Monday, July 30, 2012

Dishonored: Daring Escapes, the good, the bad and the ugly

The newest gameplay trailer shows multiple strategies for the same part of the game.


The Good: First of all, it almost felt like an open-world experience. Sadly, it isn't. However, we see the freedom to choose your strategy I believe Harvey Smith has had a large role in (lead designer for Dishonored, known for titles like Deus Ex, which has a strategic system). Viktor Antonov, the guy who designer City 17 in Half Life 2, is doing a great job with Dishonored's Dunwall. The game is dynamical and the "chain possession" method looked like the one I'm going to use most simply because it was devious and awesome.

The Bad: The game graphics look outdated. The gameplay looks aged. Older gamers will most likely feel pleasant nostalgia, but Dishonored isn't likely to become as popular as Skyrim. And after what happened to Troika, the company of geniuses which made awesome games yet faced bankruptcy, I'm worried for Arkane too. And it still isn't an open-world game.

The Ugly: FOV manipulation was too dry at times, could hurt game dynamics. When falling into water, PC's weapons suddenly disappear, replaced by empty hands. Some holstering animation wouldn't hurt. And I would really appreciate better graphics.

The verdict is - I like what I see, but there's still much to improve. Let's see what comes out in the final product.

Update: Harvey and Raphael are answering questions on Reddit. Got questions - ask them. Here's the link.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Aaron Diaz explains: Why cleavage is bad for crimefighting

Aaron Diaz (DresdenCodak.com) made some comments on how certain revealing suits would affect the crime-fighting of certain female superheroes.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Throneopoly

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. Originally posted here.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Hawk the Slayer (1980)

The classic sword-and-sorcery movie "Hawk the Slayer" might make the 90s generation smile on pencil-drawn special effects and the proto-lightsaber idea of the Sword of Mind, but this is a film from my childhood and one of my first fantasy experiences. So if you want something to watch this weekend and don't mind the absence of top-tier CG effects, here's a story that will entertain you.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Diablo III or how Blizzard Entertainment killed it

Diablo has always been a game with a cult following, and Diablo II continued the tradition. Actually those games proved RPG could exist outside D&D, and many developers released would-be "Diablo killers" to take the throne, and noone succeeded. And now Blizzard Entertainment, sadly, succeeded where others failed: they killed the Diablo franchise. It's not that Diablo III is a bad game; it's that it will never live up to predecessors and the future of the franchise is, at best, clouded.

What was awesome about Diablo was the amount of random-generated content that never got boring; even when former Diablo developers formed Flagship Studios tried to recreate it in Hellgate: London it only felt like going into awfully familiar instances and killing iterations of the same monsters. No "monster horde slaughter", no "deeper into the dungeon", nothing like that. Diablo II changed much in the terms of atmosphere, it was a bold move but backed with a certain level of familiarity in the first act, consistent story and an amount of added content - the fans were overjoyed.

What would we expect of Diablo III? Pushing the limits further, I guess. Even more content, even more story, even more plots. When I heard Leonard Boyarsky, one of the masterminds behind Fallout, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines and Temple of Elemental Evil was in the team, my expectations went even higher.

Now let's go back to an earlier time. Blizzard was known as a company who put quality above deadlines and scrapped games when they did not meet their quality standards. Yet, after releasing WarCraft III - IMHO one of the best RTS games of all time - they killed it with a sequel. World of WarCraft. You may be a WOW fanboy all the same, but let's admit some things:
  • making a MMORPG sequel to a game that is going to run for an infinite amount of time also delays further RTS sequels for an infinite amount of time;
  • sacrificing lore to gameplay is selling out, and the idea of a Horde that includes Blood Elves and the Forsaken and wars against the Night Elf Sentinel is dumb as hell;
  • pay equal - get equal philosophy leads to similar characters with similar top-tier gear.
 Well at least the world design and gameplay were brilliant, so I didn't condemn Blizzard much but swore a bloody oath I'd never play WOW.

If I only knew Blizzard was testing a new way of DRM on us gamers. When StarCraft II came out, it became more apparent: all the multiplayer aspect was handled by Battle.net, and this could be explained somehow too, but when Diablo III single-player content got handled by servers... that's when I said "Damn you Blizzard, I used to admire you but you'll never be the same". It's a DRM. Just a DRM. What's wrong with DRMs? It's that you're calling illegal copying thievery and calling your customers potential thieves.

Diablo and Diablo II are ageless games. I might take my disks out once in a while and revive my savegames from 98 and 2003. Diablo III... if something happens to Blizzard or Diablo server support stops, or you're somewhere there's no internet (grandma's house in the village), there's no Diablo either. It's like Blizzard cared more about getting as much money from you as they can instead of making another great game worthy of the Diablo line.

Skyrim got pirated the day it was released. Yet it sold at awesome rates. So Blizzard, this isn't about not losing money; this is about getting as much money as you can.

You never saw it coming
Well, not many would expect that the buggy TES: Arena of 94 could become the father of the flag-bearer franchise of Action RPG industry. But in 2002, when Morrowind was released, many saw there what they would expect of Diablo and more: freedom of action, a huge world and a story. And it appealed to many that the final boss wasn't something as cheesy as "The Lord of Terror and Father to all Evil in the World", but an old friend - betrayed, like you, but consumed with lust for power and revenge. Morrowind gave your hero a freedom of identity. And - a freedom to mod the game the way we liked it. And when Oblivion came out, Bethesda had messed the whole monster, NPC and gear levelling system (which forced me to finish the main quest on lower levels and get unique gear on higher ones). What did we do? We just modded the game, and forgave Bethesda - Oblivion became Game of the Year like Morrowind did. And still I feel apologetic tones when Todd Howard is speaking about Oblivion. Because the man respects gamers.

Now imagine if Bethesda decided to take out the modding capabilities from Skyrim. Instead, they made a better mod-making software and promised to make mods available on console.

Bethesda decides to make a TES MMORPG - they make a prequel set two eras before Skyrim. Just a chain of brilliant decisions, and that's why TES V: Skyrim is the next big thing and Diablo III is the Daikatana of RPG.

Colin J. Rudd

Colin J. Rudd is an English bard who, I think, has written some awesome songs based on Tolkien's work. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Beren and Tinúviel

Lament for Gandalf

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Four tweaks to improve Skyrim graphics

Ok, you might find Skyrim graphics impressive already, but the low-res textures always looked a bit blurry to me, and the shadows were a bit too ugly. So if you've got a high-end machine, let's make the world of Skyrim a bit prettier.

1. The first one is actually simple: download and install the official Skyrim: High Resolution Texture Pack for free, here's the Steam link. And here's a taste of what you'll get:
2. Now for the shadows. The first fix will fix jagged/pixelate shadows without hitting the performance. Just read my previous Skyrim tweek post to see how to modify settings and especially pay attention to the precautions and calls to backup the files you're modifying. When you're done, we're set to go.

Open SkyrimPrefs.ini and search for the following lines:
  • ShadowMapResolutionSecondary=XXXX
  • ShadowMapResolutionPrimary=XXXX
  • ShadowMapResolution=XXXX
Where XXXX are values. Just change those values to 4096, save SkyrimPrefs.ini and close. Open the game - the difference should be apparent.

3. To fix twitchy or shaky shadows, open the same SkyrimPrefs.ini file and look for the following line:
  • iBlurDeferredShadowMask=X
 Set value to 0. That should fix it.
4. Now, if you and your PC are up to the challenge, let's make the rocks and trees drop shadows upon themselves.

Once more open SkyrimPrefs.ini (once more making a backup) and find the following lines:
  • bTreesReceiveShadows=0
  • bDrawLandShadows=0
Change both shadows from 0 to 1. Pretty realistic already, isn't it?

This should do it for now.

Dragon's Kneecap Reading List: Roger Zelazny

Zelazny will always have a special place in my collection as one of the best fantasy and science fiction writers I've ever read. So here's a list of books if you want to get started with him.

The Chronicles of Amber, a cycle of ten novels and once you become a devout fan you'll want to read the short stories too.

When it comes to multiverses, first names that come to my mind are Zelazny's Amber, Moorcock's multiverse, Stephen King's Dark Tower and Gaiman's Sandman (though the latter shares its multiverse with the rest of DC comics).

Zelazny's multiverse is special: two "real worlds" - Amber and the Courts of Chaos, both drop shadows (Amber castle's reflection in water and in the night sky are separate worlds and relatively easy to visit). They manifest Order (the Pattern and the Unicorn) and Chaos (the Logrus and the Serpent). The rest is shadows of these two, and those of royal blood walk the shadows through their eternal conflict.

Creatures of Light and Darkness, another example of how Zelazny blends science fiction and ancient mythology. Egyptian, this time. And once more - a multiverse, tempural fugue (a martial technique used by some very powerful characters when combatants project themselves multiple times in time and space - infinite times, depending on their mastery).

The narrative of "Creatures of Light and Darkness" is a bit specific; just don't let it scare you off in the beginning and soon you'll get a taste for it.

And, of course, the Agnostic's Prayer:

Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.

The Lord of Light, another example of how Zelazny blends mythology with science fiction.

His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god.

Basically he could manipulate energy in every form.

Those reached technological perfection have claimed themselves thrones of Hindu gods, while their offsprings live mortal lives. Two ideas - Theocrates and Accelerists - clash on whether humans should be left to develop technology on their own or be helped. And Sam is, of course, one of the rebels.

Written in the form of a series of short stories rather than a novel, it follows the life of Mahasamatma, who has chosen to take the image of Buddha, on his quest to enlighten and free humanity from the dominion of oppressive man-gods.

Jack of Shadows, where the world doesn't revolve around its axis but is fixed, so the day rules one half of it, with science and technology, and night - the other side, dominated by magic and monsters. And a cursed god in the middle, who shall be free once he sees the dawn.

The lords of the night side all have their places of power; to Jack, who was born on the borderline of day and night, his place of power is anywhere shadows are.

You might find this novel a bit overstretched, yet if you're careful you'll notice that's the way it should be. And first of all - it is a journey, to the end of all things.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Skyrim: Krosis fight

When the unwary Dragonborn comes to Shearpoint dragon lair on his Dragonborn business (killing dragons, that is), it's a mean moment when he goes a bit too near to the Word Wall and awakens something terrible.

Lets see what we have: an angry boss-level Dragon Priest with Ice spells and a nasty Fireball stuff, most likely accompanied by a Frost Atronach. On lower levels you're likely as good as dead the moment you charge him; so let's bee careful with this one.
Shearpoint location, image from elderscrolls.wikia.com
I tried to make Krosis fight with the dragon of Shearpoint several times, yet nothing came out. And if you are melee, I have some bad news for you: Krosis glides and slides faster than you most likely do, his frost spells further slow you down. Add a Frost Cloak spell that drains your stamina - so no power attacks. Due to his Greater Ward my "if you can't beat 'em, FUS-RO-DAH 'em" strategy didn't help either.

Krosis is pathetic without his magic and his use of fireball's AOE damage is intimidating. Thus he always tries not to charge you but to flank you. Still Krosis doesn't know the first rule of Skyrim ranged combat: whenever not shooting, make sure there's something between you and the enemy. So, my low-level friend, you should take up a spell like Lightning bolt, hide behind the Word Wall and come out occasionally, dodge his projectiles and land a blow or two. If you are a Breton (which are 25% resistant to all magic), you might visit the Atronach stone (to start absorbing magic damage and decrease the damage) and equip a Healing spell in one hand, an offensive spell - in the other, and take on Krosis directly. No matter what you choose, Krosis has a decent amount of health and you'll have a long fight on your hands.

Improving Your Skyrim Experience on PC

I know Skyrim came out almost a year ago and many thought they were done with dragon-hunting and stuff, but with DLCs coming out I guess it's time to FUS-RO-DAH the thin film of dust off the game's icon and become a Dragonborn once more.

TES V: Skyrim is a great game, yet I felt some amount of discomfort when started playing it. The problem is, it is optimized for console; and I'm a sworn PC player.

So let's break it all down to points. What's wrong with Skyrim PC experience, compared to my previous experience with Morrowind and Oblivion.
  • the interface is optimized for game controller/keyboard, not mouse manipulation;
  • the senseless horror of mouse acceleration;
  • the FOV (field of view) is for viewing it from larger distance on TV screen;
Many of you will find other stuff to complain, but I think everyone will agree on these three points. So what should be done?