LadyCrimson

Haha!

The Walking Dead - oooo that was a good one. So many pieces falling into place. Now I have to wait "forever" to see the conclusion of the season. Also:

Bonus points to those who can point out when to use comma before 'who' (without using google) After "those" ... I'm guessing. Grammar was never my strong suit. I watched Madagascar3, after hearing how it's the best of the series. It was cute I guess, but I'm not sure I'd agree with the best part.

Diablo2 didn't have a lot of creepy atmosphere, I'd agree. It was a big step down from Diablo1, imo, in that regard. But it still had more than Diablo3. I can understand that some people don't like darkish games/areas and everyone has different eyes (I sit in my PC room with no lights but the glow of the monitor most of the time, myself). But ... to have everything as visually light as if I'm walking around in daylight everywhere, that just doesn't feel very immersive. I don't walk around in pure daylight or 1000 florescent tube lit offices all the time in real life. I like lighting that fits the situation. An unexplored, unoccupied cave shouldn't be brightly lit, and even dungeons with torches are unlikely to be sunshine bright. The point is atmosphere (if you walked into a dark cave, you're going to need a flashlight, right?) It's been a long long time since I've played a (singleplayer) game that didn't allow me to pause at least almost whenever I wanted, even if only via the ESC button. Even the few NES games I played let you pause. Not saying games that don't let you pause don't exist, but...I'm pretty sure P.E. isn't going to be one of them. There's no gameplay point to pause-whenver, but there is a real-life point to them.

My husband is fond of mentioning this radio interview of Chris Rock that he heard one morning, where Chris said something like "Voice acting has been the easiest buck I ever made. Walk in, sit in a booth, talk for a while, go home with big paycheck." And I dunno...occasionally I've heard amateur/volunteer voice work in mods and such that were ok, but most of the time ... they're quite terrible. It's not just whether you have a decent speaking voice, but how well you use it. That Blue Planet video, the intro narration is awful and it lasts forever. The gameplay voice stuff is better but still lackluster.

Maybe because "The Creators of PST and Others Hint At A New Game That Might Be A Spiritual Successor to Planescape Torment" makes for a rather long forum thread title?

Diablo3 had no sense of creepy atmosphere. I'm not going to claim it was only because of a lack of darkness (even the caves weren't dark), but .... it was pretty dull. I don't remember having to crank up brightness in Diablo2 to see anything. I thought they did a good job of having it be dim/moody without being blind. Maybe you needed a new monitor.

Well, it's obviously not a torch. Aside from the elf mage's hand glowing rather obviously with magical power, It's highly likely just an artistic element meant to emphasize "these guys are who you should focus on." The orange end of the color wheel for the bad guys' blue (lazy work, Obsidian artist, btw.) I think the glow is actually an extension of the mage's glowing-hand spellcasting. His spell is doing some kind of radius ground effect that spreads out. The Monk has the glow around his fists, presumably from casting some Fisty-damage spell, and Cadegund has the glow around her back/shield with her hand touching an amulet as if casting a protective spell. eg, it's the artists representation of a cast-spell effect. ....and, er, to be on topic ... I like it when games have darkened areas that require extra lighting to see really clearly, but I don't tend to like it to be actually pitch black. So you can, if you want, walk around in dim lighting, unable to see things well in the distance, but if you use a torch/spell, rooms become well lit and with their original colors (if any) and you can see much more detail from a lot farther. That is, you can play without using the torches/spells, but there is visual advantage to using them.

It's possible - I don't keep up with city events like that. And from the way people were opening their doors to stand in their front yard looking around, I'd guess most of my neighbors don't either. But yeah...could be. It was coming from the general direction such an event might take place. And today ... I am being a lazy old fart. Still in my bathrobe, but thinking about showering and going out for a bite to eat. Last episode of Walking Dead TV series (for the year) tonight. With the set-up from the past couple weeks...should be interesting.

Me either. I did buy it way back when (the disc is still around somewhere) but when I fired it up then, for some reason I couldn't get into it. I was probably expecting something different, or was still too into another game at the same time....whatever the reason, I never went back. I kept meaning to but y'know how it goes sometimes. But I find this news interesting....at this point in my life I'd definitely like more options re: RPG's that at least feel a bit more classical, so to speak, so anything that may lead in that direction I'll be keeping an eye on.

I'm not a very sophisticated reader, so I wouldn't really know. I often can like one-dimensional/archetype/cliched characters, if the story they're within captures my imagination for some reason. My criteria for reading fiction generally goes like this: "Is the story/characters capturing my attention, do I care about what's happening, am I able to get lost in the story so I "see images" instead of words on a page?" If the answer is no, I get bored and stop reading. That's it. At any rate, this isn't supposed to be only a fave author thread and I'm getting a little off-topic. I think we can have authors that may have aspects in their works that we'd like to see in P.E., without having to have those authors be our favorites, or even having to like the author overmuch - mood, setting, overall story arc. For me it largely means memorable characters.

I love James Clavell. As to the rest ... there is nothing wrong with people liking stuff that may not be considered very literary. I like and read all kinds of authors, from the ones you mentioned that you can't stand, to ones more people would probably deem "quality/literary." On the other hand, I also have liked a book from an author, than disliked another book from the same author. No author is divine, and no writing style is for everybody. Shakespeare is supposed to be great for some reason, but y'know, I can't stand reading his stuff, even if you updated it in somewhat modernized English. But the basic themes behind his plays can make good movies.

I like it. It's fairly simplistic and doesn't have a ton of story (imo), if you're into that, but it builds a nice atmosphere of dread, curiosity, and exploration/discovery. You have to drink water quite often (or die) and make medicine occasionally. The nights are really really dark on my monitor, tho, and torches don't last very long before you have to find another stick on the ground. Limitations like only being able to carry one of each type of plant in your left hand at a time (3 total) are a bit annoying. But I'm having a fun time with it.

Not aging - even if it was more about appearance/strength than longevity - would be pretty cool. But even more importantly - would I never again forget where I put my car keys?

Made some tapioca pudding. It was delish. So....here's what I heard tonight. It went on for about 10-15 minutes or so. I've been scouring the 'net for early newsbits but nothing. Maybe on the 10pm local TV news. Sounds like guns at first, then starts to become more rapid. The flashes reflecting off clouds is a bit noticeable at 1:45 and 2:18. Hubby's theory: someone's giant storehouse of illegal fireworks caught fire. It was weird, anyway. The weekend excitement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3zR_SKCI3U

They change details/gameplay options a little bit, but yup, pretty similar. Except Casear3 didn't have roadblocks or any way to deal with the crazy market ladies (except by using stand-alone gatehouses everywhere). What started to annoy me tho was the pastel colors of the later ones like Zeus and even to a degree CoTN. Shallow of me, but yeah....

There is either a huge gunfight going on downtown or some kind of explosion effect. Horizon flashes (can see them from backyard), fireworks sounding rapid booms, a few sirens.

Played another level of Theme Hospital. It's still fun, and I'm sure it gets a lot harder in later levels, but the whole time I kept thinking that what the game needed was more building. You plonk down rooms/hirelings then just sorta sit around waiting for the patient cure/financial win requirements to be met. It's a little too much "business sim" for my tastes perhaps. So I went back to Casear3 for a bit and that was much better. Which led me to thinking that maybe I should finally try Zeus (the only City-Builder of that period I haven't tried/don't own)...which led to me discovering Tilted Mill is making a new CB game! Yay! I'm totally starved for a new CB. I thought it was dead, never to return....

I dunno if anyone else here but me would be interested, but I discovered tonight that Tilted Mill is making a new city builder. I don't expect it will be a high-budget type title, but I've missed city-builders so much that I can't help but be hopeful/excited. It's going to be called Medieval Mayor and will be in 2d, and perhaps going back at least a bit towards "old school/classic style" mechanics vs. Caesar4. They have a very new webpage for the game, which doesn't have much of anything on it yet, and there was a nice long interview with Chris Beatrice on Games Arena.

Bad weather so often ends up with more frequent automobile accidents. :/ ...be safe people. This evening: sparkling cider (don't like alcohol, but I love sparkling cider), a good meal, a movie, a comfy loveseat, and a spouse to share it with. That is all.

Maybe Richard Adams. He made me care about the lives and legends of fuzzy bunny rabbit characters (actual rabbits) trying to find a land to call home, and their struggles to find mates and peace. The key words are "care" and "characters." It didn't matter that they were little bunny rabbits. They were some of the most awesome characters ever. ...but mostly, just this, really.

Was rewatching the film F/X and its sequel last night. I miss Brian Dennehy's presence in the movies. He wasn't always in the best films, but he was one of those actors where a film might feel suddenly improved by his appearance. I know he's still around, in theater and occasional small roles, but y'know what I mean. Think I'll watch Silverado again.

I know we don't "divide the spoilers" anymore, but it'd be nice if people would remember to use the spoiler tags occasionally, or at least warn that one's post will have some spoilers in it..particularly if a game isn't very old/lots may not have gotten around to playing it yet. Just a thought.

I love that movie (didn't read the book), but ... yes, I wouldn't want that either.

Well, I've been reviewing the thread off and on this morning, and while Hormalakh has made an admirable effort to keep it P.E. related, it is starting to feel like a general rehash of past threads. There's enough P.E. reference, however, that I don't think a thread-move is quite applicable either. My solution then, with apologies to Hormalakh, is to close this thread and to point people towards the current "piracy" discussion thread in the Computer and Console forum.