Geeking out!

Today I became aware of Dungeons and Dragons Essentials, an update to 4th Edition.

Here is a really good post.  I’ve read a lot about it today, but most of it is second hand information.  Sadly, I’m not happy with what I’ve read so far.  I’ll post more when we have definite information.

July has been a good month for me.  I got my new iPhone, the iPhone 4 (which has been rocking my socks off), Audible finally released an iPhone app, and Valve released a free game, which is an almost identical remake of a game I really enjoyed about 5 years ago, Alien Swarm.

To start, I’m very happy with my recent iPhone 4 upgrade.  The iPhone 4 is so much faster than my old 3G, and the battery life is much improved.  Facetime is a really cool feature, but until it stops being WiFi only, it will not be something that get’s a ton of use.  The biggest difference is the screen quality.  The new high density display is really something else and I notice it every time I use it.  All-in-all a worthwhile upgrade.

I was very happy to discover that Audible has released an iPhone application.  This made me happy because I was quite jealous of their android app which as been in beta for a while now.  I downloaded it yesterday and started playing around with it when I ran into some issues.  First off Audible appears to be having a problem with their download service, so I cannot currently download any of my books.  This is something of a bummer as quite a few people are having their first experience with audible through this app (coming from the App Store).  I’m sure Audible will resolve the issue, but they’ve probably lost a bunch of business because of it.  So I can’t use it yet to download books, oh well, we’ll get around to that when it’s fixed.  The other annoyance that I have is that I cannot access Audible’s website/store from the app.  This is the same issue the Kindle has, and it’s not their fault, it’s Apples.   Apple takes a cut of everything sold through apps on the iPhone, so Amazon can’t sell books (audio or text) from their iPhone apps.  Bah.  I would like to be able to browse their selection and purchase audio books without having to go to their website.

And last, but most definitely not least, Valve software release an updated port of a game called Alien Swarm this week.  I think it was around 2005 when a company called Black Cat games put out a UT2k4 mod called Alien Swarm.  We played a bunch of Unreal Tournament back then, and I don’t recall where I found this, but it was pretty intriguing so I picked it up.  It was an absolute blast.  I remember playing an awful lot of it and I’m not really sure why we stopped, although I remember getting to some absolutely death dealing areas and having trouble getting past.  So it may have been that we hit a wall.  The game has 4 classes, so you get to pick your play style.  The original game was top down, the new version is also top down, but at a slight angle so the view is nicer.  It’s 4 player co-op and it’s a total blast to shoot through.  Valve went ahead and set the price point at zero, ensuring that anyone who has ever played a Valve game would pick this up and get addicted.  I can only assume that this is the the first taste and that we’re going to have to pay for the second one.  That’s fine by me, I would have paid for this one.  I got to kick around with Matt last night for a while, and I’m really looking forward to having 4 players to stomp on these maps with.

Steam has been released for the Mac.  A number of games on my steam account already have Mac ports.

The second step is Linux:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_steam_announcement&num=1

http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/05/12/1831208/Steam-Client-for-Mac-Launches-Linux-Client-On-the-Way

So… beautiful… should have sent… a poet.

Everyone, its time to celebrate.

http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/

I’m currently planning 2 (technically 3) games. And it’s great. I just need some more downtime so that I can actually have time to write. I have agreed to run a one-shot in June and I’m running a Friday night game going forward. I haven’t had a good chance to sit down and write and be creative in a while, and it isn’t easy to do that. I should schedule some writing sessions for myself so that I actually have time set aside for that.

Another Valve mention.  I am currently re-installing, half-life, opposing forces, blue-shift, half-life2, half-life2: episode1, and half-life2: episode 2.  Why?  Because all of this talk about valve recently has gotten me thinking about the incredibly badass story that Valve has created and I want to experience it again and remember it.

Valve Software has blown my mind this week.  I’m gonna post about it more later, but I just wanted to say, “Holy cow”.

Recently I have had some opportunities to play some Turn Based Strategy games again.  Not board games, although, those count.  Most TBS games aren’t actually turned based these days, but more of a RTS with decidedly turn like rules, and the ability to pause (making “turns” last as long as you need).

Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of Heroes of Might and Magic III and AI War.  HoMMIII is a true turn-based game, and one that I have been playing for over 10 years.  You think I would be better at it having played it for so many years.  It’s a great game, and playing multiplayer hotseat has been a staple activity for me and my friends this last decade.  You can pick up a copy at GoG.com.  Recently we have discovered a new game called AI War.  It’s a coop RTS with TBS-style play.  The game supports up to 8-players, who play against a hostile AI.  It’s filled a nice niche in our multiplayer gaming.  It’s also a good example of how games do not need sumer amazing 3d ultra graphics to be good games, you just need solid gameplay.

More companies need to take a look at these games and figure how to adapt and improve.

I haven’t posted about (much) Warcraft lately.  I’m still actively playing, and the game recently received a pretty big patch, 3.3: The Fall of the Lich King.  This patch added a new tier dungeon, and a bunch of changes for casual players, primarily the new dungeon finder tool.  So far I’m quite happy with the changes and as a tank I’ve had an absolutely fabulous time with the dungeon finder so far (being a tank means I get into dungeons pretty much instantly).  Lots of other nice changes have improved the experience and I’m quite looking forward to stepping into the new raid.

The summer is by no means over, but I have gotten past the two biggest weekends unscathed (and I had a lot of fun).  I got to see lots of family and friends and spend some quality time with everyone.  I hope everyone else had a good time and I hope that I’ll get to see everyone there next year (and maybe a few more).

I am definitely feeling some winddown after all that, but I’m also feeling some windup for the upcoming wedding (my own).  More on that as it develops.

One of the things that I’m working on a bit is trying to figure out my gaming schedule for the fall.  It looks like Friday night and Sunday afternoon are going to be  the good days, but there’s still more to come.