Tax refund!
posted 7/27/2012 7:06:49 PM

Love this time of year, sorted out my tax refund and i'll soon be getting $400+

Would have been more than $500 but the company I do it with has upped their fee without telling... eggheads, next time I'll do it myself

I also am getting into Battlefield Bad Company II again since a bunch of my work mates play online, and I need to spend more time at home on my arse saving money by playing games instead of out buying expensive alcohol and using all my $2 coins on pool games :/

I thought my headset mic stopped working and spent about and hour tinkering with it before giving up... then this morning I noticed the switch part way down the cord which says "Mic Off/On"

So that's me, finally turning into a gaming recluse to save money - my only social night will be every thursday movies with a lady-friend and special occasions like birthdays

Chill peeps

Biff! Bam! Kapow!
posted 7/24/2012 2:57:13 AM

No, it's not the latest batman movie.

This blog is about physical contact in combat based games

What I look for in a game of war/conflict is the physical interaction between yourself and your opponent. Some games do it terribly, standing there bashing your opponent until their health is so low they fall over. Others do it brilliantly, and those are the games I like the most.

My latest gem is Mount & Blade. It's the combat which got me hooked. If I run someone down with a horse they fall over. If I smash someone in the head with a morningstar they fall over. If I stab someone they flinch, if I shoot someone they stagger. When I slay an enemy knight they fall off their mount - which proceeds to run around the battle field and be a general hazard. I can choose where to hit someone, my weapon goes where I point the mouse, meaning it actually takes real skill to be good at this game, not just grinding up the levels until you're so powerful its a walk in the park. I have to choose the right armour and weapons for the right situation. Theres no mid combat potion drinking (which amounts to cheating pretty much).

These are the things, and more, that make it stand out and get me coming back for more.

Skyrim is an example of how not to do combat. Sure, some of it is good, but mostly its dull and takes no skill, aiming your weapon is more awkward than it would be in real life, the character movements are a joke.

Anyway that's my take on physical combat in games.

Better off
posted 7/11/2012 3:16:13 AM

On my own!

Well that's how it feels now anyway. Best friend dies, other best friend rips me off and skips to Aussie. I am pretty comfortable in my own company anyway can go for a couple of days at a time without socialising and be quite happy. So broke and starting over I feel kind of excited as well as let down, every cloud has a silver lining and all that.

But into more interesting things... I love Mount & Blade. I wish I started playing it when I first bought it because it is so awesome. It's kind of like Sid Meier's Pirates except you're on horse travelling around a kingdom taking on Lords and bandits rather than being on the open sea taking on merchants and pirates. The combat is excellent, can't think of much to improve on it at all. The only thing that irks me is the cowardly Lords hiding away in their castles instead of meeting me on the battlefield, but its still fun to besiege them and climb the walls

It's so addictive

Shake it, shake it!
posted 7/3/2012 4:23:58 AM

Just felt a whopper earthquake down this part of the globe - 7.0 they reckon and not too far from me

Typically, I had just tidied the house tonight too, now I'll have to tidy it again at least I've learnt not to stack CDs a mile high.

Annnnd now I can't sleep lol

Movie time