What I'm playing: Battleheart

Starting this month I'm going to write about what I've been playing lately and my thoughts on that game.

Caveat: I'm not a games journalist so what I'm playing is entirely down to what I've picked up recently, had recommended through podcasts or friends.

iPhone: Battleheart
http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/battleheart/id394057299?mt=8

I picked up this game recently and it has been a great little purchase. I haven't sunk a huge amount of time into it yet but I'm enjoying what I've bought.

Battleheart is a game where you micromanage four characters on screen (with others in your virtual stable) and their abilities at a time to defeat zombies, spiders, trolls and a number of other enemies. The presentation is a simple 2D affair with your characters on a fixed battlefield and enemies appearing from the left or right.

Defeating enough enemies in a stage you will earn XP, money and a few items. Characters begin with a base ability and as they level up new talents are unlocked. The game also features a fairly simple inventory management system and armor / upgrade system that has you purchasing items to upgrade their abilities.

The combat is simple but satisfying, selecting a character and drag a selection to an enemy (if a combat unit) or to a friendly (if a healer) performs the basic ability and that action alone will get you through the first few levels at least.

So far all seems well. There are a series of stages (I'm still in the first series progressing through) and my characters are levelling up nicely gaining experience, items and better weapons, armour and abilities. One particular feature I'm liking is that each characters special talents can be swapped while at the menu screens, so if you find yourself up against the wall on a certain stage you can try swapping in some other abilities.

The graphical style is quite pretty and reminiscent of old flash games with the overly shaded characters (think homestarrunner). It's a style I enjoy, the animations are really fluid and satisfying and each ability has an appropriate little particle effect that makes it all the more satisfying to spam the crap out of fireball.

So far: small and satisfying and bite sized enough (each map only takes a few minutes to complete) that I can play a round during builds at work or while I've got a few minutes to kill.

....and we're back!

For those who have stumbled upon it, I have decided (again) to resurrect this blog.

This is a blog about me, my life, my work, my hobbies and everything involved. I will cover things like my thoughts on current and upcoming games, ideas for games, general thoughts and whatever I pull out of my facebook, twitter and other feeds to write up a decent post about.

Life - Quitting Smoking

For the past five years I have been a regular ten to twelve cigarettes a day smoker. Starting monday the 7th of June I become a non-smoker. In the past eight days or so I have not had a single cigarette.

The experience of quitting smoking has provided a drastic illustration of how addicted my body had become to smoking and regular nicotine. The removal of this chemical has effected my body significantly and it's rather disturbing how much one chemical which is not natural to the body can affect a person.

Inability to focus, broken sleep, mood swings, random hunger and urges to eat and a constant mental battle with your brain as you convince yourself that you don't need to smoke has been my challenges in the past week. Even now the cravings remain and I find myself irritable and lacking focus.

One thing has come from my past weeks experience. After putting up with what feels like a week of self torture I very much do no want to do it again and thus the notion of smoking again is very unlikely.

Gaming - Deus Ex 3

http://ve3d.ign.com/videos/play/73548/PC/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution/Trailer/E3-2010-CG-Trailer/Flash-Video

Watch the video. The first game in this series was an amazing adventure; the story of Deus Ex 1 was so deep and enthralling that I use it as a benchmark of gripping tales.

It makes me very happy to know that the third game looks to be returning to the roots of the series and using the plot lines that are both relevant to modern day society (technological implants and enhancements are coming in time, it's just a question of when) and still deeply captivating.

Reading - Keith and the Girl's - What do we do now?

This is a book I recommend. I've been reading a friends copy and I would thoroughly recommend it to any down to earth couples (or singles) that could use a healthy dose of reality to answer to assist them in making their relationship better.

It's a book i'll be keeping on hand for my future.

Film - Nightmare on Elm Street

One two, freddies coming for you

Three four, better lock your door

Five six, grab your crucifix

Seven Eight, better stay up late

Nine Ten, never sleep again

This movie is average at best. I felt thoroughly let down by this "reboot" of the franchise. The saving grace is Jackie Earle Haley (freddy) doing an excellent job with a really average script. While freddy was always infamous for his cheesy one liners this particular reboot lost a lot of the sinister character that he demonstrated in his previous films. The other characters were throw away and people who have seen the original seven movies will scoff at the quick once over they give the freddy story. The plot was the usual elm street plot so I can neither pick on that or sing it graces.

Compared to A New Nightmare this move felt weak and designed to simply be a generic "shock flick" for a teenage audience. A summer movie to take your girlfriend to, shock her a few times and then be on your way.

It had the compulsory end of movie scream that was decent. If you're a fan of the series - go see it but don't expect anything amazing.

What disappointed me most is that this series which I adored in my childhood wasn't given the same budget, planning, time and care to reboot this franchise like so many others have been given. How can you make Nightmare on Elm street feel like a throw away movie? See it at the cinemas and see for yourself.

World of Warcraft - World of Drama

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25171928012&sid=1&pageNo=1

I play World of Warcraft. Until recently I was raiding in a top end australian raiding guild (one of the guilds mentioned in the thread above). For those not in the loop. Guilds of players vie for world first / US first or european first of boss kills on the hardest difficulty. Often there are egos involved; In this case there are many egos involved as two guilds enter into a slagging match.

Level Design - Part Two

It's been a hectic week at work and I'm glad it's over. During this week I have spent time working on this level. In my screenshot today you can see that a second tier has begun to form that overlaps the first. There will likely be two or three more tiers that sit in between to give an interesting height variation.

I have added a few static meshes about to give an idea of scale and feel. Just for fun I put in a basic light, some fog and a skybox (which can't be seen from this angle). 

I have also added a matinee camera and locked it away into a separate layer; future updates will all be taken from this camera perspective to show the development of this area over time.

Level Design - Part One

I've begun working on a new level using the latest UDK. I'll be posting updates as I go through the process of turning this rough idea into a full fledged level which I will release.

While it looks very basic at the moment, the core gameplay idea is already firmly in my mind. I am currently working that gameplay into the visuals that I want to present to the player.

At present this level is not lit or textured. I find working up the lighting or texturing too early distracts from the roughing out of the movement paths.

Music - Pendulum - Immersion

The third album from Pendulum. It maintains the distinct pendulum sound while giving the group a lot of room to experiment. Many of the tracks feel slightly out of place and gives the whole composition an almost messy experience when compared to their previous album "In Silico". I tend to "grow" into albums so it may be better after some more time spent with the album.

I think Immerson a good album with some particularly good tracks that I'll give credit - Watercolour and the Island part one are easy radio favourites.

General - This Blog

Tired of facebook and micro-blogging; I decided to make this blog my creative outlet to the world. I feel the world deserves more blogs with more content and less 240 character posts that tell you nothing. Books are not written in SMS language or in tiny chunks and they tell the most captivating stories of all.

To that end expect many more posts on this blog. The world is an interesting place and I intend on sharing my part of it.

Game Dev - Recruitment and difficult studios

Getting work in the game dev industry isn't easy; it often takes months of searching, emailing and waiting until you finally get the offer you want. Game studios on a whole are fairly relaxed and casual people. Occasionly you will encounter a studio that is difficult for one reason or another.