Latest Artwork

Just finished my latest drawing and realized I didn't put the previous one up here yet either.


Brave New World At Dawn (25 Apr 08): While focused on space, its about man's desire to explore and the false sense of first discovery as someone else has probably been there before you. Klaus Burgle's 'Das Neue Universum 82' (1965) was the work's inspiration and model for my astronauts.


Thirst For Knowledge (10 Feb 08): Started as a riff of The Thinker. In the middle of OK on I35, is a guy sitting in The Thinker pose wanting to sip from the source of knowledge.

Prey (2006)

Picked up Prey a few weeks back when it was on sale. From reviews people seemed to like it or hate it. Most complaints were that it was a short game, lacked difficulty and not very innovative with its portals or gravity walking. Maybe since I picked it up cheap I was more lenient but I enjoyed it for a run and gun game with a few twists (Nice change of pace from the tac-sims I usually play). Probably helps that I dig sci-fi too. It took me about 9hrs to play which is comparible to most new games now so I don't see why its considered more short (Guess some rushed to beat it in 6hrs but I like to check out all the corners of the maps)


Prey's levels of a spaceship sometimes reminded me of Riddick though Prey adds a bunch of weird organic parts to the levels. Sometimes felt like I was running through a cyborg's colon or something. The gravity walking/flipping was a fun and different way to do in-game puzzles. Portals didn't do much except act as doors but they still looked pretty and were a logical source of enemies spawning as opposed to monster closets.


The story was decent and I liked the levels/atmosphere of the ship. Enemies were mostly brute AIs to be cleared. The soldier version seemed to get smarter toward the end of the game but for most of it they were clumsy fodder to get past. I knew this coming into the game and was mostly playing to enjoy the story and levels. I wasn't looking for the greatest AI ever as most games lack in that department anyways. The weapons were weird looking but most acted like most fps guns once you figured out what they were.


I thought the difficulty was fine and didn't mind the spirit death part. Helped the game flow smoothly since there wasn't a break in playing the game. Those that don't like it could just reload to skip it if they though it cheapened their victory in someway (I'm playing to enjoy the game not as some competition). Also liked the use of the spirit to find secrets and get past puzzles in the game.


Enjoyed it overall and still not sure why it was bashed by some. It wasn't the greatest title ever but it was good. Maybe it helps that I haven't played Quake 4 yet though my playing of Riddick didn't make me not enjoy Prey. I'm not sure what other games came out at the time so not sure what its new game competition was. It also helps that I got it cheap. I also don't bash it for not being super innovative as I don't feel most new games go much beyond what I've already played (Just slap a bit of prettier graphics/physics but not actual gameplay).


I did find a few mods but didn't really try them yet:

Filefront has a few mods that are mostly either weapon tweaks or AI mods. I briefly tried the AI mod after finishing the game and it did seem to toughen up the AI and the earlier soldiers moved a bit more. I didn't play with it enough to get a good gauge it the changes but it does seem like an option for those who feel the game is too easy.

Also found a level mod called Altered Reality on ModDB. Seems to be one of the few SP levels. I might try it one day but have other games I want to get to first.

Bioshock (2007)

I got Bioshock when it came out but I played Two Worlds first and then stalled about 1/3 way in due to the mouse acceleration and lag. While it was fun exploring and soaking in the environment, quick movements (needed for combat) made me spin/aim past where I wanted to and I'd lose my orientation. The patch and bumping my RAM from 1.5GB to 2GB smoothed this out for the most part. The leftover occasional lag was expected based on my old system.


The developers did an excellent job of the story, environments and atmosphere of the game. A lot of heart and soul was put into this game. Nice unique environment, good AI, variety of weapons/mods and decent length for a SP game this day and age (Took me probably about 14hrs though I like to explore all the nooks and crannies and not just rush to the finish). There is the idiosyncrasy of the city's penchant for stocking vending machines with ammo and combat focused plasmids. Probably other weirdness if one thinks about the city of Rapture too much and lets real-world logic get in the way of gameplay.


Since your in an underwater city, all the maps where indoors. Still, the maps felt open and even if there was one goal end point there were times when you could take different hallways to get to the goal. Even when there was only 1 path it was acceptable based on the closed environment, unlike the forced paths of HL2's city maps. Lots of little details throughout each map made the atmosphere come alive. In a ways it reminds me of Fallout's retro-future 50's style, but in a decadent underwater city instead of a post apocalyptic world.


The AI did a good job using the maps to its advantage. The humanoid types would dodge and use obstacles for defense. They would retreat, use health stations, and pick up dropped weapons/ammo too. The lumbering big daddies were not too bad after a while. Since they left you alone for the most part, unless you were aggressive, it was easy to get the advantage. Though it was a good idea to make sure you had space to manuevor and backpedal to so that you did not get stuck in a corner.


Its definitely a good game and worthy of a replay. I would have liked it even more if it was an actual FPS-RPG hybrid like System Shock or Deus Ex. While you did gain new items/abilities,etc. as you progressed, since they could be switched out at almost anytime (Just find the gene machine) it was like the usual FPS progression of items. You were not forced to make permanent decisions about your characters advancement.


Maybe this streamlining makes a better game since you can experience more of the gameworld in one playthrough. Maybe its just my nostalgia that misses what the old FPS-RPG hybrids offered. I think I still prefer what the old ones offered (Having a character strong in some skills and weak in others or middle of the road in everything depending on what advancement decisions you made) as opposed to a jack of all trades good at everything. I'm probably biased due to growing up on complicated sims and RPGs that seem to be a drying breed these days.

Still, its a great FPS even though I wanted more of a FPS-RPG hybrid. Maybe Bioshock 2 will improve upon this. In the meantime, I plan on replaying System Shock 2 and Deus Ex to enjoy the taste of the hybrids I miss.

Emusic Q1 08 Recap

Even though its not "all you can eat" anymore, I still find Emusic a great deal. I do the 50 downloads/$15 mo (~$0.30 per song)package. They have the sludgy garage rock I like and then some. They are also a cheap way for me to replace some old punk tapes I never got around to rebuying.

Acid King - Busse Woods & III

Blind Dog - Captain Dog Rides Again (I don't like the samples I heard for the 2001 record so only got this one)

Brain Police - Beyond the Wasteland

Daisy Chainsaw - Eleventeen (Replacing an old tape and don't like the sound of the other album)

fIREHOSE - Ragin', Full-On & a track or two from Fromohio & if'n (Replacing old tapes)

NoMeansNo - In the Fishtank (One of the few NMN I don't have)

Red Giant - Devil Child Blues (Already have Ultra Magnetic Glowing Sound)

Sasquatch - Sasquatch & II

Spiritu - Spiritu

Steel Pole Bath Tub - Some Cocktail Suggestions, The Miracle of Sound in Motion & Lurch/Butterfly Love (Already had Tulip and the not shown Scars From Falling Down)

Thrall - Life (Already had Chemical Wedding)

Throttlerod - Nail (Other album samples not doing it for me but I might relisten to them)

I've also been listening to The Glasspack - Powderkeg a lot, a previous emusic purchase. I keep playing "Mrs. Satan", "Mopar Fire Paint", "Demolition Derby" and "Jim Beam And Good Green". I dig the whole album but those 4 songs even more, especially MFP.

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (1998)

Had one other old school replay before starting up Quake 4 and Prey. Missing the mecha love so I loaded up Shogo. Think this was the first Monolith game I played. Even with the early Lithtech engines quirks I still enjoyed the game.


There is nothing quite like stomping around in a huge mech. Though while the height felt bigger than on foot and you could stomp cars or people, there wasn't really a sense of inertia. You were able to take a lot more pounding though as I found the mech parts easier than the on foot parts. This is definitely not a sim like Mechwarrior or Heavy Gear but a run and gun FPS. Still fun for the setting though.


While the AI wasn't that great, the weapons are brutal and often 1 or 2 shots takes you down as a soldier. If you hit an enemy first they seemed to not shoot back as long as you kept hitting them so a first strike usually means victory. You also gain back some health on critical hits while as a mech you can collect armor and energy from defeated mechs.


Lots of powerful weapons to choose from. Lots of explosions, smoke, debri and other effects. Its always fund watching the Bullgut's lazy missiles hit a target..man or mech. Took me a while to remember that hitting the weapon's key a second time brought up the zoom feature when applicable.


Levels were good but not great. Story was OK. I remember the game being hard especially the museum level. After the replay I think it was the frequency of 1-2 shot deaths. Still think the main greatness of the game was the setting. While I like Unreal and Half Life more which outshine it in many ways, I still like Shogo for some reason. Would love to see Shogo 2 using the latest Lithtech engine especially after the greatness that was the NOLFs, TRON 2.0 and FEAR.


This was the most horrible death I suffered during the game. I touched an open door and exploded. A few reloads before this I also got squished when a similar door opened and I died. That is not a way for a soldier to die.

I didn't come across any mods of SP worth for Shogo only MP stuff. As its not what I'm interested in I didn't check it out so I have no clue how active anything was.

Unreal 1 (1998)

Finished replaying Unreal 1. I played it using Unreal Tournament by using the OldSkool Amp'd Lite mod v2.39 (Lets you play Unreal 1 and other mission packs in UT) along with the S3TC textures from the extras cd (disk 2) and an updated ut opengl driver v3.4. I replaced the updated S3TC skybox texture with the original texture due to it not working correctly (Nice sky in the center surrounded by blackness). See far below for ini edits for the opengl driver.


I still think the first few levels are some of the most memorable gaming moments. Waking up not quite knowing where you are. Inside some darkly lit prison thing thats rumbling and shaking. Hearing a fight behind a slowly rising door as the person is killed by something that quickly runs off. Then coming out of the ship into the huge alien world. It was crazy how large the world was when compared to Quake 2 maps.


Jumping from cliffs in many levels was fun just to see how long it took to hit the bottom due to how tall some maps were. The water effects, volumetric lighting and fog along with color and textures all looked amazing at the time if your rig could run it. The S3TC textures are nice in that even close up everything is still clear and detailed, not blurry.


The guns still felt nice with their primary and secondary fire. AI is still good even when compared to current games, depending on the creature being fought. Many will jump and dodge your shots and sometimes retreat. I played on medium and while it wasn't hard to survive the first half the last half took many reloads. Battles where I started with full health and armor ended with my barely surviving.


I still liked how the narrative was passed by using the Universal Translater for reading logs and alien books. Though I did start to ignore most of them at the end and ended up getting lost since I was no longer reading the clues. Also enjoyed the maps that mix some alien-medieval and scifi themes.


This is a very long game compared to current games. The levels seemed to go from sparsely populated to enemy filled events. Some of the early levels, especially after the first few, seemed to drag because of this. I still had fun checking out the architecture and style of the map though. Just feel the 2nd quarter should be condensed into less maps. Still really enjoyed the 1st quarter and last half. The final boss does suck though and is the only place I had to cheat since I got tired of dying.



Not sure if this was needed to make the updated opengl driver work but I updated my unrealtournament.ini with the following changes:

[OpenGLDrv.OpenGLRenderDevice]
RefreshRate=75
DetailTextures=1
UseTrilinear=1
UseS3TC=1
UseTNT=0
LODBias=0
UseMultiTexture=1
UsePalette=1
UseAlphaPalette=0
Translucency=1
VolumetricLighting=1
ShinySurfaces=1
Coronas=1
HighDetailActors=1
MaxAnisotropy=0
AlwaysMipmap=0
UsePrecache=0
SupportsLazyTextures=0

This was from a thread on techimo.com. This was one of the first I found so I used it but I figure there are other sites posting what changes to make.

Quake 2 (1997)

I picked up Quake 4 on the cheap and decided to replay Quake 2 first. I used to play a lot of Q2 SP back when it came out as it and Half Life were the only FPS I had. Also played a lot of Fallout 2 and Red Baron 2 as those were about the only games I had when I first got into PC gaming back in 97/98 so I replayed them many times.


I went from an IBM 200MHz (NonMMX) to building my own and overclocking Celeron 266 and 566 to 400 and 850, respectively. I still have my 200 running as a mp3/divx server and my Voodoo 2 SLIs/TNT1&2 are living in a box in a closet in case I ever feel or need to build an old system to run older games.


I played the first level a bit before checking out some texture mods to bring the game a bit more up to date. While I didn't mind the polygon explosions, I just can't resist modding stuff. I ended up using Quake 2 Evolved but also found EGL both of which update the particle system, textures and shaders, etc. Either work just fine but I think EGL sped up the enemy speed and I didn't feel like seeing if this was tweakable back to the original setting.


Before playing way too much Counter Strike, I got into MP gaming by playing Q2's Action Quake mod. Not sure what other Q2 mods I might have tried but there sure are a lot out there though I'm not sure how active they still are. No plans on any MP play this time as I'm focusing on SP. I'm not too much into MP these days except an occasional game of Co-op (Joint Ops, Ghost Recon, Raven Shield, etc.) or the rare team vs team round (BF2/BF2142, UT2K4, etc.)


The game still held up well. The level design and gameplay are still fun and the classic run and gun/key find elements flowed well. I don't think I've played this since 2K but I still remembered parts of the levels though I had forgotten the overall order of the maps and got lost many times as well as ambushed. The jail section has always stuck in my mind as the soldiers' mutterings added to the creepy atmosphere. The world is still as brown as I remembered it :) which has set me up for a nice color shock when I replay its contender Unreal.

XIII (2003)

Picked up XIII from gogamer for about $5 with some other games I wanted. It got really mixed reviews where some people liked it and some just thought it was OK. The main thing going for it is its cell shaded/comic book style. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.


The game had decent levels with a good mix of indoor and outdoor settings. Outdoor went from the tops of buildings, a military base, hunting cabin, etc. Inside was different military bases and other facilities you had to infiltrate. It had the usual mix of weapons but you also had some gadgets like a grappling hook. You could also do hand to hand combat or grab nearby chairs/bottles for non-lethal stealth take downs.


I felt the first half of the game was the best part. I initially stalled on the 3rd or so level as it was an escort mission which are normally bad in games. It was actually easier than I though as I never lost the person I was escorting in any of the few times where this was the mission. Normally, if I failed the escort, it was because I was taken down and not the person I was covering. They definitely did better than most other games in this aspect.


The story was decent and most of the voice acting was good (Adam West = Good; Duchovney = Bad). I liked the comic book style mini pictures that would appear now and then to explain the story or after a headshot. There were also the boom/pows of comic books and other visual clues about the sounds you hear. AI was nothing great but it wasn't horrible.


The main bad points of the game were the save system and the last half of it nvolved way to many levels of not being detected by the enemy. The save system was not save anywhere, it only allowed saves at the first of the level or at midpoint saves. This led to using the F2 healme cheat after my X play through of a level, especially after multiple end level deaths during boss fights. While I don't mind a few sneak levels, it seemed the last half of the game was filled with them. Only good thing was that you had the chance to take out the guard before they set off the alarm if you were detected, sometimes you could use lethal force but a lot of the last levels required hand to hand nonlethal take downs.

For the cheap price I paid it was worth the play through even with its few nagging faults. Not sure how I would feel about it at full price, but that is why I prefer bargain bin gaming.

First Eagles: The Great Air War 1918 (2006)

Since my C64 Microprose Gunship days I've loved flight sims but never been good enough to play with full realism settings. I prefer WW1 for some reason, so really enjoyed Red Baron 3d, which I played with about 50% realism settings, but RB3D is way old in the tooth now and doesn't play will even with glide wrappers (I go from120+ to 1 FPS). I've been on an FPS kick for a while so don't have any recent sim comparisons (I have IL2 but haven't really played it much as I crash way to much in it). I'm also not a good source of how well flight models or historical content is. I just like a good dogfight in old planes and this game definitely does it for the 1/2 arcade + 1/2 simmer in me.


So far I've only played Instant Action in First Eagles but I really like it so far. Looks nice for a small dev game. Tons of graphics and realism options that can either be quickly adjusted (Low, Med, High) or the different options can be customized. There are also Single Missions, Campaigns and MP but I have yet to try those. I haven't been shot down too often but I do have a hard time taken out the enemy though I haven't set them to Hard or ran any AI mods/tweaks (Game is easily moddable like its sister games Wings over Europe and Wings over Vietnam). It will definitely fill my WW1 prop fix until a more hardcore sim such as Knights of the Sky comes out, but this might be enough for me since I like shooting them down more than me crashing due to losing my wings after banking/diving too hard.


Casual sim fans of WW1 will probably like this like I do. The more full on sim crowd may like it more once its been modded or they may prefer the CFS3 mod OFF or the upcoming Knights of the Sky (By IL2 makers I think). I thought about getting OFF instead but CFS3 is still $30 and I've heard bad things about how well it runs so went with FE instead since its newer and expect any shortcomings to be either fixed by patches or mods. I also wanted to try out one of Thirdwires games as Wings over Vietnam may be my next sim purchase, but I needed a WW1 game to replace RB3D since I have IL2 to cover WW2 prop era (I'm not into more modern jet sims).


I tried the AI Mod v5 and the enemy and friendlies definitely are more aggressive and shoot at each other now. I got shot down a few times which was a rarity before. The flight model seems to have changed too as loops require a lot more height now and spins/stalls are easier to get into and a bit harder to get out of. My current pilot skills with this mod have me crashing into the ground by doing to many loops before they could get me while I was trying to get them. These are noted as prepatch mods but seem to work fine (They probably need some tweaking by the author but I like the AI changes so will keep it and look for the next version). I'm playing on Hard AI and Hard Flight Model so unsure how Normal + Mods would feel but it is harder now, which is a nice change.


While I do think RB had better atmosphere in the menus/pilot roster, FE has good atmosphere once in the game. RB does too but it really hates my system so I cant play it anymore without stutter and random crashes (unless I dig up my voodoo2s). FE feels good in the air with tons of planes and lots of flake bursting all around along with tanks on the ground. Though the flight model of FE isn't as hard as RB3D (I played RB3D on medium settings and can play FE on Hard settings). Both make me fight for my kills though, but the planes in FE do seem to break up quicker once hit than in RB3D, at least with default INI settings.

If only RB and FE could go off and have a love child...

No One Lives Forever 2 (2002)

I always enjoyed playing NOLF1 and Shogo from Monolith but never picked up NOLF2. Not sure why. Maybe its because I heard it was short so I didn't want to pay full price or maybe because the story wasn't as good as the first one. Picked it up on a trade and finally got to it.


It had a good mix of indoor and outdoor environments. Most levels had multiple paths so you weren't railroaded down one specific road. Even if the end of the level was a specific place you could take multiple ways to it.


It was definately shorter than NOLF1 but still had some nice moments. Xfire still shows it took me 14hrs which isn't bad for a SP game, especially compared to SP length nowadays. Still not the length of older games though. I enjoyed the tornado level and underwater/undervolcano bases are always fun.


Like 1 it has a good sense of humor and pulls a lot of imagery from the Bond and other spy films with the retro60s tech look. While the supersoldier storyline is a bad game cliche those parts of the game were more puzzle like or combat focused without being impossible.


Similar to Tron 2.0 it had upgradeable weapons, armor and skills. While I like the RPGliteness of it, I'm not sure how effective some of the skills were. While my health/armor meter got larger, gadget speed got quicker and searches resulted in more stuff being found, I didn't notice my weapon skills really improve. Still, I liked that it was there and that they attempted it, since its something missing from most newer games.


Some of the boss fights were hard as you had to attack/protect 1 person while enemies spawned from all around. Those were the worst part of the game. Most AI fights were not too bad but they shouldn't be since the superspy should be able to get through the villian's horde. Weird thing is that one of the last boss fights was the hardest part of the game for me and not the actual last levels.

Overall it was still a fun game to play through. Once I get some other games out of the way I plan on replaying NOLF1 to see if I still enjoy it as much as I remember or if its mainly nostalgia. Might need to watch the Bond films before doing so too.

Things To Read When I'm Surfin' Bored

Paleo-Future - Our past's dreams of the future.

Retro-Futurismus - Another retro-future site with nice artwork

Osburne World of the Future Books - Usborne Book of the Future & Usborne World of the Unknown: UFOs - I remember reading these in elementary school and still like the artwork

WW1 Solders Blog - Letters from a WW1 soldier being posted to a blog 90 years after they were written

Shorpy - 100 Yr Old Photo Blog (History in HD)

Crime Library - Covers major crimes, criminals, trials, forensics and criminal profiling by prominent writers

Strange maps - Lots of different maps of different styles

Pictures Of The Past (Now in COLOR!) - WWI, WWII, US during WWII & Vietnam

I'll add more as I find stuff I want to go back and read.

Tron 2.0 (2003)

Finally finished Tron 2.0. Got it in a trade last year and had never started it as I was busy on other games. Really liked the whole setting and vibe of the game. Matched well with the movie, which the game made me want to see again.

Nice variety of levels and I liked the imagination used in creating the insides of a PC. Nice use of colors too. Decent length SP especially when compared to newer games.


Enjoyed the RPGness of upgrading weapons and skills. Nice variety of weapons, though I still mainly just bulked up on armor mods and used my disc along with the sniper rifle. But Tron is all about the disk so was happy to use it a lot.

Enemy AI was decent. While most were easily strafed it was still easy to die if you had too many attacking at once. The boss battles were not too bad. Lucky for me I played after the patch that lets you skip the lightcycles if you die to much. While it took time and effort to beat them it was never frustrating.


I've always enjoyed Monoliths stuff and this was no exception. I still want to go back and play NOLF1 and Shogo but have NOLF2 and FEAR to play first.

What year is now the Future?

I'm still waiting for the year 2000 from my 70s/80s childhood. The one with floating cities, O'Neill space stations, flying cars and jet packs. Not the one where we are all eating dog food and fighting for gas, though I wouldn't mind the Max's Interceptor. I feel like we are in 1999v9 instead of 2008.

I remember a book I read in 5th grade or so that had awesome artwork and visions of the future. I've occasionally tried to find it but have had no luck as I just remember bits and pieces of pictures and not the title or author. I want it for nostalgia and for the artwork/inspiration as I get a kick out of the "World of the Future" things from old World's Fairs.

Recently I picked up Mudhoney's 'Under A Billion Suns' CD (Never picked up there last 2 albums for whatever reason even though I have all their older stuff). While I've been having this year 2000 thought long before I heard it, their song 'Where Is The Future' sums it up nicely:

I was born on an Air Force Base
Nineteen sixty two
A rocket launch into outer space
Knocked me out of the womb
I cried and cried and cried
Happy to be alive
Astronauts were orbiting Earth
The Space Age was in sight

Where is the future that was promised us
Where is the future for everyone
Where is the future that was promised us
Where is our future of fun
Where is the future that was promised us
I'm sick to death of this one

I want to live in a floating city
I want to drive a bubble car
I want to fly with my personal jet pack
I want to visit my family on Mars
I want to live in an era of peace,
Of Love and Justice, Wonder and Truth
I want a world run by giant brains
Instead of small-minded arrogant fools

I need to go and watch Mad Max/Road Warrior or A Boy and His Dog to balance out my utopian dreaming with a good post-apocalyptic dystopia.

Fifi: They say people don't believe in heroes anymore. Well damn them! You and me, Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!
Max: Ah, Fif. Do you really expect me to go for that crap?
Fifi: You gotta admit I sounded good there for a minute, huh?

Born from this space nostalgia was my most recent drawing, which is a tribute to Voyager 1 in my surreal style:


(Goes back to enjoying the fruits of current tech by listening to some Nebula MP3s while surfing the net)

EDIT 2/1/08: Just saw that 1/31/2008 was the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Earth satellite of the US (Explorer 1). This sat discovered the Van Allen Belts.

Edit 2/6/08: Thanks to a Wired blog I found the book I've been thinking of - 'The Usborne Book of the Future' published in 1979. Some quick google-fu finds me many of the pics I was thinking of and others like me that enjoyed the book. Also found a blog focused on the past's concepts of the future - Paleo-Future.

Brave Captain

"Captain, there are doubts
regarding
your ability
to lead them
the men
lead them
there are doubts in your ability
there's too many blanks in your analogies"

fIREHOSE - Brave Captain video

Haven't listened to fIREHOSE in a while as I don't have the CD and haven't reached for the tape in years. Though I have been listening to the Minutemen as I have Double Nickels on CD. Resigned up for eMusic to get Sasquatch and the latest Red Giant CDs and saw both fIREHOSE and Minutemen stuff is now on there.

I remember seeing this video when I was a young skaterpunk of only 13 years (Think it was on 120 Minutes). I still listen to a lot of the stuff I was into then (Dead Kennedys (w/ Jello Only!), Black Flag, etc.) and still consider NoMeansNo my favorite band even after all these years. For some strange reason, this song and the Ragin' Full On album hit me more than any music has in a while (Probably due to not hearing it in forever unlike my almost daily doses of NMN). Basically compressed the last 21 years of my life into one song where I was reminded of everything even though I wasn't hanging onto a specific thought. And yet it still had a nice groove...or maybe it was just the corndogs.

Now I just have to wait until my downloads refill next month so I can nab me some Post-Mersh Minutemen.

Neverwinter Nights (2002)

While everyone else is already over and done with NWN2 and some even its expansion, I'm just now finishing off NWN Diamond Edition. I have now completed the original game, its 2 expansions (Hordes of the Underdark & Shadows of Undrentide), and its premium modules (Witch's Wake, ShadowGuard and Kingmaker).


Think this is the 2nd most played game of mine. According to xfire I've got 183 hours on it. I know I've played it without xfire so its more than that. Only other game that I've probably played more is Counterstrike, but didn't have xfire at the time to track it (Thankfully :) ).


I still want to try other premium modules such as Pirates of the Sword Coast and Wyvern Crown, but am taking another break from NWN for a bit. Not to mention all the user made modules that I have yet to try. So much content for one game..


..And I'm still occasionally playing on some PWs. At times I'm amazed my characters haven't been archived and no longer active on the servers since its rare that I log in. I still like Lands of Always Autumn and Alboria as my 2 main PWs.

Far Cry (2004)

Had played about 1/4 of Far Cru when I first got it years back but then shelved it for whatever reason. It wasn't due to it being a bad game as I really enjoyed it, just some other shiny game came along. Finally got around to finishing off the rest of it and have now done so.

The island setting was a nice change of pace from most corridor shooters. Levels were mostly open so you could get to your target using multiple paths. Besides the arsenal of hand weapons, there was a good amount of mounted weapons and vehicles to drive. Decent enough AI for the levels too as the enemy would hunt you down if they heard you and would try to use cover.

Even on the island there was a good mix of different settings. From thick jungles to the beaches, rivers to swim or boat in, hidden army camps and underground bases. There was also a good use of altitude as the island has many mountains. At first it was like stumbling into a South Pacific island camp of mercenaries. Then later it became the Island of Dr Moreau.

I preferred the mercenary fights over the mutants but still didn't think the mutant sections were to bad. Think this held me off on playing the game as I heard many people quick at this time, which was where I first stalled at. After finishing it up, the mutant parts were small and more mercenary battles returned later. Only the last 2 maps were full of mutants and these were the 2 maps I didn't like when compared to the rest of the game.

The island and its hidden bases had a nice sense of exploration as I was unsure what was around each corner or behind every tree. Occasionally I'd stumble across ancient ruins on my way to a high tech base buried underground.