The XBox Live Update will be out on 6 December.
Look back here for a review of the new features.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Session Report - BSG Pegasus - Finish the Humans When You Have The Chance
This game was played on Saturday, 12 November 2011. We used the Pegasus Expansion with six players. No Cylon leader and we did not use the Sympathizer rule.
Gaius Baltar (President)- Nate
Admiral Cain (Admiral) - Me
Apollo - Remington
Chief - Will R (Matt)
Starbuck - Will B
Helo - Ryan (BSG virgin)
I am a Cylon
This is the first time in a while that I have been a Cylon right off the start. As it is my game and I have played the most of our group, I am often in the position of giving advice or suggestions to other, newer players to get them into the game. All of my suggestions revolve around helping the humans, so if I suddenly stop giving advice, they will suspect me. I decide that I better play it straight at the start, and do everything to help the humans win the game.
All our games seem to start with people going to Sickbay on the first play, and this game is no exception. Chief Tyral goes first, shoots at the Basestar and for his crisis, the Basestar hits weapons control, sending him to Sickbay. The rest of the first round is fairly typical. Pilots shoot Cylons, Cain (me) XO's Starbuck to shoot more Cylons. For my crisis, I pull Guilt by Collusion. We pass it and the Chief is brigged. Baltar is getting aggressive right off the bat, mixing things up to see what happens.
During round 2, the Chief fails to get out of the Brig, but we get to jump. Both the cards I pick are 2 distance, so that will help me avoid suspicion. One destination loses us 1 fuel and 1 of another resource, the other loses 2 fuel. I choose to lose 2 fuel, thinking that I will control the ability to get fuel throughout the game, so I will focus on that resource.
Round 3 puts more Cylons on the board right from the start. Pilots are spending their time killing raiders and I am XOing them. Baltar is getting out of control. He is accusing everyone of being a Cylon and threatening to put them in the Brig. He is causing so much chaos, I am sure he is a Cylon as well, although he claims not to be. Yet he is coming to me for suggestions and advice. We are starting to form a bit of a team. I figure I can use him to cause chaos. On his turn he gets Code Blue which allows him to check a loyalty card. I figure this is unnecessary to pass, as I know I am a Cylon and suspect he is the other. Since he is asking my advice on who to check, I figure I am safe and decide not to risk spiking the skill check. Surprise, he decides to check me! (After the game, Baltar says he decided that since he was going to trust me so much, he had to be sure I was human.) He doesn't say anything.
My turn is immediately after Baltar. I revel I am a Cylon. Although I prefer to remain hidden as long as possible, I do not fully trust him. Although he did not immediately revel that I was a Cylon, he did not say I wasn't. I figure I better get out now before I am in the Brig. If he is also a Cylon, it may remove suspicion from him. I send Helo to the Brig for my revel. Admiral passes to Apollo. Helo fails to get out on his turn.
Round 4 sees more shooting of Cylons (my poor brothers!) and we jump another distance 2, for a total of four and the start of the sleeper phase. On his turn, Baltar executes Helo for some reason (further convincing me he is a Cylon). Helo is not a Cylon and is replaced by Dee. I am next and I go to Caprica and try to use a crisis to cause the humans problems. But they don't really need my help, as Dee goes next and is executed on her turn. Dee is human and is replaced by Saul Tigh. This must be the record for fastest executions.
Round 5 begins with the Chief shooting Scar and killing him. He had just come up and I was looking forward to using him to cause problems, so much for that. The board is pretty much free of Cylons, so much so that Starbuck is repairing Vipers. The Chief goes to sickbay and Apollo, who now also suspects Baltar, successfully brigs him. Baltar uses Quorum cards to Brig Apollo. This is going well for the Cylons. Baltar is acting like a Cylon. The president and the admiral both suspect each other, yet both claim to be human. If both are telling the truth, the humans will tear themselves apart with suspicion. I am chortling with glee, still thinking Baltar must be the Cylon. He is doing a great job of acting indignant and swearing revenge on Apollo.
Round 6 starts with the Chief and he revels! Oh no, what are you doing? The humans were just getting ready to tear themselves apart! So much for that plan. Baltar and Apollo quickly make up, both pass their checks to get out of the Brig and start to focus on the reveled Cylon threat.
Round 7 starts off badly for the humans. There are already a lot of Cylons on the board and they are getting close to doing some real damage. Starbuck goes to FTL and jumps early, distance of 2 for a total of six. Apollo gets the Tactical Strike crisis and Baltar uses his Quorum cards to raise morale. My turn. The humans have not been paying attention. There has been a Cylon Boarder on the ship for some time now and he is one step from venting oxygen. If I go to the Cylon Fleet location I can activate Heavy Raiders and end the game. With the recent draw of the Tactical Strike crisis, there are a lot of Cylon ships on the board and they are far from being able to jump. My Super Crisis card is Massive Assault, so I decide to play that, thinking we will get them by attrition with our ships (a much more satisfying way to victory). I may regret this.
The humans are now in a bit of a panic, with so many Cylon ships on the board. Tigh uses a nuke and severely damages a Basestar. This doesn't really help them. But for his crisis he pulls Legendary Discovery, which allows the humans to advance 1 distance if passed.This would put them in the New Caprica phase and render useless all the ships above them. They throw everything into it and pass by a lot.
The occupation of New Caprica begins. As this is our first time getting to the New Caprica phase, there is a lot of delay and rereading of rules. Resources stand at Fuel 3, Food 2, Morale 4 and Population 10. Another food is lost immediately on Starbucks turn, setting food at one. I am at a bit of a loss for Cylon strategy. We can force ships to be destroyed and hope to get lucky that one will contain food, but this seems risky and is putting the fate of the Cylons on luck. Both sides get to it. The humans focus on preparing ships, while the Cylons try to advance the Centurians. The humans prep 4 ships, the Cylons destroy one. One population is destroyed.
Galactica returns. The Chief has to leave (it is now 3 am), so Matt steps in to finish the game. We discuss the best strategy to defeat the human threat. The humans try to get more ships off the planet, but Cylon Cain moves to the Cylon Fleet location, advances the Heavy Raiders and the Cylon Boarders end the game by destroying Galactica.
It is now almost 4 am. Everyone is very tired. I regret not ending the game earlier.
Overall, a good game, if a bit long. I enjoyed the New Caprica phase, it added a nice twist, putting the focus on civilian ships. I think we will use it again.
However, there is a new house rule. All BSG games must start before 10 pm.
Gaius Baltar (President)- Nate
Admiral Cain (Admiral) - Me
Apollo - Remington
Chief - Will R (Matt)
Starbuck - Will B
Helo - Ryan (BSG virgin)
I am a Cylon
This is the first time in a while that I have been a Cylon right off the start. As it is my game and I have played the most of our group, I am often in the position of giving advice or suggestions to other, newer players to get them into the game. All of my suggestions revolve around helping the humans, so if I suddenly stop giving advice, they will suspect me. I decide that I better play it straight at the start, and do everything to help the humans win the game.
All our games seem to start with people going to Sickbay on the first play, and this game is no exception. Chief Tyral goes first, shoots at the Basestar and for his crisis, the Basestar hits weapons control, sending him to Sickbay. The rest of the first round is fairly typical. Pilots shoot Cylons, Cain (me) XO's Starbuck to shoot more Cylons. For my crisis, I pull Guilt by Collusion. We pass it and the Chief is brigged. Baltar is getting aggressive right off the bat, mixing things up to see what happens.
During round 2, the Chief fails to get out of the Brig, but we get to jump. Both the cards I pick are 2 distance, so that will help me avoid suspicion. One destination loses us 1 fuel and 1 of another resource, the other loses 2 fuel. I choose to lose 2 fuel, thinking that I will control the ability to get fuel throughout the game, so I will focus on that resource.
Round 3 puts more Cylons on the board right from the start. Pilots are spending their time killing raiders and I am XOing them. Baltar is getting out of control. He is accusing everyone of being a Cylon and threatening to put them in the Brig. He is causing so much chaos, I am sure he is a Cylon as well, although he claims not to be. Yet he is coming to me for suggestions and advice. We are starting to form a bit of a team. I figure I can use him to cause chaos. On his turn he gets Code Blue which allows him to check a loyalty card. I figure this is unnecessary to pass, as I know I am a Cylon and suspect he is the other. Since he is asking my advice on who to check, I figure I am safe and decide not to risk spiking the skill check. Surprise, he decides to check me! (After the game, Baltar says he decided that since he was going to trust me so much, he had to be sure I was human.) He doesn't say anything.
My turn is immediately after Baltar. I revel I am a Cylon. Although I prefer to remain hidden as long as possible, I do not fully trust him. Although he did not immediately revel that I was a Cylon, he did not say I wasn't. I figure I better get out now before I am in the Brig. If he is also a Cylon, it may remove suspicion from him. I send Helo to the Brig for my revel. Admiral passes to Apollo. Helo fails to get out on his turn.
Round 4 sees more shooting of Cylons (my poor brothers!) and we jump another distance 2, for a total of four and the start of the sleeper phase. On his turn, Baltar executes Helo for some reason (further convincing me he is a Cylon). Helo is not a Cylon and is replaced by Dee. I am next and I go to Caprica and try to use a crisis to cause the humans problems. But they don't really need my help, as Dee goes next and is executed on her turn. Dee is human and is replaced by Saul Tigh. This must be the record for fastest executions.
Round 5 begins with the Chief shooting Scar and killing him. He had just come up and I was looking forward to using him to cause problems, so much for that. The board is pretty much free of Cylons, so much so that Starbuck is repairing Vipers. The Chief goes to sickbay and Apollo, who now also suspects Baltar, successfully brigs him. Baltar uses Quorum cards to Brig Apollo. This is going well for the Cylons. Baltar is acting like a Cylon. The president and the admiral both suspect each other, yet both claim to be human. If both are telling the truth, the humans will tear themselves apart with suspicion. I am chortling with glee, still thinking Baltar must be the Cylon. He is doing a great job of acting indignant and swearing revenge on Apollo.
Round 6 starts with the Chief and he revels! Oh no, what are you doing? The humans were just getting ready to tear themselves apart! So much for that plan. Baltar and Apollo quickly make up, both pass their checks to get out of the Brig and start to focus on the reveled Cylon threat.
Round 7 starts off badly for the humans. There are already a lot of Cylons on the board and they are getting close to doing some real damage. Starbuck goes to FTL and jumps early, distance of 2 for a total of six. Apollo gets the Tactical Strike crisis and Baltar uses his Quorum cards to raise morale. My turn. The humans have not been paying attention. There has been a Cylon Boarder on the ship for some time now and he is one step from venting oxygen. If I go to the Cylon Fleet location I can activate Heavy Raiders and end the game. With the recent draw of the Tactical Strike crisis, there are a lot of Cylon ships on the board and they are far from being able to jump. My Super Crisis card is Massive Assault, so I decide to play that, thinking we will get them by attrition with our ships (a much more satisfying way to victory). I may regret this.
The humans are now in a bit of a panic, with so many Cylon ships on the board. Tigh uses a nuke and severely damages a Basestar. This doesn't really help them. But for his crisis he pulls Legendary Discovery, which allows the humans to advance 1 distance if passed.This would put them in the New Caprica phase and render useless all the ships above them. They throw everything into it and pass by a lot.
The occupation of New Caprica begins. As this is our first time getting to the New Caprica phase, there is a lot of delay and rereading of rules. Resources stand at Fuel 3, Food 2, Morale 4 and Population 10. Another food is lost immediately on Starbucks turn, setting food at one. I am at a bit of a loss for Cylon strategy. We can force ships to be destroyed and hope to get lucky that one will contain food, but this seems risky and is putting the fate of the Cylons on luck. Both sides get to it. The humans focus on preparing ships, while the Cylons try to advance the Centurians. The humans prep 4 ships, the Cylons destroy one. One population is destroyed.
Galactica returns. The Chief has to leave (it is now 3 am), so Matt steps in to finish the game. We discuss the best strategy to defeat the human threat. The humans try to get more ships off the planet, but Cylon Cain moves to the Cylon Fleet location, advances the Heavy Raiders and the Cylon Boarders end the game by destroying Galactica.
It is now almost 4 am. Everyone is very tired. I regret not ending the game earlier.
Overall, a good game, if a bit long. I enjoyed the New Caprica phase, it added a nice twist, putting the focus on civilian ships. I think we will use it again.
However, there is a new house rule. All BSG games must start before 10 pm.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
History of the XBox
This is an ineresting article on the development and launch of the XBox.
The Making of the XBox - Part 1
The Making of the XBox - Part 2
The Making of the XBox - Part 1
The Making of the XBox - Part 2
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Session Report - Battlestar Galactica - Why Random Execution Can End A Game
This game was played on Saturday, October 29th. Seven players were present and we used the Pegasus Expansion for the first time with the Cylon Leader rule.
Ellen Tigh - Matt
Chief - Johnroy
Saul Tigh - Me
Kat - Will
Admiral Cain - Remmington
Starbuck - Brandon
Cavel (Cylon Leader) - Nate
I am not a Cylon.
This was our first time playing the Pegasus Expansion and a few people were quite excited to try it out. I tried to give a quick rules review and go over the new stuff, but our group is a bit impatient, preferring the "pick it up as we go along" route. This may have contributed to the fail.
Also, some people were quite interested to try out the airlocking rule (I am looking at you, Matt). It was a forgone conclusion that someone was going to get airlocked, Cylon or not, just to see what would happen. This did strongly contribute to our fail.
Admiral Cain starts the game our poorly, hitting a Basestar for structural damage but we fail our hanger accident crisis, losing 1 population and damaging 2 vipers. Starbuck does the usual and launches herself, Ellen Tigh (president) starts collection Quarum cards. Cavel (Cylon Leader) pretty much declares himself as having a Cylon win goal by placing a Basestar and activating Raiders on his turn, and pretty much guaranteeing he will be airlocked if he tries to infiltrate. Tigh XO's Starbuck, Kat uses max firepower and kills 3 raiders. A pretty average first turn.
The second turn is average as well. The group finally convinces Cain to move to Pegasus and she destroys a Basestar. The pilots kill some more raiders, the Chief repairs the Armoury, and I move there and kill our boarder. We lose another population and a fuel to failed crises, our Cylon enemy wastes his turn and the president continues her Quarum card collection.
The third turn is also very average except that Kat is put into sick bay and to vipers are destroyed. Cavel XO's Starbuck to kill more raiders. Trying to get back into our good books?
The fourth turn heats things up. Cain pulls Thirty-Three as a crisis and puts more Cylons on the board. Starbuck is next and pulls up Jammed Assault, losing civilian ships and 2 population and a fuel. Things go from under control to a Cylon swarm after 2 players. I state out loud that I wish I was a Cylon. We have to get out of there and fast. Ellen Tigh XO's Cain so she can use her once per game ability and blind jump the fleet. We make out pretty good, jumping a distance of 3 and even getting a fuel out of it.
For the Chief's next turn he pulls the Assassination Plot crisis, which allows the President to execute someone. No one has acted suspiciously, but the one player who really wants to airlock someone has the choice. Ellen Tigh picks Admiral Cain to execute. I warn about the cost if Cain is human (loss of morale), but if she is gone, I get to be Admiral. Plus, Cain was a bit of a bitch on the show, so it is not like she doesn't deserve it. Ellen decides to let the fates decide. 1-4 and Cain is executed. Fates want Cain to pay for being a bitch and a one is rolled. Cain is human.
This causes some reviewing of the rules for me to ensure we do this right, as it is our first time. Remmington (the one executed) picks Boomer as his replacement. Everyone is watching him as he gets his loyalty cards and he has the worst poker face ever. Everyone immediately knows he was dealt a Cylon card and calls him on it. He immediately declares and revels he is a Cylon. In disgust, he throws all his loyalty cards on the table and he has two "You are a Cylon" cards, letting everyone know that no one else is a Cylon and that whomever he gives his card to will be a Cylon.
Epic fail and the game is pretty much ruined. Fortunately, we had started this game late (after midnight) and it was already 3 am, so by mutual agreement, we decide to end it. I don't think anyone was too disappointed. I was already really tired and, at the rate we were going, we were going to be there until breakfast.
Overall, a fail, but we got a good introduction to the new rules (treachery cards, etc) and no one will make the mistake of reveling all their loyalty cards again next time. It is unfortunate we did not get the chance to try out New Caprica, but it gives us something for next time.
Ellen Tigh - Matt
Chief - Johnroy
Saul Tigh - Me
Kat - Will
Admiral Cain - Remmington
Starbuck - Brandon
Cavel (Cylon Leader) - Nate
I am not a Cylon.
This was our first time playing the Pegasus Expansion and a few people were quite excited to try it out. I tried to give a quick rules review and go over the new stuff, but our group is a bit impatient, preferring the "pick it up as we go along" route. This may have contributed to the fail.
Also, some people were quite interested to try out the airlocking rule (I am looking at you, Matt). It was a forgone conclusion that someone was going to get airlocked, Cylon or not, just to see what would happen. This did strongly contribute to our fail.
Admiral Cain starts the game our poorly, hitting a Basestar for structural damage but we fail our hanger accident crisis, losing 1 population and damaging 2 vipers. Starbuck does the usual and launches herself, Ellen Tigh (president) starts collection Quarum cards. Cavel (Cylon Leader) pretty much declares himself as having a Cylon win goal by placing a Basestar and activating Raiders on his turn, and pretty much guaranteeing he will be airlocked if he tries to infiltrate. Tigh XO's Starbuck, Kat uses max firepower and kills 3 raiders. A pretty average first turn.
The second turn is average as well. The group finally convinces Cain to move to Pegasus and she destroys a Basestar. The pilots kill some more raiders, the Chief repairs the Armoury, and I move there and kill our boarder. We lose another population and a fuel to failed crises, our Cylon enemy wastes his turn and the president continues her Quarum card collection.
The third turn is also very average except that Kat is put into sick bay and to vipers are destroyed. Cavel XO's Starbuck to kill more raiders. Trying to get back into our good books?
The fourth turn heats things up. Cain pulls Thirty-Three as a crisis and puts more Cylons on the board. Starbuck is next and pulls up Jammed Assault, losing civilian ships and 2 population and a fuel. Things go from under control to a Cylon swarm after 2 players. I state out loud that I wish I was a Cylon. We have to get out of there and fast. Ellen Tigh XO's Cain so she can use her once per game ability and blind jump the fleet. We make out pretty good, jumping a distance of 3 and even getting a fuel out of it.
For the Chief's next turn he pulls the Assassination Plot crisis, which allows the President to execute someone. No one has acted suspiciously, but the one player who really wants to airlock someone has the choice. Ellen Tigh picks Admiral Cain to execute. I warn about the cost if Cain is human (loss of morale), but if she is gone, I get to be Admiral. Plus, Cain was a bit of a bitch on the show, so it is not like she doesn't deserve it. Ellen decides to let the fates decide. 1-4 and Cain is executed. Fates want Cain to pay for being a bitch and a one is rolled. Cain is human.
This causes some reviewing of the rules for me to ensure we do this right, as it is our first time. Remmington (the one executed) picks Boomer as his replacement. Everyone is watching him as he gets his loyalty cards and he has the worst poker face ever. Everyone immediately knows he was dealt a Cylon card and calls him on it. He immediately declares and revels he is a Cylon. In disgust, he throws all his loyalty cards on the table and he has two "You are a Cylon" cards, letting everyone know that no one else is a Cylon and that whomever he gives his card to will be a Cylon.
Epic fail and the game is pretty much ruined. Fortunately, we had started this game late (after midnight) and it was already 3 am, so by mutual agreement, we decide to end it. I don't think anyone was too disappointed. I was already really tired and, at the rate we were going, we were going to be there until breakfast.
Overall, a fail, but we got a good introduction to the new rules (treachery cards, etc) and no one will make the mistake of reveling all their loyalty cards again next time. It is unfortunate we did not get the chance to try out New Caprica, but it gives us something for next time.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Next Gen XBox Rumours
There have been a few rumours over the last few months about the NextGen consoles. A 2014 release seemed to be the consensus, but also talk that the next XBox would be announced next year (2012) possibly at E3.
Two more recent rumours:
Nexrt XBox is codenamed "Loop", it will have a main processor and additional assisted cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors. It will be smaller and have a cheaper price to encourage adoption of Kinect. (Original MSNerd link). Interestingly, the GamePro article that links to MSNerd states that they think this means the next XBox will not be released until 2014. This ties in with Microsoft stating the 360 would have a ten year cycle (this would have it end 2015).
Contrast the above with this rumour which says the next XBox will be integrated very closely with Windows 8 and will be released for Christmas 2012. Also is a quote from the CEO of the team that developed the Anniversary of Halo:CE where he states he would be "shocked" if Microsoft doesn't launch its next gen before Sony.
Not sure how to read what seems to be quite a difference in dates.
Update 21 Nov: Analyst says it would be "silly" to launch next XBox before 2014.
Two more recent rumours:
Nexrt XBox is codenamed "Loop", it will have a main processor and additional assisted cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors. It will be smaller and have a cheaper price to encourage adoption of Kinect. (Original MSNerd link). Interestingly, the GamePro article that links to MSNerd states that they think this means the next XBox will not be released until 2014. This ties in with Microsoft stating the 360 would have a ten year cycle (this would have it end 2015).
Contrast the above with this rumour which says the next XBox will be integrated very closely with Windows 8 and will be released for Christmas 2012. Also is a quote from the CEO of the team that developed the Anniversary of Halo:CE where he states he would be "shocked" if Microsoft doesn't launch its next gen before Sony.
Not sure how to read what seems to be quite a difference in dates.
Update 21 Nov: Analyst says it would be "silly" to launch next XBox before 2014.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
New Bioware Franchise
This screenshot is all we have about a new Bioware franchise, information for which will be released next month during the Spike TV Video Game Awards (December 10, 8pm EST).
I find this interesting as I had heard a rumour that Bioware may be working on a followup to Jade Empire, an IP which they own. Jade Empire had a distinct medieval East Asian look and feel to it. A crashing Jeep seems to be pretty far from that.
Update: This link is a 20 second video clip which teases this new game from Bioware. It looks like a modern or near future military style FPS.
I find this interesting as I had heard a rumour that Bioware may be working on a followup to Jade Empire, an IP which they own. Jade Empire had a distinct medieval East Asian look and feel to it. A crashing Jeep seems to be pretty far from that.
Update: This link is a 20 second video clip which teases this new game from Bioware. It looks like a modern or near future military style FPS.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mass Effect 3 Beta Leak
As you may have heard, elements of Mass Effect 3 were leaked last week through the XBox Live. It seems that users with access to the XBox Live Dashboard beta (set to be released next week and mentioned here) got access to a 1.8GB download. This was to be an internal only beta to Microsoft, but someone released it to XBL.
It appears the game will have 3 main types or styles of play: Action Mode, Story Mode and RPG Mode.
Action Mode emphasizes combat over story, using automatic replies to move things along. Story Mode is the opposite, with fully conversation options and low combat difficulty. RPG Mode is full conversation options with normal combat difficult. You are still able to select such things a combat difficulty.
This seems to be a short cut way to get into the action with presets. I am not sure why you would want to play Action Mode (it's an RPG, if you just wan the combat, go to Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare). There are some who think Bioware is trying to make the game more accessible to the Modern Warfare crowd. As long as they don't dumb the game down to try to get this group, I don't see that the hard core fans will be affected.
From the article:
The beta was supposedly devoid of sound, animation and textures, but from these screenshots, it seems to look great, even without textures. Note that at the above link, there is some links to YouTube video, but these links have been taken down.
Some may feel some of the images are spoilers, but they all seem to revolve around combat against the Reapers on Earth, something you should already be aware of if you watched the trailers on the Mass Effect site.
More Mass Effect: Interview with Mass Effect 3 Producer Jesse Houston
Update: It seems some story documents were also leaked yesterday. I am not following up on this, as screen shots are one thing, but I don't want to know any more about the storyline.
It appears the game will have 3 main types or styles of play: Action Mode, Story Mode and RPG Mode.
Action Mode emphasizes combat over story, using automatic replies to move things along. Story Mode is the opposite, with fully conversation options and low combat difficulty. RPG Mode is full conversation options with normal combat difficult. You are still able to select such things a combat difficulty.
This seems to be a short cut way to get into the action with presets. I am not sure why you would want to play Action Mode (it's an RPG, if you just wan the combat, go to Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare). There are some who think Bioware is trying to make the game more accessible to the Modern Warfare crowd. As long as they don't dumb the game down to try to get this group, I don't see that the hard core fans will be affected.
From the article:
“We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement,” he said. “These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they’ve come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options.
The beta was supposedly devoid of sound, animation and textures, but from these screenshots, it seems to look great, even without textures. Note that at the above link, there is some links to YouTube video, but these links have been taken down.
Some may feel some of the images are spoilers, but they all seem to revolve around combat against the Reapers on Earth, something you should already be aware of if you watched the trailers on the Mass Effect site.
More Mass Effect: Interview with Mass Effect 3 Producer Jesse Houston
Update: It seems some story documents were also leaked yesterday. I am not following up on this, as screen shots are one thing, but I don't want to know any more about the storyline.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
XBox 360 Dashboard Update Next Week?
This report claimes the XBox 360 Dashboard update set for 15 November will be released next week.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Battlefield 3 Launches!
I have been anticipating this title for some time now. Three million preorders can't be wrong.
Find some reviews here and here.
The consensus seems to be that the single player campaign is weak, but multiplayer is everything you would expect. BF3 is all about the multiplayer for me anyway.
Itching to play Battlefield 3 for the last few days, I fired up Bad Company 2 and played a few rounds to remind me why I enjoy the franchise so much. Unfortunately for me, money is a bit tight at the Pit and the Wife says we cannot afford to upgrade the gaming PC at this time. It is on its last legs, so I will keep working on her and maybe she will eventually break. Until then, I can seek some advice on how to build a kick ass Battlefield 3 PC here.
Find some reviews here and here.
The consensus seems to be that the single player campaign is weak, but multiplayer is everything you would expect. BF3 is all about the multiplayer for me anyway.
Itching to play Battlefield 3 for the last few days, I fired up Bad Company 2 and played a few rounds to remind me why I enjoy the franchise so much. Unfortunately for me, money is a bit tight at the Pit and the Wife says we cannot afford to upgrade the gaming PC at this time. It is on its last legs, so I will keep working on her and maybe she will eventually break. Until then, I can seek some advice on how to build a kick ass Battlefield 3 PC here.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Session Report - Battlestar Galatica - Where are the Cylons?
This game was played on
Saturday, October 15th, 2011. Six players were present, no
expansions and we decided to ignore the sympathizer rule. Two players
had never played before.
Baltar (president)–
Matt
Tigh – Me
Apollo – Johnroy
Adama (Admiral)–
Brandon
Chief – Will
Boomer – Demetri
I am not a Cylon.
The game starts out a
bit tense for me. I am sitting between Boomer and Baltar, the two
most likely to be Cylons (with their extra loyalty cards).
The game starts out
poorly, failing our first crisis, putting Baltar in sick bay and
losing one morale. A Cylon boarder gets on the ship. The next few
players spend their time trying to shoot down Cylons or kill the
boarder. A few ships are shot down, but that stubborn boarder cannot
be killed. During the round we lose a nuke, more morale and a civilian
ship. By my turn there is not much to do. Baltar wants me to XO him
so that he will get out of sick bay and start to collect his quorum
cards. I am reluctant, as I figure he is most likely the Cylon and
collecting quorum cards and then doing nothing with them is my usual
MO when I an the president and a Cylon. Since I have nothing much
else to do, I figure give him enough rope to hang himself, so I use
my XO. The first round (everyone getting one turn) is over and we
have barley moved on the jump track. The Cylons have stacked the deck
with crisis after crisis that have with no jump track moves.
Baltar starts turn two,
collects more quorum cards and pulls Sleep Deprivation for his
crisis, sending him back to sick bay. More attempts to kill the
boarder, all of which fail. The chief draws Boarding Parties for his
crisis and then Apollo (next turn) draws Ambush. Two Cylon attacks in
a row and the board is full of Cylon ships (see pic) with the jump
track only at -3 population.
There is no choice.
Boomer goes to FTL and jumps the ship. We get lucky and jump
distance 3, but we lose 2 fuel and 1 population. Not a bad exchange considering all the Cylon ships.
It is the longest first turn I have seen and way to many civilian ships on the board. A tough round but we make is relatively unscathed.
No sign of a Cylon within the Fleet. Perhaps the humans have a chance.
Getting to our second jump takes almost as long as the first. We lose a few more food and morale and the Chief finally kills the Cylons on board the ship. Unfortunately, he immediately draws the Besieged crisis, the Cylons destroy one of our vipers and good natured calls of Cylon are sent towards the Chief . However, on Apollo's turn he kills 3 Cylon raiders, easing up the pressure. Boomer launches in a viper shoots a raider but draws Heavy Assault and the Basestars hit Galactica, damaging the Hanger Bay and the Armoury. Sticking with the alcoholic theme, Tigh XO's (third time in a row) the Chief who quickly repairs the damage to Galactica. The rest of the round passes uneventfully and we auto jump distance 1 and gain 2 fuel doing it.
Sleeper Phase:
Loyalty cards are handed out. I am not a Cylon. Boomer goes into the brig. At this point there has been no indication of any Cylons. However, there is doubt now, there must be 2 out there and I am still sandwiched between the two most likely Cylons. Baltar uses his turn to check the Chief and says he is not a Cylon. He draws the Admiral Grilled crisis, which we fail, losing another morale. Now a proven a loyal member of the human race (well almost), the Chief agrees to XO Baltar on his turn and Baltar checks Apollo, who is not a Cylon. However, Guilt by Collusion is drawn and although we pass, 3 yellows are in the deck. Only the Chief or Apollo could have spiked it. Apollo is thrown in the brig. He is next in the turn order and he revels as a Cylon. But who is the other? Is it Baltar, who said he was not a Cylon? But Baltar have been helping with Inspirational Speeches. Adama has been picking good distances and Boomer jumped us at a critical time. No one is acting suspiciously, and even until his revel, Apollo had done nothing to indicate he was a Cylon, except not contributing much (that is probably just his poor ability). I have no idea who to suspect.
Boomer is next and tries to get out of the brig. I am torn, but she has done nothing to make me suspicious. Although she has received 2 cards this turn and is most likely to be a cylon, I figure let he out and, if she is the cylon, maybe we can flush her out. We auto jump after Tigh's (my) turn, go a distance of one and gain 2 fuel. After 3 jumps we stand at 5 distance, 4 fuel, 4 food, 4 morale and 10 population.
Things start to get dicey right off the bat. Baltar fails his Inspirational Speech and draws Raiding Party. Cylon ships are on the board and we are at the start of the jump track. This is likely the best time for a cylon to revel and for Apollo to use his super crisis card. We fire at the Cylon raiders and use Brutal Force to kill a heavy raider.
Apollo's turn. He uses his Super Crisis card, but in a lucky break for us, it is Bomb on Colonial 1, probably the only card that cannot take advantage of the mess of Cylon ships. We barely pass the check. We try to keep the Cylon ships at bay. Boomer's crisis costs us 1 fuel and I XO (again) and we destroy a few ships. I draw Informing the Public, which we pass. I am not sure who to check. My gut tells me the Chief, but he has had one check already and Apollo took the fall for the spiked skill check and did not deny it. No one has been acting suspiciously. I decide to check Baltar, hoping to get lucky. I reason that, if he were a Cylon at this stage and we do not suspect him, he could really screw us later. He is not a Cylon. Baltar goes next and continues to build up his quorum cards but draws Tactical Strike, putting a fair amount of Cylon ships on the board. We need to get out of here. Adama is next and goes to FTL to jump us a distance of 2. At the end of our fourth jump we stand at 7 distance, 3 fuel, 4 food, 4 morale, and 9 population. We might just be able to pull this off.
The next turn passes fairly quickly. Apollo (the reveled Cylon) picks a crisis card but makes a bit of a mistake by giving us Scouting for Water, which we pass (barely) and gain 1food. Unfortunately, Boomer loses us 2 population on her crisis and, while Baltar uses Inspirational Speech to gain 1 morale, he immediately loses it when he draws Terrorist Investigation which we fail.However, we jump on his turn a distance of 2 for a total of 9, losing 1 fuel and 1 morale. With one more jump to Kobol, we stand at 2 fuel, 5 food, 3 morale and 7 population.
The final round. All the humans have to do is get to -3 population on the jump track and they can win. Adama moves the jump track on his turn. The Chief revels that he is the second Cylon. Apollo (cylon) helps plays witch hunt which we pass and also moves the jump track. Tigh gets Water Shortage and moves the Fleet into the -3 population jump prep space. Baltar moves to FTL and jumps the fleet. Humans win.
Final tally: Fuel 1, Food 2, Morale 1, Population 4.
Post Game: The Chief revels that he was a Cylon from the start and Apollo got his during the sleeper phase. Throughout the game, there was only one indication of a Cylon, which was the 3 yellows on a skill check. We knew that one of them had to be a Cylon, but the truth was that both spiked the check with one yellow. A fun game but not a suspicious one due to the zeal with which the Cylon Chief repaired Galactica and Vipers during the game. The Chief reveled too late to be effective. Perhaps it was my fault, as I usually tell new players that their best bet is to wait as long as possible to revel so as to sow confusion and suspicion amongst the players. I should have made it clear that Cylons should revel before the last jump in order to get to use their super crisis card and cause maximum damage.
Getting to our second jump takes almost as long as the first. We lose a few more food and morale and the Chief finally kills the Cylons on board the ship. Unfortunately, he immediately draws the Besieged crisis, the Cylons destroy one of our vipers and good natured calls of Cylon are sent towards the Chief . However, on Apollo's turn he kills 3 Cylon raiders, easing up the pressure. Boomer launches in a viper shoots a raider but draws Heavy Assault and the Basestars hit Galactica, damaging the Hanger Bay and the Armoury. Sticking with the alcoholic theme, Tigh XO's (third time in a row) the Chief who quickly repairs the damage to Galactica. The rest of the round passes uneventfully and we auto jump distance 1 and gain 2 fuel doing it.
Sleeper Phase:
Loyalty cards are handed out. I am not a Cylon. Boomer goes into the brig. At this point there has been no indication of any Cylons. However, there is doubt now, there must be 2 out there and I am still sandwiched between the two most likely Cylons. Baltar uses his turn to check the Chief and says he is not a Cylon. He draws the Admiral Grilled crisis, which we fail, losing another morale. Now a proven a loyal member of the human race (well almost), the Chief agrees to XO Baltar on his turn and Baltar checks Apollo, who is not a Cylon. However, Guilt by Collusion is drawn and although we pass, 3 yellows are in the deck. Only the Chief or Apollo could have spiked it. Apollo is thrown in the brig. He is next in the turn order and he revels as a Cylon. But who is the other? Is it Baltar, who said he was not a Cylon? But Baltar have been helping with Inspirational Speeches. Adama has been picking good distances and Boomer jumped us at a critical time. No one is acting suspiciously, and even until his revel, Apollo had done nothing to indicate he was a Cylon, except not contributing much (that is probably just his poor ability). I have no idea who to suspect.
Boomer is next and tries to get out of the brig. I am torn, but she has done nothing to make me suspicious. Although she has received 2 cards this turn and is most likely to be a cylon, I figure let he out and, if she is the cylon, maybe we can flush her out. We auto jump after Tigh's (my) turn, go a distance of one and gain 2 fuel. After 3 jumps we stand at 5 distance, 4 fuel, 4 food, 4 morale and 10 population.
Things start to get dicey right off the bat. Baltar fails his Inspirational Speech and draws Raiding Party. Cylon ships are on the board and we are at the start of the jump track. This is likely the best time for a cylon to revel and for Apollo to use his super crisis card. We fire at the Cylon raiders and use Brutal Force to kill a heavy raider.
Apollo's turn. He uses his Super Crisis card, but in a lucky break for us, it is Bomb on Colonial 1, probably the only card that cannot take advantage of the mess of Cylon ships. We barely pass the check. We try to keep the Cylon ships at bay. Boomer's crisis costs us 1 fuel and I XO (again) and we destroy a few ships. I draw Informing the Public, which we pass. I am not sure who to check. My gut tells me the Chief, but he has had one check already and Apollo took the fall for the spiked skill check and did not deny it. No one has been acting suspiciously. I decide to check Baltar, hoping to get lucky. I reason that, if he were a Cylon at this stage and we do not suspect him, he could really screw us later. He is not a Cylon. Baltar goes next and continues to build up his quorum cards but draws Tactical Strike, putting a fair amount of Cylon ships on the board. We need to get out of here. Adama is next and goes to FTL to jump us a distance of 2. At the end of our fourth jump we stand at 7 distance, 3 fuel, 4 food, 4 morale, and 9 population. We might just be able to pull this off.
The next turn passes fairly quickly. Apollo (the reveled Cylon) picks a crisis card but makes a bit of a mistake by giving us Scouting for Water, which we pass (barely) and gain 1food. Unfortunately, Boomer loses us 2 population on her crisis and, while Baltar uses Inspirational Speech to gain 1 morale, he immediately loses it when he draws Terrorist Investigation which we fail.However, we jump on his turn a distance of 2 for a total of 9, losing 1 fuel and 1 morale. With one more jump to Kobol, we stand at 2 fuel, 5 food, 3 morale and 7 population.
The final round. All the humans have to do is get to -3 population on the jump track and they can win. Adama moves the jump track on his turn. The Chief revels that he is the second Cylon. Apollo (cylon) helps plays witch hunt which we pass and also moves the jump track. Tigh gets Water Shortage and moves the Fleet into the -3 population jump prep space. Baltar moves to FTL and jumps the fleet. Humans win.
Final tally: Fuel 1, Food 2, Morale 1, Population 4.
Post Game: The Chief revels that he was a Cylon from the start and Apollo got his during the sleeper phase. Throughout the game, there was only one indication of a Cylon, which was the 3 yellows on a skill check. We knew that one of them had to be a Cylon, but the truth was that both spiked the check with one yellow. A fun game but not a suspicious one due to the zeal with which the Cylon Chief repaired Galactica and Vipers during the game. The Chief reveled too late to be effective. Perhaps it was my fault, as I usually tell new players that their best bet is to wait as long as possible to revel so as to sow confusion and suspicion amongst the players. I should have made it clear that Cylons should revel before the last jump in order to get to use their super crisis card and cause maximum damage.
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