Witch Hunt Review
Just finished the DLC and would say that it is good but not great. Whether or not you should consider it really boils down to a single question. Was Morigan your romantic interest? If not there is really nothing here that will feel fulfilling. If she was read on.
The DLC contains two new party members and reacquaints you with your dog from the original. The two new characters are entertaining enough but nothing remarkable. The thing that is impressive is that both characters have TONS of recorded dialogue. In fact they both banter and exchange dialogue almost every second for the whole length of the DLC. Since this is one of my favorite attributes of Dragons Age I was very happy. Throughout the DLC you revisit five locations from the original game. Aside from the very last section there is really nothing new here.
Difficulty is almost nonexistent at this point. At level 33 with four specializations your character is practically a god. My companions all died at least once but my main character never dipped below half health.
Is it a fulfilling ending and worth the price?
Sort of. The DLC is quality but it is also very short with little new information about the overall story but it does provide possible closure to the Morigan arc.
PROS
Offers some closure for the Morigan romance arc.
Fun party banter and character development.
Quite a few hidden inside jokes if you look for them.
New enemy is freaky looking.
NEUTRAL
Really Easy.
CONS
Can be completed in 1-3 hours depending if you investigate everything.
Very little new information.
No point if Morigan wasn’t your romantic interest.
One Stop Blue Printing specializes in CAD Printing and other large format printer services throughout Brooklyn and New York. Because they offer various printing services which appeals to a wide audience they wanted to make sure that non computer oriented people would be able to navigate around the website. Along with very specific layout needs they also requested a very specific look for their website. One Stop Blueprinting wanted the site to have a very animated and lighthearted design so that it would stand out among their competitors. They also chose a specialty navigation item based on the YoYo’s they hand out at tradeshows.
One Stop Blueprinting is located is located in Broolyn New York, if you would like to contact them for Blueprinting needs or other printing services call (718)499-6466 or (718)599-0911. View Blueprinting services on the web.
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-Richard Keene
www.richardkeene.com
The last couple months have been exhausting which has resulted in my worldly absence. Starting back before August I signed three new SEO clients, was put in charge of database construction and maintenance for my parent company, and had to move. On top of that a death in the family left me drained and disconnected.
Most recently I have worked with Super Sized Cycles to modernize and revitalize their website. Super Sized Cycles is a local Vermont business that designs bicycles for plus sized individuals with the hope of promoting exercise and improved health. Because of the number of overweight individuals around the country and their general status as second class citizens I have to really admire the companies’ agenda. The new website has been rebuilt from the ground up to make it easier for individuals to find what they need. In addition we have begun a campaign to promote the companies wares.
The company’s founder, Joan Denizot has been really receptive to new ideas I hope to build on her website and marketing presence over the coming months. If you or someone you know could benefit from the company’s products please visit the website. The company might be small but they work hard to produce quality products and go out of their way to help their customers.
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-Richard Keene
www.richardkeene.com
Emily Benton is a graduate of the Electronic Game Design major at Champlain College. Emily has spent the last four years honing her skills as Level Designer and Layout Artist. As part of her professional studies Emily worked to create content for the award winning government sponsored first person shooter, Americas Army. The mod project for Americas Army went public in December of 2008 and has been highly received by the game public. Rounding out her moding experience Emily has created content as part of a group for the Unreal 3 and Source engines including Project I (U3) and Decay (Source).
Along with traditional Level Design skills such as experience with Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Mudbox, Zbrush and CrazyBump, Emily posses knowledge of Video and Audio editing software and has done supporting work as a voice actor.
In the video below you will see a demo reel demonstrating Emily’s most recent works as well as well as insight into the thought process of their creation.
Emily Benton now seeks a position as a full time Level Designer. Visit her full portfolio.
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-Richard Keene
www.richardkeene.com
“The invasion began without warning.
After a thousand years of peace, the aliens have returned.
The planet’s survival depends on activating the ancient Defense Grid…if it still functions at all.”
By now most people are familiar with the Tower Defense style of game play so when the small indie game Defense Grid came along most people shrugged and moved on. The idea of paying for a game when literally hundred of free variants already exists turned most people off but the few who gave it a chance were in for a surprise. Although it doesn’t stray too far from the Tower Defense formula Defense Grid: The Awakening is a polished and charming effort from developer Hidden Path Entertainment.
The story of Defense Grid is sparse but told surprisingly well by the disembodied voice of your AI director, who provides tutorials and story based quips through the game. While intriguing, this character doesn’t quite measure up to other game personas such as GLaDOS from Portal. This is really shame because the potential is there and it could have easily elevated Defense Grid: The Awakening to classic status.
The game play is fairly standard fair for Tower Defense games. You start out with the ability to build basic Gun Turrets and as the game goes forward additional turrets and upgrade options are made available. Hordes of enemies enter the playing field through a variety of entry points, often with multiple paths and exit points. What really steals the show though is the presentation and implementation. Unlike most Tower Defense games the playing field takes full advantage of the 3D engine with overlapping path and the ability to create elaborate kill zones. Constructing paths with your towers and finding just the right placement is incredibly fun, addicting and rarely frustrating. If you buy the game through Steam you have the added fun of seeing your score on each level compared with any friends who also have the game. Since levels have hundreds of possible solutions this opens up near endless replay ability as you compete with your friends.
In the end Defense Grid: The Awakening doesn’t redefine the genre but it does polish it to a beautiful sheen. If you like Tower Defense game play at all you owe it to yourself to give this game a chance. At $15 on most sites you are unlikely to regret it.
-Richard Keene
Tags: Game Review, Tower Defense
Earlier this week I ran into this infuriating problem. I upgraded my copy of the Adobe Design Suite to the fancy new CS4 but immediately ran into a problem. All of my file associations were now broken. I could manually open all my old files with the appropriate files but simply clicking on them was an effort in pointless fruition.
Windows Vista has a Default Programs option but trying to browse to an .exe resulted in just a kick back to the original menu without the correct program added to the “recommended program” list. After a two day search I finally came upon a program that solves simply and efficiently!
OpenWithAdd for Windows and Vista along with its author, Ramesh Srinivasan, deserves much praise in my opinion. After downloading the program I was able to register all my programs to the “open with” menu and fix all the file associations in about three minutes. After searching for a fix for two days I came to realize that this is a fairly common problem with Vista so hopefully this entry proves to be useful for some people.
You can find OpenWithAdd at http://windowsxp.mvps.org/
-Richard Keene
Tags: Windows Fixes
As a web developer there are few things I hate more than having to keep websites compliant with Internet Explorer 6. Sure, lots of web developers say that making an IE6 compliant website isn’t that difficult for someone who is fluent in standards correct HTML but when it comes down to it how long should we have to support an outdated browser?
I’ve heard both sides of the issue and while both have valid points I side with the IE6 droppers. Internet Explorer 6 is time consuming to design for and the least secure browser still in wide circulation. The irony is that businesses, which require security the most, are statistically the most common users of IE6. Upgrading isn’t difficult people. It can also save your business many problems later on.
The official stats on IE6 usage vary from source to source but thankfully they do all show a downward trend. Most statistics show IE6 has dropped below 18% of the global market but for as old as the browser is that is still disturbingly high. Hopefully, the onset of windows 7 will change these stats but with the success of Vista, or lack thereof, it’s hard to say.
For anyone else who regularly is forced to test designs on multiple browsers I recently stumblemed upon this tool. IETester simulates all old and current versions of IE6 allowing you to test designs easily. If you’re like me and run Vista this is an excellent time saver. I have to thank http://www.madfellas.com for blogging about this tool. You made my day last week.
-Richard Keene
Working in the field I do I have made a lot of friends with artistic or creative backgrounds. Some I have met through college, others I have met working on side projects. In any case once a month I would like to profile one associate whom I believe deserves recognition. If you like what you see please visit their website.
Ryan Skinner
An accomplished former student at Center for Technology Essex (CTE) and Champlain College graduate. Ryan has held a passion for computer animation and graphic design for the last ten years. Possess creativity, artistic talent, excellent problem solving ability, and learns to use new technology easily. Received high academic honors in high school and college. Enjoys playing all genres of games from real time strategy, to massively multiplayer, to first person shooters.
I went to college with Ryan at Champlain College in Burlington Vermont. Ryan attended as part of the Electronic Game Design program and has composed a body of work reflecting this. With experience in 3-D Studio Max, Lightwave, Illustrator and Flash he has worked on a number of projects utilizing both 3D and 2D art Assets.
Having worked as Lead Artist for the Senior Game Design program Ryan now seeks a position as a professional modeler/texture.
Visit his portfolio on the web.
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-Richard Keene
www.richardkeene.com
I’ve been a big fan of Neil Gaimans work since I first read the novel Neverwhere back in 2000. Since then I have actively pursued every project he has worked on. Back in 2002 I quickly snatched up the original novella of Coraline. While a departure from Gaiman’s work for adults, Coraline, was entirely entrancing and at times downright creepy. Jump ahead to 2009 with the motion picture release I was happily in line opening weekend.
First I feel I need to point out a bit of bias I have against this movie. As one of only of about 5 people in the world who hated “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, I’ve come to realize Stopmotion is not for me. I’ve tried watching Stopmotion numerous time since my first viewing of that movie and every time I am annoyed by the medium. That said this is my favorite Stopmotion I’ve seen.
The story or Coraline features a young girl who has just moved into a new house with her parents. Bored one rainy day Coraline decides to explore the house and finds a locked door in the drawing room, which her mother opens and explains once led to the flat next door but was bricked up. That night Coraline is awoken by noises in the drawing room and when she goes to investigate finds that the door is slightly ajar and the bricks have vanished. Curious, she enters to find a world very similar to her own; only as time goes on she learns many unsettling truths about the world she has entered.
The greatest compliment I can give the film is that the story stays extremely close to that of the novella. An extra character has been added but given the fact that without him Coraline wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to for most of the movie it’s understandable. The character has obviously been added to give someone for male children to relate to but his inclusion is still minimal enough as not to be an annoyance. This is probably also a good time to bring up the tone and subject matter. While this is a children’s movie it is not a lighthearted Disney affair. This fact seems to have evaded many of the parents in the audience who showed extreme discomfort during certain scenes I won’t ruin here. While there isn’t anything truly bad in the movie there were a couple scenes that made the little girl sitting behind us ask her mother if they could go home.
As with most people around the country I had to chance to see Coraline in digital 3D. Most movies I’ve seen in 3D use the effect as a gimmick and is often distracting. Coraline rises above this and actually uses the effect to add extra atmosphere to the movie. It’s also the most technically well done 3D movie I’ve seen.
If you enjoy Stopmotion then you can skip this section entirely. My only real complain with the movie is that it is done in Stopmotion. As I mentioned above I simply find it hard to enjoy movies that use this animation technique. There is a grittiness to Stopmotion that prevents me from caring as much about characters as I otherwise would. That said Coraline is probably the most impressive use of Stopmotion I’ve seen and has a smoothness that almost transcends the medium.
Overall I would say that Coraline is an extremely faithful rendition of a great story. The characters are endearing yet edgy enough for older audiences. There is a maturity to the story which is often lacking in children movies and something I appreciate greatly. I would recommend it to anyone but make sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into before you take extremely young children.
Movie Rating for Coraline
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8 out of 9
Richard Keene
Because I was one of the people who purchased Dawn of War: Soul Storm I was allowed to participate in the Dawn of War II Beta. First of all let me say that I was and still am a huge fan of the original game. I purchased Dark Crusade and Soul Storm on day one so when I heard a full-fledged sequel was in the works I was incredibly excited.
New game options allow the use special abilities on Allies; such as seen here with Halley’s Orks benefiting from my force field.
Well Tuesday was the big day and I downloaded the beta with much anticipation. Well the good news is that DoWII is a lot of fun; the bad news is it doesn’t really feel like a true sequel. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Dawn of War II takes many of the ideas laid down in the original game and expands on them. Like the original the game revolves around the capture of resource points a map. Most units are capable of capturing said points and once done resources come in at a steady rate. DoWII takes this a step further by removing the ability to place a defensive building on the points and moves power plants to the center of the map as well.
While this presents interesting new tactical challenges I think this is where the first problems stem from. First, now that points are gained and lost faster you need to focus on the whole map instead of just a part. Even though forces are smaller this means you have less time to pay attention to them. Much of the charm of the original came from the units which had great personality. This also goes along with my second complaint. The new units look amazing but the camera has been pulled back so far that they appear less impressive than in the original game. Because the camera is pulled back you also miss the iconic synch kills that made Dawn of War so memorable.
The game play itself is actually really compelling and feels like a slightly revised Company of Heroes. If you enjoyed that game you will probably enjoy this. Suppression replaces morale and makes units like heavy bolters downright intimidating. Tanks have also been given a major overhaul making them infantry killing monsters but extremely vulnerable to anti vehicles weapons. In many cases I think they are actually a little too weak. An example being that a Dreadnaught can pretty much one-shot Eldar vehicles in melee. Also, anyone who loved the speed of Eldar vehicles will likely be a little disappointed as they are now among the slowest. This change was obviously done for balance reasons but it feels jarring.
Overall I would say that the game is different enough from the original that it will be wise to for long time players to try a demo before purchasing. It accomplishes what it wanted wonderfully but much of the character and charm of the original has been lost in the transition. Regardless it is still worth a look.
Beta Rating for Dawn of War II
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7 out of 9
Richard Keene
Tags: Dawn of War II