Random gaming thoughts and questions.

I just read an amazing book about Shackleton, and it made me wonder why there aren't more games about exploration and survival. I want a game where I organize an expedition to explore something: hiring members, buying equipment, charting a course, and having an adventure. Then I want things to go hilariously wrong in procedural ways. Maybe the events that happen could be logged in diary form so you have sort of a history of your journey. There are some games that do this stuff in a limited way, but none that really capture the spirit of the age of exploration.

Make it!

I'm working on a survival sim myself right now, but that's less about exploration and more about surviving on a desert island.

Otherwise, your diary idea sounds similar to what's going on in Zafehouse: Diaries, but again, that's more of a zombie survival game than an exploration game. You explore the little zombie-infested town you're trapped in and try to find clues that will allow you to escape, and that's about the extent of the exploration aspect.

Don't forget the volley ball.

Some jerkbag named SpoofyChop was working on a game about scavenging to repair a spaceship after crash-landing on a planet, but he stopped posting about it after doing a Let's Play. Because he's a jerkbag.

I just realised the bishounen on the cover of Mount & Blade: Warband is actually a woman.

Clearly you've been in gaming too long. The lack of boob armour, exposed cleavage, "come hither" face, and fact that she looks like a woman, threw you off.

The sad thing is how true this is. :(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Trail_(video_game)

Yeah I was thinking of that when I was making that post. There are actually a whole series of "trail" games, including the Yukon Trail and the Amazon Trail, none of which really capture the greatness of Oregon Trail nor any real sense of adventure. None of the "trail" games are really exploration games, since you proceed down the same track every time, more or less. Still, I think that style of game is mostly untapped and given the enthusiasm a lot of people have for Oregon Trail I hope someone will eventually make a real exploration game along similar lines.

Speaking of surviving and exploring in games, y'all should check out Don't Starve. It's still in beta, but the basic game mechanics are pretty solid, and they seem to be planning to add a ton of features in future updates.

Yeah, some Ben Sones guy made a thread about it.

Africa Trail too, you can ride around Africa on a bike eating awful shit and eventually dying. I never survived more than a week.

Thanks, I totally missed that thread!

In case anybody's interested in seeing what this game is like, I started an LP of it over here.

Freedom Force is 10 years old which I find hard to believe. 2002, I was in my first year at university. Much has changed but the game still looks good and the gameplay remains solid. Well worth the 30 odd minutes I spent getting it to work properly under Windows 7.

There's an Advent of Indies event going on here. The website apparently introduces a new indie developer everyday, who'll give away one of their games for free together with a chance to win one of their other games. (VN fans will be glad to know that Moacube's Cinders is one of them.) Go check it out!

I recent conversation on the other forum reminded me of how bummed I am that I can't find more campaigns for Rules of Engagement 2. Sigh.

I replayed it this year as well, and I agree that it holds up completely. One of my all-time favorites.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/182860/

Seemed like a neat article for nerdburglars who freak at the sight of a few curlies. Brief article on using a visual scripting engine and Unity to make games.

Anyone play PS3-exclusive Unfinished Swan? Supposedly some kind of arty maze game. Looks interesting, but no idea if it would be fun. Some critics seem to really like it.

I saw other people playing it at a convention, but didn't spend any hands-on time myself. Sorry!

Yea, and I once read about a guy who saw someone playing that, but I don't even know what it is. Sorry!

I once saw a swan. It was finished, though.

Thanks guys!

This "The Phantom Pain" thing looks to be starring Solid Snake.

Also, VGAwards on Spike.

Sadly I believe poor sales of Freedom Force vs The Third Reich, along with the success of Bioshock, means this franchise is pretty much dead at Irrational.

The only games I'm looking forward to in 2013 are all sequels or remakes. That's kind of depressing.

I've finally gotten the chance to play Twilight Princess, and even by the standards of inane video game quests, being Midna's errand boy is humiliating.

PC Surround audio speaker systems always looked so fun, until it came time to figure out where the hell I was going to put the rear speakers.

Dishonored lets you turn of headbob, for those that might be putting it off because of motion sickness. I heard there was a FOV tweak, too, but dunno if that's PC only or on the console versions, too. So get it if it's your thing and you were put off because of FPS head bob.

I've discovered the secret behind game writing. It's all here: http://orteil.dashnet.org/gamegen

Thanks for the link, Aeon. That was a lot of fun. Crazy stuff mixed with games that I swear actually exist.

"A student project where you hug hipsters by reversing time."
"An action game where you assassinate aliens while looking absolutely fantastic."
"A student project where you overanalyze souls over several decades."
"An indie game where you breastfeed history and it's sort of a parody"

I could read those all day if it weren't for this pesky work thing.

"An adventure game where you explore dungeons full of dwarves to warp spacetime."

I feel like I've played that one.

I definitely played that one.

"A shooting game where you commit war crimes with babies non-violently."

This would be a good game.

"A FPS where you date random people and hate every minute of it."

I started playing Far Cry 2, and most of the game so far consists of me getting shot by guys I can't see (who fortunately don't do much damage) and then wandering around until I eventually find and kill them in one shot. It's kind of frustrating. Is there a way to see bad guys easier? There's a red indicator when I get hit, but either I don't understand it, or that's not necessarily where the guys are shooting from. Do you eventually get a heat vision thing or anything?

You do not get a heat vision.

No heat vision.

The game probably does favour sniper rifles, much easier getting the high ground and killing from afar with vision down to the grass. Also with the capacity to counter sniper any snipers which are admittedly easier to find, but are lousy shots. Never be afraid to use molotovs to burn away the grass and make cover harder for the enemy.