Flash of Steel header image 4

Entries from September 29th, 2006

Interview with Brian Reynolds

September 29th, 2006 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized

My interview with Brian Reynolds for the Civilization Chronicles project is now going up at a few gaming websites. Other preview and promotional material may find its way online soon. It is up at Gamers Hell and Shacknews. Civ Fanatics gives the interview the gold treatment with screenshots and a URL link to this blog […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Women folk left behind

September 28th, 2006 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized

Judging from the demo Left Behind: Eternal Forces is an unusual game in many respects. It purports to be an instrument with a religious message, but happily lets you play the forces of darkness. Music is the big weapon of faith-sapping, with rock musicians destroying your will to serve God and hymn singers bolstering your […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Teach me about programming

September 27th, 2006 · 5 Comments · Uncategorized

I play a lot of games. I know how hard they are to make and that even the bad ones are designed by very talented people, certainly more skilled than I am. So why is pathfinding so hard? You would think that this problem would be solved by now. And in many games it seems […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Racial Profiling

September 26th, 2006 · 2 Comments · Creative Assembly, Preview

Did you ever notice that most strategy game previews drip out information through “national profiles”? Today, IGN has posted Creative Assembly’s account of the Sicilians in Medieval 2: Total War. Age of Empires 3, Rise of Legends, any game that relies on distinctions between factions…all get this treatment. As an amateur historian, I like this […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Company of Heroes racks up high score

September 25th, 2006 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized

It looks like Company of Heroes is shaping up to be the game of the year. With most of the major online publications having rendered their verdict, the Relic RTS is running a high aggregate at Gamerankings and has earned three 10/10 scores, including one from the usually stingy Eurogamer. And I haven’t even tried […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

GDC gets bigger. But better?

September 21st, 2006 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized

The recent announcement that the Game Developers Conference will double in size has some people drawing the conclusion that this will be the new E3. More floor space, an entire convention center, more expo style booths for new product and a Game Demo Theater. I’ve been to one GDC (2005) and I really enjoyed it. […]

[Read more →]

Tags: