A Pixel Nomad

Divinity: Original Sin

Playing through some of my steam games, I turned back to Divinity: Original Sin. I started playing it when it released in multi-player, but of course it’s always hard to find extra time to play through all the games in my library. With the release of Fable, I was looking for an RPG to sink my teeth into in the meantime.

A tale of Orcs, Undead, and wild Sorcerers, you play two characters who are meant to save the world. Right now I’m playing through the story with Titan (warrior) and Jessica (enchanter) as they meander their way and open every single container that crosses their path.

That’s probably the main annoyance I have with the game. There are SO MANY containers, and of course if you’re a completionist or you’re just curious you’re going to want to open up every single one of them along the way. It takes a lot of time especially when many of them are empty.

I love the crafting. It’s simple (just drag and drop items on top of each other) but also really neat. Had some wheat, some water, made dough. Made fish dough. Made pizza. Because who doesn’t like pizza (well, to be honest, I don’t but whatever). So far I’m having lots of fun – though I do think I enjoy multi-player better. For now, I’m just enjoying the story.

Fable Anniversary

Over the years I have been a gamer, I have mostly been an MMO gamer. I’m not particularly social but for some reason the social aspect of games always appealed to me, made me feel less alone. Then I started branching out, playing a few console games here and there. It helped that my partner in crime was a big console gamer when we first met. The first game I ever really beat once I was on my own (I’m not going to count playing Mario Brothers with my Mom growing up) was Fable 2 and 3 on the XBox. I absolutely devoured that game, and enjoyed every moment of it. The story pulled me in and it was beautiful.

So when I was gifted the latest Fable Anniversary game above, I couldn’t help but dance around the living room squealing in excitement. It made me think about a few things, too. First of all, the fact that me and my ex mentioned above are still very good friends is something that I really appreciate. He’s the one who gifted me the game, remembering how much I absolutely adored it in the past. I like that we’re both adult enough to realize that just because things didn’t work out between us, didn’t mean we should completely toss away years of friendship and adventures. We are both gamers, and that’s something we’ll always share.

The game doesn’t release until September 12th, but the screenshots are beautiful. September is going to be a busy month what with Sims 4 also releasing on the 2nd. I suppose this is the beginning of “the time” after summer, when there are so many games and events going on they pass us by in a blur. I’m looking forward to it. It hasn’t been the best of weeks due to any number of reasons and this was just yet another small simple reminder that it’s not ALL bad.

Happy gaming, no matter where you end up!

Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Oh My

I spent my free time yesterday after work playing a bit more Tropico 4, and falling more in love with the game. I’m now on the 3rd campaign, which I have lost, twice. It’s the one where you need to be a tourism island. I’ve read a few guides and a walk through or two to make the process a bit easier, but so far I have been unsuccessful.

It doesn’t bother me because I find that the game can be played over and over again and still have a different outcome each time, which is awesome. The first time I played the tourism campaign, I had rebels rise up and take over a mine, and I really sucked as a president and everyone hated me, so I lost the election (and thus the game). The second time a volcano erupted, burned down most of my town, and of course an earthquake followed that tore down my power plant AND airport. Those things are expensive.

I eventually ended up resetting the game when I was -$19,000 and at least I learned some things. Like.. there’s no way to prepare for a volcano… Poor Tropicans…

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

I Might be in Love with Tropico

I love steam. I love that I can make wishlists, and that I can see those of my friends. I have taken to randomly giving out steam gifts when I see that someone is having a bad day. It makes me smile, and it’s just something I like to do. If you’re looking to add me, please feel free. I’m there as Stargrace (big surprise).

Anyway, I recently won a steam copy of Tropico 4. Why I had never played this game before, I have no idea. A few friends of mine suggested that this game would be perfect for me, since I love games like Civilization, Sims, Sim City, and Banished. After 3 hours of playing, I have to agree. When I first started the game I decided I wasn’t going to bother with tutorials. That was a mistake. I quickly failed anything I tried to do after that, didn’t know the commands to do what I wanted the game to do, and so I went back and played through the (very lengthy) tutorials. They come in handy.

I then proceeded to play through my first campaign. It starts out really simple, you have to worry about a few rebels but no one is coming to invade you. You’re given a “city” to start out with (I use the term loosely) and you’re tasked with bettering it. I started out by swapping my farms over to corn so that my people could get some food. Built them a hospital, some fishing warfs, and before I knew it my little city had blossomed into a 200 population town. There were police stations to keep down the crime, and then the environmentalists started in on me. They were a thorn in my side. I built them some rehabilitation plants along with some strategically placed fountains and trees to block the dump. That seemed to appease them.

Finally it was election time. I was granted a lot of money to ~~bribe~~ make as many quality of life changes as I could in a pretty short time, and then see how the election went.

I won, of course. A generous leader! I had 157 votes, while my competition only had 43. I noticed Tropico 5 is out right now, but I don’t really have the funds to pick it up, so I’m going to wait for a steam sale (maybe the Christmas one). In the mean time, I’m certainly hooked.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Finally, Something to do with my Spare Currency!

I decided with only a few days left of Tinkerfest, I should learn tinkering on my swashbuckler. I already have the skill on a few characters, but not my current main. Headed to butcherblock, my recipe vendor of choice, and there in a tent I spotted a new NPC I had not seen before. I have no idea when he was added, but the gnome Barnaby Blunderbuss had the title <Master of Coins and Contraptions> under his name. Opening up the window revealed that he was a token exchange NPC. Basically you can turn in any of the old tokens that you collect in-game over the years for an adornment or tinkering component instead. Since both of those crafts tend to take a lot of pieces (especially adorning) I was incredibly happy to see this NPC.

It meant that finally after stockpiling useless currency in my currency tab for years, I was able to do something with it all. I quickly exchanged it all (over 5,000 bits..) and began working on adorning.

I have always disliked the fact that each expansion or event came with its own useless currency, that would collect dust once I had moved on. This NPC was the perfect solution to my cluttered bags and tokens that stared at me grudgingly.

I also managed to complete a bunch of Tinkerfest quests, and got a brand new outfit for my swashbuckler, but I’ll save those for tomorrow. Weekends are always a bit more difficult for me to write because there are so many other chores I need to get done (I work all weekend) but I’m pleased that so far I’ve managed to participate in every day of Blaugust. Here’s to day 10 and counting!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!