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[alway]

*incorherent sounds of confusion* What is this I don't even... http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/03/knightlife-the-sims-medieval-announced/
Also, lol: http://laughingsquid.com/an-illustrated-guide-to-facial-hair/

[Gunner-Chan]

...

That actually sounds pretty cool. I'd play it.

[Aqizzar]

Wow, that really takes me back.  I remember reading an issue of PC Gamer Magazine from late 1999, back when the Sims first came out.  The issue's review was the highlight article.  But a couple reviewers wrote some more articles, expounding on what was at the time pretty groundbreaking AI, and said that AI would be great to see in an RPG.  You could have villagers that actually do stuff, characters form relationships that aren't pre-scripted and triggered to plot events, and the ability to define your character's personality outside of basic conversation options.

Of course, seven years later, we finally got a real attempt at that implementation in Oblivion.  Woo hoo.  What I remember most about the article though, was that the same issue also had a review/walkthrough for Planescape: Torment, which came out at the same time.  The guy heralding a new age in RPGs with the AI from the Sims made his point by splicing together a screenshot of Planescape and the Sims in one all-powerful game.  Fuck, that would be cool.

[Armok]

I just finished changing my blog again. And for some reason I got Chen's theme stuck in my head...

Yay?

Huh? You havnt bloged in months, i thoguht it was abandoned.

[Gunner-Chan]

It's not the old one. And it's private now.

[Duke 2.0]

 Much like Spore many technical breakthroughs were dumbed down for the final release in Oblivion. I remember reading an article on Oblivions AI which said they needed to restrict the AI because they ended up with situations where they had a drug dealer NPC who was needed for a quest dead before you got to him, research revealing that a crackhead NPC killed him because they could not pay for the drugs. Granted they later added the system where important NPC's are simply knocked unconscious so they didn't need to dumb down the AI for that. but ultimately there is a lot of management dumbing down the features to make a 'polished' game.

 Remember the old Spore articles on the Debug Squid? Remember the old cell phase and how you could construct a little cell? Goddamit middle management.

[ToonyMan]

The first Spore demo Will Wright showed was amazing, the best part was when he finally walked onto the land with his three legged dinosaur friend.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I say that they should let the AI play out in destructive ways. You didn't see a million unkillable NPC's in Morrowind, and the game was better off for it. You had to either have a lot of backup saves ready or be damn sure it was a good idea when you killed an NPC. Hell, you could kill no less than three gods if you so wished in Morrowind. For this very reason, I was somewhat pissed that seemingly random NPC's proved unslayable in Oblivion.

When the previous game allowed you to murder a physical god, steal his shit, and use it to kill another god instead of dealing with the main story, I found Oblivion underwhelming.

[alway]

More in today's Alway News Roundup: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-08/stanford-researchers-new-solar-cells-convert-light-and-heat-electricity
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-08/researchers-unlock-secrets-bacterias-super-efficient-microscopic-motor-tech
Efficient solar power. Also, bacteria use electric motors.

Sims Medieval just seems weird to me. It will be a hard one to pull off well without simply becoming an amalgation of all the worst parts about fantasy RPGs. If it was just straight up RPG, that would be pretty awesome... But to keep the Sims name on it, it may not turn out so well. Just taking the sims and renaming the treadmill "Kill boars" and the bookshelf "Read Arcane Tomes" to get stats up is what I am afraid it would turn into.

[RedKing]

The Sims thing....it's like almost a game, but not quite. I mean, it feels like how Majesty or The Guild 2 would...if you took out the game part and just let the characters wander around randomly. I don't think I'd like it.

[Gunner-Chan]

I've never understood why everyone just wants to kill everyone in a game.

Seriously if killing anyone is as far as anyone goes for "freedom" in a game then we haven't actually gotten very far. And Ill be honest. The fact that I could kill anyone I saw in morrowind isn't why I like the game. Hell I've probably killed only 6-10 people in my current playthrough in progress of hours long. And that's for quests and a few self defense kills.

[Duke 2.0]

 Then there are ashlanders and various groups out to kill you, but I also appreciate the pacifistic approach. Looting tombs no matter who is inside notwithstanding.

 And bandits are never really an issue because their caves have nothing in them worth going through it all.

[Gunner-Chan]

Actually. If I can help it I sneak through those caves.

Because of a mod I have I was able to sneak into one. And then free and arm the slaves in there who killed some of the bandits during their escape. That was awesome.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Being able to kill them isn't what makes Morrowind great, it's what makes Obivion worse. Slaying some seemingly unimportant NPC only to have them get right back up kills the immersion.

[Gunner-Chan]

And the bloom blinding you every armored guy you saw and puddingfaces didn't?

Prioritys man. Prioritys.