Savage 2: A Tourtured Soul

Check it out. Savage 2 is a new way (well, its been out since '06, so not "new" anymore) to play online games. It combines RTS, FPS, and MMORPG factors in an interesting way to create a really fun experience- for free. S2 games announced it as freeware several years ago, and if you haven't checked it out, it's definitely worth a peek.

For most players, the game is played as an FPS/ Action RPG game. You choose a side (humans or beasts), and do your best to take out the enemy command center. Melee fighting is done in an over-the-shoulder view, and comprises of the main portion of the gameplay. You attack by clicking, block with middle mouse button, and charge/dodge with RMB. Pretty standard, except when blocking, you have a block bar that is knocked down with each hit, and can be broken with a strong attack. It's different, and takes some getting used to in order to get the most out of it, but you can circle strafe until you do.

Ranged weaponry plays like a pretty standard FPS, and is mainly used to snipe at enemies, and take down low-health ones. As the humans, you get medieval weapons (just as crossbows and longbows) as well as steampunk weaponry (such as "The Ravisher", a steam-powered chain gun). Beasts get magical attacks such as lightning.

Each team also has one player who is their commander. They see the game as an RTS, and with all the characters being the other players (with exception of a builder type NPC). The commander is in charge of building structures and gold mines, as well as giving orders to the players. I haven't had the chance to play as commander yet, but it seems like a challenging-but rewarding- job.

There are some issues in the game, though in my short time playing I haven't found many. But hey, for free, they can easily be overlooked.

There is also an option for a premium account, which is a $10 one-time payment, which gives you 2 extra inventory slots, access to player's lifetime stats, the ability to play as the special "Hellbourne" units an unlimited amount of times (free players can only spawn as them once per match), and the ability to watch a replay of every Savage 2 match ever played.

Oh, and if you run into MasterWaldo, you'll know it was me. Probably you'll have killed me- the game does have a bit of a learning curve. It's still a blast to play even if you aren't sure what you're doing though :)

MW

I <3 Companion Cube

Found some cool stuff for Portal, thought I'd share some of it.

From FanFiction.net, by encoder,

Once upon a level dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Once upon a level dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious puzzle of forgotten lore,
While I starved, nearly collapsing, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my level door.
'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, tapping at my level door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Coster 3
From Limerick DB:

There once was a buggy AI
Who decided her subject should die.
When the plot was uncovered,
The subjected discovered
That sadly the cake was a lie.

Real Life Portal Gun
This one has got to be the coolest thing of them all. Not only did he create a real looking portal gun, he built it at his girlfriend's request. That's right. He has a girlfriend who enjoys video games to the point where she cosplays, and wanted to dress up as Chel from Portal. Lucky dude.










Well, that's my geekiness for today. Or maybe not. Never can tell with me.

Angry Robot

Ok, this was what I originally created the blog for, so I'm try doing it this time.
When I get bored, I sketch, doodle, and draw. On my notes, homework, Paint, GIMP, notebooks, whatever. A while ago, I uploaded a bunch of my favorites onto Flickr. You can see there here if you wanted too. But that would be cheating. So don't do it.

My plan is to put one up here every day or so, and put a little description of it so you, the willing and lovely reader, can see just how out of my mind get a feel for my artistic abilities.

So with out further ado, I present my first lovely image, doodled while waiting for Xbuntu to install on my laptop, Angry Robot.

This is a robot who is quite angry. He has dropped his burger, and the puffin flying overhead is pooping on it. Pretty simple. The explosion of color behind him represents the fact that all the white space back there looked boring.


So there you have it. The unveiling of my first (which is actually the last created) masterpiece.

Stand behind the velvet ropes. No flash photography. Please do not touch. Thank you for coming. See you soon.

-MW