Hello. So after six years of sharpening my teeth on Critical Damage, I've decided it is time I stop relying on a Blogspot website and make a simple, more straightforward website for myself to serve as a central place for my various identities and blogs on the web. So now you can find me at brkeogh.com. It has links to my academic research, my freelancing work, and my various other projects. I'm also going to start writing whatever blog posts I would normally have written here, over there. So, effectively, this is the end of updates to Critical Damage. It will all stay here, of course. I won't be removing any content (I am a strong believer in writers leaving their older writing up so that newer writers can gain confidence from seeing how terrible established writers used to be (not that I really count as 'established' yet)), but I probably won't be updating any more. So thank you for your support reading this blog, and if you want to find my more recent stuff, head on over to brkeogh.com.
Modern Warfare Critical Let's Play Series
For a while I've been toying with the idea of doing a 'Critical Let's Play' of the Modern Warfare trilogy. It's no secret that I guiltily thoroughly enjoy the Modern Warfare single-player campaigns a great deal, even as I know they are incredibly messed up for their glorifying of Western militarism. I always struggle to explain to people why I enjoy them so much, as it is really the moment-to-moment pacing and framing of the storytelling that I enjoy, more than any broad themes that are easy to explain in writing. So I thought I might record myself playing through the games, talking through them as I go, pointing at the particular little things that I like while being able to bring my audience a long and show what I mean about the pacing and about the framing of particular scenes and whatnot.
So I have started this. There is a Youtube playlist here (and embedded above) that I will be adding videos to over the coming months as I play my way through. I've put up four videos to start with, playing up to the nuclear explosion in Modern Warfare, and from now I might put up two more videos every week or so. We'll see. I don't want to just pile hours of footage in there at once as I really can't imagine anyone wanting to watch it all in one go.
I'm not the most experienced at capturing videogame footage, or at expressing myself vocally, so any and all feedback is appreciated, negative or positive. I'd love to know if you think this style of analysis is interesting and engaging, what works for you and what doesn't. Some things I've already realised: there is a slight delay between the footage and my voiceover. I think this is because the Elgato Game Capture software I use to capture from my Xbox 360 doesn't really like my iphone earphones+microphone I'm using. I'm not sure what to do about this, but I'll be sure to linger at scenes I want to speak about for a moment longer in future videos. Related to this, I need to not stop recording as soon as I say 'Thanks for watching', because I am losing the last few seconds of my talking. Finally, I clearly need to trim my beard because you can hear the iphone mic scraping against my facial hair in the second video, haha. #bro
I'm also toying with the idea of starting a Patreon (whoops, I did it) before I produce any more of these, on the off chance people are willing to throw a few dollars my way. I can't imagine this being a massive fund that would make me a lot of money, but I think if I am willing to put in the hours of work of playing through all these games again with an analytical eye, I might at the very least provide people the opportunity to pay me for it, since, after all, games criticism is labour worth being paid for. Again, I'd certainly appreciate any thoughts people have on this. I'd rather not put ads all over the videos, obviously.
So that's what I'm doing. If you watch them, do please let me know how you find them because, frankly, I have no idea what I am doing.
World of Warcraft: Clash of Legends
Available Lore Characters
Currently over 10 playable characters from the oldschool Paladin Arthas Menethil into the most recent "corrupted looks" of once, kindly sorceress Jaina Proudmoore. Including filler yet cool characters from lore that nobody cares about: Teron Gorefiend and Dranosh Saurfang!
 |
| Garrosh Hellscream |
Garrosh Hellscream, son of Grom Hellscream and former chieftain of the Warsong clan, is the former Warchief of the Horde. With the reopening of the Dark Portal, Garrosh was invited into the Horde by Thrall himself, quickly advancing to the position of personal adviser of the Warchief.
Specialization Abilities
Bloodthrist, Wildstrike, Hellscream's Warsong and Bladestorm
Base Abilities
Annihilate and Battle Shout
 |
| Kael'thas Sunstrider |
Kael'thas Sunstrider was a senior member of the Kirin Tor and the Prince of Quel'Thalas, the last of the Sunstrider dynasty. After the fall of Quel'Thalas, he led what remained of his people in the service of the Alliance. Striving to placate his people's addiction to magic, he later covertly allied with Illidan Stormrage and the Burning Legion.
Specialization Abilities
Combustion, Flame Strike, Scorch and Inferno Blast
Base Abilities
Fire Blast and Absorb Mana
 |
| Teron Gorefiend |
In life, Teron Gorefiend was one of Gul'dan's acolytes. In death, he became the first of the necromantic terrors that became known as death knights — the warriors promised by Gul'dan to appease Orgrim Doomhammer and combat the human mages' powerful magic.
Specialization Abilities
Necrotic Strike, Death Coil, Vampiric Blood and Shadow of the Death
Base Abilities
Crushing Shadow and Anti-Magic Shell
 |
| Lor'themar Teron |
Lor'themar Theron is the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas, and was the leader of the blood elves of Azeroth in the absence of Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider. After Kael'thas' betrayal and eventual death, Lor'themar has become the sole leader of his people and seeks to lead them to a brighter future.
Specialization Abilities
Devastate, Shield Slam, Demoralizing Shout and Impending Victory
Base Abilities
Execute and Battle Shout
 |
| Dranosh Saurfang |
Dranosh Saurfang, often called Saurfang the Younger, was the son of Varok Saurfang and nephew of Broxigar the Red. His mother's identity is not known. Dranosh was very much like his father and uncle, a fierce warrior to the end. After he fell to Frostmourne at the Battle of Wrathgate, he was raised in undead by the Lich King.
Specialization Abilities
Frost Strike, Remorseless Winter, Killing Machine and Obliterate
Base Abilities
Howling Blast and Anti Magic-Shield
 |
| Arthas Menethil |
Arthas Menethil, Crown Prince of Lordaeron and Knight of the Silver Hand, was the son of King Terenas Menethil II and heir to the throne. He was trained as a paladin by Uther the Lightbringer, and had a romantic relationship with the kind sorceress Jaina Proudmoore.
Specialization Abilities
Crusader Strike, Holy Light, Devotion and Daybreak
Base Abilities
Holy Wrath and Divine Shield
 |
| Jaina Proudmoore |
Jaina Proudmoore is the founder and former Lady of Theramore Isle, the Alliance's major port in southern Kalimdor. After the destruction of Theramore, she took leadership of the Kirin Tor. She is also the most powerful human sorceress on Azeroth.
Specialization Abilities
Frost Bolt, Cone of Cold, Frost Armor and Frost Nova
Base Abilities
Shatter and Absorb Mana
 |
| Tirion Fordring |
Tirion Fordring was one of the first five Knights of the Silver Hand selected by Archbishop Alonsus Faol, and was one of the heroes of the Second War. He later became Lord of Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen before being stripped of his title and exiled for defending an orc, Eitrigg. He now leads the Argent Crusade, an organization consisting of the old Knights of the Silver Hand and the Argent Dawn, against the Lich King.
Specialization Abilities
Holy Shock, Holy Light, Divine Storm and Exorcism
Base Abilities
Judgement and Divine Shield
 |
| Tyrande Whisperwind |
Tyrande Whisperwind is the most prominent night elf leader, as the chosen high priestess of the goddess Elune, the former general of the night elf sentinels, and the current head of the Sisterhood of Elune. Together with her lifelong mate, the Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, she has represented the highest leadership of the night elves since the fall of Queen Azshara and the Highborne caste ten thousand years ago.
Specialization Abilities
Moonbolt, Lunar Blessing, Lunar Guidance and Tears of Elune
Base Abilities
Starsurge and Shadow Meld
 |
| Velen |
Velen has been the leader of the draenei people since their flight from Argus 25,000 years before the first orcish invasion of Azeroth. As his title entails, he has been granted the gift of prophecy, and has guided his people as they fled from, and later fought against, the Burning Legion who had ensnared their eredar brethren. He is first among the draenei and is the nemesis (formerly best friend) of Kil'jaeden and Archimonde.
Specialization Abilities
Holy Smite, Circle of Healing, Holy Nova and Prayer of Healing
Base Abilities
Divine Fury and Mana Burn
Screenshots Preview
The terrain featuring arena based-off from a garden-ish version of Stormwind City blended with moon-ish theme of Night Elves. Here are some first impression in-game screenshots. Here are some first impression in-game screenshots. Terrain layout concepts might be change as the update progressing by.
 |
| Preview In-Game #1 |
 |
| Preview In-Game #2 |
 |
| Preview In-Game #3 |
 |
| Preview In-Game #4 |
 |
| Current Cover |
World of Warcraft: Clash of Legends Latest Version 1.2 update released on December 9th, 2014. You can also visit the project main page on Hive Workshop as well. AI included!
Latest Version Release Date: December 9th, 2014
Current Map Size: 3,9 MB
Notes on Final Fantasy XII
1. To understand my current fixation with (and deep, deep satisfaction of) Final Fantasy XII and all its intricacies, one must first understand the game’s failings. Final Fantasy XII has a unique brand of ludonarrative dissonance (sorry). The story and the game do not match each other—not due to any kind of thematic dissonance between ‘story’ and ‘game’, but in the level of exclusive attention each demands of the player. The ‘story’ is one of competing kingdoms and arms races and both inter- and intranational diplomacy and bureaucracy. The player must keep track of name, militaries, geographies, family trees, timelines, and peace treaties if they are to follow what is happening. It is simultaneously the most mundane, most grounded, and most compelling story I have encountered in a Final Fantasy. The ‘game’, meanwhile, is a fascinatingly deep and intricate web of battle systems and side quests and hunts and secrets and rare items. The player is expected—at times almost forced by difficulty spikes—to put aside the story and spend tens of hours hunting a giant turtle or diving into an utterly optional area. It is, all of it, incredibly enjoyable, but then you return to the story and have lost all track of who is at war with who and the difference between magicite and nethicite (nuclear and atom bombs, I think) and just why you are going where you are going. Is the evil country Rozarria or is that the good guys? The first time I played FFXII, when it was new, I was eighty-hours in when I finally gave up. I had never before gotten eighty hours into a game without the end even being remotely in sight. I had just spent so much time doing other things that I didn’t even know what was happening, so I gave up. I had never before given up on a Final Fantasy.
2. FFXII refuses to be played how it wants to be played. It is impossible. It wants 90% of your attention on this half and 90% on that half. It demands 180% of your attention. It is impossible to play FFXII how it wants to be played. But, just like Metal Gear Solid demands the player to accept they will be spending as much time watching as playing (or: watching is a major component of playing Metal Gear Solid), one can enter FFXII with a particular mindset, with a particular goal on what they want to get out of the game, and it can be the most engrossing thing. I’ve long wanted to return to FFXII to better explore its design: the gambits, the sidequests, the particularities of Yasumi Matsuno’s grubby design fingerprints smeared all over it. So I began again with an agenda: I am playing for the design, not for the story. I will focus all my attention on this aspect of the game, and ignore that aspect, rebalancing what the game gets so wrong. To stress, I chose to play a JRPG not for the story. This is not something I ever thought I would do.
3. If we ignore the story and how it is told, then, the design of FFXII is immaculate. By ‘the design’ I mean the way everything works together. The way it sets out to achieve certain forms of engagements with its rules and systems and mechanics. The way it translates the decades-old turn-based battle system into real-time, streamlining it and giving it a rhythm while holding on to its core focuses of tactics and strategy. The way it is so transparently influenced by MMO design. As long as one ignores the story, it becomes so explicit what the game is tying to do, and it just does it with a mighty level of confidence.
4. The ‘real-time’ battles. FFXII does away with the battle scenes of most JRPGS. In place of the stop-start pacing of running around a map and then, every few steps, everything blurring and a whole new battle screen appearing, enemies are visible and fought on the map. You just walk up to them, fight them, and keep walking. On the surface, this solves the various pacing issues that turn-based battle scenes have always been plagued by. But it introduces new challenges. Turn-based battles allow for deep, strategic choice and clear communication of intent without needing to hastily press the right buttons in the right order. The design of FFXII is at its most fascinating where it adapts the strengths of turn-based battles into its semi real-time design, while leaving aside the monotonous and boring parts. The transition from ‘walking around’ to ‘fighting’ is as simple as the characters pausing for a split second to pull out their weapons. From here, the player can press X to pause time and open a small menu no different to any turn-based Final Fantasy. You can choose attack, magic, item, etc. With the menu open, you can press left and right to scroll between the menus of different characters. The battle does not require a separate screen, but it still manages to use menus seamlessly and intuitively to ensure no lower level of strategic control.
5. The main restriction on real-time combat is the inability to control multiple people at once. You see this in other real-time JRPGS, like Kingdom Hearts, where the player is in charge of Sora, and Goofy and Donald just do their own thing. You can set vague AI behaviour (defensive or support or aggressive) but you lose the fine-grained control that turn-based combat can give you over an entire party. FFXII’s answer to this is the gambit system: the ability to finely program each character with conditional behaviour. I can set a character to cast Cure on any ally whose health is below 30%. I can tell a different character to Steal from any enemy with 100% health: they will steal once; my other characters will attack; and then they won’t steal again. I can set these gambits in a ordered list of priorities. My support character will stop attacking to cure anyone, but my tanks will only stop attacking to cure once there are no more enemies about.
At any point, the gambits can be manually overridden by the easily accessible menu system but, for the most part, I can program my characters into a well-oiled machine that does exactly what I want to do. And it is terrific and streamlined. It feels like the antithesis of the labour required by a game like Tiny Tower (or any previous Final Fantasy, really) that never lets you automate or make more efficient the mundane level of action. FFXII let’s me prove, once, that I know what I’m doing, and then never forces me to do that thing again. Why should I have to manually choose to cure every time I know I need to cast cure anyway? Why shouldn’t I be able to prove to the game that I know I need to cure when health is low just once, and then have it automated? The beauty of FFXII is that it has the confidence to let me not press buttons. It has the confidence to play itself.
6. More on gambits. Not just a simplified programming language, gambits are also incorporated into the grind loop of JRPG play through the need to buy new gambits and use experience points on new gambit slots. Before you can set an “If ally: health lower than 30% then ‘cure’” gambit, you need to go to a gambit store and buy the condition “ally: health lower than 30%”. This probably annoys some people, but for me it incorporates the ability to set an intricate, well-oiled machine into that same grinding feedback loop as the one that lets me buy an expensive sword or use advanced magic. When I watch my team destroy an enemy without me pressing a single button I don’t just get the satisfaction of watching them do exactly what I told them to do, but of seeing my time and labour spent buying those gambits pay off.
6. More on gambits. Not just a simplified programming language, gambits are also incorporated into the grind loop of JRPG play through the need to buy new gambits and use experience points on new gambit slots. Before you can set an “If ally: health lower than 30% then ‘cure’” gambit, you need to go to a gambit store and buy the condition “ally: health lower than 30%”. This probably annoys some people, but for me it incorporates the ability to set an intricate, well-oiled machine into that same grinding feedback loop as the one that lets me buy an expensive sword or use advanced magic. When I watch my team destroy an enemy without me pressing a single button I don’t just get the satisfaction of watching them do exactly what I told them to do, but of seeing my time and labour spent buying those gambits pay off.
7. FFXII came out at a time that MMOs were all the rage. World of Warcraft was in full-swing. The previous Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, itself was an MMO. MMOs was both what was trendy and what much of the development team had experience in. FFXII plays like a single-player MMO. I vaguely remember this annoying people (probably including myself) at the time, as thought it had just jumped on a bandwagon. But now I just find it fascinating, like everything else in the game. The real-time-ish combat is one element of this, with the way my team surround an enemy on the map and do their own thing reminding me of watching an old roommate doing raids in World of Warcraft. But the MMO influence is so ingrained. The countless sidequests and ‘hunts’ and secrets. Like an MMO, FFXII is selfconsciously full of stuff to do, as though the player should be paying a subscription fee. Of course, it is exactly this vast quantity of stuff that detracts from the story, so those critical of the MMO influence probably had a point. But the counter to this is that now that I am playing with an utter disregard for the story, I find myself loading up the game and thinking, “What should I do today?”. I have never thought this in a JRPG before.
8. FFXII is also a game designed to be played with a game guide in hand. Or, to word that more cynically, it is a game designed in such a way to punish people who don’t fork out money for the game guide. This is before wikis and gameFAQs made such a business model rapidly outdated. But it means the game is full of the most hilariously obtuse sidequests and weapons. The Zodiac Spear, for example, is the most powerful spear in the game. To get it late in the game, the main condition the player has to meet is to not open a variety of chests earlier in the game. The game doesn’t tell you which chests, but there are chests in various obvious places and if you open them, you won’t get this spear. The only way you will know not to open them is to read the game guide (or, now, a wiki). Apparently people quit the game in disgust when they heard this (kitting all the characters out in the best weapons is, after all, a major ambition for many FF players). When my partner read these instructions out from the wiki page, I laughed and laughed. It was just so absurd. Another example is an unlockable fishing mini game which, among other conditions, requires you to talk to a man, run across one area to another area but not enter it, run back to the man, and then gain access to the mini game. To get a better fishing rod, you must first kill Gilgamesh. Maybe I’ve just lost my completionist streak in recent years, but none of this makes me mad. In fact, the idea of such an obscure, dense game existing makes me happy.
9. Yasumi Matsuno’s games remind me of Dark Souls. It’s something I first thought of when I played Vagrant Story (some thoughts here) earlier this year. Tonally and environmentally, it felt like the world of Dark Souls: alone in an obtuse, undead city; muted music (except for the occasional and unexpected boss battles) and just the ambient environmental sounds. Final Fantasy XII, similarly, reminds me of Dark Souls but not in atmosphere so much as obnoxiousness. Dark Souls is deliberately vague in what you are meant to do and where you are meant to go. It is a post-Twitter game, as Matthew Burns once said to me. It expects players to gather around the bonfires of social media and share tales of secrets they found. Final Fantasy XII just wants you to buy a game guide, but it gives it a similar sensation of depth, of jumping into a pitch black hole and not knowing how long you are going to fall for.
10. Final Fantasy XII is beautiful. There’s a particular aesthetic of late-Playstation 2 games (and late-Playstation 1 games, in a similar way) where the resolution of the textures is disproportionately intricate compared to the low polycount of the models. The characters are these most basic models but the lattice-work of Fran’s armour or Balthier’s cuffs or Basch’s blonde locks or Ash’s belts are all so immaculate and intricate. It’s this really wonderful aesthetic juxtaposition, low-poly and high-res. I don’t have the art language to really describe why its beautiful, but I could look at these characters and their world all day, just as I could with Vagrant Story’s similar juxtaposition.
11. Yasumi Matsuno’s fingerprints are all over Final Fantasy XII and it is the most fascinating thing about he. He was the co-director before stepping down (over disagreements with changes Square wanted to make, I believe). So FFXII, at the same time, displays a clear lineage with Matsuno’s earlier games, but its an imperfect lineage. I think I just have a fascination of late of being able to sense an oeuvre of a game creator’s work. So Matsuno made Final Fantasy Tactics (which XII is based in the same world of), and Vagrant Story. He also directed Tactics Ogre, but I haven’t played that so I can’t talk to it. So let’s talk similarities across the games I have played. There is, on the most obvious level, the unorthodox battle systems, each game being mechanically interesting in a way the other Final Fantasies are not, with their semi-real-time battle systems or focus on tactics. There’s also little visual flourishes that connect the games. In, say Final Fantasy VII, casting magic is something very external, with green circles rippling out from the character. In both FFXII and Vagrant Story, meanwhile, magic feels like something introverted, like an inward focusing of energy rather than an outward pouring. The character raising their hand to their head and the blurs and lines kind of ripple more inwards than outwards. It is tiny, but it feels like a common strand. There is the aforementioned Dark Souls oppressiveness and the high-res-low-poly look. It’s risky to attribute too much to a single member of a large production team, but XII feels like a game conceived by the person who conceived it. It has a personality and a style.
12. But there’s more than fingerprints on FFXII’s design. There’s a transparency in is flaws. The late, hamfisted addition of both the license board and protagonist Vaan, added at the last minute as an androgynous anime teenage boy protagonist to a story originally written about Balthier (or so the story goes). In one scene, not far in to the game, Vaan stands up front and centre while, off to the side in the background Balthier calls himself the leading man, as though the voice acting had already been done and they just had to deal with it. And it’s true: the leading man is off to the side. It’s a flaw, to be sure, but such a fascinating one. FFFXII wears its design on its sleeve, and it makes it a much more interesting game to engage with.
13. Boss battles are usually dreadful in Final Fantasy games. They are boring and mindless, requiring more endurance than intelligence. I didn’t realise quite how bad they were until I played Persona 4 Golden, with its legitimately enjoyable boss battles The key difference: Persona 4’s bosses were not immune to every single status change. You could poison them, you could screw with their stats. In most Final Fantasy games, meanwhile, bosses are immune to everything except perhaps for an elemental weakness. Your inventory of tactical support spells is reduced to nothing more advanced than Rock Paper Scissors. FFXII, however, with its many hunts (optional boss battles) and rare hunts, has no shortage of giant enemies to endure and, importantly, they often are susceptible to this or that status effect. You can screw over their accuracy, you can silence their magic, you can dispel their shields. It makes such a difference. Suddenly, you can use tactics against them, not just mash away with attacks. My partner would look up the wikis about what particular tactics would work against which hunts and—this is important—it would be so satisfying to just execute the strategies the guide suggested, watching them unfolding in their intricacies. Like the time I set up my gambits to cast Reflect on all allies and then to cast Thundaga on those allies so that three Thundaga spells would all reflect onto the single, giant enemy, smashing its massive reserves of HP. It was satisfying to watch it unfold, as both a strategy and a system.
14. Final Fantasy XII is a hot mess.
Another Quick Update
Apologies for continuing to not update this website. I've been teaching the last semester and that's taken up most of my time. I have been writing elsewhere, though. I've written a few quick columns for The Conversation. This one about Jane McGonigal's dubious play-Tetris-to-cure-PTSD project/blog was pretty popular. I've also written about how the Liberal Government's draconian, scorched-earth budget effects game makers in Australia, and my presumptive hostility towards blockbuster games with Themes. I wrote a piece for ABC's The Drum about esports and videogame spectatorship. I wrote a piece for Overland's print journal that has since been republished online, where I write the letter I would have written to Susan Sontag about games criticism if she were still alive. I'm pretty happy with that one. And, for the newly launched Unwinnable Weekly, I have a "Notes on Luftrausers" post in Issue 2, which I strongly encourage you to chip in some money for. I think this is my favourite Notes post yet, maybe, and I'm so thrilled to be able to get it published somewhere.
I've also been taking advantage of my ungaming tumblr to throw out a whole heap of super rough, unfinished thoughts. The kind of stuff that probably would end up as blog posts here eventually if I had more time. It's been really liberating to just dump them there, half-formed, and get people to engage with them. I really love how the design of tumblr kind of encourages that messiness. I've been using that blog for both gaming and non-gaming things. Here are some really rough thoughts on Final Fantasy XII that I am currently fleshing out into a Notes post. Here are some thoughts on why this console generation transition is really interesting because nothing is happening. Here are some thoughts about the federal budget which was, literally, forged from satan's own toilet paper. Here are some notes on David Sudnow's Pilgrim in the Microworld, which is a really great book.
Oh yeah, let's talk about what I've been reading. I read both of David Sudnow's books, Ways of the Hand (about becoming a jazz pianist) and Pilgrims in the Microworld (about getting really good at Breakout!) and both are excellent, closely descriptive accounts of what the hands do at various tools. Both are definitely worth a read if you have an interest in the bodily, phenomenological pleasures of videogames.
I also just this last week read Anna Anthropy's new book on ZZT, written for Boss Fight Books, and it is really remarkable. It does this incredible job of transitioning from a close, detailed look at 'the game itself' as this kind of seed in the first chapter that then shoots outwards into this vast discussion of communities and an important snapshot of a particular moment in time. Not only is it a really great analysis of a game, capturing both personal and broader cultural implications, but a really significant contribution to videogame history. Here is a cool quote from towards the end of the book on exactly why that history is important. Here is Cameron Kunzelman's review for Paste.
I bought a WiiU last week for Mario Kart 8, and have since been instagram-ing countless slow-motion replays. I should have a piece up soon about how spectacular (in the most literal sense) that game is. I also finally played A Dark Room to completion on iOS after reading Cara Ellison's piece on the first Unwinnable Weekly, and it was truly remarkable. I've also gotten sucked into Pocket Trains because NimbleBit knows how to hook me.
And that is what I am up to.
I've also been taking advantage of my ungaming tumblr to throw out a whole heap of super rough, unfinished thoughts. The kind of stuff that probably would end up as blog posts here eventually if I had more time. It's been really liberating to just dump them there, half-formed, and get people to engage with them. I really love how the design of tumblr kind of encourages that messiness. I've been using that blog for both gaming and non-gaming things. Here are some really rough thoughts on Final Fantasy XII that I am currently fleshing out into a Notes post. Here are some thoughts on why this console generation transition is really interesting because nothing is happening. Here are some thoughts about the federal budget which was, literally, forged from satan's own toilet paper. Here are some notes on David Sudnow's Pilgrim in the Microworld, which is a really great book.
Oh yeah, let's talk about what I've been reading. I read both of David Sudnow's books, Ways of the Hand (about becoming a jazz pianist) and Pilgrims in the Microworld (about getting really good at Breakout!) and both are excellent, closely descriptive accounts of what the hands do at various tools. Both are definitely worth a read if you have an interest in the bodily, phenomenological pleasures of videogames.
I also just this last week read Anna Anthropy's new book on ZZT, written for Boss Fight Books, and it is really remarkable. It does this incredible job of transitioning from a close, detailed look at 'the game itself' as this kind of seed in the first chapter that then shoots outwards into this vast discussion of communities and an important snapshot of a particular moment in time. Not only is it a really great analysis of a game, capturing both personal and broader cultural implications, but a really significant contribution to videogame history. Here is a cool quote from towards the end of the book on exactly why that history is important. Here is Cameron Kunzelman's review for Paste.
I bought a WiiU last week for Mario Kart 8, and have since been instagram-ing countless slow-motion replays. I should have a piece up soon about how spectacular (in the most literal sense) that game is. I also finally played A Dark Room to completion on iOS after reading Cara Ellison's piece on the first Unwinnable Weekly, and it was truly remarkable. I've also gotten sucked into Pocket Trains because NimbleBit knows how to hook me.
And that is what I am up to.
World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth
Second title I've released from World of Warcraft total conversion project series of mine, it is an experimental mix between ORPG + Hero Arena with class change feature. Play as Human Alliance or Orcish Horde. Join the fiercing fight between the iconic two faction from World of Warcraft! Your goal is to defeat 3 faction leaders of opposing side in order to win the game.
Changeable Classes
You start the game as either basic melee or spell caster class that available: Warrior and Scholar for Human Alliance or Barbarian and Magi for Orcish Horde, and can change further into Advance Class when you reach level 15. Here is the current classes model mesh preview. Classes concepts might be change as the update progressing by.
 |
| Human Alliance: Current Mesh Usage |
 |
| Orcish Horde: Current Mesh Usage |
 |
| Alliance and Horde Classes Tree |
♦ Total Conversion Materials from WoW
All materials has re-created, poly reduced, geomerged and edited by myself for the project usage purpose and finest size.
♦ A Fantasy-Themed, Detailed Terrain
Featuring Stormwind and Orgrimmar as 2 great faction stronghold - With Elwynn Forest and Durotar as both faction respective leveling zone.
♦ Limited and Upgradeable Items
Like in RPG element, Player can only carry 1 type of equipment, all items are upgradeable up to level 5 by Ore which you can bought on blacksmith! Backpack feature is also available on the map incase you're out of inventory.
♦ Changeable Class
Be a heavy damage dealer like Orc Berserker, or a caster with cursing magic like Orc Warlock! Total of 16 (8 for Alliance and 8 for Horde) Advance Class variety of specializations which you can access when you reach level 15.
♦ Custom Attachments
A fancy weapon and shield attachments from WoW itself to enchant your looks - with lowpoly revised for smaller size.
♦ Interactive NPC
Communicate with NPC for blab, game info and some trivia about some iconic names from Human Alliance and Orcish Horde faction. Some notable names from both faction are coming as cameos as well. Some NPCs are also providing quests to helping you level up faster.
♦ And More!
Screenshots Preview
The terrain featuring Stormwind City with Elwynn Forest as leveling sector for Alliance, and Orgrimmar (made Orgrimmar City Concept into "machinery looks" sort-of for certain reasons) with Durotar as leveling sector for Orcish Horde. Here are some first impression in-game screenshots. Terrain layout concepts might be change as the update progressing by.
 |
| First Impression: Play as Human Alliance #1 |
 |
| First Impression: Play as Human Alliance #2 |
 |
| First Impression: Play as Orcish Horde #1 |
 |
| First Impression: Play as Orcish Horde #2 |
 |
| Current Cover |
World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth latest version 0.7 update released on July 23th, 2014 with these following changelogs. You can also visit the main page and download the project on Hive Workshop as well.
Latest Version Release Date: July 23rd, 2014
Current Map Size: 4,3 MB
Current Map Size: 4,3 MB
World of Warcraft: Heroes Return
World of Warcraft: Heroes Return is an epic total conversion project that inspired from original World of Warcraft franchise that developed by Blizzard Entertainment. I'm trying to made the 1st ever WoW total conversion in multiplayer ORPG version (as I haven't seen any). As an ORPG, the project is designed to be played by multiplayer in order to experience a better result playing the game. My aim on this project is to create a simple yet fancy and fun gameplay with eye catching fantasy-like terrain and effect that able to made the players has a World of Warcraft feeling when playing the game.
Available Classes
There are currently 12 available classes from original World of Warcraft available, 10 playable classes and 2 iconic characters from Warcraft III history as a secret characters: Arthas Menethil and Grom Hellscream which can be played by entering a secret code that you can get as you play the game further. Play as certain classes from World of Warcraft or as a classic character of legend. You decide your role as the new Heroes of Azeroth! Character model and abilities concept might be changed anytime as the progress updated.
 |
| Left to Right: Warrior (Arms), Paladin (Protection), Death Knight (Frost) and Death Knight (Blood) |
 |
| Left to Right: Rogue (Assasination), Hunter (Survival) and Hunter (Marksmanship) |
 |
| Left to Right: Mage (Frost), Mage (Fire) and Priest (Holy) |
 |
| Arthas Menethil (Paladin) and Grom Hellscream (Warrior) |
 |
| Some attachments in-game |
♦ Total Conversion
With most materials (which has been massively poly reduced by myself into the lowest size) imported from World of Warcraft, to make the player experience the World of Warcraft feeling when playing the game!
♦ Cataclysm Themed, Detailed Terrain
Explore the world from a dreamy forest, into a foggy land of the past, with a cracking lava over the lands caused by Deathwing's Wrath previously known as "The Cataclysm".
♦ Interactive NPC
You can interact with each NPC you've meet. From talking blab, listening to a short lore, or even gaining information about some game secrets.
♦ Custom Weapon and Shield Attachment
Bored of unchangeable weapon on previous version? You can change your weapon and shield attachment visual now as your items. More than 30 fancy World of Warcraft weapon and shield attachments with lowpoly revised!
♦ Developed Creeps
Each creeps has their own status differently, as well as their own abilities. Creeps type divided into 4: Normal, Dungeon, Elite and Boss.
♦ Dungeon
No RPG would be complete without a dungeon, dungeon enemies drops more valuable items than non-dungeon enemies. You can go further into depth of dungeon by removing invisible pathing blocker by defeating each Bosses.
♦ Challenging Bosses
Even more challenging and almost not possible if you challenge them alone! But could be possibly swiftly defeated when you fought them with other players.
♦ More Than 200 Items
From common Tier 1 item to a legendary tier 8 item to collect with colored tooltips description, more higher the creeps classification that you kill, more higher the item tier you'll get.
♦ And More!
Terrain Art
Explore the world from a dreamy forest, into a foggy land of the past, with a cracking lava over the lands caused by Deathwing's Wrath previously known as "The Cataclysm". Here are some sneak peek of the current terrain so far. These terrain design might be change and improved from time to time as the project progressing by.
 |
| Darkfang Forest - Current Looks |
 |
| Everafter Forest - Current Looks |
 |
| Loversdale - Current Looks |
 |
| Warsong Hills - Current Looks |
 |
| Seoulia - Current Looks |
 |
| Molten Core: Lair of the Firelords - Current Looks |
 |
| Nerubian Kingdom: Lair of the Fallen King - Current Looks |
 |
| Current Cover |
World of Warcraft: Heroes Return version 1.2 released on August 17th, 2014 with these following changelogs. You can also download the project in Hive Workshop and MODDB.
Latest Version Release Date: August 17th, 2014
Current Map Size: 6,7 MB
