Region six eight four was run down, possibly more than any other region of the Block Tannus had the misfortune of venturing into. Weather he liked it or not, this was where Tannus needed to be if he hoped to discover the truth of what really happened.
With reluctance he turned his re-breather up via his wrist mounted control. As a Hydan he struggled to breath on Honos which had been terraformed for Human lungs, the problem however was that even for a Wraith, re-breather filters were not cheap but unfortunately this region had been allowed to fall into disrepair as most extractors failed due to corrosion and toxic clouds present within the lower levels of the Block.
Due to their innate resistance to toxins and radiation the Kratel were at no disadvantage within these regions and it did not surprise to see row upon row of Kratel refugees lining the walls of the region asking for a credit chip here and there. It sickened him to his bones, watching these degenerate excuses for humanoids begging like this. Yes they were fleeing some real or imagined threat from their home world, seeking aid from the infamous Lady Tramn and her Red Claw bruisers, but you would never catch someone of the noble Hydan blood sinking as low as to ask someone for credits.
As he waded through the rows of mite infested Kratel, Tannus arrived at the site of the previous trade off. He could feel his inner voice kicking itself, he should have been here after the real deal. If he hadn't relied on the information sent from the Bastion and instead his own intuition then he would have found this site and caught the culprits in the act. Instead he was forced to sift through their rubbish in the hope of finding something of use.
With a hefty kick of frustration Tannus launched a stacked pile of rubbish from the region's street into against a corner. The junk hit a wall and the unmistakable sound of metal on metal resounded through his finely tuned ears. With a start Tannus paid immediate attention to the sound, he had heard it plenty of times before when he had experienced sickness while residing in his Block apartment and how after a strong sneeze or cough his re-breather filter would be forced out of it's mounting and launch itself across his room before hitting his metal walls.
With gloved hands Tannus picked his way through the pile of junk that littered the floor, he knew the sound came from here, all he had to do was find... And there it was, nestled between an empty can of Second Best and spent capsules of Spike, a re-breather filter. It was small and round, no larger than a physical credit chip and other than the typical residue you would expect from spending time surrounded by rubbish it was clean and free from corrosion. Tannus quietly collected the filter whilst eyeing his surroundings, his keen and trained Hydan eyes watching for anyone who may be observing his current actions. Rather surprisingly no one was paying him any notice as if a combat suit dressed Hydan rummaging through rubbish was the most normal thing they had ever seen. Something about this did not feel right and with a quick step Tannus made for his safe room.
The safe room itself was a storage suit held within the lower reaches of the Block. It's region was so dilapidated that not even the Kratel posed a threat risk, and the only real requirement Tannus required for security was a top of the line filtration system allowing for maximum efficiency but zero traceable emissions. Within the safe room Tannus held a secure battery powered container that had been sealed by the best biometrics he had been able to locate outside of Wraith security on one side of the room. Only a matter of feet away from this was his work desk complete with low-power digi-station. Currently the station was humming to life while Tannus stood crouched in front of the screen studying the acquired filter with his naked eyes.
The filter was indeed the same make as his own, this was troubling as that meant it was intended to be used by only one type of clientele, a Hydan much like himself. It appeared that the filter itself had burned out, which explained why it had been discarded into the rubbish. Beyond that there was little to suggest the filter had any further information to surrender. Tannus however knew something that most others did not about each of these filters; they were indirectly coded to the user's own DNA.
Back when the Hydan had attempted to colonise other worlds they quickly encountered issues with atmosphere, and much like the Humans had done with Honos they transformed the very worlds themselves to be suitable for their own breathing requirements. Where this was not possible or when they were required to visit the world prior to completion, the intra-dermal implant had been designed. Imbedded within the skin itself this flat device would release a specially formulated enzyme that allowed the Hydan to essentially breath the atmosphere providing certain requirements were met. The implant required only two things, a regularly changed filter to be surgically installed either within the neck or cheek of the user to allow for a waste gas to be released once collected and that the implant was calibrated to the exact DNA of the user allowing the correct volume and potency of enzyme to be released at the right time. This level of re-breather could then be calibrated on the fly through any digital device with local wireless capabilities. Every single re-breather as a result of these calibrations therefore produced an enzyme who's qualities were as unique to each other as the user's finger print, by proxy so was the waste gas produced and vented through the filter. Tannus knew this and as such with an analysis of the filter he also knew that he could obtain a waste-finger print that could be traced back to the very re-breather of it's user. Once that was known it's user's identity would also be known. Obtaining that information however would require a hardline to the Wraith's secure database held within the Bastion itself.
With a vibrant flash Tannus' terminal announced it's completion of the filter showing it's age, how much waste it had filtered and more importantly, the waste-fingerprint Tannus needed. With a dual finger swipe he closed the analysis tool and opened a video channel. The video stream fuzzed and blurred, clearly obscured slightly by the radiation and thick pollution present outside Tannus' safe room before the image distorted and the face of Brooks was revealed.
"Hey Bro, you ok?" Brooks asked, a clear concern present in his voice "You took off bloody quickly before".
Tannus nodded before locking eyes with Brooks "Yes, and I'm ready to return to Head Quarters".
************
Greetings friends!
So here's part 2 of Yet Another Day on the Block, and things are starting to heat up for ol' Tannus eh? What do you think is going to happen? Think Wraith HQ is going to be happy with him using their database after telling them to abandon the case? Who do you think the filter belonged to? What were they doing there and why would they be working with a Red Claw smuggling operation?
I guess you'll have to wait until next time! Until then stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 8 October 2015
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
Yet Another Day on the Block: A First Law: Override short story
Brooks' apartment had seen better days. A single room no bigger than 10 feet by six with a single bed, a table which supported an old re-heater and a wall mounted digi display. The walls were plastered with marks of both corrosion and damp with attempts to cover up made through the use of aged X-Metal band posters. Tannus, the Hydan Wraith who had worked with Brooks not eighteen hours ago to try and end a Red Claw smuggling operation, was sat hunched over the end of Brooks' unmade and dishevelled bed.
"This room is unbecoming of a Wraith" Tannus muttered to himself as he instinctively applied an emphases to the title Wraith.
"Shove it Bone!" Replied Brooks as he leafed through a selection of thin platiboard disk holders. Brooks paused a moment as he found his chosen one, placed the remaining stack on his table, unfolded his selection, withdrew it's contents and placed it carefully within the Digi-Display mount on his wall. The display came alive with a series of luminous shapes and from inbuilt speakers a roar suddenly erupted. It sounded to Tannus like a bar of metal being scraped against more metal while a domesticated pet was being going through vivisection in the background. Tannus looked at Brooks through pained eyes.
"And this is?" Tannus asked.
Brooks smiled wider than Tannus had seen in quite some time. "Tyrannosaurus Decks!" Brooks called out over the rising volume "Isn't it the best?"
Tannus was familiar with X-Metal. Being partnered with Brooks he had learned that the Human had only one love, and that was of music, but this particular type of music. Tannus had spent the time learning about all types of music that had come before, and how in it's hay day on Terra-Prime the genre of Metal had split into so many different sub genres which had constantly moved to reinvigorate themselves as each generation matured. X-Metal, or Xeno-Metal was just the latest in a long line of music varieties. It prided itself in having no lyrics, or even much of a tune, and instead tried to sound as alien to Human ears as possible. Of course the Human audio spectrum was a lot narrower than that of the Hydan, so to what sounded to Brooks as 'aggressive noise' was to Tannus nothing shy of pure audible pain.
"Look, Brooks!" Tannus almost shouted the words over the deafening noise "we need to speak about the operation".
Brooks swiped a hand in front of his digi display, pausing the music. The sudden silence was almost as much of a surprise as the music itself. The Human Wraith paused for a moment before pulling out a digi pad from his inside jacket pocket. After a series of two finger swipes and slides Brooks located what he was looking for and fed the information to his wall mounted digi display. The screen shifted as it's image mutated from the previous audio/visual information to the new input. Rows of data scrolled across the display at an almost unintelligible rate before Brooks held up a hand pausing the display once more.
"Here!" Brooks blurted out almost enthusiastically "at the same time as our raid on the Red Claw there was another deal going on, just three levels below us!"
Tannus studied the data and nodded in agreement. Brooks was right, while they were fighting with the Kratel over fake Shock Drives, another deal, presumably the real one, was happening right under their noses "What's HQ say about it?"
Brooks' brow furrowed "they're not happy. Orders are to finish up what we have here and return to the Bastion".
"Impossible!" Tannus' barked his response at Brooks, the unusual reaction took the Human by surprise "there is no way they would ask us to leave the case! We should investigate the site of the trade, see if we can locate the ones responsible and bring them to justice!"
Brooks shook his head with grim determination "our orders are clear bro, we gotta go".
Without so much as a word Tannus stood from his perch at the end of Brooks' bed, picked up his coat and made for the door. Brooks didn't attempt to stop him. On more than one occasion the Human had gotten in the way of Tannus while in a bad mood, and every time he had been left sprawled on the floor with a black eye, a broken nose or worse.
Tannus left Brooks' apartment and paced the direction away from his own. He knew his orders, he knew he had to gather his equipment, burn all records that may tie him back to his lodgings within the Block and leave for Wraith headquarters. Despite knowing this he found himself going instead to one of his safe locations outside his apartment. Tannus knew that within the safe site he would find secured away from prying eyes a set of stealth suits that had been modified to remove their digital serial signature making both them and him within untraceable from Wraith headquarters.
What Tannus was committing was nothing shy of mutiny and he knew as much, but one thing the Wraith also knew was that they were never recalled from a mission early unless the recall came from above the Wraiths themselves. There was something about the deal that the Accord themselves knew would be an embarrassment and with or without support from Wraith headquarters, even without the support of his partner; Brooks, Tannus was going to get to the bottom of it, and it would take nothing shy of the Bastion itself striking him down before he was about to let a bunch of Red Claw Grunters walk off with genuine Class-A Shock Drives!
*************
Greetings friends and welcome to the next part of the Tannus & Brooks story for First Law: Override!
For those curious as to what happened before you can pull up the (revised) edition from the First Law: Override book found at www.firstlawoverride.com.
Enjoy, stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
"This room is unbecoming of a Wraith" Tannus muttered to himself as he instinctively applied an emphases to the title Wraith.
"Shove it Bone!" Replied Brooks as he leafed through a selection of thin platiboard disk holders. Brooks paused a moment as he found his chosen one, placed the remaining stack on his table, unfolded his selection, withdrew it's contents and placed it carefully within the Digi-Display mount on his wall. The display came alive with a series of luminous shapes and from inbuilt speakers a roar suddenly erupted. It sounded to Tannus like a bar of metal being scraped against more metal while a domesticated pet was being going through vivisection in the background. Tannus looked at Brooks through pained eyes.
"And this is?" Tannus asked.
Brooks smiled wider than Tannus had seen in quite some time. "Tyrannosaurus Decks!" Brooks called out over the rising volume "Isn't it the best?"
Tannus was familiar with X-Metal. Being partnered with Brooks he had learned that the Human had only one love, and that was of music, but this particular type of music. Tannus had spent the time learning about all types of music that had come before, and how in it's hay day on Terra-Prime the genre of Metal had split into so many different sub genres which had constantly moved to reinvigorate themselves as each generation matured. X-Metal, or Xeno-Metal was just the latest in a long line of music varieties. It prided itself in having no lyrics, or even much of a tune, and instead tried to sound as alien to Human ears as possible. Of course the Human audio spectrum was a lot narrower than that of the Hydan, so to what sounded to Brooks as 'aggressive noise' was to Tannus nothing shy of pure audible pain.
"Look, Brooks!" Tannus almost shouted the words over the deafening noise "we need to speak about the operation".
Brooks swiped a hand in front of his digi display, pausing the music. The sudden silence was almost as much of a surprise as the music itself. The Human Wraith paused for a moment before pulling out a digi pad from his inside jacket pocket. After a series of two finger swipes and slides Brooks located what he was looking for and fed the information to his wall mounted digi display. The screen shifted as it's image mutated from the previous audio/visual information to the new input. Rows of data scrolled across the display at an almost unintelligible rate before Brooks held up a hand pausing the display once more.
"Here!" Brooks blurted out almost enthusiastically "at the same time as our raid on the Red Claw there was another deal going on, just three levels below us!"
Tannus studied the data and nodded in agreement. Brooks was right, while they were fighting with the Kratel over fake Shock Drives, another deal, presumably the real one, was happening right under their noses "What's HQ say about it?"
Brooks' brow furrowed "they're not happy. Orders are to finish up what we have here and return to the Bastion".
"Impossible!" Tannus' barked his response at Brooks, the unusual reaction took the Human by surprise "there is no way they would ask us to leave the case! We should investigate the site of the trade, see if we can locate the ones responsible and bring them to justice!"
Brooks shook his head with grim determination "our orders are clear bro, we gotta go".
Without so much as a word Tannus stood from his perch at the end of Brooks' bed, picked up his coat and made for the door. Brooks didn't attempt to stop him. On more than one occasion the Human had gotten in the way of Tannus while in a bad mood, and every time he had been left sprawled on the floor with a black eye, a broken nose or worse.
Tannus left Brooks' apartment and paced the direction away from his own. He knew his orders, he knew he had to gather his equipment, burn all records that may tie him back to his lodgings within the Block and leave for Wraith headquarters. Despite knowing this he found himself going instead to one of his safe locations outside his apartment. Tannus knew that within the safe site he would find secured away from prying eyes a set of stealth suits that had been modified to remove their digital serial signature making both them and him within untraceable from Wraith headquarters.
What Tannus was committing was nothing shy of mutiny and he knew as much, but one thing the Wraith also knew was that they were never recalled from a mission early unless the recall came from above the Wraiths themselves. There was something about the deal that the Accord themselves knew would be an embarrassment and with or without support from Wraith headquarters, even without the support of his partner; Brooks, Tannus was going to get to the bottom of it, and it would take nothing shy of the Bastion itself striking him down before he was about to let a bunch of Red Claw Grunters walk off with genuine Class-A Shock Drives!
*************
Greetings friends and welcome to the next part of the Tannus & Brooks story for First Law: Override!
For those curious as to what happened before you can pull up the (revised) edition from the First Law: Override book found at www.firstlawoverride.com.
Enjoy, stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
The Adventures of Geek Dad: Sometimes we feel shitty too!
Greetings friends!
So I realise that it's been a while since I've written a Geek Dad post, but I have been waiting for a topic that would be both important and also meaningful.
*******
The past few months and weeks have been difficult for Chez Loxley as our little Moo has developed a little bit of an attitude. After spending a few weeks over the summer being spoilt rotten by a number of people (myself included) things took an obvious downhill direction.
- Don't worry, we're fine, I'm just using straightforward language, and let's be honest; what parent hadn't had troubles with their child?
I don't feel bad for admitting that there are times that I find myself still loving my Moo, but quite honestly not liking her at that moment (having someone shouting in your face the most hurtful things they can think of simply because they're tired and frustrated kind of has that effect).
I don't like feeling like that, and honestly I really feel shitty over it. I know that she doesn't mean what she is saying, I know she is only saying it because she is tired and frustrated but I get so angry and on more than one occasion I have spoken back in ways that I shouldn't, which I know only makes things worse.
I know about how much of an effect an aggressive and violent house can have on a small child, and I find myself questioning if an aggressive environment if just once or twice is having a seriously negative impact on my Moo. If in years to come she will look back at her father and remember just a simmering pot of rage.
[EDIT] This isn't an apology over doing anything particular bad, as has been pointed out that this reads to others. More me stressing how crappy I feel over getting frustrated etc
Those who knew me before I started the blog will know that anger and rage are two things very important to me. It was my anger that got me out of bed in the morning and my rage against others that got me through the day; a universal discriminator who hated everyone and everything in equal measure.
Then the Moo came along, and my life was flipped upside down. I wanted to protect her from everything bad in the word, including me. I knew that there was a darkness in me (wow that sounds fucking emo) and I needed to shield her from that.
We all have a duality within us, and to a large part I believe that my acceptance of the part of me that others may deem 'unsightly' is one of my strengths, but when it came from my Moo, I wanted to keep her safe from all of that. It was (and still is) my hope that in years to come she will see her childhood as one of fun with fond memories - basically the opposite of what mine was, what little there is I haven't reserved for my 'repression vault'.
I know that all me and the wife can do is our best, and that we will make mistakes and we will have off days, and there will be moments where I just want to scream in her face, and on occasion I know it will happen even if I don't want it to. We are after all; only human.
********
The thing is, I still feel shitty over it.
Most people; I don't give a damn about if my actions hurt them, but the Moo is different. I know it's just a combination of chemical imbalances that forces the reaction, but I want to do what I can to help and protect her, and few things are as shitty as either knowing that she is upset because of something you have done, or that the reason you yourself are so frustrated is because you have reached your limit of what you can do to help and you know you are unable to 'fix' whatever the current problem is.
**********
I don't know if it's a male thing, or a me thing, but it is important to me to fix things, and being stuck in a situation where you want to help but you know there is nothing you can do to fix it, that's heartbreaking.
**********
Anyway, what started all this off?
Well I guess I just wanted to put this post out there, heart on sleeve, that sort of thing.
I'm a dad, and sometimes I feel like a piece if shit about it, that I'm inadequate and a total failure, and I am 99% sure that every other dad out there feels the same from time to time.
Why am I saying this? Because I want others out there who may be feeling the same on occasion to know that they're not alone!
So a message to dads:
It's ok! We screw up! But if you are upset about that, it means you care and that's a fuck-site better than a tonne of others out there!
And a message to mums:
Next time you see an article from NetMums or some other BS Clique that talks about how shit fathers are, and lists "10 things that only a Mum would understand" but goes on to talk about late night bottle feeds, or teaching your kid to walk or go to the toilet, think twice about sharing it and the negative effect it may have on the other dads who may read that as it goes on to bad mouth dads the world over as useless sperm donors. Yes there are shit dads! But there are also shit mums, and just like how you feel insecure and shitty about how you are doing as a mum, we feel the same about how we are doing being dads. The difference is that as well as your significant others, friends and families, you also have support groups bending over backwards to listen to you.
Us dad's don't
Disclaimer: This post came in response to an email I received from one such 'mum-support-network' that was filled with articles talking about how shit men are at being parents. The reason I received the email being because I was inadvertently signed up to it while claiming some free childcare samples a couple of years ago, and despite clicking 'unsubscribe' countless times and adding them to my blocked list, they still somehow get through to my regular inbox, and I'm sorry but the level of self indulgent narcissism present in those articles (whilst flying the victim flag) was just disgusting and compelled me to tell a side of the story rarely told to Joe Public.
Stay safe and be excellent to each other.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So I realise that it's been a while since I've written a Geek Dad post, but I have been waiting for a topic that would be both important and also meaningful.
*******
The past few months and weeks have been difficult for Chez Loxley as our little Moo has developed a little bit of an attitude. After spending a few weeks over the summer being spoilt rotten by a number of people (myself included) things took an obvious downhill direction.
- Don't worry, we're fine, I'm just using straightforward language, and let's be honest; what parent hadn't had troubles with their child?
I don't feel bad for admitting that there are times that I find myself still loving my Moo, but quite honestly not liking her at that moment (having someone shouting in your face the most hurtful things they can think of simply because they're tired and frustrated kind of has that effect).
I don't like feeling like that, and honestly I really feel shitty over it. I know that she doesn't mean what she is saying, I know she is only saying it because she is tired and frustrated but I get so angry and on more than one occasion I have spoken back in ways that I shouldn't, which I know only makes things worse.
I know about how much of an effect an aggressive and violent house can have on a small child, and I find myself questioning if an aggressive environment if just once or twice is having a seriously negative impact on my Moo. If in years to come she will look back at her father and remember just a simmering pot of rage.
[EDIT] This isn't an apology over doing anything particular bad, as has been pointed out that this reads to others. More me stressing how crappy I feel over getting frustrated etc
Those who knew me before I started the blog will know that anger and rage are two things very important to me. It was my anger that got me out of bed in the morning and my rage against others that got me through the day; a universal discriminator who hated everyone and everything in equal measure.
Then the Moo came along, and my life was flipped upside down. I wanted to protect her from everything bad in the word, including me. I knew that there was a darkness in me (wow that sounds fucking emo) and I needed to shield her from that.
We all have a duality within us, and to a large part I believe that my acceptance of the part of me that others may deem 'unsightly' is one of my strengths, but when it came from my Moo, I wanted to keep her safe from all of that. It was (and still is) my hope that in years to come she will see her childhood as one of fun with fond memories - basically the opposite of what mine was, what little there is I haven't reserved for my 'repression vault'.
I know that all me and the wife can do is our best, and that we will make mistakes and we will have off days, and there will be moments where I just want to scream in her face, and on occasion I know it will happen even if I don't want it to. We are after all; only human.
********
The thing is, I still feel shitty over it.
Most people; I don't give a damn about if my actions hurt them, but the Moo is different. I know it's just a combination of chemical imbalances that forces the reaction, but I want to do what I can to help and protect her, and few things are as shitty as either knowing that she is upset because of something you have done, or that the reason you yourself are so frustrated is because you have reached your limit of what you can do to help and you know you are unable to 'fix' whatever the current problem is.
**********
I don't know if it's a male thing, or a me thing, but it is important to me to fix things, and being stuck in a situation where you want to help but you know there is nothing you can do to fix it, that's heartbreaking.
**********
Anyway, what started all this off?
Well I guess I just wanted to put this post out there, heart on sleeve, that sort of thing.
I'm a dad, and sometimes I feel like a piece if shit about it, that I'm inadequate and a total failure, and I am 99% sure that every other dad out there feels the same from time to time.
Why am I saying this? Because I want others out there who may be feeling the same on occasion to know that they're not alone!
So a message to dads:
It's ok! We screw up! But if you are upset about that, it means you care and that's a fuck-site better than a tonne of others out there!
And a message to mums:
Next time you see an article from NetMums or some other BS Clique that talks about how shit fathers are, and lists "10 things that only a Mum would understand" but goes on to talk about late night bottle feeds, or teaching your kid to walk or go to the toilet, think twice about sharing it and the negative effect it may have on the other dads who may read that as it goes on to bad mouth dads the world over as useless sperm donors. Yes there are shit dads! But there are also shit mums, and just like how you feel insecure and shitty about how you are doing as a mum, we feel the same about how we are doing being dads. The difference is that as well as your significant others, friends and families, you also have support groups bending over backwards to listen to you.
Us dad's don't
Disclaimer: This post came in response to an email I received from one such 'mum-support-network' that was filled with articles talking about how shit men are at being parents. The reason I received the email being because I was inadvertently signed up to it while claiming some free childcare samples a couple of years ago, and despite clicking 'unsubscribe' countless times and adding them to my blocked list, they still somehow get through to my regular inbox, and I'm sorry but the level of self indulgent narcissism present in those articles (whilst flying the victim flag) was just disgusting and compelled me to tell a side of the story rarely told to Joe Public.
Stay safe and be excellent to each other.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 5 October 2015
Hobby Pledge
Greetings friends!
Today I want to share with you a little bit of fun that I'm doing right now...
...it's my own little hobby pledge. I'm putting it out there so that if I fail then you can all wrap my knuckles for being a total failure.
Pledge 1: Terrain in a week!
Yup to start off I have one week that's 05/10/15 to 11/10/15 to paint up my remaining DeadZone terrain.
This might sound difficult, but all it involves at present is spraying metallic (already done), washing with rust effect (half done) and dry brushing with grey.
So all I have to actually do is wash half the terrain and then dry brush the lot.
Pledge 2: Paint my Red Claw Kratel!
For this I have allowed 2 weeks, so 12/10/15 to 25/10/15. This includes painting roughly 15 models, so it shouldn't be too hard as they are using uniform colour schemes and similar.
Currently they are all based, undercoated and washed so it's base coats, washing, highlighting and BOOM! Done!
STRETCH GOAL!!
If I am able to do all of this, then I am then going to try my hand at painting up my Raiders. This has a rough deadline of 26/10/15 to 08/11/15. I say rough deadline because I want to allow this time as extra touch up time for my Red Claw - don't want to see them get rushed.
EVEN MORE STRETCH GOAL OF INSANITY!!
If for any reason I am somehow able to get through all of these, then I am looking to paint up what I currently own for a Trydan force. But the chances of this happening are next to none!
**********
So this week is terrain week. I'll be looking to post an update next week showing off what l have done for terrain this week. I hope it will be complete so I can show off my 'completed' table - note: because of the terrain placement rules for First Law: Override, I am trying to have more terrain than needed, so example shots will be more cluttered than a normal game.
As an idea, this is pretty much where I am now:
Of course as I am sure you have seen there is no rust effect applied in these shots.
- Notice the DeadZone 2x2 mat which I think looks awesome! As well as the MAS Holo Ads, all the while bulked out with the Infinity Operation Icestorm fold-out terrain.
Hope you like, and I look forward to share an update with you in due time!
Until next time, stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Today I want to share with you a little bit of fun that I'm doing right now...
...it's my own little hobby pledge. I'm putting it out there so that if I fail then you can all wrap my knuckles for being a total failure.
Pledge 1: Terrain in a week!
Yup to start off I have one week that's 05/10/15 to 11/10/15 to paint up my remaining DeadZone terrain.
This might sound difficult, but all it involves at present is spraying metallic (already done), washing with rust effect (half done) and dry brushing with grey.
So all I have to actually do is wash half the terrain and then dry brush the lot.
Pledge 2: Paint my Red Claw Kratel!
For this I have allowed 2 weeks, so 12/10/15 to 25/10/15. This includes painting roughly 15 models, so it shouldn't be too hard as they are using uniform colour schemes and similar.
Currently they are all based, undercoated and washed so it's base coats, washing, highlighting and BOOM! Done!
STRETCH GOAL!!
If I am able to do all of this, then I am then going to try my hand at painting up my Raiders. This has a rough deadline of 26/10/15 to 08/11/15. I say rough deadline because I want to allow this time as extra touch up time for my Red Claw - don't want to see them get rushed.
EVEN MORE STRETCH GOAL OF INSANITY!!
If for any reason I am somehow able to get through all of these, then I am looking to paint up what I currently own for a Trydan force. But the chances of this happening are next to none!
**********
So this week is terrain week. I'll be looking to post an update next week showing off what l have done for terrain this week. I hope it will be complete so I can show off my 'completed' table - note: because of the terrain placement rules for First Law: Override, I am trying to have more terrain than needed, so example shots will be more cluttered than a normal game.
As an idea, this is pretty much where I am now:
Of course as I am sure you have seen there is no rust effect applied in these shots.
- Notice the DeadZone 2x2 mat which I think looks awesome! As well as the MAS Holo Ads, all the while bulked out with the Infinity Operation Icestorm fold-out terrain.
Hope you like, and I look forward to share an update with you in due time!
Until next time, stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
First Law: Override - Beta Rosters
Greetings friends!
Today i'd like to share with you what I hope will be the first pass at Official First Law: Override Rosters!
These currently come in 2 flavours:
First is the Stand-Alone Roster. This is the one for a one off game of 500Nt where you don't intend to make use of the campaign system.
It might sound a bit strange to people; why have a campaign driven game if we are then going to release print&play rosters that encourage one off games?
The answer is simple: the game is fun enough for that!
I remember a lot of the time when playing GW Specialist Games like Necromunda and GorkaMorka where essentially the game didn't really begin until after a few games were under your belt and the stat/skill increases started to roll in. If you were unfortunate enough to get yourself caught in a loosing spiral, then this would heavily screw with your enjoyment of the game.
So maybe you only want to play a one off game to test a Force out? Or maybe you want to play in an organised play event? Then this is where the stand alone game comes into its own.
The stats for our units have been allocated in such a way that you don't feel your Force is gimped to begin with, you can compete straight outta the box so to speak.
Sure a lot of the fun equipment and skills are gated behind the Technomancy (Tm) and Initiative (In) stats, but these are about rewarding those who are lucky and adding a bit of advanced fun and added complexity over time. Even without these a force is still extremely fun to play and can be as varied as you fancy. Want to play a Raider force with a Big Bro, 2 Ghosts each rocking 3 Link Bots? Go for it! It is a Hack heavy 'list' that really well balanced the risk/reward mechanic that we have tried our best to implement within this game. If however it doesn't work for you and you would rather less link bots and more actual gun toting dudes, then you know to do that in future games!
***********
Next up is the Campaign Roster. Unlike the stand alone roster, this is designed for use within a campaign for you to record your full 1,000+ Force.
Notice the column on the far right, the one called Selection? It is here you record your current selection for the game you are playing.
Maybe your game requires 600Nt, so you write down the total Nt in that column, and then the total should add up to 600 or less.
- I personally find it is a good place to mark your units who are recovering from injuries that force them to skip a game. I personally show this by putting a big X in that space.
***********
So give them a look, play around a little and let us know what you think is missing.
We look forward to any and all feedback!
Until next time; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Today i'd like to share with you what I hope will be the first pass at Official First Law: Override Rosters!
These currently come in 2 flavours:
First is the Stand-Alone Roster. This is the one for a one off game of 500Nt where you don't intend to make use of the campaign system.
It might sound a bit strange to people; why have a campaign driven game if we are then going to release print&play rosters that encourage one off games?
The answer is simple: the game is fun enough for that!
I remember a lot of the time when playing GW Specialist Games like Necromunda and GorkaMorka where essentially the game didn't really begin until after a few games were under your belt and the stat/skill increases started to roll in. If you were unfortunate enough to get yourself caught in a loosing spiral, then this would heavily screw with your enjoyment of the game.
So maybe you only want to play a one off game to test a Force out? Or maybe you want to play in an organised play event? Then this is where the stand alone game comes into its own.
The stats for our units have been allocated in such a way that you don't feel your Force is gimped to begin with, you can compete straight outta the box so to speak.
Sure a lot of the fun equipment and skills are gated behind the Technomancy (Tm) and Initiative (In) stats, but these are about rewarding those who are lucky and adding a bit of advanced fun and added complexity over time. Even without these a force is still extremely fun to play and can be as varied as you fancy. Want to play a Raider force with a Big Bro, 2 Ghosts each rocking 3 Link Bots? Go for it! It is a Hack heavy 'list' that really well balanced the risk/reward mechanic that we have tried our best to implement within this game. If however it doesn't work for you and you would rather less link bots and more actual gun toting dudes, then you know to do that in future games!
***********
Next up is the Campaign Roster. Unlike the stand alone roster, this is designed for use within a campaign for you to record your full 1,000+ Force.
Notice the column on the far right, the one called Selection? It is here you record your current selection for the game you are playing.
Maybe your game requires 600Nt, so you write down the total Nt in that column, and then the total should add up to 600 or less.
- I personally find it is a good place to mark your units who are recovering from injuries that force them to skip a game. I personally show this by putting a big X in that space.
***********
So give them a look, play around a little and let us know what you think is missing.
We look forward to any and all feedback!
Until next time; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Friday, 25 September 2015
To take part or not? (Extra Life)
Greetings friends!
So today I've been thinking...
For years I've seen people taking part in Extra Life, an event for those who don't know where gamers get together, game and try to raise money in doing so normally in the form of an (attempted) 24hr gaming marathon.
I've always thought that this is something I would like to do, mainly for the reason that it seems like a challenge. I have done long gaming sessions before, but NEVER any that lasted 24 hours!
This year the designated day is Saturday 7th November from 8am and running (as mentioned) for 24 hours, and I'll be honest. I'm tempted, seriously tempted!
Of course there are issues I need to consider, and I need to consider them very seriously, most importantly is that of childcare. At that point my little Moo will be very nearly 4, and there would be two choices: 1). Involve her in the stream, which I am not comfortable in as I don't particularly like the idea of streaming her across the net. 2). Not involve her and require that someone (probably my amazing wife) looks after her entirely for the day, which goes against every ideology I have as what fatherhood is supposed to be like as it would not be fair on her or my wife.
Assuming that was all solved/resolved and I decided to go ahead with this, would you my dear friends be interested in this? Would you tune in to my twitch stream LoxBotLive and watch as I try to stay awake and same for 24 hours gaming?
If so what would you like to see? Is it online action games, like Heroes of the Storm, Diablo 3, Unreal Tournament and Nosgoth? Maybe online CoOperative games like Colonial Marines, Resident Evil 5/6 and Portal 2? What about offline games? Would you be interested in a full run through from start to end of classic games like Beyond Good & Evil and SNATCHER or horror games like Outlast, Amnesia and Alien: Isolation? What about one of those long games, the MMOs like World of Warcraft and The Secret World or open worlders like Dragon Age? They all have more than 24hrs worth of content within them and that alone could fill the entire time without requiring alternating every few hours.
If any of the above which are multiplayer, would you like to play along too? Maybe get a bit of voice chat between us going? Have a chat to be shared between us and the entire streaming Internet!
What do you think?
It's a big investment, but one I think could be fun, however I would need to know if I have support or not, so please answers on a postcard to the usual address (or Twitter @doctorloxley, @loxbotlive or comments below)
On that note; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So today I've been thinking...
For years I've seen people taking part in Extra Life, an event for those who don't know where gamers get together, game and try to raise money in doing so normally in the form of an (attempted) 24hr gaming marathon.
I've always thought that this is something I would like to do, mainly for the reason that it seems like a challenge. I have done long gaming sessions before, but NEVER any that lasted 24 hours!
This year the designated day is Saturday 7th November from 8am and running (as mentioned) for 24 hours, and I'll be honest. I'm tempted, seriously tempted!
Of course there are issues I need to consider, and I need to consider them very seriously, most importantly is that of childcare. At that point my little Moo will be very nearly 4, and there would be two choices: 1). Involve her in the stream, which I am not comfortable in as I don't particularly like the idea of streaming her across the net. 2). Not involve her and require that someone (probably my amazing wife) looks after her entirely for the day, which goes against every ideology I have as what fatherhood is supposed to be like as it would not be fair on her or my wife.
Assuming that was all solved/resolved and I decided to go ahead with this, would you my dear friends be interested in this? Would you tune in to my twitch stream LoxBotLive and watch as I try to stay awake and same for 24 hours gaming?
If so what would you like to see? Is it online action games, like Heroes of the Storm, Diablo 3, Unreal Tournament and Nosgoth? Maybe online CoOperative games like Colonial Marines, Resident Evil 5/6 and Portal 2? What about offline games? Would you be interested in a full run through from start to end of classic games like Beyond Good & Evil and SNATCHER or horror games like Outlast, Amnesia and Alien: Isolation? What about one of those long games, the MMOs like World of Warcraft and The Secret World or open worlders like Dragon Age? They all have more than 24hrs worth of content within them and that alone could fill the entire time without requiring alternating every few hours.
If any of the above which are multiplayer, would you like to play along too? Maybe get a bit of voice chat between us going? Have a chat to be shared between us and the entire streaming Internet!
What do you think?
It's a big investment, but one I think could be fun, however I would need to know if I have support or not, so please answers on a postcard to the usual address (or Twitter @doctorloxley, @loxbotlive or comments below)
On that note; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 24 September 2015
The Empathy of Videogames (SOMA)
Greetings friends!
So over the past couple of days I've been playing the excellent SOMA by Frictional Games, famous (or perhaps infamous) for Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
It's a fantastic game, and for the first time in a while it has made me stand back and question a few things in my own gaming experience.
Now if you go and read any other review of SOMA you will see much the same sort of comment as I have made above, citing moments from the game where you as the player have to make tear jerking and horrific decisions that make you hate the developers for putting you in those situations.
My experiences so far have been very different then these, and why exactly I feel that way is the questions that I have been forced to ask myself.
*********
One of the things the game makes you ask yourself early on is quite simple:
If something thinks it is self aware and alive; is it?
I've had a chat with my significant other about this, and despite probing questions and many disagreements, I don't know where I stand with this. Does "I think, therefore I am" really stand up to scrutiny?
If an artificial intelligence walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, is it a duck?
Can we really define ourselves by our physical body, or are we more than that? How much of what identifies us as us is personality? And how much is simply how our mind interprets the electrical signal of stimuli? If you were to take a digital map of your identity, and if it reacted in the same way as you, had the same opinions, the same ideas and the same prejudices, would it be you? If you were to then die and it was 'downloaded' into your body, would you still be you?
Honestly, I don't know where I stand with this. And likewise there are countless other questions that I don't know where I stand; is Artificial Intelligence potentially equal to or greater than organic intelligence? If everything you perceive is in the form of electrical nerve impulses, then is a reality made up entirely of digital electrical impulses just as real as the 'real' world if you perceive it to be so?
All I can understand is my own reactions to the game, and how when presented with situations where I was supposed to be moved, I was not. My reactions and actions seemed clear and obvious. Do I kill something that is of no use to me, but believes itself to be alive, or do I kill something that is useful, but would not feel pain?
The 'human' way of reacting is to kill the thing that would feel no pain, that we should be 'humane' and 'care' for the sick and the elderly.
My reaction was not that at all. But to look and decide what is of use. By killing the one who feels pain and believes itself to be alive, would I be worse off? No! By killing the thing that IS of use to me, would I be worse off? Almost certainly!
What has bothered me is that this reaction seems so different to the other reviewers of this game, that they all either put themselves in a worse-off situation, or they made the logical decision but felt bad about it.
I felt no remote for my actions, it was the right thing to do in order to prolong my character's survival chances and I know that in a heartbeat I would make the same decision again.
**********
I spoke to my significant other about this, I asked her why she thought I felt no remorse for these 'digital' actions compared to others who apparently felt like the game was figuratively ripping out their heart.
Her response was (jokingly) "It's because you have no soul".
It reminded me of a conversation I had with a good friend the other month, where we discussed how when I read about the suffering of others in the paper or on the TV I feel nothing but indifference, and if asked why my reaction is simply "why should I care about people I have never met?" Emphasis on should, as if it is expected.
We came to the conclusion that I simply lack empathy for others; something I find very interesting due to arguing for years (over a decade in fact) that empathy does not exist. Having this opinion would make sense if I did not feel it.
- Why that is the case, and if it is something that I 'switched off' as a learned defence mechanism, or was just born biologically incapable of feeling; that is a question for another time.
***********
So what else have I found in the game which has been a challenge? Surely if I am feeling no empathy towards these characters (and considering what the other reviewers state about the game, it would be very easy to think the game was one whole empathic mess) then the game should be a cake walk, with nothing to challenge my choices of right versus wrong?
Far from it my friends!
Just last night I encountered a databank full of AI constructs; personality matrices which is put into a digital simulation would act and think just like a real, living person. I had to ask myself what to do with them.
My choices were simple: erase the data! Doing so would put these people to rest. Currently they were in a dormant state, doing so would be putting them out of the misery of one day waking up and seeing just how shit their lives had become and they would feel no pain. Plus it would save them from the maddening corruption that was spreading through the world.
The other choice was to leave them be. They would remain in a dormant state until either being later erased, woken up or corrupted to see the world through twisted eyes, a horrific mockery of their former lives.
I chose the latter.
But it was a difficult decision, I won't lie to you, but not for the emotional reasons others may experience.
For me I looked at the situation; essentially kill them and drastically reduce my chances of running into them later on as corrupted versions of themselves, or instead leave them be but in a state that meant if I had a use of them I could use them.
Like I said, it was a difficult choice. I want to further my survival, but what is a greater threat; a potential enemy who may come to kill me later? Or being in a situation where I need their expertise to survive and not having them available (because I had killed them?)
I chose Door B. There were already hideous monsters running around, a few more wouldn't be that bad, but being in a situation where I need a technician's access code and being unable to work around it was more worse!
Is that the same question I had to ask myself that the developers wanted me as the player to ask? Of course not, but it stopped me in my tracks and made me think for a moment, and that was a first for a video game!
*********
And on that note; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So over the past couple of days I've been playing the excellent SOMA by Frictional Games, famous (or perhaps infamous) for Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
It's a fantastic game, and for the first time in a while it has made me stand back and question a few things in my own gaming experience.
Now if you go and read any other review of SOMA you will see much the same sort of comment as I have made above, citing moments from the game where you as the player have to make tear jerking and horrific decisions that make you hate the developers for putting you in those situations.
My experiences so far have been very different then these, and why exactly I feel that way is the questions that I have been forced to ask myself.
*********
One of the things the game makes you ask yourself early on is quite simple:
If something thinks it is self aware and alive; is it?
I've had a chat with my significant other about this, and despite probing questions and many disagreements, I don't know where I stand with this. Does "I think, therefore I am" really stand up to scrutiny?
If an artificial intelligence walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, is it a duck?
Can we really define ourselves by our physical body, or are we more than that? How much of what identifies us as us is personality? And how much is simply how our mind interprets the electrical signal of stimuli? If you were to take a digital map of your identity, and if it reacted in the same way as you, had the same opinions, the same ideas and the same prejudices, would it be you? If you were to then die and it was 'downloaded' into your body, would you still be you?
Honestly, I don't know where I stand with this. And likewise there are countless other questions that I don't know where I stand; is Artificial Intelligence potentially equal to or greater than organic intelligence? If everything you perceive is in the form of electrical nerve impulses, then is a reality made up entirely of digital electrical impulses just as real as the 'real' world if you perceive it to be so?
All I can understand is my own reactions to the game, and how when presented with situations where I was supposed to be moved, I was not. My reactions and actions seemed clear and obvious. Do I kill something that is of no use to me, but believes itself to be alive, or do I kill something that is useful, but would not feel pain?
The 'human' way of reacting is to kill the thing that would feel no pain, that we should be 'humane' and 'care' for the sick and the elderly.
My reaction was not that at all. But to look and decide what is of use. By killing the one who feels pain and believes itself to be alive, would I be worse off? No! By killing the thing that IS of use to me, would I be worse off? Almost certainly!
What has bothered me is that this reaction seems so different to the other reviewers of this game, that they all either put themselves in a worse-off situation, or they made the logical decision but felt bad about it.
I felt no remote for my actions, it was the right thing to do in order to prolong my character's survival chances and I know that in a heartbeat I would make the same decision again.
**********
I spoke to my significant other about this, I asked her why she thought I felt no remorse for these 'digital' actions compared to others who apparently felt like the game was figuratively ripping out their heart.
Her response was (jokingly) "It's because you have no soul".
It reminded me of a conversation I had with a good friend the other month, where we discussed how when I read about the suffering of others in the paper or on the TV I feel nothing but indifference, and if asked why my reaction is simply "why should I care about people I have never met?" Emphasis on should, as if it is expected.
We came to the conclusion that I simply lack empathy for others; something I find very interesting due to arguing for years (over a decade in fact) that empathy does not exist. Having this opinion would make sense if I did not feel it.
- Why that is the case, and if it is something that I 'switched off' as a learned defence mechanism, or was just born biologically incapable of feeling; that is a question for another time.
***********
So what else have I found in the game which has been a challenge? Surely if I am feeling no empathy towards these characters (and considering what the other reviewers state about the game, it would be very easy to think the game was one whole empathic mess) then the game should be a cake walk, with nothing to challenge my choices of right versus wrong?
Far from it my friends!
Just last night I encountered a databank full of AI constructs; personality matrices which is put into a digital simulation would act and think just like a real, living person. I had to ask myself what to do with them.
My choices were simple: erase the data! Doing so would put these people to rest. Currently they were in a dormant state, doing so would be putting them out of the misery of one day waking up and seeing just how shit their lives had become and they would feel no pain. Plus it would save them from the maddening corruption that was spreading through the world.
The other choice was to leave them be. They would remain in a dormant state until either being later erased, woken up or corrupted to see the world through twisted eyes, a horrific mockery of their former lives.
I chose the latter.
But it was a difficult decision, I won't lie to you, but not for the emotional reasons others may experience.
For me I looked at the situation; essentially kill them and drastically reduce my chances of running into them later on as corrupted versions of themselves, or instead leave them be but in a state that meant if I had a use of them I could use them.
Like I said, it was a difficult choice. I want to further my survival, but what is a greater threat; a potential enemy who may come to kill me later? Or being in a situation where I need their expertise to survive and not having them available (because I had killed them?)
I chose Door B. There were already hideous monsters running around, a few more wouldn't be that bad, but being in a situation where I need a technician's access code and being unable to work around it was more worse!
Is that the same question I had to ask myself that the developers wanted me as the player to ask? Of course not, but it stopped me in my tracks and made me think for a moment, and that was a first for a video game!
*********
And on that note; stay safe and be excellent to each other!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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