No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

Friday, May 10

Cool

Oh My Stars, There's Another One

Amid all the random craziness and angst that makes up my life these days, there's a steady drip of light in the form of brick-based role-playing-strategy-gamey-things.


The aptly named Cube World.  No idea when it's coming out.

Fifteen months ago, I was looking forward to only two games - Mass Effect 3 (which EA managed to fuck up, though not irredeemably), and Torchlight II, which was pretty good, though I remember the first more fondly.

Since then, we've had a new XCOM game, EA has announced, launched, and irrevocably ruined SimCity - to the point where the major feature announced for The Sims 4 is that it will be single player - I've discovered KairoSoft, and Kickstarter has exploded onto the indie gaming landscape like a big bomb made of money.  Starbound is on its way, and Terraria has been revivified.  Kerbal Space Program is amazing, but requires more time than I have (which is zero) to really get anywhere.  We've got four major new isometric party-based single-player role-playing games on the way, with the first (Shadowrun) due next month.

And now we have these voxel-based games like Stonehearth and Cube World which take a fascinating tack, using the absurd amounts of graphics power that we have at our disposal today (you can get 1.8 TFLOPS for less than $150) to make games that manage to look endearingly retro and fluid and engaging at the same time.  I can't wait for them to come out so that I can not have time to play them either.

Oh, and here's the gameplay trailer for Stonehearth, without the talky bits.


Bunny!

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Friday, May 03

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Wombat!

4:09



The game is apparently in a very early state (despite appearances); the developers estimate there's a good 16 months of work before release.  With any luck the millions of dollars they raise over the next few days will help speed things along.

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Wednesday, May 01

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Meelions And Meelions

Good news, everyone!
  • The Starbound pre-order has passed the meelion-dollar mark and bagged all three stretch goals set so far (a new alien race, alien fossils, and alien starter pets).  No telling yet what else may be in store, but the development team - some of whom had taken second jobs in order to keep things going - are apparently still slightly dizzy from their unexpected success.

  • The Torment2: Tidy Numerology Kickstarter Drive Bonus Paypal Round hasn't quite tipped the project over the $4.5 meelion dollar mark for the final stretch goal - an in-game Fortress of Tormentitude player stronghold.  But it got pretty darn close, and with (apparently, significantly) lower than average payment failure rates, inXile have deemed their fundedness sufficient to add that particular fig to the pudding anyway.
Since these are two of the games I'm most looking forward to, this news is most welcome.

Oh, and Futurama got cancelled again.  But it had a decent run in the end.

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Tuesday, April 23

Cool

And While We're At It I Want Aliens

And werewolves too and I wanna be a beta tester!

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Cool

Conents May Settle During Shipping

Your mileage may vary.  Barooina brand Puppy Chow may not contain actual puppies.  Do not taunt happy fun Kerbal.

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Saturday, April 20

Cool

Shiny Things Weekly


  1. Toshiba's Kirabook: It's a 13.3" Windows 8 (but let's not hold that against it) ultrabook, with a Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, a 2560x1440 display, and weighs 2.6lbs (or 2.9lbs with the touch screen option). That makes it a Macbook Pro competitor that's lighter than the Macbook Air. It's not cheap - starting at $1599 for the i5 model without touchscreen - but if you're sick of bargain-bin 1366x768 displays, it may be quite literally a sight for sore eyes.

  2. Australia's NBN to roll out gigabit speeds. The NBN rollout has been pathetically, miserably slow; they don't even have a plan to deploy it where I live yet. But at least the speeds where it has been deployed are good. And if it actually rolls out at 1Gbps on schedule, I will move to it rather than waiting for it to come to me. (I work from home most of the time now, so fast and reliable internet access matters more than location.)

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Sunday, April 14

Cool

Good News, Side-Scrolling 2D Science Fiction Multiplayer Sandbox Platformer Fans Edition

  • Starbound has opened up pre-orders!  That's usually not that big a deal, but in this case (a) it's a successor to the much-loved Terraria, being put together on a tight budget by a tiny studio, and extra money now could really help make the game better, and (b) they're running with Kickstarter-style stretch goals - when they reach $500,000, for example, they'll add a new alien race.  At the time of writing, they've been going for a little over a day - on a weekend, too - and have reached $370,000, so it's looking good.  Update: $500,000 reached, new race - Novakids - are in, next goal is alien fossils at $750,000.

  • Darkout.  It's on Desura, GamersGate and Steam Greenlight.  It's not pixel-art (the style of Terraria and Starbound), but it's still a little cartoonish; I think the art style works well for a slightly more serious game.  Take a look at the trailer and see what you think.

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Monday, April 08

Cool

Kerbal Space Program

Sorry little green dude, I haven't worked out how to attach parachutes yet.  But your epic journey 440km above the surface of planet Kerbin will not be forgotten, even if we never find your scattered remains.

Update: My improved Up Goer 2B reached 680km and is equipped with a parachute.  I just need to remember to open it around 23km of altitude....



Update: Patience and practice and lots of solid-fuel boosters, and I can now make a stable orbit fairly reliably even if my primary stage goes flaky on me.  Right now I have a Munar flyby lined up - my orbit will take me close enough that I'll be pulled to within 500km of the Munar surface, before being slingshotted back into a Kerbin orbit.  From there I should even have enough fuel left to deorbit and land.  Here I go!

Update: A little careful nudging and I'll be coming to within 50km 5km of the Munar surface...  As long as nothing goes wrong.  If something does go wrong, Cmdr. Dudsen Kerman will be the first Kerbal on the Mun.  Or bits of him, anyway.

Update: Success!  Munar flyby and return landing accomplished!  I guess the next step will be to make Munar orbit, then break orbit and return.  I want to refine my vehicle first, though, so its a bit less fally-aparty.

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Sunday, April 07

Cool

Free To Good Home

Would anyone like a copy of Civilization V, Torchlight, or Trine on Steam? I just noticed that I acquired free bonus copies somehow.  Also Serious Sam HD, Frozen Synapse, Cthulhu Saves the World, and Breath of Death VII.

Update: Civ V goes to GreyDuck, Trine to Wonderduck.

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Tuesday, April 02

Cool

Night And Day And The Doctor

I just found nine separate Doctor Who "minisodes" that I hadn't seen before. There are five that make up a sequence called Night And The Doctor, plus two two-part specials, for Red Nose Day 2011 (with Amys and Rorys) and Children in Need 2012 (with Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax - a prequel to the Christmas Special).

You'll need to hunt around for Night and the Doctor - or just take the easy way and buy the DVD set, which includes it as a bonus - but the charity benefit specials are on the BBC's Youtube channel.  And so:



Also:


Which might be a spoiler if you haven't seen the 2012 Christmas special.

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Saturday, March 30

Cool

Where Is The Update?

Gotcher update right here.

more...

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Thursday, March 28

Cool

Spoilers!

No, seriously, if you haven't watched through at least the end of Series 6 of Doctor Who (2011), this will spoiler everything.

If you have watched through the end of Series 6, well, allons-y!

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Tuesday, March 26

Cool

Still Life With Soup

Because soup is awesome.™

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Thursday, March 21

Cool

Squee!

My Kickstartled copy of Erfworld and accompanying red dwagon plushie arrived today. And I just discovered - before it was too late, for a change - this:



We need to get this to $1 million and hold him to that Jurassic Park pledge.

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Saturday, March 09

Cool

These Shadows Don't Run

Speaking of Kickstarter, the Torment not-exactly-a-sequel is all well and good, but what of the games we all backed last year?  Wasteland 2?  Shadowrun?

Wasteland 2:


(Actual gameplay footage starts a couple of minutes in.)

Shadowrun:


Looking good!  The 90s are back, but in HD this time!

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Thursday, March 07

Cool

Games That Are Not Out, And Therefore Retain The Potential Not To Suck

What do you get when you merge Planescape: Torment and Numenera?


Numenera itself was extremely successful; asking for $20k to get his pet project off the ground, veteran game designer Monte Cook ended up with, well, this:


Now, even before the game rules are complete, he's got a computer game tie-in. They're asking for an ambitious $900,000. How are they going on that? This is how:
You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!! We just funded in six hours!?!?!
Sometimes people aren't as dumb as other times.

Which means that we, the rabid fans of good quality stuffs everywhere, in just a few months have successfully Kickstartled both a spiritual successor and an actual successor to one of the best games of all time.



If anyone needs me, I'll be in my happy place.

smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile smile

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Monday, March 04

Cool

Fifty Years, Seven Minutes

Previously:



Onwards!


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Wednesday, January 16

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Ad Astra

Why I'm less upset than I might otherwise be about the demise of Terraria.

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Cool

Distractions

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Monday, January 14

Cool

Lilyest Hobo


Spengler: I have a radical idea. The door swings both ways; we could reverse the particle flow through the gate.
Venkman: How?
Spengler: We'll cross the streams.
Venkman: 'Scuse me Egon? You said crossing the streams was bad!
Stantz: Cross the streams...
Venkman: You're gonna endanger us, you're gonna endanger our client - the nice lady, who paid us in advance, before she became a dog...
Spengler: Not necessarily. There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive.
Venkman: I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! LET'S DO IT!

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Wednesday, January 02

Cool

Wire, The, Down To

Last year Me:
I think this one will make its goal comfortably.
Weeeeellll, I still think it will make its goal.


Actually, right now it's climbing at about ten thousand squid an hour.  Looks like it will make its goal comfortably after all.

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Friday, December 21

Cool

Uh-Oh. Steam Sale

As if GOG and Humble Bundle weren't providing me with enough games I don't have time to play.

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Wednesday, December 19

Cool

Expectations Exceeded

So on the 14th (Billy time) my little village joined the Ninja World War. At the time we had all of the upgrades available to us - 25 in all - as there's only so much you can do until you start fighting the Ninja War with other Ninja Villages.

On the 15th, I said:
8 upgrades in two days. So far. smile

There are 18 more upgrades we can buy while we stay safe in Tier 1. At our current rate, that will only take 4 or 5 days.

So let's do that, then get our Natural Resource Facility and join the big boys! (And girls.)
But plans change, and on the 16th:
Bought Natural Research Facility, Elemental Harmony! We've moved up from the Little League now. smile
On the morning of the 15th, I predicted 18 more upgrades in 4 or 5 days. Now, on the afternoon of the 19th the actual tally is 38.  We set a crazily ambitious target and then more than doubled it.

Our daily announcement says it all:
Daily News (19 Dec): Please Collect. No Kaiju or Zombjas yet, that might not happen until tomorrow, sorry. Bought: Ninja Ambassadors, Medical Ninja Facility, Tunnel System, Elemental Shield, Special Forces (Genjutsu), Special Forces (Ninjutsu). Jonin and higher have access to S-Rank missions! Plus we should be significantly harder to invade now. Kaiju Upgrade: Needle Pits. Yesterday's drop: Hacksaw. Drop winners: Hypozeuxis. Raffle winner: Naksho. Raffle list: brikmuppet - 5, Dahemo - 4.

Yesterday's News (18 Dec): Please Collect and kill the kaiju! Bought: Verdant Fields, Temple of the Four Winds, Black Market, Invasion Defense, Ninja Beach, Nonja Lab, Television Studios, Summoning Circle, Lemonade Stand. We have Flower Wars and Mahjong! Kaiju upgrade: Wasteland Highway. Today's summon: Dakralai. Yesterday's drop: Tire Tracks. Drop winners: Hypozeuxis, Carrot 6. Raffle winner: Naksho. Raffle list: brikmuppet - 5.

So come join us! We have Burger Ninja and Pizza Witch, Hanafuda and Mahjong, Kaiju and Zombjas, BillyTV and BillyCon, Crafting and Summoning, Claw Machines and Darts, and Ramen and Lemonade!

Fractal Village: Because reasons.

http://www.animecubed.com/billy/userimages/sigs/85354.jpg

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Monday, December 17

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Memetic Plague Warning


(And yeah, I've heard about Psy's earlier, idiotic and repugnant lyrics.  That sort of thing is why I appreciate artists for their art, and not for their political views.  Also, was it windy here last night or what?  My laundry basket is at the bottom of my garden; last night it was on the back porch.)

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Saturday, December 15

Cool

Just Checking

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