Video games: Hump day news roundup

- Here’s an interesting thing: There’s a game coming out for the Playstation 3 Network called The Last Guy. (Details are scarce, but the rumor is you’ll be playing the last guy.) Wired has a description and video, and it looks like you’ll be leading citizens through real cities to escape giant monsters, kind of like a cross between Pac-man, Snake and Google Maps.

- There’s an interview with a guy from Stalker: Clear Sky at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. It isn’t much, but there’s a 25-minute trailer of the game if you hadn’t seen it before. Clear Sky is the followup to the best game about running around in a freaky irradiated sci-fi Chernobyl. Admittedly that’s a limited field, but you can’t go wrong with the premise. The developers of Stalker promised an awful lot that they didn’t quite deliver on, but they distinguished themselves by providing something that was pretty darn good despite what was cut.

- Denis Dyack made a bet with the Internet that his game Too Human would be awesome, but it generally was received as less than awesome. “Yeah, I can sympathize,” says Peter Molyneux.

- Thinking of starting up a startup? Maybe you should read this first. (Link from GameSetWatch.)

- You know what’s weird? Nintendo’s Captain Rainbow is weird. Little Mac has not aged well.

Batman Busted–Picks Fight With Mom, Sister

Walking the celebrity beat as I do sometimes–it works out well for me because most celebrities are in movies and movies are what I write about anyway–exposes you to a whole new level of madness and lunacy you never thought possible.  And there are fewer more bizarre occurrences than what I just heard about: namely, Tuesday’s arrest of the Dark Knight himself–Christian Bale–on assault charges for going American Psycho on his sixty-one-year-old mother and his forty-year-old sister.

Apparently, mom and sis came out to see Bale just ahead of the United Kingdom premiere of The Dark Knight at his hotel, the Dorchester, when he performed the alleged apparent “lashing out”.  Some bloggers described Bale’s recent earlier appearances in Britain as “grouchy”, which is possible.

Not to, you know, even look like I’m going to condone the beating of the elderly, but take a look at it from his side.  Guy’s been running full-tilt for most of the last week–not to mention a huge shooting schedule in a costume where he can barely move–and he’s just hopped a plane to like eight-hours-ahead land of where he’d be in L.A.  All this would fray on the nerves of even the most serene people, and I don’t think we’re giving Bale enough benefit of the doubt on that one.

But still, dude…assaulting your mom and sister is not the way to go. I think we all can understand how moms and sisters can get on our nerves at even the best of occasions, but this requires a measure of calm, rational understanding to deal with properly.  Assault is not properly.

Ebert & Roeper Leave “Ebert & Roeper”…Wait, I’m Confused

Did you know that the show “At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper” is owned by Disney? Well, I didn’t. But apparently, Disney has decided that they want to “take the show in a new direction.”

One that doesn’t involve Ebert. Or Roeper.

It all started when Roeper and Disney were not able to come to an agreement on his new contract. Ebert has been out since his surgery and will be unable to return for the forseeable future, so Disney has decided to revamp the whole thing.

Just recently, it was announced that TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons (Jeffrey’s son) will be the new hosts. Ben has the advantage of being young and fresh, while Mankiewicz has the advantage of being a somewhat familiar face. But will viewers stick with the show?

In his years on the show, Roeper has gained enough noteriety to do whatever he wants. And according to the man himself, he intends to “proceed elsewhere” and to “honor the traditions” of the show that Siskel and Ebert created so many years ago.

As for Ebert? While he may never appear on T.v. the way he used to, he remains active behind the scenes of the show and will certainly carry this over to his new project, whatever it may be. The rights to his trademark “thumbs up” still belong to him and Gene’s widow, so they will go with him.

Ebert and Roeper might opt to stay together, although there has been no comment from either party on whether the possible shows each has discussed might be the same one.

While I’m too young to remember much about Siskel and Ebert, I very much enjoyed listening to Ebert and Roeper’s podcast back before Ebert’s health problems tore him away. I found a copy of one of his movie yearbooks on clearance at the bookstore, and I often enjoyed thumbing through it just for his witty, unique take on things.

The Sun-Times has been doing a good job of replacing him. Guest reviewers are often quoted as Ebert by people who don’t notice the difference, and I can’t blame them; the wording and points of view often mimic Ebert’s enough to satisfy his fans.

But there will never be another Roger Ebert. Now rendered unable to speak because of his thyroid cancer and subsequent surgeries, he still writes reviews and makes sure to stay in the public eye to raise awareness of his disease. As silly as it is to say this, I have to give him two great big thumbs up.

Mamma Mia - Does It Show Again? My My.

Just how much I’ve missed you!

Mamma Mia! is a sing-along movie. So much so that I expected to see lyrics at the bottom of the screen, with a bouncing beach ball keeping tempo. Even if all you know is the title song and “Dancing Queen,” like me, you will find yourself tapping your foot and smiling through many of the musical numbers.

As a whole, Mamma Mia! doesn’t really work. It’s a ridiculous melo-dramedy that befits the stage, perhaps, but you can’t expect too much of it. It’s better to look at it in bits and pieces, so I’ll do it that service.

THE CONS

1. Back in the day, actors and actresses were classically trained. Most of them could sing. Nowadays, casting a musical, you are left with two options: cast unknowns, or cast people who can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Pierce Brosnan falls into the latter category, and for some reason they decided to make him the male character with the most songs.

2. Certain parts of the movie leave the viewer with an intense feeling of awkwardness. I’m not sure what it is, exactly. Even Meryl Streep, who is otherwise impressive, does some very strange and unsettling choreography, writhing and hurling herself around the set and repeatedly grabbing her stomach (to symbolize her pregnancy with Sophie? Who knows?). Her performance of “The Winner Takes It All,” while emotionally charged, is a notable low point: she stands and gestures at Pierce Brosnan, who can do nothing but stick his hands in his pockets and sort of react with his facial expressions. Earth to director Phyllida Loyd: You’re in a MOVIE. Go ahead and make them move around a little. Doing that Matrix-style 360 with the camera while Meryl screams isn’t doing much for me.

3. Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep, the two characters who are supposed to stay together at movie’s end, have as much chemistry as glazed donuts.

4. Overall? This story wasn’t meant to be a film, and Phyllida Loyd certainly wasn’t meant to direct it.

THE PROS

1. Amanda Seyfried is charming and passionate as Sophie, the girl who just wants to find her father. In fact, the whole cast is good when they’re not singing or dancing, a task at which too many of them seem to fail. The chemistry amongst the three fathers is touching and funny, and each one’s relationship with Sophie is perfect and unique.

2. Amanda and Meryl can sing.

3. There is a scene in which Meryl Streep’s two friends, played by Julie Walters (of Harry Potter and Educating Rita fame) and Christine Baranski, attempt to cheer her with memories of her wild youth. All rise up, throw on makeshift costumes, and sing “Dancing Queen” while parading through the town. As they pass, women of all ages drop what they are doing and, for one glorious moment, share in the spotlight that comes with being seventeen and free. And if you, sitting in that dark theater, are not swept into that moment too, you have a heart of stone.

4. The movie looks great. Much of it was filmed on location in Greece, and the setting is as beautiful as one could hope for.

To summarize: Mamma Mia! is deeply flawed, but still something you might enjoy taking your mom to (if you’re a girl, of course). It’s probably no fun for dads and boyfriends, but hey. Who needs them anyway?

The Tarn Adams interview, part 2

(Part 1 of this interview appears here.)

Matt: Getting back to the subject, Dwarf Fortress really is a game that’s unlike any other, in that you have all these little individual guys running around with their own wants and needs instead of, say, construction drone #27. And now you’re kind of expanding that to cover a whole world instead of one fortress.

Tarn: Yeah, we’ve always been into that sort of detail. Even if it is to chuckle at their personalized misfortunes.

Matt: Down to even whether or not someone’s toe is broken.

Tarn: I think it’s a lot more satisfying that way, rather than watching the HP meters go up and down, though I guess there’s a place for that. The adventure mode fights are pretty fun.

Matt: The same guy I was talking about who wants to mod the game was surprised you went as far as to, say, let dwarves buy right and left socks individually.

Tarn: Yeah, there was some question about whether it should go that far, but I really wanted it for adventure mode. I don’t like things like “boots” that you wear, when one of your feet can get chopped off and not the other. It removes the ambiguity.

But the downside is that it can add more hassles to the dwarf part of the game, since you’ll have to do more micromanaging and you’ll just have more garbage lying around. I’ve added a few interface controls to help out with all the extra debris recently, but more can clearly be done.

Matt: Yeah, I had some dwarves who really loved socks.

Tarn: Well, there’s that too. The dwarves that pile goblet after goblet in their rooms. They are a little singleminded when it comes to their hobbies.

Matt: So, what went live with the version you put out this week? I’ve browsed the devlog but I didn’t see a big list.

Tarn: The main thing for this time was the world generation update. It had just been cities with populations that grow, but there weren’t any interactions. Now they’ll start wars and stretch each other’s skin over the castle walls and eat each other and stuff.

The idea is to set the stage for both dwarf and adventure mode. When you want to do things like “random quests”, you can of course just start in on it, but they’ll be a lot more satisfying if you have a lot of building blocks to play with, and diplomacy in dwarf mode can be more satisfying when there are reasons behind everything, and real things to be fought over.

Matt: What’s next on your plate?

Tarn: We’re still deciding. The posted dev item is getting armies to move around during regular play and letting you interact with them, in preparation for dwarf mode army stuff. But there will probably be other adventure mode improvements as well. Perhaps allowing your adventurer to do more of the things that can be done in dwarf mode.

I’ll also need to introduce resource tracking at some point, so that the world economy can start up and they have more to do than just kill each other. Of course, while all of this prepares for dwarf mode additions, it also neglects dwarf mode in the sort term, which I’ve already been doing for months, so I’ll also probably find some things to add there as well.

We’ll be finalizing the plan at the end of the month. For now, I’m just fixing bugs. After the last major release, all sorts of untoward things have been happening.

Matt: Like sleeping dwarves not waking up?

Tarn: Yeah, and animal drunks.

Matt: Hah.

Part 3 goes up on Thursday.

Wrath of the Lich King talents announced

Yeah, they’re up, though technically they were mined out of the beta client already.

If you play World of Warcraft, you already saw that announcement. If you don’t play, you probably don’t give a damn. The only audience for this post is people like me who aren’t playing right now, but are probably going to get back into it for the expansion.

So, if you’ve got a level 70 character out there gathering dust, what can you expect if you reactivate your subscription?

Well, warlocks get some unadulterated awesome, as usual. Demonology specs get the ability to transform into a demon for 45 seconds and wreck things, while the other two trees get less flashy but still respectable attacks.

Rogues get some terrifying stuff, especially subtley rogues, who will get the ability to instantly vanish and go in and out of stealth every three seconds. That seems kind of tame, until you remember the sheer amount of moves out of steath they’ll be able to pull off in that time. Why choose between kidney shot, garrote and ambush when you can do all three?

Druid trees get all a boost to their respective roles. Balance gets an improved area-of-effect spell called Starfall, presumably to fill the gap left by the fairly weaksauce hurricane spell. Restoration gets an AoE heal over time, probably to plug the same hole that tranquility leaves. Feral druids get a versatile ability that’s sort of a combination of the warriors’ last stand, amped-up damage potential and best of all, the PVP trinkets that clear effects that make you lose control of your character. If you thought druids were horrifying in battlegrounds before, wait until you see this in action.

Protection paladins get a sort of melee avenger’s shield that they can use in combat, not that they weren’t already gods at holding aggro on multiple targets. Holy paladins get a huge boost, what with the extra range on judgments and the AoE heal spell. They were great single target healers before, but now they’ll be able to lay judgments on an enemy from a safe range and heal the whole group during fights that require it. I’m not that excited about the retribution talents, but I’m told that retpallys get a better deal in the expansion overall.

Some other highlights: Fury warriors get to dual-wield two-handed weapons. Restoration shamans get a strange ability that divides damage among party members, presumably to keep the tank from getting outright crushed. Holy priests get a get-out-of-death-free ability for the tank. Hunters can get the ability to tame “exotic” pets, whatever those turn out to be. Mages get stuff that practitioners of magery will probably like, but since I haven’t played one since beta, I can’t really say.

The Death Knight talents are up too, but since the class isn’t playable yet, it’s hard to say just how all of these work. It’s interesting, though, that there doesn’t seem to be any tree that screams “this is what you take if you want to tank” or “…if you want to do damage” like other hybrid classes.

Selma Blair Would Rather You Not Have a Career, Thanks.

I’ve heard a lot of preposterous nonsense spewed forth from the mouths of celebrities.  This might explain why, despite my sheer genius and conversational skill, I am not yet one myself.  Only a celebrity can be so relentlessly irrational as to hawk the need for reducing one’s carbon footprint from the depths of a private jet during an era of crippling job losses and mortgage default.

And only a celebrity like Hellboy’s Selma Blair can be so irrational as to say this:

“I wish they’d move back to where they came from in the Midwest or some place. I don’t want to see them on billboards or in magazines.  It’s heartbreaking. I’m very sensitive, and it’s hard for me.”

Apparently, Selma Blair wants her ex-boyfriends to stop appearing in magazines and on television and whatnot, because she’s SO VERY SENSITIVE that she can’t stand to see them after they’ve broken up.

Seriously, now.  Let that sink in.  She wants the careers of all her exes to just sort of dry up and blow away.  She wants to take food out of the mouths of their children (if they have any) rather than subject herself to the crippling angst of ACCIDENTALLY SEEING THEIR FACES IN PRINT.  I’ll spare you the snarky fake cries of “Boo hoo. Boo hoo hoo.” because the sheer amount of hubris involved in making a suggestion like this just boggles the mind.

Hi, Selma?  Mister Reality left me a message to pass on to you–he wanted to be here himself to give you one of his famous checks, but his car wouldn’t start.  Anyway, the message:

YOU ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT.

Your “sensitivity” notwithstanding, to actually wish all your ex-boyfriends would move across the country and permanently shun any kind of public appearance because YOU MIGHT BE HURT BY THE MEREST SIGHT OF THEM is just appalling.  Seriously.  I’ve heard some self-centered, self-righteous celebrity drivel in my day but you’re well on your way to being the new high water mark, you spectacular moron.

Boy, nothing like a good celebrity read to angry up the blood, huh?  Let’s all just take a deep breath, go calm down and play some Hellboy trivia.  That’ll make us all feel better.

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” - Who’s Alice?

Last year, the rumors first started buzzing about Tim Burton’s 3-D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which he would make for Disney. It’s part of a three-picture deal that will also include an adaptation of his 1984 short film, Frankenweenie.

In picking Tim Burton, the famously prudish Disney must be fully aware of the direction he will take the story. Alice in Wonderland is a story that, in our jaded times, has been found to be laden with innuendo. The video game American McGee’s Alice explores the darker side of Wonderland - and was also rumored for a film adaptation, although that seems to have been put on hold. In Lost Girls, writer Alan Moore explored the sexual undertones in three famous girl heroines: Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Wendy from Peter Pan, and, of course, Alice.

These days, it’s almost cliché to explore the darker world of fairy tales and children’s stories. People have been doing it since the ’60s, and it’s old now. Disney’s original Alice in Wonderland might have been benign, but many other interpretations are not. How far will Disney let Burton go? And how far do we really want him to?

It might actually be refreshing to see a “straight” telling of the story, without ascribing any darker meanings or motivations to the characters. The story is scary enough by itself.

Burton’s Alice will be filmed mostly in motion-capture, à la Beowulf, and some speculate that Alice will be one of the few live-action characters in the film. Rumored to play the part at various times have been people like Amanda Seyfried (Veronica Mars), Lindsay Lohan, and Evan Rachel Wood. Newcomer Ryan Nikole Parker (yes, she’s a girl) has recently been named.

It’s hard to imagine exactly how Tim Burton’s often-grisly visions will mesh with the innocent fantasy world that Lewis Carroll created. But whatever the final result, it should be interesting to watch - I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.

Superbad–The Superbaddest?

What would you say if I told you that there was a project lurking in the depths of Hollywood, not so very long ago, that would have taken Michael Cera comedy vehicle Superbad and released it as a no-holds-barred action title with lots of gunplay and violence and beatings and explosions and everything that action film fans have come to expect from them?

What would you say if I told you that THIS was the trailer for that film?

You’d say I was totally full of it.  And you’re right.  I am.  Truly.  But man, when you get a look at that YouTube clip you’ll wonder how they ever actually released the movie they did, because it would’ve made a really SWEET action film.

Now, at this point you might be wondering what my point is.  Am I using this to underscore the value of digital distribution, or a showcase of what the small studio can do with the right material, or as a subtle jab at the Hollywood movie machine?

None of these, really.  I thought it was a sweet trailer with a smart idea and I figured I’d just put it up there for everyone to have a look at.  Hey, not everyone can be crazy and controversial all the time, you know.  Sometimes even I just phone it in, or just want to point out something that looks kickass without it having a larger commentary or being just a tiny piece of a bigger picture.

It’s a sweet trailer, Superbad was a fun movie, Superbad trivia can be found right here.  Have a good, quiet rest of your day.

Tarn Adams interview, part 1 of 3

Dwarf Fortress is a game of unparalleled scope, where tiny dramas happen daily between ASCII characters. The game’s programmer, Tarn Adams, was kind enough to talk with us about gaming and living life on donations, and whether Dwarf Fortress will ever be a little more user-friendly.

Matt: Could you introduce yourself briefly for our readers?

Tarn: Hi, I’m Tarn Adams from Bay 12 Games. My most recent project is Dwarf Fortress.

Matt: So, making Dwarf Fortress is pretty much your full time job, isn’t it?

Tarn: Yeah, I used to be a mathematician, but I quit last year in June. Now I make ends meet purely on donations. I make less than I used to, but it’s cool.

Matt: What made you take the leap?

Tarn: I always preferred writing computer games, but I didn’t think I’d be able to make it without a side job. I might have been able to keep a different sort of job, but it’s hard to be a math prof as a side job. It really demands all of your time.

I don’t regret it now of course. But it was a little scary, since I handed in my resignation before I even put DF out. Fortunately, they let me stay on a year after that.

Matt: Given the scope of Dwarf Fortress, I imagine that keeps you pretty busy as well.

Tarn: Oh yeah, DF can eat as much time as I give it.

Matt: How much time DO you give it? What’s a typical day look like for you?

Tarn: It has changed over time. Right now, I get up at 3:30 in the afternoon, handle my email and look over forum threads and other stuff like that, and by the time I’m done with that, it’s usual around seven or eight. Then oftentimes my brother will call, and we’ll take a walk through the swamp here, and plan stuff out.

Matt: Swamp?

Tarn: Yeah, the Clear Creek Trail by my apartment here. It’s nice and deserted, aside from the occasional crazed dog.

Then at around ten or eleven, give or take, I can start by programming for the day. That usually runs until around seven AM, often later.

My current schedule is to work on DF for the first 23 or so days of the month. Then I take a week off at the end. It used to be weekends off, but it’s tough to work on other projects that way.

Matt: The week off is for your other projects, or just relaxing?

Tarn: Mostly my other projects, but it’s also the time where I can take a day trip or something if it comes up. Like the zoo down in Tacoma, something like that. I don’t get out much though, he he he.

Matt: About Dwarf Fortress itself: What started as a game about dwarves digging a home out of the side of a hill seems to have blossomed into simulating an entire fantasy world. Was that always your intention?

Tarn: Well, it was originally a side project to the original Slaves to Armok: God of Blood. That was itself an evolution of a previous fantasy game called Dragslay I wrote in high school and college (and it had an earlier version itself).

Matt: That was the gladiator game, right?

Tarn: Well, there’s not much to do but wander around and die, so I guess you could call it that, but even that is a bit generous. It’s still up at http://www.bay12games.com/armok. Sort of a tragedy, but it has amusing parts. But by the time DF was released, it was already the main fantasy project. So in that sense, yeah, it was always intended to be a fantasy world simulator.

Matt: You’ve made games with your brother for quite some time, right?

Tarn: Yeah, as long as I can remember.

Matt: What draws you guys to games?

Tarn: It’s hard to say, since I have no memories prior to experiencing them, so it’s difficult for me to conceptualize.

(lemme get a glass of water, maybe I’ll think of something…)

Matt: I have to admit, it’s not a question I could answer for myself either. I was hoping for some insight.

Tarn: Perhaps it would be easiest to start with the first games I remember.

Matt: Shoot.

Tarn: That would be around ‘84 I guess. I was 6. We had tons of BASIC games we’d downloaded off of BBSs, and we had a Vic20 and then an Atari…

I don’t even remember the Vic20 being purchased, so it must have been before I was really aware of what was going on. A lot of the BASIC “games” were just these animation/demos, and there were text games. we had the epyx version of Rogue on a floppy around ‘85, a little later…

The Vic20 games were consolish, but it was almost like watching TV, I guess. Just playing with the control and doing whatever you were supposed to do.

And as I got a little older, I started thinking and understanding a bit more about what was going on. I found I disliked sports games, say, and liked rpg type games a bit more, probably because they were more like the cartoons I liked or something. But I was also programming in BASIC at that time. Mostly animations, but also some IF type text stuff and little D&Dish battle sims.

Matt: IF?

Tarn: Interactive Fiction, like text adventures.

Matt: Right, right.

Tarn: We weren’t roleplaying by then though, so our first experience with hitpoints and that sort of thing that was in our early games came more from other games that were ripping off D&D or whatever.

But there were also little BASIC creature makers and pet rat simulators and gun fight stuff… really whatever… inspired by tv and movies and books, more than anything.

I’m not sure I can really answer the original question though. It’s pretty much always been there, so I wasn’t really drawn to it, per se, like a lot of adults were.

Matt: Hmm. I suppose, what keeps you going, then? This is pretty much your life now, it seems like.

Tarn: Now that I’m writing games in an aware fashion, yeah, it’s easier to see what’s going on at an intellectual level, anyway. It’s thrilling to get things to work out, and to set up all of the moving parts and watch them work together and produce unexpected stories and so on. That’s satisfying.

And to be able to change things and make them better. That’s something that became very dissatisfying about the games we were playing growing up. And it wasn’t really that long before we were operating in spite of them rather than being inspired by them, for the most part.

Matt: How so?

Tarn: They just weren’t that complicated or new after a while, when this graphics stuff started picking up. I suppose when the first 3D ones started coming out. A lot of the procedural stuff people are just starting to do should have been done many, many years ago, if you ignore the graphical side of it.

Matt: Like Spore, for instance?

Tarn: Yeah. The graphics there wouldn’t have been possible, but it actually seems pretty shallow beyond that, I guess, from what I’ve seen (though I can only go by demos and presentations). As far as I can tell, bits of SimEarth were more intricate, though I really don’t know.

Matt: Heh. Well, on some level it’s a way to get the players to do your dev work for you.

Tarn: He he, that’s another issue. Mixed feelings on that I guess. The best ones should probably get royalties.

Matt: Speaking of which, do you have any plans to up the modability of DF? I know at least one person who’s itching to build it into 3D. Even just isometric sprites or double-tall sprites for pseudo-3D.

Tarn: Well, there’s interface modability and other sorts of modability. I’m leery about third party interfaces. If a third party interface becomes popular, I think I might lose control of the project. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to accommodate and work with other people.

Of course, it seems more common these days to script up and XML or whoever your interface so anybody can mess with it. But aside from having no technical expertise, I also have to live on this project for a long time. It’s not a one-off that’s going to be replaced by a sequel the next year. So the issues are exacerbated.

Matt: DF is about 28% done, if I read the version numbers correctly?

Tarn: Well, large grain of salt there, but yeah. Of course, once it gets up to v1, I have all the post v1 items posted as well… It can really keep me occupied permanently. It’s not as if I can just start another general fantasy project. That wouldn’t really be an option at this point.

Matt: I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, but it seems like a friendlier interface might help you by getting a lot more people into the game. It’s pretty daunting.

Tarn: Oh sure, it’s just something I’m going to have to slowly do myself, and I have many dev items along those lines. It’s just not something that I currently think is a good idea to do in a moddable fashion.

Matt: Fair enough.

Tarn: Not that that will really stop people. There are a lot of talented utility writers etc. out there working on the game. The situation I fear is probably inevitable.

I don’t want to sound down on the general premise. I’m not ideologically linked to the text-based interface or anything. And I plan to continue to support graphics (you can just do the creatures right now), and once I get to the first overhaul, adding isometric support would be trivial. It just fills me with dread, that’s all, he he he.

Continue on to part 2