Until very recently, I never had vivid dreams when sleeping. Everyone dreams--it's semi-random neurons firing when one sleeps, and if your brain isn't doing that then you're probably dead or in a coma. Anyone who says they don't dream when they sleep usually just can't remember their dreams.
Lately, I've been becoming more aware of mine. They've become more vivid. In the past, they were just vague images that didn't make sense, whereas lately they have characters I can remember and semi-cohesive plots (as far as dreams go, anyway). I can rarely remember anything about them an hour or so after I wake other than the sense of "wow, that was weird in a cool way, and I wish I could go back and finish that off." I've been pondering the possible implications of this, and my hope is that this means I'm getting caught up on the massive college-induced sleep debt I've worked up over the years.
This morning, I remembered vivid details on a dream for the fist time. I'm honestly rather excited about this, 'cause it was a pretty fun dream. Apparently it was set in a DnD universe, and this time I was playing a halfling rogue specialized in throwing weapons--an archetype I quite enjoy playing when I get the chance, I know it was a halfling because my view of the world was very close to the ground, and I remember having to look up at everything. I know it was a rogue because once in a while I'd throw a knife at the random orc and "Sneak attack: ##" would appear above them, and they would promptly die. The damage values from the sneak attacks were consistent, even; based on those, I'd guess I was around level 16 or so. The end of the dream was the appearance of a dude I know from reality. Real nice, real timid dude. He proceeded to one-shot the party tank. I got a couple of sneak attacks off, and it didn't even phase him. About then, the dog started barking and I woke up.
I dunno, it's just something that's sticking out as really, really unusual for me. I figure if nothing else it'd be good to have this up here for myself, in case I forget tomorrow.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
My WoW experience
So, over the past week or so, I've been playing a WoW trial. It was interesting, and I might as well give my impressions here.
So, first off, the best mechanical aspect of the game, and the thing that I hope other programmers learn from the most, is the crafting/gathering system. I've seen other games with crafting systems, but few that actually remain useful throughout the game. Either you only get things that are useful until you find something better off an enemy (which doesn't take long), or you can't craft anything until you've got money to spend on expensive materials. On WoW, I took mining and blacksmithing, and if I had focused on it a bit more I could have made equipment on par with what I found from random monsters. However, I didn't because I couldn't get on the auction house on the trial, and there were things I needed for crafting that I couldn't get on my own, such as leather. Most of my gear on my paladin was stuff I'd found, but the stuff I could have made with the proper items would have probably been better. From what I can tell, the absolute best stuff is stuff you find at high levels, but it looked like there was pretty good shit to be made as well, taking a peek at the higher level items. The only other system I've played on that even came close was Lineage II's. That system failed in that it made entire classes who's primary feature was crafting, leaving them gimped in combat relative to other classes (and therefore a nightmare to level). Here, my crafting abilities complemented my combat abilities. Same with my mage's alchemy, but we'll get to that in a second.
The game is beautiful, there's no doubt about that. It was stylized too. There were a few things that bothered me (a few who played with me might recall me ranting about how a human male's forearms are as big/bigger than the rest of their arms, and holy shit at their hands!) but for the most part everything was just pretty. And on this old computer, that's pretty impressive. Still, I think Blizzard went a bit too far to show it off. Having to walk for twenty minutes to get to a quest destination does a lot to show off the scale of the game, but it also interrupts the gameplay, and that's no fun. I think that's something about Guild Wars I prefer; you can step out and usually start doing any quests you're given in a minute or less. Having to fly everywhere was majestic and all that, but it also took up time I'd have rather used killing bandits and such. That bothered me.
The most important thing, of course, was the combat. I went all out with the classes. My end total was five characters. Easiest was the hunter, but the most fun was the paladin. If I ever actually get the game, I'll probably make him my main character. With three different, "Oh, shit!" buttons to help survive as well as 60+ damage per strike (110+ on criticals) and decent armor, I rarely needed to spend time between battles healing up, and if I did, I had a spell for that.
The other one I played long enough to really make a judgement with was the mage. And goddamn, I hate playing the mage alone. He was hella fun in the instance, but when alone, it was basically kill one enemy, drink for about 20 seconds, kill another enemy, drink for about 20 seconds, attack another enemy and get killed by a stray critical. People keep telling me that this is because I specced fire, but when I look at the talents available for frost at that level... It just looks like I'd be doing less damage. There was nothing there that would have boosted my survivability that much. I understand that it's a class that doesn't really come around until level 40 (according to several other opinions) but that's just bad design. The classes should be viable throughout the game. Hell, my paladin was doing more damage than the mage, and he had better health and armor to boot! At that point, there are some serious problems that need to be addressed in the system. Maybe I was just doing it wrong, I dunno. Either way, didn't like leveling the mage.
I would like to play it. I don't think the game is anywhere near as good as the hype makes it out to be, but it was fun and I'd like to be able to play with friends. Unfortunately, I have no computer, so that's not likely to happen. Even if I get a computer, I noticed that I didn't get much done during that time. Fortunately, there wasn't much that NEEDED to be done this time, but if there were, it might have been bad. I dunno, and for now I'm not gonna think that hard on it--I need a computer first.
So, first off, the best mechanical aspect of the game, and the thing that I hope other programmers learn from the most, is the crafting/gathering system. I've seen other games with crafting systems, but few that actually remain useful throughout the game. Either you only get things that are useful until you find something better off an enemy (which doesn't take long), or you can't craft anything until you've got money to spend on expensive materials. On WoW, I took mining and blacksmithing, and if I had focused on it a bit more I could have made equipment on par with what I found from random monsters. However, I didn't because I couldn't get on the auction house on the trial, and there were things I needed for crafting that I couldn't get on my own, such as leather. Most of my gear on my paladin was stuff I'd found, but the stuff I could have made with the proper items would have probably been better. From what I can tell, the absolute best stuff is stuff you find at high levels, but it looked like there was pretty good shit to be made as well, taking a peek at the higher level items. The only other system I've played on that even came close was Lineage II's. That system failed in that it made entire classes who's primary feature was crafting, leaving them gimped in combat relative to other classes (and therefore a nightmare to level). Here, my crafting abilities complemented my combat abilities. Same with my mage's alchemy, but we'll get to that in a second.
The game is beautiful, there's no doubt about that. It was stylized too. There were a few things that bothered me (a few who played with me might recall me ranting about how a human male's forearms are as big/bigger than the rest of their arms, and holy shit at their hands!) but for the most part everything was just pretty. And on this old computer, that's pretty impressive. Still, I think Blizzard went a bit too far to show it off. Having to walk for twenty minutes to get to a quest destination does a lot to show off the scale of the game, but it also interrupts the gameplay, and that's no fun. I think that's something about Guild Wars I prefer; you can step out and usually start doing any quests you're given in a minute or less. Having to fly everywhere was majestic and all that, but it also took up time I'd have rather used killing bandits and such. That bothered me.
The most important thing, of course, was the combat. I went all out with the classes. My end total was five characters. Easiest was the hunter, but the most fun was the paladin. If I ever actually get the game, I'll probably make him my main character. With three different, "Oh, shit!" buttons to help survive as well as 60+ damage per strike (110+ on criticals) and decent armor, I rarely needed to spend time between battles healing up, and if I did, I had a spell for that.
The other one I played long enough to really make a judgement with was the mage. And goddamn, I hate playing the mage alone. He was hella fun in the instance, but when alone, it was basically kill one enemy, drink for about 20 seconds, kill another enemy, drink for about 20 seconds, attack another enemy and get killed by a stray critical. People keep telling me that this is because I specced fire, but when I look at the talents available for frost at that level... It just looks like I'd be doing less damage. There was nothing there that would have boosted my survivability that much. I understand that it's a class that doesn't really come around until level 40 (according to several other opinions) but that's just bad design. The classes should be viable throughout the game. Hell, my paladin was doing more damage than the mage, and he had better health and armor to boot! At that point, there are some serious problems that need to be addressed in the system. Maybe I was just doing it wrong, I dunno. Either way, didn't like leveling the mage.
I would like to play it. I don't think the game is anywhere near as good as the hype makes it out to be, but it was fun and I'd like to be able to play with friends. Unfortunately, I have no computer, so that's not likely to happen. Even if I get a computer, I noticed that I didn't get much done during that time. Fortunately, there wasn't much that NEEDED to be done this time, but if there were, it might have been bad. I dunno, and for now I'm not gonna think that hard on it--I need a computer first.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
At last, a day where I have nothing to do...
Finals have begun, and the worst of them are over. Yesterday I had the AI final; a presentation and a paper due. The paper turned out well, the presentation was unimpressive. In the end, I think I aced the class; strong grades throughout the year and especially so towards the end, plus a solid final. Monday is the exam for Discrete, Tuesday my game for Practicum is due, and Wednesday I get to see the Robotics students show off their final products. Today, I'm not going to do a damned thing.
I got Personal 3 for my birthday. It's... interesting. I've got some severely mixed feelings about it. When I finish, I'll probably post a full review of the game here. Once I'm done with my general bullshitting on the internets, I'll probably get back to playing that.
I've been informed that I wasn't a very good robotics TA this semester. My professor gave me some bluntly honest criticisms about how I went about things, and it was exactly the kind of honesty I need so badly and so rarely get. Apparently, my loud voice combined with my large stature makes me a rather intimidating figure. I never knew! I use a few too many profanities in class, primarily because I thought of this class as being with peers, not me teaching students. It was supposed to be the latter. No one EVER tells me these things! This is exactly the kind of thing that would STOP if people would just tell me I'm doing them. It was an interesting conversation, and it's certainly going to change the way I go about things in the future. He's got another project in mind for me next semester that's going to be more fun anyway, so in the end everything's okay.
I got Personal 3 for my birthday. It's... interesting. I've got some severely mixed feelings about it. When I finish, I'll probably post a full review of the game here. Once I'm done with my general bullshitting on the internets, I'll probably get back to playing that.
I've been informed that I wasn't a very good robotics TA this semester. My professor gave me some bluntly honest criticisms about how I went about things, and it was exactly the kind of honesty I need so badly and so rarely get. Apparently, my loud voice combined with my large stature makes me a rather intimidating figure. I never knew! I use a few too many profanities in class, primarily because I thought of this class as being with peers, not me teaching students. It was supposed to be the latter. No one EVER tells me these things! This is exactly the kind of thing that would STOP if people would just tell me I'm doing them. It was an interesting conversation, and it's certainly going to change the way I go about things in the future. He's got another project in mind for me next semester that's going to be more fun anyway, so in the end everything's okay.
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