As I’ve written about before I have quite a few tabletop war game miniatures. I’ve also mentioned how I needed a plan, motivation, or some sort of painting group in order to get through all the models I have lying in boxes and cases. Ask the Universe and it gives back they say… Not too long ago two of my friends, independent of each other, started holding group painting sessions! I used one of those opportunities to finish myBattlefleet GothicNecron fleet and just today I went to another one to start painting my HordeLegion of Everblight models. I’ve been putting off painting these models for well, years now, because they’re mostly flesh and flesh is notoriously difficult to paint. Give me armor any day and I’ll happily slap the paint around. It’s very difficult to mess up painting leather or metal. Flesh though? That’s hard and I was scared. Scared because I don’t know how to paint it and scared because the pros who do make it look so good.
Six hours of work
Thankfully my friend is not only an experienced painter but well versed in various flesh painting techniques. I spent six hours today at a table next to him as he guided me through how to add paint flesh that looked vibrant and had depth. Basically, it all comes down to lots of layering and selective use of washes. I added the base layer and two additional layers to all four of them and then concentrated on a single model for the rest of the time in order to learn as much technique as possible; so that in the future I could complete the rest of the models at home. The final model, which took the lion share of time, has nine layers of paint, four washes and used a total of seven different colors in various blends on it. Oh, and it still isn’t complete! The mouth, including teeth, all still needs to be painted, washed, and highlighted. I’m hoping I get faster as I go along.
Base coat, and two layers of paint. You can see the beginnings of the shading hereFive+ layers of paint, includes highlights and two washes.All done except for the mouth!From the other side
Once the mouth is painted the only thing left to do would be to paint and flock (fake rocks and grass) the models base and I’ll be done. This wasn’t easy to do and I’m not completely happy with the results my progress throughout the day really improved. I’m hoping by the time I get to the really big models I’ll have the technique down and can turn out a really great looking model. Of course, if I do I’ll tell you about it here.
The London Police search desperately for a killer...
While I receivedLetters from White Chapel some time back I didn’t break open the box, sit down, and play the game until quite recently. I had over the friends that had gifted me the game and sitting around the table we figured the game out. The game is set in Victorian England between August 31, to November 9, 1888 with one player acting as Jack the Ripper and the other players, up to five, playing the police investigators tasked with hunting the serial killer down.
The game is played over five “nights” each broken down into two phases. The first phase, termed “hell”, lets the person playing as Jack the Ripper place his various victims on the board with a number of decoys. Then, the other players place their investigators around the town, again with decoys. Then the victim tokens are flipped over, decoys removed, and victim pawns put on the board (the victims are termed “the wretched in the game’s documentation. I found that apt.) Now the second phase of the night is entered where “Jack” make take a victim or wait, if “Jake” waits the investigators move each victim pawn one space and then “Jack” may turn over an investigator token; if it is a decoy the token is removed if it is an investigator the appropriately colored pawn piece is place on the board. This process repeats until “Jack” decides to take a victim, up to five times on the fifth turn “Jack” must declare a victim. He declares the kill, places a scene of the crime token on the location of the murder and the hunt begins. The Jack player now must move through the streets of White Chapel avoiding the investigators and returning to his hideout (picked at the beginning of the game and written down on a tracking sheet (all of Jack’s moves are a secret to the investigators and are kept track of on a sheet that the “Jack” player maintains.))
The scene of the crime and three investigators...
The investigator players are tasked with working together to trap Jack or prevent him from getting to his hideout. Each investigator can move during their turn and either search for clues or make an arrest. Searching for clues reveals to the investigators whether any places adjacent to them have been traveled through by Jack. Making an arrest will win the game for the investigators if the adjacent place they declare the arrest in contains Jack. Jack has two limited special moves at his disposal during the hunt: he can move two spaces in a turn or jump over a block. If Jack is arrested or fails to make it back to his hideout in a specified number of moves the investigators win. If Jack makes it the night ends and the next night begins; if Jack makes it to his hideout on the fifth night that player wins.
White Chapel
Turns out this game is really easy for Jake to win! The game definitely is improved by the Jake player being risky in the flight back to their hideout. A cautious, crafty Jack player using their special moves can make it back to the hideout each night without a single investigator finding a single clue! Even once a clue or clues have been found the branching pathway system makes it difficult if not impossible to determine which direction Jack might have gone… The game definitely improves once investigators get a few clues and can start coordinating their moves in an attempt to box Jack in. Of course, even then it still takes some luck, in one game investigators twice found themselves standing next to the killer but had searched for clues instead of making an arrest allowing Jack to escape!
I, and the friends I played with, found the game a lot of fun to play! Especially once we instituted the house rule that Jack must be daring in his flight from justice. Trying to deduce which way Jack might have gone and correlate the investigators moved accordingly is satisfying, even more so when your hunch is right and you find yourself closing in on the killer, or the location of his hideout! It doesn’t hurt that the game can be played in under two hours either!
Spacechem is the latest game from Zachtronics Industries an indie game developer. It only came out recently though I didn’t hear anything about the game until it went up for sale on the first day of STEAM’s Summer Camp Sale and some friends bought it; then they wouldn’t shut up about it. The game looked intriguing though it was hard to tell what was going on in videos of the game. I downloaded the demo and gave it a try.
The menu screen, looks safe.An earlyish puzzle in the process of being solved.
I’ve been describing the game as a simple scripting language, basic chemistry, flowcharts, and puzzle game mashed into one thing. The board is set up into four quadrants two inputs fields and two output fields. The player has control over two tracks with which they build a flowing script in order to transport, manipulate, combine and tear down atoms and molecules. As the game progresses you’ll have to create multiple chains of these “reactors” to create the desired molecule in complete a level.
A multiple reactor puzzle. Inputs on the left output on the right.A more complex puzzle in the process of being solved.
What makes Spacechem more than a good puzzle game is the fact that the game keeps meticulous records of every puzzle you complete and how you complete it. This information is then compared with all other players and your place amongst them is shown. So, while any puzzle can be solved in just about anyway there are certainly more efficient ways to complete a puzzle, either using less commands, less time to complete, or less “reactors.” Solving the puzzles is only half of the game. The part that keeps you obsessing and coming back, the part that has me seeing blue and red tracks manipulating atoms and molecules in my sleep is the knowledge that I can do better. That while my puzzle is satisfactory it is not optimal. Therein lies Spacechem’s genius.
The notoriously difficult Moustachium-208 molecule reactorIn the process of being solved.
I heartily recommend the game to those who like puzzle games. If you do get it make sure to add me as a friend on STEAM (falselogic); I’ll want to see how well you do on some of these puzzles. Also, I’ll be on ‘On The Stick‘ next Monday (7/18/2011) to talk about the game!
Like this art? Custom made by me! I'm open for commissions
“Indie” games seem to be popular right now. Or were they popular a few years ago and now are just another thing? I have a hard time keeping up with what is cool and trendy in the video game world these days. With services like PSN, XBox Live, and STEAM these indie games are becoming readily available. I don’t know if one can earn enough money making them for a living… Eh, before they were “indie” games they were just games you found on the internet and shared with your friends. I like to think of them as the shareware of the “00” without having to mail in a check to get the rest of the episodes…
Anyway, there is a lot of these games out there now. Some of which you’ll have heard of (Spelunky, Cave Story, Knytt) and some you haven’t (Hero Core, Lyle in Cube Sector, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.) Because I had no life in college (and today know people who are still in college or play videogames for a semi-living) I can help you wade through all the dross and find the ones worth playing.
Here they are in the order they occured/recommended to me:
Spelunky – Is a procedurally generated platformer wherein you play an Indiana Jones like character delving through mines and caves looking for treasures. This game was so popular that a publisher noticed it and decided to throw money at the developer to port it to Xbox Live Arcade. This doesn’t happen very often though, so if you’re thinking of going into the business… Anyway, what makes Spelunky great is the fact that its random and you can get your little guy into all sorts of absurd situations. Watch some videos on Youtube to get an idea (I recommend the adventures of Iowa Jack)
Viriax – I reviewed this game when it came out earlier this year. Viriax is a simple shmup-like (is that a word/genre? It is now I just made it one.) where you control a virus as it infects a host body. I use the term shmup-like because the virus doesn’t shoot anything instead it must swim past enemies and then attack them from behind. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very good at this game but it is enjoyable and the music is great.
Cave Story – Another game everyone has heard of at this point. What you didn’t know is that the game has been out now for more than 5 years now. I first heard about it at the end of 2005 and poked around with it for a bit before something else distracted me. I picked it back up after hearing that Nintendo was bringing it to Virtual Console… Cave Story is a Metroidvania style game where you control a little robot with amnesia stuck in a cave world. Charming visuals, a good soundtrack, and excellent gameplay can all be found in Cave Story.
Hero Core – The sequel to Hero and another Metroidzania. This is a very “retro” styled game. That black & white pic above? Is from Hero Core. I haven’t played much of this one (who has the time for all these video games?) but it’s intriguing enough to keep me coming back and checking it out some more.
Desktop Dungeons – Some people hate their lives. They hate their lives so much that in their free time they play roguelikes.I do not hate myself and even if I did I’d have better things to do with my free time (like cutting myself) Which is why Desktop Dungeons is nice. This way I get to experience a roguelike without the atrocious ASCII art and opaque design. I know, I know roguelikes have deep, complex gameplay that rewards investing time and effort into the genre. The thing is I don’t want to die 1000s of time before I manage to beat the game. Desktop Dungeon distills all the pain out of roguelikes and leaves a smart, quick, fun game behind.
Lyle in Cube Sector – The creator describes the game as a “block throwing action/adventure game.” I just found it charming and fun to tinker around with.
I Wanna be The Guy – The most infamous “indie” game on the planet. Not my cup of tea (I like myself) but it was made by a friend of mine so I couldn’t not put it here. Super hard, surreal platformer. Let me know if you beat it though. I want to shake your hand.
Strange Adventures in Infinite Space – a quick 4x (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) game that can be played in 5 to 20 minutes. Explore the galaxy, make friends, kill aliens. Nothing here but love.
That list though is only the beginning, and only what I could think of off the top of my head. I can vouch for all of these but there are 1000s of these games out there. Good thing we have the internet. Good thing some kind hearted soul (Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunkyand two other guys) has already done all the footwork and created a searchable database of independent games: TIGdb. I’ll warn you know though that TIGdb is a rabbithole and I can’t say when if ever you’ll find your way out.
As long as you have fun, I guess it doesn’t matter, huh?
