If you don't follow me on the DFW Nerd Night group, or listen to when I got to join their podcast on youtube, then you may not know I really like the boardgame Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy from lautapelit.fi.  And now it is out for iOS devices.  Actually, to be fair, it is out for the tabled devices only. And it is downright amazing.  More after the break...
more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 02:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 550 words, total size 4 kb.

Ladies and gents, do not be swayed by the art on this one. Response time for just moving around or interacting with objects is hampered so much by loading screnes (even within the same scene) it will drive you nuts

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 09:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 94 words, total size 1 kb.

I spent two hours this morning playing a solo conquest in Mage Knight the board game.  I took Tovak into the world of Atlantea, and used Nighthawk as the dummy player. It was an interesting run overall. more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 11:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 247 words, total size 1 kb.

(Seen elsewhere on the net, not mine)

The last man in the world sits alone in a room.
There is a knock on the door.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 08:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 29 words, total size 1 kb.

   The alarm went off at 7:00am. From the surface of his nightstand, a glow began to appear and then an animated image of a female appeared. It hovered over the surface of the nightstand, looked around for a second and began to take a deep breath.
    "JEAN, WAKE UP!" she yelled, in a voice that actually shook the coffee cup sitting on his desk. She continued to yell this for several seconds until a hand snuck out from under the covers and began to randomly smack portions of the nightstand surface. The hand finally struck the top of the clock, causing the female image to wink in his direction.
     "I knew that would get your attention. See you 'round the ship!"
more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 08:08 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 1038 words, total size 7 kb.

1 You'll read a lot of warnings about starting a story with the protagonist waking up and starting their daily routine. It's a bit boring, isn't it? I mean, I've experienced doing that thousands of times. I don't want to read about it unless it's important, exciting, or somehow interesting.

Start somewhere exciting. Cut the dull stuff.
Make sure every scene has some sort of purpose.
Scenes don't have to be presented in chronological order.
What does "The words just sort of bubbled out" even mean?

Posted by: amandachen at May 02, 2013 09:46 AM (kP8LA)

2 Good points, I'll have to look and see how it goes. 

Give me some credit, at least I didn't play the amnesia card.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at May 02, 2013 10:46 AM (T5fuR)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

I hadn't looked at some of this for a couple of months.  So just in case I started reading it again and discovered why they say 'Show, don't tell.' when you write. 

*makes liberal use of the backspace key*

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 04:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 44 words, total size 1 kb.

I'm going to set up a regular day, either Friday or Saturday, to have short sections of my work in progress posted here.  Feel free to give feedback on this!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 12:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

YES! It is coming!!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 04:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 7 words, total size 1 kb.

(Yes, I realized I had a blog today, so I'm doing some posting.)

Finished up Bioshock Infinite on Monday and wanted to let the game ending sink in before I said anything on the subject.  This post might allude to events in the game, but should not contain any spoilers for the main plot.

more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 11:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 314 words, total size 2 kb.

I've finally mastered capturing a monster on the Bear Hunt mission, as well as managed to kill that same monster type for a reward later.  I'm slowly working on building up supplies and armor bits for better armor as well as a better lance. 

Trying to get the parts for the Ludroth Lance has proven to be a little annoying, as I can't get the small pieces to be able to upgrade my Bone Lance+.  I'm also finding the skill system to be a bit of a pain, just because it can be hard to tell which armor is the best one to go for, so I'm still in Chainmail at this time. 

Three Star missions now available to me, so slowly moving forward and still enjoying it.  REally enjoying the play on the gamepad feature that just got added as well.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 11:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 147 words, total size 1 kb.

I've been playing the Walkthrough scenario of Mage Knight the Board Game several times this week as several of my friends want me to teach it to them.  I'm still very impressed by this game.  By using a deck of sixteen base cards, I'm expected to conquer a territory in just a few rounds (anywhere from four to six rounds, each round having multiple turns.)  I explore new tiles, recruit units to help me, descend into dark dungeons and ruins, and if it suits me, sack monastaries, mage towers, and keeps for powerful artifacts and spells.  To be honest, at this point I have not successfully defeated a power city yet, which defeating two of them is the goal of the basic conquest scenario.  I've managed to learn how to get around, but learning what a great hand for attacking, or even a good hand, still eludes me at this point.  The upside is that I want to keep learning.  I've not even seen half of the advanced skills nor have I used a spell card once yet. There are still a lot of play options I haven't even attempted yet.  Time to go explore Atlantea again!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 07:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 205 words, total size 1 kb.

Bronchitis sucks... that is all.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 01:25 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 11 words, total size 1 kb.

I cant claim too much progress with the Hunter's Guild as of late, but I have been actively hunting Great Jaggi for practice.  I don't completely understand it, but I hate to fail a hunt.  The penalties for failing are basically you lose your deposit on the quest, which is 100 to 500z depending.  So I shouldn't be worried too much.  Equipment doesn't degrade, you don't lose inventory items.  So why do I fear failure in this game while working on the kill and capture hunts?

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 10:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 90 words, total size 1 kb.

I will post more explanation later, but in short, im still using the lance as my favored weapon while hunting.  I have managed to down a Great Jaggi with only a little trouble.  Learned to create potions today which should help in hunting monsters.  Still struggling with the pacing of the game and controls, but enjoying it too.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 08:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 62 words, total size 1 kb.

My seven year old daughter, Samantha continues to surprise me. I had pre-ordered Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate when I got our Wii-U, and it finally came in. After she first expressed a wish to hug the dragon portrayed on the cover, I explained what the game was about. She gave me her favorite 'Dad, stop pulling my leg' face for a minute then sat back and watched.

more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 10:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 338 words, total size 2 kb.

Hrmm, I'm not too bothered by the dub, but Ririka's voice actor doesn't fit well with how she was in the original language.  Haven't heard Chiaki-chan yet...

Okay... not yet sold on Chiaki's VA... but it could still work.  I do like that they left the Japanese honorifics in the dialog. 

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 05:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 55 words, total size 1 kb.

Huh, so my tactic for getting through the day is to listen to 8-bit Genesis video game music of games I liked.  I can deal.  Wait...was the Genesis considered 8-bit music?

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 04:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 33 words, total size 1 kb.

Warhammer Quest was the first game I encountered that was a complete role playing game in a box.  Released by Games Workshop in 1995,  you took your adventuring party into randomized dungeons and complete a goal. Read on for more...
more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 09:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 591 words, total size 4 kb.

The next couple of posts are going to cover the various 'RPG in a box' games that have been released by Fantasy Flight, Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, and more.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 09:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 35 words, total size 1 kb.

Here is an Epic Duck for Wonderduck.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 06:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.