... okay, nobody asked. This is entirely on my own initiative.
Saw an interesting exchange over at Roger Ebert's "Answer Man" feature. It's the third letter, about the artistic potential of video games. This happens to be a topic I've put a lot of thought into, and since Ebert's position seems entirely reasonable (albeit wrong), I took a little time to compose an unsolicited response. Following is the text of my email.
Dear Mr. Ebert,
I have enjoyed following the discussions in your "Answer Man" column about the artistic potential of video games. I'm sure you're receiving piles of mail regarding this issue, but I wanted to raise a few thoughts of my own.
First, when considering video games, I find it more helpful to compare them to visual arts or theater rather than film or literature. In the first two art forms, the eye is controlled by the viewer. People stand closer to or farther from a painting, they decide which of several events or characters on the stage to focus on, and so on. The artist uses several techniques to guide the viewer's attention, but what they are really doing is creating a tiny world and letting the observer engage with it.
In contrast, literature and film give much more power to the artist when determining how the world is experienced. A reader can only rely on whatever narrators the author supplies, and the watcher cannot see anything beyond the lense's edge. This gives the creator far more powerful tools to control the experience and make persuasive statements, but it also enables passive engagement and gives less freedom for the viewer to establish their unique relationship with the work. Of course, no art form is inferior to the others, they operate using different rules and have different strengths. I think that simply comparing video games to film isn't sufficient; while film is far better at some things, those aren't necessarily the goals of a video game.
Secondly, it's important to remember that we're in the infancy of video games. There have been only a few decades in which to experiment, innovate, criticize, and build on the works of others. Compare this with over a century for film, several hundred years for novels, and thousands of years of plays and visual arts. It can be very difficult to see the potential of a new medium; even the Lumiere brothers said "The cinema is an invention without any future." Perhaps no one can find a game that compares with Citizen Kane simply because it has not yet been created yet. Then again, it might be right under our noses, and we won't know it until video game criticism evolves to the point where we can identify and appreciate the works in their own idiom.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher King
Monday, November 28, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
"I'm sick of it."
Time for another largely autobiographical post. "Yay!"
Writing about The Colbert Report and Arrested Development set me off on a train of thought, leading backward from my current stable of shows to my earliest encounters with the tube. For the sake of posterity, I will rearrange these thoughts in chronological order and present to you how I became the conneseieur I am today.
My parents, in a decision I will always love them for, decided that we would be PBS kids. I grew up with only non-commercial programming, Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street; later 3-2-1 Contact and Square One. As far as I remember the only exception was on Saturday morning we would get to watch classic Looney Tunes for an hour.
Even now, people I tell this to sometimes react with amazement. They rattle off all the cartoons I should have been watching, vast swaths of pop culture that passed me by. As perplexed as they seem, I'm more perplexed at their perpexion. I really don't feel like I missed out on anything. When I happen to catch children's programming now, I'm stunned by how mindless much of it is, and how aggressive and manipulative the advertising. I have good memories of Mathnet and King Friday and don't feel I missed anything else. The only time I did was during one conversation in fourth grade when two kids asked me what my favorite shows were and laughes when I said "Square One."
I entered the world of commercial television very gradually. It all started during a sleepover at my friend Justin's house, probably during eighth grade. Like usual we played a lot of computer games and stayed up really late drinking caffeine and watching movies. Late at night, when my resistance was weakened, Justin popped in a videotape of recorded Simpsons episodes. Under ordinary circumstances I would have protested. Everything I had heard about that show made it sound evil and cancerous, a slimy half-hour of animation that directly attacked moral fiber. I'd never have watched it of my own volition, but I felt drained and accomodating.
Granted, I was in a receptive mood, but even so, the experience was surprisingly moving. The episodes were the one where Flanders goes crazy and "Streetcar! The Musical." There might have been another one in there too. I was blown away by the sharp humor, intelligent references, and rapid-fire pace of jokes. Not being steeped in pop culture, many allusions went over my head, but enough punches landed for me to laugh long and hard.
After that, I was hooked. Now, The Simpsons were still clearly Persona Non Grata in the King household, so my viewing would be on the sly, at friends' houses or late at night. I was jumping in after many seasons, so I had little sense of continuity and only gradually came to identify with the cast of characters. The more I saw the more I appreciated and the more I wanted to watch.
I could do a long post on just The Simpsons, but the purpose of including them here is in their role as gateway show. The next one I started to watch was the X-Files. This was during the peak of my fascination with the Illuminati and conspiracy theories, so this show's elaborately paranoid plots delighted me greatly. This is another show that gradually crept into my consciousness; I'd read about it in the paper years before I saw my first episode after moving to Illinois.
After leaving for college in 1999, the theoretical limits on television were lifted, but since Brad and I did not have a TV in our dorm room, my viewing schedule remained largely the same. I would go down to the projection TV in the building lobby on Sunday nights to watch the Simpsons, and that was basically it. When living in a suite with some other friends my sophomore year, we acquired a TV and the watching began to take off.
Shows from this period were almost exclusively Comedy Central pieces. Here is where I first encountered the Daily Show, which I still am devoted to. I would also catch classic episodes of Saturday Night Live, from the golden years of the early 90's and the dredges of the middle 80's. Beyond these staples, I kept up my Simpsons viewing and would occasionally catch stuff others were watching, mainly Discovery Channel documentaries and the like. I still didn't feel like I had embraced television, just that I'd found some things worth watching.
During this period I developed some survival skills for dealing with commercials. I never went into the living room without some homework or reading material, and made sure to keep busy during the filler. It was a small gesture, but one that allowed me to convince myself that I wasn't really wasting that much time.
This pattern of TV viewing continued through the rest of my college years, with the lineup changing (I found I could no longer stay up until 3AM watching SNL) but my habits remaining largely the same. We became slavishly devoted to TDS and would attract others who came just for the show. We discovered some gems on the International Channel - the original non-subbed, non-dubbed Dragonball Z, which Brian would halfheartedly translate for us while we stared at two battling characters who would pause for ten minutes between punches. Later came the Irresponsible Captain Tyler, to this day one of my favorite anime. Family Guy left. Iron Chef made a huge splash for a while. Dan developed a weird fascination with Bill O'Reilly. Win Ben Stein's Money was mildly amusing and then left. And there were regular parades of heavily edited-for-TV movies like Billy Madison. Oh, and every football game, generally with a crowd of enthusiastic Fantasy Football spectators.
I haven't had cable since graduation, which has changed things but not in the way you'd expect. While in downtown KC I could get grainy network TV and so I valiantly kept up Simpsons viewing (for a little while; it was around this point that I ceased caring about that terribly influential show) and Sunday football. There was a much better TV in the basement, and when working out I saw episodes of "Friends" and "Seinfeld" for the first time of my life. They were amusing, Seinfeld was definitely better but I can see why some people would like Friends.
Other than that, I was totally fine with not having cable, up until the 2004 campaign started. At this point I started getting some serious jones for the Daily Show. I missed Jon's incredibly trenchant commentary and the articulate political guests they were getting; even worse, I was reading in the paper about what a force the show was finally becoming. After some digging, I found ShunTV, a private Bit Torrent network that posted Daily Show episodes almost immediately after they aired. It became yet another ritual: I would start downloading the previous day's show in the morning, then watch it when I returned from work.
At first ShunTV was extremely focused and did almost nothing but TDS. As time went on, they added more shows, still generally hewing to the comedy lineup. I got my first taste of The Office (BBC) from them, as well as Drawn Together and some other edgy cable fare.
Watching TV in this way was a revolution. I was finally free from commercials, and found myself enjoying great programs even more; you get in a good mood after a few minutes of TDS and can keep it going for the whole 20 minutes without being interrupted by Levitra commercials. I felt some initial guilt about "stealing" my TV this way, but largely resigned myself to it. I still don't download software or movies, because there are clear and easy and legal ways to acquire them. I haven't downloaded an album since I got iTunes, because I'd rather pay a few bucks for a legal album than muck around on the Internet hunting for it. But content is shown on TV for free anyways; someone else has simply taped it for me and removed all the commercials. And I do support the shows I like - I bought the Firefly DVD set after downloading some episodes, I will pick up Arrested Development later this week, and even own the "Indecision 2004" box set from TDS. I just don't like commercials, and I like watching shows when I want to.
Anyways. Despite my occasional forray into other programming, I remained pretty focused on TDS and Fox animation. That changed last year when, for the first time ever, I got hooked on a network drama. Two, in fact.
Hugh Laurie has been my favorite actor for most of my life. I have many fond memories of watching him and Stephen Fry in "Jeeves and Wooster" (on PBS, natch). I've cheered him on as he gradually gets more US movie roles, and was elated when I learned that he had landed the title role in Fox's new drama, "House." I've been disappointed way too many times to give myself much hope, but I wished that Americans would finally realize what a great actor this guy is.
Much to my surprise, they did. Fox did an excellent job promoting the show and it really took off. I dug it, too. I saw the pilot based solely on Hugh Laurie's name. It hooked me from the opening notes to the title theme, brilliantly adapting Massive Attack's "Teardrop," one of my favorite songs. It sealed the deal with the excellent closing sequence, set to The Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want." What was in between was good - as I told people at the time, it would be an OK show on its own (fairly routine medical procedural), but Hugh Laurie's amazing performance takes it to another level. The character is fascinating and well-written, but Hugh is one of the only actors who could pull it off convincingly.
(Incidentally, the show has gotten even better. I need to pick up the Season 1 set at some point and re-acquaint myself, but I think it follows an interesting evolution. The first few episodes felt like they were written as "C.S.I. meets E.R.!" Then there was a stretch where it felt in danger of becoming a soap opera. It really found itself with the Volger arc, which featured several sequential episodes developing an ongoing plotline while further exploring the principles' motivations and abilities. "Three Stories" rightly won an Emmy for Best Script and should have given Hugh a statue as well. I've been swallowing up Season 2 so far, they're still letting the show evolve and give us more depth while not stinging on the excellent House-isms that drive each episode.)
In the case of House, I caught each episode when it first aired, commercials and all. In my new apartment, I don't get any Fox signal at all, so Bit Torrent rides to the rescue. (ShunTV got shut down, so I now use mininova.) Being able to do this keeps me hooked on the show and will mean more of my dollars in Fox's pocket when all is said and done.
The other show was "Lost." I was attracted to this for the same reason I was to House, pure name recognition. In this case it was Dominic Monaghan, Merry in Lord of the Rings, who was prominently featured in all the promotional spots for this show. I missed the pilot and the first few episodes, though, and had mostly forgotten about it. But then I started reading some criticism about how popular the show was, and how it was really good, and thought I'd give it a shot. Now, with a serial adventure like this, I never would have jumped in at episode 6. As it was, though, I could download the shows I'd missed, watch them, and decide that it really was a good show. Now I catch each new episode right when it airs, and fortunately I do get an ABC signal here.
These two shows finally convinced me that it's possible to get really high quality programming on television that rises to the level of movies. Sometimes better, even. TV shows have the advantage of an open-ended format and long running times. The latter allows a good show to do much more with character development, allusion and thematic exploration than a work with a 2-hour time limit. The former allows some exciting creative possibilities, as they are essentially redesigning the show while making it. I still think most TV is dreck, but I no longer think it has to be.
I'll probably look back at the House/Lost combo and identify this as the point when I really got into TV. Now I have so much on my hard drive I don't always get through it all in a week. I'm regularly viewing the Colbert Report, the occasional DS, House, Lost, My Name Is Earl, Arrested Development (don't kill it, Fox!), The Office (NBC), Everybody Hates Chris, Stella, American Dad, and Family Guy. They're great shows that ingest a dollop of humor or thought (or both) into my life and leave me with some extra energy, rarely thinking "Well, that was a waste of time."
Of course, nothing lasts forever. It's possible I'll get sick of staring at the screen so much and return to my hermitlike existence, only occasionally venturing out to grab a box set. Or we might be in the midst of a short-lived golden age, that will produce a flurry of good shows and then die off, leaving us with the next America's Funniest Home Videos. My personal hope is that digital methods of content distribution will ensure that people like me, who like my kind of shows, will be able to directly give financial support and ensure we continue to get our shows. Hopefully there won't be any commercials.
Writing about The Colbert Report and Arrested Development set me off on a train of thought, leading backward from my current stable of shows to my earliest encounters with the tube. For the sake of posterity, I will rearrange these thoughts in chronological order and present to you how I became the conneseieur I am today.
My parents, in a decision I will always love them for, decided that we would be PBS kids. I grew up with only non-commercial programming, Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street; later 3-2-1 Contact and Square One. As far as I remember the only exception was on Saturday morning we would get to watch classic Looney Tunes for an hour.
Even now, people I tell this to sometimes react with amazement. They rattle off all the cartoons I should have been watching, vast swaths of pop culture that passed me by. As perplexed as they seem, I'm more perplexed at their perpexion. I really don't feel like I missed out on anything. When I happen to catch children's programming now, I'm stunned by how mindless much of it is, and how aggressive and manipulative the advertising. I have good memories of Mathnet and King Friday and don't feel I missed anything else. The only time I did was during one conversation in fourth grade when two kids asked me what my favorite shows were and laughes when I said "Square One."
I entered the world of commercial television very gradually. It all started during a sleepover at my friend Justin's house, probably during eighth grade. Like usual we played a lot of computer games and stayed up really late drinking caffeine and watching movies. Late at night, when my resistance was weakened, Justin popped in a videotape of recorded Simpsons episodes. Under ordinary circumstances I would have protested. Everything I had heard about that show made it sound evil and cancerous, a slimy half-hour of animation that directly attacked moral fiber. I'd never have watched it of my own volition, but I felt drained and accomodating.
Granted, I was in a receptive mood, but even so, the experience was surprisingly moving. The episodes were the one where Flanders goes crazy and "Streetcar! The Musical." There might have been another one in there too. I was blown away by the sharp humor, intelligent references, and rapid-fire pace of jokes. Not being steeped in pop culture, many allusions went over my head, but enough punches landed for me to laugh long and hard.
After that, I was hooked. Now, The Simpsons were still clearly Persona Non Grata in the King household, so my viewing would be on the sly, at friends' houses or late at night. I was jumping in after many seasons, so I had little sense of continuity and only gradually came to identify with the cast of characters. The more I saw the more I appreciated and the more I wanted to watch.
I could do a long post on just The Simpsons, but the purpose of including them here is in their role as gateway show. The next one I started to watch was the X-Files. This was during the peak of my fascination with the Illuminati and conspiracy theories, so this show's elaborately paranoid plots delighted me greatly. This is another show that gradually crept into my consciousness; I'd read about it in the paper years before I saw my first episode after moving to Illinois.
After leaving for college in 1999, the theoretical limits on television were lifted, but since Brad and I did not have a TV in our dorm room, my viewing schedule remained largely the same. I would go down to the projection TV in the building lobby on Sunday nights to watch the Simpsons, and that was basically it. When living in a suite with some other friends my sophomore year, we acquired a TV and the watching began to take off.
Shows from this period were almost exclusively Comedy Central pieces. Here is where I first encountered the Daily Show, which I still am devoted to. I would also catch classic episodes of Saturday Night Live, from the golden years of the early 90's and the dredges of the middle 80's. Beyond these staples, I kept up my Simpsons viewing and would occasionally catch stuff others were watching, mainly Discovery Channel documentaries and the like. I still didn't feel like I had embraced television, just that I'd found some things worth watching.
During this period I developed some survival skills for dealing with commercials. I never went into the living room without some homework or reading material, and made sure to keep busy during the filler. It was a small gesture, but one that allowed me to convince myself that I wasn't really wasting that much time.
This pattern of TV viewing continued through the rest of my college years, with the lineup changing (I found I could no longer stay up until 3AM watching SNL) but my habits remaining largely the same. We became slavishly devoted to TDS and would attract others who came just for the show. We discovered some gems on the International Channel - the original non-subbed, non-dubbed Dragonball Z, which Brian would halfheartedly translate for us while we stared at two battling characters who would pause for ten minutes between punches. Later came the Irresponsible Captain Tyler, to this day one of my favorite anime. Family Guy left. Iron Chef made a huge splash for a while. Dan developed a weird fascination with Bill O'Reilly. Win Ben Stein's Money was mildly amusing and then left. And there were regular parades of heavily edited-for-TV movies like Billy Madison. Oh, and every football game, generally with a crowd of enthusiastic Fantasy Football spectators.
I haven't had cable since graduation, which has changed things but not in the way you'd expect. While in downtown KC I could get grainy network TV and so I valiantly kept up Simpsons viewing (for a little while; it was around this point that I ceased caring about that terribly influential show) and Sunday football. There was a much better TV in the basement, and when working out I saw episodes of "Friends" and "Seinfeld" for the first time of my life. They were amusing, Seinfeld was definitely better but I can see why some people would like Friends.
Other than that, I was totally fine with not having cable, up until the 2004 campaign started. At this point I started getting some serious jones for the Daily Show. I missed Jon's incredibly trenchant commentary and the articulate political guests they were getting; even worse, I was reading in the paper about what a force the show was finally becoming. After some digging, I found ShunTV, a private Bit Torrent network that posted Daily Show episodes almost immediately after they aired. It became yet another ritual: I would start downloading the previous day's show in the morning, then watch it when I returned from work.
At first ShunTV was extremely focused and did almost nothing but TDS. As time went on, they added more shows, still generally hewing to the comedy lineup. I got my first taste of The Office (BBC) from them, as well as Drawn Together and some other edgy cable fare.
Watching TV in this way was a revolution. I was finally free from commercials, and found myself enjoying great programs even more; you get in a good mood after a few minutes of TDS and can keep it going for the whole 20 minutes without being interrupted by Levitra commercials. I felt some initial guilt about "stealing" my TV this way, but largely resigned myself to it. I still don't download software or movies, because there are clear and easy and legal ways to acquire them. I haven't downloaded an album since I got iTunes, because I'd rather pay a few bucks for a legal album than muck around on the Internet hunting for it. But content is shown on TV for free anyways; someone else has simply taped it for me and removed all the commercials. And I do support the shows I like - I bought the Firefly DVD set after downloading some episodes, I will pick up Arrested Development later this week, and even own the "Indecision 2004" box set from TDS. I just don't like commercials, and I like watching shows when I want to.
Anyways. Despite my occasional forray into other programming, I remained pretty focused on TDS and Fox animation. That changed last year when, for the first time ever, I got hooked on a network drama. Two, in fact.
Hugh Laurie has been my favorite actor for most of my life. I have many fond memories of watching him and Stephen Fry in "Jeeves and Wooster" (on PBS, natch). I've cheered him on as he gradually gets more US movie roles, and was elated when I learned that he had landed the title role in Fox's new drama, "House." I've been disappointed way too many times to give myself much hope, but I wished that Americans would finally realize what a great actor this guy is.
Much to my surprise, they did. Fox did an excellent job promoting the show and it really took off. I dug it, too. I saw the pilot based solely on Hugh Laurie's name. It hooked me from the opening notes to the title theme, brilliantly adapting Massive Attack's "Teardrop," one of my favorite songs. It sealed the deal with the excellent closing sequence, set to The Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want." What was in between was good - as I told people at the time, it would be an OK show on its own (fairly routine medical procedural), but Hugh Laurie's amazing performance takes it to another level. The character is fascinating and well-written, but Hugh is one of the only actors who could pull it off convincingly.
(Incidentally, the show has gotten even better. I need to pick up the Season 1 set at some point and re-acquaint myself, but I think it follows an interesting evolution. The first few episodes felt like they were written as "C.S.I. meets E.R.!" Then there was a stretch where it felt in danger of becoming a soap opera. It really found itself with the Volger arc, which featured several sequential episodes developing an ongoing plotline while further exploring the principles' motivations and abilities. "Three Stories" rightly won an Emmy for Best Script and should have given Hugh a statue as well. I've been swallowing up Season 2 so far, they're still letting the show evolve and give us more depth while not stinging on the excellent House-isms that drive each episode.)
In the case of House, I caught each episode when it first aired, commercials and all. In my new apartment, I don't get any Fox signal at all, so Bit Torrent rides to the rescue. (ShunTV got shut down, so I now use mininova.) Being able to do this keeps me hooked on the show and will mean more of my dollars in Fox's pocket when all is said and done.
The other show was "Lost." I was attracted to this for the same reason I was to House, pure name recognition. In this case it was Dominic Monaghan, Merry in Lord of the Rings, who was prominently featured in all the promotional spots for this show. I missed the pilot and the first few episodes, though, and had mostly forgotten about it. But then I started reading some criticism about how popular the show was, and how it was really good, and thought I'd give it a shot. Now, with a serial adventure like this, I never would have jumped in at episode 6. As it was, though, I could download the shows I'd missed, watch them, and decide that it really was a good show. Now I catch each new episode right when it airs, and fortunately I do get an ABC signal here.
These two shows finally convinced me that it's possible to get really high quality programming on television that rises to the level of movies. Sometimes better, even. TV shows have the advantage of an open-ended format and long running times. The latter allows a good show to do much more with character development, allusion and thematic exploration than a work with a 2-hour time limit. The former allows some exciting creative possibilities, as they are essentially redesigning the show while making it. I still think most TV is dreck, but I no longer think it has to be.
I'll probably look back at the House/Lost combo and identify this as the point when I really got into TV. Now I have so much on my hard drive I don't always get through it all in a week. I'm regularly viewing the Colbert Report, the occasional DS, House, Lost, My Name Is Earl, Arrested Development (don't kill it, Fox!), The Office (NBC), Everybody Hates Chris, Stella, American Dad, and Family Guy. They're great shows that ingest a dollop of humor or thought (or both) into my life and leave me with some extra energy, rarely thinking "Well, that was a waste of time."
Of course, nothing lasts forever. It's possible I'll get sick of staring at the screen so much and return to my hermitlike existence, only occasionally venturing out to grab a box set. Or we might be in the midst of a short-lived golden age, that will produce a flurry of good shows and then die off, leaving us with the next America's Funniest Home Videos. My personal hope is that digital methods of content distribution will ensure that people like me, who like my kind of shows, will be able to directly give financial support and ensure we continue to get our shows. Hopefully there won't be any commercials.
I like guys who got five deferments, never went to war, criticizing us who've been there
Time for another Civ IV update.
I've been playing as Louis XIV recently. (I always rename him - one game was William III of The Netherlands, another Hugh Capet of France). His attribues are Creative and Industrious, which fits well with my playing style; Creative gives me an early boost to culture which lets my borders start expanding immediately, while Industrious lets me build wonders more quickly.
One thing I really need to get better at is building up my military. I always have other priorities when not at war, and when war does come the enemy is always ready and I'm not able to ramp up in time. I usually am far enough ahead technologically that I can build more advanced units than my opponent, but the new combat system in Civ IV really flattens this advantage (as mentioned in a previous post), so producing, say, a Machine Gunner will not be able to stand against four Horse Archers. In my current game, I was stunned when Caesar (who has a +6 disposition towards me and shares my religion) abruptly declared war on me and advanced on an undefended island city of mine. I was only saved because I happened to have a galleon nearby and was able to sink his galleys before they reached me.
So, yeah. In the past I've been able to defer building up a military for a long time, then rush-build a few high-powered defenders when needed. That's just not viable any more (you can't even rush-build until late in the game), and I really need to break this habit if I'm going to get through a game without constantly re-loading.
I think I've found the world style that agrees best with me. I'm playing my Hugh Capet on a Large Archipelago map, which provides the perfect rhythm to the game. Every civ starts on an island by itself or with one neighbor, so you're able to pursue your goals early on without worrying about land-hungry neighbors beating you to crucial resources. Once you discover Sailing, which can come pretty early on, you will be able to reach nearby islands and most likely discover one or two other civs. By now you're each somewhat established and it's nice to deal with mature civs; you can trade techs without worrying that they'll immediately turn against you. Once you hit the Rennaissance, you'll discover Optics/Navigation and cross the ocean, finally meeting everyone else. Anyways, this gives the game a really nice pace that allows you to plan ahead instead of constantly reacting to whatever your neighbors are doing.
Firaxis is publishing a patch sometime next week that should fix the technical issues people have been facing; I hope this will finally remove the stuttering from my wonder videos. They also will lower the volume on the "pillage" sound effect, which will help lessen my irritation somewhat at that annoying maneuver. (I've recently heard that pillaging gives the pillager some gold, which makes me a little more understanding of why the AI does it, though I still don't plan to join them.)
What else... I need to get better at balancing my cities. My William III game was pretty good in this respect, where my capital was good at research, another city was a big naval center, another could churn out military units, etc. Now, my Hugh Capet game is a lot like my first Frederick game, where the capital is the best at everything. I've been planning to try for a cultural victory, but my next two largest cities are so far behind in production that it'll be extremely hard to raise them to Legendary status. My current plan is to have my capital produce Great Engineers, which I will use to rush cultural wonders in these cities, and Great Artists, which will directly boost culture. Hopefully it'll work, but I might end up shooting for the Spaceship Victory. If so, I can practically guarantee that every single part will be manufactured in Paris.
Oh, and in other video-game news, I finally beat Katamari Damacy last night, six months after I started it. It isn't hard, I just kept getting distracted. In the last level, you create the Moon by rolling up what seems like all of Japan, and are treated by a reward video that's even more colorful, cheerful and bizarre than the introductory video. It was a lot of fun, and I'll probably pick up We Love Katamari sometime.
AND, just to avoid creating yet another post, GTA: Liberty City Stories is really amazing. The game is really tight and entertaining, definitely better than GTA3. The programmer in me is stunned that they were able to cram all this stuff into a tiny 2GB disc. I really like the protagonist, he's not as charismatic as CJ from San Andreas, but is probably the second-best character from the series. You do a series of missions where you try to gain your mother's approval (by killing Triads and taking lewd photographs and turning one guy into sausage), but she thinks you aren't tough enough and sends waves of hitmen after you. Utterly delightful, and about as far from Katamari Damacy as you can get.
I've been playing as Louis XIV recently. (I always rename him - one game was William III of The Netherlands, another Hugh Capet of France). His attribues are Creative and Industrious, which fits well with my playing style; Creative gives me an early boost to culture which lets my borders start expanding immediately, while Industrious lets me build wonders more quickly.
One thing I really need to get better at is building up my military. I always have other priorities when not at war, and when war does come the enemy is always ready and I'm not able to ramp up in time. I usually am far enough ahead technologically that I can build more advanced units than my opponent, but the new combat system in Civ IV really flattens this advantage (as mentioned in a previous post), so producing, say, a Machine Gunner will not be able to stand against four Horse Archers. In my current game, I was stunned when Caesar (who has a +6 disposition towards me and shares my religion) abruptly declared war on me and advanced on an undefended island city of mine. I was only saved because I happened to have a galleon nearby and was able to sink his galleys before they reached me.
So, yeah. In the past I've been able to defer building up a military for a long time, then rush-build a few high-powered defenders when needed. That's just not viable any more (you can't even rush-build until late in the game), and I really need to break this habit if I'm going to get through a game without constantly re-loading.
I think I've found the world style that agrees best with me. I'm playing my Hugh Capet on a Large Archipelago map, which provides the perfect rhythm to the game. Every civ starts on an island by itself or with one neighbor, so you're able to pursue your goals early on without worrying about land-hungry neighbors beating you to crucial resources. Once you discover Sailing, which can come pretty early on, you will be able to reach nearby islands and most likely discover one or two other civs. By now you're each somewhat established and it's nice to deal with mature civs; you can trade techs without worrying that they'll immediately turn against you. Once you hit the Rennaissance, you'll discover Optics/Navigation and cross the ocean, finally meeting everyone else. Anyways, this gives the game a really nice pace that allows you to plan ahead instead of constantly reacting to whatever your neighbors are doing.
Firaxis is publishing a patch sometime next week that should fix the technical issues people have been facing; I hope this will finally remove the stuttering from my wonder videos. They also will lower the volume on the "pillage" sound effect, which will help lessen my irritation somewhat at that annoying maneuver. (I've recently heard that pillaging gives the pillager some gold, which makes me a little more understanding of why the AI does it, though I still don't plan to join them.)
What else... I need to get better at balancing my cities. My William III game was pretty good in this respect, where my capital was good at research, another city was a big naval center, another could churn out military units, etc. Now, my Hugh Capet game is a lot like my first Frederick game, where the capital is the best at everything. I've been planning to try for a cultural victory, but my next two largest cities are so far behind in production that it'll be extremely hard to raise them to Legendary status. My current plan is to have my capital produce Great Engineers, which I will use to rush cultural wonders in these cities, and Great Artists, which will directly boost culture. Hopefully it'll work, but I might end up shooting for the Spaceship Victory. If so, I can practically guarantee that every single part will be manufactured in Paris.
Oh, and in other video-game news, I finally beat Katamari Damacy last night, six months after I started it. It isn't hard, I just kept getting distracted. In the last level, you create the Moon by rolling up what seems like all of Japan, and are treated by a reward video that's even more colorful, cheerful and bizarre than the introductory video. It was a lot of fun, and I'll probably pick up We Love Katamari sometime.
AND, just to avoid creating yet another post, GTA: Liberty City Stories is really amazing. The game is really tight and entertaining, definitely better than GTA3. The programmer in me is stunned that they were able to cram all this stuff into a tiny 2GB disc. I really like the protagonist, he's not as charismatic as CJ from San Andreas, but is probably the second-best character from the series. You do a series of missions where you try to gain your mother's approval (by killing Triads and taking lewd photographs and turning one guy into sausage), but she thinks you aren't tough enough and sends waves of hitmen after you. Utterly delightful, and about as far from Katamari Damacy as you can get.
Rhythmic Hopping Revolution
This is one of the first posts I'd promised way back when I started the blog. Last night I played DDR for the first time in almost a month, which got me thinking about it.
It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I first became aware of DDR. I probably first read a reference to it on Slashdot. I know I'd seen it discussed on Penny Arcade, and probably saw it in action for the first time during a trip to Dave & Buster's. It also had gotten some play in the press, with the angle generally being how this crazy game from Japan was actually getting kids OFF the couch for a change.
At first the idea just seemed weird to me. I doubted whether it could even be considered a real game. The more I considered it, though, the more attractive it seemed to me. I realized that I needed to start making exercise part of my routine - I've been blessed with a youngster's metabolism and coasted on that for a long time, but I can't rely on that forever. I knew I wanted some exercise to control my weight, and also to help out with my heart, where there are some hereditary concerns.
The problem is, I hate exercise. I hated gym class in school, hated running, hated competitive sports, anything at all. I hate the way all exercise ends with me feeling tired and miserable; I'd much rather sit down and read a book. There are very few forms of physical activity I enjoy, which are either too easy to be of much use (walking) or difficult to do in my current living situation (bicycling).
In the fall of 2003 I was living in a loft in downtown KC. Every day I would put in 30 to 45 minutes on a stationary bike in the workout room in the basement, and I hated every minute of it. Though I loved cycling growing up, being on a stationary was just not the same. I kept it up because I knew it was important, but kept on wishing there was another way.
I don't recall if it was pre-meditated or not, but in December of 2003 I went into a mall Electronics Boutique and walked out with a used copy of "DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution" and a soft dance pad. (And some other game as well, I'm sure.) That night I hooked it up to my TV and began to play.
I mention this time every time I describe the game to someone, but it bears repeating: "Dance" is really a misnomer. Playing this game will not teach you how to dance, and watching someone play DDR is nothing like watching someone dance. Rather, DDR is a rhythm game that happens to use your body as a controller. The goal is to stomp on an arrow at the correct time, generally fitting with the beat of the current song.
It takes a while to get used to DDR, but it has a gentle learning curve with varying difficulty levels. Each song has different sets of "steps" for the different difficulty levels, so you can enjoy the same music while your game is improving.
Looking back, I am amazed at how much my game has improved. When I started I would flail wildly around, often slipping off the mat or bumping into things. I would gradually get better and better, then bump up the difficulty and start looking comical again. After doing it for about a year, my original dance mat was getting pretty torn up and I decided to bite the bullet and get one of the high-quality "Ignition" pads from Red Octane. It set me back by $100, but I've had little cause to regret it. The mat is much more stable and slips far less; it also provides a lot of cushion so I can play for a long time without my feet hurting. Now, for most songs, my upper body remains virtually stationary, with only my legs hopping from arrow to arrow.
I have played two of the DDR games, "DDRMAX" and "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme." Both of these games have their own sequels that I will pick up at some point; these games age extremely well so I'm content waiting for prices to fall more. While mastering the 80 or so songs on these two discs I have gotten to a point where I can beat almost everything on "Normal" difficulty. I keep meaning to move up to "Hard" mode and have occasionally done so, but that tends to wind me after just one or two songs. I still feel like I'm getting a decent workout on Normal; I'm usually sweating after the first set and after a half hour I feel tired but, amazingly, not miserable. For this reason DDR holds a special place in my heart.
In the end, the important thing to me is that DDR is fun. Any responsible person will tell you that, when choosing an exercise program, the single most important thing is to pick something you can stick with. It's far better to go for a walk every day than to run twice and then quit. And when it comes to DDR, everything about the experience is fun. I enjoy the music, which is all over the map but particularly heavy on european-style electronic music. I enjoy the bright, flashing lights. I enjoy the challenge/reward system that is intrinsic to any video game. I think this last piece is particularly important, because it gives me more reasons to keep going besides the health benefits; I also want to unlock more songs, characters, missions and reward screens.
It feels weird to be writing about how easy it is to stick with DDR when I haven't played it much at all recently. There's a couple reasons for that. First, having recently moved and living on the second story, I've been cautious about making too much noise. Again, I'm definitely pounding the floor a lot less now than when I started, but it's hard for me to gauge how noisy I'm being. Secondly, living in California has prompted me to spend more time doing things I couldn't do in Kansas City. My Saturday hike is a ritual now, as are my walks through the neighborhood and around work. (It's mid-November here; the skies are perfectly clear and we got up to 78 degrees today. I love this place.) It'd be better if these supplemented DDR rather than replace it, but given the choice I'm opting for the one that involves natural light and less chance of disturbing neighbors.
Many people have an additional motivation for playing DDR: public approval. Modern arcades are practically anchored by DDR machines, which provide a free show to people walking by. That's never been particularly attractive to me, but I have practiced on the arcade machines a couple of times. I'd definitely do it again; it's a very different game. Besides the more public setting there's also a very different lineup of songs, a far sturdier dancing surface, and way more bright flashing lights and sirens. I do feel self-conscious and goofy, since these machines reveal how the games skew younger than me, but it's also a bit of a rush.
While DDR doesn't teach you how to dance, it is surprisingly effective in teaching you to feel rhythm. When I went to my friend Josh's wedding earlier this year, I danced for the first time since New Year's Eve 2003, and while I'm still a poor dancer I felt that I could immediately find the beat in any song and do something with it. A small victory, to be sure, but small victories are what I live for.
It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I first became aware of DDR. I probably first read a reference to it on Slashdot. I know I'd seen it discussed on Penny Arcade, and probably saw it in action for the first time during a trip to Dave & Buster's. It also had gotten some play in the press, with the angle generally being how this crazy game from Japan was actually getting kids OFF the couch for a change.
At first the idea just seemed weird to me. I doubted whether it could even be considered a real game. The more I considered it, though, the more attractive it seemed to me. I realized that I needed to start making exercise part of my routine - I've been blessed with a youngster's metabolism and coasted on that for a long time, but I can't rely on that forever. I knew I wanted some exercise to control my weight, and also to help out with my heart, where there are some hereditary concerns.
The problem is, I hate exercise. I hated gym class in school, hated running, hated competitive sports, anything at all. I hate the way all exercise ends with me feeling tired and miserable; I'd much rather sit down and read a book. There are very few forms of physical activity I enjoy, which are either too easy to be of much use (walking) or difficult to do in my current living situation (bicycling).
In the fall of 2003 I was living in a loft in downtown KC. Every day I would put in 30 to 45 minutes on a stationary bike in the workout room in the basement, and I hated every minute of it. Though I loved cycling growing up, being on a stationary was just not the same. I kept it up because I knew it was important, but kept on wishing there was another way.
I don't recall if it was pre-meditated or not, but in December of 2003 I went into a mall Electronics Boutique and walked out with a used copy of "DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution" and a soft dance pad. (And some other game as well, I'm sure.) That night I hooked it up to my TV and began to play.
I mention this time every time I describe the game to someone, but it bears repeating: "Dance" is really a misnomer. Playing this game will not teach you how to dance, and watching someone play DDR is nothing like watching someone dance. Rather, DDR is a rhythm game that happens to use your body as a controller. The goal is to stomp on an arrow at the correct time, generally fitting with the beat of the current song.
It takes a while to get used to DDR, but it has a gentle learning curve with varying difficulty levels. Each song has different sets of "steps" for the different difficulty levels, so you can enjoy the same music while your game is improving.
Looking back, I am amazed at how much my game has improved. When I started I would flail wildly around, often slipping off the mat or bumping into things. I would gradually get better and better, then bump up the difficulty and start looking comical again. After doing it for about a year, my original dance mat was getting pretty torn up and I decided to bite the bullet and get one of the high-quality "Ignition" pads from Red Octane. It set me back by $100, but I've had little cause to regret it. The mat is much more stable and slips far less; it also provides a lot of cushion so I can play for a long time without my feet hurting. Now, for most songs, my upper body remains virtually stationary, with only my legs hopping from arrow to arrow.
I have played two of the DDR games, "DDRMAX" and "Dance Dance Revolution Extreme." Both of these games have their own sequels that I will pick up at some point; these games age extremely well so I'm content waiting for prices to fall more. While mastering the 80 or so songs on these two discs I have gotten to a point where I can beat almost everything on "Normal" difficulty. I keep meaning to move up to "Hard" mode and have occasionally done so, but that tends to wind me after just one or two songs. I still feel like I'm getting a decent workout on Normal; I'm usually sweating after the first set and after a half hour I feel tired but, amazingly, not miserable. For this reason DDR holds a special place in my heart.
In the end, the important thing to me is that DDR is fun. Any responsible person will tell you that, when choosing an exercise program, the single most important thing is to pick something you can stick with. It's far better to go for a walk every day than to run twice and then quit. And when it comes to DDR, everything about the experience is fun. I enjoy the music, which is all over the map but particularly heavy on european-style electronic music. I enjoy the bright, flashing lights. I enjoy the challenge/reward system that is intrinsic to any video game. I think this last piece is particularly important, because it gives me more reasons to keep going besides the health benefits; I also want to unlock more songs, characters, missions and reward screens.
It feels weird to be writing about how easy it is to stick with DDR when I haven't played it much at all recently. There's a couple reasons for that. First, having recently moved and living on the second story, I've been cautious about making too much noise. Again, I'm definitely pounding the floor a lot less now than when I started, but it's hard for me to gauge how noisy I'm being. Secondly, living in California has prompted me to spend more time doing things I couldn't do in Kansas City. My Saturday hike is a ritual now, as are my walks through the neighborhood and around work. (It's mid-November here; the skies are perfectly clear and we got up to 78 degrees today. I love this place.) It'd be better if these supplemented DDR rather than replace it, but given the choice I'm opting for the one that involves natural light and less chance of disturbing neighbors.
Many people have an additional motivation for playing DDR: public approval. Modern arcades are practically anchored by DDR machines, which provide a free show to people walking by. That's never been particularly attractive to me, but I have practiced on the arcade machines a couple of times. I'd definitely do it again; it's a very different game. Besides the more public setting there's also a very different lineup of songs, a far sturdier dancing surface, and way more bright flashing lights and sirens. I do feel self-conscious and goofy, since these machines reveal how the games skew younger than me, but it's also a bit of a rush.
While DDR doesn't teach you how to dance, it is surprisingly effective in teaching you to feel rhythm. When I went to my friend Josh's wedding earlier this year, I danced for the first time since New Year's Eve 2003, and while I'm still a poor dancer I felt that I could immediately find the beat in any song and do something with it. A small victory, to be sure, but small victories are what I live for.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Report
I'm trying to get better at condensing my trip/visit reports. In case you've been curious, the reason I do this is just to try and fix things in my own mind. (Well, that's the primary reason; I also want to let y'all know what I'm up to.) Our family would go on great vacations when I was a kid, and they had a big impact on me, but I'm stunned by how little I can remember when I try to recall specific vacations. Part of this is because I don't have any photos in front of me, so I'm not able to prompt those memories. Since I never take pictures, I'm a little concerned that ten years from now I'll have absolutely no recollection of all the fun stuff I did right after moving to California.
The flip side, of course, is that if I spend an hour writing about what I did, that's an hour I'm not actually doing something new. So I want to write enough to spin up my mind in the future without necessarily putting down every detail.
So: this past weekend, I flew out to DC for Wade's bachelor party. Wade is getting married the first weekend in December so a group of his high school and college friends went to give him a night on the town. Josh, Nate and I represented from Wheaton North; Dave and Earl (and someone else whose name escapes me but was only there for the beginning) carried the VT banner. I arrived a bit before 5 and met up with the others at the ESPN Zone. We drank huge glasses of beer and watched a variety of televised college football games. Good times.
Oh, right.... it just now occurred to me that we're not supposed to go into a lot of detail about what happens at these things. I guess I'll use code for the rest.
* Went to see the H at the DCI. Nobody went up but it was an awesome S. Best moments were "Booie" and Disneyland.
* Went B-H at AM. Extremely crowded but still fun.
* Returned to an IP for the rest of the night. Nate met an "I" m.
Wow, that made it REALLY short! Cool.
The flip side, of course, is that if I spend an hour writing about what I did, that's an hour I'm not actually doing something new. So I want to write enough to spin up my mind in the future without necessarily putting down every detail.
So: this past weekend, I flew out to DC for Wade's bachelor party. Wade is getting married the first weekend in December so a group of his high school and college friends went to give him a night on the town. Josh, Nate and I represented from Wheaton North; Dave and Earl (and someone else whose name escapes me but was only there for the beginning) carried the VT banner. I arrived a bit before 5 and met up with the others at the ESPN Zone. We drank huge glasses of beer and watched a variety of televised college football games. Good times.
Oh, right.... it just now occurred to me that we're not supposed to go into a lot of detail about what happens at these things. I guess I'll use code for the rest.
* Went to see the H at the DCI. Nobody went up but it was an awesome S. Best moments were "Booie" and Disneyland.
* Went B-H at AM. Extremely crowded but still fun.
* Returned to an IP for the rest of the night. Nate met an "I" m.
Wow, that made it REALLY short! Cool.
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