Gamer, Blogger, Student

James Reynolds

jamesr87[.at.]gmail.com

:3 Sleep Plz :3

You may also note that in my last post I used an embedded google docs spreadsheet to show a list of my steam games … Well I’ve decided that a more thorough catalogue should be had. I love cataloguing my interests in much the same format as my BGG collection which I used to track what games I have, what I thought of them and what games I saw that interested me. Given the sheer number of weird and whacky games I play and the number of blog posts I make about them it should be something I try to do regularly but we’ll see if there’s much of a point after a while.

To this end, a page was added at the top next to the home button: Games will contain this spreadsheet which I shall try to update regularly (though it is of course mostly for my own OCD).

AI Wars: Fleet Command

I have actually been playing AI wars recently which is a game I picked up on steam a while ago, being the very first game in my catalogue on steam it often stares at me longingly as if to say “What’s wrong with me James?” as I scroll past it to some other terrible game in the list I hear a single solitary whimper of the unwanted, misunderstood indie game.

Bunny Ears command!

It’s got a lot in common with Sins of a Solar empire, another fantastic game but with out a lot of the visual appeal. The motivation for AI Wars is also a lot simpler, there are AIs occupying a massive (very very massive) galaxy and as you go colony to colony liberating and expanding your own empire you slowly anger the AI who begins to mobilize larger forces. This continues until one of you is destroyed, hopefully them of course.

The whole game is clearly designed to be played over a few days (even weeks) which is great but not ideal. It’s also real time so that rules out the more interesting multiplayer options though I hear it does have cooperative support. This all said I enjoyed playing it and do intend to go back and play another game – The reality is that I’ll probably end up playing Sins of a Solar Empire instead, perhaps trying out the races I never really mastered. I always was a Terran kind of guy.

Epilogue

Aint that always the way? You find a game you like only to realise you’ve basically played it before but better… That isn’t wholly fair though because Sins of a Solar Empire is a pretty incredible game. I only tend to dabble in smaller games (where fast teching can lead to pretty awesome fleet dominance) but the larger games I did try really blew me away. I’ve yet to win a meaningful fight that involved more than one solar system because I was just never that good at over expansion. I’m much more the fortress by fortress approach to winning… Literally creeping those Grand Cannon’s into the enemy base one silo at a time.

Hope the new format is ok, not quite sure what I make of it. The whole point is I want to attach individual posts to individual games where possible without losing the blog content. You’ll have to tell me what you think and tell me if you have any ideas for what I should do with the blog in future.

~~James

Gamer, Blogger, Student

James Reynolds

jamesr87[.at.]gmail.com

How foolish I was! The show is constantly putting on amazing performances one after the other and the speeches given by Martin Sheen as the President could bring a nation to it’s knees. I am constantly thinking: Jed Bartlett really ran for president he’d win with the largest majority the world had ever seen! It’s amazing and here’s an excerpt from an episode I watched just the other day, but if you haven’t watched the West Wing perhaps finding the youtube version would be better:

44 people were killed a couple of hours ago at Kennison State University. Three swimmers from the men’s team were killed and two others are in critical condition. When, after having heard the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out. Ran into the fire. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight.

They’re our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. this is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard We will achieve what is great.

This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars.

I know it’s a big quote, but my God it’s awesome.

Annnnyway I’ve been indulging myself on city-sim games and if i’m honest am fairly tired of games altogether. First with missing the opening month of Wrath and second with the disappointing performance of pretty much every game i’ve bought in the last two months I can’t help but feel the industry is letting me down. I just now finished write my Rise of the Argonauts review, it’s not even remotely one of my well written reviews but that game was so unbelievably bad.

I finished Mirror’s Edge which I did enjoy and I got the no-guns achievement. I’d have preferred that game if it had no combat in it at all, they say they were being revolutionary by trying this brand new type of game out … Then why bother with gunplay at all? What a bunch of tools.

I’ve played about three hours of Fallout 3 … I honestly don’t get the reviews. It’s so very popular and yet I can barely stand it at all. It’s dirty, long and uneventful … Every time I go to play it I remember that it pretends to lend me play how I want but that’s really just a rouse. I have to use guns, there’s no other way.

I need a project … A real project to do, something I can quietly work on in my spare time but i’m not in charge of … I picked up the valve SDK last night, i’ll tinker with that but i’ll probably run out of steam really quickly.

It’s a shame … I’ll be playing Deus Ex 3 by the end of the year in all likelihood, but all I know is: I’m going to hate it.

I ordered a Murloc Plushie and a I <3 Starcraft T-shirt … I’ll snap a photo when I get them.

Regards,
JamesR.

Oh and i’ve been going to the gym … I really rather enjoy it.

• DRM needs to fucking die
  We all know it’s true, so lets just do it.
   
• Will Wright will die in a freak ATM explosion
  Because I hope he really enjoys having “the sales and metrics of the sims 2″ you corporate sell out bitch.  
   
• Blizzard/Valve will release games within reasonable time frames
  I shouldn’t have to wait 1 1/2 years for an expansion pack.  
   
• WAR, LotRO and every other two bit crappy MMO will shut it’s doors.
  Hellgate is closing it’s doors, now it’s free to play – Watch nobody play it anyway.  
   
• Sony will get what’s coming to them
  With regards to their PR policies … I’m not anti-PS3, i’m anti Sony (and anti PS3-fanboy )  
   
• There will be a scandal surrounding the Wii
  Because they’re far too high and mighty  
   
• Someoneone will actually complete a Master of Magic clone/remake
  Seriously guys … How hard could is possibly be to make this thing work on XP without DosBox?  
   
• Blizzard will announce and release Warcraft 4 using the SC2 engine.
  Do it. Do it now you bastards.  
   
• All 3 parts of SC2 will come out
  If I have to wait 3 years for the 3 campaigns I won’t buy them out of principle. Stop sucking my life away!  
   
• Killzone 2 will be released
  So we can realise that all those clowns who bought a PS3 for it really are stupid. Killzone 1 sucked and so will Killzone 2.

That was definitely more fun, leave me things you’re hoping for in 2009 and enjoy the rest of your day!

Regards,
JamesR.

Oh and Mark, leave me the URL to your new blog in the comments, I’ll update it while i’m at work.