Unicode Unicorn

Hi reddit.

I guess I’ll have to update to comic press 2.9, even though I really don’t want to, since I can’t get 2.7 to work with firefox. I don’t feel like this right now, so….yeah.

So firefox users, please be patient.

I’m going to be too busy at the Game Developers Conference to update. Regular programming starts up next week.

Someone at GDC tipped me off to the “Experimental Gameplay project” where you make a game in 7 days. It’s a monthly thing, and you get a theme. March’s theme is 10 seconds, so I’m trying to make a 10 second long driving game.

There is a serious dearth of indie racing games, most of them are sims and they’re terrible.

Also, P-dub from reddit has probably found my site. All I need now is Look of disapproval and we can have a reddit hootenanny up in here.

Finished Stalker, after about a month of on-and-off play. It is a really well-put together game, the graphics aren’t stellar but they’re convincing enough, the story is confusing and weird, and the gameplay is buggy at worst and forced at best. Like Counter Strike but with weapons that misfire at inopportune times.

Props must be laid down on the level design, that is this game’s strongest element. They modeled Pripyat as accurate as I would imagine, and i would say it looks better than Pripyat from Modern Warfare. Not only that, but you can mostly explore it, as it’s not a totally linear affar. Beyond the power plant and the town, everything else is sorta made up.

Most of the missions involve going into some complex, fighting your way to the bottom, finding the Mcguffin, and fighting your way out. Usually these complexes are science facilities with some kind of funky soviet-era shit at the bottom.

The game is scariest when you’re deep in one of these complexes and just waiting for someone to attack. The 2nd to last complex, a radio station that was blocking the path forward because of “PSI energy” (?) only had three monsters on the way down, but when they did show up it would give me a good scare.

Your enemies drop stuff, so often you’ll scrounge around for something you need via enemies. On more than one ocassion after single-handedly slaughtering dozens of enemy NPCs I will; be weighted down by the amount of ammo I found.

Guns. Yes guns. Pistols are pretty useless after you get your first SMG or AK. You can attach scopes and rocket launchers to these guns. Make them your own. They misfire, which is something I’ve never come across in any game, and it’s rather annoying in the heat of battle. There’s also different ammo types, and it can get confusing unless you commit to memory what ammo works with your gun. I ended up hauling several guns that each took different bullets, so that I could have a backup weapon in case one ran out and I couldn’t find ammo. Early on, I would waste a lot of ammo trying to take someone down that was far away, with an underpowered gun. On more than one occasion I would actually knife whole squads of enemies because I was tired of the Misfire, reload, misfire, reload deal. This is a valid strategy, knifing everyone to death. Another strategy is to run past everyone, this works well too.

The game is an asshole. It’s nintendo-hard in spots. The last conflict/battle in the game pits you against some super troops who are all bunched together. Most of my deaths were attributed to them sneaking up on me and shooting me in the head. The AI was very good at this.

The progression in this game was something I wasn’t used to. It was touted as being an open world, but most maps are either a dead end or a 2 way route. There are no shops, only bartering, which got frustrating because there was no reliable way to find ammo/guns. Although it’s kind of cool that you, the player, start out with a pistol and a hoodie and end up with some super-exo suit and a sweet gun.

I bought it for 5 bucks at Half Price Books. It has brought me hours of enjoyment. Great ROI if I’ve ever seen it.