Developer Appreciation: Neverwinter Online Barovia

It's the start of the Blaugust Developer Appreciation Week and I thought I'd start with the content I've most recently been playing, Neverwinter Online's Barovia zone and Ravenloft campaign in general. This is the best module in the game to date as it captures the horror setting quite well, aided by the day and night cycle currently only found in this zone. It also hands out some decent gear during the intro for those who have lowly alts who get little time to quest for their own equipment.

Great place for screenshots too!

There is no escape from some currency grind but at least here you will unlock all of the story campaign quickly, in fact - the quickest of all the modules. As a bonus, the story actually has a fun, semi conclusion for those like Shintar and myself who don't actually go into the end dungeons. Even so, you will want to hang around as it is an easy place to get riches, especially from the tailored hunt mechanic which sees your party sent to a private instance of Barovia to take down nasty hunt marks who are much more accessible than their Omu counterparts. The optional risk vs reward system there is inspired.

All up, Barovia is fantastic and here's hoping Cryptic continues building on the good parts and culling the bad with whatever adventure comes next.

April 2018 Status

Oh boy, lots of reds on the list this time around.

    Complete web comic chapter 1 (procrastinating)
    Finish board game prototype Game 19 (procrastinating)
    End the year with less weight (+1.3 kg from last month, running total:  -0.2 kg)
    Finish the Direbug Saga (done)
    Clear 20 games from my back log (21/20)
    Draw 12 drawings of anything (0/12 procrastinating)
    Learn 5 more songs (6/5 done on the previous list, skipped Raimei)
    Complete NWO: Lost City of Omu (0/2)
    +Make a simple computer game? (good luck)

And the backlog Update:

FROM GIFTS
Sims 3
Loki
Overlord 2
Commandos: Men of Courage
C&C (DONE)
C&C: Covert Ops (More of same, skipped)
C&C Red Alert
C&C Red Alert: Counterstrike
C&C Red Alert: The Aftermath
C&C Tiberian Sun
C&C Tiberian Sun: Firestorm
C&C Red Alert 2
C&C Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
C&C Generals
C&C Generals: Zero-Hour
Titan Quest (doesn't run)
GTA3 (doesn't run)
Supreme Commander
World in Conflict (constant crashing)
FEAR Perseus Mandate (DONE)
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans (doesn't run)
Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne  (requires WC3 to run)
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (doesn't run)
Dawn of War II
Universe at War
Spore (DONE)
Sins of a Solar Empire
Diablo: Reaper of Souls
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Black and White 2 (doesn't run, windows incompatibility)
+Act of War (doesn't run)
+Rise of Legends (bad CD)

GOG FREEBIE PILEUP
The King of Fighters 2002 (DONE)
OxenFree
Grim Fandango Remastered
Beneath a Steel Sky (DONE)
Tyrian 2000  (DONE)
Dragonsphere (DONE)
Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar (NO: Bad controls/Graphics)
Treasure Adventure Game  (DONE)
Warsow (doesn't run)
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire

COMPY CAN'T RUN (but I want to play)
Batman: Arkham Knight
Dying Light
Alien Isolation
Shadow of Mordor
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

This is what happens when I focus on back log clearing, and at the moment I'm still slowly chipping away at Red Alert and Supreme Commander, along with NWO: Omu of course. Some of the games cleared were also not "completed", and more towards "didn't work upon installation". The joys of old CDs eh? I also just said "No" to Ultima IV as I just can't get over the stick figure graphics. Looks like I'm getting picky!

Behold, the ultimate battle versus Lord British!

Neverwinter Online: The Lost City of Omu

Apparently less dinos = more fun.

The Omu ruins is a pretty good Chult map after Soshenstar, especially since there are far less dinosaurs waiting to pounce on you from annoying aggro ranges. Their replacements, the normal aggro range gorillas, aren't so bad provided you know how to side step.

King Kong makes a cameo.

Also great is the Undercity with its short cuts and shrines. It's a fun though claustrophobic place to explore and each entrance comes with a campfire. This makes channel hopping (which brings you to the last campfire you visited) a most viable "recall" travel method. You'd probably do it anyway just to chase the hourly Tyrant HE around.

I've now finished the middle tree of the campaign progression which means I have access to all the weeklies - most of which are easily completable. The Fane isn't that tough (definitely not as bad as Ras Nsi's first encounter), but it is moderately lengthy.

A new, old friend shows up unexpectedly too.

Anyway, I've a bit more to go with boons and hunts to unlock. The hunt drops here seem quite scarce, but I haven't been actively pursuing them enough to compare with the previous area. I'll let you know how that goes

March 2018 Status

Status update time and once again I'm doing that thing where I'm adding things to my to do list, even though the previous items are still there!

    Complete web comic chapter 1 (procrastinating)
    Finish board game prototype I'm happy with (planning "Game 19")
    End the year with less weight (+0.5 kg from last month, running total: -0.5 kg)
    +Finish the Direbug Saga
    +Clear 20 games from my back log
    +Draw 12 drawings of anything
    +Learn 5 more songs  
    +Complete NWO: Lost City of Omu (x2)

Ah, procrastination my old friend. In my head, I'm treating the 12 drawings task as a warmup before I get into the web comic thing but I secretly know I'm just putting it off. Knowing me, I'll probably complete the 20 games task (which is around half my current backlog list) before the web comic one. Definitely going to gun for NWO's latest module too.

Weight wise I'm trying a routine change of waking up 20 minutes earlier to exercise. We'll see if that does anything, other than make me sore. It's also hard to out train all the cookies and ice cream. :P

Song wise I've got a leg up on that already, since I have a short list of targets. For those that need it I'm going to try make my own version easier. Not that many readers will ever hear me play/sing these but in case you are curious, these are said potentials:

Karma Chameleon by Culture Club
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Take on Me by A-ha
Carry on my Wayward Son by Kansas (soft version)
Darkest from Thunderbolt Fantasy
Rapture from Juuni Taisen (piano only)
Raimei from Thunderbolt Fantasy (unlikely)

February 2018 Status

Just like that, it's February already so I figured I'd start the month with another status post - something new I'm trying this year. Other things I'm trying this year include:

    Relearn my old compositions (5 songs - done)
    Complete chapter 1 of my web comic (planning)
    Finish a board game prototype I'm happy with (0% progress)
    End the year with less weight (-1kg down from Jan)

The songs were really the easiest on that list given I had recordings, but those other creative works are on the back burner while I battle through my gifts from last year as all those old games I've been reviewing recently might indicate.

I have a few more action/shooter ones to go but then it's all ARPG and RTS games (which I'm terrible at). I decided to work through one, the original Command and Conquer, in between my other game sessions but it is slow going.

My time in Neverwinter has also lessened as a result but I suspect I'll be returning full swing when the next module the "Lost City of Omu" drops at the end of the month. Lots to do, so I'd best get back to it. Happy gaming all! :)