Dragon Age – first gameplay video
18th July 2008 | Games
So, the first trailer for Dragon Age didn’t impress me much, but it didn’t show any gameplay, just some trite cutscene. Now, BioWare has released the first gameplay video – something more palpable to judge the coming game by.
Dragon Age gameplay looks good.
I must say I am pleased with what I saw: the camera-view in combat is good, enemy behavior surprised me, and the interface is reminiscent of the good old Infinity Engine look.
For some odd reason, the fact that it’s a game where you can real-time pause gives me more hope than anything else that it will be a high-quality RPG. I guess it’s because it instantly reminds me more of Baldur’s Gate II – my all-time favorite game – than eg. Oblivion – a game I didn’t care much for – despite the graphics. The pause system will add a heavy strategy element to the combat; without it, it would probably have been more of a hack-and-slash, similar to Dungeon Siege and Diablo, and we don’t want that, do we?
According to a thread I just read on the official Dragon Age forum – a place I haven’t followed as much as I’d like – there will be plenty of areas in the game that aren’t combat-focused, meaning cities and villages where you can talk to people and trade and stuff like that. It was mostly that which made BG2 so much better than Icewind Dale; the latter was a good, linear dungeon-trudge, while the former felt like an living, breathing world.
I’d love for Dragon Age to be a Christmas title, but according to Wikipedia, it’s set for release Q1, 2009.
Tags: BioWare, CRPG, Dragon Age, PC, RPG, video
Dragon Age – Fantasy as usual
13th July 2008 | Games
BioWare has put out an uninteresting trailer for the upcoming CRPG Dragon Age … See for yourself.
Looking at this uninspiring video didn’t make me any more excited about DA, but I am excited about the game, simply because I don’t have choice. When you’re an CRPG fan these days you have to be thankful for the few scraps you’re given.
This game has, from what I could gather, been in development for several years, and when we finally get a peek at it (at a cutscene) it’s this.
The only thought the trailer inspired – except from the disappointing-but-expected fact that it didn’t show any gameplay – was that it didn’t look like much I haven’t seen before. It’s humans (in an alliance with elves?) versus monsters (orcs and goblins?). We make for the refuge of Helm’s Deep! Archers!
No, I don’t know much about the game universe yet, and I shouldn’t make a judgement before I play the game, etc., but if it’s something new and interesting they’ve made, why are they showing us this?
Why couldn’t it have been humans versus humans instead? Why does it have to be orc-like monsters versus humans (with grim odds, of course) in a dark, rainy standoff? They (BioWare) made this universe themselves, and were free to come up with something more subtle. And why does it have to be epic? Can’t there be a fantasy game without making it epic? I guess it has to look easily recognizable and “safe” to potential customers – tried-and-true – so they know what they’ll get when they buy it. Can’t go with something new and inspiring – no no.
If I remember correctly, this game got an award at E3 2005. For what exactly? <sarcastic answer here>
Oh, and the new name – Dragon Age: Origins – sounds too familiar and video game-like. There’s Project Origin coming – the sequel to F.E.A.R.
Tags: BioWare, CRPG, Dragon Age, PC, trailer, video
Cloverfield audio commentary
20th June 2008 | Audio Commentaries
Cloverfield – Two-Disc Special Edition DVD
Commentary by director Matt Reeves
The entire commentary from director Matt Reeves is pretty much just director-talk – more so than I expected. It’s almost entirely about the technical aspects of directing a film – shooting, camera work, cutting, etc. – and hardly any speculations about The Monster and other things most people probably thought about after watching the film the first time. It’s interesting for anyone who wants to know about movie-making, but Reeves doesn’t hold your hand, and uses some jargon that not everyone might understand: for example he uses words like “post,” meaning “post-production.”
I personally prefer a more varied commentary from a director, like the average Ridley Scott commentary, where he talks about pretty much everything that went into the production, while at the same time reflecting on the story and the characters.
When I first saw Cloverfield it left me with a lot of questions, but Reeves doesn’t answer many of those, expect that he sheds some light on the fate of the character Marlena. I guess that is fine for some, and maybe Reeves wants to keep some of the mystery intact. The commentary would have benefited a lot if he had done it with producer J.J. Abrams or writer Drew Goddard. A separate one with all the central characters would have been fantastic.
Overall a pretty good commentary with focus on the technical aspects of movie-making that a director would know better than anyone else.
For those who want to know more about the the Cloverfield monster, you should read the interview with creature-designer Neville Page.
Tags: Cloverfield, DVD, Matt Reeves
Sound Blaster problems with Vista SP1
11th May 2008 | Hardware, Software
Unrelated pictures
After I downloaded and installed Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista Home Premium (x64), it could no longer play sounds. If I for example tried to play an mp3 file, WinAmp would start, but the song wouldn’t begin.
I reinstalled the drivers for my Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty card, and sound now works as it should.
There was nothing about sound card drivers in Windows Update (possibly because they weren’t really new), and I found no errors in the Device Manager.
Creative sound card drivers: http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/
I have had no other problems after installing SP1 — yet.
On a semi-related note: I recommend using a program called X-Fi Mode Changer, which makes changing modes (Entertainment and Gamer) less of a headache.
Tags: creative, drivers, Sounder Blaster, sp1, vista, windows
Thoughts on GameSpot and CNet in regards to the firing of Jeff Gerstmann
8th December 2007 | Games, Internet
Another game, another time.
We don’t know for certain the details as to why exactly Jeff Gerstmann was fired from GameSpot, because of all the hush-hush, and we might never know; but every indication we’ve received so far states that CNet did not like the fact that Gerstmann didn’t give high enough scores to AAA titles as often as other big gaming sites do. It wasn’t just the 6.0 he gave to Kane & Lynch, it seems; though that was probably the final straw. In other words, they want GameSpot to be more like GameSpy and IGN. So he had to go.
I wasn’t even a fan of Jeff Gerstmann, but it’s not about what I think of him as a person; it’s about what CNet want GameSpot to be. As long as CNet operates the way they do, in light of what has happened, I can not trust GameSpot as a source for gaming editorials any more. I cancelled my Total Access subscription last week, and I will not frequent any CNet websites again — not even GameFAQs! I will probably check in at GameSpot again, from time to time, to see who’s working there and what changes have been made, but that’s it.
I’ve been a member for many years now, and it pains me to see everything that has unfolded recently. I will miss The HotSpot the most, their weekly podcast (I’ve heard every single episode, I think). I feel sorry for the guys working there, because what they’ve worked hard for for many years have been given a solid dent by people who only think profit. CNet is just too big of a company for a site like GameSpot.
Last week I was pretty sad on GameSpot and Jeff’s behalf, and angry at CNet and Eidos; but as things have become a bit more lucid, I don’t think I have enough reason to give Eidos flak. Yes, it’s been confirmed that they weren’t happy with the score that was given to Kane & Lynch — obviously — but it’s CNet that pulls the strings here. Therefore, I will not boycott Eidos games.
Some relevant links:
- The Penny Arcade comic that started the rumors
- This week’s episode of The HotSpot, in which several staff members shed some light on what’s been going on.
- The latest On the Spot, which includes a Gerstman tribute.
If I could have my way, the remaining staff members would band together with Jeff and some of the former members, like Greg Kasavin and Rich Gallup, to form a new, kick-ass gaming site in the spirit of the older GameSpot — but that’s just a childish thought with hardly a shred of probability.
I could have posted the video review of Kane & Lynch, like everyone else who have written about this drama, but as was stated in the aformentioned HotSpot epsiode, it had really nothing to do with CNet’s decision to fire Jeff Gerstmann.
Tags: cnet, eidos, gamespot, jeff gerstmann
Where the fuck is my Companion Cube?!
15th October 2007 | Games
In my one-blog-post-a-year series, it’s time again to talk about games.
If I last week had to name the funniest game I’ve ever played, I’d probably say Fallout 2. A game called “Portal” now rubs shoulder with that old giant.
Had you also asked me what I consider to be the most refreshing gameplay experience I’ve had in recent memory, I’d say Darwinia without too much pondering. Today, a new kid on the street — yes, Portal — now stands taller than any other in that category.
You get my point. Good work. Keep it up and there’ll be cake for you at the end of this blog post.
Ah, there you are. Let’s never fight again.
So I pretty much knew what to expect from Portal: A few screenshots and reading a couple of preview-paragraphs clued me in quickly; and ten years of 3d gaming have taught me to adapt swiftly to whatever’s thrown at me as far as first-person games go. There are things, on the other hand, that I had no idea about regarding Portal — and I’m NOT gonna spoil any of that for you, except by reiterating and say that the game is funny, quirky and that it will take you for a little unexpected ride, albeit a bit short. Had I extensively read previews and listen to people who already had played it, I would have been robbed of the many surprises. I know that now.
The PC-gaming community seem to have been head over heels about Orange Box for quite some time. Me, not so much: I haven’t even completed Half-Life 2; I played Team Fortress so briefly back in the days that I guess you could say that I haven’t actually played it at all; Portal sounded interesting — and that was that. The likes of Call of Duty 4, Acronym-Stalker and Crysis interested me far more. Silly me. I used to root for id; now I’m a Valve guy.
Listening to the audio commentary in the game, after playing through the whole thing — there’s audio commentary, people! — makes me appreciate even more the work that went into this game. Like the testing-phase, where the developers took note of how clueless people play the game, and tweaked it accordingly. I am glad they don’t let me die easily in the first half of the game, and that there’s no time-limit on the puzzles; I take my time and play around till I figure it out. No looking for ammo, or watching my back for headcrab-infested scientists; just plain fun that makes me simper like a dazed hippie.
Now Portal have left it’s residue on my mind: When playing my everyday first-person shooter I instinctively think, “out-portal on ceiling over there … and the in-portal right in front of me right here,” to save me some time. It’s kind of like how I think “CTRL+Z” when accidentally breaking something in real life. Also, the idea of how I could, with the help of a Aperture Science Handheld Portal DeviceTM, could stick my hand into the wall right beside me and pick up a refreshing beverage from the fridge … There was a Simpsons episode about that, I think.
And Peggle was fun as well, but where’s teh skillz?
And before I pull the plug: Anyone else think there should be a Companion Cube in the Valve store?
No cake. Sorry. It’s beyond my skill and comprehension.
KeePass: Storing Passwords Securely
15th October 2006 | Software
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that for some time I’ve stored a lot of sensitive information inside plain text files on my hard-drive; not passwords, but rather an extensive list of usernames, URLs, and such, in order for me to keep track of the numerous websites and services I’ve registered on to.
After doing some research on e-mail encryption (OpenPGP, GnuPG, etc.) I accidentally came across PasswordSafe, by Bruce Schneier, the creator of the Blowfish algorithm. It was a neat program designed to store usernames and passwords securely. I added some of my passwords, to try it out, backed up the encrypted file …
Then, a couple of hours after trying PasswordSafe, I stumbeled on KeePass, another open-source program, similar to PasswordSafe, except that it most notably packed a lot more features. Instead of using Blowfish, it uses AES or Twofish; it doesn’t say that much to me, but I know all of these algorithms are supposedly very good, so it makes little difference. After trying out these two programs, I can wholeheartedly recommened them both, but I think KeePass is superior, because it has more options available to you. My only gripe with it is that the developers refuse to add an e-mail field; a shame, really.
I got two KeePass databases now: One for the accumulating website usernames/passwords I have gathered throughout the years, and another core database with only a few, very important passwords stored inside; I only have to write down the master password for the latter and I got it all covered. Just remember, if you want to do this, to make a long and complicated master password, write it down, and back up the encrypted database file on a removable disk!
Download KeePass for Win32 (unofficial ports to other OS, like Linux, available).
Version 1.06 was released yesterday.
Thumbs up for HDClone
13th September 2006 | Software
My primary hard disk–Seagate Barracuda, 80GB–started making grating noises this summer. I figured it was a sign that it was growing old and could die on me any time, so I bought a new one–a Hitachi Deskstar, 250GB.
Of course, then I had to reinstall Windows XP, all the games and software, patches, hacks and fixes, customize and tweak everything so that it would be like it used to, lest I’d go crazy. The task was so daunting, however, that I just installed Windows, and let the then-new hard drive collect dust for a couple of months … till I stumbled upon HDClone.
HDClone lets you make identical copies of your hard drives for free. At least there’s a free, stripped-down version of it; you can only copy from small drives to a bigger ones–not the other way around–and SafeRescue and verifying mode is missing.
Copying everything (free version copies 0.3GB/min) took over four hours, but it was well worth it, because everything worked like I expected it too. Of course, you could argue that I should have formatted, because of all the junk that accumulates in Windows over time (I’ve had the same installation for about three years!), but since I’ve had so few problems with it, and that it would take so long to reinstall everything, I decided I could live with some of the digital germs which probably hide here and there.
By the way, Hitachi Deskstar hard disks are even more silent-running than Seagate Barracuda, so I can definitely recommend them if that sort of thing is important to you.
Window-control with the mouse
15th March 2006 | Hardware, Software
Just thought I’d share a couple of very handy binds I use to swiftly control windows and programs in Windows XP with my mouse.
The “scroll up” and “scroll down” buttons weren’t terribly useful to begin with, because the wheel was so much quicker, so I thought I’d rebind them into something better: close and minimize the currently selected window or program.They’re immensely handy; I use them all the time, and if I use someone else’s computer it feels like a chore to minimize or close a bunch of windows using those small buttons on the screen.
I bind these to my Logitech MX518 using SetPoint. I also recommend using TweakUI, so that the window your cursor is hovering over is automatically selected, making the aformentioned binds quicker to use.
When my MX500 broke, I thought about buying the then-new Razer Diamondback, but as it didn’t have those extra scrolling buttons I quickly settled for MX518.
Tags: Mouse
Baldur’s Gate II: Five Years Later
27th December 2005 | Games
Though Baldur’s Gate II: The Shadows of Amn had its five-year anniversary in September, it is now five years ago that I first got to play it myself; I received it as a Christmas present.
Anomen, Yoshi, Minsc, Boo and me out for the midnight sales.
I was more than familiar with Japanese console RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, but so-called CRPGs (computer role-playing games) was entirely novel to me. I had read rave reviews and had sort of fantasized about how great the game would be days before I got it, but after the lengthy install and about 15 minutes of “dice-rolling”, I finally got to play it …
And I hated it.
It was damn hard for me to admit it to myself after all that anticipation, but the game I had awaited for so long was no fun! The gameplay was unintuitive and frustrating, and the sheer amount of rules, abilities and spells was completely overwhelming to me, as I had never played pen-and-paper RPGs before. I think I spent nearly a day, real-time, trudging my way through Irenicus’ dungeon, which quite frankly haven’t gotten any more exciting over time. However, when I finally made my way to Waukeen’s Promenade, into daylight, I was hooked! I know for a fact that this has been the case for many a BG2 newbie, reading dozens of confessions on the BioWare forums; the first part of the game is not a warm welcome to newcomers.
I think I played as a Sorcerer the first time, because that sounded pretty cool to me, but I never got any farther than at the beginning of Underdark as my character was flawed with poorly distributed ability scores and wrong spells; I didn’t understand much of the AD&D rules at the time. This is not a game for those who aren’t willing to put a vast amount of time and effort into learning and mastering a computer game: “What does THAC0 mean again?”, “Lower Armor Class is better, right?”–you know the drill if BG2 was a completely new gaming experience to you. I remember being utterly frustrated with it so many times, but in retrospect I can say for sure that it has more than paid off for me.
I luckily won the expansion, Throne of Bhaal, in a contest around the time of release, along with the nice Prima game guide, and since then BG2 has, along with Civilization II, Championship Manager 97/98 and Enemy Territory, been the game that I’ve spent the most time on. What ties all of these titles together is the immense replay value, where you could lose yourself for an untold number of hours without any regard for real-life problems or hassles. One more turnTM.
I subsequently purchased other BioWare/Black Isle games; Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale II, Fallout, Fallout 2 and Knights of the Old Republic. They were all good–especially PS:T and the Fallouts–but none of them gave me that special feeling BG2 did. Hard to pinpoint exactly why, but I can think of a few things: For one, in most of the aforementioned games you travel in a linear path, leaving one area for another, rarely looking back. In BG2 you always return to Athkatla between all the quests, which gives you an affection for the place. Then there’s the issue of party NPC with personalities: They were completely absent in the IWD series, great in PS:T, pretty good in KOTOR, but in BG2 they felt so integrated with the story and gameplay, unique to anything else I’ve seen. The whole story isn’t terribly original or sublime in its own right, but the length and relative non-linearity of it made it immersive and epic unlike anything else I’ve experienced in video games.
Five years later on I can say for sure that BG2 is my all-time favorite PC game. Essentially, what made it so immensely fun to me was the extravagant size of it, where you could play it for n number of times but still find new things you’d never seen or noticed before. The nearly undying replayability with all the various classes, races and quests, plus the accumulating number of mods out there. The feeling of exploring a new game world like this was a thrilling experience which has gone unmatched to this day. Whenever I think of things like the guild war between the Shadow Thieves and vampires, looking for artifacts and magical weapons in Watcher’s Keep, or the nerve-wrecking showdown in Hell, it gives me an unyielding itch to replay the game.
Now, after months of not playing it, I started a new campaign a few days ago, mostly as a symbolic celebration, really. I’m a Undead Hunter with two-handed sword proficiencies. With me I plan to have Minsc as a fellow tank, Anomen as a backup tank and healer, Imoen replaces Yoshimo in Spellhold, while I’ll probably pick up Sarevok in Throne of Bhaal.It’s become quite an installation process over time. Take a look at this:
- Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (4 CDs)
- Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (1 CD)
- Official BioWare patch
- Baldurdash fix - Fixes mostly everything the official patch neglected.
- Ascension mod - Makes boss battles harder–in some cases nearly too hard, but I don’t use them all.
- Ease-of-Use mod - Small gameplay tweaks which makes the game less of a chore.
- Tactics mod - More harder battles.
I can hardly talk about Baldur’s Gate II without mentioning DSimpson’s illustrious FAQs, which has helped me out so many times. You can find them at GameFAQs.Read GameBanshee’s five-year anniversary interview with James Ohlen and Kevin Martens from BioWare.Before I repeat myself any more–happy late anniversary, Baldur’s Gate II!
