I'm back! This time I plan to be back with more regularity too!

Oh my it's been a while.....

When I left off I was planning on writing a review for the game Osmos, but that was indefinitely postponed due the the impending doom related to my undergraduate computing project/dissertation! Safe to say that's all over now and I managed to graduate with a 2:1 under my belt. I have successfully made the transition from lowly student to lowly unemployed leech on society! As a side note, finding a job is really rather hard! But this isn't a blog where I complain about the bad things in my life! Besides, there are far far more good things in life that I am exceedingly happy about!  

With Matt and Hannah having one of their contests (feeling somewhat left out guys!) I too have felt the need to set myself a blog related challenge to get back into the swing of things! After my computing project was over I had the idea of posting a game review each day for a week to make up for the absence of content, so I'm going to pilfer my own idea and use it now. This week shall become:

Josh's Most Excellent Game Review Week Spectacular! 

Starting this Monday and ending on Friday I plan to post a review of a game each day (that's rather self explanatory though). The games are as follows:

Monday: Osmos! (Finally getting round to it)

Tuesday: Kerbal Space Program

Wednesday: Desktop Dungeons

Thursday: Frozen Synapse

Friday: Minecraft! (I have something special in mind for the Friday, keep an eye out!)

So there you have it, I'm back and I have plans for content! This blog has never been so organised....

TTFN Internet! 

Josh Reviews: Machinarium

This is the problem with starting up a new thing and setting yourself a goal - you immediately forget about it until about 10 minutes before your self imposed deadline. That's exactly what happened to me on Saturday night, so I failed one week in! Still, it's my deadline so I can do whatever I wish with it. This week I'll try and do it on time, I promise.

Seeing as I've been busy with work this week, I haven't had much time for playing new games, just the old standbys. I did however boot up a game I received in a game bundle called Machinarium. Seeing as I haven't spent that much time with it, this is more of an impression than a review.

Machinarium is an old school point and click adventure game with a lot of charm for such a simple game. Well, I say simple, sometimes the puzzles that you need to solve can be a tad infuriating! In the traditional point-and-click style, you walk around the environment (by pointing and clicking no less!) trying to work out how to advance to the next part of the story by solving the puzzle that you are presented with.

 The difficulty of these tasks is largely subjective, one person may spend forever trying to solve a level while another person might just 'get it' instantly. Even on the most difficult levels, the one thing that can keep you going is the absolutely gorgeous game art. It's like playing a game that's been made inside a painting. The size of the screenshots here really don't do the game justice. The soundtrack is well written as well, it really fits with the atmosphere that the game produces. It's easy to see that a lot of love and care has gone into making this game and that effort has paid off! The game is really worth giving a go.

You can find a demo of the game and more information at the game's website - http://machinarium.net/demo/
The game is written in Flash, so it will run on most operating systems with flash support. You can buy the game from the website for $20 which includes the game's soundtrack, or the game is available for £14.99 from good old Steam sans soundtrack.

Next week: Osmos. Of course by next week I mean this week, look for the next review around Friday

TTFN

Josh Reviews: SpaceChem

Seeing as I am often bereft of ideas for what to write about for my blog posts I've decided to write a little mini-series of blogs consisting of reviews or impressions of games that I've recently played. I'm also going to challenge myself to write one review a week, with it being posted by Saturday evening. Considering how much work I have at the moment that's a pretty big deal!

The game that actually inspired me to write this series is the one that I'll be posting about today. The game is called SpaceChem and if you like puzzles and not sleeping much, this is definitely the game for you.

SpaceChem is a puzzle game made by Zachtronics Industries, which is a small indie dev that you probably wont of heard of and I hadn't heard of until I found this game, but I'll definitely be looking closely at their future titles from now on. The premise of the game is that you are a Reactor Engineer for the SpaceChem corporation, a company that specialises in producing valuable chemical products from raw materials such as water and air. The idea behind the game is that you take those raw materials and through a series of processes turn them into a useful product.

This is what I'd call a programming game, as what you end up making is a sequence that will execute and produce the desired molecule from the given raw materials. In the game is design the paths for two 'Waldos,' which are machines that can grab and drop atoms as well as execute other functions such as synchronising with the other, executing the bond command or outputting the current content of an area. These simple base functions have to be used in increasingly complex ways as the difficultly of the games ramps up and ramp up it does! Every new set of levels has a new mechanic introduced with it, so just as you think you have some semblance of understanding everything that's going on, the game introduces a new element to the game which makes things complicated all over again. 

The game sets you to task on either Research or Production assignments, which is just it's way of saying that you either have one reactor to produce a chemical or you use multiple reactors to achieve a more complex goal. The game achieves the very fine balance of being very complex and frustrating whilst still being enjoyable. Some production assignments have as few as 2 reactors available to use whereas some have as many as 6 available to achieve your goal! I can say from personal experience that one level of the game kept me up until 3 in the morning one night, only to get me up again because I had thought of the solution after trying to get to sleep! That's the kind of creature that the game is, it's the kind of game that occupies your every thought until you find that elusive solution that makes everything work. It's a lot easier to enjoy the more complicated production assignments because the amount of craft that goes into them evokes a very rewarding feeling in the same way that completing a hard piece of work might do.


There's really not that much to the game mechanically, but the complexity of the puzzles that the game throws at you really stretch your thinking until the puzzle is finished. If you're looking for a puzzle game that will give your brain a good exercise, look no further than SpaceChem.


You can find out more about the game at it's website - http://www.spacechemthegame.com/
The game is available for Windows, Linux and MacOS for whatever $20 is in pounds these days.


___________________________________________________________________________






Well that's my first review in this new series! Please leave comments to tell me what you thought of it, what you think I could improve about my writing and recommend any games that you think I should review!


TTFN       

I made a video! Well I say me, I mean I helped ^_^

Another blog?! So soon?!

Really I'm just posting a link to a video that I just uploaded to my YouTube channel, so this isn't really a blog if you think about it, more a complicated hyperlink. The video is part of a project module that I am doing as part of my third year at university. We had to make 3 videos associated to a game we were making in another module, an Advert, a Crossover, and an Ident. It fell to me to make most of the Advert but In the end it was a team effort, as is everything really.

Seems like I cant make it widescreen like the video actually is though, click through to YouTube to see it in the widest of widescreen formats!


Tell me what you thought of it in the doobly-do/down below/describey/comment section!

I'm Back!

Surprise! I am indeed alive! I'm back after a lengthly 4 month absence. My laptop imploding caused the absence in the first place, then after that got replaced I just wasn't in the swing of it to keep up blogging, what with all the work I'm trying to get done, as well as all the new games are getting played instead of the work that I'm trying to do. However, seeing as my brain is in overdrive tonight and I cant bring myself to start another level on SpaceChem(a new awesome game I've discovered, I might review it at a later date) I decided to complete a challenge that Hannah set me quite a while back now, which was to write and upload my testimony. Here goes nothing....

I started life as a baby, much like everyone else. Like a lot of English children, I was Christened at an early age at my parent's and grandparent's church. As soon as I was old enough, my grandparents started taking me to church and to Sunday school, where I learnt all the things you learn at Sunday school. This continued up to around the age of 15 for me, as the church had a more discussion oriented group for people 14-16 or so. As my GCSEs loomed on the horizon, I stopped going to church under the premise of working during the time, but really I think I had just decided that church was too young for me anymore. Instead of seeking out the next level of church, that is going to the main service and listening to the sermons, I continued to not attend. All through this time I still considered myself a Christian, although now looking back I would not say that I was. During that time my understanding of God, Jesus, and the natures of sin and salvation were only skin deep, they had no greater impact on my life than any other piece of knowledge. Time passed, until I met Theresa, a Christian, and we started 'dating' when I was 17. Seeing as I still thought I was a Christian, everything was okay, until one day Theresa confronted me and told me that she didn't think that I was a Christian. She took the time to explain to me the difference between just knowing the facts and actually having salvation from my sins. It was after this that I started searching for my own personal salvation. It took a very long time for my search to come to an end, almost 1 and a half years. In the summer of 2009, me and Theresa went on a study trip to Israel. During the week, I mentioned to the leader of the trip, Paul, that I wasn't yet saved, information that he passed on the the man doing the speaking that week, Micheal Ots. On the last night of the holiday, Theresa convinced me to go and talk to Micheal about everything. We sat on the edge of the Lake Galilee and really discussed all the 'issues' that I had with becoming a Christian, and he explained each one away to the point where I really had no choice but to pray for the forgiveness of my sins. After that he prayed with me and I felt really positive about the whole experience, as you might expect! Since then I have been trying to learn more about my God and have been trying to become more like Jesus. Its not always been plain sailing. Me and Theresa broke up a year after my conversion, which was a pretty tough time. I was helped through it by prayer and the support of my Christian friends. More recently, my aunt has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I cant comprehend any kind of good coming out of that situation for anyone involved and it's really testing the limit of my faith to try and keep hold of the fact that God works all things for good. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that once you become a Christian everything becomes easy. If anything, life gets more complex and a lot lot harder. All we can do is rely on God to pull us through, and that's what I'm trying to do now. 

Your Questions Answered! If you happen to be Hannah or Matt...

The number of replies to the 'tell me what to blog' post exceeded expectations, I wasn't even expecting one reply!

So, as I said, I will answer your questions, first is Hannahs list:


- First pet?

Really I had 2 first pets, if that makes sense. When I was 8 or so my aunt's cat Patsy had kittens and Mum and Dad decided we could have two of them, we called them Tom and Tilly. Sadly Tilly died in a car crash :'(. Her brother Tom is still going strong though, he's the bestest cat evar!

- What colours are you wearing now?
I'm wearing navy blue jeans, a blue top with a red/white/slight hint of Union flag even though it isnt a colour. so basically, I am wearing blue.

- Weirdest thing you've eaten?
Liver. Definitely liver. Mum tried to feed it to us one night but didn't tell me and my sister what it was. I worked it out though! I know thats not all that wierd, but when it comes to food I stick to what I know 

- Where've you gone on holiday? (or favourite holiday)
Best holiday is Root Hill camp, by far. It might not be fancy but it feels more like home than anywhere else. The most exotic holiday I've been on? Egypt

- Close your eyes and grab an object near you. What is it?
Xbox controller!

- Closest pink thing?
The closest pink thing to me is the dvd box set of The Simpsons, season 3

- Most awesome thing you own?
That really depends on your own perception of awesome to provide some kind of scale to measure my awesome possesions against. Tis a hard question for that exact reason. Time for a top 5! In no particular order:


1. 11th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver
2. A scale replica of Master Cheif's MJOLNIR MK. VI Helmet
3. My phone! Theres nothing it can't do!
4. A fully automatic belt-fed Nerf gun
5. My newly aquired Gameboy Colour

- On the pointless scale of 4-12, how pointless is this?
I'd put it somewhere in the vicinity of 'Fish'

- Why?
Because!

- "Well do ya, do ya do ya wanna?"
Yes? It depends if you're actually asking me something or simply quoting Franz Ferdinand

- How many times have you listened to the whole DFTBA playlist now?
I'm about halfway through the second playthrough I believe, its hard to tell exactly.
 
- What's your favourite song on the playlist?
There are too many made of awesome songs to decide on a single favorite! All Caps are shaping up to be my favorite artist though, they do it just right.

- "Do you like me, yes or no? Do you think that I am cute? Would you date me? You can say maybe. I just have to know!"
Again, this is out of context! Is it an actually a slew of questions or are you simply quoting All Caps at me?

I've put in some check boxes for you to mark your answer:
        
Yes: [] or No: []

(This song came on on the playlist as I was writing this! Spooky)

- Where is your phone atm?

Taiwan :(. My lame replacement phone is beside me though, in all its £10 glory

- Is pineapple meant to be on pizzas?
I wouldn't ever say it was meant to be on Pizza and I'd never order it, but if a hawaiian was put in front of me, I'd probably still eat it.

-Chocolate or sweets?
Sweets! Haribo FTW!

- Where is your favourite place to be?
With my friends, I couldn't care less as to physical location so long as they were there with me

- Would you like a hug?
Always :)

- Close your eyes and think of a colour. Did you really close your eyes?
Yes I did! because if I didn't close my eyes I would have to answer no :(. The colour was Teal btw.

- Favourite colour?
Teal! or if you want specifics, 'Hawk Turquoise' from the Games Workshop line of miniature paints

- Favourite animal?
Thats a hard one! I think some kind of bird would be my favorite animal, I'd love to fly! In reality though, it's probably cats

- Favourite youtuber?
Saving the hard ones til last eh? I think the Vlogbrothers hold that title for now but wheezywaiter is a very close second!

- Should I stop asking questions now? :)
 You seem to have answered that question yourself by not asking anymore questions! I will allow this however


As for Matt C's question: which bothers you more, Russell T Davies' destruction of Gallifrey or JJ Abrams' destruction of Vulcan?

Destroying Vulcan made no sense! yeah Nero was mad, but he didn't need to do that! What I mean to say is that the destruction of Vulcan wasn't really necessary, but then again neither was the destruction of Gallifrey. The difference is that Gallifrey being sealed in the Time War added to the overall narrative of Doctor Who, whereas I dont think that destroying Vulcan really added to anything to Star Trek. That's just my thoughts on it anyway, what's your opinion Matt? Let me know in the comments

So that's the questions I revieved answered, if you have more, feel free to ask more! 

DFTBA

I feel the need...

I think the one thing worse than not knowing how to start a blog is not having an idea for a blog when you really want to blog! Its so frustrating!

Before I go on, I point your attention thus >>>>>>
I set up a poll! The sidebar of my blog was looking a little sparse so I'd foster some blog/audience interaction. If you read this, I command you to state your allegiance to one of the great internet clans! I think I'll be doing a poll every two weeks to give people a chance to respond to it. Hopefully my next poll will be a bit more imaginative! The old internet standby of 'Pirates or Ninjas' is a bit worn, so I thought I'd throw in a DFTBA reference for good measure.

Well, that's wasted some space in this non-blog. I still don't really know what I'm writing here. I want another spark of genius to come like it did for Monday's blog about how much I cant stand pirates, but I think that's this month's creative spark worn out. Fortunately next month is just round the corner!

Seeing as I currently have absolutely no idea what to blog about....

That's right, its participation time! 

If you want, you can leave a comment and I'll try to write a half decent blog about what you suggest. That or ask me questions and I shall answer them to the best of my ability. I don't expect I'll get that many topics, but just one would be awesome!

If you've gotten this far I seem to have successfully made you read a blog post that isn't really about much, so yay me! Also yay you for getting all the way through! This is your reward:

A blog about Doctor who perhaps?

DFTBA