![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
(no subject)
Finally got to see GTA IV in action after I got home from work. The graphics are definitely improved. And there's definitely a new physics engine. And the cars seem to handle differently (more realistically?). And they did improve the combat system, especially with the addition of a cover system.
In any case, while they didn't make an exact recreation of NYC, its freaky how in the vein of the different areas of NYC it is. I've only seen Liberty City's version of Queens, but the places are very familiar seeming. Like this one time the roomie was driving around and I could see their version of the Silvercup Studios (here called "Silverback") building nearby. I joked that he's almost near my old neighborhood, and as he drove on, started seeing the old warehouse buildings in that area between the parent's house and the Costco, and sure enough the area came up as "East Island City" which I assume is a play on "Long Island City".
But as he drove further, he started driving down a spitting image of that street that goes around Astoria Park. But yeah, there's also this long stretch that looks exactly like Northern Boulevard, and their analogue to Flushing/Fresh Meadows ("Meadow Hills") is a pretty reasonable facsimile with the giant globe and the world's fair circle tower thingies. So its definitely a good recreation of NYC.
Tuesday night TV commentary:
A pretty cool ep of Reaper last night. Javier from Felicity as the escaped soul, and then Ben's storyline involved Dualla and British Pam. Of course, seeing Dualla's name in the credits let me figure out the plot. When Ben's list included "green eyes", I was all, "Ah, Dualla will be his perfect woman". Then he started talking to British Pam, and once they did the green card wedding reveal, I realized "Ah, he's married to British Pam, but now he'll meet Dualla, but he can't date her because he's married."
And wait, given that they talked about Ben being the odd man out now, is Sock back together with Josie? I thought last week might've been a weird one time thing, but apparently not?
I thought they were gonna stretch Andi being freaked out by Sam a little longer, but I guess having gotten to take a soul herself, she's part of the club? In any case, I know Sam was desperate after Andi saw him decapitate Javier (or Jack King, owner of a sperm bank, ha!!) but how could he think making a deal with the devil to be allowed to tell her be a good idea?
So when Tony dropped them off at the Workbench and they were having a nice friendly moment, it was clear the favor was gonna be spy on Tony and the new rebels for the devil.
Geek fun talk:
One place where they trimmed the fat in Exalted is with Martial Arts. I mean, the fact that they had the separate brawl and martial arts charms were a little non sensical, but then you had the different martial arts styles. A little too much to cover the same things.
So this time, not only did the throw brawl into martial arts, there aren't that many martial arts charms for the exalted. And the charms they do have are off shoots of particular martial arts styles, Solar Hero for Solars and Dark Messiah for Abyssals. Instead, the cool "martial arts tricks" are the purview of the martial arts styles. Which is cool, because anyone can learn those, you can have dragon blooded learning Solar Hero or Dark Messiah, both of which are interesting styles.
And here is a part where their over-wordiness can be a little confusing. The last paragraph of the intros to those two particular styles talks about how there are a couple of offshoot charms under the martial arts ability developed by solars and abyssals respectively that can only be learned by them. And they're just trying to make it clear while the style can be learned by anybody, those extra offshoot solar charms are only for Solars (or moonshadow abyssals) and the extra abyssal offshoot charms are only for Abyssals (or eclipse caste Solars). But I can see someone misreading it and thinking the styles themselves can only be learned by Solars/Abyssals.
Solar Hero is pretty bad-ass, but humdrum. You're just using your superior being to kick ass. Dark Messiah at least has flavor. I think Solar Hero has better bonuses, but Dark Messiah is just brutal. Its all about crippling and really putting a hurt on your opponent.
Started reading up on Sorcery. The spells are pretty powerful, but its seems you can only cast a spell but once in a combat. I mean, some of those spells seem like you only need to do them once, but its still weird that that's all you need to do.
In any case, while they didn't make an exact recreation of NYC, its freaky how in the vein of the different areas of NYC it is. I've only seen Liberty City's version of Queens, but the places are very familiar seeming. Like this one time the roomie was driving around and I could see their version of the Silvercup Studios (here called "Silverback") building nearby. I joked that he's almost near my old neighborhood, and as he drove on, started seeing the old warehouse buildings in that area between the parent's house and the Costco, and sure enough the area came up as "East Island City" which I assume is a play on "Long Island City".
But as he drove further, he started driving down a spitting image of that street that goes around Astoria Park. But yeah, there's also this long stretch that looks exactly like Northern Boulevard, and their analogue to Flushing/Fresh Meadows ("Meadow Hills") is a pretty reasonable facsimile with the giant globe and the world's fair circle tower thingies. So its definitely a good recreation of NYC.
Tuesday night TV commentary:
A pretty cool ep of Reaper last night. Javier from Felicity as the escaped soul, and then Ben's storyline involved Dualla and British Pam. Of course, seeing Dualla's name in the credits let me figure out the plot. When Ben's list included "green eyes", I was all, "Ah, Dualla will be his perfect woman". Then he started talking to British Pam, and once they did the green card wedding reveal, I realized "Ah, he's married to British Pam, but now he'll meet Dualla, but he can't date her because he's married."
And wait, given that they talked about Ben being the odd man out now, is Sock back together with Josie? I thought last week might've been a weird one time thing, but apparently not?
I thought they were gonna stretch Andi being freaked out by Sam a little longer, but I guess having gotten to take a soul herself, she's part of the club? In any case, I know Sam was desperate after Andi saw him decapitate Javier (or Jack King, owner of a sperm bank, ha!!) but how could he think making a deal with the devil to be allowed to tell her be a good idea?
So when Tony dropped them off at the Workbench and they were having a nice friendly moment, it was clear the favor was gonna be spy on Tony and the new rebels for the devil.
Geek fun talk:
One place where they trimmed the fat in Exalted is with Martial Arts. I mean, the fact that they had the separate brawl and martial arts charms were a little non sensical, but then you had the different martial arts styles. A little too much to cover the same things.
So this time, not only did the throw brawl into martial arts, there aren't that many martial arts charms for the exalted. And the charms they do have are off shoots of particular martial arts styles, Solar Hero for Solars and Dark Messiah for Abyssals. Instead, the cool "martial arts tricks" are the purview of the martial arts styles. Which is cool, because anyone can learn those, you can have dragon blooded learning Solar Hero or Dark Messiah, both of which are interesting styles.
And here is a part where their over-wordiness can be a little confusing. The last paragraph of the intros to those two particular styles talks about how there are a couple of offshoot charms under the martial arts ability developed by solars and abyssals respectively that can only be learned by them. And they're just trying to make it clear while the style can be learned by anybody, those extra offshoot solar charms are only for Solars (or moonshadow abyssals) and the extra abyssal offshoot charms are only for Abyssals (or eclipse caste Solars). But I can see someone misreading it and thinking the styles themselves can only be learned by Solars/Abyssals.
Solar Hero is pretty bad-ass, but humdrum. You're just using your superior being to kick ass. Dark Messiah at least has flavor. I think Solar Hero has better bonuses, but Dark Messiah is just brutal. Its all about crippling and really putting a hurt on your opponent.
Started reading up on Sorcery. The spells are pretty powerful, but its seems you can only cast a spell but once in a combat. I mean, some of those spells seem like you only need to do them once, but its still weird that that's all you need to do.
no subject
If the Silvercup building is there, you damn well better be able to take a katana to the top to duel a 7 foot tall freak voiced by Clancy Brown.
no subject
no subject
no subject