Posts Tagged ‘lategaming.com’

lategaming » The One Ring

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

I was really surprised to see this arrive: The One Ring

This is the latest game based around The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The art is simply amazing and the only reservation I have is around the binding, which may be fine but, equally, might be a pain in the butt for actual play. And, to be fair, some sort of GM screen would have been great. All in all, Cubicle 7 have knocked this one out of the park: again.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » It is September in the Year of Our Lord, Twelve Hundred and Nineteen

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

Having met The Greek, Paul Akritas, at the agreed location in the city of Praha, Tangui ex Bonisagus and his loyal servant, Godfroi, start out on their journey towards Budapest. They are joined on the road by a Redcap named Jacques who hails from the Languedoc of France. While these are not strictly countrymen, there is enough commonality between the two Magi to ensure a fast companionship on the road. The Greek, however, remains suspicious.

The first day is not uneventful. Godfroi spots two unmounted figures shadowing the group in the forest as they approach the Brod townlands and the Greek confronts two horsemen who seem to be catching up. It is then they realise the enormity of their journey as none of them have but a smattering of the rough Slavic tongues of the region. Their own communication is difficult - a pidgin made of Bretonian, French, Latin and German. The horsemen jabber their excuses and ride ahead. The unmounted figures have vanished into the murk of the woods.

Two hours later, the four arrive, their horses foot-dragging exhausted, in the village of Brod. The locals are perplexed at their visitors but Jacques convinces them they mean no harm and they are led to a grain store, dry and warm.

Early next morning they are woken with the smell of cooked edges and rye-oat biscuits fried in suet, washed down with a weak beer. And the journey starts again, next stop Brno!

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » Games Development Seminar – Belfast, 14th Sept

Monday, September 12th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

Last chance to register for a games technology development seminar here in Belfast.

Wed, 14 September from 10:00 to 12:00 at Radisson Blu, Gasworks, Belfast

The speaker is Paul Durrant, Abertay University’s Director of Business Development. He has been instrumental in developing a range of projects to support digital media IP generation, business start-up, incubation, and skills development particularly in the video games area. He developed Dare to be Digital and Dare ProtoPlay to become significant international events including a partnership with BAFTA to recognise talented young developers and the development of the Channel 4 Crunchtime TV series. He also raised £2m to establish a prototype fund for small games developers and has recently launched a partnership with the Technology Strategy Board to fund novel games applications.

In this seminar, Paul will describe the Scottish experience in digital content, the contribution from Abertay and the funding opportunities available through Abertay which are available to companies in Northern Ireland. In particular, he will describe the Abertay University Prototype Fund (http://prototypefund.abertay.ac.uk/) and the Future Games Contest ( https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/future-games-contest )

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » And the result is…

Monday, September 5th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

The answer to my last message was a resounding "Ars Magica".

I'm happy about this because I had some of my best fun with Ars Magica back in the 90s. The campaign of Y Draig Goch, a Covenant in the Stonehenge Tribunal, dominated by the Tremere magus, Callistratus, and a rag-tag group of junior Magi, Consors and surly Grogs. The main sourcebook I used for this was Pendragon "Beyond The Wall".

Notable Characters:
Stefan Barbarossa, Bjornaer Magus
Sheridan of the Imposing Beard and Piercing Stare, Grog Sergeant
Randle - "I'm just a cook"

But we're starting a new game. I still like the idea of being 'hunted' so that will be a theme as the players want to play in the Transylvania Tribunal, there are some leads already. There's really no comparison between Wales and Transylvania. Luckily I have a few more books on Transylvania.

Yes, they're for "Vampire: The Dark Ages" but what would Transylvania be without some sort of concession to vampires? And it seems to be the only Mythic Europe tribunal that hasn't been covered by some sort of sourcebook.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » Email sent to gaming group

Sunday, September 4th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

The plan is to have a Plan B game to turn to.

I'm happy to run one though you'd have to choose between:

  1. Ars Magica (campaigns over years, trouple play, multiple characters - what's not to like?)
  2. Smallville (I'd love to try this out with the Batman legend or maybe
  3. Traveller (No ideas here but sure I could think of something)

I might be convinced to run something like Dr Who again or maybe GODLIKE.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » Game Prototype development quote needed

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

I'm looking for a prototype of a RTS game on iOS developed. Just a single level, basic graphics. 2D sprites on 3D isometric plane.

Happy for it to be done in Unity and/or another rapid development environment. Would be nice for combat (ranged and melee) and some pathfinding for units.

Can be SP, MP or 0P. For the prototype, I'm not fussy. It's not necessary to have full functions.

Email would be lovely but you can also tweet me.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

The Planet Irish Gaming service is brought to you by the Irish Roleplaying and Gaming Wiki.

lategaming » God Willt

Friday, August 26th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

Another book arrived in the post that I'd forgotten about. Deus Vult by Mongoose Publishing is essentially playing the bad guys from The Da Vinci Code but back in the Middle Ages. It's like Ars Magica re-told from the point of view of the Church.

It uses a variant of BRP which will please some but not all. I've certainly had a lot of experience with people heavily into BRP - most notably a guy called Neil who maximised the experience point system of the original RuneQuest II by carrying one of every desirable weapon for a battle and swapping as soon as he got an XP checkbox.

I'm enjoying reading it - mostly because it's a dead tree edition and a lot easier to read than the eBook versions of Clockwork and Chivalry and The One Ring which I received earlier this week.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » New Haul: from Cromwell to Cthulhu via Mirkwood

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

Today I got a new haul of stuff. Some of these were PDF bundles so at some point the dead tree version of the book will arrive in the post.

These are:

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » Indies on the Mac

Monday, August 22nd, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

From the Oddlabs blog:

Many game developers, indie or not, view the Mac as a freak that no one cares for or wants to be associated with. They look at statistics that show only 5% of desktop machines are Macs and say: “Why waste a lot of time and money for only 5% of the market?”
Consider this:

  • Out of the several hundred thousand downloads of Tribal Trouble. the Mac is responsible for 23%!
  • Out of all sales of Tribal Trouble, the Mac is responsible for 47%!

Not bad for 5% of the market.. And we haven’t even done any paid advertising that has been directed solely at Mac users.

What this shows is that not only are the Mac users easier to reach, they also convert at a much higher rate.

This is not a secret. Wil Shipley talked about this in 2005. Developing for a platform where the users appreciate design and good software will reap dividend (if your product doesn't suck).

This is why I question people who make silly decisions. Like not to support the Mac when porting software or deciding to go Android-first when developing for mobile platforms. Go where the money is - where the money truly is.

And yes, it's not an easy ride. As I said, your product has to not suck. And if you're entering a crowded market (like games on the App Store), you may have to work a little harder to get noticed but these people do not mind paying money for quality software. That has to count for something.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon

lategaming » Although they are developed in software, games are not software

Monday, August 22nd, 2011
This was originally published here. Please visit the site if you like this post or wish to comment on it. Pulled from lategaming

The title of this post is from this article: You Need $100,000.

Users relate to them differently. Immersion matters. Balance matters. Drawing people into the world of the game in a way that doesn’t break their attention every few seconds matters. Any successful game weaves a web of illusion around the player to engage them at more than just a rational level, and so they are more than the sum of their parts.

This applies just as much to tabletop RPG design. They are made of words and pictures but they are not words and pictures.

It's the difference between a well-made FPS and a poor FPS. The former is addictive, the WASD and mouse look are intuitive and it becomes part of you. You don't have to think about it. In contrast a poorly made FPS feels like you're fighting the system. It's like lag in a multiplayer system - it just becomes an exercise in frustration.

Many RTS games are about whether the user interface is tolerable enough for you to learn. The control of subunits is left to grouping strategies activated through arbitrary keyboard commands. We learn the controls but we're not learning tactics.

Onlinerel Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google Yahoo Buzz StumbleUpon