The Thing, a Dead Space Predecessor pt.1/2

NOTE:  THIS POST INCLUDES SPOILERS!  Don’t whine and cry if anything gets ruined for you.  A fair warning’s been given.

On Tuesday night, I watched The Thing, directed by John Carpenter.  It had been on my “to-watch” list for a while, and I am ashamed I waited so long to see it.

The story revolves around an isolated, American Antarctic team that come into contact with… the Thing, after it is chased to them by the remnants of a Norwegian team.  This Thing is in the form of a dog from the team from Norway, and had previously obliterated that team.  The two Norwegians conveniently died, leaving the Americans without a clue as to what is now in their midst.

Very quickly, the team sees that this dog is something monstrous, as it proceeds to attempt to absorb their dogs.  It is ghastly, gross, and consists of some of the best monster effects I’ve ever seen.  Throughout the movie, the team is busy trying to figure out which of their members have been infected by the Thing, turning on each other while subsequently being attacked by the creature.  In all the action, the main characters find out that the Thing is actually an alien that crash landed hundreds-of-thousands of years ago - being preserved in the ice of the continent - and can absorb the cells of any other creature and create a perfect copy; imitation happens in about 2 to 10 minutes.

The end of the movie is a cliffhanger, but the action throughout is in a constant ebb and flow in a crescendo of fire, ice, and gooey monster bits.  Oh, and spider heads.  The frikken monsters can fall apart into many monsters.  There is a shocker as well in that killing the Things doesn’t always leave them dead.  Is any of this sounding familiar yet?

Continued on pt.2!

Eth – A Spiritual Companion

The game team I’m serving on right now, Team Squaybies, is making Mami – an ethereal 2D puzzle-platformer set in the spirit world.  The player controls the actions of a small child in this world who’s being accompanied by Eth, a … “companion,” of sorts.  The other day I had the request to expand upon the description of Eth after an iteration presentation.  So, here goes nothing!

Mechanically, Eth provides the light that the player can see by (the dead spirit world is a dark and gloomy place), is the main tool for acquiring objects, and acts as the primary interface between the child and the environment.  Eth also is an inventory, for he can literally swallow-up other spirits and needed items found throughout play.  Eth uses what is in the inventory to project powers that eliminate opponents and help overcome similar obstacles.

Narratively, Eth is much more than a simple tool.  This “Guardian Spirit” first introduces himself by swallowing the first spirit that the player meets during the tutorial introduction.  This shady character will accompany the player through thick-and-thin as the user attempts to get out of the spirit world.  Though Eth is helping the main character, he may have motives of his own …

Well, that’s a quick overview of Eth, the Guardian Spirit of Mami!  If you have any questions more about this character, or Mami, or Team Squaybies, (etc. etc. etc.) comment below or write me at my email.  Thanks for the read!

LoL

So… ya.  I played the infamous League of Legends the other day.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online game based upon the world-wide hit Defense of the Ancients (DotA).  Users duke it out against bots or other players in 1v1, 3v3, and 5v5 setups.  With the number of characters a player may choose, the spells used, the combos implemented, choices of characters of teammates and opponents, and the huge amount of buffing gear to buy, anyone can do anything nearly anytime.

The game is free-to-play, but too many people get suckered into buying character skins and the champions themselves with cold-hard-credit.  The free aspect is what brings a person in, but the skin buying pays the bills for the LoL team.  Despite the freedom to play, I like to think that I’m a rare exception to the trend.

I’ve hosted and organized LoL tournaments, seen it played, know the discussion, and steadfastly said no to all requests (be they demands?) to play.  But on Monday, my League virginity was taken!  I won’t go into how I came about to play the game - just know that I did not install it on any of my machines!

The character I played was Nunu, the Yeti Rider.  It was a 5v5 easy bot game (so I wouldn’t get completely trounced).  During play, I learned a lot about alts (super-powered, end-all blasts of epic-ness), buying gear, making builds, and staying the frak away from those pesky turrets.

All in all, I had a good time.  The game is not the most fun I’ve had, but it works as a nice time-filler.  I would play again, but League won’t ever see a byte of memory on my laptop.  However, having at least played the game now, I have been granted “critic” privileges over the players of LoL.  I can’t say that I can really bash the game now, especially after seeing nothing inherently wrong with it (that, and it is an official MLG title).  But, for those people who get a wee-bit too much into it, I don’t mind letting them know they’re addicted.

Conclusion – LoL is a good game.  It is free to play.  Some things cost money.  Approach with caution.

Project is a Go!

So... Game projects. This year at school, I'm participating in a game development team project course, acting as the lead QA and document editor for Team Squaybies. Mami is the working project title, and we're in week 3 of brainstorming and conception (do realize that we only work about 8 hours a week).

It's been a busy time, both with the project and other college courses. For that, I hope to make-up for not writing more posts! But what can be written on about the project so far...

Story! So – you play as a child from our physical world, who gets stuck after-dark in a gloomy spirit realm that won't let you go. To escape, various powers from different spirit 'gods' must be used to rend open a door back into physical reality. You encounter various 'ghosts' throughout play, who may try to help you, harm you, or both. One in particular, Eth, you will meet very early on, where it'll join you, acting as your inventory, light source, and tool in your endeavors. Its intentions, though, may not be the clearest, or ultimately the purist, when it comes to helping you back onto the earthly plain.

Mechanics! As I said, the spirit Eth acts as inventory, gobbling up items and other collectibles (its mouth is a vast hole into another cosmos). Eth also glows, which allows for the realm to be seen easily, with the lighting effect being incorporated into some other game elements yet to be determined. It also uses the various god powers you've collected and delivers their might to smite thine enemies!! ...

Did I go a little overboard?

Anyway, I'll leave it at that until more is decided on and finalized by the end of this week.

This is a solid project, and if we can finish September with a playable iteration, we're golden! And by golden, I mean I get to tarnish it in every fashion. Yay, QA!

As always, please comment, like, share, bookmark, and follow along!

P.S.  If there are any suggestions, comments, or if you'd like to know more as time goes on (possibly be conscripted to test the game?), please write jmchattin@pluto.dsu.edu and we'll take it from there!

Labor Day and RDR

First things first – Happy Labor Day! Now, to business.

I would have liked to only write my thoughts on a game after I have completed it, but every gamer knows that can't always be the case. This time, though I intend to finish it, I wanted to write about my initial reactions to the hit Rockstar game Red Dead Redemption.

For the long weekend, I thought that starting this highly-regarded game would be fitting. How much of an understatement that is. RDR is an easy trap for becoming a time-sink. I find myself milling about in a field looking for rabbits and picking flowers when I should be across the map, hogtying bandits in the storyline. It's not like I mean to, it just happens.

Being so easily immersed in seemingly pointless tasks when more important, progressive things are going on isn't a bad mark against a game, necessarily. How does a game's quality speak of it when flower picking is legitimately on par with the interest of sniping gunslingers? Red Dead outdoes itself with the quality of even its most mundane tasks. But why is that?

Well, to beat the dead horse, one reason would be the writing Rockstar has included in the game. It's not just the writing, but how the story is delivered in narration and non-verbal cues. Each character is unique in their personal history, their mental quirks, their dialogue, and how they bring what they mean to the player. This combines to create some of the most memorable characters with personal flavor I can remember from my years of gaming. RDR really shines as a splendid example of – would it be literary? - narration in not just video games, but in any medium.

Tying in with the non-verbal delivery of the story, I must bring notice about the look of the world. Vast landscapes are truly beautiful from a distance, though they may suffer under a microscope – that, though, is a small peanut compared with the size of the world Rockstar is trying to create. The scenery itself is populated more so than a zoo, with everything from rabbits to bandits to dick-ish cougars ruining yours or someone else's day. One way to handle these pests is to use the game's slow-motion “dead eye” mechanic, blasting anything in the player's path. Falling from a saddle after being pounded in the face by a .44 has never looked so good.

That leads me to handling. The controls are decent enough to get any cowboy from point A to Z, with every place in between. Running and gunning is smooth and satisfying, but getting undercover when under pressure can be frustrating, with the game deciding that the exposed side of the crate getting riddled with bullets is the one the player wanted, not the cozy, all-included-cold-drinks part. And how the heck does a person get a horse to back-up? Is it even possible? Some tutorials flash by in the top corner so fast that recognition isn't easy, making some of the trickier situations a personal learning experience. Let this trashing not go on alone; take this, a reminder! The handling and mechanics allow even a novice to do what needs to get done. Nothing is hampered in any way to cripple the game due to the programming of Red Dead. My personal qualms should NOT dissuade a person from playing RDR.

All-in-all, I have much work to do before the conclusion of Red Dead Redemption is in sight. The major danger that I face before the end is not any enemy or army in-game, but my own concentration on the tasks at hand. No more rabbit skinning! No more flower picking (unless I need to; challenges, you know)! So far it's been a great ride, despite some bumps, but they had crappy roads back then anyway.

P.S. As always, don't forget to bookmark / share / comment. Enjoy your Labor Day, and see you next time for more adventures on Games of Taste!

A Warm Welcome

Greetings, fellow internet creepers!

Let me introduce myself: I'm Jimmy C, an everyman, a jack-of-all-trades, a gamer, a philosopher, a weirdo, a genius, a student, a hippie, a long-haired crazy man, the chef, and anything else that can be tacked on. In other words, I'm Jimmy C, and I'll be writing your reading material today.

Now, what does a guy like me do? Well, I currently am going to college at Dakota State University (I have Google, and so do you!), but that hardly paints a well-enough picture. Between studying hard for my Mathematics / Game Design / possible Computer Science majors, I try to game, read, workout, cook, and sleep. Enough so far?

Anywho – I'm working with some other kids this year to make a completed video game by late spring, so you'll hear updates on that (I'll reference their blogs later; check them out!). When I finally complete a game, or have some thoughts on one, there'll be a post about it for sure. Oh, and books too. Food? We'll get to that eventually.

In the meantime to the physical world I live in, I'll post here to keep you (ya, you, the reader) entertained and informed with the flow of info that's useful to your decision making. Until then, give this blog a following (or a bookmark – however your boat floats), and check in for the new and exciting adventures on Games of Taste!