Star Citizen Competition.

Robert Space Industries has a competition starting soon. The registration period is October 31st to December 31st. They are looking for a team of up to three people to design a ship for them. You have to go through a few challenges first. The first one is designing a weapon. For further details check out their website

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Goodbye Deponia

I am a big fan of Adventure games especially the old Monkey Island games. The first and second games. I don't have any interest in the ones that came after that. I am surprised that I didn't notice Deponia when it came out on Steam last year. Daedalic Entertainment the company that created it. Have released a new addition to the Series called Goodbye Deponia. I really like comedy adventure games so I'll certainly get it and the previous games too.

Rocksmith Rank 11 achieved!

Well at 11.17pm UK time I played my last setlist to get the final rank. I picked my own set usually I just play whatever the computer game gives me. The list was as follows. The top scores I have achieved with the songs are part of the list. I think the only song I played better than usual at would be Muse's song. That would be because I've played it quite a bit recently. The score next to Plug in Baby I achieved during the final setlist. I then got a single note Encore that I wasn't prepared for so I didn't get any points for it as far as I can tell.

Bring me to life - Evanescence - 109, 315
The Final Countdown - Europe - 105,251 first combo
Gone Away - The Offspring - 120,810
Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups - 108,020
Plug in Baby - Muse - 114,722

The Master Encore was Next Girl by the Black Keys a song that I've scored 111,544 when I can see the notes. Its a pity they don't let you prepare for a master encore. It doesn't make much sense how can you prepare to play a song you have no idea is about to appear. I have quite a few songs on Rocksmith not just the ones that the game comes with.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon

I got Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon with Call of Juarez Gunslinger on Steam. This game is cliche on purpose. Lots of cheesy one liners etc. Its meant to be a nostalgia game. Since its all about the eighties I of course love this game. Its annoying that you have to use Ubisofts Uplay through Steam. I would have preferred just to play the game through Steam. Instead you have to create yet another account just to play it. The game is worth getting despite the Uplay nonsense. So I highly recommend it. :)

Far Cry 3

I got Far Cry 3 this September. It wasn't a bad game. The story and characters where a bit cliche. It wasn't very surprising that the brother in the story most able to protect everyone gets killed by the bad guys very early on in the cut scenes. Crazy bad guys are nothing new either. I won't comment on the rest of the story since it would spoil it for anyone who hasn't played the game. I did enjoy the game though. The characters and the scenery made the game interesting. It is my sort of FPS since it has a story line. I chose the good guy ending. I know its only a computer game however I just won't play the other option. It's too grim for me thanks. I'm just not that interested in the alternative ending.

Far Cry 3 is a bit like a modern day Skyrim but not as long a game.

Saints Row 2

I played quite a few games in September. I bought them all from steam. The first one was Saints Row 2. I got into Saints Row when the third game came out. The older game is different in some ways. The characters have a more realistic style to them. The vehicles are pretty much the same. I won't say there was much more in the way of customization. I'm not surprised though since it was a port from a console. Its not a very good port either. I don't like the way healing works in the game. Its also really annoying that you have to press Escape during the cut seen in the middle of the Airport mission in order to continue playing the game. I wasn't impressed the first time the screen went black at that point. Its a good thing Google quite often finds the answer for you. :)


The way you take care of the main enemies in the game is much more brutal than Saints Row the Third. I won't spoil the story line for anyone who hasn't played the game before. I would have liked to have seen the fourth Saints Row with more realistic characters. I have to say in both games that the hair isn't great. The Sims 3 is like that too. I know they have to simplify hair to make it into polygons but it just doesn't look great. I don't really like how these games apply hair colour to your characters either. Saints Row 2 is a good game overall anyway. Despite any flaws.

Here is a video I found on YouTube to give you an idea of what the game is like.

Dishonored DLC released yesterday

I love the game Dishonored. I completed it a little while ago, it was short but a gem. I completed it without doing many of the assassinations. You can get rid of people by other means in the game. I was still playing last month. Playing through the Knife of Dunwall. I'd heard of the new DLC a little while ago. It's finally out in the UK and was Released on the 13th of August on Steam. Its called the Brigmore Witches and I can't wait to play it. Dishonored is one of those games with a great character and story line that I'm so fond of. Its world is really interesting as well. To get you in the Dishonored mood I've put the whaler song under this post. :)

Satellite Reign

I was having a look on Star Citizens community forum today and found an interesting topic. In the off topic area I found a cyberpunk kickstarter game being discussed. Its apparently from the creator of Syndicate Wars. I remember that game it was certainly more faithful to Syndicate than the poor FPS that was recently released. I've played both of those games. I have to say that Satellite Reign looks interesting. I do like Cyberpunk and its been a while since a game based on it has come out. The first Syndicate was designed by Sean Cooper and Syndicate Wars was designed by Mike Diskett. Mike Diskett is part of 5 Lives Studios who are creating Satellite Reign. The games has reached its initial funding goal and you can still give more money to the project. You can also vote to get it on steam through steam greenlight. You can get more information through the kickstarter link or through the games website.

Brutal Legend

It took four years to get on the PC. I bought it on Steam and I love this game. The RTS elements could do with some work. It had a great story though. I would love to see them create a sequel. Some may hope they remove the RTS parts if they do. I would prefer they fix it and keep what makes this game unique. Jack Black asked on Twitter a while ago this year what everyone thought of a sequel to the game.  Double Fine have a few games going on right now. So I have no idea when they might do it.

Flight Sim

I remember playing F-15 Strike Eagle II, Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, TFX, US Navy Fighters and after checking Google and you tube. I think I also played EF2000. :)

Its a pity that this type of sim has been out of favour for so  long. I played Battlefield 3 and sitting in the back of the F-18 Hornet in the single player mission was great. With the rain on the canopy it almost felt like you where in a jet. Its just a pity the air combat in the multiplayer was such a big let down. I gave Ace Combat Air Assault a go after downloading it on steam. Its your typical arcade/console game. It makes you smile when a helicopter does a barrel role to avoid a missile. It has lots of jets to fly missions in too. Its an alright game but its no US Navy Fighters. Oh well maybe with the release of the Occulus Rift real flight sims might make a comeback.

Here is a video of an interesting light sea plane. Its called the Icon A5. :)

Star Citizen

I've played X, Homeworld and I've played Eve. I do like space games. However the last one of the three is also an MMO. I'm not really that fond of MMO's. I play them but not for very long. WoW was probably the one I played longer than any other left it after the Lich King. I've even played one of the Perfect World games and The Secret World*. Anarchy Online and APB. Eve online was the most recent one. I've been playing it since April 2012. The new Odyssey expansion adds more things to the game especially for explorers.

However I've been training my characters for maybe a month or so rather than playing. The thing with online games is they are a big time waster. That's why I left WoW. Its not the only reason. The thing I hate most is the grind in these games. The rare loot drops are also a joke. Its all designed to get you addicted and playing as long as possible. It is a giant cash cow for these companies especially CCP. They've even added the ability to train a character on the same account with the new expansion for a price of course. PLEX costs more than paying for a month of gaming. So if you want to train a character for a month at the same time as another character on the same account its going to cost you. Its a pretty pointless feature.

Now Star Citizen has appeared a game funded through kickstarter. It does have some interesting features but it looks like its going to involve a lot of PvP. I don't have too much of a problem with PvP other than its dull. I have a feeling that like every other MMO Star Citizen is not going to have much in the way of character customization. I like to have a character with a bit of personality. However to be honest even the Sims 3 isn't exactly brimming with creativity on that front. It seems like despite the power of computers these days characters don't often seem to have much to wear. Saints Row 3 suffered from this problem too. Not very interesting clothes, hair or anything else. I'm not saying a games done for if it doesn't have this. Its just every game I can think of always disappoints me on that front.

I have noticed that Star Citizen lets you explore. Now that is something I'm interested in. I did exploration in Eve and some PvP, mining, mission running etc. I was pretty much a jack of all trades. I just get bored doing the same thing all the time. :)

I do like crafting as well. I did some manufacturing in Eve and of course maxed the skill out for crafting in Skyrim. I don't know what you can do on that front in Star Citizen. All I know is that mission running in the game is affected by the economy. If a factory is short of something it will put a mission out for NPC and players to take on. That is something I'll admit I've never heard of before. I also like the Classlessness nature of the game. The fact you can be whatever you want to is a nice thing. But I don't think there is enough information for me yet. I'm left undecided on whether or not I'll like this game. I hope when this game has finished its development it will surprise me. If you want to know more about Star Citizen check out its website.


*Secret World was a Trial.

Saints Row 4

 Well Saints Row 4 is coming out on the 23rd of August. Even though I'm disappointed that it looks like a DLC for Saints Row 3 as far as graphics go. I will be giving it a chance. I didn't think Saints Row 3 had enough clothing on offer and the mods to your car weren't really very interesting. I would like to see more imagination in those areas but I don't that's going to happen.

It seems like most of the focus will be on the crazy aliens taking over the world story. I know there are plenty of people who are not happy about were the Saints are going. However I'd have to say it has to continue being wacky. Where else does it have to go? It can't turn itself into a carbon copy of GTA. I personally think games like GTA take themselves way to seriously anyway. I will of course be playing the game with a female president. I played Saints Row 3 and Mass Effect 2 and 3 with a female character. :)

Poker Nights 2 last achievement

Well I decided to get the achievement "We are the 1%" today on Poker Nights 2. It didn't take much to get it. I won five tournaments and lost only one. According to steam I've played the game for around 89 hours. So I now have $1M in imaginary money. :)

I just hope when Telltale does decide to make another Poker Nights that the game will be even better than the last two. I don't want to speculate on what characters they might put in the game. I do think they should make the game a bit harder though. It would also be nice to have a few more statistics. They haven't given you many in the previous two. I think it would be nice if they let you go through the hands you played in each tournament. They could maybe teach some more advanced poker concepts in the new one to make people better at the game.

Poker Nights

I pre-ordered Poker Nights 2 on the 11th of April this year on Steam. Which got me the added bonus of Poker Nights at the Inventory. I'd never played Poker before so the game helped me learn to play till the new one was released. The game is cheap so you can't expect too much.

I personally couldn't stand Tycho. He was the only character I didn't know. Since I have nothing to do with penny arcade. He wasn't funny and really quite irritating. To be honest you can't really listen to any of the characters for very long since they repeat themselves quite a bit. Its better to just focus on playing cards.

I was pleased to finally get my copy of Poker Nights 2 when it became available. Its much better than the previous version. I like the way they made the tables, cards etc unlockable. Its just a pity the tokens become almost useless once you've unlocked everything which doesn't take long. I don't know if buying your opponents drinks really makes much difference to the way they play. It is the only thing you have left to spend the tokens on though. I was a bit disappointed with Brock, a few things he said to me seemed out of character for him. He sometimes uses a childish insult that I wouldn't expect from him and then sometimes folds right after you. Some of the other stuff he says just doesn't seem like him and more like Dr Venture. "Casa de Brock?" I don't think so. :)

The Poker Nights 2 nicknames I've received so far are "Charlie Chiplain the Silent Killer", "Penny "Ante" Gwinn, Polar Pokerface", "Broadway Flo, The Straightdraw Pro" and "Jake Jackorbetter, Jackpot Genius." I've currently got $620,000 now if only it was real money. :D

Its a fun game if you are a beginner and don't take playing poker too seriously. The characters aren't very good at the game. They are however good enough to prove challenging if you've just started playing.

Rocksmith

I mentioned a while ago on my Chess blog that I'd like to see Rocksmith available in the UK. Well it was released a while ago now. I've been playing it ever since. I learned to play guitar as a teenager. I did have some lessons back then with a guitar teacher. I'm no Eddie Van Halen though. :)

I've played the mini games on Rocksmith and they are fun. But I've spent most of my time trying to learn the songs. I have to say I don't know if I see much point in the Ranking system. I've reached rank 10 (Super Elite Guitarist). I would say I'm not much of a guitarist and given enough time and points everyone could reach that level without getting high scores for each song. At least I think they could. I don't know if they would have the patience to grind out the points though. :)

I have to admit I have played one of the Guitar Hero games and the Rockband games. I'm not really into button mashing though. Which is why I was thrilled when Rocksmith was first announced. I love being able to just plug my guitar into my computer and play. :)

One of the first things I did which I imagine anyone who has any experience with the guitar would also do is invert the strings. You see tab is upside down the heaviest E string is the bottom line on a tab. So your used to seeing the music setup that way. Having the heaviest E string at the top in the game just messes with your head if you already play.

I liked practicing the techniques getting gold for all of them isn't hard if you already play. I would have liked to have seen tapping and sweep picking included but maybe they can't do that? It doesn't really matter since you still have to be a good player for quite a few of the songs. I liked being able to buy new songs since playing the standard ones would get boring after a while. I don't know if anyone else likes the Rockband/Guitar Hero's feel to the software. I do though, the coloured strings and everything are nice. I find it a bit difficult figuring out what fret I'm playing but that's probably because I sometimes learn the song while playing. Which isn't a good idea. Your better of using the riff repeater for practicing small parts of the song.

I bought quite a few songs for it. The Offspring ones as well as Queen, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Europe - Final Countdown, Living Colour - Cult of Personality.

Ubisoft are releasing a new version called RockSmith 2014. According to Amazon UK it will be coming out in October. It looks very interesting.