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I like music. Seriously Really. I don't know what my life would be without music. In this blog, I haven't actually talked about a great variety of music though. For the most part, it's just been about the Jonas Brothers simply because they were topic-al at the time. My taste in music is of a wide variety though. I like Bon Jovi, Carrie Underwood, All-American Rejects, a wiiiiiiiide variety. From 80s to Alternative to Light Rock to Country to Pop and more. First off, I'd like to clear up that I'm not as obssessed with the Jonas Brothers as it may have appeared to some. Like I said, they were just good topics at the time. To tell the truth, you could say that my "power trio" for favorite music would be comprised of Bo Bice, Daughtry, and David Cook. Some people really hate the Jonas Brothers though. And most of those who do always take it too far. I was watching a video the Jonas Brothers posted on a website last night on a website. I found it funny. It was showing what they do to kill time while waiting for their 3D concert-movie-thing whatever it is to hit theaters. » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «It ended in Joe taking the meaning too literally by smashing a clock with a baseball bat (he put it back together over the course of four days). In the comments below, some Jonas Hater was leaving reasons why he hated the Jonas Brothers so much. These are always stupid reasons they say just because they're jealous or they don't have a life or something. But this person really got out of hand. One of the reasons they gave was, and I quote: Now really, what kind of an arguement is that? What if we all took music that literally? It'd be chaos. I mean... Do you really think Bon Jovi is wanted, dead or alive? How can we take Cryoshell home when we don't know where they live? Do you suppose he really did shoot the sheriff? I've wanted to learn the electric slide all my life and she never did show up to teach it to me . . . whoever she is. I'm pretty darn sure Chris Daughtry hasn't crashed into me, unless I just don't remember it. And tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day? And head back toward the Milky Way? Tell me did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights are faded? And that heaven is overrated? Tell me, did you fall from shooting star One without a permanent scar And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself? Nananananana... And did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day Nananananana... And did you fall from a shooting star, fall from a shooting star Nananananana... And are you lonely looking for yourself out there? (Congratulations. You've just been TRAIN-rolled. XD) <brk>
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Yup, so I stopped at Target on the way home from work today. Spent a little more of that Christmas/Birthday money. I got the last copy. Oh, and the LEGO section had abosultely zero Bionicle and was overrun by Mega Blox, Knex, and the like. I can't believe it's still so messed up from Christmas. <brk>
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UPDATE: I took the gamble and bought it after doing some web searching and BladeTitan974's confirmation. *** Can anyone tell me if an XBox 360 controller (which can be used on Windows XP/Vista computers) works for the following games? LEGO Racers (1 and 2) LEGO Star Wars 1 Those are the important three anyways. If you can tell me about Republic Commando, I'd appreciate it. If you don't know, but have the time to test it for me, you can download the software to use your controller on your computer here. (Please note that it's for a 64-bit Vista. You can find out if your Vista is a 64-bit by right-clicking "My Computer" and choosing "Properties".) An answer within the next ten days would be most appreciated. I can get the controller off of Amazon for exactly $29.99 (FREE SHIPPING since it's over $25) by then. ASK YOUR FRIENDS IF YOU DON'T KNOW. MAKE THIS KNOWLEDGE YOUR BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO ME. AFTER ALL, IT WON'T COST YOU ANYTHING! Takuma Nuva
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Easter eggs, that is. For those of you who keep up with the Clone Wars tv show (I just watch 'em online) but don't get the Starwars.com newsletter, I'd like to share you some tidbits from Homing Beacon #257. In "Ambush," the aurebesh legend at the bottom of Thire's macrobinocular viewplate reads "infrared mode". The top reads "regular mode."In "Rising Malevolence," the second escape pod, Pod 1977, is named after the release year of the original Star Wars.In "Shadow of Malevolence," the "Crumb Bomber" -- the Republic gunship with the Kowakian monkey lizard illustration on its side -- is stationed within the Resolute hangar.In "Destroy Malevolence," if you listen carefully to the disembodied rail-jet conductor voice, you'll note that it advises travelers to "mind the gap."In "Downfall of a Droid," Obi-Wan's use of the phrase "dime-a-dozen" now reveals that there are dimes in the Star Wars galaxy. The word "dime" means, literally, a tenth, suggesting that a dime is analogous to the previously established "decicred," worth a tenth of a credit.In "Duel of the Droids," the Vulture's Claw has seats similar in design to those found aboard the Millennium Falcon.In "Bombad Jedi," the Kwazel Maw design is based on unused Ralph McQuarrie design for a swamp slug creature on Dagobah.In "Cloak of Darkness," the Treadwell droid's name is another conspicuous appearance of the digits "327." In Episode IV, the Millennium Falcon is docked in hangar bay 327 aboard the Death Star, while in Episode V, it lands on platform 327 in Cloud City. In Episode I, the Naboo starship is identified as a Nubian J-type 327.In "Lair of Grievous," Dave Acord's vocal performance as A-4D is patterned after the distinctive speaking style of actor/comedian/Hollywood Squares-fixture, the late Paul Lynde.<brk>
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The Jonas Brother's singing Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" live with Jordin Sparks is awesome. *Note to self: Don't forget entries about grandfather's old job and the chili dog incident...* <brk>
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Speedy Thing Goes In, Speedy Thing Comes Out
Takuma Nuva posted a blog entry in Obligatory Volcano Lair
I finally decided to see what all the hype was about this "Portal" game. (Didn't realize the game actually dealt with portals. I mean, who makes a game with an obvious title anymore?) So, I downloaded the demo. Watched some various trailers and videos for the game. Played the demo. My eyes are now permanently stuck in "OO" formation. <brk> -
It's now official! There's a website even! It's.... STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC Set 300 years after Knights of the Old Republic and 3,500 before the rise of Darth Vader, The Old Republic will be an MMORPG which continues the story of KOTOR and we discover just what it is that Revan and The Jedi Exile went looking for beyond the reaches of known space. Only being know of for a little while, The Old Republic has already been shortened to an acronym, much like it's predecessors. However, since there's a distinct lack of "Knights Of", the acronym is just "TOR", hence the topic title. (Sorry, Torhuki. ) Unfortunately being 300 years after KOTOR, Carth, Bastila, and everbody is pretty much dead. However, it has been hinted to from the fact that "some droids can last a long time" that we could very well see T3 and HK-47! There's so much I could go into, but it'd be better for you to go to the website itself. Unfortunately, as I was just about to post a link, I remembered that websites with forums are against the rules. Pretty much any videogame website is going to have that "Community" section, so that makes it kinda hard. Still, I can't imagine it'd be a very hard website to find. Anyways, I just had to get that out of my system. Yay. <brk>
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One Eye Or Seven? Military Or Economic? Conqueror Or Savior?
Takuma Nuva posted a blog entry in Obligatory Volcano Lair
Review or long-winded game guide? Okay, so, last time I got a bit carried away with my review, I won't deny that. But this time I shall keep it much shorter and more like a review than a 26 page college book report. Anyways, let's pick up where we left off... EDIT: Just a forewarning, any posts about religion/evolution that could start a flame war or such will be edited or deleted accordingly. Talk about them if you will, just be careful. The Guardian is watching you, and Deadpool can get here faster than you think if I want him too. 5. The Creature Stage Once you've sprouted your legs and are ready to take on the surface world, you enter the creature stage. This stage takes you from an arcade-style to a third-person eater. You take your creature around the continent fighting to survive. Except this time, you have two options when encountering another herd of creatures. You can either try to impress them to become allies, or you can attack and drive them to extinction. Obviously this last option is sooner or later going to be a necessity for carnivores if you wish to live. But which ever method you choose, you're going to need a creature that can take on the challenge. As you scavenge the world, you gain new body parts by either killing/impressing "Alpha" creatures, or by scavenging the sparkly golden skeletons of creatures that, well, weren't cut out for surface life. Get bigger jaws for a better bite. Find some fancy feathers that will make it easier to impress other creatures. Maybe grow some wings for a hasty retreat. It's up to you. You'll even have the option to add friendly creatures, whether your species or that of allies, to your pack. They will then help you in your quest for sentience. This stage also has my favorite editor. The creature editor lets your imagination go completely wild building all sorts of wacky creatures limited only by your imagination (and a complexity meter ). As you go along gaining DNA points and brain power, you will eventually become a fully sentient creature and be able to enter the Tribal Stage! This stage, while very fun, somewhat let me down. It feels like something is missing. Almost like this is only the demo of a real game. But it is quite a fun stage, especially the editor for this one. 6. The Tribal Stage We now move up to a new stage where you're not controlling just one creature anymore, but rather a small community of the species you created. This stage has a very simple editor. You get to outfit your tribe members with armor to make them more efficient combatants, fishermen, or other such. This stage is one I most anticipated simply because of the fact that it takes you into the genre of RTS (Real Time Strategy for you non-enlightened ones ). Now you take your little band of people and prove yourself the strongest but gathering fruit, hunting, fishing, and interacting with other tribes. Once again, you can either try to entertain and bring gifts to those tribes you wish to ally, or you could just raid their food pile, raze their hut, and kill them all off. As you either ally or conquer tribes, you get a section for your totem pole and your hut will upgrade allowing you to by tools/instruments/weapons for your community as well as the ability to have a larger tribe. Once you prove your community the biggest and the best, you will finally reach the next stage. Civilization. This stage was quite fun for me, particularly due to my love of RTS games. However, this stage disappointed me in two areas. One, the whole stage is a bit watered down. There's not enough options for what you can do. Secondly, the stage is so SHORT. There's only five other tribes, and if you decide to just impress and ally each one, you should easily have this stage done in less than an hour flat. Other than those two things, I absolutely love this stage. 7. The Civilization Stage Civilization sucks. Taxes, political debates, crime... Good thing it's not that way is Spore. The civilization stage is, well, like a civilization game. Your tribe has now grown to a large city complete with city hall. This stage has the most editors: Town Hall, Factory, House, Entertainment Building, Land Vehicles, Sea Vehicles, Air Vehicles, and you can outfit your civilians with "clothes". You lead your civilization down of of three paths: Military, Economic, or "Religious" (more on that subject below). You organize your city with factories, houses, and entertainment buildings trying to keep your citizens happy while still making an income. You also get to purchase vehicles for claiming spice mines and interacting with other cities. Now is when allies and enemies become a crucial aspect. You can befriend a city to work together with them, or you can go to war with another and have to worry constantly about being attacked. Your goal is to take control of all the cities on the planet either by conquering them (military), trading with them until you have to option to buy out the city (economic), or converting them to your "beliefs" (religious). Once you've taken control of the whole planet, your scientists will make use of their knowledge to build a spacecraft and allow you to move on to the final frontier: The Space Stage. On my first play through the game, the civilization phase was the first part where I got "stuck", but only for a short while. One thing that disappoints me about this phase is the lack of various species. That's right, every city on the globe, whether under your control or not, is inhabited by civilians the same species as you. It seems to me that since there were various species on your continent in the tribal phase, there would be a variety of species on each of the other ones. Therefore, it seems to me that it would be more logical to interact with other species in the cities of the civilization phase. I find it kind of hard to believe that after your tribe dominated the continent they'd all just randomly split up across the world and form different, competing cultures. This isn't exactly the Tower of Babel, you know. Other than that, my only other complaint is that this stage might have too much of the editors. You can't build a house, factory, or entertainment building until you use the editor to build one. Same with the 9 different vehicles (land, water, and air for each of military, economic, and religious). Sure, you could just use a pre-made model built earlier either by yourself, Maxis, or another player, but then it doesn't have that personal feel. Also, I don't know how it happened the first time I played, but I only actually got about half way done with the phase when it was just my half of the obtained cities vs. the other "country's" obtained cities, and suddenly the leader of the opposition said something to the extent of "WE won! WE've defeated the other civilizations!" I don't know where this WE came in, but I wasn't done yet! Either way, the rest of the stage got skipped because of some un-avoidable alliance. I wasn't done yet, but apparently the game thought I was... 8. The Space Stage This stage is going to be a bit more difficult for me to review simply because of how VAST it is. The space stage is the last stage of the game and it never ends. If it does, it would take well over a year to play. Once you enter space, you are in a giant sand-box so-to-speak. You can explore the thousands upon thousands of star systems, each with anywhere from one to several planets to explore. You can find new planets in new star systems suitable for establishing colonies and increasing your spice mining income. You can interact with other empires in the galaxy and obtain their systems in a similar matter to the civilization phase. You can use the planet of your choice as a giant easel, coloring, shaping, and altering the environment to your desire. There's an entire galaxy to discover and it's going to take your whole life just to see it all. You can accept missions from both your homeworld and other empires ranging from eradicating a diseased species, locating a lost artifact, destroying an enemy, and many more. You can use weapons to destroy enemies or use your tractor beam to abduct civilians and steal their resources. There's so much to do and see in this stage. Part of the ultimate goal though, is to make your way to the center of the galaxy and see what awaits... The Space Stage is quite impressive and is quite better than I thought it would be. I've spent a decent number of hours in this phase (though nothing too extravagant yet) and I've barely made a dent. The first time I played through though, I got really confused and it was a bit frustrating as I almost immediately wound up in a war with another empire when I didn't want to. This also seems to be a problem a couple of my friends had on their first play through. So, I skipped on to start another game and upon reaching the space stage, it's been much smoother now that I've got a handle on it all. The only editors for this stage are the "Space Outfitter" to make your creature look like a space-faring civilian and, of course, a space ship builder. These building and transportation editors are much looser than the editors that involve creatures, but while it allow for more customization, it also makes the process a bit more tedious. Also, you can still use the building editors for whenever you establish a new colony on another planet, but I just go and pick out the same one's I used on my home world during the civilization phase. Whatever floats your boat works though. This stage also contains many badges and awards you can achieve by performing certain tasks. Rewards for getting these achievements comes in the form of new tools for you to use depending on what award you obtained. 9. Some General Information There are a couple other items of interest besides the actual game stages worth mentioning. First, once you unlock a certain stage on one game, you can instantly start from that stage in another game. Also, if you don't feel like playing the game and just want to enjoy making some wacky creatures and such, all the editors are available for use from the main menu. There is the Sporepedia. This contains information of all the creatures that have been downloaded into your game. Obviously the pre-installed ones from Maxis and your creations will be found here. The Sporepedia will also automatically download creations from those on your buddy list as well as any "Sporecasts" you've subscribed to (I personally would like to form a BZP Sporecast containing the creations of any BZPers that play the game). Here you can also view your game achievements as well as those of your friends and information about what buddies have done in their game as well how other players interact with your creations. For example: Within a few hours of playing the game for the first time, my "Takumatrites" wound up in somebody else's game and they decided to eradicate the species. Also, somebody just recently added a space ship I designed to their fleet. 10. Price and Value: Is the Galactic Edition (or either for that matter) Worth It? There are two different options when buying Spore. The regular version goes for about $50 and the Galactic Edition goes for $70 or $80 depending on where you look (I went ahead and took the chance on the Galactic Edition). What makes the Galactic Edition different has nothing to do with the actual game(as I well knew). Besides the game is included a hard-cover book of concept art, a poster, a 100-page "Galactic Handbook", a DVD of "How to Build a Better Being" from the National Geographic Channel, and a DVD of "The Making of Spore"; all of which is kept in a "Sporeglyphics" hard-plastic case. Now, I could care less about a poster I'll never hang up and I've never been one for concept art or documentaries on "evolution". The case is rather nice, but the only real reason I went the extra $30 is for the 100-page "Galactic Handbook" and the "Making of" DVD (as I've always had an interest on how games work). I was terribly disappointed. This 100-page "Galactic Handbook" should have been advertised as something else. How does "OVER-SIZED INSTRUCTION MANUAL" sound!? Everything contained within this so-called "Handbook" can be read in the in-game help! A complete waste of money! You want an actual GAME GUIDE? They should be sitting on the shelf right next to the game for only $10. And it'll actually have something worth saying. The DVD? Not what I was expecting. It was only 30 minutes long and didn't contain that much about actually making the game, the nitty gritty. Mostly just concept ideas and stuff you can watch in videos you find across the internet. First conclusion? Don't get the Galactic Edition. It's not worth another $20-$30 dollars. Is the regular worth $50? Well, I don't personally think that ANY game should cost that much, but it's pretty much a standard price these days. And considering EA and Maxis have confirmed that there will be patches/expansion packs (who know if/what they'll be charging though) there's more to come in the future. I'm 99.999...% sure that a floral editor has been confirmed for the future. So, in the end, I don't think it's worth $50, but that's because NO game is worth $50. That said, I'd still pay $50 to get it. I'll leave you guys to make sense of what I said. 11. The Touchy Subjects: Evolution and Religion These two subjects caused much debating and arguing in the time before the game was released and is still discussed much now. It played a crucial role in my deciding whether or not to get the game. Obviously the game follows the path of evolution, but not the way that Darwin perceived it. According to Darwinian Evolution, "evolution" developed as it did by mere chance. In Spore, you're controlling how your creature changes. So, it depends on how you look at it. Further, it's not as if EA Games and Maxis are promoting "evolution" and saying that it's the explanation to the universe, they've simply decided to use it as a game. We don't believe in "The Force" yet Star Wars doesn't seem to offend anyone's religions, so I don't see why a game using evolution but not promoting it should either. Admittedly, you wouldn't want a young, impressionable kid to play it if you don't want them to be confused about creation vs. evolution, but anyone old enough to know the difference and not have their beliefs "swayed" by the game should be fine. As I mentioned before, there is also the idea of taking over cities during the civilization phase by "converting them to your religion". Since I haven't actually done this in the game, I can't comment on it all that much, but I see it as mostly harmless. These "religious groups" are basically just zealots and they don't actually say anything about what beliefs their "religion" concerns. In the Space Stage, you'll hear other empires talk about "The Spode" (no, that's not a misspelling ) and such, but besides than the fact that they don't really talk about what their religion involves, you encounter people of other religions everyday. Doesn't mean you agree with them. Besides, unless I'm missing something, you can't join these other religions anyways. Just be nice to them and you'll co-exist harmoniously. Start attacking them and, well, religion or not they're gonna fight back, duh! When I take over their planet by force, they can blather on into infinity about all the bad karma I'll get. I don't care. It's a game. The only bad karma was getting the Galactic Edition. So, for reasons explained above, I did decide to get the game. I don't believe in evolution, but playing Spore isn't going to make me start second-guessing my beliefs. The religion bits are very vague and besides, like I said, we meet face-to-face with other religions everyday. So maybe that aspect just makes the game a little more "realistic". Well, other than the fact that some six-armed waddly-doo creature with a mouth on both ends and his eyes sprouting from his toes is the one "promoting" it. 12. So There You Have It! That concludes my review of Spore! So what do you have to say now, Gerlicky? Oh, and if any other BZPers out there play spore or just use the FREE DOWNLOADABLE[/hinthint] Creature Creator, I'd love to add you to my buddy list so I can start that BZP Sporecast! May the Spode be with you...[/XD] <brk> -
But more importantly, how will Takuma Nuva rate it? Come, sentient meatbags, and join me for an in-depth review of one of the two hottest games of 2008 (the other being The Force Unleashed): Spore. 1. What is Spore? Will Wright, co-founder of Maxis, is the video game designer who brought Spore to life. He is responsible in no small part for the numerous "Sims" games that many people enjoy (though I am not one of said people ). After he finished developing one of the Sims games/expansion packs (don't remember which one), somebody asked Will, "What will you make now?" to which he replied that he wanted to make a Sims "Everything Else". He wasn't kidding. Another quote of his that I shall attempt to paraphrase: "There seems to be this unwritten rule that you don't combine more than genre in a single video game and it's a rule I've always wanted to break." And many are glad he did. From real-time strategy to old arcade-style to several others in between, Spore has more flavors for the gamer than a can Dr. Pepper. Because of this, Spore doesn't fall into any specific game category and has been "nicknamed" a Multi-Genre Massively Single-player Online Game. In Spore, you start with a single-cell organism along the path of "creatiolutionism". The word is meant to be a cross between "creation" and "evolution". This word actually describes the game quite well, because though the basic "plot" follows your creature transitioning (is that a word?) into a land creature which eventually gains sentience and becomes an intelligent that later on will form an entire civilization dominating the planet, (gasps for breath) you create just about everything along the way. What will the creature look like? Will it be a carnivore? Herbivore? Omnivore? Will you allie with other creatures or hunt them into extinction? Will camoflage parts or large jaws help you survive? What would a war ship look like in such a civilization? Will you unite the planet through the power of money, words, or cannon shot to the face? Flying saucer, rocket ship, or interglactic Wii-mote? YOU decide it all. With a game such as this, it would be impossible to review the whole thing without splitting up each section of the game into different parts. So, let's start at the beginning... 3. Part One: The Cell Stage The Cell Stage, the first part of the game, is more fun than I ever thought it would be. When you start the game you pick one of several available planets in the universe, choose whether you will start as a carnivore or an herbivore, and then are launched straight into the opening sequence. You see an asteroid zooming towards the planet you choose upon which it lands in the ocean and is dashed to pieces. But wait! What's this? A small single-celled organism with big eyes, a single flagellum, and a mouth emerges! This stage is very much like a cross between Pac Man and Centipede (or Milipede or Snake or whatever the heck you call the game wear you eat the dots and your thing grows longer so that eventually you crash into yourself and lose). As you've only just started the game you will see one of two things floating around you. If you chose to be an herbivore, you will see tiny plant bits for you to gobble. If you're a carnivore, you'll see little bites of meat that remind me of a red half-eaten Gob Stopper. Hold on a second! What happened to the omnivore!? Shut up, I'm getting there. Now, as you swim about the endless ocean in any direction, gobbling up whatever you lead your creature to, something is bound to happen. You're bound to get bigger. Eventually, you'll get big enough to move up to the next "level" and you'll see that you're very much not alone in the ocean. All around you'll see other cells, some bigger, some smaller, all of them hungry. Of course, if you chose to be a carnivore this means a new food source! You can lead your little guy right up to them and bite at them till they turn belly-up. If you're an herbivore, you'll have to keep searching for plants and avoiding predators. If you're lucky, you might find a whole string of plant bits connected to a single weed . . . thingy. As you move through the game, eating nets you DNA points. At a certain point early in the stage, you will be shown how to find your "mate". It's as simple as clicking a button and following the sound ripples a short distance until you find another cell that looks exactly like you. Then comes the first annoying part of the game. MATING. The two cells have a bunch of hearts dance around them and they make happy sounds as the twirl and spin. At this point, whichever cell YOU were controlling lays an egg. And I don't mean in a metaphorical sense either. However, this is where you get your first glimpse of the creativity feature that will stay with you through the whole game. You will immediatley be taken to the "Cell Editor". Here, you can make your cell to look however you like! You get to choose the color, design, shape, and can move, remove, or add any body parts that you have found so far (unlocked either by destroying certain creatures or finding sparkly bits of the meteor you arrived on). Since you're only a single-cell organism at the moment, the number of parts available for unlocking is quite limited (there are only twelve parts, if memory serves me), but rightly so. What can you do with your cell in the editor is amazing. You can make any section along the length of the cell wider or narrower. Want it to look like a pear-shape? Done. How about a coke bottle? You can do that too. Then you get to pick the body parts, and this is where those precious DNA points come in. You use these points as the currency with which you buy new body parts. When you start out, you're automatically given six parts: Three different eye styles, flagella, an herbivore mouth, and a carnivore mouth. Which parts you choose will decide how your cell performs. You can also unlock weapons such as a spike to ram your opponents with, or a jet to make your cell move much faster. Or, if you prefer, you can place it on the back to be sure that anyone who tries to nip at you as you run away gets a nasty poke in the mouth. The editors allow you to make nearly anything you can imagine all why keeping it simple enough for anyone to use. when you place a part on either the left or right side, a matching part will be positioned in the exact same position on the other side. Or, you can place it right along the center line and a single instance of the part will show up in the middle. Very handy for creating three-eyed creatures. This part of the game is also the first chance you get to make yourself . . . an OMNIVORE. How? Think about it. You have a carnivorous mouth. You have an herbivorous mouth. Why not use BOTH? I mean, really, who wouldn't want a creature with three mouths?! Especially if make two of them the carnivorous jaws for biting! Later on, however, if you keep searching you will be able to the find awesomely cool OMNIVOROUS MOUTH. This mouth will allow you to eat plants and meat alike from a single straw-like mouth. Here, though, I must mention something. When I first tried my hand at using this mouth, I had no trouble shlucking up the plant bits. But no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't eat the meat floating around. Then I figured out why this was... You CAN'T eat meat that's just floating around! There's a reason why that mouth resmbles a needle so much. You can just waltz up to another creature and, quite literally, SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF THEM! Muahahahahaha!!!! Although, if you choose a creature that's covered in spikes it's not going to turn out so well... Anyways, after you've going through the process of choosing what parts you want and where they go, you get to color your cell! Throughout the game, there will be up to four different ways to color your creations. The first, and easily simplist option, is the simple color scheme wear you're shown a pallate of instant color schemes to choose from. Second, there's the "layer" option where your creation will have three different layers available for coloring: a base layer and two detail layers (Example: A creature that is mostly red but with a layer of blue stripes and a layer of a green belly). There are many different designs available for the detail layers from stripes to spots to kneecaps to upper-limbs. The third coloring option is the "color like" option. Let's say you see another creature with an awesome color scheme and you think "Wow, that would be a cool color scheme for my creature!" Instead of going to the creator and trying to figure out exactly what color of which layers and what styles that creature was, you can click a button, look up the creature in your "Sporepedia" (more on that later), and whammo, the computer will automatically apply the colors and styles that were used on the creature you saw! Another name for this coloring option is the "lazy" or "rip-off scheme". Finally, the fourth and last option is only available for buildings and vehicles. It's very simple and really requires no description. It's the generic "paintbucket" style that you see in any image program. Anyways, now that you've customized your cell to your liking, you may enter the ocean again! Since what you've essentially just done is design a whole new creature, this is considered the next "generation" of the creature and your brand-spanking new creature will hatch from the egg and allow you to continue munching your way up in the world. You may return to the editor to fine-tune your creatue any time you wish by hitting the "mating call" button and going through the whole ridiculous mating process again. Trust me, you're going to want to do this as sparingly as you can. As you go on, it's also more likely for you to see other creatures of the same species as you wandering the ocean! Eventually, as you get bigger and bigger, you'll pass by those enemies who you once thought were so large and intimidating and eventually they won't even be large enough to make a decent snack for you. But remember the wise words of Qui-Gon Jinn: "There's always a bigger fish". At the end of the stage, when you've fought and eaten your way enough to fill your progress bar, you will no longer be just a single-cell organism. You will become a thriving creature and achieve the ultimate goal . . . you will get . . . . . . . a BRAIN! YES! YOU WILL HAVE WHAT MOST HAVE ONLY DREAMED OF! THE EVER-POWERFUL GREY (or "gray" if that's your preference) MATTER! At this point, you can continue wandering the ocean, maybe searching for those last parts you never unlocked, or just having fun bullying the little guys. Whenever you're ready though, you can click on the "advance to next stage" button. At this point, you're ready for the next big step of "creatiolutionism". You can evolve legs and make your transition to a walking, air-breathing, land lubber! Also, you get to view your "consequences". Depending on how you play each stage of the game, it will determine what abilities and strengths you will have in the stages yet to come. Regardless of what mouth(s) you have, if you eat mostly meat throughout the stage, you'll be considered a carnivore. If you eat mostly plants, you're an herbivore. But if you manage to maintain a decent balance between the two, you're an omnivore. What path you take will have ramifications in the future... *looks back to check current length of review* ...And juding by the length of the review already, I think it would be best to do this all in seperate parts. So, the next few stages will have to wait until next time. Rest assured, I'll find a way to make them a bit less . . . . long-winded. 4. Cell Stage Final Notes While, all-in-all, the Cell Stage sounds relatively simple (you go around and eat stuff to grow bigger while avoiding predators), it's actually great fun! It has the simplicity of an arcade-style game that would almost make this first stage a whole game in itself, if you look at it from a certain perspective. Unfortunately, this is not the case with all stages of the game. But we'll cover all that, including such subjects as price, normal vs. galactic edition, and other such 'cetera in the next part(s) of the review. <brk>
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Love is a funny thing, you know. You come to BZPower and over the course of nearly two years you see a lot of things. Nothing surprises me anymore. Take for instance the few topics that would arise regarding youngin's having "crushes" on various Bionicle characters. Gali, Hahli, Nuju, etc. Now, unlike many others I do not ridicule these kids (well, most of them are anyways) for this. It's very understandable for these young ones who are highly impressionable and such to grow attachments to such fictional characters. But when you realize that you're nearly nineteen for Artakha's sake and you find yourself with a bad crush on a female character in a simple COMPUTER GAME, then you know you've lost it . . . or just never had it. Something is horribly, terribly wrong. Especially if she's all you can think about night and day and you can't wait for the moment you see her next. Turakii, it almost hurts me to say it, but I'm glad we broke up. Now you can be happy with ~Waffle~ and I can pursue my own love. I just ask you, please understand that Rocket Racer had nothing to do with our parting. ♥Takuma Nuva + Bastila Forever♥ <brk>
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Save your game very, VERY often. <brk>
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Why did the entry I put so much work into yesterday only get one reply?? Answer me you scurvy rats! *er--ahem* Anyways... You know KOTOR is an awesome game when you find yourself playing it until 2 in the morning and have to quite literally tear yourself from the computer to go to bed. Didn't do much good though. Even while lying there I was awake, pacing circles in my head for at least an hour, going over all the "events" that had just transpired. And now that it's morning, why am I wasting my time typing a blog entry instead of playing it before I have to do my chores!? Seriously I shouldn't even bother finis <brk>
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So, I stopped by Target on my way home yesterday so that my shiny new gaming laptop wouldn't be without games. I knew exactly what I wanted and I made a bee-line right to the computer software section. I brought home "The Best of Star Wars for PC" (Empire at War, Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, & Republic Commando) as well as "SPORE Galactic Edition". *strokes shiny new credit card* My preccciousssss.... Now we just have to see how totally awesome each game is before I comment on them. We also have to see where in here I'm going to fit comic making, comedy writing, and movie making for all my annoying adoring fans. By the way, if any of you understand the significance of that emoticon, you get one hundred Rockoh On points minus how many times he bobs his head before you figure it out. <brk>
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Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
Takuma Nuva posted a blog entry in Obligatory Volcano Lair
Star Wars. From it's early days of yester-year to the generation of today, this amazing story and movie series by George Lucas has played a big role in pop culture. But even after the movies were finished many years ago (with the exception of the quite new Clone Wars CGI film), fans everywhere keep it alive. And recently, a Star Wars exhibit has been traveling across the US stopping at all sorts of science museums so that all can look into the science aspect of our favorite movies. We also get the chance to learn that these things that happen in a galaxy far, far away might not be so far-fetched as we once thought... Thursday, August 14, 2008. I arrived at the Science Museum of Minnesota with my aunt and two sisters armed with my digital camera. I'd never been there before so it would prove to be an interesting excursion. We payed no attention to anything that we passed by as we made a bee-line for the Star Wars exhibit. We bought our tickets, donned our wrist bands, and took the elevator to the lowest floor (For some reason, we got in on level 3...). When we got there and entered the exhibit, the first thing to catch our eyes was the imitation of a dwelling outside wall that had been weathered by the harsh conditions of Tatooine. On this wall hung a plaque. In case you haven't figured it out by now, it's the image you see above. Below I've linked to certain pictures that are relative to the current topic, but you can view all those pictures and more in the gallery (I apologize for the blurry ones. The lighting wasn't very encouraging to sharp pictures). Coming around the other side we got to see the landspeeder that Mark Hamil used in Episode IV: A New Hope. There was also a video playing explaining all the various aspects of the craft from the way the sound was engineered, to the inspiration for the detailing, and even how a real landspeeder of this type would have used magnetic repulsion (I forget their technical term for it) to keep it floating above the ground. Now this is a science museum so obviously they're going to have a way to demonstrate how this works by letting you put together a little model with built-in magnets. And when it comes right down to it, who could possibly do that job better than . . . LEGO. In the same room were all sorts of models of just about every major vehicle that played a role in the Star Wars movies. Most had an accompanying video explaining most of the same information as was shown with the landspeeder. What inspired the design (Star Wars tidbit #357: Triangles = Bad (thought this obviously wasn't the case with Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter in Episode II)), how the sound was created and why that particular sound (Star Wars tidbit #694: The rumbling for the Star Destroyers was originally supposed to be the sound of a specific aircraft engine. However, the rumbling AC unit in the room of the run down hotel the sound engineer was staying at proved much better and has been used repeatedly throughout the six movies.), and even factoids about the model and how they made it appear larger on screen than a model of the same size in the same scene. There was even a Millenium Falcon model that was made several times smaller than the original model JUST for the asteroid belt scene in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. This was because they needed a light-weight model that could be moved in complex maneuvers without the machine moving it having to support a heavy model for such movements. Also in this same area were models and a video about real transportation vehicles today that look like something right out of a sci-fi flick. Short, quick visits to the outer edge of the atmosphere are likely possibilities in the conceivable future. The next section was all about robots, droids, and the like. Everything from a larger than life Droideka to real robots of our world could be found in various display cases. There was even a Jawa Sandcrawler (well, part of one anyways) that one could enter to watch a short show about the similarities and contrasts in abilities between the droids in Star Wars and the robots that scientists are currently attempting to design. There were also more interactive whatchamadoodles that let you get some hands-on fun. You'd never believe how hard it is just to get a pair of robotic legs to walk forward. The next area was all about the costumes, props, and other such 'cetera. Here you could find a scale model of a tree used for a Wookie tribe, the three separate pieces of Darth Vader's helmet, all sorts of costumes (Stupid me forgot to take a picture of Anakin's and Obi-Wan's. Oh well, my sister took even more pictures than I did, she's bound to have one), and my personal favorite, the lightsabers! And that was basically it for the main exhibit. We explored the rest of the museum over the course of the day but I didn't bother to take any more pictures. Though I must say, watching a real, miniature tornado form right before my eyes was truly amazing. Especially the fact that it wasn't cased in by glass or anything. It was completely out in the open. We did pause for lunch and, while trying to find a restaurant we'd never heard of on a map full of them, we stumbled into a Subway and decided that was a far more attractive option. Not too long afterwards we participated in a Star Wars trivia show (well, not all that much really) and went on to what I feel was the highlight of the day... The Jump to Hyperspace! We got to sit in an exact replica of the Millennium Falcon cockpit (Minus the windshield panes that are supposed to be fitted into that framework. Not to mention the fact that none of the buttons, knobs, and levers could be used.) and watched a show about the cosmos narrated by none other than Anthony Daniels (A.K.A. the voice of C-3PO). It was done using the latest technology developed by Bose 3Space audio systems using "psychoacoustics" to truly immerse the guest in the adventure across the galaxy. The combination of the "psychoacoustics" and the wrap-around screen were even able to fool the senses into detecting movement (banking, traveling lightspeed, etc.) when there never was any. The show explained all sorts of interesting facts about galaxies, nebulae, and the like. We even got these really cool pins we can wear that have the Millennium Falcon on them. They also say "I Made The Jump!" which to me sounds more like something that you'd put on a t-shirt if you went bungee jumping over the Grand Canyon, but it's really cool either way. We also got to see an image of the farthest out into space that scientists have been able to view. It wasn't really much of an image though. It just looked like the blurry swirling of red, blue, green, and yellow that you'd see in a close-up of a severe storm being tracked on the seven o' clock news. It's just that this time it was surrounding you from the outside of a correlian smuggling ship and there wasn't some crazy chick waving her arms around if front of it and rambling on like we all have masters degrees in meteorology. But it was an awesome show nonetheless! Sure, we waited in line for forty-five minutes, had to pay three dollars each (that's in addition to what we already paid for the main exhibit), and the show was only four-and-a-half minutes long, but it was worth it! I just can't believe that some people would complain about waiting only fifteen minutes for a show that was surely longer and far more immersive (Yes, that means you Torhuki! ). When all is said and done, I had a blast. I'd gladly go back and do it all again, even if just to make the Jump to Hyperspace! May the Force be with you... always... <brk> -
While I was working last night I was asking everybody if they were excited about the new Jonas Brothers Album "A Little Bit Longer" coming out tomorrow. Pretty much nobody there even listened to the Jonas Brothers. I felt rather . . . alone? In any event, this inspired me to start a Jonas Brothers Fan Club since I've always wanted to do a club which can't be done without a blog. I'm not entirely sure how many Jonas Brothers fans there will be on BZPower, but there's only one way to find out, right? So, if you like the Jonas Brothers and want to show your JB Pride, I've rigged up a bunch of avatars and banners for you to use. So, we'll see how this goes. Maybe the club will be an utter failure. If that's the case, I'll just look like a fool. But we can all use a little humility every now and then to keep us in check, right? View Gallery (Once it's public...) Members Takuma Nuva Turakii #1 Lavasurfer ~JB~ Blade Titan974 ~Laughin'Kitty~ Tohigriunda-Nuva ~Haku340~ <brk>
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If there's one thing I'd like to get this year, it's this. You guys, uh . . . wouldn't happen to have some loose change on you, would ya? <brk>
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Just recently, Disney upgraded their ever-popular, smash-hit MMOG: Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Now, both members with and without Unlimited Access can use a limited-time only PAINTBALL GUN in honor of the paintball championship to be held in California coming up (I actually know one of the people going). This is an exciting new feature that will not last forever! Below is a screen shot of Avohkah Tamer's brother sporting this awesome new addition to your available armaments. If you haven't yet, sign up for Pirates of the Caribbean Online so that you can join other BZP'ers in the piratey, paint-splatting fun! » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... « You know, if you look at it just right, it almost looks like it's nothing more than a glitch of him holding both a wooden mallet and a pistol at the same time. Funny. <brk>
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The operative word in today's title being 'normally'. Because... My CD has arrived. Whoa yes, oh yes! 2 Days or Die is here. And it's gooood. So what else to tell you guys/girls? You know that Wakizashi I told you about? It's going to be used in this movie we're making for school, for German to be precise. I get to cut down atleast 2 people . I'll share some details when we begin the actual shooting, and cutting xD. -|IXI
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I have a lot of stuff to do in the next few days. I don't mind though, because it's all about movies, games and music =D. Got my hands on the original score from Need for Speed Most Wanted. I mean the score, as in the arrangements by Paul Linford and not the absolute crud from the OST. I also have Star Wars Battlefront II, which is, after playing a few missions, pretty tight. Got a bunch of movies as well: I, Robot Stealth (don't ask why...) Super Mario Bros. (don't ask why xD) The entire Riddick trilogy (Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick Dark Fury and Chronicles of Riddick) V for Vendetta Most of them have to be watched. So it's off to the supermarket for some sweetened pop corn! Or perhaps I could ravage the fridge... -|IXI
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The perfect way to kill time when everything else on your PC/Mac gets boring. Ah yes the webcomic. I read quite a few: MegaTokyo Applegeeks Alpha Shade VGCats Chugworth Academy Staccato And Talismen since... today. So, anyone else? -|IXI
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Summer is coming up, which means freedom that will actually bore you to death. Ergo, I need something to do. And I believe I have found the ultimate method of eating those hours away. X3 Reunion (not to be confused with the X-Men movies). If you know it, then you know it is the biggest space-sim game out there, along with EVE. But EVE costs money. Anyway, so it's this spacial trade-combat-exploration game. And it goes deep, very deep. You start out with just one ship, you take jobs, often bounty hunting or trading. Then you work your way up, you buy another ship, add some stuff to your first etc. You can actually set up this company thing, small at first, and you begin to recruit people. Your company grows. It gets bigger and bigger. And in the end, you can construct your own vessels, your own weaponry, your own spacestations oO. It looks absolutely stunning as well, the engine is capable of delivering one of the most spectacular visuals mankind has ever seen in a spacey game. Techniques such as normal mapping are widely used, making the game look oh so sexy. *ahem* There is a downside however, it has a learning curve the size of the Japanese island Honshu. The manual, which you can get from the official site, counts 97, that is ninety-seven, pages in PDF format. oO Whoa. But fortunately, I will have enough time on my hands to play this game. And Battlestar Galactica will resume as well after the summer... Which is, the greatest series of the new millenium (eat dust 24, smell fumes Lost). So I would say things will look up after school... But I have around 2 weeks till that happens. ... x.x Atleast I have something to look forward to. -|IXI
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Title taken from one of BT's songs, an artist which can be called one of my favourites. I always discover, or rediscover artists from time to time, keeps my Music Library fresh. But lately there has been a sudden... drought. The supply of new artists has slowed down. Perhaps I'm nearing the last of all the artist I like, or perhaps I'm the one to blame, lazy bum xD. Anyone have a suggestion? -|IXI
