Keeping the blog alive – Part 5 – Video Games

A while back I posted about entering the next generation of gaming. The PS3 has proven to be an amazing machine with an excellent library of games to chose from. I have had the great joy of being conflicted about what games to buy over the last month. Fallout was the big winner this month, pulling a lot of interest from coworkers and really just being a solid and fun game. Fallout of course, is available for the PC. I am becoming increasingly aware of my near disdain for PC games. I don’t want to upgrade my machine once every six months. The video game console eliminates this problem. The games for it always meet the system requirements. In the meantime on the PC I am sticking with World of Warcraft and recently purchased both Knights of the Old Republic games for my PC. With all of those time consuming games at my disposal I also ran out and bought guitar hero.

Guitar Hero brings the video game back to it’s roots. You can play it for one or two songs and the more you play it the better you get. But, if you don’t get better, it can still be a lot of fun. This is why the Wii was such a success. It was a pick up and play console, much like the original 8 bit Nintendo was. While I love the open world take 40+ hours to complete games there really need to be more pick up and play games out there for all consoles.

At the end of the day however, I always come back to the game which require a huge time investment. I have spent an enormous amount of money and time on World of Warcraft. On November 13th the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack comes out. I am somewhat sad to say that I believe this is the beginning of the end for my WoW days. Since the 3.0 patch hit a few weeks ago that game has done nothing but frustrate me. I don’t find it fun to fight those “elite” monsters that tear me to shreds even though they are my “level”, same goes for over geared PVPers. I’m tired of doing that same quest over and over again. I thought that achievements would renew my interest in the game but unfortunately they all turned out to be intertwined with achievements that require a 5 man group to complete. The ones that don’t require that you actually like people do require you to participate in drop rate hellfests. The holiday achievements being the best example of this screw up. With all of that said I will of course be waiting in line at midnight to pick up my copy. I will play the game all weekend with much excitement. My deathknight will be amazing and my Warlock may even gain a level for the first time in many months. But, I’m sure that after a few weeks, or maybe even days, I will lose interest again. This time, I will cancel my account and leave World of Warcraft behind me forever. In the past few months I have held onto it because my girlfriend plays more than anything. Even that can’t keep me playing forever. Besides, now we have Guitar Hero to play together.

later,
-junc

Keeping the blog alive – Part 4 – Welcome to Brataccas

Brataccas is one of those games that you either loved or hated. A few people have written me and while seeming like a fan have complained about the impossible controls. Others have written me and shared the common experience of picking up that mouse and becoming Kyne once again. Brataccas had an open world with a straight forward goal. It was perfect in nearly every aspect.

Over the years I have built up a website and pursued the extraction of all of the graphics from the game. Unfortunately, I always fall short of achieving this goal. Several times people have written me with a great deal of interest in the game and claimed that they had the skill to disassemble the game and extract the graphics. Even with my offering people money to take on the task it always ends the same way. That energized and interested person always asks, why not just screenshot it. Anyone that knows Brataccas would know that this is a silly suggestion. There are too many characters and not enough hours in the day. With that said however, I have realized that it is very unlikely that I will ever find someone to hire that can actually handle the disassembly project. So, I have landed upon the screenshot solution.

My goal, over the next few years, is to attempt to collect enough screenshots to reassemble the game. At first I will most likely assemble a walk through version in AGS. I think the AGS engine is more than capable of handling the sword fights and AI. With my improved programming skills over the years I don’t even feel that the real challenge is creating the game. The real challenge is ripping those sprites. Once I have created a 1:1 copy of the game in AGS I will start to assemble a sequel to the game. Of all the games ever created, I truly believe that Brataccas deserves a fan sequel.

The biggest part of that project, once again, is getting the graphics. Of course, once I have done so I will share them with the rest of the world. Hopefully, many others will beat me to the first Brataccas fan game.

later,
-junc

Keeping the blog alive – Part 3 –The Road to Brataccas

My first gaming experience was on an Atari 2600 that my dad bought for my sister and I. My dad was always on top of the latest technology while I was growing up. I remember playing a game called Asylum on the TRS-80 and then, several years later graduating to Miner 2049er on the Atari 400 and 800.

It seemed that Atari had treated him well so he moved into the Atari ST line instead of the Amiga line during the late 80s. The competition between the two systems proved to create a tiny pocket golden era for early computer users. The IBM machines were not quite there yet, requiring add on video cards with astronomical costs to play the same games that were available on the ST and Amiga.

Several games were on the Atari ST that changed my life forever. The classic adventure games from Sierra like King’s Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and Goldrush filled a good chunk of my video game youth. These were the family games though. The ones that everyone loved. Three games have stood out on the Atari ST beyond the Sierra classics however. Black Lamp, Sundog, and Brattacas have stuck with me over the years.

Sundog has driven my interest in open world space trading simulation games over the years. With only one true modern successor in my eyes, Freelancer, it has been an lonely search. EVE Online attempts to file these voids but fails on some level at the foundation. While I keep on renewing my subscription to that game I always lose interest at some level that I just can’t quite understand yet.

Black Lamp was a very obscure game. While it hasn’t fueled any new interests, it has always remained with me. I am not sure why as it was a typical hodge podge game with a very abstract theme. I never did manage to beat that game but always intended on going back and doing so on an emulator.

I should mention the Sierra games one more time. Their impact on what I feel a game should be goes hand in hand with Sundog in many ways. An open world with the freedom to explore and yet a strong solid goal. The Sierra games drove me into exploring the AGI and SCI communities centered around tools created by fans of those games so that they could create their own classic style adventure games. These communities eventually led me to the AGS Community. Adventure Game Studio was where the Keptosh game was born and how my novel began to take shape.

Finally, there is Brattacas.

later,
-junc