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findingbxlance · 4 years

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I love The Sims.

Which is why I will never stop being disappointed in TS4.

Lets do some math, and I’m going to keep this mainly between TS3 & TS4. While I did play TS2, there isn’t a lot of information readily available on what the games themselves cost at the time of release. I have some information on that, but I’m not sure if it’s 100% accurate as I was baby when they came out and my mom had to buy them for me. I’ll release it later if anyone is curious.

TS3 launched with a base game priced at $49.99, and throughout it’s lifetime accrued nine stuff packs at $19.99 each, and eleven expansion packs priced at $39.99 a pop. This comes to a total of $669.79.

TS4 launched with a base game price of $59.99 (that price soon dropped to $49.99 because the backlash was immediate), and introduced the new game pack. In total (as of 4/15/2020), TS4 has sixteen stuff packs at $9.99 each, eight expansion packs at $39.99, and eight game packs at $19.99. That comes to a total of $699.67.

That’s not a huge price difference. All in all, it’s about $30 if you want to get the whole, complete collection, so why do I dislike TS4 so vehemently?

Quality.

Let’s compare a few expansion packs just to get a feel for what the difference is.

TS3 launched the “Late Night” expansion at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Bridgeport) with 82 lots

Fame & reputation systems

Bars & night clubs

Apartments with penthouse suites

Subways

Elevators

Breast & muscle sliders in CAS*

Zodiac signs

A fountain tool*

Height adjustment for wall objects

Groups & bands

Butlers

Vampires!

The mixology skill

2 new traits (shy & star quality)

TS4 launched the “Get Famous” expansion at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Del Sol Valley) with 11 lots

Fame & reputation systems

Active acting career

Multiple ways to become famous

Music, video station, etc.

And that’s about it.

Now I’ll be the first person to admit that TS3 wasn’t perfect. Although it was a very full game, it struggled in areas of performance. With such large, open worlds, and detailed customization systems, it was pretty buggy for a lot of people, but we’ll talk on that more later.

But what I want to focus on is the disparity between these two packs, as they’re supposed to be mirrors of one another. “Get Famous” is the TS4 version of “Late Night”, so where did all the stuff go?

Well, EA broke it into 3 packs.

To get the full experience of “Late Night” in TS4, or at least something similar, you would need to purchase, “Get Famous”, “City Living”, and “Vampires”. That’s 2 expansion packs, and 1 game pack. So, to replicate the experience of “Late Night” you would need to spend $99.97.

That’s almost $100.

So, for an experience we paid $39.99 previously in the last installment, we’re now being asked to pay $100 for.

Is that fair?

Lets do another expansion pack comparison:

TS3 launched “Ambitions” at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Twinbrook) with 82 lots

5 new active jobs that take you all around the world your sims inhabit

Firefighter, investigator, ghost hunter, stylist, and architectural designer

Self-employment

Sculptors, inventors, painters, writers, gardeners, and so on can all profit from at home work

Laundry

Tattooing career

New traits (eco-friendly, good observer, weirdo, etc.)

Consignment stores

Inventing

Sculpting

TS4 launched “Get to Work” at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Magnolia Promenade) with 4 lots

3 new active jobs that take place in one location

Detective, doctor, scientist

Baking & photography skills

Retail lots

Illnesses for sims

Aliens

There’s definitely more crossover here, but “Get to Work” still falls short. $39.99 for a full game and all we get is a world with 4 lots? Even in TS2 “Open for Business” we had more to do.

And, that isn’t to mention the fact that “Get to Work” launched separately from the TS4 “Laundry Day Stuff” pack. So, to get a similar experience to TS3′s “Ambitions” you would need to purchase both “Get to Work” and “Laundry Day Stuff” at a total of $49.98.

One more comparison for good measure.

TS3 launched “Island Paradise” at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Isla Paradiso) with 118 lots, the most of ANY TS3 expansion

Houseboats that can move anywhere around the island

Resorts that you can either visit, or own, manage & edit

New transportation modes

Boating, skiing, and windsurfing

3 new careers

Lifeguard, resort manager, scuba diver

Diving into fully realized underwater scenes

Sims could also catch fish, explore underwater caves & find sunken treasure

Shark & kraken attacks

Mermaids!

Missions to discover and unlock new islands

Blueprint templates*

TS4 launched “Island Living” at $39.99, and it included:

A new world (Sulani) with 11 lots

Docks & new foundation types

4 new careers

Conservationist, diving, fishing, and lifeguard

Mermaids!

Boats

Missions to clean up the island

2 new traits

In the case of “Island Paradise” vs. “Island Living” there are a quite a few similarities, but the disparity remains. Thankfully, this time around EA didn’t break “Island Living” into multiple packs, but imagine if in a few months we get a resort style pack? Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past EA.

In these pack comparisons, I hope I’ve highlighted some of the issues between what should have been pretty similar packs.

And, to clarify, I’m not saying that EA should have just copy pasted TS3 packs into the TS4 style, but for the amount of money they’re asking, the quality should remain the same. There should be a similar amount of features between each pack, but there isn’t.

With each expansion, it feels like EA is spending less and less time working on the unique gameplay features, and pouring more time into the general aesthetics of the packs. So, while TS4 is the prettiest of all The Sims titles, it’s also the emptiest.

Despite the shiny veneer of a good game with solid graphics, TS4 ultimately lacks depth. It doesn’t feel like a game, but rather a character creator. I spend more time building sims and their homes than I do actually playing out their lives.

All in all, I find that the “life simulation” part of TS4 is severely lacking. It mostly comes down to the little things, which is exemplified whenever I go back and replay TS2. Sims would cuddle their partner in their sleep, burglars were a real and present danger, raccoons would topple your trash can at any given chance, and friends would call all the time to ask if you wanted to go downtown.

It’s been 6 years since TS4 came out, and, from what the dev’s have said, they aren’t planning on pushing out TS5 anytime soon, but let’s dream a little bit about what could be.

In my perfect game, TS5 would include aspects of TS3 and TS2. The open worlds were great, but not many people’s computers were beefy enough to run them. The one thing I will applaud about TS4, is that its made with everyone in mind. We can’t all afford big, gaming computers, a lot of simmers play on their laptops, and we should all be able to play regardless of what type of machine we’re working with.

So, instead of fully open works with 90+ lots, I would like to see open neighborhoods. If we take the open concept of TS3, and combine it with the neighborhood style of TS4, we’d get an open world of about 15-20 lots. That’s nowhere near as big as TS3, but would allow for more fun neighbor interactions, and remove the constant load screens.

I’d also like to see a return of the color wheel. This is also a point of contention, where I understand that excessive customization really dragged down TS3 and made it unplayable for a lot of people. So instead of full customization, relegate it to just colors (instead of different materials like fabric, metal, wood, etc.,) and just CAS.

I think a lot of what gummed up TS4 was the fact that you could customize everything. Hair color, eye color, makeup, clothes, accessories, wallpaper, paint, tiles, flooring, chairs, sofas, decorations, and on and on. Restricting it just to CAS, and in a simple color wheel would give us so much more freedom.

A color wheel in CAS would also solve EA’s issue of diversity. While they’ve given us the ability to create trans and nonbinary sims (which is fantastic!), they’ve been really slow on any progress when it comes to skin tones. A color wheel would allow us to create sims of all colors, and give power to the players to create more realistic and diverse representations of their lives as sims.

The last thing I would really love to see is a return to the little details. Give us more randomness. Genies, walking skeletons, ruins we can explore that aren’t just rabbit holes, more active careers, more opportunities. Don’t be afraid to give us the weird things, we love the weird things! But don’t forget about the little things. Sims sitting in the grass together and chatting, sims leaving flowers at your door after a really great date, sims scooting together to cuddle while watching a movie together on the couch.

Overall, TS5 should just include more more, if that makes sense.

Leave your comments & thoughts below! I’d love to talk to ya’ll about this, its really been brewing for awhile.

*Features included in TS4 base game.

#the sims #ts4 #sims #sims 4 #simblr

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alexgamereviews · 4 years

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) REVIEW

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is a first person shooter game (FPS) and it was released on October 25, 2019. It’s a reboot of the Modern Warfare series that was originally released in 2007. The game was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is available to play on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC platforms.

In this review I will discuss Multiplayer mode, Spec Ops, Main Storyline and Controversial Politics surrounding the game. Talk about some of the new features in this game. I will briefly explain each mode and what they offer, provide images for context and give my opinion. After the evaluation is done, I will talk about the game overall, what I do and do not like and why I feel this way. Then I will give you my verdict.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is the number one reason most people buy Call of Duty. This game franchise is famous for its dynamics, effects and graphics. Infinity Ward went through a lot of work to make this game different from any of the other games in the series; they created a new game engine that runs the game and added some new mechanics like mounting your gun on the wall, car and other covers before you shoot. You can pick between two factions, “Coalition” which is pretty much countries involved in NATO or “Allegiance’’ which is Russia and some Private Military Companies.

Let’s take a look at all the good and bad sides of the multiplayer mode. Modern Warfare 2019 received a new level design. Now we have multiple entrances to the buildings and a lot of windows. Of course that new map design has its own advantages and disadvantages. This game plays differently now because we have more immersive and interesting gameplay since it makes us use many different tactics to kill the other teams enemy players, however the new map design creates a lot of problems for gamers because the game becomes slow paced. Players just sit in the corners and don’t move; they look through the windows and put proximity mines by the door entrances. Unfortunately, this kills that dynamic gameplay that we had in previous Call of Duties, but everybody likes to play it in their own way; at least the game doesn’t force you to play passively.

The new game mode “Ground War” brings an amazing and new experience of that big war-like feeling the player experienced in the Battlefield series to Call of Duty . You can get in a tank, a car or a helicopter and just have fun in the game. The key to this battle is to capture as many flags as you can and get 250 points in a match in order to defeat the enemy team. The only problem I had with this mode is the undestroyable environment. For example, in Battlefield if you shoot at the building it can fall apart and if you drive over the fence it will break. Unfortunately, Call of Duty does not offer something like that and I believe it is time to change; I hope in the next Call of Duties they will create a destroyable environment and my tank will be able to drive over a small tree or a fence.

“Gunfight” is another gamemode that was added to this new CoD. It is a competitive gamemode where two teams that consist of 2 people each face each other on a small map. In order to win you have to defeat the enemy team 6 times. To prevent people sitting at one spot as in the other game modes, the developers added a timer and when the time is gone both teams have to capture a flag in the middle of a map. This match is fun to play with your friends if you have somebody over or just to test your skills in the game.

Spec Ops

Spec Ops are back in the new Call of Duty:Modern Warfare (2019). That’s a cooperative game mode where 4 players try to complete missions together. Unlike the normal player vs player multiplayer mode, you can pick whatever faction you want. Because you are not assigned to one particular team it doesn’t matter if you are playing as Russian Spetsnaz or a US Marine. You have a list of operations including big spec ops that last a long time where you have a bunch of tasks to complete and classic spec ops. Classic Spec Ops are small maps with one particular task to complete when the time is running. For example, you need to quickly run into the enemy base and grab an intel on their operations and exit the location afterwards. Survival mode is played on one small map from the regular multiplayer match and you have to survive for as long as possible and kill unlimited waves of enemies; you can buy equipment, weapons, weapon upgrades and support streaks like gunship and juggernaut suit.

The problem I faced with Spec Ops is that you have to kill unlimited and overpowered waves of enemies no matter if you’re playing Classic Spec Ops or regular ones. This makes it unplayable since the game was released and we haven’t received many updates or new maps for Spec Ops.

Weapon Customization

Throughout the whole Call of Duty game series, we had weapon customization in multiplayer. However, the new weapon customization system is very different from past games in a good way. You can pick up to 5 weapon attachments and use them to play whatever you want to play.. Some attachments decrease recoil, other attachments help you to improve your aim down sights speed and others can boost your damage. You can also get a grenade launcher or an extra shotgun on your assault rifle. There is a wide variety of guns to choose from and weapons camos as well. The more you play with one gun the more attachments and camouflages you unlock for it. That’s definitely one of my favorite customization systems in Call of Duty.

Main storyline and its controversial politics

Call of Duty:Modern Warfare (2019) is a reboot of the original Modern Warfare trilogy and it has nothing to do with the previous games. Of course, we have some old characters like Captain Price, but the whole game universe and its timeline is completely different. Game developers and scenarist Taylor Kurosaki tried to make this brand new Call of Duty controversial and make the player feel like there’s no good or bad characters, because war doesn’t have good sides. However, it didn’t work and a lot of gamers were disappointed because we didn’t get what we expected. After the game was released and was available to buy it got a 2.4 rating on Metacritic website. Let’s take a look at the main story and try to figure out why.

One of the missions that was controversial in this game is Embedded. The main protagonist Alex, a CIA agent, goes to the country called Urzikstan to fight Al-Qatala (AQ). Here he meets one of the key main characters, Farah Karim, a woman who is in charge of a rebel organization that fights AQ and the Russian army who occupied Urzikstan and also fights Al-Qatala. First of all, the mission starts with Alex going down to one of the districts to bomb the Russian helicopters and sabotage Russian army supplies. Starting from the beginning of the mission, we see how the Russian army makes the people of Urzikstan their own slaves, they build buildings for the Russian and are executed when they don’t obey. After a few minutes of gameplay you can see how the Russian army hangs people on the construction crane because they didn’t let them know where AQ leaders were hiding. Also, throughout the mission you hear general Roman Barkov (one of the main antagonists) saying that he tries to protect Russia and the whole world. I believe that developers mixed up Russians with Nazis, because only Nazies could do that kind of horrible things to innocent people.

Another controversial moment in the campaign was a mission called “Highway of Death.” The reason this mission was so hype on the internet is that during the briefing, Farah says that this highway was bombed by the Russian forces when civilians were trying to escape and it led to thousands of deaths. In fact, that is a real life event that happened on Highway 80, located between Iraq and Kuwait. It was bombed in 1991 by Coalition forces when the Iraq army and many citizens were escaping and it led to thousands of deaths and abandoned vehicles as a result. Scenarists decided to blame the Russian army in their game which is clearly propaganda and an attempt to hide military crimes of the United States army.

Finally, another mission that was probably the most controversial in the game is called “Hometown”. During this mission, we play as a kid Farah. She and her little brother get attacked by the Russian army and are gassed. At the beginning of the mission, her father picks her up and runs to their house to grab all the essentials like documents, radio and backpack. Unfortunately, after a few seconds a Russian soldier gets in their house and starts attacking Farah’s dad. Why? I have no idea. The game doesn’t explain this. Then we have to hide from this soldier because he tries to kill us. Finally we find a screwdriver and stab him. We get his gas mask and then we leave the house. As we are trying to leave the town we see hundreds of dead civilians and animals. Then we see how the Russian army executes people by shooting them. At the end of the mission we try to steal their truck and Farah’s little brother says he’s gonna drive (He is about 8-10 years old, so that makes absolutely no sense). However, general Barkov catches us before the truck runs its engine and puts us in prison with our brother.

I really think they could have made a great story in this game, but something went wrong and instead of getting this grey moral with no bad or good guys we get Russians who act like Nazis and general Barkov who has no motives to create chaos in Urzikstan. I get why so many people are disappointed because it wasn’t something Infinity Ward promised to our gaming community and I get why this game got a 2.4 rating on Metacritic. However, this game also has a lot of good sides and I think it deserves something better than just hate for the main story because it’s not the main thing people play Call of Duty for.

Verdict

In conclusion, I enjoyed playing Call of Duty. Even though the campaign wasn’t the best and many people including me didn’t get the main plot and Russians being bad for no reason; I still enjoyed multiplayer. The graphics are amazing and sometimes it feels like the game developers inherited the best traditions of Michael Bay and Hollywood in general. You can see beautiful and juicy explosions everywhere, the new game engine makes the lighting look nice and the guns sounds seem real. My verdict is GOOD. It’s fun to play multiplayer and spend lots of time in it, but if you are more into the storyline it’s not worth it and you should probably go back to the original Modern Warfare trilogy. There is a lot of hate over the storyline but it’s not the biggest part of the brand new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Graphics: 8.5/10

Multiplayer: 9/10

Main story: 6.5/10

Total: 8/10

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onychaos · 7 years

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Sonic and Shantae Adventure (SAGE 2017) Demo

Where do I begin with this one… I have played bad fan games before, but damn, this one takes the cake. But let’s get into this “gem” of a game.

Before you can play, the game will give you the option to use a control or a keyboard. It would be best to use. It is a control layout, so it does not matter what you pick.

When you first start the game, you are dropped into the level, No cutscene, just an action stage. This stage is called “Emerald Garden” It uses level pieces from the advance series.

This opening stage is all over the place, there are pits in some annoying areas, the level layout is not too bad… but zone two is very questionable. But I’m jumping the gun. For sonic, he has light blue rings as a means to use his light speed dash.

I also want to talk about sonic, in this game, he feels heavy when he jumps, his momentum feels akin to Sonic 4 momentum, if you roll while holding right or left, you gain momentum, maybe, too much. This feels awkward to get used to it.

The more I play it, the more the physics and momentum give off a Sonic 4: EP 1 vibe. It really does remind me of that game, it’s not a bad thing mind you, It feels off.

I got off track again. So, let’s see. Emerald Garden has some questionable enemy placement. Or rather, the game has very questionable enemy placement, at times is unfair. You have to take your time, should you go fast, you will end up falling into a pit or running into an enemy with almost no time to react.

But the emerald garden stage is a fairly easy level if you ignore the pits. It’s a standard platformer stage. After beating Emerald Garden, you are off to fight Eggman, this boss fight is based on the Sonic Advance 2’s, “Leaf forest” boss.

But after beating the boss, you are warped to Scuttle Town, (Yes, from Shantae), where you get a cutscene that is pretty much a plot dump. Eggman and Risky boots have teamed up and you must stop them.

Here is the main hub world for this game, After beating Emerald garden zone, which is a level and a boss. Sonic gets one more zone, for the demo to play in. And boy, this next stage for Sonic is.. I really don’t like it.

The level select hub room is based on Sonic Advance 3, where, if you complete a zone, you can come back to it later, and play it again.

Now, to get into the second zone… I can understand why Lake Feperd, said this was the worst fan game from sage2017 on his twitter.

So, zone 2 is a fire-based level, or rather, going for a fire theme for the zone.

Lava Filter… Man, this stage is ugh. Enemy placement is awful here. If you are new here, using the dash booster will boost you into an enemy. There are pits here. too many pits that make this a marble-like level.

You can go fast, but you will be punished, with cheap enemy placement and cheap deaths. You need to go slow, so you can avoid cheap deaths and cheap potshots.

Overall, this is not a fun stage, it needs work, a lot of work. I can say, without a doubt, that I truly hate this stage with a passion.

But, should you manage to beat the stage, then the final boss for Sonic, is Sky. And this boss is so easy, that it is sad. Deal with a “Hard” level, only to fight an easy boss. UGH!!!!

I know, I’m being a bit mean but, you need to be this way for games. This way, they will know what to fix or improve.

After beating Sky, You get a cutscene between the two.

Then Sonic story ends with him, talking to Knuckles and Tails, which follows up with Sonic meeting Shantae again and meeting Amy

Just DAMN. Now for Shantae.

If you played the Shantae series, you know she has a Hairwhip attack and magic powers and items. The game gets most of that right, for the most part.

Scuttle Town is our first and only level for Shantae. It’s your normal platformer stage and yes, there are pits but here, they are not too bad, it’s a good thing.

Scuttle Town, you just go right and do some platforming here or there. There is a part where you need to fall down to get to the next area.

After making your way through, you get a cutscene with Sky and Bolo, as they let you know that risky boots, is up ahead. You have a cutscene with Risky Boots, seen below.

The Sonic Vs Sky fight is the same, but Risky Boots has two patterns. Run to the left or right, or jump to the left or right. That’s it. She only has touch damage as an attack and this fight is so boring.

Once Risky boots is beaten, You get a cutscene that ends Shantae part of the demo.

I am not going to bother, playing this game any longer than I need to. Going to give my thoughts on this demo, what I liked and didn’t like.

What I liked

Most the sprite animation looks nice

I like the concept, of a crossover happening

The story needs work but could be good.

What I didn’t like and bugs

This game has too many pits

Enemy placement needs work

The homing attack is broken and need to be fixed

The Lightspeed dash rings, also need work. Pressing the action in the middle of the rings will send sonic backward

Homing attack on a spring kills momentum

Sprites tend to be off the ground or not align well

When Shantae attack in the air, she does not attack but loses momentum for a second

In Lava Filter, if you skip the level trigger (By jumping over it), that takes you to the other half of the stage, the game hard locks.

In short, this game left a bad first impression, I went in knowing what I was getting myself into, but, wow. I did not plan for this, in any way. There are some good ideas here, but there is a lot of coal, burying the diamonds and there is a lot that needs to be done.

The game goes for a Sonic advance style but the physics and momentum for Sonic feel close, to that of Sonic 4’s physics and momentum. It just needs work, is this the worst fan game? No, but it’s pretty close.

If you are making games like this, it’s best to have a team of testers to find what does or doesn’t work. So this way, you will know what needs to be fixed and improved on.

But I am done with this game. There are other characters like Sky, Knuckles, Amy. Only Tails, and Bolo are unplayable, at the moment. I like the ideas here, but they need work and time. I don’t know what game engine, that giga6152 used to make this game. But with a little work, time and effort, this could be a fun fan game.

I am done here. Thanks for reading. :3

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fangame #shantae #giga6152 #sage 2017 #my posts #onychaos

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theultravioletcatastrophe · 7 years

Note

Every whole number x when f(x)=sin(x^0.75), such that f(x) is decreasing

…okay, I put that equation into Wolfram Alpha, but the graphs it shows you by default are extraordinarily hard to read, and you can’t get any further detail without signing up for a Pro (i.e. paid) account, soooooo…. I’m just gonna answer all of them! Hope that’s okay! ^^;;;

1. First console you’ve ever owned?‘Twas the original NES. I was so happy when my parents bought it (although tbh my dad bought it as much for himself as for me). I spent so many hours playing the SMB games… ahh, good times.

3. Favorite childhood game?Hmmm, probably Super Mario Bros. 3. That was the one I spent the longest playing, anyway. My mom even went to the trouble to borrow the strategy guide from the library, photocopy the whole thing, and bind it together into a book for me. My mom was the best. ;_;

4. Longest consecutive hours you’ve played a game?Whew, uhhh, not as long as some people, I’m sure. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 8 hours straight playing games. I’m certainly no match for the likes of Neptune and Vert, that’s for sure. ^^;;;

5. Game with the best soundtrack?I actually really really like the soundtrack from the first Hyperdimension Neptunia game. A lot of those songs just get stuck in my head, y'know? Especially Nepgear’s theme. :3

6. An underrated game from within the last few years?Hmm, gonna go with Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed. It apparently only got a 64/100 on Metacritic, which is WAY too low for how fun this game is.

7. Most disappointing game you’ve played?Honestly? Most of the Jak and Daxter series. I really really wanted to like those games, but I just… couldn’t. There was just something about them that really turned me off. I enjoy other, similar games, so I don’t know what it was. I got all of them for super cheap (like probably $5 each) so it’s not like I spent a bunch of money on them, but I still felt ripped off, y'know?

8. The game with the best atmosphere/scenery?The Metroid Prime games, for me, had some of the best settings. Nicely-rendered and completely appropriate for the feel of the game. If you’ve never played any of the MP games, please do so. If you can play the Wii controls versions, so much the better (it’s playable with the Gamecube controller but once you use the Wiimote to aim Samus’s gun you’ll never go back).

10. Prefer PC or console?Based solely on the number of games amassed, PC wins out, but I honestly don’t prefer one over the other.

11. Have you written any fanfic or made any fanart?…not of video games, no.

12. Most bizarre game you’ve ever played?It’s pretty tame, but probablyyyyyy…. Goat Simulator. Like, what the fuck even is this game.

13. Scariest game you’ve played?Well, I haven’t actually played it yet, but the scariest game I currently own is probably Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion.

14. Do you watch playthroughs online?Not really, no.

15. Favorite animal in a video game?This is kind of an odd question… I’m gonna have to go with Gex the gecko, particularly from the second game. I loved that game so much.

16. The best year in gaming you’ve experienced?Literally every year seems better than the last, so I can’t really answer this question. This year has been pretty amazing so far, but then, I’ve said that about every other year past, so… ^^;;;

17. Have a video game themed background or lockscreen?LOL of course I do! My desktop wallpaper is Neptune and Nepgear, and my phone’s lock screen and home screen are both pics of Purple Heart.

18. Worst game you’ve played?Ooh, interesting question. I don’t really know if I can answer this properly? One of the games that stands out to me is called Sparkle 2 Evo. The graphics were nice but the controls were awful and it was nearly unplayable. The devs might have patched it since, but I kinda lost interest in it so I don’t really care at this point.

19. Hardest game you’ve ever played?The hardest game I’ve seriously played is probably VVVVVV. Fuck that game. >:(

20. Favorite publisher and/or developer?If I don’t say Idea Factory (and/or Compile Heart) I’ll feel like I’m betraying my beloved Neptune, so I’ll go with them.

21. If you had to play one game for the rest of your life, what would it be?I don’t know if this really counts as a video game, but I’m gonna have to say Mamono Sweeper.

22. If you could turn one game into movie, which would it be?The first game that sprang to mind was Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It was such a cool game, I’d love to see a cinematic version of it (also can you IMAGINE Samus on the big screen? EEEEEEEEEEEEEE).

24. Ever cried because of a video game? Which one(s)?Oh, probably! I know SMB3 made me cry when I was little because there was one level I just couldn’t beat no matter how many times I tried it. I forget which level it was now, lol.

25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?Hmmm, probably the time I finally actually beat Indalecio in Star Ocean 2, when you do the event where his power limiter is removed and he basically becomes a god. Fuck me sideways, that was an insane fight.

26. How often do you play online? Co-op?Almost never! The last game I played co-op was MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombies (I played with @aboutthreeneps), but I really don’t do online gaming much.

27. Have you gotten any friends into gaming?Maybe? Most people I’m friends with are either already into gaming, or else they’re not interested, so…. probably not.

28. Who got YOU into gaming?Hmm, I guess it was my dad. I watched him play a bunch of games when I was a small child and was like “THAT LOOKS SO COOL I WANNA DO IT TOO”.

29. Watch cutscenes or skip them?I usually watch them, unless it’s one I’ve seen a bunch of times (or one you can’t skip… damn unskippable cutscenes).

30. On average, how long does it take you in the character creation screen?…quite a while. It depends on the game, I guess. When I made a new character in Stardew Valley today, I spent between 5-10 minutes, but when I was creating a character in Saints Row IV, I probably spent close to an hour tweaking every little variable to get it just right.

32. Do you cosplay?Not really, although I did cosplay as Squall from Final Fantasy 8 one time. I still have the gunblade sitting around somewhere.

33. Favorite female npc?34. Favorite male npc?These two questions are really hard for me to answer! Mostly because I find games fall into either one of two categories: ones where the NPCs are faceless and forgettable, and ones where the NPCs are extremely well-done and I love all of them.

35. Best protagonist?Neptune, duh.

36. Best antagonist?I like GLaDOS from Portal.

37. Ever been made fun of for playing video games?Hmm, I don’t think so.

38. Have you tried a game, hated it, then tried again, and loved it?Again, I don’t think so? There’s been plenty of games where I’ve been like “meh” at first and then “OMG THIS GAME IS AWESOME” later, but I don’t think there’s any I really hated that I went back and liked later.

39. Do you play for achievements/trophies?Not explicitly, or at least, not at first. I tend to play through the story of a game first, and then on my second playthrough I’ll try to get most of the achievements.

40. Favorite voice actor?A new favourite, but a favourite nonetheless: Megan Hollingshead.

41. Gone to a midnight release before?Nope! Any of the games I’ve been excited for either never had this sort of event, or else they did but I just got on the bandwagon too late. I’m incredibly behind the times when it comes to keeping up with this sort of thing. T_T

42. A game you will never forget (in a bad OR good way)?Star Ocean 2. That game will stay with me forever. In a good way. :3

43. Favorite sidekick or companion?Ooh, good one! I really liked Eryn from Fairy Fencer F. She’s such a sweetie, and Fang treats her like garbage for most of the game, so I think I was especially drawn to her because he wasn’t.

44. Do graphics matter?They have to be done well, and the style has to fit with the overall style of the game. Other than that, I don’t care. A game isn’t instantly better by having more realistic graphics or whatever, I don’t care.

45. Do you like funny or more serious games?I tend to like more funny games, overall.

46. Always, sometimes, or never use subtitles?Sometimes. It really depends on the game.

47. First person or Third person?Both??? How is this even a question lmao

48. A game you’ve always wanted to play but have never gotten to it?Bastion. I watched a friend play some of it and it looked super cool, and I own it, I’ve just never played it for some reason.

49. A game you haven’t played in forever, but want to replay?Hmm, I kind of want to play Cave Story again. I love that game

50. How many games to do you own?I currently have 186 games in my Steam inventory, and counting the various consoles I own it’s probably at least 250.

51. First character you’ve had a crush on?I can’t really think of any right now! I did kind of have a crush on Princess Toadstool in Super Mario RPG, I guess that’s the earliest character I can remember.

52. A game you will always stand behind, and support no matter what?All of the Hyperdimension Neptunia games. I own all 4 of the main series games (Re;Birth 1-3 and VII) and 4 of the spinoff games (Nep U, Hyperdevotion Noire, MegaTagmension, and PP), and I’ve bought more Neptunia merchandise than I have for any other game series.

53. Your most immersive game?Most of the Pokemon games, for me, have been pretty immersive. Like, I take it upon myself to learn everything about them, I keep written notes on lots of stuff, I actively plan out my strategies in advance, etc.

54. A sequel you really want?Hmm, can’t think of too many. Most of my favourite games are series anyway, so they already have sequels. :P

55. How much time, on average, do you play in a week?Hard to say, some weeks I barely play at all, some weeks that’s all I do. I’d say on average, like taking the arithmetic mean, it’d be around an hour a day.

56. Do you tell people irl that you play video games?Oh, for sure. There’s not really a stigma around it anymore since everyone plays video games these days (the whole notion of “gamers are over” and all that).

57. What is an overrated game you’ve played?Basically every MMO I’ve ever played. I just don’t get the appeal.

58. Ever have someone walk in on a sex scene between you and you LI?I’m going to assume that “LI” stands for “love interest,” like as in the love interest of the main character of a game, otherwise this question makes no sense (even as is it doesn’t make much sense). No, this has never happened. I can’t recall any games I’ve ever played that have had explicit sex scenes. Other than, like… HuniePop or something, but even that’s not really explicit, it’s mostly just moaning. (Unless they released some super-X-rated update or something, I haven’t touched that game in a loooooooong time.)

59. A game you are looking forward to this year?

FOURGODDESSESONLINE

61. A game you know everything about?Star Ocean: The Second Story. I know that game like the back of my hand. I could probably play it blindfolded.

62. Would you want to work with video games when you are older?I want to work with video games now! I *AM* older, dammit! (Especially after watching all of New Game!, I really wanna work for a development studio. I don’t even care doing what, I just wanna be in the industry!)

63. What’s a game that has inspired you?Hmm, I can’t really think of any games that have “inspired” me. Like, in what way? I don’t know.

64. Describe your favorite video game using only three words?Neptune = best girl. (I don’t know if an equals sign counts as a word, if so you can take it out and my point still stands.)

65. Any favorite screenshots of games?I’ve posted a few on my tumblr, mostly from Nep games.

66. Game with the yummiest looking food?Uhhhh…. hmmm. I mean, Portal had that delicious-looking cake. Stardew Valley has some decent food too.

67. Most violent game you’ve played?Honestly, probably One Finger Death Punch. Being that the entire point of the game is slaughtering hundreds of enemies with either your fists or whatever weapons you happen to find lying around. I mean, it’s all stickmen, but still.

68. An older game that you’ve just recently gotten into?I honestly can’t think of any! The oldest game I’ve gotten into *recently* is the aforementioned Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed, but that came out in 2014, so I don’t know if it’s old enough for the purposes of this response.

69. Your first LI?…not quite sure what this means. Love interest? Like, first character from a game I fell in love with? First game I played where the main character had a love interest? I honestly don’t know how to answer this one.

70. Do you play any mobile games?A few. Not counting portable consoles (i.e. the 3DS or PS Vita), I have a handful of games on my phone (Sailor Moon Drops, Monument Valley, Mushihimesama, I even have Carmageddon on my phone (yes, they released an iOS port of that game somehow)).

71. A game you can’t stop talking/thinking about at the moment?Well I did just pick up Stardew Valley again, so I’m probably gonna be thinking about that for a while. Same with that Neptunia idol game, I just started playing that and it’s super fun.

72. Have any guilty pleasure games?Of course not, why do you ask?

73. A game with the best fandom?Overall, my experience has been that Neptunia fans are all pretty awesome. :D

74. Which game has the best lore?I actually love the lore from the Metroid series. The whole history with Samus and the Chozo is so interesting to me.

75. Do you focus on main storyline/quest or do sidequests first?I do both! I’ll play the main storyline until either (1) I need to grind more because the enemies/bosses are getting stronger, (2) I need to get better equipment and need either materials for crafting, or money for buying stuff, or (3) the main story is in a lull and I get an interesting side quest. Usually once I go off on a sidequest tangent, I don’t come back for a good long while (to the point where I’ll stop playing the game for a while and then when I come back to it I’m like “ok wtf was I supposed to be doing? I don’t remember, maybe I’ll just start over again lol”).

These were fun questions, thanks for asking! ^_^

#ask #euthymiclurker #video games #ask me a thing!#also sorry rachel someone inadvertently beat you to the punch #partly due to my inability to do complicated math anymore lol

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blogcorrineblake-blog · 7 years

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The Recipe for Great ODIs

One Day Internationals (ODIs) are the awkward middle child of the cricket fraternity. Tests have seniority and T20s are the adored young'un. But ODIs have their moments. The question is though, what makes an exciting one?

First and foremost: a close margin of victory (say, under 10 runs or two wickets) or a tie. Bat and ball balance is also crucial. If a game is weighed in favor of the batsmen, with nothing in it for the bowlers, then it's going to be predictable. A good example would be the India-Australia ODIs in early 2016. There was nothing in it for the bowlers there, and the batsmen were made to run up as high a score as possible on slow and predictable tracks. Only once were 10 wickets in an innings taken (out of 10 innings) and only once (out of 10 times) did a team score at under 6. Almost 52 runs were scored per wicket, to hammer home the complete dominance of the batsmen over the bowlers. The series was also pretty unmemorable as well. That was helped by the fact that the games had no context (something which I'll get to later) and the fact that 300 is par for the course. This would've been a memorable series for that if it was 10 or 20 years ago when 300 was less achievable, but now, it's really nothing. You know what's going to happen, both teams will make 300, few wickets will fall. It might make for a tense final few overs, but aside from that, it's quite boring to watch.

Stepping even further down the rabbit hole, there are ODIs in their more extreme. Ones which completely and utterly throw out balance. First of these two kinds, ones which are heavily stacked in favor of the bowlers. When something like 105 can be defended by almost 40 runs, that's certainly a pitch for the bowlers. These can be thrilling because every ball you know something will happen. Runs don't matter, just surviving. Every ball which isn't dangerously close to a wicket is an unusual one. The atmosphere is charged in anticipation for the next unplayable ball.

At the complete opposite end of the scale are the games where it's all there for the batsmen. There's no slow pitch and outfield, making the bowlers look slightly better, it's a flat pitch with pace, a quick outfield and possibly a Wanderers level thin atmosphere. Things are so bad for the bowlers that you just don't care anymore. Instead, enjoy the show. Johannesburg 2006 is the best example of this type of game. Australia smashed the record for highest score, with, Katich aside, the Australian crew blitzing quick fifties, but South Africa ran so quickly at the start that there was no way they weren't going to reach the target unless they ran out of wickets, which started to happen once Smith and Gibbs were dismissed. Boucher, however, kept his nerve, chipped Lee over the infield when the scores were level to seal the most extraordinary of wins. These types of games are exciting because every single ball can be a boundary, and wickets come more in these games than on the slow, flat pitches, because the batsmen, drunk in their success, might get a bit too cute and mistime one. So the bowlers aren't necessarily out of the equation here.

If there's balance between bat and ball, scores of 270-9/268-10 will be more expected. A balance between bat and ball would be if there's something in the pitch for the bowlers (like some swing, seam, turn and/or uneven bounce for good bowlers to exploit) but if the batsmen apply themselves, then they'll succeed. A recent example of these types of games would be England vs South Africa at the start of 2016. Alex Hales made a fifty in every game, and he did that by playing out the good balls, punishing the not-so-good ones and batting deep. AB de Villiers won the decider for South Africa by doing just that as well. This series was arguably the best ODI series of 2016, and it's because two quality sides played some quality cricket to produce 5 exciting games. Perhaps the most famous ODI ever was one like this: the World Cup semi final of 1999 at Edgebaston. 213 then is pretty much 270 now, both teams had good bowlers (Pollock took 5 wickets, Warne and Donald took 4) who exploited a helpful pitch but faced some resistance from batsmen who applied themselves (Bevan, Waugh, Rhodes, Kallis) Going a bit further down, there's also the possibility of a pitch favoring the bowlers. The match was immortalized by that heartbreaking run out, but everything before that is what makes it as close to a perfect ODI as possible. Why these are the best type is because nearly every ball you know something will happen, be it a good ball that's kept out, a good shot that goes away to the fence, an excellent spell, an outrageous innings that somehow worked, a chanceless innings on a tough pitch, they can all happen, and they're always what people want.

The two games commonly seen as the two best ODIs were the aforementioned Edgebaston semi final and Johannesburg 2006. Both were exciting games on widely different pitches, but they both had one other thing going for them: context. The Edgebaston semi final is a World Cup semi final, it has context beyond belief. The fact that it came right down to the wire made it all the more exciting. The Johannesburg 2006 game was the last game in a series where Australia had come back from 2-0 to 2-2. These were the two best teams in the world, this was a World Championship of sorts. Many ODIs nowadays have a complete lack of context (T20Is have this problem too, but those games are shorter and rarer so it's less of a problem), so as a result, games just aren't memorable because they mean nothing. The ways to solve this would be to introduce the ODI league, or just play only tournaments (like triangular and quadrangular series) in addition to the trophies. So to make the new best ODI, bat and ball balance, a margin of victory of under 10 runs or 2 wickets or a tie, and preferably context, like a World Cup final.