hmpf

is where my love is at this year, mostly, but I'm really unenthusiastic about the way the games industry seems to be so keen on developing virtual reality goggles. DO NOT WANT. Keep making games I can play on a screen, please. A screen that isn't directly in front of my eyes, that is. I like that bit of extra distance, I don't *want* to be *in* the game.

Discovered this game beta a couple of days ago and found it so thoroughly enchanting that I've since played it three or four times (it's only about 10 minutes long). It's a totally unique concept, and the artwork is utterly beautiful. If you need something that'll put a smile on your face, go download this:

Gorogoa

Short impression of the gameplay: Video

There's a free alpha version of Proteus, if you're curious about it:

http://games.softpedia.com/get/Freeware-Games/Proteus.shtml

I haven't played the alpha - I preordered the 'proper' version of the game, and received the beta (for now). But if you just want to get a sense of the game, and/or can't/don't want to spend any money right now, I'd imagine the alpha would do nicely. I've seen some footage of it and it looks quite good. You even get some trees you don't get in the beta!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55101268@N07/sets/72157629989533617/

I gotta stop taking pics while I stroll around the island... my flickr account is almost full.

Proteus

Proteus is an island/rambling-in-the-wilderness simulation.

Or perhaps a musical instrument in the shape of a virtual island.

You arrive at the island.

(It's a different one every time, though the elements remain the same.)

You walk around.

The weather changes.

The sun sinks. The moon and stars come up.

You follow a frog. Or an owl.

You listen to singing mushroom critters.

The seasons change.

Everything has a tune. Walking creates a symphony.

Nothing else happens.

You can take photographs.

- Played Samorost 2 (half of which I already played a few years ago): still as lovely as I remembered.

- Replayed Windosill (which I played completely, a few years ago): still one of the most unique, dream-like game experiences ever.

(Both of these are very short.)

- Played most of Botanicula, until I got to a point where I really need a mouse, which I don't have at the moment. Except for a couple of moments of mild frustration, it's up there with Windosill as one of the most joy-inducing games I've ever played. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Could do without the couple of dexterity-based minigames, but that's a minor quibble (and they're not that bad, really - two of them I managed even without a mouse, and only minor practice, and the third, I'm sure, I'll manage once I have a mouse again). Wish it was longer. It's longer than Windosill or Samorost 2, but still shorter than most full-length games.

- Started Machinarium and am around two thirds through, I think. Beautiful artwork; slightly frustrating puzzles (some of the time, anyway). I'm resorting to a walkthrough more often than I'd like, and it makes me feel as if I've gone stupid: I distinctly remember being able to solve these kinds of puzzles without help! (Well, the brain does start to shrink once you're past 30, doesn't it? ;-))

- Started Sword & Sworcery just now. Not sure yet what I think of the "ironic" dialogue, but the art and atmosphere are stunning. I've heard that this is a game that drags, for many people. At the moment I can't really imagine getting tired of the scenery, though, so as long as it stays this pretty, I imagine I'll be happy even if progress is slow. I'm taking it extra slow at the moment, in fact - often just stopping to take in the scenery, zooming out as far as I can to see all of it.

***

Read some more of the Farscape comics. Still enjoying them. The art in some of the D'Argo arcs is actually good (though sometimes marred by bad colouring.)

do some knytting tonight.

Two years ago, actually. He's a bit puzzled by the lack of anything happening (it's a virtual walk in the park, nothing's *supposed* to happen! ;-)) and he misses the two secrets I hid in it. Anyway... you can still get a pretty decent idea of the level from watching the Let's Play:

is that I always get tempted away from social things by books or comics (mostly books and comics, that is. Occasionally TV or games.)

I really think, sometimes, that I need therapy to learn to cope with *people*. It can't be normal that even *pleasant* social interaction is so draining for me that I shy away from it, can it?

I've been job hunting and doing housework and reading, mostly. Yes, I stopped the LJ catch-up almost immediately after I'd started. There was a rather large number of interesting job ads recently, but that's no excuse, really.

Gah.

Have some recs:

beccatoria made another awesome Farscape vid! Actually, I'm sure she's made at least a dozen good vids recently, because she went a bit crazy last month and tried (possibly even managed?) to make one vid(let) per day. So head over there and enjoy!

Did you realise you can read shitloads of classics of the fantastic genres for free on gutenberg.org? I've decided it's time to check out some of that old stuff, and have read Peter Pan and am currently reading The Napoleon of Notting Hill (I read The Man Who Was Thursday years ago, though maybe a reread is in order...) Peter Pan was much odder, and darker, than I expected. TNoNH is about as odd as I expected, because after TMWWT I expect major weirdness from Chesterton. Got any recs of other old stuff I should check out? Maybe A Voyage to Arcturus? That's definitely available there. Or I could try to get back into News from Nowhere, I started that two years ago and then was interrupted by uni stuff...

I've also reread two webcomics I'd more or less stopped checking regularly because they were (and still are) in the habit of going on really long hiatuses. They're both really really good, though. Dicebox is social science fiction with beautiful art and very three-dimensional characters and relationships. Hero is fantasy with religous/mythological overtones, possibly set after some apocalyptic(?) conflict between some analogues between the forces of heaven and hell. Or something. Beautiful digital watercolour manga art, and a surprising sense of humour. (For even more webcomics, check out the links in my sidebar here.)

I've spent a bit of time playing flash games, too:

I really enjoyed Little Rocket, despite the fact that it took me ridiculously long to learn how to control the rocket. But when I finally had the hang of it, I played the entire game through twice.

Endeavor is a nice, big-pixeled exploration platformer.

Looming plays like an extremely minimalist, retro version of Myst.

Seasons is another beautiful web toy/experience by the maker of Windosill.

The Dreamerz (don't ask me about the stupid "z"!) is a charming little point-and-click adventure that feels like you're reading a slightly surreal picture book.

And Transform is another example of patented Eyemaze madness. In other words, it's awesome.

****

I just rediscovered a very fitting old tag so I'm using it...

it just occurred to me that simply announcing that I had finished my latest KS level without posting a link to it was a bit stupid. So, you can download it here:

http://www.allabouthmpf.com/kslevels.htm

It's the last one, Remembering the City. If you've never played KS before, you also need to download the software linked at the top of the page, and you should probably play the very short tutorial that comes with it. That will teach you everything you need to play RtC. (In fact, you don't even need every skill that the tutorial teaches you to play RtC, because RtC is really easy - but you do need to know how to jump and double-jump.)