The A to Z of games never played only made it to the letter O. When it gets to the letter X, XCom will be on the list. I have never played any of the original games although I did own Enemy Unknown & Terror from the Deep on the Playstation I just never got the time to play them.
So after playing the demo this was an instant purchase which Abbas took to straight away and started playing a few days ago. Watching him play for a few hours I ignored that Uncharted 2 had not been touched for a few months & I started Halo 4 & Renegade Ops recently, I know I should go and finish these games first but the lure of a turn based strategy game forced me to starting XCom.
When you start the game you can choose your difficulty & I would recommend to disable the tutorial (You can play the tutorial if you wish but then I would suggest you start a new game after completing it, because you are then in control of what you want to do with your soldiers, money & base).
Choosing your base location is your first decision & I opted for USA (50% reduction in cost/maintenance). Africa is the other good option for a early money boost. Then into your first fight you go, only advice I can give is take it slow, use overwatch & save often.
After playing for a few hours I have quite a few high level soldiers & my base is growing slowly. I have not played a turn based strategy game on a console since Civilization Revolution (if you can call that TBS). My next target is to excavate the base so I can build my thermo power generator & research some better armour.
30/12/2012
29/12/2012
Fifa 13 - Liverpool
After spending 120K purchasing Sterling my Liverpool squad is complete.
I have now hit a wall in that I have no other player I want to purchase in ultimate team, so the game is stuck in limbo.
Hoping the game updates after the January transfer window which will give me the incentive to start playing again & hopefully purchase some new players.
I have now hit a wall in that I have no other player I want to purchase in ultimate team, so the game is stuck in limbo.
Hoping the game updates after the January transfer window which will give me the incentive to start playing again & hopefully purchase some new players.
28/12/2012
Halo 4 - Hello Master Chief
I know after completing AC3 I said I would return to Uncharted 2 but the lure of Halo 4 was too great & I have started playing the main campaign on local co-op with Abbas.
The story so far starts with Cortana losing her mind & the Chief is adamant he wants to save her. The game feels like a Halo game & it's good to finally play with the Master Chief again after ODST & Reach.
The Covenant are obviously back but there is also a new foe in the Promethean. These enemies are more challenging and brings a nice fresh challenge to the Halo universe.
Without spoiling anymore of the storyline infinity awaits !!
The story so far starts with Cortana losing her mind & the Chief is adamant he wants to save her. The game feels like a Halo game & it's good to finally play with the Master Chief again after ODST & Reach.
The Covenant are obviously back but there is also a new foe in the Promethean. These enemies are more challenging and brings a nice fresh challenge to the Halo universe.
Without spoiling anymore of the storyline infinity awaits !!
Angry Birds Winter Wonderham
Christmas for me is obviously not a day to celebrate yet more a time for me to catch up on some gaming time.
I do play along with the advent calender tradition in the form of Angry Birds seasons.
Alas the regular challengers of Tim & Jochta did not complete his year but I did have some competition from my youngest son.
All the levels three starred & 1-24 is a pain in the xmas tree !!
I tried to play Angry Birds Star Wars but it just feels all the same so I will leave Angry Birds alone until next xmas.
I do play along with the advent calender tradition in the form of Angry Birds seasons.
Alas the regular challengers of Tim & Jochta did not complete his year but I did have some competition from my youngest son.
All the levels three starred & 1-24 is a pain in the xmas tree !!
I tried to play Angry Birds Star Wars but it just feels all the same so I will leave Angry Birds alone until next xmas.
New Logo - Mech Addiction
Old Logo - Not enough borders |
It was difficult to decide what to have for a new logo, time for a change instead of games I am playing or recently completed I decided to go instead for a mech from the Front Mission series of games I have played over the years.
New Logo - Mech Addiction |
Tiny Tower - Kaboom !! Again !!
Enough !!
KABOOM !!
http://towers.nimblebit.com/1009414887
UGVM Tower is no more, time to move on from this endless grind.
KABOOM !!
http://towers.nimblebit.com/1009414887
UGVM Tower is no more, time to move on from this endless grind.
27/12/2012
Middle Manager of Justice - Completed
I am a real sucker for these grinding type of games like Tiny Tower. Middle Manager of Justice is more of the same. Recruit some heroes, train them up & go beat up villains & save civilians.
It was enjoyable for the few days over the xmas period & is very quick & easy to complete.
Next? Shoot me if you see me playing another grinding game.
25/12/2012
Assassin's Creed 3 - Completed
Anyone who has played the last few games of the series will tell you they miss Ezio. Having played three games with Ezio you became comfortable with the character, so it was a brave move by Ubisoft to end the Ezio storyline & start again with Conner.
Playing Conner you relive the sequences of the American revolution whilst continuing the fight against the Templars & try to protect your home village. The previous games have mainly been set in one large city but in AC3 you are given the cities of New York & Boston. The vast Frontier land & Homestead give you the wilderness to explore.
The sequences flow the storyline along whilst allowing you the option to pause for any of the many side quests from homestead, liberation to various challenges.Completing the main campaign Connor has his revenge & Desmond make his choice to save the world.
It is not the reinvention on the series but does offer some glimpse of freshness & I am curious to see what direction Ubisoft takes with the games.I never did complete the first game but I have thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy of Ezio games & Assassin Creed 3 whilst not quite matching the standard set by those three is still an enjoyable experience & a game worth playing.
Playing Conner you relive the sequences of the American revolution whilst continuing the fight against the Templars & try to protect your home village. The previous games have mainly been set in one large city but in AC3 you are given the cities of New York & Boston. The vast Frontier land & Homestead give you the wilderness to explore.
The sequences flow the storyline along whilst allowing you the option to pause for any of the many side quests from homestead, liberation to various challenges.Completing the main campaign Connor has his revenge & Desmond make his choice to save the world.
It is not the reinvention on the series but does offer some glimpse of freshness & I am curious to see what direction Ubisoft takes with the games.I never did complete the first game but I have thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy of Ezio games & Assassin Creed 3 whilst not quite matching the standard set by those three is still an enjoyable experience & a game worth playing.
24/12/2012
Splurge - 2012
I am posting this dangerously a few days early but I don't envisage buying any more games except maybe if Xcom is on sale below £15 anywhere not that I have stuck to that price target. Looking over they ear my impulse purchase price seems to be once a game goes below £20.
Overall total coming in just under 1K at £982.03. The Xbox 360 being the most popular console with £647.99 & the DS the least with only £6.
Just under 1K is not bad for a years expenditure but next year will be different especially if we see new console releases by Microsoft & Sony.
26/12 - Update
Now Purchased XCom & I forgot to add Assassins Creed 3 to the list. Total now stands at £1,036.51
28/12 - Update
Another update !! I tried an hour of Episode 1 of Walking Dead, it's good so I needed to buy more Xbox points to purchase all the episodes.
Total now at £1053.50
Overall total coming in just under 1K at £982.03. The Xbox 360 being the most popular console with £647.99 & the DS the least with only £6.
Just under 1K is not bad for a years expenditure but next year will be different especially if we see new console releases by Microsoft & Sony.
26/12 - Update
Now Purchased XCom & I forgot to add Assassins Creed 3 to the list. Total now stands at £1,036.51
28/12 - Update
Another update !! I tried an hour of Episode 1 of Walking Dead, it's good so I needed to buy more Xbox points to purchase all the episodes.
Total now at £1053.50
17/12/2012
I'm here Huckleberry
Time? maybe partly. Apathy? yes a little. Chore? quite possibly.
For whatever reason I've not been posting much on his blog for the last few months.
I'm still playing Assassins Creed 3, finishing a sequence & then completing the various side quests from The Hunting Society to the Homestead missions. Abbas has complained much about this game & is overall disappointed. I think the main issue is after three games with Ezio he misses the character.
I however am enjoying the game very much & like how they have not forced any of the side missions on you, the climbing of trees can be a bit hit & miss & the generation of money is a slower process.
Apart from AC3, I have Borderlands 2 overkill with four games on the go, two UGVM pmgs (usually Monday/Thursday), local co-op with my daughter & a single player campaign I have not touched for weeks.
Fifa 13 I have hit the inevitable decline partly due to the fact I now have a full Liverpool squad including Gerard, Suarez & Sterling. I have not played a match in a few weeks but I am keeping an eye on my trade pile via the web or iphone app.
Everything else on the consoles is in limbo.
iOS gaming is mostly still multi-player in Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Lost Cities, Disc Drivin & Words. Single player is taken up by the Angry Birds advent calender in Seasons & current favourite Middle Manager of Justice.
Expect a few more posts on some of the above games over the next few days whilst I try to rekindle my love for this blog I also need to update the splurge since August.
For whatever reason I've not been posting much on his blog for the last few months.
I'm still playing Assassins Creed 3, finishing a sequence & then completing the various side quests from The Hunting Society to the Homestead missions. Abbas has complained much about this game & is overall disappointed. I think the main issue is after three games with Ezio he misses the character.
I however am enjoying the game very much & like how they have not forced any of the side missions on you, the climbing of trees can be a bit hit & miss & the generation of money is a slower process.
Apart from AC3, I have Borderlands 2 overkill with four games on the go, two UGVM pmgs (usually Monday/Thursday), local co-op with my daughter & a single player campaign I have not touched for weeks.
Fifa 13 I have hit the inevitable decline partly due to the fact I now have a full Liverpool squad including Gerard, Suarez & Sterling. I have not played a match in a few weeks but I am keeping an eye on my trade pile via the web or iphone app.
Everything else on the consoles is in limbo.
iOS gaming is mostly still multi-player in Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Lost Cities, Disc Drivin & Words. Single player is taken up by the Angry Birds advent calender in Seasons & current favourite Middle Manager of Justice.
Expect a few more posts on some of the above games over the next few days whilst I try to rekindle my love for this blog I also need to update the splurge since August.
09/11/2012
New Game - Assassins Creed 3
The problem with this time of year is that far too many games get released that I want to play.
Borderlands 2, Fifa13, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Halo 4 & of course Assassins Creed 3.
There are of course many other games released (Dishonoured & X-Com are on my radar) but my approach of buying a game to play now & not later will make me wait for those (Yes, I know Guild Wars 2).
Not to forget the games in limbo, hello Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas DLC & Uncharted 2.
Anyway back to my current dilemma, after a couple of weeks of Borderlands 2 overload this game has now fallen into the regular Monday PMG thus I am playing the story with the Claptrap Boys.
FIFA 13 after a few weeks of ultimate team will now fall into the regular quick fix gaming slot.
Conveniently this leaves a slot open for another game, yes like the three I have in limbo. So step forward Assassins Creed 3 & the playground of colonial America awaits.
The culmination of Desmond's story & the impending destruction of the world is more than enough to enjoy but with AC3 we also get the chance to play with a new character in Connor.
I have only played the first few hours of the game which has you controlling Haytham Kenway (Connor's father).
A British assassin who arrives in America with a key to what? A temple? Lair? Chest? I don't know yet but so far I am enjoying the story telling & gameplay.
With the 21st December approaching fast I don't think I'll be playing anything else much.
Note - with the possible exception of Halo 4 Spartan Ops.
Borderlands 2, Fifa13, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Halo 4 & of course Assassins Creed 3.
There are of course many other games released (Dishonoured & X-Com are on my radar) but my approach of buying a game to play now & not later will make me wait for those (Yes, I know Guild Wars 2).
Not to forget the games in limbo, hello Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas DLC & Uncharted 2.
Anyway back to my current dilemma, after a couple of weeks of Borderlands 2 overload this game has now fallen into the regular Monday PMG thus I am playing the story with the Claptrap Boys.
FIFA 13 after a few weeks of ultimate team will now fall into the regular quick fix gaming slot.
Conveniently this leaves a slot open for another game, yes like the three I have in limbo. So step forward Assassins Creed 3 & the playground of colonial America awaits.
The culmination of Desmond's story & the impending destruction of the world is more than enough to enjoy but with AC3 we also get the chance to play with a new character in Connor.
I have only played the first few hours of the game which has you controlling Haytham Kenway (Connor's father).
A British assassin who arrives in America with a key to what? A temple? Lair? Chest? I don't know yet but so far I am enjoying the story telling & gameplay.
With the 21st December approaching fast I don't think I'll be playing anything else much.
Note - with the possible exception of Halo 4 Spartan Ops.
05/11/2012
Fifa 13 - Gerrard
Ultimate Team is no different to any other time sink game. The lure of buying & selling players, playing matches & winning trophies. All in the pursuit of having enough coins to purchase Steven Gerrard of course !!
Taking the words from my kids mouth "You are stingy!!"
That is true when I got to 20k, I could have spent the money on improving my silver team or laying the foundations for the gold team but no I continued to play matches & dabble in the players market for bargains to buy.
Those bargains I would then sell at a higher price to increase my wealth. 30k came around very quickly & then 40k. I could easily have purchase a 442 Gerrard & still have 20k left in change.
After many more frustrating screams from the boys I decided to at least look. Playing a 442 system I wanted a CM Gerrard which was difficult with the majority CAM listed. The two 442 CMs that were listed, the asking price of 26K & 28K was too much for me to splash out.
Having played nearly 90 matches & only EA knows how many cards I have sold on the trade pile to accumulate my cash. I don't want to spend it on one player with 70+ pace.
I was happy to buy Beckham, Allen, Borini, Carroll etc for my gold squad because they only cost me around 500 coins each but 25K+ !! for one player?!
The other option was to purchase a cheap CAM & then buy a player change card CAM > CM but these were costing around 3K if you could find them !!
One of my big annoyances with ultimate team is the search engine when looking for managers, formations cards or player cards you can't drill down the search to a specific type which results in either spending a lot of time searching for an auction or going silly money on a buy it now. Usually after a few minutes of searching I would give up.
Anyhow gripe over back to Gerrard a cheap CAM was out of the question thanks to the over inflated prices for player change cards.
I had purchased some 442 formation cards a few days earlier approx 1K each although I did get one for a bargain 200 coins.
I amended the search and found a 14K 541 CM Gerrard on a buy it now.
BUY !! Shouted the boys so I obliged.
To cut a long story short (yes I know this post is long enough already)
I changed the formation to 442, applied gold contracts upto 98, played a couple of matches with Gerrard in my silver squad.
Then the del boy trotter came out in me & I listed him for 30K (he has not yet sold)
Taking the words from my kids mouth "You are stingy!!"
That is true when I got to 20k, I could have spent the money on improving my silver team or laying the foundations for the gold team but no I continued to play matches & dabble in the players market for bargains to buy.
Those bargains I would then sell at a higher price to increase my wealth. 30k came around very quickly & then 40k. I could easily have purchase a 442 Gerrard & still have 20k left in change.
After many more frustrating screams from the boys I decided to at least look. Playing a 442 system I wanted a CM Gerrard which was difficult with the majority CAM listed. The two 442 CMs that were listed, the asking price of 26K & 28K was too much for me to splash out.
Having played nearly 90 matches & only EA knows how many cards I have sold on the trade pile to accumulate my cash. I don't want to spend it on one player with 70+ pace.
I was happy to buy Beckham, Allen, Borini, Carroll etc for my gold squad because they only cost me around 500 coins each but 25K+ !! for one player?!
The other option was to purchase a cheap CAM & then buy a player change card CAM > CM but these were costing around 3K if you could find them !!
One of my big annoyances with ultimate team is the search engine when looking for managers, formations cards or player cards you can't drill down the search to a specific type which results in either spending a lot of time searching for an auction or going silly money on a buy it now. Usually after a few minutes of searching I would give up.
Anyhow gripe over back to Gerrard a cheap CAM was out of the question thanks to the over inflated prices for player change cards.
I had purchased some 442 formation cards a few days earlier approx 1K each although I did get one for a bargain 200 coins.
I amended the search and found a 14K 541 CM Gerrard on a buy it now.
BUY !! Shouted the boys so I obliged.
To cut a long story short (yes I know this post is long enough already)
I changed the formation to 442, applied gold contracts upto 98, played a couple of matches with Gerrard in my silver squad.
Then the del boy trotter came out in me & I listed him for 30K (he has not yet sold)
21/10/2012
New Game - Fifa 13
The last few weeks apart from the odd session on Borderlands 2 most of my time has been spent playing Fifa 13 & in particular the Ultimate Team mode.
For those that do not know Ultimate Team is management mode in which you buy & sell players to build your squad & compete in various tournaments & seasons.
By winning in matches & selling players you get coins which you can use to purchase players, contracts & other items.
It is very addictive gameplay which is why Borderlands 2, Uncharted 2 & Skyrim have taken a back seat.
I have played 50 matches with 49 wins & one defeat. My bronze squad is now complete with all 70+ pace players & even quite a few 80+ players. My silver squad is still a work in progress because finding English 442 players are very difficult on the cheap.
I have managed to purchase quite a few bargains inc a 94 contract bronze LM (Left Midfield) for only 200 coins !!
Now I just need to find some English Silver CB (Centre Back)
For those that do not know Ultimate Team is management mode in which you buy & sell players to build your squad & compete in various tournaments & seasons.
By winning in matches & selling players you get coins which you can use to purchase players, contracts & other items.
It is very addictive gameplay which is why Borderlands 2, Uncharted 2 & Skyrim have taken a back seat.
I have played 50 matches with 49 wins & one defeat. My bronze squad is now complete with all 70+ pace players & even quite a few 80+ players. My silver squad is still a work in progress because finding English 442 players are very difficult on the cheap.
I have managed to purchase quite a few bargains inc a 94 contract bronze LM (Left Midfield) for only 200 coins !!
Now I just need to find some English Silver CB (Centre Back)
10/10/2012
Draw Something - Furby
I'm still playing Draw Something on the iPad, apologies for taking nearly 30 days to play my current turn.
08/10/2012
Ticket to Ride - New High Score
A new high score against Abbas :)
I did also managed to complete 10 tickets in another game with Monster but did not take a screenshot of that.
I did also managed to complete 10 tickets in another game with Monster but did not take a screenshot of that.
07/10/2012
Ticket to Ride - Beginner's Guide
Really enjoying playing ticket to ride on the iOS platform so I'd thought a beginner's guide might tempt a few more to purchase. It is £1.49 on the app store & just like Carcassonne great value for money.
So start a new game against a CPU character.
You first need to choose some train tickets, you can take all three that are given or just only choose two tickets.
Each ticket with give you two stations you need to join by building the train track.
After you have chosen your tickets, you need to collect the correct number of cards to build a section of track. You can choose two cards from the five on offer or press the blue section below for two randoms.
A coloured section obviously you need to collect the same coloured cards but the clear (don't confuse with white) sections of the track you can use any colour. From the cards on offer I went for two red cards.
When it comes to your turn you can either select two cards or place the cards you have on track. So the two reds I picked up I placed on a blank section to build my first section of train track.
You carry on picking your cards & building sections of track to join your stations together.
A special card you can choose is the 'Rainbow' coloured card this card can basically be any colour you want but bear in mind if you select this from the five cards on offer you will not get to select a 2nd card. If you get this card via the random pack then you can choose a second card.
By collecting the cards I have managed to complete the two tickets I selected at the start of the game.
The CPU player obviously has not tried to block me completing my track but you can use blocking tactics to stop the other player so they have to then build an alternative longer route to join their stations.
Once you have completed the tickets you selected at the beginning of the game, press your tickets at the bottom right corner & press the + button to select some new tickets.
Bear in mind that next to my number 18 in the top left corner there is a smaller number 29 this is how many train carriages you have left to build. So do not choose a new ticket if you do not have enough carriages left to complete that ticket.
Carry on playing the game until all of your carriages are used. If you have tickets that have not been completed you will get a red x for them & that ticket score will be taken off your total score.
If you have any further questions post in the comments section below & I'll answer.
I would suggest you play against the CPU a few games to get comfortable with how to play the game then load up a multi-player game & send me an invite.
So start a new game against a CPU character.
You first need to choose some train tickets, you can take all three that are given or just only choose two tickets.
Each ticket with give you two stations you need to join by building the train track.
After you have chosen your tickets, you need to collect the correct number of cards to build a section of track. You can choose two cards from the five on offer or press the blue section below for two randoms.
A coloured section obviously you need to collect the same coloured cards but the clear (don't confuse with white) sections of the track you can use any colour. From the cards on offer I went for two red cards.
When it comes to your turn you can either select two cards or place the cards you have on track. So the two reds I picked up I placed on a blank section to build my first section of train track.
You carry on picking your cards & building sections of track to join your stations together.
A special card you can choose is the 'Rainbow' coloured card this card can basically be any colour you want but bear in mind if you select this from the five cards on offer you will not get to select a 2nd card. If you get this card via the random pack then you can choose a second card.
By collecting the cards I have managed to complete the two tickets I selected at the start of the game.
The CPU player obviously has not tried to block me completing my track but you can use blocking tactics to stop the other player so they have to then build an alternative longer route to join their stations.
Once you have completed the tickets you selected at the beginning of the game, press your tickets at the bottom right corner & press the + button to select some new tickets.
Bear in mind that next to my number 18 in the top left corner there is a smaller number 29 this is how many train carriages you have left to build. So do not choose a new ticket if you do not have enough carriages left to complete that ticket.
Carry on playing the game until all of your carriages are used. If you have tickets that have not been completed you will get a red x for them & that ticket score will be taken off your total score.
If you have any further questions post in the comments section below & I'll answer.
I would suggest you play against the CPU a few games to get comfortable with how to play the game then load up a multi-player game & send me an invite.
23/09/2012
New Game - Borderlands 2
It's been nearly a month since my last post not because I've not been gaming (Skyrim Diary still to update, Uncharted 2 getting further, Guild Wars revisited & still iOSing) but just been far too busy with 'Real Life' things getting in the way.
Anyhow Borderlands 2 was released on Friday luckily my copy from Shopto.net turned up on Thursday.
Initial one word thoughts ?
AWESOME !!
Did you really expect me to say anything else?
The pre-order premiere club keys also applies to all the accounts on the console so the kids also get the golden guns, vault hunter relic (+5% chance of rare loot drop) & a golden key. You can also receive another golden key by signing up to the Gearbox Shift social portal (Via the extra section on the man menu).
Four different character class to choose from Axton the Soldier you love & know, Zero who is a Ninja Assassin, Maya who is the siren class & Salvador the Gunzurker.
I initially went with the Gunzurker class. The most obvious difference you notice from the first game are the custom skins & heads. You can unlock new skins/heads throughout the game but apart from making your character look unique it really does nothing else. The new BadAss rank adds an interesting element to the challenges in the game when completed you earn a token & you can upgrade a attribute like Maximum Health by 1%. These tokens will be applied to all characters you create with your profile. There have been some small modifications to inventory management in you can mark your loots as junk with a red cross or favourite them with a star.
The claptrap boys PMG session is on hold for a week until Jaimie returns to a 360 console. I went with the local split screen option to play with my daughter which is fine for her because she gets first refusal on any loot found.
We made it to the first town in the game & met Sir Hammerlock who gives you a few quests to complete to receive some nice weapons. This went well until we sat down on Friday to play again & my split screen character had lost all it's Bad Ass ranking & the extra vault key from the shift social portal. The challenges I completed previously were still showing as completed but I had a ranking of 0 & all my perks I had chosen were gone.
This seems to be a widely reported bug on the gearbox forums which I thought initially was for split screen players but a few gamers via twitter have confirmed that they have only played single player & have also lost their BadAss ranking.
The only way I found to get the challenges reset was to delete my character & start again.
This time I went for single player only with Zero after getting my character to the same part in the game I saved & turned off for the night. The following day I tested this character on local split screen with my youngest daughter's account (The other kids were to scared to try their characters & I don't think my 5 year old daughter is going to play Borderlands 2). I'm happy to report that all my Bad Ass ranking was still active but I have lost the golden key from the shift social sign up.
Time to brave it again then yesterday (Saturday) with my daughter on local split screen with another new character this time Axton. Getting to the same point meeting up with Sir Hammerlock so far so good no bugs. Fingers crossed then for today.
Anyhow Borderlands 2 was released on Friday luckily my copy from Shopto.net turned up on Thursday.
Initial one word thoughts ?
AWESOME !!
Did you really expect me to say anything else?
The pre-order premiere club keys also applies to all the accounts on the console so the kids also get the golden guns, vault hunter relic (+5% chance of rare loot drop) & a golden key. You can also receive another golden key by signing up to the Gearbox Shift social portal (Via the extra section on the man menu).
Four different character class to choose from Axton the Soldier you love & know, Zero who is a Ninja Assassin, Maya who is the siren class & Salvador the Gunzurker.
I initially went with the Gunzurker class. The most obvious difference you notice from the first game are the custom skins & heads. You can unlock new skins/heads throughout the game but apart from making your character look unique it really does nothing else. The new BadAss rank adds an interesting element to the challenges in the game when completed you earn a token & you can upgrade a attribute like Maximum Health by 1%. These tokens will be applied to all characters you create with your profile. There have been some small modifications to inventory management in you can mark your loots as junk with a red cross or favourite them with a star.
The claptrap boys PMG session is on hold for a week until Jaimie returns to a 360 console. I went with the local split screen option to play with my daughter which is fine for her because she gets first refusal on any loot found.
We made it to the first town in the game & met Sir Hammerlock who gives you a few quests to complete to receive some nice weapons. This went well until we sat down on Friday to play again & my split screen character had lost all it's Bad Ass ranking & the extra vault key from the shift social portal. The challenges I completed previously were still showing as completed but I had a ranking of 0 & all my perks I had chosen were gone.
This seems to be a widely reported bug on the gearbox forums which I thought initially was for split screen players but a few gamers via twitter have confirmed that they have only played single player & have also lost their BadAss ranking.
The only way I found to get the challenges reset was to delete my character & start again.
This time I went for single player only with Zero after getting my character to the same part in the game I saved & turned off for the night. The following day I tested this character on local split screen with my youngest daughter's account (The other kids were to scared to try their characters & I don't think my 5 year old daughter is going to play Borderlands 2). I'm happy to report that all my Bad Ass ranking was still active but I have lost the golden key from the shift social sign up.
Time to brave it again then yesterday (Saturday) with my daughter on local split screen with another new character this time Axton. Getting to the same point meeting up with Sir Hammerlock so far so good no bugs. Fingers crossed then for today.
26/08/2012
New Game - Uncharted 2
I really wanted to go back and play Skyrim but was worried about not over-playing it again to get bored. So I turned to Guild Wars instead but we were having server login issues.
What to play?
Abbas said Uncharted 2?
Ok, why not the first game had some frustrating moments but was enjoyable.
The game starts with you having to survive a train wreck falling off a cliff. You are given flashbacks to the back story, this time it is all about Marco Polo & his failed return from China in 1292.
An old associate Flynn & old girlfriend Frazer offer you a ob of stealing an old oil lamp from an Istanbul museum. Obviously once you retrieve the lamp you are betrayed by Flynn & imprisoned. This is when Sully arrives to get you out of jail and you are off to Borneo to track down Flynn & his boss.
That's enough of the plot details, the gameplay & production values are the same top drawer quality but & more importantly no frustrating sections yet. There have been a few button press sequences but I have now come to expect that to be the norm in this series.
What to play?
Abbas said Uncharted 2?
Ok, why not the first game had some frustrating moments but was enjoyable.
The game starts with you having to survive a train wreck falling off a cliff. You are given flashbacks to the back story, this time it is all about Marco Polo & his failed return from China in 1292.
An old associate Flynn & old girlfriend Frazer offer you a ob of stealing an old oil lamp from an Istanbul museum. Obviously once you retrieve the lamp you are betrayed by Flynn & imprisoned. This is when Sully arrives to get you out of jail and you are off to Borneo to track down Flynn & his boss.
That's enough of the plot details, the gameplay & production values are the same top drawer quality but & more importantly no frustrating sections yet. There have been a few button press sequences but I have now come to expect that to be the norm in this series.
Guild Wars - Bye Bye Ascalon
Making it to old Ascalon had its advantages because I had access to my chest & we could now hire two henchman to join our party.
Abbas saw the map & thought wow that is huge to which I replied yes we will be playing his for a while yet.
Guild Wars 2 also arrived in the post but my attempt to logon was prevented bye constant server errors. Thinking about it this morning my copy of the game arrived early from GMG thus I probably do not have access to the headstart? I will leave it till Tuesday to try again.
25/08/2012
Skyrim Diary - Entry 25 - Dragonbane & Vulthuryol
Usually I write my blog posts on the PC but being awake since 6am & lazy to not get up. I just grabbed my iphone & using the Blogger+ app I am writing this post.
After last week Skyrim I started talking about swords with Abbas & he said have you got the sword from Sky Haven Temple? What sword ?!
A quick google search revealed an armoury in the temple that has blade armour & the Dragonbane sword.
So the first task was to return to the temple to visit the armoury. There is a small room to the right when you walk into the main hall with the giant table. The armoury also has some blade armour & other bits. The Dragonbane sword can be found on the table. It does extra damage against dragons & shock attack on other enemies.
I then paid a quick visit to Whiterun to use my smithing skills to improve the sword & blade armour. With my +one handed attack ring & necklace the Dragonbane now did 130 damage. The blade armour was not better than my dragon armour so I passed the set over to Jzargo.
With the Dragonbane & Red Eagle sword I was now dual wielding with 265 damage.
Back to Blackreach where I had lots of mining, crimson nirnroot to collect & a glowing orange orb.
I decided to leave the glowing orb for now and looking at my local map, I went walking into the dark undiscovered areas where I found lots of places to mine & enough nirnroot to complete Sinderion's quest (which now wants me to visit his colleague Avrusa Sarethi). There are lots of buildings on the outskirts, some inhabited by Falmer & some just filled with loot.
With nothing else left to do it was time to visit the glowing orb. The area is surrounded by Falmer & Falmer servants (who are brainwashed humans ZOMBIES !!). It's a shame there were no dwarven robots, I was expecting to be greeted by some centurions.
There are two buildings Hall of Rumination & Debate Hall. Both buildings also only have Falmer & Zombie Slaves. Not much in the way of notable loot. The Hall of Rumination has a stairwell which takes you outside onto a platform overlooking the glowing orb.
So without further ado & as suggested by William (HaggisHunter) I used the unrelenting force shout on the orb.
FUS RO DAH !!
I expected the orb to smash open & a swarm of dwarven bees charging to attack me. But no it was the roar of a dragon !! A fire breathing dragon !! Being so high up on the platform I tried to attack with my bow but it's very difficult to attack a flying dragon.
The dragon then decided to land very conveniently outside the dwarven city. I had to go and meet him then, because I had killed all the Falmer on the way it was just me & Jzargo.
But I did have my new Dragonbane sword. The dragon, actually his name is Vulthuryol (sounds like a cough medicine) landed just outside the main wall. I decided to just charge in with my two swords and Jzargo was launching his destruction magic.
I got roasted quite a bit by taking the dragon flames head on but with only losing half my health I managed to jump on his back for a cinematic final blow.
Collecting the usual dragon loot, it was time to look at the local map for the location of the elder scroll.
I entered the Tower of Mzark to which I laughed Mzark the word in punjabi means joke. At this point I deleted my old saves (I usually only keep around five at the end of a session) & created save number 378.
Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
After last week Skyrim I started talking about swords with Abbas & he said have you got the sword from Sky Haven Temple? What sword ?!
A quick google search revealed an armoury in the temple that has blade armour & the Dragonbane sword.
So the first task was to return to the temple to visit the armoury. There is a small room to the right when you walk into the main hall with the giant table. The armoury also has some blade armour & other bits. The Dragonbane sword can be found on the table. It does extra damage against dragons & shock attack on other enemies.
I then paid a quick visit to Whiterun to use my smithing skills to improve the sword & blade armour. With my +one handed attack ring & necklace the Dragonbane now did 130 damage. The blade armour was not better than my dragon armour so I passed the set over to Jzargo.
With the Dragonbane & Red Eagle sword I was now dual wielding with 265 damage.
Back to Blackreach where I had lots of mining, crimson nirnroot to collect & a glowing orange orb.
I decided to leave the glowing orb for now and looking at my local map, I went walking into the dark undiscovered areas where I found lots of places to mine & enough nirnroot to complete Sinderion's quest (which now wants me to visit his colleague Avrusa Sarethi). There are lots of buildings on the outskirts, some inhabited by Falmer & some just filled with loot.
With nothing else left to do it was time to visit the glowing orb. The area is surrounded by Falmer & Falmer servants (who are brainwashed humans ZOMBIES !!). It's a shame there were no dwarven robots, I was expecting to be greeted by some centurions.
There are two buildings Hall of Rumination & Debate Hall. Both buildings also only have Falmer & Zombie Slaves. Not much in the way of notable loot. The Hall of Rumination has a stairwell which takes you outside onto a platform overlooking the glowing orb.
So without further ado & as suggested by William (HaggisHunter) I used the unrelenting force shout on the orb.
FUS RO DAH !!
I expected the orb to smash open & a swarm of dwarven bees charging to attack me. But no it was the roar of a dragon !! A fire breathing dragon !! Being so high up on the platform I tried to attack with my bow but it's very difficult to attack a flying dragon.
The dragon then decided to land very conveniently outside the dwarven city. I had to go and meet him then, because I had killed all the Falmer on the way it was just me & Jzargo.
But I did have my new Dragonbane sword. The dragon, actually his name is Vulthuryol (sounds like a cough medicine) landed just outside the main wall. I decided to just charge in with my two swords and Jzargo was launching his destruction magic.
I got roasted quite a bit by taking the dragon flames head on but with only losing half my health I managed to jump on his back for a cinematic final blow.
Collecting the usual dragon loot, it was time to look at the local map for the location of the elder scroll.
I entered the Tower of Mzark to which I laughed Mzark the word in punjabi means joke. At this point I deleted my old saves (I usually only keep around five at the end of a session) & created save number 378.
Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
21/08/2012
19/08/2012
Skyrim Diary - Entry 24 - Blackreach
Unfortunately Skyrim Friday did not happen due to many reasons. Thanks to a wrong number phone call at 5am Saturday morning (GIT !!) I was awake so decided to have some early morning Skyrim (Not for breakfast of course because I was fasting).
Blackreach is a really REALLY large cavern, so instead of following my quest marker I decided to wonder around and see what I could find.
The first building I came across was Reeking Tower which was occupied by spiders (lots of them). After that I found Silent Ruin which had a trap chair when you sat on it a spinning blade pops up to attack.
Wondering around also meant I could collect lots of Crimson Nirnroot, I think I am currently on 22/30. You also run into a lot of falmer but not many dwarven enemies. Some centurions seem to be offline in holding rings & when you attack them they wake up. Also mining lots & lots of places to mine for soul gems & ore.
There is a giant glowing orange orb in the center of Blackreach but I have not visited it yet just in case it advances the quest line.
Luckily there are a few great lifts in blackreach that take you back to the surface, I only tend to pick up loot that is worth more than 150 gold but I was full & Jzargo was a pack mule. So I took the great lift of Raldbthar. I was greeted by the roar of a dragon & I think it was Alduin so I went down the path to take him on but he flew off & another dragon Viinturuth came in to attack.
Viinturuth does a frost attack which was easy enough to counter by equipping the necklace & ring I had to increase my defence to frost attack by 70%. My trusty Red Eagle easily killed the dragon but I had to leave the bones & scales behind.
Looting & selling the loot can take many hours in the game. I currently have 80,000+ gold but the difficulty with the high value items I pick up is finding a merchant with enough gold to sell them. I usually fast travel to Whiterun first & visit Warmaiden's, Drunken Huntsman, Belethor's & Arcadia's Cauldron. Then off to Riften to see the market traders, after that depending on what I have left I sometimes go to Riverwood.
I have thought about taking up some perks on the speech skill but with 80K gold already & nothing to spend it on it's probably a waste of a level up perk.
After selling my loot back to Blackreach to continue my sweep of the area, next to the glowing orange orb building I saw a giant wondering around & thought why not. But rather than charge in & attack I used my sneak ability & crouched to attack with an arrow doing 3x damage. Jzargo decided to do the same & we quickly killed the giant.
Wondering pass the giant we came to some more buildings including a pumphouse & market. The pumphouse had a master locked chest which rewarded me with a +35% damage ring when wielding a sword. The market had some loot but when I opened the main door I was met by a brick wall. Odd ??! but with the voice of "Daddy" that was my Skyrim play time over.
Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
Blackreach is a really REALLY large cavern, so instead of following my quest marker I decided to wonder around and see what I could find.
The first building I came across was Reeking Tower which was occupied by spiders (lots of them). After that I found Silent Ruin which had a trap chair when you sat on it a spinning blade pops up to attack.
Wondering around also meant I could collect lots of Crimson Nirnroot, I think I am currently on 22/30. You also run into a lot of falmer but not many dwarven enemies. Some centurions seem to be offline in holding rings & when you attack them they wake up. Also mining lots & lots of places to mine for soul gems & ore.
There is a giant glowing orange orb in the center of Blackreach but I have not visited it yet just in case it advances the quest line.
Luckily there are a few great lifts in blackreach that take you back to the surface, I only tend to pick up loot that is worth more than 150 gold but I was full & Jzargo was a pack mule. So I took the great lift of Raldbthar. I was greeted by the roar of a dragon & I think it was Alduin so I went down the path to take him on but he flew off & another dragon Viinturuth came in to attack.
Viinturuth does a frost attack which was easy enough to counter by equipping the necklace & ring I had to increase my defence to frost attack by 70%. My trusty Red Eagle easily killed the dragon but I had to leave the bones & scales behind.
Looting & selling the loot can take many hours in the game. I currently have 80,000+ gold but the difficulty with the high value items I pick up is finding a merchant with enough gold to sell them. I usually fast travel to Whiterun first & visit Warmaiden's, Drunken Huntsman, Belethor's & Arcadia's Cauldron. Then off to Riften to see the market traders, after that depending on what I have left I sometimes go to Riverwood.
I have thought about taking up some perks on the speech skill but with 80K gold already & nothing to spend it on it's probably a waste of a level up perk.
After selling my loot back to Blackreach to continue my sweep of the area, next to the glowing orange orb building I saw a giant wondering around & thought why not. But rather than charge in & attack I used my sneak ability & crouched to attack with an arrow doing 3x damage. Jzargo decided to do the same & we quickly killed the giant.
Wondering pass the giant we came to some more buildings including a pumphouse & market. The pumphouse had a master locked chest which rewarded me with a +35% damage ring when wielding a sword. The market had some loot but when I opened the main door I was met by a brick wall. Odd ??! but with the voice of "Daddy" that was my Skyrim play time over.
Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
18/08/2012
Completed - Friendle
I have only one games folder on my iPhone & occassionally a game comes along that drives itself into the folder & that game was Ticket to Ride. Thus I had to get rid of one game & Friendle was my least played.
It is a nice app that offers you seven games you can play against friends but I only really ever played Backgammon. In fact before Friendle I did not know how to play the game of Backgammon so the game actually taught me something.
The list of games in the folder so far are Words with Friends, Disc Drivin, Hero Academy, Carcassonne, Outwitters, Pocket Heroes, Tiny Tower, Matching with Friends, Ticket to Ride, Bang, Song Pop & Trivie. The latter two have their days numbered.
It is a nice app that offers you seven games you can play against friends but I only really ever played Backgammon. In fact before Friendle I did not know how to play the game of Backgammon so the game actually taught me something.
The list of games in the folder so far are Words with Friends, Disc Drivin, Hero Academy, Carcassonne, Outwitters, Pocket Heroes, Tiny Tower, Matching with Friends, Ticket to Ride, Bang, Song Pop & Trivie. The latter two have their days numbered.
17/08/2012
New Game - Ticket To Ride
I have two games on my iPhone that have been sat gathering dust till I can find the time to learn how to play them. Bang & Ticket to Ride.
Abbas has already played quite a few games so we sat down for him to teach me the ropes.
The result of the first game was me winning :)
You start the game with the choice of selecting up to 3 tickets. These tickets are a train journey from one city to another. When you stat the game you have various coloured tracks & you need to have the correct number of he coloured cards to match the track you want to lay down. thus if you want to lay a red track of four, you will need four red cards but there is a special rainbow coloured card which can be any colour of your choice so you could place the track with only 3 red & the rainbow card.
You then carry on playing the game collecting cards you need to lay the tracks. Throughout the game your goal is always to complete the tickets you started the game with but you can during the game select more tickets but be warn any tickets you fail to complete will be taken off your final score.
Another enjoyable turn based game & I'm disappointed that I did not load it up sooner to play.
Abbas has already played quite a few games so we sat down for him to teach me the ropes.
The result of the first game was me winning :)
You start the game with the choice of selecting up to 3 tickets. These tickets are a train journey from one city to another. When you stat the game you have various coloured tracks & you need to have the correct number of he coloured cards to match the track you want to lay down. thus if you want to lay a red track of four, you will need four red cards but there is a special rainbow coloured card which can be any colour of your choice so you could place the track with only 3 red & the rainbow card.
You then carry on playing the game collecting cards you need to lay the tracks. Throughout the game your goal is always to complete the tickets you started the game with but you can during the game select more tickets but be warn any tickets you fail to complete will be taken off your final score.
Another enjoyable turn based game & I'm disappointed that I did not load it up sooner to play.
16/08/2012
15/08/2012
Carcassonne - Waiing for the tile - luck needed
Still easily the best iOS game IMHO, in a recent game against the Monster we agreed that no farmers would be placed because it is difficult for him to understand. So we played kid mode which only gave us road or town pieces.
This led the Monster to attempt an assault on a large town I had built but not with one but three meeple's.
We still had quite a few tiles to play so I ignored his attack and carried on accumulating points but I forgot one important factor.
Luck !!
He had luck on his side & with only two pieces remaining I got the road piece & he ended up with the tile he needed to complete the town & take the points.
Was it luck, skill or the fact that he was brave enough to place three meeple's on the chance that he would get the tile needed?
Either way he walked off telling everyone that he beat Dad at Carcassonne & I just smiled.
This led the Monster to attempt an assault on a large town I had built but not with one but three meeple's.
We still had quite a few tiles to play so I ignored his attack and carried on accumulating points but I forgot one important factor.
Luck !!
He had luck on his side & with only two pieces remaining I got the road piece & he ended up with the tile he needed to complete the town & take the points.
Was it luck, skill or the fact that he was brave enough to place three meeple's on the chance that he would get the tile needed?
Either way he walked off telling everyone that he beat Dad at Carcassonne & I just smiled.
14/08/2012
13/08/2012
Matching with Friends - High Chain 11
I'm still playing Matching with Friends against some UGVM players & a random player Mmosie who is very good so i was good to finally beat them but also in the process get a high chain of 11.
If you fancy a game send me an invite.
If you fancy a game send me an invite.
12/08/2012
Skyrim Diary - Entry 23 - Alftand
It's Friday so that can only mean Skyrim day !!
I am on the quest Elder Knowledge searching the dwemer ruin Alftand for an Elder Scroll.
You get to fight a lot of dwemer enemies who are basically mechanical robots. Easily defeated by my Red Bane Sword & fire spells.
There is a section in the ruins that has you walking down a spiral platform & whilst under attack Jzargo decided to jump off this platform to his death but managed to knock into me & I promptly followed him down to my doom. I then asked him to wait at the top of this section whilst I dealt with all the enemies before asking him to follow me.
Later the ruins you come across Falmer who are a more tougher opponent, especially the Nightprowler & Gloomlurker. I ran into a party of three & died a couple of times before I had to stop & think of a strategy which involved placing down a fire rune & ensuring after a few attacks retreating to heal myself.
Along the way you find various journals & dead bodies of previous adventures who have tried to search the ruins for treasure. You eventually will come across two who are fighting who fight with each & whoever wins will then turn on you. After you have killed hem you can then use the sphere given to you to reveal a staircase down to Blackreach.
Blackreach is an underground cavern inhabited by Falmer & dwemer machines. It looks very beautiful especially with the Avatar floating like mushrooms. I also started another quest (like I don't have enough already!) when I picked up a Crimson Nirnroot plant. Slightly further into Blackreach you come across Sinderion's Field Laboratory & inside you find Sinderion's skeleton clutching a journal which asks you to then collect 30 of these plants.
At this point it was time to open my fast so I saved. Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
I am on the quest Elder Knowledge searching the dwemer ruin Alftand for an Elder Scroll.
You get to fight a lot of dwemer enemies who are basically mechanical robots. Easily defeated by my Red Bane Sword & fire spells.
There is a section in the ruins that has you walking down a spiral platform & whilst under attack Jzargo decided to jump off this platform to his death but managed to knock into me & I promptly followed him down to my doom. I then asked him to wait at the top of this section whilst I dealt with all the enemies before asking him to follow me.
Later the ruins you come across Falmer who are a more tougher opponent, especially the Nightprowler & Gloomlurker. I ran into a party of three & died a couple of times before I had to stop & think of a strategy which involved placing down a fire rune & ensuring after a few attacks retreating to heal myself.
Along the way you find various journals & dead bodies of previous adventures who have tried to search the ruins for treasure. You eventually will come across two who are fighting who fight with each & whoever wins will then turn on you. After you have killed hem you can then use the sphere given to you to reveal a staircase down to Blackreach.
Blackreach is an underground cavern inhabited by Falmer & dwemer machines. It looks very beautiful especially with the Avatar floating like mushrooms. I also started another quest (like I don't have enough already!) when I picked up a Crimson Nirnroot plant. Slightly further into Blackreach you come across Sinderion's Field Laboratory & inside you find Sinderion's skeleton clutching a journal which asks you to then collect 30 of these plants.
At this point it was time to open my fast so I saved. Tune in next week then for more exciting adventures in Skyrim.
11/08/2012
Draw Something - Sing
Yes I’m still playing Draw Something, albeit I am taking my
turns slowly possibly only 3 to 4 turns a week.
Some of my better drawings unlike my lazy stick art efforts.
Firstly Sing
10/08/2012
Guild Wars - Legendary Defender of Ascalon
I have never
completed Guild Wars, I got to Lions Arch & then got distracted possibly by
the arrival of the 360 & my return to console gaming.
Thus with Abbas we
are adventuring in pre-searing with our level 9 characters (Warrior/Elemental
& Warrior/Monk) to the Northland’s in search of experience points &
more importantly Charr Bags.
Once we have reached level 10 Lieutenant Langmar in
Ascalon offers you daily quests, I have never gotten a character this high in
pre-searing so I am curious to see what quest he offers & this will decide
if we decide to advance pass searing or
stick around to try and earn the title Legendary Defender of Ascalon.
09/08/2012
Terraria - GOLD !!
Finally after nearly 20+ hours of mining I have struck gold, albeit a very small amount. You have to mine quite far down (I don't have a depth meter yet to confirm how much) before you get to find the rare meals like gold & silver.
By going further down you encounter more dangers like falling boulders, water filled caverns & tougher enemies like worms.
By going further down you encounter more dangers like falling boulders, water filled caverns & tougher enemies like worms.
07/08/2012
Terraria - Mine Shaft
I'm sure there are lots of different tactics to mine but I like the mine shaft approach. I build a shaft straight down & then mine either left or right when I see something interesting.
It also handy to have a supply of wooden planks & torches which I keep in a storage chest at the top of the shaft.
It also handy to have a supply of wooden planks & torches which I keep in a storage chest at the top of the shaft.
06/08/2012
Tiny Tower - Rev Owen Arcade
Finally after building 99 floors I finally got the floor I wanted.
This will also be the only floor in the tower where the workers will wear costumes.
I wanted Batman costumes but these are not available in the game so the next best is the cat costume or I like to think Cat Woman.
Still miss you Owen (RIP)
Here's to you big guy enjoy the Arcade :)
This will also be the only floor in the tower where the workers will wear costumes.
I wanted Batman costumes but these are not available in the game so the next best is the cat costume or I like to think Cat Woman.
Still miss you Owen (RIP)
Here's to you big guy enjoy the Arcade :)
New Logo - Borderlands 2
New Logo - Time for the Claptrap Boys to reunite !! |
Old Logo - Bye Bye Red shades |
I still have a couple of more DLCs to play for Fallout New Vegas
Completed - Fallout New Vegas - Honest Hearts
Another DLC completed, Honest Hearts has you joining the fight of the Sorrows & the Dead Horses against the White Legs.
The two tribes have a mutual understanding against each other but the Sorrows are generally a more peaceful tribe & the Dead Horses are happy to kill if needed.
By doing various quests you eventually end up at a crossroad where you have to decide if you want to help the Sorrows leave Zion or go and attack the White Legs so the tribes can live in peace.
This would be a good point to save the game if you want to see both endings. I won't say any further want happens in the game but I played both endings before leaving Zion & returning to the Mojave wasteland.
I am going to take a break before starting the next DLC to go & play Uncharted 2.
The two tribes have a mutual understanding against each other but the Sorrows are generally a more peaceful tribe & the Dead Horses are happy to kill if needed.
By doing various quests you eventually end up at a crossroad where you have to decide if you want to help the Sorrows leave Zion or go and attack the White Legs so the tribes can live in peace.
This would be a good point to save the game if you want to see both endings. I won't say any further want happens in the game but I played both endings before leaving Zion & returning to the Mojave wasteland.
I am going to take a break before starting the next DLC to go & play Uncharted 2.
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