So last night I finally start playing Evil Genius for the first time. Yeah I know right? It’s only two years old! Anyways, I don’t know if this will get me banned, but FUN FUN FUN. And I look up and back (clock’s behind me) and it’s 2:52AM. Not exactly a quarter to three, but close enough.
Good times.
I was gunning for the fastest time in the GAF Time Trial Challenge in PGR3 last night at 2:45. I missed it by .02.
Still have today to better it though. :)
I’ve been having 5:00 am moments since I restarted WoW. Not staying up that late, but getting up that early to get in a couple of hours before work.
Well, at least you’ve gotten one 2:45 session out of Evil Genius. It loses its luster real quick.
The unofficial fan-made patch for Evil Genius is actually worthwhile, notably because it fixes some errors with the henchman stats.
My latest 2:45 experience was with Zelda: Minish Cap. Curse you Capcom and your well-crafted game progression! shakes fist
Mount and Blade, Last Days mod. This game is so fun already, it’s going to be unbelievable when they finish it.
Mine was with The Movies. I was so close to a 4-star movie I could taste it!
Shadow of the Colosus for me: I’ll just save at the shrine nearest the next colosus. Well, I’m so close I may as well see what it looks like. Hell, since I’m already here…
Civ4 even has my wife playing “for just one more tech”, and has got to be the king of “What time is it!?”
EQ2, Civ4, Empire At War Demo
Space Rangers 2.
Must get to Kapella in 35 days. Must grab those under-priced luxuries. Must get the cash to buy a better hull…
It’s midnight and I’m thinking this game can’t be THAT good. I can try it for an hour before bed. Three hours later…
It’s always a bad idea to start a game at midnight. This has been my undoing more than once. I just need a couple of turns…
I like it how Civ 4 has a built an alarm clock, just to tell you “This is too addicting, so let us remind you your life at seom point”.
-Shiroko
For me, the most recent one is Hammer and Sickle. I’m fully expecting Space Rangers 2 to be the next. I promise, Stroker, I’ll get back to WoW soon. ;D
Fired up Mario Smash Football at midnight with wife… “Just one match, to chill out”.
Baby starts crying: “now that’s strange, he only wakes up every couple of hours for his milk…” “Gosh it’s 3 am!!”
Evil genious was almost a great game. I would really like another developer to take a stab at that kind of game. I think the entire genra (not theme) of that kind of game would be lots of fun.
The fundemental problems for me were:
Suggestions for any devs who might be considering a game like this:
Downloaded Last Days and tried it based on this post. I didn’t realize any mod was this advanced yet. I spent an hour just in the new and improved arena. Holy 4 on 4 free-for-all!
That said, Gothic II kept me up till 2:30 Saturday nite.
Yeah I´m hooked too. Charging down a group of uruks with your riders of rohan never seems to get old. And best of all you can finally win the game by eliminating factions.
A sequel is in the works from Rebellion who picked up the license after the original devs folded. Don’t think there is much hard information on it yet, but as long as the menu screen has synchronized frogmen in the background I’m happy.
Don’t mean to turn this into a Mount and Blade thread, but oh well.
About the Last Days mod:
Yeah, I had my first battle against the Uruk-hai last night. I’m very early on, so it’s just me and my horse, Lumpy. I made oh, 100 passes, barely avoiding those wicked bent blades every time and whittling down a group of 15 or so. I had the “Uruk-hai” track from the LOTR soundtrack going in the background. I really love this mod, it changes the game completely. There are actually factions that you can be a part of now. I think you can even be on Mordor/the orcs side, or Isengard. You can also see all the unique areas from the books/movies on the map (the white city, Isengard, the gates of Mordor, Osligarth, etc.). I haven’t really used some of the new features yet, but apparently:
Some factions, in fact all but Mordor (and even then, they can get really, really hurt) can be wiped completely off the map. Not sure how you do this, I assume you just attack and attack their convoys/spawn areas. To my knowledge there are no city battles yet (though the code exists for them . . . you can run onto the battlements in some settlements and also jump on roofs).
There is some kind of influence system now. Apparently as you win battles, complete quests, etc you build up influence points. You can use these points to recruit units from characters like Theoden (ranging from wimpy Rohan Squires to bad ass full Veteran Riders of Rohan). You can also use it to say, make a random allied patrol you encounter follow you around, join you, or fight with you. In this manner you could lead huge armies against other huge armies. I can’t wait to delve into this area.
As mentioned, the arena/tournament is much, much improved. In fact the tournament bit is borrowed/included from another mod, the Arena mod (which has the addition of Jousting in its new release … way fun with multiple passes, unseating, and a secondary melee combat round). There are siege attack recreations, 6v6v6v6 battles, all kinds of craziness. You also get way more money for winning these crazy battles and at higher levels can bet more. It’s a great, fun way to make money.
I never thought a little indie game could be this good. I read about it but dismissed it as many people were saying it’s “not finished”. This is true, but the core sandbox mode stuff is all there. It has all the gameplay elements to get you hooked into a 2:45 moment. Loot to win, stats to increase, randomly generated terrain for battles, quests to take, multiple ways to behave (for instance you can rob caravans blind or offer to escort them for a price), multiple paths to take (want to be a bad assed archer who can get headshots from horseback while riding down a hill or a bad assed knight in full battle armor who swings a two handed sword while fighting knee deep in a river?), just so much. I love that momentum gives extra damage and can knock opponents over, thus recreating real calvary charges. Too bad you can’t do “V” formations for charges yet, but I’m sure that’s coming eventually. I love how you have to block with one button and actually time it according to attacks, then counter attack with the other button. This can create really kinetic and desperate one on one battles wher eyou actually feel like you overcame someone instead of just button-mashed them. In fact, even against multiple opponets you can hold your own by quickly facing in different directions and timing your blocks. Realistically though, if you are against more than two enemies they surround you and you get killed pretty quickly.
Love this game, it’s at the top of my playlist for now.