A Giant Passes Into the Night

DarthVader is no more. The tremendously popular DarthMod modification for the Total War series, having now been present in Medieval II, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 will not be returning for future iterations. A tremendous figure in the modding community, he has once again gone into retirement, this time seemingly for good.

I appreciate DarthMod like ballet and opera. I didn't always get it, or even enjoy it for that matter but I was glad it existed. It felt like it added something to the world, and others took immense pleasure from it. He was doing something nobody else seemingly could - complex AI scripting, unit rebalancing, and campaign AI that was not built from bricks and dog droppings.

Now, after a not so subtle slight from a Creative Assembly official he is calling it quits again.

"There are some mods out there that claim to do things that are impossible to do within the limitations that exist at the moment, for example."

Not exactly subtle. But I've long been under the impression that Darth is a one man band - likely this is why he was passed over during a previous interview for a programming position within the company.

But I can't help but feel Darth's passing also marks the end of an era in TotalWar games. Empire began the trend of DLC over mod support and Shogun 2 has again shown the company's intentions of continuing to downplay the community's role in the development of the games. I can only surmise Rome 2  will follow this trend, insisting on the purchase of company made content over player creativity. One need only to look at the success of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to see how a lively and energetic community can add value to existing works and attract new audiencs.


Source:
http://www.pcgamesn.com/totalwar/total-war-mod-darthmod-empire-v80-platinum-released-developer-retires-total-war-modding

And for popular press release:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/21/darthmod-creator-retires/

Roman Pools were Better than Yours

They just don't make them like they used to. This is the deluxe edition obviously, found in present day Turkey. Apparently a farmer was tilling along and hit this with his plow. A whole pool. With nearly perfect intact intricately laid tile work.

The Romans were the masters of a number of things, the most important being engineering. Just look at all the present day highways laid over existing Roman roads - some cities even still get their water via ancient aqueducts.

When I was looking to post this article, I actually came across a reference to it on History.com. Which apparently is owned by the History Channel. Imagine my surprise to find actual history there - and not ancient aliens who build pools on the ice while trading in the pawned logs.

Source:
http://www.history.com/news/giant-roman-mosaic-unearthed-in-turkey

Rome Rising

     Some games are immortal. It doesn't matter how old they are, how much age the graphics bear out - they are still fun the moment they are picked up again. The first is Ocarina of Time the second is Medieval 2: Total War by the Creative Assembly.
     Two months ago Total War: Rome 2 was announced. Forget the name change, the producers are just trying to create a Call of Duty like consistency for easy brand recognition, after all they are following up one of their most successful games to date. The important part is that the sequel has finally been announced - just look at the above screenshot to raise your heartrate. In fact, the announcement of this game is what inspired me to start this blog. Y'see the writing has been on the wall for the last year as they.
     It was the naval battles introduced in Empire: Total War  and refined in Total War: Shogun 2  that gave it away. A decided improvement over the auto calculated triumphs (or more often failures in my case) of the original sea conflicts. Giant lumbering triremes cresting the waves to slam into each other broadside amid the sound of creaking oars and crashing waves. It's an easy image to sell. And it's one that has been specifically built into the new game, which no longer divides sea and land battles - so amphibious assaults happen in real time. Combine this with the additional RPG and story based elements in Shogun 2 and we have a real potential winner here.
    Some ink is already being spread on the lack of diversity represented in screens and press releases, a problem which led to the creation of the Europa Barbarorum  mod for the first Rome: Total War. But I am willing to trust the company here - they have earned it after all. The mod itself ran into problems after all - you can actually be too accurate and exacting at the expense of fun. Because at the end of the day this is a game simulating warfare which depends upon your interest and entertainment to fuel purchases. As wonderful as 30 clone factions re-textured for combat is, you lose the depth and detail behind the the world itself. You don't see its moments of wonder and innovations that are tied to the growth of specific empires. I have always been a fan of fewer more detailed factions over a plethora of clones.
     I eagerly await the upcoming release, and look forward to see the next logical step in the series afterwards - Total War: Medieval 3.

A Bog Army Rediscovered

    The title of the blog does say gaming and history, and this is where the history comes in. Announced today was the discovery of a large number of bodies in the Alken Enge bog of Denmark. The bodies themselves show evidence of fractured skulls and thighbones which have been cut through. Coupled with scattered finds of iron spearheads and even a wooden shield in a similar earth layer there is only one conclusion to draw, this was an army. And every member was sacrificed during the Late Iron Age around 0AD.

    Iron Age sacrifices are not uncommon, but I am unaware of any on this scale. The information is still coming in, but the logical conclusion would be that after a battle this was the losing party - and they were sacrificed by the victors. After all, Alken Enge is a known location for human sacrifice. A custom practiced throughout Europe in the period. The bog itself is important because of the anaerobic environment it provides, which helps to preserve the skeletons and artifacts. It is possible that the custom was much more widespread, but the only evidence which remains can be found in today's remaining marshlands. Regardless, it puts a new light on the risks of warfare during the era. Truly win or die.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120814100302.htm

"A 0.0 Dive"

     It has been a subject of much debate in my household this week of what exactly it would take to get a 0.0 on in the diving routine of the Olympics. The front-runner theory holds that one must "trip while exiting the diving board to then land upon the sidewalk surrounding the pool." This is based of course on the idea that one must botch the initial jump and then not land in the water, otherwise some points would have to be awarded right? Because it is technically a dive at that point.

Boy were we wrong. Last night, a German diver named Stephen Feck decided to brave the high board even though he has been suffering from the flu for the past several days. What ensued can be described simultaneously as both awe-inspiring and cringeworthy.

A triple somersault with an over-rotation that ends in a back flop. A feat that I can only accomplish in my dreams and it gets a score of 0 out of 100 possible points. It helps put into perspective just how out of the ordinary the abilities of these athletes are. Also, it points out that the Olympic committee's idea of failure is grossly misaligned. Or that my imagination needs reworking.

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184761/Diver-Stephan-Feck-falls-flat-attempt-forward-somersault.html#ixzz22s6ccM1K

The Future is Awesome

As a gamer, the Oculus Rift represents everything that is awesome about the future and its possibilities. The GameBoy VR sucked -- hard. But it doesn't mean that a head controlled Virtual Reality Machine wasn't a good idea. I remember going to a Six Flags theme park when I was in my early teens and seeing a VR adventure there. It used the same idea of goggles that allow you to look around in a 3D rendered environment - all while in the comfort of your own chair. I couldn't help but wonder why this wasn't being brought into the home. Now it is.

The project managed to fun itself on Kickstarter in only 24 hours. Asking for $250,000 to get the project started. As of the writing date of this article, it has generated $1,374,00 in pledges. Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks this is cool. And with support from the big names like Notch and Gabe Newell the project is shaping up to really bring something new onto the stage of video gaming.

Source:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game

"The Hobbit" Is A Trilogy Now

Forbes put it best on this one, "the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy weighs in at 1,347 pages not including appendixes. The Hobbit is a mere 285 pages long." And now they both have three films dedicated to them.

I have been following "The Hobbit" since pre-production, and I will readily admit to being very excited about the upcoming film. But then it became two films. Now let's be honest here, The Hobbit is a fun, light, and relatively quick read. I know an unabridged audio copy only runs for 8 hours. So stretching it to two separate three hour films was already pushing it. But Peter Jackson has always been  a bit long-winded in his films so I hoped for the best.

Then the unthinkable happened at Comic-Con during the summer. Peter Jackson said this:
"There's so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven't been able to squeeze into these movies."

And that's when I knew there would be a problem.

Ya see, extended edition DVD's of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy are fine - and this also would have worked great for The Hobbit. You aren't forced to watch the extra content. There is a reason information is put in an appendix. It's too jarring to interrupt the narrative to put it in - and the detrimental effects don't outweigh its value to the story. Tolkien saw this when he wrote the stories.
Jackson does not.

If you want to see what happens when Peter Jackson stretches too little material over too long a time, watch King Kong again. The man needs a more forceful editor, someone to trim the fat off his otherwise very fit and handsome bodies of work. And with the current climate in Hollywood and the amount of power Jackson holds nobody is gonna tell him to back it down.

At the end of the day, it comes down to money for the studios. Warner Brothers is banking on this franchise continuing to make big money, and even at three films I see no indication that this would be otherwise. The cost to extend the production to cover the extra material does not outweigh the potential profits. So now you have three films. Period. It's a disturbing trend you should expect more of, just look at Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2, and the Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End and Dead Man's Chest. 

Regardless, I will still be there opening night crammed in an overfull theater with everyone else. Let's just hope Jackson surprises us with that old magic we've come to expect.

"Mists of Pandaria" Release Date Announced

And my wallet spontaneously opens.

I can't help it. I'm excited. I had an account continuously running for 4 years. I remember the horrors of Molten Core, stepping through the Dark Portal for the first time, defeating the Lich King. All on the same Retribution Paladin I rolled on day one. But after I hit 85 in Cataclysm it just couldn't hold my attention. But now its back - and my bank account groans with anticipation (not the good kind.)

My last year in the game I spent most of my time working on machinima projects (films made using in-game resources) and was even a runner-up in one of Blizzard's own contests. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KdWRcYYOks

But a new job stifled available playtime, so I traded some digital reality for an altered one. But now I have time again... and there's a new expansion.

The monk represents everything I hoped the Paladin class would become in the World of Warcraft, a hard hitting follower of the light who takes crap from no one but is a judicious soul at the core. Ret. Paladins currently play like rogues... except worse, if I wanted a rogue I would have rolled one. But this new "Monk" offers a glimpse of a brave new future.

One where I hit things to heal them.

 Blizzard, there was a $15 a month hole in my heart without you.

NBC's 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies Coverage was Disgraceful

The article title says it all.

Four hours of promo material for NBC's new show "Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer make Comments on Random Things they See."

My personal favorite was when Matt Lauer commented upon the now deceased Kim-Jong-Il's miraculous first golf game.... as the North Korean team entered the stadium for the first time. Bob Costas at least realized the direspect of the comment and gave the anchor equivalent of a "Shut It" by telling Lauer "Sure you joke, you're not going to vacation there."

The epitome of this sycophantic banter comes during the tribute to Britain's national health care system which features thousands of children and doctors (a undoubtedly calculated jab by Boyle at America's current division on the topic.) Vieira comments, "Quite frankly, none of these kids look very sick to me." Really? Your'e taking the piss out right?

And that pretty much sums up the entire experience from the American version of the show. Delayed by 5 hours to make sure it was primetime programming -  NBC's editing was butchery, so you know the delay wasn't to improve the quality of the broadcast. There were constant cuts away to seemingly random clips (such as Rugby during the national anthems at the start.) And at one especially disgusting juncture viewers were treated to a hideously scripted and uninformative interview with swimmer Michael Phelps - instead of a tribute to the victims of the 7/7 terror attacks in London that played in every home outside the United States. Whoever at NBC made that call deserves to lose their job. Make sure to follow the link below and view what NBC decided you didn't need to see.

http://deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see

And it's a shame because Danny Boyle really did create a very cinematic experience throughout the show, the height of which is pictured above. And as a director you know he had a vision of what the telecast should look like.

But if you blinked during the American showing you likely missed it. You would have seen though that 'Chevy Runs Deep' and Visa sponsors the Olympic games. And you most assuredly would have heard about it as there were constant cuts away to the hosts watching the ceremonies unfold. Instead of the viewer. When a beautiful song is being sung to an entire stadium that stands it rapt attention, it is considered bad form to narrate your experience to the audience Meredith Vieira. This isn't radio. We can see it for ourselves. 

Or we could have on the BBC broadcast of the same event.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-07-27/london-olympics-opening-ceremony-tv-blog/56547198/1

"Dawnguard" and Artificial Scarcity

It's July 27th, 2012. And for everyone that doesn't own an XBox 360 that can only mean one thing. The 30-day exclusivity agreement between Bethesda and Microsoft has ended. The sun has risen on "Dawnguard" and the first piece of DLC for the widely acclaimed Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is here.

Only it isn't.

In fact not only was the DLC not released for PC and PS3 users today, instead we were greeted with a series of cryptic and frankly disrespectful comments from Bethesda's VP of Marketing, Pete Hines.

"We have not announced Dawnguard for any other platform, nor given a timeline for any such news. If we have news, I promise I'd tell you."

Followed shortly after by:

"Sometimes it's better to say nothing until you can provide solid info than say something before you can."

    And that's where I would have to disagree with you Pete. We live in a digital world where information travels faster than sound, so it's not like the fanbase could not have been warned. When "Dawnguard" was first announced the internet went rabid in anticipation, everyone knew that something was coming and it would be great. And instantly people began to discuss the new content's upcoming release for PS3 and PC. Not for one day. But since May people have discussed its upcoming release on the day after the 30-day exclusive content contract with Microsoft ends. And then today nothing but the above messages.

    The product exists, it has been widely sold for over a month. And now it is being withheld using the marketing strategy of artificial scarcity. An especially despicable tactic that believes by offering the DLC to Microsoft users only initially it will drive sales of the game on their platform and by extension drive hardware sales. The item is scarce solely because of producers withholding the content - similar to what happened with the initial Nintendo Wii launch and the the entire Diamond industry (Look 'em up, it makes for good reading.)

    I gotta tell ya, I own an Xbox and a PC and its not making me want to pick up a third Xbox 360 to be able to play the content (Yes, third - I have already had two fail with bad disc drives.) Now half of Bethesda's player base is left scratching their heads and wondering how much Microsoft is paying to keep the item solely on their shelves.

...And not anticipating the game's next DLC. Bad PR move guys.


Sources:


http://www.statisticbrain.com/skyrim-the-elder-scrolls-v-statistics/
http://kotaku.com/5929541/skyrim-dawnguard-30+day-xbox-360-exclusivity-has-now-exceeded-30-days

"Assassin's Creed III: Liberation" Sex and Treachery

UBISOFT's Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is an upcoming release for the PS Vita which will feature the series' first female protagonist. Assassin's Creed itself has a surprisingly strong female following in the gaming community - strong enough that it loudly voiced disapproval when Ubisoft announced that the third hero in the franchise would again have a Y chromosome. As a gamer who has played and loved every entry in series I was also hoping for something we hadn't seen previously.

Almost as if they expected the backlash, Ubisoft has released screens for an upcoming handheld game with a notably more curvaceous lead. But something is rotten in the state of Denmark (actually Bulgaria in this case, as the game is being developed by Ubisoft Sofia). Recent press released have tacked on that the game world itself is developed by Abstergo Entertainment.

For a quick background, Abstergo is the antagonist of the series. A group of modern day Knights Templar bent on world domination who fight against our plucky assassins who only want to live free in a world without tyrannical rule. The series uses a deus-ex-machina (or a McGuffin machine) that allows modern mankind to access their DNA and thus travel back through time and space and relive the lives of their ancestors in a virtual world. Both sides use the technology to discover lost secrets and train their modern agents.

None of this is new information. But I found the recent press release about the new handheld game being developed by the "bad guys" to be puzzling, the blogosphere is buzzing with speculation. Until I considered the gaming industry. My past predictions on gaming trends have been accurate, so much so that I was encouraged to start sharing my views. Follow the logic closely it will move quick.

- The game takes place in Abstergo Industries (proven)
- All "past lives" require current users with the DNA of their ancestors. (proven)
- The current user is a Templar (Logical Conclusion, it takes place at Abstergo)
- If the current user is a Templar, and the game features an assassin. At some point an assassin had to defect to the Templars. (Logic again)
- The first female protagonist in the Assassins Creed series is a stinkin' traitor.

You might need to go back and read that last line again. Deductive reasoning is a powerful tool when applied properly. Unfortunately it's all part of the mindset of male writers in the video game industry. Why else make sure we all know the character is female? It signifies a tonal shift. Why else would they again make sure we all know this is an "Abstergo Entertainment" game for the FIRST TIME in the series. Again change.

If you have a strong independent female protagonist whose sex is being touted before the game's release she is either A) Homosexual, B) Treacherous, or C) Eye Candy or Love Interest. Why else draw attention to it? I say this because if she was just another main character, her sex should not matter.

After all, history is made up of men and women. Unless you are Ubisoft, then it is made up of men and traitorous tropes.

Source:
http://www.shacknews.com/article/74879/assassins-creed-3-liberation-developed-by-abstergo-entertainment