Blog 485: Retconning Y4

I haven’t updated y’all on the progress of Project Y4 for some time now, so I think I probably should (it is not dead).

However, looking back at all the previous development diaries, there are actually a devilishly large number of features that I promised, or at least hinted at, which have been surreptitiously abandoned along the way (in as much an effort to curb and reverse the flow of feature creep as to sidestep raw technical limitations).

Since the project is now pretty much solid in terms of how it goes about its business, now is probably a good time to go back over what’s hot and what’s not — and confirm once and for all the core features the game actually has and will retain.

Blog 484: Anomaly: Warzone Earth

Born of a need to spend money (because the high street apparently refuses to stock the one Lego model I want) at any cost, I picked up Anomaly: Warzone Earth last weekend. It was a close call because my CD key wouldn’t register, so I couldn’t install the game until Thursday when support did their magic.

This game is an inverse tower defence, because every game in the entire world (that isn’t a triple-A FPS) is some kind of tower defence.

Blog 483: The Elder Blogs: Arena

While Dungeon Lords constantly called glorious Morrowind to mind (though it could never reach those heights), recent escapades with DOSBox led me to believe I was ready to start playing the Elder Scrolls series from the beginning.

I downloaded The Elder Scrolls: Chapter One: The Arena from Bethesda’s website ages ago, because I knew that this day would come. Since Dungeon Lords was a bit of a damp squib, but I was still all fired up for an RPG, I finally took the plunge.

Blog 482: Dungeon Lords

I paid 99 pence for Dungeon Lords, at the same time that I bought Fire Warrior.

I find it hard to believe that you can sell games that cheap and still make a profit… Then again, it’s an original box from 2005, so I suppose 99 pence is better than 0 pence and taking up space in a warehouse. Plus the shop unit that has the bargain basement had been empty for ages, so the overheads can’t be that bad.

I also picked up the Human League’s Octopus, an album I had never glimpsed in the shops before (and isn’t even on Spotify) and had wanted for some time (Tell Me When is their best tune). It was even in perfect condition, considering some of the other battered barrel bottom remnants on sale nearby. (This is the real reason why I tend to go there; the low low prices are a bonus but the obscure rarities are priceless.)

Unfortunately, while Octopus turned out to be brilliant, Dungeon Lords did not live up to the promise of its blurb.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Blog 481: Crimbo Games Round-up

’cause Christmas time is the place to be, I always wake up in a puddle of wee!

Or computer games. Which would you rather hear about?

My brother gave me Revenge of the Titans and Trapped Dead on the day. Then I bought Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior for 99 pence.

Blog 480: Ultimate Unreal Binge 5: Unreal Tournament 3

I like the Unreal universe, and all of the Unreal games (yes, even the oft-lambasted UT3). I’ve reviewed some of the Unreal games multiple times, and some none at all — but since I haven’t played any one of them all the way through for a little while now, I thought it would be a nice exercise to play all of them all the way through. Back to back.

• Unreal and Return to Na Pali
• Unreal Tournament
• Unreal II: the Awakening
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Unreal Tournament 3

Blog 479: Ultimate Unreal Binge 4: Unreal Tournament 2004

I like the Unreal universe, and all of the Unreal games (yes, even the oft-lambasted UT3). I’ve reviewed some of the Unreal games multiple times, and some none at all — but since I haven’t played any one of them all the way through for a little while now, I thought it would be a nice exercise to play all of them all the way through. Back to back.

• Unreal and Return to Na Pali
• Unreal Tournament
• Unreal II: the Awakening
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Unreal Tournament 3