War on the Moon

Begun, this cheese war has...

Nectaris (also known as Military Madness) is a long-running series of turn-based strategy games set on Earth's moon, Luna.  As you can probably guess it's sci-fi and also hex-based.  Gameplay is similar to Advanced Wars, but less cartoonish.  Nectaris first released on the TubroGrafx-16 way back in 1989.  Ten additional entries in the franchise eventually followed on platforms such as DOS, Windows, Game Boy, PSX, XBLA, PSN and smart phones.  It's interesting to note that the game never got a proper sequel, but rather revised ports that made small incremental improvements and iterations on the basic concept.  

The idea of fighting a conventional war on the moon presents some unique factors that could make for an intriguing strategy game.  For one thing, Luna's gravity is only 16.6 percent that of Earth's.  This means a M1 Abrams tank only weights about as much as a fully-loaded F-16 fighter jet.  Additionally, the diameter of the moon is only about a quarter that of Earth so the horizon is roughly twice as near assuming you are standing on a flat plain.  The lack of an atmosphere means providing adequate cooling/heating for vehicles is tricky and would almost certainly involve highly vulnerable radiators (A.K.A. glowing weak points).  Guided munitions would require some alterations to implement effectively as well though, oddly enough, more conventional weaponry like guns and rockets would work mostly the same.  Perhaps because of that last factor, Nectaris (despite being a game about Lunar warfare) has a fairly bog-standard lineup of combat units.  There are two types of armed moon buggy, two anti-aircraft vehicle configurations (flak and missile), three types of infantry (light, heavy, and motorbike), seven kinds of tank (running the gamut from light to heavy with the biggest able to engage flying targets), two types of unarmed transport (one flying and the other ground-based), three dedicated aircraft (fighter, bomber, and a hybrid of both) and two types of mobile artillery (rocket and gun).  Other than that the only other units are mines and fixed gun emplacements.  Mines are a bit out-of-the-ordinary in that they only serve to block enemy movement until cleared away by concentrated weapons fire. Tanks lack scoops on their treads which seems strange considering how silty Lunar soil is.  That's a minor quibble though compared to the aircraft which (aerodynamic appearance and all) look out of place to me.  Considering the aforementioned battlefield conditions, the line between moving on the ground and through the sky should be much blurrier.  There's no reason why infantry or even certain vehicles couldn't be outfitted with jump jets to hop or skip across the surface, though using them too liberally could entail certain risks such as being out of cover and more easily detected by radar.  On the plus side, popping up could provide units with better line-of-sight given the short horizon...not to mention a temporary height advantage. 

"Robbie" infantry in the foreground
engage "Bison" tanks in the background 

All the versions of the game have a main campaign that is divided up into 23 combat scenarios in the original, but expanded to 32 in the PSX update.  Newer versions also come with a editor that lets players make their own scenarios.  Objectives usually consist of wiping out all enemy units while capturing factories.  Like Advanced Wars, these buildings can only be taken over by infantry units, but (in a twist on convention) can only repair and provide storage for existing units rather than produce entirely new ones.  There are also sometimes prison camps which act like home bases in that they must be defended or captured.  Units can only engage foes in adjacent hexes, the exception being the missile-equipped anti-air unit and the two types of artillery which can hit farther out.  These long-range units come with the familiar caveat of they can only move or shoot, but not both in a single turn.  Unit experience along with terrain, flanking and supporting bonuses all apply to combat resolution whenever two units engage each other.  In particular, the PSX port of the game has the option to switch from the universal top-down tactical view to dynamic combat cutscenes rather than being limited to a fixed-camera split-screen isometric view found in other versions.  The moon, with it's high-contrast landscapes, has the potential to produce some impressive visuals under these sorts of circumstances.  Sadly, the explosions don't seem to account for low gravity conditions and for some reason every battle is oddly similar in terms of flat lighting.  There's also a surprising scarcity of craters...oh and there's sound on the moon which isn't right.  I wouldn't mind if they fudged it a bit though (watch the Lunar combat scene from the 2019 film "Ad Astra" for an example of how it could be done well). 

I know it seems like I'm being unfairly down on Nectaris, but it's because there are a lot of squandered opportunities that could have helped make it standout.  I think the lack of creativity and unwillingness to apply real science kept this IP from achieving much in the form of distinction from mechanically similar Japanese strategy games out at the time like Hybrid Front and the Daisenryaku series.  Hopefully, someone will come along and tackle the premise with a bit more gusto in the future.  As for the Nectaris IP, it's held by Konami so don't expect them to do much with it anytime soon.  

"Nectaris" is Latin for "Nectar", but the name comes from the
"Mare Nectaris" region of the moon in which the game takes place

Game Preservation

I was recently watching a video about the sound modulation used to voice the robotic Cylons in the original Battlestar Galactica.  As it turns out, the technique was lost to time and had to be reverse engineered by means of digital post-processing mixed with some antique electronics that were cutting edge when the TV miniseries was in production.  The end result was a very close approximation rather than a precise match, overall, the entire endeavor served to illustrate how painstaking it can be to reconstruct something if the method for making the original is forgotten.  When people talk about preservation, especially with regards to skillsets, I feel like they really just want to save on a whole lot of effort somewhere down the line when some as-of-yet-unborn historian or wants to know how his or her predecessors did it.

Worse still are techniques that have not only been erased, but the products are also irrecoverable.  The burning of the Library of Alexandra marked the loss of countless books only known to exist because they are mentioned in other works that managed to survive down through the ages to the present day.  Marie Empress was one of the biggest stars in pre-WW1 Hollywood before vanishing without a trace.  What's more shocking though is the fact that not a single movie she appeared in still exists.  Like so many silver screen films, they have all been deliberately destroyed or eroded into nothingness due neglect.

Presented with these harsh facts, I feel like it isn't really all that difficult to understand why some people have strong feelings toward video game preservation.  Batteries die, circuits fail, monitors burnout, controllers break...it's an inevitable side-effect of age and use, particularly when a lot of these devices were never built to last.  Making digital downloads version of old titles is an optional solution, but requires emulation and, if truth be told a CRT monitor.  There is only one company left that makes these antiquated displays, but they are what old games were designed to be played on and as such the graphics don't match quite right on modern HDTVs.

Of course, all this is peanuts compared to the biggest issue of all.  Companies, either due to neglect or deliberate distain, will ensure their games eventually arrive at an unplayable state. Typically, these sorts of titles are MMORPGs or other games that require an online connection, while simultaneously lacking dedicated server support.  An incomplete list of titles at risk, dead or saved is available here (link).  I should mention that some of these games aren't very good (at least as far as aggravated review scores go), but it's still sad to think that with a little effort from the developers "dead games" wouldn't be a concern.

Another very weird case is games that have received so many updates and patches they only vaguely resemble what they once were.  Stellaris, as of Spring 2021, is almost an entirely different game compared to what it was several years ago at launch.  The same goes for No Man's Sky and Oxygen Not Included.  There was a time when the star voice actor for Destiny was Peter Dinklage.  Now he's nowhere to be heard.  In some games (such as Minecraft) it's possible to revert to older versions fairly easily, but most titles don't receive that amount of support.

So, what all this really comes down to is every single one of these kinds of games needs an end-of-life plan.  What that entails exactly can differ depending on the circumstances.  In one case it might involve releasing the source code, in another it could mean making the game shareware.  Ideally, developers need to put out a final version of the game that allows people who purchased the game to continue to have the ability to play it.  Some people might claim that publishers are just engaging in a bit of double-dipping in the hopes of selling the same game to the same customers (just on a different platform), but as Sony's attempt to kill their PS3 shop on the PSN has shown it's not even about that.  Is it laziness?...Greed?...a simple lack of foresight?...I don't know for sure, but I can say with complete confidence that it comes from a lack of respect for the art form.  Humanity has already made this mistake at least twice before with literature and film.  How about we not make the same mistake a third time with video games?         

To Play or Not to Play

PSN recently put up ten free games on their store as part of their "Play at Home" initiative.  Never one to turn down such offers, I downloaded three titles that I had never gotten around to playing previously.  Here's are some of my thoughts:   

Abzû is what you get when you take Flower and Journey, mash them together, and move the location underwater.  Is it a highly derivative experience?  Yes.  Is it a bad game?  No, not at all.  In particular, the visual presentation is excellent.  There is a lot of attention paid to details such as the splashes fish make when they jump out of the water or turbidity caused by swimming close to the ocean floor.  I was especially impressed by the shear number of aquatic animals the game can render onscreen at any given time.  There's also some neat foreshadowing that occurs if the player is willing to explore off the mainline path.  One other touch I really liked was not only the inclusion of all manner of iconic sea life, but also some creatures that have gone extinct.  Fans of ancient history will enjoy the references to Sumerian culture.  The music is also quite good and adheres to the mood of game like a wetsuit.  It's short, but sweet...and yet I couldn't shake the feeling that I've seen all this before.

The Witness was Jonathan Blow's last game before he disappeared down the black hole of developing an entirely new programming language called "Jai."  Set on a beautiful island, this puzzle game has a lot of similarities to Myst.  The big difference being all the puzzles utilize a draw-lines-to-connect-the-dots mechanic.  At first I found it interesting, but a lot of the environmental-based clues felt a bit arbitrary.  At times, I also got the impression that the challenge came more from guessing what the developer was thinking rather than some arbitrary logic.  Normally I wouldn't mind having to guess a bit, but certain locals have a sequence of puzzles that reset the previous one if the next isn't done correctly.  It's really tedious to have to go back and re-solve a puzzle that was already completed.  Additionally, my preference for exploration over puzzle solving left me wanting to wander and sightsee the island more than engage with any of the game's actual mechanics.  

Subnautica is the third, last and most substantial of the three games I played.  At first glance it might seem like an extrasolar take on Abzû.  In fact though it's an eclectic mix of survival, exploration, horror, story-driven adventure, and - of course - crafting.  Some aspects are silly (glowing red underwater lava lakes how?) while others are perhaps a bit too realistic (an infectious diseases ruined my aquarium!?!).  The single most enjoyable aspect of the game for me was cruising around in a huge "cyclops" submersible.  It even had a foghorn built in!  Sadly, I couldn't use it to communicate with "reefback leviathans" (huge whale-like sea creatures).  The PC version might be more stable, but on the PS4 I found the game had a number of issues: save file corruption, clipping, objects popping into existence causing things to get trapped or stuck...still, base building was cool and I had some rather intense encounters with the larger more aggressive underwater fauna that I won't soon forget. 

Overall, I have to commend PSN for their choice of games.  It's a great selection for people looking for escapism while being stuck indoors.  The fact that it was all entirely free also means I don't have much cause for complaint.  I also wouldn't mind giving the sequel to Subnautica a looksee once it's out of early access...anyway...that will be a story for another time.  

Tools of the Trade

"Now, where did I put the Rifle Spear...?"

Over the New Year's break I noticed a Bloodborne sale on PSN with all the DLC included.  So, I finally decided to pick myself up a copy.  I'm a big fan of Demon's Souls and the first Dark Souls, but Dark Souls 2 gave me a severe case of franchise fatigue.  As such, it took me a long time to work up the motivation to play yet another one of From Software's brutally difficult third-person action RPGs.  For the most part Bloodborne is an excellent next-step in terms of design.  A lot of the needlessly complicated baggage that muddled aspects of the Souls series has been refined and streamlined in Bloodborne; the number of character attributes has been reduced, the complex system of equipment upgrade trees has been greatly pruned, the repost technique has been modified by replacing parrying with "boomsticking," and the weapon list has been mostly stripped of redundancy.  That last point is a bit controversial amongst Souls fans in that some prefer a wider variety than what's available in Bloodborne.  I would argue that the greater variety found in the Souls games is actually an illusion though in that weapon categories sharing the same moveset usually have one among their number which is undeniably superior in every way, a fact that renders all the rest undesirable (at least in the long run).  Regardless of what individual fans feel about the limited arsenal, I think there's one thing pretty much everyone can agree on - weapons in Bloodborne are kind of weird.

The closest there is to a
Bloodborne table-top RPG

Before continuing, I should clarify that last statement by saying particularly when it comes to melee.  Given the faux-historical setting blunderbusses, wheellocks, and other black powder firearms are a logical fit.  That said, "hunters," as they are called in-game, have some bizzare tastes when it comes to doing their job up close and personal.  Take, for example, the iconic starting weapon - the Saw Cleaver.  To me it looks suspiciously like an oversized straight razor.  Similarly, the Whirligig has a shape reminiscent of a pizza cutter.  The Flamesprayer has an uncanny resemblance to a plant mister (with the obvious exception that it shoots fire instead of water).  The Kirkhammer might actually be an exceptionally large meat tenderizer, while the Tonitrus looks more like a scepter lacking in adornments rather than a precursor to the stunbatton.  The Threaded Cane is just that, a cane (that happens to be made of segmented joints).  Then there is the Logarius Wheel which is...yes, you guessed it...a wagon wheel with some nasty bits attached to it.  Meanwhile, weapons like the stakedriver, church pick and hunter's axe feel more appropriate for use in construction work than combat.  The Burial Blade is basically a swiss-army scythe (great for harvesting wheat and it folds up nicely!).  Based on it's own descriptive text, the Fist of Gratia is really just a lump of iron with some crude finger holes in it.  In other words, if it were a bit rounder you could go bowling with it.  The Rifle Spear looks like an enlarged version of a penknife.  Lastly there's some creature's arm, a beast's claw and a parasitic organism, all of which can be used in battle (although they might be better suited to a jar of formaldehyde sitting on some biologist's specimen shelf).

As I said before, not all weapons in Bloodborne are such strange combinations of utility and deformity.  Ludwig's Holy Blade is most definitely a sword, as is the Chikage.  Even the exotic reiterpallasch is actually based on real-world renaissance era prototypes of attempts to combine firearm and blade into a single weapon.  Having said that, realistic weapons are definitely in the minority when it comes to a hunter's arsenal.  Then again, when you're up against werewolves, vampires, and the Cthulhu Mythos (in all but name) the best option might be to fight unconventional foes with unconventional weaponry.

Black Tiger, Hidden Agenda

Steam has a serious problem with shovelware.  To Valve's credit though they don't really promote any of the garbage that is steadily overcrowding their library of games.  PSN, on the other hand, has gone out of its way to advertise the abomination that is Life of Black Tiger.  Right off the bat, would-be-players might notice the banner art for the game is actually just a slightly reworked version of a freely available background wallpaper image.  That in itself isn't a big deal, but it gets worse.  Watch the trailer and you might notice some music playing in the background.  It's actually a cover by "JackonTC" of the OST song "Next to You," for none other than the anime "Parasyte" ("Kiseiju," in the original Japanese).  So what?...you might think.  Original art and sound assets aren't necessary to make a good game, right?  Technically...yes, but Black Tiger isn't a good game by any stretch.  It has graphics comparable to a PS2 title, despite being released on the PS4.  It also has audio issues, non-existent collision detection, clunky controls, and English localization text that reads as follows:

It's full of smell with blood of wolves today and the smell is stronger than a few days ago.  I can't bear with it. Let's kill every wolves found.

That's just one of the less jiberish-laden examples, but believe me if it hadn't originally came out for the Android three years ago I would have given it this blog's "Engrish Award" for 2017.  Another point worth noting is the Android version of this game is absolutely free, while the PSN version costs 10 USD.  Horrible, I know, but even worse is the fact it's not the only game on PSN that has done this.  Horse Racing 2016  (which actually came out for the PS4 in 2017) is a dollar on google play...but...well, let's just say it goes for a bit more on PSN.

Generally speaking, Black Tiger is considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst game currently available on the Playstation Store.  A number of people strongly believe Sony is pulling some kind of elaborate joke by curating this game.  I've also seen accusations of nepotism (the developer must actually be the son of a Sony CEO or something along those lines...).  The publisher is a company called "1GAMES" which, as far as I can tell, has pushed out a fair amount of trash over the years.  However, I haven't been able to find any specific names attached to this particular title (perhaps for somewhat obvious reasons).

The last thing I want to mention about Black Tiger is the reviews...particularly on Metacritic.  Of course there are plenty of 0/10 scores that are fairly honest about their impressions of the game, but the real enjoyment comes from reading those 10 out of ten perfect ratings.  They are, in the vast majority of cases, being deliberately sarcastic about the quality of the game to the point that it can be pretty entertaining to browse through some them and see what people wrote...at least more so than actually playing the game.

To Be Announced...

...more commonly abbreviated as "TBA," is a rare thing when it comes to triple-AAA game development.  Generally, once a big budget game makes its debut a release date shows up at the end of the video (or bottom of the banner).  Sometimes it's an exact date, other times a vague window like "spring of 2016," "Q4," or at the very least "coming soon" (as is the case with Paradox's science fiction themed grand strategy game Stellaris.  However, when it comes to indie developers, these kinds of target dates sometimes don't apply.  Simply put, for some indie devs the game will come out when it's done.  So, what are a few noteworthy examples?  Well...I'm glad you (I...?) asked because there are five titles in particular that have been percolating at the back of my mind, even though I have no idea when I'll actually (if ever) get to play them.

I mentioned this one about a year ago on this very blog.  Quick recap; it's a retro-future sci-fi horror game set on the moon.  Gameplay features a lot of rogue-like elements including procedural generated zones and perma-death.  For a while it seemed like the game had become vaporware, but an interview with the head of the studio last summer revealed that the game was still under active development.  One wonders if the team played Alien: Isolation or, more recently Soma, and decided to rework some of their ideas in order to avoid making something that would feel like nothing more than a cheap knock-off.  Whatever the reason, I hope I can try this game out sooner rather than later.

Aside from having some really cool promo artwork for sale, this space combat flight-sim has been quietly in the works for quite long time.  Supposedly, it will support virtual reality headsets with an in-cockpit view.  In addition to dogfights, players will be able to take command of fleets by going to a slow-mo tactical view and issuing order to supporting strike craft and even capital ships.  The sound effects are really good, and the graphics have been steadily improving with each new set of screen shots released.  I really want to purchase a copy of this game and take it for a spin, but I'm not sure I'll buy a flight stick or one of those 3-D helmets though...

Similar to the previously mentioned title, this is also a space combat flight-sim.  What makes it unique though is the graphics style.  It borrows the old rotating bitmapped sprites used in games like Wing Commander I and II, as well as Privateer.  On the other hand capital ships are fully rendered using more modern polygonal models and textures, which is probably a good thing since that was one of the weak points of those classics.  Also, unlike any of the other titles mentioned here, Wings of Saint Nazaire has an alpha build that anyone can download from the official website for free.  Like a lot of unfinished games (such as Besieged and Kerbal Space Program) development has become somewhat bogged down in the conversion to Unity 5.0, but once that hurtle is cleared development should continue.

Originally I was going to talk about a title called Slain, but it seems that game has gotten a release date (according to the Steam page, "Prepare to be slain December 9th").  So, I'm going to talk about Death's Gambit instead.  The development team is basically pitching it as a side scrolling Dark Souls.  It's not the first game to try this.  The upcoming PSN exclusive Salt and Sanctuary is pretty much being billed as the same thing.  That said, watching gameplay footage of Death's Gambit (or Slain for that matter...) remands me more of Ghosts and Goblins, Ghouls and Ghosts and even old 16-bit and PSX era Castlevania titles.  Regardless, this game is (according to the official website) coming first and foremost to the PC.

I've thrown up some gifs for this little pixle-art gem on my reoccurring end-of-the-month video game gallery posts already, but since that particular blog entry lacked any kind of explanation, I though it would be wise to elaborate on it here.  Once again, this could be thought of as an isometric Dark Souls, but to call it such might be a great disservice.  Eitr (as the old Norse word implies) is dominated by a strong Scandinavian-themed setting, but don't expect to play as a horned helmet wearing viking.  Instead players are in control of a rather capable looking shield-maiden.  That, plus the perspective makes it feel a bit like the original Diablo or the backer alpha build of Hyper Light Drifter.  There's also another game much like this called Perish, but since not much information is available for that game yet I've decided not to give it a separate spot here.

There was one more high profile game that I was going to mention on this list, but I can't quite seem to recall what it was exactly.  Something about skies...Oh well...it couldn't have been all that important or highly anticipated...

Silence of the Hills

It appears that Konami is making its exit from the video game industry so I'd like to take a moment to talk about what once was one of their premier franchises, Silent Hill.

Most fans of this long running series consider the second installment to be the best of the bunch, but (having played them in chronological order) I consider the first to be the most interesting.  That's coming from someone who has played the first, second, third and fourth mainline entries to completion (plus I even got a number of alternate endings).  The fifth, I only watched an LP of on Youtube and while it wasn't very good overall there were a few bits I rather liked.

The original Silent Hill on the PSX was kind of a shock for me.  Having been used to Resident Evil style survival horror games, I was caught off-guard by the way the game was presented.  The story was also quite cryptic, and difficult to follow, since I wasn't familiar with a lot of the design influences at the time such as the films "Jacob's Ladder" and "Rosemary's Baby," the TV series "Twin Peaks," or the Steven King novella "The Mist."  Only after I had read a plot FAQ by the aptly named "President Evil" did I really start to get an idea of what the game was all about.

Silent Hill 2 took the series in a somewhat different (although not unwelcome) direction.  The scorched and mutilated imagery of the first game was replaced by feelings of decay and atrophy.  Little did I know at the time that this vibe would be emblematic of the sequels as a whole in terms of quality.  I get that the environments and enemies were intentionally designed to reflect the inner psyche of the protagonist (and that cool).  However, I felt the moment to moment gameplay suffered slightly for it.

Silent Hill 3 was an attempt to meld the design philosophies of the first two games into a single entity.  The result was unfocused and, while it had some good ideas, things failed to gel into a cohesive whole.  Take, for example, the premise of the original game (find your daughter) or the second (find your wife), and compare it to the third.  It doesn't seem to be a fully realized concept by comparison.  The player spends the first half of the game wandering around a shopping mall and subway without really having a clear goal.

Silent Hill 4: The Room was an interesting new direction for the series.  The fear factor was amplified considerably for me because I was living in an apartment nearly identical to the protagonist's in the game at the time.  The references to films such as "Event Horizon" and "The Cell" were nice touches, but the presence of ghosts felt out of place to me.  My understanding is The Room was originally intended to be an entirely separate horror game that got re-purposed as sequel for the Silent Hill franchise.

From there on out, I've pretty much lost touch with the IP.  As far as I'm concerned there isn't much more that can be done with that small town (which has an obscenely large hospital for some reason...) by the lake.  Also, a big part of what makes horror effective is fear of the unknown.  At this point Silent Hill is a far too well understood property to really surprise fans, and any drastic changes to the formula would render the result no longer a Silent Hill game.  So while part of me laments the cancellation of Guillermo del Toro and Hideo Kojima's joint venture into the pluralization of the game's title, I think these two talented individuals have other (and probably better) outlets for their creative energies.  Still, it's a bummer that P.T. got de-listed from PSN....

Damage Models

When it comes to simulating destruction, video games have more often than not borrowed a page from their table top fore bearers.  If you're not sure what I'm getting at here, two words for you - "Hit Points."  Honestly, I couldn't find fault with this mechanic back in the 8 and 16-bit eras (or 286/386 for PC users).  CPUs back then lacked the capacity to handle anything more complicated than the most rudimentary location damage tracking.  As processing power increases though I feel like abstract methods of measuring damage are increasingly obsolete artifacts of simpler times.

As of yet though most games still rely on HP bars and the notion of critical existence failure when it comes to actual gameplay.  Granted, driving games have been dabbling with vehicular carnage for quite a while, a practice that has culminated in BeamNG Drive (and it's soft body physics/collision system).  If you really want to see robust damage models though look no further than the simulation genre.  Even back in the aforementioned early days of PC gaming there were some impressive attempts at pseudo-realistic damage models.  Games like Mechwarrior and Wing Commander had rather brutal systems resulting in all sorts of woes including smashed weapons, shattered armor, crippled engines and fried sensors.  Despite all the destructible subsystems though these games still had to depend on a finite supply of hit points in order to determine when the death blow was dealt.  Additionally, there was very little in the way of external visual feedback aside from a bit of smoke or a trail of sparks.  Granted these games came out a long time ago, but it's still surprising just how few games have tried to improve upon existing mechanics.

Simulation titles such as Navy Field, World of Warplanes and Mechwarrior Online are all fairly derivative in terms of damage modeling despite being relatively new releases.  However, there are a handful of games that strive to punch through into new territory.  Rise of Flight has some very nice methods of handling structural damage.  While high speed crashes perhaps don't look as dramatic as they could, it is cool to see aircraft frames and wing spars warp and break apart when subject to severe punishment.  Another good example is War Thunder.  Still far from perfect, it does do a lot to represent the effects of ballistic impacts on a variety of machinery.  Every vehicle has a double digit number of location specific subsystems, each with its own unique qualities.  I particularly like how they went to great lengths to include forms of damage such as a ruptured fuel tank, oil leak or punctured radiator (the kind of things that don't result in instant destruction, but still need to be dealt with expeditiously).  External damage is usually clearly visible as well in the form of rends, holes, flames or in some cases pieces being blown off entirely.  Sadly, here's where I talk about some failings of these systems.

Progress has been made but there's still a lot more that can be done.  Window screens don't crack or shatter, and aircraft fuselages are visually pretty much indestructible (although they sometimes fall bellow the ground texture giving the impression that the crashing airplane disintegrated on impact).  Being able to see bullet impact marks is neat, but despite detailed ballistics tracking the textures don't always correspond to the damage inflicted.  Sometimes the transition from undamaged texture to damaged texture is awkward looking as well.

While a bit gory mechanically speaking, I think it would be cool to see "bleeding" coolant, oil, fuel or hydraulic fluid along with white vapors (when appropriate) instead of spewing black smoke exclusively.  A common criticism I hear brought up against more detailed damage models is that they require a great deal of computational resources.  While I agree that detailed simulations require a lot of calculation, it's exactly the kind of thing modern computers are designed to do (not to mention the ubiquity of multicore CPUs these days).

Graphics are offering diminishing returns, AI is a tough nut to crack and sound in video games is much more of an art than science at this point, but despite all of these potential dead ends there remains a lot of straight forward things that can be done to improve the simulation aspects of games.  I keep hearing people online calling for all games to have 1080p and 60fps this console generation, but I'd much rather see more in the way of destructibility whether it be vehicles, buildings or even digital people.  Now excuse me while I go watch some old Godzilla flicks.

Tier 2 Banzai!

Having provided tips, guidelines and a little bit of historical background information for tier 1 aircraft in War Thunder, I'm now moving on to the tier 2 planes.

The A6M2-N "Rufe" is essentially a Zero fighter that underwent a float plane conversion.  Overall, the performance is degraded by about 20 percent, which leaves players with a less than ideal dogfighter.  Personally, I found this to be my least favorite tier 2 Japanese plane in the game, but sadly it is a necessary stepping stone on the way to a proper Zero.  Like other float planes it can land at airfields quickly on domination maps.  As general recommendation for aircraft with this kind of armament use machine guns to damage opponents from afar then close in and finish them with cannons.

The Ki-45 Tonryu was called the "Nick" by the Allies, but in Japanese it was known as the "Dragon Slayer."  It's an accurate namesake given that this heavy fighter is outclassed by most single engine planes in a dogfight, nor does it particularly excel in a ground attack role.  What it does do extremely well though is shred bombers.  This shouldn't come as a terribly surprising revelation though since the Ki-45 saw the most success as an interceptor of bombers in real life.  In terms of advice, all I can say is climb using over-boost, find an enemy bomber and hope the rear gunner keeps any escorts away long enough to fill the target full of 20mm and 37mm cannon rounds.  The "tei" model of this aircraft has two of its 20mm cannons mounted at an upward angle making it well suited to attacking bombers from underneath.

Moving on to the A6M2 "Zeke" (or more famously the "Zero") should be a high priority for any Japanese faction player that wants to duel other fightercraft.  Historically, the Zero was one of (if not the) fastest turning military aircraft during the second World War due to to its extremely lightweight design.  The two wing mounted 7.7mm machine guns don't pack much punch, but the 20mm nose mounted cannons will make mincemeat out of most targets.  Ammo for these bruisers is pretty limited though so line up those shots nice and close before squeezing the trigger.  Also, don't hesitate to reload if you have a bit of breathing room.  In a one-on-one turn fight the Zero is practically guaranteed to win.  However, head on confrontations are far less certain, best avoid them unless the Zero has a substantial height advantage. Additionally, be prepared to do a lot of aerial acrobatics in a furball if you want to live for more than two seconds, because the moment an Aircobra or Yak gets the Zero in their crosshairs it's over.  Don't bother with bombs either since they handicap the Zero's one real strength - maneuverability.

The B5N2 "Kate" is a rather unique single engine plane in that it has no forward firing armament.  It's not particularly fast and its bomb/torpedo payload isn't anything special either.  I can turn surprisingly well though and it's very easy to land.  As far as I can tell this aerial oddity is meant to be used as a kind of kamikaze.  While I only had limited success actually ramming into other planes, ground strikes against closely guarded ships, bases or airfields were surprisingly effective despite concluding in fiery death moments after payload delivery.  The large experience point bonus attached to this plane also does a lot to encourage these kind of suicidal tactics.

The G4M1 "Betty" (like the Zero) had range far in excess of what most equivalent aircraft were capable of.  Sadly, that feature doesn't translate in any way, shape or form to the arcade battle mode of War Thunder.  On the other hand it's greatest drawback (also like the Zero), the lack of armor and self sealing fuel tanks, does apply.  Allies often referred to the G4M1 as the "Zippo," "Lighter" or "Cigar" owing to its tendency to catch fire with incredible ease when damaged.  In a bit of sad irony Betty aircrews had nearly identical nicknames for their planes in Japanese.  Needless to say it's a weak twin engine bomber, both in terms of toughness and bomb payload.  For best results in this green tinderbox stay over 5000 meters up and hit stationary targets from high above.

The Ki-61 Hein, or "Flying Swallow," is a unusual entry into the Japanese roster.  In the early parts of WW2 it was often misidentified as a German or Italian fighter, the latter of which earned it the Allied reporting name "Tony."  This Kawasaki Heavy Industries made aircraft had numerous reliability problems associated with its water-cooled engine.  Thankfully, this issue doesn't crop up in arcade mode.  In terms of firepower, variants further down the tech tree obviously dish out incrementally more punishment.  While not as fast turning as the Zero, the Ki-61 does dive a bit better. In addition to this it's one of the few Japanese planes that sports self-sealing fuel tanks, making to slightly less likely to catch fire than most other Japanese planes.

The Ki-49 Donryu (Japanese for "Storm Dragon," but referred to as the "Helen" by Allies) is a significant improvement over the G4M1 in terms of speed and maneuverability.  However, its defensive armament is a mixed bag by way of trading the 20mm tail cannon for two 7.7mm machine guns (one in the underbelly and the other replacing the tail cannon).  Overall this provides the bomber with fewer blind spots, but less stopping power when an enemy is attacking from behind.  Expect to get more hits, but fewer kills than before.  Bomb loads remain unchanged for all versions.  The upgraded Ki-49-IIa model which might not seem worth the time and effort to research since the only noticeable difference on the stat card is the tail gun getting increased to a 12.7mm weapon.  What isn't mentioned though is the addition armor protection and self sealing fuel tanks that make the Ki-49-IIa a bit more durable.

 It's interesting to note that Japan had a "Special Attack Unit" based in mainland China that specifically trained pilots to ram B-17 bombers with their Ki-61 fighter aircraft.  While called "kamikaze" by the Allies, the members of this unit did not think of themselves as such because they tried to bail out and parachute to safety or make emergency landings after successful collisions.  Perhaps the developers over at Gaijin Entertainment should consider awarding points exclusively to the Japanese faction for employing this tactic.  If nothing else it would encourage historical authenticity. 

Tier 1 Banzai!

It's no secret that Japanese planes are some of the least used in War Thunder (as of version 1.39 at least).  Generally speaking, the aircraft of the Rising Sun are under powered with unimpressive bomb loads (not to mention lightly armed and armored).  Needless to say you're probably going to be handicapping yourself when playing as Japan.  That said, there are some basic strategies and tactics that can be employed to give players of this faction a fighting chance.  Let's begin by talking about the tier one planes.

The Ki-10 or "Perry," as it was code named by the Allies, was a typical interwar biplane that saw limited action in Manchuria before World War 2 began in earnest.  By the time open hostilities began in Europe though it was largely obsolete and as such was used primarily for reconnaissance and training purposes.   In the game it's your typical lackluster reserve plane roughly equivalent to what other countries start off with.  The sooner it can be replaced the better.

The A5M4 "Claude" was the first ever monoplane fighter designed for aircraft carrier operations.  Gameplay-wise it's highly maneuverable and a good climber.  The fixed gear also makes it easy to land which can be a boon on domination maps.  What keeps this plane from truly excelling though is its rather pathetic armament of two 7.7mm machine guns.  Countless times I've pumped hundreds of rounds into the fuselages of bombers without any noticeable effect.  Aiming for the wings or engines occasionally nets better results, but don't expect to rack up very many kills despite getting numerous hits.  On the plus side all those hits do add up to a lot of research points, silver lions, and pilot experience.

The Ki-43-II Hayabusa (Japanese for "Peregrine Falcon") was officially labeled the "Oscar" by the Allies, but more often than not was referred to colloquially as the "Army Zero."  Hands down it's the best tier 1 Japanese aircraft in the game with twin 12.7mm nose mounted machine guns and the ability to maneuver with most other aircraft of equivalent rank (particularly when the combat flaps are engaged).  An optional loadout of up to two 250kg bombs makes this a formidable dive bomber able to destroy most ground or sea targets (although long reload times make repeated strikes unlikely).  Regardless, make this aircraft a research priority early on.

The F1M2 "Pete" was a hybridization of biplane and float plane used mostly for reconnaissance and, in real life, launched from special catapults mounted on the aft decks of Japanese cruisers and battleships.  At first glance its gutless engine, poor handling and weak armament of two front mounted 7.7mm machine guns, one 7.7mm rear facing turret and optional pair of 60kg bombs may seem a bit pathetic, but this plane does have two surprisingly effective roles.  For one, its slow airspeed allows players to destroy soft ground targets with considerable ease.  Couple this with the fact that it lands on airfields quickly by skidding on its pontoons, and the F1M2 can actually be bizarrely useful on most maps.  Best of all the rear gunner will sometimes help fend off attacks, just don't expect to enjoy much success in straight up dogfights.

The D3A1 "Val" is historically famous for playing a major role in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.  Basically, it's an A5M4 that has a rear turret, air brakes and a couple of bomb mounts.  In play I found the "Val" to be a jack-of-all-trades, not really excelling at anything yet still able to fulfill pretty much any role with some degree of capability.  Overall, it's a good plane to choose at the beginning of a match although I would not recommend going head-on against any other fighters.

The H6K4 was code named the "Mavis" by Allies, but in my opinion "King Snail" would have been a far more apt moniker.  Covered in turrets and engines, this slow moving seaplane is probably the most durable Japanese aircraft in the game below tier 3.  It also carries the most bombs and torpedoes of any Japanese bomber below tier 4.  The 20mm tail gun gives this behemoth a bit of a stinger.  I was once able to get three aircraft kills in quick succession from defensive turret fire alone.  Try keeping enemy aircraft above and behind for maximum effect.  A word regarding Japanese torpedoes; they have the best characteristics of all the factions in the game so use them whenever there are worthy targets available (as an added bonus the H6K4 can carry two torpedoes at once!).  Don't be afraid to land this seaplane on airfields either.  You'll damage the belly of this beast in the process, but provided you survive the repair timer countdown seaplanes will re-spawn in the air nearby.

One final thing I want to mention has to do with bomb selection.  At first glance it appears that Japanese bombers have redundant choices when it comes to bombs of equal weight.  However, there are important differences in that one type of bomb is armor piercing while the other is high explosive.   Generally speaking the former is for attacking ships and the latter is best when bombing ground targets.  So plan accordingly for maximum effect on the battlefield.  I'm going to stop here, but look for beginners guide to tier 2 Japanese aircraft in the near future.  Until then...Sayonara!

The Spaces between Space

The notion of alien geometries is something comes up in science fiction stories to reference places that don't exist in the universe as we know it.  A simple example is the artwork of M.C. Escher which in turn has been translated into a PSN puzzle game by the name of Echochrome.  By shifting the view point around players are able to impose forced perspective tricks on the environment.  It's a clever idea, but for the purposes of this blog entry I want to explore the concept in video games a bit further...into higher dimensions.  Be forewarned a lot of science talk is coming up so put on your thinking caps.

Before we jump into the deep end though let's think about perspectives.  Humans have awareness and mobility in three dimensions, meaning we can see and move up and down, left and right, as well as forward and back.  We perceive time, the fourth dimension, in slices.  How big a slice depends largely on the activity of your brain.  Under extreme duress the slices might become very thin, stretching seconds out into what feels like minutes.  Meanwhile, sleeping thickens things to the point where hours pass in the blink of an eye.

To help explain what's coming next let's do a quick though exercise involving tiny hypothetical 2D creatures.  Imagine these flat little guys live on a sheet of paper.  Because of their nature they can only see and move forward and back, as well as left and right.  Everything above and below them doesn't exist from their perspective.  Now imagine for a moment you were to press your finger onto the paper in front of one of the creatures.  From its perspective it would appear as if a large amorphous blob had suddenly materialized in its plane of existence.  Then, of course, lifting your finger off the paper would promptly cause the blob to disappear.  I imagine that the creature would find this rather unsettling and if possible would want to communicate this disturbing event to its fellows.  The witnessing creature's faculties might be called into question, but assuming that such occurrences are a rarity in this 2D world; ghosts, UFOs or even magical interpretations aren't out of the question.  This might sound slightly mischievous or cruel, but a much more devious thing to do would be to bend and twist the paper 2D world on which these creature live.  Again, to them nothing has changed, but if you are operating in 3D (or higher) then things are definitely different than they were before.

In Siren: Blood Curse this kind of effect is represented by a kaleidoscope when the human protagonist of the story is pulled into the lair of the last boss, an alien being that inhabits a higher number of dimensions than four.  Dazzling color displays aside, this final opponent has the ability to seemingly break itself into pieces and then reassemble into several radically different combinations.  In fact the pieces aren't actually breaking apart, rather the player simply cannot see the connecting tissue because it does not intersect with the human plane of existence.

The term non-Euclidean is sometimes used to describe this hypothetical phenomenon since it literally means two lines or, by extension, planes that do not intersect.  The horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft used this kind of terminology to describe the sunken city of R'lyeh.  According to the text the buildings consist of various monolithic stone structures that have angles and gaps that would ordinarily cause a structural collapse.  However, this isn't the case because the buildings are supported in ways our mind can't process visually.  Indeed, in the story stepping through these weird cracks in the architecture can cause a person to come out in an entirely different location.  Obviously this makes it very easy to get lost.  In the point-and-click game The Dig, aliens attempting to explore six dimensional space find themselves lost and unable find their way back to normal space without the help of the player.

Obviously, all this is a bit difficult to imagine in your head, but there are several video game rendering engines that can produce weird geometric effects like Klein Bottles or "spiral" hallways that require 720 degrees of rotation to complete a full circle.  Don't believe me?  Check it out for yourself:

Are you thoroughly disoriented yet?  No!?!  Well, here's one more for you using the Portal 2 engine:

Now, if your sanity is still intact I think it's safe to say that you're a fairly logical minded person.  Whatever you think though don't dismiss all this as a bunch of improvable nonsense.  After all, only about 10% of the matter in the universe is accounted for.  While a number of astronomers have speculated on the nature of black holes and the average number of planets in a given solar system, I think using the catch-all term Dark Matter is a bit misleading because as the game footage above demonstrates, it might not be about light emissions but rather spacial locations.

Lost in Transistion

Quite a few games made in Japan never leave the shores of their homeland.  In some cases it's because the game has explicit content (such as excessive amounts of gore or eroge).  Other times it's because the game is from a genre not considered economically viable outside Japan (visual novels, dating sims, etc.).  Oddly enough titles which are especially bizarre tend to get exported overseas simply for the novelty factor.  Although it is important to note that these kinds of games are not well known even in their country of origin.

Regardless, every once and a while a Japanese game will get lost in the shuffle, slip through the cracks, or simply not receive the recognition it deserves.  Just to be clear I'm talking about quality games which for some reason or another have never gone overseas despite having merits worthy of a wider audience.  Off the top of my head there are three recent titles which come to mind.

Boku no Natsuyasumi, or "My Summer Vacation," is a self classified nostalgia adventure game.  The premise is you play an elementary school boy who leaves the big city for the first time to spend the month of August with relatives living in the countryside.  The in-game backgrounds are pre-rendered idyllic landscapes reminiscent of rural Japan in the 1970s and 80s.  Characters are polygonal, which gives the gameplay a superficial resemblance to early survival horror titles like Resident Evil or Alone in the Dark.  There are no monsters, aliens, ghosts or any other threat in Boku no Natsumi though.  Rather, you spend your time doing things such as fishing, swimming, catching bugs and exploring forest covered mountains.  It's very much a recreated slice of a little boy's life.  It might sound lackadaisical to some, but that's kind of the point.  There's no score at the end, no online leader boards, no statistics to compare against, and even mini games such as rhino beetle sumo (the original Pokemon) are more diversion than competition.  How you choose to interact with other characters can affect the way the story unfolds, but it's all refreshingly low key and understated.  So far there are four entries in the series (on PSX, PS2, PS3 and PSP respectively) with a fifth currently being developed (probably for PS4 or PS Vita).  Despite selling well in Japan, there aren't any plans to make it available internationally.

You didn't think I'd make a list like this without throwing in at least one horror title, did you?  Ao Oni, commonly translated as "Blue Demon," is basically a free Japanese indie game developed using RPG Maker XP.  While the game looks similar to a 8 or early 16-bit JRPG, it's really a superficial facade for what is a puzzle adventure title with strong horror elements.  The setup follows the classic slasher flick format of four teenagers in an old abandoned house, but instead of them being the victims of a vengeful ghost, mask-wearing maniac or the Slender Man, they are stalked by an ogre.  You might think his face looks more silly than disturbing at first glance, but trust me, when the teeth come out you'll reconsider initial impressions.  Ao Oni has gone through several revisions since it's initial release, each making enhancements to the story and scares.  This might sound strange, but there is something to be said about horror themed games with simple graphics.  Something about your brain having to fill in the blanks really opens you up to experiencing fear.  If it sounds interesting, by all means hunt it down on the net.  I think there might even be a fan translated version available for PC...but don't quote me on that.

Guran Naitsu Hisutori, literately the Japanese pronunciation of "Grand Knights History," is a PSP fantasy strategy RPG by Vanillaware.  Immediately, anyone viewing gameplay footage will be struck by the beautiful had drawn artwork and painstakingly detailed animation.  There are even some nice little stylistic touches like battlefields having a noticeably spherical curvature to them.  Lavish production values aside, the player is given control over a team of up to four characters each of which can be either male or female as well as one of three different classes; knight, archer, or mage.  Basic tactical considerations are built on a rock-scissors-paper mechanic.  That said there's a lot of other factors that come into play such as character stats, equipment, formation and so on.  There are three different kingdoms the player can ally with too which gives the world an open ended feel.  Grand Knights History also boasts a significant online component.  So, why is it this game never got exported?  Well...I'm not sure what curse hangs over the heads of the development team, but it seams like every game to come out by them is at the very end of their target platform's lifespan.  It happened to Princess Crown on the Sega Saturn, and again for Muramasa: Demon Blade on PS2.  It also looks like the same will befall Dragon's Crown for the PS3.  Essentially, Grand Knights History suffered a similar fate with PSP stepping out to make room for PS Vita.  Personally, I hope one day they will release a Vanillaware complete collection on PSN.  For now though this game is beyond the grasp of all but the most dedicated and determined fans.

Those are my three picks for this blog post, but there are many more overlooked titles; The grand dad of survival horror Sweet Home for the NES, The modern day JRPG Mother (A.K.A. Earthbound) for the SNES, Shining Force sequels for the Sega Dreamcast, not to mention most of Namco's extensive library of games.  All this and more have been denied a wider distribution.  It's a little depressing when you think about it, but at least with the help of the internet people can find out about these buried treasures if they're willing to do a little digging around.        

The War to End All Wars

After the PS4 announcement event, I was sorely tempted to post about it here, but I think it turned out better to wait because now that the Xbox One has been officially relieved it's time to talk about these two dueling giants of the game industry.  Despite all the talk about who's got the best bells and whistles, there's really only a single all important factor that decides if a console is a success or failure.  It's all about the games.

The way the industry is going it looks like there will be a lot of cross gen and cross platform titles.  It's pretty much necessary in order to offset the high cost of triple AAA game development.  So, that means all consoles are more or less on equal footing, right?  Well...here's where things get complicated.  Graphics are obviously a big deal since given the choice of playing a low fidelity title on the Wii U or a fancy HD PS4 game, most people are going to choose the PS4 version.  Hence, platforms like the Ouya might do alright, but it's hard to imagine achieving dominance via iPhone games.  Meanwhile, Xbox One and PS4 are on similar footing when it comes to specs.  They really only have one other equal, a high end PC.  Moving on, there are a few tricks Sony or Microsoft could pull to give themselves a leg up on the competition.  Undercutting through a reduced pricing structure at retail is a possibility.  Another method is to have periodic online sales like what Steam does.  If the next Assassin's Creed is half price on PSN, but full price on Xbox-Live why would anyone voluntarily pay the higher price?

Then there is the concept of exclusives; stuff like Halo, Alan Wake and Gears of War for Microsoft...Killzone, Resistance and Uncharted for Sony.  Honestly, I think both platform manufacturers have been doing it wrong though because all those above mentioned titles are sci-fi shooters of the first or third person variety.  The titles that really set platforms apart are those smaller unique experiences that can't be found anywhere else.  Toy Soldiers, Journey, Echochrome, Bastion or even titles like Demon's Souls and the first Mass Effect are far more noteworthy exclusives, but not because they sell big time.  Rather the reason they are important has to do with escaping the ever growing puddle of generic goop that is big budget gaming.

So, with so much up in the air this upcoming generation of hardware could go sour for anyone (or everyone).  I think there is one way to ensure survival though.  Don't piss off people who make or buy video games.  Nintendo and EA's profits are waning while Gearbox is getting hit with a class action lawsuit.  The reason?  Randy Pitchford over-pimped Aliens: Colonial Marines to the point of false advertising and destruction of a subsidiary development team.  Nintendo is screwing over fans on Youtube, and third party developers through alienation.  As for EA...need I drudge up the extensive list of offences they have committed in the last twelve months alone?  Right now Activision has a 20% market share thanks to a combination of Call of Duty and Bobby Kotick recently keeping a low profile.

Granted, Sony and Microsoft are bigger than the above but they too can be brought low by similar hubris.  Valve, becoming the successful company it is, wasn't a fluke.  Now billionaire, Gabe Newell worked hard to build up consumer and developer goodwill.  Sure he made mistakes along the way, but the harsh reality is you don't need to be perfect, just don't screw up as bad as the other guys.  Good luck console makers...your going to need it.

Odds and Ends

Here's the deal. I don't have enough material for a single topic so I decided to make a post that includes several subjects that have been on my mind recently that I'd like to touch on briefly in turn. I might expand on the three following points at a later date, but for now this is all I got.

First, why am I seeing so many comparisons between Dark Souls and Skyrim recently? Not only did the games come out a full month apart (more than that if you count the Japanese release date), but they're not even in the same league. Yes, you can say they’re both fantasy/action RPGs, but beyond that design philosophy they couldn’t be further apart and more importantly there is a huge difference in resource allocation. Dark Souls was made by a team of 40 people in a period of two years. Skyrim was made by 90+ individuals over a five year development cycle. I might be tempted to say "apples and oranges" but I think a more fitting analogy would be "wine vineyard and cattle ranch."

Second, why are there so many games coming out now that have to be online all the time in order to be played? I can understand MMORPGs, but Diablo III? Or how about pretty much every game sold on EA's new Origin online store. Banning issues aside, the Internet and it's library of websites aren't all that reliable when it comes to access. Just last night I tried to log into PSN and found that I couldn't because of the reoccurring "80710B23" error having to do with Sony servers. Luckily for me I can play offline, but I would have been pretty pissed had that not been the case. Seriously fellow gamers…don't buy games that require you to always be online unless you like being aggravated.

Third, why aren't motion controls going anywhere? By that I mean they are neither becoming a prominent feature in the case of Sony Move, nor are they going away when it comes to Kinect or Wii Motion Plus. If they pushed it into the background I can understand such as making it optional, but Zelda: Skyward Sword has made the Wii remote mandatory and it looks like Wii-U will have similar requirements. Alternatively Kinect could be used in a supporting role, but as of this moment I've only heard of one game, the sequel to Steel Battalion, that is capitalizing on this idea. Maybe the reason is developers have yet to hammer out the kinks...then again half a decade seems like enough time to start producing some quality titles other than in-house Nintendo productions and dance/rhythm games. Needless to say if 3D integration is going to be the same deal then I'm not looking forward to it very much either.