Category: Games

Queen Yossie

(Not the cat…)

I just beat Angband with a warrior. And it’s the first time in years I have accomplished this. The last few hours (thousand or so levels) were a massive chore – rapid descents followed by farming of giant/dragon vaults for artifacts. I got very lucky with some drops though, even if I never saw any decent artifact rings, +speed boots or Ringil.

In the end I swapped out a helm that aggravated enemies but gave me an extra attack for the crown (for the stats mostly). I also lucked out with a Morgoth spawn in a relatively empty part of the dungeon. For all his power, he could barely damage me…

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Here’s the character dump in image form (approx 700×3500):

yossie.jpg < No nether resistance! (By the way, if this post means nothing to you don't worry...)

Images Of Heaven

I was looking through a pile of old postcards that I had written (to myself) the other day. This is always fun, because I tend to write very strange things on postcards and as a result they offer an unusual series of memories related to a certain trip when read years later.

For instance, I doubt I would have remembered that as a ‘thank you’ to Adam and Bernard for letting me stay with them in 2000 I gave them a (used) copy of Gun N Smith’s (the 2003 British Pipesmoking Champion) novel ‘The Sucking Pit’:

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I’ll leave comments about the worth of this gift for a future time, and instead direct you to Guy N Smiths wikipedia page, specifically to read the notable quotes, specifically the one from ‘Carnivore’. It made me laugh aloud just now…

Just now I purchased SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters DS

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This is a card-game for DS featuring characters from the SNK and Capcom universes. If that means nothing to you don’t worry, since this is one of the most otaku games ever released (certainly in America). It’s been almost eight years since I played the original version for the Neo Geo Pocket handheld (one of the most otaku game systems ever…) and I’ve been eagerly awaiting this one. Of course…I won’t play it for a while due to the Pokemon frenzy I am deep in to.

Semester Winding Down

It was just shy of 90 degrees yesterday (Fahrenheit). And yes, that means in under ten days the temperature had risen almost 60 degrees (remember it was snowing just over a week ago). It has gotten cooler now, which is a good thing because it was borderline oppressive yesterday.

The semester is winding down. There is less than two weeks left of classes, during which I have a quiz, an exam, and must give a presentation. So I’m busy preparing. I also have to prepare a poster for a department meeting this weekend, and do a second presentation for a group meeting. None of this is super detailed (or important) stuff, but time consuming nonetheless. I didn’t get a great deal done this past semester with respect to my doctoral work, mostly because for about two months my x-ray detector was broken (the repair company is scheduled to ship it back today), but I’ll be working over the summer to make some progress (hopefully).

Not much other news. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out for DS last weekend, and we’ve both started playing them. Only this morning I unlocked the GTS, which is a system, that lets players wirelessly trade Pokemon with players anywhere in the world (the first few trades I browsed were Japanese players). The game includes a nifty world map that will fill up as trades are completed, so you can see just where on Earth your Pokemon originated. Very very cool, especially for a DS game. (Note to Adam: buy this game so we can battle/trade Pokemon)

Here’s a shot of my DS library as of last week. Not as good as I’d hoped because I chose bad lighting. The idea for doing this was born online; it seems to be a good way to show off ones collection (DS boxes tile well together)

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With 85 games in total (including Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, not in the above photo) I have more DS games than 18 of my 21 total systems. Only for PS2 (with 109) and Gameboy Advance (with 138)  do I own more. However, I have been accumulating DS games at a far faster rate – an average of slightly over 3/month – than for any other game system I have ever owned…