GameLog 139 & 140

Grepolis (55h) - Had this little timesink under control until I joined a decent alliance, then it REALLY got out of hand. War has been declared with Nightmares of Elysium, a group of veterans toward the core of the ocean. I'm still way out in front out on my region, but the war might come out this way soon.

Gyromancer (10h) - Picked up the pace a little in the 2nd section, but it's given way to Grepolis now.

Final Fantasy XIII (8h) - Picked this up for the PS3 to host a different sort of LAN. Worked pretty well sitting around trashing the plot and making Sam run Vanelle around. Playing through with Cameron too.

Trackmania (4h) - StLukes CCG & some "race car" time.

Football Manager 2010 (2h) - T.Bowes - FM 2010. Smallest contribution to the game yet with over 300 hours logged in total. Still midtable with 1/2 the season gone. There's a bug in the way you copy out text from the game, so the blog is going to suffer from it. Maybe 3-4 posts a season.

Torchlight (1h) - Little dabble when looking for something to play. Trine would have been better, but it's completed now.

GameLog 137 & 138

Football Manager 2010 (30h) - T.Bowes - FM 2010. Big move up to the pros. Landed some great loans for the season, but not too many new recruits coming in. The team barely resembles the one on the field last year though. Almost 1/2 way through the season and sitting in ~17th. Can't update the

Gyromancer (12h) - Another special on Steam. Plays similarlty to PuzzleQuest, but seems less involved. In Puzzle Pirates, every colour is useful for something, or has varying degrees of usefulness. in Gyromancer there's only 1 or 2 out of the 6 colours that are actually noteworthy, with the rest more or less making up the numbers. It's pretty easy to manipulate the board to match out all the good colours, but since it's only a random replacement you seem to always just end up with a board full of other colours. The bejewelled twist motion is also not as intuitive as PuzzleQuest's straight swap mechanism akin to the original bejewelled, the storyline seems less appealing, and the monster selection less bound to the game. At least the game map for each 'scenario' offers a little more depth of play if you're at the same level, but it's also too easy to just level up and blow through the maps ala Pokemon.

Grepolis (7h) - Web game similar to Travian / Evony. One nicety is that you're more or less placed on an island with others starting at the same time you did. That way it always feels like a limited competition inside a larger context of the game. Another interesting point is that the farms that are 'harvested' by your soldiers share their 'production' with everyone. The more everyone harvests, the less they produce, but you can also build them up instead of harvesting for the benifit of everyone. Unfortunately there only seems to be 2 active people on my island, so there doesn't seem to be much tension developing.

UniWar (5h) - ~$1 purchase for the 'best of 2009' strategy. AI plays pretty well expert.

Trackmania (3h) - StLukes CCG started up again.

Supreme Commander demo (2h) - Got this one in before my GTX260 died.

Company of Heroes (1h) - Plays better with the new motherboard & CPU, but crashes on completion of the map :/

Sudoku (1h) - Daily puzzles.

Pocket God (1h) - Another pick from the 'Best of 2009'. Couldn't really get into it, I was expecting more gameplay.

New Mobo, CPU and Memory

Been having a few slowdowns in ~30 second intervals across multiple OS's that I couldn't track down, so I thought it'd be time for an upgrade. The 4600+ AMD CPU is more than 4 years old now, so it's served its time well. The initial Asus M2N32 Deluxe motherboard only lasted 2 years, and the 8800GTS that the system was built on survived 3. Since then the motherboard had been downgraded to a stock M2N32 without SLI, and a new GTX260 just over 1 year ago took the box to its current state. I had hoped I could keep the GTX260, but that died in sympathy for the rest of the exiting components.

Initially I wanted to focus more on virtualized hardware acceleration, but I couldn't find any solid evidence of VT-d or IOMMU in use for playing games on VMs. Hopefully it'll be available by the next upgrade. That left me with getting a good bang-for-buck system and the Whirpool crowd seemed to have a good, solid build for gaming rigs. They advocated a Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H motherboard with the AMD Phenom II X4 955BE CPU. Hopefully enough for another 4 years?

Poking around I found that Gigabyte have a board that supports both USB3 and SATAIII. These will be essential in a couple of years time, so it's probably worth the gamble of getting a mobo with these features and no direct need at the moment. The Phenom seems solid enough, and I'm happy getting guaranteed quadcore for the virtualization.

So the build:
Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 motherboard
AMD Phenom II AM3 955 Black Edition (3.2Ghz) 64-Bit Quad-Core CPU
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU Fan
G.Skill 4G(2x2G) DDR3 1600Mhz Memory

Any 1600Mhz memory would do as I'd rather have the headroom for mild air overclocking in the future. The TX3 is also to follow that path as well as a reaction to negative comments about the stock cooler. Personally I wouldn't pay more than $30 for cooling as you may as well spend that money getting a better chip in the first place. It does get pretty hot here sometimes though, so the TX3 is also an insurance for solid performance.

GA-770TA only has 1 PCIe x16 port, but I'd rather get a single card 1-2 steps off the top ala the 8800GTS and GTX260 when they first came out. It also had only 4 memory slots. I initially wanted 8Gb of RAM like my work box, but 2x2Gb will be fine until the 4Gb modules drop in price (1 year?).

Downgrade to 9600GT

My first Friday to work on the PhD turned into a disaster as my PC wouldn't come out of hibernation, then wouldn't get past POST, then (after a bit of jiggling) wouldn't even display anything. I left it in frustration to bide my time playing UniWar on the iPhone.

Today I took it into work to have a look at all the components. 3 beeps with stripped down motherboard, no beeps and a clean boot with memory installed. Nothing once I plugged in the GTX260. As I had feared, the 260 has given up. I've just ordered a new motherboard, CPU and memory, but wanted to keep the GTX260 for at least another year.

So what to do? Pick up a 5850 for ~$400 and try to get it delivered on the same order? Pick up a cheap card locally and wait for some new tech to drop?

The difference from the 260 to a 5850 wouldn't have been significant, and it would mean dropping another $400 only a year after the 260. nVidia are lining up with an announcement lter this month, so potentially there's a new line on the way.

Luckily at the moment I don't need anything special in graphics. Footy Manager could easily go another 200 hours and take me to July, and there's HEAPS of backlog games I could get through, but I don't like being constrained in my choice of what to play. Last night I turned on the PS3 to see ifthere's anything of interest on there while my box was dead, and even though there lots I have been meaning to play, none suited my mood.

In the end I trekked around to Bundy Super Computers Astrabyte and walked away with a 9600GT for $50 to get me at least working over the weekend and hopefully for a month or so.

2nd time a component has failed after I've ordered another. I smell a conspiracy!

GameLog 135 & 136

Football Manager 2010 (44h) - T.Bowes - FM 2010. Made the finals of the FA Trophy, but Rushden were far too strong. Scraped into the playoffs and emerged victorious to gain promotion. Really wanted that trophy before I went up, but I'll take the promotion instead of another 70 hours down in the Conference.

Civilization 4 (10h) - Another emporer attempt.

Trine (7h) - Finally finished a game! Delightful game overall, although I was a little dissappointed with the ending. Got some great audio of Cameron oing game review of it that I'll have to clean up and post.

Civilization Revolution (5h) - One-city challennge completed. Don't think there's any challlennge left in the game now.

R18 Submission

My submission for an R18+ Classification for Computer Games:

• Adults should not be prevented from playing R 18+ level computer games simply because they are unsuitable for minors

4) agree
According to the first principle that guides the Classification Board;
"a) adults should be able to read, hear and see what they want."
If we were to ignore this point or disagree to it, there would be no need for classification as everything would have to be at the lowest common denominator. My Little Ponies for everyone.

• The R 18+ classification category sends a clear, unambiguous message to parents that the game material is unsuitable for minors

5) strongly agree
R18+ has an established brand and sentiment that makes parents and prospective players take notice. This is in conflict with the mess of games clouding up the MA15+ bracket that other countries have divided into multiple categories.

• Consistent classification categories for films and computer games are easier to understand

4) agree
This a valuable goal to aim at, however education is paramount to understand the differences between active and passive entertainment.

• A new classification will supplement technological controls on minors’ access to age-inappropriate computer games

4) agree
Any clear indication of expected content allows parents and prospective players to make an informed decision prior to purchase. Technological controls are for the purpose of enforcing content separation on the same machine and are also welcomed by parents, but are ultimately only another support mechanism. The best way to control the content accessed by minors is to play alongside children or make games available only in family spaces such as the living room (of which 78% of families seem to be doing already).

• Comparable classification systems internationally have an adult rating for computer games - international parity is desirable

4) agree
We are the only country that has a classification system for games that doesn't support an adult bracket. Half of game classifications that have appeared as MA15+ in Australia have been rated higher overseas, giving a strong message that our system is not providing the service other countries are enjoying.

• Consumers access games which would be R 18+ illegally – it would be better if they were legally available with appropriate restrictions

1) strongly disagree
This is simply a poor point. Making the R18 bracket will satisfy those that ARE over 18 and accessing that content illegally, but dos nothing to plug the gap of minors accessing inappropriate games. In fact this would indicate that more work needs to be done on education and enforcement of games being refused classification, and provide adequate safety regarding R18+ games for use in the household. The legal restrictions surrounding current R18+ movies would be a firm step toward provding the level of seriousness that the community associates with accessing R18+ rated games.

• Computer games should be treated differently from films given the specific, negative effects of interactivity on players, particularly their participation in violent and aggressive content.

4) agree
As with movies, the classification system should take into account whether the participant can discern the difference between reality and the content presented. This point takes much more weight when engaged in active participation such as when playing games. Both of these categories can be brought into line under the same classification system by creating a new element to separately acknowledge how 'close' the game is to reality, or how difficult it is to discern between the game and reality. This would allow both cartoon violence to be more accurately rated as well as provide scope for involved thrillers with little to no objectionable content. It will also futureproof the rating system when 3D movies and future Virtual Reality environments become more commonplace.


• It would be difficult for parents to enforce age restrictions for computer games.

2) disagree
There are more controls in place (such as parental controls on all current consoles and operating systems) than there is with DVD viewing. Adding the level of restrictions associated with the R18+ band would make games more controllable than other forms of media.

• Minors would be more likely to be exposed to computer games that are unsuitable for them.

1) strongly disagree
At the moment there are MORE games available to minors than there are in other countries with a classification system. Adding this category will reduce the level of exposure to minors as the restrictions in place for R18+ content will bring people's perceptions of computer game content into line with other entertainment formats.

• An R 18+ for computer games would exacerbate problems associated with access to high level material in Indigenous communities and by other non English speaking people

4) agree
The classification system as a whole is built to allow parents and prospective players to make an informed decision prior to purchase. Education is needed for people unable to understand the rating system and its implications. If the R18+ system were introduced, this would allow yet another avenue to build an awareness campaign to address this issue surrounding the entire OFLC rating system.

• There is no demonstrated need to change existing restrictions.

1) strongly disagree
Other classification systems employed in different countries are able to provide more information to parents and prospective players as to the content of the game. As the gaming market matures there are more and more games being produced for niche markets. Without an adult category, the OFLC has no choice but to refuse more and more games, or have games shoehorned into the current system. If the OFLC rated games similarly to Europe, we would have had 44 games refused classification over the past year instead of 5. There would have been such an outcry that this issue would have been resolved years ago.



My additional comments:

Recent analysis of all MA15+ rated games since 2009 [1] indicate that approximately half of these games were rated for a higher age bracket in America, Europe, England and even New Zealand. This is a clear indication that other classification boards are utilising the R18+ band for current games other than those we are refusing classification. If we were to provide an R18+ classification, this would send a much clearer indication to parents and prospective players as to the content and maturity expected to play the game.

With 78% of households indicating that parents play alongside their children, I feel confident that parents have the desire and ability to monitor their children’s exposure to potential R18+ content through computer games as much as other media. A point of concern is Indigenous, Non-English speaking and immigrant families that may not understand the OFLC rating system as a whole. If the R18+ classification for games were to be implemented, the awareness and education campaign of this new classification can also double as awareness of the entire OFLC ratings surrounding adult content.

As with movies, the classification system should take into account whether the participant can discern the difference between reality and the content presented. This point takes much more weight when engaged in active participation such as when playing games. Both of these categories can be brought into line under the same classification system by creating a new element to separately acknowledge how 'close' the game is to reality, or how difficult it is to discern between the game and reality. This would allow cartoon or abstract violence to be more accurately rated as well as provide scope for engaging thrillers with little to no objectionable content. It will also futureproof the rating system when 3D movies and future Virtual Reality environments become more commonplace.

[1] Electronic Frontiers Australia: Classification board comparison

R18+ classification debate nearly over

Branching code could use a little optimisation, but the sentiment is right. Personally I'd hardly play any R18+ games, but the lack of a rating just forces more games down to the MA rating. This removes part of the point of ratings: to make consumers aware of what type of content is inside the game.

If the classification board had stuck to their guidelines we'd have ~10% of games RC'd, then this debate would have happened long ago.

Stand up lads, this is the debate you need to be in, or .. well .. Ponies.

CivRev - One city challenge

 

After dominating a deity level match through aggressive expansion, I thought it might be interesting to see if it's possible to do a one city challenge. The AI's managed to keep up with me for the early-mid game with a limited number of cities, so I thought it would be at least achievable up until that point.

Had a couple of false starts earlier through poor city positioning, and being too militarily aggressive. Once you take a city, there seems to be no way of razing / gifting / trading / abandoning the city, thus breaking the one-city challenge self imposed rules. Military is still useful to block AI expansion through Civ2-like choke point squatters and gaining early barbarian huts.

In this game I started with a seemingly average starting position as the Greeks. They have an initial courthouse which lends itself well to an early booming city. Starting position had whales and fish in reach, as well as a good mix of production and food. More water than I'd have liked, but it's essential to settle on the coast to get early scouting boats for claiming special goodyhuts.

Kept up to speed with the AIs to mid game with no real combat. Once again they stayed fairly passive allowing me to stock up on barbarians and goodyhuts. This map had 5 and I managed to grab all of them in the end.

Built an early colossus to keep ahead of the technology curve, but needed to get to navigation to utilise the whales. City was approaching 10 pop and had some interesting choices in mid game as to what building to eek out while I kept the seas churning up research.

Navigation finally arrived and with it a nice Greek bonus: +1 food per sea square. Happened to be the same turn as my harbour finished to give +2 food on sea as well as the trade. +30 food per turn and and additional population every 1-2 turns. I'm laughing. At least the AI noticed the massive change too and immediately started demanding tribute or face war. Everyone was far enough away to ignore their requests and eventually only the Spanish and Indians on the other side of the map launch an attack.

From that point on it was more or less game over. Within 10 turns I had tech down to 2-3 turns each and started pulling away from the pack. Scooped up the military ones early to give me the free units and concentrated on building any science or culture buildings. By the 1800's I had a 31 pop city and noticed it had maxxed out the size. Damn 5 bit values.

While my city stagnated at the top, India was going heavy culture and had overtaken me in the amount of great people. They had virtually no tech, so there didn't seem to be much chance they would grab another 5 wonders before the end of the game. I built out some gold oriented wonders just to keep them at bay. Combat was typically Battleships vs Sail or tanks on swordsmen, so I just kept up the choke points and teched hard to the end.

By the time my spaceship launched, India had a pair of cities over 20 and 7 others scattered around the map. Other Civs weren't particularly adventurous and there was possibly 1/3 of the map remaining unused by the time I landed on Alpha Centauri.




The score would certainly indicate that it's not the best way to play the game: almost 1/4 of the score from last time. Not sure whether I have the the time or desire to play through another full game, but at least this one was over in only 4 hours.

GameLog 133 & 134

Almost a week late, but it was a pretty simple fortnight to remember. UnAngband comp kept me locked to one game.

UnAngband (60h) - Rerolled again and played a much cleaner game for competition 81. Dove straight to the towers because they offer a more compact, intense experience. With 'Santa' hitting above his weight I didn't even have to rely on summons that much. Did a big stint right before the Feb 10 cutoff, but the comp seemed to close early and I couldn't upload the last save. Still didn't get past BigAl's score, but had a much lower turncount.

Football Manager 2010 (10h) - T.Bowes - FM 2010. Big fight to get into the top 5 after concentrating on making the finals of the FA Trophy.

Bargara flooded

 

Been raining all day and I wasn't too surprised to see Hughes Road cut off. Went around to the Causeway and it, too, was over by a fair amount. still had some people attempt the crossing in 4WD's, but it would have been past the bottom of my car.

Headed back around to Seaview road, but it was cut off just after the railway tracks. Looked a little easier to get over than any other crossing so far, but there was still the back part of Watsons Road that I was worried about. Backtracked and eventually went over the Hummock to try Windemere road. I've seen it flooded before near the train crossing in large deluges, but this time it was pretty high.

Another backtrack across to Elliot Heads Rd and my last option of getting home. It was across Back Windemere Rd in a couple of spots, but you could at least see the bitumen through the water. One cooled the footwell, but nothing got in.

As a point of interest I headed back up Watson's road to se how it now handles the water as it used to be worse than Hughes road. It was still over, but having greater than 50 metres of width it looked easier to cross than Hughes road.