A Green Mushroom

FTL is a game about space exploration.  Well, that's what I initially thought.  Then I played it and learned that FTL is a game about survival.  But then I learned that the game is about managing the crew of a spaceship.  But the crew doesn't control the ship on their own, because the game is actually about balancing power and distributing it between different ship systems.  But... system power needs depend on what gear is currently equipped to the ship.  So I guess FTL is also about upgrading spaceships. The truth is... FTL is a game about a lot of different things.  The important part is that they all work together and create something magical.  I've been told by others that FTL is a " Roguelike " but since I've never played a rougelike I don't know if that's an apt description.  I do know that in any one playthrough of the game you'll be doing all those things I mentioned above and, if you're like me, you'll be having a fant...

Today's guest post is by a friend and fellow blogger, Professor Beej.  When he's not writing awesome geekery over at his blog he's busy writing fiction.  Not only does he have a serial novel in the works but he has an ongoing Kickstarter for his cross-genre novel, Birthright.  That's what I asked him to talk about today. I love pop culture and geek media. Love it. I love the stories, the settings, the themes, the characters, all of it--and because of that, my novel Birthright is the exactly the kind of book I’d want to read. Now hear me out. I’m not saying that in a self-aggrandizing or egotistical kind of way; I’m just saying that so that you get an idea of what kind of book it is. Because if you’re a pop culture fanatic like me, I think there’s something in Birthright for you, too. In fact, I think there’s a lot of somethings in Birthright for you. You see, when Void asked me for a guest post about media influences, I thought it would be eas...

I write this with a 4-day-old laying nearby on the couch.  He's my son, he's new, and he's awesome.  I won't go into a ton of personal detail, but me, my wife, 2-year-old daughter, and newborn son are all settling in at home.  My posts might be a little more sporadic until we find a routine that works and get used to having twice the amount of kids. Don't worry, I'm still here.  I'll get back to a regular post schedule eventually.

I've never been a fan of steampunk.  Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a world where technology advanced along a different path.  My problem with steampunk is that the setting is usually similar to early 1900's England.  It's too  based in the real world to be interesting to me.  But what if a world powered by steam was placed in a different setting?  I could get behind that. Enter Nimbus.   Nimbus is a serial novel written by a fellow blogger and friend, Professor Beej .  The world of Nimbus is run on steam, but that's where most of the similarities with traditional steampunk end.  The world is covered in a fog that kills or disfigures all who come in contact with it.  The only remaining bastions of humanity are places so high in the air that the fog doesn't reach them.  Since ground travel would kill everyone the only viable option for transportation is via airships that run on steam. But water isn't just the power sou...

I had fun with the Guild Wars 2 beta last weekend, but the game isn't perfect by any means.  I don't like to get anyone hyped up without telling them about the negatives.  After thinking about it for a few days there are certain things that I think could use improvement. Let's talk about quest flow.  The renown heart system is a step in the right direction for questing.  It let me wander into an area and immediately start doing a variety of tasks that fill up the renown heart.  Killing monsters, collecting items, and completing tasks all contribute to the overall heart.  All of this can be done without ever talking to the quest giver.  In a lot of ways this is perfect for an explorer like me.  I can just wander around and organically complete renown heart quests while exploring. It would be great on it's own but besides the renown heart quests there are also personal story quests.  Renown hearts are great for exploring, but when I wan...

I'm staying chronological with my Final Fantasy Project which means that next up is Final Fantasy III.  Before I begin, it's important to note that not all Final Fantasy III's are created equal.  What do I mean by that?  Well, it's time for a mini history lesson. When Final Fantasy III was brought to the United States it wasn't actually Final Fantasy III.  The original FFIII was released in Japan in 1990.  The game that was released with the title "Final Fantasy III" in the US in 1994 was actually Final Fantasy VI from Japan.  The next U.S. release after that was Final Fantasy VII in 1997.  From a U.S. perspective it looked like the series had jumped from III to VII but from that point forward all of the numbers matched on U.S. and Japanese releases. Final Fantasy IV through VI were later released under their correct numbers in the United States on new platforms like Playstation and Game Boy Advance.  This covered all the releas...

This weekend is another Beta Event Weekend for Guild Wars 2 and I finally played enough to feel like I can comment on it.  I also played in the first beta weekend but it took until now to firm up my thoughts on the game. I like Guild Wars 2 in it's current state.  I've been away from MMOs for awhile so GW2 is scratching an itch that's been building for me.  But, fair warning, GW2 isn't completely groundbreaking or genre re-defining.  It's just a hotbar MMO that's being executed superbly. That's not to say that ArenaNet hasn't made improvements to the MMO model.  Public quests - called events - are interlinked and very fun.  They flow into one another and form interesting stories across a zone.  It's really cool to see players organically work together to finish these events.  Every player gets full experience and loot for each kill, so there's no reason not to work together.  The interesting thing is that I'm constantly working t...

At night I run from zombies.  When my daughter is sleeping safely in her bed and my wife is relaxing in our home, I flee from the undead.  Someone has to do it in this post-apocalyptic world.  We need supplies.  Food, weapons, medicine, communications equipment, entertainment.  Everything to keep a small township functioning.  At night I run from zombies... and it's a thrill.  The best part is that you can run from them too. Zombies, Run! is a project I backed on Kickstarter in October.  I've been actively playing the game for the last month and I'm in love with it.  It's a game designed for runners (or walkers) who want to play something while exercising. When I play the game I'm Runner 5 from Abel Township.  Our township is fairly secure, but I'm one of the designated "Runners" who run outside the gates to collect supplies, track zombie movements, find out what else is going on in the world, and do general recon. ...

Hey again fledgling bloggers out there.  May is over, which means that the Newbie Blogger Initiative has also drawn to a close.  But fear not!  Syp has a roundup of all the participants and a reflection on the month over on his site. I'm glad that the NBI drew so many newcomers.  I think it was a huge success!  Not all the blogs will stay active, but any time we can get some fresh ideas into the community we should.  Good luck to all you new bloggers out there, I hope you stick around for a long time!