Holy Cow...even more Too Human

So yet another cool thing I found out last night playing the demo (yet again) that the timed fights will provide different rewards base on how quickly you can clear em (I was under the assumption it was a survival timer). The demo is setup to show off a Rare armor set of blueprints. It ends up looking pretty bad ass.

The more I get into this game, the more I reflect on Hellgate and how utterly disappointing that game was. I went over some of my old posts where I hyped it up like crazy and feel like such an idiot. One of the biggest flaws in the game was the total lack of level design. I was listening to a podcast that summed it up saying that there was no real reward to seek out the off-the-path areas. So far, just in the demo, Too Human is already giving me some replay value. Of course, this could prove to be inconsistent in the full game but one can hope.

Too Humansy - My Strategies

I think I'm becoming a bit of a fan-boy. For one reason or another, I'm compelled to write my strategies for Too Human. I think this is just having a lack of anyone to talk to about it :).

Weapons
Swords - these come 1h/2h flavors and for the Berserker, dual-wield. It seems that swords are the best for criticals and thus make great 1v1 weapons. While the bigger 2h swords can "sweep", they arent' as effective as others. If you have a high melee attack speed, these are the weapons to go with (cause then the crowd won't be a problem).
Staves - These seem to be good at "sweeping" which is to push back a lot of enemies at once. I haven't found their damage to be anything special but they are excellent crowd control and buying you extra time.
Hammers - These come in 1H/2H/Shield(Defender Only) flavors. 1h Hammers provide some impact but still give you better speed. 2H Hammers are my personal favorite. The juggle move causes a stomp which can throw several baddies up into the air at once. I've found 2H Hammers especially useful for the Commando. As you hold your ground, if any enemies get close, whack, then blast em out of the air (this works well for "elites" too).
Pistols - Since they are all dual-wield, pistols end up being great ranged weapons if you plan on being in the middle of the fight. If you find that you dive towards the middle and have them come at all sides, go for these. If you are holding a position, I would recommend..
Rifles - These are the best for long range. Once enemies get in very close, this weapon can begin feel slow. Its moments like this that you can call in the alternate fire which release a grenade that can buy you some time to retreat to safer position.

More Too Humanzy

Allright I have to post more about this game. Since I'm still getting accquainted with my workmates (and so far I'm the only one playing lots of games) and Laura is a sweetheart but not too into it, I'm going to share my thoughts with you all here. So if you don't care, go somewhere else.

Raj cued me into the fact that the demo for Too Human will slowly unlock all 5 classes as the release date approaches. He also informed me that the "kids on the net" already found out how to cheat this and get all the classes unlocked. I went ahead and tried this and found even more ways to have fun with the game.

I think what is getting me with this game is all the little things I'm learning about combat and different skills. There really does feel to be a decent amount of depth to the choices you make. What really proved it for me with the demo was trying to play through as the Commando, who is the defacto ranged class. At first, I did pretty bad. I was able to kill guys but it felt hard to keep them all back. There is one optional mini-boss in the demo that is became my grading-standard for how good I was with a class (he is the guy in the chamber to the left at the 3-door side chamber thing). My first time through, I died pretty fast against this guy. I played with another character and learned how to propperly juggle (double tap the right stick in the direction of the target). I came back and realized that the key to winning with the Commando (whose melee skills are of course terrible) is to run up to the boss, get him into the air, then shoot him while backing up. I eventually crossed this with a 2 handed hammer for groups of baddies since it shoots a ton up into the air at once.

Oh dang, Laura is telling me its time to go to bed. Until next time, keep watching the skis.

Too Humansy

So I had my first "work" weekend. Here I am, a recovering student-related workaholic faced with the concept of not having to do any extra work on the weekend. I am actually free to do what I want. This is indeed a disturbing universe.

I ended up grabbing the demo for Too Human (which apparently I was un-aware had come out). I got to tell ya, I had a blast with it. Every once-in-awhile, as a gamer, you will get lucky and find that one game that scratches the right itch at the right time. This is definetly one of those games. Too Human (for those who don't know) basically takes the action-rpg genre and applies it to the console. If you were watching, the game looks like similar to Ninja Gaiden or God of War. If you are playing however, it is a lot less button mashing then those kinds of games (which I am terrible at). I think what appeals to me the most about Too Human is that I really feel like a total bad ass when I cut through bad guys. So many times in action-rpg games, not enough attention is given to the "visceral" nature of the game. Yeah you get loot and exp, but you need to feel like you earned it.

What is sad about Too Human is the whole gaming media frenzy over it. There was a lot of hype, a lot of disappointment, a lot of hype again, and then a mixture of both. I've been browsing over a few forums and it is interesting to see how much fighting and bickering their is over this game. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe this will lower people's expectations and they will end up having a better time. Who knows. Well I'm definetly excited about the August 18th and cannot wait to get my hands on a copy.

My First Day(s)

It feels like not too long ago, I was posting about my first days at Full Sail. Now I'm faced with talking about my new first day being a software engineer for WMS Gaming in Chicago. I have a feeling this will become some kind of pattern. I am fairly sure I am going to have a few more first day posts down the road.

So to fill those in who don't know, WMS is a company that makes Slot Machines for Casinos all over the world. These range from the old school spinning reel machines to advanced 100% digital ones. There are hybrids too that involve both with thing LCD screens placed over mechanical reels to allow more crazy imagery and feedback. My role here is to take the art/sound/game design elements that create these games and tie them all together.

While I'm writing this on my third day, It still feels like my first day. So far I've been learning how to do my programming skillz in a Linux enviroment. The ironic thing is that I kept telling myself and anyone that would listen that one of my biggest weaknesses as a programmer was not trying different development enviroments. In fact, I know extremely little about the true low-level stuff that goes on to make even Visual C++ operate. Being stripped of that Visual Studio IDE and Windows and placed into something completly foreign is extremly intimidating. Foruntatly, I have a superior who is extremely understanding and has been helping me get adjusted. I finally got to do a little practice coding today which is helping me get more comfortable. I still think it'll be a week or two more before I'm fully ready to go. \

Laura and I are still adjusting to our new place in Chicago. We got in a pretty steady rhythm down in Florida so this sudden change is still taking its toll. Personally, I'm trying to sort out my after work hours. Yesterday (after what could be called my first real day since the actualy first day was just orientation) when I got back I was so tired I just sat on the couch and didn't even try to do anything particular. I have a nerdy feeling that I need to schedule out my free time. I'm thinking of starting an online excel file just for posting my chores and what games, etc I should play. If I don't, I'll probably waste a lot of time that could be better spent.

Oh yeah, we are going back to the gym today. Gonna make sure to start chugging water an hour before I leave work. Hopefully that'll keep me awake and not sluggish when I get home. We'll see.

Possible Games for tonight:

1. GTA 4
2. WoW - still working on getting that Priest to 70
3. Sins of a Solar Empire - working on 10 ffa with all Hard AI
   

Robots, El Diablo, Inner City Pressure, and the Infinite Possiblites of Tommorow

Yo ho friends and family (and any other viewers)! After finally getting our internet setup in our new Chicago Apartment, I was about to launch WoW but decided I fully owe to the people to post about my current status.

Laura and I felt extremly rushed during our last weeks in Flordia. There was so much to enjoy and for me, a lot to revel in. Smashout was (for the most part) considered a success by Full Sail. Our presentation was one of those moments that I'll be chasing to feel again probably for the rest of my life. It was actually kind of tought to go from 5 months of daily routine of improving a game to suddenly in about a day see that game done, packaged, and released. While some work is still left to be done on the Full Sail Arcade Cabinet version, I am going to miss this game and I am going to miss my team. Academically speaking, it was the best time of my life.

So we packed it all in and got the hell out of dodge. We spent a day with our friends in Georgia (congrats on the baby Jess and Kevin!) and then headed back to homeland Fort Wayne, IN. After staying there for a few days we got the call (John Paul? John Paul!) from the movers and headed over to Chicago. It has been several exhausting days of moving in and to top it off, we had a Wedding to attend on Saturday. While we are still recovering, our place is really starting to feel like home. I will post some pics on my Google Picasa album soon. I have to say that so far I am very paranoid in Chicago. I am really not used to Big Cities and always feeling a little freaked out when going around. Laura is handling it a lot better then me. She has always been more adventourus while I'm just a big homebody that would rather order in.

Before leaving Florida (and after getting to Fort Wayne) we headed out and saw WALL-E. This is simply one of the greatest movies I have ever seen and to prevent myself from spoiling it, I will just say get your ass to the theater and experience it. On other news, my friends and I collectively squealed like little girls and the annoucment of Diablo 3. Man-o-man, I cannot wait for this game. As my good friend Adam put it, we are constaly "Chasing Diablo." We are always hoping that someone will get it (which made Hellgate even more of a dissapointment) but I guess we just had to wait for the creators to bring it back.

Well I'll be starting work on the 21st. I'm pretty excited but at the same time scared as hell. I've always done my craft in an academic instituion and I'm hoping I can make the transition with some ease. Either way, there is just a whole bunch of stuff happinin. I'm love this plan and I'm excited to be a part of it.