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Profile: Jimmy_Scythe
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UsernameJimmy_Scythe
Rank: 94/100Rank: 94/100Rank: 94/100Rank: 94/100Rank: 94/100
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RankElite Member
JoinedDecember 31, 2004
GenderMale
Age33
LocationMacomb, IL, United States
Last VisitJuly 4, 2008
Post Count2134
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5 Most Recent Threads by Jimmy_Scythe [more...]

Latest Blog Entry - Instead of a MMORPG: Orcs & Elves
From my blog An Ongoing Tribute to my own lameness..... [Jimmy_Scythe]

So I recently picked up the Nintendo DS version of Orcs & Elves at Gamestop for ten bucks. For those of you that don't know, this was ID software's second foray into the cell phone gaming market; The first being Doom RPG. So when I first heard about this game being ported to the DS wrote it off as nothing more than John Carmack's fuck you letter to Nintendo. That may have actually been the case, but the port turned out really, really good.

Speaking of Carmack, this entire game was actually a one man show. Although  I'm pretty sure he had someone else do the artwork, the engine and level design are Carmack. This surprised me for two reasons. To begin with, I was under the impression that John Ramero had done the bulk of the level design work for Doom 1-2 and Quake. The second reason this surprised me was because of how well balanced and paced the levels of this game are. On further reflection, the second point isn't really all that shocking when you consider that Carmack is a genius graphics programmer and, by default an accomplished mathematician. If anyone could keep an RPG level curve in lock step with the challenge, it would be a man that can juggle statistics and do advanced calculus in his head.

If you look at the original cell phone game, you'll notice that the DS graphics got a major touch up. This game doesn't push the DS hardware by any means, but it's not a total eyesore either. The game actually pulls off the retro look effortlessly. If you've ever seen games try to be retro, you'll know that it can be done wrong.

The gameplay is turn based with every step being one turn. you're allowed to switch weapons and change your facing for free, but once you attack, quaff a potion, cast a spell, or take a step forward or back, all the other mobile features in the dungeon get their turn to act. It sounds pretty boring on paper, but if you actually play it you'll be amazed at how briskly the game chugs along. The whole thing has more of the feel of an FPS than an RPG, despite the fact that you gain levels and abilities as you continue.

Story? Well... There really isn't one... The setup is that you're an Elf who, with the assistance of your talking wand, have traveled to meet a Dwarven king only to find the mountain crawling with  monsters and the spirits of dead Dwarves. And with that you set out to discover whats going by journeying through the mountain's ten levels and killing every living thing you encounter.

and that's really all there is. A short, satisfying dungeon crawl that will make you feel like you're ten years old again. If you've been playing computer games since the mid-80's, you'll get a warm fuzzy nostalgic feeling. If you cut your teeth on Final Fantasy 7, you'll probably return this after about two minutes of playing it. I'd urge you to stick with it though. The game gets hella challenging in the later levels. Plus, it'll only take you about two hours to complete. So if you're looking to get an RPG fix during your lunch break at work, this is what you want. There's currently a sequel available on cell phones if you don't get enough here.

At any rate, this game has everything I love about RPGs in a highly concentrated form. It isn't a hard formula to figure out really. Why modern RPGs and MMORPGs can't seem to grasp this, I'll never know.

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Recent Forum Posts [more...]

    • IQtest

    • Hate to break this to you guys but the intelligence quotient is just a number based on the average performance of just the people that take that particular test. The average IQ for a man is 90 while the average IQ for a woman is 100, but those numbers mean different things depending on the size of the sample and the time that the survey was taken.

      As bone through nose stupid as most people are today, I don't think that an IQ of over 100 really means a as much as it might have in say... 1920. With the average intelligence of people today, you'd probably score genius if you can find your own ass with both hands

      BTW, I took an IQ test when I was in Junior high, can't tell you which one, and I think I scored at or around 120. I'm not sure and I haven't been retested since. No surprise there. I stopped comparing myself to others a long time ago.

    • Posted: 7/04/08 8:36 PM
      General Discussion
    • What RTS games do you recommend? Starcraft? Warhammer? X-Com UFO series?

    • If you have a lot of machine and plenty of spare time then go with Supreme Commander. Be warned: This game will bring a mid-level PC to it's knees in short order. Also be warned: a full game can take upwards of three hours, I shit one not.

      I'm also partial to the 40K Dawn of War series. I'm sure Starcraft 2 will be awesome, but Dawn of war does it's own thing and does it very well. Just make sure you buy all the expansions as well or you'll be missing out on a lot of what makes the game so replayable now. Namely the campaign modes and multiplayer campaigns.

      I've only played the demo of Sins of A Solar Empire thus far. It's a nice game, but I have a lot of trouble keeping track of everything that's going on. The developers tried to design the maps so that players would only have to focus on a few choke points, but the logistical situation can be truly daunting. I'm sure I'd get the swing of it with a couple of days of playing, but the presentation is kinda dry and doesn't really compel me to play it. Still, It's getting a lot of love for a game that has no marketing so to speak.

    • Posted: 7/02/08 2:12 AM
      General Discussion
    • Supreme Court Puts a Gun in your Mouth

    • It never ceases to amuse me that both the pro-gun and anti-gun movement is motivated by the fear of black men with guns.

       

      Tyrants may use political maneuver or violence to gain power, but the tyranny doesn't truly begin until the population is defenseless.

       

      Yep, downtown Baghdad has much more gun violence than any inner city in the U.S., but citizens can defend themselves.

       

      Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, they were all gun free zones.

       

      You're a criminal that gets off by inflicting pain on whole families at a time, do you take door number 1? Or door number 2?

      And the Japanese weren't the only people that understood this. China has 1/6th of the worlds population and the means to deliver military force to our land, but they choose to trade with us instead. Why is that?

       

      Robbery and rape become way less appealing when it turns into a game of Russian Roulette.

    • Posted: 6/30/08 11:58 AM
      General Discussion
    • MMOFPS, where they be?

    • If you're looking for MMOFPS games then you need to cruise over to Massive FPS. Be warned, there isn't a whole lot going on with MMOFPS games outside of Asia, so there isn't a whole lot going on at Massive FPS.

      As for what I want out of an MMOFPS.... I really dig what they did with Field of Honor. It's basically FPS versus RTS with some players controlling a zerg-like insect swarm RTS style and other players controlling single marine units FPS style. Believe it or not, it actually works pretty well. Or maybe I'm just olde skool enough to still be able to appreciate the glee of strafing around huge hoards of enemies and spraying explosive death into the crowd without reloading.

      I'm imagining a huge persistent world game like Savage 2 mixed with elements of DoTA.

    • Posted: 6/29/08 5:26 PM
      General Discussion

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