Category Archives: Writing

D is for Defiance

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Defiance is a futuristic shooter developed and released in conjunction with the television show, Defiance.

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Developer: Trion Worlds

Genre/gameplay mechanics: third-person; open-world; shooter; quick weapon-switching; driving.

Setting: Realistic graphics with action taking place in the California Bay Area, formerly San Francisco, 15 years after the devastating Pale Wars between Earth and a loose alliance of extra-terrestrial races known as the Votanis Collective. Terraformed landscape but Google map echoes.

Storytelling: Defiance was Syfy’s big experiment with transmedia storytelling as the series’ storylines were designed to mesh with the narrative of the game, sharing characters, species, events and more. Regular show-and-game intersections took the form of in-game events, character and story crossovers, and promotions. However, the player takes on the role of an ark hunter – a treasure/bounty hunter recently arrived in the Bay Area in search of valuable Votan technology with a main quest line that runs separately from the show.

Releases + Expansions:

  1. Sequels: In February 2018, Trion announced, “the next chapter in the Defiance universe will be coming this summer to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in a massive online sci-fi shooter we’re calling Defiance 2050.”

Formats: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Origins (Chronological): The Defiance team developed new mythologies, languages and societies for the Votanis Collective.

Adaptations set in the ‘Defiance’ universe:

  1. TV: Defiance, the TV series existed in the same evolving universe, but the series takes place in what used to be St. Louis, Missouri, now called Defiance. Some major characters in one had cameos in the other media. When the series cancelled before the fourth season, Syfy commented: “‘Defiance’ was a truly ground-breaking series, delivering an immersive, cross-platform experience that transcended the television screen in a way that viewers had never seen before…”

Recommendation: Defiance received mixed reviews from critics upon release but established a loyal player base. However, ongoing connectivity problems, strained content and bugs have eaten away at the support. Defiance 2050 might revive the interest.

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3.5 Stars: From playing Defiance regularly with my partner, soon after its release, and watching the show, we are now irregular players. I enjoy the setting and killing ‘hellbugs’ when frustrated, but the storyline came to an end too quickly and much of the game became repetitive. However, I belong to a great clan, Zodiac – and we plan to move on with Defiance 2050.

  1. Setting: 3.7*
  2. Storyline: 3.5*
  3. Gameplay: 5*
  4. Entertainment: 3.7*
  5. Genesis: 1.5*

Alternative ‘D’ thoughts:

D is also for Donnie Darko, but even though this is a cult classic, there were now games spawned by the movie – very disappointing as this is among my favourite films.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

 

C is for Conan Exiles

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Conan Exiles is an open-world survival game set in the fictional prehistoric Hyborian Age.

Release Date: May 8, 2018

Developer/Publisher: Funcom

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Sandbox; open-world; survival; exploration; action-adventure; 3rd person; single or multi-player. Wiki: https://conanexiles.gamepedia.com/Conan_Exiles_Wiki

Setting: Realistic rendition of an area within Robert E. Howard’s pseudo-historical Hyborian world of Conan the Barbarian, with the starting area being a harsh desert landscape, titled The Exiled Lands and a northern biome called The Frozen North with sub-arctic forests and mountain snowfields.

Storytelling: The custom playable character is an exile, one of thousands cast out to fend for themselves in a barbaric wasteland swept by terrible sandstorms and besieged on every side by wild beasts and other exiles in their fight to survive, build and dominate. There is no quest line but there are secrets to be discovered.

Releases: n/a

Formats: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2008 – Funcom’s Age of Conan: Unchained is a brutal and bloody massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the Hyborian Age with multiple race/class combinations.
  2. 1932-36 – Eighteen Conan stories were written by Robert E. Howard and published in his lifetime. Three more were published after his death, along with fragments completed by other writers.
  3. 1930s – Robert E. Howard’s essay The Hyborian Age set down the mythical history behind his Conan stories between the time of the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of the known ancient civilizations. According to Howard himself (in “The Phoenix on the Sword“): “…between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas…”

Adaptations set in the ‘Conan’ universe: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_works_by_Robert_E._Howard]

  1. Novels and Short Stories: In total, more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories featuring the Conan character have been written by authors other than Howard.
  2. Films: Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) with Arnold Schwarzenegger; Conan the Barbarian (2011) with Jason Momoa.
  3. Television: There have been three television series related to Conan.
  4. Comics: Conan has appeared in comics nearly non-stop since 1970.
  5. Video Games: Conan Exiles is the eighth Conan-related game released.
  6. Other games: Conan has appeared in various forms in the gaming community from simple board-games to the above-mentioned high tech multiplayer online games.

Recommendation: Good with potential. Conan Exiles has a flourishing player-base despite being an Early Access title, and, according to MMOS.com, “it follows all the survival genre bullet-points…is one of the best looking survival games available.” Player-created mods demonstrate that the community might encourage the game to evolve and survive. See also: mmorpg.com.

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3.75 Stars: Having enjoyed Age of Conan: Unchained, I have played Conan Exiles in Early Access. The setting is immersive and survival a challenge, but there were oddities like the wildlife ignoring their natural rivalries to target me. It’s not my favourite survival game – I prefer ARK: Survival Evolved where predators rule – but I will keep playing and building.

  1. Setting: 4*
  2. Storyline: 3*
  3. Gameplay: 3.75*
  4. Entertainment: 4*
  5. Genesis: 4*

Alternative ‘C’ thoughts:

C could have been one of my childhood favourites, C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, but I haven’t yet encountered the right game, although there have been a few.

+ ‘C’ Games played: Corum Online [my first MMORPG], Civilization II, and Cabal Online.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

B is for Baldur’s Gate

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to participants.]

Game: Baldur’s Gate is a classic that reinvigorated the computer role-playing game and expanded the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

Release Date:  November 30, 1998

Developer: BioWare and Black Isle Studios

Genre/gameplay mechanics: RPG [role-playing game]; offline or online; single or multiplayer; top-down isometric god perspective; auto-applied Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition role-playing rules; party management; pausable real-time; moral choices rewarded.

Setting: Baldur’s Gate takes place in the fictional world of Ed Greenwood‘s Forgotten Realms setting. Focusing upon the western shoreline of Faerûn, within a region known as the Sword Coast.

Storytelling: Player takes the role of the ward of the mage Gorion and searches for ‘controllable’ AI allies to help them survive attacks, and then opts to investigate what is causing a deadly crisis. A strong storyline with cliff-hangers.

Releases + Expansions:

Sequels: four initial sequels/expansion packs – plus two unrelated Baldur’s Gate games in the same setting.

Remaster: In 2012, Beamdog began releasing the ‘improved’ remake of the original games, plus new content.

Formats: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 1960s – Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967. He brought the setting to the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987.

Adaptations set in the Baldur’s Gate universe:

  1. Novel: Baldur’s Gate(1999) by Philip Athans was based on the game.

Recommendation: The game received critical praise, and was credited, along with Diablo, with revitalizing the computer RPG genre. Baldur’s Gate received positive reviews from virtually every major computer gaming publication that reviewed it.

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4 stars: On release, the setting and storytelling engrossed me – the landscape and characters felt more real than in many books. Playing the recent Enhanced Edition this year, the game felt dated in terms of graphics and mechanics, yet the storytelling was still fresh. So worth re-living.

  1. Setting: 4*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay: 3.5*
  4. Entertainment: 4*
  5. Genesis: 3.5*

 

Alternative ‘B’ thoughts:

B is also for Blade Runner, the 1982 Ridley Scott film that spawned two games called Blade Runner – one in 1985 and another in 1997 – neither of which I’ve played. The film itself, one of my favourite films, was based on the great Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

+ ‘B’ Games played: Battle of the Immortals, and Black Desert Online.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

 

 

A is for Assassin’s Creed

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Game: Assassin’s Creed launched an immersive franchise that continues to grow and push its boundaries. Plus, its roots go back…centuries.

Release Date: November 13, 2007

Developer/Publisher: Ubisoft

Genre: Stealth; assassination and exploration; parkour; open world; 3rd person perspective.

Setting: various historical periods; graphics excellent – realistic, detailed, immersive.

Storytelling: Historical fiction mixed with real-world historical events and figures. The series depicts a centuries-old struggle pitting the Assassins, who fight for peace and free will, against the Templars, who believe peace comes through control of humanity.

Releases + Expansions: Ten main releases in different historical eras plus ten expansions in the same eras.

Formats: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC.

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 1980s – Loosely built upon gameplay concepts from the Prince of Persia series, first game released in 1989.
  2. 1930s – The series took many plot elements from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol, first published in 1938 in Slovenian.  The novel dealt with the story of Hassan-i Sabbah and the Hashshashin, and was named after their Alamut fortress.
  3. 11th century – The game’s Order of Assassins are fictionalized descendants of the 11th century Alamut Hashshashin.

 

Adaptations set within the Assassin’s Creed universe:

  1. Film: Assassin’s Creed is a 2016 American movie with a new story, written by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage. Directed by Justin Kurzel, and starring Michael Fassbender (who also produced), Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons, the reception was poor, but at the time it was the ‘best video-game adaptation’.
  2. Short films: Ubisoft have made three short films, one animated.
  3. TV: Ubisoft and Netflix started talks in 2016 regarding how to develop an Assassin’s Creed anime series, which will feature an original story from Adi Shankar.
  4. Comics: eleven graphic novels and one manga.
  5. Novels:  Collection of nine novels. The books follow various time periods.

Recommendation: Mixed-very positive reviews – franchise ongoing with the release in Fall 2017 of Assassin’s Creed Origins, set in Egypt near the end of the Ptolemaic period (49–47 BC).

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4.6 stars: I’ve only played Assassin’s Creed Syndicate which is set in the Victorian era – so lots of steam, but not steampunk. As I often choose to play ‘assassin’ classes, I like stealth – and exploration. But my reflexes are erratic so progress in the game was frustrating. I loved the graphics and the setting felt very realistic and so immersive that I wanted to explore more of the games.

  1. Setting: 5*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay 4*
  4. Entertainment 4*
  5. Genesis 5*

 

Alternative ‘A’ thoughts:

A could have been for Arthurian legends or Annales Cambriae, but they must wait for later games in my quest with other letters.

+ A games played: Age of Empires, Age of Conan: Unchained, Aion, ARK: Survival Evolved [a current 5* distraction], and ArchAge.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

A to Z Challenge 2018 posts

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My March 19, 2018, post for the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal day set me on a quest to find the origins of online games, some of these relatively modern and some with ancient roots.

Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. As my research continues, I realise that some games have more recent roots, but there are ones that go centuries back.

Soon after finding dragons living in the diverse dungeons, I discovered that many games have elements and more with roots in the mythology that enriched the lives of our early ancestors. Therefore, I could have just used a repetitive answer throughout, but I chose a more scenic path.

So scenic that I got diverted by the urge to start with at least one source material as that was a better opening. A case of DEA – devious experiment ahead.  Any ideas on which will be the diversion?

There was a point where this challenge was going to be called ‘Arthur to Zelda’. But Arthur must wait – like Charles – to be King…King Kong? Wait and read what happens when the sword emerges – and learn which sword rules.

As I write this, my A-Z list below is incomplete, so suggestions are welcome. I have forgotten games that I played a decade ago – like a few strategy titles. In a couple of cases, there are games beginning with that letter, but no interesting ‘roots’. Some of my choices might seem strange, but there is ‘method in my madness’ – like I’ve tried to choose (a) games with roots, and (b) games that I have sampled for hours or months.

For those games that I have played, I have attempted to give my personal assessment- stars based on the following aspects: Setting; Storyline; Gameplay; Entertainment; and Genesis. My supportive partner, Juanita has added her input as a fellow gamer – in fact, her experience is far greater than mine. P is the key to our relationship.

Here are the 26 letters that will develop into my posts for the April 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, aka A2ZMMORPG – A to Z Musings Muster Original Roots Per Game:

A is for Assassin’s Creed

B is for Baldur’s Gate

C is for Conan Exiles

D is for Defiance

E is for Elder Scrolls

F is for Frankenstein

G is for Guns or Butter

H is for ……

I is for Indiana Jones

J is for Jumanji

K is for King Charles?

L is for LOTRO

M is for Might & Magic

N is for …..

O is for …..

P is for Perfect World

Q is for ….

R is for …..

S is for SWTOR

T is for Tomb Raider

U is for …..

V is for Vindictus

W is for WOW

X is for X-Men

Z is for Zelda

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Death in Dulwich – a review

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I must apologise for this belated review – my own detective work conspired against this getting written.

 DeathInDulwich

Death in Dulwich (London Murder Mystery #1)

by Alice Castle

Thirty-something single mum Beth Haldane is forced to become Dulwich’s answer to Miss Marple when she stumbles over a murder victim on her first day at work. To clear her name, Beth is plunged into a cozy mystery that’s a contemporary twist on Golden Age crime classics. But can she pull it off? She already has a bouncy young son, haughty cat, a fringe with a mind of its own and lots of bills to pay, as she struggles to keep up with the yummy mummies of SE21. Join Beth in #1 of the London Murder Mystery series, as she discovers the nastiest secrets can lurk in the nicest places.

 

Review 4.7 stars

The descriptive opening with its Dulwich setting and the centuries-old school swept me into a change of reading direction. I tend to read more hard-boiled mysteries, but when a cozy grabs my attention like Death in Dulwich, I am hooked.

Single-mum Beth Haldane did more than that. She’s both a determined and an amusing protagonist whose priority is her son. But stumbling over a murder victim on her first day at a new job adds to her impressive daily juggling. She realises that she is a prime suspect so delving into the secrets hiding in leafy SE21 is logical.

Except to the police who have their way of dealing with crime. I sensed that the Inspector will be making a re-appearance in Beth’s life when she is faced with her next case. As a writer of police procedurals, I questioned the authenticity of his actions – but only for a moment, and I want to know more.

Beth holds to her priorities – Homework must come before murder investigations and getting your son to school on time is vital. Even harder when you are surrounded by ‘the yummy mummies’ with aspirations for their little darlings.

Alice Castle paints a humorous picture of the upwardly-mobile world, yet she makes the subtle competitiveness work alongside. The characters all feel realistic, from the staff at Wyatt’s – I remember some from my private school days – to the suspects driven by…well, that would be spoiling the fun.

Let’s just say that suspects can get desperate, and there are red herrings plus direct challenges for Beth that test her resolve. Never underestimate a determined sleuth or a devious writer. Some of the structural twists fooled me as well.

This mystery that kept me grinning and thinking. Recommended for those that want a neat cozy read. I may not join Beth immediately for her next case, but The Girl in The Gallery is a Must Read.

4.7 stars upgraded to 5.

Story – five stars

Setting/World-building – five stars

Authenticity – four stars

Characters – five stars

Structure – four stars

Readability – five stars

Editing – five stars