tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36107989966681302024-03-05T14:58:51.950-08:00BITkselBlog about retro and non-retro video games, gamedev and computers, plus other nerdy things.Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-37989379048100503192017-11-06T16:33:00.000-08:002017-11-06T16:34:06.492-08:00I have moved! You should be redirected to the new site automatically!I have moved to Wordpress. My friends told me it's better than Blogger so I decided to give it a shot.<br />
Link: <a href="https://bitkselblog.wordpress.com/">https://bitkselblog.wordpress.com</a>Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-83707958008946616522017-11-03T15:01:00.002-07:002017-11-03T15:04:06.870-07:00Game Project Summary: Crypt of DarneI wanted to write this quick summary of how my <a href="https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne" target="_blank">Crypt of Darne</a> game project went, now that I've collected data long enough. Without further ado, let's begin!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3KJGRaPqCyeBFYnUBU2I6bA8Dgj-i_jeKCaAIXsX5JiHH8npMFfN6qEoEwCGMASjBRzENJsTtFxAZPF_5Tj-wvK5Ekx0Rm6rGdQYrz5Ohfg-6t-TFRGXJ7M7rfPPbRYtOw9_CqO8zw/s1600/5KbO%252BZ.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3KJGRaPqCyeBFYnUBU2I6bA8Dgj-i_jeKCaAIXsX5JiHH8npMFfN6qEoEwCGMASjBRzENJsTtFxAZPF_5Tj-wvK5Ekx0Rm6rGdQYrz5Ohfg-6t-TFRGXJ7M7rfPPbRYtOw9_CqO8zw/s640/5KbO%252BZ.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>You enter the Crypt of Darne and you're looking for a specific gem. Will you survive?"</i><br />
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Crypt of Darne is a free roguelike-ish dungeon delving game, where
you make a character out of few race-class combinations and explore a
crypt, trying to find a specific gem. You'll know it when you see it,
but it is hidden deeply in the crypt. Good luck!</div>
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Crypt of Darne was supposed to become a proper roguelike, however I remembered to keep the scope small and decided to just make a simple dungeon crawler style game. It has roguelike-ish elements, such as permadeath. The game is completely controlled with keyboard, but you can see the name of any tile with hovering your mouse over it. I created the game for Games Made Quick 2017 gamejam, however I continued working on it even after the jam. It took me two months total to make it to version 1.0.0.<br />
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The good stuff </h3>
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Man, I learned A LOT! I learned how to work with Python and LibtcodPy, how to publish a game on itch.io, how to do pixel art, how ASCII tilesets work... So many things that.. I kind of forgot some of it. Sorry, it's been so long since I worked on it last time. I have to give an honorary mention to the tutorial I used to make this game: <a href="http://www.roguebasin.com/index.php?title=Complete_Roguelike_Tutorial,_using_python%2Blibtcod" target="_blank">Roguebasin Roguelike Tutorial</a>.<br />
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Making the game definitely helped me grow as gamedev! Sometimes I was having so much fun making the game I barely wanted to stop. Hours flew by as I typed out more and more code, drew tiles or just dabbled on the game's backstory.<br />
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There's not many interesting things behind the scenes I could really share. It's very What You See Is What You Get -style game.<br />
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The best part however was that someone donated me 3€ for this game!! And my friend also gave me 1€! Sure it's not much, barely anything, but this game was the first game that has gotten me anykind of revenue. I will always cherish it because of that and it helped me to figure out that maybe making games truly is my thing!<br />
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Over the course of three months, the game gained 981 views total and 93 downloads total. I got most views through Reddit, where I shared a link to my game on a finnish subreddit. So, marketing is important and social media is truly the best way to do it. I expect the game to still get a few odd views here and there and maybe an occasional download, however I don't expect it to explode in popularity.<br />
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I also want to mention that I had much fun writing a backstory and a book about the playable races. I wrote them "in character" as in I was writing them as someone from the same world where the game is located in. You get these pdf's when you download the game.<br />
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And the bad stuff</h3>
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So, what was bad then? Sometimes I ended up with a bug or slump I couldn't really get over until after a break for few days. It was super frustrating and gave me headaches. I was also trying to add too many things in the game at first and was stumped by my own lack of skills. Python is simple enough but LibtcodPy isn't very easy, atleast not for me, so having to work with that definitely took some time for me.<br />
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Drawing also isn't my strongest suit, so I had to fight with my programmer-art few times to get anything look right. I learned, but it was also really frustrating at times.<br />
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Balancing the game, so that no character would be too overpowered, was also quite difficult, but it also was very rewarding when I got it all right. Lots of spreadsheets and math! <br />
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Summary</h3>
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All in all, I'd say this project was very good learning experience to me and I mostly enjoyed making it. I'm glad I did it all and I hope that atleast one person liked it. :) As long as there's one person that likes my game, I'm happy and I feel like I've made a contribution to society, as clichey as that sounds.<br />
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Feel free to give me any kinds of comments on the game, the good or bad (please be gentle), on either here or on itch.io. Also if you have some questions about working on the game, ask ahead and I'll try to answer as best as I can!<br />
<br />Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-47832855978562729462017-09-30T14:59:00.001-07:002017-09-30T15:04:38.560-07:00INFRA: Urban exploration the gameYesterday I finished <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/251110/INFRA/" target="_blank">INFRA</a>, a game about urban exploration. I'll start this bluntly: INFRA got on my "favorite games of all time" -list. It's just that good. Here are my thoughts about it and I'm sorry that they're spread a bit everywhere. I'm influenced by whisky as I'm writing this, lol.<br />
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In INFRA, you play as a guy called Mark, who is some sort of building inspector at Stalhburg City. You know, inspecting the state of buildings, infrastructure, all that. Sounds rather.. Boring, right? Wrong!<br />
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The game starts from Mark's workplace, where you are in a meeting. Your workmates talk about some stuff, and you get an assignment to inspect a dam. At this point, you get some time to freeroam around your workplace, looking for things and so on. It's a good place to get the feeling for the game and learn the controls. Eventually you arrive at the dam and you get some further directions. Then, it's up to you to find your way to the objective.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PUdDtUoz8CFwNfNGxL4JXBIDqhENzd7RYPXUksjJLBXLUEtBIisR7srR3wtBSTXXaaC4tPIfYEjQ98NBbOmr3-7rYVQ4BjZ8SshY7QXRnLA6sCy7wFgEyIgi3pwx8Zlwf2BYA29DSA/s1600/251110_screenshots_20160516235945_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PUdDtUoz8CFwNfNGxL4JXBIDqhENzd7RYPXUksjJLBXLUEtBIisR7srR3wtBSTXXaaC4tPIfYEjQ98NBbOmr3-7rYVQ4BjZ8SshY7QXRnLA6sCy7wFgEyIgi3pwx8Zlwf2BYA29DSA/s400/251110_screenshots_20160516235945_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the dam. The game is really beautiful.</td></tr>
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<i>I have to apologize for the quality of my screenshots. I was so immersed in the game I forgot to take them in the most interesting sections. Some of the screenshots are from the <a href="http://press.loisteinteractive.com/sheet.php?p=INFRA" target="_blank">Loiste Interactive press kit</a>.</i><br />
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The game is completely non-violent and based purely on exploration. This means that your only items you have with you are camera and a flashlight. You use your camera to take pictures of things that are wrong, like broken stairways, walls, collapsed bridges, etc. Unfortunately for you, both your flashlight and camera drain batteries like a drunk Finn drinks beer, so you have to constantly keep looking for beer- eh, I mean, batteries. Mark even comments on that at some point. You also find some temporary items to carry to get through places like keys for doors, etc.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFsPsXXYMrQxrILlvrDANZwCkCK5gN0miTxMhgsqxCkKU3gAUUdVVL9ZIoGmbp30_S62kefSXTVKR4cf3mAuTq8Ci5JtM7d_ixs23HtQiL5ELf59pAbythjiFvwMLsC8M6RJXayrtuw/s1600/251110_screenshots_20160516234613_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFsPsXXYMrQxrILlvrDANZwCkCK5gN0miTxMhgsqxCkKU3gAUUdVVL9ZIoGmbp30_S62kefSXTVKR4cf3mAuTq8Ci5JtM7d_ixs23HtQiL5ELf59pAbythjiFvwMLsC8M6RJXayrtuw/s400/251110_screenshots_20160516234613_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEER. You'll be seeing it a lot.</td></tr>
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Speaking of beer, it's everywhere in this game. And I'm not even surprised, the game is made by Finnish people. Many places have saunas and other things related to Finnish culture. Even the environments are very Finnish looking. However, the game doesn't seem to be placed in Finland, but I'm not really sure about that. It really does make me feel right at home and everything, to me, makes sense. I wonder how someone who isn't Finnish perceives this games look and environment.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmR17eEEzRhjLVAHvVrhM2AWeXuKCHjcLIwWMW5TkRnuOUrQ3HwyQq4SIPgn-0qlYtG51o9avw0HncOC8O0eH1HQSS4MGOYaaaal2Vd7L_9yy_oZl-oPn3Z22bX5YP6CzLGOPZgWMLdA/s1600/20170929225458_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmR17eEEzRhjLVAHvVrhM2AWeXuKCHjcLIwWMW5TkRnuOUrQ3HwyQq4SIPgn-0qlYtG51o9avw0HncOC8O0eH1HQSS4MGOYaaaal2Vd7L_9yy_oZl-oPn3Z22bX5YP6CzLGOPZgWMLdA/s400/20170929225458_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a Finnish game alright.</td></tr>
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The story of the game evolves when you play, but you have to keep a keen eye on things: You may miss key things regarding the story if you don't explore every nook and cranny. Most of the most important story elements are placed on your path so it's hard to miss them, but if you want to know more, you'll have to dig deeper. I don't want to spoil the story at all, other than there's a lot of corruption going on and lot's of mystery around it. I love this kind of storytelling, you have to put the pieces together yourself. Also, the NPC's don't tell you the story, it's the environment that talks to you. Notes, voice recordings, journals.. Even graffitis on walls. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Humc8_tXsUI_OCA0zr77Ds4P0yB7fOSmfnL6d4UycGL3e37Pqn87rLOXGz6p0vq_2Z6LQQ8eoRKKd4LfVnl8EkBE6xKRYF66dJArSVL3TJF07wQCGmy9q1vonsRT0PrY55QGY552Zg/s1600/infra_c6_m5_stormdrain0009-d77a93.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Humc8_tXsUI_OCA0zr77Ds4P0yB7fOSmfnL6d4UycGL3e37Pqn87rLOXGz6p0vq_2Z6LQQ8eoRKKd4LfVnl8EkBE6xKRYF66dJArSVL3TJF07wQCGmy9q1vonsRT0PrY55QGY552Zg/s400/infra_c6_m5_stormdrain0009-d77a93.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You'll have to climb up there. See what I mean by hazardous?</td></tr>
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Now, about the gameplay. Like I earlier mentioned, it's completely non-violent game. There aren't enemies to chase you. But, there is one enemy: The hazardous environment. Lots of collapsed things, floors breaking, tight spaces, high falls, mushrooms (yep), explosions, things running over you.. In short, many hazards. Thus the game isn't really a horror game, but the enviroments can be terrifying. I love the fact that I can take my time and explore the place without being chased by some mutation.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHuRjxWs4Bwh1W9I-TMh5M0fQ-PhyphenhyphenZRRfncvKVNziUt4iXsONBMZtUjMqBLIOxWMVltqtDnRaAne1nsgoES1MlA8ttLVbtVHFuYIm5G_fSDhogarYv2bdH6YmZ2CZyCuDq4GtXKLKRw/s1600/20170929190535_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHuRjxWs4Bwh1W9I-TMh5M0fQ-PhyphenhyphenZRRfncvKVNziUt4iXsONBMZtUjMqBLIOxWMVltqtDnRaAne1nsgoES1MlA8ttLVbtVHFuYIm5G_fSDhogarYv2bdH6YmZ2CZyCuDq4GtXKLKRw/s400/20170929190535_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What on earth..?</td></tr>
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While you're sliding down sewer pipes or riding a raft in an underground cavern, you'll have to take photos. It's actually important and affects the end of the game, or at least that's how it felt like to me. There are few different endings. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTym4aFvUOy6Ll46T4wRiGWe2ta3uCpY2QNh_9Wl8vGAS0Ge5BhNSErziIJUU2d-yffp7QQKw0Sq328GLl-flHDEsyfWEHaOi8Fm1HRcBZfEEB6SirLDL8eSfVtudswJYYcnSMl7bsGg/s1600/251110_screenshots_20170928193925_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTym4aFvUOy6Ll46T4wRiGWe2ta3uCpY2QNh_9Wl8vGAS0Ge5BhNSErziIJUU2d-yffp7QQKw0Sq328GLl-flHDEsyfWEHaOi8Fm1HRcBZfEEB6SirLDL8eSfVtudswJYYcnSMl7bsGg/s400/251110_screenshots_20170928193925_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside.. For now.</td></tr>
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The environments change a lot during the gameplay. At first you may be outside, then you end up in a water treatment plant. From there, you end up a cave, that leads to a metro station that leads to a bunker and.. Suddenly you're in suburban neighborhood inside a garage next to a biker bar. Even if the environment changes around a lot, it never feels unnatural. The flow between the levels is absolutely amazing and believable. Everything feels just.. Right. You may ask first "Oh how did I get in here" but then you get that "Oh.. It makes sense why I'm here." </div>
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Between exploring, there's also a lot of puzzles. These puzzles can be very simple or very difficult, which depends on which kind of environment you're exploring. For example, some simple puzzles are "how to get on the other side of this pool of electrified water with couple boxes" and the more advanced are "how to fix a water treatment plant." None of these puzzles are explained straight (except at few points where an NPC helps you over radio/phone), you first have to find the puzzle, then work on it. However, none of the puzzles were overly hard, some just needed more trial and error: Hard enough to piss you off just right amount, that you keep trying. If I can get through these puzzles, you can too. If you get truly stuck, the Steam community forums for this game have been really helpful. Even the developers give hints for people on those forums.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvIQKs-RjIrnztvdwGWQFhRsA902LsuZcfP_a9tYbA3bqcfTDISfalRWBVogSi0_dKSjWWknk4IE5eFDOcVuby6Q1Xf-qVdraWo9zN-wVqHivb5BuzfchT8eqLYKGiHfb-4mN7iyuHQ/s1600/Coldwater.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvIQKs-RjIrnztvdwGWQFhRsA902LsuZcfP_a9tYbA3bqcfTDISfalRWBVogSi0_dKSjWWknk4IE5eFDOcVuby6Q1Xf-qVdraWo9zN-wVqHivb5BuzfchT8eqLYKGiHfb-4mN7iyuHQ/s400/Coldwater.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a lot of valve's to open/close and steam to avoid.</td></tr>
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The atmosphere in these environments is very immersive. You can almost smell the stuffy smell of the underground tunnels, feel the dangers of an unused industrial complex with a lot of rusted machinery, feel the wind breezing through broken windows.. It's hard to explain, it's something you just have to experience. The soundscape of this game is amazing as well, the ambient noises just enhance everything you see and add to the immersion. The music is really well done too, even you don't hear it much, mostly just at the beginning of a level. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf66LqlQ5B7SGPuhmVumcbomjOr1YVrEGFUfRHg1_9jYY8txd8uhM5-6VkCjH6DpUx3gF6IyT6klY8nqMCw0DU7u1ksHf46sa98nZZ4TVBcy48eXLg0LPMZHG0I75tCg_spI2euXJyow/s1600/16293917044028473974_screenshots_2013-04-12_00001.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf66LqlQ5B7SGPuhmVumcbomjOr1YVrEGFUfRHg1_9jYY8txd8uhM5-6VkCjH6DpUx3gF6IyT6klY8nqMCw0DU7u1ksHf46sa98nZZ4TVBcy48eXLg0LPMZHG0I75tCg_spI2euXJyow/s400/16293917044028473974_screenshots_2013-04-12_00001.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyi9d4nYKgCgqBna22-pLobIymGLlSYQ11Ri2YcexsAPZ9wQFArOdBbNbns7Me_XzJFxMNdrhL8M2hqnl5uuazJaPjUFS3AnHZEB9Mo9_FTa4M-Z6WtgcSdOkjJ4ovqKKySK7z7cvFA/s1600/infra_c3_m3_tunnel30006.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyi9d4nYKgCgqBna22-pLobIymGLlSYQ11Ri2YcexsAPZ9wQFArOdBbNbns7Me_XzJFxMNdrhL8M2hqnl5uuazJaPjUFS3AnHZEB9Mo9_FTa4M-Z6WtgcSdOkjJ4ovqKKySK7z7cvFA/s400/infra_c3_m3_tunnel30006.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the dungeon dwellers, there's a lot of this.</td></tr>
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Someone may wonder if this game is just a simple "walking simulator." I'd say <b>hell no</b>. The puzzles, the environments and all that are engaging and interactive, so you're not just walking through everything. Think about Mirror's Edge, but instead of Faith you have 40 year old slightly alcoholic Mark with snarky attitude. Oh and you get to ride things too, and even pilot a tiny boat!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6a6W8ME_3wUIjczrc3uc2hVPHMrm8sHdH-Bp9yx8xbcVspMwrZ0dH7MJuN3CdUEChY5ziXplEfCZwrjC6pHdfZAQ-Q9SpGwIzEODE5AxweVbXOsmMj19zM6uZIGf7wL3Vj3wuJhzsQ/s1600/20170929211356_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6a6W8ME_3wUIjczrc3uc2hVPHMrm8sHdH-Bp9yx8xbcVspMwrZ0dH7MJuN3CdUEChY5ziXplEfCZwrjC6pHdfZAQ-Q9SpGwIzEODE5AxweVbXOsmMj19zM6uZIGf7wL3Vj3wuJhzsQ/s400/20170929211356_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too bad I don't have my fishing gear with me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Now why am I thinking it's one of the best games I've ever played? It surprised me in every way! I was expecting some simple exploration game with urban exploration theme. But no, the game was actual urban exploration experience! I was so immersed in the game, I played it in multiple 3-4h sessions, finishing it completely in around 20 hours. I just couldn't stop! On top of the exploration, the mystery story begged me to solve it. I love mysteries and secrets in video games and INFRA delivered. Last but not least, the easter eggs. None of the environments were boring, because if there was some place that looked a bit boring but you went further, you could find some funny easter egg. Some of them were very Finnish culture related though, so if you're not Finnish you may miss out on some.</div>
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAZ-v4K_-iVcyK1daO5NCamEx_-DO4nVOa_OIX3l1yA2iDpPfNJBiN2nkPkgvViIxAY74zK3fIYuMA5hlzXF_C2_ZNuxd2Axx72KKHla0qCIz5-77ZQ4XDUOGn1G476QDgIh7f8l2ow/s1600/251110_screenshots_20170606154951_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAZ-v4K_-iVcyK1daO5NCamEx_-DO4nVOa_OIX3l1yA2iDpPfNJBiN2nkPkgvViIxAY74zK3fIYuMA5hlzXF_C2_ZNuxd2Axx72KKHla0qCIz5-77ZQ4XDUOGn1G476QDgIh7f8l2ow/s400/251110_screenshots_20170606154951_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easter eggs <3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
But the main thing what makes me like this game so much is that <b>you can truly feel the love and passion the developers have for this game. </b>I appreciate that so much and it's something crucial some games miss these days. </div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecxIRvWCW8V-Df27pMq15hJTQijp2WGvNC-pPtETqfuD4o0sNKPbGimaQG2hokimW_1N4rcQC6FjkgTY9L4jSdTwUSLTkrr3eORRcw8Y5vtyUytydthRawC5mXg3E9aQl63I3Hq-bag/s1600/251110_screenshots_20170604200642_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecxIRvWCW8V-Df27pMq15hJTQijp2WGvNC-pPtETqfuD4o0sNKPbGimaQG2hokimW_1N4rcQC6FjkgTY9L4jSdTwUSLTkrr3eORRcw8Y5vtyUytydthRawC5mXg3E9aQl63I3Hq-bag/s400/251110_screenshots_20170604200642_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good ol' BSOD- Er, I mean, TOWEL error.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
If I have to mention some negative things, it's that the game crashed sometimes during loading screens and the NPC animations are a bit.. Stiff. There aren't many NPC's around in the game however so it makes sense they didn't really concentrate on them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This game is only 22€. Full price. On sale even less. However, it's worthy of every damn cent I paid for it, and even after 20h I still was left for an incentive to replay the whole game: Hunt achievements, solve the mystery completely and see the other endings. So if you have any interested in urban exploration and dislike horror, this game is made for you. Get it. You won't regret it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I applaud you Loiste Interactive. I hope to make something as good as you have done, and can't wait to see what's next.</div>
</div>
Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-16704453572915881162017-09-26T13:29:00.002-07:002017-09-26T13:30:33.646-07:00Blogger Recognition AwardMy fiancee <a href="https://tecsielity.blogspot.fi/" target="_blank">Tecsiedep </a>tagged me to this thing so hello.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
Rules:</h3>
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<div>
<ul>
<li>Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.</li>
<li>Give a brief story of how your blog started.</li>
<li>Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.</li>
<li>Select 10 other bloggers you want to give this award to.</li>
<li>Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
How I started:</h3>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
It was cold winter night in December 2016. Or something like that. I just decided I wanna whip up a blog because I have stuff to talk about games etc. I was very into it first, but I tried to make a post almost every week which burned me out and my blog died at one point. I'm trying to bring it back now.<br />
<br /></div>
<h3>
My advice:</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Write about the stuff that is important to you. The more passionate you are, the better results. I'm still kind of proud about my <a href="https://bitksel.blogspot.fi/2017/01/ah-morrowind.html" target="_blank">Morrowind</a> blog post.</li>
<li>Don't schedule unless you're absolutely, 100% sure you can do it. You'll get burned out.</li>
<li>Don't worry about blogging often/rarely. Do what you please. </li>
<li>Try to keep things consistent and organized, it's more fun to run the blog and readers have more enjoyable experience.</li>
<li>Add all your blog post ideas to a list, so whenever you feel like writing but you don't have any ideas you can just look at it and there you go.</li>
<li>I'm not good enough blogger to come up with more advice.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
And I shall tag...</h3>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
None! I don't know any blogs that haven't been already tagged. Uh, so, tag yourself I guess.</div>
Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-8777995754946821652017-09-18T11:30:00.000-07:002017-10-01T13:36:18.806-07:00Tyranny, the game of choices and consequencesYesterday, after 13 hours of play, I finished Tyranny. I bought the game only couple a days ago and I just couldn't stop playing it, so I finished it rather quickly. Here's some of my thoughts about it.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Tyranny is remarkably similar to Pillars of Eternity, since they use the same engine. The only big change is the story and setting itself, so they aren't tied to each other. I absolutely loved Pillars of Eternity, so I will be doing some comparing between the two. I will write a post about Pillars when I have finished the White March expansions.<br />
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In Tyranny, you start your game creating your character. The character creation is pretty basic, there's no other playable races than human and you can only choose your past and weapons, then skill points and all that good stuff. After that, though, you will get into "conquest" mode.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERmDL8qIkEw1Tv0Cdt8vEjxvylBUyzG2PJ9UqNxHnxT3E4j0tsT_FTWTSTFIazsD4nc0TBzESPky_8vi3caTWXdz8oB02PTC_9rHcT5NdkSwUXKjIE0bm4F8q5jz4vJ7efnDI2e0dmA/s1600/20170918202447_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERmDL8qIkEw1Tv0Cdt8vEjxvylBUyzG2PJ9UqNxHnxT3E4j0tsT_FTWTSTFIazsD4nc0TBzESPky_8vi3caTWXdz8oB02PTC_9rHcT5NdkSwUXKjIE0bm4F8q5jz4vJ7efnDI2e0dmA/s400/20170918202447_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conquest</td></tr>
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In conquest-mode you will be making decisions that shape the world. Your decisions in this game <b>will matter</b>, and it shows! From what I gathered when playing, there's no really right or wrong, there's just choices and consequences. But the consequences can hinder your gameplay, or make it easier.<br />
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After you've done conquesting, you see a tiny cutscene, well, more like a slideshow with narration, but the artstyle and writing is really worth your attention! You will then play in a tiny tutorial area, that is also part of the story... And things begin to unravel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit70_mnbptVAapovzJBvDAULaL5eZoMH7naQD4k80B7_s8QyyoC03U3DpfoCIiXFPQSbvsJHjWcJHT_K8-gnBbjNNFlfyjCvXVy7sqEB9-MsMNBWMh7z5CpmX0XQPtvhZ80tmYdOydgQ/s1600/20170918201843_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit70_mnbptVAapovzJBvDAULaL5eZoMH7naQD4k80B7_s8QyyoC03U3DpfoCIiXFPQSbvsJHjWcJHT_K8-gnBbjNNFlfyjCvXVy7sqEB9-MsMNBWMh7z5CpmX0XQPtvhZ80tmYdOydgQ/s400/20170918201843_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsj7Ev3ctcGBoKZvOXdaI4A6IX59rVarRZkiaKGmFwHDSzYFx1wjAt1uTW3g0b6yknpJWO1EPCnSK6amGX4vcDymWBoVqsICALvTehjs0uvH37LmBZiIBDwdjKVzO8aIvMzf0GH62qg/s1600/20170918201844_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsj7Ev3ctcGBoKZvOXdaI4A6IX59rVarRZkiaKGmFwHDSzYFx1wjAt1uTW3g0b6yknpJWO1EPCnSK6amGX4vcDymWBoVqsICALvTehjs0uvH37LmBZiIBDwdjKVzO8aIvMzf0GH62qg/s400/20170918201844_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My character Tobias</td></tr>
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Quickly about the combat: I'm not much into the combat in these type of games. I'm the kind of wuss that plays on story mode, because I'm more interested in the story than the intricacies of the combat. Yes, me, who loves the crap out of FPS games, don't really care for combat in this sort of games. I always feel like I'm way too stupid to get it, so I just put the game on easy and watch the carnage. It's just my way to play these type of games.<br />
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Anyway, the combat is fun. It's very similar to Pillars: It's realtime combat but you can pause it any time, you can have multiple weapons and switch between them during battle and you have tons of skills to choose from. There's also spellmaking sort of thing, where you can make spells for your characters, but I didn't really dabble with that so I can't talk much about it.<br />
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The one thing that stood to me the most was the combo-skills between your character and their companions. If you made friends (or made your companion fear you), you would gain these combo-skills. They made the gameplay much easier and much more fun. It added a bit more flow to the combat and gave more weight for the choices: "Do I wanna piss this guy off, just so I can keep him helping me in the combat, even I hate this opinions on things?"<br />
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The combat also feels nice, even to a wuss like me who plays on easy: The sound effects add nice impact to it and it's visually nice looking. One thing that annoyed me though was the characters constantly, I mean <b>constantly </b>complaining when their weapons didn't do damage for reason to another. My favorite was when one of the characters said: "This weapon is like nipples on a man: Useless!"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnJfsQLw7VUmPZt6ygxrSDq_t7lbz-QWh90zcJ9ixprqcg9lWJOMMTZkVHeFDrtf-EY56kEX4fVp4PDQebXLCgmc4JEP7mWvBFSrZ6UhJmot4c92FXhgvDylcrLcqSL-8uNaAu2U06A/s1600/20170918211625_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnJfsQLw7VUmPZt6ygxrSDq_t7lbz-QWh90zcJ9ixprqcg9lWJOMMTZkVHeFDrtf-EY56kEX4fVp4PDQebXLCgmc4JEP7mWvBFSrZ6UhJmot4c92FXhgvDylcrLcqSL-8uNaAu2U06A/s400/20170918211625_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Combo skill in action</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
I don't want to spoil much, but I have to explain the story a little. There are two armies, Disfavored and Charlet Chorus working under a big dude Overlord. Of course those two armies are having their own lil' fights and you have to be the middleman, listening their whining. I felt like I was babysitting two idiots who are leading big packs of idiots. It was great, since it really gave you either reason to really hate the two or like one of them. Ultimately you have to choose between the two and shit hits the fan: boom, civil war between the two armies.<br />
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At this point the story starts and you'll be running around the area called as The Tiers doing oddjobs here and there. There's lots of things to do, lots to see. On my first playthrough I missed a lot of stuff, so I'll be definitely replaying this game at some point. One nice thing about the story is that there is a possibility to betray either one or both of the two armies and give a big middle finger to everything. I will definitely try that on my next playthrough.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rtIFja5Q8aC6QFVNAJePHYbmvI3wp9kXWKYrFxo2OM9rUcI75-3BtiU32AiEyuqwqh3YsKXiS-Eyaw1yfy9RPSmeYKAgX-c4UmK3FU7EzSdIZjM8xh-ag2rFs5TqIm8VvIIhTP350g/s1600/20170918204010_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rtIFja5Q8aC6QFVNAJePHYbmvI3wp9kXWKYrFxo2OM9rUcI75-3BtiU32AiEyuqwqh3YsKXiS-Eyaw1yfy9RPSmeYKAgX-c4UmK3FU7EzSdIZjM8xh-ag2rFs5TqIm8VvIIhTP350g/s400/20170918204010_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny portion of the map of The Tiers, with not much areas unlocked yet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
During the story, you learn that you can control these weird towers called Spires. The story is heavily around them, so I don't want to say much. In Pillars you had the stronghold of Caed Nua, the Spires are basically your stronghold in Tyranny, except you can have many of them. In Spires you can hire people and get them to do your bidding. To get a spire, you have to do some puzzles and maybe some dungeon delving. That was honestly one of my favorite parts of the game, but unfortunately there wasn't much of it.<br />
<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhDVlmU2juONWNp2dCx2MI2kfYB_ZAD9GxrVmztsNA_RkDLpkCKge4HcPmKooyplH322_STzP5rdqi6c3HurstllDj0AjnX3Aoe9D5CvOWoHHQBeW2nKc_5qxNpzU-y3bzjvSNjh09Q/s1600/20170918202017_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhDVlmU2juONWNp2dCx2MI2kfYB_ZAD9GxrVmztsNA_RkDLpkCKge4HcPmKooyplH322_STzP5rdqi6c3HurstllDj0AjnX3Aoe9D5CvOWoHHQBeW2nKc_5qxNpzU-y3bzjvSNjh09Q/s400/20170918202017_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of a Spire</td></tr>
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<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWOWD6xHJvsJirYDq4bci3NVMxmfaxVU8aN_HY7oTnbtdnuugsnim2_JMafS6yjKslWidwxoRIOvxell4m1Fd0b5sLaKLVkM4w5Kx8-hXb2EBJ7nXidqa9WFS1-CewYVKjvWPSUcTFg/s1600/20170918201913_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWOWD6xHJvsJirYDq4bci3NVMxmfaxVU8aN_HY7oTnbtdnuugsnim2_JMafS6yjKslWidwxoRIOvxell4m1Fd0b5sLaKLVkM4w5Kx8-hXb2EBJ7nXidqa9WFS1-CewYVKjvWPSUcTFg/s400/20170918201913_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spire management</td></tr>
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<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcCcHMTnKtw0y5BOVF_4vQXpAT3SQhF3lAeI5xEtDykv_FNkR2ujLgSekm_d-yl_1EoH-PtYnwRbEVFfnAoRk-9ypleiMvKMJPl72m98tgtN4hLQPTsdwlj7p9wMfBSHXGadnx7e58w/s1600/20170918202156_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcCcHMTnKtw0y5BOVF_4vQXpAT3SQhF3lAeI5xEtDykv_FNkR2ujLgSekm_d-yl_1EoH-PtYnwRbEVFfnAoRk-9ypleiMvKMJPl72m98tgtN4hLQPTsdwlj7p9wMfBSHXGadnx7e58w/s400/20170918202156_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Finding our way to unlock a Spire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
The enviroments are really nice looking. I spent some time just looking at the tiny details in walls and floors, looking at the pretty lights and so on. I have no idea how they're done, I assume there's been a lot of 3D modeling and then rendering them to images. The most realtime 3D things you see on your screen are any characters that are moving.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzY2JzzzoUvJVIRwuhl9zCa68aMOJFR0Xdnt6eQKd0DbmzWdfOW0jXjD_C6dCf_1bm2ZE21dB5jAs-pWeCruiyQz9gcLdQlL3LlRndvI7yrsFjenp_ZqmmPQXkSbzBXi6o_FvWdVoHQA/s1600/20170918202258_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzY2JzzzoUvJVIRwuhl9zCa68aMOJFR0Xdnt6eQKd0DbmzWdfOW0jXjD_C6dCf_1bm2ZE21dB5jAs-pWeCruiyQz9gcLdQlL3LlRndvI7yrsFjenp_ZqmmPQXkSbzBXi6o_FvWdVoHQA/s400/20170918202258_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite places was the Burning Library, just because how it looked</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then there are the characters. Most characters I liked, some I didn't really get to know that well due to my decisions. I did manage to get most of them to like me and there was one character that I didn't even meet, hinted by the ending of the game. Talking with characters is just like in Pillars: You got text, then links for dialogue and tooltips that tell you details.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-Hnb8wvXF-LOjTnne8_eA2oV8NnuvLHNK5zE3ZR3p0YShHkQmR9ZyJq2ZqNJLKXTFFx3yQZ0wIebUSe0zmj9hicAeXaGJP9YaByadzZQkM1EgSLE1P8-GlHrIvWFTuockH2nf1BtSg/s1600/20170918202038_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-Hnb8wvXF-LOjTnne8_eA2oV8NnuvLHNK5zE3ZR3p0YShHkQmR9ZyJq2ZqNJLKXTFFx3yQZ0wIebUSe0zmj9hicAeXaGJP9YaByadzZQkM1EgSLE1P8-GlHrIvWFTuockH2nf1BtSg/s400/20170918202038_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a chat</td></tr>
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I have to say one of my favorite characters was Tunon the Adjucator. He seems to be some sort of force of justice and when you're in his court, it truly feels like you're being judged by him. It felt refreshing, in most modern games you get away with lots of things but in Tyranny... Tunon is watching. Always. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2bSurO9tCLDfCek_1vpqEGXSJqbFIZSo1MoWR9k5OTDGk8xz79MCipPZHylI0bNPqHgxA2MVxgKjEpL9W8SsVZ8_6d2K8gchYjlVGnDNUMRn3IEHfwdWrec5CmAQjArVwhiheqTi8WQ/s1600/20170918204111_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2bSurO9tCLDfCek_1vpqEGXSJqbFIZSo1MoWR9k5OTDGk8xz79MCipPZHylI0bNPqHgxA2MVxgKjEpL9W8SsVZ8_6d2K8gchYjlVGnDNUMRn3IEHfwdWrec5CmAQjArVwhiheqTi8WQ/s400/20170918204111_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tunon's Court, and Tunon overlooking at us</td></tr>
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Besides of normal conversation stuff, there's also a thing called missives. It's basically a mailbox and you get mail from some characters while your story goes on. You can reply to these missives in different ways and they either provide you more backstory or give you good advice. Or bad, if you make someone unhappy with your sloppy response. It works like the conversation system, except there's more text.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDI21CrBeVA-5okMWUoYSDEgb8nUvWsGl7j4WbzN-9IeHzTiMhmze6lJ00hx9-WJW4Rzfub2_SUFaqQ7AJyAXsYkYyUasqW42BwEGL5HeMxEiuKH3zu2SGN0cG6gyTJBaKJvy-egb6aw/s1600/20170918202004_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDI21CrBeVA-5okMWUoYSDEgb8nUvWsGl7j4WbzN-9IeHzTiMhmze6lJ00hx9-WJW4Rzfub2_SUFaqQ7AJyAXsYkYyUasqW42BwEGL5HeMxEiuKH3zu2SGN0cG6gyTJBaKJvy-egb6aw/s400/20170918202004_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Missives</td></tr>
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One thing I hope to see in Pillars 2 is the reputation system Tyranny has. You have all the factions, characters, things, etc. in one big reputation list, and you can check how anyone or anything feels like about you. On top of that, reputation can give you skills and passives, so basically making some dude very angry can give you powers against his faction. It's really cool system and I liked it a lot.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMV7-S43swlWnJo-WeJ_0AX0JBa34uv-kvGNCvlu1BwNQx5ciPf8JsqWPt6u16yPkGBWQhGb6R-9I7xLLbeaTMM8BglzARkuyzWpay-vSdAIw-DkaKxrVNuZ2O44p-yS6ePO54fwPUA/s1600/20170918201900_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMV7-S43swlWnJo-WeJ_0AX0JBa34uv-kvGNCvlu1BwNQx5ciPf8JsqWPt6u16yPkGBWQhGb6R-9I7xLLbeaTMM8BglzARkuyzWpay-vSdAIw-DkaKxrVNuZ2O44p-yS6ePO54fwPUA/s400/20170918201900_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reputation</td></tr>
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So in conclusion, I liked the game and it's features. It was really fun to play, I enjoyed the story and the visuals, but I had constantly this nagging feeling of something missing: There wasn't really sense of exploration in the game. Instead, you're being railroaded by everything and even if you don't want to be anyone's lapdog, you kinda have to to progress in the story. It was a bit more.. Linear, than Pillars. That can be a good thing or bad thing, depending of the player. For me, it kind of diminished the sense of wonder and wanderlust. In Pillars, I was constantly exploring, reading everything, just absorbing the world and the information. In Tyranny I found myself sometimes just quickly reading the dialogue without any second thought and sometimes even pushing myself forward, instead of naturally going with the "flow."</div>
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I can't really explain it any better than that. It simply felt like something was lacking. Maybe it was because I wasn't that interested in the world of Tyranny compared to Pillars of Eternity, or maybe the game didn't really give me a chance to get interested. You are pretty much dropped into the world and you have to spend some time researching things yourself. Otherwise you will be very lost in the lore of Tyranny.</div>
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The ending was a bit underwhelming too. It just.. ended. Very unexpectedly. I was waiting for more than 13 hours of gameplay. Maybe I just rushed things, I'm not sure. I still enjoyed the ending, even it was very cliffhanger-y.</div>
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Since the game has New Game+, I will definitely try Tyranny again someday and see what other kind of choices I can make, and what the outcomes are.</div>
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I would recommend this game to anyone who likes RPG's, especially if you enjoyed Pillars of Eternity. Just don't expect similar world or story. Tyranny is very, very different, and that's a good thing.<br />
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-50986895181017968812017-09-16T12:55:00.001-07:002017-09-16T12:55:22.525-07:00Tracon 2017 shenanigansI visited Tracon last weekend with my fiancee Tecsiederp (read her post about Tracon <a href="https://tecsielity.blogspot.fi/2017/09/tracon-2017.html" target="_blank">here</a>). I had a lot of fun there, cosplayed a bit and bought some stuff. I'll divide every day in their separate things.<br />
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Friday, Day 1, 8.9.2017</h2>
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We arrived to Tampere rather early on and first we visited a pizza place called Napoli, since we were really hungy after the train trip. I think that was the best pizza I've ever had in my life: It had pulled pork, bbq and salami as toppings, and oh man oh man it was so good. </div>
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After that we checked out a local game store called Puolenkuun Pelit. I used to buy all my games from there when I was younger, so it was nostalgic in a sense. There were loads of games both new and used, t-shirts, tabletop games and RPG's, but I ended up getting nothing because I wanted to save money for Tracon and I didn't really find anything interesting.</div>
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We also visited a cat cafe. I have to admit I wasn't a very big fan because of my allergies, but atleast Tecsie was happy, so it was worth it. I learned that my allergies have "toned down" over time, because even there was like atleast 6 cats, I could breathe just fine at first. When I was younger it was way more severe.</div>
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Later that day we went to see Gamedev panels at Tracon. I was so happy to be there, even for some reason I felt really lightheaded and ill. We managed to hear the two last panels, that were about game art design and gameplay design. I didn't really care much for the art stuff, but it was nice to hear how it all works behind the scenes. The game design panel was much more interesting to me, there was a lot of good ideas, tricks and tips thrown around and I even got to talk with one of the game designers! </div>
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I was such a nervous wreck because I have so much respect to people working in gamedev and I'm just socially awkward. I did manage to ask few questions about my game ideas, such as "Am I digging a grave for myself because I try to make a game like Morrowind alone?" The answer was, unsurprisingly, "Yes." and he reminded me to keep the scope small at first. "Make a 'Morrowind' game about a small village first." It motivated me to start designing a smaller RPG prototype I could build on more and more stuff eventually.</div>
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I was really glad I went there, I learned a lot really.</div>
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Saturday, Day 2, 9.9.2017</h2>
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We spent the whole Saturday just walking around the con area. It was raining outside so almost everyone was inside the entire time, so the place was fully packed. I saw a lot impressive cosplays, but I was a bit afraid to ask for photos and I didn't want to bother anyone.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA_NSPfeznsgBWVdZ8bEv4ndp7Z4rFSGzPyrNjX7XkNYl-QeVKJDV58cFjkLNhuvcZRK1ZOteo-go4uwGB3rZWUQZI9RzOvRvsmqQ7K2ex81UTDRUKxgFZ-bB_u-3Oh3lUVAl8fjFzQ/s1600/cosplay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA_NSPfeznsgBWVdZ8bEv4ndp7Z4rFSGzPyrNjX7XkNYl-QeVKJDV58cFjkLNhuvcZRK1ZOteo-go4uwGB3rZWUQZI9RzOvRvsmqQ7K2ex81UTDRUKxgFZ-bB_u-3Oh3lUVAl8fjFzQ/s320/cosplay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tecsiederp was Claire from Outlander. I was an Argonian Wizard Nerevarine.</td></tr>
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However, the weirdest thing was, couple guys asked photos of <i>me</i>! It was so unexpected, but I let them take photos. The first guy talked with me about Morrowind a lot, because he noticed my scarf that Tecsie had made for me. The daedric lettering on the scarf translates to "Nerevarine Hortator Outlander." I enjoyed my cosplay, but it was so goddamn hot inside that robe (that was loaned to me by my friend, thanks again!) I had to go to the bathroom and rethink my clothing, lol. The rubber mask I had wasn't very comfortable nor good either, because I couldn't see a damn thing inside of it, so I had to keep it off most of the time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjARqwyMlP05uLrex7wVTFm_LsGkfeXeLvklhrq82y3HwS1vuUvsY_8ZRTcUdTdGpHr_88g-MzZleEj-jeLtVvsKSwPqacKng0g8tGGvzYEQ7I8qTl_WcP7uLv-1MtIRb_KAtcdt-BQ/s1600/chrome_2017-09-16_22-36-19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="607" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjARqwyMlP05uLrex7wVTFm_LsGkfeXeLvklhrq82y3HwS1vuUvsY_8ZRTcUdTdGpHr_88g-MzZleEj-jeLtVvsKSwPqacKng0g8tGGvzYEQ7I8qTl_WcP7uLv-1MtIRb_KAtcdt-BQ/s320/chrome_2017-09-16_22-36-19.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Kaiman from Dorohedoro</td></tr>
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I met also this one person who was cosplaying Kaiman from manga called Dorohedoro. It was kind of funny how they spotted me first and was like "Hey fellow lizard!" We then talked about our cosplay and when I realised that they were cosplaying Kaiman they got really surprised. Apparently I had been one of the few who had guessed correctly, and they told me that not many know about Dorohedoro. They were genuinely so happy, it felt really nice to talk to them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPZCHO255ShaRZmcURM5oWlKgTpjcSp75cdO8bc8D9yt-wnGgXJ6XEeU7BNztICi3vdCDuCxkqmbWjkIq4F0yLKoiDNO1nJmxHsRA7UcKmAUt4lAPUaMPFNQAhh7Nds_w8XF4ELEegQ/s1600/seina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPZCHO255ShaRZmcURM5oWlKgTpjcSp75cdO8bc8D9yt-wnGgXJ6XEeU7BNztICi3vdCDuCxkqmbWjkIq4F0yLKoiDNO1nJmxHsRA7UcKmAUt4lAPUaMPFNQAhh7Nds_w8XF4ELEegQ/s320/seina.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finnish Game Museum</td></tr>
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Last but not least, we visited Finnish Game Museum. It was full of games I knew and had played and some older titles too. Most, if not all of the games there were made by Finnish people so it was interesting to see the very old games other Finns had made. I finally got to play "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3d7XK-a3MU" target="_blank">Uuno Turhapuro muutaa maalle!"</a> and it was pretty fun! I would've loved to spend more time there but we were in a bit of a hurry to leave, since Tecsie's dad took us to a nice Chinese restaurant. </div>
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Sunday, Day 3, 10.9.2017</h2>
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Last day we visited the con briefly before our train left, but there wasn't much to see really. Tecsie just wanted to spend her last art money on art stuff, lol.</div>
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My legs were so sore after the whole Saturday walking around, I didn't even mind the long trip home. It was nice to just sit down and relax, but there was some random kid running around, screaming and kicking seats and the kids parents didn't seem to care. I could tolerate it but it wasn't fun. On top of that, our train was nicely late! We almost missed our bus, but luckily our legs had enough energy to run to the bus stop.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4XCyGVDX5RpqWJvRbxoNkCY6cl-HnfLeIS297h6kxyNvfxjIxP8DhNdDlnyHegZisV76thHAaMF8NrnjvdUZvGclptRrBoh7pwI65-J-QEQF0XxHAy951ts2m7ezeE8hGDHTMvY33Q/s1600/chrome_2017-09-16_22-53-22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4XCyGVDX5RpqWJvRbxoNkCY6cl-HnfLeIS297h6kxyNvfxjIxP8DhNdDlnyHegZisV76thHAaMF8NrnjvdUZvGclptRrBoh7pwI65-J-QEQF0XxHAy951ts2m7ezeE8hGDHTMvY33Q/s320/chrome_2017-09-16_22-53-22.png" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuff I bought from Tracon: ESO shirt, a raptor sticker and Odahviing print. <br />I didn't buy much because that shirt was expensive, but worth it!</td></tr>
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It was a very taxing but super fun weekend! I hope to visit Tracon (or any other con) next time too, I just have to get a better, more comfortable cosplay for next trip. Would be neat to visit some gamedev con in Finland, if there are any.</div>
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-53203610422401535702017-09-04T05:05:00.002-07:002017-09-04T05:05:46.307-07:00Story about why “keeping the scope small” is important <i>This is another post from my old devlog I'm transfering here. I really liked this post so I thought I'll keep it.</i><div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This happened before I started to make that roguelike, but I feel like I should talk about this, I think it’s important for the newcomers in gamedev. This is gonna be an incoherent rambling, but I hope my point comes across.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dunno about others, but I’m sure many gamedevs have so many ideas they don’t know where to start. I had this panic before the Games Made Quick gamejam started, I wanted a solid project to work on, something I could possibly finish before the gamejam ends. (Even in the gamejam rules it’s said that “even returning an empty unity project counts” so I was basically panicking for nothing.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have had this idea of making my own RPG for long time, called Enegrond. It would be a hybrid of Morrowind and some other RPG’s, and it would look like an old PS1 game with blocky graphics and all the polygon jitter and clunky animations. Partially because it looks cool, partially because my artistic side is crap so if I tried something photorealistic I would cry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, I thought I would continue this project in this gamejam, but I wanted to make something concrete, something that could possibly be ready before the gamejam is over. Then I found this roguelike tutorial I talked in my earlier post, however it didn’t really seem like what I have had in mind for this RPG.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then I thought, hey, what about Gamemaker, I have Gamemaker Pro license thanks to Humble Bundle so I went and looked around how it would work for an RPG and found some nice asset that lets me easily start making RPG’s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I weighed all my options and..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Panic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What to do?! Where to start!? So many options, so little time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I wanted to make something cool in such a little time, I first tried my Unity project again and realised that hell, it’s gonna take me years to make it complete. So I scratched it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Back to the roguelike idea, something I possibly could get done rather quick, but not really what I had in mind, so I scratched that too. Before that though, I spent a lot of time figuring things out for the roguelike in case I was gonna make it, wasting precious time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then to the Gamemaker RPG idea.. I was thinking it’s plausible, so I went heck yea, bought the 18€ asset (oops) and started making things happen.. Until I realised that this is also gonna take for many months to make correctly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was kind of sad that I had bought something I won’t use immediatly and just gave up momentarily. My head was literally hurting from all the thinking, pondering, wondering, whatever. I almost cried because I had wasted what little money and still didn’t know what to do, and had another panic, repeating the process of bouncing all three different engines/ideas again, and one more time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was now late into the night, I felt like completely giving up anything gamedev related, I was little ball of angriness because I was angry at myself for not making any solution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then I remembered the magic words.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Keep the scope small.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These words are often repeated to the newcomers in gamedev stuff. We all have such grand ideas for games, so many amazing worlds, so, oh so many amazing gameplay figured out in our heads.. But we often lack the skill to do these, especially alone, and if not skill then we lack time. We newcomers easily forget this, since we’re so lost in our own worlds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I took deep breath and figured a new area on the RPG world Enegrond I had been thinking about. “Why not make a roguelike about a dangerous dungeon in this world? Let’s make it into a small-ish dungeon delve, with fun things, extra races, anything that we can fit into our small timeframe…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This realisation made me smile again. I started to read the roguelike tutorials religiously, creating a list of things I could add to it after I’m done, but keeping it realistic and keeping the scope small.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now I’ve been working on it the last few days and I’ve loved (almost) every second of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even I thought I wasted money on that asset I bought, I’ve been thinking of making my next game with Gamemaker and using that asset with it. I’ll start doing that after I’m done with the roguelike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So the point of this story is:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Avoid headache and keep the scope small. </b>You don’t have to make the best game ever as your first game, or even as the tenth game. Make many tiny games, learn more every time, until you’re absolutely sure you’re ready to make your “magnum opus”, your biggest and best game ever. <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">And never be afraid to ask for help!</b></span></div>
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-31985422358914999092017-09-04T05:00:00.001-07:002017-09-04T05:00:34.047-07:00Crypt of Darne devlog masterpostSince I'm migrating all my devlogs here, so I'm making a masterpost for anything <a href="https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne" target="_blank">Crypt of Darne</a> related. In future all my game related devlogs will be in this blog, so I can keep everything in one place.<br />
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This is a list of separate logs, from the first to last. They're unedited and may be a bit rough, I usually put more effort to the blog posts here.<br />
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<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
(Jul 7, 2017) My roguelike Darne and what I’ve done so far</h2>
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Heyyy, this is my first post on this blog! I made this to help myself to keep up with my gamedev stuff, and I’ll try to update this whenever I’ve done any significant changes to my projects, finished them or just have something gamedev to talk about.</div>
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Last few days I’ve been working on my own roguelike with python+libtcod, because I wanted to join the <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fitch.io%2Fjam%2Fgames-made-quick-one-and-a-half&t=ZGFkMzNkYjkyMWExMGYwZWQ0NDdmN2I0NzRjNzc2ZmRlZGJkZWNhNSx3V2hCUUdRNg%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F162687127248%2Fmy-roguelike-darne-and-what-ive-done-so-far&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Games Made Quick gamejam</a>. I have followed <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roguebasin.com%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3DComplete_Roguelike_Tutorial%2C_using_python%252Blibtcod&t=NWVjOGIwOWNlZjEyMGFmNTA0ZGFjZDA3ZWQ2YTljMjA2N2Q0NTBiYix3V2hCUUdRNg%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F162687127248%2Fmy-roguelike-darne-and-what-ive-done-so-far&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">this tutorial</a> to the note, and now I got a great base I’ve been working on to add my own things. It feels a bit like there’s an engine I can just work on, however this time I can even change the engine settings too.</div>
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I dunno if this project is one of those that will never properly end, or am I gonna do it till certain things are done and leave at that.</div>
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However, what I’ve done so far is:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Everything on the tutorial site, except for all the extras</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Added my own races, based on the Enegrond lore I’m creating, need to write it all down someday</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Inventory size is based on the playercharacters STR, and not just a fixed number</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">BSP dungeon generator</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Custom tileset, however this is just a placeholder and will be changed</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Set the menu positioning better, however this will probably changed again</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Removed confusion spell for now atleast, I didn’t like how it required mouse to aim and I try to keep the game playable with keyboard only</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Character naming (Did this today!)</li>
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I don’t have much to say about these features, except making the character naming took really damn long and required a lot of thinking. Instead of just going with raw_input(”Type your name: “) like in simpler python software, I had to write code that constantly checks if the player is typing anything (not all the time, only when creating new game), then when player presses a key, it checks what key it was, translates it into a character and puts it in the player name. I am too lazy to get the capital letters working, since the game has automatic capitalisation of the first letter anyway. I also got backspace working which is nice.</div>
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What I struggled mostly was that libtcod saw backspace press as a character too, so I was wondering why backspace didn’t delete the previous character. It was always creating one new character, so it was basically deleting and adding more stuff +-0. Thanks to the helpful guys in the awesome roguelike discord that I found in <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Froguelikedev%2F&t=Y2IzMDhlZjQzNTM4ZjY1ZGEzMDM4ODQwNjc3OTJmNDU1ZDU2MzE5Yix3V2hCUUdRNg%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F162687127248%2Fmy-roguelike-darne-and-what-ive-done-so-far&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">r/roguelikedev</a>, I managed to figure out what was wrong and added a check that only normal characters (a,b,c,.) go through.</div>
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Also about the custom tilesets, that’s gonna take me some time to figure out. I need to find a fun font and then make my own tiles for the game. I like ASCII graphics but I wanted a reason to draw some pixel art.</div>
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There’s still A LOT to do, but next I try to get these done, in no particular order:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Random doors</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ending portal and bossfight</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Spells</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ranged weapons (probably just bow and arrow)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lots of different kind of monsters (please give me good resources for this if you know any, I probably go with monsters from various mythologies)</li>
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And of course I then draw all the tiles when all of the above is done.</div>
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So far, even after some frustration, I’ve been having a lot of fun making this! </div>
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(Jul 10, 2017) First iteration is done!</h2>
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Play it here: <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fakselmo.itch.io%2Fcrypt-of-darne&t=YjQwMWFmYzVhOTRhNzE2YjY4ZWY0M2UxMjYzMzM5N2VhNDhhNGQzNyxScGVyZ2dvNg%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F162828036883%2Ffirst-iteration-is-done&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne</a></div>
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Woop, the first iteration of Crypt of Darne is now done, just in time for the jam ending. It is still lacking some monsters, items and of course the graphical tiles, but it’s pretty much playable. Also lots of balance issues to take care of aswell.</div>
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However I managed to get the game spawn random usable items that can’t be picked up, such as fountains. (So far the version on itch.io has only those.)</div>
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Dexterity is now also a thing that is kinda like critical hit, giving extra damage to the objects attack if the random diceroll goes through. It compares the players and the monsters dexterity and the one who wins gets to do extra damage.</div>
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I removed BSP map generator because I didn’t really feel like I was properly in control of the map generator. Now I have more freedom tweaking the dungeon looks.</div>
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I also made weapons affect strength directly, but to give an attack bonus on top of strength instead. This makes the inventory size scale only by the STR rating, and wielding a sword won’t raise your STR and magically make your inventory bigger.</div>
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Lastly I added A* Pathfinding, so the enemies don’t get stuck on walls. Now they chase the player all around the map, which should add more challenge.</div>
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One thing I learned was that apparently keycodes between different keyboard layouts can differ a lot (or there was just issue with shift keys), which made the climb-down-stairs key “<” not work on US keyboards. I changed it to Z and now it works again.</div>
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This project has been great fun and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon, but I really need a break. Whenever I close my eyes I just see lines and lines of python code and I can’t stop thinking how to improve things in the code. I gotta actually play something instead of making things for once.</div>
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Hopefully someone enjoys playing it. :)</div>
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<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
(Jul 11, 2017) Balancing things</h2>
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I just wanted to do a quick post to show how I balance things</div>
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I kept most of the info hidden (because no spoilers!) and as you can see, I see what attributes the object has and then sum it up and compare those sums with other objects, seeing if they’re around the same line. The attributes may differ, but I try to keep that sum consistent, so every object has it’s uniqueness, but they’re equally powerful.</div>
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This is kinda fun, I’ve been doing this for two hours now. I think I’ve gotten most basic items and monsters down, and I try to keep the scope small so I won’t add too much. I will probably add a few more monsters just for fun.</div>
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Another reason I want to keep the list of objects small is that the generators etc. will have rough time adding all the stuff in the game if there’s too many items.</div>
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After this, it’s only the matter of actually adding them into the game, then making tiles for everything (oh boy), fixing bugs, adding the bossfight room and then I think it’ll be done!</div>
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I also need to make the enemies get more powerful the deeper the player descends, so I gotta figure that out.</div>
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(Jul 14, 2017) Added lots of enemies!</h2>
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Lots of enemies have been added to the devbuild (NOT the build on itch.io, it’s my personal devbuild), so there’s more stuff to kill (or get killed by)</div>
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There are lots of balance things I have to consider, but for now I will keep them rather fixed. I try to keep the enemies simple, there’s small enemies that can take less hits but are more dexterous, medium enemies that are rather balanced in every way, and large enemies that can take a lot of hits and deal lots of damage, but are very slow.</div>
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Dunno how well that will work but it shall be seen.</div>
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Next I have to make the list of items, and then the list of interactive stuff in the dungeons.</div>
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After that, I gotta make tiles for everything. If I did my math correctly, I have about 102 tiles to draw.. </div>
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fugg</div>
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(Jul 15, 2017) All items added now!</h2>
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Woop woop, all items are added now! The ones I could come up with anyway. You should see way more stuff now.</div>
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There are also rubble and pillars that may block your path. If that happens, just walk around or if it completely seals you in somewhere, you just have to press esc and start a new game. I may add an ability to destroy the pillars or rubbles with something later, but for now they’re there just to add more obstacles.</div>
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And yes, this is a live build, so go get it here: <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fakselmo.itch.io%2Fcrypt-of-darne&t=NDdkOTdmZTZjZjI3Mjg5YTk4MzVlNDU2YTFmZDAxNWRlZjY2NmJhMSxIaG9FcGxHcQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163000568963%2Fall-items-added-now&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne</a></span></div>
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The game is still far from done!!</div>
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(Jul 16, 2017) Most of the clutter has been added</h2>
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Most of the clutter stuff has been added. They’re things like books, treasure chests, coins etc. I will add these more over time but the essentials are now in.</div>
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I spent ~3 hours trying to figure out how to make a fun door system but couldn’t come up with anything, so I’m gonna keep the crypt doorless for now. Keep the scope small, bud.</div>
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The game can also be won now, you can win the game by founding a specific item that will let you go fight the bad guy.. :D</div>
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Next on to do list are traps if I can make those and then of course tiles.</div>
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Oh and yes, I uploaded the new version. Download it from here: <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fakselmo.itch.io%2Fcrypt-of-darne&t=NTIzZDY4OWM4ZjNiMmQ5NWFiZjUwN2FmMjk3OTEwYTU0Y2RhMmFkNixrT2xsM2l2NQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163037772723%2Fmost-of-the-clutter-has-been-added&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne</a></div>
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(Jul 20, 2017) Cool graphixxxx</h2>
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Alright, Crypt of Darne (CoD, hehehehe) has now **SOME** graphical tiles added! All player characters and races have tiles, walls, floors and stairs have also tiles. All I got to do now is items and clutter stuff. Then it’s finally DONE!</div>
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I uploaded a new version:<a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fakselmo.itch.io%2Fcrypt-of-darne&t=YTAzMGE0NGE2MTFhNGY0ZThmYzZjNjdlZGU3OTAxNWUyMGNmNjRiZCxGUG9tNXUyOQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163197003478%2Fcool-graphixxxx&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"> https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne</a></div>
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Also here’s an image of the player characters in 32x32 tiles. The game uses 16x16 tiles because changing the font at this point will be a huge hassle and I just want to get the game done, so the quality of the tiles suffers some. You can still see what the objects are though.</div>
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It has been really fun to draw those tiles, and I’ll keep doing it.</div>
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I’m so happy that this project is done soon! :D</div>
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(Jul 21, 2017) Making monsters!</h2>
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(Aug 2, 2017) Players, walls, floors, stairs and monsters are now done!</h2>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">52 tiles left!</span></div>
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(Aug 2, 2017) SOMEONE DONATED ME 3€ FOR CRYPT OF DARNE</h2>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box;">I am really happy right now!!</b></div>
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This is the first time anyone has donated money to me for any game I’ve ever worked on. </div>
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I have set Darne to “pay what you want” payment, so people can get it for free. The payment is 100% <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">optional</b>, yet still someone decided it was worth of their money!</div>
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This just gave me a huge confidence boost. Maybe I am in the right career! </div>
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This 3€ will go either towards pizza or video games, haha! :D </div>
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I actually know who this person is, since they revealed themselves to me. I was watching <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fmixer.com%2Fshakkapanda&t=NDYyZjhlMjJlMTYyMTZiNTNjYjgyODE3YTQwZWZhZjNjNjVmMzk4ZixJNG1hcDFHZQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163695662083%2Fsomeone-donated-me-3-for-crypt-of-darne&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">https://mixer.com/shakkapanda</a> stream, and mentioned that I’ve been drawing sprites/tiles for my game. They wanted to know more and let me link their game to the chat, and suddenly I got a email that “Hey you got 3€” Go follow Shakkapanda and his moderator team on Mixer, they’re really awesome people!!!</div>
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(Aug 4, 2017) Crypt of Darne version 1.0.0 and future</h2>
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It is done.</div>
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IT IS DONE!</div>
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Finally, after couple months of developing this.. It’s done. </div>
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It has been hell of a ride, I’ve had SO MUCH fun making this game. I learned A LOT about Python 2.7 and libtcod.</div>
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I have to raise hat to anyone who manages to make even more complex games with Python. You guys are amazing and you deserve all the praise.</div>
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Get the full version from here: <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fakselmo.itch.io%2Fcrypt-of-darne&t=YjI5YzQ2MmIwYmI1YmMwYWU5OTA3OWU2NWZmMDVlY2JjMWEyNzM2NSx1TjdnWjFQdQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AGrT7GadoLqGKBeP5TXWq5w&p=https%3A%2F%2Faksdevblog.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163773697388%2Fcrypt-of-darne-version-100-and-future&m=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">https://akselmo.itch.io/crypt-of-darne</a></div>
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I sincerely hope you enjoy the game. It’s not a proper roguelike, it’s more a dungeon delving game with simple RPG elements and procedurally generated dungeons. There are many secrets and things to be found…! ;)</div>
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It’s hard to say more about this game. I’m very content, but exhausted. I really want to work on something else for now.</div>
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However! I will write a manual + lorebook about the races of the game and Darne and his crypt itself. These should explain more about the back story and I will try to make them look very old-school type manuals, such as old Ultima game manuals. I may also make a simple box for the game just for fun.</div>
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<b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Now, what’s next?</b></div>
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I may improve Crypt of Darne from time to time, add more things or fix bugs, however my plan is to go back to this one FPS game I had to make long time ago. 3D low poly models, loads of guns, few different types of enemies in a big map, where you have to survive and fight the enemies. The games working title is <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Project Ironscale.</b></div>
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But before that, I will rest a bit, gather my bearings, write lore for Darne, play games etc. etc. Expect to hear more soonTM. </div>
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-36856531742503790802017-08-23T18:36:00.000-07:002017-09-18T06:50:09.602-07:00The "I don't feel like playing" problemSometimes when I read internet forums like Reddit to rot my brain, I stumble upon on threads where people are asking stuff like: "I haven't felt like playing anything for ages, what to do?" or "I have hundreds of games but no desire to play." I've never really felt this way since I always find something to play, but I have few tips for people who wish to "get back to gaming" again. Hopefully these are helpful.<br />
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1. Nostalgia trip</h3>
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One that always has worked for me whenever I'm in gaming slump is that I pick up some game that I absolutely loved as a kid, or just have fond memories about. Games such as Morrowind, Oblivion, Halo, old NES games, Wipeout games on PS1, Harry Potter games.. Too many to list for me. Everyone has their bunch of nostalgic favorites, or if you're completely new to gaming, try the first game you liked.</div>
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Seeing how technology has moved forward in the gaming front always makes me very inspired. I always want to find out more and more differences between old and new. Finding secrets that you have never seen from your favorite childhood game is also very possible and it may give you that spark to keep wanting to find more. I always start to wonder how many secrets the newer games have.</div>
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The point however, is to remind yourself why you liked gaming in the first place. Try finding that thing you like from your huge list of games. It'll be a proper research, but you most likely will end up having fun.</div>
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2. Slow down, take your time (details)</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's the little things. Game: INFRA</td></tr>
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People are busy these days and tend to rush even during their free time. Having huge backlog of games may pressure you to play games faster just to get to the next one. Games aren't intended (usually) to be played that way. Look at the details. Look at the textures and models the devs made you, hear the sound effects and take them in, experiment with the gameplay and learn its little tricks.</div>
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Too many people just run past a big portion of the game, then wondering why it didn't feel any fun: You didn't give it enough attention to become fun. "But I don't have time for it!" you may say. The games aren't going anywhere, play them when you do have time and feel like it. Don't force it.</div>
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<b>Bonus</b>: Hunt for bugs and glitches! Those can be really fun, for example Skate 3 has a lot of funny glitches, as demonstrated by a youtuber <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP5XKTuJZBU" target="_blank">Helixsnake</a></div>
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So you have a huge intimidating backlog, but there's that new game coming out you reaaaally want. So you gotta buy it right? Nope! Well, you can, but there's a risk it becomes another game in your backlog.</div>
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You may be addicted to buying games, instead of playing them. Collecting things is fun and it's what us humans do, but what fun is to collect things if you can't enjoy them?</div>
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Stop buying new games until you have completed at least 5 of the latest games you have bought. And if you find out you truly don't enjoy the game, go to the next one, but you have to actually complete 5 games. Soon you realize you have spent a lot of time on these games, your backlog is shorter and the game you really wanted could possibly be on sale! Be patient with buying things. You don't need to jump the bandwagon while others do, unless it's some multiplayer game everyone and their grandmother is buying and you really wanna join in. </div>
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Remember though, gaming is hobby, so never force yourself.<br />
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Also shout out to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/" target="_blank">/r/patientgamers</a>.</div>
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4. Learn about how games are made</h3>
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This is something that has helped me a lot. The moment I got into gamedev, I began to "see behind" the games. I see how some things are made, I can theorize how some parts of the game have been coded, I can troubleshoot games easier when I have a hunch what's going wrong.<br />
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Obviously this is something not everyone isn't interested in, or they don't want to be a gamedev. But there are a lot of Youtube videos of how games work, here's one of my favorites about Pokemon games: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l8V_eQ6wGQ" target="_blank">"An Exclusive Look At Pokémon’s Early Design Documents"</a><br />
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Check it out, you may find it intriguing. And be warned, some gamedevs have said that knowing how games are made have taken out of the immersion, but for me that has never been an issue. It has only added to the experience.<br />
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<br />5. Get out of your gaming comfort zone</h3>
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So you have your favorite genres like FPS or RPG's or platformers, and you tend to play only those kind of games. You see a game that looks interesting but then learn it's not a genre you like, and don't even give it a try.</div>
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I used to do that, especially with JRPG's. I have never liked Final Fantasy series, but lately I got to try Tales of Zestiria, which isn't a traditional JRPG but it's close enough. I have really enjoyed it, despite the anime-ish look. I've gotten more into anime and manga in general, thanks to my fiancee.</div>
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It was so refreshing to get out of my circle of games. It's very possible that you won't like most of the games in the genre, but when there's that one you do like, you will be very happy you gave it a shot! So explore a bit! Go on a gaming adventure!</div>
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6. Take a break.</h3>
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It works, honestly. When you're on break, you may find yourself thinking about games more and more often and feel the urge to play everything. And boom, you're back in gaming.<br />
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There's also a slight possibility that you find a new hobby and stop gaming completely, however I've never seen anyone who has played video games completely quit. You may feel like that you have wasted money on all this stuff if you stop now, but it's never really wasted. The games aren't going anywhere, unless they're on Steam and Steam explodes or something. They will be there, awaiting for your return.<br />
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Like I've said earlier, don't force yourself to do anything. I've done that, I still keep doing that and it takes all the fun out of things. Human mind is a weird thing and sometimes taking a breather can help, not just in gaming world but in everything. The length of the break is completely on you. For me personally, when I take a break from gaming, after day or two I get the "itch" to play something.<br />
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That's all I got. If you have your own protips, feel free to share em. I hope these help!</div>
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-54645067964872271392017-08-09T18:04:00.000-07:002017-10-01T13:33:25.205-07:00Back from the dead?Hey, just a short update.<br />
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Been busy with life and stuff and forgot this blog completely. The whole "one post per week" kind of burned me out of this whole thing too.<br />
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Now 7 months later.. Uhh, I don't really have an excuse. I wanted to start making vlogs but I want a nicer camera for that, so I held off all my ideas just in case I get a camera.. And then couldn't write about them. I will try vlogging, but if I can't find a camera or just don't feel like it after all, I'll just move back to writing.<br />
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Honestly this is my worst problem: I can't decide. I want to do everything, so I end up doing nothing because I can't pick up one over another. It's a miracle I ever get games done..<br />
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Speaking of games, I have a devblog for my games <strike>(https://aksdevblog.tumblr.com/ </strike>Edit: Not anymore), the but I may migrate it here, or use the one in itch.io. I'm still not quite sure what to do.<br />
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So.. If I got some free time and willpower, I'll write about one of those topics I have on my huge topic list. I may also in future make all the game related things into videos, since they're more fun to show in moving format. I may even remake that Morrowind text post in a video form, I can never really praise that game enough.<br />
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If someone has been periodically checking this blog out and not given hope up yet, thanks. Really appreciate that. :)<br />
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PS. Join my Discord to kick my ass so I will do more content.Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-27392872433008235842017-01-07T15:35:00.003-08:002017-01-08T22:51:36.180-08:00Ah, MorrowindI've been playing lots of <a href="http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Morrowind">The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind</a> lately. It's an older role-playing game for PC and classic Xbox, but I play it on PC. I got it back in 2005, but I still play it from, time to time. It's my favorite game of all time.<br />
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I remember the day I bought this game like it happened yesterday. I was on a class trip back in elementary school. It was true hell and I hated almost every single moment of it. But during the trip back home, we stopped by in some city for two hours. After having a hamburger at the local Hesburger I went to look through stores etc. I thought I wasn't gonna buy anything but then I spotted the cheap games section at some store.. And there it was, Morrowind, just for 5€.<br />
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I looked at the back of the case and there were a few intriguing screenshots and praises how it's one of the best first person RPGs and whatnot. The key words were "first person" because I love FPS games.<br />
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This may sound a bit weird, but back then I had to ask a permission from my parents to buy games. I have no idea what it was about, I just remember them not really wanting games on the family PC, because they "slow down the computer." I'm sure some of you have had something similar. Well, I called my mom and asked "Can I buy this game it's only 5€????" and luckily she let me buy it.<br />
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Back home I then unpacked my bags and went to install Morrowind right away. Aand..<br />
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I had no idea what I was doing! My English skills weren't so good back in the day, I had no idea what people were saying to me, I had no idea what skills did what and so on. I learned lots of things by simple trial and error. "Oh, I can't pick that up without everyone hating me. Oh, that button fires spells," etc.<br />
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Slowly but surely I grasped the main gameplay aspects of the game: How to fight, rest, gain levels, talk (even I didn't understand almost anything) and how to use spells.<br />
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There was a second problem however: I was too scared to play. I was 12 at the time, so traveling from Seyda Neen to Balmora while a swarm of cliffracers chase you was quite scary. The worst was when I got lost in a tomb full of skeletons and heard them rattle while they were chasing me, eventually meeting my demise because of the Morrowind's infamous combat system.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to (modded) Morrowind. No idea who made the gif. Original video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4rXsrZRchQ">here</a> </td></tr>
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And thirdly: Our computer was really, really slow. I can't remember anything else than it had only 256 Mb RAM. It played some games like a champ, I played Counter-Strike: Source a lot with it, but Morrowind had very long loading times, so me rapidly dying + reloading the game for long times wasn't very fun.<br />
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I then borrowed the game to my friend. He was much better in English than me and he never was scared of any enemies in games, for some reason. He loved the game and I loved to watch him play. His family had a way better PC so it ran Morrowind really well, loading times were really quick and so on.<br />
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I was his friend for long time, I visited him often and had a sleepover there for quite a many times. Almost every time we played Morrowind. He played the game, did quests, translated me some of the text if I didn't understand and I gave suggestions for things to do. Those were some golden times in my life, I miss all of that a lot. So hey dude, if you are reading this, contact me and come visit, let's play some Morrowind together!<br />
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I also found a forum about TES games and luckily for me it was in Finnish. I still remember my first post there: "What is the plot of Morrowind?" I got quite hilarious replies, such as "you got to kil dagot ur <i>(sic.)</i> and build a pillow fortress." Anyway, the folk there explained things for me and after some time I was the one helping others. I also spent a lot of time there talking about other things than games, made some good friends who unfortunately later disappeared from my life for some reason.. Or it was vice versa, I can't remember.<br />
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Morrowind Construction Set was my first game modding experience, that ignited the spark of gamedev in me. I made a campfire in Morrowind, surrounded by the characters of people from the TES:Finland forum. They sent me screenshots of their characters and their outfits, and I made some custom dialogue for them. It was a fun experience, so I made myself a house mod, too. Unfortunately I lost all those mods ages ago..<br />
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Later on I got my own computer and played Oblivion on it. I also installed Morrowind and I've been playing it ever since, every year, almost every month. I always go back to Vvardenfell, to relive old memories and find new ones.<br />
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And next, about the game!<br />
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About Morrowind</h3>
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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is roleplaying game about you, a prisoner who has been released for some mysterious reason, arriving in the tiny coast town of Seyda Neen in Vvardenfell, an island in the Morrowind province. You are given some papers you must deliver to Caius Cosades in Balmora, but you can toss those papers in the nearest lake and do whatever you wish. Don't do that though if you want to finish the main quest!</div>
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<i>Please note that the screenshots I've taken are from modded version of Morrowind, the original game looks more, well, older.</i></div>
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In the beginning of Morrowind, you get to choose from 10 races: </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Races of Morrowind. <a href="http://imgur.com/REK7WN5">Source</a></td></tr>
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Imperial, Nord, Redguard, Breton, Altmer (High Elf), Dunmer (Dark Elf), Bosmer (Wood Elf), Khajiit, Argonian and Orc.</div>
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Imperials, Nords, Redguards and Bretons are the basic human races. Altmer, Dunmer and Bosmer, as you may have guessed already, are the elven races. Khajiit and Argonian are the so called beast races, and Orcs are.. Well, Orcs. Every race has their own racial bonuses and skills, for example Argonians have a skill for breathing underwater and Dunmers resist fire spells. If you're interested, more reading here: <a href="http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Races">http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Races</a> <i>By the way, if you ever do any reading about lore or other TES games, use UESP, it's the most reliable Wiki for Elder Scrolls games, and it has been around for quite a long time and is still active.</i></div>
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After choosing your race, you choose a class or make your own. There are quite a many skills in the game, so I'm not gonna list them all here. To put it simply, almost anything you can do in the game, has a skill. Skills improve by training with other NPC's, or simply doing what the skill implies. For example, to get marksman skill higher, you just have to use bow/darts/throwing stars actively.</div>
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Now, meet Hun-Tra, a character I have remade for at least thousand times during all these years I've played Morrowind!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtauNpjt3-b_4dQX5fl5mApWw1BplrAgG3B6SI4ENL3t5oXcgHYL1PSjYFZ71TO6nHKBOZ55YG7h4CPyTdPZQvGv3S_PCqj7JM_04tAfgLa3rd_Biw4JHMQTwkgFyn7sKnNO-rRW6vrQ/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-08+00.12.47.490.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtauNpjt3-b_4dQX5fl5mApWw1BplrAgG3B6SI4ENL3t5oXcgHYL1PSjYFZ71TO6nHKBOZ55YG7h4CPyTdPZQvGv3S_PCqj7JM_04tAfgLa3rd_Biw4JHMQTwkgFyn7sKnNO-rRW6vrQ/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-08+00.12.47.490.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've been adventuring as him for many hours now and he is becoming quite formidable adventurer! I am planning to get all his skills to 100, eventually.</div>
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Now, let's talk about the combat: It can suck, and many people who have been interested in Morrowind have dropped it because of the combat. By default, Morrowind combat is all about the dice rolls and comparing skill levels etc. in the background, even if you see your sword, spell or arrow hit the enemy on the screen. This can be really frustrating. Thankfully, modders are here to rescue us. I wish they didn't have to, but I'm not complaining either way. I have a mod that makes the combat more about actually hitting the enemy and then rolling dices, so it feels much more better. I will list all mods I use later. On later levels though, combat gets really easy, even in vanilla (non-modded) version. One hit kills left and right. Considering the main quest, it kinda makes sense, but I'm not gonna spoil anything. The combat is either done in first person or in third person, however Morrowind in third person is barely playable.<br />
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Spells in the game work like normal combat, but you can do either ranged spells like fireballs or touch spells like paralyzing touch. There's also self healing spells etc. One of the coolest spells in Morrowind is levitation. Yes, you can fly! There's also Mark and Recall spells, that let you set a place to teleport to. Mark marks the teleport spot, Recall brings you there. Those are really useful when you have lots of loot and just want to quickly get home.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you seen any mudcrabs lately? Filthy creatures!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They really don't like me, but I don't like bandits either.</td></tr>
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The world of Morrowind, Vvardenfell, is full of things to explore. I've spent so many hours playing this game and there are still new things to be found. I find the size of the map and the fact that everything is hand crafted really impressive. There's no procedural generation in the game at all. There's also Solstheim and Mournhold. Solstheim comes with the Bloodmoon expansion and Mournhold comes with the Tribunal expansion. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.uesp.net/w/images/b/bb/MW-Map-Vvardenfell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.uesp.net/w/images/b/bb/MW-Map-Vvardenfell.jpg" height="320" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The base game map that comes with the game case. <a href="http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW-Map-Vvardenfell.jpg">Source</a></td></tr>
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Solstheim is a smaller island near Vvardenfell, full of Nords, werewolves and snow. Fun fact: You can swim from Vvardenfell to Solstheim if you're brave enough.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/gallery_files/bloodmoon_map_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/gallery_files/bloodmoon_map_lg.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solstheim, Bloodmoon expansion. <a href="https://www.imperial-library.info/content/solstheim-map-official">Source</a></td></tr>
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Mournhold is the capital city of Morrowind, where you meet Almalexia, one of the gods of the Tribunal. This map doesn't show the complex sewer network under Mournhold, which is quite large aswell.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mournhold city, Tribunal expansion. <a href="https://www.imperial-library.info/content/maps-morrowind">Source</a></td></tr>
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So yes, there are lots of things to explore, many things to find and many quests to do!</div>
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Morrowind has many creatures, but most of them are not the usual fantasy creatures you see in other games. For example, I've never seen anything like netches, guars or silt striders outside of TES games. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betty Netch, calm creatures unless you attack them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A peaceful Guar, many of them attack on sight but this guy didn't care.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This guy was less peaceful however.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Eg2dadLAh1CERN0q3ZzDIbRs-yLD2om3Ic2nZFQLnnyzdtOPnsuGRd4FC9fHBW-BYPKsHbHK2lzvohkMAPMFtuYAxkuJmbs4BloTzB_URmVpPwHmg9werEMpsU58PGEM8Co2snX-IA/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.09.10.254.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Eg2dadLAh1CERN0q3ZzDIbRs-yLD2om3Ic2nZFQLnnyzdtOPnsuGRd4FC9fHBW-BYPKsHbHK2lzvohkMAPMFtuYAxkuJmbs4BloTzB_URmVpPwHmg9werEMpsU58PGEM8Co2snX-IA/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.09.10.254.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AAAHH WHAT IS THAT?!</td></tr>
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You can travel by foot, boat or silt strider. Foot and boat are self explanatory, but silt striders are another oddity of Morrowind. They're huge insects that can carry loads of cargo and people in Morrowind use them to travel around. Unfortunately in the game you can't see them walking around, but there are mods that change that.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpaaS2nfMSf9rcjKly-0-h1fY5U3vSAg5XlseWmaGuh-ZQvCM_nywOsreqv3nbU4ZtVVZahvFDVpWyFzJ01wYSzBqnkEJYEUEPTjc2rGGyPjI36Qo1bmdV_PCczTbimJTkjvHK1s3tA/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.16.50.254.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpaaS2nfMSf9rcjKly-0-h1fY5U3vSAg5XlseWmaGuh-ZQvCM_nywOsreqv3nbU4ZtVVZahvFDVpWyFzJ01wYSzBqnkEJYEUEPTjc2rGGyPjI36Qo1bmdV_PCczTbimJTkjvHK1s3tA/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.16.50.254.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silt Strider, the Taxi service of Morrowind. Bull Netch floating in the background.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaozcjYv6Hl-iDRgdBhEiPKzh0Y-d2t37YAzbIx-QSHQFuZxOvDRlfVCMTvWLfqs4HIhqbjvcIBnRe12-VCzHmUNzruy7WGozvT9bo04OIcUaxtM7uflUakwX8Mv9AruWwgyBY50hXlA/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.28.05.374.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaozcjYv6Hl-iDRgdBhEiPKzh0Y-d2t37YAzbIx-QSHQFuZxOvDRlfVCMTvWLfqs4HIhqbjvcIBnRe12-VCzHmUNzruy7WGozvT9bo04OIcUaxtM7uflUakwX8Mv9AruWwgyBY50hXlA/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.28.05.374.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coasts of Vvardenfell can be really beautiful and athmospheric.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Even buildings in Morrowind can get really weird. There are huge mushrooms pretty much everywhere, and people in Morrowind use them as buildings. There are also mushroom buildings around castles. Almost every city has an unique look to them, but depending who owns the city, the buildings change too. Usually imperials have very basic brick houses and castles and dunmers have their weird mushroom towers or bug shell houses.<br />
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_T59iBIlk4SAmV60RtlsxD_xITKeVygfFK2zKXJUxQmfZy_jJB6Ffe1_mLvTgcPJH1hrfCy0J6-FIEWhELp9Tde0jgxtXKxfqYK5FDcDDVJb53WiDVRnGHgdFuHfM4JFgdF2Fof2mg/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.59.16.816.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_T59iBIlk4SAmV60RtlsxD_xITKeVygfFK2zKXJUxQmfZy_jJB6Ffe1_mLvTgcPJH1hrfCy0J6-FIEWhELp9Tde0jgxtXKxfqYK5FDcDDVJb53WiDVRnGHgdFuHfM4JFgdF2Fof2mg/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.59.16.816.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tel Vos, a castle with a twist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHlkI6WG4vVTO-tnYrxLP7x2SbHHx1BWgZhvPH3S4_LNvExW6ab15dl4f0ddbegYUCw89bJSa0E1pPKRaTDPwml1curXpHzdA1rpUqxb6IS4yh5nHi3XWhzC29eVmHpQNH_x_OZPAzg/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.16.44.179.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHlkI6WG4vVTO-tnYrxLP7x2SbHHx1BWgZhvPH3S4_LNvExW6ab15dl4f0ddbegYUCw89bJSa0E1pPKRaTDPwml1curXpHzdA1rpUqxb6IS4yh5nHi3XWhzC29eVmHpQNH_x_OZPAzg/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.16.44.179.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balmora</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgddGLA9tFjSx71CXeuouLjSJB4hfvenQ2JiiM5WHCLgl5CoCy1fv1PPtSWIULkmEuEBt7MgsQXbqBDcXm-VAcJrGaFK59DgcL4Wrk0MosWFcApYY80ov3jxO3OIzmukAAMUIC7FNHrQ/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.26.23.184.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgddGLA9tFjSx71CXeuouLjSJB4hfvenQ2JiiM5WHCLgl5CoCy1fv1PPtSWIULkmEuEBt7MgsQXbqBDcXm-VAcJrGaFK59DgcL4Wrk0MosWFcApYY80ov3jxO3OIzmukAAMUIC7FNHrQ/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.26.23.184.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ald'Ruhn and Ghostfence in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fQljCcK6rRlTgPxM2EpADyxa7mLRgEXyqhYM5mikn6q0VY_fk_ZFPa8qZ7NZb7mT6sp4uoCWY4gWXU5FnnWZC8qGbrXE2ToHrDRU-7nVm2dqplQuZG-BBMebxnVzXZdGr0WOOB_CKQ/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.43.47.426.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fQljCcK6rRlTgPxM2EpADyxa7mLRgEXyqhYM5mikn6q0VY_fk_ZFPa8qZ7NZb7mT6sp4uoCWY4gWXU5FnnWZC8qGbrXE2ToHrDRU-7nVm2dqplQuZG-BBMebxnVzXZdGr0WOOB_CKQ/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.43.47.426.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">City of Vivec. And yes, that's a moon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Leveling up in Morrowind works by resting in a bed, so you need to rest in the game. As players resting places go, they can rent a room in a tavern and sleep there, sleep outside the city on ground, kill a resident of a house and live there (grim, I know!) or if they complete a questline for one of the great houses, they get their own manor!<br />
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJJuL4nMcPqUsstqzRjDruJF2iZB1nvWAB30o_t37GvlxOHcPZ1j_52ECfvJcXftdvhOt-EHuGIWf8a1am_xB9qGqvuFvJMC6Wn75f3gtHH9D7kRbMfGPf4emKr0GEkR9JYW9uXrC7A/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+22.01.47.880.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJJuL4nMcPqUsstqzRjDruJF2iZB1nvWAB30o_t37GvlxOHcPZ1j_52ECfvJcXftdvhOt-EHuGIWf8a1am_xB9qGqvuFvJMC6Wn75f3gtHH9D7kRbMfGPf4emKr0GEkR9JYW9uXrC7A/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+22.01.47.880.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tavern in Pelagiad</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Morrowind also has lots of books to read. You can read them all in the game and my goal for long time has been to collect every book in the game and place them somewhere and then read them all. You can even read magical scrolls, if you can decipher them that is.<br />
<br />
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bOkV8Z6hTEHKM69E9pEZn7TryqIg-0evJIP2bDOCDwgaIOFIx82XM5z8GZkaQ5mE3NH88JART30umgHhJ8GKwMb0kSjMZ7kuVYrcWoSl0yhaO4VkQv3wsMDdRLw2x_aMXgHJOU7zxA/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.19.32.094.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bOkV8Z6hTEHKM69E9pEZn7TryqIg-0evJIP2bDOCDwgaIOFIx82XM5z8GZkaQ5mE3NH88JART30umgHhJ8GKwMb0kSjMZ7kuVYrcWoSl0yhaO4VkQv3wsMDdRLw2x_aMXgHJOU7zxA/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.19.32.094.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you read it?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<br />
Speaking of reading, most of the Morrowind dialogue is text. NPC's grunt and talk if you bump into them, but if you want to ask them questions, you have to read a lot. There's no voice acting for the dialogue. You press the blue links to jump around topics.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAnqyVHOtm6bYRGCEZQYB0QLBDDkmXalRxZXjhq2uhCAfTGUndsHZbPri9VMBvJp4e7tR0WOcfhd_D91XgnHMO2y3F_km88kqZLMArJpd6cX0WvUdqaktJdxi3UA_Ila-ptsYW0jCKw/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.18.49.309.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAnqyVHOtm6bYRGCEZQYB0QLBDDkmXalRxZXjhq2uhCAfTGUndsHZbPri9VMBvJp4e7tR0WOcfhd_D91XgnHMO2y3F_km88kqZLMArJpd6cX0WvUdqaktJdxi3UA_Ila-ptsYW0jCKw/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.18.49.309.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morrowind Dialogue system. Don't mind the "...Commands" option, that's a mod just for commands like "Follow me" etc.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Morrowind tracks quests in your personal journal, which you can open by pressing J. Your character automatically writes there if there's something to write about, and you can find all the quests you have active there. I kinda miss this kind of system in modern games, before arrows pointing you in the right direction. In Morrowind, you have to read what the people say. To find some place, they usually tell you "go north until you see X and then go east" and so on. I think it's a really cool way to do quests.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Awm9VGs8pI7nDp0lF1RpD4vZUW7RDp2ib22MnQqNZN62MSnlnhW7b_HdvOc7NUNkQPOhFvajUSYONiWgKk7jp0BDnZdPNotDEF3-_8-yDICKDgb1t9Q74qpD19L62Hic2krly_By2A/s1600/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.25.09.302.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Awm9VGs8pI7nDp0lF1RpD4vZUW7RDp2ib22MnQqNZN62MSnlnhW7b_HdvOc7NUNkQPOhFvajUSYONiWgKk7jp0BDnZdPNotDEF3-_8-yDICKDgb1t9Q74qpD19L62Hic2krly_By2A/s640/Morrowind+2017-01-07+21.25.09.302.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Player journal.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I would like also to share a short story I shared on my TES Discord server, which describes well how athmospheric and immersive Morrowind can get:<br />
<br />
"Okay that was cool: I found a cave with a boat that had a corpse on it, like it was a Nord burial site. I then noticed something glimmering above my head and levitated there. There was a daedric battlehammer and a daedric helm. Well I was overencumbered so I couldnt move after picking those up, but I had a recall and mark spell. Since I had already marked my home I could teleport there, so I spent over two days of ingame time trying to recall myself home, because my mysticism skill is very low so the chance for recalling was only like 18% per try, and it always ate lots of magicka.<br />
I just imagine my character eating and sleeping for six hours, then trying to recall, then be weary again and having to rest another six hours. And who said greedy can't survive?"<br />
<br />
Here's a list of a few mods I recommend. Some of them can be found here: <a href="http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Morrowind">http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Morrowind</a> and others can be found here: <a href="http://mw.modhistory.com/home">http://mw.modhistory.com/home</a><br />
<b>But as always, first try the game without mods!</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Morrowind Code Patch</li>
<li>MGEXE (Adds widescreen support and MWSE, which is needed for some mods)</li>
<li>Script Improvements</li>
<li>4GB Patch</li>
<li>Morrowind Patch 1.6.6</li>
<li>Texture Fix</li>
<li>Texture Fix Blood Moon</li>
<li>Poorly Placed Object Fix</li>
<li>Mesh Fix</li>
<li>Telvanni Exterior UV Fix</li>
<li>Improved Imperial fort UV</li>
<li>Correct Meshes</li>
<li>Correct UV Rocks</li>
<li>Correct UV Trees</li>
<li>Correct UV Mudcrabs</li>
<li>Better Bodies</li>
<li>Better Heads for Better Bodies</li>
<li>Hold It - Replacer</li>
<li>Graphic Herbalism</li>
<li>The regulars - Sitting NPC's</li>
<li>Better Beasts</li>
<li>LGNPC_Merged_Lt (Adds more background stories to characters, very optional but fun mod)</li>
<li>Apoapse's Attack (Makes Morrowind combat much more modern, essential if the vanilla combat makes you angry) </li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>I may edit this list later if I forgot something</i><br />
<br />
I think that's the basics covered. I could go on and on about the game, covering every simple minimal aspect of it, or babble about TES lore, so it's hard to stop typing this. I love this game to bits, it's the game I always install first on any computer I get. I think I will keep playing it forever.<br />
<br />
If you want to buy Morrowind, I recommend getting the <a href="https://www.gog.com/game/the_elder_scrolls_iii_morrowind_goty_edition">GOG version</a>, since it's DRM free and comes with all the official addons and expansions. It works the best with most mods, better than the Steam version in some cases since Steam overlay can bug out with MGEXE. You can disable the Steam overlay of course, but just sayin'.<br />
<br />
Thank you for reading! I hope it was fun to read this or atleast it was fun to oogle at the pictures! :)<br />
<br />
I think I'll go back to play Morrowind now..Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-66174694929507087672016-12-29T09:31:00.000-08:002017-01-08T22:40:29.219-08:00Bricks with speakers + logos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During christmas holidays I visited my parents and took some photos of the old Nokia phones I used to have. Thankfully my parents had kept them safe, I'm sure some of them would still work if recharged, but I'm not sure if the batteries are good anymore so I didn't take that risk.<br />
<br />
I will type anything I remember about them on this post, but I won't go into technical details since you can find those elsewhere.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
Nokia 2010</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6KpeCwMleHnxDOCSleyZpOZMluhwUm0L4qssdoQ1z0kA2I8qilXDQN6B1IvD0WUEjGjAbAxvWedBtnLoTtvAS8D_BoQn7QyNMTORkgLBBOapkfClLCXTgWuH8g8o-RMaaYSwcSP_JA/s1600/IMG_20161224_222210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6KpeCwMleHnxDOCSleyZpOZMluhwUm0L4qssdoQ1z0kA2I8qilXDQN6B1IvD0WUEjGjAbAxvWedBtnLoTtvAS8D_BoQn7QyNMTORkgLBBOapkfClLCXTgWuH8g8o-RMaaYSwcSP_JA/s320/IMG_20161224_222210.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LVGJmuet-u9QtYuqWRa-36Nb9JAS6nshy8BqNRmIUvanHwwKtNMvtzmdaADUlFOhrxPOf2BXalcOtDgori40DcohohhP4ineZTgSW4ZWTpmWxzht7wSpWee2_rXR_ixu560SGYkwzA/s1600/IMG_20161224_222250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LVGJmuet-u9QtYuqWRa-36Nb9JAS6nshy8BqNRmIUvanHwwKtNMvtzmdaADUlFOhrxPOf2BXalcOtDgori40DcohohhP4ineZTgSW4ZWTpmWxzht7wSpWee2_rXR_ixu560SGYkwzA/s320/IMG_20161224_222250.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I actually never <i>used</i> this phone, just played around with it. It was a "toy phone" for me when I was very young, which explains me trying to pimp it out with a sharpie. I'm kinda bummed I did that, but well, kids. I wanted to cover it here since it still used those huge sim cards, as you can see in the back of the phone. The battery is really big too, and even without the battery the phone is really heavy. It really is a brick.<br />
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<h3>
Nokia 2110</h3>
<div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_M4etSuFVFJdPttORpPk2PdGBNqwiAN8XZ459qLQdaB2N0wtYcN1EZffvpf5DfuT0j1cTlg2YCEzgMfqxjem6fZ7_dz5jnC9_nVHGxKoeSmsBQ7uLouVP1iAihtB2H0Jeh2Twyjm3dg/s1600/IMG_20161224_222019%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_M4etSuFVFJdPttORpPk2PdGBNqwiAN8XZ459qLQdaB2N0wtYcN1EZffvpf5DfuT0j1cTlg2YCEzgMfqxjem6fZ7_dz5jnC9_nVHGxKoeSmsBQ7uLouVP1iAihtB2H0Jeh2Twyjm3dg/s320/IMG_20161224_222019%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6ozk0xSeqnSuDdgTerZAm24sHBOVcJrfhSTVW-elnTGsYvetM4d5aBPojI5yWzRek_ANkhviDqcDOVrt7Lth8QCbCL9cCEOrn4rWfkZN2-aoGamKe5kc8RMwrsFrCOwMAVdjioJDJg/s1600/IMG_20161224_222049%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6ozk0xSeqnSuDdgTerZAm24sHBOVcJrfhSTVW-elnTGsYvetM4d5aBPojI5yWzRek_ANkhviDqcDOVrt7Lth8QCbCL9cCEOrn4rWfkZN2-aoGamKe5kc8RMwrsFrCOwMAVdjioJDJg/s320/IMG_20161224_222049%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I'm not exactly sure if I ever used this either, but I remember either my mom or my dad using it. It's a really cool looking phone, also a huge brick, but smaller than the 2010. I think it still would work if I were to recharge it.<br />
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<h3>
Nokia 3110</h3>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__veOXmtsideC6xchId9t68n8ntRGgsC9QX13DXiNFPftqt0ba8SazMsGqj3PRbGmbBTG9AjEToejhSrzwDw07M6hgsQx6GU5wqLEAipEJrhDjtRK_aLVgQ8aWDDsoX0WtUZyPx9acQ/s1600/IMG_20161224_222331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__veOXmtsideC6xchId9t68n8ntRGgsC9QX13DXiNFPftqt0ba8SazMsGqj3PRbGmbBTG9AjEToejhSrzwDw07M6hgsQx6GU5wqLEAipEJrhDjtRK_aLVgQ8aWDDsoX0WtUZyPx9acQ/s320/IMG_20161224_222331.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbg5_j7Aw79aTvDKFsGiLA3usxB-vRob-YLngBrmSmnszfsuXm2XXTl14wc8jYR2XWSJodyoi0D1wfsdoAnfdoxsjvhvKp1phLk2b1dKLSL4g9dRPU_knjj_Al0HE16_O70H8ud2rNg/s1600/IMG_20161224_222342%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbg5_j7Aw79aTvDKFsGiLA3usxB-vRob-YLngBrmSmnszfsuXm2XXTl14wc8jYR2XWSJodyoi0D1wfsdoAnfdoxsjvhvKp1phLk2b1dKLSL4g9dRPU_knjj_Al0HE16_O70H8ud2rNg/s320/IMG_20161224_222342%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Now this phone I did use. It was my first phone ever, I was about 6 years old when I got it as you can see from the racing cover on the front and Ferrari sticker on the battery. I think it's my uncles old phone, and when he got a new one I got this one. First it was just a "toy phone" without a SIM card, but I didn't really play with it. I remember always whining about "I want a working phone" and "I want an e-mail address" and my parents just replied "What would you use those for?" They were right, really. 6 year old in those days didn't really need a phone.<br />
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But eventually I started elementary school and moved outside alone, going to my friends place etc. I think it was halfway through the first grade my parents decided to get a SIM card for this phone. I was usually bullied at school, but the day I brought this phone to school I was the "cool kid" for the day. "Oh wooow you have a phone?! Does it have any games?!" they asked. During that time 3210 was a new thing and phones started to have games, so naturally they asked if this brick had too. Unfortunately, it didn't.<br />
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Me bringing this phone to school kinda started some kind of mobile phone craze in our class: Fast forward few weeks and everyone had a phone, and people had games on them, such as Snake-game.<br />
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<h3>
Nokia 3210</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgGer_57pLihgnZgbTdfhPl1iZATK6F36oaP7sN6Bxm0_l331oGMtMW8hJZUpJGtx_yKr79_KAl2odl0mKtQKpR2DKuhfCPNdB4TX9V2OllwPdAgKqNnntl98G7c1zbqNEqEm1l2oew/s1600/IMG_20161224_222558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgGer_57pLihgnZgbTdfhPl1iZATK6F36oaP7sN6Bxm0_l331oGMtMW8hJZUpJGtx_yKr79_KAl2odl0mKtQKpR2DKuhfCPNdB4TX9V2OllwPdAgKqNnntl98G7c1zbqNEqEm1l2oew/s320/IMG_20161224_222558.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzIG5qurCHxlR1GaoRTd3nnTcI6A1hktud8M2guzKZuRTKX9uYuaUSae0Gr5a-n3zwA6k2h6WCaOj46211Jh2TPd88goupXNsdzQqeQbbIilT-sfsyTE-IE1ikp8LaPPWR3t7YCuRsA/s1600/IMG_20161224_222611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzIG5qurCHxlR1GaoRTd3nnTcI6A1hktud8M2guzKZuRTKX9uYuaUSae0Gr5a-n3zwA6k2h6WCaOj46211Jh2TPd88goupXNsdzQqeQbbIilT-sfsyTE-IE1ikp8LaPPWR3t7YCuRsA/s320/IMG_20161224_222611.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Obviously, I didn't want to fall behind others, so I pestered my parents for a new phone and I got myself 3210. 3310 had just appeared on the markets so this one was cheaper, so I got it. It was the first phone with games I ever used. I also bought logos to this phone: Logos are images that replace your operator name in the lock screen of your phone. It was basically the phones wallpaper. I will cover some of them later in this post.</div>
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<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Nokia 3310</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_x76MTNDignCECFgG7Gxcfh3HyNLqymmKzhdGbxivmBHPRwyvh0gS-s0j8ouPrUkj5sle7Q-AnQu-AP_01SZYmC2iIg6pYZuMEb8TRYdaAMMtX3OTi2Go9Ur2AkaOCNzd85H3G7DNw/s1600/IMG-20161226-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_x76MTNDignCECFgG7Gxcfh3HyNLqymmKzhdGbxivmBHPRwyvh0gS-s0j8ouPrUkj5sle7Q-AnQu-AP_01SZYmC2iIg6pYZuMEb8TRYdaAMMtX3OTi2Go9Ur2AkaOCNzd85H3G7DNw/s320/IMG-20161226-WA0003.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96GAlsLFE73u6yo9AEtN6ZAzjr2WViDxI8amjmyQZdmMsspJDfHP_hajYMdL4tP21gQLRHAcJ8UIeqvlqg5iMTc9we9TOScpuliOyYe8x5MuXbpN1muznawlYiPEdHoYwwvMF14GLcA/s1600/IMG-20161226-WA0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96GAlsLFE73u6yo9AEtN6ZAzjr2WViDxI8amjmyQZdmMsspJDfHP_hajYMdL4tP21gQLRHAcJ8UIeqvlqg5iMTc9we9TOScpuliOyYe8x5MuXbpN1muznawlYiPEdHoYwwvMF14GLcA/s320/IMG-20161226-WA0002.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Nokia 3310 is usually the phone people refer as the most durable phone ever, jokingly or otherwise. To be honest, it really IS very durable phone. I took great care while using my phones, so I never had cracked screens or anything like that. My classmates though... I remember one of them talking how he threw the phone at wall when he got really angry at his parents and of course instantly regretted it. Luckily, the phone still worked just fine. So it definitely could take a beating.</div>
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This phone also had two more games instead of Snake. Some kind of puzzle game and a space shooter sidescroller game. I remember spending lots of time playing those games, they were actually really fun.</div>
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<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Nokia 3510i</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Nokia3510i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Nokia3510i.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from <a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3510i#/media/File:Nokia3510i.jpg">Wikipedia</a>, I unfortunately don't have this phone anymore</td></tr>
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I used 3310 for a long time. It was a great phone. But then, color screens for phones became a thing and games for phones got more complex, so of course I wanted a new one! I remember saving money for this for months. I helped my grandparents do yardwork in order to get some cash, and eventually I had the money to get 3510i. I also got this "gaming case" for it: <a href="https://www.esato.com/gfx/phones/nokia3510i.jpg">https://www.esato.com/gfx/phones/nokia3510i.jpg</a> It was cool back then, but nowadays it just looks silly.<br />
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I really liked this phone though, probably one of the better ones I ever used. The buttons started shortly to lose the number markings though, since they were made of rubber. I bought some weird games on it that were advertised in back of magazines back then. I got some game that they advertised as "The Sims for your phone!" (I had gotten the first Sims game recently and I loved it so I wanted to play it on the go too.) Well, it was some really ridiculous game where you only move a woman in a night club and tried to hit on men or something. I never understood how you were supposed to play it. It was far from Sims though and I was very disappointed for spending 5€ for that game. Lesson learned though: Those advertisements were shady as hell, and the final product was never what you expected it to be.<br />
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<h3>
Nokia 7210</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWqu9quSQpq8al3zTr_T8vyGbvxCgVNG_rV67la1ji9fMpRiaXUptJkuUlOq7QC66D-jsSV8kfxJeu3wG0_aGvL-DgFNeW5PcNigV9-X9R6XlODQql9JsJPS-ZSqS1-EbQaLX7yYHEA/s1600/IMG_20161224_223006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWqu9quSQpq8al3zTr_T8vyGbvxCgVNG_rV67la1ji9fMpRiaXUptJkuUlOq7QC66D-jsSV8kfxJeu3wG0_aGvL-DgFNeW5PcNigV9-X9R6XlODQql9JsJPS-ZSqS1-EbQaLX7yYHEA/s320/IMG_20161224_223006.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBR7zKRY71Mucn_UoiMWkLEVTjHl1TswKigr7S7qt9VzUdtKLjH8vcArGYEShPia_RxA7gFob0h1rZtFT1WVcDomBKJOULjfq5Etg4CQVmH4BrQuYL_FV6218lAtPHPfgnuFY3dX6dg/s1600/IMG_20161224_223020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjBR7zKRY71Mucn_UoiMWkLEVTjHl1TswKigr7S7qt9VzUdtKLjH8vcArGYEShPia_RxA7gFob0h1rZtFT1WVcDomBKJOULjfq5Etg4CQVmH4BrQuYL_FV6218lAtPHPfgnuFY3dX6dg/s320/IMG_20161224_223020.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The reason why I wanted this phone was simple: It just looked cool to me. I liked my 3510i, but I wanted something a bit smaller and my 3510i had had some problems working, for example it cut in middle of calls sometimes. Luckily my uncle was getting a new phone, so I got his old 7210 I had drooled after for some time.</div>
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I don't remember much about this phone, except that it was very light and small. It had no crazy features or anything, pretty much the same as 3510i. It had colored screen too.</div>
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<h3>
Nokia 3220</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64yJm0r52MBQc-hj39l-Q8N32z15_2XaOd9bKqfqgvuLA4BZUlq-e07Qwu8M4faryFsdzynyZr6S4H2gzx45SxGMW2EXV9wQVmoHzFJHwBuppbJyGoikEk6jhGWCGizPHs2iHtiG6lw/s1600/IMG_20161224_222839%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64yJm0r52MBQc-hj39l-Q8N32z15_2XaOd9bKqfqgvuLA4BZUlq-e07Qwu8M4faryFsdzynyZr6S4H2gzx45SxGMW2EXV9wQVmoHzFJHwBuppbJyGoikEk6jhGWCGizPHs2iHtiG6lw/s320/IMG_20161224_222839%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Rl8F9UdCVdnBAg18lRs5_ECwQCpD14i7cHgxz8z-8xZ2Y0jK4Us8jy1wnrK5uVJy3zEBc8PCyKapeqRAdFJIbX51zB0gxF97x7c4-qiiylOrlylrnqeQaDRJ7djNuNn7e3ZWPi8Ehw/s1600/IMG_20161224_222851%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Rl8F9UdCVdnBAg18lRs5_ECwQCpD14i7cHgxz8z-8xZ2Y0jK4Us8jy1wnrK5uVJy3zEBc8PCyKapeqRAdFJIbX51zB0gxF97x7c4-qiiylOrlylrnqeQaDRJ7djNuNn7e3ZWPi8Ehw/s320/IMG_20161224_222851%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Phone technology moved forward rapidly. After color screens, Nokia decided it was time for adding cameras on phones. And of course I wanted to stay on track with technology, and Nokia marketing this phone towards younger people, especially teens and pre-teens worked on me. The phone got the nickname "Teiniledit" as in "Teenage-LED's" since it had flashing LED's on the sides. I think I got this phone back in 2004.<br />
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I began to save money again and eventually got it. I was so excited to use photos as my phone wallpaper: I could finally have an image of GTA Vice City or Battlefield 1942 as a wallpaper. It was super cool to me, I could customize the phone the way I wanted. I also remember printing many photos to put inside the back case, so it would be truly be my nerdy phone and <i>look like me</i>.<br />
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I used this phone for a very long time. I even bought some games for it, like solitaire and some weird Splinter Cell game that had only four levels, but that game was actually alright for a phone game in those days. I also used the camera a lot, taking stupid photos of friends bouncing on trampoline or something like that.<br />
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<h3>
Nokia 6630</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvyMpxO_n2_bFoIUf1VRIp3xyGtsPvffJt6nKsvaX0-5FVzS-dONpUiYqNtqCk8Se1bogwlUU09kg6yPV4j8PJTQGsUjdSx3yPrd2YvwcDHddVEiEAdAspZ-cgsc0K_jMgkgwRkX5lQ/s1600/IMG_20161224_223147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvyMpxO_n2_bFoIUf1VRIp3xyGtsPvffJt6nKsvaX0-5FVzS-dONpUiYqNtqCk8Se1bogwlUU09kg6yPV4j8PJTQGsUjdSx3yPrd2YvwcDHddVEiEAdAspZ-cgsc0K_jMgkgwRkX5lQ/s320/IMG_20161224_223147.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwnlxGEXBi4zQ9tKnO29R6Q2kBnzF5hf-I_B3GoojbnOyQrBM2G0zbekv-s2zmJcraHEFQgj-uOWfXSNJsaO08W3OliZ3mMUHyeijYR0JQ_0luE-Tc3hsBd5bRLDNC-wRwXvOj0DMTw/s1600/IMG_20161224_223204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwnlxGEXBi4zQ9tKnO29R6Q2kBnzF5hf-I_B3GoojbnOyQrBM2G0zbekv-s2zmJcraHEFQgj-uOWfXSNJsaO08W3OliZ3mMUHyeijYR0JQ_0luE-Tc3hsBd5bRLDNC-wRwXvOj0DMTw/s320/IMG_20161224_223204.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The last Nokia phone I used. I was in junior high-school, 8th grade in Finnish school system, so it was 2008. This was usually called "one of the first smart phones" back then. My 3220 was working fine, albeit it looked rather worn off since the rubbers covering LED's had broken.<br />
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My uncle again got a new phone and offered me his old one, in this case he offered me 6630. I never say no to a new phone, so of course I accepted the offer.<br />
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Shortly I learned this phone could play music so I finally could replace my shoddy MP3 player. It had a SD card support so I could fit more music in it than in a cheap MP3 player. It also had a good camera for it's time and, best of all... It could run <b>DOOM</b>. Hell yeah, I loved it! Back then I was playing a lot of Counter-Strike 1.6, so I downloaded a Counter-Strike mod for DOOM so I could play fake-CS 1.6 on my phone. It was silly, but oh man, so cool. 6630 supported also custom themes, so I got a Windows 98 theme for it. I guess I have always been a bit of a oldschool-PC lover, heh.<br />
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I used this phone for few years. When I graduated from jr. high and went to business college to study IT, my classmate told me about ZTE Blade. After that, I never went back to Nokia, but any phone that had Anrdoid running on it.<br />
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And thus ends my journey with Nokia phones. If Nokia would ever make a comeback and make Android phones, I would get one in a heartbeat.<br />
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<h3>
So, what are logos?</h3>
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In case you don't know, logos are small images you could use as your phones "wallpaper." Normally, your old Nokia phone would have your operator name on your main screen, but when you bought a logo, it would replace this operator name with an image.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VTdAaqz1dau3Bzl1Uy5NWS1fV7J1jkzXd-azhJxhNZwSb7DAWJQuP9jtn4q29N_BDZykhWe9SAVsoiUj5UbYBacdz6hWvre9oMlLvskuCelg-PxF3uIN3uLeiXXJ3C80WOJDg5qpWw/s1600/logot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VTdAaqz1dau3Bzl1Uy5NWS1fV7J1jkzXd-azhJxhNZwSb7DAWJQuP9jtn4q29N_BDZykhWe9SAVsoiUj5UbYBacdz6hWvre9oMlLvskuCelg-PxF3uIN3uLeiXXJ3C80WOJDg5qpWw/s1600/logot.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finnish logos, image from here: <a href="http://logot.mbnet.fi/">http://logot.mbnet.fi/</a> They reek of early 2000's, ugh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was really cool at first and everyone liked to order them for their phones. However, the logo sellers were really shady in some cases. If you ordered a logo, you would consent into some weird 30€ per month bill. They usually called it as some stupid "gold club" or whatever. They did talk about it, but it was in veeeeery tiny print in bottom of the page, so nobody ever saw it. Same happened also with ordering ringtones and games on your phone.<br />
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After my parents getting a random 30€ bill because of this shady bullshit, we never bought any logo's or anything off these advertisements. Eventually, camera phones killed them completely. Good riddance, I say.</div>
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I do miss logos themselves though, they're kinda cool and some of them were really creative, considering the tiny amount of room you had for making them. They're basically pixel art. Unfortunately these logo sellers gave them a bad image.</div>
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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this short look into old Nokia phones. If you're curious, right now I have a LG Nexus 5 as my phone. I like it and I'm not in any hurry to replace it. Phone technology isn't as exciting to me anymore, since everything has really been done (for now). Back then, phones getting colored screens and cameras were new, cool features. Nowadays they're expected and people would be weirded out if some phone didn't have a camera. And no, I'm not complaining. It's just fascinating how times change.</div>
Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-34758786196132746232016-12-17T05:11:00.003-08:002017-01-08T22:40:18.453-08:00Santa Claus in TroubleI am actually one of those weirdos who love christmas. I don't like how busy people are or any of that, but I like the wait and excitement that I still get, even it's not as prevalent as it was when I was younger. I also love christmas food and I get this very comfy feeling for some reason around christmas. No idea why, but it makes me happy, even if it's just a holiday to for companies to exploit blatant consumerism. ;)<br />
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Since christmas is within a week, I decided to reinstall one of my favorite christmas holiday games: Santa Claus in Trouble. This game has always put me in proper christmas mood and it's something I first played long time ago when I was a kid.<br />
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There used to be this Finnish computer magazine called Kompuutteri-lehti. It always came with some demo cd's called Kompuutteri-discs with it, and one of them had Santa Claus in Trouble. I should try to find all those discs and write something about them..<br />
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Anyway, back then I thought it would be a fun christmas game to play, especially after the disc mentioned it was completely 100% free and not just a demo. The game was made by CDV Software Entertainment and Joymania Development in 2002, and I think I got the disc around the same year. CDV was a publisher with lots of games under their belt, so this game was a free christmas gift to their fans.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main menu</td></tr>
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Santa Claus in Trouble is obviously full of christmas. Even the installer has very cheery christmas music. As far as I know, the story is just "Help Santa collect all the missing presents!" which is fine by me, I didn't expect anything more in-depth than that anyway.<br />
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The game is actually a pretty solid platformer, where you jump around rooftops (or whatever they are) and collect presents, dodge trolls and try not to fall in the darkness that looms under the rooftops. Santa is quite nimble too as he can double jump. You use arrow keys to move and turn Santa around and jump with spacebar. Alternatively you can use a joystick or mouse+keyboard, but that didn't work for me because I have dual monitors and the mouse always escaped the game screen, since it isn't locked to the game.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hunting those presents</td></tr>
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On modern systems you have to set Windows XP compatibility mode for the game, otherwise it doesn't work at all: The physics calculations will crap themselves and Santa animations spazz out. The game just gets really weird. But compatibility mode solved all the problems.<br />
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As far as I know, there's ten levels of content, but I have actually never made that far. When I played this while back, I always either got tired of the game in the middle of it, or never reached the end. My little brother had beaten this game many times though, he used to play nothing else than this during December which was quite amusing. He obviously was way better than me in these type of games anyway.</div>
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One of my favorite memories about this game happened back in December 2007 or 2008. My friend, let's call him Bob for now, visited me and I showed him this game. I thought the game was genuinely good, but he thought it was just silly. I don't blame him, the game looks a bit silly. Still he wanted to install the game to himself and try it out, so I visited his place and we installed it. </div>
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Next day I get a phone call from Bob, but on the phone it wasn't him, it was one of his other friends. "Hey I saw that Santa game on Bob's PC, I really wanna try it, it looks amazing. Can I get the disc too? I would love to play it and I mean right now!" he said very excitedly. I chuckled a little, I didn't expect anything like that. It was already rather late, cold and dark because Finnish winter, but I still agreed to deliver the disc. Bob, his friend and I lived like 500 meters from each other, so I didn't mind at all.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa isn't safe from trolls either</td></tr>
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Bob and his friend were waiting outside for me to arrive and I gave the disc to them. I told them I couldn't stay since it was really late, so I went back home. They went together to install the game.<br />
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Next day at school Bob's friend approaches me and returns the disc. He goes on and on about how fun game it is. This made me really happy since I had made someone else happy. Spirit of christmas, I guess?<br />
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And that's why this game holds a special place in my heart: I had made someone happy with such a simple gesture. It also reminds me of those days when people just borrowed cd's from each other to install games and tried them out. This was more fun though since it was a free game, so I could just share it to anyone who wanted it, and they didn't need to have the disc to play it.<br />
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Unfortunately, this game can't be found on CDV's official site anymore, but don't worry, here's a christmas gift: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7-cJK68JK-3WlFIQWRiMjUzNDg/view?pageId=101328944891559246216">Download link!</a><br />
The link is safe, I used it to download the game too, and it was in the description of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGvxUexF7ek">LGR's video</a> about the game and I trust this guy 100%.<br />
According to him there's also a sequel, but I never got to try that unfortunately. Maybe one day though.<br />
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In conclusion, Santa Claus in Trouble is a very christmas-y platformer that is perfect for those cold winter nights to keep you smiling.<br />
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Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays! Or should I say: Hyvää joulua!<br />
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Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-62348245742312127052016-12-14T08:47:00.002-08:002017-01-08T22:40:06.891-08:00Visiting local arcade!Today I visited the local arcade called "Pelibunkkeri." My fiancée went to play laser tag with her classmates and that arcade is in the same place so I spent 20 minutes playing some arcade games. I just had to pay 5€ to play all these games as much as I wanted, so the pricing wasn't bad at all. There was also ice hockey tables etc. but those are obviously multiplayer games and I was alone there, so I just settled with the arcade games.<br />
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Unfortunately I didn't have much time to get properly into the games so this post will be a bit brief. Also sorry about the image quality, I used my phone camera since that's all I have and the lighting in there was really bad for photos.<br />
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The games!</h3>
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First I played Sega Rally! I barely could fit into the racing seat because I'm 191 cm tall and these machines are clearly made for smaller people, but I managed to play it just fine. Really fun game, the steering wheel really fights back when you turn your car. There was something going on with the graphics though, the 2D images like your time and speed dial suddenly broke and were all weird and blocky. Besides that the game worked just fine and it was a blast!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkyz_pot-71DPNWEbt8sN_yiObKDG2UFJincxOv0XTCnTgEXqAXBB1Ae5QjjmeK1SqbvtIvx4_N589PH0LFQS97GBJkU6UTi6hZC93vIVntS3TUvG4ykFexqK0rgSYz0PnMqkjqF58w/s1600/IMG_20161214_140527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkyz_pot-71DPNWEbt8sN_yiObKDG2UFJincxOv0XTCnTgEXqAXBB1Ae5QjjmeK1SqbvtIvx4_N589PH0LFQS97GBJkU6UTi6hZC93vIVntS3TUvG4ykFexqK0rgSYz0PnMqkjqF58w/s320/IMG_20161214_140527.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sega Rally</td></tr>
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After that I tried some shooter game called Warzaid. It's a game about WW2 soldiers shooting zombies and skeletons or something like that, I didn't really get the plot. But who cares about a plot when you can shoot zombies with light guns! First I just played it in normal single player mode with one gun, but then I decided to try playing as two players, so I went akimbo with the light guns. It was actually easier to play that way since I could just spam both of the guns and zombies kept dying on the screen. Warzaid was the game I enjoyed the most at the arcade.<br />
Next to it was two games, Harley Davidson L.A. Riders and Sky Targets. Sky Targets is a game about flying a fighter jet and shooting down other planes and huge boss planes, so it was really cool looking. I didn't really enjoy playing it though, the joystick was quite stiff (I know what you're thinking) and it was hard to aim at the enemy planes. It just felt.. Floaty and odd. It's not a bad game though, I would probably like it more if I had more time to play and practice.<br />
L.A. Riders was a really fun motorcycle game where you cruise around L.A. trying to reach checkpoints in time, while destroying the city property like a "Bad Boy." Honestly, that's what the game called me after choosing my character. :D The controls felt a bit floaty here too, the bike could turn a bit faster but overall it was really great to play and the music was top notch.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L.A. Riders, Sky Targets and Warzaid</td></tr>
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Next to those three there was one more game called Panic Park. I didn't really get to play it since I played it quickly before leaving, but it seemed to be game about running through stages and avoiding obstacles. Controls were really different from others, it was a joystick that you rotated to left and right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panic Park and a game I didn't get to try on the left</td></tr>
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On the other side of the room they had Sega Touring Car and Sega Racer (even the cabinet says "Megalo") just in a bigger screen, probably for taller people like me. Sega Touring Car was a really fun game aswell but I couldn't fit in the chair at all so it was really difficult to play, sadly. It was a lot like Sega Racer but had two different cars and different maps, plus some great eurobeat playing on the background. I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I could've fit in the seat, but #tallpeopleproblems.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmwJJqfMWkt5rXBiyHHj3FYz8Hub609HRbwxuET-XFBLUVogJLcQJfixw6rKlYwJ3D7IztiShIeWnTM8mskXBTtUqpPxa_fcXsRHLrJFYN3V-Lq0HtwrzKP6LZC2ZPU95YEG75y1vwg/s1600/IMG_20161214_140618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmwJJqfMWkt5rXBiyHHj3FYz8Hub609HRbwxuET-XFBLUVogJLcQJfixw6rKlYwJ3D7IztiShIeWnTM8mskXBTtUqpPxa_fcXsRHLrJFYN3V-Lq0HtwrzKP6LZC2ZPU95YEG75y1vwg/s320/IMG_20161214_140618.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sega Touring Car and Sega Megalo/Rally</td></tr>
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Last but not least, I played good ol' Speedtester. This was very popular in Finland since there was a TV show called Speden Spelit where famous Finnish people would play different kind of games, including Speedtester. It's a very quick game to play which makes it very addicting. Best score I could do was 60, but with a bit of a practice I'm sure I could get over 100. :) I love how the machine is still talking about MK in the instructions, MK is the old Finnish Markka which we used until we switched to euros in January 2002, so it was quite a blast from the past.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ7lsWXEX2PSzGVSNaOHfG9bKriJl1-j8OS2VHyE8_N6MU42ALWTkBnq2h6G00DUAW8I9Bg3zPJfCOtKPOnOA1r7atMEMMTf-qsoUKwRaPYH8rDwgBqsJupMzb9e0yg6Lf5o82Iq3vg/s1600/IMG_20161214_143250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ7lsWXEX2PSzGVSNaOHfG9bKriJl1-j8OS2VHyE8_N6MU42ALWTkBnq2h6G00DUAW8I9Bg3zPJfCOtKPOnOA1r7atMEMMTf-qsoUKwRaPYH8rDwgBqsJupMzb9e0yg6Lf5o82Iq3vg/s320/IMG_20161214_143250.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speedtester</td></tr>
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All in all, it was a fun place to visit. Unfortunately these days arcade machines are hard to find anywhere so I rarely get to play them. I'm sure I'll visit the place again and hopefully have more time to play everything.</div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610798996668130.post-92201509523733305312016-12-11T12:21:00.001-08:002017-01-08T22:39:48.312-08:00What? And who?Hi there and welcome to my new blog! This blog is all about computers, nostalgia, gaming and gamedev and other nerdy stuff I happen to like. I will write overviews about some older and/or different tech I have, cover some games I used to play when I was younger that aren't very mainstream, opinions and my own experiences about computer and tech related things, et cetera. The name of the blog comes from combining words bit and akselmo, if you didn't guess that already. The banner of this blog was made by my fiancee tecsiederp.<br />
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I have tried blogging a few times before this, but I eventually ran out of things to talk about. I kept the scope way too small, but now I will cover wider array of topics so I have always something to write about. Also, if I'll ever get a proper video camera I will start making videos about the topics I cover as well.<br />
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I try to post a new thing at least once a week.<br />
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I'm going to keep this first post a bit self-centered and talk about... Me!<br />
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So, who am I?</h3>
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Well, I'm nobody big or important and I doubt I'll ever be, and that's fine by me!<br />
My (nick)name is Akselmo and I'm from Finland. I've played around with computers since I was two years old, so the interest into computers and technology started long time ago. I often tore up broken (and sometimes working) devices, such as radios and computers, to see what they looked like inside and what made them work.<br />
I knew my way around MS Office software already when I was 5 or 6 years old, thanks to my grandparents. They had a PC with Win 98 and all the Office software which I liked to play around with, pretending I was an important businessman. I played cool games like Mad Dog 2, Tomb Raider 1, Network Q Rac Rally Championship and Pro Pilkki on that PC. I have that PC in my storage now but I'm not sure if it works anymore, I haven't had the time to try it out.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think I was 4 years old in this picture, playing at my grandparents PC which was in my moms old room.</td></tr>
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I also got a NES as a birthday present when I was about three years old and I still have it and few games for it. I try to keep good care of all the devices I have.</div>
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When I got older, we got shortly got a proper internet access and I got to play more and more games with consoles or PC. I also remember the day when I got my first mobile phone. However these stories deserve their own posts. :)</div>
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So yes, I definitely have experience around technology, but there's always so much more to learn. That's one thing I really like about technology and computers: They keep getting better and changing over time, so there's always something new to learn!</div>
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Right now I'm studying information technology at Oulu University of Applied Sciences and hoping to get more into software development. I have also studied information technology at Raahe's Business College, but that was mostly basic stuff I already knew, and I studied animation and game development at Lybecker in Raahe. I have studied gamedev on my free time and I hope to become a game developer in future because I love video games, but I wouldn't mind working at any kind of IT job. As long as it's inside and near computers, I'm happy. I know it's playing a bit into the whole "nerds never go outside" stereotype but.. That's me. Can't help it. :D</div>
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I have many video games I love, such as The Elder Scrolls -series (especially Morrowind!), Quake and Arena FPS games in general, Mass Effect -series, Dirty Bomb, Battlefield -series... So mostly FPS and RPG games. I like multiplayer games more than singleplayer, but nothing beats a well written singleplayer RPG.</div>
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When it comes to computers, I love them, old or new. I like watching Youtube videos of old PC's that were made before I was even born, or checking out the newest components for modern PC's. I hope to build my own nostalgia-PC one day, with parts made around the years 2000-2006, just gotta find those parts. I also find the smaller single-board PC's very interesting, so I have bought myself a Raspberry Pi 2 and PocketCHIP, which I will cover here someday, too.</div>
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<b>In conclusion</b>: I love video games. I love computers. I like building software for them, games or not, and I'm sure I will keep tinkering and playing with computers as long as I can, and I'll try to keep anyone who reads this blog up to date on my adventures around technology. :) </div>
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Thank you for reading!</div>
Akselmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00529785450131058844noreply@blogger.com0