Simon Dufour

It has been 10 years

2023-01-04T23:35:00.001-05:00

It has been 10 years since I posted here. Is it too late to come back? I can barely remember who I was 10 years ago but I think I'll go for it.

Highlight text in Evernote using AutoHotkey

2013-06-27T08:12:00.002-04:00

Here how I highlight text in Evernote using AutoHotkey.

What you need

The script itself isn't perfect but it works. There's always room for improvement. Make sure to comments with suggestions bellow.

#NoEnv  ; Performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

#Include AutoHotkey/WinClip/WinClipAPI.ahk
#Include AutoHotkey/WinClip/WinClip.ahk
#h::
 Send ^c
 Sleep, 100
 t := WinClip.GetText()
 html = <span style="background-color: yellow;">%t%</span>
 WinClip.Clear()
 WinClip.SetHTML( html )
 Send ^v
 return

What it does
The current work using {Window key}+H. The first thing it does is copy the selected text. Then, it wait 100 milliseconds for the clipboard to be filled. The content of the clipboard is then put in the t variable. A new html variable is created. In it, we put the content of the t variable enclosed within a span tag with the wanted format. We then set the html variable back in the clipboard. The clipboard will now contain the highlighted text. We then paste back in. It will be pasted over the old text because it was still selected. There you go.

Are games more fun to play with a strategy guide?

2013-04-22T13:00:00.002-04:00

When I was a kid, games used to come with a manual. It was not a 5 pages booklet with the keymap either. Baldur's gate manual was a 159 pages manual with lore, a cloth map and a description of all the spells. I'd bring it to school and discuss some of the spells with my friends. Some of the manuals contained wonderful art or a clever theme. Wing Commander manual was entirely written like an onboard newspaper of the ship you're in. A lot of things changed since that time.

Nowadays, most games are downloaded from the web and not sold through a brick and mortar store. Its kind of an impossible situation. Recently, I played Bioshock Infinite and was shocked by the way the recordings were hidden everywhere. The recording contained a lot of story elements and I really tried to find them all. I failed. Missed about 15 of them. It's frustrating because I had no way to know if I missed any before the end of the game. I decided I wanted to try something.

This weekend, I started to play Borderlands 2, and I decided I'd play through it using Bradygames' Borderlands 2 Signature Series Guide. I started exploring the guide and the first thing I noticed was how similar to a game manual it was. The first section contain really simple advices on how to play the game. How the movement work (there's no falling damage), detail on the dropping system, etc. Everything that ends up being covered in popup tutorials but with more details. The guide is really pretty and isn't a single block of the text. Everything is formatted like a magazine it's easy to read and contains tons of small bonus features. Curious about claptrap? The first time you meet it, the book also add a member of the development team explain who Claptrap really is. Reading the book alongside playing was like playing with someone explaining the world to me. The suggestions on how to compare loot (which can be resumed by "Don't base yourself on the numbers too much, try it!) was really enlightening I'm certainly better at making sense of the loot now.

The first thing I did in my game was start a new character. I quickly read the lengthy bio and description for each of the original classes (The Mechromancer was a DLC). They're very complete with example build and a description of their various roles in both solo and cooperative play. Skill lines are explained with a small analysis. It was definitely a great read. I didn't choose their sample build and decided to make one of my own.. however I do have a good idea of how to play my character now.

The guide contain an annotated map of every zones. It's highly useful to not miss anything. When you first enter a new area, you'll get a list of all the notable enemies that can be found in it alongside a list of all side missions available to you. The side missions are all detailed alphabetically at the end of the book so you have to use it as a reference book. When you get out of a zone and know that you did most of what was available to do in that area, it's highly rewarding. Pixel hunting was never fun and world hunting isn't either. Hidden vault symbols or other achievements were really a pain to find. In fact, I stopped bothering in my earlier game because I couldn't find them all even after searching for it for hours. With the guide, you get a textual description of what to do to get it. You still need to find it yourself because the screenshots are pretty small. The textual description will often refer to buildings or landmarks to guide you. It's a nice way to make you observe the world around you instead of randomly jumping around in search for an overlay stamp.

The book is full of lore and detailed analysis. The presentation is beyond reproach and the usability of the guide is pretty high. What else could I ask for? I didn't read the story walkthrough because I'm confident that I can take care of myself during the fights. Nothing can force you to read them. Everything is formatted in a way that it's easy to find what you're looking for.

If you ever see a guide for a game that interest you, why not check it out? It does add a lot to the experience.

Defiance - A flawed game with some Adamantium fondations

2013-04-19T10:46:00.004-04:00

Defiance is a game I bought after reading some user reviews from people I trust on Google+. I was a bit bored at the time and needed something I could solidly bite into. To me, it was a solid success.

The game isn't perfect. You can read in multiple press reviews, the UI is a rubbish port of its console counterpart Glitch and bugs are always always present. The game can be laggy and sometimes, you can lose groupmate by being transported to a new instance when entering a particular area. The progression is unclear and the map seems.. a bit small.

There's one thing though that I think press-reviewers forgot to put enough emphasis on. The game is really fun. I mean it. Fighting waves of enemies is a blast. It reminds me of Borderlands in more ways than I care to admit.

If we keep that in mind, there's a solid point to make. Trion could eventually polished everything around the game, in the end, if the gameplay is fun, you have a pretty solid foundation. I hope they can pull it off.

Am I coming back? I think I am.

2013-04-18T13:22:00.003-04:00

I am considering returning here since the addition of the Google+ integration. Less powerful than Wordpress but my posts would be more accessible and would be easier to share on the social networks I care about. We'll see how it goes.

How can they get help?

2012-03-06T10:01:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, I saw a disturbing show that exposed some child stalker on the Internet. The mainstream (in Quebec) "Investigative journalist" show called J.E. made false teen account on various social networks like TAG and waited for people to start talking about the genitals. They claimed it was really fast and brutal. They maintained the relationship with the stalkers up to the point where they would do a meetup. Then, the journalist would be there to question the guy.

It was painful to see. The show itself wanted to make us feel like it was horrible and that the police didn't do anything. Personally, I was more repulsed by their way of doing their inquiry than anything else.

First of all, if the guy ran, they'd ran after him with the camera and the mic. They even would put themselves in front of the guy car, thrusting their mic toward the window. In was truly pathetic.

Second, they used person of the staff to make the fake voice of a 15 years old, to make sure the guy really thought they were talking to a teen.

However, the worst of the worst is the question they'd ask the guy if they ever got the question them. It was senseless and completly innapropriate. They would quote the most graphic and disturbing quote the guy wrote on the chat (over multiple days) and asked what they meant when they said that.

"When you said you feared it would not fit in, what did you meant by that?"

My traduction is completely litteral. The question is totally stupid and meaningless. They know what the guy meant, why even ask him the question? The idea was to make him look like a sick pig, that's the only reason.

Some people might completely agree with that. However, I feel it might be a bit unwarranted. Another guy in the show, called them and did 2 hours of car, sit on a picnic table with the camera crew and the interviewer and talked his heart out. He liked teen girls. He described his pulsion, he describe how helpless he feel. He can't talk about it to anyone.. not his friends.. no one. He even describe that he fear talking to professionnal. He feels nobody can help him, that he's locked with that secret. What can he do about it? The guy look like a professionnal. He might have a wife and kids. However, when he see a young 14 years old girl, it turns him on. It might feel disturbing but at the same time I really feel sad for the guy. He has hell of a secret that he kept for so long and now he was able to express it. Listening to him describing his problem, I didn't feel like he was a sick pig, I felt like he was a guy needing help, a guy needing assistance to help him get through life.

It's sad because he might never get help. After showing his testimony and asking questions whether or not he ever slept with a teen before, they cutted the interview and went on with ever more disgusting stuff. I couldn't believe it.

There might be thousands of people who feel like that guy. I mean, in history, the fact that we're protecting our children like we do today is relatively new. Our head might not be as stricly wired as the society want to make us believe. Well, for all the people that feel like the man who just talked his heart, we told them they were sick pig. We didn't tell them how to get help. We didn't tell them there was hope for them to live a normal life. We told them we despite them and that they were disgusting and not worth saving. How do these people feel today? Will it help them in any way? Won't they just isolate themselves even more with their little secret hidden even deeper?

I mean, the whole way the thing was handled was beyond me. The journalist create false profile on social network and chat with guys. They start talking about more sexuality related stuff. At that point, if the journalist bailed out, he might never heard of the guy again.. but he stays there. He continue. I'd be interested in reading the chatlog. Did they express interest in talking to them again? Were they leashing them into a meeting? I wouldn't be surprised. They even phoned to some of the guy, using a young female crew member, modifying her voice to sound like a young teen. Seriously, I really wonder who's the sickest.

Even after watching all the show, I still have no ideas what I've seen. All I remember was the journalist asking men nasty question. The only person that really disgusted me was him. The same guy who was arrested last month for drinking and driving. Who are the sick pig, really.

Steam Box?

2012-03-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

Picture taken on zdnet.com article on the subject

Have you read these rumors about the Steam Box?

Rumor: Valve potentially working on a 'Steam Box' console with partners

Valve Rumoured To Be Making “Steam Box” Console

Rumor: Valve Working on a Steam Gaming Console?

Rumor: Valve is making a home console

Here's what I think about it.

First of all, it's still a rumor. It might be better as a rumor too. As some people were saying it'd probably be better as an Alienware PC modded into a Steam tagged box. Impact on the gaming industry would be minimal but kids used to console could easily find this. If it comes with Steam installed and a good manual, it could be a good entry to the world of PC gaming. For most of us, PC gaming is easy. However, for the kids who the first console was an XBox 360 when they were 12.. it might be a little bit fuzzy. Even to me, building the right PC can be a nightmare. Getting a PC built around Montreal is really hard. Really.. it's hard. If they could simply order it online and get a decent support.. it might work. For most of us, the impact would be meaningless.

If Valve like risk a little more than I think, they might go farther. By farther I mean, try to shake the industry up. It's risky but the reward would be quite something. A big problem with PC gaming is the fragmentation of the hardware. People might not agree with me but it's KIND of a problem. Parts are hard to find and game developpers a shy of PCs because they fear having a pricy QA with too many hardware setup. It's a problem and NVidia and AMD/ATI seem to make sure it stays there to avoid loosing the battle.

To me, it's not good. I feel that this kind of competition is unworthy of the PC gaming scene. I understand that AMD and NVidia have different view of the perfect video-card. However, is it really what we need? Could we have a line of card that could TRULY work well and make the job easily for the devs? Microsoft have tried to enforce that with DX10 et now DX11. They have a strict certification that make it hard for Video-card manufacturers to release something that stray too far from it. However, if Valve wanted, they could truly change something. They could ally with the companies and make a line of standard PC that'd work. They could serve as a middle-man between the Devs and the Video-card manufactuers to make the standard and make the PC gaming scene a better place for everybody.

That's something Microsoft isn't doing. They DID try something with GFW brand. But it was FAR from anything reliable. Why can't anybody really do something. In my opinion, Valve might be the key and I think they're using Steam Box for this. Their idea would not be to lock you in hardware. The idea would be to make some standard design and architecture to make sure games can be played smoothly. It would hold the hands of the devs and make sure they understand that PC gaming isn't the untouchable beast they were told it was. It would help hardware manufacturer design better hardware that follow strict standard. Because we do need variety and people have the right to choose their own hardware. However the hardware also need to WORK WELL with games and work well togheter. Finally, it would also help customer by making sure they're buying the right thing. Not everybody knows how to buy a decent gaming machine. People see Skyrim see the point of getting it on PC but can't see a way to get it easily. After seeing the mountain they have to climb, they simply buy the game for their console.

See.. if Valve wanted, they could tackle the industry really hard. Who is better placed to shape the PC gaming world that Valve? They're the ones with all the stats. They're the one who talks with the devs and they already had partnership with Alienware in the past. If Valve and Steam successfully make a brand that is recognized, it could be a goldmine. For both Valve and all the hardware partners. Can you see this speech make some people in the hardware business drool?

BTw.. the PC would have to be Window-based. It be really great if Valve had been working with Microsoft for a game-focused verison of Windows. However, I'm frowning a bit here because I fear Microsoft might not be too fond of a new console entering the market. Maybe a regular window installation, trimmed down as much as it can.. fit with a kind of HTPC software with Steam integration. This could work.

What do you think?

Prezi - The Zooming Presentation Editor

2012-03-02T10:06:00.000-05:00

Prezi - The Zooming Presentation Editor

Wow, check this out! One of my friend showed this to me this morning. At first, I wondered. What could they really do differently? I mean, Google Presentation have been here for ages and you can do pretty good stuff in it. Wow.. I was shocked! That possibilities are astonishing.

With various zoom-level, it's possible to embed presentation into another presentation. Group your stuff in categories. Everything is so easy to visualize and so natural too. You can easily zoom back, even during a presentation and go back to a previous slide. Everything make sense.

The interface is truly great. You've got to try it. Check it out.

Technocrati claim code

2012-03-02T08:42:00.002-05:00

8FQ4EBWFASRH

Anyone heard of my pledge?

2012-03-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

On February 1st, I received my PS3. It included a bunch of games (about 11 or 12). I had a little problem with that myself. I payed way too much for games and I didn't play them MUCH. Therefore, I wanted to find a way to play again.. stop buying new games and play them more. Therefore, I decided to pledge something.

I pledge I would now buy any video game until November 1st 2012 (Excluding Guild Wars 2). Soon after, I broke my pledge by pledging to the Double Fine Kickstarter thing. I started it again soon after. Now it's serious though, no games at all.

Here's the official vow (Source):

I vow I will not buy ANY game on Steam or on PS3 until November 1st 2012. Only one exclusion to this is if Guild Wars 2 is ever released.

TF2 has something special

2011-07-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

I played a LOT of games in my life. Yesterday, I was bored and had only a few minutes left to play games. I decided to boot TF2 and have a quick match. I didn't really wanted to play the game.. I simply wanted to play "a" game to pass time. Well, it soon changed. After a few minutes playing, I was laughing out loud and waving around having fun. I could have continued for hours.

There's something in TF2 that makes it better than other games. It's a team game but players don't have to talk constantly to have fun. It's strategic but simple at the same time. It's easy to grasp but hard to master. I don't know what makes TF2 that different but there really is something unique about the game that makes it easy to come back to, even if you didn't play in months.

I can safely say that TF2 pass the test of time and, for me, is truly a masterpiece. An Achievement.

Lord of the Rings Online - Endgame and fun

2011-07-18T09:16:00.000-04:00

Hello fellow readers, I thought I'd make a little "State" of my LotRO playthrough. To begin with, as I post this, Rise of Isengard is still a few month away. So I'm talking of the endgame pre-Isengard.

This weekend, I had one of the great moments of MMO gaming. Here's the context. I've been searching for appropriate endgame content for a long while. I don't want to mess with stuff too hard for me to handle. There's not much point anyway since in two months, the level-cap will switch to 75 and all our weapons and armors will be outdated. I don't fear that, I simply want to anticipate it. I won't run full followship instances for weeks, simply to get an armor I'll outlevel right off the bat. So, my goal is to get decent stuff that is not TOO hard to get. Have fun doing deed and getting Kindred with the different faction and then, I'll be ready to take off to Isengard. That's my plan anyway.

So, after reading a bit and deciding what me, my brother and father could do to get this stuff, we decided that we wanted the Annuminàs Armor set. The set is especially good for Guardian and it can be worked on with a 3-man party pretty easilly. So, back to my great moment of gaming. On Saturday, I asked in the SKAL alliance chat if anyone wanted to work on School and Library of Tham Mirdain challenge mode. I wanted to learn them. Doing these, we'd get Superior 3rd Marks wich are used to get the Annuminàs armor. We'd also get Third marks and can be used to get Symbol of Celibrimbor. Using those, we can craft level 65 second age legendary items.

Anyway, a guy ended up showing every tricks of the instanced to me. We did both the challenges pretty easily and everything worked really really well. We got 5 Third marks which I could already exchange for the Symbol of Celibrimbor. Now, I need to do more skirmishes in order to give my soldier some skills. Otherwise, we're in for quite a ride!

Our plan before September

Level-up my father to level 65
Try to make the School and Library a few times a week until we get enough Superior Third Marks to get all our piece of armors.
Get taken to a few Annunimàs fellowship instances or 3-man parts of Ost Elendil to get a few. We need only one per pieces or armors, it's not bad.
Do skirmishes in order to get enough Skirmish marks to get our armor. About 1000 marks per piece of armor. Quite a lot but it seems we get about 500 per skirmishes so it's really not that bad.
Craft some 2nd Age Legendary level 65 until we get the weapon we wants.
Get Scroll of Empowerment to boost the legacies of our items
Get new jewelries
Get deeds and reputation

That's about it. We might also run a few of the Mirkwood 3-man and maybe some of the Moria ones too. Just for fun.

Battlefield 3 used as a bait to take us away from Steam

2011-07-18T08:31:00.000-04:00

You know what? They can go fuck themselves.

For YEARS, game companies complained that making a game on PC was hardly worth it. Pirating was too rampant (even though you can also find tons and tons of console piracy everywhere) and that people were simply no buying the games. They've been hundreds of games I would have like to try but were never brought to PC.

Now, the tables have turned. PC works, thanks to Steam and its millions of users that buy more games than they ever bought before. It's great, isn't it? For us, it is. Doing a game for the PC is worth it again. It's worth enough now that big publishers like Electronic Arts and big retailer like GameStop decide that it's worth investing in creating ANOTHER game store and start piling shit on Valve.

Today, a GameStop representative said that "Given Steam's dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are likely to be receptive to a competitive alternative,"... And that's the reason why they say Battlefield 3 WON'T be on Steam.

How is that a reason not to be on Steam. I WANT to be on Steam. Go away.. let me buy the game where I want. I don't want another shitty store. I WANT to download an app because I simply can't manage my game collection without it. It's THAT simple. I don't want to buy the game overpriced on Origins. Oh and I don't want to use Impulse anymore.. sorry GameStop. Oh.. Impulse also have an application don't it?

Anyway... It seems Battlefield 3 won't be on Steam and personally, I don't give a fuck. I'll play other games and I'll wait for another Valve multiplayer games to play online. As much as I like Battlefield, I feel that it's golden age is gone anyway. I won't let a company use it as a lure to harm PC gaming the way they're trying to do it.

I'm almost there!

2011-07-08T08:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I leveled my Runekeeper to level 64. This is just one step away from the current max level! We're still having tons of fun and I can't wait to see what we'll do once we're done with this. We still have a few months before Rise of Isengard (and the rise of the level cap to 75). The idea will be to casually get new gear and traits. This should be interesting!

State of June!

2011-06-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

I have been silent for a long time. I simply feel that I should only post important inner-thoughts. Fortunately, it's not the case. So here I am.

Back into LOTRO for real. I'm having a blast with my brother and father fighting through Moria. We still have a montain of stuff to do before the Isengard expansion-pack. We're having a blast though which is all good!

Approaching my 500th game on Steam. I'm not sure if I'm proud of that but let's just say that I love gaming on PC. I can't wait to play all these games!

Gaming on my android is still not that fun. In fact, I feel that gaming on a phone will never be fun. Single-button games with no directionnal button of any kind is NOT ENOUGH for a fun gaming experience.

I'd actually prefer a fully-fledge comic reader right now.

That's it people.. what do you think?

X³ Terran Conflict - Shielding.. my precious!

2011-04-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

My exploration have took off. Here's deal. I was right. The other day, I successfully captured a Fujin Raider. It was already geared up with a Triplex Scanner so I don't have to buy another one. I gave him my Explorer Command Software which will allow me to jump him in unknown sectors. I've also bought him some Navigation relay satellite so he will be able to place them around all the sectors.

Anyway.. that is done. I fear for him however because he has absolutely no shielding. Nowhere around the Argon's core sectors could I find any shielding. I don't know where the factories are but it's my goal now.. find shieldings for my ships. I therefore sent him to explore anyway. I hope he can outpace any of his potential ennemies.

I have a couple of ships now. I bought a Nova Buster Raider for cheap (that's a good M4 fighter from what I've read) and I also captured a Pirate Kea which is an (M3+) ship. It's a really slow ship though and I wonder how I could use it. I'll see how much is worth.. I might sell it so I can buy more trading ships. Same thing for the 2 Xenon L I got.

I need to get automated trading soon. I need more money.

X³ Terran Conflict - The universe is a big place

2011-04-26T15:07:00.001-04:00

X³ Terran Conflict (XTC) is a really deep game. After ~20h in my single-player game, I'm still in the ship I had when I started playing, my Terran Sabre, an M4 Medium Fighter with 3 Electromagnetic Plasma Cannon. It can use 4 but it drains way too much power so I stick with 3. I used my forth as a turret on my future Sector Trader. I still have a lot to learn. I think what I lack the most right now is knowledge of the world around me. The universe is huge and I have very limited time to explore it all. My goal is therefore to set up an automated ship that will recon the world for me.

Yesterday, I believed I've claimed a Yaki Fujin. It would be a could choice as my explorer because it can be equiped with a Triplex Scanner (it required at least a medium Cargo). If I have no M5 with a medium cargo, I think I'll simply buy an Argon Discoverer with my hard earned money. The military missions I take are starting to ramp up serious cash. I still have 2 Xenon L I could sell and make 1,000,000cr really quick. Anyway. I'll equip my scout with the Explorer Command Software. That software will let me send my scout to regions that are still undiscovered. Pretty useful! Once in a new sector, I can tell him to map the region and it will spiral in the region until it's fully mapped. I'm not sure how it works but I'd also like if the vessel could deploy a satellite network so I can keep track of everything that's happening in sectors, even if I have no ship currently there. After that, it'll be way easier to study the map and find good commerce opportunity. I don't know how the vessel react when it enters a Xenon sector though.. I guess experience will tell!

The carthography of the universe will really help me. I don't want to check online for hints or tables or stuff like that because it kind of break the fun of the game. I think exploration is part of the fun and I can't wait to get my scout going. In the next post, I'll probably talk about my plan of getting a Hauling ship that can take up to XL goods. I need it to trade Ore and probably other awesome stuff. I also plan to build a couple of factories to pump up constant money over time. :D Stay tuned for more..

Oh happy days!

2011-04-21T11:45:00.001-04:00

A long weekend ahead and a lot of fun to be had. There was a lot of exciting stuff going on recently too which makes everything even more interesting.

Portal 2 was released

This week, Portal 2 was finally released. I've played a bit but I have not finished it yet. I'm having loads of fun and I can't want to play more of it. The game is the funniest game I've ever played and the puzzle are more interesting than ever!

My LOTRO familly-fun is moving forward

For a couple of weeks now I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online with my father and brother. We've been having some massive fun and we're moving forward quite a bit. We're now deep into Angmar and things are awesomely creepy. We'll soon be moving toward Moria, I can't wait.

X: Rebirth was announced

I've always been a fan of space games. I have never played them much for some reason but I love the idea, I love the graphics, etc. X3: Terran Conflict is sometime called Eve Offline because it's similar in some ways. I've enjoyed Eve Online quite a bit but I've been turned off by the amount of investment (in real money) that you have to put to get medium -sized ship. I can't afford this, there's too much stuff I need to do. Therefore, I plan to try to tackle X3:TC soon. I would still like to play Portal 2 and AC:Brotherhood more first though. We'll see. Talking about space games, I also bought quite a few of them in the past. Freespace 2 come into my mind. I probably should play it, I've read there's a few mods out there that pimp it up.

Witcher 2 is coming smoothly

I've read a few previews about The Witcher 2 and all of them are fantastic. I can't wait to see how it turns out and I'll definitely get it, probably on GoG because they deserves it.

What else? The long weekend is promising. I hope to have a lot of fun and to relax a bit. And you? Anything planned for this long weekend?

On n'a pas vu le même débat

2011-04-14T10:18:00.000-04:00

Commentaire intéressant de Richard Martineau sur le débat fédéral qui a eu lieu hier. C'était aussi mon impression.. qu'en pensez-vous?

Blogue de Richard Martineau - On n'a pas vu le même débat

The Sims Medieval - You sometime control multiple sims

2011-04-06T07:51:00.002-04:00

I was wrong in one of my earlier posts. In some of the quests, you have to control multiple "hero" Sims. Like the Wizard and the Merchant together. The adaptation period was pretty low. It seems to work well enough. I'll try to make a better review once I'm more familiar with the game.

Updated impression on The Sims Medieval

2011-04-05T10:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to play The Sims Medieval a bit more. The tutorial was now done and the game was slowly taking shape. I must say I'm more than impressed.

It is clear that the goal of The Sims Medieval was to change the focus from the freeform aspect of The Sims 3 to a more story-based gameplay. At first, I was doubtful that it would really work. I felt that The Sims had already enough stuff happening and that adding another layer would be too much. The designers saw that too and found a way to balance everything so that it would work. The only need that your Sims have now are Energy and Hunger. Everything else has shifted to effects. Hygiene only boost your Happiness meter, now called focus. The more focus you have, the higher reward you'll get for your quest. A regular bath and stop at the claypot (which also include an awesome animation, and sound) will make your sim more focused and everything will be better. Basicly, there's A LOT less micro-management in The Sims Medieval. At all time, you only control a single sim. Once your story-based quest is complete, you choose another which might be played by another hero like your Merchant, Knight or King. I feel like it'll be easy to come to love our characters. Even though I played only a couple of hours, I already have an hint of a smile every time I meet one of my other heroes.

Everything is really entertaining. What I hope is that the Quests are varied enough to make it worth playing for a while. It seems that it is but I can't be sure before I get to play more. All I can say right now is that the game is terribly addictive. Yesterday evening, I had a hard time trying to stop playing.

It's usually hard to keep me glued to a game like that. I'll try to show the game to my girlfriend at some point this week. She might like, she might not. It's kind of the ultimate test.

The Sims Medieval is not The Sims 3

2011-04-04T08:46:00.000-04:00

I can't talk about this for very long since I've played The Sims Medieval for only an hour. However, I must say I'm surprised by how unique the game is. It is not The Sims 3, by FAR. The medieval outfits are awesome too. The idea of quest integrate well with the game. The game is MUCH MORE controlled by goal than The Sims 3. The game is also more story centric but I don't know how much different it can be from one game to another. My guess is that I'm in for quite a ride. The game look wonderful and I'm eager to start playing again.

The game look like worth playing.

My journey into simulation games

2011-04-01T11:12:00.001-04:00

Lately, I've been digging 2 really great simulation games: ArmA 2: Combined Ops and IL2 Sturmovik 1946. Let me break this up.

ArmA 2 is a Military Simulation game. Gear up and do realistic missions in realistic settings. The graphics are quite impressive and the immersion is beyond what I initially thought. The action can be sometime hard to follow but I suspect I will get better with time. I have not tried multiplayer coop but I will try it soon because I doubt I'll enjoy messing with the AI for a long time. The game feature an impressively packed keyboard layout. I've shared a Reference Chart in my previous post. The game also include vehicules like cars, trucks, armors, planes, choppers, etc. The community is quite large too. I hope I can get good in this game. I've been reading an awesome guide for newcommers to the game. The tactics showed in the manual are pretty close to some real military tactics. It must be really rewarding to successfully complete a mission like that.

IL2 Sturmovik 1946 is a pretty old game by any standard. It's basicly a WW2 air-combat simulator. A lot of the flight and ballistic physics are modeled. The game is not an arcade game by any mean. The distance you have to travel is usually pretty big and all. There's a bunch of campaign that you can try and even fan-made campaign online. My interest for this game grew with the annoucement of IL2 Sturmovik: Cliff of Dover, the followup game. I already had the first one but had never played it for long. I've been digging this since I've watch a part of a great serie of YouTube videos. In them, a guy play an hardcore (1 life only) pacific campaign. The series is glorious and contains moments of laugh and other really intense scenes of combat... and landing. I've started playing the game for real yesterday. It has been working for me and it seems my history of flight-simulator is helping me a lot. I can successfully land my plane on an airstrip on the first try. I know, it's not a carrier but I guess it's better than most. I'd be really glad if I could successfully play a carreer in this game. I've been having a few problems with the controls but I think I could make myself a reference sheet, similar to the one I found for ArmA 2. There's a lot less contrôls in IL2 though. My only problem is that the joystick I got earlier last month is probably too basics for the game. There's no way for me to trim my plain using sliders or anything like that. I therefore use some keyboard keys for that. It can be really confusing but I'm sure I'll be able to find a good setup for me.

In conclusion, it seems I'm in for quite a ride. I hope I can get in these games to become good and have fun. If I really enjoy myself, I might get a better joystick during summer. A Saitek X-52 perhaps. It'd be perfect for any flight-simulator game I'd try. Then, if I get the Cliff of Dover game, I'd be fully equipped. Another piece of equipment I'd like to acquire is a TrackIR 5 set. It's a kind of camera that track your head movement and translate them as action in the game. The peripheral is implemented in both ArmA 2 and IL2 Sturmovik. With slight head movement, you can look around in the game. Either to track a plane in your side windows or to scan a field for ennemies. I've been watching this peripheral since I've played Microsoft Flight Simulator X or maybe even 2004. It'd be quite an addon to my arsenal and it isn't THAT pricy. We'll see what my priorities are this summer before choosing. I don't want to be too impulsive.

Oh and.. before I forget. I'd really make videos of my playing either of these games. ArmA2 might be harder because it's really taxing on the hardware. It's be possible for IL2 though and since I've seen some wonderful attempts in the past, I'm sure it could be awesome! Stay tuned!

Nice keyboard layout for ArmA 2

2011-04-01T09:23:00.002-04:00

Here's an awesome keyboard layout from LoyalGuard of ArmA 2 official forum.

Source: ArmA 2 forum

PC Gamer Presents ArmA 2 / Ghost Recon: Island Thunder - Hidden Spectre

2011-03-30T17:49:00.001-04:00

These guys have skills! I wish they'd make move videos like that. Worth watching really.