Knights Of The Old Republic

Well, I've been playing this game for a while now, and it's interesting to see the kind of progression my attitude to this game has taken.

For those not computer-game savvy, KOTOR is a game set some thousands of years before the events of the Star Wars prequels. You start out playing someone who's not a Jedi, but has a strong affinity for the Force - and, surprise surprise, later in the game you get to become a Jedi and start doing lightsabre arse-kicking.

Since it's what computer gamers call a 'role-playing-game', and it's based on the d20 system (d20 Star Wars! Blasphemy!), there are some inevitable comparisons with Neverwinter Nights. NWN has a more detailed ruleset, and has more than one camera view. (In KOTOR, it's groundlevel right near your character. You can rotate the angle relative to your character, but that's it). The ruleset thing is fairly bleh, but the camera is the only thing that bugs me about KOTOR in comparison - though seeing some of those backgrounds, I can see why the programmers set it up that way - either that or set up signs saying 'WARNING: tiliting the camera to look over this balcony will BREAK YOUR COMPUTER.' Oh, and NWN has a *much* better inventory management system. Though it's harder to work with the bunch of people you pick up along your travels. KOTOR has *much* better fight animation, however. In NWN, if your character uses a special attack, all that looks different is a little bit of text that pops up above your character. In KOTOR, your character *does* something different - flipping, taking aim, overloading the weapon.... all sorts of stuff. The ranged combat isn't precisely breathtaking - people stand there and take potshots at each other - but the melee combat's a thing of beauty. People parry, duck, lock weapons, kick each other... it's great. :)

I was a little disgruntled at first, as well, when the game basically seemed to be dungeon crawling. Go along, kill the monsters, rescue the treasure, blah blah blah. But, well, that was before I got a lightsabre. :)

And now I'm in the end stages of (my first) game - I've just maxed out my character, and it's clear she's come a long way. Not too long ago, it seems, it was 'Oh, three Dark Jedi... this'll be rough.' But a couple of levels ago, I ran into two Dark Jedi and a Dark Jedi Master, and whipped the shit through them handily. A rancor, which near the start required a Plot Bennie(tm) to kill, I can now kill before they have a chance to react. (If you ever play this game, I recommend the Force power Master Speed. A lot.) Hell, I even nearly beat the main bad guy when I ran into him until he got away by a Plot Convenience(tm). Admittedly, I was very much pounded upon, but still... the end is not likely to be that easy.

I think I'm going to go a Dark Side guy next time, just 'cos I can. I figure get a nice red double-bladed lightsabre... mmm... carnage. :)

It should be noted that even when I was being disgruntled, the first session of play stole seven hours of my life barely without me noticing. Evil, evil game, so it comes heartily recommended.

Why Clint Eastwood Rocks

Speaking about his latest film - Mystic River

This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country. - Clint Eastwood

Seems fine to me

78.57142857142857% of me is a huge nerd! How about you? - I don't know whether to be proud or not...

I think that test needs to be tweaked...
33.333333333333336% of me is a huge nerd! How about you?

I'm Not Sure They're Just Taking Her Temperature

Simple safety precaution? Or weapons tests carried out on an unsuspecting populace? You decide.

I DONT KNOW HOW, BUT...


Captain Benjamin Sisko- You struggle with the most
difficult of ethical decisions. You feel lost
in a life that you feel have no control over.
The fact that you're right doesn't ease your
pain any. Ironically, you are also considered
the spirtual guide to the people of Bajor.


Which Star Trek Captain are you?
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Feel The Call of Nerddom Within Thee

64.28571428571429% of me is a huge nerd! How about you?

Read 'Em And Weep

Captain James T. Kirk- You are the paradigm of the
Starfleet Captain. You explore the universe.
You save lives. What's a few small fractures
of protocol when you've saved the galaxy more
times than you can count. Hell, you even
brought peace between the Federations and the
Klingons.


Which Star Trek Captain are you?
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Men's SOM english

Gizmodo : A USB toothbrush. Seriously.

Which Star Trek Captain are you?

Mackenzie Calhoun- You are the wild man of
Starfleet. You love outwitting oponents by
doing the one thing they wouldn't expect from a
Starfleet ship... fighting dirty. Of course
to get away with your craftiness, you only
exist in books. Doesn't matter, you're much
cooler than Archer. Some people say you're a
self righteous SOB. They might be right, but
you don't give a damn.


Which Star Trek Captain are you?
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Google Press Center: 2003 Year-End Zeitgeist

Crap

Some Tard with a PA system down the road sounds like he's invited the rest of his band members over to jam tonight. And so far - they sound like shit (not to mention loud). Ummmm - I think they're trying to do some kind of death metal performance......... oh dear..... loud distored growling....

UPDATE - here is the delightful music I've been listening to. What fun.

Stupid Trek

"I remember one particularly insane argument that Ira and Rick had when Nog was injured and ended up losing a leg, there was this ridiculous extended argument that I was in a room while Ira was on the phone. We had written the draft where he had lost both his legs, and Rick was just appalled. "We can't lose the character's legs!" And we were like, "No, we've got to. We've got to have somebody who's injured in this war who's not just a guest star in the background." It was a very important point. And the argument got to the point where they were arguing about, "Well, does it have to be one leg or two? And is it above the knee or below the knee?" It was just, like, they were negotiating over where Nog was to lose his leg. It was just absurd."

Some pretty interesting things from an interview with Ron Moore, Galactica writer/producer and Trek veteran. Some pretty interesting things about the whole development of the modern Trek franchise.

The Best of 2003: Top 10 Astronomy Images

Britney's 'hubby' gutted THE ex-girlfriend of Britney Spears' husband for a day tells Inside Edition that despite his claim that it was a mutual decision to seek an annulment, he may actually be broken-hearted his marriage to the pop star ended so quickly. Alchemy of a Supermetal Serendipity delivers a process that may cut the cost of a high-tech material Review: Athlon 64 3400+ Space station air purifier may be leaking Flight controllers suspect an air purifier may be leaking aboard the international space station and causing the biggest prolonged loss of pressure ever seen at the 5-year-old orbital complex. How the Army used tech to nab Saddam When American troops conducted a night raid that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in December, digital technology allowed Army commanders miles away to watch virtually every move. Cash-strapped Germany building $285,200 frog tunnel Germany's cash-strapped government is paying 225,000 euros (U.S. $285,200) to build a tunnel to help frogs avoid the perils of a busy road, officials said Monday. Frozen Stars. Black holes may not be bottomless pits after all Demolishing stars, powering blasts of high-energy radiation, rending the fabric of spacetime: it is not hard to see the allure of black holes. They light up the same parts of the brain as monster trucks and battlebots do. They explain violent celestial phenomena that no other body can. They are so extreme, in fact, that no one really knows what they are. NASA Looks for an Emergency Exit Not since the Apollo moon shots have astronauts had an escape pod in case of an emergency during launch, but that safety measure will be central to NASA's next generation of spacecraft. Microsoft Ads Called Bogus Open-source advocates are crying foul over a new ad campaign from Microsoft that claims that Windows-based systems cost less in the long run than Linux-based systems. Aussie guide to another Earth IF there is life on other planets, an Australian team of astronomers has just found the region in our Milky Way galaxy where it is most likely to exist. Astronomers find sun's 'twin' Astronomers say the sun has a twin in the left claw of Scorpio. The solar twin is 18 Scorpii, located in the constellation Scorpio, a mere 46 light years from earth. Open-Source Community Defends GPL Against SCO Attack The open-source community is rallying against comments made by The SCO Group CEO Darl McBride late last month that the GPL, under which Linux and open-source software is distributed, violates the U.S. Constitution as well as copyright and patent laws. Drunk driver wrecks 11 parked cars FEAR neighbours might damage his precious Range Rover overnight prompted the vehicle's owner to move it while three times over the alcohol limit, but instead he rammed it into a total of 11 cars, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported today. Get The FUD Microsoft is calling its new anti-Linux ad campaign "Get the Facts," but I call it "Get the FUD." (C) Shouting Red Goanna Inc. A wholly subsidiary of Screaming Blue Wombat Inc. / Avenging Green Seahorse Industries

Sidebar Update

If anyone wants their sidebar picture updated - supply me with a better one.

NEW BLOG LAYOUT
unfortunately I have not been able to leave a comment...click the comment like to see what i mean.

Also there is no number next to the comment link indicating if there are any comments.

Otherwise: I like the background.
and perhaps we should have some more images of us down the side? (below the links to wbloggar and blogger etc.