Category Archives: Games

Game review – Civilization II

June 19, 2015 6:10 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Once upon a time I had all sorts of time for computer games.  Back in the 1990s I could easily while away a Sunday afternoon on a good video game as easily as others would on a baseball game or reading a good book.

One of my favorites was Civilization II (Civ II).  This turn based strategy game allowed players to build up a civilization from the stone age and take it to the space age.  A single player could be pitted against 7 computer opponents or multiple human players could take turns playing against each other.

The game made use of what was then cutting edge CD multimedia technology and had several videos that played during the course of the game to flesh out the game play.

Leonardo’s workshop.  One of the world wonders that give players a special advantage

A player would start with a small village and as time passed he could learn new technologies, build city improvements, plant farms, harvest resources, make money, equip armies, and conquer new territory.  The end of the game would be set for the year 2000 and the most advanced civilization with the most points would win.

Game scores were kept based on the population size, wealth, size of the area conquered and world wonders that were built.

With variable geography and random events during the game (such as earthquakes or barbarian invasions), the experience was ever-changing and endlessly challenging.  For me the real attraction was to compete against myself and try out new strategies and tactics to try to build up my civilization.

Although newer versions of Civilization have come out in the last 20 years I still think of Civ II as the best in the series.  The added multimedia material added so much to the game play and the computer Artificial Intelligence (AI) was one of the first that was not as predictable as most computer AI’s had been up to that time.

If you like strategic games and want to find a game that will challenge you intellectually I would highly recommend any of the Civilization games.

Posted in: computers, games, review

MUDs

April 4, 2015 6:43 AM , Leave a Comment ,

[Author’s note:  This is a reprint of a popular internet post from the 1990’s.  The Author is anonymous and most probably lost to history.  It involves game play in a MUD (multi user dungeon).  MUDs allowed you to play against other people on the then primitive internet.  Back before the web you could play online games but you had to use your imagination.  All gameplay was text-based.  This is where I got my first taste of playing online against other computer users.  This is what a trip to Denny’s might look like if it happened in a MUD]

 

LOADING, PLEASE WAIT…
You have entered Denny’s.
You say, ‘Hail Denny’s hostess’
Denny’s hostess says ‘Hello, Tom. Welcome to Denny’s. [Smoking] or [non-smoking]?’
You say, ‘non-smoking’
You say, ‘I would like non-smoking please’
You say, ‘what about non-smoking’
Denny’s hostess says ‘Right this way, please.’
You are out of food and drink.
Corey shouts, ‘has anyone seen the waiter?’
Gary shouts, ‘no and ive been camping him for a half hour’
You are out of food and drink.
Ester shouts, ‘I see him’
Corey shouts, ‘dont kill him, i still have to do the order quest’
You are hungry.
You are thirsty.
You are out of food and drink.
You say, ‘Hail Denny’s waiter’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Hello, Tom. You look like you could use some [coffee]’
You say, ‘Yes I’ll have some coffee’
You say, ‘what about coffee’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Ah, excellent! We have [regular] and [decaf].’
You say, ‘I will have some decaf’
You say, ‘what about decaf’
You say, ‘what about decaffeinated coffee’
Denny’s waiter says ‘I expected nothing less of you. Here, take this.’
You gain experience!
Your faction standing with Juan Valdez got better
You drink your coffee.
You were hit by non-melee for 39 dmg
YOU are burning!
You shout, ‘Ow hehe this coffee’s hot’
Karen shouts, ‘Haha u sux0r’
You are hungry.
You are out of food.
Annoying kid says ‘Pikachuuuuuu’
Annoying kid tries to hit YOU, but misses!
Annoying kid tries to hit YOU, but misses!
Annoying kid hits YOU for 3 points of damage.
Auto-attack on.
You hit Annoying kid for 17 points of damage.
You hit Annoying kid for 22 points of damage.
You have slain Annoying kid!
Your faction standing with Disciplineless Mothers got worse
Your faction standing with Denny’s Customers got better
Your faction standing with The World at Large got better
Annoying kid’s corpse0 says ‘My mother will avenge my death!’
You receive 3 copper as your split.
You are hungry.
You are out of food.
Disciplineless mother says ‘Your actions and history are a personal affront to all I stand for.’
Disciplineless mother begins casting a spell.
Disciplineless mother pet is enveloped in flames.
Off-duty police officer says ‘Hey! No pets in the building!’
Disciplineless mother pet hits YOU for 18 points of damage.
Off-duty police officer hits Disciplineless mother for 287 points of damage.
Off-duty police officer hits Disciplineless mother for 234 points of damage.
Off-duty police officer kicks Disciplineless mother for 27 points of damage.
Disciplineless mother is slain by Off-duty police officer!
Disciplineless mother pet hits YOU for 12 points of damage.
Off-duty police officer hits Disciplineless mother pet for 262 points of damage.
Off-duty police officer was burned.
Disciplineless mother pet is slain by Off-duty police officer!
Off-duty police officer says ‘Let this be a lesson, that none can withstand the wrath of the San Diego Department of Public Safety.’
You are hungry.
You are out of food.
You say, ‘Hail Denny’s waiter’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Can I get you some more [coffee]?’
You say, ‘No, I want to place my order’
You say, ‘Can I place my order?’
You say, ‘Let me place my order ******!’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Ah, would you like to try our [Grand Slam Breakfast]?’
You say, ‘I will have the grand slam breakfast’
Denny’s waiter says ‘How would you like your [eggs]?’
You say, ‘scrambled’
You say, ‘I would like them scrambled’
You say, ‘what about eggs’
Denny’s waiter says ‘You can have [scrambled eggs] or [fried eggs].’
You say, ‘I will have scrambled eggs’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Excellent, would you like anything to drink? Some [orange juice], perhaps?’
You say, ‘I will have orange juice’
You say, ‘what about orange juice’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Our orange juice is fresh squeezed from concentrate.’
You say, ‘give me orange juice’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Okay, I’ll be right back with your orange juice.’
You gain experience!
You are hungry.
You are out of food.
Gordon shouts, ‘Attention, your bacon is now raw, because fully-cooked bacon lacks the inherent risks associated with our Vision of Bacon.’
Lawrence shouts, ‘Wait a minute, this bacon hasn’t been cooked for months’
Gordon shouts, ‘Uhh… yes it has.’
Robert shouts, ‘You kidding? We’ve been complaining about this stuff being raw for ages’
Gordon shouts, ‘Uh, whatever.’
Gordon shouts, ‘Oh.’
Gordon shouts, ‘uh…. I’ve just been informed that the bacon has been raw for several months now, but we were unable to determine this until we fixed a bug with the pancakes, which were previously large enough to obscure the bacon.’
Gordon shouts, ‘… Oh, yeah, we nerfed your pancakes too.’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Here is your breakfast, Tom.’
You gain experience!
Your faction standing with Denny’s Customers got worse
Scrambled eggs looks at you threateningly – what would you like your tombstone to say?
You taste your eggs.
You are chilled to the bone.
You shout, ‘oh man my eggs are cold’
Robert shouts, ‘petition a manager then’
You petition, ‘my scrambled eggs are cold’
Kevin shouts, ‘Ack train to restroom!!!’
Thom says, ‘Lynn, I still can’t believe you can eat this stuff’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Here is your breakfast, Lynn.’
Lynn begins to cast a spell.
Lynn is protected from poison.
Lynn says, ‘I always come prepared’
You shout, ‘Man, where’s the manager’
Karen shouts, ‘Haha u pteitond a managr u sux0r’
George tells you, ‘Greetings, Tom, I am George, the Denny’s manager. How can I assist you?’
You tell George, ‘my scrambled eggs are cold’
George tells you, ‘I will be with you as soon as possible, please stay patient’
You sip your coffee.
A cool breeze slips through your mind.
George says, ‘Greetings, Tom. Are your eggs still cold?’
You say, ‘yes’
George begins to cast a spell.
Scrambled eggs burst into flame.
George says, ‘Take care’
Michelle says, ‘Ack, I don’t feel so well’
Michelle begins to cast a spell.
Alka-Seltzer staggers.
Michelle staggers.
Michelle beams a smile at Alka-Seltzer.
Michelle says, ‘Ahhh, I feel much better now…’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Here, let me clear that away for you.’
You say, ‘Hey, wait, that’s my food, I’m not done yet….’
You shout, ‘Hey, this waiter took my food’
Corey shouts, ‘Yep, they do that sometimes if you let your food sit there’
You say, ‘Hail Denny’s waiter’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Hello there, Tom, how can I help you?’
You say, ‘Check please’
Denny’s waiter says ‘Okay, here you go.’
You gain experience!
You say, ‘Hail Denny’s cashier’
Denny’s cashier says ‘Hello there, would you like to pay your [check]?’
You say, ‘Yes I want to pay my check’
You say, ‘what about my check’
Denny’s cashier says ‘You must give me the check before I can reveal more to you.’
Denny’s cashier says ‘Ah, excellent! Would you like to know your [total]?’
You gain experience!
Your faction standing with Denny’s Cashiers got better
You say, ‘what is my total’
Denny’s cashier says ‘Your total is 6 gold, 7 silver, 9 copper. Will you be paying with a [MasterCard]?’
You say, ‘yes I will use a mastercard’
Denny’s cashier says ‘Unfortunately your MasterCard is over-limit. Would you prefer to pay with [cash]?’
Your faction standing with MasterCard got worse
Your faction standing with Cheesy-*** High-Interest-Rate Credit Card Companies got better
You say, ‘yes I will pay with cash’
Denny’s cashier says ‘Your total is 6 gold, 7 silver, 9 copper then.’
You gain experience!
You receive 2 silver.
You receive 1 copper.
Denny’s waiter says ‘You have stiffed me on my tip for the last time!’
Denny’s waiter crushes YOU for 217 points of damage!
Denny’s waiter crushes YOU for 204 points of damage!
Denny’s waiter hits YOU for 226 points of damage!
Denny’s waiter tries to hit YOU, but misses!
Denny’s waiter bashes YOU for 74 points of damage!
You are stunned.
Denny’s waiter crushes YOU for 189 points of damage!
You are bleeding to death!
Denny’s waiter crushes YOU for 221 points of damage!
You have been slain by Denny’s waiter!
You are no longer stunned.
LOADING, PLEASE WAIT…
You have entered Verant.
You shout, ‘Can I get a SOW? My corpse is all the way over in Denny’s’
Karen shouts, ‘Haha u sux0r’

Posted in: activities, computers, games, internet

Real world to virtual world comparisons

October 24, 2014 6:52 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I suppose it was inevitable.

I was sitting (in a virtual sense) in the East Commonlands in the game Everquest looking for bears, wolves, and giant spiders.  Why?  I needed money, virtual money but money nonetheless.  I needed to buy a piece of armor for my character and killing monsters for a copper piece here, a silver there wasn’t cutting it.  So I was gathering pelts and spider silks in order to auction off to other players and earn enough to buy this armor piece.

That was back around 2000 and I was part of the emerging virtual economy.  An economy that had some real world implications.  For wherever there is a need and a way to pay, there will be commerce.  Some bright spark got the idea that all these make-believe items and make-believe money could be sold online to other players for real world money.  Soon someone worked out an exchange rate, so many platinum pieces per US dollar and suddenly I was part of a nation that had a larger economy than Bulgaria.

Amazingly it had all begun rather organically.  In a fairly unused corner of the game lay an underground tunnel with a large cavern.  Players would sit there and broadcast their items for sale to anyone in the area.  People would meet and exchange the item for virtual money.  Soon dozens of players sat around doing the same.  The game developers took note and set up a more formal auction zone and system.  They still took the position that selling things for real money offline was against the game rules but they really had no way of enforcing this.

Professional “farmers” began cropping up.  These farmers set up game accounts to do nothing but gather raw materials to sell to players or to gather up virtual currency to sell on websites.  Players would set up the deal offline and then meet clandestinely online to receive their goods.

The in-game economics also got skewed.  Some players would hoard things like spider silk or high quality bear pelts, items used to make other in-game items, and artificially inflate the price of these raw materials.  Other players might retaliate and swamp the market with low prices and collapse a market.

The game developers helplessly admonished players not to do this.

I left Everquest around 2004 and took up Warcraft and found that the system first pioneered back in Everquest was fully formed and flourishing in Warcraft.  If anything, it was worse.  You could “buy” a high level and fully equipped character on a website and skip all the training and leveling up.  Of course such people were usually morons when it came to game play but that didn’t stop them.

Farming was worse.  A report in 2011 told of prisoners forced to play games to gather “virtual currency”.  This was getting insane.  It’s just a game!

I have to admit this was one of the reasons that I left online gaming.  It was becoming work and I had nothing to show for the long hard hours spent in-game and now some teen can come in and short-circuit the process and buy his way to the top?

Money.  It ruins everything.

Posted in: games, life in general

Online lives – Everquest

September 9, 2013 8:41 PM , Leave a Comment ,

So there we “were”.  My girlfriend and I doing the same old thing on a Friday night.  Hanging out in greater faydark killing orcs in Everquest.  We had 2 low-level players and weren’t really advancing in the game.  She got bored (as she often did) and suggested we make human characters.

We decided on Freeport as our home city and she made a Bard and I made a Cleric.  I figured these characters would last maybe a week before she got bored and deleted the new character (I was right in her case).  I was playing and watching Adult swim on the cartoon network at the same time and the “Brack show” was on.  So I called my new character Brackie since I figured this was going to be a short-term character and that the name wouldn’t be important.

As I had some money and some experience I was able to outfit the new character better than most and he was soon zooming up the levels.  What’s more I found that healers were in wide demand.  In a game that’s very proactive and promotes aggressive playing, players that are willing to sit back and play support roles are extremely sought after.  I could get into any group I wanted and I soon was accepted into a guild (a player club).

I was soon raiding.  Raids are large encounters where sometimes as many as 72 people gather together to do a multi hour adventure.  These raids require special tactics and planning.  I was the senior most healer in the guild and got assigned the task of developing our healing strategies.  I turned to the healing chain.

In the ultimate encounter of a raid the toughest meanest fighter takes on the boss monster.  All the other warriors take up supporting roles while the healers in the raid form the chain.  A single healer would be overwhelmed by the encounter but a whole host of healers working in concert could sustain that one lone fighter.  So I organized our chain of healers.  One healer would heal and then the next and the next.  We kept the chain going on a nice steady pace.  Casting spells with machine like precision.  Usually it might last 5 or 10 minutes.  One encounter lasted a full hour.  Over time we got to be pretty good at this and we attracted players due to our reputation.

Still amazes me how much time and effort I invested into all of this.  How involved the community was in the whole game.  I mean we had online worldwide rankings!  Items in the game (computer files) could be sold in the real world for real world money.  People would dress up as their characters.  We had our own language of online terms that we could use easily and freely with each other.

Eventually all good things come to an end.  That character that I was going to throw away in a week lasted me nearly five years.  I had reached the ultimate level (at that time) that was allowed in the game.  His equipment was the best and we had beaten all the boss monsters available.  New expansions were coming out and new content and adventures but I felt that I had accomplished what I set out to do with that character.

Reluctantly I pulled the plug on that chapter of my online life.  I had a wonderful time but I felt that I had new places to visit and new experiences to be explored.

Posted in: games, hobbies, internet

Persistent Bastards

July 9, 2013 6:48 PM , Leave a Comment ,

It was raining blood again.  Not uncommon on the plane of fear but it just made everyone’s mood gloomier.

Here we were again on our third attempt at Cazic Thule, the lord of the plane of fear.  Our guild leaders had to practically get on their knees to beg the raiding council on our Everquest server for this opportunity.  The raid council was a group that controlled what guilds went where for special encounters like this.  They scheduled you and denied you as they saw fit.  In essence they ran the server.  Plane of fear was an older raid.  The top guilds had moved on to newer, bigger and better raids.  Yet they refused to relinquish any control.  They were adamant that any guild that failed a raid on three separate dates would be banned from raiding anymore.

Our little guild (only about 30 members) had attempted this raid twice before and had failed miserably both times and it looked like this was going no better.  We had already been wiped out twice tonight and everyone was getting tired.  The basic problem was that we were not causing sufficient damage.  None of our guildies were high level or had special equipment.  Whatever combination or tactic we tried just wasn’t working.

We had too many healers that night so I was running on a friend’s account and using her enchanter.  Our clerics and healers sounded out a warning.  They were running low on magic and could not keep up their healing and protection.  We had to prepare.  This meant that non essential guild mates would camp, or log out.  They would wait offline for five or so minutes and then collect the bodies of those that had stayed behind fighting.  The fighting would be over in less than a minute and everyone left behind would be massacred.  The five minute rule was just to make sure no monsters hung around waiting for people to come back in.  The survivors would then resurrect and try again.

Only in this case it didn’t look likely that there would be another attempt.  It was late, everyone was despondent, just a general feeling of futility all around.  We would fail our third attempt.  We would be banned from all the higher level content.  We would be a disgraced guild.  Might as well quit the game.

I logged out as ordered and waited watching the clock on the monitor.  1 minute, despodent, 2 minutes, angry, 3 minutes….  Hell with it, going back in and going to go out fighting.

The loading screen was exceptionally slow.  Explosions and noises all around me.  I walked into the middle of a battlefield.  They were still fighting!  Someone was particularly stubborn or angry or both but they had held on.  I threw myself into the fight.

Other guildies started logging back in.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one disgusted at the thought of quitting the fight.  If it was possible for a computer generated character to look nonplussed then that described Cazic Thule at that moment.  The 30 foot tall god of fear seemed immobile and didn’t know what to do.  This wasn’t going according to script.

Total confusion.  Healers and magicians, out of magic, going in and attacking with staves, daggers, or fists.  A tooth and nail fight.  No strategy, no tactics, just do more damage.  We counted off the percentages, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….A small earth shattering thud as Cazic finally fell.

After raid chores.  resting up the healers and resurrecting the dead, policing up loot and distribution of the same.  Taking pictures atop the giant god’s carcass.  Proof of our victory.

Not the biggest victory in the world, not even in the make believe world of Everquest, it hardly got a notice in the raid council.  But we had done it.  No one that had been in that raid that night had logged out without a feeling of achievement.

That was the turning point for our guild.  We then went through a year long tear through the higher level raids.  Ripping apart enemy after enemy with a furious energy born from that desperate night’s battle.  We became more professional, and if not revered well at least respected.  I would eventually become top healer in the guild and was ranked (for a short time) as one of the better healers on the server.

A small victory yes but something that I still remember fondly.  What do I take away from it to the real world picture?  Mainly that I keep trying.  No matter how hopeless, pointless, and futile the fight is.  I just don’t quit.  I’ve written before that I sometimes need to know when to quit but really, this is the only real strength I have.

Maybe I should embrace that.

Posted in: games, internet

Gaming

May 22, 2013 9:08 PM , Leave a Comment ,

Whether it’s something with dice and a board or whether it involves a joystick and a keyboard I suppose games have been a pass time that has been with me since my childhood.

I don’t remember it but when I lived in Colombia my dad brought back one of the first home consoles for the game Pong and apparently I took to it immediately.

I started board games as a kid when one of my older brothers bought a copy of Dungeons and Dragons and I buried my nose in the rulebook for days and couldn’t wait to try it out with my elementary school friends.

From those humble beginnings I graduated to the Atari 2600 and more conventional board games like Monopoly, Life, and Risk.  As time carried on I graduated to text-based games on the Commodore 64 and Battletech.

In college my gaming opportunities became a bit more refined as I was introduced to card games like Hearts and Bridge but I was also introduced to the M.U.D. or Multi User Dungeon.  These were early text-based games played on the early internet against players from all over the world.  They would one day blossom into a billion dollar industry but back then we were just amazed that it worked at all.  I also developed a taste for gaming conventions those days.  A chance to just get together and forget school or other worries and just play games for a couple of days.

After college my gaming pass time took a back seat.  I was focused on getting established at work and had little time for gaming in person or money to buy a PC for gaming.

Around ’95 I finally bought my first PC and I found Battletech had taken a leap from paper and pen to the computer.  For it’s time the graphics was amazing.  With a little tinkering and some prayers you could connect to other players in a LAN party and play them.

In 2001 at the urging of my then girlfriend I got into EverQuest.  The first really big online game.  A graphic version of the old M.U.D. The relationship didn’t last but the game did, and no it didn’t cause the relationship to fail.  I will cover that in another blog.  Maybe.

Called Evercrack by its detractors for its seemingly addictive nature it kept players on for hours at a time.  Why was it so addictive?  Perhaps the contact with hundreds of others online, the fact that it was so well made and detailed, the competitive nature of the game?

This game added concepts that you never associated with games up to that time.  Things like weight.  If you were too greedy and collected too much loot you would be stuck.  You had to keep food and drink on you at all times or your character could starve. You had to deal with racism, religious bigotry, and politics as these might determine where you would or would not be welcome.

The biggest quirk was the online trading.  Quite organically and by chance players began to build up surpluses of goods and began to trade them.  Some went so far as to trade actual world money for goods via email.  At one point this fake, make-believe land had a net worth higher than Bulgaria

Of course over time these things come and go and World of Warcraft took over.  I tried it but the magic wasn’t there.  Warcraft is a simpler version.  Nowhere near as many restrictions or as technical as EverQuest. Anyone could come in and start playing it immediately.

Truthfully though I think that phase of my life is coming to the end.  Earlier in the year, the last old computer that held any EverQuest content was donated to charity and I don’t play Warcraft anymore.  I could say that I just don’t have the time but the truth is that it just doesn’t hold the appeal it once did.  These games had their time but I think now it’s over.

I will still go to conventions but more as a spectator nowadays than an active participant.  Maybe one day I will go back to the beginnings and try my hand at the simple board games for the companionship more than anything else.

 

Posted in: games