Need For Speed Games Part 2: Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Need For Speed: Road Challenge (Aka High Stakes)

This week on Super Adventures I'm still playing through the first ten years of the Need for Speed series and today I've reached the third and fourth games, Hot Pursuit and Road Challenge (known in the US as High Stakes). If you want to read about the first two games you can find part one here.

I hope you like screenshots of cars and roads, because that's all I've got for you today. They're pretty good cars though. There's a Chevrolet Corvette, a Ferrari F355, a Lamborghini Diablo, another Corvette... all kinds of cars.

(If I don't mention what system a screenshot came from, then it's from the PC version. Unless the game doesn't have a PC version.)

Read on »

Experimenting With Outlines

I posted recently about how I often do one-week projects to learn and experiment. I don't have a strict one-week time limit. Sometimes I'll extend a project or come back to it after I've learned something new.

Ten weeks ago I had a one-week project in which I wanted to draw outlines on an isometric view of a dungeon game. I didn't want to outline each block, which could be implemented easily by editing the sprites. Instead, I wanted to outline the larger units. Here's a comparison:

Outlines around every sprite vs around walls

The second thing I wanted to do was to implement all of this in shaders. My first attempt was to draw a "surface id" to a texture, and then draw black outlines whenever the surface changes.

Draw a black line whenever the surface id changes

There were lots more details to implement, including outlines around billboard sprites, field of view, and lighting of wall blocks beyond the outline.

Dungeon map with outlines

I was pretty happy with that, even though it had some glitches, and I decided that project was finished.

A few weeks later I re-opened this project to explore a different approach. Instead of drawing the lines in a post-process step, I wanted to draw the lines as the sprites were being rendered. I posted some images on Twitter and got a suggestion from @Rezoner, who had made a version where some lines were white and some were black, depending on camera direction. I took that idea and ran with it, making white lines where the player could see the walls.

Dungeon map with lit and unlit outlines

I was pretty happy with this version too. I then merged the code together into one unified demo, with a toggle. Now I think I'm finished. But who knows? Maybe I'll re-open it later.

Take a look at the demo!

Things for me to keep in mind:

• The one-week self-imposed deadline is just a rough guide. I don't have to follow it strictly.
• Sharing unfinished work can lead to more ideas for improvement. I should share more things early.
• Sometimes all I need is a proof of concept. I don't need to make everything work perfectly. If I actually use this in a real project, I can work out those details then.

BYZANTINE: THE BETRAYAL

Istanbul, a city steeped in history and intrigue; that is the setting for Stormfront Studio's 1997 game Byzantine: The Betrayal. With the Discovery Channel heavily involved in its production, the exceptional conspiracy thriller at the heart of the story also doubles as an impressive travelogue of the Turkish capital that'll make anyone want to visit.

Read more »

Warsow Is Now Warfork And On Steam

Warfork Gameplay (livestream - skip ahead 1m20s)

Last updated 2019-08-22 (see bottom of this article).

The title says it all. Warfork is the revival of Warsow. Warsow is cool (and super hard to master) but does not have servers running and no development ongoing.

Warfork is an ironically-named fork of Warsow, has CC0 art assets and is for now only released on Steam. The source supposedly is mostly based on qfusion, the source code is supposed to be available as a DLC.

I recognized one of my own CC0 sounds in the game (dong.wav) without attribution (which is totally fine both legally and morally) but it's too bad that assets (especially the nice announcer voice) can't be re-used/re-shared with voluntary attribution without digging around for it first.

Some art is limited by containing trademarked logos. Would be cool to have clean versions if anybody plans on packaging Warfork for official distro packages eventually.

Shortly after launch time there were around 50 people on all servers, later it was even more. Let's hope it ends up being a success and that many other open source games will dare following!

Warfork on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/671610/Warfork/
Warfork on Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/VY95TKZ

Fun for me: I found out about Warfork two hours before release time as I was checking out a discussion about bringing Unvanquished to Steam.

Y'all better start with itch.io for distribution first. ;)

Discuss about this article on our forums here.

Update 2019-08-20: 

1. To my knowledge, the Warfork team is not required to publish the source, the offer to provide the source in the license included in the Steam release might suffice. Somebody who cares enough might try to contact them and ask for the source. [Oh wait somebody already did]. This worked when I asked for the source of an OpenArena Android port on the Play Store years ago.
2. I was wrong about Warsow not being under development - Its Beta was updated just days ago. However I'm there are no regular servers available for players.

Update 2019-08-22:

The source code is there: https://steamcommunity.com/games/671610/announcements/detail/3327517968305237985

This post was retrieved from freegamer.blogspot.com.

Game 117: The Legacy: Realm Of Terror (1993) – Introduction

By Voltgloss

In 1992, Infogrames released Alone in the Dark, which put the player in the role of an unsuspecting investigator who experiences the horrors of the mansion of an eccentric magnate, after said eccentric magnate committed suicide. The player tries to escape from the mansion, the unspeakable lurking fears that haunt it in the dark and from the raving madness that the secrets of the mansion could deliver. It is exciting, deadly and … why do I suddenly have this overwhelming sense of déjà vu?

All the pictures into the mind/There's a flashing in my eyes
(Image still from here)

Yes, it's time for a horror double bill here on The Adventure Gamer. The year after Alone in the Dark saw, not only Infogrames's own Shadow of the Comet, but a competitor's entry placed even more solidly in the "haunted house" genre. Because in 1993, Microprose released The Legacy: Realm of Terror, which puts the player in the role of an unsuspecting inheritor who experiences the horrors of the mansion of an eccentric Massachusetts family, as said family's last surviving heir. The player tries to escape from the mansion, the unspeakable lurking fears that haunt it in the dark and from the raving madness that the secrets of the mansion could deliver. It promises to be exciting, deadly, and … why do I suddenly have this overwhelming sense of déjà vu?

We've just been in this place before

So the setup for Legacy is decidedly familiar. What about the gameplay? What we've got on our hands here, based on the manual and a bit of make-sure-everything-works tinkering, is an Adventure/RPG hybrid: a game where the player controls a single character exploring a "dungeon" (the mansion) in first-person perspective, with tile-based mapping and over fifteen different character statistics, all apparently with gameplay significance down the line. Something in the Elvira and Waxworks vein, then - but leaning even more heavily on the RPG side. Will the game stand on its own as an Adventure? Will it navigate the narrow straits of hybridization successfully, or will both halves combine to make less than a whole? We're about to find out.

Higher on the street

The Legacy: Realm of Terror (also called simply The Legacy outside the United States) was the last game developed by British adventure game developer Magnetic Scrolls, after their acquisition by MicroProse. Between 1985 and 1990, Magnetic Scrolls had previously developed six graphical parser-based text adventures (and one "mini-adventure" offered to those who joined the short-lived "Official Secrets" adventure gaming club): The Pawn, The Guild of Thieves, Jinxter, Corruption, Fish!, Myth, and Wonderland. We've not covered any Magnetic Scrolls games previously on this blog - perhaps some Missed Classics treatment is in order down the line? [Admin note: Well, a reviewer did start Wonderland as our sixth Missed Classic, but he vanished after barely scratching the game. A replay is definitely in order.]  For now though, I'm playing through their first and only foray into mouse-driven, RPG-hybrid adventuring, published in 1993 for PC (and released digitally on GOG in December 2019).

See your body into the moonlight

Loading the game treats us to a cinematic intro where someone (our protagonist? someone else?) drives up to the spooky Winthrop House, accompanied by lightning flashes and tense, fast-paced music. Between the glowers of gargoyles our perspective passes through the front door, into a foyer (that we'll see "for real" soon enough), up stairs and through a door - and promptly face-plants into the floor in a dimly lit hallway, blood filling our vision. An omen of things to come? The fate of the last visitor before us? We may never know! What we do know - as the game next tells us after showing a newspaper about the "Winthrop House heir" (us) being located - is that it's time to select (or create) our character.

The fiction is gonna run it again

Character selection/creation lets you pick one of eight different protagonists, each with different backgrounds, character model design, and statistics. You can also manually adjust statistics for any one of the eight characters to tailor their attributes to your liking. The manual also promises that skills can be improved as we progress through the game, although there doesn't appear to be any dedicated "experience" score or character "level"; rather, the game suggests that repeatedly using a particular skill can increase your proficiency at it, Quest for Glory-style. There are seven primary statistics, three of which have four secondary sub-skills, as detailed in the manual:

1. Knowledge - ability to "perform various operations requiring special training." Sub-skills:

• Electronics - for opening "electronic locks" and dealing with other "electronic objects"
• First Aid - for restoring health via first aid kits
• Meditation - for restoring magic power via "Power Crystals"
• Mechanics - for opening "mechanical locks" and dealing with other mechanical objects

2. Strength - prowess with hand-held weapons, and boosts Health. Sub-skills:

• Brawling - bare-handed punching prowess
• Club - prowess with club-type weapons
• Force - for forcing open doors
• Lift - for picking up heavy objects

3. Dexterity - a "value for basic agility." Sub-skills:

• Blade - prowess with bladed weapons
• Dodge - ability to avoid ranged weapon attacks
• Firearms - prowess with firearms
• Throw - ability to throw objects or weapons

4. Stamina - poison resistance and boosts Health

5. Willpower - prowess with magic and resistance to magical attacks

6. Health - our character's life meter; death at zero "hit points." Derived from Strength and Stamina.

7. Magic - or "magic points"; expended by casting spells.

And now, let's meet our eight potential protagonists. Whom shall we pick? That's up to you! I'll be accepting votes in the comments to this post as to your first, second, and third choice of protagonist; I'll then assign 5 points per first-choice pick, 3 points per second-choice pick, and 1 point per third-choice pick, and then using whichever character gets the most points. Ties will be broken by random roll. I'll accept votes up until 72 hours after this is posted. Here we go!

Brad Norris. Sophomore at NYU, ski team captain and Debating Society member.
Planning a "mondo party." Never claimed to have deep motivations.

Brad is the default choice if you're just clicking through as fast as possible, and perhaps by design he's one of the most well-rounded statistically, with equal Knowledge, Strength, and Dexterity scores. Most of his sub-skills have a few bonus points added (the gold line segments extending to the right of the blue, red, or purple line segments below each sub-skill's name).

Charlotte Kane. CEO of the charmingly-named Golgotha Holdings.
Planning to turn Winthrop House into a luxury hotel and conference center.

Charlotte is one of the four options who comes with a spell already learned. No idea why a CEO knows the secrets of the Crimson Mists of Myamoto, but apparently it's a spell to reduce physical damage taken. Statistically, she's got very low strength, mediocre dexterity, but high knowledge (and particularly good at patching herself up with first aid kits). Lower health than Brad, but higher willpower.

Charles Weiss. Stage magician and self-described astrologer and occultist.
Implicated in the Arlington "sacrifice" scandal. We don't talk about the Arlington "sacrifice" scandal.

Charles eschews protective magic for a good old-fashioned fireball spell, leveraging the arcane power of not one, not two, but three words ending in "-eth." Base statistics are generally low across the board (even his Knowledge score is just equal to Brad's, though he's specialized in Meditation where Brad isn't). Where Charles put his bonus points is into his fire magic; see the length of the gold line segment below the "Flames of Desolation" spell name.

Lucy Weston. Sophomore at UCLA. Orphan who worked her way through school.
Tennis and volleyball player. Thinks her inheritance is "totally rad" and "almost tubular." 

Possibly modeled on horror films' "final girl" trope, Lucy here is just as strong as Brad, has extremely high dexterity and health, and is apparently a crack shot (with the best skill in firearms out of all eight characters). As a tradeoff, her knowledge is at rock bottom.

Henry Jones. Head of the Department of American History at Penn State.
Authority on the Salem witch-trials. No word on whether he has a son named Junior.

What horror game is complete without a university professor character? Henry here brings impressive knowledge to the table, with mediocre dexterity (though he's spry enough to dodge and throw surprisingly well) and lots of points devoted to his "Sight of the Dark Walker" spell. I don't have any information on what spells do beyond the description you see here; I'm guessing this lets you see in the dark and, maybe, helps with discovering secrets. Of course, all those points need a tradeoff somewhere; Henry has the least strength and health of all eight characters.

Jane Olson. Investigative journalist with the New York Daily Post.
Looking to uncover the truth about the Winthrop family's enigmatic disappearance.

Jane is our second well-rounded choice. She has very similar stats to Brad, with equal knowledge, strength, and dexterity scores and with solid health and willpower. Jane's a bit better than Brad with at punching, dodging, forcing doors, and tinkering with electronics/mechanics; while Brad has the edge in first aid and throwing skill.

Robert "Boomer" Kowalski. USMC (retired). Purple Heart and Navy Cross holder.
Veteran of actions in Grenada, Panama, and the Gulf.

Someone has to have the most strength of the bunch, and that someone is Robert. He's best situated of the eight to beat down eldritch abominations with his bare fists, and is also ready to swing a mean blade or shoot a mean gun. Average dexterity and mediocre knowledge (though with combat training in the use of first aid kits). His weak point is very low willpower. What's that going to mean in gameplay? We'll see, but the manual suggests your protagonist can become terrified or go into shock at the horrors they'll face. If willpower determines resistance to such effects, our friend Robert here is well-equipped … to go mad.

Isobel Gowdie. Widow and distant Winthrop family relative.
There's always been one Gowdie resident in the area, dating back to the 17th century.

Isobel, like Charles, is a fire-slinging offensive spellcaster. Mediocre stats across the board in exchange for very high willpower and a pumped-up Flames of Desolation spell. Compared to Charles, she has less knowledge (though is a bit better at first aid) and less prowess with weapons; but she actually is better at magic (in both raw magic and in her Flames spell) and has more stamina and health.

So, there's our cast! Whom shall be our avatar for this spooky adventure? You all tell me. I look forward to your choice!

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

What Is SOMA's Safe Mode?

Tomorrow we will be releasing SOMA for Xbox One and along with this comes Safe Mode. This is a new way of playing the game that will also be available via Steam and GOG at the same time.

Since we announced Safe Mode there have been a lot of questions about it, so we thought this would be a good time to answer some of those and to clear up a few things. Here goes:


What is Safe Mode?
It is a version of the game where you cannot die - you are safe from harm. The game's various creatures are still there, they just won't attack you. If you've heard of the SOMA Steam mod "Wuss Mode", by steam user The Dreamer, then you should know the basic idea. The important thing to point out is that we don't simply turn off the creature's ability to attack and harm you. Instead, we've redesigned their behavior. Our goal has been for Safe Mode to not feel like a cheat, but for it to be a genuine way of experiencing the game. So we've considered what each creature should be doing, given their appearance, sound, and voice.

You can pick between Safe Mode and normal mode when starting up a new game.

Is the game still scary?
This obviously depends on what scares you, but the short answer is: yes, the game is still a horror game. However, since you can explore without a constant fear of failure, you will no longer have that type of tension. For people who aren't great at handling that aspect of horror gameplay, their journey through SOMA will be a lot easier in Safe Mode. But if it is the overall atmosphere that gets to you in a horror game - and, above all, the central themes - then game will still have plenty to be scared of.

What is the major difference in gameplay?
All of the puzzles, events, and so forth are still there. The big difference is that you'll no longer have to sneak past enemies. You don't need stealth in order to complete the game. Monsters might sound and act more threatening if they spot you, so there is still an incentive to being careful, but it's no longer mandatory to keep hidden. This will also allow you to explore some of environments more carefully.

Why release it now?
We actually considered releasing something similar at launch, but chose not to because we felt it would make the core intent of the game too unfocused. As people started to say that they really wanted to play the game and experience the philosophical sci-fi narrative, but couldn't because of the monsters, we started considering doing something about it. People liking the "Wuss Mode" mod was a good sign that we could solve this. However going back to a game you have already completed is not tempting so we put it off.

What eventually tipped the scales was the Xbox release where we wanted an extra feature to make the launch more interesting. Adding some sort of no-monster mode felt like the best option, and so Safe Mode was born! It also felt like it had been long enough since the original release, and the intended version of the game had been played and evaluated enough. Adding a new play mode wouldn't be a problem.

Will it come to PS4?
Yes! We hope to have it ready about 2 months from now. Sorry for not releasing it now, but a couple of issues have kept us from doing a simultaneous launch of Safe Mode.


I hope that clears things up! Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions!

Bimonthly Progress Report For My Twitch Channel, FuzzyJCats, July 2 To Sept 1

FuzzyJCats Twitch Channel

Now that I accomplished the most important improvement to my stream, not caring about numbers, I was able to focus on my goals listed in my last progress report during this period.  

I was getting better at talking and gaming at the same time, as it didn't quite take as much effort as before. I was able to stream without exercising just as well as before when I really had to exercise to perform.

Interestingly, as streaming seemed to be more and more natural (though not quite effortless which is where I want to end up at), I felt that near the end of the period, I actually fell into complacency, so I didn't really work on self-care issues, improving fluency, removing vocal tics and filler words, and the like.

I could tell that I was starting to become complacent around last week, because I didn't have that passion I have when I want to improve upon things. The good news is that this week, after realizing that I was almost going through the motions (albeit while streaming, I was having fun being with my community), I rediscovered that excitement and drive to work on improving my content.

I found one obvious area to improve is to have more purposeful gaming while chatting. My default strat of just moving the character around as I'm chatting just to provide some change in scenery is certainly better than nothing, i.e. having my character stand in one place. But clearly, we can do better than that!

Admittedly, the strat was a good crutch as I was getting acclimated to the multitasking, but since it's taking less effort to stream thanks to experience, I'd like to actually chat and purposefully move toward the boss, as boss fights are amongst the most exciting content.

The roadblock is that for some reason, I feel compelled to narrate what I'm doing in gaming, so if I'm moving toward a goal, I'd talk about that, as opposed to talking about more interesting subjects that my viewers present.

Therefore, I have to make a concerted effort to only talk about why I'm doing something if there's nothing else to address in chat, and I can't think of any other topics to talk about.

I feel by consciously gaming purposefully the entire stream, my streaming content will improve immensely. But by doing this, I do in fact have to exercise as that's going to take so much more mental energy than just going through the motions (that might explain why I was recently able to stream despite not exercising).

Fortunately, I exercised for the first time yesterday when my asthma was stable, and I have to make sure that I exercise regularly like I used to during the beginning of my streaming.

I also want to improve being more fluent. Due to being so excitable, my mind goes all over the place, leading to my speaking in fits and starts, and often not completing sentences. 

A great example of a streamer who is warm, friendly, constantly talks to chat, addresses and knows all of his viewers, and offers amazing gameplay the entirety of his stream is RichieTwoTeas. Although Richie's a professional streamer, and I'm a hobbyist, it helps to have a lofty goal to strive toward.

I believe that purposeful gaming and fluency are the two major improvements to focus on for my second year of streaming as achievable goals. The third improvement of community building does not appear to have concrete steps to take, but I can work on finding solutions this period. My first stream was on July 25, 2018.

Improving equipment to stream through PC using OBS greatly improves audio-visuals to a noticeable effect, so getting a decent PC and learning how to set up OBS is definitely something I'll be working on down the road.

Although I tend to do better with improving on one aspect rather than multiple, it appears that having good game content and fluency are intertwined, so it won't be "confusing" to work on both at the same time, as they are what you do when streaming.

An easy improvement I made is buying 4 season-specific sub badges through Own3D, which was rather cost-effective, and they often (always?) have 50% discounts. One set of sub badges costs $15 with the steep discounts - you get 3- 6- 9- and 12- month badges. So far, I featured the ice cream and pumpkin sub badges, and the other two will follow upon season change.

Responding to viewers have improved. I obtain logs through Chatty.

Goals Achieved:

• No longer caring about viewer numbers
• Incorporated 4 Sub Badges 
• Using Chatty

Improvement to focus on for next period:

• Purposeful gaming while chatting  and fluency = must do self-care

The How of Happiness Review

Here's To Lookin' At You, Bugs!

Image used for criticism under "Fair Use." All rights belong to Warner Brothers.

"What's up, Doc?"

Bugs Bunny was one of the great idols of my childhood. Looney Tunes used to regularly come on Cartoon Network, and Bugs was the one I always wanted most to see. In fact, Cartoon Network used to dedicate the entire month of June to playing Bugs Bunny cartoons nonstop. Such a bold move could hardly be imagined today. Even more inconceivable were his appearances at that time beside Michael Jordan in Space Jam, and Mickey Mouse in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The latter more productive than the former.



I speak of Bugs since he just turned seventy-five this year. In the few moments I've spent with him, eyes glued to the TV set, so many are fond. Who wouldn't adore his arguments with Daffy over whether it was "Rabbit Season" or "Duck Season"? We all know the routine. Bugs would concede that it's "Rabbit Season", but Daffy, not one to agree with Bugs, thoughtlessly insists that its "Duck Season", only to get his bill shot off by Elmer. Though Bugs hardly ever got on Elmer's good side, either. As much as he tried to be very, very quiet in his hunting for rabbits, Bugs usually got the upper-hand. Sometimes he did it by cross-dressing as a woman, most famously in What's Opera, Doc? Now remembered as one of Bugs and Elmer's finest, What's Opera, Doc? is a fanciful adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, with the "Tannhauser Chorus" and "Ride of the Valkyries" included. The short was produced in the 1950's, when the Chuck Jones cartoons acquired a more modernist art style. We see this on point when Elmer's fury to command the weather gets the background into more clashing hues and greys. What stands out about this particular episode is that Elmer actually succeeds in killing Bugs, to which he weeps. I was shocked upon first seeing this. Tom never caught Jerry. Sylvester never caught Tweety. Wile E. Coyote never caught Road Runner. Yet here we were. Though Bugs slipped in a final comment to berate my surprise, "What did you expect from an opera, a happy ending?"

Even when Bugs was shamelessly ripping off Tom and Jerry's Cat Concerto in Rhapsody Rabbit, he managed to get a good laugh or two in. I mean hell, he literally pulls out a gun to shoot a coughing audience member. I suppose a bullet does better to silence than cough drops.

Bugs had wit. I'd argue that's part of his draw. With so many one-liners, Bugs comes across as an animated Groucho Marx. (Bugs has even put on a Groucho disguise). The rabbit always used his brains to get the upper-hand over his opponents, and being a cartoon, he resolves matters in ways that may surprise the viewer. Compare this to Popeye the Sailor, whom while being entertaining in his own right, always ended his conflicts in the same way: with spinach and muscle. Though the type of character Bugs is comes from the Trickster archetype. NPR compared him favorably to Puck, Anansi, and the Monkey King. Further, the radio station quoted Robert Thompson, who directs a pop-culture studies program at Syracuse University. Thompson remarked of Bugs that, "He defies authority. He goes against the rules. But he does it in a way that's often lovable, and that often results in good things for the culture at large," (Sutherland). Chuck Jones, always made sure that Bugs only acted when provoked. His trickery was a matter of defending his dignity.

And to my recollection, he always won.

Image used for criticism under "Fair Use." All rights belong to Warner Bros.

Bibliography

Sutherland, J.J. "Bugs Bunny: The Trickster, American Style." NPR, January 6, 2008. Web. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17874931

10 Brazilian Videogames To Start 2020 In An Epic Way

I don't like to make lists but this one is a special exception. I created a list with 10 Brazilian games that I loved a lot to play in last years. As a Brazilian guy, nothing fairer than talking a little bit about the games created in my country. You can find any of them easily in Steam or the mainstream consoles. I tried to put a small description of each one with a trailer. You can search on Google to know more about them.

1.Horizon Chase Turbo (Aquiris)

Horizon Chase Turbo is a modern take on the 90s old-school racers that we loved the most such as Out Run or Top Gear. It's the first game in analogic Blu-ray launched in Brazilian Territory. Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Xbox One



2.Chroma Squad (Behold Studios)

Chroma Squad is a tactical role-playing video game influenced by tokusatsu TV shows, particularly the Super Sentai and Power Rangers franchises. Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Android, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems, macOS.



3.Celeste (MiniBoss)

Celeste is platform game in which players control a girl named Madeline in a beautiful, challenging and metaphorical struggle against anxiety and depression (I really love this one). Platforms: Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One



4.Rainy Day (Thais Weiller & Amora B.)

A short and reflective experience about depression on a rainy day. A game to be played right in your browser. Click here. Platform: Internet browsers.



5.Shiny (Garage 227)

Awesome art, robots and puzzles. I'll not say anything more, but Shiny was one of the most immersive experiences I had with a game in the last years. Check the trailer below and try to play. Platforms: PC, Xbox One and PS4.



6.Blazing Chrome (JoyMasher)

Blazing Chrome is a classic co-op run 'n gun with an original arcade feel. Players can choose between Mavra, the badass human resistance, soldier or Doyle, the groovy rebel robot, to kick some metal ass. Are you a Contra lover? You'll love this game. Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows



7.Aritana and the Twin Masks (DUAIK)

second adventure of a universe that explores even more the forest's mysteries, based in the brazilian mythology and culture. With a new weapon, a bow and arrow, the adventure extends gameplay possibilities, bringing 3D movement, big sceneries in open landscapes to explore and powers that helps the player solve several puzzles. Explore a huge lost temple and find artifacts that can be mixed in many special potions and prepare yourself to save the tree of life. Platforms: Xbox One.



8.Sky Racket (Double Dash Studios)

Sky Racket is a mixture of the casual fun from Block Breakers and the awesome action from Shoot 'Em Ups, which makes it the first Shmup Breaker. Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, IBM PC compatible.



9.Tamashii (Vikintor)

Tamashii it's a platform game that generates a sense of strangeness for its gameplay and layout. I can't express in words why I liked this game so much. I think it was his strangeness that made me find an experience interesting. The dark ambience soundtrack with the lovecraftian/gigerian creatures/scenarios are the high points of the game for me. About the developer: Vikintor is a Brazilian independent artist and game creator; his work it's mostly about Metaphysical punk, Transgressive Gnosticism and Philosophically subversive themes. Making small and medium-size games with the proposal to conceive experimental interactive medium of expression (text from author's site). Platform: Microsoft Windows.



10.Lenin - The Lion (Lornyon)

Lenin is an albino lion, the only one of his kind, and because of that he feels insecure and constantly discouraged. In fact. Worse, his mother does not understand why his son was born this way, and the whole village despises him and treats him cruelly. At school, he suffers bullying and can't concentrate on class. Now, hopeless about life, certain situations seem to awaken in Lenin something that is not of everyone's reality, but only of his. Something he will discover to be the part of something else. Platform: Microsoft Windows.



Bonus Stage: Mind Alone (Sioux)

Time for self-promotion! MIND ALONE is an experimental mobile game that uses puzzle mechanics to create a dark narrative about somebody trapped in their own mind. Each puzzle is a memory and the player needs to solve them to find hints about how it happened. I created this game in a partnership with Sioux, a Brazilian gaming publisher. Platforms: iOS and Android.


Hope you enjoy and happy new year.

#GoGamers

Board Game Support Group

Carl: Hello everyone, please welcome Gary to the group. He could use our support.

Group: Hi Gary!

Gary: Like all of you, I buy too many board games. They're sitting in shrink wrap on shelves.

Group: Nodding approval.

Gary: But I'm mostly trying to sell them to you folks, as a retailer.

Group: Disapproving grumbling.

Gary: But often at a discount, because they sell like crap.

Group: Murmuring with approval.

Gary: You see, as someone whose mostly a role player, I tend to buy board games that interest me. Really complex stuff that makes my brain tingle. But I don't play them. As my friend Jay says, a good day board gaming is still not as good as a bad day role playing. You know, like the sex and pizza metaphor.

Group: Angry grumbling. Several female hands go up.

Vijay: They can't all sell badly, what about Terraforming Mars with its eight point four on bee gee gee?

Gary: Yes, Vijay, even Terraforming Mars with its eight point four. Where did you buy your copy Vijay?

Vijay? (Sheepish) Amazon.

Gary: Yes, Amazon. You don't need me and I shouldn't be catering to you.

Carl: I bought my Terraforming Mars at your store!

Gary: Oh, when was that Carl?

Carl: At your Black Friday Sale.

Gary: Right, on clearance. *cough* vulture *cough*

Carl: What was that?

Gary: Anyway, this is my first day vowing to order games only for our casual customers, the ones who actually buy from us. People who allow us to sell them games through our demos and our enthusiasm.

Carl: So no more high concept bee gee gee picks?

Gary: No Carl, no more complex board games. Which even at their best, aren't as good as a bad night of D&D. Or you know, sex and pizza.

These Walmart PC Accessory Sales Make Working From Home A Little Easier - Ars Technica

These Walmart PC accessory sales make working from home a little easier

People Behind The Meeples - Episode 211: Dave Dobson

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Dave Dobson
Email:	dave@planktongames.com
Location:	North Carolina, USA
Day Job:	I teach geology, environmental studies, and computing at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. I also write novels and perform improv comedy, neither of which could be considered a day job. Yet. Dammit.
Designing:	Over ten years!
Webpage:	http://planktongames.com
Blog:	https://planktongames.blogspot.com
BGG:	dobnarr
Facebook:	Dave Dobson
Twitter:	@GCDaveDobson
Other:	http://davedobsonbooks.com
Find my games at:	Amazon, PlanktonGames.com, TheGameCrafter

Today's Interview is with:

Dave Dobson
Interviewed on: 8/21/2019

This week's interview is with Dave Dobson an author, board game designer, video game designer, and more. He's been designing games of one sort or another for over 40 years! He may have even designed some games you've played! Read on to learn more about Dave and his current projects.

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Over ten years!

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I've loved designing games since I was a kid. I love the process of design, balance, creativity, and paper and glue. One of my earliest games, circa 1979, was a roll-and-move called the Roy Rogers game, based on the TV show. It had an unfortunate spot on the board where if you didn't roll two specific numbers on consecutive rolls, you got sent back to the ranch, i.e. start. My family gave up on it after about twenty minutes, but I learned a valuable lesson about broken designs.

What game or games are you currently working on?
I'm working on the third Doctor Esker's Notebook game, which is about 80% done. I'm also working on a game called The Treasure of Mag Mell, a card collection game where you are competing against other factions in a college of magic to gain enough control over the school to be awarded magical artifacts. I've done a lot of playtesting, and I'm working through the art and publishing parts of it now. I also have a game called Wrath about a doomed island nation trying to curry favor with vengeful gods so as to avoid being destroyed. Still in the design phase on that one. And I have a roll-and-write that I kind of like based on asteroid mining, called 97 Klotho.

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Diggity, a mining game, has been available on TheGameCrafter since 2009, and it's also been published by SugarDice games in Israel. I've also published (through my company, PlanktonGames) a game called Doctor Esker's Notebook, a puzzle card game that's been well reviewed, and a sequel called Son of Doctor Esker's Notebook. A while back, I wrote some pretty popular computer games, including Snood, Centaurian, Snood Towers, Chowder, and Snoodoku.

What is your day job?
I teach geology, environmental studies, and computing at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. I also write novels and perform improv comedy, neither of which could be considered a day job. Yet. Dammit.

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
At home, my favorite place is the kitchen table. It has good light, lots of seating, and is close to snacks and drinks. I have a semi-regular get-together with friends where we play either at people's houses or at work, and that's a lot of fun too.

Who do you normally game with?
Family, friends from work, sometimes friends from the comedy club where I perform.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
Usually I put out a stack and let people choose. I'm happy playing nearly anything. I love it when people are willing to try out my designs, but I also enjoy lots of other kinds of games. Recent faves include Scythe, Bloodrage, Twilight Struggle, Splendor.

And what snacks would you eat?
I have a weakness for salty stuff, but most of it gums up game components. At our regular game meetings, I usually go for grapes, Reese's Miniatures, and wheat thins and pimento cheese, a southern specialty which this Iowa boy has grown to love.

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Not usually - I find it gets in the way of conversation.

What's your favorite FLGS?
My favorite was The Games People Play in Cambridge, MA, where I shopped from my college days through a couple years ago. Sadly, it's closed now.

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Lifetime favorite is the Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (1978). I've played that literally hundreds of times. Seven Wonders I can always come back to. Really great game, particularly for larger groups. I also really like Race For The Galaxy. Least favorite that I still enjoy is probably Munchkin. I don't really know why it has such legs. Worst game I ever played - that's a tough one. So many of my early designs were bad - probably that Roy Rogers one I mentioned earlier.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
I really like games where you have to choose a small number of a broad set of actions, as in worker placement games. Least favorite is hidden traitor, like Werewolf. Just doesn't do anything for me, and I don't like lying to people.

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
Not a lot of people around here interested in Agricola, but I enjoy it a lot.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, Card Games, RPG Games, Video Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
Had a good time with friends with it when it first came out, despite it being ethically problematic and a kind of rip-off of Apples to Apples. Haven't played in years, and no real desire to return.

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
It's almost always mechanics first, then theme. I am a better engineer than storyteller in games. But I've also had those two parts trade off during the design process - e.g. in my Wrath game, I had the idea of sucking up to angry gods first, and then built mechanics around that, and then saw that there could be another story component I could add that boosted the mechanics (a mysterious trickster being that gave out silly quests).

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
Entered a number of them, won few, although I did win one on BGDF one time.

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
Antoine Bauza, Tom Jolly (for Wiz War, one of my favorites of all time)

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
A lot of my game ideas have started as scribbles in the margins of my notebook while at tedious meetings.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
Inflicting them on family and friends, primarily.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
Nearly always alone. If I feel a game concept is worth pursuing, I'll often invest in some better art than I can produce on my own and see where that goes.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Opportunities for iterative and thorough playtesting. I don't always have as many opportunities to test as I'd like.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
That's a tough one. I usually find games with big IP ties aren't so great as games. Something based on the Barsoom books, maybe? I loved those as a kid.

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
You'll be worse at it than you think you are for a long time, until eventually you'll realize how bad you were and still are.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
It's a lot harder to come up with something really new and different than it is to borrow mechanics and ideas from other games. Both paths can produce good games that are fun to play, but the former path can be a lot more rewarding.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have: Diggity, Doctor Esker's Notebook
Games that will soon be published are: Son of Doctor Esker's Notebook
I'm planning to crowdfund: The Treasure of Mag Mell
Games that I'm playtesting are: Wrath, Return of Doctor Esker's Notebook

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
I've been active on BGDF in the past, not so much now. I'm in a number of Facebook groups.

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Both ST & SW - they feed different hungers. Trek's always been richer and deeper for me, though. Diet Mountain Dew. Nobody really used Betamax.

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Improv comedy, writing, tuba playing.

What is something you learned in the last week?
They're making a Matrix IV. That shouldn't be allowed after Matrix III.

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Movie scores. Fantasy and sci fi, plus thrillers, for both books and movies.

What was the last book you read?
Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

Do you play any musical instruments?
The tuba, pretty well. The piano, badly.

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I've played the biggest tuba in the world in concert (back in 1991). I wrote Snood, a shareware game that was pretty popular back in 1998-2005.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
Lost my wallet while changing clothes to defend my Ph.D. in Ann Arbor, MI, in 1997. Got a call from Boston Logan airport police in 2005 saying they'd found that same wallet inside a wall in the airport (in MA) during demolition for remodeling. They sent me back a picture of my daughter that had been in it. Super, super weird.

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
Said no when my kids wanted to adopt a third cat. Caved when my son accepted my decision, but then I heard him softly crying in his room and I felt like a grade-A schmuck. Now, it's my absolute favorite cat, and the kids have left for college.

Who is your idol?
That is a strong word. Not many folks are worthy of that level of worship. I greatly admire folks who stand up for the oppressed or stand up for their culture, including many in the civil rights movement and the Native American community.

What would you do if you had a time machine?
Visit medieval Europe and the Roman Empire for my own kicks, then head to the future to find us some clean cheap energy.

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert mostly, but one who sometimes does extroverty stuff.

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
The Tick (the animated one - he's the best version)

Have any pets?
Two cats and a dog.

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
As a geologist, I find the scenario you describe not to be very plausible. To keep: art, music, poetry, computers, the web, clean energy, medicine. To lose: income inequality, racism, bigotry, poverty, and pineapple on pizza.

Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

Even if you think my games suck, please have a look at my novel, Flames Over Frosthelm, a comedic yet heroic fantasy adventure, kind of CSI meets Princess Bride. Also, be excellent to each other.

And...

The original Conan the Barbarian movie with Schwarzenegger is an under-appreciated masterpiece.

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Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

Did you like this interview?  Please show your support: Support me on Patreon! Or click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

NEAT XII

Some shots for this past weekend. We ended up with 18 guys from across the northeast. Karl surprised everyone (including himself) by going 3-0 with AMTL and winning the Epic trophy (first place), Frank claimed the Dice of Dave (last place) yet again. I won Best Crit for crashing my Cobra into a tree while trying to avoid Jon's pin-point attacks. And I believe Jimmy took home "Best Painted" for his not completely painted Imperial Fists. Enjoy!