It seems very cool so far. As a "Deadwood" fan it's nice to see a straight Western game (no supernatural or any of that). I'm dubious about the point of the 'alternate history' where the Confederates and Federals got into a stalemate though... Seems gratuitous and largely irrelevant to the play of the game. It has loads of info on Western campaign activities - town life, prospecting, cattle drives, and more. This is awesome; to really make a Western game takes more than just some combat rules.

I have a soft spot for random character generation. In A&E, chargen is an odd mix of random, random but you can spend points to reroll, choose but it costs more, and choose. I'll walk through the chargen and show you how quickly a fully fleshed out Western character appears!

"Cold Pat" Colby (yes, you can randomly roll names and nicknames!)

Str 10/89 Damage Mod: none, Lift 200 lbs, Carry 45 lbs, Drag 500 lbs.
Int 10/03 Acc Mod: non, BP Bonus: 0, Learn Mod: 0
Wis 12/35 Speed Mod: 1, BP bonus: 1, Learn Mod: 1
Dex 13/47 Speed Mod: 0, Acc/Hit Mod: 1
Con 7/17 HP Mod: -3
Looks 9/72 Cha Mod: -1, Rep Mod: -1, Fame Mod: -1
Cha 8/24 BP Bonus: 0, Learn Mod: -1, Max Compatriots 2, Rep Mod: -2

Stats are all randomly generated as 3d6 plus d100, where the d100 is "percentile" in the old AD&D 1e sense.

You start with 75 BPs, or "build points." In many of the random roll situations they can be used to reroll, you can boost stats using them, etc. in addition to their normal use of buying skills and talents.

Character background is all randomizable! Let's see what it gives us.

Pat hails from Montana. He's 20 years old, 5'8" tall, 159 lbs, and has $28 to his name. He's coming west to build the railroad. Both his parents are living (and had him in wedlock). He's the youngest of 4 siblings - 3 are living (1 brother he's very close to, 2 sisters, one he gets along with OK and one he argues with), and one sister who died in an accident.
He was brought up in the city by indifferent parents (Getting him the Hardcase quirk, +2 BPs). They were Upper Lower Class (-1 Rep, -$10) and he's a general laborer. Cool, I can get behind that!

This was all fun but the order was wonky at times and it was spread over several chapters. I'll note organization of chargen is poor - most character rules are in Chapter 3.1 but the quirk/flaw, skill, and talent descriptions are in appendices 6.2,3, and 4, and parts of the random-roll background is in 6.5.

I rolled one Quirk - Claustrophobic, for +25 BP.

Talents - you pick talents, not roll them. Why not supply a random scheme if you want? One of the things I like about random chargen is how easy it is to come up with a complex NPC totally randomly. So I made a random chart. I rolled "roll twice" and ended up with:
Rapid Reload (20 BP)
Fast Healer (10 BP)

Skills - this is really complicated. We have 72 BPs to spend, with one bonus BP for a Wisdom only skill. Skills are percentile and lower's better. Let's take one skill as an example (there appears to be 100 or so of them).

Riding - BP Cost 3, Stats DEX/WIS, Mastery Die 1d8, Universal Yes.

Since it's a universal skill, Pat starts at 88% - that's 100% minus the worst of his DEX and WIS scores. To buy up the skill, Pat spends 2 BP for each "tally" - 2 instead of 3 because his high Wis gives him a 1 Learning Modifier for any Wisdom based skill. Each "tally" you buy, you roll the mastery die to reduce your skill. So he pays 2 BP to get 1d8 points down, plus the lowest of his Dex and Wis. I roll 7, so his new Riding skill is 69%. You buy more tallies to improve the skill more. But each time you buy a tally the cost increases by the BP cost again - the Learning Modifier comes off the total only once. So 3+3-1=5 BP for the second tally. Another d8, I roll 4 and so for a total of 7 BP his Riding is at 53%. And so on. This'll take a while. My kingdom for a random buy or at least a simpler BRP-esque "buy points up" model.

I think I'm doing this right but there's an Excel character generator on their Downloads page, and its skill section, though I can't figure out how to use it, appears to be somewhat different from this. Alas.  And some of the skills are mighty cheap!  Pick Pocket may be 9 BPs, but Art of Seduction is 1 BP, which means anyone can become a Bang Brother for a low investment.

I'm not motivated enough to go through all the skill buy, but the general shape of the character and their personality and background comes together quickly enough!
I'll do a proper review of Aces & Eights eventually, but so far it is pretty cool.

Lembrando que, diferente do que aconteceu com o GURPS, a DEVIR tem cumprido seus prazos para os cenário da White Wolf.

Escudo do Narrador de Vampiro: O Réquiem / abril

Os Ritos do Dragão / maio

Lobisomem: Os Destituídos / julho

E até o final do ano, essa é a previsão:

- Agosto 2008 -

Lugares Misteriosos
O Mundo das Trevas não é só um universo de tramas subversivas e horrores secretos. Ele também está nas pequenas coisas, é pessoal e particular. O cenário abarca a cidade onde se passa a crônica, o bairro onde seu personagem mora, as ruas que ele divide com outras pessoas e o teto que o abriga. O sobrenatural e o desconhecido correm o mundo, mas também se escondem nas esquinas, no fim da rua e perto, muito perto de casa.

- Outubro 2008 -

A Cidade dos Amaldiçoados: Nova Orleans
Nova Orleans é um reflexo distorcido do próprio Réquiem, um ambiente perfeito e acolhedor para a Família. A cidade é um misto infinito de devassidão e fé, de alegria e medo. Catedrais imensas se elevam sobre as ruas e, se suas portas oferecem consolo, suas silhuetas ficam assustadoras à luz bruxuleante da noite. Os rosários competem com o jogo de dados e o carteado. Uma dicotomia intrínseca, numa cidade definitivamente vampiresca.

- Novembro 2008 -

Mago: O Despertar
O poder de conjurar algo do nada, de transformar um homem num sapo, de invocar o raio e destruir uma cidade: a magia das lendas e das histórias fantásticas nos fascina. Contudo, o mago é também um sábio, é aquele que sabe quando e como usar os poderes que lhe foram concedidos. A magia não é um fim em sim mesmo: é um meio. O objetivo é chegar ao Mundo Superno, a realidade superior, a fonte da magia, o lugar de onde todos viemos.

Mesmo que a Conclave não seja tão popular na cidade, a opção é interessante.

 Confiram no link abaixo:
http://conclaveweb.com.br/catalog/index.php?cPath=25_34&page=1&sort=2a

La historia comienza con un joven llamado Link que vive en el Bosque Kokiri, marginado por ser el único muchacho del lugar que no tiene su propia hada guardiana. Tenia terribles pesadillas acerca de una mujer de cabello blanco que escapaba a caballo de un inmenso castillo con una niña de Cabello Rubio; perseguida por un hombre de aspecto malvado montado sobre un caballo negro, le azotaban y le quitaban el sueño noche tras noche.

Mientras, el árbol Deku siente que una presencia maligna se acerca a Hyrule, y ordena al hada Navi que busque al niño sin hada. Link, después de matar al jefe del primer calabozo pequeño ubicado en el Venerable Árbol Deku, quien le explica la importancia de sus sueños y le encomienda la misión de partir en un gran viaje en busca de la Princesa del Destino que debería revelarle el camino que le llevaría a descubrirse a sí mismo, y le asigna a Navi como hada guardiana,(el cual es su ultimo deseo)no sin antes entregarle la esmeralda Kokiri.

Tras llegar al castillo de Hyrule, Zelda y Link, el único que cree en las premoniciones de la princesa, se alían para luchar contra Ganondorf.

haz click aqui para descargar el juego

É claro que o mundo da arte está incrivelmente lotado de alternas, de modeletes, daquelas pessoas que usam calça jeas justa, alstar, blaser, camiseta listrada e óculos de armação grossa, que frequentam lugares como o Mafalda, o Café do Teatro, dizem que não tem dinheiro, que ainda sonham com o ideal socialista e pagam caro pelo status. Mas não estou aqui para falar deles, mas sim da possibilidade dos Nerds fazerem arte.

Espaços existem de sobra em Curitiba para isso e o principal deles é a Gibiteca de Curitiba. É claro que o site está desatualizado, colocando o Encontro de RPG de 2005 na primeira página, mas tudo bem, a gente releva. Eles, além de ajudarem a organizar o Encontro Internacional de RPG (que terá este ano também e em breve teremos novidades aqui no Nerd Curitibano), promovem também cursos de HQs, onde uma pessoa pode aprender desde os princípios básicos da HQ, até a arte de desenhar quadrinhos e mangás. HQs também são uma forma excelente de arte. A Gibiteca também oferece um acervo de mais de 45000 revistas, incluindo várias de produção local, como o Capitão Gralha e o Anjos de Curitiba. Quem quiser conferir o que o pessoal da cidade está produzindo, vale a pena dar uma olhada. Não garanto a qualidade, pois isso vai do gosto de cada um.

Além das HQs da Gibiteca, um outro lugar para poder conferir as novidades e lançamentos do universo dos quadrinhos, são as lojas especializadas. Em Curitiba temos a tradicional Itiban e a recém inaugurada Jaya. Em ambos os lugares, além de poder encontrar quadrinhos, os nerds da cidade podem inclusive jogar RPG! E antes que digam o contrário: sim, RPG é uma forma de arte! RPG é uma arte de contar histórias. Antigamente tínhamos nas vilas os contadores de história, depois os menestréis que contavam histórias e com a invenção da imprensa, essa arte de contar histórias ficou relegada aos livros impressos e ao teatro. Com o cinema e a televisão, as histórias passaram a ser montadas para as telas. Só que há uma diferença entre assistir uma história e ouvir/contar uma história. Atualmente, quem recupera essa função de contar histórias são os grupos de RPG. O grupo todo! Não basta só o mestre narrar uma história, já que os jogadores também ajudam na criação e narração das histórias.

Os nerds não precisam se preocupar unicamente com ciência e tecnologia, coisas hi-tech e proposições de laboratório. Nerd podem sim curtir arte e viver arte. Só citei aqui duas formas de arte nerd e três lugares diferentes onde o nerd curitibano pode curtir essas formas de arte. Mas existem outras ainda, como música, teatro, cinema, etc, etc. Em breve, falaremos sobre eles.

   The Crab: Diverting troops from the wall is a potential disaster. Even if the Scorpion clan push is readily contained, the diversion could let the forces of the Shadowlands swarm across the border - and there’s no point in containing a potential second or third front if the major one collapses behind you. The Crab need to be made to understand that defending from a probable incursion from the Shadowlands takes precedence over putting other clans in their place - and that they must hold the wall while the Imperial forces deal with the infiltrators. The other Clans should, indeed, provide more willing support for their efforts at the wall, rather than using those needs as diplomatic leverage. Has there been any word from the Nezumi scouts in the Shadowlands? Have they been formally introduced to the Naga either?

   The Crane: The time has come accept that diplomacy will only go so far. The Crane need to start pulling in all those favors, use the various items we’ve accumulated for blackmail, and try to minimize our enemies and maximize our allies. Even if the best they can do is to get a group to sit it out rather than joining the Scorpion, that’s still a notable victory. Would a little humility - some acknowledgment that their ability to manipulate society has limits and that they need other assistance - really be a mortal humiliation? We’ll need to emphasize the prophecies on this one.

   The Dragon: If they sit this out, fine. We would much rather they joined us, even if not militarily. Pledging support for them in resisting the Yodatai incursions - they may not be a real problem yet, but they must realize that they’re going to get worse - might help if we have the manpower. Barring that, supplies and cash would undoubtedly help relations. Once again, we need to emphasize that the prophecies are occurring NOW and try to finger the Scorpion in this.

   The Lion: I think that pushing the idea that their promises to the Imperial house and the empire in general supercede those made to clans or individuals in this case might be worthwhile. With such a conflict brewing we cannot afford to have one of the biggest military powers of the empire sitting on the fence. The 12th scroll worries me - and we should keep an eye out for any rumors - but there are bigger issues at the moment. We need to make a considerable point of Toshi Ranbo's neutral status and utility as a diplomatic meeting point - and that, while Ninsei is Crane, he certainly is unlike any Crane they've met.

   The Mantis: I suspect that supplies are going to be tight in all the fighting to come. The biggest use of the Mantis fleets should probably be blockades of enemy ports while working with Merenae to get the things we need. Fu Leng has the Shadowlands and Jigoku to draw on, trying to draw on sources outside of Rokugan ourselves seems like the only rational response. Opening up trade with the Gaijin may be distasteful, but necessary. Can the Emperor be persuaded to go against tradition to that extent? Even if that won’t work, the ability to rapidly transport troops and materials along the coast is a major strategic advantage. We must also consider the risk that other realms will try to make use of the chaos to set up trading empires. Perhaps the Mantis could be put in charge of preventing that?

   The Phoenix: Will just have to come to terms with the fact that the time has come when they can no longer be the sole keepers of arcane knowledge. This war will force us to let several of the proverbial cats out of the bag (sometimes literally). I foresee a gradual restructuring of the Phoenix from being sole keepers of various mystical secrets to a magical peacekeeping force to keep the other powerful mage from getting out of control. Trading the knowledge we have of gaijin magic and theories should prove enticing to them - perhaps enticing enough for them to throw themselves in with us wholeheartedly. at least politically and resource-wise. We also need to highlight how helpful the Shadowcats have already been and how much additional help they may be in the future. That should help with any shame they might feel over their existence.

   The Scorpion: The more dissent we can spread, the better. Trying to undermine the Champions power base is a top priority with emphasis on the attacks on the Yogo family as a wedge. I think that the honor inherent in working for the survival of the Empire and its people more than outweighs a bit of deception. Rumors, lies, fabricated evidence, real evidence, testimonies from Scorpions, whatever it takes to convince the clan of the tainted malevolence of their champion. You can hardly find a much bigrer personal dishonor than working with outsiders to bring down the empire. Evidence collection should be a high priority, barring that, testimony.

   The Unicorn: Yes, the existing system is flawed, that's what ultimately led to this mess. On the other hand, the Unicorn must be convinced that throwing in with the Scorpion is not likely to help in the long run. In the end it will merely trade one xenophobic ruler for another a paranoid, xenophobic ruler. I suspect we may be facing the Yodatai as a third front all too soon - and if that happens we’re going to HAVE to have the Unicorn to hold them off or at least slow them down. Greater cooperation between the clans is necessary and through that, greater acceptance. Their knowledge of the gaijin would be of immense assistance to the Mantis I suspect.

   The Fox: Are a trump card I am hesitant to play. They seem to have quietly entwined themselves with the temples to the point where they have become virtually synonymous with the faith of the Empire and the Celestial Order - which is ironic, because they’re so closely related to the Fox spirits that they’re halfway outside the Celestial Order anyway. They would likely serve best as a strategic reserve and rear support group. We need to push the Imperial support bit in diplomacy and definitely hold banquets and such to improve ties to Toshi Ranbo and the Imperial house.

   The other minor clans apparently each control their own specialities or unique resources. We should put more stress in acting as hosts in Toshi Ranbo, look into what they have to offer, and try to create a truly united alliance. Together they could be a political counterweight to one or two of the major clans. Promoting trade and minor pacts should be a priority. Get them talking with each other and us.

   Now the Tortoise, Ladybug, Bat, Monkey, Goose, Otter, Porcupine, and Bull are pretty much Imperial auxiliaries anyway, although only the Tortoise actually have any significant forces.

   The Badger, Sparrow, Cat (don’t they have underworld connections all over the Empire? How can we make use of this?), Stag, and Bear seem to be firmly on the Imperial side. Of course, the Cat look likely to prosper no matter what happens. The underworld is never going to go away.

   The Hare are virtually surrounded by the Scorpion lands, so it’s difficult to blame them for being at least nominally allied with the Scorpion. Still, the Fox are within reach. They haven’t gotten along historically, but the Fox were already defying the Scorpion to chase them into Chikushudo anyway. They may not contribute much, but every little bit has to be made to count. We need to try to pull them into an alliance of the minor clans.

   The Wasp: I suppose a pact ensuring coming to their defense should the Scorpion attack them if they remain neutral is the way to go with this one - although Shigure seems to have some sort of scheme cooking involving them. If that falls through - or isn’t incompatible - pushing the minor clans alliance idea still might be worthwhile.

   The Falcon, Squirrel, Butterfly, Eel, Ox, Dog, Horse, Weasel, Rooster, and Panther Clans: OK, some of them might not be of much help, or are simply too isolated or scattered, far away, or tiny to respond quickly, but who knows what odd resources they may have stashed away? We need to send emissaries and to try to get their own emissaries to the court in Toshi Ranbo. Get them knowing we are thinking about them and wish to hear from them even if - like the Dog Clan and their plague-prevention assignment - we may not want to divert them (wait: they’re not just doctors, they’re plague-SEEKERS. Can they cause plagues as well as cure them? That would explain why no one ever seems to interfere with them).

   The Crow and Kaiju Clans: Perhaps the Voices-of-the-Dead and the Binders-of-Monsters-and-Natural-Disasters should simply be left alone. Their help might be almost as dangerous as their enmity.

   The Centipede: We should emphasize the importance of the Wall - and of NOT diverting troops away from it. Sending experts in fortifications to the other likely front lines is a good way to build up a working relationship with us and others.

   The Dragonfly: Well, they get the same basic strategy as Dragon with the twist of being a minor clan and so being a potential candidate to join the minor clan meeting/dinner/party.

   The Firefly: Ok, they’re too small to make a decent party of bodyguards. Still, Shigure recruited them - so we’d better make sure that they aren’t more assassins. Then look into pursuing building Shigure’s canal, getting a respectable port set up somewhere along their coasts, and working with the Mantis and other minor clans about setting up some trade routes.

   The Tiger: Their defense of the temples is good, but... Wait a moment; how closely allied with the Fox are they? They have a couple of representatives at court already (they simply sent them over from some of the local temples), so perhaps finding them funding for better temple defenses and a few new temples might be a good inducement for a formal alliance.

   The Elephant: Well, given the way the barriers between the dimensions are breaking down, and the way the Shadowcats are casually punching holes in them - not to mention the Fox and Kochige - the Elephant are probably a bit frantic at the moment. It may not be the best time to be approaching them, but it’s worth trying.

   The Temples: Well, supporting them, building new temples, and other practical considerations should help keep the superficially-religious groups firmly on our side. The really dedicated ones are pretty much with us automatically, but that shouldn’t make us take them for granted.

   The Imperial Family: I am keeping a wary eye on the Emperor and his guards. The heir to the throne is supposed to be possessed and we have yet to see who that might be, so we must prepare for all contingencies. In the meantime, think about how to broach the topic of pretending to assassinate him while acting as the decoy for the Emperor to ensnare the enemy with.

Whilst I only got a couple of hours on the original Persona 3 last fall, news came out that the FES edition, that Japan was enjoying at the time, would be getting an NTSC release in Spring this year. So I thought that I might as well wait.

And wait I did, for almost 6 months! My only Persona fix was listening to the OST (including FES) once or twice a month and watching the anime.

I didn’t have high hopes per se, but some expectation that the anime would be mildly interesting and entertaining given the school backdrop. It started out decent enough, but soon got way too serious for its own good. Enveloped in over-mysteriousness, a lot of psychobabble and melodrama coupled with pathetic characters; the anime should’ve never existed in the first place. I gave up on it after slugging through 16 episodes. Even though I faithfully got the subs until episode 22, I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. So out they went of my HDD after months, just lying there.

Anyways back to P3: FES, the game is just brilliant. Although I’m just 18 hours in as of today, the FES part will actually begin once I’m done with the main quest. Which, considering the leisurely pace that I’m going at, will take me another 50-ish hours I suppose. I think I’m on 10 or 12^th June in the game. I’ve heard that there are costumes that can be outfitted to characters in the game in the FES version. Wonder when that will happen.

Taking a closer look, the reason I love P3 so much is its (somewhat unique) premise and excellent gameplay. The story goes that every night after midnight there is an hour during which ‘shadows’ appear, known as the ‘Dark Hour’. Now normal humans do not experience this hour and to them it is non-existent. A few people, however, can experience it and are either consumed by said ‘shadows’, or have to fight and defeat them. We, of course, kick ass at this stuff thanks to our Persona. The persona is a physical manifestation of your emotions that you will use in battles. Think summoned beings in Final Fantasy series and you’ll get an idea. Oh, and by consumed, I mean that whilst the body survives, the victim’s mind is blank, devoid of thoughts or emotions. In other words, a non-harmful zombie of sorts.

So, in the game you’re living in this dorm where other people are also persona users and can also be in your party during battle. The place where you go to fight the shadows is in a tower which erupts every night (during the Dark Hour) outside of your school, known as Tartarus. Yes, every night, you fight monsters in a big ass tower that comes out of your freakin’ school! But nobody knows this, of course, coz after the Dark Hour ends, things return to normal.

[caption id="attachment_125" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Looks like things are getting exciting."][/caption]

And what makes the gameplay so great you’re wondering? Well, during day you attend school where you can increase several of your attributes such as academics and charm. This in turn helps you get along with many people in your school and outside of it. The more you (positively) interact with people, the more your ‘Social Links’ will strengthen. This in turn boosts your Personas which eventually means better ass kicking of Shadows during the night. It is left up to you how to go about the game.

There is a (thankfully) small world map where you choose which place to go and who to talk to, in order to progress the story further or level up. In fact, the map is just of the town with a few select places you can go to, for instance the local malls, a local shrine, your dorms, etc. So you can choose whether you want to go to Tartarus a certain night and level up, or go to the local mall instead (and also level up by socializing). The game encourages you to interact with different people and then maintain that relationship so that your personas become even stronger. In turn, the more experienced your persona becomes during battles, the better your chances of having better relationship with different people are, i.e. multiple dates, more free stuff, etc. :p

One of the biggest reasons that I’ll see P3 to the end is to get her!

Also, to get closure on the characters and the story. For the record, there was only one RPG that I have actually managed to finish, which was Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA). Besides that, I nearly finished Tales of Eternia (PSP) and FF X (PS2) but gave up on them 2/3^rd of the way in as the random battles and constant grinding pissed me off to no end. Hardly any other RPG that I have played has had me engaged for more than 7 or 8 hours. I’m just glad that modern RPGs have dropped random encounters and have better battle mechanics compared to the slow grinding of the 8/16 Bit eras. Although some may say that grinding was actually part of their charm.

Hopefully I can finish this by the time Persona 4 gets the NTSC release this December.

Blizzard reveló cinco nuevas imágenes de Diablo III para PC, luego de que las noticias sobre este título se calmaran bastante.

Por cierto, a ustedes qué les parece el estilo visual que decidió inyectarle la compañía a este título tan esperado? También creen que se ve demasiado caricaturesco como para ser un Diablo, o les gustó así?

Fuente: Gamekyo

Marvelous Interactive reveló nuevas imágenes del RPG Rune Factory Frontier para Wii, que llegará a finales de año a Japón y en el 2009 a Norteamérica, mientras que la fecha de lanzamiento europeo sigue siendo una incógnita.

Fuente: Gamekyo

Kyle...

Hace nada más y nada menos 11 años desde que en 1997 se publicara la primera entrega de la saga Fallout en Pc, un RPG post-apocaliptico basado en el miedo a una amenaza nuclear a escala global.

En esta ocasión, Bethesda Softworks, galardonada implicada en The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, plantea un nuevo mundo extenso a explorar libremente ahora en un ambiente post-nuclear, que llegará a PS3, XBOX360 y PC, en octubre del presente año 2008.

Esta nueva versión aboga por un mayor componente de juego de acción y disparo tanto en primera como en tercera persona, pudiendo acceder a un modo de puntería a cámara lenta en el que escoger la parte del cuerpo de los enemigos a apuntar mediante el gasto de puntos de habilidad. Nos enfrentaremos como es habitual en la saga a todo tipo de mutantes, con la ayuda de nuestro compañero perruno, y el Pip-Boy, un aparato que servirá de inventario de nuestro personaje.

Pero el componente de rol del juego aunque menor no va a desaparecer, podremos obtener experiencia al cumplir misiones o eliminar enemigos que nos permitirá reforzar habilidades del personaje, y tendremos a nuestra disposición todo un elenco de armas de largo alcance y cuerpo a cuerpo y elementos curativos.

A fondo:

Para aquell@s que disfrutaron de Oblivion, quizá les molestó el sistema de dificultad progresiva, es decir cualquiera que fuese la zona del mapa en la que encontrase enemigos éstos aumentaban su daño en función de su nivel, aumentando enormemente la dificultad del juego. En Fallout 3 se rumorea que existirán distintas zonas de enemigos que evolucionarán hasta un nivel concreto, por ejemplo si al nivel 2 encuentras un campamento en el que los enemigos están al nivel 5, siendo casi invencibles, y alcanzas el nivel 20 éstos pueden poseer un tope de nivel 10 por ejemplo, facilitando las cosas al jugador.

Sometimes simple RPG mechanics with a lot of charm are enough to win me over. I don't need to have some insanely deep system that's a headache to even figure out before it becomes any fun. I just want an engaging battle system with an addictive level-up mechanic. Add a twist or two, but keep it within reason. The same goes for strategy games too, they need some more turn-based love. Games like Disgaea and Civilization Revolution are so much fun to play and yet we see so very few of them.

I honestly wonder what's stopping a good developer from taking a compelling concept and developing a great turn-based RPG with a couple of really great innovations in it. Where's my turn-based zombie survival RPG with a dark and human story ala The Walking Dead or my giant online co-op turn-based mecha/monster battle RPG? Let me and my friends form Zoltron (Voltron's lesser-known cousin) and bash some giant alien monster heads in. Give me something strange, daring and different!

It's all just wishful thinking, though. Pipedreams and all that stuff we hate to remind ourselves about. No publisher would ever take the chance on something like what I've suggested, unfortunately. Although, I personally think an RPG where you and three or four other survivors deal with a zombie apocalypse is genius. Maybe someday...

I had already put Diablo III at the back of my mind cos it's going to take ages for the game to come out since it's Blizzard after all... But reading this article caused my adrenaline to pump and my mind is now screaming 'DIABLO DIABLO NOW NOW KILL!' Now I jus wana go home and play my Amazon!! *wail*

Damn article.

"SINGAPORE: There was a time when my brother would look over my shoulder at my terminal and exclaim: “You’re still playing this game?”

The year was 1998. The game was Diablo. Now, role-playing game (RPG) aficionados the world over can celebrate, as Diablo III has finally been announced.

Diablo, released in 1996 by Blizzard, is the definitive game many credited for resurrecting the then dire RPG genre. Its addictive hack-and-slash gameplay, simple controls, stupendous cut scenes, varied character development, immersive story and superb replayability on multi-player Battle.net make the third-person title the irrefutable game of the year.

It was a rare gem at a time when the electronic gaming market was dominated by action and first-person shooter (FPS) games. And who can blame gamers if all they want is to load a game and start firing on all cylinders?

In RPGs, you start out poor and weak. You have to kill beasts after beasts and complete quests after quests to gain experience and level up. Then you will be strong enough to wipe out all your foes to save the world. To some gamers, it is an arduous process that they loathe. To RPG fans like myself, that is part of the process that advances the storyline, which propels me to continue playing. ......"

Diablo 3 Cinematic Trailer

Have you seen the cinematic trailer? No? Go see it, its so gorgeous I wanted to weep when it ended.

Diablo 3 Gameplay

What about the gameplay? No? Really? Be prepared to writhe in agony when it ends because hey how long are they going to take to finish it hmmm... another .. FIVE YEARS?? WHATS THE POINT OF TELLING ME ALL THIS WHEN I'M JUST GONNA SALIVATE EVERYDAY AND HAVE MANY BABIES HUH HUH HUH THEN I CAN PLAY?! HUH?! HUH?!

Ok ranting over. When I first heard of it, I escitedly told K

Me: Eh!!!! Diablo 3 coming out liaos!!!!! What a nice bday pressie for me!!

K: You mean your 30th birthday isit?

Me: *still in euphoric state* OMG SO ESCITING! I is happy hear this kind of things, my bday u know?? *pause* what 30th? I is going to be 28 u dont remember meh???

K: You think now they announce they developing then next week your birthday the game is out isit? Its BLIZZARD.

Hmmph. Party pooper! Nehmind. If K can wait for Starcraft 2 then I can wait too! Oh but the agony! Rah!! Have.to.kill.many.meonsters.tonight. Rah!!!

*As a guide to my way of playing my beloved Amazon. Scroll down. Hee.

Join hands with me brothers and sisters, we have defeated the Lord of Terror, Diablo, Lord of Hatred, Mephisto and lastly, Lord of Destruction, Baal. It is time to lend our powers to wipe out the next bad ass meonster YEAH!!!!! RAWR!!!!

Or join the fb group to get updates or this place is good too.

   It looked like Londinium was the mages stronghold, as well as the capital of Baelaria, the center of operations for the ministry of magic, and the probable location for the primary "well" and biggest labs. The locals weren't really sure what to do; some were advocating swift assault while others were talking of digging in and using the portals to other realms as a supply line during a long-term war. What with their general impatience, the group decided on "fast". The mages had won in too many places to let them consolidate. That meant that they wouldn’t have time to wait for those Voidstone amulets; even if they had just provided plenty of Voidstone, it would take a day or so to set it.

   The situation in Londinium was hard to ascertain. While the Guild had apparently managed to achieve swift victory, energy discharges were increasing in the city, refugees were fleeing, the news was scrambled, and the military was trying to comprehend what just happened. It looked like they’d received orders from one or more of their commanders to head to the frontier and prepare for an assault.

   Come to think of it, on the subject of "assault", they sent the Mirage back to the Singularites for a tactical program upgrade. It didn’t seem to comprehend ranges of less than twenty miles or so, so it relied on its pilot to limit it - and Jarvian just wasn’t inclined towards limiting his firepower.

   Marty wanted to use the sewer system - it was supposed to be one of the most extensive and robust in the realm - but it mostly opened up along the river. Still, people did seem to be fleeing the city - and it looked like the mages attempts at stopping them were being countered. Looked like some of the "refugees" were covering the others.

   Well, that would make good cover - hm, disguising themselves as war profiteers would be even better - and they could just duck into the sewers once they were in the city. It was a three-day walk, so Kevin busied himself getting a steam-truck out from under the rubble (and dealing with a free fire elemental which liked beer.. He encouraged it to live in the brewery fireboxes: it could get all it wanted and the locals would never know). Smoke liked the idea; it meant they actually could get food/medicine/etcetera to endangered civilians. Smoke and Marty headed off to Potterworld to get some goods - medicines, weapons, and such for preference, food for second best. Platform 9 3/4'ths connected to Potterworld London, so it was an easy enough trip. The locals had apparently noticed all the school traffic, so there were plenty of shops... It didn’t look like Magic was as "secret" as the books had originally implied - and it looked like the disappearances had been more widespread than just Hogwarts. There was a lot on the TV about them. They made a note to tell Kevin about it later.

   Getting the stuff back through the station turned awkward. A truckload of stuff was just a bit conspicuous.

   They settled on having Marty drive a U-haul truck up the steps and through while Smoke did an impromptu solo Shakespeare performance to distract everyone. It was quite a performance - but there was still panic (Truck Bomb!) when the truck came up the steps. The cops reacted very quickly indeed - but Marty made it through and the station on the Baelaria side was pretty much deserted anyway.

   Back in Potterworld, the locals were speculating about "it being one of those weird superhero bombs". Looked like they were more aware of the Manifold than they used to be - and the cops were certainly aware of Smoke, and the connection wasn’t hard to make. At least one of them was also aware of - and apparently immune to - forgetting spells.

   Smoke explained. This mostly just added to the confusion, but the cop who apparently had truthsense - and decided that he both didn’t like the implications and didn’t want to try and explain to anyone else. He also didn’t want a repeat.

   Kevin put a flame-construct into the firebox, they loaded up the Golem and the Kids and Smoke and started off... Marty had to drive: the thing didn’t have a computer.

   Perhaps fortunately with the way that Marty drove, Kevin and the kids had never seriously considered the possibility of being hurt in a vehicle. Within a few hours they could see the city of Londinium ahead. Everything looked calm at that distance, but the masses of people walking alongside the roads testified that things were not as they seemed.

   They settled down to trading supplies for information - and got harangued by a finely-dressed young man with a couple of thuggish bodyguards. Smoke was pleased: a possible future hero. The guy was a bit startled to find that they only really wanted information - what was going on in Londinium, what the major factions were, if there was lots of resistance or were the mages crushing everyone with an iron hand, what were the local garrisons up to (and was Baelaria run by a King of Queen?). He guessed that they were Manifolders quickly enough. They had a discussion over lunch.

   Apparently the local underworld was not happy with the Mages Guild. The mage's thought they had control of the city when the stormed parliament and captured the Prime Minister. Several members of the Military, the police, and the Ministry of Magic had been in on the coup. Of course, that meant that everyone and their grandmother started to rise up and do whatever they wanted. The mages had been having a hell of a time trying to maintain order ever since - while the underworld had been busy trying to keep the civilian casualties to a minimum. He was pleased to find that the group was also pretty unhappy with the Mages Guild - and that Kevin and company were quite willing to take them on directly. The deal was simple: the "family" would help them slip into the city and help locate targets - and the group would do something about them. The Family could handle the generals and officials, but there were four major mages (currently truing to prepare for the arrival of the military) plus the Minister of Magic and her six powerful subordinates (and two powerful bodyguards) behind the defenses of the Ministry of Magic to deal with. So: 11 major targets, two annoying bodyguards, and other targets of opportunity.

   Well, since the Family would be covering their arrival (taking them in disguised as a container), they wouldn’t need the truck and the supplies. The Family suggested starting in the SW side of town: the mages presence was weakest there.

   2 CP and two new Contacts: Officer Dulandal (From Potterworld) and Taraq the "mobster".

Um ihren Ärger auszudrücken, starteten die "Nerds" eine Online Petition um das Grafikkonzept zu überdenken und präsentierten einige Bilder wie Diablo III aussehen sollte. Die Petition wurde mittlerweile über 50.000 mal unterschrieben. Natürlich blieb dies bei Blizzard nicht unbemerkt und Keith Lee [Lead Producer "Diablo 3"] äußerte sich zu diesem Thema. Er sagt, dass man definitiv an dem neuen Grafikstil festhalten wolle, da so mehr Abwechslung in den Spielablauf gebracht werde. Im Gegensatz zu den Vorgängern, in denen man sehr viel in Kellergewölben unterwegs war, wolle man nun vermehrt auf aufwändig gestaltete Außenareale setzen, fügte Lee hinzu.

So weit so gut! Doch jetzt wird es lächerlich! Denn laut InGame.de wurde die Kritik über Diablo III lauter und Blizzard nehme die Kritik der Community sehr ernst. Es sei sogar denkbar, dass Grundlegendes geändert würde, um den Wünschen der Community gerecht zu werden. Tut mir leid, aber nachdem ich das gelesen habe, musste ich erstmal herzhaft lachen! :lol:

Ob da nun was wahres dran ist, sei jetzt vorerst dahin gestellt. Denn bis jetzt gibt es keine offizielle Stellungnahme seitens von Blizzard. Es kann sich also noch einiges tun, sei es zum Guten oder zum Schlechten.

Liebe Gamer! Macht bitte mal eure Augen auf! Die Masse ist Dumm! Wenn einer Schreit, schreien die anderen gleich mit, ohne zu wissen um was es überhaupt geht. Hauptsache schön Laut sein! Wie lächerlich ist bitte schön eine Online Petition!? Peinlicher geht es ja nicht. Und die über 50.000 Unterschriften sind in meinen Augen auch nur ein Produkt von Fälschungen und Schummlerei (eBay läßt Grüßen!)

Und was das Thema "Kritik" betrifft ... Nun ja, eine Online Petition, Spammerei und Flamerei in den Foren zählt in meinen Augen nicht gerade als konstruktive Kritik. Das ist eher unter Druck setzen! Und genau das findet zur Zeit statt. Gegen vernünftige Kritik ist nichts einzuwenden, aber das jetzt die "Nerds" und "Fanboys" aus ihren dunklen Keller gekrochen kommen und Aufstand machen, ist mehr als nur lächerlich. Es sind genau diese Typen, die 24 Stunden am Tag, 7 Tage die Woche auf Blizzards Internetseiten surfen und nach den kleinsten Anomalien im HTML Quellcode der Website suchen. Und dann nichts besseres zu tun haben, als die Screenshots von Diablo III nach ihren "Vorstellungen" zu verbessern :?

Tut mir leid, wenn ich an der Stelle etwas ausfallend werde, aber ...

• ICH WILL eine bunte Diablo III Welt wo ALLES detailliert dargestellt wird. Denn das Leben ist BUNT! Das ist nun mal Fakt! :D
• ICH WILL  erst dann einen Lichtkreis um meinen Helden haben, wenn dieser auch eine Fackel oder ähnliches in den Händen hält. Kein Mensch wirft einfach so einen Lichtkreis um sich. Es sei denn, er hat eine Batterie verschluckt und schießt Blitze aus seinem Arsch! Der Mensch sieht im Dunkeln alles schwarzweiß. Das ist Physik, lieber Kinder ;-)
• ICH WILL keine düstere Welten haben mit einer Auswahl von 10 Farben. Verliese und Oberwelt sollen ruhig eine große Farbpalette haben. Ich will das bunte Blumen sich im Wind wiegen und einen Regenbogen am Himmel nach einem Regenschauer, während das Blut meiner Gegner zu Boden tropft und ihre Schreie durch die Ferne ziehen! :twisted:
• ICH WILL vernünftige Dungeons haben, keine Ansammlung & Gruppierungen von Folterkammern und Leichenzimmer. Dungeons sind unterirdische Höhlen, in denen sich alles möglich befinden kann. Also was soll der Aufstand :roll:
• ICH WILL in einer Fantasy Welt spielen und nicht in einem Weltendszenario mit Silent Hill Schlag und Resident Evil Flair! Herje wenn die Schulterplatten größer als der Kopf sind, nennt man sowas halt Fantasy!
• ICH WILL, dass das Spiel noch 2009 erscheint und nicht erst 2010, weil irgendwelche "nerdigen Freaks" meinen, Blizzard solle erst sein Grafikkonzept überarbeiten. Das ALLES kostet wieder Entwicklungszeit und der Rest der Spieler da draußen, mögen das Spiel so wie es ist.

Mein Tipp für Blizzard: Damit auch jeder zufrieden gestellt werden kann, sollte man einfach einen Filter implementieren, der das ganze Spiel was düsterer macht (wie es sich die Community wünscht), dann kann jeder entscheiden, in welchem Stil er Diablo III spielen will 8)

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I've just finished Implementing a very basic collision system

When I say "basic" I mean that it has some imperfections, well it works exactly as I've programmed it but I would like other type of functionality.

As you can see, what I do is to find out the near tiles on the map. Since actors can move freely around the map I should make checks for each corner. If not the actor could hit only certain tiles depending on its position on the tile. since the calculation involves a truncated division the compiler gets in charge of the rounding so I have to double check back and forth to see if a tile collision that actually exist is missing.

The downside as you can see in the following video, is that the minimum walkable space is 2 tiles wide, as opposed to 1 tile wide which I had in mind the moment I wrote the design for this.

Hope you like the video.

Tomorrow version 2.3 of the editor will be released (hopefully) which will feature a couple of new features.

I will be taking a loong break now. Cya next update

Sega reveló nuevas imágenes de Phantasy Star Online Universe Portable para PSP en el último número de la revista japonesa Famitsu.

Este título es un port del último juego de la serie lanzado para Xbox 360 y PlayStation 2, combina RPG con un poco de acción y saldrá a la venta a finales de este mes en Japón.

Fuente: Gamekyo

Nippon Ichi Software (Disgaea) reveló imágenes de Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure para Nintendo DS, un RPG que la verdad luce muy bien visualmente y seguramente será de calidad, tomando en cuenta al desarrollador.

Saldrá a la venta el 7 de agosto en Japón y el 23 de septiembre en Norteamérica, y aunque sí promete mucho, es poco probable que tenga buena difusión. Esperemos que no sea así.

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