Assignment in Eternity

I mentioned a couple of ducks landed in the garden the other week. Well, it seems they liked it here so much they’ve decided to come back every day. They usually show up early in the morning quacking for food, before spending most of the day asleep on the lawn, occasionally waddling over to the window for more grub or to drink out of their personal water bowl.

In other garden related news, a silly young squirrel somehow got one of his paws stuck in the nut feeder. I really don’t know how, but the poor little bugger was stuck hanging upside down unable to free himself. So I had to go out and try to help him down. He was obviously scared, and I had to be cautious in case he panicked and tried to scratch my face off. Fortunately, he seemed to calm down a little when I was near him, either that or he was frozen in terror, but it gave me the chance I needed to lift the feeder down with him on it and place it on the ground.

I was hoping if he was on a level surface he’d be able to free himself, and after some manic wriggling around on the grass, he did so, before scampering off into the bushes. He didn’t hurt himself, and I saw him again the next day, back on the feeder chomping away.

Eh, what else? Well, after nearly two weeks of decorating I can finally sit down and get some serious work done on WFTD. I've still not figured out how to handle the ending yet though.

Now Playing: Braid

Braid is an indie puzzle/platform game originally released in 2008. It’s wonderfully presented, with a lovely art style and great music. The time manipulation mechanic works flawlessly, and the game regularly introduces new and creative uses of the mechanic which keeps things feeling fresh, interesting and challenging.

However, this is a game that requires a lot of trial and error. While many of the puzzles feel intuitive and well designed, others are almost ridiculously obtuse, with elaborate solutions often involving tricky platforming, very precise timing and sometimes, an element of luck. This can lead to much mashing of the keys in frustration. The much praised story element, whilst certainly amusing how it plays out across the final sequence, seems to try laughably hard to seem deep and meaningful, but in reality is about as deep as a puddle.

Overall, Braid is a pretty good, challenging platform/puzzle game. I wouldn’t say it does anything particularly special or outstanding. It can be almost as irritating as it is enjoyable, but what it does, it does do relatively well, so it’s definitely worth a few quid if you like that sort of thing.

6/10

Work in Progress: WFTD

So I’ve got Part 2 of WFTD planned out now and I’m fairly pleased with it. Part 3…eh, not so much. But the good thing about how I’ve planned Part 2 is that the way it ends, it allows me to take the story in several directions. I’m just not sure which is the right one yet.

Part 3 is going to be the final part of WFTD, and although I do know how I want the story to end overall, it’s really just a question of how I should take it there. But I’m not going to fret too much about it at the moment. Writing Part 2 should keep me busy for a few weeks, which gives me plenty of time to think about how to wrap things up.

The rough outline I currently have just doesn’t feel right for some reason. It’s missing something, I just don’t know what it is yet. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much trouble with an ending before.

Now Playing: The Fall of Max Payne

I played Max Payne when it was released in 2001, but I never picked up the sequel until a few years ago in a sale. It’s been sitting in my substantial backlog of games ever since, something I’m making a determined effort to whittle down this year.

The bullet-time mechanics are still good fun. It’s kind of refreshing to play a third person shooter again that doesn’t revolve around conveniently placed chest high walls. Gripes? I recall disliking the dream sequences in Max Payne and I still dislike them here. It’s also a little on the short side.

But other than that, Max Payne 2 has aged pretty well. It’s still an enjoyable third person shooter and well worth your time. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the upcoming Max Payne 3.

7/10

The Door into Summer

Typical. I get ready to write about how summer finally seems to have arrived and it starts pissing it down outside. I really need to get back to work on WFTD. I completed a first draft of Part 1 over a week ago, but I’ve not written a thing since. I’ve been decorating mostly. Painting doors. Lots of doors.

But it’s not so bad. I often find it useful to take a short break from something I’m working on so I can go back to it with fresh eyes. And then I look at it again and I think ‘oh god, this is awful’.

There were a couple of ducks in the garden yesterday. They were here all morning. They had a few slices of bread before settling down to sleep on the lawn. They shat everywhere. Bloody ducks.

Now Playing: Jedi Academy

I picked up the complete Jedi Knight bundle on Steam during a sale some time ago. The only game I’d actually played in the collection was Jedi Knight 2, which I remember I quite enjoyed back when it was released in 2002. I was tempted to start at the beginning of the series, but I decided to go for Academy first.

It’s okay. It hasn't aged particularly well, but nevertheless, I’ve felt compelled to keep playing through to the end. I’m not really a big Star Wars fan. Well, I like the original trilogy. But I’ve never delved into the expanded universe or anything like that. Lightsaber combat is a lot of fun and is the best thing about the game.

Oh, and force choking someone into the air before dropping them screaming off a ledge has never been more enjoyable. Perhaps not very Jedi, though.

6/10