Off the Rails

Dungeons and Dragons was... interesting in the last session. One of the players came this close to fleeing the scene entirely while the other two seemed like they might follow him at any given point. They were in a village about to be eradicated by a raging orc war band (which was partially their fault) and, understandably, weren't keen on defending the settlement side-by-side with pitchfork-wielding militia. Fortunately they were rallied by an NPC paladin who later on tried to arrest them all (plot related). Of course this stirred them up and it wasn't long until they actually left the village in a hurry and took refuge in the nearby forest.

This was, in a way, a real boon for me because that's exactly where I wanted them to go! I could have tried to rail road them at any given point but I kept giving them choices; choices which they have, so far, made in a way that continues the story they are involved in. Basically they haven't followed the path I set out for them, but they have arrived at their destination regardless. I think Sam is getting excited about one character that he hopes will become a recurring villain (his rogue also dealt a rediculous amount of damage in a critical sneak attack on a big orc barbarian - he was rolling 2d4+4d6 damage!); Nick was delighted that his bard was finally showing proficiency in combat; and now that the characters are relying on skulking around the wilderness Bob will have the chance to use his ranger's skills effectively.

They left some key NPCs/plot hooks behind when they left the village but I really don't see the need to force these elements upon the players so I'm just going to have to build around them.

I finished painting five Gorkamorka models; now I'm on to modelling my trukk my lone yoof and "on foot" models of the trukk's driver and gunner. I'm still looking forward to playing Gorkamorka but I could really do with some dry weather so I can undercoat the models I have yet to paint!

Nick bought GTAIV at the weekend and although I've been playing it a lot I'm not addicted. I could give up any time I want! It's a very good game. So good that there are moments in which it transcends the series and begins its own legacy. There is a heck of a lot of detail in there; so much that you could practically live out your own life within the game itself. The designers included an Internet, television stations, radio stations (of course), and even people to socialise with! So if you really didn't have any friends or a life you could have a surrogate existence within GTAIV and forget about the outside world. Blimey.

I could write a lot about GTAIV but I'm not prepared to turn this blog into a thousand word review or essay. Not, at least, without completing the game first. Suffice to say I think at some point it may be compared with the likes of Fallout 2 and Morrowind for "take over your life" potential.

The Price of Failure

I've uploaded the latest D&D adventure to my website; you can also find it to the left of this post under "Downloads from Windy Cross". It isn't as comprehensive as previous adventures as it was all written last night in one go in preparation for this coming Sunday when the adventurers will be fighting for their lives against the retaliation of an orc war band whose leader they failed to assassinate. Since they will also have to defend a village from the barbaric orcs and some of the party members are a little apathetic/cruel it will be interesting to see how things turn out. Sure they could leave the village to its fate but that won't do them any favours with the NPCs they know, and that won't stop the orcs from pursuing them after the village has been razed.

I will rewrite the adventure in a more comprehensive format when I have the time (honest) but between finalising the next fortnight's adventure and putting my Gorkamorka together (I'm sure I've said this many times before) I don't have the luxury of just rattling away on my computer until the cows come home and missing the relatively fair weather we're having.

So now my Versys doesn't have a flat tyre I'm going back to that wood near Netherfield this weekend. I'll try and find the reservoir on the other side of the trees this time. I'd take photos but I have no camera. Actually I have been thinking of getting a digital camera for a while now but never got around to it. Unless I borrow Sam's über camera I won't have any way of showcasing my Gorkamorka mob on here when they're finally done.

In slightly less exciting news I've been getting to grips with Word 2007. So far I haven't been disappointed although I've heard people complain of memory leaks and through-the-roof resource usage. I really like the new styles for headers/contents tables, etc. and the way you can easily see what your document will look like when applying things like font sizes, typefaces, etc.

Top Review

Riding on my CG125 to work and back for a week has allowed me a little clarity on some matters that I might otherwise have not seen. For starters, my Spada jacket is terrible. Riding my bright red CG while wearing bright green gloves, helmet, and jacket would have had me pulled over by the fashion police on more than one occasion so I went back to the dependable red Frank Thomas jacket I got when I first bought my CG. It's comfortable, it's more form-fitting (see below), and it has a million pockets rather than just two.

To me the important thing about a motorcycle jacket, regardless of material, is that it doesn't move around. If you were to have an accident and the front of your jacket twists part way around your body as you hit the gravel, or your sleeve rolls up your arm, or even worse you're sliding on your back and your jacket lifts up, you won't be protected properly the way you would be if all the protective areas of the jacket were in the right place to protect your vulnerable body parts (elbows, shoulders, back, ribs, etc.); my Spada jacket doesn't sit still for five minutes while I'm riding.

I can't tell which is more annoying; that my jacket moves of its own accord, or that the sleeves are so wide that they don't fit inside my gloves. So every ride I take I end up with frozen wrists because there's a huge gap in my wind proof protection.

Also the jacket only has two pockets (three if you include the inner mobile phone pocket). The pockets are placed at the base of the jacket, right at the front next to the centre zip. That means that once you've put your wallet, bike keys, house keys, and anything else in them, they meet at the middle and weigh the jacket down awkwardly. My Frank Thomas jacket had some five pockets that distributed weight evenly in several places rather than all in one area.

So, yeah, while I'm ultra-happy to have the Versys back (minus some £160 for the new tyre!), wearing my Frank Thomas jacket for a week showed me how pants my Spada jacket is. The Spada gloves and trousers are fine (although the gloves aren't the best I've had in my relatively short biking career), the Shoei helmet works (even if it is a little rough on my ears), and these SDI boots are awesome, but the jacket needs replacing. I doubt I'll go for a leather jacket since I generally prefer textile gear, but this weekend I think I'll be visiting the guys at Gedge for a new jacket.

In other news I was very bad and made a new video (which you can find on my YouTube channel). It's not a music video like the others I've made; it's more of a silly hour-long project that sprung to mind while I was playing Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (again). I'm playing Black and White 2 more than anything at the moment because I love the city building so. The same reason I liked playing SimCity (for a short while since I CAN'T CUT BACK ON FUNDING! I WILL REGRET THIS!), Stronghold, and the Civilization games.

As for Gorkamorka I've gotten a little more painting done but not as much as I'd like. I'm still trying to juggle preperation for both D&D and Gorkamorka (Gorkamorka is currently winning) so every time I think "right, I really need to stat some of these monsters/NPCs/traps/treasure hoards" I just end up picking up my paintbrush because Gorkamorka could start any day now. Well, not really. In fact, next week is half term so I'll have many daylight hours in which to bring my rag-tag mob to life with paint and plastic-adhesive.

Tears of Joy

I had not previously tested my new graphics card to its full potential, not before Saturday night. I can't think of a scenario when I've previously stayed up all night playing one computer game until the break of day. Let alone a computer game demo. That's right, I played the single player Crysis demo. Good golly Miss Molly.

I'm sure I don't have to mention the incredible graphics that the Cryengine 2 powered game dishes out (they're out of this world) since if you have stayed even remotely up to date with computer games then you'll know they're state-of-the-art. I know a lot of people went on and on about the graphics in Bioshock but really the Crytek team takes the gold no questions asked.

It was the game play that kept me hooked until five in the morning though. Until I played the demo (which was more of an on-the-spot whim than anything else) I thought Crysis was just going to be a big ol' tech demo with guns in it. Was I wrong? Yes. At least that's what I can tell from the demo. The things I liked about the game included the free form levels (much like Crytek's Far Cry), the gun customisation (iron sights/reflex sights, silencer, torch, tactical launcher, laser dot sight, etc., all configurable on-the-spot with very cool HUD elements), the abilities granted by your battle suit and the need to choose each one tactically for the appropriate situation (greatly enhanced strength, speed, and armour, as well as the ability to cloak and become nigh-invisible), the difficulty settings (on the hardest mode the North Korean troops actually speak Korean rather than Engrish), and the physics (grenade + shack = shack demolished realistically into its component parts).

There aren't many games which allow you to leap atop the roof of a ramshackle corrugated iron hut before punching a hole in the roof, throwing a grenade onto the lap of a soldier inside, and then run off at fifty miles an hour into a dynamically lit jungle at dawn... with fiddler crabs running around your feet near the beach... and awesome motion blur... and then the hut blowing up in such a spectacular fashion that you only wish the entire world could experience your elation while you play this game... and I really must get the full version.

In other news I got to painting my mob, or at least starting to paint my mob. I'm thinking that everyone's Nob (ork leaders are called Nobs, grow up and stop giggling like a prepubescent school girl) will have the same bosspole... I have a bosspole which is essentially a spear with three space marine helmets skewered on it but since there are no Adeptus Astartes forces on Gorkamorka/Angelis it would be silly to use it. I suppose it's just more of a reason for the various mobs to fight: battling for the right to carry a certain design of bosspole into combat. I would customise mine but right now I don't have enough bitz in my bitz box (having only just returned to the hobby). As the campaign progresses I'll be adding to the bosspole with every victory/spectacular defeat so at least in that way it will differ from the others. And it's nothing a striking colour scheme can't really handle.

Of course I'm torn between painting these orks and getting my D&D notes written up. I suppose I can write my D&D campaign up in shorthand since the players always find a way around my immaculately designed plots anyway. At some point I will also have to start modelling a fort for my ork mob, and get some rocks together for scenery. Also, scrap counters! In my previous Gorkamorka days my scrap counters were made from swarm/monster bases and stuff from my bitz box... this time I think we'll have to settle for actual counters.

Delivery Trukk

Well the Games Workshop delivery had been delivered next door yesterday (no one was in) and I got cracking straight away. I've put the paint station together, checked out the paint brushes, paint pots, clippers, craft knife, and started planning the building of my models. I haven't opened the Trukk box yet as I can imagine it will take a while to put together. Something for the weekend perhaps.

Speaking of which, I'll need to take a trip down to Eastbourne and see if the GW store there has one or two things I need (namely metallic paint - I mean, come on Games Workshop! Who's big idea was it to provide an introductory paint set that doesn't have any metallic paint? Give me the name of one army that doesn't use metal items, be it spears, swords, guns, or armour... go on. Just one!) including something to make a six shoota. I had my money on the old 40k weapons blister to still be available (I made good use of it with my Necromunda models) but of course everything but the most recent models seems to have been pulled from the on line store. You even have to visit Forge World to get things like oil drums.

I rememba da good ol' dayz. Dayz when orkz wos orkz, dayz when paintz 'ad betta namez like Liche Purple an' Vomit Brown an' Chaos Black an' Snakebite Leather an' Bleached Bone an' Boltgun Metal. Dayz when ya could buy pretty much anyfing from da mail order trolls. Dayz when mail order trolls wos called Mail Order Trolls! Dem wos da dayz.

Of course, having been away from the hobby for so long maybe mail order trolls are still called mail order trolls, perhaps Dark Angels Green and Bad Moon Yellow will always be available, and perhaps if I spoke to the mail order guys on the telephone I'd be able to find exactly what I'm after. Regardless, I need to find something to make a six shoota out of and some more paints.

I've decided to really go to town with these boyz. I'm using my craft knife to cut off all the plastic/metal flash from the models, I'm planning their assembly before gluing them, heck I might even wash the bits and pieces with warm water before undercoating/glueing them (I read somewhere that they glue/paint better if you wash them first). I know I'll end up undercoating and painting most of the pieces before assembling them (except for the really fiddly stuff that you can't hold and paint at the same time because it's so small - ammo belts, pouches, skulls, etc.) so I suppose since it's such a relatively small force (compared to an entire army/strike force such as the ones you field in regular 40k games) I may as well put more effort into it.

Who knows, I might end up getting right back into the hobby again if things go well.

Waaagh!

It has been a long time since I last rolled dice, used a craft knife, and applied super glue to a white-metal miniature to the tune of Games Workshop's tabletop battle games. During my final year of primary school and through the entirety of secondary school (and some college) I was an avid player of Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Inquisitor, Necromunda, and Gorkamorka.

When I was moving out I thought about all the stuff that I did/didn't need and realised that it had been quite a while since I last played any GW games, or even did any painting or modelling. So except for my Necromunda gang (only eight miniatures or so), I chucked everything out.

Nick and Bob (two of the three players in my dungeons and dragons campaign) were talking about a Gorkamorka campaign they were hoping to start with the members of the other role playing group (Nick, Bob, Bob's girlfriend (every DM's nightmare), Swede, Tom, and Will; not that their names mean anything to you) and I've decided to jump onto the bandtrukk and get a mob together too.

A while ago I had a Rebel Grot mob bouncing around inside my head but since the discontinuation of Gorkamorka and its related models (although GW were good enough to publish Da Roolz and Da Uvver Book for free on the web - have a look here), Rebel Grot models and vehicles are harder to come by. Specifically I wanted Rebel Grot cuttas (triangular frames on wheels, propelled by the wind by using a big patchwork sail) but since I don't have my bitz box any more I'm going to have to settle for an ork mob. Not a problem, Orks are probably my favourite race in the Warhammer 40k universe.

Gorkamorka is all about orks fighting each other for scrap, renown, and fun over the scorching deserts of a barren world on the far reaches of the known galaxy. With no space marines, eldar, or tau to bother them, the orks inevitably turn on each other. The game itself is as much humuor as it is dice rolls, luck, and tactics. I'll post updates on modelling my mob and any games that are played out.

Back to Basics

This weekend didn't exactly go as planned. I was going to get back to the woods around Netherfield and the Darwell Reservoir with Matt. We had been talking about what to take and about how great it was that the fine weather had lasted this long, but unfortunately the fates seemed to conspire against us. To cut a long story short, it would appear that I'd caught a flat tyre that morning on my way home from town. Drat. We had to wait for quite a while before the RAC mechanic (who, it turned out, was a nice chap) arrived since I was at home and not in any sort of emergency. When he plugged the hole I spoke to the guys at the nearby garage but of course they were closing up shop and wouldn't be able to order a new tyre on Sunday, and they don't open on Monday.

So I've got to wait until Tuesday before I can leave the bike with them, and goodness knows when before I they get a tyre, fit it, and let me know it's ready to be picked up. Between then and now I've got to ride my CG125 to work... how on Earth did I do it comfortably before? At least I hadn't gotten rid of it; otherwise I would have to ask for a lift every day from a colleague or three who live in the area. But riding the CG to work this morning, I saw the stark contrast between big bikes (500cc and up I suppose) and 125s. I believe I may have mentioned how horrible the Zoomer was to ride? Well the CG125 is, of course, a hundred times superior; but after riding the Versys for so many weeks now, I can see how much more control those big bikes really give you. There is the vastly-superior engine braking, the regular braking with a sharper 'bite', the power in the engine takes you to whatever speed you want as quickly or as slowly as you want without complaining, struggling, or simply refusing to go that fast. With a big bike you really do have a hundred times more control over the machine.

When you get your first big bike, your mum will have a heart attack and keep telling you to be careful and to ride slowly and to look out for those idiots on the road; but to be honest she should have been more worried when you were learning how to ride a low-powered machine because once you get a big bike, sure you've got loads of horsepower and torque and perhaps a crazy top-speed, but the bike itself has the capability to keep you safe and stick to the road. Riding to work this morning I felt the CG wobble around in the slightest crosswind, compared to the Versys it takes forever to get up to speed after a corner or from a junction, and I don't think I could take one onto a motorway or dual carriageway with nearly as much confidence as I can with the Versys. That's not to say that the CG is a bad bike or not worth looking at twice; if I had to choose a bike to break-in my riding abilities then it'd be the CG125. It might not be as good as a 500cc+ bike, but it's still safer and more reliable than a scooter or a moped.

In other news; dungeons and dragons went well enough yesterday. I think the guys understood that the adventure was more of an interactive cut scene and less of a traditional adventure. They attempted the assassination of an orc warchief, but found that the warchief was not all that he seemed. I think they may have been a little frustrated because they expected to face an enemy that would be challenging, but still killable. Of course, they had to flee the scene of the orc camp to live to fight another day... but the price of their actions hasn't been measured yet. And they do not yet realise how important these events are to the plot as a whole.

Also, Nick suggested I buy some 40k orks and put together a GorkaMorka mob since he and some others from his d20 Modern/Dark Heresy/WFRP group are planning on starting a GorkaMorka campaign. It might be fun so I said I'd think about it.

Beaten Trail

This morning when I looked out of my window, everything was bathed in gold. I haven't seen the dawn like this for a while, since the grey months I suppose. Along with the overflowing greenery on the way to Robertsbridge, and the warmth of this past weekend, I think we can safely assume that spring has finally sprung. Of course, being May Day yesterday, the Jack-in-the-Green festival was on here in Hastings. Although I've gone and watched it in previous years, I missed it this year. I wonder why...

Could it be because of the awesome May Day Rally? Damn. Again I really could have done with a camera! For those who don't know, the May Day Rally/Run has thousands and thousands of motorbikes ride into Hastings on the May Day bank holiday. This year there must have been more than there have ever been. I've been down to the seafront on May Day before and seen the bikes lined up, but yesterday they were everywhere.

The car parks were, of course, full. But, not content with that, there were motorcycles on every bit of pavement and on the side of every road. There were bikes parked in between lanes of traffic on the seafront; there was double parking, triple parking, and even quadruple parking. No where was safe. Arriving at Rock-a-Nore, we only just managed to find a place that was semi-legal to leave our bikes in. Even then we had to squeeze up.

There were bikes of all shapes and sizes (although it seems one in five bikes was a Suzuki GSXR), with numerous custom features, paint jobs, and accessories. There were plenty of Ninjas, Hornets, Goldwings, various Harley Davidson models, a few Z750s and Z1000s, CBRs, Hayabusas, and B-Kings... but not one Versys! Well, apart from mine. But apart from mine I didn't see one!

Mostly though, it was a great day. Much riding and admiring motorcycles, the noise and the smell and the atmosphere... it was fantastic. I was absolutely shattered from it, I can only imagine what the bikers from London and further afield must feel like at work this morning.

Other than that, I spent the weekend in a wood near Netherfield. And I'm definitely going to spend more time in it this coming weekend. I managed to dump my jacket and helmet in my bike's panniers, leaving me with only a backpack and the clothes I was wearing to slow me down. I took a waterskin and a canteen with me (I get thirsty pretty quickly), and some sandwiches in a backpack. The weather was fine and the warm sunlight was accompanied by a cool and refreshing breeze. As I left the worn and beaten trail I found myself following deer tracks. Eventually the forest floor was nothing but deer tracks. I chose one set and followed them through the undergrowth until the trees became so dense that I was forced to continue on my hands and knees. As I emerged from the foliage onto a path I found myself a hundred feet from a very dark coloured deer which stood for a moment before bolting into the trees.

There were valleys in the woods that were so verdant, so green with life, that I had to sit down to soak up my surroundings. I only saw one other person in the woods all day and he made enough noise to frighten off everything in the area, so I hid under a fallen spruce until he'd gone. When I continued my journey through the trees I practically stumbled into a herd of deer which took flight into the thicker woodland. I tried to count how many there were but lost track at around ten. I didn't see any stags though, but I'd be surprised to learn that there aren't any in the area.

Shaky Foundation

I was up almost an hour late this morning thanks to my fascination with Shivering Isles. Now, I'm supposed to be completing the main quest in Oblivion (I completed it once before, but now I can pump the graphics as high as I like, I'm playing it again) to get rid of those pesky Oblivion gates (if I want to fight an army of daedra later I'll just find some conjurers or piss off the mages guild). But since I received and installed Shivering Isles yesterday I thought what the hell, might as well see what its like.

Freaking fantastic is what it's like! I don't want to spoil anything because it's so well done so I'll try to explain things in as abstract a manner as possible. The moment I stepped into Sheogorath's realm I knew it was going to be fantastic. This wasn't Bloodmoon or Tribunal, this was something on a new level. After the introduction to the Shivering Isles and getting out onto the main "landmass" itself I found the detail of the world to be that much more than Cyrodill. Obviously with an island smaller than the explorable area of the main game, the developers could afford to put more detail into the world. And they had to - after all this is Sheogorath's plane; a place of madness where mania and dementia reign.

Mehrune Dagon's plane of Oblivion was, I would think, much easier to come up with. There are plenty of images of a scorched hell built on sooty brimstone, rivers of lava oozing between dead rocks that bleed boiling ichor, and rust-coloured roots that whip out to take the eyes of any who would stray too close. Black, bladed towers of obsidian reaching into the red, lightning stricken skies, burning from within as columns of fire hold open the gates to the mortal realms.

But to create a plane of madness takes a lot more effort I think. You have to be more subtle. Having people run around half naked, or dressed in fine white robes but bearing a soiled fur helm worked in Oblivion at Sheogorath's daedric shrine, but when you're in Sheograth's world you have to see a different kind of... overbearing madness. Everything must ooze craziness and mental unbalance, just as Mehrunes Dagon's world must ooze destruction, hate, and fire.

So far the NPCs have worked. They hear things no one else hears, count from one to ten in the middle of sentences, mumble about little things that irritate them, make up unintelligible words, or display an unfounded paranoia. I'm sure I'll run into one or two characters who just go on about cheese, abruptly change their minds, or talk in a sing-song voice (not really my idea of madness, it's too forced or put on to seem like real insanity) but so far the NPCs have impressed me. So far the expansion pack has been worth every penny.

The developers also seem to have had fun with the game's graphical engine. Standing at the entrance of a small village called Split, I could see the city of New Sheoth as the sun rose wobbily over Suicide Hill and the mountains beyond. The colours of the Shivering Isles have been tinted, the night sky is vibrant and powerful, and... well if you've played Shivering Isles then all I need say is butterflies!

I'm eager to get home and get back to playing it. Looks like I'll have to put Knights of the Nine and Bioshock on hold for a moment. This game has given me a new perspective on metronomes.