The Flash (2023)

After the events of Justice League, the Flash (Ezra Miller) is left feeling like the "Janitor" of the team until he works out that he can travel back in time to try change the past and change his and more importantly his parent's fates. It's almost like someone read my review of the Justice League and took the "use cameos instead of an ensemble cast" to heart and for the most part it works, the only issue being that some of those cameos are more interesting / better acted than the protagonist.

While I enjoyed Ezra's goofiness and humor that might not be everyone's cup of tea, but a bigger problem here is the CGI quality which is odd since most superhero flicks have amazing budgets for this. It might just be that due to the excessive CGI required in the movie there are noticeable aspects especially when it comes to people. Especially when compared to say Star Wars that's doing magic for the human faces some people here would be closer to video game quality.

Lastly, this was clearly made with DC movie fans in mind as there are a lot of inclusions that a regular movie goer wouldn't catch or simply be puzzled over. That's great news for someone like me, but I suppose someone going in blind will just have to take everything at face value spectacle. All up, despite me expecting a bad movie this was actually fine. Not amazing, but still enthralling enough to keep us glued to the screen rather than doing anything else.

The Flash (2014 TV Series) and Titans (2018 Series)

DC Superhero series.

The Flash

This nine season Arrowverse show follows Barry Allen (played by Grant Gustin), an individual gifted with super speed on his mission to protect his city and the ones he loves from all manner of bad guys. While it does start out strong each season becomes less polished with later episodes totally ignoring the Flash altogether and just focusing on the other members of his team. Why does the fastest man alive have a team? Well, because he (or the writers) continuously forget about his powers which is one of the most irritating aspects about the show (and the comics I'm guessing). Also, as his opponents are also usually speedsters the "speed battles" get really ridiculous later on... to the point of having light speed saber fights. Try it out and just drop it when it starts getting too silly for you is my recommendation.

Titans

Another show that lost polish as it progressed in its four season run. This one follows Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) in a "much darker style" show as he gathers a group of super powered individuals and forges them into a team. It's actually ok when it remembers to be dark and violent as there is some cool fight choreo, but especially later on they seem to have lost that memo and the plot does feel like the writers now didn't know what to do with any of the characters other than "lets put so and so in, because it would be cool!?" Another one you can try out but just drop once it gets too stupid.

Warframe: Gyre and Volt

A pair of electrical themed frames that are on the opposite ends of the spectrum!

Gyre

This warframe is one you'll get late in the game as it is only available through Zariman bounties. The Gyre is a clockwork dancer who uses her gears to make lots of sparks and passively gains 10% crit chance per electricity stack on her target! To aid with this she has an ability to increase her criticals even more while recharging energy, create a swirl of electricity around her and has a choice of two electrified balls she can toss that explode with more electricity!

Despite being a light show and a crit monster I found Gyre to be somewhat flimsy. It's hard work to zap people and avoid damage due to the short ranges of her abilities (*maybe not so bad if you build for max range), especially since those balls aren't the best projectiles around. If you want a lightning based frame, the one below is a much better choice.

Volt

Either selected as a starter frame or researched from at the Dojo, the Volt is basically the Flash complete with lightning powers. He can electrocute a small number of foes with his first ability or a huge number of foes with his last, run and melee super fast (and get his allies to do so as well, though he can't run as fast as Gauss), and create an electrical shield that blocks enemy fire but greatly improves allied fire that passes through it. This is Juris' favorite frame and one of the best in the game as his abilities synergize very well.

The speed is awesome in most missions as it can also speed up escort targets and the shield is great in defense and against bosses - Eidolons in particular as the shield also improves Operator based weaponry! Highly recommended.

Warframe: Gauss and Sevagoth

The Flash and Space Ghost!

Gauss

To earn this speedy frame you will need to do many rounds of disruption on Kappa, Sedna - a game mode that is a hearing test, speed test and DPS check all rolled into one. On the flip side, your odds of gaining the blueprints continually increase the longer you hang around so defend at least 20 conduits before exiting. It's also more fun and faster in a team. DL actually recorded a video of this very run!

Gauss himself is all about speed. Running fast gains battery power which in turn amplifies his abilities. Good luck trying to turn when sprinting though - there's a mechanic that he creates a small explosion if he hits a wall for a reason: he will be running into LOTS of walls! Running into enemies just bowls them over.

Other abilities include converting absorbed damage into energy, doing a mild AoE blast, and "redlining" which boosts his attack speed (even if its with a gun) and causing lightning arcs to shoot out at baddies while sprinting. Very fun to use, but also very whimsical. I would have considered keeping him around if his controls were better, but I guess I just can't handle the speed!

Sevagoth

To get this space ghost you'll need a railjack as Sevagoth's main blue print comes from the Call of the Tempestarii quest, while the rest of his parts drop from void storms in the outer proximas of Empyrean space. Much like the Equinox he comes with two modes and seven different abilities, and also like the Equinox this doesn't make him very good.

Sevagoth's ghostly shadow is his main power, and if you get downed you can play as the ghost to try revive yourself by killing others (like Inaros in his coffin, but more mobile). Switching between the two forms without dying is one of the powers.

While in non-shadow Sevagoth can also plant seeds into enemies (eww), send his shadow out as a soul eating attack (and it hurts seeded enemies more), and create a zone that slows and life steals from nearby enemies - his most useful ability and one often subsumed into different frames.

In shadow mode you are limited to using Sevagoth's giant claws, so the powers are melee focused: bring enemies towards you, rush forward to slice through enemies, and wail to curse enemies to take more damage. Ultimately somewhat complicated to use but more importantly, not fun for me. Verdict: worm food.

Vixen (Animated)

A quest to find her birth parents leads Mari McCabe (voiced by Megalyn Echikunwoke) to finding her purpose in life, that of a totem powered vigilante called "Vixen".

While the art and animation is ok but obviously lower quality than the regular DC animated movies, the best part about it is how it integrates into the Arrowverse with characters from the live action Arrow and Flash shows doing the voices for their respective characters and subsequently characters from this cartoon appearing in Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

Well, isn't she quite perky?

There are some strange inconsistencies though, like Oliver and Mari being able to keep up with Barry "the fastest man alive" - but for the most part it's a decent but short watch (as each episode is just around 5 minutes).

Unfortunately I can only recommend this to Arrowverse or DC fans as it is very light on content. On the up side, its easy to try watch since it's super short.  Definitely not worth a second watch though. It gets 1.5 tarantulas out of 5 from me.

Justice League

DC still has a hard time catching Marvel.

When a cookie cutter bad guy with no depth suddenly appears to collect dangerous artifacts it's up to Batman and Wonder Woman to assemble a small team of superheroes to save the day. The effects are great, the funny bits work well and bonus points for the music which incorporates bits of recognizable themes.

It's like Aquaman was an after thought. As usual.

Alas, there are more than a few plot holes here and while I get why this needs to be an ensemble team, some could have just been cameos rather than main parts. All up it's a decent enough action flick, but I feel it could have been better / done more with what they had and leaves an odd sensation that the entire movie was "filler", which it shouldn't be. For that I give it 3 parademons out of 5 and am not so keen on watching it again.

Projects and Journals

Welcome to my "new" projects and journals page! I decided it needed a reboot after the photobucket burn, but all my previous ones are still available here.

ADVENTURE JOURNALS
My little library of "books" regarding my in-game experiences and adventures.
The date beside each is when it was last updated. :)

Party Time [on going]
The Wasted Land [5 Jun 2025]
Elden Ring [31 Dec 2024]
Superhero Stories [22 Aug 2024]
The Cursed [23 Jul 2024]
Xenonauts [16 Nov 2023]
Tower of Fantasy [24 Aug 2023]
Voidstar: Warframe-128 [19 Nov 2022]
The Legends of Andor [5 Jun 2022]
Thousand Year Old Vampire [25 May 2022]
XCOM 2: Defending the Earth, Again [9 May 2022]
Forgotten Waters [24 Mar 2022]
Dark Souls: The Card Game [19 Nov 2021]
Cthulhu: Death May Die [8 Nov 2021]
Adventures in Black Desert Online [16 Sep 2021]
Tales of the Blight II: More Dragon Age [26 Oct 2021]
Diary of Zombies [1 Oct 2021]
The Banner Saga [21 Aug 2021]
Remnant: From the Ashes [8 Jun 2021]
Metal Gear: A Soldier's Diary [28 Jan 2021]
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey [12 Nov 2020]
Civilization VI: The Conqueror's Tale [19 July 2020]
Adventures in Space [19 May 2020]
Firefly Adventures: Bandits and Browncoats [13 May 2020]
The Wild Hunt [22 Dec 2019]
Kingdom Come: Deliverance [27 Jun 2019]
BattleTech [20 Nov 2018]
Shadowrun Chronicles [20 Oct 2018]
Masters of Eador [20 Sep 2018]
The Direbug Saga [12 Mar 2018]
Fate of Heroes [14 Dec 2017]

CREATIVE WORKS
Here is a repository of links to my (and my guild mates) creative works online. Really should work on putting more of my stuff out there.

AI Art Gallery (letting the computer draw for me)
Absurd Game Ideas (because bad ideas need a space too)
Gallery Works (a place for drawings)
The Design Folder (thoughts about game creation)
Night Time View (Lyv's Youtube Music Channel)
Neverwinter Online Foundry: The Demon Lord of Gnolls (by Dragonlord)
The Forge of Winter (Neverwinter Foundry Creations)
The Golem City (youtube novel preview by Timothy Andrews)
Mabinogi: Ferghus Commercial (youtube)
Dragonarm Chronicles Chapter 1 (flash)
Tribute to Equilibrium (flash)
Dragonarm Chapter 1 (Neverwinter Nights module by Dragonlord)
Random posts tagged with "Art"

Today I Smiled: Christmas time is here again!

The house is all decorated and the gifts are under the tree, the relatives are on their way for a day of wondrous glee! Definitely looking forward to the organized chaos that happens each year, and from a small breather from work. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog, I know it's been heavy on story-mode as of late and that's mainly due to my hectic work schedule. Still, I hope you are enjoying my Dark Souls adventure story which will no doubt flow on into the New Year.

Also the Nameless story will hopefully revive (and conclude) in 2017... it's been taking a back seat since screenshots are so much faster to generate than hand drawn images. Yep, the story is actually mostly written out now - I just need the art components to go with it. It should come as no surprise the the Skyrim tales will also continue, though I will be endeavoring to be more concise with its format moving forward.

Speaking of things on the back burner, my quest of making a board game also has been bubbling along slowly. My not yet titled "Game 13" plans seem to hold promise but we'll see when I actually get around to play testing. Regardless I doubt that will be ready anytime next year, especially since I want to return to doing Flash stuff too, which is a pretty big ask. Since this is turning more into a Ney Year's Resolution thing I suppose I'll add I'd like to lose 20kg too. Yeah. Good luck to me. :P

How will I actually find the time to do all of this? No idea, maybe Santa can gift me extra hours every day? We'll just have to wait and see. For now I'll leave you with Chewbacca's rendition of Silent Night. Merry Christmas all! :)

Skyrim: Middle of Nowhere

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Gotta dodge the laser beams!

In one of the deeper vaults on the island I found an army of dwemer spheres busy at work and proof of the Kraken's origin. I mean who else would construct a giant mecha right? After destroying Mazinger Z, I cleared as many more enemies as I could but then had to return, leaving the rest of Summerset Isle's conquest in the capable hands of the sisters and their soldiers.

This is because the mod is unfinished, and I ran into the speedforce.

Upon returning to Skyrim, Brutus told me that during his incarceration he learned of a secret Thalmor under the ocean. The best way there would be via rowboat, and would need to be a solo mission as to keep it low key. Because I like surprising people. This was fine since Braga Clearwater basically "graduated" and was now a competent adventurer. I gave her a big hug and sent her on her way, then found myself a boat.

Well, that's specific...

At the coordinates Brutus gave I found an unguarded tiny island and a fisherman's shack. Under the bed was a trap door that led to a huge cave system though, guarded by a ghost and his ghost dog. Yeeeah ok. After splattering their ectoplasm all over the walls I found stairs leading even deeper.

Skyrim: The Flash

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Magic training is BORING, but I persevered - content in the fact that the assassin's must be going mad looking for me. After a few days they did start investigating the ruins though. A smaller group than usual. Sanguine looked to me and smiled. I was ready. Instead of taking them head on, I let them go past and exploded the area.

It didn't kill any of them but it sure caught them off guard. Quickly vanishing, I left Drania and Sanguine to handle them while I looked for their leader. I found him outside, a black - fleeting shadow.

Not quite!

Brutus, "the Father" was definitely a speedster but unfortunately for him, dragon shouts trump speed force in this game and with a slow time yell it looked like he was moving in slow motion making it easy to end him and loot his amazing armor. Why is it amazing? Because in in a dark area or night time, you move faster than if you were on a horse! And that's just jogging. When you sprint... WHOA!

The one glowing blue eye (gained by joining Dawnguard I think) makes it even cooler.

With my new found super speed I raced back into Morvunskar and cleaned up shop, happy to see Drania was ok. And Njada. She's still safely bound in her cell. Sanguine has god mode on so I knew he'd be fine. :P

Skyrim: Third Time's the Charm

Adventures in Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

I didn't bother to talk to anyone upon leaving the Lake house this time around. Instead I just suited up in the full Immaculate Dwarven Armor and marched right through the radiation hole (no need for potions with the full armor) to the Arbiter's dome. This time, he totally freaked out that I had his helmet as proof that he would die if he fought me.

We might have still  fought a little anyway.

He agreed that he would put an end to his law, to let the people live free. Yet he was unsure what would happen to me as it would be a time anomaly, with the events that led me there to begin with never happening. I might even become Jay Garrick (yeah, watching too much Flash on TV :P). I told him "You can't lock up the darkness" to do it. With a flash of light, I found myself standing before a statue. Of me.

Interesting likeness!

Cassia's brother was there too, saying he had just entered what he thought was ruins only to find a thriving city! In an amazing change, the whole cave roof had given way to the real sky above, and things worked out for almost everyone in town. They now know me as the hero who saved them seven years ago. Lol @ time travel right?

Not Metellus though. He was executed by the townsfolk and Maisi was freed. Some others left during the interim too. Only one sort of escaped any comeuppance: the shifty vendor. Before I left I made sure to pay him a visit in his shop. A short and violent one. Then I dragged his corpse into the undercroft to be skeever food. It worked for Metellus!

And so with the remaining people's cheers I reunited with Cassia and Captain Guomundr. The girl gave her thanks and headed down to stay in the city with her sibling, while I gave the Captain the cumbersome armor and left via the elevator (which has always been there instead of a hole I guess)  to unload the loot.

Today I Smiled: Font of Knowledge

Been ages since I've put up a Today I Smiled post, and today's one is to share all the strange and wacky stuff I've been learning about over the past few months, like the Babylonian's used a base 60 numeral system, or that there's an island that uses giant stones as currency, or that it takes the whole year's crop from one tree to make 450gms of chocolate. Yes, you can (mostly) blame Reddit! :P

Interested in conflict? Well here are two that might be of interest: The Syrian Civil War and the animated, lazery Norse Attack Map. Just be sure not to ridicule a person who refuses to duel in Mississippi. That's a misdemeanor!

In the event you do get into a fight, in might be better to lick your wounds than to get put into St. Luke's hospital, where they potentially can keep you (or your corpse) hostage indefinitely.

Also don't mess with the Russians, they have a knack for fixing mundane problems with nukes! That might lead to having cities with a population of zero. Or worse, with hoverboard zombies...

Only made worse with XCOM odds to hit! :P

But who needs zombies when there are giant centipedes and spiders that go fishing? I'm guessing the two women who jumped into the river to see which one their man would save (spoiler: he chose Rong) didn't know about those critters!

I've also come across nice art ... made with Microsoft Excel of all things as well as a bunch of doodles that summarize all of this season of the Walking Dead. There's also a hilarious synopsis maker who does the more recent episodes for Arrow, Flash, Vixen and Legends of Tomorrow! Might be worth taking a look if you want to catch up on the shows without actually watching them. :P

Speaking of art, I would be remiss if I didn't share with you at least one song - this one for all the Metal and Vanilla Ice fans, with Metal Ice Ice Baby (wut?). If you are more the type to appreciate the written word see here the Chinese story of Stone Lions composed entirely with the word "Shi" 101 times.

Lastly here's a clip called Ultimate Skyrim, which show cases what happens when one uses too many mods in the game. Have a great weekend everyone!

Today I Smiled: Live Action!

Been awhile since my last "Today I Smiled" entry and there sure are a lot of things for me to smile about. My Neverwinter Online: Vigilance Guide got featured as a "Bag of Tricks" entry on NWO-uncensored. I also quite like that the Wizards of the Coast release content on all mediums simultaneously which means that Elemental Evil is also hitting DDO and the table top game, meaning there are write ups for each of the evil cults.

The Newbie Blogger Initiative is also going full swing and this year I'm in charge of the Poetry Slam - looking forward to more entries coming in before the end of the month. Also happy to report I'm now up to 100 links from 59 when the event began. As a fan of the TV series Arrow and the Flash I'm also looking forward to Legends of Tomorrow, and am hoping the live action version of Shingeki no Kyoujin (Attack on Titan) does well. Kinda surprised to see a live action Parasyte there too!

If none of those interest you then perhaps this clip of Guildwars 2 killing, deleting and then banning a cheater will be enough to brighten your day, or if you want a more hands-on experience, try out the first two browser bragging games for this years NBI: the PvP blob consuming game called Agar and the colorful pixel gore of Critical Annihilation. :)

NBI - Guilds: What For?

[Part of the Newbie Blogger Initiative: Talk Back Challenge]

Guilds: What For? What functions do guilds serve in games and what kind do you prefer? You can talk about your experiences in guilds, what attracts you to them, and their role in the games you play.

Ocho at Casualaggro suggests it is possibly for selfish reasons that people guild, especially those whose main aim is to reach the "upper echelons" of the game. Lonegun from Away from Game echoes this somewhat, finding that while the raiding guild he was part of taught him a lot about stats and his role, he had a more fun time when he switched to a less elite, more casual crew - a theme I'm continuing with this post, though I think I go off tangent a little!

Despite the functional merits of being in a guild, such as shared resources and ease of communication through guild chat channels, the best part about guilds for me is simple: The people! Not only do they provide you with a "regular gaming group" but depending on your circumstances and goals they can quickly become your friends in and out of the game.

In all my years of MMO playing I've only been in three guilds. One I'm not so active in Wizardry Online, one I'm a rare guest in GuildWars 2 (as it is run by a friend), and lastly my main guild. The one I've been part of for thirteen years and counting.

That guild doesn't exist in just one game. It doesn't exist in just MMO's. It's wherever it needs to be. It is a bit particular in who can join though, but not based on how skilfully you play, what rank you are, or how powerful your gear is. Just the quality of the person behind the screen. What's the goal of such a guild then? Both silly and simple at the same time. Though the code is a bit more long winded, the basic bare bones of it is "to be good". That's it. Help people that need help. Cheer people up who are down. Make people smile. Obviously we're not really into PvP huh?

As you can imagine, it's a very small and diverse group of people that find themselves in our ranks - but they're no longer just characters on the screen. They're the twins from Canada, the mom and daughter in Ohio, the Belgian lizard lover, the Israeli guy who was drafted into the army (hope you are ok), the absent-minded doctor who literally falls asleep at his keyboard, the Londoner terrified of zombies, the mysterious dude in Holland who seems to have high level characters everywhere, the guy in Thailand that works with glass sculptures, the miner in West Australia who is now a dad, the closet-gamer who only plays when he's not preparing for boxing or iron man competitions, the little girl who is a bit -too- skilled at shooting things in the face and so on. We've had some visit from overseas and we've traded games with others. It's all very cool.

My most memorable activities in MMO's have always been with the guild, not doing solo content and not doing stuff with a bunch of randoms (as much as I like doing both). I've always wanted to share our story (or my version of it anyway, where I look awesome *cough cough*) but was having trouble finding the right medium. Flash cartoons take way too long, involve too much work, and my pacing is shocking. Should be something where I can type a lot and throw in a picture or two... like... like this blog? Hrm, didn't think of that till now actually.

Anyway, getting side-tracked. So, in short I like my guild(s) - and that's most likely because all of them have no intense "we'll be the best" charter or rigid scheduling of social interactivity which can cause problems. We don't fight for the best loot after a mission is complete, we just pool all the treasure and divide it by who needs what, and we never really have had any conflicts about it. We just go with the flow and enjoy each day as it comes.

I'm sure there are many more like us out there. You just have to look! :)

Projects and Journals

*Note: As of 1 July 2017, all the below have broken images courtesy of being burned by Photobucket. You can find my new Project and Journal page here.

ADVENTURE JOURNALS
My little library of "books" regarding my in-game experiences and adventures.
The date beside each is when it was last updated. :)

Nameless (Creative Writing Experiment) [16 June 2017]
Skyrim's Adventure Journal [9 Jun 2017]
Tales at the Bonfire [28 Apr 2017]
Photo Story Folder [10 May 2016]
The Darklands of Arkania [25 Apr 2016]
Odd Jobs of Neverwinter [18 Mar 2016]
Sunset Six [5 Nov 2015]
Sojourn at Entropia [6 Jul 2015]
Ambitious Dynasty [29 Apr 2015]
The End-Times [23 Feb 2015] 
Tales of the Blight [19 Nov 2014]
Revista de la Presidenta [17 Oct 2014]
A Touch of Wizardry [16 Jun 2014]
Sacred: Journey Journal [29 May 2014]
Diary of a Marked One [10 May 2014]
Dead Island Diary [26 Feb 2014]
Explorer of Tyria [20 Oct 2013]
XCOM: Defenders of the Earth [28 Jul 2013]

CREATIVE WORKS
Here is a repository for some of and my (and my guild mates) creative works online. Really should work on putting more of my stuff out there.

MMO Design Folder
NBI 2015 - Poetry Slam Compilation
The Forge of Winter (Neverwinter Online Foundry creations)
The Golem City (video preview and book by Timothy Andrews)
NBI 2014 - Artists of May
NBI 2014 - Poetry Slam Entry
Ode to Mabinogi [Pic Heavy]
NBI 2013 - Poetry Slam
Wizardry Online: Cartography Project
Recipes to Disaster
Ferghus Commercial (youtube)
Dragonarm Chronicles Chapter 1 (flash)
Tribute to Equilibrium (flash)
Omega Guardian Project (by DL)
Dragonarm Chapter 1 (Neverwinter Nights Module by DL)
Random posts tagged with "Art"

Surviving Zombies and Ninjas - I am Alive!

Other than the Dawnguard expansion for Skyrim (which is generating the majority of content on my blog if you haven't noticed) I was fortunate enough to receive a whole bunch of other games, most of which I've hammered through since I've already got a small stockpile of unplayed ones that I need to get to when I have the time, or the upgrades I need to run them. In this post I'll be reviewing three which all have a similar thread - "survival". I may journal my adventures in them later too if I'm feeling up to it. :)

DEADLIGHT

In this 2d platformer you play as a gruff, no nonsense survivor of a zombie apocalypse with a fatal allergy to deep water. The game itself moves pretty fast and is actually quite good at keeping the pace going, and given everyone is a silhouette you won't even notice that there are only really two types of enemies. There are two things I didn't like about it though - the very linear path which makes for quick game play and secondly your character being a douche. He is so headstrong to move in only two dimensions but that rule doesn't apply to everyone else. It is quite frustrating to see a set of stairs leading to a balcony you have to get to, but you can't use them because they're a few steps in the background. It also makes it awkward when foes in the distance are coming forward onto your "playing field" and you try to attack them - you will miss until they are on your "line". In short it is a mix of fun and frustration and by the end you'll be wondering how someone could do half the stuff in the game even though he's so heavy (apparently) that head high water is fatal to him.

This would be an even shorter game if the power was still on.

 

I AM ALIVE

After the previous game it was so nice to be able to move in three dimensions again, and what a nice environment to do it in too - a dusty city full of rapist cannibal scum and a handful of survivors spread out all over the place. There is a unique stamina/health bar here that I haven't seen anywhere else and I must say I rather like it. Your stamina drains here when you run, climb, or wander in the sea of dust for too long and once that's gone your health soon follows. This is slightly more realistic than the guy in Dead Light who only got tired when he swung weapons or sprinted but otherwise was as ok as the Prince of Persia with jumping, climbing, and jogging everywhere.

Ironically though this game has much better platforming/climbing than Dead Light and for me climbing the crumbling sky scrappers was very awesome. Where it is let down is in its combat system. It is a button mash fest in hand to hand which you auto lose if a second opponent hits you and a really silly bluff game in "ranged" combat. The ratio of scum to your ammo after the start is usually 3:1 or better in their favour, which means you just point your weapon and try to make them surrender or back off into a fire or a long drop. Once or twice may be ok, but in EVERY battle (none of which are avoidable) you will be doing this. Tense maybe. Stupid - definitely. I found Dead Light's simple combat much better.

Look out! He has one arrow! (literally)

MARK OF THE NINJA

Back into 2d platforming and all I can say is wow. This looks like something that could be made with Flash or more likely Silverlight but is so impressive and immersive it actually trumps the above two games. It has LONG game play and many multiple paths and customizations to complete objectives aside from the extra mind puzzles and secret rooms. It also has more enemy types than the two above games combined and combat is quick and brutal. You can play as a ghost and not kill anyone (well, almost anyone) or you can hunt down and execute all your enemies. Going toe to toe is generally not good though since they have guns and outnumber you but if you are skilled and lucky enough, you can.

The light is also your enemy!

It truly is amazing that I rate this cartoony thing highest of the lot but it deserves it. It has a good story and very easy controls. It's the strategy that can be hard. I agree with Tobold, this is what makes good games good. I liked it so much I even went through the whole thing in New Game Plus (all baddies 1hit-Kill you). It's good that they put some humour in it too - you can play like Garret the Master Thief with Path of Shadows (you are silent but have no sword), Solid Snake (complete with the sneaky cardboard box), or a murderous version of the god damn Batman with Path of Nightmares where the baddies panic easily and end up shooting each other most of the time. This game is highly rated on steam and it deserves it. I highly recommend it too! :)

Tribute to Equilibrium

Alright! Using a trial version of a later flash I've managed to upload my "Tribute to Equilibrium" movie up on Newgrounds where it is doing around about as well as I suspected it would. I've PM'ed Mike over there who is working on a mini-ad thing that should hopefully work on Flash 5 but we'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

Why Equilibrium? Well, because I liked it! It's certainly my type of movie - a solid story with a good amount of action and a high body count. It helps that Batman (Christian Bale) and Ned Stark (Sean Bean) are in it too. There's also a really adorable puppy. If you haven't seen it yet then I highly recommend it. ^_^

Also in other fan-based things, there are two on youtube that I found very well done - Portal: No Escape, and Fallout: Nuka Break.

I'm continuing to work with Flash 5 while looking out for anything that remotely supports AS2 - seems Flash MX 2004 is the closest but it's not longer available from Adobe. I did see they have a semi affordable "subscription" version of the latest flash, but that means I should really have all my stuff (or a bunch of stuff) done ahead of time since I only want it for the AS2+ component. I'm just hoping porting AS1 stuff to AS2+ is not time consuming. Also was researching Bandcamp a bit, as it may be a good place to put up some of my music later on. :)

Lastly, the mysterious book now has one page. At this rate, its going to take forever!

I guess it doesn't help that I've been concentrating on Mabinogi this week, training up my brother's dragon. :P Which reminds me, there are two art comps over there that I should really participate in too. Really need to get back into creative mode in the next few days!

Project Status:
Flash game #1 - 9% (no change, was lazy this week :P)
Mysterious book - 1% (going slowly, now I have one page)
Salvage mission 2: "Equilibrium" - 100% (Done and up on NewGrounds)
Mabinogi: Mighty Mugg Contest -due 13th Sep: 0%
Mabinogi: Fan Contest -due 18th Sep: 2% (have an idea of what I'm gonna do)