They Don't Make Em Like They Used To

As planned, my 24 hour gaming marathon for charity was the perfect opportunity to start Icewind Dale. This game is enormous, and I really didn't put much of a dent in it even after 24 hours. Ah...they don't make 'em like they used to.

People say that all the time, but it's absolutely true. You will never come across a game nowadays that's going to easily take 100+ hours. It just doesn't happen. The only recent game that even comes close is Skyrim. I spent 70 some hours playing that, but that game's the exception rather than the rule. 30 hours is pretty standard fare nowadays or if you're playing a shooter, 10 hours since they just want the ability to check that "Single-Player Campaign" feature box. (I know, I know. FPS enthusiasts are in it for the multiplayer. Moving right along...)

Second thing, your party are utter wusses to start out with. If you Leroy Jenkins into danger, someone's dying. Guaranteed. Your 6 measly hit points are no match for...anything. After I lost a party member to a wolf who found its way into a house and later participated in death by goblins, I then remembered why I developed the habit saving my game compulsively, and also, why I used to come at mobs with more trepidation. Games used to be hard, teaching by letting the user fall on their face. People learn quickly that way, like a kid learning that touching hot things fucking hurts.

The era of the tutorial crept in while I was unawares. Starting a game where you're going to get your ass handed to you right away might cause users to give up on the game. The first experience of the game will be a nice stroll where you learn some UI stuff, some controls stuff, and no matter how inept you are, you're probably going to survive because you're practically invincible in Tutorial Land. Give the user that boost of self-confidence to keep soldiering onward because you're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like you. The change to this methodology has been gradual, so I didn't really notice, but fuck that noise. I'd like to compare this to the weak practice of giving out trophies to kids merely for participating in sports. You didn't earn that, and it cheapens the reward for those who did earn it. There's got to be a bit of a challenge or the progression won't feel like an accomplishment. We're not talking "Demon Souls" caliber or that awful first section in "Driver" type of challenge but at least give me a taste of things to come.

Respect your audience enough to let them discover some things on their own and feel secure in the fact that if they encounter some trials and tribulations that they're not going to rage quit within the first 20 minutes. Quit holding my hand. I promise I won't go play in the street.

Progress

I'm not feeling real wordy today, but there has been progress made in this massive gaming venture. I beat Saints Row 3 this past weekend. ACHIEVEMENT! I thoroughly enjoyed that game, and if you've been thinking about picking it up, frickin' do it already. :)

To indicate this success, I'll need to update my "List of a Bajillion Hours". Also, I have dug myself in a deeper hole with a recent sale on GOG.com that I couldn't resist. I'll be adding Arcanum, Caesar III, King's Quest 1-8, Quest for Glory 1-5, and The Zork Anthology to the list.

I may have a chance to dig out at little though. This weekend, I'm going to be participating in the Extra Life 24-hour charity gaming marathon. First up, I'll be going into the GOG vault and playing Icewind Dale. Back in the day, my computer kept chugging trying to play this, so it's finally going to get its moment in the sun. There's no way I'll even put a dent in it with merely 24 hours, but it's a start.

Glorious Stats

I love stats. I wish I had stats tallied for my daily life. Why it says here that I've watched "Kill Bill" 57 times. Fascinating... Such a thing would require either me keeping a ridiculous amount of notes about my activities or having someone follow me around for all eternity, documenting the minutia of my life. Both of these options sound like a lot of work and are beyond creepy. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with my Saints Row 3 stats.

I thought I was nearing the end, and the numbers corroborate this theory. Here's my progress in stat form. I'm being productive at being unproductive! Yay?

86% - Overall
36 of 47 - Missions Completed
56 of 56 - Activities Completed
18 of 18 - Neighborhoods Explored
11 of 17 - Neighborhoods Controlled
27 of 32 - Gang Operations Completed
64 of 64 - Stores Owned
17 of 20 - Drug Packages Found
20 of 20 - Money Pallets Found
20 of 20 - Sex Dolls Found
20 of 20 - Photo Ops Found
34 of 36 - Hitman Targets Eliminated
22 of 30 - Chop Shop Vehicles Delivered
15 of 34 - Homies Acquired
6 of 6 - Escorts: Completed
6 of 6 - Trafficking: Completed
2 of 2 - Guardian Angel: Completed
6 of 6 - Heli Assault: Completed
6 of 6 - Insurance Fraud: Completed
6 of 6 - Mayhem: Completed
6 of 6 - Prof. Genki: Completed
6 of 6 - Snatch: Completed
6 of 6 - Tank Mayhem: Completed
6 of 6 - Trail Blazing: Completed

Why Hello, Giant Screen

Steam has recently come out with a feature called "Big Picture". It's currently in beta, but it allows you to plug your computer into your television and use a controller to play Steam games. It combines access to my growing Steam library with the joy of sitting on my ass in front of my television! Wowee!

I hooked up my Alienware m15x laptop up with a DisplayPort to HDMI cable I bought just because "Big Picture" exists, and I used some MotionJoy program to get my PS3 controller to work with my PC. I don't know how I got it to work at all. MotionJoy is not super intuitive, and I felt like a monkey, screaming and banging on stuff hoping something would happen, but eventually it worked.

Big Picture's interface is pretty smooth. You can get around easily enough, but the trouble is, the majority of my games are not really controller friendly. Even games that you would think should be, like Bit Trip Beat, said they had "Partial Controller Support". I don't know where that partial support was because when I got in-game, my controller didn't do jack.

The Playstation controller wasn't really listed as a supported device though. I may be suffering from some pains of not using one that syncs up all nice, with little goading.

Even though the controller thing didn't work out as well as I'd like, I am still digging simply using my television as a beastly monitor. I played Saint's Row 3 for three hours in all its ginormous glory last night. No...I didn't need "Big Picture" to do that... No, my cable wasn't long enough that I could sit on the couch while doing so. Yes...that beats down with a stick the entire reason why I was excited about "Big Picture". Back off, it was still fun. I just need to figure out the right combination of peripherals.