Spore

The Spore Creature Creator is as hilarious as everyone says it is. Barb and I are going to buy the full version because its ssssoooo goofy. I am sure everyone has heard about the dickmonsters, roaming the universe. Basically Maxis (EA) is using this to seed the universe with Spore creatures. During game play in the full version of Spore your creature will be able to go out and conquer planets, the inhabitants of which will be pulled from other peoples creations upload to the interwebz. One of the concerns is you will get stuck with bunches of dickmonsters in your game. I think the Ctrl Alt Del guy had the right attitude about it.

Needless to say though this game is hilariously fun, and when I get paid I am buying the full version which is only $10.

Barb and I are having fun just with the basic game which only lets you have the basic of each slot. So we have a set of “wings” but only one style. This doesn’t matter because you can change just about every facet of the creature. So far, we haven’t been able to make wheels out of the body parts but that has been our only limitation.

If you want to kill two hours I highly suggest downloading it, its free, its fun, and you can share your creatures. I heard a rumor that you will be able to pull stats from how your creature is doing in the universe from the Spore site. Different body parts add stats… I made a crocodily thingy with grass on its back so its all sneaky. See for yourself I guess…

Visit Spore.com

EVE and Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Ed.

So I have pretty much flaked out on the “read here”s for The Lost Dungeon of Hookers and Ale. I want to get it as drawn out as possible to make drinking and DMing easier. JP suggested that if I get it drawn out enough I can give one of the players the notes and play if I get really drunk. I am actually really excited to run it, I will post everything on IRollTwenties.org so folks can see the D&D Module. It may turn into a Campaign oddly enough.

Barb and I are in a gaming group with some gamers who left D&D, one because she couldn’t stand the overly complex rules, the other because he started dating the one that couldn’t stand the overly complex rules. They both bought copies of a PHB yesterday and are looking forward to the game this weekend. I think Betsy just wants to get drunk but either way.

Speaking of overly complex rules, Barb and I played EVE last night. That game makes me want two monitors really badly. It’s so beautiful, and there are so many panels with so much great info it covers up the game. My laptop monitor is not that small, and it’s pretty hard to get everything on there and still play the game. The reason why I like EVE is its one of those games where I can “mine” and have fun. The reason is I press a button, and my ship starts to orbit and mine.

Job done, hands free. What’s more it mines the asteroid out, unlike in WoW where I may have to click the ore over and over and over again, EVE does it automatically leaving me free to watch TV, talk to folks online, peruse the market place (which is better than the WoW auction IMHO), and look at specs for ships.

So far the biggest problem I have with EVE is there is too much information. It’s impossible to know what exactly is going on. I have been gone from the game for about six months now (and before that two years) and I only remembered the very basics. “How the hell do I put this pirated shield booster into my ship!?” was a question that vexed me for 15 minutes. Granted once I found the answer it was incredibly smooth and intuitive but getting there was difficult.

It was a lot of fun talking with Barb about strategy. We are going to try to start our own Corp with some other gamer friends and we tried to think of a strategy. We decided I am going to be the brains behind the operation (and dashing good looks) and she is going to be the fist. We both rolled members of the Gallente Federation, as Barb described them “The Space French”. Despite our heritage apparently the Gallente are very brave and charismatic.

I took a bunch of stats for business acumen while I think Barb took a bunch for combat. I also figured I would take drones to support her while I GTFO. I can’t wait till we see how our ships build up. I already added a shield booster. I named my ship “The Celerity”, she is a Navitas class Frigate… good times.

After hearing all the sound effects etc I still want a ringtone with the chick saying “You are receiving an incoming transmission”, with the locking on sound in the background. Anyone who can do this will be rewarded with internets, cool points, and dinner.