Hope everyone has a fun filled holiday. And if you're not an American...happy Saturday. Woo hoo!
As for gaming...
I'm not going to continue to hammer the Blood Bowl AI (and there was much rejoicing) as that ship has sailed and unless they patch it I'm strictly going to play online.
I played a game today against Mitch (fellow GShark staffer and wunderkind) and won 2-0 in a game of Orc on Orc violence. (Defense Wins Championships!!) But I loved it because it wasn't against the AI patterns. Very refreshing. I really can't wait to start the league -- we should be up and running this week and I'll post some match reports as I get them. As much as I dislike this game off line, I love it online.
I am retiring from Prototype after 18 completed misisons of the game's 31. Too many combos, too samey gameplay and I feel exhausted after each play session. Alex Mercer can go $%^& himself. I don't care anymore. It has moved into the realm of not being enjoyable. So I'm done.
EA sent the new Potter game for review and Ubi sent Call if Juarez II so I may get to those Sunday. Tonight I am taking the fam to more fireworks.
Oh, before I forget I posted Brian's Red Faction Guerrilla Walkthrough on Friday. Good stuff.
OK -- time to relax.
Orange whip?
Orange whip?
Three orange whips!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
A Game Now on My Radar
I dunno why it hasn't been up until now, because I generally love Stardock, but I was browsing Tom's Fidgit blog this morning and stumbled upon Elemental.
And here's the game's direct link.
I am so in.
And here's the game's direct link.
I am so in.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
More Blood Bowl AI
I was going to write up this long AI critique today but my Dr. has prescribed happy pills for my back so WOO HOO. Go Happy Pills. However, the BB addicts on the game's official forum have done the work for me so in that honor bound blog tradition I am going to totally steal that info and paste it here.
This is in very basic terms what is wrong with the Blood Bowl AI whether you play on Easy, Medium or Hard. It matters not.
This from a fella called Bitterman:
However it goes deeper.
In order for the AI to be a threat -- not to play a brilliant game but just to pose a threat to a good BB player it needs to stop with the excessive dodging and the ridiculous amount of times it tries to "Go For It." -- Going For It is the game's defacto sprint -- you can move 2 spaces more than your Move Allowance but you need to roll a D6 each time you move and if you roll a 1 you fall and your turn ends.
The AI Goes For It every turn and with multiple players. It is TRYING to set up a "cage" -- this is a BB term where the ball carrier is placed in the middle of a bunch of teammates who shield (cage) him from enemies. A common tactics with teams like the Orcs, Dwarfs, and Chaos. Of course the AI does this with every race...
But it is SO intent on this cage idea that it Goes For It like crazy in order to set it up and invariably someone tumbles, screwing up the turn. They also like to dodge...with Dwarfs. A lot. That's 10 ways of stupid.
Finally -- MOVE THE BALL. The AI will only move the ball when it has a wide open path. Of course a good BB coach won't allow that unless the dice just flat out betray him. A good offensive coach has to plan blocks, and yes, take a few risks with passes, blocks, nullifying tackle zones, etc. The AI is terrified of your players with its ball carrier. And will not move until the road is wide open. This is why my games are almost all 2-0; 3-0; 4-0. The AI will score every few games based on abysmal die rolls but it doesn't get credit for that in my book.
So yes, the AI has no sense of time, no sense of the score, no sense of its star player's skills and how best to use them or how to line them up, no sense of game planning based on race, no sense of basic friggin' percentages when it comes to dodging, goes for it too much, and has no idea how to mount a basic offensive attack.
Other than that, it's awesome.
Look, this is still Blood Bowl and playing the game online is about as good as gaming gets for me. The rules of the boardgame are mostly in effect and are brilliant. It's a wonderful game. But Cyanide needs to fix the AI like...soon. Otherwise when all of the new players who are learning how to play the game start bitch slapping the AI (it will happen, believe me) boredom is going to set in.
I just hope for your sake that it takes a long time for that to happen so you feel like you got your $50 worth.
This is in very basic terms what is wrong with the Blood Bowl AI whether you play on Easy, Medium or Hard. It matters not.
This from a fella called Bitterman:
He's on point with all of that.
Speaking as a games developer, writing a good AI isn't easy. Especially for a game as complex as Blood Bowl. Some of the suggestions above are great advice for human players but a computer will really struggle to understand it. But there are a few easy wins that absolutely requirement improvement for the game to be at all challenging and interesting in single player.
1. Understand turns 7 and 8. It is completely pointless (and totally ruins any illusion of intelligence) when a team 2-1 down at the end of turn 14, with the ball, doesn't advance anyone on turn 15, making it impossible to score on turn 16. This is absolutely critical and 100% required that this behaviour gets fixed.
2. Differentiate more between team tactics. It is completely pointless sending Dwarf Blitzers forward on the wings in the same way as Wood Elf Catchers. Effectively it's like the Blitzers aren't involved - so you're playing against 9 men - I've yet to concede against Dwarfs, or win by less than 3-0 (usually 4-0). While on the subject - if a Dwarf team is kicking, it's not always a good idea to field the Deathroller - I've never had to face a Deathroller for more than three turns before I score and it's sent off.
3. Differentiate more between kicking and receiving. I'm not sure I ever remember more than three players being set up on the LOS, with two in each wide zone and a line behind the front. It's so predictable - and the same whether kicking or receiving. Why not set up seven Dwarfs on the front line sometimes? Or four Wood Elf catchers and both Wardancers on one flank when receiving, to overload it? Every drive is the same.
4. Team progression is broken. Goblins with Break Tackle are just the start of it. There's no sense that the team develops as a unit - players are given skills apparently at random, in isolation. This is probably the most complex fix because there's a lot to it (strategy, trying to predict future tactics, rather than just tactics in isolation!) but a few simple rules would make big differences.
It's a good game, it's fun - I mean, it's Blood Bowl - but the AI is very weak in the above areas. It'll never be as strong as a truly skilled human but on the "hard" setting, it should not do things that are just stupid - but it consistently does, usually leaving it incapable of scoring when it needs to equalise or win - no human would make such a basic mistake.
However it goes deeper.
In order for the AI to be a threat -- not to play a brilliant game but just to pose a threat to a good BB player it needs to stop with the excessive dodging and the ridiculous amount of times it tries to "Go For It." -- Going For It is the game's defacto sprint -- you can move 2 spaces more than your Move Allowance but you need to roll a D6 each time you move and if you roll a 1 you fall and your turn ends.
The AI Goes For It every turn and with multiple players. It is TRYING to set up a "cage" -- this is a BB term where the ball carrier is placed in the middle of a bunch of teammates who shield (cage) him from enemies. A common tactics with teams like the Orcs, Dwarfs, and Chaos. Of course the AI does this with every race...
But it is SO intent on this cage idea that it Goes For It like crazy in order to set it up and invariably someone tumbles, screwing up the turn. They also like to dodge...with Dwarfs. A lot. That's 10 ways of stupid.
Finally -- MOVE THE BALL. The AI will only move the ball when it has a wide open path. Of course a good BB coach won't allow that unless the dice just flat out betray him. A good offensive coach has to plan blocks, and yes, take a few risks with passes, blocks, nullifying tackle zones, etc. The AI is terrified of your players with its ball carrier. And will not move until the road is wide open. This is why my games are almost all 2-0; 3-0; 4-0. The AI will score every few games based on abysmal die rolls but it doesn't get credit for that in my book.
So yes, the AI has no sense of time, no sense of the score, no sense of its star player's skills and how best to use them or how to line them up, no sense of game planning based on race, no sense of basic friggin' percentages when it comes to dodging, goes for it too much, and has no idea how to mount a basic offensive attack.
Other than that, it's awesome.
Look, this is still Blood Bowl and playing the game online is about as good as gaming gets for me. The rules of the boardgame are mostly in effect and are brilliant. It's a wonderful game. But Cyanide needs to fix the AI like...soon. Otherwise when all of the new players who are learning how to play the game start bitch slapping the AI (it will happen, believe me) boredom is going to set in.
I just hope for your sake that it takes a long time for that to happen so you feel like you got your $50 worth.
On the Docket
First off, Brandon also Hearts The Conduit. You know we do have more people writing for GameShark. I think...I need to check that. Our latest boardgame column is up -- hey that's not Brandon right there!
My Blood Bowl review won't be published until after the league starts because one really needs to test the MP waters and I refuse to play against random dudes. My rules I make 'em up.
I have some more Offline Blood Bowl thoughts that I'd like to get to later (the short version: the AI still sucks but yet I can't stop playing it.)
But today I finally go to the doctor who will then refer me to another doctor/chiropractor.
About two months ago I took a bad spill playing basketball. It just makes sense, really. I haven't popped my ankle in a long time so hey -- why not move to another location? This time: my back.
The day after my back -- near my left shoulder blade -- was extremely sore. But I rested, took some pain meds, and felt a lot better. Then we built the fence. Then I went to E3 and slept on a cheap bed.
For the last two weeks or so my left arm and hand have been "tingly" like it's asleep. It's not like you sit on your foot for 10 minutes and feel like it's being jabbed with needles. This is lot more subtle than that. It doesn't hurt as much as it's sort of numb. Whatever it is it ain't right. And my shoulder blade area is hurting again and if I move my neck around I feel paid in my back.
So my diagnosis, as prescribed by the Internet, is that I have a pinched nerve. Today I go see the doc to confirm my brilliance at reading general symptoms on various generic medical websites.
What could possibly go wrong?
My Blood Bowl review won't be published until after the league starts because one really needs to test the MP waters and I refuse to play against random dudes. My rules I make 'em up.
I have some more Offline Blood Bowl thoughts that I'd like to get to later (the short version: the AI still sucks but yet I can't stop playing it.)
But today I finally go to the doctor who will then refer me to another doctor/chiropractor.
About two months ago I took a bad spill playing basketball. It just makes sense, really. I haven't popped my ankle in a long time so hey -- why not move to another location? This time: my back.
The day after my back -- near my left shoulder blade -- was extremely sore. But I rested, took some pain meds, and felt a lot better. Then we built the fence. Then I went to E3 and slept on a cheap bed.
For the last two weeks or so my left arm and hand have been "tingly" like it's asleep. It's not like you sit on your foot for 10 minutes and feel like it's being jabbed with needles. This is lot more subtle than that. It doesn't hurt as much as it's sort of numb. Whatever it is it ain't right. And my shoulder blade area is hurting again and if I move my neck around I feel paid in my back.
So my diagnosis, as prescribed by the Internet, is that I have a pinched nerve. Today I go see the doc to confirm my brilliance at reading general symptoms on various generic medical websites.
What could possibly go wrong?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
And You People Thought I Loved Blood Bowl
I do, of course.
But these guys really, really do.
If you are new to the game and want some tips or are simply a BB fan bored at work -- enjoy. Pretty awesome stuff.
But these guys really, really do.
If you are new to the game and want some tips or are simply a BB fan bored at work -- enjoy. Pretty awesome stuff.
Brandon Hearts Tiger Woods Wii
I despise the game on the 360. Despise is a bit much -- but I don't care for it. The day I miss a fairway without a 30 MPH wind is the day I...ugh it's early and I got nothin. Look it's hard not to hit it straight, ok?So last night our young dog Skipper (he of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever blood) zipped out of the house and through our newly built fence chasing a rabbit. The fence is still gateless because if anything I am the master of the half completed project. I've really perfected that.
Our neighbors keep their horses in our back half (about an acre and a half of land, perfect for grazing) and I thought they were put away for the evening. They were not. The gate leading to our neighbor's property was open and the horses were chilling behind some trees . So I go looking for Skipper, stop by and pet the horses -- like a doofus -- and then Mary yells that she sees Skip in our back lot. So back I go and lo and behold there is Skipper...looking all shameful. I grab him by the collar and start to drag him back to our house. We're still in the back half of the property (behind the fence) and I hear the thundering of hooves. Bill forgot to close the gate. The gate was open to begin with but I should have closed it because...
Here comes all five horses investigating the commotion. Skipper goes prone. He won't move. This is a 65 pound dog who at the sight of the charging Quarter horses just decided -- screw this I'll play dead. The crazy horse of the lot then proceeds to try and step on Skipper like he's a giant brown snake.
It's at times like this that your love for your pets takes over -- you either love them like a family member or view them as simple side bets. Disposable sacks of fur that are easily replaced.
So I dive in, covering Skipper like he's on fire. The female Paint is stomping, Mary is yelling, Skip is still acting like he's been shot and I'm thinking I will never be a rodeo clown. Somehow, the Paint misses Skipper with every snort filled step (me too..) and finally Skipper decides to make a run for it. This whole ordeal happens maybe 15 feet from the fence. He seems to finally realize this and bolts -- zipping underneath the middle plank that keeps the horses from coming into our main backyard area.
Of course I can't run like him, so there I lay, on the ground. The Paint sees Skipper flee and then leans down and nudges me with her nose as if to say, "Dude I wasn't going to actually hurt anyone."
Anyway, sorry for that little tangent. I may not like Tiger Woods on the 360 but Brandon loves it on the Wii.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Blood Bowl Achilles Heel
AI.
I have moved from "it's ok" to "it's not very good."
I am reading other forums and some seem to notice this brain dead behavior while others don't -- I suspect players new to the game aren't noticing some of the oddities, but if you know BB--it's pretty blatant.
I am now 11 games into my campaign with the Skaven and we're 10-1. The one loss coming in my 2nd game. and it was due 100% to exceedingly bad die rolls and not brilliant (or even solid) AI tactics. Since then, we are on cruise control. It is *very* rare that the AI scores on me.
And that's the #1 issue -- offensive AI is *abysmal*. Last night I was playing against the humans who had a good shot at scoring. A big scrum broke out at midfield and somehow the AI Human Blitzer emerged with the ball and I had a lone Skaven Lineman trying ro run him down. I was able to get into his Tackle Zone but that was it.
The Human player was about 5 paces from scoring so I knew I was in trouble.
In this situation, the AI has only two real options.
1) Try and get another player to assist block so that the Blitzer can "blitz" and use 2 dice and then run into the end zone.
2) If no help is nearby, simply blitz my Skaven lineman, and then move toward the goal. Human Blitzers have the Block skill (the Skaven Lineman do not) so the ONLY result on the die that hurts the Human is the Single Skull. ANY other result = TD for the Humans.
What does the AI do?
It tries to DODGE out of my Skaven's Tackle Zone. And fails. And its turn ends. I scoop up the ball and the half ends.
This is BASIC Blood Bowl principles, not some tricky nuanced maneuver. The AI MUST be able to handle that situation. EVERY time.
So today I continue the campaign and play an Orc team. The Orcs hire Star Player Varag Ghoul Chewer. This is a brutal player -- an Orc Blitzer with skills like Jump Up and Mighty Blow.
I would say for half the game Varag was on his back. Why? Well, the AI INSISTED on lining him up across from my Rat Ogre, the now star studded Wildrat Ivan. Ivan now has Juggarnaut as well as Piling On. He's a tank. Every turn Varag would get up, and Ivan would clobber him. It was a huge waste for 300K or whatever it costs to hire that guy.
However, near the end of the game, the Orcs down 2-0, they had a REALLY good chance to score. By now a had a few players KO'ed and 2 Badly Hurt so the Orcs were winning these final 3 turns via simple attrition. I was retreating with my Gutter Runners and trying to form a wall to prevent an easy score.
I made a tactical error, leaving a clear path for the Orcs to get a late game TD. Below is a picture of the setup prior to the Orc's FINAL move.
As you can see, the Orc Thrower has the ball -- Varag -- that Star Blitzer is next to him. The AI again has only 1 option -- hand the ball off to Varag and let him rumble -- he'll have to Go For It (sprint) but odds are good that he's gonna score.
What does the AI do?
It sends Varag on a Blitz move and blocks my lineman. The Thrower then moves as far as he can near the goal and the game ends.
Again, BASIC stuff. And the AI simply cannot handle it. And truth be told it's starting to make the Solo Game pretty stale.
I have moved from "it's ok" to "it's not very good."
I am reading other forums and some seem to notice this brain dead behavior while others don't -- I suspect players new to the game aren't noticing some of the oddities, but if you know BB--it's pretty blatant.
I am now 11 games into my campaign with the Skaven and we're 10-1. The one loss coming in my 2nd game. and it was due 100% to exceedingly bad die rolls and not brilliant (or even solid) AI tactics. Since then, we are on cruise control. It is *very* rare that the AI scores on me.
And that's the #1 issue -- offensive AI is *abysmal*. Last night I was playing against the humans who had a good shot at scoring. A big scrum broke out at midfield and somehow the AI Human Blitzer emerged with the ball and I had a lone Skaven Lineman trying ro run him down. I was able to get into his Tackle Zone but that was it.
The Human player was about 5 paces from scoring so I knew I was in trouble.
In this situation, the AI has only two real options.
1) Try and get another player to assist block so that the Blitzer can "blitz" and use 2 dice and then run into the end zone.
2) If no help is nearby, simply blitz my Skaven lineman, and then move toward the goal. Human Blitzers have the Block skill (the Skaven Lineman do not) so the ONLY result on the die that hurts the Human is the Single Skull. ANY other result = TD for the Humans.
What does the AI do?
It tries to DODGE out of my Skaven's Tackle Zone. And fails. And its turn ends. I scoop up the ball and the half ends.
This is BASIC Blood Bowl principles, not some tricky nuanced maneuver. The AI MUST be able to handle that situation. EVERY time.
So today I continue the campaign and play an Orc team. The Orcs hire Star Player Varag Ghoul Chewer. This is a brutal player -- an Orc Blitzer with skills like Jump Up and Mighty Blow.
I would say for half the game Varag was on his back. Why? Well, the AI INSISTED on lining him up across from my Rat Ogre, the now star studded Wildrat Ivan. Ivan now has Juggarnaut as well as Piling On. He's a tank. Every turn Varag would get up, and Ivan would clobber him. It was a huge waste for 300K or whatever it costs to hire that guy.
However, near the end of the game, the Orcs down 2-0, they had a REALLY good chance to score. By now a had a few players KO'ed and 2 Badly Hurt so the Orcs were winning these final 3 turns via simple attrition. I was retreating with my Gutter Runners and trying to form a wall to prevent an easy score.
I made a tactical error, leaving a clear path for the Orcs to get a late game TD. Below is a picture of the setup prior to the Orc's FINAL move.
As you can see, the Orc Thrower has the ball -- Varag -- that Star Blitzer is next to him. The AI again has only 1 option -- hand the ball off to Varag and let him rumble -- he'll have to Go For It (sprint) but odds are good that he's gonna score.
What does the AI do?
It sends Varag on a Blitz move and blocks my lineman. The Thrower then moves as far as he can near the goal and the game ends.
Again, BASIC stuff. And the AI simply cannot handle it. And truth be told it's starting to make the Solo Game pretty stale.
Blood Bowl League Gearing Up
The First (not at all Annual) Nutweasel-Quarter to Three Blood Bowl Tournament is about underway.
This is a 28 team tourney with 2 divisions and 13 matches for each team. We currently have 21 teams signed in with the rest coming soon. Todd (finally) got his copy so I'll have to teach him the basics so when he loses he will have no one to blame but himself. The cool thing about the online league setup is that your team, when it's over, keeps its stats, its record, and its player progression. So if you want to play another tourney with that team you can just keep on plugging away.
I'll post some league results and pics and maybe post some game replay vids once we get started.
Here's our current team roster -- all newly made teams with no XP.
Mt. Bloodhorn Skullz - Orc
Mudville KickAxe - Orc
Fire Stompers - Orc
Da Jawbreaka’s - Orc
Lustria Heatlamps - Lizard
Zigguratic - Lizard
Roc Starz- Lizard
Swamp Gash - Lizard
Capri Pant Dandies - Human
Unlicensed Proctologists - Human
Brutish and Irate Liars - Human
Quakebells Crushers - Dwarf
McMaster's Malcontents - Dwarf
Dwarf SMASH! - Dwarf
Laff Riot - Goblin
Lowland Kamikazes - Goblin
Corporate Chaos - Chaos
Peppered Beef - Chaos
Eglantine Zephyrs - Wood Elf
Rules Lawyers - Wood Elf
Rusir's Rats - Skaven
I don't know if the game will allow me to break teams how I want into the 2 divisions (I hope so for time zone reasons). We'll see. opr those keeping score at home -- we have only one Skaven team -- which is really weird. Dem Rats can play!
This is a 28 team tourney with 2 divisions and 13 matches for each team. We currently have 21 teams signed in with the rest coming soon. Todd (finally) got his copy so I'll have to teach him the basics so when he loses he will have no one to blame but himself. The cool thing about the online league setup is that your team, when it's over, keeps its stats, its record, and its player progression. So if you want to play another tourney with that team you can just keep on plugging away.
I'll post some league results and pics and maybe post some game replay vids once we get started.
Here's our current team roster -- all newly made teams with no XP.
Mt. Bloodhorn Skullz - Orc
Mudville KickAxe - Orc
Fire Stompers - Orc
Da Jawbreaka’s - Orc
Lustria Heatlamps - Lizard
Zigguratic - Lizard
Roc Starz- Lizard
Swamp Gash - Lizard
Capri Pant Dandies - Human
Unlicensed Proctologists - Human
Brutish and Irate Liars - Human
Quakebells Crushers - Dwarf
McMaster's Malcontents - Dwarf
Dwarf SMASH! - Dwarf
Laff Riot - Goblin
Lowland Kamikazes - Goblin
Corporate Chaos - Chaos
Peppered Beef - Chaos
Eglantine Zephyrs - Wood Elf
Rules Lawyers - Wood Elf
Rusir's Rats - Skaven
I don't know if the game will allow me to break teams how I want into the 2 divisions (I hope so for time zone reasons). We'll see. opr those keeping score at home -- we have only one Skaven team -- which is really weird. Dem Rats can play!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Small BB Update
New patch today:
To enhance the performance of the game on your computer, the game resolution has been decreased. You can change that parameter later in the game options.
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