Along The Tech Tree #185

ID:103871
 
Oct 28 2010, 3:02 pm
Keywords: techtree

I believe I've mentioned this before, but I'm more of a console gamer.  It's not exactly by choice.  I just spend all of my computer time programming or catching up on video streams.  However, I finished early this week.

After finding out that GOG gave me Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, I decided to sort through items for my wishlist.  Not that I'm obsessive-compulsive or anything.  'Cause, you know, it's so important to track things you're unlikely to spend time on.  (Besides, I don't give a crap about GOG's advertising debacle.)

Then I went on Steam and did the same except that I actually played some demos.  I have not done that in ages!  Some mainstream titles that I've missed out on made my list, but I tried to focus on indie games...  Now if only my session time wasn't so pathetic.

  • Last week, I mentioned that the entrants to the 13th Annual Independent Games Festival have been posted.  According to Simon Carless, there's more games than ever.  Check out these Youtube playlists and this list of games available to the public.
  • Condolences to The Married Gamers.  As announced on GameHounds, they were recently robbed of their game systems, games and recording equipment.  Donations have been accepted and a new podcast where they give the details has been posted.

Happy Halloween!

Acebloke released an update for his empire-building game, Wargames 2.  Resources are displayed more readily and a warning is displayed when research opportunities are being wasted.  Also included are ringwalls, plows and roman walls along with balance changes for tracks.

This and a recent update for Acebloke's zombie action title, SurviveThis, have pushed the interface update for the featured board game Exploder into mid-November.  It almost spoiled my celebration of metal victory. ;)

Mobius Evalon has been struggling to create a new interface for Board Game Chat.  Plans to include Go and Backgammon have been resumed a year after they were announced.  Battleship is on the way as well.

Unfortunately, the lone server is in closed testing.  I don't know how long this has been the case, but I'm going to remove BGC from the guild for now.  It will be welcomed back when players can finally attempt to earn some of the recently implemented medals.

Gah, I missed this a few weeks ago!  Stephen001 is continuing work on the mecha strategy game he mentioned in a BYOND Anime interview with Mista Dougie back in July.  The design is currently leaning towards a squad-based RTS.  Ideas for round objectives and game modes are welcome.  The framework might be released for others to use in a competition.

According to the game's Discuss tab, VcentG has been working on the interface of the horror defense game Wyllshire Road.  The release appears to have been delayed due to an inability to make good-looking art to fill space on larger resolutions.

Honestly, I'd just go with extended chat boxes as they make use of the space.  I'd rather play in a window than fill my screen with a static picture.

Once upon a time, I was confused by some round-based RPGs.  They were listed here under the guise of simulations even when roleplaying was required.  Deadly Waters was one such entry.  Its developer, Justin Knight, recently posted a blurb about its history.  I figured I'd give people a heads-up for old time's sake.

I implemented another phase of my racing combat board game, StarScurrier.  In theory, players can now manage their sectors.  This means they can order their assassins to kill enemy workers and order their administrators to transfer ally workers.  Screenshots are included.

Fooldom Come: One subscription. Many games.

Sign the petition from the Electronic Consumers Association submitted along with their amicus brief in the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA. Protect your gamer rights!

Oct 28 2010, 8:00 pm
heh. The maps in Wargames 2 is starting to look kind of like Conquest... :P

Maybe I should finish that game after I complete Litamora.
Oct 28 2010, 11:22 pm
BGC should have two servers running -- the public server at port 6001 and the development server at port 10101. They're both visible when I view the hub page myself, is that not the case for others?

Statistics are being tracked quite comprehensively and there are quite a lot of medals to net as a result. Each game has a viral that requires besting someone who already possesses it (the original batch of holders being developers and testers).

Go is in the most active development presently. After translating the entire project to a 24x24 pixel tile size, the 21x21 tile play area was brought into a somewhat manageable size, and nudging the entire Go area twelve pixels northeast on the map allowed me to use the intersections effectively =)
Oct 29 2010, 3:25 am
The "history" you mentioned is here. The 2010 updates for the game are here and go on from there. I also mention it in the Project Talon forum here and updates (for Project Talon) continue from there.

Honestly, I didn't know you even watched my blog anymore, since the game has been removed from the guild for over a year now.
Oct 29 2010, 10:23 am
@D4RK3 54B3R: I think Wargames 2 has had that style for ages, but finishing Conquest sounds good. Even if I can't convince you to try yet another name for it. ;)


@Mobius Evalon: The server was not displaying yesterday, but maybe it was just a network glitch. As long as it's accessible, it's fine. BGC is listed again. I got disconnected the first time I tried the public server, but it worked the second. =)


@Justin Knight: It's my psychic sense and the duty inspired by my love for the community!

...That and I was automatically subscribed to the post when I commented. ;)
Oct 29 2010, 11:18 am
Right, I figured as much, but the game is no longer in the guild so what's the point?
Oct 29 2010, 5:07 pm
@Justin Knight: It was an attempt to shine a friendly light on a game that longtime Tech Tree readers would recognize. I go off on rants about nostalgia so it's nice when developers are active enough to at least make a post once in a while.

Did my description of the genre conflict spoil the mood? If so, I apologize. That was just me kicking myself. It took me too long to define a filter that would have given such games an audience in their proper guild.
Oct 29 2010, 6:10 pm
ACWraith wrote:
@D4RK3 54B3R: I think Wargames 2 has had that style for ages, but finishing Conquest sounds good. Even if I can't convince you to try yet another name for it. ;)

I have yet to receive a suggestion for an alternative name that seems fitting. :P
Oct 30 2010, 9:23 am (Edited on Oct 30 2010, 9:30 am)
Well, the genre thing made the post very clunky to read at first, but that didn't bother me that much. The game hasn't been mentioned in over a year, and, quite frankly, I was angry at you for removing the game last year in the first place, after only a month and a half of not seeing it hosted. The game is currently not in any guild, and I am not comfortable in releasing it in its current state because it needs an expanded tutorial area (which I've been trying to put in for about 3 years) and a more solid administrative system.
Oct 30 2010, 10:08 am
@Justin Knight: I understand that some games escape my notice and I have given special leeway to featured entries. However, please understand that I consider a month and half a long time. Especially when it's actually been longer. Deadly Waters was inaccessible for quite a while before I posted in Tech Tree and got the following comment from you:

"Deadly Waters will be up more due to the fact that I'm out of school. Please don't remove it."

...A month and a half later, there were still no servers. I'm sorry that you've had trouble finding a proper listing, but you jerked me around and I have a responsibility to keep the list clean when entries come to my attention.
Oct 30 2010, 10:44 am (Edited on Oct 30 2010, 12:23 pm)
Thanks for quoting me, ACWraith. My mom made me look for and get a job immediately after my semester ended. Jerked you around? Those are some harsh words for somebody that manages a segment of a game site. I didn't consider BYOND to be a priority at the time because everyone expects certain things of me in life: to maintain a job, hang out with friends, go to college, get a driver's license, and have a girlfriend. No one considers my games to be anything of significance in the real world, which can be insulting.

A month and a half really isn't a long time. The game was in the guild for longer than that. You considered it some kind of enigma. There were no hosting files available for download (it isn't my hub entry, either) . The game was not hosted on a schedule (I remember you saying it had "random" hosting times) . It had a learning curve, which drove away new players. It was really more of an RPG but you allowed it in you guild because you were being "nice." Somehow, you're saying that I betrayed your trust by not hosting the game because it didn't have priority in my life. Am I getting this right?