Post: New Desktop Incoming & Zombies!

Well, my desktop is past its prime. I'm going to be getting a new, much more powerful, one today or tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous because I've now got to prep everything important for the move from the old to the new. I don't want to lose any of my goodies but at some point you've got to clean stuff out. So,I'm attempting to bundle up everything I can't live without but I know there's going to be something I forget to include.

Zombies. I love them. I finally saw Resident Evil: Afterlife this weekend and it was rather enjoyable. There were parts where the grab from other IPs was blatantly obvious but it made up for that with the awesome action scenes. Three instances where the movie obviously grabbed from other IPs:

• Axeman was a grab from Silent Hill and Pyramid Head.
• The emergency broadcast was a grab from I Am Legend.
• The idea to soup up an abandoned Military Armoured Vehicle (specifically an Omni International V-150-S) to drive through the zombie horde is a grab from Dawn of the Dead.

My favorite scene in the movie was when Bennett stole Alice's airplane and flew it off the building. He was able to pull up just inches before he slammed into the ground. This caused the airplane to barrel through a throng of zombies leaving a red smear behind it. That was awesome! It was almost as good as the scene in 28 Weeks Later where a low-flying helicopter's blades decapitate a horde of zombies. Ahhh... Zombies... One reason I can't wait for The Secret World MMO from Funcom!

Gaming: Hellgate - Global Closed Beta

I enjoyed my time in Hellgate: Global this weekend. I created a Marksman, and she kicked ass. I was able to get her to level 11 before the beta ended. It wasn't without its problems, though.

The biggest problem was the fact that they handed out closed beta keys like candy so they could stress test the server. Well, it was stressed all right. The server crashed, which led to a long downtime while the devs attempted to solve the issue. The quick fix didn't completely solve the problem, either, as there were still random disconnects and lagging. Then again, there are random disconnects and lagging in fully released MMOs so perhaps it is fixed!

A very noticeable problem is the game art. The textures for the world objects are blurry and badly rendered. On the other hand, the textures for my character were crisp and nicely rendered. I could understand this if the model detail and texture settings differed, but they didn't. Everything was set as high as it could possibly go, and I restarted the game to make sure all the settings were applied. I hope they redo the textures as the blurriness really detracts from the game's immersiveness.

Another issue I noticed is that for an MMO the game is very solo friendly. I soloed the whole time from level 1 to 11 and that included all the bosses. This was good for me (I didn't have to share any of the filthy lucre) but bodes ill for the game. Too much filthy lucre from players running solo and getting huge boss drops intended for groups will saturate the market and devalue the currency and items. It'll be just as easy to get a Unique item as it'll be one that's simply Enhanced. I hope they adjust the ramping and loot drop rates. Otherwise, there will be no challenge and without a challenge there won't be much reason to play.

The last issue I noticed was the mangled dialogue. It needs a lot of work even though it was originally written in English. That makes me wonder what in the world happened there. It's obvious they translated the game from English to an Asian dialect (the game's been available in Asia since 2008) and then back to English for this relaunch. What happened to the original English dialogue? Why didn't they use it as a guide when they translated the game back to English? It would have made more sense to do that than to hand the dialogue over to a non-native speaker (as they obviously did) for translation.

I look forward to revisiting Hellgate: Global in the future whether that is in another closed beta, an open beta, or at official relaunch. Nothing provides the level of stress relief and fun as kicking zombie ass post-apocalypse does.

(Note: The links in this post are broken as of January,2023.) 

FSU: Grades, Usability, & Zombies!

This blog was started as part of my Analysis Project for my Game Design And Development Analysis class at Full Sail University. I'm very proud to say that I got a 100% on it. It was a lot of work and took a fair bit of time over the last month, but the grade made it all worth while.

Usability is turning into a very interesting class. I don't think I'll ever look at everyday items the same way again. A lot of their functionality is missed because we're so used to the items and think we intuitively know how to use them. What we're missing are the almost invisible clues the designers leave behind to nudge us in the correct direction. For example: a door handle that's placed ever-so-slightly towards the side of the door that opens. We don't immediately perceive the placement, but it silently directs us to the proper side, so we're not stuck pushing on the wrong side thinking the door doesn't work.

Hellgate London is being rebooted by Hanbitsoft (Aika)as simply "Hellgate" later this evening. It's supposed to be a closed beta but they're handing out keys like they're candy. I think it's more of a marketing preview than an actual beta. The game's been live in Asia under a free-to-play model since 2008 so I doubt there are that many bugs or glitches to warrant an actual closed beta. Still, I may pop in to see how the game is since I didn't get a chance to while Namcao Bandai and Flagship were in charge. It definitely holds some interest considering the setting is right up my alley. I love a good apocolypse!

(Note: Some of the links in this post are broken as of January, 2023.)

FSU: Movie Analysis - Resident Evil

Positives:
+The Resident Evil movie is based on the Capcom video game franchise of the same name.
+ It is a prequel to the games and explains the events that led up to the first game.
+ Even though it’s a prequel it references various elements found through-out the game franchise. For example, at the end of the movie the Nemesis program from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is referenced.
+ Great zombie special effects. I especially love the Zombie Dogs. The special effects used to zombify them were very well done, even if the dogs did keep licking the blood and meat off the prosthetics.

Negatives:
- Some viewers may consider it excessively gory.
- Zombie Dogs may be disturbing to some as most don’t think of animals when they think of zombies.
- The “Licker” monster is out of place both visually and story wise in the movie although it is featured prominently throughout the game franchise.
- If you don’t pay attention the plot seems to get lost in the zombie action sequences.

Thoughts:
~ George A. Romero was signed on as the original director and screenplay writer of the film. He used actual gameplay as research for his script, so it followed the game’s storyline pretty well. For some reason, the powers that be at Capcom didn’t like Romero’s script and so fired him. The movie languished until Paul W.S. Anderson was hired by Sony to rewrite the script and direct.
~ The film is full of references to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The computer who controls the Hive is called “The Red Queen”. The main character’s name is Alice. The wall that opens to show the train depot looks like a mirror. So, when the team goes through, they are going “through the looking glass."
~ Even though the movie is overflowing with them, the word “zombie” is never said.
~ The studio had wanted the movie to be rated PG13 but Anderson, the director, insisted that it should be rated R to stay true to the game franchise. I wonder how much would have to be edited in order to make the movie PG13 friendly? I think that would make for a very short movie.

Would Like:
* I’d like to see the “Resident Evil” that Romero would have made! The Godfather of all Zombies would have rocked that movie!
* Even though another sequel just came out I’d like another. I like the world and the story and want to dive even further into it.
* A bit more merchandising. It is true there are a multitude of Resident Evil inspired t-shirts, coffee cups, and even an umbrella in the Umbrella Corporation colors but I’m not talking about that. I’d love a pair of the boots Alice wears through-out the movie.
* A compilation of all four movies on Blue Ray disc. I know it is coming but I’m impatient.

Credit where credit is due:
Foundas, Scott. (2002, March 10). Resident evil review. Retrieved from http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117917196&categoryid=31&cs=1 (Link broken as of February 2023.)

IMDB, Various. (2002). Resident evil (2002). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120804/