29/12/2010

World of Keflings - Desert Kingdom

We got the final piece (I won't say how for those of you still playing) & can now travel to the Desert Kingdom. We arrived, had a look around. It seems smaller than the Forest Kingdom which will probably mean that you have not many blueprints like the Ice Kingdom which was disappointing, it was a small area & only had a handful of blueprints.

Anyhow back to the Desert Kingdom we had a little stroll around it feels like an Arabian village but our stay was brief because my daughter wanted to go back and finish off the Ice & Forest Kingdom. By finish off I mean she wants to harvest all the materials, finish all the blueprints & have everything looking nice.

We went to the Ice Kingdom first and had the majority of the keflings working on the ice blocks with a few on Ore, annoyingly you have to be present in the Kingdom otherwise the keflings sit bone idle. They do not happily work away in your absence, so we set about moving all the harvested material to the workshop. We have one blueprint left to do 'Long House' but require a burning heart which we have not yet found (Hopefully hiding underneath one of the material blocks).

Next the Forest Kingdom, we went for some easy acheivements first for emotions & kefling canon music. Still can't figure out the acheivement 25 decorative items, we easily have more than that. We took our little ice house & surrounded it with an ice wall, banner towers, pond  & some trees.

Then began the massive task of harvesting all the material, mainly wood & crystals. Luckily this uncovered some eyeballs & hearts, which we could then upgrade our abilities & get more keflings. We are nearly done on the forest kingdom & then the Desert Kingdom awaits, shame we can't fly there on a magic carpet.

New Game - Disc Drivin

A twitter post in the morning from Neil on a new turn based racing game called Disc Drivin. Turn based racing? Yes exactly that's what I thought, so I downloaded the free (ad - based) version to test with my son, after a few turns & some laughs at our failure we quickly realised that this will be a game that will be played. Carcassonne, Words & Chess with friends were all getting on a bit so we needed a new turn based game. The ads on the free version appear after every turn so we then went for the paid ad-free version. A post on UGVM, some twitter posts & by the end of the day quite a few from UGVM were playing.

If you have ever played the board game Pitch Car then you will know what to expect, you are a disc and you have to flick your way round a race track whilst using powerups.

The game does need a few more features like a friends list & a leaderboard maybe they could implement the 'Arpad Elo' system used in Carcassonne. Also it would be great if you could save the replay of your turn to a video file to show your great moves or epic failures.

New Game - Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

I did not enjoy the demo, I found it very difficult to control the cars. Yes I know it's a racing game & I'm crap at them but I'm sick of playing FPS games online all the time. Criterion done a very good job with Burnout Paradise so when I saw Hot Pursuit on sale for £23.99 it was a no brainer to buy.

You can start the game as a cop or racer and completing various events gives you experience points to level up which unlock cars & more events. The events are different types from your bog standard race to a classic chase HQ take out the racer in your cop car. I even managed to set the fastest time on some events which had my son shocked & amazed at my 'Skillz'. He then promptly spent the next hour trying to beat my score & did but oh well for that brief moment I enjoyed the notion that I was good at racing games. Your times are posted to an Autolog feature which challenges you when friends beat your time on a particular event. I have not yet tried an online race, hopefully a few on ugvm will have gotten this game over xmas so we can have a PMG in the new year.

Angry Birds Seasons XMAS - Completed

A novel take on the advent calender, Angry Birds xmas edition 'Greedings' gave you a level a day to play.

Some very challenging and some very easy. But for me it was the fun of 3 starring the level & ensuring I was on top of the leaderboard ahead of Jochta & Xexyzx.

Jochta gave up after a few days and moved over to the previous Halloween levels (I have yet to complete these) but Xexyzx continued the challenge on a daily basis & even took the lead on occassions.

I am sure he will go back and challenge to see if he can improve on some of the levels but until then I sit proudly on top of the leaderboard :)

Now to go back and challenge Jochta on the Halloween levels.

Left 4 Dead - Completed

Co-op gaming has been one of the many highlights for me this generation. This is due to two reasons firstly my co-op partner is now very good at games (if not better than me on some genres -watch his ego grow) & secondly that game developers are releasing more local co-op games.

So after having completed Halo Reach we needed another game. From the many on offer to play we opted for Left 4 Dead.

You are one of 4 survivors and the intro shows you climbing to a city building rooftop to escape the zombies.

From the rooftop you can choose your weapon be it Shotgun, Assault Rifle or stick with your trusted pistols which come with unlimited ammo. There is an achievement for finishing a scenario using just pistols but I have yet to do this because you have no choice but to use the trusted Assault Rifle to take care of the in-rushing horde of zombies.

I've managed to unlock some of the more difficult achievements like Man vs Tank in which you have to take down a tank single handly.

Each scenario can be completed in about an hour. So it's a short game that you can complete in about 4 to 5 hours. It offers replay in that you can replay the levels with online 4 player play & other online modes which I have not really played. It's a UGVM PMG game so I will no doubt be playing in 2011

26/12/2010

New Logo - Gears of War 3

World of Keflings has been released so it's time for a new logo, there are quite a few games being released in the first few months of 2011 that interest me like Bulletstorm, Brink, Dungeon Siege 3 & Deus Ex - Human Revolution. But these are all maybe purchases but Gears of War 3 released on the 8th April 2011 will be a must buy because the previous 2 games have been easily the best co-op games released on the 360.

New Game - World of Keflings

The sequel to Kingdom for Keflings brings with it co-op play. It's essentialy the same tried & tested gameplay. Get resources & build your blueprints to develop new buildings. You now have three kingdoms you can travel through Ice, Desert & Forest.

I have been playing for 5 hours with my daughter on local co-op, we have now completed the ice kingdom & are working on the forest kingdom. We lost a corrupted 7 hour gameplay save so had to reload an older save.

You can level up your characters by using eyeballs to increase your weight carrying or speed ability. We also have 4 mystery gifts but I am not sure what to do with these?
It's 800 MS points which made it an instant purchase, to be honest I think I would have purchased it at 1200 because we have been anticipating it's release but don't tell Microsoft.

We need to find the final gate piece (Reminds me of Stargate - great sci-fi TV) to be able to warp to the Desert Kingdom - Not sure how you get that maybe by completing a quest in the Forest Kingdom?

But before that we will need to replay the time that we have lost due to the corrupted save.

Halo Reach - completed

I purchased the game on release & we (Abbas & I) have only just completed the campaign on local co-op. No we are not that bad that it takes us 3 months to complete a 10 hour campaign but I was distracted by Fallout New Vegas & Abbas by Assassins Creed Brotherhood.

Halo Reach campaign just could not compete with the single player experience of those AAA titles (albeit FNV is buggy)

SPOILERS-IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE CAMPAIGN DO NOT READ AHEAD

Maybe if it had been a Master Chief title, we would not have neglected it, anyhow 3 months after release we completed the campaign

It's strange playing this game because you already know how it is going to end. Let me correct that you know how it is going to end if you have played Halo.

It is also Bungie's last Halo game. They have now moved on to pastures new teaming up with Sequelvision (Sorry Activision)

Back to the game, the story then does not surprise much. You are Noble 6 a Spartan and the newest member of Noble Team.

You are on planet Reach & are sent to investigate a nearby disturbance only to discover that the covenant have arrived. From here begins the inevitable destruction of Reach along the way you will fight Grunts, Hunters, Elites, Ghosts, Wraiths & in SPACE

Yes in SPACE, easily the most memorable level in the game you are flying in space piloting a sabre & fight off covenant forces. This level instantly reminded me of two games I have played in my younger days. Starfox (SNES) & Star Wars (N64) I was just waiting for Fox & his crew to turn up to provide support.

Near the end of the game you are introduced to Cortana and must transport her to the Pillar of Autumn. Your next moments of play become somber because you realise how the story will now move onto Halo and that this will be the last Bungie produced Halo game you will play

After you have delivered Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn & they safely leave Reach.

What follows is one of the most memorable moments in video-gaming for me.

The last stand Noble 6 vs the Covenant
How long can you survive?

Eventually the inevitable will happen & you will die. Your helmet falls to the ground and Reach is being destroyed in the background. Years pass & the planet begins to live again.

Looking forward to seeing what Bungie will do next. But more importantly what Microsoft will do now with Halo?

Rumours of a Halo 10 year anniversary release next year? What will happen to Master Chief? Is it not time now for Halo 4?

Whatever happens Halo Reach was the fond farewell from Bungie & deserved to be played without interruptions from any other games. For that I can only apologise & for punishment I will go and play Halo ODST Nnnnnooooooo !!!

21/12/2010

Hardware Update - Bye Bye PS3 & Wii


 
The Wii – A novelty console, I had it for 3 years & have never completed a game. The only games I ever played was Mario Party 8 or Wii Sports with the kids. Yes it has Mario, Zelda & Umm What Else? I just could not get the hang of motion gaming, it was not me I just wanted a controller & an analogue stick to move my character & buttons to perform actions.

The PS3 – GT5 oh! Where art thou GT5? I got bored of waiting & picked up Need for Speed Hot Pursuit on the 360 instead. It’s a great machine, shame about the controller but I never turned it on, any multi-format release I would always buy for the 360. There are games on the system I would love to play like Uncharted, God of War, Metal Gear Solid but will I ever get the time?

The games that time forgot list is calling me & I plan to start with the Mass Effect games.

I have over 500+ games on my iTunes account, admittedly the majority are probably crap but even if 10% of those are decent purchases that’s a fair few game to play on the iPod. Going back down to the one console will make it easier for deciding what to play & purchase.

With the snow settling in for the winter I plan to get down & cosy with my 360 & ipod touch.

06/12/2010

Fallout New Vegas - Completed

It's done, there is nothing else for me to do in the Mojave desert, no more quests or alternative endings. I completed the NCR & Caesar's Legion end game quests over the weekend. Total game time 140+ hours, a good healthy dose of enjoyable gaming. Yes there have been the bugs & console lock-ups along the way, none of which I have experienced in the last 50 odd hours of gameplay.

I hate the fast-travel system that does not really take you to the location you want to go. Example Caesar's Legion camp takes you to the front gate & you have to then walk all the way to his tent. Why is there no fast travel location for Lucky 38 but you have to go to freeside & then go through another 3 loading screens before you can get to your room. I hate the way companions will go charging off into the distance to attack the enemies whilst you are sitting back waiting to take a shot with your sniper rifle. You then need to go charging in after them so they don't end up dying (hardcore mode only). But equally I love the gameplay, the VATS, the levelling up perks (wish you could get them every level). I love the scary vaults & the way the game makes me jump when an unexpected enemy attacks.

I love the factions, choose your side, who do you want to go with? NCR, Yes Man, Mr House or Caesar's Legion? The sub-factions like Brotherhood, Boomers, Kings etc keep them happy or piss them off like I did the Powder Gangers.

But is is not just Fallout 3 DLC? Yes it looks the same and plays the same with slight changes but so is every sequel. The Assassins Creed games all play the same & it's the story that makes the difference. Fallout 3 story was a life experience, you are born, live childhood in the vault & then venture out. In New Vegas your a courier whose been shot & survive, what will you do?

If you have not played it yet I would say maybe wait until the bugs have been creased out, there are some issues with this game especially on the PS3 it seems (UGVM), even on the 360 I have had 3 or 4 game lock-ups & numerous graphic glitches but because I was enjoying the game I forgave these issues to continue playing.

On Fallout 3 I made the mistake of buying the DLC's straight away & by the last few I was sick of the game. So for New Vegas I will wait until the game of the year edition is released to play them or if they are reduced on a XBLA sale.


The game engine is old, used for Oblivion I think originally & then Fallout 3 onto New Vegas. Hopefully the new engine being worked for I assume the next Elder Scrolls game will be much improved & bug-free. I look forward to the next Fallout game which will hopefully include Vehicles, (surely everyone cannot walk everywhere?) & maybe even some element of co-op or on-line play. A cross between Borderlands & Fallout with some Rage thrown in would be great.

Now onto my list of unfinished games Halo Reach local co-op I think I'll start with you first.

03/12/2010

New Game - Game Dev Story

It’s not FREE (or 59p) it’s £2.39 which in terms of iOS games is the equivalent of buying a Limited Edition console game. It has the one ingredient that most games don’t it is ADDICTIVE !!

Manage your own game company. Hire your employees, train them to develop better skills in programming, writing, graphics or sound. Take out contract work to develop tools of complete jobs. When you are ready develop your own game, choose a machine, a genre & game type & away you go !!



‘gospvg’ was born, I hired a few employees, trained them and after a few contracts to get some cashflow decided to develop my first PC game a pirate adventure. You then have to wait for your staff to complete the process of developing the game, choosing the graphics artist & sound engineer. Iron out all the bugs. Then the dreaded reviews, have you just made a stinker or the start of a potential hit. 18/40 came the result, ok not bad time to release it the game. Then just sit back and wait for the first week sale figures. I sold 16,547 and came in 37th, a few weeks later and total sales figures came in at 58,212 a bit disappointing for a first game but I did make a slight profit.

It’s time for GameDex – the annual computer show. I decide to give it a miss I want to save my money. Back to contracts to get some quick money & time to buy a console licence to develop a game for a wider audience. It’s Pirates 2 the sequel to my mediocre selling adventure game. This time the reviews are slightly better 22/40 and first week sales figures are 41,621 with total sales coming in at 127,421. Now it’s the global game awards, my Pirates game wins nothing. When you train your staff you can unlock different genres & game types. After a few years of developing for various consoles with a few million selling games I finally unlock shooter & war.

It’s now time for a FPS game, WAR is born. I release it on the Playstation and it goes on to sell nearly 9 million copies. I have now become a sequel whorehouse alternating between MECH my robot adventure game & WAR my million selling FPS game. It did not take me long to turn into Activision : (

WAR 5 lands me the Best Game award & WAR X gives me my highest review score or 39/40
You have 20 years to manage your company at which point the game will tally up your total. You can continue further but this will not add to your final game score. I ended up making 68 games & selling 523 million games !! with MECH being my highest seller at 33 Million copies.


It is one of those games that once you pick it up & start playing you will find it very difficult to put down, after a while it does become a bit boring because once you are use to the cycle of developing & releasing a game it then becomes a bit of a chore but 20 years is just enough for this to end it on. I’m now on my 2nd play where I will be only releasing PC games and nothing else.

World of Keflings - Release Date

Yes World of Keflings gets a release date !!

Finally took them long enough !!

December 22nd 800 MS Points only on Xbox XBLA

Words with Friends - Beating the unbeatable

There are two players on words with friends that I have never beaten DBSnappa & Jochta. I came close to beating DBSnappa in the ugvm quarter-final game but lost out by a few points. Jochta I have never beaten until now :)


Words with Friends UGVM Tournament Final

The FINAL

Curiosity vs DBSnappa

Good luck !!

RESULT - DBSnappa won  509 to 310

Well done David you are the 1st UGVM Words with Friends champion. There will be another tournament in the new year possibly even a UGVM vs BETEO if we can get enough players.

Fallout New Vegas - Give me my 100g with SPEED !!

END GAME SPOILERS DO NOT READ

It’s been just over 2 weeks since my last FNV (Fallout New Vegas) post. It was time to decide who to go with so I went for Mr House which instantly upset the Legion. After finishing off a few loose ends in New Vegas which also made me hit the lvl30 limit it was time to go to Hoover Dam. An alert pops up warning you that there is no turning back from Hoover Dam. You are now on the end game path, after a few sequences it was the Legion vs NCR battle which I let them fight it out & took out the leftovers. The last fight sequence has you fighting one of the Legion’s general but my speech was at 100 so I just beat him on a speech challenge & game over. Watching the end sequence waiting for my 100g hardcore achievement to pop up. WHAT !! nothing, no 100g? Is it bugged? Annoyed I turn the 360 off in disgust and hit the Bethesda forums  and read ‘DO NOT LOOK AT GAME SETTINGS OR CHANGE LEVEL DIFFICULTY’ oh CRAP !! I remember showing my son how to turn Hardcore mode on/off. By looking at the setting and changing the values to show my son it turned off that achievement.

AArgh !!!

Yes Man Speed Run
I WANT my 100g so time for a speed run, The YES Man quest is the quickest path to take for a speedrun. I started with a female character & put all my special points on agility & luck, picked up a stealth boy from the school. Got the snowglobe from the graveyard and went North for New Vegas to get Benny. I used the stealth boy to get past the Deathclaw area, before I got to Vegas I levelled up & chose the Black Widow perk. Then to the Topps and a meeting with Benny, the Black Widow perk gives you a few more speech options which allowed me to kill Benny in his sleep. Along the way I had also picked up the snowglobes , sold them to the robot at Mr House & purchased Naughty Nightwear which gives you +1 luck. With this on I went gambling at the casino’s on Blackjack and won nearly every game. I ended up getting banned from all the casino’s which unlocks an achievement and walked away with approx. 80k in caps. Then I went and purchased the implants & back to Yes Man. To save time I ignored all the factions & told Yes Man that the President can die. Then over to a substation to install a mod & on to Hoover Dam. On any level up I had along the way I took my speech up to max & by now it was at 100. I got past the last guy on a 100 speech check and unlocked my 100g Hardcore achievement. Total time played approx. 9 hours.

I then reloaded my DECISION TIME save point and completed the quests around Jacobstown & Black Rock. I also picked up the last two followers to unlock another achievement. The last few days I have been completing the damage challenges & healing challenges to unlock those achievements. I’ve now got those bar the heal 10K with food. I now have the NCR or Legion quests to complete & the followers side quests. At level 20 I got the wasteland explorer perk which shows me all the locations so even if I 1000g the game OCD will kick in and I will need to visit all locations inc a couple of vaults.

‘Dead Money’ dlc is released on the 21st December for 800 MS Points it takes you to a place called Sierra Madre an extravagant resort which has the greatest casino in the world. You also encounter the ghost people who live around this casino. I’m not going to be buying any dlc for this game instead I will wait till the game of the year edition is released next year to play all the released dlc.

Until then back to the Mojave to help the NCR kick the legion’s arse !!

19/11/2010

Words with Friends - Analgias

Only a few days a go my latest highest scoring word 'Sculping' was played against HarpingOn. Now I give you 'Analgias' which if my limited medical knowledge is correct means a lack of pain. But I think Gary felt the pain when I played that word for 125 points.

15/11/2010

Fallout New Vegas - Time to decide


I’ve been wanting to write a lot about the Fallout New Vegas, initially I had ideas of a daily diary but I did not want to spoil the experience for anyone who reads my posts so cancelled that idea. In my post below I have given a brief summary of the first few hours of play, do not read if you have not played the game yet.

After nearly 95 hours of gameplay I think now is a good time to do a quick update. The game does not have the hand-holding fallout 3 introduction and chucks you straight into the story. You are a courier who has been shot, your delivery has been taken & you have been left for dead. Lucky for you a passing robot comes to your rescue & takes you to the town of Goodsprings. Here the doctor removes your bullet & you are given time to heal & recover. If you have played Fallout 3 the control method is exactly the same with a few minor adjustments.

Once you are on your feet, the doctor gives you a quick check & you get to choose your SPECIAL points & TAG Skills. You are also given an option to choose Hardcore Mode (This has you looking after a few more things like H20, Food & Sleep but the biggest change is that stimpacks now heal over time). Time to question the doctor about what, why & who shot you? Then came the looting, this is the man who has just saved my life & how do I repay him? By nicking everything in his house to sell back to him for caps. Looting, Prospecting, Scavenging or Stealing call it what you want it’s a big part of the game & you need to do it to get caps to buy better weapons or armour to use. After buying a few stimpacks from the good doctor & using his sink to drink some H20 I then popped out to see the town of Goodsprings. It looked like I had stepped into a western movie set, wooden shacks, tumbleweed rolling down the hill & Brahmin chewing grass. I then question the townsfolk to find out more information about my attack & hear about the problems they are having from a group called ‘Powder Gangers’.

After completing some simple basic quests including a nice training quests which shows you some of the new features of the game it was time to help the townsfolk get rid of the ‘Powder Gangers’. The town gathered together, armed & nervous ready for a showdown, the Powder Gangers came running into the town guns blazing. Bullets flying everywhere. Bang !! Bang ! a town settler has just died next to me. I grab my gun and lock on using ‘VATS’ to take down a Powder Ganger, now for the next guy my AP is out I can’t use VATS. Do I want to go charging into a group of 4 enemies with no AP? How will my health suffer? Will I die? I use a stimpack (which will now heal me over time) & go charging in, shooting freestyle (without vats) bang, bang!, bang !! & BANG !!! they are all dead & my health is ok. I survived. Up pops a confirmation box informing me that I am now vilified by the Powder Gangers. What? Factions, this game has factions you have to choose who you want to help. I had the option on this quest to side with the Powder Gangers instead of the townsfolk but I did not & by helping the townsfolk, the Powder Gangers hate me which means they will shoot me on sight. You can if you want reload your save file & try to go for a neutral option, in my case I didn’t & carried on.

I have been lucky in that I have not experienced any game breaking bug as reported by Gary on UGVM but I have had the game freeze on me twice whilst going through a door loading screen. I was very worried about buying this game because of the developer Obsidian & the stories of bugs. The game is obviously broken & bugged (just search on google or read UGVM for the many reports), it’s disappointing to see a game released in this condition & I’m surprised there has not been more of an uproar by the gaming media. But I am glad I purchased the game on release I am throughly enjoying it so far.

Goodsprings was now safe & it was time for me to move on. My work here was done. The next 90+ hours had me helping out other towns with their problems, making difficult choice’s on how to treat a particular faction & selling anything I came across to amass my caps. The main storyline has you deciding on if you want to go with the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, Mr House or Yes Man (go it alone basically). I am now at that point where my character is now on level 30, gun & energy weapons are 90+ on skill & lockpick & speech on 100. I have 2 companions with me to back me up in a gunfight, in truth one of them probably gets the shot before me. I have a few small side-quests to complete & I need to go shopping for some SPECIAL implants.

Then I plan on creating one save file (multiple copies) on which I can choose one faction to complete the game & then reload to choose one of the others. The time has nearly come for me to decide. Will I go it alone? Align myself with Caesar’s Legion, help Mr House or let the NCR control the Mojave?

13/11/2010

Words with Friends - Sculping

My previous highest scoring word was Futz for 111 points. Initially I was trying to play for a TW word and then saw the two DW's. So 'Sculping' for 115 points. Earlier in the game I played another 7 letter word 'Wordages'. Hoping that I can now play one of the TW's to win the game.

12/11/2010

Carcassonne - Arpad Elo

Arpad Elo - a Hungarian-born American physics professor who created the 'ELO' rating system to show the 'relative skill level' of a player. The screen to the left does not show my highest ELO, I managed to get to 1540 & then came "THE FALL". It's inevitable that in this game of luck you will lose some games, unfortunately being so far ahead in the leaderboard with a high ELO means when you lose it's going to hurt.



First against Jochta, losing by only 2 points but a drop of 32 points on my ELO. Ok I still have 1508, that's not too bad.






Worse was to come in the next game by losing to my son (the torment of "Yes", "Get-In", "Dad, you are crap. You came last"). Another drop of 32 points, leaves me now with 1476.

I then lost a further 2 games to to end on 1412.

By this time my arch-nemesis the evil Dr Lufferov had taken the lead.

The losing streak had to end at some point & a couple of wins against Dr Dolittle & LPFigwort has seen my ELO rise to 1425. But James has also been winning games and has extended his lead to 1471.

I now need to try and catch him up but the danger that is faced by both of us is that if we lose a game, it will be a 32 point drop on our ELO but if we win against anyone lower on the leaderboard we will only gain a few points. I'm hoping he cannot catch up to my high ELO of 1540.It's only a number but Arpad Elo knows that I had to win quite a few games to get to that number.

Some links on Arpad Elo
Rating System - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system
Arpad Elo - The Man himself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpad_Elo

08/11/2010

What no logo?

In a previous post I said "Only games that I will buy on release qualify to be a logo"
Today I have just bought Call of Duty Black Ops & Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, but both of these games have not graced with a website logo. I had no intention of buying either game but COD:BO for £24.99 is too good an offer to miss & I will enjoy the online multiplayer action when I get round to playing it. For AC:Brotherhood Abbas is running through Fallout New Vegas and with his birthday coming soon, he asked & I said ok why not. So to amend my statement "Only games that I am eagerly anticipating the release, will qualify for a logo" So World of Keflings, when are you getting released?

But for the moment I am still wondering the Mojave desert completing side-quests & discovering new locations. Because the main storyline branches I want to get to a point in the game where I can create a save file & keep to brach out one way & then reload to go the other way. This will save me having to start the game again and play another 50+ hours to try the other branch.

30/10/2010

Fallout New Vegas - Saved by a girl


The red shield is very important when attacking enemies, if it comes up it means the weapon you are using is too weak. So you either need to change to a stronger weapon or change your bullets to armour piercing. Whilst looking for a location near the Mojave outpost I came across some small radscorpions, easy I thought I crouched down & took them out with my 9mm Pistol with scope. I carried on up the hill to be confronted by a GIANT radscorpion. I then tried taking him out with my Cowboy Repeater (my most powerful weapon) but no, Red Shield came up again. I then had two choices, to lay down and let him eat me for breakfast or RUN !!!

I went for the run option so weapon holstered (it makes you run faster) I made a run for the Mojave outpost, I could hear it snapping at my heels, turning around to have a quick peek & AARGH !! it jumped at me with its claws. Abbas who was watching all this unfold jumped out of his seat. I let out a scream, turned around and ran. Seeing the NCR Trooper at the outpost, I ran to him. He got out his pistol and started shooting at the GIANT radscorpion, I turned around to have a look and the radscorpion was still coming for me. Aargh !! I’m sorry I shot the small radscorpions, please let me go !! I beg but still he shows no remorse. I run towards the barracks by now the NCR Trooper, Travelling Merchant & Mercenary are all trying to kill him for me. I run to Ghost (female sniper) because she is on top of the barracks & surely the GIANT radscorpion can’t come up the ramp? Ghost flashes past me, grabs her gun & BANG !! BANG !! 2 shots & I turn around to find the GIANT radscorpion lying motionless at the bottom of the ramp.

Breathe !! .....

Woah !! that was intense, Abbas & I turn to each other & start laughing !!

Abbas says “Dad you wimp, you were saved by a girl”

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - Semi Finals

After a tough fought 2nd round we have our 4 semi-finalists. The draw for the semi-final ...

Curiosity vs themalsatsuma
jochta vs DBSnappa

29/10/2010

Owen Allaway (13th July 1973 - 13th October 2010)

It was a difficult decision, do I want to attend a service that I feel I may be intruding on? Having not met Owen in person should I really attend? How would I feel going to an English funeral? All of these questions were answered by another more defining question. Do I miss Owen? Yes, everyday,  I miss his knowledge, humour, kindness & above all his friendship.

It was a nice service & I sat or stood listening to the memories/hymns thinking of Owen.

He studied at Oxford !! What?? Oh man !! I did not know that :(

His love for Star Wars & Doctor Who were mentioned, John Dow's blog post LINK was mentioned and had me choked up

His childhood memories from clutching a dalek toy as a page boy to playing Sorcerer's Cave


But above all he was a loving son, big brother, husband & friend to many.

Going out from the church hall you are given the chance to say your condolences to his family. Thom calling me by my name made me relieved that I was not intruding (thanks) & a big hug for Patience lifted the sadness for a brief moment.

Next to the church hall, refreshments were laid on but more importantly you got a chance to see photos of Owen growing up. A page boy clutching a dalek toy to his ZX-81 birthday cake. His time at Corpus Christi in Oxford to wedding photo's

This was the first time I had met some of the UGVM group members & the fact Owen had studied in Oxford made me sad that we did not get together before.


We then went to the local pub to have some drinks in his honour.. to Owen !!

23/10/2010

Logo Change - World of Keflings

Well Fallout New Vegas is now out so it's time to change the logo. Only games that I will buy on release qualify to be a logo. Previously that was Halo Reach & then Fallout New Vegas. Looking at the games that are going to be released for the rest of the year there is nothing that I will be buying on release. I will wait for games like Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Need for Speed & Gran Turismo 5 (Delayed again !!) to drop in price before buying. Looking at the release schedule for retail releases for next year there are a few games that interest me like Brink & Bulletstorm but I don't know enough about them to even think about purchasing. There is however one game I will be buying on release for XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) and that is World of Keflings. A sequel to the excellent Kingdom of Keflings by Ninjabee which is currently still on schedule to be released this year, just don't know when?

New Game - Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas, lots of reports of bugs on this game but luckily a day one patch was issued that seems to have fixed these issues. After my first day of play, 6 hours game play & no bugs or crashes experienced. The game itself plays very much like Fallout 3, think of this like an extended add-on pack. So far I have only experienced few things different from the wasteland, some different enemies & weapons. Hardcore mode brings an extra challenge to the game in that you have to monitor you sleep, food & H20 levels. In truth though these don't provide that much if a "Hardcore" challenge, the biggest challenge is the change to the use of stimpacks. These now will heal you over time instead of instant healing, because of this one fact you can't go in all guns blazing & just spam heal with your stimpacks but instead you need to play more carefully & plan your attacks. You will find yourself taking cover & luring the enemies in to you so you can take them out with your shotgun by a bullet to the head. For completing the game in Hardcore you are rewarded with 100g achievement so it is worth playing with it on. A few other changes include the facility now for you make your ammo using materials & weapon repair is now done building weapon repair kits or merging two of the same weapons like before but you can no longer repair at the shop (well I have not found a place yet). If summary then if you have played Fallout 3, this game is more of the same. Time for me now to get back to the desert, I've got some quests to complete ...

20/10/2010

Carcassonne - Van Morrison - Back on the top

It's taken me nearly a month (LINK) to get back to the top of the Carcassonne leaderboard & my arch nemesis James is dropping like Autumn leaves :)

Time to play Van Morrison - Back on the Top

Currently I have 15 games on the go !!
Off to play my turns now

Shining Force

Shining Force is easily one of my favourite RPG's. It's a turn based RPG originally released on the Sega Megadrive. I remember paying £59.99 for it's sequel that was nearly a month's wages for a Saturday worker. Sega have used the Megadrive back catalogue very lazily in my opinion by just coping and pasting the games to release on any gaming system they can find, instead of updating the release's.

Back to Shining Force on the Ipod Touch, the controls work fine apart from occasionally obscuring your movement. The continue function seemed broken on my 2nd gen but with the 4th gen & multi-tasking it works perfectly. So if you are using a non multi-tasking machine make sure you use the in game save option.


For those of you that have not played this gem on many of the re-releases then you have the usual rpg story in that you the hero must save the world from total destruction (Yawn!). You can then control a team of up to 12 characters to battle the evil forces in a turn based style. The characters vary from your usual Warrior class to healers, magic types & even a werewolf?? Yep and some more strange creatures that join you along the way. Some are hidden & are difficult to find so I would say find a guide to help you get the characters. They can basically only perform a few function like Attack, Magic, Use an Item or Defend. You then get experience points from these actions & eventually level up to increase your stats. It's simple but then again this is a 17 year old RPG & back in 1993 JAP RPG's needed to be simple to appeal to western audiences apparently?

You can visit towns & shops to upgrade weapons/armour. Talk to various residents & a few treasure chests to open. When fighting you have the option to warp your team back to the nearest town if you are getting beat or you just what to grind the maps to get stronger. Normal usual 90's RPG but easily one of the best turn based RPG's I have played.

I just wished Sega would put in a bit of effort on re-released games, spruce up the graphics, throw in a few more characters. Anyhow looking forward to Shining Force 2 next please Sega.

Whilst I am also on my wish list can you not use the Shining name is crap adventure rpg's. Yes I'm looking at you Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force Neo & all you other lame action rpg attempts. Stick to the tried and much liked formula of turn based. Also a re-release of Shining Force 3 (All 3 Parts) on XBLA/PSN or Disc based would be nice please.

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - Round 2

In memory of Owen the tournament will continue to the 2nd round, knockout stages 1 match to advance into the Semi Finals.

gospvg, HaggisHunter, jochta, themalsatsuma, DBSnappa, Beckysprites, HarpingOn & Curiosity

The 2nd round matches are
Curiosity vs HaggisHunter - Curiosity WON
HarpingOn vs jochta - jochta WON
Becksprites vs themalsatsuma - themalsatsuma WON
gospvg vs DBSnappa (Bugger !!) - DBSnappa WON


When starting the matches please make sure you say in the chat window that this is a tournament game.
Good Luck all & post the results in the comments section

16/10/2010

Time to Reflect

It's been a sad week with the passing of Owen, a week to sit back and reflect on who I am & what I should be?

It is a time to remember the passing of a friend & how much I value my online friends. It seemed only fitting that I should play Mirrors Edge on iOS a game Owen enjoyed.

The UGVM Words with Friends tournament I feel should still be played in his memory, it is what he would have wanted I feel. But I will respect the opinions of the fellow players if they feel we should end the tournament.

Playing video games just seems so pointless to the loss of Owen but by playing the games he enjoyed it reminds me of him. In this way I will remember him.

Now to go and read his blog for his views on Sonic 4

15/10/2010

Owen Allaway 100 Best Games

Owen's blog page http://inverty.com/

This is a copy & paste of his 100 Best Games
Every year on the 13th October I want you to pick one game from the list below & play it in his honour

Owen Allaway RIP

100 Best Games

The DEFINITIVE, ONLY, OFFICIAL list of ALL the ONE HUNDRED greatest games of ALL TIME except the ones I HAVEN’T PLAYED and the ones that I’VE FORGOTTEN.
As set in stone as the TEN COMMANDMENTS, but BETTER, because this is ONE HUNDRED, this DEFINITIVE, COMPLETE list will never, ever be changed. EXCEPT when NEW GAMES come out and I REMEMBER OLD ONES I FORGOT.
Advance Wars
Angry Birds
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Assassin’s Creed 2
Bangai-O Spirits
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bioshock
Burnout 2
Carcassonne
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Civilization IV: Beyond The Sword
Civilization Revolution
Crackdown
Crazy Taxi
Deathchase
Demon’s Souls
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou
Doom
Doom 2
Doom 3
Dragon Quest VIII
Dwarf Fortress
EDF 2017
Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Football Manager Handheld 2010
FUEL
Gals Fighters
Giga Wing
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
Goldeneye 007
Green Beret
GTA Chinatown Wars
GTA IV
GTA San Andreas
Gran Turismo
Guitar Hero 2
Gunbird 2
Halo
Halo 3
Hills and Rivers Remain
Hitman: Blood Money
ICO
Jeanne D’Arc
Jet Set Willy
Katamari Damacy
Killzone 2
Left 4 Dead
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Little Big Planet
Lode Runner
Minecraft
Mr Do
Mr Driller: Drill Spirits
Mushihimesama
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer
Noby Noby Boy
Ouendan
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
Pac-Man CE
Peggle
Picross DS
Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Sapphire
Portal
Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?
Rallisport Challenge 2
Red Dead Redemption
Resident Evil 4
Rez
Ridge Racer 2
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Saints Row 2
Sega Rally
Shenmue
SimCity 2
Slitherlink
SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash
Sonic The Hedgehog
Space Rangers 2
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Street Fighter IV
Suikoden 2
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario World
Super Monkey Ball
Syndicate
The Club
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
Total Annihilation
Turbo Esprit
Valkyria Chronicles
Words With Friends
World of Warcraft
ZAngbandTK

Goodbye to a friend

My writing skills & grammar are not as good as the other blogs you may read but this is my attempt of saying goodbye to a friend.

I have know Owen Allaway (thatrevchap) for the best part of 10 years now, posting via usenet to uk.games.video groups & lately via twitter his passion for gaming, his kindness to others & his love for the Hat. It was because of Owen that I got an iOS device, his knowledge I valued and trusted on what game to download. It was because of the iOS device that I got to experience playing with Owen on Carcassonne & Words with Friends. He loved a good challenge & I remember the fun banter when playing.

His last tweet read "Oh fucking hell. Just needed two minutes to get my breath back after walking up the fucking stairs. This is really bloody annoying" and then a day later he was gone. Owen Allaway's time on this earth had come to an end.

Only a day earlier I was joking with him "@thatrevchap I blame you !! Reading your tweets has made I'll I'm sneezing and sniffing now :( "

On the morning of the 13th I sent this before going to work "@thatrevchap I'm better this morning I was asleep by 9 all dosed up, feel better now. Get well soon" .. later that day he had a heart attack and passed away :(


I do have a regret of not meeting him in person & only meeting/chatting & playing with him virtually but I am proud to say Owen I am glad I have known you & you have left a lasting impression on me.

I have copied and pasted his 100 Best Games from his blog, so pick one you have not played & give it a go for Owen. Then do the same every year on the 13th October in his honour....

Miss you big guy

12/10/2010

Words with Friends - gospvg vs beckysprites - Phew that was close :)

Phew that was a close game, Becky played very good with a early lead due to some long 6 or 7 letter words, I managed to come back by piggybacking off these words to place tiles on TL's or TW to maximise points. I now lead 2 - 1

10/10/2010

Words with Friends - gospvg vs beckysprites - round 2 FIGHT !!

Becky fights back to even the score 1-1, some well placed S tiles to get double words helped her pull away and keep the lead.

09/10/2010

Words with Friends - New High Score

I've finally got my target of a +500 score vs Simon. I can't really remember any big scoring words except Maltier & Telex. But I now have a new high score of 510 :)

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - League 4

League 4

HaggisHunter (1 point)
gospvg (2 points)
Turbohat


Setup your matches & post the results in the comments below
Good Luck

Results
gospvg (418) vs Turbohat (258) - gosvpg win
Turbohat (202) vs HaggisHunter (436) - HaggisHunter win
gospvg (397) vs HaggisHunter (330) - gospvg win

gospvg & HaggisHunter through to the next round

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - League 3

League 3

SimonFin
HarpingOn (2 Points)
Curiosity (1 Point)


Setup your matches & post the results in the comments below
Good Luck

Results
Curiosity 335 - 383 HarpingOn (HarpingOn wins)
SimonFin 306 - 372 HarpingOn (HarpingOn wins)
Curiosity 368 - 238 SimonFin (Curiosity win)

HarpingOn & Curiosity through to the next round

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - League 2

League 2

DBSnappa (2 Points)
Beckysprites
ThatRevChap (1 Point)


Setup your matches & post the results in the comments below
Good Luck

Results
ThatRevChap vs Becksprites - ThatRevChap Wins
ThatRevChap (364) vs DBSnappa (421)- DBSnappa Wins
Beckysprites (271) vs DBSnappa (510)- DBSnappa Wins

Becky will take the place of Owen, RIP Owen :(

DBSnappa & Beckysprites through to the next round.

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - League 1

League 1

Jochta (2 Point)
thermalsatsuma (1 Point)
ChrisFlynnUK


Setup your matches & post the results in the comments below
Good Luck

Results
thermalsatsuma (368) vs Jochta (376) - Jochta Win
Jochta (454) vs ChrisFlynnUK (302) - Jochta Win
themalsatsuma (327) vs ChrisFlynnUK (293) - themalsatsuma Win

Jochta & themalsatsuma through to the next round

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament - Round 1

Round 1

With 12 players we will have 4 leagues of 3 players each so you will play 2 matches each & the top 2 will go through. You get 1 point for a win & in the event of a tie on points the player with the highest scoring points win will go through to the next round. You will only play 1 game vs the other player, I don't really think it matters who goes first. Thus in total you will only play 2 games.

I will post a separate blog post for each league & after your match is completed can you post in the comments section. The result in the format Player1 386 vs Player 2 322, thanks & good luck all !!

Update - Can you announce to the other player when you start a tournament game so they know.

08/10/2010

Words with Friends - gospvg vs beckysprites

I won 369 to 271 with my best played word being Cahoots.
1-0 then to me, next game your turn to go first Becky.

07/10/2010

Words with Friends UGVM Tournament

It's time for a Words with Friends UGVM Tournament, a straight forward knockout compeition leading to the ultimate winner.

I will also be gifting an iOS app to the eventual winner


Signed up then for the competition are
gospvg
jochta
HarpingOn
ThatRevChap
Beckysprites
HaggisHunter
thermalsatsuma
SimonFin
ChrisFlynnUK
DBSnappa
Turbohat
Curiosity

Apologies also to Coope sorry you just missed the cut :(

Carcassonne - It is all about luck

I recently lost a very close game to Owen (LINK) so I challenged him to a rematch. Bright and early on a dreary Thursday morning tiles were being place left, right and centre with blistering speed. Owen was building up his cloister army again, whilst I was carefully positing my tiles to take advantage of my two early placed farmers. Then Owen decided he wanted to invade the land with his farmers, he got the tiles needed to also join his two farmers. I however had meeples in hand to place another farmer on the land, I just need the connecting corner road tile to control the land. With only 6 tiles left to go, I got the tile I needed and a cry of No !!!! came from Owen, he realised he had now lost the land but worse was still to come, I was eyeing up his big city & taking a chance that I could get the connecting piece for my last tile I placed a meeple next to his city & to deal the final blow I got the tile needed to connect to his city to share the points. "That was painful" came the response from Owen and the scores totalled up in my favour. It's all about luck I got the two tiles I needed to take the land & invade into Owen's city. I'm now off to buy a Euromillions ticket for this Friday, you never know?