Early Access Zombies

Minor Renovations

Awhile back I decided to change out the Raptr widget I had embedded in my sidebar that showed the last few things I had played, to something more manual. I have always loved the feeling of the Steam library grid view, with its cool little preview images. So for my “Now Playing” section I strived to create something similar feeling. I think for the most part it works, but it is now a much more manual process as I have to create an image and then add it to my sidebar. I feel however that the results are worth it.

I had been wanting to do something different with my blogroll for a bit, but I was not really sure what I wanted to do. I am a very visual person, and even though I read most of the blogs in my RSS reader, I still think of them based on their visual appearance. The idea I came up with was making similar preview images for all of the blogs on my blogroll to give potential readers a flavor of the blog before even clicking through. I still have several more blogs to add to it, but I think the end result is really nice. Once again it is a much more manual process as I have to take time to create an image for each blog before I add them.

Blogrolls are one of those things that people tend to ignore in their own blogs, but for me it is a resource for someone to find other good voices. As a result I like to take care in trying to make sure my blogroll represents what I am actually reading. When pouring over this small change I did notice that a large number of the blogs on my roll were just not posting anymore. As a result I have pruned the list quite a bit, and will add to it as I notice people starting back up. Additionally I added a new section for “Gamecasts” since it is a mix of video casts and podcasts. I still need to add quite a few things to this list but it is a solid start.

Console Diablo

Recently I downloaded Diablo 3 again and gave it a spin trying to get back into the game. While I found elements of it enjoyable I also remembered all the things that frustrated me about it. I have come to the point where I just cannot stand the “click to move” mechanic. It just “feels wrong” for lack of a better term. I think in many ways this is the one thing holding me back from truly loving league of legends… I just can’t stand the control mechanics. When I heard Diablo 3 was coming to the consoles, I was initially not all that excited… but the other day I noticed that a PS3 demo existed. I figured what the heck, no better way to test and see if I like it.

It appears that all of my problems with the game stemmed in some way from the horrendous control scheme. With a controller, the game felt fresh and new and extremely enjoyable. Granted I only played a little bit the other night, and only had access to the Barbarian, but I had a blast. It made me remember just how much fun I used to have with Diablo in the first place. I am not sure if I am quite ready to shell over 60 bucks for the game on the console… but I can see myself picking it up sooner or later.

What I really want however if for them to patch in controller support for the PC version. This is the version that has the characters I want to play, and the friends I want to play with. I have a perfectly amazing XBOX 360 controller hooked to my PC that I use with more console friendly games. Essentially everything about the game was better with a controller. It is like they took so much more thought and planning into the user interface design as a whole. So please Blizzard… patch in controller support at least when you release the expansion. It makes everything about your game feel better.

Back on September 20th Undead Labs released their extremely awesome open world zombie survival game… State of Decay as part of the Steam Early Access program. I picked it up shortly after but did not really have a chance to play it until last night. If you remember when this came out on the XBLA I raved about it for a long while, but really have not played it as much as I would like. One of the problems I have playing consoles is that it disconnects me from my group of friends. There is a large circle of us that hang out on mumble every night, and I have yet to find a really viable option for hanging out and chatting on mumble while playing the consoles in the loft.

Last night I happily fired up Mumble and then popped into the game. It feels as though the overall gameplay experience has tightened quite a bit. The Early Access candidate is in essence a beta test, and Undead Labs wants to make sure players know this while playing the PC release. Currently the client only has support for a controller, but they plan on eventually adding in mouse and keyboard support. Quite honestly I would rather they do this than half ass it like some of the other console ports like Force Unleashed.

The game is super responsive, and I can run it comfortably on maximum resolution making the client look so much nicer than the XBOX 360 one I was used to. I really hope they add in multiplayer co-op. This game just screams for it, because exploring this world with your friends would be so much more enjoyable than doing so with what are essentially scripted bots. I have no idea how long the game will be in this “beta” state on the PC, but everything about the title is at least as good as the XBLA client. So I would not hesitate suggesting the game to anyone. If you like zombies and you like fallout style open world exploration… this game is for you.

Wrapping Up

Well I need to wrap this up and get up and around. I have a conference to attend today, and also need to make a trip to the cleaners… so I need to give myself as much wiggle room for finishing getting ready as I can. I hope you all have an excellent weekend. Ours looks like it is going to be super rainy. For those curious, my mom is recovering well and I am not sure if I mentioned this or not… but so is Lethbridge. Spoke with him last night and he is in a lot of pain after his surgery but doing okayish. He was in FFXIV for a bit last night playing the game one handed… which I guess is a good thing that a g600 can do.