2015
Ny sektion!
Hej och hallå!
Idag inviger vi en helt ny sektion i ”AlienGamer” blogg.
Det är en spellista som med tiden kommer bli en stor katalog över olika bra
datorspel. Dessa spel utvärderas sedan av 21 kriterier för att visa vissa
objektiva egenskaper hos spelet. Dessa kan sedan (om man vill) jämföras
mellan olika titlar.
Först ut är Cogmind, Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress och Rimworld.
Tanken är att addera titlar allt eftersom tiden går. Varje namn är dessutom en
länk till respektive webbsida. På så vis kan mer information inhämtas, spelet
ev. köpas och/eller laddas ned.
Hör gärna av er med synpunkter!
Till Spellistan!
Förresten,
God jul och Gott Nytt ÅR!
Frågestund...
Hej och hallå.
Tiden går. Hösten är nästan över och vintern kommer med stormsteg.
Det är snart jul. Mindre än en månad kvar. Vart har allt tid tagit vägen?
Då och då händer det att jag får frågor. Ofta via omvägar.
Person till person eller via e-post osv.
Här är några av frågorna och deras svar:
1) Varför använder du så konstiga namn på avsnitten?
Svar: Därför att jag dels försöker hålla dem så korta som möjligt
men ändå förmedla viktig information direkt i titeln.
Ex: ”Tortchligt2 MP03 SWE”
Fört kommer förstås namnet på spelet i fråga.
Därefter förkortningen ”MP” och en siffra. MP står för ”Multiplayer”.
Siffran betyder helt enkelt att det är avsnitt 3.
Sist hittar vi språkindikering på engelska, då detta är lättare för
ickse svensktalande att förstå.
SP = Single Player (Singelspel)
MP = Multi Player (Ej singlelspel)
RND = Random (slumpmässig, spontan)
SWE = Swedish (Svenska)
ENG = English (Engelska)
2) Varför spelar du inte Fallout4?
Svar: Därför att spelet inte intresserar mig så mycket.
Dels är spelet mer eller mindre en karbonkopia av Skyrim.
Säkert 80% av all spelmekanik är en direkt kopia från tidigare
Skyrim. Resten är tillägg och förändringar som är unika.
Sedan utspelar sig hela spelet i ett postapokalyptiskt USA,
vilket helt enkelt inte är lika intressant som ett ”High Fantasy” spel
med nordiska inslag. Kort och gott: Skyrim är bättre.
3) Vad tycker du om ”Minecraft the Story Edition”?
Svar: Inget alls. Alltså, spelet kan säkert vara ok. Men Minecraft
har aldrig handlat om att spelet berättar spelarens historia.
Minecraft är exklusivt om att bygga/äventy och att skapa din egen
historia på dina egna villkor (inom spelmotorns ramar).
”Story Edition” har absolut inget alls gemensamt med Minecraft,
annat än att ordet ”Minecraft” förekommer i bägges titel.
Det är helt enkelt en ”cash’n grap” som jag ser det. Därför ointressant.
4) Kommer du göra streaming på TwitchTV någon gång?
Svar: Kanske. Jag har funderat på det. Finns både fördelar och nackdelar.
Men för stunden är det inget jag överväger. Men reserverar rätten att
när som helst ändra uppfattning
5) Nämn en Youtubepersonlighet som du följer i regelbundet?
Svar: Kan göra bättre än så. kan nämna fem kanaler jag följer hela tiden:
a) Dodger: (PressHeartToContinue)+(Dexbonus)
b) Seananners Gaming
c) SplatterCatGaming
d) itmeJP
e) Totalbiscuit, The cynical Brit
Sanningen är att jag har en hel uppsjö kanaler jag prenumerar på. Men endast
ett fåtal av dessa följer jag regelbundet (nästan) varje dag. Men dessa fem tillhör
min vardagliga ”diet” av media jag konsumerar
Det var allt för den här gången.
.
.
Endast Svenska...
As from December 1:st 2015 this blog is only written in Swedish!
Från den 1 December 2015 är denna blogg skriven på enbart svenska!
God afton!
När jag från början startade den här bloggen för kanalen, var målet att göra den internationell.
Orsaken var att fler hade problem med svenska jämfört med engelska.
Några månader senare (knappt ett år) har jag emellertid ändrat uppfattning. Eller rättare sagt
min ursprungliga tanke var nog korrekt. Men jag har helt enkelt slutat bry mig.
Jag har inget i mot att träna på att skriva engelska. Men det är betydlig lättare och tar kortare
tid att skriva på svenska. Motståndet är mindre helt enkelt. Därför har jag nu beslutat att
all text framöver kommer vara svenska (med vissa smärre undantag, för why not )
.
.
Från den 1 December 2015 är denna blogg skriven på enbart svenska!
God afton!
När jag från början startade den här bloggen för kanalen, var målet att göra den internationell.
Orsaken var att fler hade problem med svenska jämfört med engelska.
Några månader senare (knappt ett år) har jag emellertid ändrat uppfattning. Eller rättare sagt
min ursprungliga tanke var nog korrekt. Men jag har helt enkelt slutat bry mig.
Jag har inget i mot att träna på att skriva engelska. Men det är betydlig lättare och tar kortare
tid att skriva på svenska. Motståndet är mindre helt enkelt. Därför har jag nu beslutat att
all text framöver kommer vara svenska (med vissa smärre undantag, för why not
).
.
October News
Well, well. Time is ticking by. It is getting cold outside.
The great computer season of the year is rolling in.
Soon it is winter.
The channel is doing well:
67 Subscribers,
11.892 Views.
On a personal level I have been playing quite alot of Minecraft.
I found ”Life in the Woods(1)” - a most excellent modpack.
Looks fantastic and offers a much more serene and non-tech
approach to the world of Minecraft.
As you can se it is much more colourful. This is thanks to shadersmod which was recommended.
The gameplay is almost serene, much like meditation to be honest. I like it.
In fact I like it ALOT
Version 2 is soon to be released. But in the mean time you can find the first version
on this LINK. Mind you it is MC version 1.6.4 and require you to install it under a Forge
profile in the vanilla launcher.
Derek Smart II
If you go too 3000ad’s webpage you see this at the top:
Now go to youtube and watch other people play this game ”Line of Defence”.
By all means go and try it your self on Steam.
But whatever you do: DO NOT PAY anything for it. I mean it!
Now, as a game ”Line of defence” is horrible. Poor graphics, very poor sound design and
abysmal game play. What is worse is the fact that non of this is due to a try to make a
retro game. No this is ”The shit” as Derek Smart see things.
The image above states ”The definitive space & planetary combat MMO”.
This is a lie. It is false marketing. Lets be honest: it is bullshit on a royal level.
”Line of Defence” is as far from ’definitive’ as I’m from being ”The Hulk”.
In fact all of Derek Smarts game are not even remotly definitive since he keeps doing
the same game over and over again. Granted, with smaller variations. But still you
can see them for what they are: clones. Not exact clones. But still clones.
Also, the MMO part of the game is non-existant. I’m guessing that Derek Smarts
definition of MMO (not to mention ’definitive&rsquo
are rather different compared to everybody elses.This is false marketing. But then again, so is basically all of Derek Smarts games.
They sound good on paper. Really good. Alot of promises and inspirational words.
But when it comes to reality it all dissapears into thin air.
The only people who likes Derek Smart games is Derek Smart and those he managed to fool.
I’m saying this as one who purchased several of his earlier titles. Yes I’m that gullable sometimes.
For the life of me I do not understand why this person thinks he is the paragon of game quality.
Why does he think he knows anything about Star Citizen? Why does he think he represent us other
kickstarters? Why does he try to sabotage the whole project and by doing so claiming to be correct?
I’ve said it at different places:
Derek Smart is a hack.
One single minute of any Star Citizen modules (even in their current state)
is better than his whole career. On ALL levels!
Not only Star Citizen. I’ve plenty of games 20-30 years older which
for all practial and fun purposes are better and more well crafted.
He knows it. But he would never ever, ever say so openly.
narcissism |ˈnärsəˌsizəm|
noun
excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance.
• Psychology extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one's own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.
See note at egotism .
• Psychoanalysis self-centeredness arising from failure to distinguish the self from external objects, either in very young babies or as a feature of mental disorder.
Star Smart
So a certain Derek Smart has created kind of a shit storm about Star Citizen.
He wrote three articles on his own blog .
It was not until the second one everything took off in a major way.
I will not link them since they do not deserve more attention,
If you want to read them you can find them quite easily via google
In short Mr. Smart claim to know (for a fact) what Chris Roberts’s
Cloud Imperium is doing amounts to nothing more than
a scam.
He states that Star Citizen as it is currently described can not and will not be made.
He also claims to have had paid investigators look into the matter.
Secret documents and informants.
All the while constantly referring back to his own so called reputation as a
experienced game developer
(not to mention making sure his own new project is described in each and every paragraph).
I have payed for and owned several of Mr. Smarts games.
I had VERY high hopes for Battlecruiser 3000AD and the following
titles. The game promised so very much.
But when it truly came down to it the game kept very few of those promises.
Mr. Smart states that his games are made for true diehard fans of the genre.
That most crititcs do not understand the genre.
Do not read the (extremly) lengthy manual etc.
Now this may or may not be true.
But the game objectivly sucked in a major way.
The worst of it was that all the time playing it (or trying) it hinted of the greatness.
BC3K is the game that never truly was what it claimed to be.
But still very alluring.
I would go so far as to say it is not even worth playing for free.
You can find it on steam. But do not bother unless you are simply curious.
I backed Star Citizen back in 2012. I put down a fair bit of money then. Later a bit more.
The thing about Star Citizen is this: The game is supposed to be free.
Or rather the online/multiplayer part of it at least.
So not only do they need to secure funding for the creation of single and multiplayer.
But they also must make sure they have funds to keep the blasted thing alive for a
good while AFTER it is out.
To make matters even worse the game it self sets the bar pretty damn high.
Both in graphical terms but also when it comes to immersion and game mechanics.
When (and if) it comes out it may end up being the new de facto standard of space games.
Features is one of Mr. Smarts complaints.
Or rather the ”feature creep” he claim the game suffers from.
He goes on and on and on about it. It is quite a read to be honest.
It is like he tries to hammer it in because it’s his only option to win the argument (he started).
In the end most of it amounts to a wall of text about nothing.
Most of the ”creep” are in fact mentioned in the original videos.
The newtonian physics. The first person POV.
Even the FPS parts and multiplayer support are mentioned.
They clearly state that the game will have both single player AND a persistant
multiplayer universe where friends will be able to share ships etc.
What has happened as time have gone by is this:
More detailed specifications of what all these things entail have surfaced.
Publication of lists and higher resolution text of what these game mechanics are and how they will work.
But Derek Smart, whith all his experience, do not understand the difference.
Perhaps do not want to.
He even uses a deliberate tactics of belittle anyone and all who defends Star Citizen.
All the while mentioning his own new game all the bloody time.
The next annoying thing is the fact that a game of this scope and complexity takes time to make.
Especially if you want to do it the right way and in the same time make sure it becomes a ”WOW” title.
The fact that it is not ready yet is turned against it.
The fact that the original release date has come and gone is also a sign of impending doom.
Three years! This is the time which has gone by since the Kickstarter.
During which there has been a flood of feedback.
Yes they have spent time on ship designs.
Virtual goods which people (me included) have been able to buy.
Yes they have created ”modules” which slowly have showed off ships and small
parts of the mechanics.
They are not intended as games but still they offer something.
But all this (and more) which should be said to be good things in a crowd funded
project are offered as ”proof” of fraud and incompetence - by Mr. Smart.
So can the game fail?
Yes. It can. It is possible it will come crumbling down like a house of cards.
With the 85 million USD (so far) collected it could be the most spectacular
failure in crowd funding history.
It could even kill off the whole movement of crowd funding (games).
But is this a certain thing? Hell no!
Neither I or Derek Smart has a magic eight ball which sees the future.
He states that this game will never ever be made.
That nothing of what Chris Roberts claims will come true.
That it is simply impossible. This is a ”FACT”, as Derek Smart likes to call it: ”it’s a fact”.
Words and statements do not become fact simply by making them.
He tries to back them up with links and ALOT of words and ”facts”.
But in the end all they amount to is assumtions and opinions.
His first article even starts with a disclaimer saying that it is his opinions which follows further down.
That it should not be taken as factual evidence or truth.
Well Mr. Smart. This is simply put not your opinions. Your are pure and simply wrong.
No more, no less.
The only truth here is that he do NOT know what the future holds.
He do NOT know if Star Citizen will fail or triumph. In fact he knows nothing what so ever.
When it comes down to it; Derek Smart has not written one single line of code OR made any game
that comes even close to the legacy of Chris Roberts.
Wing Commander on the Amiga was a better game in every sense compared
to ALL games Derek smart has ever made. Something that goes double for the BC3K series.
Derek Smart desperatly wants to be what his name say.
He really, really wants to be the one holding the torch of truth and justice.
He wants to show off how much experience he has and he alone truly knows what’s going on.
But he simply does not.
Personally I will wait and see. THEN and only then will we truly know if
Star Citizen is a failure or not.
But I have taken screenshots of some of Mr. Smarts statements.
Simply to be able to rub it in his electronic face if he happens to be wrong.
59 Subscribers & 10.635 Views!
Cogmind
Very recently I payed into a brand new indie game. Alpha access.
I know, I know...you should not pay anything until the game is ready
and done. But now and again you find something truly extraordinary.
At that point you understand there is no choice.
The name of the game is (as you might have guessed) COGMIND.
It is a top down rouge like Ascii/Ansie action RPG with a VERY particular look and feel.
The game have a extemly cool neon green design which remind me of old computers. In many ways
the game play is as old as the computer it self. It is clearly retro. At the same time you as the player
can clearly see and feel the presense of newer design elements.
Hell, even the web page look unbelievable cool.
Old Ascii and ansi graphics are coupled with new style game mechanics like drag and drop UI and
RPG elements. Even stealth. This game, despite not being ready is choke full of content.
Even a built in manual - something I whish more games had.
You play as a little robot dude; Cogmind. Who has to explore this strange world which bears a strange
similarity to a love child of Tron and Neuromancer. In this world you find other robots. Not all of them
hostile. You can interact, hack, destroy and hide from them. Some you need to destroy in order to
survive. Buildings and things in the world can be used to your advantage. Sometimes you can hack
them for information or turn things on or off. The numer of things you can do are too many to mention
in a list.
While you do this exploring you have to improve your self. From bits and pieces, many coming from
destroyed robots, you build a better you. New weapons, legs/wheels, body, power generation etc.
All whith good and bad stats. Adapt to whatever playstyle you want to have.
Go to the website HERE in order to read more in detail about the game.
So what you get is fantastic (retro) graphic, innovative and clear UI as well as controls. Great
sound design and big world to discover at your own time. Lots of content. Items, weapons,
upgrades and alot more.
At current time you get the alpha access for 30 USD (at the lowest tier).
The game is not done. Keep that in mind. But already this alpha has more content than many
ready games. So if you like games of this sort: support the developer. It’s well worth it.
Expect videos of this game on the channel in the future...
I’m going to be playing this for a long time to come!
I know, I know...you should not pay anything until the game is ready
and done. But now and again you find something truly extraordinary.
At that point you understand there is no choice.
The name of the game is (as you might have guessed) COGMIND.
It is a top down rouge like Ascii/Ansie action RPG with a VERY particular look and feel.
The game have a extemly cool neon green design which remind me of old computers. In many ways
the game play is as old as the computer it self. It is clearly retro. At the same time you as the player
can clearly see and feel the presense of newer design elements.
Hell, even the web page look unbelievable cool.
Old Ascii and ansi graphics are coupled with new style game mechanics like drag and drop UI and
RPG elements. Even stealth. This game, despite not being ready is choke full of content.
Even a built in manual - something I whish more games had.
You play as a little robot dude; Cogmind. Who has to explore this strange world which bears a strange
similarity to a love child of Tron and Neuromancer. In this world you find other robots. Not all of them
hostile. You can interact, hack, destroy and hide from them. Some you need to destroy in order to
survive. Buildings and things in the world can be used to your advantage. Sometimes you can hack
them for information or turn things on or off. The numer of things you can do are too many to mention
in a list.
While you do this exploring you have to improve your self. From bits and pieces, many coming from
destroyed robots, you build a better you. New weapons, legs/wheels, body, power generation etc.
All whith good and bad stats. Adapt to whatever playstyle you want to have.
Go to the website HERE in order to read more in detail about the game.
So what you get is fantastic (retro) graphic, innovative and clear UI as well as controls. Great
sound design and big world to discover at your own time. Lots of content. Items, weapons,
upgrades and alot more.
At current time you get the alpha access for 30 USD (at the lowest tier).
The game is not done. Keep that in mind. But already this alpha has more content than many
ready games. So if you like games of this sort: support the developer. It’s well worth it.
Expect videos of this game on the channel in the future...
I’m going to be playing this for a long time to come!
Channel News
The Channel is moving forward.
It is closing in on 10.000 views. Spread over 400+ episodes of content.
At most it had 50 subscribers. But like we all know it fluctuates.
Since I now have more free time I have much more time to record
and edit. This has resulted in an enormous amunts of episodes
reday to be released. A number of new series as well as updates
to existing ones.
However, I’m currently working on my uploaded buffer. When it is
gone I will start uploading new fresh material.
I am not able to give any time frame. You’ll know when it happens
But soon I will release a brand new Minecraft Skyfactory2 multiplayer
series. It is being edited right now at this very moment...
It is closing in on 10.000 views. Spread over 400+ episodes of content.
At most it had 50 subscribers. But like we all know it fluctuates.
Since I now have more free time I have much more time to record
and edit. This has resulted in an enormous amunts of episodes
reday to be released. A number of new series as well as updates
to existing ones.
However, I’m currently working on my uploaded buffer. When it is
gone I will start uploading new fresh material.
I am not able to give any time frame. You’ll know when it happens
But soon I will release a brand new Minecraft Skyfactory2 multiplayer
series. It is being edited right now at this very moment...
Minecraft Wiki
2015-04-05-13:10 Filed in: 2009 | Wikipedia | Windows | MacOSX | Linux | Mojang | Microsoft | Voxel | Sandbox | Blocks | Java | 3D
Read the full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft allow players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, gathering resources, crafting, and combat. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival modes where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, acreative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly, and an adventure mode where players play custom maps created by other players.
The alpha version was publicly released for PC on May 17, 2009, and after gradual updates, the full version was released on November 18, 2011. A version for Android was released a month earlier on October 7, and an iOS version was released on November 17, 2011. The game was released on the Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Arcade game on May 9, 2012; on the PlayStation 3on December 17, 2013; on the PlayStation 4 on September 4, 2014; on the Xbox One the next day; and on the PlayStation Vita on October 14, 2014. On December 10, 2014, a Windows Phone version was released.[14] All versions of Minecraft receive periodic updates, with the console editions being co-developed by 4J Studios.
Minecraft received five awards during the 2011 Game Developers Conference. Of the Game Developers Choice Awards, it won the Innovation Award, Best Downloadable Game Award, and Best Debut Game Award; from the Independent Games Festival, it won the Audience Award and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. In 2012, Minecraft was awarded a Golden Joystick Awardin the category Best Downloadable Game. As of October 2014, over 60 million copies had been sold, including 12 million on the Xbox 360 and 18 million on PC, making it the best-selling PC game to date. On September 15, 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang, along with the ownership of the Minecraft intellectual property. It was worth $2.5 billion and was completed on November 6, 2014.[15][16][17]
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Minecraft is an open world game that has no specific goals for the player to accomplish, allowing players a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game.[18] However, there is an achievement system.[19] Gameplay by default is first person, but players have the option to play in third person mode.[20] The core gameplay revolves around breaking and placing blocks. The game world is composed of rough 3D objects—mainly cubes—arranged in a fixed grid pattern and representing different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, and tree trunks. While players can move freely across the world, objects can only be placed at fixed locations on the grid. Players can gather these material blocks and place them elsewhere, thus allowing for various constructions.[21]
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Commercial
On January 12, 2011, Minecraft passed 1 million purchases, less than a month after entering its beta phase.[110][111] At the same time, the game had no publisher backing and has never been commercially advertised except through word of mouth,[112] and various unpaid references in popular media such as the Penny Arcade webcomic.[113] By April 2011, Persson estimated that Minecraft had made €23 million (US$33 million) in revenue, with 800,000 sales of the alpha version of the game, and over 1 million sales of the beta version.[114] In November 2011, prior to the game's full release, Minecraft beta surpassed 16 million registered users and 4 million purchases.[115] By March 2012, Minecraft had become the 6th best-selling PC game of all time.[116] As of October 10, 2014, the game has sold 17 million copies on PC, becoming the best-selling PC game of all time.[117] As of October 10, 2014, the game has sold approximately 60 million copies across all platforms, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.[117][118] On February 25, 2014, the game reached 100 million registered users.[119]
AlienGamer is a donor to Wikipedia Foundation. Are you?
If not, go HERE and put down a donation?
Minecraft
2015-04-01-12:51 Filed in: 3D | Indie | Windows | MacOSX | Mojang | Microsoft | Voxel | Sandbox | Blocks | Linux | Java | Mods | Feed the Beast | Technic | AT Launcher | SkyFactory
Minecraft is without doubt one of my favourite games of all time.
It is not only the creativity it offers.
Neither is it the predictable unpredictability of the world of Minecraft.
Multiplayer and modding is also fantastic. All these things are great.
Among the best computer gaming has to offer,
and it works on most computers independent on OS.
No it is simply this: When all else has turned to shit in your life,
Minecraft is always there to offer a safe nice and very fun environment to take it out of you.
THEN, after that, all the other stuff comes into play.
It’s a computer game version of contemplative meditation - kind of.
Also, the game does not try to decide anything (but the basic parameters).
Instead YOU, the player, has to decide what to do. What your story is going to be.
This is one of the best features of the game.
Another great personal favourite of mine is the fact that most of the game
involves creating things. Most games nowdays are based around conflicts and
destruction. It is present in Minecraft too. But only in a small way. You can
totally avoid it if you put your mind into it.
As I get older I find my self wanting more laid back games. Things I can sit back
and do what I do without to much stress and hectic action. Now, I like action games
like the next guy. But in smaller and smaller doses as time goes by.
Minecraft is not without its faults however.
Despite its fairly primitive graphics it still runs a bit slow.
But it has been improved in later versions.
Also the very sparse in game information is a pet peeve of mine.
But I do understand why they choose to do it that way.
But as the number of craftable blocks grows, so does the need for information.
The mod packages have improved somewhat upon this.
But the player still need do leave the game,
go to some wiki, and look things up in order to get the know on how stuff are working.
I have always enjoyed vanilla Minecraft.
This is a nerdy way of relating to the un-modded version of Minecraft.
But I do however like mod packages like ”Feed the Beast”, ”Technic” or ”AT Launcher”.
They all offer a multitude of different mod packages. Each with their own different style.
One I’m particulary fond of is ”SkyFactory2”, which is quite challanging and very fun.
So yes, I have MC installed on practically every computer I own.
I could not see any time of gaming without it.
Imagine that! It is not even an AAA game (despite Microsoft now owning Mojang).
I’ve lost count on how many different bases I have built during the years.
So these are some of my arguments why Minecraft is one of the best game ever,
on my list at least....
49 Subscribers - 9.415 Views
TES3: Morrowind Wiki
2015-03-08-16:10 Filed in: 2002 | Bethesta | AAA | 3D | Elder Scrolls | fact | RPG | Steam | Windows | Wikipedia
Read the full Article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_III:_Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is an open world fantasy action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, and published by Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft. It is the third installment in The Elder Scrolls series of games, following The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, and preceding The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It was released in North America in 2002 for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox. Well-received publicly and critically, with over four million sales[3] and more than 60 awards (including Game of the Year),[4] the game spawned two expansion packs for the PC: Tribunal and Bloodmoon. Both were eventually repackaged into a full set containing all three, Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition, which shipped on October 30, 2003, for both PC and Xbox.[5]
The main story takes place on Vvardenfell, an island in the Dunmer province of Morrowind, which lies in the empire of Tamriel and is far from the more civilized lands to the west and south that typified Daggerfall and Arena. The central quests concern the deity Dagoth Ur, housed within the volcanic Red Mountain, who seeks to gain power and break Morrowind free from Imperialreign.[6][7][8] Morrowind was designed with an open-ended free-form style of gameplay in mind, with less of an emphasis on the game's main plot than its predecessors. This choice received mixed reviews in the gaming press, though such feelings were tempered by reviewers' appreciation of Morrowind ' s expansive and detailed game world.
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Free-form design[edit]
Morrowind, following the tradition established by its predecessors in The Elder Scrolls series,[22] attempts to establish a completely free-form world, with little constricting boundaries on the player's actions. From the beginning of the game, players are put in a world where they are left to roam, steal, quest and explore, without necessarily following the main quest.[23] Lead Designer Ken Rolston, asked prior to Morrowind ' s release what he thought were the "core, untouchable design elements" of the Elder Scrolls series which "set them apart from other games", responded immediately: "Free-form experience."[24] In Rolston's view, the game's central plot is a chance to introduce the player to a cross-current of conflicting factions, background themes, and to the characters of the game, rather than the primary focus of the player's experience.[25] "Every TES game has to let you create the kind of character you want, and then do the things you want. We would never have a TES RPG force you to be a certain character or go down a certain path."[24]
To allow for this behavior, Morrowind, in addition to creating an extensive main quest, provides detailed discursive quests for a variety of factions, including various guilds, religious organizations and aristocratic houses, in addition to side-quests found by mere exploration.[26][27] Even the main plot itself may be undertaken in a number of ways. There are, in the words of critic Craig Lindley, "a very specific set of central plot points within this main plot. But the plot points are partially ordered: seven high level tasks must be completed, but their constituent sub-tasks...can be accomplished in any order, and this is repeated for the sub-tasks involved in those sub-tasks." The choices the player makes in their performance of these tasks thus become methods of character interpretation; a set of dramatic tools establishing the player's newly created self-identity.[28]
According to Gamasutra's Matt Barton, some have argued that these changes put Morrowind closer in spirit to the original Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game, where players take a more creative role in their play, and where players are left to decide for themselves the "right" action.[29] This is a view paralleled by Rolston, who has stated that "The goal of every TES game is to create something that resembles a pen and paper RPG on the computer."[24] The sheer number of quest possibilities, combined with what developer Ken Rolston identified as a lack of "narrative urgency", left many critics dissatisfied with the main plot. Ken Rolston later stated that the main quest might have been presented with greater force, in the style of the game's successor, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, without losing the free-form design of the series, but such concerns were not addressed prior to Morrowind ' s release.[30]
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Reception[edit]
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was well received by critics. It was congratulated most frequently for its breadth of scope, the richness of its visuals, and the freedom it worked into its design. Alongside the compliments, however, came criticism that the game designers had overstretched themselves, leaving glitches in various spots, and made a game too taxing to be run on an average machine, with one reviewer calling it "a resource pig".[59] In a retrospective by 1UP.com, the breadth and open-endedness of Morrowind is suggested to have contributed to the decline of single-player RPGs on home computers by leading customers to MMORPGs, where they could have a similar experience.[80]
In spite of this, reviewers generally felt that the drawbacks of the game were minor in comparison to its strengths. IGN concluded that "Morrowind isn't perfect and its system requirements are huge; but its accomplishments outweigh any reservations."[77] GameSpot's review concluded with a similar summation. "Morrowind does have numerous drawbacks...But they're all generally minor enough that most anyone should be able to look past them...They'll otherwise find that Morrowind fulfills its many ambitious intentions. It's a beautiful-looking, sprawling, and completely open-ended game that allows you to play pretty much however you like”.[60]
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TES3:Morrowind
2015-03-08-15:08 Filed in: 2002 | Steam | AAA | Windows | Mods | 3D | RPG | Bethesta | Elder Scrolls
You all heard about Skyrim, right? This particular game is part of a long standing series from Bethesta.
The full name is: ”Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim”. Before this one there was ”Oblivion”.
Before that we have ”Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind”. The best game in the series according to many.
But Morrowind is from 2002 and it shows its age. Also the combat is a hot topic
of debate. Some say it is more realistic and less repetative. Others claim it is purly based
on luck and not skill. In fact they are both correct.
But gamers are in luck. Well most of us are. The Elder Scroll series have mostly been built upon a
solid mod foundation. This is one (of many) reason for the long life of the series.
So aging graphics and game mechanics can be corrected. It takes effort and time. But Morrowind
have had both in spades.
So there are alot of mods doing all sorts of things. But the most popular ones improve on sound and
graphics. Quite alot actually. If you put in some time finding and installing the big mods you can make
Skyrim run for its money. Honestly. Morrowind is alot older compared to both Oblivion and Skyrim.
But with mods it can be made to look and sound like you would not believe.
This is the stage on which you are placed in Morrowind. The island of Vvardenfell.
Later expansions added at least one more smaller island to the north.
Some mods add even more.
There are much more land in this province.
But believe me, this quite enough to begin with. There are mods which
try to add the rest but they are not complete. After all it is a HUGE area to begin with.
Also all work is purly fan made.
But the very nature of how Morrowind works as a game makes this island VERY large.
Trust med on this!
So with mods you can make the game quite the looker.
”Morrowind Graphics and Sound Overhaul” is one of the larger mods.
It is a collection of other smaller modds and extensions.
All aimed at making Morrowind a more modern experience.
Simply adding this package to the game makes an
enormous difference. It like finding the fountain of youth or something.
When I was younger I had a brief encounter with Morrowind.
But as I was not the same person I am today I kind of did not understand the game.
Or what to do in it.
Like all other games in the series this is an open sandbox world.
The player is allowed to go where ever and nearly when ever and in whatever order.
There is a main story, which can be played to an end.
But all the stuff in the between the start and end can easily make you play the game
for hundreds and hundreds of hours. Some people have been returning to Vvardenfell for the last
decade or so. Now that is replayability!
Many will however find that Morrowind is more difficult compared to Oblivion and Skyrim.
Especially if you come directly from Skyrim.
Why? Well, out of all the games (except maybe the first two)
you get a much larger degree of freedom.
But not only that. The game goes out of its way not to hold your hand.
This often comes like a shock to Skyrim players.
The thing about Morrowind is that both combat and dungeon crawling is secondary to exploration.
Finding out about a rich world. A world with living beings in it. Politics and much, much more.
If you can overlook the shortcomings of the game mechanics (or some of them)
Morrowind offers a very large and meaty experience.
The player can expect to find a natural arc in how things work.
This means that you will be VERY, very weak in the beginning.
It also means you have to think before you act.
Learn to walk before you run.
Speaking of running and walking. One of the issues with the game is the speed you move.
With very few exceptions you will find out that you are quite slow in the beginning.
To some players this will probably be a painful experinece.
BUT, this is the cool thing about this game. It changes over time if you stick with it.
So the player will have to get used to being a small time thing in the beginning.
Then the middle part comes along and suddenly things will start to pick up speed.
In every sense of the word. More sub-plots. More quests.
More places to go and much more people to meet.
Even some which are not people at all.
The end game of Morrowind is nothing short of spectacular.
You grow in power like you would not have imagined in the beginning.
You essentially have the potential to become some sort of a deity. Or at least close to it.
Not to mention you will be killing one.
I can not really say more of risk of spoiling the well crafted story of the main quest.
The music is composed, like many other TES games, by Jeremy Soule.
You will find it familiar if you played any of the later games. This is a good thing.
The theme is very nice and forshadows the most excellent soundtrack in Skyrim.
So I’ve decided to take a deep breath and dive into this world.
Yes I know. One more (long time) series is not what I need right now.
But how could I resist?
It will work great as a mirror to Amuens adventures in Skyrim I think.
Also, I want to show of the origin.
Yes there are even older members of the Elder Scrolls saga.
BUT they are very much older (and I quite do not like the way they work).
They are also more primitive and not in the same category (I think)
like the thee latest parts of Elder Scrolls.
I totally ignores the online version. This is like the bastard child of the family.
Everybody knows of its existance but tries to pretend like it never happened
.So look forward to this in the future of the channel. I do not exactly know when.
I have already modded the game so I’m ready to start recording any moment now.
It is going to be great!
Late Night Recording...
Late last night, which technically is today, I ended recording of Torchlight 2.
It was the first episodes of a new single player series. I liked Fate. I liked
Torchlight 1 even more. Torchlight 2 is the culmination of them both.
As you know, I have been doing a multiplayer series of T2 for some time now.
I’m out of material for this particular series. Since I do not know when
I can record more I decided to do a single player one during the down time.
But it has a twist: it is a maxed out modded Torchlight. Mostly cosmetic but also
some added bonus content and improvements. In short those 10 mods make T2
shine like never before.
I can not say when they’ll get published. Quite alot in the que. But it will be some
time this half of 2015.
As an added side note: Torchlight 2 is now available for mac users! Just like T1.
So why not go get it?
Here is the link - Enjoy!
Torchlight Series Wiki
2015-02-23-15:24 Filed in: fact | 3D | Indie | Runic | Dungeon | Crawl | Wikipedia | Steam | Windows | MacOSX | 2009 | 2012 | Linux
Read the full article HERE!
Torchlight is an action role-playing game developed by Runic Games and published by Perfect World, released for Windows in October 2009.[7] The fantasy-themed game is set in the fictional town of Torchlight and the expansive caverns and dungeons nearby, which adventurers explore to collect valuable loot and battle hordes of monsters.[8] Following the October 2009digital distribution release, a Windows retail box version was released in the U.S. in January 2010 by Encore, Inc,[9] and JoWooD Entertainment published a retail box in Europe in April 2010.[1] A port for OS X was developed by World Domination Industries and released through Steam[10] on May 12, 2010. Runic Games and World Domination Industries developed a port for Xbox Live Arcade which was released on March 9, 2011.[11] A Linux port was released as part of the game's inclusion in the Humble Indie Bundle 6.
Development of the game was led by Travis Baldree, designer of Fate, joined by Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer (co-designers of Diablo and Diablo II), and the team that worked with Baldree on the original incarnation of Mythos.[12][13] In September 2012, Runic Games released a sequel, Torchlight II, for Windows.[14]
The player controls a lone hero who explores a series of randomized dungeons, fighting large numbers of enemies and collecting equipment, gold, and other loot. The game also features a single town which serves as a hub, to which the player character can periodically return to buy and sell items to NPC vendors and obtain quests.[15] As the protagonist delves into the dungeon, a series of quests are presented which involve battling unique bosses that advance the main storyline. Optionally, the player may take on side quests, random quests or visit branching dungeon areas.[16]The graphics are three dimensional and viewed from an overhead perspective, similar to the isometric perspective used in the original Diablo. On personal computers, the game is controlled using a point-and-click mouse interface and keyboard hotkeys, while the Xbox Live Arcade version uses a controller and has a completely redesigned user interface.[11]
The game generates each level of the dungeon by assembling modular "chunks" of the game environment. Each chunk is designed by hand and may be composed of multiple rooms. They can contain scripted events and interactive objects such as levers that open secret doors or cause bridges to move.[17] This approach to level generation is intended to create dungeons with more purposeful design, instead of environments that simply look like "crossword puzzles that have been extruded upwards."[18]
As in Fate, the player has a permanent pet which fights alongside and can carry and sell loot. The initial pet can be a wolf dog, a lynx or, in the retail version of the game, a ferret;[19] the player can feed fish to their pet to transform it into different creatures.[20]
Also present in the game is a retirement system, in which the player can pass on an heirloom item from an old character to a newly created one, likened to a New Game Plus game mode.[15]
Torchlight features three character classes.[17][20]
- The Destroyer is a wandering warrior skilled in melee combat, although he also has the ability to call upon ancestral spirits to produce magical effects.
- The Alchemist is a spellcaster drawn to the magical power of Ember. He can fire blasts of magic and electricity from his specialized focus glove and can summon imps and steampunk-styled robots.[21]
- The Vanquisher is an elite city guard, sent undercover to investigate the town of Torchlight. She specializes in ranged weapons and can also use traps against her foes.[22][23]
The player develops their character by placing points into class-specific skill trees. Further, there is a separate category of spells that any character can learn from scrolls, regardless of class.[24]
On August 4, 2010 Runic Games announced Torchlight II which will be a continuation of the story, featuring a co-op mode, new player characters, an "overworld" with multiple outdoor areas, and a new user interface.[14][57][58] Although the developers originally estimated a 2011 release, the game was finally released in 2012.[59]
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Darwinia Wiki
2015-02-21-15:07 Filed in: Wikipedia | Indie | Real Time | Tactics | fact | Introversion | Strategy | Retro | 2005 | Windows | MacOSX | Linux | Steam
Read the full article HERE!
Darwinia is a 2005 real-time tactics and real-time strategy video game for several platforms. It is the second game developed by Introversion Software, and its setting is within a computer environment that simulates artificial intelligence.
Darwinia was created as a digital theme world for artificially intelligent polygons by Dr Sepulveda. Housed in a massive network of surplus Protologic 68000 machines from the 1980s, Darwinia is a world where the single-poly Darwinians, with their simple, but growing AI, can grow and evolve. Darwinia is also where the world can visit to see them frolicking in their natural, fractal habitat. A Darwinian lives a life working and growing, until the eventual death of the Darwinian, which releases their digital soul to later be reincarnated.
However, the player arrives in the midst of an emergency. Darwinia has been infected by a computer virus, and Sepulveda is in near panic, watching decades of research being corrupted and being used up. Sepulveda enlists the player, a curious hacker who stumbled across Darwinia by accident, to aid him in rescuing the Darwinians and drive off the computer virus. The player is given access to the combat programs, simple tools that originally began as mini-games. These are now the only means of attack against the virus. As the player progresses, it soon becomes clear this is not enough, and that triggers the third aspect of the gameplay, which is evolution.
The first two levels of the video game act as an introduction and allow the player to familiarize themselves with the controls. After that, Dr Sepulveda begins assigning tasks that span several levels to achieve a long-term objective. The first task involves clearing the virus population from and reactivating the Mines and Power Generator to provide resources for the Construction Yard. Once done, the Yard begins producing armored units, allowing the player to move on. The next task involves the reincarnation of Darwinians: the Soul Repository in the center of Darwinia collects the floating souls, and sends them down to the Receiver, where the Darwinians gather them and send them to the Pattern Buffer to be reprogrammed with the main Darwinian blueprint code, where they are sent to the Biosphere to be reborn. The player must clear the Viruses from all the facilities and reactivate them.
In the final level of the game, Sepulveda traces the Viral infection back to its source, which is e-mail spam. After Sepulveda had accidentally flashed an image of his face across the skies of Darwinia, The Darwinians had assumed him to be God. They then re-aligned a portal inside Darwinia in an attempt to communicate with God. The Darwinians managed to access Sepulveda's computer, downloading several files and eventually downloading the Spam. The e-mails were infected with a very nasty strain of internet virus which corrupted the Darwinians. The player is tasked to destroying the few remaining e-mails.
Darwinia mixes elements from strategy, action, puzzle, hacker and God games alike, meaning that it does not fall under a specific video game genre.[1]The player has the ability to run several programs through the Task Manager (a reference to the Windows Task Manager),[citation needed] similar to units used in many real time strategy games. Research allows the player to upgrade programs and weapons, which is critical as the enemy develops. Mission Objectives are given at each location/level, as the player and the Darwinians attempt to wipe out the Viruses.
Darwinia features a number of intros randomly selected when launching the game. These contain a number of references that may be obscure to some players, especially those unfamiliar with older European computers. These include:
- Cracktro text scroller: a spoof of the crack intros that were common among pirated computer games, especially on platforms popular in Europe, such as the Amiga and Commodore 64. The text humorously references both coding for 38 hours straight and finishing the intro in 12 minutes. Allegedly, the release of Darwinia on the Steam platform was delayed for several hours when a Valve employee saw the intro and believed there had been a security breach.[7]
- The Matrix: one intro features green Darwinians dropping from the top of the screen to form a logo, a reference to The Matrix (See Matrix digital rain).
- Real-time Raytracer: another cracktro-style intro featuring a raytraced scene of spinning spheres. This was a popular effect in many old demo scene productions.
- Cannon Fodder: a black screen displaying the text "This game is not in any way endorsed by Sensible Software" while the beginning of the theme from Cannon Fodder plays. The text is a reference to the message that shows at the start of Cannon Fodder, "This game is not in any way endorsed by the Royal British Legion." Some see this as an acknowledgement of Cannon Fodder's influence on Darwinia.
- ZX Spectrum: one of the intros is designed to look like the ZX Spectrum when loading a tape-based game.
- Life: a simulation of the cellular automaton game of Life in which Darwinians live, die and spread in a grid based on just a few basic rules.
- MBTI into: this intro scrolls through the four dichotomies on a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, listing introversion last as it is the name of the developer.
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Update February
2015-02-20-15:14 Filed in: News | Update | Indie | AAA | Steam | Social | Community | Real Time | Uppdatering | Tactics | Strategy | 3D | Retro | Windows | Introversion | MacOSX | Linux | Nyheter
Darwinia 201 SP SWE is out!
Finally we continue our adventure in this excellent indie game.
I really have to many series going. But what to do? I really
enjoy most of these games. It would be a shame not showing
them. I will do my best not to forget anything I’ve started.
BUT some of them will soon be endend. Hopefully this will
lessen the burden
During the meantime I’m busy recording and editing new
episodes from a brand new Skyrim series. I was unhappy
with what I’ve made previously. So I began from a clean slate.
I will not say more than this just yet.
The last week of February (W23) the ”Ethan Carter” series will
pick up where it last left off. This game we will see to the end.
It is qute short so it will be fun.
Oh, and during january and February I have tinkered a bit with the
Youtube front side. It looks alot better now. Or at least different.
I have alot of episodes planned for the future. So have fun,
relax and enjoy the ride!
Also: The Channel can be found at these places too:
Steam Community - Steam Curator