Above the Sea and Fog But Still Perpetually Obscured.

Everytime I listen to the Gladiator soundtrack, in particular the track entitled “Barbarian Horde”, I get memories of a game I used to play years and years ago.  I never could remember what it was called but today I did.  Outpost!

I remember playing it back in the mid-90s on what I referred to as the ‘Black Mac’, a Power Mac 5500 ‘Director’s Edition’. Anyway, ‘Outpost’ was developed and published by Sierra (what a wonderful studio they were) and was released for Mac and Windows 3.1.  Essentially, it was a hard sci-fi version of Simcity with dire consequences and a rather grim beginning.  Basically, the premise for the game is that a big asteroid is heading for Earth, they try and destroy it but they just split it in two, and as such the two halves will wipe out pretty much all life on Earth (pleasant!).  The player’s task is to build a colony on a nearby world that can inhabit man and prevent mankind’s total extinction.  One hell of a task.

This game was fun and rather punishing. Although I was roughly 9 when I was playing it, I was pretty decent at strategy games, so I wasn’t too horrible at it, but I did fail at it quite a bit.  Until reading the Wiki article earlier, I had no idea about some of the bugs that existed but they do explain an awful lot.

• Outpost can sometimes end abruptly, as players who choose the wrong star system in the beginning can find him/herself in a star system with no habitable planets.

• Sometimes, players will find the colonists on the planet dying en masse unexpectedly, thus causing the game to end when everyone has died. The colonists’ death rate during this occurrence is one of exponential growth, following the equation 2^n, where n is the number of turns passed since the widespread death bug began.

Ohhhh, my two main problems with the game, especially the second one. Ah well, it provided me with countless hours of enjoyment.
But as to why “Barbarian Horde” reminded me of ‘Outpost’, some of the music in ‘Outpost’ is identical to parts in “Barbarian Horde”. Yep, that simple!

I’m wanting to move away from Apple and the iPhone. Blasphemy some might say. BAH to them!  I’m planning on moving to the wonderful Android OS but I have a choice of several phones to pick from and decision making is most certainly not one of my fortés.

Google Nexus One

Pros:

• The original
• Looks smashing.
• First to get updates

Cons:

• Likely to be superseded soon.
• Is it a great upgrade from my 3GS?
• Trackball?

Samsung Galaxy S

Pros:

• Awesome specs.
• Amazing screen
• 720p video camera

Cons:

• Could be bloody pricey.
• Its a very bland design
• TouchWiz is apparently terrible

HTC Legend

Pros:

• Feels nice
• HTC Sense
• Nice price.

Cons:

• It has that stupid kink in it and doesn’t look that great.
• HTC Sense.

HTC Desire

Pros:

• The slightly different ‘other Nexus One’
• Nice price.
• Looks nice
• HTC Sense

Cons:

• Would have to get unlocked.
• Could look better.
• HTC Sense

Well, this is too damn hard to choose! Maybe I should ask you to help me pick?

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Sorry, haven’t mentioned this in a long while now but it’s still been sitting in my mind.  I think I might stop calling these GameDevGo! because in hindsight, that’s just a dumb name….be honest.  I’ve been thinking how to slow my approach down because it is rather daunting once each step is broken down.  My main problem is (I think) I’m looking too far ahead.  C++/C# will take a while to learn (even longer to use well) and in my degree, I will get to learn them.  Not only learn them, but learn how to code in them well and all the little tricks and whatnot associated with them.

So I’ve broken my language choices up into, well, 2.

Java and BlitzMax.

Why BlitzMax all of a sudden? After reading this post, I’ve decided that using a much simpler language would actually help me get my ideas into at least prototype stage.  Ideally, using Java would only help my degree, but it has a lot more stuff to sift through and experiment with to try and get something that should apparently be a bit simpler in BlitzMax.

There is one major downside to BlitzMax that could really annoy me and that is that it isn’t a true OO language.  Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard around the place.  Correct me if I’m wrong.  I’m sure this couldn’t hurt me too much but who knows (I most certainly don’t!)

Well, that’s it for now.  Au revoir GameDevGo! Salut BlitzMax.  In a couple of weeks, my exams will be over giving a couple of weeks of freedom to experiment. Maybe by the end of the holidays I’ll have something to present. Probably not, but heres hoping!

For those of you who have played many adventure games, you would (nay, should) recognise the name Jane Jensen.  If not her, then you will definitely recognise the Gabriel Knight franchise.  The last Gabriel Knight game was released in 1999. It was fantastic. Since then though, no Jane Jensen penned games have been released.  Enter 2003 when Gray Matter was dangled in front of the adventure game crowd, only to be swiftly removed until 2006 when another publisher taunted us with it’s impending release.  Once again, it disappeared back into the 9th circle of development hell until it appeared again in early 2008, with a new developer, Wizarbox.  Since then, several development screen shots and teaser trailers have been released and it seems like that Gray Matter will be getting a release and in the near future! According to the official website a release date, on both Xbox360 and PC, is the 29th of October this year.

They do have an official blog which is very seldom updated but has some good progress pictures and information.  From the posts and the information on the main website, Gray Matter is looking likely to be a great game.  Worthy enough of being the successor to Gabriel Knight? We’ll just have to wait and see, but until then enjoy some development pictures.

Well, the last day of E3 has passed and as per usual, nothing spectacular is announced, although a few things have piqued my interest.

• Gray Matter. I actually have a post about this scheduled to be published in a day or so, so this E3 appearance is a little weird.  Basically, I’m thrilled that it will actually, finally, see the light of day. In PC and Xbox 360 versions anyway.
• El Shaddai. This looks rather interesting.  A small game with two gigantic names attached to it. Definitely something to look out for.

Well, that’s about it for this years E3.  The things I haven’t mentioned are most likely because they were announced prior to E3.

Some of my opinions have changed since day 1.  I’m now thinking that Kinect is actually going to be pretty damn excellent after seeing Kinectimals and Kinect Adventures in more detail.  EA Sports Active 2 helps sell the Kinect as well.  Child Of Eden almost sells the entire concept to me.

Crysis 2 actually looks amazing compared to the first one and I’m actually looking forward to getting. Not looking forward to seeing if my new graphics card fails on it though.

Bulletstorm no longer as amazingly fun. Not sure why, just seems to have lost some of its fun I guess.

Gears Of War 3. With Ice-T. Shall I get it? We’ll see. (SEE WHAT I DID THAR)

Need For Speed: Pursuit. Well, I change my mind about that. That looks so insanely fun.

I’m still sceptical about the 3DS with it’s 3D-ness but the ability to turn it off altogether is a brilliant idea.

One thing I really regret missing is the announcement of Relic’s new Warhammer 40K game, Space Marine. It looks phenomenal and I’ve been waiting for a decent Warhammer 40K FPS for a while now.

Favourite Xbox Title: Halo: Reach. Please make Halo good again!

Favourite Kinect Title: Child Of Eden. Trippier than Rez, possibly even more fun.

Favourite PC Title: Star Wars: The Old Republic. Star Wars + MMO + Bioware = Win..?

Favourite PS3 Title: Twisted Metal. Oh car combat, how I’ve missed you.

Favourite Wii Title: Zelda: The Skyward Sword. Impressionistic inspired, full motion Zelda. Cannot.wait.

Favourite DS/3DS Title: Star Fox 64. *insert joke about barrel rolls*

Favourite Gadget: Nintendo 3DS. Maybe it will prove that 3D can work. On a small format.

Favourite Trailer: Star Wars: The Old Republic. Epic trailer! Again posted below!

Best Announcement: Portal 2. Suprise Gabe!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my slightly short E3 updates. Bite-sized information never hurt anyone. Well, until it bites someone.

I’ll be back writing on Gamepron.com soon. That is after exams finish.  If you want to read any of my other E3 posts, they are handily linked below! HAZZAR!

E3 Day 1: Recap and Opinions

E3 Day 2: Recap and Opinions

E3 Day 3: Recap and Opinions

E3: Gadget Prices

Well, as with every E3, new gadgets are announced and along with them usually come hefty price tags.  So, I’m going to do a quick round up of these in $AU.

Xbox 360 S

Xbox 360 Slim Edition

Well, this price was announced shortly after the console was.  At $450, it’s a bit steep but those in the market for a new Xbox 360 (I have a late-06 model, bound to RROD at anytime) it seems sort of worthwhile. The best thing about the S though is it’s apparent “whisper quietness”, which would be a god-send!

Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360.

Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360

No official price yet but retailers have been throwing numbers around willy-nilly.  If this $198 is true, it may be seldom purchased.  But then again, it could be worth every damn cent.  I think heavy testing before purchasing is in order.

Sony Move Motion & Navigation Controllers

PlayStation Move Navigation Controller

PlayStation Move Motion Controller

These prices were officially announced but EBGames hasn’t seemed to realised that yet.  The Move Motion controller is a must at $68, but with todays announcement that you can use a Dualshock 3 controller instead of the Navigation controller may just be enough to save everyone $50.  Well, at least until hold the DS3 in one hand becomes uncomfortable.  There are accessories such as charging station and gun holder but they don’t have prices yet.  They are also entirely optional.

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS.

My god are Nintendo being quiet about this.  The model’s that have been displayed have all been (apparently) prototypes and so, no solid information apart from screen size and buttons has been announced. But if EBGames is to be beleived, we all may be shelling out $350 for it, hopefully before 2012.

Well, that’s all the major gadgets displayed at E3!  Now for the total cost!
$1116 for everything. Well, better start saving even harder!

Not so much to go through today, but Konami had their press conference, so I’ll start there.

• Saw II.  Another Saw game. Not great.
• DefJam Rapstar. *yawn*
• Lucha Fury. HILARIOUS! But also really cheesy and doesn’t look that great.
• Ninety-Nine Nights II. Apparently it’s now harder than the first one, which was really hard already.
• OTomedius Excellent. Side scrolling shooter. Dull but colourful.
• Adrenaline Misfits. A boarding game for Kinect. Could be interesting…?
• Dance Masters. DDR creators game for connect. If it has a similar soundtrack to all the DDR games, then it could be awesome.
• Glee Karaoke Revolution. A Glee game already? Pass.
• Beyblade. HA. It still exists. Pass again.
• Sports Island Freedom.  Interesting. Need to see more from it. Might just be annoying.
• Lost In Shadow.  New Hudson platformer. Looks great. Pity its a Wii only.
• Silent Hill 8! Yay! More! Maybe I should actually play one of them first…Still, looks awesome.
• NeverDead. A brilliant idea. Probably going to be ultra-violent! Always a good thing!
• Castlevania. Harmony Of Despair and Lords Of Shadow.  Both look awesome. The latter features Patrick Stewart and Robert Carlyle

A few cool games, many not so great.  Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow looks awesome!

Other stuff that happened.

• New Dragon Age DLC. Cool, could always use more stuff!
• Swarm. Its looks hilarious. You know, in an actually hilarious way. Can’t wait to see more.

Not too much…

Nintendo

• Zelda: The Skywayd Sword. YAY! Proper Wii Zelda. Looks awesome as well.
• Mario Sports Mix. Mario Volleyball could be ok…otherwise maybe a miss.
• Wii Party. Mario Party but with Miis. Awesome. Always need an excuse to buy another Mario Party.
• Just Dance. *snores*
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Awesome!
• Goldeneye 007. :O:O:O:O Original remade for this generation with Daniel Craig bond.  4 player split screen, classic modes. AWESOME!
• Epic Mickey. Dark action platformer. Involves Steamboat Mickey. Could be excellent, could be disastrous.
• Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Long time since a Kirby console game. It’s so painfully cute.
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Cool!
• Metroid: Other M. Kinda sick of Metroid games now…
• Donkey Kong Country Returns! Return of the hairy king! Same style as SNES DK games but in realtime 3D. Could be cool.
• 3DS. Need to use it in person otherwise, not that interested in another DS.
• Kid Icarus: Uprising. OA*SGDLIUGSDL(&ASDUGL: YAY!
• Nintendogs & Cats. Finally, Nintendo realise we want cats!
• Massive list of games for 3DS. Damn I might have to get one.

Nintendo killed with their conference. Zelda, Kid Icarus, Kirby and most of all Goldeneye. WIN!  The 3DS is gradually winning me over with its awesome titles!

Sony

• Move. Well, we already know about that. Looks good. Nice price too ($US49.99) but you have to get a PS3 eye as well.
• Tiger Woods golf game again. Seriously, enough of him now! And golf!
• Heroes On The Move. All the Playstation mascots, in one game. Could be fun…
• Time Crisis: Raging Storm. YAY! It’s been a while since Time Crisis. Always fun.  Looks awesome.
• Heaps of games with Move compatibility soon.
• PSP games. Won’t mention that. Don’t plan on getting a PSP.
• Parasite Eve: 3rd Birthday. Always gotta love Parasite Eve games!
• LittleBigPlanet2. Didn’t really care for the first one, so not interested in this one either.
• PSN Subscription stuff. $50 for a year with lots of stuff. Need more info first.
• Medal Of Honor. PS3 version comes with HD remaster of Medal Of Honor: Frontline. Awesome!
• PORTAL 2. YAY! ’nuff said.
• Mafia II and AC:B exclusive stuff for PS3. Always a bonus.
• Gran Turismo 5. Its been long enough. Looks awesome. Shall be released Nov 2. YAY!
• Infamous 2. Maybe not as boring as the first one.
• Twisted Metal. :O Look sfun and great, as usual. David Jaffe has spent the last few weeks saying this wasn’t happening. Smarmy bastard!

Sony kicked more arse this year. Portal 2, Parasite Eve, GT5 and new Twisted Metal. Awesome!

Another thing that was announced outside of press conferences was the new Warhammer 40K MMO: Dark Millenium being handled by Darksiders studio, Vigil Games. Looks pretty cool.

It’s that wonderful time of year again! Here are my quick opinions on day 1 of E3.  I’ve put in videos for my favourite titles from each company.  There will be another post tomorrow of course!

Microsoft

• Natal is Kinect. Kinect is Natal. Cool idea, looks like it works in practice, just the price tag will be the deciding factor.
• Call of Duty: Black Ops. *yawns* Garbage…
• Metal Gear Rising. Raiden goodness! Looks awesome.
• Fable III. Looks more enjoyable than Fable II.
• Halo: Reach. More sodding Halo. But space combat included this time!
• New ‘slim’ Xbox 360 at $AU450. Built in wifi-N, 250GB HDD.  Maybe when I get the spare cash I’ll get one. This 2006 model is bound to RROD sometime soon.
• Gears Of War 3. Wow, its Gears Of War again! *sarcasm* Although, new enemies and chicks with guns!
• The Kinect games collection. Has some good ideas. But mostly would need to be experienced to be deemed worthwhile.
• A lot of stuff people that don’t live in the USA will get. Still want Netflix….

Overall, the Microsoft stuff was predictable, except for the slim 360, but its nice to see that Kinect actually works.

EA

• Crysis 2. On PC, PS3 and Xbox360! In 3D! Looks more enjoyable than the first one. 3D is always an unwelcome addition now.
• More Need For Speed. Bit over it nowadays!
• Dead Space 2. :O But I really should finish the first one before this comes out.
• Medal Of Honor. Looks damn amazing. Damn damn amazing. Putting the CoD series to shame! 24 person multiplayer! Gazooonga! The EA Gun Club……Ummm.
• EA Sports stuff. It’s EA Sports, same as usual.
• Sims 3. On consoles now! Not much to say there.
• Bulletstorm. ‘Bout damn time. Looks amazing and just as fun as Painkiller. Feb 2011 release date? Bit too far away.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic. Holy.fucking.win! Everyone gets a starship amongst other awesome things. Trailer features chick Jedi kicking some serious Sith arse. WINWINWINWINWIN!

Yeah, that was good pretty awesome.  That TOR trailer is just amazing.

Ubisoft

• Child Of Eden. I love Rez and this looks awesome. Maybe a reason to get Kinect.
• Joel McHale! The only decent thing during the whole press conference.
• Assassins Creed: Brotherhood.  Direct sequel to Assassins Creed II. Looks pretty cool. Trailer is awesome!
• Shaun White somethingBoarding. Bleh.
• Physical laser tag. Yep, its a real laser tag gun and you play outside…or inside..or wherever. Could be fun…several years ago.
• Innergy. Strange and pointless.
• Kinect stuff. Fitness stuff. Sport stuff. Eh.
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Looks pretty cool. Joel McHale made some hilarious comments during the demo.
• Driver. Yay, Driver is back and actually worth playing since the first one. This time, Tanner is in a coma the whole time….
• Rayman. Usual Ubisoft fluff.
• Maniaplanet. Trackmania and two other -mania’s rolled into one. Could be fun…
• Michael Jackson dancing game. Ewwwwww

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Driver 5 look pretty awesome. Everything else, not so awesome.

Alrighty, I’ve been ingesting a lot of new music recently and can’t be bothered writing full reviews, so short reviews are the go! All my game soundtrack reviews will be on gamepron.com!

Sigh – Scenes From Hell

Stand-out: Musica In Tempora Belli. Lots of orchestra and choir. Explores a lot of ideas and executes them well.
Let down: Prelude To The Oracle. Doesn’t fit with the rest of the album and not as spectacular.
8th album from Japanese black metal band Sigh. Loved the 7th album, Hangman’s Hymn but prefer this one, even though it has less brass in it! Explores more ground that Hangman’s Hymn and instead of being an onslaught of noise, it has some nice slow(er) parts.

Van Canto – Tribe Of Force

Stand-out: Hearted. Features the wonderful Tony Kakko. Epic sounding but I wish the guitar solo was done A capella as well. It does rival some regular power metal.
Let down: To Sing A Metal Song. It’s way too cheesy for me. Cheesy and dull.
3rd album from A capella metal band Van Canto. Always a nice change! Their cover of Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ is just marvellous!

Isole – Silent Ruins

Stand-out: Hollow Shrine. Closest track to funeral doom metal but faster! The vocals are just amazing!
Let down: Forlorn. Not really a let down, just not my least favourite track on the album.
4th album from Swedish doom metal band Isole. Not strictly one style of doom metal but takes note from most of the variations. I must get their other albums. Finnish doom is still better though!

Hevisaurus – Jurahevin kuninkaat

Stand-out:Louhikäärme ja ritari. This really shows the quality of the musicians!
Let down:Rupu-Rupu Mörkö. It’s very similar to 80s heavy metal, not all that interesting. The vocals are still awesome though!
The debut album from Finnish children’s metal band Hevisaurus makes me jealous that I didn’t grow up with this. I also wish I knew what the lyrics were.

Arthemesia – a.O.a

Stand-out:Valkoinen Susi. Layers and textures galore. Similar in style to many WITTR and Enslaved tracks.
Let down:Liber Omega (& The Macrocosm Manifest III). It just doesn’t fit with the rest of the album. It really sounds like it belongs on a seperate EP.
2nd album for Finnish symphonic black metal band Arthemesia. Very different black metal, similar to Ihsahn’s solo stuff just with more speed and force.