Ploppin' Fresh

Kev and I had our first DayZ experience together this evening. Kevin had been playing for a few days and had found himself in a position where he was stuck in a deer stand with several zombies milling about. Compounding this problem was he had no food, no matches to light a fire and cook food and was in desperate need of a blood transfusion. After a couple of attempts, I was able to make my way to his location, without any sort of weapon, but managed to scrape up the necessary food he needed along the way. Kev eventually got to eat a fine meal (I actually heard him express relief at eating a can of beans) and I was able to give him a transfusion with one of the two blood bags he had in his possession. Health fully restored, and with a vast array of weaponry, I left Kevin to his own devices to make his way in the world once again.

On a side note, Kevin had sold a sidecar for his motorbike to some dude this evening (IRL OMG), and when he was giving it the once over before completing the transaction, he saw a pack of matches on the floor and instantly thought 'great, I need those'. He quickly realised, however, that said matches would not work in DayZ. He's decided to keep them, though, because, you never know.

I agree. Pretty great stuff, so far. The music in the show definitely has a cinema quality to it and the look of the show is top notch.

Alright. I just spoke with Anton and we've set up a tentative time for next weekend, but thought we'd run it by you lot to see if this is amenable: NZ: 8am; IE: 9pm; CA: 4pm. So that would be Anton's Saturday AM, and Friday evening/afternoon for those of us that live in more sensible time zones. I realise that asking people to give up their Friday nights is a tough sell, but: zombies.

Any takers?

Speaking of which,when is the next game?

Wasn't sure where to drop this, but here seems good as any. Some pretty stellar BMX stuff. There are a lot of massive jumps and spins, etc... but to be honest, I think my favourite bit comes in at 1:50. It's only 8 or so seconds and isn't that fast, but I'm still mesmerised by it.

I say yes.

Completely agree with your review. The decision-making was particularly cringe-worthy. In a (un)related note, does this picture of Christiano Ronaldo look like Predator?

Since becoming a dog owner, I now spend a lot of time outdoors walking the wretched beast. A friend had recommended the GoT audio books, so I thought I'd give it a whirl, seeing as I now have 2+ hours every day to just listen. I'm through most of book 4 and all I'll say is that even at this stage, magic is still in the background. The idea is that the world has moved on from the days of dragons and magic, almost to the point where they may as well be myth, with some people, particularly in Westeros, scoffing at the idea of dragons, magic, etc and ridiculing those who believe in such fanciful notions.

As Anton has said, they show up very minimally, but when they do, it's done well. Out of context, I could understand it being somewhat jarring, but when viewed as a whole, it definitely adds to the strength of the show.

So are we on for this evening, as proposed?

Just had my first run-through. Playing at night is absolutely terrifying. There is so little visibility that you're having to completely rely on sound. Earlier in the game, I had ran into a house and was able to hear zombies on the other side of the door, which I had just closed. I was able to find a hatchet and some beans but not much else. Eventually I thought I'd better try and move on to see if I could pick up a weapon with a little more punch (pellet gun had me shitting bricks). Somehow, though, I found myself in a middle of a field and all I could hear were zombies. I slowly made my way to the tree line, hopped a fence, and decided I'd lay low for a bit. Then I could hear the grass, unable to tell if it was shifting in the wind or if something was moving. I was assuming (hoping) that it wasn't zombies, as I wasn't able to hear their gurgling, but when I looked to my side, there were four of them, shambling in my direction. I immediately popped up and began firing (perhaps a mistake), but soon they were on top of me, deciding a little too late to try and run for it. I got hit. Not sure where, but I was losing blood. I started walking backwards, trying to gain some distance on them, but their pursuit was relentless. All my clips spent, I kept moving back, as my field of vision began to blur, my breathing laboured and no chance to stop and try and fumble through my pack for meds that may or may not have helped. Eventually my blood loss was too much and I passed on into the ether. That experience was a little too involved. Sleep may take some time to find me tonight.

That works well for me. Is your steam name CWAL? Also, is Gav Captain Tardy? I've had this profile added to my steam for some time now but had no idea who it was. I looked at the tard's list of friends and you all seem to be on it, so I assume it's him. Games are downloading at the moment. I'll likely give it a quick go tomorrow and Friday to see what all the fanfare is about but I likely won't have too much time to get a feel for it before Saturday. Prometheus on Friday for the IMAX-3D combo! Yip yip.

It was definitely a dig, although 'playful gibe' would likely be more accurate. Dead Space 2 has made both me and my dog yelp in fear on more than one occasion. One of the wee beasties in the game makes a ringwraith-like noise that clearly frightens Higgins (the dog). He jumps from his chair, runs down the hall, and then comes back into the room, alert as hell, growling. Until recently, he's never really reacted to any sort of noise from the TV. On occasion, he's propped his ears at the sound of a dog or a wolf, but no more than that. My guess is that he's reacting so strongly to the noises in this game b/c I'm reacting so strongly.

My little champion, he is.

I'm going to pick this up later today. What time do you guys usually play? It sounds as though you've coordinated successfully in the past with minecraft et al. As mentioned before, I can play whenever, although I'd certainly prefer not to wake up and immediately start gaming. Quite looking forward to this.

They had a mid-week sale on a game called Limbo this week. It only takes 3-4 hours to complete, but it's a beautiful game with great sound, a haunting sort of atmosphere and decent puzzles. I also read that this Braid game is interesting, if but a little pretentious. Just making my way through Dead Space 2 now, but I'm going to try Journey next. I've heard nothing but good things. Perhaps we can tell you about them, Al.

If memory serves, Bond movies are generally released in November... not sure it has anything to do with faith (and lack of) from the studio. I have high hopes. Sam Mendes tells tales well. In fact, I think its kind of his thing. They can only go up following the junk that was quantum of solace, right?

I'm in, although I imagine the different time zones will pose something of a problem. Having said that, I now work freelance, so my hours are what I make them.

Apparently Topher Grace from the 70s show, or whatever the hell it's called, cut the first three movies together for one 85-minute movie. The link here says its actually quite good, but that we'll likely never see it.

This was a great film. Very recently, I got a puppy. His name is Higgins. Higgins is very cute (toy poodle/terrier mix). I snapped this picture of him the other night and he looks eerily like the aliens from the film (minus the boots with reflective strips).

[attachment=187:Higgins_...he_block.JPG]

I would totally get a part.

Infinite monkeys, infinite typewriters. The best paragraph is the last. Wait for it...

Pfft. That's IF she can get you out of whatever sexy holodeck/VR contraption you've got yourself rigged into. Furries, furries everywhere!

Yea... it's pretty great. Some of the art work giving slight hints at the history was amazing. As well, the game never failed to make you laugh. I haven't touched co-op yet, either. I have it for the PC, but don't know anyone else with the game. So if anyone here is up for some co-op, let me know.

Very jealous. Wish I could have been there for that.

This is the coolest place on earth, methinks.