple times through, but love the songs. It’s a message about man’s potential, that despite being utterly insignificant in scale to the Cosmos, we are part of the cosmos and therefore extraordinary. Put simply it is sublime stuff.

Both songs are available to download for free of the website in both audio and video forms. We are also told there is more to come.

Personally I wish we would see more ideas like this. Science is vital to humanity, shaping most of what we know and indeed how we know it yet is often one of the hardest things to get kids excited about. For me it was Bill Nye the Science Guy who did it, along with a book called “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” Carl Sagan singing like a Cylon might not capture too many kids imaginations, but if it gets even one child to study science (be it biology or mad-science, I’m not picky) it was well worth it.

“A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns, the rising of the Milky Way.”

“The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves we will one day venture to the stars.”

[tags]Science, Carl Sagan, Bill Nye, Music[/tags]

Don’t forget Twitter for deals and quickies. Yes, quickies.

Ben's Corner, Troll in the Corner No Responses »

Oct 272009

A reminder to our wonderful readers. I post a lot of stuff on Twitter that you won’t find here. Lots of deals, quick links and other goodies that don’t justify a full post on Troll in the Corner.

Today alone I’ve tweeted about 5 (so far) freaking awesome video game deals. Don’t miss out!

[tags]deals, twitter[/tags]

Using More Skill Challenges

Role Playing Games 1 Response »

Oct 272009

Skill Challenges are something I think many GM’s have been using for years but was finally officially introduced to the D&D world in fourth edition (though notably things like this have been in other RPG’s long before this). They are a tool to help you award experience fittingly for out of combat action (or sometimes in combat skill checks).

For those who’ve not read about them yet they are for skill checks that would normally take an extended period of time and wouldn’t necessarily live or die based on one roll. So if you’re trying to climb a tall mountain maybe you need to succeed at four athletics skill checks before you miss two to successfully scale the entire thing. This way it looks more at your average aptitude, but still allows for a bad some bad luck occasionally. How many you have to make before how many you miss determines the complexity. Making four is complexity 1 and for generally for every two more successes after that you add one more complexity. Each number in complexity is worth about what killing a single monster your level is in experience. I love this because it allows me to reward my PC’s easily and fittingly without them having to enter combat or complete a quest.

All this you probably already know but this brings up a few more ideas beyond the basics. The first is using this on a larger scale and not necessarily with actual skill checks. For a while now I’ve just been setting up goals for my party and will treat each step towards that goal as a success whether or not it involves an actual skill check. All parties at some point or another end up taking the long way around a goal, this helps me reward them according to effort rather than just the end goal. It’s also a much more flexible way to do skill challenges, because your party always figures out a different way to solve a problem then you’ve planned.

The other cool thing you can do with this is combine it with a combat. Maybe there’s a trap releasing poisonous gas into the room and the rogue needs to complete a Thievery skill challenge while skeletons attack or some woman is about to give birth just as goblins burst in and needs help with heal checks. This can make an otherwise fairly normal combat a lot more difficult and a lot more interesting.

Skill challenges aren’t new to most people, but I have seen a lot of local DM’s end up just using them plainly when really I think they’re meant to help guide a DM in how to reward a party for completely (or partially) out of combat actions regularly. Obviously it should be used at your discretion and may not work for some campaigns, but I enjoy having a campaign session where there is no combat and the party still gains a normal amount of experience for their effort. I think it also encourages some of the players that are more achievement focused to not worry as much about killing as much as possible because they’ll get experience either way.

What are your ideas for how to use skill challenges? How have you uniquely used them before? Give us your feedback in the comment section below.

[tags]Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons, Skill Challenges[/tags]

EyePet for the PS3

Console, Video Games No Responses »

Oct 262009

My new pet arrived in the post Saturday morning and I spent a couple of hours hatching and playing with it Saturday evening.

It’s an exciting concept and makes use of the Playstation Eye camera accessory for the PS3. I already had a camera (bought with Eye of Judgement) so got the solo game for £17.99. The full package is around £35 from what I can see in the shops.

The initial set up is easy but you do have to have the right lighting and place the camera at the right height and position for it to work properly. By electric light the images (of you) are a bit grainy but look better in natural daylight.

First off is the hatching which doubles as a training session to get you used to how everything operates and how you should move you hands etc. At this point you also get to name your Pet – mine’s called Cookie because I’d had Hot Cookie Dough dessert at Pizza Hut earlier in the day :-) There’s a friendly scientist who gives you instructions and encouragement through the different stages. You’re also introduced to the Magic Eye board which enables you to use virtual implements such as hairdryers. Once the egg has been warmed and rocked it hatches out into a cute little monkey type creature (side note – will there be other creature options at a later date?).

The controls can be a little difficult to get used to and sometimes you can get very frustrated because your creature will not do as it’s told. I don’t think a young child would be able to do this totally on their own at first. However, once you get the hang of it you find yourself playing with and loving your new pet.

There’s levels you have to achieve before others are unlocked – this is to ensure you know what you’re doing I guess. You have to regularly scan your pet to make sure it’s well-fed and well-exercised plus you have to see to it’s creative side by encouraging it in creative activities such as drawing. Of course, my daughter’s pet is already far in advance of mine as she has spent more time with it. While I was doing the housework this morning I could hear her laughing at her pet’s antics.

It’s a different game from many PS3 titles; more on a par with the DS’s pet games but more physically interactive and loads more possibilities. You can customise your pet – mine has purple and black feathers – and also dress it in clothing and accessories that you either unlock as you spend time with your Pet or purchase from the Store. I can see me spending some time with Cookie. Worth the £17.99, I was glad to see it was sensibly priced to be honest.

Leaked Left 4 Dead 2 Trailer

Console, Movies and TV, PC, Technology, Video Games 2 Responses »

Oct 262009

I saw this and just had to pass it along. I love the first Left 4 Dead even if it does scare the heck out of me.

There’s a new set of people and it looks like there’s new types of zombies as well. I’m ready to get scared all over again. November holds so many great releases I just can’t wait!

[tags]L4D, L4D2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Valve, Ea[/tags]

Castle on TV: Hyper-reality blurs with reality a little bit more

Literature, Movies and TV 4 Responses »

Oct 262009

First off, I must apologize for not having posted anything for such a long time. It’s not what I would have liked, but certain family problems and occurrences beyond any of our control have made it very difficult for me to do any writing the last few months, both logistically and emotionally. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but hopefully I can start posting with more regularity soon, especially since I have a couple dozen review subjects backlogged, from books, anime shows, to a few pen and paper rpgs, especially the unfinished review of Unhallowed Metropolis and Unhallowed Necropolis that I have not forgotten about.

Anyway, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Castle is an ABC crime show, in the more humorous vein of shows like the Mentalist and Psych. The shows titular lead, Richard Castle, (Nathan Fillion of Firefly and Dr. Horrible fame) is a mystery writer on par with Patterson or Cannell, fresh off killing his main character out of boredom. Meanwhile Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, The Spirit) is looking at two seemingly unrelated murders with one odd thing in common: Both were killed almost exactly like murders out of Castle’s books. She brings him in for questioning, leading to him volunteering to help with the case because of his familiarity with the crimes. Really though, he offers to help because a copycat is the “Red Badge of Honor” for a writer like him, to the point that he asks for copies of the crime scene photos to take to his poker game with Patterson and Cannell. (Who make a splendid appearance as themselves in the episode)

Beckett doesn’t like Castle at all of course; He’s a womanizing man-child who doesn’t take anything seriously, lacks empathy, and gets away with everything (including, apparently, stealing a police horse naked) because of his close friendship with the mayor. By the end of the pilot they’ve solved the mystery and Castle has found his new inspiration, Detective Beckett. Again thanks to the mayor he get himself made Beckett’s unofficial partner so he can write the first novel on Nikki Heat, as much because he simply enjoys the novelty of solving real crimes as writing inspiration. The cast is rounded out by Castle’s crazy(er) mother, his 15 year old daughter who is rebelling from her family by being totally grounded and responsible, Beckett’s captain, Lanie Parish, her medical examiner friend, and Esposito and Ryan, the other partnership of detectives. All of the characters are charming and funny in their own ways, and very believable. Castle is actually in its second season, the first ten episodes airing last spring as a mid-season replacement show.

Now, why am I plugging a fairly normal (if extremely fun) crime show on a Geek blog?

Part of it, of course, is the presence of the amazing Nathan Fillion, who has somehow missed becoming a big star so far despite outstanding performances, including that of Mal Reynolds in Firefly and Serenity. Most sci-fi buffs I know love the guy, who is extremely affable for a movie star and very expressive in his work.

The main reason though is one extremely hyper-real thing to come out of the show. First though, I suppose I should explain what I mean by hyper-real. This gets me back to certain core theories of virtuality and simulacra (simulations) that are becoming much more prevalent now thanks to the internet. Basically there are several orders of simulation. The first is something like a reflection, a good and faithful representation of something else, but clearly nothing more than a representation. Second order simulacra involves things such as mass-production copies, even photo-copies themselves, where the distinction between the original and the copy is blurred, even hidden completely. Third order simulacra actually precede the original, so that it is in fact a simulation of nothing. A bit hard to understand, I know, and harder to point to in real life. The Matrix could be considered third order or high second order (the actual construct, not the whole film) because what the matrix copies doesn’t exist anymore. In anime the idea of Stand Alone Complexes (the Ghost in the Shell television series) is much the same thing, dealing with copycat crimes and behavior when no original exists.

The inevitable question is how can a mystery show deal with such post-modern ideas, beyond the level any television show does as a fictional representation of life? Well, remember I said that Castle officially follows Beckett around so he can write a book based on her? Well, as of last week’s episode it had been published and released in their fictional world, getting rave reviews and great sales. Here’s the thing though. In the real world the book, Heat Wave, was released to good reviews and an instant spot on the New York Times bestseller list a couple of weeks before that episode aired. It’s listed as written by Richard Castle, with glowing blurbs on the cover.

“Castle hasn’t lost it, Heat Wave looks like another bestseller for the thrillmaster. It’s Hot!” –James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author

“Rick Castle must have been doing his research because Nikki Heat has the unmistakable ring of truth. This book is gold. Couldn’t put it down! I’m getting jealous.” –Stephen J. Cannell, New York Times bestselling author

I’m sure the book started out as a marketing ploy, another way to promote the show, but without (probably) realizing it the produces of the show and the book’s ghost writers (Who I am guessing are named Tom and Andrew based on the post script where “Castle” called them his Sherpas) have breached the hyper-real, a simulacra of something that doesn’t exist. Luckily the book isn’t bad at all, better in fact than a lot of mysteries I have read recently. I even liked it better than the last Alex Cross novel I read (sorry Patterson) though that one was certainly well written.

It seems with every passing year “reality” becomes more distorted, less secure. Is a romance any less real because it happens entirely on a server of WoW? What about Facebook or Myspace? We are on the verge of true robotic prosthetics, (BTW, the Bruce Willis Movie Surrogates was excellent from a cyber-punk viewpoint, most of the negative reviews are because the reviewer simply didn’t get the point of the movie) exoskeletons of an Iron Man bent, (without the flying of course) and connecting computers to people’s brains so they can ‘talk’ for the first time in decades in some cases. Reality ain’t safe or secure. Enjoy the ride.

P.S.

Tonight is the Halloween Episode of Castle, and from what I can tell in the previews, Castle’s costume is that of himself, sort of. In the episode Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is dressed as Mal Reynolds. (Nathan Fillion) Nothing major (though undoubtedly good for a few laughs on our end) but still another indicator of how fluid reality had become.

[tags]Nathan Fillion, Richard Castle, Stana Katic, Hyper-Reality, Simulacra, mystery[/tags]

Older Entries