MY MOD HISTORY – PART 1

DEADLOCK, mod for Making History Gold

With all these “Never Finished Projects”, you may think I can’t accomplish anything. I will dedicate the next post to my game modifications (mods).

Deadlock is my current project. It's a mod for the game Making History Gold. Let me tell you a little about MH.

At the first look, MH is not exactly attractive. The presentation is simple, the graphics are outdated, but if you like war games, there is a great possibility you will be hooked by this one. I use to test every single game I have opportunity to get my hands on, from the blockbusters to the indie stuff and no video game made me stand in front of the computer more time than Making History.

For short, the game is based on WW2, and you command one country through the history events. Any country. Depending on your influence, the history can be change (Germany can win the war, USA can be obliterated or even Haiti can become a world power).

A cool feature of the game is the support for “scenarios”. Players can actually make their own version of the war and upload it in the game’s site.
I downloaded, played and enjoyed the custom scenarios but… why keeping the game in WW2? Why not changing the game deeper? So I decided to make not a scenario, but a mod, Deadlock: a WW1 conversion for Making History.

Main Features:

- All countries of the WW1 era, including their flags, art set, politic map, armies and foreign relations.
- New units, including Assault Infantry, Lancers, WW1 tanks, WW1 planes, Airships, Seaplane Tenders and Torpedo Boats. New 3d models.
- Units’ stats, economy and provinces adapted for WW1. More than 30 new cities.
- New technology tree.
- Important events of the WW1, like Russian Revolution, Arab Revolt, Irish Easter Rising and Finnish Civil War.

Some images comparing the original game (WW2) and the mod (WW1):

Game lobby for France

Map of Europe

Fighter researches

Tank researches

You can follow the mod progress in these links:
Making History HQ - More than 5,000 downloads!
Mod DB

NEVER FINISHED PROJECTS: TF2 CBG

TEAM FORTRESS 2 CARD/BOARD GAME


I was keeping this project quiet until it’s done to show to the Valve guys. Unfortunately, I had some disappointments in sending suggestions to game developers. It looks like creative geniuses are not very willing to receive outside ideas. Anyway, in my days of addiction for Team Fortress 2, I conceived a card game. 

“TF2 CBG” is the 3rd card game I designed. The first one was “Mana”, back in the middle nineties, based on AD&D (something like “Spellfire meets Magic”). The second was “Warcraft III Card Game” (see Never Finished Projects – Part 3, posted September 21, 2008). And, believe it or not, there are 2 other card games I’m planning right now.

Basically, this game is to be played one-o-one. One player is the RED team and the other is the BLU team.

Each player has two decks, being one the “Loadout deck” (thanks, PaperStab!) and the other the “Teammate deck”. The loadout deck is made by up to 40 Weapon and Maneuver cards choosen by the player. The teammate deck is composed by 9 fixed cards, the Teammates, one for each type (Demoman, Engineer, Heavy, Medic, Pyro, Scout, Sniper, Soldier and Spy).

There is a possibility to use miniatures instead of the teammates cards in the board, which make it much smaller.

Weapons are attached to a Teammate and Maneuvers are spent to make an instant effect.

There is a board (“map”) with the dimensions of at least 6x9 squares, and its configuration depends on the game mode (Intelligence, Control Point, Payload and Arena). There can be different map configurations for each game mode (like Badlands, Well, Granary, etc., all for Control Point mode). Intelligence maps are won capturing the enemy’s Intel 3 times. In Control Point maps, win the player who hold all CPs. In Payload maps there is an attacking player that needs to push a card to the enemy base. And in Arena maps, starting rules are a bit different, the teammates can’t respawn and the bases don’t offer protection, so the player with surviving teammates wins.

At the start of a round (Setup Phase), each player draws one card from each deck. He can spawn the teammate in his base and attach a weapon card in any of his teammates that accept that weapon.
In the Mission Phase the player can move his teammates, attack, and use Maneuver cards.

Each killed teammate goes to the bottom of the teammate deck. Each weapon or maneuver card lost is remove from the game. If the custom deck of both players ends, the game is over in Stalement (except in attack/defend maps, like Payload, when the defender wins).

Teammate card have the following stats: Speed, Health and Melee Damage.
Weapon cards have: Damage per range and may have special features.

The attacks are made by rolling a 6-side dice. The damage is dealt comparing the result of the dice with the maximum damage of the weapon for that range. For instance, if you roll a “5” and the maximum damage of that weapon for that range is “3”, you will do 3 of damage. Rolling a “6” means “critical”, and always delivers 6 of damage.

Well, this is the basics. I managed to cover everything of the video game in the card game. In the list of the maneuvers, you can find cards like: Rocket Jump; Double Jump; Ubercharge; Cloak; Teleport: Entry; Teleport: Exit; Sentry Gun; Compression Blast; Rocket on the Feet; etc.

Example of a maneuver card:
Stick Grenade Jump
- Duration: instant
- Replaces: attack
- Requires: Demoman with Stick Grenade Launcher
- Roll a [4] die. The Demoman can move that distance and receives 2 of damage. This movement passes though any obstacle.


Here is a preview of how should be the teammate cards:




And the basic weapons:

REVIEW: DAWN OF WAR II

I was looking forward since 2008 for the Dawn of War II. I can’t say I’m disappointed, but Relic will have lot of work to make this DoW2 as remarkable as where the previous ones.


- GRAPHICS: 9.0
(The graphics are top, but like the other DoW, the effects cause my – and probably more people’s - eyes to get red after some time playing. Relic should be aware of that when making its next release)

- SOUND: 9.0
(very adequate for the game)

- GAMEPLAY: 9.0
(the unit’s upgrades are good, but we, DoW fans, wanted more squads to control. Playing with an army of only 4 squads is frustrating)

- MULTIPLAYER: 8.0
(the cooperative campaign is great, but the regular skirmish multiplayer is too much simplified. We all miss the DoW gameplay in skirmish. And why Windows Live + Steam?)

- INNOVATION: 8.0
(DoW + Company of Heroes resulted in a downgrade DoW)

- EXTENSIBILITY: ?
(will Relic release decent mod tools? Community content support? We don’t know yet. If not, DoW2 will dye pretty soon)

- REPLAY FACTOR: 7.0
(as the campaign is much more linear than in Dark Crusade or Soulstorm, this game is unlikely to be played much after completed)

- OVERALL: 8.5

Duel of titans

Pimp your squad!

Fast action in a destructible environment

Scary cut scenes

- CONCLUSION:
DoW2 it’s a good but yet limited game, which carries the burden of other great titles. Being very different from the previous DoW series, it’s better to don’t uninstall your Dark Crusade. Let’s just hope the expansions will not only add the awaited new factions, but also new game features and deepness.

COMICS IN FILMS

Speaking about comics’ super heroes adaptations, I made a list of the movies from 2000 until now, classified in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good

1- Watchmen
2- The Dark Night
3- Iron Man
4- Batman Begins
5- X-Men 3
6- X-Men 2
7- X-Men
8- Hellboy 2
9- Spiderman 2
10- Spiderman 3
11- Spiderman

The Bad

1- Constantine
2- Hulk
3- The Incredible Hulk
4- Hellboy
5- V for Vendetta
6- Ultraviolet
7- The Punisher
8- Superman – Returns
9- The League of Extraordinary Gentleman
12- Fantastic Four
13- Fantastic Four 2
14- Wanted

The Ugly

1- Cat Woman
2- Electra
3- Daredevil
4- Ghost Rider

“The Good” movies are faithful or improved versions of the comics that really work as a film.
Most in “The Bad” list are not always that awful as movies, but they use to be so different in concept from the comics that I couldn´t like them.
And “The Ugly”… well, they just suck hard in all ways.

Funny as hell

I’m a jerk, but I’m the Iron Man

REVIEW: WATCHMEN – THE MOVIE

This one will be fast: I loved the movie and I endorse every change made by the film’s authors.




Best scenes:

» The amazing opening, with an amazing song, telling the (alternative) story of the US from the thirties to the eighties.
» Most of the Rorschach citations, like:
“- Is this BEAN juice?
- HUMAN bean juice...”
» Prison scene. “I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!”
» The ending – greatest director “liberty” and works even better than the gigantic psyche octopus from the comics.

Conclusion:

» Sure it was hard to adapt these comics to the silver screen, but the director chooses the only acceptable way: to be as faithful as possible. This is not a movie for everyone, though. As the graphic novel wasn´t.

Minutemen flashbacks

Only in real world the villains are more human than the heroes

Flawless locations

A darker America

REVIEW: WATCHMEN - THE COMICS

I just finished reading the Watchmen, for the third time. The first was just after its release, back in the eighties, the second some years ago. Each time I read it gets better.

No other comics have a so complex and intelligent plot, so deep and human characters, so many stories within the story and so much philosophic questioning. Watchmen could be called the “comics to end all comics”.

Now the comic series are in the spotlight because of the upcoming film. Even though the movie looks flawless so far, we old fans are waiting with a mix of apprehension and excitement. Snyder has done a pretty good job in 300. Let us hope he can capture the spirit of the Watchmen in the silver screen.

Meanwhile, I recommend the reader to follow the news about the adaptation of one of the side stories. Here is the trailer.

For those who don’t know what these “Tales of the Black Freighter” are, take a look here.

Ah, few people know, but there is a “Watchmen Motion Comic”. It’s a very true adaptation to the comics. More information here.

One of the best novels of XX century is a comic book

2008 PC GAMES REVIEW

These are the PC Games that got my attention in 2008.

Sins of a Solar Empire
» Score: 8,0
» The Good: very interesting and original solutions for the RTS genre; great co-op gameplay.
» The Bad: no campaign (no background or story to link the levels).

Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath
» Score: 7,5
» The Good: the Global Conquest mode, the different factions.
» The Bad: weak campaign; no multiplayer or setting flexibility for the Global Conquest mode.

Assassin’s Creed
» Score: 8,0
» The Good: interesting story; great freedom.
» The Bad: buggy; lack of more RPG elements.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
» Score: 9,0
» The Good: total multiplayer support; good campaign and game modes; challenging AI (but just in Terrorist Hunt); simplified gameplay; amazing arsenal; the Terrorist Hunt mode is great, especially on co-op.
» The Bad: too similar to Vegas 1; weapons should be better configured, based on their real properties; campaign too easy and with weak ending; lacks of more tactical factor from the old R6 games; poor mod support.

Dawn of War: Soulstorm
» Score: 7,5
» The Good: well balanced new races, flying units, better meta-map game.
» The Bad: lower quality (story and especially graphics), if you compare with Dark Crusade. And… Sisters of Battle?!

Mass Effect
» Score: 9,5
» The Good: amazing graphics, levels, story, combat system…
» The Bad: confusing inventory; low replay factor; and the unforgiving: no multiplayer!

Spore
» Score: 6,5
» The Good: the first 2 phases, although too simple, are very charming. The creature creation tool is very impressive.
» The Bad: disappointing. The Tribal and Civilization Phases are ridiculous (RTS for babies?). The Space Phase is deeper but very confusing and endless (boring). Instead of really improving the gameplay, there will be dozens of useless add-ons. Massive Single-Player? Come on!

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization
» Score: 6,0
» The Good: it holds interest in the beginning.
» The Bad: much more limited than the other Civs. In terms of graphics and gameplay this game could be released 10 years ago and make no difference.

Guitar Hero Aerosmith
» Score: 5,0
» hmmm... well, the menu art is still very stylish and nice.
» The Bad: poor music selection (or it’s just the band?); no innovation in gameplay or new features (they even kept the same 3d art); few content… Would only fit as an expansion, not a full game. Totally dispensable if you have GH3.

Bully: Scholarship Edition
» Score: 7,0
» The Good: teenager’s life in hell: the first chapter is very cool.
» The Bad: some places in the map are terribly modeled; most of the mini-games are stupid; the game loses all the interest in the middle of the 2nd chapter.

King’s Bounty: The Legend
» Score: 6,5
» The Good: a beautiful clone of the Heroes of Might & Magic.
» The Bad: badly balanced: even when you win a battle you end up weaker than before.

World of Goo
» Score: 9,5
» The Good: surprising creative, addictive, clever and gorgeous. It proves you don’t need millions to make an amazing game.
» The Bad: we want more difficult levels!

Dead Space
» Score: 8,0
» The Good: the film-like atmosphere, the visual impact.
» The Bad: repetitive. At some point you start to get annoyed with the same enemies and places. As a horror third person game, it’s as not good and tense as the first Alone in the Dark (probably the best third person game I ever played).

Fallout 3
» Score: 9,0
» The Good: another amazing first person RPG from Bethesda, with a huge area to explore, beautiful graphics, great story, many interaction options and side quests, charming and clever design (“You are S.P.E.C.I.A.L”).
» The Bad: lack of enemy variety, low replay factor, badly balanced weapons, lack of multiplayer. Could work much better as a FPS (just by increasing the damage of the weapons).

Far Cry 2
» Score: 9,0
» The Good: great freedom, huge environment, nice in-game graphics and menu art, surprising AI, destructible environment, fun with fire!
» The Bad: limited multiplayer (what about a co-op?); at some point the game becomes very repetitive. You kill more people in Africa than a plague, which gets boring – the guard posts shouldn’t always refill with enemies. More unique quests would improve a lot the “campaign”.

Red Alert 3
» Score: 8,5
» The Good: high quality movies, campaign and design; naval combat; incredible support for co-op (including in campaign). And an astonishing vision: Gemma Atkinson.
» The Bad: too much fantasy; limited unit and tactical upgrades. Enough of this time traveling stuff. Generals is still the best C&C game.

Call of Duty: World at War
» Score: 8,0
» The Good: dark and gory; great multiplayer support, including co-op for the campaign.
» The Bad: your AI allies are useless and depend entirely on you to kill the enemies or to reach the checkpoints; the campaign is terribly linear; after 3 Call of Duties in WW2, the formula isn’t fresh anymore.

Left 4 Dead
» Score: 8,5
» The Good: the randomness; scary; well balanced weapons; fantastic multiplayer.
» The Bad: few levels; few weapons; the zombies should be more aggressive (sometimes they just wait for a bullet in their head); the difficulty increases (a little) too much in the ending of the levels.

The misunderstood Vegas 2

It tastes so GOOd!

Fallout 3: fantastic experience

Not evaluated (yet): Crysis Warhead; Brothers in Arms; Hell’s Highway; STALKER: Clear Sky; Prince of Persia; Grand Theft Auto IV.

NEVER FINISHED PROJECTS – Part 4

Youtube video: MOUTH OF SAURON SINGING “MORDOR”

Percentage done: 0%

I was watching the deleted scene for The Return of the King movie, where the heroes meet the Mouth of Sauron in the Black Gate, and instantly I remember the song “Mordor” from the German band Running Wild.

It would be a great Youtube video to put the Mouth of Sauron singing that song, with scenes of orc hordes marching at the sound of the riff, the Mount Doom throwing fire, riding Nazgul, the Eye, etc. Well, maybe someday I will do it.

PREVIEW: WATCHMEN - THE MOVIE

When Watchmen graphic novel was released and I bought it, I was too young to fully understand it, but even so it marked me profoundly. As a comics fan, I was corrupted (or enlighten) by its deep story of intelligible people with real issues no matter the mask they wear. In fact, after Watchmen, I slowing lost my interest in comics, except for other disturbing and adult exemplars like The Dark Knight and Arkham Asylum.

Well (after what, twenty years?), the super-hero films are finally mature enough to allow this Watchmen Movie. I’ve been waiting and following all news for some years, but seeing the trailer impressed me like nothing since The Matrix. It still give me chills of excitement.

From the cast, the director to the art and music, it will be worth of the graphic novel. I’m dying to watch this movie.

To the trailers and other information in the official site.

Here are some images of the main characters:

Who watches the watchmen? – I hope everybody.