Just felt like letting you guys who don't use steam know what your missing out on really! Steam is obviously a massively ESSENTIAL piece of freeware to any true PC gamer. Quite simply it lets you compile all your games in one user-friendly area on your computer. You click the icon, go to your 'Library' of games and you can just click play...hell it even updates your games for you! Why wouldn't you use it really..
Steam even compresses your games so they are actually smaller than the retail copies you can buy! I swear this is true as I have seen it on a fair few of my games but of course, if I am wrong please to shout out in the comments area!
Possibly THE best thing about steam however, is that it offers games at a ridiculously good price and has deals pretty much every week.. Im not joking when I say that there is a '50% off' deal on a brand new release game most weeks. Titles such as 'Left 4 Dead' 1+2 and 'Borderlands' for £5 surely conveys the kind of deals that Steam is chugging out every week doesn't it? I honestly don't know how Steam are allowed to offer such sell-out titles for such ridiculous prices, it honestly is a concept that eludes me. Even on upcoming games or brand new releases, Steam usually slashes off a good £7: games like 'Skyrim' or 'Dead Island'. Essentially, Steam must be run by people who want you to game, not just for the money but for the sheer enjoyment. Sure they know that if they offer cheap prices they will make more overall as a product of increased sales but who cares? Everyone is a winner are they not?
Another massive positive is in the form of account-bound games. Every game you buy on Steam is linked to your account meaning, that you can download and play your games on any computer with Steam by simply logging into your account! How convenient is that!
I remember vividly a recent Christmas period where Steam was running it's Christmas bargain week (it is usual for Steam to have large discount weeks in the holiday periods, as they know..geniuses that they are.. that more people will be gaming in the holiday season). I actually sat at my computer for a good 5 minutes in disbelief that Steam could sell games like 'Empire Total War' for about £5.. a brand new game at the time. Christmas is a time of festive cheer and my God was I revelling in it.. I bought about 5 games that week...call me sinful. 'Killing Floor', 'L4D2', 'BFBC2', 'Counter-Strike: Source' to name most.
If you don't use Steam you a are fool, a neglectful sinner and naive thrall... GET IT.
And if, for some strange reason, you are purposefully ignoring Steam in the hope that you can say: 'I don't care for modern technological trends, I am my own person' and all that 'uniqueness' shit, then take a long hard look at your wallet.. Save yourself the cash, and join the millions before you end up a gibbering, elitist wreck!
Note: Steam has a Halloween Deal running till the 31st. Make use of it! Check it out!
Just thought I would make a quick little post about Project N64 (As promised in my Zelda post which I do hope you all read!)
Project N64 -Nintendo- is an emulator. Very simply, it 'emulates' what a console does but uses your computer. There are emulators for mostly every console before the PS1 (Playstation 1). You may ask why can developers not make an emulator for say.. the Playstation 3? This is because -if you want to get technical about it- think about how great the graphics are for the PS3..how could a developer make freeware software for the computer when the rendering (among other things) was so demanding of hardware! Because of this, the emulators that are freely accessible to the hoards of down-loaders on the internet must be of a slightly poorer graphical generation. In steps the best of them all: The Nintendo64 'Emu'.
Think about it...Threw away your old Nintendo64/controllers and games for extra money or just because they were out of date consoles? Ever wanted to go back to playing a little bit of Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie but found that you were a naive child back then and threw your N64 away upon the promise of a much 'cooler' and better console: The PS1-2? Well now you can just download the whole console onto your computer and play every single bloody game that EVER came out on the N64. And guess what.. It is ALL free. No memories of paying £50 for Zelda or Mario Party.. Those days are loong gone. Nowadays you can spend that money on the PS3, on such classic and renowned titles as 'Leisure Suit Larry' and 'Clash of The Titans The Videogame'....hopefully you understand where im going..
The freeware that is dubbed 'Project N64' is relatively easy to download, install and play. Im going to make it really, really simple for you:
(The games are called 'ROMs' for the Project N64. Download any game you could possibly want here, starting preferably with the top 20 section. You download these Zip files to -again- wherever you remember on your computer then extract them using a standard piece of software like WinRar. After you extracted the .Zip file into the same folder, deleted the .Zip, you don't need it clogging up precious memory! (Advice: Make a file inside the previously downloaded Project N64 file called 'Games' so you can find it easily.)
Downloading done, you go into the Project N64 file you created and then click the colourful Icon 'Project N64' application. You should get a blank window which is essentially acts as a Nintendo64 console that you have turned on but not put a game into. You can fiddle with the options -if it's a 2 player experience you want then you can set keys, or if you want to alter graphics ect..- but when your ready to play a game, click the file button at the top of the window.
Now all you do simply, is browse to the file you called 'Games' and then into the game folder you downloaded into it and extracted from the .Zip file. Now all you need to do is click the file in there that ends with .z64 or similar (most likely file extension <---) and open it. Your console screen should turn black and begin playing the glorious title!
If your controls are F***** then go into the options and change them! Enjoy your new-found hoby: Retro gaming from the glory days! Wipe away the initial tears and adopt the same kind of behaviour you did as a young child paying the game: Day long sessions delving into the beautiful 'Rare Company' titles with eyes so wide they couldn't miss a single detail.
For all the perfectionist and nostalgic souls out there, try the program out using a 'N64 Controller' -> 'USB' cable available on Amazon using this link:
Sorry I have not posted in a bit, just been trying to make some videos for YouTube which hopefully you guys will see soon! And when you do..Don't judge me! Just first-time game impressions/reviews ect..
ZELDA ladies and gentleman....Zelda.
If this post was in fact paper, the ink would be smudged with tears of joy, sadness and respect.
Let me just say one key thing about games: What makes great games good, is their replayability. Remember that.
In all honesty I don't really know where to start..It's going to have to be a looong post. There is so so much to cover: Music, Gameplay, Gaming Context -revolutionised gaming-, Background Story and finally, Last Words. Hopefully this won't just be a fascinatingly profound account of a sad, depressed kid who loves his old games too much but instead, a post that educates and explains the wonderfully charismatic world of Zelda 'OOT' = 'Ocarina of Time'. Why is it such a famous, fascinating and talked-about game? All will be discussed forthwith.
Background Story:
Your hero is called Link; he is a woodland elf child who lives in the Kokiri Forest with the rest of the elf community. Everything in the starting zone, where you begin your quest, resonates an atmosphere of cuteness, magic and purpose. The tale begins with link having a nightmare about a mysterious man atop a horse who seems to be kidnapping a princess. This princess -you later find out- is none other than Zelda, princess of Hyrule -the game's capital city hub-. When Link wakes up, he is in his own little tree house in the Kokiri Forest. His guide: A fairy called Navii. Link's purpose: Defeat the evil Ganondorf. How is he going to do it? By questing towards and into 3 dungeons to obtain 3 special stones that, when combined, unlock the Temple of Time's Master Sword room.
Sorry for skipping ahead, but it's easier that way! To stop Ganondorf from becoming grand-ruler of all of Hyrule our hero, Link, must go forward in time to be able to wield the master sword. Once he wakes up 7 years later, able to wield the sword, he is met by the Temple's sage. He, along with 6 other sages, must be joined in order to infuse Link with the power to destroy Ganondorf and rid the Kingdom of Hyrule from tyranny! With his mission in front of him, he is guided by Zelda's lifetime guardian , Sheik. Note: Link had met Sheik and Zelda before when he snuck into Hyrule Castle's gardens for a previous quest. His mission is to go into 5 temples and retrieve each sage's talisman, with each temple containing a final boss. Upon retrieving the fifth talisman, Sheik reveals herself to be Zelda and the final sage.
Prior to this, Link is told that the Tri-Force, the item that holds the land of Hyrule in place has been split and that Ganondorf has taken the piece of Power; Zelda holds the piece of Wisdom and finally, it is revealed that Link was always, unbeknownst to himself, in possession of the piece of Courage. With the sages restored to the Temple of Time, and the Tri-Force partially completed again, Link's only task now is to slay Ganondorf with the Master Sword. Oh no.. A villain being a villain must always interfere with plans, and Ganondorf does not disappoint: he encases Zelda in a prison of ice and steals her to his tower, his prisoner. Zelda, with the aid of the sages, enters the castle of Ganondorf, defeats him and sets about retreating from the castle. No sooner does he start making his way with Zelda, does Ganondorf make one last effort to kill them both by destroying the tower. A tense escape follows wit Link aiding Zelda down the rapidly deteriorating Castle structure. At the bottom, Ganondorf shocking reveals himself to Zelda in his true form: A monolithic, boar-like creature. The last epic fight ensues to which Link defeats Ganondorf one final time and reclaims Hyrule by combining the Tri-Force again.
The game ends when Link goes back to the past using the Temple of Time, by order of Zelda, to live his life of childhood again. They both meet, as they did even before the adventure really began, in the Castle's gardens. Do they both know what they had done 7 years into the future? Or have their memories been erased?.. Or does just Link know? This makes for a very emotional ending scene:
Gameplay:
Link begins his adventure in Kokiri forest, a happy, innocent elf. From the very beginning he is climbing ridges for Rupees -the game's currency-, navigating precarious, wooden bridges and hopping and skipping over stones. Upon acquiring his first sword, the player is introduced to one of the most important designs that has steered this game to worldwide renown and countless perfect 10/10 scores in most contemporary game magazine companies: it's combat system. The famed 'Z-targeting' system completely changed combat in 3D environments. Players of OOT found that they could lock onto their targets and not only that, but also switch between various enemies. Finally the player really felt in control of his combat and not only that, but he also felt the dynamism of his young warrior, Link.
Link has a range of moves using his sword: He can lunge forward, swing normally, back-flip into space and even hop to the right/left. Freedom of movement is key in all games nowadays, and the pioneer for this feature, I believe, is Ocarina of Time. Camera angles are all sublimely designed to allow the player to view his character from any position and indeed view in the first person. For how many times ive played the game, I don't think Link has ever got stuck in a glitch. The lack of bugs in the game is also of note as the seamless nature of the game makes for a much more enjoyable experience than many of the other Nintendo 64 titles.
With a shield, Link can block just as fluidly as he can fight using the N64 controller's R shoulder button. Realism comes into account here as, when Link receives his second shield -the shield of Hyrule- he is in fact too small to hold it properly and thus, can only use it to crouch below; the designers really used this hindrance to Link cleverly, as there are many scenarios our hero finds himself in before he turns 7 years older where the shield needs to be used to protect himself. Huge, fiery volcano boulders are but one example.
Throughout his adventure, Link finds himself using all manner of weird and wonderful devices. Some for combat, some for passive reasons -entry into secret rooms-, and some for both. The spectrum covers many things from the standard Bow & Arrow set -of which there are around 3 different arrow types!- to items like the directed, mouse bombs -glorified T.N.T that Link can send in a line towards enemies, exploadable boulders and mini-game areas-. His Ocarina, which I will talk about later, is his most useful however, as the instrument is needed to play various songs to unlock certain areas in the game.
Getting around is made easy to Link with the use of his trusty steed, Epona. After winning it in a race, Link can use Epona in most places adjacent to and inside Hyrule Field. Off the horse, Link can roll around, swim jump,and climb around the world, all of which prove extremely useful at most given stages in his quest. Rolling, seeing as it is pretty much all Link can do as a youngster in the starting area, is paramount to completing the first dungeon: The Tree of Life.
Music:
Arguably the best thing about the entire game? I think so. In fact, i am listening to the 'End Credits' song right now..yes I have you-tube converted all of them.. including random boss-fight music.
The music in Ocarina of Time is timeless, legendary and innovative. The music in the game are simple, keyboard constructed melodies. Being in the 1990s, there is only so much musical recording they could get into a 32MB cartridge and so, like many Nintendo 64 titles, OOT used a keyboard. In all honesty, the songs sound like symphonies in themselves considering all the musical director had access to was a keyboard, and his imagination. 'Koji Kondo' created all the music for the game. The thing I really enjoy in the game is the way that, upon entering a specific are, that zone's music will increase from a muffle to a complete sound depending how close you are to that environment. Unlike many games tendencies to have music introducing a character, OOT has the breadth of imagination to use a technique called 'leitmotif in reverse'. This means that, as stated, Link will enter say..'The Lost Woods', and, before entering he will hear the lost woods music as a muffled sound even before entering through the large log entrance. This idea was awesome for me as a child, as whenever I heard these sounds I wanted to explore, I wanted to see what was there. It sounded happy, so naturally you follow where happiness takes you as a child.
Music of real note in the game includes: 'The Lost Woods', 'Hyrule Field', 'Title Theme', 'Gerudo Valley', 'Kakariko Village', 'Kokiri Forest', 'Meeting Zelda', 'Sheik', 'Zelda's Lullaby' and 'End Credits'.
Those above songs Really capture the magic of Zelda, and for your sakes, i implore you just take about 10 minutes to listen to them all on Youtube. So magical, so wonderful and so spellbinding. Playing the game, you realise that you will attach the songs to your memories in game which will -most probably- invoke feelings to pure bliss and raw happiness when played through your computer, even while reading this even! <--- Recommended!
Link uses his Ocarina in the game. Given to him by his childhood sweetheart in the Kokiri Forest, the Ocarina serves to aid Link in his quest to save Hyrule. He learns a collection of songs prior to his growing up in the Temple of Time, and many more even afterwards. The user-friendly menu screen -upon pressings 'start'- has a music screen that reminds you of the songs' notes so you will never be stuck trying to remember. All has been thought out. Using the 'C buttons' aswell as the 'A' and 'B' buttons, you have to string together a song in certain parts of the game whilst at other moments, you can just play them for leisure like I find myself doing even more frequently now. After each completed song, the actual song is played and that song's event takes place, whether it be unlocking a stage in the game like a door, or changing the weather.
Music is an intrinsic component in the game as through the music, you learn about the various songs' uses aswell as unlocking hidden parts of the game that prove necessary if you want to get the 100% complete. On some occasions, Link will learn the song that is playing in the current environment, such as the 'Minuet of the Forest'. Below is the song played upon entering the game:
Gaming Context:
The Legend of Zelda The Ocarina of Time was released to the gaming community in 1998. It was developed by Nintendo with many various big Japanese names behind it. The game was released on 32MB cartridge -the largest cartridge Nintendo developed- as I suppose it had vast environments and many rendering specifics attached to the landscape in Links' adventure. The Cartridge idea was always a clever idea I thought as -try as you may- it was basically impossible to break a game unless you -for some unbeknownst reason- try to go under the cartridge to break the memory stick. Child friendly hardware aswell as child friendly games, Nintendo had it sussed!
Fond Memories:
I remember playing Zelda when I was about 9ish. It was a time when the weekends were completely free to do whatever you wanted, a time when after school all you wanted to do/could do would be to relax. That relaxation for me was -alot of the time- playing on my Nintendo with my brother -3 years older-. The Nintendo in general was a great little console for me and my brother and I remember watching him play Zelda, -he was always better than me back then- fighting bosses and unlocking new songs. All this would take place on our balcony with our TV that was fairly big for the era! Whilst Zelda may not be multi player it is a very watchable game and has, unlike most games ive ever played, created golden memories for me and remains, the best game I have EVER played.
Last Words:
Finally, I just want to say that I have purposely tried not to reveal too much to you. Sure I have talked about the plot, but my description is so so loose. The reason why I made this post and spent about 2 hours doing so is because I want you guys to experience what I did when I was a child, experience what I still am experiencing now when I re-play it. Like I said at the beginning: What makes a really great game good, is it's re-playability. Games like Zelda OOT don't come around often, they are layered, and because of that they can never be played to the ground.. if you get 100% then fair enough you have seen it all, but I guarantee you will want to go back to it after a few months. Do yourself a favour and go and download the 'Project N64' software, download Zelda, and whether you are playing it for the first time -in which case great, get ready for a hell of a ride!- or replaying it -hopefully-, you are sure to have an awesome time inside an incredible and epic gaming story.
P.S: I will talk about the 'Project N64' in the next post. Just a small, quick description, how to download, configure ect..It let's you play Nintendo games on your computer...I mean.. CMON!
So, I have hit the 100 views mark! This is cause for a mass celebration involving scantily clad females and wine!
Aside from that however, I really appreciate you guys coming on to my blog to have a look-see of my words of cynicism and wisdom. Admittedly I have not actually produced a blog about Minecraft that particularly educates my viewers however I want to correct that in the future. Who knows, I may make a few youtube videos to provide a visual example of all my work in Minecraft or possibly tutorial videos. The options are endless!
Just know one thing. I will be CONSTANTLY updating this blog. If I have not done so for a few days assume I am either dead or celebrating with the previously mentioned nymphs above! That's my prmise to you guys, because I love the interest I am receiving and I love the community im building.
Please, Please, Please comment on my stuff as I wanna know what you guys think, and what you guys think I should write about next. Anyone can comment so it's an open society ;) Who knows? Your comments could steer my blog to bigger and better things!
What have I been doing in the world of Minecraft recently? Well a few things. Most majorly ive been building a lake city above Moria in order to present a more 'attractive' settlement for all those past visitors to Moria who have not shared my ideals about settling underground! The result is a couple of residents who are actually active finally! I have now realised and will subsequently talk about, how agonizingly annoying and irritating it is to have inactive residents whom you agree to settle on your towns' plots.
Basically the server I play Minecraft on uses the plugin 'Towny'. This essentially lets you mark a small section of that server's seed as your own 'town'. This town can be expanded and has a hierarchy system beginning (highest to lowest) from your town's Mayor (This person has the most '/' commands in the town,), Assistants, Residents, Allies and Outsiders. Moria is one such town, and Moria has had a rough time so far. Fair enough, I am probably shining my town in an over-complimentary fashion but nonetheless it deserves to be an area that is of note on the Animus server.
The lack of people in the previously explained 'Orange & Yellow' districts in lower Moria (as I now dub it due to the Lake City above it) made me take a bigger look at the picture: Initially, I thought people would realise that living underground had massive benefits as the prosperous mines were never too far away; fair enough the conditions of living are fairly minimalistic and the underground houses could only be so creative, however I believe that the pros outweighed the cons. The visitors to Moria could not understand the appeal. The project transformation thus begun:
Step 1: Wall off the entire lake above Moria and make sure the land had been bought.
I had managed to accumulate enough cobblestone to achieve this feat rather easily, even after selling two chests worth at the server's shop called 'The Grand Exchange'. The cobblestone walling took a while but finally was complete. Walling off a large lake is no small feat I can tell you that much! Land was bought using my assistant 'Clunny's' money. After this wall was in place, I got a definite idea on the grandness of my project. It was/is going to take alot of time, sweat and late nights but I believe my advertising and keenness will go somewhere in populating this new town area.
Step 2:Make paths and 'carve' out plot spaces.
Now I must just say that above Moria just happened to be a large cobblestone, 'tower of Isengaurd'-looking structure that, I believe, some player called 'sapper' something had created (sorry if your reading this but the name has escaped me!). We actually have used this structure as a focal point of our town as, luckily, it's look and visual qualities lent itself to the theme of this town quite candidly. We decided to make paths out of chopped wood, this means not converting it into planks which would have been alot easier but less aesthetic. The idea of working hard and playing hard was never more prominent here as it took roughly (so far) about 50 trees to make all the paths. The wood paths linked the mainland area, near Moria, to the large tower on the lake and from there we proceeded with the symmetrical blueprints that were being conjured up in my head as we went. Yea im a pro like that :) Resident plot areas in place, aswell as the central 'hub', we then went up to the top of the tower to view our framework. We were happy. (I say 'we' because throughout the process i was aided quite merrily (5hr skype calls) by my cousin, Clunny).
Step 3:Make everything look dapper.
After we were happy with the design we then went about creating grass areas to plant large mushroom aswell as trees. Nothing like a bit of foliage to get the visitors on your side! After planting the dirt we realised it actually was going to take bloody ages to actually get grass growing on the water and, many internet searches later, we got the method of grass growing sussed! It took about 3 real days for that grass to spread but just as soon as it spread I placed mushrooms and trees. Me and Clunny then went about creating public houses, his being a temple, mine being a visitors house. At the beginning of the tower's stairs I made two signpost areas for Resident lists and town info ect.. Arduous but I am a perfectionist like that! By that time it all seemed a bit annoying as we were basically repeating the system we used for lower Moria!
Step 4:Complete and Advertise.
All that was left now was to touch up the small imperfections that presented themselves and start selling Moria to people! May hours were spent at the server's spawning in area as I felt it would reflect better if the town's mayor actually interacted with the new clients! With a couple of members in the new town so far hopefully Moria is now set to be a bit of a better community than it was previously underground. As it is near the town of 'Tectonic' hopefully members/allies will see my town from heir houses and be interested in roaming it. I would gladly oblige in letting anyone set up in the town for free as long as the tax is payed for!
Over the next few days I hope to analyse the town and gather more people to inhabit it as I really, really enjoy the town atmosphere from past experiences in other towns on the server.
Thought I would just talk about my all-time favourite band that I was in fact a little reluctant to start listening to.
This particular post is semi-dedicated to my brother as he was the one who showed me the way of the Pumpkins (much to my reluctance to admit it). The Smashing Pumpkins began in 1988 in Illinois and after a few years broke into the mainstream music category in 1993 with their album 'Siamese Dream'. The front-man, lead vocalist and lyricist Billy Corgan shaped this band with his songs from the very beginning and if you (like me) pay close attention to the lyrics in songs and not just the rhythm then you will see the genius that is the Pumpkins.
The songs, described as 'anguished, bruised report's from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land' are all completely unique and stand-alone pieces. Some songs join together to create a story such as in his album 'Perfect' however this a rare scenario. Now, it must be understood that I am not a heavy-metal fan, or really a metal fan; so when i first started listening to the Pumpkins i began by listening to their mellow, laid back music which is most of 'Perfect', dribs and drabs of 'Machina/The Machines of God' and similarly 'Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness'. For the purposes of this post im going to have to do the unthinkable and leave out their other albums including 'Gish' as I don't want to write a post the size of small, leather-bound book..
So basically, this band falls under the Alternative Rock genre. It was new, it was great and it was fun. They had a new sound, and a rising popularity after opening for The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Guns'n'Roses. They were set, and Billy and his band did not disappoint. Like I said I love their mellow stuff and to begin, im going to talk about 'Perfect'.
Perfect: This album is ALLLL about the sweet, soothing guitar strums and the atmospheric backing sounds. In fact, im listening to it now and all im hearing is win, win, fucking win. To narrow it down, if I had to advise someone to listen to this album I would recommend, no, tell you to listen to 3 songs: 'Perfect', 'The Tale of Dusty & Pistol Pete' and 'Once Upon A Time'. These songs pretty much encompass all the great qualities of this album: Smooth, Relaxed rock with a twist of lemon to wake you up from your euphoria.
Machina/The Machines of God: Here we have Billy bringing in a great mix of rock varying in heaviness whilst also (sometimes in the same song) holding onto those calming moments like we have heard in 'Perfect'. Now this album is annoying because all the songs are VERY easy listening and as such I really, really like all of them. However, (because I have to) if i had to suggest 3 songs that sum up the entire album they would be: 'Try, Try, Try', 'With Every Light' and 'I Of The Morning'. All 3 are great songs that manage to fuse dream-metal with grunge seamlessly, with the first 2 being some of my favourite songs out of all of Billy's songs.
Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness: Possibly the most varied of all of the albums, it has 2 CDs called 'Dawn to Dusk' and 'Twilight to Starlight'. I believe this was actually their second biggest CD with 29 tracks. It definitely has the most variety with Billy intending the songs to hand-in-hand together conceptually, as a symbol of the circle of Life and Death. Deep but that is the way of Billy! This album no doubt has their biggest and most widely known song out of all their work: '1979'. '1979' is such a golden song, it's one of those songs that you can listen to on repeat easily as Billy's voice is so soft but serene with the beat accompanying him being wholly constant but attractive at the same time. If I had to choose 6 songs to encompass the style of this album (no easy feat) I would pick: '1979', 'Tonight, Tonight', 'Lily (My One And Only)'. 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', 'Zero' and finally 'Stumbeline'.
With The Smashing Pumpkins getting ready to tour their new albums: 'Oceania' and 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' hopefully they can show their huge fan-base that they have what it takes to bring back the golden Pumpkins' past. They have been under scrutiny from music critics and even their own fans but hopefully Billy has something in these two albums that will hush those voices!
So continues my account of the wonderful server that is the Animus Network!
So as I have previously explained I have been crafting, hollowing out and erecting the city of Moria beneath the very surface of the Animus server seed! It has been a fairly harrowing task but I can finally say it is complete. I will of course - much to my reluctance - expand beyond the 'orange & yellow' plot districts if need be, i.e: dependant on demand! I will hopefully have pictures of my work up on the site for you guys all to see, as a picture says more than a 1000 words famously.. let's hope that saying is true as there is so so much to talk about concerning my town.
As you can tell I have been spending alot of time playing the game as it takes a notoriously long time to create, occupy and maintain your town even without it being underground! It seemed like a cool idea to have a town underground and I admit it definitely is however, the time it has taken would make a turtle seem like Usain Bolt. To begin I had to completely erode a cavern away, bar 2 large pillars - to create at least a little of the intended Moria style theme - as my main cave. After this, I first spent a while on a glass balcony feature that allows all my visitors and residents to look over the central cavern. This central cavern has a: 'owner's control room' (essentially a lazy way of saying I cannot be bothered to move my 10 or so chests out of the starting point of my project!), a tree area including 3 large, towering tress to add a bit of greenery to the otherwise dingy cavern environment, a Resident mine entrance, a Resident storage area (that seems to be frequently overlooked by my new resident community as a great place to store goods), a Resident workshop area, a Bridge over my (the owners) mine track system to deeper caves and finally some aesthetic water and lava fountains.
After completing this cave area I decided I actually wanted to let residents come and occupy my site, if anything just to see what is possible and enjoy a vast array of wealth available in the form of my mines; Im a charitable person like that! So began the feat of beginning a 20 block wide x 40 block long room which allowed my resident community to make a 2 floor, admittedly claustrophobic house with the option for building a basement however deep. That said, I later found that the room actually went over a few caves so I am ready to receive complaints about an ill-promised basement any time soon!
After the halls were completed I focused on the visual attractiveness of the caves. Two dark-wood billboards were placed on the wall of the residential complex that services as a list of residents for either the Orange or Yellow districts aswell as a 'Tree Of Knowledge' signpost. The districts are either the left or right of the large room essentially, that both take 4 plots. The plots are 10 long by 8 back. This is probably the best offer your going to get from a strenuous and laborious digging process that took place over a week. A long bridge connects the residential complex to the original cave area; the bridge goes on to connect to the Nexus telepad and Moria combined rules room for prospective visitors. Opposite this room is the town's own fully operational and secluded Nether portal room.
Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a long 2 block wide staircase to the surface. Not only that but the entrance is blocked at the surface by the ingenious work of my town assistant and cousin Clunny. He has created (much to my surprise) a switch operated door that is 2 block wide and 2 blocks high that mark the entrance to the mines; there are signs above this contraption bearing the words: 'Speak Friend, And Enter' which is obviously connected to the Lord of The Rings scene. At surface level is a viny looking glass and soft stone entrance with signs to both the Nation (I am part of a clan of towns named new-Verron) capital of Tectonic and a sign to the 'Wilds'.
I was pleasantly surprised when I logged on today to find a lovely path linking Moria to the capital and I thank whoever did that profusely as it will hopefully spark interest. My aim is to convince Smilder (The Nation Leader) that Moria should serve as the Nation's mine as Allies of Moria can actually build on the plots as long as they pay a up-front fee.
For all that work I think it has payed off and as a mayor of a town I love seeing my community slowly build up over the days, it gives a sense of fulfilment and pride that what I have spent ages on in real life has actually payed off. And at a meagre $200 plot price with $25 daily tax, it is such a great offer as the main idea of Moria is that the mines serve as an exceptional source of income for Animus's iConomy plugin. I have at least seen 3 abandonded mine areas that hosts chest, ores and dungeons for the budding miner, aswell as a couple of ravines. As of today, Ive realised it only takes a long 2 x1 block tunnel to find a nearby additional abandoned mine territory so the adventure and riches out in the mines is yours for the taking!
Anyway, I will be reporting further on Minecraft as a whole I just felt that I should really explain my actions in Minecraft for the past week on Animus as they have indeed been exciting and scintillating times! I look forward to furthering my online experience in this beautiful game!
My next post is likely to be a Music orientated one as I like to balance the genres as to attract a wider variety of (hopefully) subscribers and comments.
As always, Subscribe, comment and publicise to all your friends as the more views and interest I get the more likely I am to write faster! Have fun and keep mining!
Sorry about the delayed post today. I had to do a few things.
Time to talk about another topic concerning my blog: Music!
The music i generally listen to cant really be summed up into one genre/category really, mainly just because i don't have a specific taste! What I can say is that I love music that isnt of the chart variety. Essentially meaning that I try to stay away from anything JLS, Beiber, and Willow Smith related. That said, I must admit i enjoy the music when im out clubbing and slightly lashed. Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night' and Rizzle Kick's 'Down With The Trumpets' have been known to get me shuffling dramatically round the dancefloor!
I am ALL about old classics. I really enjoy anything from the 80s-90s as no artists nowadays can replicate the sheer funkyness of the deep, exposed bass strums from such bands as Earth, Wind and Fire and Patrice Rushen - Men in Black does a spin off theme song of 'Forget Me Nots' -. I guess i really got into this genre of 'groove' music when i went out and got Ministry of Sound's '80s Groove' compilation a few holidays ago. There is just something about the majority of the songs on that CD that get me funking out alot more than Chris Brown..
Admittedly, many people - myself included - realise that after the 2nd verse in alot of 80s classics, the song tends to gradually become more and more dull. I wont name and shame but it is a frequent problem with the continuous rhythms that you get in a 80s song. This said however, music just would not be what it is today without these crazy beats. Experimenting was at its height really around this period with with the Electro-Synthesiser making a particular appearance. Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit' - Showcased in Zoolander the film - is one such example of a common 80s synthesiser solo.
Now when i think of these classic tunes, I, being a rigorous gamer, imagine Grand Theft Auto San Andreas sessions where all i would do is channel into the groove radio station and ride a low-rider through downtown Los Santos. Yea it wasn't the point of the game but i still felt like a class-A pimp. In fact i recall picking a few girls up to the ambiance of The Pointer Sisters 'Automatic'...
Hopefully you will all now have a go at listening to the fore-fathers of today's Maroon 5, Jason Derulo and Tinie Tempah. If your a conventionalist and are a slave to the frequently updated top 40 Chart list then take some time out, stop singing 'baby, baby, baby' in a high pitch, castrated,14 year old voice and listen to some of the songs that don't crash and burn after the first few months of release... There is a reason for that remember..
Today I want to let you guys all know what I have been doing in the world of Minecraft!
As of about 2 weeks ago I stumbled upon a Minecraft server called Animus Network. What a great great bit of server browsing this turned out to be! I have played many many Minecraft servers and usually change between them pretty frequently. Log on, sign up, check out what is so 'different' about this server, play a bit then log off never to return again. That is my usual course of action whenever Minecraft servers are concerned. The actual fact is, many of these servers are so flawed in one way or another that they are unplayable. I've logged on to a server to find myself being killed every time by a group of players..why? Because the stupid owner hasn't even bothered to limit their pvp plugin. Things rarely get to me but something as obviously flawed and plain 'fail' as that really should be recognised and fixed by the admin teams'.
Anyway, back to Animus.. As I said I frequently browse: Minecraft Multi-Player Servers in the hope that i find that golden server; you know.. the server that as a great anti-grieving policy, a dedicated staff crew, an imaginative player base, good town system and all that shizzle. Well, ill have you all know I have found it, in the form of The Animus Network. http://animus-network.com/ This server literally is perfect. Perfect for me anyhow. Sure whilst ive been playing the last couple of weeks I've witnessed people wining and trolling about their experiences in the server. What would an on-line community be without those people though? As an experienced player i judge the server by the admin's ability to control and resolve these complaining players and if they do so in a fair, diplomatic and assured way then well done, they just got some 'Brownie' points.. irony not intended. The staff that manage this - now - 70 strong community are all avid players themselves and are all extremely impressive. Many servers say they have a great anti-grieving policy but until Animus i was yet to see the proof. They have a genuinely impressive 'hawkeye' tool which lets them track down the griever even when no admin is on-line! Not just that, but when they find the culprit they ban them publicly by means of an automated message exclaiming that 'The Ban Hammer Has Spoken', hilarious! Fundamentally, if the players realise that they will be 100% banned if found to be grieving then why would they do it? This is the very reason why Animus is one of the few servers where you can really let your imagination run wild; I just love it that basically wherever you explore there has been someone before you who has set up a remote house or built a monument of some sort: it really re-ignites that community spirit.
Luckily for the banned members however, there is a 'Banned Player' thread on their website: http://animus-network.com/. How do I know this? Well I have actually been banned myself until luckily, the kindness of the admins to see my mistake shone through and it was revoked! I wont go into the details but lets just say I've learnt my lesson!
First impressions are really important and I wont go into too much detail because time is limited but lets just say that spawning into the server on a massive airship with a sprawling, busy Aztec inspired capital city below you makes for a pretty good first impression.
Since I've started on the server I spent a while exploring the capital: Verron, in my usual, highly judgemental fashion. I could not flaw it. And with new shops popping up in the vine-infested roads constantly I am wholly excited to see what this server brings in the near future. The server has a transportation system called 'The Nexus'. This room lets you teleport to player-made towns that are surprisingly busy considering the sheer amount of town areas - roughly 20 -. 1hr and a half later i was still exploring these towns until I realised that i wanted to make one and eventually convince some player to join me. Along come the late nights and coffee.. I have done just that except with a twist: its underground. That means an ungodly amount of cobblestone that is gathering in my 10 or so chests which I cannot be bothered to sell via the intuitive shopping plugin.
Many questions left unanswered, many integral components of The Animus Network left unexplained, I will of course post a further appreciation of the server tomorrow with, hopefully, a picture of my underground city - shortly to be named 'Moria' - yes..I love The Lord of The Rings. It's better than Star Wars.. Yea I said it. And what?
Today im going to talk about the horrendously popular game that is Minecraft.
Currently still in its testing phases, Minecraft is about one thing, and one thing only. Letting you imagination run riot in a convenient bio-diverse sandbox. This 'sandbox' game lets happy-go-lucky people create a world that only they could think up. As of now - Patch 1.8.1 - there are two ways of playing this game: Survival and Creative. For the more hardened and experienced gamer the survival option is more attractive as it is at least a bit taxing whereas creative mode literally just does what it says on the tin: lets you, the player, create constantly till you eventually come up with something even your close friends and family are proud of.
In both versions of the game anyway you can place a whole plethora of cube-like 'blocks' in such ways as to create rudimentary shacks to sprawling cities. The limit is literally your imagination. I used to think i was an incredibly imaginative person till i saw what some of these gamers had created:
So now - hopefully looking at that link - you understand the scope and range of the placement of these blocks in the game we must now turn our attention to the the obvious question: 'What Else is There to Do?'. Alot is the simple answer. If your playing survival mode you have to actually obtain these square blocks; that means delving into the ground mainly. The hint is in the title.. You dig into the ground, finding various caves, dungeons and hot loot to pimp your little miner with. The best thing?: mostly everything you dig/hit through in Minecraft can be used to create or make your guy look better; that means no time wasted, none at all, zilch. Survival is all about..well..surviving. In the ground are various ore nodes including Iron, Gold, and Diamond, that you can smelt into cool/practical armor and weapons . With these weapons you can slay any nasty demons that get in your way on your quest for the treasured full diamond set - Sword, Chest-piece, Helmet, Leggings, Shoes -.
The game is in it's beta stages, so has essentially not been released as a full game, however that has not stopped 3,708, 450 people buying the game early at a cheaper price than it will be upon it's eventual release. A silly 14, 540, 775 people are registered on the minecraft website, alone showing the monolithic interest in Notch's game. Notch - Markus Alexej Persson - the creator of this refreshingly simple game, must be welcoming all the press his game is receiving with open arms. The game has featured all over the media world from IGN to the Evening Standard it looks set to be a revolution in simple gaming. Why simple? Because, much like World of Warcraft, the game can run on basically any laptop on the market as it is graphically and spatially undemanding. The future of the game seems set with around 8,000 customers buying the game everyday.
The appeal of the game bears similarity to the ps3's 'Little Big Planet' series. It's cute, harmless fun and from the minute you open that launcher up to the minute you reluctantly close it you are enjoying life in front of your computer screen. Gone are the days of stereotyped images of World of Warcraft addicts punching holes in the walls because they lost out on an epic axe, we say bring on the era of MINECRAFT!
This isn't going to be your bog standard blog site about current affairs, disaster news stories and the rapidly deteriorating state of our planet! NO! This page exists for several reasons only:
To give my cynical and highly critical view on music ranging from all genres and periods.
To provide the gamers of my audience a chance to reflect and comment on my gaming tendencies and experiences ranging from the modern games all the way back to those golden N64 days, without the 'embarrassment' of admitting they actually enjoy gaming and indeed actually love it.
To communally indulge in all those old memories we used to have concerning Music, Gaming and Film. That means everything from Vanilla Disney to Luther Vandross's 'Never too Much' to spending a little bit too much time in Kokiri Forest..
Lastly,
Im not going to beg, plead and sit for you but please feel free to share this website with anyone you know who enjoys any of the above because - as a first time blogger - having the support will mean so much to me and your comments and views will be much, much much much appreciated...much much much..you get the idea..
Enough! Let the nostalgic, tear-jerking, musically mellow, gaming adventure journey begin
