MIDI Week Singles: Triceratops Trot - Jurassic Park (SNES)

Welcome back to another edition of MIDI Week Singles.  Last week was the inaugural article where I talked about what is currently known as the Main Theme from the Final Fantasy series, specifically the first game in the series.  This week I thought I was going a little more obscure, until I came back with 14 hits on youtube, but I'm still going to cover the song because it's just that catchy!

"Triceratops Trot" from Jurassic Park.  Super Nintendo Entertainment System - 1994

No Official Soundtrack Release

Game Developer: Ocean Software

Music Composed by: Jonathan Dunn

No, Jurassic Park on the SNES was not a particularly great game with it's greatest setback being that there was no save/password feature so the game had to be completed in a single 3 hour sitting.  That was something that I never had the stamina for.

But we're here to talk about Jonathan Dunn's "Triceratops Trot."  I admit that the song strikes a chord with me that is 80% nostalgia and 20% catchy SNES music times.  I'm sure that at the time (meaning 1994), the song fit perfectly well within the Jurassic Park world where Dr. Alan Grant goes on a massive Dinosaur murder spree, but I just think it's too damn catchy for this game.  And it doesn't even touch anything that John Williams wrote for the movie, but here, in and out of this game, I really like this song.

The melody just brings me back to being in junior high playing this game during some afternoon after Saturday cartoons had long been over and Mom's bacon pancakes/waffles had since been eaten, so why not play the game for an hour then give up knowing that there was so much more to do and I really didn't want to go any farther.  Maybe the reason I played the game so much, even without finishing, was because of the music?

Either way, "Triceratops Trot" was easily one of my favorite from both the game and unreleased soundtrack, which you should give a listen to if this has peaked your interest at all.  Although this does beg the question, "If there was no official soundtrack, how are the songs from the game so semi-universally known?"  Unfortunately, I have no answer for that.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I've Been This Way Ten Years To The Day

First Impressions: Unturned (PC)

Remember that article I wrote a couple of weeks back?  You know, the one where I talk about the number of Steam games on early access that fall under the "early access massive multiplayer online open world zombie apocalypse survival first person shooter" category?  There is a new game (new as of July 7th, 2014) that was released for free that popped up on the Steam front page a few days ago, and because I have almost no willpower and 640Gigs of spare hard drive space, I figured I could spare 200Mb.

Logo courtesy of the r/unturned sub-reddit

No, Unturned does not even have a "proper" logo.  Well, it does have a kind-of-logo that comes from the Steam store page, but it is not as interesting.

See.  I told you it was not at all interesting.  The game however is fairly interesting.  It reminds me of a mix between DayZ, Proteus and Minecraft; except that I have never played Minecraft (I know, I know), but I at least know what the game looks like so I feel somewhat educated enough to make that assumption.

But let us break down these comparisons.  DayZ:  In Unturned, you start out the game completely naked and depending on the difficulty setting, you either start out empty handed, or you start out with a juice box, candy and a flashlight.  In one playthrough (I died) I did manage to find some clothes at a laundromat, then I found a gun which I was able to use a couple of times before being mauled to death by a zombie.  Zombies also tend to congregate near objects of civilization be it a lighthouse, small towns, military installations or seemingly abandoned beach blankets and lounge chairs.  If the zombies do not kill you, over time, you become hungry and thirsty and I am assuming that you will starve to death or die from dehydration.  If you jump off from a high enough distance you can break your leg or if you step in a bear trap (that you just happen to recently set yourself) you will bleed out until you are dead.  See, a lot like DayZ.  The zombies are even attracted to the sound of gunfire, which is very annoying, although I guess somewhat realistic, depending on which zombie universe you are the most attached to.

Dying is something that I have become very good at in Unturned as well, regardless of the difficulty setting.  Even on "Easy" each hit from a single zombie does 10% damage, which does not seem like a lot unless you are being chased/mauled by a horde of zombies.  That is unless you happen to find a body of water to swim out into, in which case they will simply hang out in the shoulder deep water and follow your every move.  On an upnote, you are capable of swimming indefinitely, even with those stubby blocky arms.  

So how is the game like Proteus then?  Well, if the island in Proteus were populated with buildings and zombies, then I guess that comparison would make sense.  There is music in Unturned, albeit it is not interactive in the way that the music interacts with the environment or as peaceful or as calming.  But it is there and everything is all block-like.  So there is that.  Maybe I am just reaching for straws here, but that was what I briefly thought right before I was shown that I acted better as zombie food than a naked dude safely running around an island community.

So Unturned is still in alpha-release although the developer Nelson Sexton with Smartly Dressed Games does seem to update frequently and the game is free to download and play.  There is a pay option which could be seen as a way of helping to fund the game.  The $5 one time "Permanent Gold Upgrade" gets you your name in gold in chat, extra customizing options for your character (hair, skin, facial expressions), access to special servers [extra loot drops, double experience, suit and shades (clothing options)] and a sleeker UI; if that is your type of thing.

You know, for a game and article about zombies, I sure have done a great job not including many screen shots of zombies.  If that was something you have noticed, then I leave you with the following image of my last play/die through and encounter with a group/horde of zombies shortly before they mauled me to death.

I would be lying if I were to say that I have not become just a little frustrated with not being able to often survive long enough to pick up a weapon.  The last three games I played I was killed by no less than three zombies while trying to pick up Playthrough 1) Baseball bat, 2)Crowbar and 3) what turned out to be nails.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am only playing a single player game, which might be because I have not figured out how to log into/host my own online game.  There is plenty of time to figure these things out of course, as long as I do not get eaten in the meantime.

Good day everybody!



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Touch My World With Your Fingertips

Emulator Hour: 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure (NES/3DS)

I have a confession to make.

With the exception of playing the the first couple of levels in Stage 1 of Kirby's Dream Land and the demo for Kirby's Epic Yarn back at PAX2010, I have never played through any of the games in the Kirby franchise.  Until recently that is, which is why today I am bringing to you:

Kirby's Adventure was first released on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1993, near the end of the NES' life, which was two years into the SNES' release into North America.  All of that backstory aside, Kirby's Adventure is a lot of fun!

Now that I think about it, I cannot remember m/any of my friends either playing any of the Kirby games or recommending Kirby.  Actually, that is not entirely true and I did play, as previously mentioned, Kirby's Dream Land on the Gameboy that belonged to my cousin, probably back in 1993/94.  I have known about Kirby, but just never got around to playing any of the games in the series.  I probably just convinced myself that I was too old for that kind of a game.

I know that a lot of you already know this and that I am just late to the proverbial party, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy playing the game.  It is a very simple platformer when you want to run and other times you can intake a body-full of air and simply fly around.  You can swallow almost every enemy and about half of those you can gain a special ability (spit fire, shoot lasers, emit sparks, wield a Donkey-Kong-esque hammer, et cetera).  Even when falling, Kirby takes a diving pose whereby he causes damage to enemies in his way.  However, the game is not a pushover as I do die on occasion and there have been a couple of bosses that have given me a run for my um, something-or-other. There is challenge to this game, but it is a fun and entertaining challenge.  Maybe if there was not a save feature then this game would fall from what it is to the difficulty level of games such as Super Mario Bros. 3.

My biggest critique about the game is that the color palette seems to be muted when compared to other platformers like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mega Man 4, which is probably why at first I thought I was playing a Super Game Boy version of Kirby's Dream Land and not the NES release, which Dr. Potts kindly pointed out.  This is not true though for all levels/stages, but it was the "first impression" that I got when first playing.  Maybe if the fire that Kirby spat was red or if the ice he emitted had been blue instead of the yellow/orange tint that all of his abilities seem to have I would "feel better"?  And yes, I realize that I am making requests of an NES game that can now legally drink alcohol.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is that there does not seem to be one power that overpowers all the others.  Sure one power might be better than another in a specific situation, but I have yet to come across an ability, even one absorbed from a boss that singularly outweighs any other ability.  Sure, the laser is a fast long range attack, but it does not seem to do as much damage as other attacks, especially against those pesky bosses.  That is one of the best things about Kirby's  Adventure is figuring out what power would work best against a certain enemy or boss or how a given power is beneficial in a particular circumstance.

The 3D effect is pretty subtle as it pulls the background back in a single layer keeping Kirby, the platforms and enemies in the foreground.  I have noticed that most of the time I have the 3D effect either turned down low or off completely, but that is simply me wanting to conserve battery life.  The effects are nothing to write home to dear old Ma about, but considering that it is a 3D port of an NES game, I feel like whomever did the conversion did a good job without sacrificing gameplay or the now often mentioned "frame rate"; as in there is no lag between 2D and 3D modes.

After having played the game for just over three hours, I am 53% of the way through, which is nice to know that there is still plenty of game for me to come back to when I need a break from Donkey Kong Country Returns and all the annoyances that come with dying 38+ times in a single level.  I think that is one of the things that remains endearing (but not disarming) about Kirby's Adventure, is that I can pick up a 21 year old platformer and have a lot of fun.  I would not be surprised if I decide to go back through levels just to see what it is like with a different array of weapons choices or without powers at all.  

Big thank you to HAL Laboratory for their fun creation.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

A World Full of Secrets and Magic

Themes of Final Fantasy

This post is essentially a response to Jaconian's inaugural Midi Week Singles post on the 'main theme' from Final Fantasy.  I got to thinking that the Final Fantasy series has more than enough content to pay tribute to, and I have more than enough thoughts and warm fuzzies to generate another post.  

When listening to the posted theme, two ideas entered my mind.  The first being:  wow, the tones are actually pretty grating.  While the melody is appealing, the actual sounds kind of hurt my ears.  I think perhaps the NES soundchip is better suited for quick, action themes, than for sustained notes.  That said, the theme to Mega Man 3 is one of my favorite nes songs. 

My second thought was that this is not the only song competing for the title of 'Final Fantasy Theme.'  There's also the song from the opening credits of Final Fantasy 2 (IV) and the select screen of FF3 (VI) and the opening theme of FFVII.  And that's the song I want to showcase today.   I took a minute to listen to versions of the song from the above listed games, and I realized that my favorite is definitely that from FFVI.  Take a minute, if you care to, to listen to one rotation from each of these games.  

This is the game that started a new tradition in Final Fantasy games.  At least for American gamers.  I haven't checked in with the Soundtracks to the Japanese sequels.  I'll save that for another day.  Or, you're welcome to check it out on your own.  Youtube is free, afterall.  

Here the song is called "Final Fantasy 3 Prelude."  I just love that MIDI flute!  Of course, I appreciate that FFIV introduced the song and FFVII introduced a much finer music processor.  But that little... what do you call it- grace note?  -On the flute in the FFVI theme really brings it home for me.  

Finally, FFVII, probably the most hotly anticipated Final Fantasy title for me.  By this point I was intimately familiar with the US releases of the series and knew what to expect.  I thought the designers do a good job drawing me into the game with this intro.  

Other points of note:  

FFVI does not use the 'Prelude' theme during the title sequence.  Instead, it has it's own awesome cinematic intro with haunting trailing piano.  The title theme doesn't show up until the game select screen.

FFVII was basically the *last* Final Fantasy for me. I didn't play 8 until nearly a decade later, and by that time, several other Final Fantasy games had been released.  I had completely lost touch with the series.  But the period between the release of IV(91), VI(94) and VII (97), I waited with baited breath for each game.  More than any other series, perhaps.  (Zelda and Mario being high level competitors.  )

The Final Fantasy Main Theme from Jaconian's post is probably the more iconic theme, akin to the Zelda or Mario main themes.  However, it is harder to find, peppered across the series at key moments.  Incidentally, the Final Fantasy VI version is also my favorite, because of the drums. But boy, they made you wait for it in that game!  

Watching these videos and listening to these songs has really brought me some wonderful nostalgia.  Warm Fuzzies! Everywhere!  I want to play these games again!  Or... maybe just visit them.  Videos and music do a pretty good job of that.  

-D


P.S. many thanks to Jaconian for inspiring this post.  I hope I didn't step on any of your ideas. Also thanks to coffee for providing the necessary manic energy.  

P.P.S.  This post comes on a Thursday.  Due do a changing work Schedule, Thursdays may be a more frequent posting day for me.  

MIDI Week Singles: Opening Theme - Final Fantasy (NES)

Welcome to MIDI Week Singles!

My plan is that the post today will turn into a weekly thing, somewhat similar to the Game Scores posts where I highlight a video game soundtrack that I really love or have a high regard for, but on a singular scale where I only talk about one song from an entire album.

Some of the tracks that I plan to highlight might be well known songs such as the opening theme from Mega Man II/2 or more obscure titles like "Stage 1 & 4" from the 1988 NES game Jackal.  The whole point will be, "Hey, I like this song from this game."  That will be all there is to it.  There might be an analysis of some (or none) of the songs or an in depth look at a particular usage of a single track over the years (main theme from The Legend of Zelda), but as of now, it will be a bare bones outlet for sharing something that I like, which also is one of the reasons why Dr. Potts and I continue to write for you, our wonderful reader(s).

And there might be some self-deprecation thrown in for good measure; as if that'll do any good.

So on this, the inaugural MIDI Week Singles, I would like to share the song that first sparked my interest into video game music.  

"Opening Theme" Final Fantasy.  Nintendo Entertainment System - 1987

All Sounds of Final Fantasy I - II. Track #3.

Record Label: DataM/Polystar; NTT Publishing

Music composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

This song, right here.  Sure it is a little cliched to not only list a song from a Final Fantasy game and music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, but damn it, this is how I knew that I loved video game music.  Sure I had already listened to the "Above Ground BGM" from Super Mario Bros. and the "Overworld" theme from The Legend of Zelda by the time I heard this song, but something about the simplicity of the melody made an impression with me.

I know what you might be thinking.  Yes this is what most people think of as the "Main Theme" from Final Fantasy, but when the game was released back in 1987, no precedent had been set, being the first and only game (at the time), where as the "Main Theme" for this, the first Final Fantasy game, would be more commonly known as the overworld theme.  You get the idea though.

Thank you for sharing with me this, the first in hopefully a long line of MIDI Week Singles and I hope you look forward to next weeks posting.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Instrumental

P.S.  I also wanted to say that just because "MIDI" is in the title doesn't mean that I will be sticking to video game soundtracks that were recorded using MIDI.  I will also be using scores that have used live orchestras and I will probably even branch out and talk about arranged video game music.

And a big "Thank You" goes to Conklederp who was beyond patient with me while writing this article and was the one who came up with the title for these future posts.

Product Review: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Generation)

No, I am not a professional photographer.

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Wifi plus 3G.  With special offers.  That was what I purchased last March from Amazon with their once-a-m0nth payment plan.  It seemed like the safe thing to do as I liked the idea of having mine own dedicated e-reader that I could read at night without having to turn on the nightstand light at potentially disturb Conklederp.  I had also been using Conklederps Kindle Fire so I had some experience using an e-reader and by then I had gotten used to swiping to turn pages and having an entire shelf worth of library books in the palm of my hand.  

I've become a sitting advertisement for Amazon.

But wait, there's more!

There is more, actually.

The other reasons for acquiring said Kindle was that it was the second generation of Paperwhite, which I was holding out for after reading some known issues with dead pixels and the backlight doing things it wasn't supposed to be doing.  Additionally, there was the XKCD comic from god knows how long ago.  Plus, the touted eight week battery life, so I could, hypothetically bring a hand-crank usb charger and have a good number of my books at my disposal come the apocalypse.  Or you know, intergalactic hitchhiking.

So I bought the Kindle Paperwhite with Wifi and free 3G (while 3G signals are still active) and presently I love it, but it took a while before my feelings reached their current level of feelings.  My first hang up was transitioning from the Kindle Fire to the Paperwhite.  I knew, somewhat, what I was getting into technology-wise in that the Paperwhite uses Amazon's "E Ink" technology whereas the Fire uses a standard LCD tablet-type screen.  Turning pages on the Paperwhite looked nothing like the Fire and that took me the longest time to get used to.  I liked seeing pages turn when I swiped the screen and now instead of the screen would do a little flash and the page would change.  I am now perfectly content, but that effect was one of my biggest concerns that I may end up not liking the Paperwhite.

Another feature that I knew about, but was a little disappointing was the "Experimental Browser" that is used to view webpages.  I do not mind the black-and-white and reformatted look of the web pages and I realize that browsing web pages using the Paperwhite is going to be much different than using either my phone or my computer, so those aspects I am fine with.  A couple of times while using the web browser, I have had the program close itself due to "an unexpected error" occurring.   At least one time I had to force close my Kindle because the webpage froze and I could not get back to the home screen.  I only hope that Amazon has occasional firmware updates that fixes the known issues with the program. 

Browsing Wikipedia can be cumbersome at times too.  While I do wish that there was a dedicated button that opened up a Wikipedia browser (similar to the dedicated Goodreads button on the home screen), I am perfectly fine with using the Experimental Browser to look up articles.  The issue I have is when using the search field is that the screen zooms in and the "search" button cannot fit on the screen so unless there is definitely an existing article that opens a search results tab below the topic,  I am unable to search and be directed to a list of Wiki articles that are/might be connected.

The eight week battery life is a bit of a misnomer too.  The requirement for the Paperwhite lasting eight weeks on a single charge is to have the backlight set at 10 (to note, in the dark, I have the light set at 6 and in any other light, at 0), the Wifi set to off (Airplane Mode) and only reading for 30 minutes a day.  I usually read for more than 30 minutes and I usually have the Kindle in Airplane Mode if I am not looking up a book or downloading one and I have never had the light set at more than 6, even in bright sunlight and I am positive that a single charge has not lasted me 8 weeks.  While a bit disappointing, it was not a reason to return the Kindle as a defective product or false advertising.

Let us move onto aspects that I either did not realize or had forgotten about after having purchased this electronic reading device.  Upon purchasing the Kindle, I was given an email address so that I could email format specific documents to read.  I was kind of surprised that that bit about having Amazon convert documents to the MOBI format automatically upon emailing documents to yourself was only listed in that little second-t0-last sentence at the end of the page.  I think this is amazing.  I was able to take a PDF version of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream that I had acquired through Gog.com, emailed it to my Kindle with "CONVERT" in the subject and received a MOBI formatted copy of the story.  Granted the converted book does not contain a searchable table of contents and is not navigable to the extent that a standard ebook is, but for what it is, I find the service great.

Lastly, once a month, Kindle owners who are also members of Amazon Prime receive a free book, out of a choice of four ebooks that will be published the following month.  Books that I have picked up (and have yet to read) include I Am Livia, Moving Day: A Thriller, Supreme Justice and As Red As Blood.  I do plan on reading these at some point, possibly after I finish the Summer Reading BINGO, but in the meantime, they will be among the many free books that I have acquired because they are either in the public domain or because they simply looked interesting.  Then there is the Humble eBook Bundles which is looking to be a permanent thing, which is both exciting and terrifying, especially for my bank account.

And, if you call within the next 30 minutes, one of our operators will be happy to take your order.  Or something along those lines, you get the picture.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Unclosing an Enthralled Door

First Impressions: Outlast (PC)

Outlast is a game that came out last September (2013) and that I purchased, I think, around December during a Steam Winter sale.  A while back after watching a fairly decent (not great, but not bad either) film on Netflix, I developed the odd urge to start this game up.  Conklederp also asked me if there was a game that I wanted to play, so there was that too. 

Outlast reminds me a lot of the Penumbra and Amnesia series in that the game is in first person, you are a man going into an unfamiliar location where there are things that can kill you and since you are unarmed, your only option is to run and hide when said aggressors decide that your death would make their day so much better.  The manipulation of objects is not as detailed as it is in either of the prior mentioned series as objects are immediately picked up and doors/drawers are either opened or closed, no slowly opening them just a little.  Either doors are slightly open, open all the way or slammed shut.  Yes, your only option while in a psychiatric hospital filled with a lot of murderous minds is to slam doors, even when you know you are supposed to be quiet or are attempting to hide from your pursuer.

The story so far, is that you are a reporter who was tipped off about all sorts of things going wrong/bad at this building that is/was a psychiatric hospital.  So being the wanna-be Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, you head to said hospital in your jeep armed with nothing but a video camera with night vision and two extra batteries that power said night vision.  Your one choice for when you run into hostiles is to run and hide and hope that the baddies were not close enough behind you to figure out that you happen to be hiding in either a storage locker or under a desk.  Thankfully said antagonists are not too bright (although they do seem to have reflective retinas) so when running into a room with say, two lockers, they might check one, grumble something then walk out of the room.  Or they will scour the room, eventually find you then start wailing away on your squishy body with a not-so-squishy crowbar.

One aspect of the game that is a bit odd is the video camera.  When it is up and you are filming, you have the chance of making observations in written form, but when the camera is not up, no notes will be taken.  This I did not find out for the first hour into the game, during which if there was enough light, I did not use the camera.  The main purpose of the camera is to use the night vision in dark areas, of which there are a lot.  The night vision is powered by a separate battery (as opposed to the infinite main battery of the camera) that has a life of two and-a-half minutes before you have to change the battery.  If the battery runs out, you have a limited night vision, only being able to see a couple of feet in front of you, as opposed to the, say, 15 to 20 feet with the night vision activated.  

The visual quality between having the camera up and not using the camera is very negligible.  And you are able to zoom in with the camera up, which is a nice added bonus when you do not want to be killed by whatever that thing way over on the other side of the room.  Why then is there the option to have the video camera down if there is no added benefit?  Just a thought.

Presently I am about 4 1/2 hours into the game and I am in an area where I have to avoid at least two violent inmates at either end of a building.  Both areas are dark (ie: pitch black without the night vision function activated) and I have six batteries in reserve, so I am not doing too poorly.  

I will say that about two hours into the game, the protagonist, one Mr. Miles Upsur finally came to the conclusion that I had within the first 30 minutes.

That.  Exactly that.  Mr. Miles decided to scribe this note shortly after being chased by two very large men who wanted to do all sorts of unspeakable things to his body and then having run into a guy strapped into a wheel chair yelling about something-or-other.

I am getting the feeling that I am about halfway through the game and there are maybe five more hours of gameplay left, which would be perfectly fine with me.  I do not know how long the game would be able to keep up its sense of fear and dread without becoming old and frustrating, what with the being killed every so often and all.  But in the meantime, I am having a lot of fun playing Outlast and there is the DLC Whistleblower which was released back in May of this year, so I will have that to look forward to once I finish the main campaign.

Here is to surviving that long.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Only The Good Die Young

First Impressions: Knytt

I decided to give Knytt a look.  Knytt is a freeware, open-world platforming game by a Swedish developer named Nifflas, creator of another atmospheric game: Night Sky.  Knytt is the first in a series, which I have just now cracked open.  

It was fun!  It was relaxing.  It was ambient.  Knytt is like an open world Super Meat Boy, but less refined.   Knytt is like Proteus, is like Starseed Pilgrim.  It also made Giant Bomb's 2009 list of 365 games to play before you die. 

I don't know how I got turned on to Knytt.  I think it was when I was researching 'Starseed Pilgrim.'  Some reviewer or another made a comparison to Knytt, and I think it was apt (even if I can't find the original article).  Knytt is similarly mysterious in its goals and intentions, and similarly relaxing in its aesthetic.  There's a gentleness to Knytt.

The gameplay in Knytt isn't actually mysterious.  That is to say, there is a tutorial.  There is a simple goal: 'collect these items.'  There's a story 'you were kidnapped by an alien, whose ship then crashed.'  But despite these things, there is a sense of wonder and uncertainty granted by the world you are navigating.  This is created by a really nice aesthetic visual and audio design, and also assisted by the ease with which you navigate the world.  By pure screen-count, this game is easily the largest 2d platformer I've ever played.  Screens fly by in a matter of seconds, obstacles are mostly easy to get around.  Different environments unfold before you as you progress.  

While the game is almost easy to the point of being boring, I didn't find it boring.  I found it soothing.  It was nice to see all the different environments, and amazing how many different variations there were.  The sounds and music were nice, varied, and unobtrusive. 

I talk alot about simplicity and minimalism in game design.  Knytt is a shining example of this.  I didn't get to the end, and eventually it may become boring, or worse: frustrating -- but that first hour was nothing but joyful.  

Definitely worth a look- don't forget:  it's free!

-D

Second Impressions: Thomas Was Alone (PC)

I probably should not have used the "Second Impressions" in my last post and I didn't actually mean to use it as that was a title for another post I was writing when I accidentally "published" the article before I realized that I hadn't changed the title yet.  Dr. Potts and I had talked about doing articles titled "Second Impressions" when one of us writes an article about a game that the other had already played/written about.  Now that that's out of the way:

I pretty much concur nearly everything that Dr. Potts talked about last year is his First Impressions of Thomas Was Alone, so there is not a whole lot that I can expand upon.  So, why then write another article about a two year old game that has already been written about and not just by us, but by 250+ other sites?  Because the simplicity of the game, the beautifulness of the soundtrack,  the writing of the characters and the delivery of the narration cannot be stated enough.  Which is why that I am stating it here.  Again.

I just finished the main storyline and I honestly sat slack-jawed upon the end of the story with characters that I had spent the last five hours getting to know.  Although that is a bit of an overstatement as various characters are introduced throughout the entire game and not all are playable in every level.

Yes, the game is simple and it could have very well been created for the Atari 2600 or even the Intellivision without narration.  The narration could have been included in the instruction manual, to be read when you reach the appropriate level.  But really, the narration voiced by British comedian Danny Wallace was able to install emotion and character depth to otherwise two dimensional polygon .  For a short time, both Conklederp and I considered that the narrator could have been Martin Freeman and even after finding out that it was not, I still have Martin Freeman in my head.

The music, the music, the music.  The music was composed by David Housden.  Even Conklederp commented on how soothing and relaxing the music is, considering it is background to colorful rectangles jumping on and off each other.  I was pleasantly surprised that the soundtrack was included with the Humble Indie Bundle that it was um, bundled with last year, otherwise there was a good chance that I would have mosied over to Mr. Housden's bandcamp page and purchased the thing for the measly sum of £3.99, or $6.83.  With the exception of track five "Divided We Fall," all the tracks are very mellow and simple, yet emotionally moving with the characters in-game.

Based on Dr. Potts' review, it sounds like he used a controller to play the game where as I ended up just using the keyboard.  Now, I am not one to normally use a keyboard when playing a platformer as the controls just do not feel as intuitive and I often feel clumsy (Super Meat Boy, FEZ, Deadlight).  For whatever reason, I decided that I was able to manipulate the characters well enough with the WASD to move and Spacebar to jump.  The game was not about dexterity, but about puzzle solving at your own pace.  I like that I did not feel rushed and only one time did I feel frustrated, but that was on a later level when I had to cycle through characters trying to select the one or two I wanted to alternatingly move after I already had everyone else in position.  That was on me.

As previously stated, I just finished Thomas Was Alone no more than 30 minutes ago and I just found out that there was a free DLC called "Benjamin's Flight" that is accessible by going to the stage select option and selecting 10.1.  I think I will give the DLC a go after I have some time to process the entirety of the main game, so look forward to that post in the coming weeks.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I'd Like To Leave The World As A Better Place

Second Impressions & Review: Mirror's Edge (PC)

Whew!  Finally finished that game and it only took me nine hours, which is a bit less than I was expecting, but honestly, I am just glad that I am not being shot at by any more of the police.  As I did with my review (of sorts) of Dead Space, I do not plan on putting my my standard "Full Review," but instead my thoughts about the game and hopefully, I will not be repeating myself from what either myself or Dr. Potts have already said.

First off, Mirror's Edge was a very fun game with the level of fun being conducive to a couple of factors that I have worked into a handy dandy flowchart.

That is pretty much about it.  While I was indoors, I noticed that a lot of the levels were puzzle heavy., needing to figure out where to jump and how to get to where I am supposed to be going held a certain level of interest, but I quickly felt confined and claustrophobic.  I wanted to be outside, in the open smog-less air of The City.  Being indoors also meant that there was a good chance that Merc would call you up on your earpiece radio to let you know that there were some Blues on their way and they did not look like they were in the mood to exchange pleasantries.

One level in particular I had an increasingly difficult time with.  If you would rather watch how the level was supposed to be played, you can watch it here, otherwise you can finish reading about how I could usually manage a few jumps before I had to revert to watching the video to figure out where I was supposed to go next.  Considering how much of the game, by this point, has the player conditioned to look for red as a way of letting you know which way to go or to "jump off of this thing to go over there", the inside building portion of Chapter 8: Kate became the antithesis of fun even though there were no Blues in this portion of the stage.

The fighting in the game I also felt that I was never able to get a good grasp with.  Even just watching Faith in the loading screens made me feel that I was doing something drastically wrong when it came to hand-to-hand combat.  I always felt that I should be that adept at taking out Blues, but I ended up being very clumsy with my punches and attempts to disarm. Oh yes, while being shot at because those bastards were hardly alone.  Often times I would "simply" take down a guard, take his gun then play Mirror's Edge like I would any other FPS action shooter and take out the guards before going back to running.  With hope, the trailer from this year's E3 has hinted to a more streamlined and less annoying (meaning someone who sucks at the hand-to-hand combat) attacks and takedowns for Faith to execute.

As you can tell from the flowchart, any level where I was outside and not being shot at, I felt that the game excelled here and I would have really liked an entire game of just going from Point A to Point B.  I wanted more of that.

Another aspect of the game that I found semi-intriguing and liked was the use of animation for the cutscenes.  At first, the difference between the in-game landscape and the cutscene animation was a little jarring, but ultimately I liked it.

There was cutscene of sorts at the end of the game involving two characters that used the regular in-game graphics and not the stylized animation  and while I feel that that worked for the flow of the stage, I felt like I was missing the look that I had become accustomed to over the course of the game.  But, since the scene happened in the middle of a level, I understood the reasoning behind the decision.

At some point while playing, I did find out that there was a DLC map pack that EA Games released, but it looks like it is only for 360/PS3 owners and (maybe?) for people who bought the game through Origins as opposed to Steam.  This is sad because an obstacle course (without Blues) is something that I would love to play with, but I am not about to spend money on a console to buy a game (I already have) to then buy DLC.  I am not that hard up for a $4.99 DLC but I hope that sometime similar is included in the retail PC release of Mirror's Edge 2.

I think if I chalk Mirror's Edge up to a great "first attempt" then I feel there is a good chance that the sequel, when it is released in April 2016, will be spectacular in the strictest sense of the word.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Looking For Something To Believe In

The Great Garden Nursery Game

click this totally sweet image to link to the makers page

It seems to me I am determined to design games based on my life.  These days I'm always thinking about Gardening and gaming.  To that effect, I was thinking of gamifying my job.  That is to say, my job has just a few dynamic elements, but they keep me busy all day.  

First there is watering.  Plants start to die if they are not watered.  Many of them can bounce back without any trouble, but some of them don't bounce back so well.  And if they go long enough without water they lose their ability to hold water effectively, thus requiring more water.  This also takes place when a plant is in a pot for too long and becomes root bound.  In both instances, the plants run out of water quickly.  A final thing that happens when a plant is not appropriately watered is that the plant will die partially, and become ugly.  Ugly plants don't sell.  

It's important to keep the plants healthy.  However, the primary reason to keep the plants healthy is so that customers will purchase them.  Thusly, customer service takes priority over watering.  This conflict of interest can be very challenging, as customers do not respect the greater needs of the nursery, they are singularly focused on their own needs.  (there are rare customers who see the bigger picture, and they are wonderful people).

Sometimes customers will simply pick out plants on their own, purchase them, and be on their merry way.  Other customers require a great deal of song and dance before they will make a purchase.  This comes in the form of simple questions, obscure questions and shopping buddies.  Simple questions require only a moment of time, obscure questions require research, and shopping buddies require full devotion of attention for an extended period of time.  The flipside of the devotion of time for shopping buddies is that they often will make the biggest purchases.  

Y'know, kinda like this

When I imagine these systems in the form of a video game, I'm thinking of a one-screen game, with basic pixel art, using color to attach meaning.  In the basic stage of the game, you simply have to water all of the plants.  Plants are represented by green icons, which, over time, degrade to yellow, red and then brown.  If a plant turns yellow, it needs water.  The player icon simply has to walk to each yellow plant and press the 'water' action button to resucitate the plant.  I imagine little blue and white pixels for water.  

If a plant turns red, it has received damage from dehydration, and now is not able to water back up to green.  If a plant turns brown, it is dead.  Dead plants will not change when watered, and must be removed using the 'deadhead' action button. When a dead plant is removed, it will be replaced, in time, by a new, green plant.  However, every new plant results in a negative penalty to the score.  

While the player is busy watering plants, customer icons will wander into the screen.  I imagine these as shaped and colored differently from the plants, however, with variation.  The basic customer will enter the screen,  randomly collect green plants, and leave the screen.  For every green plant collected, the player gains points, equal to at least double the potential penalty points.  

I also imagine different customer behaviors.  Some customers target you, and while they are within a certain proximity you are unable to water plants.  These customers can be avoided, but may best be dealt with.  One customer simply needs to be handle by pressing the action button a few times.  Another type will not be shaken, and you must walk across the screen, through the plants, unable to water, but the customer will pick up plants along the way.  After the customer has five plants, they will leave, and you can collect your points.

Maybe something like this, but with higher resolution?

The goal is very simple, in classic arcade style: gain points.  Each stage will have the same time limit.  Essentially from open to close.  Points carry over from one stage to the next.  The game is lost when the player runs out of points.  Players are ranked based on the number of stages they can complete, and the highest number of points they can acquire at any one time.

But the dynamics will increase with every level.  I imagine a temperature meter, with a low of 70 degrees. The temperature can increase level to level, thus increasing the rate of dryout for the plants.  I imagine larger plants which are slower to dry out, but also slower to water.  These plants are also worth more points.  As you gain in levels, the days get hotter, the customers heavier and the plants larger.  You can conceivably go on forever, or until the temperature gets up to 150 degrees and all the plants die instantly.  Fun times.

Seems vaguely fun to me.  And I get to do it every day in real life!  Wow!  Anyway, I have no idea why anyone would have read through all that stuff I wrote up there.  I just like to come up with basic game ideas and describe them.  If I had the attention and dedication, I'd even program them myself.  Until that happens, this is what I've got.  Sayonara,

-D