Sierra Kilo

This game looks sweet: Project Offset (official site). It’s a first/third person “shooter” in a fantasy setting. There will be a single player/co-op campaign and persistent experience points of some kind. It looks like it’s a test bed for the Offset Engine. I think this would do very well on the 360. It sounds like it’s trying to do what Shadowrun is trying to do…twitch-based, multiplayer combat in a fantasy setting. While nothing looks exactly revolutionary, the engine looks great and it looks like mindless fun.

I enjoy R6:Vegas for the mindless fun: running around, laying waste with a hint of strategy. It gets your heart beating, but you don’t come out any smarter than when you went in. It’s not as frustrating as Battlefield Vietnam or Counter-Strike where 12 year olds are constantly camping your spawn (although that happens sometimes).

Will Wallace mentioned a few things about NCSoft’s Dungeon Runners that piqued my interest a little. I had heard of the game, but never put much thought into it since I don’t have much time to play anything, much less an MMO. But Will’s first point made me keep reading: I Can Play for (X) Minutes and Get Something Done.

From the sound of it, DR looks like a Diablo-esque(*) hack and slash. Emphasis is placed on exploration, combat, and collecting items, rather than on roleplay. Well, most MMOs are that way, but some still carry a spark of it in the form of character-development (skills, crafting, etc).

I enjoyed playing the Diablo games, but I can’t say I loved them. To me, there was always too much button clicking and focus on power. He with the highest attack and armor rating won the day. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to “play for (X) minutes and get something done.” When you only have to focus on trading up, you can leave the rest in your wake. It kind of reminds me of mowing the lawn: when I mow, I often get caught up in the details. Did I miss a spot? Am I leaving ruts? Is the cut uniform? It takes me at least an hour to finish. Professional mowers take less than half the time. Partly because there are more of them, partly because they don’t worry with the details, and partly because it’s routine. If you’re fighting your way down a staircase, you’re mostly concerned with getting to the bottom. You’ll grab the best weapon you come across, even if it means ditching a slightly less powerful one. Nevermind the fact that the less powerful one is 10 times more powerful than the one you started with, those are now a dime a dozen. It’s almost like you’re numbed of the details, caught in battle rage. It’s an interesting concept. Its simplicity is what sells it.

So maybe I should check it out? After all, DR is free for the basic features, right?

(*) I wonder if the style of the Diablo series would garner a moniker like “Roguelikes”, which are games styled after the text-character-based game Rogue? To me, Diablo was almost like the second-coming of Rogue…with instanced, randomly-generated dungeons, item collecting, and working your way down until you reached the end (whether this was Diablo, or the Amulet of Yendor).

Autoblog has a post talking about how DeLorean Motor Company may start producing new cars as kits. While that’s all well and good, I think it would be neat to see a redesigned DMC-12 kit. Gull-wing doors, rear-mounted engine, low profile, incorporating new technologies such as a hybrid engine (or electric, like the Tesla), for example, or the CVT like in the new Nissans. I think it would be cool to sell as a kit, keeping production numbers low (like the original >10k). The stainless steel might not work, though, since it adds too much weight. Purists might go for it, though.

I haven’t in a while, so I thought I’d rant about a few things.

First up is Apple. Don’t get me wrong, I loke ((love - ve) + (like -li)) my 60GB iPod “with Video” and my 17″ MacBook Pro. I do have a couple of problems with the direction things are heading. Unfortunately, the next update of Mac OS X takes the features I don’t like about my Mac and enhances them. Finder (the file-manipulation side of the OS) is going to work more like iTunes (the music-manipulation application). This would be all well and good as a separate application, but not so much when I want raw file manipulation (cut/copy/paste, rename, etc). CoverFlow for files is great when dealing with media or documents where a preview is nice, but don’t sugar-coat my lower-level functions without giving me the option.

The next (rumored) update of the iPod looks to be just as bad. A new version of the interface with prettier visuals is all well and good, but I won’t get an option to configure it how I like it. It’s Apple’s way or the highway, it seems. Also, it’s rumored to have the same sized screen…so it’s basically just an interface update. Okay, well, just release an interface update for current users and spend some more time on hardware. Oh, and don’t you dare make it touchscreen only! I carry my iPod in my pocket 80% of the time. With an Agent18 case, I have a nice cutout to access the buttons. This allows me to skip songs easily without digging my device out. If the iPhone is an indication of the direction of the iPod, I will not be purchasing a future version. It looks good, but it’s just not practical for me.

Next up is my TMobile Wing. As much as I love this phone, I really wish it had a faster processor and more memory. I created a contact list viewer that displays the contact picture, the name, phone number, and company name and allows you to simply call the contact. The problem is that loading my contact pictures takes so long that it’s not practical as a dialer. What’s more, if I have one or two applications open, I use most of my memory up and can’t open anything more. If I’m browsing the internet and see a photo opportunity, I have to close PocketIE and other apps just to open the camera. Not a very good design. I think Windows Mobile 6 is a great OS, it’s easy to develop for, and while it could be better, it’s very usable. I just long for a true convergence device.

Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems like electronics companies get their devices to 60-75% and say, “Nyeh, that’s good enough.” Would it be so difficult to put another 6 months into it, charge an extra $25-50, and make something that hits 90-95%? Not just in quality, but in functionality. Slap a hard drive in there as well as the SD slot. You don’t have to give me a configuration editor as long as the configuration files are easy to read and I can easily restore them to the defaults. Make it easy enough to use without navigating endless menus.

I’ve been pretty busy lately. Work is going fairly well, although it seems I can hardly take a break. We’re all working hard to test and debug our latest release.

At home, I’ve been trying to do a few projects that have been on the slate for a while. I finally ran some wire that allowed me to rearrange the living room. Every once in a while, the arrangement gets stale and I need a change. Plus, you start to notice trails forming in the carpet from the foot traffic. So now the TV’s in the corner instead of on the back wall.

I planted some cantaloupe, watermelon, and green beans a few months ago. They’ve all taken over the back yard. It’s to a point now where I won’t be able to mow a section because the watermelon rules it. I do have a few beans ready for “harvest” and I’ve seen at least 4 fist-sized cantaloupes on their way to sweet melon goodness. The basil is starting to grow in the yard (they’ve already taken over 2 pots). The mint was doing good, but I think caterpillars have had their way with it. I ignored the oregano and it shows. No luck with the dill or chives, though. It’s a shame, too, because I could really get into some chives.

I have a couple of software projects half-finished, and a couple half-started. My Windows Mobile RPG has stalled, unfortunately. It’s just hard to find enough time to get on it. I’m happy with Diner (my tip calculator) for now. I’ve been tinkering with a Twitter application, but it’s mainly a learning thing. I’m still tossing around ideas for a web project as well as a couple of games. I’m full of ideas, just don’t have the time and energy to implement them.

So, it comes down to the fact that I’ve been busy lately, but there’s still much to do.

Posted by mobile phone:
I got my cable installed today. At first, I was hesitant, but now that I got my Harmony remote set up, it feels better. If you have never had HD at home, you don’t know what you are missing. I was watching soccer…it looked awesome…I never watch soccer, but it was so crystal clear. Stargate Atlantis HD…sooo good. The TWC DVR could be much better. The guide sucks hard…ads are rediculous.

Posted by mobile phone:
In light of the recent update to Diner (see previous post), I thought I would see if there were any suggestions on another simple but useful application that I could whip up for Windows Mobile. I have a few ideas but if there is something that would be popular, I’d like to hear it.

One idea I had was a grocery list application, but instead of writing down items, you would take a picture of it.

I hit a roadblock on my Twitter app (TwitterFly) while trying to throw a picture list control together. It’s still on the books.

My RPG is still around too, but there’s a large learning curve there.

What other useful apps can you think of?

Diner version 1.1.0 has been released.

New features include:
- Separate input and tip calculation tabs
- Increased button sizes for easier touch-based entry
- “Quick Tip” on Bill page to show the tip at 15%

The updated page also includes two new screenshots of the application. Best of all, it’s still free!

First, in reference to my last article, it seems that semantics are getting pretty popular. Mac OS X has their Spotlight feature, which is a system-wide search utility. It works great, but it’s not automatic and it’s limited to your machine.

The trailer for the Hitman movie looks interesting. I played part of the first game and it was enjoyable, but it was a while ago. I’m not sure how well Timothy Olyphant fits the bill (his facial features are too unique) as Agent 47, but I’m always looking for good Netflix fodder. Unfortunately, my “Saved” list is nearly half the size of my queue…and my queue is huge.

Farscape is coming back! Sci-Fi announced that there will be 10 new “webisodes” (mini-episodes, shown on the web) in the series. They also announced some BSG webisodes, an animated superhero comedy, and an unnamed show about an astronaut on a primitive planet that sounds kind of interesting.

This gesture-based remote control idea looks promising. I like seeing new ideas like this, but you’d have a problem when fighting for control of the TV with your wife.

This sounds pretty interesting. It’s basically like a pet that behaves according to what you type. If your IM conversation sounds angry, it’ll be angry. While it’s not exactly useful, the concept might be.

Think of software that runs in the background, tracking your computer use. Depending on what you type or interact with, it could be finding related information. As I write this post, it might be showing links to the IM software I’ve been working on as well as links to my other posts related to instant messaging. It might also search through the page I’m linking to (from WebWare.com) for other articles related to IM.

Part of this concept is related to Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web idea. The idea is that content (articles, documents, media, etc.) is not only human-readable, but also machine-readable. Machines (intelligent agents) would be able to view the content and filter it to your needs. Sort of like an automatic search engine.

It would be pretty useful to have a software secretary. Let’s say you get an email from your buddy. He talks about adding a new stereo in his car, organizing his music library, and asks what you’re doing this weekend. The software secretary would go out and retrieve some information for you. It would show you a couple of pictures of your buddy. It would show his instant messenger status, the latest post on his website, and maybe even a map showing his current location. It would find a couple of pictures of his car (or a similar model) as well as the stereo he added, a couple of reviews, and the current lowest price on the internet. It would display the song he’s currently listening to, his favorite songs, artists, and genres, and find any upcoming concerts that the two of you might be interested in. It would show your calendar for the weekend, your group calendar (family), and his calendar, so that you could possibly plan something. All of this would happen to the side automatically when you viewed the email.

That’s what a computer should be doing for you. I guess a little pet that cries when you type something sad is a good first step, though.