Bo'ness Dynasty Pt3 - King Maine McCinaed 'the reveler' of Lothian

(This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the Earl of Fife - renamed to the Bo'ness Dynasty.)
Pt1 - High Chieftan Drystan
Pt2 - High Chieftan Cinaed of Lothian

Trained as an adequate bargainer, Maine made is name as the life of the party. A dear friend to vassals, foreign rulers and wandering knights, Maine's feasts brought many to Edinburgh and most stayed to add their sword or skills to the glory of Lothian. Under Maine's rule the Bo'ness line strengthened in number and power with most finding desirable matches around the banquet table and landed titles flowing from continued expansion throughout Ireland, England, Norway and Denmark.  

Although the Bo'ness family tree grew greatly, Maine himself had only one daughter, Anna, through his early years. Maine's dearest held the family hopes of alliance with France together with early betrothals to Armagnac, but by the time the marriage proposal came to fruition Aquitaine had split from Francia, taking Armagnac with them. Adding to the strife, the Bouchard rulers were swayed to Messalianism, a new heretical offshoot of the Christian faith. For this they were hounded and purged through holy war, leaving Anna stranded without a husband. Before Maine could bring her home, Anna's elderly father-in-law, Duke Bouchard, forced another marriage to the young genius, dashing hopes of future children and alliances. This would not do. Maine plotted to bring her home through any means to keep the Bo'ness heir safe. Soon Duke Bouchard died to mysterious circumstances.

With Maine approaching 40 and still no male heir to the throne, the marriage to 'Anna the wise' was annulled under suspicion of infidelity. Maine's 2nd wife, Alix de Trainel (also gifted with a marvellous intellect) soon lifted to become a magnanimous host of the ever more impressive feasts crowding the halls of Edinburgh. 2 more daughters graced the family line, but concerns were finally laid to rest when Adam, heir to the Lothian throne, was born with Maine over 45. Alix continued to have children, leaving 8 to share the heritage left behind by the time Maine died.

With lineage secured, Maine's final years were devoted to becoming a King in his own right. The kingdom of Alba had flourished in large part to the growing power base of Lothian, but increases in land and levees for Maine also meant increases to his leige. Coupled with King Cinaed V's tight relationship to the Bavarian King, he held a dominant position fielding almost 14,000 men at the height of his power. Another concern was the tanistry elective process limiting kingdom candidates to only those of the Ailpin house; it couldn't be ousted by Bo'ness candidates no matter their standing. An exit strategy had to be found. 

Maine's opening came with the mysterious death of King Cinaed V to a spider bite, succeeding to King Conchenn. While the new liege had lower prestige and less alliances, he could still field 8,000 souls if needed. Maine's troops had grown to over 6,000, but was unsure how the generally reliable family alliances would hold since all swore fealty to Alba as well. With additional alliances garnered through his children to Wessex and as far-flung as Florence, Maine pressed for independence alone as Conchenn returned from raiding Ireland. The Lothian elite were also bolstered by mercenary warbands to field over 17,000 once raised. As Alba's levees returned to their lands, the Retinue of Hengist and other warbands tore into Gowrie, demolishing the standing army and laying siege the capital. Unable to recall Lothian levees, King Conchernn's army depleted to a measly 4,800 that even his own mercenary hires could not recover from. After the first month the campaign had largely been won, leaving only a few harried skirmishes and sieges to seal independence.

Shortly after breaking the shackles of Alba, the Kingdom of Lothian was announced with all lands from Edinburgh to York under rule as well as holdings in Ireland, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. As the embarrassment of Alba's sudden fall from dominance over the northern realms sunk in, King Conchernn switched primary titles to the Kingdom of Norway to signify where his power base now lay. Alba is no more.    

Maine's drunken excesses finally took their toll as the obese king revelled his last feast. King Adam may be young, but has his own destiny and domain to lead now.  

Bo'ness Dynasty Pt2 - High Chieftan Cinaed of Lothian

(This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the single title of Earl of Fife and the start of the Bo'ness Dynasty.)

Pt1 - High Chieftan Drystan

Cinaed took up the mantle of patron to the Bo'ness line amidst the turmoil of Viking battles for Scotland (Alba) and Northern England. With internal bickering between sons of Ivar the Boneless, other nations descended onto the confusion to tear out a piece for themselves. Cinaed helped himself to most of Lothian to surround his new capital at Edinburgh. Other regions of Ireland and Northumbria also came under the control of the Duke of Moray to add to Alba's dominance of the northern lands. 

In between local skirmishes and clams on the mainland, Cinaed also strengthened his presence on the Nordic coastline to completely supplant the Danes all the way to the Finnish peninsula as well as all mountain passes over into Swedish lands. 

Mercia moved in on Danes holding York to put even more pressure on established viking conquests. Cinaed also saw the opportunity to move in and take the prized capital of York, but missed the opportunity to compliment it with the fertile lowlands around Leeds, with the West Riding capital ceding to Mercia. Spoils were split on the Lancastrian coast as well with Cinaed holding Westmorland and the rest falling to an expanding Mercia. 

All was not happy families within the Alban Kingdom as easy Danish targets dried up. Strife started with the Earl of Lennox declaring rightful ownership of the Irish lands of Oriel, held by Cnes Bo'ness along with her norwegian estates in Traendalog. Mormaer Tadg from Atholl supported the claim to add vastly superior numbers to the equation and tore through the local Oriel defenses. With no formal alliance to assist, Cinaed changed tack and found an avenue to claim Lennox itself through somewhat dubious heraldry. He pressed the claim immediately and swept through the midland holding with ease and pushed into Atholl while their forces were preoccupied overseas on the nordic coast. As they pinned Cnes's troops into a final pitched battle, word reached Flaithbertach Neill that his domain is no more and, as a landless lord, his claim to Oriel is no longer valid.

Even though a few more petty claims over Danish lands rounded out the Cinaed's reign as one of expansion, the internal fractures of Alba hinted at an independent future for the Bo'ness line. 

Bo'ness Dynasty Pt1 - High Chieftain Drystan

 (This is an AAR for Crusader Kings III. Year 867 start with the Earl of Fife - renamed to the Bo'ness Dynasty.)

Drystan is the earliest known landholder for the Bon'ess Dynasty. Although there is no record of his early life or even how he came to hold the Mormaerdom (Earldom) of Fife, Drystan is likely to have come from Gaelic tribal lands between Edinburg and Linlithgow during the time of viking raids and great upheaval.  

Under the Kingship of Causantin II of Alba, Drystan had relative independence and sought a path to take over Edinburg to claim his homeland. With Ivar the Boneless raiding from the west and Jorvik pushing up from York, Drytan's meagre army could not hold claim for long on the Lothian capital, and eventually fell to Danish hands along with Northumbria. Disheartened, Drystan looked to Linlithgow instead. 

Both Sterling and Linlithgow were held by fellow vassal MacMuirdach. Although internal fighting was not unheard of, MacMuirdach held double the lands and could command almost 1000 tribesmen. Through marriage of Drystan's youngest son into the line of Prince Rhodri 'the great' of Gwynedd, the alliance yielded almost 2000 men to call upon and press the homeland claim. Stirling would fall 5 years later.

With Danish kings vying for Ireland, a small window of opportunity opened to allow Drystan to pinch Oriel from one of the smaller invaders. Alba also allied with Meath to control the top of Ireland until Bjorn 'Ironsides' headed west and dominated. 

Alba turned back to the mainland and forced claims on Strathearn's heart, taking Glasgow from the independent Kingdom. Drystan followed in on the weakened Cumbrians to pick up Kyle and surrounds, leaving Carrick and Galloway to fall soon after to Ivar the Boneless, giving continuous land from east to west across Scotland.

As a more established Earl and finding favour with Moray, Drystan continued tussels with smaller independent Danes on the Nordic coastline, gaining foothold in Bjorgvin and pushing north all the way round to Raumsdale. Enough land was gained to usurp the Vestlond title and elevate Drystan to High Chieftan. 

As an ill-fated holy war between Alba and The Isles was drawing to a close, Ivar the Boneless succumbed to injury and left his nation shattered between siblings. With Lothian falling to Jarl Godfrid separate to The Isles, Drystan pounced on the opportunity to take entire duchy in one bold claim. Calling on all allies and additional mercenaries the weakened Danes fell to a 4,500 strong army, but before the final sieges ran their course Drystan succumbed to old age. His dream of ruling from Edinburgh came 3 months later for the Bo'ness line. 

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - The Hamlet, The Ruins

The Hamlet

Much work to do. Once a bustling hive of activity, the hamlet offered little in service. It, too, had felt the harsh sting of my lineage’s demise. Boarded up and left to time’s grasp. Rising above the rooftops our mansion silhouetted the sky with exposed beams like festering claws. No place to stay anymore.

We need fresh souls to infuse life into this dilapidated estate, and for that, a restoration of the stagecoach network is my first priority. With deeds and crests of sovereignty, the veins of commerce were once again revived.

Canouville was the first to alight into our bleak domain, an aspiring Vestal with judgemental vigor. Raoullin also made the journey, but his proclivity to plague made for an awkward commute. Our assembly is enough to embark upward into the ruinous remains of my bloodline.

The Ruins

With limited provisions we set out to my ancestral home. Gothic architecture rising above once demanded respect, now webbed in neglect it portrayed a more sinister abode. Leading the way through the grandiose entrance, I halted at the sight of candles bracing a raised altar beneath a muralled monk. Lit candles. Apprehensive we scanned the foyer, but skeletal remains adorning the windows only indicated a prior, more murderous occasion.

Ever east through creaking door to a corridor festooned with derelict shelves of vellum and decaying plaster. Still nothing, but the tension eats into Dismas and I as we exchange nervous glances. Of note, an unburned torch held aloft, poised for a task long forgotten. We will give it purpose again.

Up ahead, a strongbox placed proudly in the vaulted chamber drew our gaze while a rabble of bones lurched toward us in animated fits. “To Arms!”

Raullin, silent as ever, reacted first with a puff of emboldening vapours to break my shocked condition and keen the senses. Dismas drew and fired forcefully, splintering bone and exploding whatever foul mastery held its frame together. “Back to the Pit!” He raged. I followed with my own critical smite to blanket the floor with unholy remains. They CAN be fought, they CAN be beaten!

Our attention turned to the reinforced chest. Surely no sober logic leaves this prize so openly on display? A trap? Dismas dared the lock with well-seasoned expertise and proffered up coin, scriven records of land grants and an unlikely shovel. “We’ll be needing that” announced Canouville, scouting the upcoming passageway. True enough, a crude jumble of stones and debris stood tall, defying our advance. Protruding corpses of unknown labourers mocked our attempts to clear the rubble, but with grim determination and spaded steel we overcame the obstacle.

Lying in wait, a brace of skeletons lumbered toward us, backed by a masked cultist. Grapeshot peppered them all as Dismas took command, urging us into the fray. Raoullin let loose a blinding flask of fireworks toward the surprised acolyte while I zealously accused the leading skeletons; “Destroy. Them. All!” My words ripped through what fabric of control bound the bones together, leaving one in a clattering heap and the other wavering. Delivering holy judgement upon the stunned cultist, Canouville’s call boomed bright to rip clear the mask and expire the eyes behind it. The remaining soldier of bone took a grave slash toward our group, catching Canouville off guard. Dismas closed with knife in hand, but skilled execution in bloodletting offered no assistance in felling the calcified corpse, leaving the fatal blow to my own hand. A faint hope blossoms.These creatures seem poorly constructed and easily overpowered by zealous might.

Through the portico into another ruined expanse. No ambush or assault, but a choice of paths for consideration. We head East, more through comforting routine than strategic merit.

The torch, our lifeblood of sanity. Slowly ebbing into shadowy cocoon.

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - Reynauld the Crusader

Reynauld the Crusader

As the stagecoach wheels clattered along the cobblestones leading to our venerable house, I held the note loosely, hoping that the pored-over words would shake into a more enlightening alignment. The lanterns held back the darkness, but offered little comfort to my wandering mind. Memories of playing in the cavernous halls of that old house flooded back.

An unearthly howl pierced the night and broke me from my reverie. The startled horses bucked out and couldn’t be contained by the driver’s whip. We left the road to an even bumpier excursion before clattering to a halt minus a wheel and our means of locomotion. Dismas and I were unscathed, but alone as the coach driver scurried after the fleeing mares, a torrent of cursing that trailed into the blackness.

“I guess this means we are on foot?” Queried Dismas. 

We left the luggage for a future return and headed East. Ever East. The hamlet is just ahead.

A grizzled thug stepped out to block our path, but we were in no mood to talk. Dismas, good with a knife, opened his veins while I landed a pommel strike to daze him for a moment. He recovered quickly though and still managed a slashing uppercut that caught my brow. Move quicker or die. Dismas dispatched him with ruthless efficiency to bring the tempo back to an eerie night’s walk. The gold will help, if only to make the tavern that much more enticing upon arrival.

Ever East.

A disheveled tent came into view, but no movement betrayed its owner. Possibly the lowlife bleeding out back on the road? Dismas wasted no time in claiming the additional gold and misappropriated onyx. 

Another ambush! We’ll send them a message that the rightful owner has returned and there is no place for these vermin. Dismas was quick to shoot, but the grapeshot missed both the larger, whip-wielding brigand or the fusiler toward the back. I landed a stunning blow to curtail the bloodletter’s flaying, but couldn’t escape the blanket fire that erupted into the night. Back to the knives for Dismas as we focused on the heavy-set villian to drop him quickly. The whip was our concern, but a point blank shot drove me away before returning with my own justified strike. Prodigious size alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade. 

Pelted with blanket fire, Dismas and I took shelter behind the fallen mass, but the rain of shrapnel didn’t cease. Exploding through the bloodied carcass, we set upon the rifle-clad bandit with steel. As the fiend fell, a faint hope blossomed. 

Portraits, deeds and crests of my heritage lay with the fallen, but I will make something of them in time. More gold to be relieved too, but the hard-won chest held nothing but blight. 

My return was not met with adulation. These squalid lands, these corrupted hovels are mine to rebuild, but the populace remain ambivalent. I, too, fear they may be right. Stress rises when I see their downcast husks.

Darkest, Darkest Dungeon - An Unwelcome Letter

An Unwelcome Letter

“Ruin has come to our family. “

“You remember our venerable house? Opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor. I lived all my years in that ancient, rumour-shadowed manor, fattened on decadence and luxury”

“And yet I began to tire of conventional extravagance. Singular, unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnameable power.”

“With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on sworly workmen and sturdy shovels.”   

“At last, in those salt-soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal and a deluded evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness.”

“In the end, I, alone, fled laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity until consciousness failed me.”

“You remember our venerable house? Opulent and imperial.”

“It is a festering abomination!”

“I beg you, return home! Claim your birthright and deliver our family from the ravenous, clutching shadows of the darkest dungeon!” 

Heroes Charge Hard Crusades 02

After over 3 weeks out of the game, I decided to put together the second recorded hard crusade from Heroes Charge and upload it. Pretty happy with starting this game as the first Let's Play format as there were a couple of times I could remove "Üm"s, "äh"s and long pauses because the screen wasn't changing that much.

Heroes Charge - Hard Crusades

I'm playing more and more mobile games. Heroes Charge is one with a fair bit of busy work but enclosed within is a great little tactical challenge: Crusades. Here's a 3 part series on the strategies used to conquer Hard Crusade at a lower team level.

GameLog 356-367

So much for starting a routine...

Need to add mobile games on here too as that's where more and more time is being spent.

March of War (50h) - F2P tactical strategy game that's quite polished for the F2P model. Dynamic world campaigns led by human faction leaders has made this more interesting than just the tactical strategy and rare units available on weekends work well on me too.

Marvel Heroes 2015 (48h) - F2P action MMO. Lots of little subsystems to get into, and enough loot explosion to mark it down for a LAN. Picked up the ultimate spidey costume for $30, but have found the free storm character to be more fun to play. Probably worth the investment overall but feels funny spending money on an aspect of the game that I don't play.

At the Gates (40h) - Closed alpha testing ..

Offworld Trading Company (25h)

Godus (20h)

Terraria (10h) - Still a fave for Cam, but getting into hard mode has made the early phase a little more boring.

Pixel Piracy (10h)

Hegemony gold (8h)

Invisible Inc. (7h)

Star Ruler 2 (5h) - Early access space RTS. Very different economy has me hooked at the moment trying to figure out a good build.

Blackguards (5h) - Picked up in a big sale and installed in a lull. Happy I picked up and played Banner Saga when this first came out as the static nature of the quest line is a little grating.

Mighty Quest for Epic Loot (5h) - Beta castle builder / raider in the same vein as notorious. Seemed to change the dungeon layout into a better model, but still feels like there's only 1 good solution.

Sunless Sea (4h)

Hack'n'slash (3h) - Arcadey Double-fine adventure game with the ability to change internal traits of the monsters you're fighting for a novel programming / puzzle / adventure.

Fallen Enchantress (3h) - Ben picked up the undead pack for some trade I'd long forgotten about. Plays a little differently but still too similar to what I remember FE to be like.

Firefall (2h)

Might & Magic: Duel of Champions (2h) - New Expansion.

Endless Legend (2h) Greig got interested in this one when he came down to visit. Got me back into it too. Waiting for it to be finally released though.

Dark Souls (2h) - Super frustrating attempting to play this on PC. 2nd go and same result

ToME (1h) - Another couple of chars to the RNG.

Racing Manager (1h)


The Bureau (.5h)

Meaningful Quests

About 5 years ago there was a new trend appearing with the rise of Free to Play and Facebook games; The Tutorial Quest. These quests were designed to merge the traditional tutorial into the start of the game by implementing interface learning through a simple quest structure. "Please accept a quest to click on this building". Wait, What? Who is asking this of me? Am I participating in the game world or interacting with the screen in front of me? Why are medieval societies asking me to click my mouse? Furthermore, why am I being rewarded handsomely for completing such a menial task? Are the citizens of this world so inept that they have to pay someone to let them know when to harvest their crops?

Ok, so I accept the quest. Who wouldn't? Such a simple task for a bag of gold. Awesome! But why am I doing this? Am I seeking adventure? Am I embarking on this though any volition of my own? No. It's purely about the reward. For tutorial replacements this is somewhat Ok because there really wasn't any intrinsic reward for completing the tutorial except the knowledge that you can play the game properly without getting frustrated, but a new trend is appearing (especially in Free to Plays) where these types of quests extend further and further into the game to the point where there is nothing BUT quests with no in-game meaning.

There was a debate recently on the Games Design Round Table regarding Intrinsic vs Extrinsic rewards. Throughout the podcast the scope of defining what is intrinsically fun kept changing, but to me it comes down to where you find the fun in each task. If the task is still fun when NO completion reward is offered, then the task is intrinsically fun. Ideally the game is made up of all intrinsically fun tasks bound together to make up an intrinsically fun game. The current quest designs of modern F2P games highlight that there is little to no intrinsic reward in the tasks themselves.

Rewards aside, there are also intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Why am I completing this task? What motivates me to even accept the task in the first place? Is it for the shiny bag of gold at the end, or are there tasks that I would do regardless of reward? Motivators become a little more grey because we often accept rewards for common real world boring tasks. Most people would class work as: Do something, get money, spend money for fun. The lucky few find work that they would gladly do for free, but manage to also find someone that would pay for the work to be done. Motivators are also different from person to person. Rushing out to risk your own character to save others may be taken differently by different people and their affinity to your character and to others in the game. The question of "Why?" can still reveal what is REALLY going on in quests.

Why do I need to level up my barracks? Hopefully I see the intrinsic usefulness of building up a larger army to achieve some other task, but some F2P games give such a reward for levelling up my building that the motivation becomes to .. spend the money levelling up my building even further? The motivation is to bounce from quest to quest, completing them for no other reason than the sake of completion. In the current batch of F2P games I'm catching myself doing this more and more.

So why do I do quests? Is "just because it's fun" enough? Why do I play games? Is "just beacuse it's fun" enough? 2 years ago I would have said Yes, but after the recent glut I'm thinking that maybe there was something else in older games that's missing now? I remember playing Railroad Tycoon and walking away with a deeper appreciation of the steepness of the Alps and where Innesbruck is. The fun certainly drew me to the game and kept me there for a long time, but I look back on that game more for its geography lessons than the endless hours I spent in front of the screen. The physics puzzles of Portal drew me to the game, but the end scene is my bigger takeaway. What will I look back on for the 50 hours put into Wartune? Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying Wartune at the moment, and it hasn't quite hit the F2P self-referential quest loop yet, but I can see it's coming.

Why do I play games? Mostly because I want to understand the underlying systems. It's a problem yet to be solved. I find intrinsic motivation by seeking out hints through the exposed quest structure as to how the game is put together. Hopefully it also highlights other aspects of understanding the world, but more recently I'm finding it is just a self-serving loop. I complete quests for the sake of completion, I play for the sake of playing. Is there more to games? I hope so. Give me more meaningful quests ...

GameLog 325-355

30 weeks!

Every time I contemplated doing a post I felt that there was more pressing things to do. Now that I have a somewhat simpler job, it feels that I can start to get back into posting up the GameLogs. I still haven't done the 2013 recap, but I'm happy to at least get something started. My main fear was looking back in 2-3 years and lamenting that my experiences weren't logged.

As with the last post, there's going to be a lot of stuff missed. That said, it's going to be more accurate than I could do a year from now, and that's the main rationale for getting these done.


Mighty Quest for Epic Loot (100h) - Beta Castle builder / Raider in the same vein as notorious. Picked up a couple of good tips for my game, but also a couple of things to steer clear of. Overall solid, but it feels like it's already had it's big promotional spike and it's not even released yet.

At the Gates (60h) - Closed alpha testing ..

Terraria (50h) - A big session to restart from scratch and get into hard mode, and a constant call to play
from Cam when I get home meant that this one keeps racking up the hours. Now up to 330 in total, but a lot of that would be it running in the background as a server.

Might & Magic: Duel of Champions (50h) - Card game that got more interesting with a bit more dedication to PvP, but hit the paywall eventually.

Banner Saga (48h) - Great little story driven tactical combat game. Kinda wished it had a top score on it more than the way it finished, but happy with the overall experience. A game where you really need to go with the flow.

Might & Magic X: Legacy (42h) - Good return to the good old days of tough M&M. That said I appreciated less the amount of linearity there was in the open world caused by the tight gating of difficulty. Don't remember it being that tight back in 4-6.

Warlock 2: The Exiled (46h) - Really plays well and hones the 'Expanding difficulty' maps into a gated experience. Makes more sense than all the map being gradually harder the further away from home you go. My pick out of the current 4X crop.

Endless Legend (23h) 3rd game in a brace of 4X strategy games released in May. Even though it's early access and has obvious rough patches, it seems intriguing enough to keep my attention more than expected. It has that X factor already, so polish can only enhance what could be a

Age of Wonders III (20h) - 59h on steam, bet another that was left on while the PC was playing up. Seems a little snow-bally for my tastes, and even though others were recommending the random games instead of the campaign, it still left a little .. empty.

Tiny Dice Dungeon (20h) - Nice little time waster on both phones.

Football Manager 2014 (20h) - 39h on steam, but I'm sure I left it on a few nights when the PC was playing up. Tried starting a couple of low tier games in anticipation of the world cup, but it's lacking something that it used to have. Even though the systems are slowly changing, it seems a little more like there's less to really get invested in. I might be done with the "start from nothing" approach and look toward just taking a team I actually care about and see what story unfolds.

Game Dev Tycoon (15h) - Nice little game from 1st time developers themselves. 

Rise of Mythos (15h) - Kongregate game that I'd started before. New server and an Ok guild to get going. Lots of nooks & crannies to explore, but once the paywall loomed up without any real way of scaling it with time, I dropped it cold turkey.

Civilization V (15h) - New Venice civilization surprisingly engaging.

Starbound (9h) - Early access attempt at a grander Terraria. Lots of promise, but also lots of grind.

The Last Federation (8h) - From the creators of AI War and more importantly Skyward collapse, it takes the "Indirect grooming" approach to keep a chaotic system from imploding on itself. Works Ok, but the dev had made so many changes after release that it felt like a different game. Actually it felt more early access than most of the early access games I've played recently. That said, I really like the game for its Space Rangers feel.

Dungeon of the Endless (5h) - An interesting diversion from coming off the Endless Legend early access. I like the concept, but seems to be a crapshoot as to whether I make a level clear or not. Another one to fire up once completed.

Marvel Puzzle quest (5h) - Testing the limits of this Free to Pay game

Torchlight II (5h) - New co-op game with cam.

Starpoint Gemini 2 (2h) - Early access, but probably needed to be something to wait for. Hapy to load up again once released.

Path of Exile (2h) - Couple more games with Scott when he's over in Norway.

UnEpic (2h) - I know deep down it's trying to be roguelike, but I feel that all the minimalism misses out on the wanderlust.

Dark Souls (1h) - Press A the start?? No in-game menu to allow exit? Unable to tune the mouse? If I had an XBox I might be able to get into it, but I experienced a whole new level of frustration without even dying.

Magicka: Wizard Wars (1h) - Beta has been a little rough from an Aussie's perspective.

ToME (1h) - Couldn't get steam version to pick up my ToME account, even though it's been linked before. Played a game but quickly found that lack of perks provided by my account makes the game more grating than it needs to be. Shelved until another couple of updates.

Path of Exile for Notorious

Another mini review of Path of Exile with respect to Notorious.

Hardcore characters in Path of Exile have an interesting characteristic in that when you die you don't just vanish, your character then becomes a standard (multiple deaths allowed) character. This is also in use for the various competition levels available in that once the competition is over, the character then becomes hardcore (if it was a hardcore competition).

Specifically for hardcore, this still gives the sting of losing a character for those dedicated to hardcore, but also gives those who want to play on an avenue for doing so. With respect to the competitions, the narrowed time frame and scope brings added incentive to try out new characters or restart the game again. This gives much more longevity to the whole ramp up that is typical of a diablo clone.

I'd always considered having valleys surrounding a starting village be somewhat contained to allow people of similar starting times to compete together (or at least gauge yourself relative to others) in the same way that Grepolis gives an island somewhat of an independent feel until ships open the map up. Now I'm leaning more toward having the valleys open up as the main payment method. Each player would pay a nominal amount of the 2nd tier economy to enter a valley that has a specific achievement and entry conditions associated with it. Once the valley has enough entrants, it opens up that part of the map and players are shielded from other notorious activity until the achievement has been reached by one player. This then opens up the valley to be part of the main world.

Types of requirements would be:
 - New players
 - Power level (Eg min power level 200)
 - Previous achievement holders
 - Notoriety in region

Since the valleys are also based physically on the map, there would also be added incentive to compete in valleys close to your starting location so that you can build up region wide notoriety easier. There can also be tiered access so that lots of small starter villages need to be conquered before there are provincial cities or regional capitals that are exposed to the map.

This concept could also be applied to whole regions rather than just valleys, and allow different playstyles to be rewarded through the specific criteria and conditions placed on that enclosed region.

Craft the World review for Notorious

A lot of Craft the World is based on Dwarf Fortress, which is also part of the design of Notorious, so this
review will be more of a reflection on how CTW adapts DF to a tighter, more zoomed-in play experience.
For one thing the dwarves don’t seem to generate as much character and affinity from the player. The dwarves each have individual names, look slightly different and have skill sets to make them unique, but they all just seem to mill around like ants doing their own chores. Even when selecting a dwarf when taking control, it’s easiest to just grab the closest dwarf for the task you want to do rather than specifically looking for somebody. Even swapping through the dwarves, it’s hard to see where they are on the screen. I find myself looking at the stats at the bottom and the activity they are doing rather than their location.

TAKEAWAY: Position is important for building affinity with the individual dwarves. If a minion card is selected in notorious, highlight (and center?) the minion on the screen.


Although you can give dwarves specific equipment, it feels somehow divorced from the task that they are doing. If I set out 8 squares to be dug out, I can potentially have 5 of the 7 dwarves appear to complete the task. In DF you can specifically assign a role to each dwarf and, due to possibly long term play & familiarity with the game, those roles can be very tight indeed. 1 dwarf is the miner, 1 dwarf is the carpenter and possibly the lumberjack. These are chosen before you embark and plays a significant role in success of your fortress for the first season. This raises the barrier to entry significantly because you need to know how to play the game before you start, but it raises your affinity with individual dwarves as you have crafted them personally and know what they should be doing. Continuing on from this, narrowing down the roles for new dwarves during the rest of the game raises the barrier to entry, but also increases affinity.

TAKEAWAY: When the number of minions is limited, assigning them specific roles adds to affinity. When the minion count increases, this can lead to a bogging down into micromanagement. In Notorious, the player can change a minion’s desire to dig and then designate generic digging locations, or they can increase the desire to dig at a specific location. With defence, a general raising of desire for defence will make the minion defend their home territory, whereas a targeted defence will make them defend a specific point. Multiple targets will give a patrol.


There doesn't seem to be any discernible difference in skilled dwarves performing any better than unskilled. This leads to a feeling of nonchalance about who is performing what task. There needs to be feedback on why the skills are important to make the player care about who has what skill. In DF, legendary miners are possibly 4 times faster and produce more spoil. This adds to the desire for sending the right dwarf to the task and gives incentive to investigate and learn the traits of each dwarf. In DF the dwarves also level up by performing the skill rather than skills being assigned by the player. This also adds to the incentive to keep specific dwarves on task.

TAKEAWAY: There needs to be a discernible difference when elevating an action.


GIFTING ITEMS
Another way to increase the player’s affinity with minions is to gift them items from the treasure. This can be done in a number of ways:
Gift – have a way for a specific treasure to be selected then gifted to the minion. This gives a 1 time happiness bonus & increases minion’s knowledge & affection of the player’s name. Note this can have a negative effect as the minion’s memory now has an imprint of the player’s name that can be discovered by other players.
Desire for reward – have a way for the player to transfer ownership of a treasure item to the minion but also associate it with activities they have completed. It may or may not be associated with your name. This gives a bonus to the activity that is being rewarded.
Raise the desire to take an item – there is a natural tendency for minions to have selfish desire for items that they see. Raising one of these desires for the selected treasure has no association with the player’s name or with an action. Note that assignment of ownership is controlled by each minion so an item can have multiple owners (leading to potential fights).
Give item back – have a way to drop the desire for an item so that they abandon it or possibly gift it to another minion. Can also gift back to treasury by raising benevolence of the player’s name.

Gifting items with gems attached and then imprinting the minion again will be one of the main ways to permanently lock in items and improve the minion.

GameLog 313 - 324

Been putting off doing a GameLog for a while mainly due to a site redesign coming up. Comments are now broken and there's other parts that needs a freshen up. Happy to stay with Blogspot for now, but am keen to completely redo the template.

Lots of things to be missed, but here goes ...

Warlock: Master of the Arcane (80h) - Armageddon map looked to add a whole lot more nastiness, but it still felt a little too easy once you get going. Tried a 1-city challenge on it and much more tense game. Final seal to fall and the mage guarding it seems almost impossible to take down with the set I have. Might just need to rush it and resurrect the unlucky.

Crusader Kings II (40h) - Fresh start and I'm already owning most of Scotland, Ireland and parts of France.

At the Gate (30h) - Closed Alpha testing.

League of legends (20h) - LAN stalwart. Slowing down the nightly need, but still ticking along. Alien Heimer skin!

Terraria (20h) - New patch has brought this one back into high rotation for LANs.

Path of Exile (16h) - F2P Diablo. Nice skill tree.

Card Hunter (10h) -After the month ended, it didn't really have the legs to keep me entertained. There's talk of expansions though.

Neptune's pride II (10h) - New release. Beginner game look to be Sandy's. Still in the 64 player, but only 1 planet left.

Tales of Maj Eyal (5h) - Seems easy for the most part, then an intense couple of turns when you know you're in trouble. Interesting how that's developing.

Long live the Queen (5h) - sounded like a better version of Persona or Princess maker, but the linearity of it got to me at the end.

Might & Magic, Duel of Champions (3h) - Sounded like an interesting CCG, but no single player past the initial tutorial. Little disappointing.

Legends of Eisenwald (2h) - Looked good, but still early beta or possibly alpha. Usually don't mind early release, but this seemed to just rub me the wrong way. Happy to wait a couple of months for it to get fleshed out.

Mount & Blade: Fire & Sword (2h) - LAN multiplayer.

Tower of Saviours (2h) - Moved distributors ofthe game and it took at least 1.5 hours to set up alternate accounts to keep the same save alive. Way to kill off a game!

F1 2012 (2h) - pre-race racing before the real F1

Hurl (1h) - VR Jumpy!
 

GameLog 310 - 312

Card Hunter (40h) - Browser game that looks and feels like 1st Ed D&D, but plays with a rather interesting card mechanic.

League of legends (20h) - LAN stalwart & nightly ARAMs with Sam & Co.

Tales of Maj Eyal (15h) - Getting back into ToME to prep for Notorious

Crusader Kings II (5h) - Still a struggle with Seniority succession. England has broken away and will be a long war to get them back in the fold.

Tower of Saviours (2h) - Still entertaining, but the gaps between being able to do something different is getting longer and longer.

F1 2012 (2h) - pre-race racing before the real F1

Terraria (2h) -More multiplayer with Cam.

Hurl (1h) - Ooooh Yeah!

GameLog 305 - 309

Crusader Kings II (240h) - Was a little ambivalent about Europa Universalis IV until I saw it had a CKII exporter. That led to another big playthrough as Scotland with a couple of artificial brakes put in place so I don't have the entire european world under rule by the time the expansion came out. Those locks fell off one by one with the need to keep going, so hopefully I'll play as a minor nation alongside the massive Scotland juggernaut in EU4. Been a while since I played and although I knew general strategies, I'd found myself rediscovering little tricks along the way. Will need to write them up or document them in some way before I finish this playthrough.

The Bo'ness clan has now expanded from a humble county ruler to the recent establishment of the Brittanic Empire. Circa 1240, so a couple of big power plays to go. Seniority succession should be good for the final score, but is getting to be a pain with no long term leaders.


 Shadowrun Returns (20h) - Finally finished another game! Found out later that the designer was the original Shadowrun guy, so no wonder it had captured the atmosphere of the original. Highly recommended, but you need to read all the flavour text to get the most out of it..
League of legends (15h) - LAN stalwart & Nightly FWOTD.

Tower of Saviours (10h) - Falling back to the hourly challenges and weekend gold runs, but still the best match-3 game out there.

Eador:masters of a broken world (5h) - On hold from the CKII juggernaut coming through again.

F1 2012 (5h) - pre-race racing before the real F1

Space Hulk (2h) - Plays like the board game, but a little lethargic. Will dig it out a again sometime.

Terraria (2h) -More multiplayer with Cam.

GameLog 299-304

Eador:masters of a broken world (70h) - Still plays well, and finally getting up in levels where it's starting to require level II units. The requirement for knowing your capabilities and the opponent's capabilities is still pretty high, unfortunately finding out whether you'll live is a savegame away. Contemplating replaying with autocombat turned on.

Tower of Saviours (50h) -Much better match 3 replacement for Candy Crush. In fact going back to candy crush is laughably random compared to the deep skill and strategy in each move of ToS. Monster choice (especially ally choice) makes a real difference too.

FTL (20h) - Another couple of runs. Still fun but I like the strategy I've built around Engi ships. Others aren't much chop, but would like to open up all of them for completeness.

Shadowrun Returns (13h) - Interesting story, and the writing fits right into the feel of the book / world. Pretty linear, but the story is keeping it going.

League of legends (12h) - LAN stalwart & Cam's goto multiplayer game.

Civ 5 (7h) - Couple of scenarios in ancient aztec lands. Quite interesting take on history, but didn't stay for the endgame.

Terraria (5h) -More multiplayer with Cam.

Rogue Legacy (5h) - Interesting take on the rogue permadeath where keeping the gold for permanent increases after each run, but losing any unspent gold upon entrance to the dungeon again, splits up the pain into more meaningful chunks. Bit contrived though. Would return to it if in the platformer mood though.

Company of Heroes 2 (5h) - Was really looking forward to it, but dropping right out of the radar now. I'm pretty sure I'll go back and at least finish the campaign at some point.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 : Platinum (2h) - I had a feeling that the 3D had taken the mystery off Sawyer's classic, but the amount of variety is refreshing. Economic fun.

Star Conflict (2h) - Free2play space dogfighter. Useful, but not noteworthy.

Skyward collapse (2h) - Pushed into the middle ages during the steam sales, but got distracted by the new shinies.
 
Monaco (1h) - Tried 4 player at LAN and it still was mayhem. Very interested in trying 2 player though as I think that's be the sweet spot. Possibly worth another copy since Sandy has shown interest.

Gnomoria (1h) - poor man's isometric Dwarf Fortress. Without any updates from DF though, any mirage is still worth chasing.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 (1h) - Party games for LAN.

GameLog 297-298

Eador:masters of a broken world (22h) - Knife-edge balance between romping a map and being rolled. Everything's just got to go right or you could seriously lose the map or make it take 4 times longer to win. Begs to be save/loaded, but I'm resisting the urge unless there's monsters I haven't seen yet.  

Candy Crush Saga (14h) - Brain candy.

7 grand steps (10h) - Intriguing end of ages have kept this from getting a little predicctable. Got Sandy hooked too.

Kerbal space program (6h) - Attempting lunar orbits from the demo.

League of legends (5h) - LAN stalwart.

Terraria (5h) - I have a feeling that Cam's mates at school are now getting into this one, which has lead to more multiplayer requests. I'm finally out of my harcore character phase and have built a softcore to explore the current changes.

Warhammer Quest (1h) - iPhone game that I thought I'd get a little more mileage out of.

VR Demos (1h) - although the use of the Rift hasn't been as much as expected, it's certainly sparked an interesting array of questions.

GameLog 293-296

Eador:masters of a broken world (40h) - Plays like dominions 3 mixed with Heroes of Might and Magic. Some really interesting overland map decisions with simultaneous turn resolution, coupled with tactical hex based combat. Lots of weighty decisions and a difficulty scale that puts most 4x builders to shame. Lots of 3am's seen due to this one.

Candy Crush Saga (20h) - Light enough the get a couple of games in before work or on the way to bed. I'm not sure what it is, but F2P games like this don't really make me want to spend money. I see the ability to win levels without resorting to paying up for advantages a challenge, and one that makes me dig deeper to accomplish rather than relinquish cash to remove.

7 grand steps (7h) - interesting indie game with solid mechanics and a mechanical arcade machine feel. Works well and engaging enough for me to see the sun rise.

League of legends (5h) - consistent games with cam and still the LAN stalwart.

Skyward collapse (3h) - interesting concept and $5. Just what's needed from an indie title. I think I've glommed onto a winning strategy though, so it mightn't have the legs that I thought it might.

TF2 (2h) - oculus rift testing as well as Steam's trading card beta.

More from the missing 2 weeks?

GameLog 285-292

Hmm, 2 months last time, 2 & 1/2 months this time. Oh well, stretch the memory muscle.

Fallen Enchantress (35h) - New patch changed the way settlers are produced (locking them back to population again) and it's made a big impact on the way I play mainly due to freeing up the build queue for something other than settlers. Getting to a very nice place now.

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes (27h) - Beta version is on steam. Big changes to the way you attract heroes, but still feeling like a Beta. Fallen Enchantress came together in leaps and bounds in the last incarnation of the betas, but I'm a little suprised how much they have attempted to rebuild things to give it that 'unfinished' feel again. Still, Steam achievements are a wonderful thing.


ToME (15h) - Couple more Characters into the ToME grinder. Still liking a dwarven alchemist and I'm sure it'd take me a fair way into the game if I cut out the stupid deaths. Due to the scripted outside world I'm finding there's more and more time between interesting choices at the start of the game, yet always a click away from getting in too deep and wiping.

SimCity (10h) - Seems more in-depth of a simulation than before, but still even easier to make massive amounts of cash. Lack of difficulty made this an early shelf.

Candy Crush Saga (10h) - Match-3 with varying maps for difficulty. The facebookiness has been toned down, but still present to get up levels every now & then. Starting to get to the point where you need to be lucky to progress.

League  of Legends (8h) - LAN standard, plus a FWOTD every now & then.

Warframe (6h) - Free to play FPS focusing on 3rd person viewpoint and parkour / ninja wall running and blade fighting. LAN group staple at the moment, but I'm still struggling to see how the whole upgrade path works.

Firefall (5h) - Bought into the beta on Greig's recommendation. An interesting over-the-shoulder FPS with dynamic quests. Probably still not as dynamic as I'd like, but better than nothing.

Stardrive (5h) - Indie 4x space game with real time elements. Feels like the interface need s little work to manage exactly what's going on at any point in time. Actually what it needs is an autopause once events occur like a scouted planet etc. Probably an EU3 / CK2 format would work. Also needs more ways to look after planet selection to see if they are taken or in a dangerous position.

Need for speed: Most Wanted (5h) - Present for EA's bungling of SimCity launch. Drives Ok for a racer, and might be worth a spot on the HDD for blowing-off-steam driving. Pity it isn't on steam though.

TrackMania Stadium (4h) - new version of TrackMania. Plays well, but probably much of the same to draw in any new crowd.

Civ4: Colonization (3h) - Found a mod to make it more like the original. Plays well so far.

Minecraft (3h) - Cam & Rachael's go-to game still. Set up a server so they can play with schoolmates.


Mechwarrior online (2h) - Enough time to kick it into gear for some LANs, but it looks like WarFrame has now wrestled the FPS mantle from it's grasp.

Mini Motor Racing EVO (2h) - Simple top-down racer for my birthday to bide me overuntil Company of Heroes 2 is released.

Monaco (1h) - Early Birthday prezzie. Almost bought a 4-pack. Looks like it can handle a couple of runs on the same levels to score-chase.

Neverwinter (1h) - Enough to clear the starting zone. Competing a fair bit for time in the F2P MMO space.