Way back when I got my first vaguely powerful computer (an Amiga 600 - pitiful by today's standards, and more than a little pointless by the standards of the day, as it was effectively a cut down A500, rather than an upgrade in any way), my main reason for doing so was the wonderful selection of Point'n'Click adventures published by the likes of Lucasarts.
The Secret of Monkey Island, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis... all groundbreaking titles in terms of gameplay and storytelling... And yet, the only one that got a follow up at the time was Monkey Island. The whole concept of Point'n'Click adventures became outdated all too quickly - Lucasarts, I believe, claimed there was no longer a market for them - and the genre all but disappeared.
Sure there were indie developers still making them, and software available that allowed folks to craft Point'n'Click adventures themselves... and, of course, even the likes of Myst and Riven could be called Point'n'Click adventures... but they lacked a charismatic character that the player could see and relate to.
Many years later, the concept gained a new lease of life, thanks to a wave of nostalgia for this much-loved genre, and the hard work of the folks at Telltale Games. Telltale have not only picked up the Sam & Max franchise - dropped by Lucasarts despite its popularity and plenty of calls for a sequel - they are also continuing the awesome Monkey Island series... Which I've just started playing via WiiWare.
Yes, I know I said I wouldn't take my Wii online, but the temptation proved too great - there are some excellent games available as DLC.
Both Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island are presented in episodic format but, while Sam & Max Season 1 was available at retail, Monkey Island has yet to make the leap from DLC to disc. This causes a bit of a dilemma... since each part (of which there are five) costs 1000 Wii Points (£7), while I could download the entire series for the PC for $35 (approx £28.50), or wait for it to come out at retail and have it in a far more convenient format, albeit still rather expensive.
Sam & Max was very enjoyable, despite some rather terrible 'logic', though the series is noted for its wackiness. Monkey Island, meanwhile, is noted for its insult-based swordfights and sequences where wandering around a seemingly random maze is actually part of a puzzle. So far, in Part 1, only the latter has been represented, though it was very well done. Maps play a key role in these puzzles, and are actually quite easy to follow. Only the last map puzzle - finding the secret door - caused me trouble, and that was because I misinterpreted a couple of the instructions.
Some of the puzzles are a little obscure (missing a stone wheel? How about using a cheese wheel instead?), and I suspect some are generally solved by accident, by those who spend absolutely ages trying everything... but that is, after all, the nature of Point'n'Click: it rewards those who explore and experiment, rather than those who just want to get from A to B, to use Item X in Slot Y.
There were points where I was completely stumped, and I'm sorry to say I had to resort to a walkthrough... which generally had me groaning because, while the next step wasn't necessarily obvious, it was frequently a little contrived (that stone/cheese wheel, for example, needs to be imprinted before it can be used...), and led to lots of backtracking.
The only real problem with the Wii version, though, is its tendency to crash... Like the Wii version of Ghostbusters, it just falls down at certain points - scene transitions - but, thankfully, picks up where you left off after restarting the machine.
I've also downloaded a game called NyxQuest, which involves a flying demigoddess searching for Icarus in a scorched Greek landscape. It's an arcade puzzle game, in that you control Nyx directly with the nunchuck stick, and help her by using the Wiimote to interact with elements of scenery. Ambidextrous gameplay has never been my strong suit, so I'm not doing too well at the moment. It's certainly very stylish, though.
I now have to get on with some washing up, before heading over to my folks for dinner - I'd forgotten that my sister was coming over this weekend...
Sunday 27 June 2010
Saturday 26 June 2010
Thank you, Steven Moffat
Having just watched the season finale of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who - a reboot, let's face it, rather than just a follow-up to Mr Davies' Who - I can honestly say that I've had more fun watching Doctor Who this series than any other bar the one with Christopher Ecclestone.
I've complained, at times, that they've tried to fit too much into one episode, or spread a story over two episodes that would have been far tighter had it been a single episode. I've enjoyed it all, though... Even the 'bad' episodes were better than anything but the very best episodes over the last two series... and those were written by Steven Moffat.
The biggest difference, I think, is that Moffat uses time travel in a way that it's rarely been used throughout Doctor Who's long history. It's not just a case of beginning an episode by arriving at a new place in space and time, there's time travel within some episodes... Time travel is even the whole point of some episodes.
So, the final episode is not only full of time travel, it is the source of the problem at the beginning of the series, and the solution to the problem, and the route by which the solution is discovered.
Throughout the episode, I laughed at the humour and, by the end, I was laughing for the sheer joy of Doctor Who done right.
It couldn't have ended any other way.
And what's next? An Egyptian Goddess? Running loose on the Orient Express? In Space?
Steven Moffat, you arefull made of win.
I've complained, at times, that they've tried to fit too much into one episode, or spread a story over two episodes that would have been far tighter had it been a single episode. I've enjoyed it all, though... Even the 'bad' episodes were better than anything but the very best episodes over the last two series... and those were written by Steven Moffat.
The biggest difference, I think, is that Moffat uses time travel in a way that it's rarely been used throughout Doctor Who's long history. It's not just a case of beginning an episode by arriving at a new place in space and time, there's time travel within some episodes... Time travel is even the whole point of some episodes.
So, the final episode is not only full of time travel, it is the source of the problem at the beginning of the series, and the solution to the problem, and the route by which the solution is discovered.
Throughout the episode, I laughed at the humour and, by the end, I was laughing for the sheer joy of Doctor Who done right.
It couldn't have ended any other way.
And what's next? An Egyptian Goddess? Running loose on the Orient Express? In Space?
Steven Moffat, you are
Late Nights, Bad Dreams and More Non-News
One thing I'm really starting to hate about the World Cup - though admittedly it's more to do with living on a fairly busy road - is the noise after the games, particularly those on a Friday. Late night drinking isn't any later or louder, but its results sure stick around longer. It was something like 2am today before it got quiet enough for me to get any sensible sleep.
Not that it was particularly good sleep. I had a very vivid dream about my teeth - first one of them in a long while but, hey, at least it wasn't a zombie dream... Then again, why would I dream zombies when I'd been hearing them shuffling around outside for about three hours?
To cut a long story short, my recent toothache - caused by an abscess - had returned, and I ended up yanking out the tooth myself, with the idea that removing the tooth would allow the abscess to drain, and then I could re-seat the tooth myself.
But, of course, I didn't.
For some very odd reason, I bunched up a black hairband and placed it in my mouth to protect the bleeding, gaping hole in my gum... and kept it there for ages. Long enough to go to sleep and, upon waking, find that it had twisted its way around my remaining teeth. And when I pulled it out, most of the rest of my teeth came with it. Some flew up to the windowsill (it became apparent at this point that I was at my parents' house), while others just fell into the basin, along with lots and lots of blood.
I called out to my parents, and tried to gather up my bloody, slippery teeth, hoping that someone would tell me they could all be put back... but my mother just looked horrified. She spoke of some trick that was supposed to keep teeth safe by keeping them soaked in something before they could be replaced. I said I was sure they should be kept in a glass of milk, but my mother expressed some doubt.
The thing that got to me about it was that I was convinced it was real, right up until I woke up and checked my teeth... it didn't feel like a dream at all, it felt like a memory... I'd really felt the teeth getting uprooted and popping out... I'd tasted the blood before I started spitting it out... which really wasn't nice.
In other news, at work, there's nothing officially official, as it were, because the next meeting isn't till sometime next week... but one office is still hammering away at the facts that the redundancy/recentralisation proposal is either based on flawed numbers (those that we've seen), and that we haven't seen the 'real' numbers. The company is basically saying "tough shit, we've made our decision based on the real figures, so there's no point showing them to you now".
However, the timeline for the coming events has changed quite dramatically. Offices were due to start migrating to Head Office under the new system in July. This has now shifted back to September, with the possibility that my office may close in January, not December. The next meeting will supposedly include details of the final timetable, and any further slippage on that will become the company's problem.
Much of this came from our local HR Rep who, when asked if the slippage was a sign that the new system wasn't testing well, declined to offer an opinion in a way that suggested that the system was, indeed, not testing well.
What came out of the conversation is that my counterpart and I, as Production Managers, may have shifted onto three month notice periods, despite never having signed a contract to this effect. The good news, if this is the case, is that I would supposedly get another two months pay (in addition to the 11 weeks redundancy payout) if I stay till the bitter end.
Also, somewhat amusingly, it is becoming obvious that the guy who came up with this proposal hadn't realised how few people would be interested in moving to Head Office to take up lower-paid jobs in battery farm conditions when he made his ill-judged comment about replacing us with graduates from their local Design College. Certainly no-one from London will go (a pay cut of £7k minimum..? Easy pass), so that's six Designers from one location with anywhere between 2 and 6 years' experience with the clients.
But there's the thing: our employers believe they're replacing a bunch of Designers... when they're actually replacing a bunch of Designers and, collectively, about 19 years experience working with their London clients... And many more years' experience in the Design field generally. And that is just the Designers. Add my counterpart and I into the calculation and it goes up to more than 40 years' experience. Add our boss, and it's an awful lot more
Either they're completely fucking stupid, or they believe that a £1M pa saving balances this out.
Which is to say either they're completely fucking stupid, or they're completely fucking stupid.
Not that it was particularly good sleep. I had a very vivid dream about my teeth - first one of them in a long while but, hey, at least it wasn't a zombie dream... Then again, why would I dream zombies when I'd been hearing them shuffling around outside for about three hours?
To cut a long story short, my recent toothache - caused by an abscess - had returned, and I ended up yanking out the tooth myself, with the idea that removing the tooth would allow the abscess to drain, and then I could re-seat the tooth myself.
But, of course, I didn't.
For some very odd reason, I bunched up a black hairband and placed it in my mouth to protect the bleeding, gaping hole in my gum... and kept it there for ages. Long enough to go to sleep and, upon waking, find that it had twisted its way around my remaining teeth. And when I pulled it out, most of the rest of my teeth came with it. Some flew up to the windowsill (it became apparent at this point that I was at my parents' house), while others just fell into the basin, along with lots and lots of blood.
I called out to my parents, and tried to gather up my bloody, slippery teeth, hoping that someone would tell me they could all be put back... but my mother just looked horrified. She spoke of some trick that was supposed to keep teeth safe by keeping them soaked in something before they could be replaced. I said I was sure they should be kept in a glass of milk, but my mother expressed some doubt.
The thing that got to me about it was that I was convinced it was real, right up until I woke up and checked my teeth... it didn't feel like a dream at all, it felt like a memory... I'd really felt the teeth getting uprooted and popping out... I'd tasted the blood before I started spitting it out... which really wasn't nice.
In other news, at work, there's nothing officially official, as it were, because the next meeting isn't till sometime next week... but one office is still hammering away at the facts that the redundancy/recentralisation proposal is either based on flawed numbers (those that we've seen), and that we haven't seen the 'real' numbers. The company is basically saying "tough shit, we've made our decision based on the real figures, so there's no point showing them to you now".
However, the timeline for the coming events has changed quite dramatically. Offices were due to start migrating to Head Office under the new system in July. This has now shifted back to September, with the possibility that my office may close in January, not December. The next meeting will supposedly include details of the final timetable, and any further slippage on that will become the company's problem.
Much of this came from our local HR Rep who, when asked if the slippage was a sign that the new system wasn't testing well, declined to offer an opinion in a way that suggested that the system was, indeed, not testing well.
What came out of the conversation is that my counterpart and I, as Production Managers, may have shifted onto three month notice periods, despite never having signed a contract to this effect. The good news, if this is the case, is that I would supposedly get another two months pay (in addition to the 11 weeks redundancy payout) if I stay till the bitter end.
Also, somewhat amusingly, it is becoming obvious that the guy who came up with this proposal hadn't realised how few people would be interested in moving to Head Office to take up lower-paid jobs in battery farm conditions when he made his ill-judged comment about replacing us with graduates from their local Design College. Certainly no-one from London will go (a pay cut of £7k minimum..? Easy pass), so that's six Designers from one location with anywhere between 2 and 6 years' experience with the clients.
But there's the thing: our employers believe they're replacing a bunch of Designers... when they're actually replacing a bunch of Designers and, collectively, about 19 years experience working with their London clients... And many more years' experience in the Design field generally. And that is just the Designers. Add my counterpart and I into the calculation and it goes up to more than 40 years' experience. Add our boss, and it's an awful lot more
Either they're completely fucking stupid, or they believe that a £1M pa saving balances this out.
Which is to say either they're completely fucking stupid, or they're completely fucking stupid.
Friday 18 June 2010
Terrible Lack of Holiday Updates!
Something in me is very much drifting away from the concept of any form of writing... Which is upsetting, considering the vast and far-reaching plans I have.
That said, I've always been better at the planning than the execution. I resist writing detailed notes because part of me then decides I've done enough, and I make no further progress (as shown by the folder on my computer containing more than ten stories in varying degrees of note form, from as long ago as 2003).
So, lacking any notes on the subject, I shall merely mention that I popped over to my sister's place in Swindon on Monday to visit my rapidly-growing niece, who may not yet be able to speak coherently, but she has two teeth and can almost stand unaided. That's given me a good idea for her Birthday present next month.
I returned home on Tuesday, had a birthday lunch with my folks on Wednesday following some shopping, and have been basically lazing around since, not getting much done till today. I've written my letter of complaint to my bank, as they are charging me £150 for withdrawing from my mortgage offer... I was not unaware of this fee, but I hardly expected it to be applied following three months of their utter incompetence.
On a lighter note, my sister has a fridge magnet poetry set. Whilst I was up there, I came up with the following:
Going by the other content of her fridge door - other than the obvious joke poems and non-sequiturs - the pervading emotion in fridge magnet poetry is melancholy.
I suspect there were other things I wanted to do with my week off... Some more shopping would have been useful, but not necessary... and it transpires that one of the things I was hoping to find may not be necessary after all - I've been trying to find either the original TF: Energon, or the more recent Universe re-release of Bruticus (Maximus), so I'd have a full set ready for the arrival of my FansProject Crossfire Explorer/Munitioner sets... but it turns out the place I ordered from has sold out. I shall try to find an alternate supplier, but there aren't many options over here...
That said, I've always been better at the planning than the execution. I resist writing detailed notes because part of me then decides I've done enough, and I make no further progress (as shown by the folder on my computer containing more than ten stories in varying degrees of note form, from as long ago as 2003).
So, lacking any notes on the subject, I shall merely mention that I popped over to my sister's place in Swindon on Monday to visit my rapidly-growing niece, who may not yet be able to speak coherently, but she has two teeth and can almost stand unaided. That's given me a good idea for her Birthday present next month.
I returned home on Tuesday, had a birthday lunch with my folks on Wednesday following some shopping, and have been basically lazing around since, not getting much done till today. I've written my letter of complaint to my bank, as they are charging me £150 for withdrawing from my mortgage offer... I was not unaware of this fee, but I hardly expected it to be applied following three months of their utter incompetence.
On a lighter note, my sister has a fridge magnet poetry set. Whilst I was up there, I came up with the following:
Please,
Stare not into elaborate shadows,
Leave these ugly yet luscious visions.
None above sag sadly there,
When her languid moaning,
Delirious in bitterness,
Robs me of my dreams.
Going by the other content of her fridge door - other than the obvious joke poems and non-sequiturs - the pervading emotion in fridge magnet poetry is melancholy.
I suspect there were other things I wanted to do with my week off... Some more shopping would have been useful, but not necessary... and it transpires that one of the things I was hoping to find may not be necessary after all - I've been trying to find either the original TF: Energon, or the more recent Universe re-release of Bruticus (Maximus), so I'd have a full set ready for the arrival of my FansProject Crossfire Explorer/Munitioner sets... but it turns out the place I ordered from has sold out. I shall try to find an alternate supplier, but there aren't many options over here...
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Intrigue
Well, it seems my paymasters are not merely stupid, but paranoid as well. Emails from, or pertaining to our recently-departed MD are being screened and/or blocked through fear that he will be poaching our Salespeople for his new job.
Of course the suggestion that we should be glad to rid of most of them hasn't occurred to anyone.
Furthermore, the next meeting about the proposed redundancies has been postponed while the Accountants verify the figures that made the proposal look so darned good in the first place.
My, how I laughed.
Oddly enough, for the first time in quite a while, I have plans for the weekend. Both days. On Saturday, I'm hoping to go off to south London for a day out (possibly in the sun), while Sunday will involve a trip to the cinema, and probably a bit of shopping... And then I'll be visiting my sister at the beginning of my week off.
After that, I'll just be lazing around at home, of course... but that's what Birthday weeks off work are for, gosh darn it!
Of course the suggestion that we should be glad to rid of most of them hasn't occurred to anyone.
Furthermore, the next meeting about the proposed redundancies has been postponed while the Accountants verify the figures that made the proposal look so darned good in the first place.
My, how I laughed.
Oddly enough, for the first time in quite a while, I have plans for the weekend. Both days. On Saturday, I'm hoping to go off to south London for a day out (possibly in the sun), while Sunday will involve a trip to the cinema, and probably a bit of shopping... And then I'll be visiting my sister at the beginning of my week off.
After that, I'll just be lazing around at home, of course... but that's what Birthday weeks off work are for, gosh darn it!
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