Tigranes

Hrm. Well I don't know how much I'll be able to carry, so may cut down, but tentatively: Couldn't resist greek fire. Clothing: Belt (0.3gp) Soft boots (1gp) Breeches x2 (4gp) Gloves (1gp) Common robe x2 (1.8gp) Tunic x2 (1.6gp) Vest x2 (1.2gp) Sword scabbard, hanger, baldric (4gp) Total = 14.9gp Other: Backpack (2gp) (2lbs) Bell (1gp) Fishhook x5 (0.5gp) Flint and steel (0.5gp) Grappling hook (0.8gp) (4lbs) Hooded Lantern (7gp) (2lbs) Mirror, small metal (10gp) Oil, Greek fire flask (10gp) (2lbs) Oil, Lamp flask x5 (0.3gp) (5lbs) Rope, silk 50ft (10gp) (8lbs) Thieves' picks (30gp) (1lbs) Wineskin (0.8gp) (1lbs) Winter Blanket (0.5gp) (3lbs) Total = 73.4gp, 29lbs Armour: Studded leadher (20gp) (25lbs) Shield, Buckler (1gp) (3lbs) Helmet, Basinet (8gp) (5lbs) Total = 29gp, 33lbs Weapons: Short bow (30gp) Knife (0.5gp) Short sword (10gp) Total = 40.5gp Grand Total = 157.7gp, 62lbs+x

We'll have a FAQ sticky up here soon, before the release. As for the other stuff, should get something coming soon as well..

The GAME website says nothing about their d/l being UK only, though. I haven't gone through with ordering because... well, I'm thinking, it will at least be one DVD (4.8gb) - I probably won't have enough bandwidth. >.< So either I pay 100NZD for a physical copy, or ship it overseas to get it cheap and wait a couple of weeks. Might just do that, and then pick up Eschalon with the spare cash.

I agree with Krezack - maybe China might have really feared Korean unification if it happened in the late 1990s, e.g. instead of the IMF. By now China's economic rise has already gained so much momentum, and politicallyw e are already seeing big overtures made from places like Australia. There will at least be a decade of problems for Korea if they unify in this half of the century, especially depending on teh manner of reunification - massive, massive problems of exploitation, regulations, unemployment, social inequality, economic distribution, political mapping, infrastructure, etc. It'll be like building a country from scratch, but harder. Koreans like to talk about how it is the population that limits them (although their abnormal concentration of millions of highly educated people in Seoul is what causes the ludicrous competitiveness in education and in later life (it's normal to work 360 days a year, +10 hours a day)), and that reunification will be the thing that takes them to the next level, but it would onlyr eally happen after ~20 years.

I remember when the Korean Won v. NZ Dollar was 700-1, and I was waiting for it to get better. Then the IMF hit and it got to 1200-1. For the record, I don't think it's EVER gotten below 700 since.

The problem with that is... well, destroying one of the largest metropolises in the world with over 15 million inhabitants, with knock on effects on the world economy.

And direct2download, they are still offering Space Siege free for pre-order. I'll be using Game.co.uk, they have a download option and 25 pounds is the cheapest I've found it anywhere (whereas gamersgate/d2d/steam are ~50US)

Survival should have an impact on how far off you hear sounds... and did FO3 have a radar? Man, I can't remember, but if it did it should affect that too. Cooking is probably like Gothic, cooked food gives you some good HP.

Trying out Eschalon Book II demo now. I think the last couple of years I've grown more tolerant of some of the clunkiness indie games might have, after playing through Ultima VII and various dosbox games. Movement is still hold-down-LMB or 'walk mode' (W) but seems alright. The setting seems very bland, which is a pity, but the whole point behind this one just seems to be Hurrah for the Glory Days, which is fine with me. I like the whole powder keg stuff, very IWD2.

I played Machinarium through with the girlfriend and it's nice for that kind of 'casual-ish' experience. The art style is really really nice, it's a flash game which means it pop ups in a second (no bugs), there are appropriate amounts of hints too puzzles which don't generally get you stuck for more than 10-20 minutes. It is fairly short. The only downside is I'd suggest they had way too many mini-games (space invaders, ping, etc) for the game length, it feels like they took up 20-25%. World of Goo is just obvious undeniable brilliantness.

You can't really ever release your game when there are zero big releases - I mean, those 'big releases' want to be the biggest kid on the block on their time, that's why they're spread out. It would have been Dragon Age before. The good thing is RDR is at least very different.

You know, there are a lot of exciting games coming out of the indie scene - it looks like the last 3-4 years have really seen it grow and get some mainstream attention. Let's talk about them. Do you play them? Why not? Bad graphics? Lack of polish? Price? Personally, I feel that it's so difficult to actually FINISH a game of some substance, it weeds out the kind of, say, people whose NWN2 mods are filled with Metal Gear Solid references and God Swords +8. Graphics are getting pretty nice, too - sometimes you find stuff with real distinct style. Anyway, come on. I'll start off talking about: Eschalon: Book II So these guys are essentially about the mid-late 90's "golden age" RPGs and recreating them. They sold a fair bit of the first game, Book I, and now the trilogy continues. Turn-based (simultaneous turns, to be precise), single-character, isometric 2D, quest&explore RPG. There are 'classes' but essentially is classless and skill-based. Fantasy world. I tried the demo to the first one and couldn't get into it because, despite very tidy graphics and good polish, they had a nutty stupid movement system where you couldn't point-and-click to walk around. I'm trying to find out if they've improved it - they have a demo available, then a full price of $25, which isn't bad given it's meant to be fairly long. Anybody tried it? Gamebiz 2 I don't even know how I found this one, but it's good fun. You are a game developer in the 1980's starting your own company. You hire people (including famous ones like Shigeru Miyamoto thrown in); you build an engine for a platform of your choice, keeping an eye on sales charts and age of the platforms; you set people to work on games; you see how it does in reviews and sales, and hopefully keep going. You can expand into building your own platform as well, and it goes up to 2006. Quite addictive. That said, here are the bad points: it was a one-man operation, and the graphics are terrible - basically a series of spreadsheets. It's not difficult to navigate, but it certainly doesn't look anything better than a glorified database. Game names are 'scrambled' to avoid licensing troubles (so you have, say, Final Scrantasy winning the yearly awards). The actual making of a game just comes down to the money, resources & people you put onto it - the focus is more on the business side of things. The third one is in development and promises to be just as ugly, but much better. Democracy 2 I've seen these kinds of games on store shelves sometimes, but I don't know if they've got a lot to do with this one. I know there's a full fledged 3D game about this out, but everything I've seen/read leads me to believe that it's simplistic and bloated. Basically, I really think this one fills a niche, is well made, and if a little simple, enjoyable. Premise is simple: you've just been elected to a fictional country and you have to balance the environment, economy, social welfare, military spending, and other policies - there are heaps of them, and they are ALL interrelated in all sorts of crazy ways - hitting the right balance is very tricky and it really does a godo job of simulating that feeling in real politics that every decision impacts 10 other decisions. You also have ministers with their own agendas, special events, etc. Your job? Keep getting elected. Interface is simple but easy to navigate, easy on the eyes. I'm not too sure about the price of $20 because I found that after 20 or 30 goes (and one game is not that long) you do sort of 'figure out' the game. But there's a demo!

See, the world today doesn't work like that. Companies don't go "Here are our terms, take it or leave it", then consumers go "OK" or "no". Companies do market research. Companies do read (or have analysis firms read) forums like these. Companies do gauge responses. Perceptions of fair and unfair do matter in company image, the decisions companies make, etc; and of course those perceptions do change. For instance, no, the target audience of AC2 for Ubisoft is not people who have persistent internet connections AND agree to the DRM. The target audience is as many gamers as possible. They're trying to argue it IS fair, trying to make people buy the game because they want it even if they dislike the DRM, trying to shift the thinking. They're playing the same game as, say, Nemo is. It's obviously not as direct and willy-nilly as "It's not fair!" "OK, it's gone", but unless you're willing to throw all thsoe very basic truths about contemporary capitalist societies...

You're not actually answering him though - you're sort of going past his arguments and answering something else. I mean, there are degrees of 'fair'. I could argue that it's not fair people with expensive computers keep wanting fancier graphics and forcing us to keep up and spend $. Or, I could argue that it's not fair that, say, a single-player game requires me to connect to the internet all the time or I can't play.. even though it doesn't do anything. You can't throw the same answer at both complaints.

Development time really has to do with when the publisher feels (a) it will sell a lot, (b) they can give it a good marketing push, © it will not be too old and delayed, (d) it comes at the right time for their own finances and planning, (e) how long they and the devs think is right for the game. Since 99% of the fans will buy it whether it comes out a few months earlier or later, they really get no say. I imagine you could just send a cheque to their office address.

That article is either very odd or very stupid. If 62% answered they are buying because they like the library of games available then they can't point to the 12% that buy it for a single specific game to say "video games dont' matter" - their research is in fact insufficient to prove or disprove such an assertion.

What the hell? Why is AP coming out on the 28th for New Zealand, when it comes out 27th in Australia? Well if it's not coming early I'll get it for 25 quid at GAME, digital download option. Suck it, local ripoffs.

Robbed from the Codex - IGN Gothic 4 impressions. huzzah! Can be turned off, thank god. Sounds like magic got even LESS interesting. I mean, what is it with Gothic and magic? I wanted some cool stuff that helps with open world - levitation, domination, etc. Hopefully we still get those.

You generally want a few production cities evenly scattered out through the empire, so that they're able to pump out military units in a hurry if that sector is hit.

Oooh. So can we start setting up initial equipment? How much do we get?

Can't you buy it digital download, at the US price? If you're going to do that I guess you were going to get RDR anyway, though.

I would love a mod where critical hits got you scars.

Wait, so nobody really wants it? Well I'll take it and try it, unless someone's PM'd big bottom already.

I like the second, but not a big difference - it's still not a bloomfest or anything. Looks like a good compromise.

Why can't you mod AP? Doesn't UE3 like mods or something?