Steam on Mac

I have waited a couple of weeks before writing this one up.  I wanted the hype to die down a bit and give an objective view of this topic.  Overall all Steam coming to the Mac platform is a good move for everyone since gone (again) are the days of shopping the latest PC titles at your local tech store.  Steam is my one stop shop for a large selection of gaming titles.  The system as a distribution center for gaming purchases is successful on both platforms since they provide an easy web experience to review, select, purchase, and install game titles in one app.  Their selection at least on the windows platform is quite varied and have a large selection of not only popular titles but titles which got looked over in the shadow of big companies and big franchise releases.  Steam also carries quite a few titles under the independent category and provides a venue where for a very reasonable percentage of sales provide a storefront for the independent software providers.

As for the distribution on Mac the titles are not up to the hype they've lead me to believe which I should not be really surprised since Mac is definitely a productivity machine.  What I am hoping though is that game developers will push more Mac releases with now a cheaper means to distribute Mac compiled software where as before having to publish Mac titles (box and all) would have meant sure losses.  I am also hoping that at least more adventure titles become available and the full catalog of Valve games (the makers of Steam) becomes properly ported to the Mac platform as they promised.  The Valve titles alone on Mac would make my Mac gaming experience worth while.

Prism - My Own Custom Browser App (Well, Almost)

I have been researching some ideas to create a simple no-frills (actually no controls) browser window with out reinventing the wheel.  I want to basically open a URL in a window and have what ever appears at the URL to be rendered in a window with none of your typical browser controls and simply rely on the site's navigation to get around.  It so happens to also coincide with some issues I have encountered at work since I work on Flex applications that have no use for the native browser navigation buttons.

I seem to have found a solution in a Firefox development called Prism which can be installed either as a plugin to Firefox or as a standalone application.  Prism allows you to convert a URL into a standalone application on your desktop.  Essentially what it does is that it takes the URL and wraps it in a package that allows you to view the URL in a "no-distractions" browser upon a click of a shortcut.  This is becoming more recently desired since more and more web applications are now having a more "self-contained" look about them and no longer require back/forward buttons or a URL field to navigate around them.  In fact, the use of the native browser navigation often causes problems for web developers since this can lead to security issues regarding form scripting.

I was hoping there would be a command line creation script to create the packages Prism needs to run the URL but I suppose its nothing a scripter like me can not figure out.  In the meanwhile I have setup some webmail sites my mail browser can not connect to at work and left them as stand alone apps on my desktop.  I have also setup my work test server as well as a Prism app.

Google Pacman

Hat's off to Google's banner that commemorated one of video game's innovations by embedding a playable applet of Pacman in celebration of its 30th birthday.  Should give it a try before searching the latest in government conspiracies and of furry costume porn.  My hi-score is 9034 and I had completed one level before I realized that you can use the cursor keys instead of the mouse - GG.

24 Hour Party People (OST)

Perhaps (IMO) to be renamed "The History of Factory", the album to its movie namesake is perhaps a good cross-selection of Factory's best productions.  I have never experienced a soundtrack that is as enjoyable with out its movie references.  This soundtrack has a good selection of performances of Factory's bands, a couple of modern renditions and live performances of their more recognizable hits, and a couple of hits that the movie claims to have inspired Tony Wilson to create Factory.  On the performance list are names such as Joy Division, the Buzzcocks, New Order, Happy Mondays, and the Sex Pistols.  Even if you haven not seen the movie if you are looking for some retro-alternative compilation look up this soundtrack.

The Wire

The Wire is an epic police drama that spans 5 seasons.  It follows the careers of a group of detectives from the narcotics and homicide divisions of the Baltimore Police Department as well as the lives of the criminals and city officials that their investigations touches.  What probably makes this a unique series is the raw honesty each episode is told in and how it focuses on the problems of maintaining law and order all stemming from the apathy and corruption that is deep seated in the running of a major North American city.

The story of The Wire begins with Jimmy McNulty, a hotshot career detective played by Dominic West.  After watching another drug thug get off from a routine murder conviction he is called in by a concerned judge on his thoughts on what should have been a routine conviction.  Jimmy explains to the judge how an up and coming drug gang that the accuse had been connected to had control of most of the drug distribution in the city and were able to buy off witnesses and supply their man with a top notch mob lawyer.  Appalled by how narcotics did not even have knowledge of the drug ring the judge sets in motion the events which lead to a combined department task force of homicide and narcotics detectives to investigate the Barksdale drug ring.

This uncomfortable marriage of the already under-resourced departments bring together a motley group of detectives comprising a mix of overlooked talents and disgraced cops with Jimmy being the obvious rogue.  Heading the task force is Cedric Daniels - the straight shooting narcotics commander with a few skeletons in his career closet.  His right hand girl is Shakima Greggs - a tough narcotics investigator with a hunger for the thrill of the hunt and a taste for fast women.  Lester Freamon is an older talented investigator who previous tenacity put him on the sidelines for going after politically protected targets.  Ellis Carter is a young career hungry cop who is in constant struggle between looking for his big break that would land him a prestigious promotion and being a compassionate "do-right" cop.  Carter is often accompanied by Thomas "Herc" Hauk a bumbling tough guy cop whose constant bad career decisions (in contrast to Carter) push him further from the respect he looks for from his colleagues.  Rolland "Prez" Pryzbylewski is an intellect forced into service by his father in law who is a prominent commanding officer in the Baltimore Police Department.  Jimmy also often drags into the picture his homicide drinking buddy Detective William "Bunk" Moreland whose admirable dedication to his job is offset by his infidelity to his wife.   The series also bring in and out of view other characters who help, hinder, or are the targets of the main detectives of the series. 

Most of the series follow the investigations of the drug gangs that plague the city of Baltimore and the corruption which blights any successful attempt to unroot their influence on the decaying city.  With great acting and a no-pulled-punches look at the lives of this intricately connected cast of characters America comes close to providing a thought provoking series that was mostly being delivered by BBC imports.

The Guild

Felecia Day was once an out of job actress with a few guest appearances on Josh Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and similar TV roles.  She then played World of Warcraft and got to the point where she knew she had to stop and do something productive with herself to pay her bills.  So as an actress in LA she started writing a script about the one thing she enjoyed doing at the time - MMO gaming.  The Guild is humorous look at the in game and out of game lives of massive multi-player online role-playing gamers (MMPORGs) loosely based on Felecia's experience with World of Warcraft.  The show features fives fictitious gamers from very different walks of life who play some fictitious on-line role playing game together in a guild - a team of players who have dedicated their current game time to helping each other progress through the common game they play. 

The show is mostly written from the perspective of Syd Sherman (AKA Codex) who is also played by Felecia Day.  She is a 30 something prodigy violinist who had just lost her job at a local orchestra and has become a hermit with her online gaming as her only social outlet.  In game she plays her guild's healer (the fantasy equivalent of a combat medic).  She is supported by four other players from very different walks of life.  There is Herman (AKA Vork) who also is a hermit living off of his dead father's pension and is the guild's leader.  There's Clara (AKA Clara), a stay at home negligent mother of three and even more negligent wife, who is the guild's magician.  There's Sujan (AKA Zaboo), a "Hin-Jew" college student and guild warlock whose talents include cyber stalking and imposing his affections inappropriately on Syd.  Tinkerballa (AKA Tinkerballa) the guild's ranger is in real life a sulking Japanese tart and pre-med student.  Finally there's Simon (AKA Bladezz) the guild's rogue and machiavelli character who is in real life a street smart player, charmer, and ex-child model.

The shows are originally web-based and episodic and usually run for 5 minutes an episode following a story arc each season mainly about Syd and her guild mates going through some crisis that forces them work together (and meet) outside of their in game lives.  We actually never see the characters interact in game but instead get the anecdotes and dialogue that would normally have meaning just in the game. 

The show has gain popularity since it's webisodic release finding many fans into gaming and geek culture.  The fourth season featured geek star, Wil Wheaton, as the guild leader of a rival guild.  The show overall is well written and funny even for those not into (or aware of) the gaming culture.  The show was originally distributed on their web site, www.watchtheguild.com, via YouTube links but was then picked up on its second season by Microsoft for exclusive premiere viewing on Microsoft's XBox online network as free downloadable content.  The season would only be available on the show website once the season finished release and are as well released for purchase in DVD sets from their site and through I-Tunes.

Legacy of Kain: Soulreaver (I)

Legacy of Kain is actually two series of related RPGs.  The Soulreaver series contrary to the Blood Omen series follows the adventures of Raziel, a fallen vampire lord turned wraith manipulated by the supernatural forces that spin the fictitious world of Nosgoth.  Raziel was once a lieutenant of Kain, A vampire king.  He and his brethren ruled the vampire activities for thousands of years.  Every now and again each of the vampires (including Kain) would undergo a metamorphosis that would endow them with even greater vampiric powers.  Raziel had been the first to surpass his King and in doing so he was exiled and sentenced to death.  Kain had Raziel thrown into a deep lake which to most vampires would incinerate them like acid on flesh.  Raziel was destroyed but his remains wash up in the chambers of a subterranean deity (known as the Elder God) who restores Raziel as a wraith.  He sends Raziel on a quest for vengeance on Kain who the Elder God considers an abomination to the cycle of life which he maintains.  Raziel now feeds on spectral energy such as the newly severed souls of the freshly killed lives, or the soul energy of a felled undead.  Since Raziel's life force was once that of a vampire's Raziel can absorb the powers of his felled brethren - especially useful since he is being specifically sent to the living world to hunt down all of his brethren and Kain as to return them to the Wheel of Fate the Elder God is the personification of.

The gameplay is third person (over the shoulder) perspective.  You play Raziel who you must navigate through 3D freestyle seamless environments which are first interwoven by caves and roadways and tunnels but as you pass certain waypoints you activate a portal that Raziel can travel back and forth from.  You are free to go anywhere but are usually guided by accomplishing puzzles and unlocking more of the world.  Your search for your brethren and Kain will push you through puzzles, respawning encounters and boss fights with key characters of the game's story.  After each boss fight Raziel absorbs new powers that either allow him to deal with more dangerous enemies or allow him access to more parts of the world.  He must also as well search for artifacts that boost or extend his life energy.

Perhaps the neatest thing about being undead is that you can't die.  When Raziel's life energy falls below empty Raziel disappears back into the realm of the undead where he must fend of malicious spirits and feed on felled soul energy to phase back into the realm of the living.  Furthermore, if he is defeated even in the realm of the spirit, he is reborn back in the chamber of the Elder God where he must travel back to his last point of progress - hence the waypoints become even more important in saving travel time.  Raziel can also shift back into the realm of the spirit at the players own choosing and use to his advantage the differing properties of both realities.

The interesting brainteasing environment puzzles are well balance with the equally challenging button mashing combat that can be unleashed in many satisfying ways.  If you are perhaps not so into incinerating your foes you can as well grab spear-like implements from the environment to whack and impale your quarry.

Raziel's first journey through Nosgoth ends with a promise of more soul sucking adventures to come as Kain escapes Raziel's clutches through a time portal.  You can find Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (I) on Ebay for less than $20 USD.