Reilly2040's Blog

I’m bouncing around between games a lot at the moment. I’ve been enjoying X3, but getting into it is slow going (I’ve done the first couple of missions, but I’m wanting to try and get into the trade aspect of the game, which is much slower. Partly because its got a larger learning curve, and partly because freighters are physically slow moving when compared to a basic fighter craft). So last night I fancied having another crack at Oblivion. I’ve got my main character, who’s currently tooling around the Shivering Isles, having racked up 140 hours of gameplay, so I thought I’d roll someone new.

So, I’ve created a pure mage character to try playing through as. My previous character was handy with a sword and bow, so I’m finding this character a lot tougher to play. I managed to get past Kvatch last night, but it took a lot of swearing to do so. My initial spells got me through the very early parts of the game, but the Scamps running around Oblivion and Kvatch soon made mincemeat of both me, and my summoned Skeleton.

Part of the thing, is that my main character is now so advanced, and has got such good equipment, I’d forgotten what a struggle it was starting out. I tend to have enough cash to keep my armour in repair, but that’s about it, practically. I kicked off the Arena quest last night to try and make some extra cash, but the initial fight knocked me down to half-health, while my ranger had sailed though, so clearly some new strategy is required. I think I’ll have to work on my Guild entrance, and try and scrounge up enough cash for a couple of slightly better spells (I’m thinking a better summoning for a start). If it comes to it, I can always join the fighter’s guild to make some extra loot.

Of course, one of my early considerations is always to try and get myself that first house. So once I’ve got a few better spells, I’m going to have to try and bolster my cash to get myself the shack in the Imperial City’s waterfront.

Well, as promised, here’s some shots and videos from X3. Unfortunately 320×240 video files don’t really portray properly how good it looks. Above there’s a screen shot of one of the warp gates you use to go between sectors.

This is from the opening moments of the game. You see your own ship fly into the distance, and then it pans around one of the big carriers in the game. This looks awesome. I can’t wait to own one (although I’ll have to ).

This is a random video of me flying around one of the space sectors. Again, due to the video quality, you don’t get a proper appreciation for how pretty it is, but hopefully it’ll give you an idea.

Saw this game going cheap in Woolworths the other day, so I figured, what the heck.

It definitely looks interesting. Spaceship fighting a la Wing Commander, but with a sandbox element, and the ability to slowly build up your own collection of factories and a fleet. Sounds good to me. I love sandbox-style games

I managed to get it installed and have a quick look last night. The lack of a paper manual, and proper tutorial was a bit annoying, but once I found the PDF version and had it beside me, I soon got the hang of the basic controls. Hopefully picking up the aspects of trade and ownership will be fairly simple. I can hopefully fend for myself in flight and combat for now anyway. The graphics are damned pretty though. Must get some screenshots sorted out for the blog.

I’ve always been intrigued by the JSA title. Its always had really good write-ups, so I eventually bought the Return of Hawkman trade. Sadly, I was just confused by it. Admittedly I’m not really up on all the Thanagar stuff, so I wasn’t off to the best start. I should’ve probably picked up the first trade instead.

However, since the One Year Later relaunch, I’ve been reading Justice Society of America (as it now is), and I’ve been loving it.

My current favourite character is easily the new Starman. There’s an intriguing mystery surrounding the character, but I also just love the concept of a superhero who’s sectioned himself, but still leaves to go rescue people, just to head back to the hospital again afterwards. Its a lot of fun (and puts me in mind of Murdock from The A-Team). Definitely a title worth checking out.

Cover of Green Lantern #21. Copyright etc to DC Comics. Please don’t sue.

Being a huge Green Lantern fan, I’m really looking forward to this event. Its been being teased in the various GL titles over the last few months, and I love the way they’re tying it into the old Alan Moore stories, with Sinestro recruiting all the Corps’ biggest enemies to bring them down. Following on from the incredibly strong Rebirth mini series, it’ll be interesting to see what effect this has on the DC universe.

Ran the latest bunch of Ubuntu updates last night, which nicely killed my installation. Fortunately I eventually twigged that the updates had included a new kernel image, and was able to reboot off the old one. Fiesty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) was released yesterday, so that’ll be the weekend’s project.

Finished replaying Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic again the other night. I do love those games. Work’s been quite busy lately, so I’ve been tired at night, so not really in the mood for anything real time. So the turn-based combat of KotOR was pretty appealing. I’ve played through it and its sequel loads of times now. I really do wish they’d get round to making KotOR3. I’ve been quite dissappointed that Bioware seem to have started favouring consoles over PCs for their games. Admittedly, its where the money is these days, but as a PC gamer, I do miss having good, new Bioware games to play.

With it finished though, I do need to try and play through the new Oblivion expansion: The Shivering Isles. I’ve started playing it, although so far I’m not sold on the new area. When it comes to RPGs, I tend to prefer running around woods and grasslands, bumping into towns and such on the way, which is probably why I liked Oblivion so much. However, the new area is designed to be a bit weirder. Still, I imagine once I start finding my way around it, I’ll get settled in.

I’ve resisted weighing in on the Life on Mars finale for a while, as I wanted time to digest it fully.

Its certainly sparked a lot of debate, with people either loving or hating it. For myself, I like its vague nature. Yes, I know that Matthew Grahame’s given an interview where he explains his take on it, but like all things, people can take what they want from the shows themselves. For myself, I like leaving it open to interpretation. Did he Time Travel? Is he dead? Was he mental? I don’t know. I’d like to think there’s an element of time travel involved, although there’s enough evidence to the contrary, I think some episodes lose their power if he’s just in a coma, or a nutter. I do like the theory that Sam never woke up in 2006, and those sequences were just a deeper aspect of his coma.

I especially like the idea of leaving things vague with Ashes to Ashes coming up. If you accept Life on Mars has a definitive answer, then Ashes to Ashes becomes a harder sell. Why should we care about her attempts to change the future for the better, if we know she’s just in a coma? (Assuming that’s the tact they’ll take again, of course).

Gridlock was another cracking episode of New Who. I loved the twist halfway through, and while the Face of Boe’s message wasn’t a surprise for anyone who’s read the 2005 annual, David Tennant nicely opened things up in Dr Who Confidential with his “Boe’s right, but the Doctor’s not wrong” statement. I just hope this season can keep this quality up throughout, as we’re off to a flying start again.

And finally, I’ve been gorging myself on Prison Break. I’d been meaning to watch it for months now, and I finally got round to using some time off to start working through the season 1 DVDs. Little did I know I’d get sucked in 24-style and blitz the lot over4 days. Yes, there’s some inherent daftness in the escape plan, and Michael is frequently the luckiest man alive, but the storylines remain gripping nonetheless, and there’s some really good acting. Of course, there’s not been much discussion about the morality of Michael helping various convicted and guilty convicts escape, and I’m sure that’s going to cause him some serious grief in season 2. Its great TV though. Now I just need to get my hands on season 2…

Well, I cracked and went over to my folks tonight to meet the two new pups. Both are cracking wee dogs. Devin (now that I’ve got the correct spelling) definitely seems to be the more mischievious of the two, but both were great natured, and didn’t seem too fussed by my being around. The pup that was being called Jake, has now been renamed Rex.

Here’s a couple of videos of them in action, destroying both plants and the clothes pole.

Devin

Rex

My folks sent me this picture last night of their two new Puppies, Devon and Jake. Need to head over and meet them soon

Well, unfortunately it was pointed out to me that the image I was using as the header may have usage rights attached to it. Granted its unlikely anyone involved would read this blog, but still, its back to the default until I find something else I like that’s definitely clear to use.

Final episode of Life on Mars tonight. Can’t wait. Its been an all-round fantastic series, and while I’ll be sorry to see it go, I’m glad its getting the chance to end on a high, with a proper explanation, unlike many US shows that either outstay their welcome, or get axed far too soon.