Musings from Murphdjs

Going down under

2010-07-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

So, with me buggering off to Sydney for the foreseeable future I thought I'd resurrect my blog and update it with interesting things and not just random crap :) So watch this space for when I get to Australia and attempt regular posts to let you know how I'm doing out there and anything worth reporting back.

Night at the Museum 3

2009-06-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Was bored, subconsciously susceptible to marketing and needed an excuse to use Photoshop so came up with this.

The next Night at the Museum film should be set within a Body Worlds exhibition. We can then watch Ben Stiller slowly lose his mind with fear and madness as he witnesses countless flayed corpses screaming in agony and run about :)

Any other good exhibits you think this would work in?

Higher res link here or click on the image.

Apollo Justice review

2009-04-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

I did this for a special project and didn't want it to go to waste. Enjoy!

The first noticeable thing about it is the visuals. The characters are stylized and vibrant, each being very memorable and distinct which draws the player in to the world of Apollo Justice. The backgrounds are also well drawn and very detailed but aren’t cluttered making the player to want to explore them for much needed clues. The animated cut scenes are a new addition to the series but lend themselves well to the experience and often add new ways to look at and solve the mysteries faced by the player.

The audio is very impressive, with an impressive and memorable soundtrack. Each piece of music complements the drama ranging from sombre songs for a tragedy or dramatic pieces for when you are unravelling a witness’s carefully constructed lie. The sound effects are crisp, clear and easily identifiable. The audio is good enough to be incorporated into puzzle solving via several mini games.

The game scores above average for ease of play, as the early levels ease you in to the game mechanics. The advice from the characters is subtle, welcome and never patronizing, so after the first couple of court cases the player is fully up to speed and confident on how to play the game. However there are the occasional unintuitive obstacles that impeded or halted progression, that could only be cleared up with and a guide. The option to save the game practically anywhere makes the game more accessible to players, and enables them to get a quick fix if they have ten minutes to spare.

The game design and content is this games strongest area, with a varied mix of game play between the main investigation and courtroom modes and an assortment of “mini games” too. The investigation part of the game is on par with other games in the point and click genre and is varied enough to retain the players interest but it’s the courtroom section that really shines. It’s unique but not alienating; challenging the player to find flaws in a witness’s statement and expose them with evidence. It manages to by simultaneously cerebral and fun. Being the first game in the series that wasn’t a Gameboy Advance port the game is designed to utilize the NDS's features. Whether it is blowing into the mic to remove fingerprint dust, rotating objects with the stylus to discover clues or the infamous shouting of “objection!” at the right time in court. Each feels natural and not shoehorned in, to enhance the already impressive gameplay.

The length of the game offers the player both quality and quantity. With four expansive chapters there is at least 20 hours worth of content to play through. The game scores well on satisfaction too. All of the aforementioned elements come together to create an experience for the player that both engages and motivates them right till the very end. The mysteries that surround each case are far from linear and a joy to eventually solve. Very few games can match the sense of accomplishment when you discover the truth and slowly build a case that leads to your victory.

It is for all these reasons that I award Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney 20.5 out of 25 (breakdown below):

Visuals 4.0

Audio 4.5

Ease of play 3.5

Game Design/Content 4.5

Satisfaction 4.0

Total 20.5 / 25.0

Top 10 game list - part 1 of 4

2009-04-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

To help get over my writers block for my comic I've decided to keep on writing and put together this list of my personal top 10 games of all time. I've tried to keep it down to 200 words per game to do them justice but to also not waffle. There are spoilers in places, though if you haven't played these games shame on you. Let me know if I forgot anything or if you completely disagree!

10.Monkey Island

A time long, long ago when LucasArts (see what I did there) games were synonymous with quality and not squandered movie licenses they spawned this game. With Zork and Myst already out SMI still managed to make the genre its own with its open ended game play and witty humour.

Throughout, you experience a script that oozes wit and comedy like no other game for the time, with it being very apparent that the writers had a great deal of fun creating it. The in-joke of using a three headed monkey as a constant distraction pays off in spades when you actually encounter one. They also have a laugh at the players expense as when you try and enter an underground cavern only to be greeted with the message "please insert disk #23," "disk #47" and "disk #98." This actually fooled me and my friend as we were royally stuck at the time.

The solution to some of the puzzles are a little obscure and you inevitably find yourself trying every random combination of items in you inventory, but that’s safe to safe of all games in this genre. However once you find the right solution it’s often quite funny and rewarding, with the rubber chicken pulley being a prime example.

The music was catchy to boot and despite the graphical limitations LucasArts squeezed everything they could out to produce a great little world for you and Guybrush Threepwood to bumble around in.

9. Rocket Knight Adventures

A lovingly crafted Mega Drive platformer with a twist. Rocket packs aside it wasn’t the concept that made the game shine but its execution. The game design has a staggering amount of variety and balance that felt familiar but never boring.

You could fire a projectile from your sword but you did much more damage hitting the enemies with the actual blade, creating a perfect risk/reward aspect. The rocket pack element was a nice addition but you were never forced to rely on it, and you would intuitively use it when required.

The levels, bosses and enemies were polished to such a level that really made this game shine, with each one just as memorable as the last. All of this contributed to the story which is effectively a narrative without words – actually any dialogue would have probably ruined things somewhat. I dug up these videos so you can truly see what I’m raving about. Part 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

8. Battlefield 2142

A multiplayer FPS set in the 22^nd century that has high tech equipment, floating fortresses that you can board and defend, bipedal robots, 4 varied classes each with customisable and unlockable equipment, and orbital bombardments. These might sound like gimmicky USPs that they merely included to put on the back of the box but Dice did some rare things with a game like this that made it totally stand out.

Having studied network-centric warfare in university at the time of playing, I could see and appreciate what Dice had done. They created a visual overlay for that player that let them easily receive, provide and interpret all the information that is important to them, and then empower them and their squad to react accordingly. For example, a tank is coming your way and you don’t have the right gun to kill it. Rather than die in an act of attrition or fruitlessly hide (like with most other games of its ilk), you can still be valuable by “spotting” the tank. Other members nearby are now aware of its presence and can react accordingly. Apply this concept to spotting snipers, incoming aircraft or gaps in the enemy’s line and information is just a deadly as any weapon you carry.

Throw in a point based ranking system where the fastest way to the top is by trying out everything the game has to offer and by joining and staying with a squad, varied games modes (one where you board and assault the enemies flying fortress as you simultaneously defend yours was a breath of fresh air and genius), an easy and intuitive command and control interface if you chose to be the commander and that it was balanced to the point where it was just plain fun, you can easily see why it has remained in my top 10 list.

Severed head prank

2009-03-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you put a very realistic severed head on someones chair?

Push the button

2009-03-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Another quick rant about the day to day idiocies on the streets of London. This time I set my focus onto pedestrians who fall into two categories, whose remedy is a simple one: push the bloody traffic light button!

Suicidal impatients:
These are the people who can't wait those few extra seconds standing on the pavement to cross the road safely. Ok, there's crossing when the cars are a far way away and the light is red still (everyone does that), but then there are the tards who run out straight into the traffic as if it's life or death if they get their KFC a second late. They're prime candidates for the Darwin Awards and get no sympathy if they get hit and explode like the packets of ketchup they so desperately want to squeeze onto their mechanically seperated meat.

Lazy/imbecillic hopefuls:
These always make me smile. Standing at the traffic lights, patiently waiting for them to turn green and allow them safe passage across the road. Sometimes a muttering of complaint accompanies this display as they cannot fathom why the traffic gods have foresaken them. Do they not see the button or expect some divine intervention to take place that does it for them? All of this passes when someone with an iota of sense arrives and realises they haven't pressed the damn button on the traffic lights >.<

Sadly both of these cases are terminal and you can't rescue those afflicted, even though it's with a simple press of a button. Just make sure you don't become one, and to help just remember this song :)

24 back on form S7 spoiler alert

2009-03-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

There's something strangely addictive about 24. Even when it reached ridiculous levels in series 6 where they nuked LA (the fridge), you still felt compelled to carry on watching. Though from that series onwards everyone knew they were on very thin ice, so what do they do? They have terrorists take over the Whitehouse.

I was worried they'd make the show all soft when you found out CTU was dismantled and the new President is a Captain Janeway-alike, but 12 episodes in and a truckload of tough moral dilemmas (coaxed along by Jack) we're safely back on track. The current bad guys have infiltrated the Whitehouse and are holding the President hostage, all in a oddly beleiveable way.

This leads to my last point, something that 24 manages to do that no other show can. It's formulaic but not predictable. You know it's all going to go tits up in the last 10 minutes of an episode but you never know how, and that's 24's unique brand of televisual fried gold that keeps it's broad spectrum of viewers coming back for more every single week. Oh, that and the whole unique real time story telling thing :v

My only concern is that the show has all but exhausted the US's well of generic enemies; Germans, Mexicans, Chinese, Russians, Middle Easterns, Eastern Europeans and Africans. So I finish with my own recommendation that will allow the shows eighth season to top the benchmark it's current one is rapidly setting.

Zombie Nazis:

Cyclists and Schrödinger's cat

2009-03-01T04:07:00.000-08:00

Before I start with this tirade I want it on the record that I have a lot of friends who cycle in London and they are in no way the people I describe below (one of the main reasons for this is that they have brains and like to keep them inside their head).

Can you remember back to the days of GCSE physics where you heard about Schrödinger's cat? No? Anyways, in a nutshell it was a thought experiment where something could be in two states that contradicted each other at the same time. In the case of the poor cat it was alive and dead.

This same rule can be applied to cyclists in Central London. where some believe they can be a vehicle and pedestrian at the same time. For example;

Riding on the road and coming up to a red light? You're no longer a vehicle, you're a pedestrian now and that green man applies to you as well as those silly people walking across the road directly in your way!
The roads got a traffic jam? No worries. Just switch from a vehicle to a pedestrian and you can cycle down the pavement scaring the shit out of those idiotic people using their legs to walk down it.

It's this retarded attitude of switching between states on a whim that risk them crashing into a law abiding pedestrian or causing some poor sod in their car to swerve to avoid smearing these tards across the tarmac. I've lost count the amount of near misses I've had with them which that makes me want to stick my brolly in their spokes next time I see one >.<

300 year old meme found in Oxford

2009-03-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

Whilst wandering the university colleges in Oxford I found myself in a couple of their little churches. Setting aside how the churches got their money to build these things and the problem with religion in general, I still have to admit they've made some damn fine architecture in their time.

So whilst admiring the prettiness of a stained glass window I couldn't help but see an om nom nom nom scene.

This window is at least 300 years old, so have I found one of the worlds oldest memes? Find anything older and I'll be impressed :)