Well its only first person, it makes quite a difference looking around.

Hahaha. Well I do if I turn my head and focus on my target… which is what you do in games.

I suppose it is. Its just a beta, there are problems.

But once we get proper skill trees and crafting, things will look up.

Oh and I wouldn’t care if it had tits or not, but you spend more time seeing cocks anyway.

I’m gay* so it’s ok.

(*I’m not.)

That’s weird, especially now that I notice it.
I thought that I just couldn’t see because of the hair in my eyes.

I’ve heard of it? Do tell.

Spekkin of dragons, I’m keen on Dragon Quest IX.

It’s very traditional. In all its iterations, it has never changed as radically as its rival Final Fantasy. On the one hand, I like it because they go with what works and it does work for them. On the other hand, it really represents the Japanese’s tendancy to celebrate conformity; as Hideo Kojima said, this is why innovation is moving towards the West now. Evidence can be seen in Japan’s ignoring The World Ends With You.

But uh, yeah.

DQ is really fun. If you’ve got a DS, definitely play Dragon Quest V. In battle, some of the enemies are so brilliantly goofy, and it gives some pretty inventive names to your old-fashioned spells, my favourite being the resurrection spell, ZING!. Party Chat also makes for some amusing conversations, you have a silent protagonist, but your party members are anything but. It’s one of the most loveable and enjoyable games I’ve ever played.

Just bought the Special Edition version of Monkey Island.

Yum.

Motion blur is unrealistic.

But bloom. Bloom is EVERYWHERE.

Also ... lens flare.

Bloom? Lens flare?

I’m playing God of War: Chains of Olympus and Jeanne d’Arc on my month-old PSP!

I think Disgaea is a pretty cool guy. eh can level up 186,000 times and doesnt afraid of anything.

When I was younger I worked with a friend to create our own Mario Parties, and a Banjo-kaooie rip-off where you would play a kangaroo with a quite large pray mantis in his pouch... We might have worked on other games. And recently I've thought about upping the realism of first person shooters.

Nowadays I do think and write a bit about ideas to improve certain franchises that have a lot of potential or need really need to get up to present videogame standards. Zelda games are still good, but they could be so much more. Pokemon is also the same thing over and over when it could become a massive OMMRPG (is that the right term).

Sure go ahead and tell us your age of empires dan design.

Here it goes:

*Age of Empires IV: The African Kingdoms*

No continent has as long a human history as that of Africa, the world’s second largest continent. It was here, approximately 200,000 years ago, that modern humans first evolved. Some 130,000 years later, one party of humans migrated out of Africa to populate Eurasia, Australasia, and the Americas. This game is not about them. This game is about those who stayed behind.

Age of Empires IV: the African Kingdoms is a real-time strategy game where you control an African tribe and are tasked with developing it into a mighty kingdom. As you progress, you will have to contend with challenges such as keeping your people fed, dangerous wildlife, and enemy tribes and nations. Will you build a lasting empire, or will your civilization collapse? The choice is yours.

Economics

There are four resources to gather in AoEIV. The first and most important of these is food. Food can come from the following sources:
•Berry bushes
•Hunted wild animals
•Cattle that you can tame and herd or create at a building called a Cattle Pen
•Farming (in later ages)
Food is spent to train most units and to research most technologies. Be warned, however, as your food supply will tend to dwindle over time if you do not have enough villagers gathering food. Your food stockpile’s rate of decline is positively correlated with the number of units you have; the more units you have, the faster your food stockpile decreases. If your food stockpile completely empties, all your units will gradually lose health.

The second resource is wood. Wood is used for most buildings, ships, ladders, and battering rams. Wood is usually gathered from trees, but you can also loot wood from the rubble of destroyed buildings.

The third resource is stone, which is used for fortified buildings in the late game. Stone can be mined from rocks, but, like wood, can also be collected from rubble.

The last resource is metal. Metal is used for certain military units as well as researching some technologies. One way to obtain metal is by mining from ore-bearing rocks. Another is commerce; you can create caravans to move between your Markets and Town Centers, adding to your metal stockpile when they reach the Town Center. The amount of metal deposited at the Town Center increases with the distance between the Town Center and the Market.

Aging Up

There will be three ages:

•Tribal: Earliest age in the game. Hunting, gathering, and cattle-herding are how you gather food; farming will not be invented yet.
•City: Represents the growth of your tribe’s village into a town or city. Farming becomes available.
•Imperial: Represents the peak of your empire’s power. Wonders become available this age.

Territory

Every one of your Town Centers produces a sort of aura called territory. Your buildings can only be built within your territory. Territory also affects morale, as will be explained shortly.

Morale

Your military units’ performance in battle is affected by their morale level. Units with higher morale with strike at a faster rate, hit their targets with greater accuracy (if they have a ranged attack), and move faster. When units are created, they have a moderate level of morale. Morale increases when they are in your territory, decreases slowly in “neutral” territory not controlled by any player, and decreases at a faster rate in enemy territory. To counter morale loss, you may train Generals. Generals, though they have a weak attack, produce a special aura that slows morale loss for any unit within it.

Training and Grouping Units

Units are no longer represented by single individuals. Instead, one unit may consist of multiple individuals. The number of individuals within a unit may be increased by researching certain technologies. Keep in mind, though, that larger units consume more food from your stockpile.
If players select multiple units, they may choose to group them together into a formation. Once a formation has been created, selecting any unit within it will select the entire formation. Units may be added to formations or expelled from them. Formations can also be disbanded. The concept of formations should allow you to more easily move large numbers of units.

Common Units

The following units are common to all civilizations in AoEIV:
•Villager: Resource gatherer and builder. Has a weak attack against military units.
•Priest: Can heal friendly units and convert enemy units.
•General: A military unit with a weak attack, but produces an aura that reduces morale loss for all units within it.
•Caravan: Created at the Market; moves between the Market and Town Center to generate metal.
•Transport Ship: Naval unit that transports units across water.
•Arrow Ship: Naval unit with a ranged attack.
•Battering Ram: Siege weapon used to knock down buildings.
•Ladder: Siege device that allows infantry to ascend and descend walls.

Buildings

•Town Center: Generates territory and trains Villagers. Can also be garrisoned; it can attack when garrisoned.
•House: Increases your population cap.
•Cattle Pen: Can be used to train cattle to kill for food.
•Farm: Harvest the crops here for food.
•Barracks: Trains infantry and archers.
•Stable: Trains cavalry. Not available for the Bantu civilization.
•Dock: Trains boats.
•Temple: Produces Priests. Certain technologies can also be researched here.
•Blacksmith: Center for technological research pertaining to military units. Military units also have an increased attack when near a Blacksmith.
•University: Center of technological research.
•Market: Trains caravans. Resources can also be bought and sold for metal here.
•Fortress: Expensive military structure that can fire arrows. Also can be garrisoned.
•Walls: Defensive structure which can be mounted by archers.
•Tower: Defensive structure that fires arrows
•Wonder: An expensive building built in the late game. Once a Wonder has been completed, a timer is started. If the Wonder is still standing when the timer runs out, you win the game.

Playable Civilizations

There are five playable civilizations in AoEIV: the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, the Mande, the Bantu, and the Ashanti.

The Egyptians

The Egyptians are the most famous African civilization, perhaps because they had the most influence on the Western world.

In AoEIV, Egyptians have the following bonuses:
•Technological research is cheaper
•Ships and buildings have more hitpoints
•Farms are accessible at an earlier age

However, they suffer the following disadvantages:
•Units have a weaker attack
•Buildings and ships are constructed more slowly

The Egyptians can train the following military units:
•Nile Spearman: Infantry. Good against cavalry.
•Khepesh Swordsman: Infantry. Good against other infantry.
•Medjay Archer: Archer. Good against infantry.
•Chariot Spearman: Cavalry. Good against archers.
•Chariot Archer: Archer. Good against archers and infantry.

The Egyptian Wonder is the Great Pyramid.

The Ethiopians

Ethiopia used to be a kingdom located in northeastern Africa that has historically received a lot of influence from southern Arabia.

In AoEIV, the Ethiopians have the following bonuses:
•Resources sold at the Market are cheaper
•Cavalry have more hitpoints
•Finally, they can train war elephants (Islamic tradition holds that an Ethiopian king once tried to destroy the Kaaba with elephants)

Their drawbacks are:
•Food is consumed at a faster rate
•The elephants are very expensive

The Ethiopians can train the following military units:
•Quiyanw Spearman: Infantry. Good against cavalry.
•Saif Swordsman: Infantry. Good against other infantry.
•Qest Archer: Archer. Good against infantry.
•Mailed Horseman: Cavalry. Good against archers.
•War Elephant: Cavalry. Good against buildings.

The Ethiopian Wonder is the Obelisk of Axum.

The Mande

The Mande live along the Niger River in western Africa. They are the people responsible for the Kingdom of Mali, which was famous for the gold it exported.

The Mande have the following bonuses:
•Caravans deposit more metal
•Cavalry have a stronger attack
•Archers are cheaper

The weaknesses of the Mande are:
•Cavalry and archers are more expensive
•Stone-mining rates are slower

The Mande military units are:
•Niger Spearman: Infantry. Good against cavalry.
•Soninke Archer: Archer. Good against infantry.
•Tamba Skirmisher: Archer. Good against other archers.
•Ton-Tigi: Mounted archer. Good against archers and infantry.
•Mandekalu: Cavalry. Good against archers.

The Mande Wonder is the Sankore Mosque.

The Bantu

The speakers of the Bantu languages (a linguistic group to which Zulu and Swahili belong) have their origins in western Africa, but between 1500 and 1000 BC they migrated to parts of southern and eastern Africa, bringing their iron technology along with them.

The Bantu in AoEIV experience the following bonuses:
•Infantry have a stronger attack
•Buildings are cheaper and constructed more quickly
•Morale loss is slower

However, the Bantu also suffer these weaknesses:
•Technological research is more expensive
•No cavalry

The Bantu can train the following military units:
•Iklwa Spearman: Infantry. Good against cavalry.
•Knobkerrie Clubman: Infantry. Good against other infantry.
•Assegai Javelineer: Archer. Good against other archers.

The Bantu Wonder is the Great Zimbabwe Enclosure.

The Ashanti

The Ashanti Empire was an empire in the jungles of West Africa that existed between 1701 and 1896. Unlike the other African civilizations here, their military used firearms quite extensively.

The Ashanti in AoEIV experience the following bonuses:
•Ranged military units have stronger attack
•Faster food-gathering rates
•More individual soldiers per military unit

However, the Ashanti also suffer these weaknesses:
•Firearms are inaccurate
•No cavalry

The Ashanti can train the following military units:
•Twafo Spearman: Infantry. Good against cavalry.
•Akwansrafo Scout: Gunpowder unit. Good against archers.
•Adonten Musketeer: Gunpowder unit. Good against infantry and cavalry.
•Sika’dwa Bowman: Archer. Good against buildings.

The Ashanti Wonder is the Kumasi Circle.

Non-Playable Tribes

These are like the Native tribes in AoEIII. They are not playable, but can be allied with to train units that do not consume food or fill in your population cap. The non-playable tribes in AoEIV are:

•Maasai: Train the Morani, which is a fleet-footed archer good against both other archers and cavalry.
•Boers: Train the Musketeer, an inaccurate but powerful “archer” which is good against all unit classes.
•Tuareg: Train the Camel Rider, cavalry which is good against other cavalry.
•Nubians: Train the Nubian Horseman, extremely fast cavalry good against archers.
•Pygmies: Train the Jungle Hunter, an archer who can climb trees and shoot arrows from them.
•Khoisan: Train the Desert Hunter, infantry with an exceptional line of sight and has both a ranged and melee attack.

Random Maps

•Desert: Lots of stone and metal, but little food or wood. Like Arabia in AoEII. Natives include Khoisan and Tuareg.
•Nile Valley: A river crossing a desert. Food and wood are concentrated near the river while stone and metal are found further out in the desert. Natives include Nubians and Tuareg.
•Niger Valley: A river crossing a savanna. Similar to Nile Valley, but with more food and metal. Natives include Pygmies and Tuareg.
•Savanna: Lots of food in the form of game, but other resources are sparser. Natives include Maasai and Boers.
•Congo: Lots of wood and food, but little stone or metal. Natives include Pygmies and Maasai.
•Ethiopia: Mountainous region with abundant resources. Natives include Nubians and Maasai.
•Scrubland: Similar to savanna, but with more wood. Natives include Khoisan and Boers.

What does it need to be a full-on game?

I don’t know, really. Just the way you set it out, its based a lot on AoE’s mechanics. As a full game it would feel small or limiting, or just another RTS really. It works better simply as an expansion or detailed expansion.

The only RTS I play is Rome: Total War, which is like Risk, Civilization, and [insert squad based RTS here] combined, so I don’t have a full view of the entire RTS genre.

Well, Age of Empires makes sense, obviously, or Civilizations, which specializes in specific areas, like Colonization.

Speaking of Atlus Dept. Heaven (Riviera: The Promised Land, Yggdra Union and Knights in the Nightmare) games are really fun and original, if sometimes bizarre and confusing.

Is that the one with Marona or Priere?

Marona. I completely fell in love with the battle system, it’s just so unique and different. In a brilliant way, not a genetically mutated four-armed blue Macduff way.

I’m going to go back to Metroid Prime 3, which I left off like 50% through. I forgot why I stopped; either I got stuck or it was a combination of school exams + work. But seriously, it’s so fun playing a game that doesn’t baby you through everything.

Metroid Prime 3 was one of the major reasons I bought my Wii, and: first game I got. Actually, I rather felt that I was being babied through MP3: “Go here, do that, now this, let me mark it on your map…” There was still tonnes of exploration, but eh, I was aware of the railroading in my mind and it somewhat ruined the exploration for me. Though, finding the extras is always rewarding. I’m definitely getting the Prime trilogy when they come out in September, I believe (UK).

Does anyone else think most modern games are overly easy (*cough* Twilight Princess cough)

Hm, I dunno about that. Twilight Princess is extremely fun. It’s not very hard, but it’s not all that easy, and it feels damn satisfying to play, so in the end that’s what matters.

Not necessarily Twilight Princess in particular, but it does seem that, generally speaking, modern games are much easier than older ones.

I agree Twilight Princess was incredibly easy. It was also freaking awesome.

Not necessarily Twilight Princess in particular, but it does seem that, generally speaking, modern games are much easier than older ones.

Gaming is trending more and more casual, so a decline in difficulty is to be expected.

I am not playing Evony.

I do!

Oh, and DrAlligator has TF2.

What’s your steam name?

Oh, and DrAlligator has TF2.

We’ve never actually played, have we?

Trust me though, the ‘Tank Bait’ in your name is more than tempting to boot the game and play a Heavy.

I’ll have to wait until my fan’s fixed, else my laptop will overheat ten minutes into the game.

This laptop model has some crippling fan problem big enough for HP to have a page on their site dedicated on how to clean it out.

What is your steam name Tiwar.. I don’t have it.

I see it.

Hehe.

I only play on Orange X3.

So I got F-Zero GX today, then realized that my GameCube has neither controllers nor a memory card. Annoying.

I am officially pumped for this game.

Too bad they delayed it.. bastards.

November… 3rd? Not too far, but regardless.

I’ll be getting Red Faction: Guerilla for PC, Borderlands, Dragon Age.. maybe one more in there.

Who has Left 4 Dead here?

I know DrAlligator and Devin do, but is there anyone else?

Been playing Persona 4 recently.

At one point, one of your friends lends you a book to read. Normally a book takes about three evenings to read in the game and a description of what you read and what you thought of it. This one takes one evening and reads “The book is about vampires. It’s so horrendously written that you can taste bile on your tongue. You put the book down and never look back.”

Hahaha, noice.

... does it really?

Well, I haven’t gotten far enough into the game to see the event myself, but my sister said so.

w00t! I just got a 15 kill streak on my first life in TF2.

Well done. Class?

My brother just beat Call of Duty 4.

Yeah. I didn’t get the ending, though:

Who else is excited for the sequel?

BULLSHIT.

I am fucking pissed.

I just spent the last hour fighting a boss in Persona 4. Before that was a fifteen minute boss fight, and before that was about half an hour’s worth of dungeon crawling – there’s a save point directly prior to the boss room, but I missed it completely. In fact, I entered the boss room by accident. And I was underleveled. So I got out a walkthrough on gamefaqs and and followed through the excruciatingly long boss battle. An hour later and he’s down to his last health point. HIS LAST HEALTH POINT.

THEN HE KILLED THE PARTY LEADER.

It’s an automatic game over if the leader dies.

I want to burn something.

And I haven’t even mentioned the cutscene lengths.

What with all the shiny Sony exclusives (additional content and entire games) and the Blu-Ray, I've often considered saving up and shelling out for a PS3. The slim looks especially nice, and with the price drop, it seems even more possible.

Then I'm reminded of the controller and how Sony assumes my thumbs grow from my wrists. Pass.

Eh, the only PS3 exclusive worth having a PS3 for is Disgaea 3.

True, but they don't emerge directly from that area, else I'd have Kong Hands.

Also, the only PS3 exclusives I'd want to get are the Uncharted games. I prefer the good old 360 controller and XBL. It may cost $50 per year, but it's a very reliable network.

Renewed my WoW subscription yesterday. Damn.

Then I’m reminded of the controller and how Sony assumes my thumbs grow from my wrists. Pass.

Huh?

placement of the analog sticks

My favourite controllers are the Gamecube and PS2 controllers. I like the placement of the analog sticks, and it seems as though they’re perfectly fitted.

bq. My favourite controllers are the Gamecube and PS2 controllers. I like the placement of the analog sticks, and it seems as though they’re perfectly fitted.

That....makes no sense to me. The placement for the analog sticks on the Gamecube controllers is identical to the Xbox and 360 controllers.

Oh, and if anyone wants Red Faction Guerilla (for PC) Steam has the entire series for just $40 for the next three hours, when it releases. Get it and we can rule multiplayer.