“Nobody had any idea what the game was. I thought it was an adventure game up until it was released; commercials made it look like a heavy metal WOW parody; the demo apparently made it seem like heavy metal Zelda; and then it turns out it’s basically heavy metal Halo Wars?” –mkozlows @ Quarter to Three Forums
Slowdown Slowdown
While you have probably noticed the tell-tale signs of a steady stream of “Quote of the Day” posts (as fun as they are to post…!), I would just like to take a moment to clarify the situation somewhat: Richard, Nabeel and I have all been beyond busy lately. I’m telling you, it feels so good to be able to write that down, even if it doesn’t change a thing: Busy!
(Kinda dig the earlier one – it doesn’t read “TORMENT” all over it…)
To write about games, you have to think about games. To do that, you do have to read and discuss them, too. Doing that properly means you have to play them first. The problem? The above chain of events simply never even gets rolling when you’re pressed for time! We try to take each and every post seriously and this sometimes means more work and delays.
Right now, our @slowdownvg Twitter feed is slightly more active than the front page, as is my own @martynzachary – if only barely.
Grassroots Renegade
Jools Watsham is a dude with a broken heel (do get well soon!). He’s also the owner and creative director of Dementium the Ward and Moon developers Renegade Kid. Three weeks ago, he posted a video titled “YOU CAN HELP!” on his YouTube vlog:
Check out some fresh (if diminutive) Dementium II screenshots and my take on the video after the jump!
Maximize Your Torment
As you might have heard, after reissuing a portion of their back catalogue digitally, Interplay also seem to be re-retailing some of their classic games. Make of that ethically what you will – especially in relation to the recent, omnipresent lawsuits – but as things stand, it seems that the earlier Planescape: Torment release date got pushed back a month, and the current release date stands at the 20th – that is, in a few days. That means we have just enough time to outline how to best install mods for the game!
First off, we would start with installing the official v1.1 patch. This is not required for 2CD versions of the game, though I’ve never come across those. After that, the smartest choice is bigg’s unambiguous Widescreen Mod, currently sitting at v2.2 – as an added plus, it works for other games built on the Infinity engine, too. To get more bang for you buck with the bigger resolution you just got, you should also install GhostDog’s PS:T UI mod for the aforementioned. According to the site, it makes “1280×800, 1280×720, 1280×768 and 1280×1024 resolutions viable for Planescape: Torment by changing a number of things in the UI.”
The Borg
“Optimism need not suffer – only naïveté”
The news today is that Pandemic Studios is being forced to close up shop, with its founders, Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman and Greg Borrud already let go some days before. This comes mere days after 40% of Mythic staff gets cut 1)http://twitter.com/Athryn/statuses/5565314202.
With shaking hands, I bust out my very special Devil’s Advocate crystal ball, and take a hesitant look into the future. In five years’ time, I can see it now, gamers will exhibit the exact same feeling of dismay as we did, just there and then, combing over archives of video game history. Putting the ball aside, I come to realize that we should not focus so squarely on the now – it is a global recession we have here on our hands, after all, and the ends should justify the means.
References