I find myself in a situation unlike any experienced in the past twenty-six years. Mid 2014 a chronic lung condition worsened. From then until just a few months ago I seldom felt up to gaming or much of anything else. I'm markedly better now (knock on wood), but for whatever reason haven't recovered my interesting in games beyond a lengthy unheralded Minecraft building spree that ended early Aug. If and when I do get back in to gaming, I'm sure to continue my 2k+ hour Oblivion play-through, and of course Daggerfall and Minecraft. I bought PC ES Anthology just as my lung condition worsened, so hope to start new heavily modded sessions of Morrowind and Skyrim at some point. Likewise with Wizardry 7, a long-ago favorite repurchased at GoG just as I was getting sick.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Lots of fun. Even though I've only played a tiny bit of the older MGS games, I couldn't resist getting the new one after hearing lots of good things about it.

The open world aspect is really nicely done, and it allows you to approach missions however you like. Then there's the base building part of the game which has you upgrading Mother Base by recruiting new people and researching various bits and bobs to help you in the field. It all fits together really nicely and feels like you're really part of a spec ops style outfit.

The story is a bit confusing if you haven't played the others, but the game does help fill in the gaps. The missions are all interesting enough in their own right anyway, and there are endless side quests to occupy yourself with too.

There's also a cute dog.

Cute dog? Pictures!

Or it didn't happen...

Ask, and ye shall recieve. Apparently when he's all grown up you can take him on missions. For now though he just bounces around the military base and barks at everything.

It is adorable!!!

Aww! I want!

Here he is again, all grown up. Turns out he's a fantastic buddy to take on missions. Using his keen senses to spot people, plants, animals etc.
The only other buddy I have available is a horse, who just doesn't have the same combat and stealth benefits. The dog can also be equipped with a knife, so there's that too.

This game sounds (and looks) Awesome!

And I see they both have an eyepatch!

Currently playing Ninja Gaiden 3 on NES. Apparently a pretty rare and expensive game, I have had it since childhood.

Earlier this week I at last broke my months-long gaming hiatus in a relatively minor way, returning to the Autocracy to resume work on a longterm Hill Fort upgrade project. My avatar also braved the wilds to tame and return with a horse, though there is as yet no equine housing facility within the fortress.

Here's the fortress as it currently stands, seen on-high from the east. The Lower Terrance remains very much a work-in-process, with sections un- and under developed. The eastern (near) end of the Upper Plateau is better established though it too continues to see tweaks of various sorts. The Plateau's western end, unseen in my link, remains in primitive condition.

BTW, I have for some time seen an obvious plausible link between Minecraftia (the land in which 'the Autocracy of Decrepia' resides) and Nirn. In Nirn during the 'Crisis', portals transported adventures to a hell dimension filled with unearthly, savage beasts and scattered fortresses. In Minecraftia, portals transport adventures to a hell dimension filled with unearthly, savage beasts and scattered fortresses. There is, in my opinion, a visual commonality between portals and hell dimensions of both realms.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Sep 28 2015, 07:48 PM

Is that Minecraft? I see kids playing their MC games on our demo iMacs (the 27" 5k Retina display ones are the most popular for these kids) in the store almost daily, especially during the summer months. Some of the stuff they've created is mind-boggling to me!

That reminds me, I still need to download Minecraft onto my Xbox One.


Anyway, I'm still playing MGS:V. 76 hours in and it says I'm at 56% completion though I've only got 1 or two more main quests to go. Every time you think you've done everything, a new mission pops up, or a new bit of tech becomes available that you just can't resist playing with.

The main questline itself has been pretty good, and deals with loads of stuff like the ethics of nuclear weapons, deadly parasite infections, and child soldiers. Then you get a random switch in the mood with bits like a cameo from Hideo Kojima, or the stoic Kaz Miller trying to create the perfect hamburger.



Oh, I've also been playing Destiny, now that The Taken King is out. It adds a decent bit of content, but not enough to justify the £40 price tag. Still, it's fun. That's what matters.

Yeppers, Minecraft. I find it a perfect complement to the Elder Scrolls series, sharing a number of similarities but calling on different forms of creativity. I'm almost always in the mood to play one or the other, health permitting. At the moment its Minecraft I favor. Yeah, I've seen some amazingly elaborate Minecraftian builds. Me, I'm more into the basic survival aspect. I do consider myself a decent survival builder, but its not always the primary focus of my play-through.

One thing PC Minecraft and TES have in common is a thriving modding community. Unlike with the Elder Scrolls series, in Minecraft I'm something of a purist, preferring vanilla survival mode except for the addition of high-res textures, and within the past several days have auditioned a few popular shader packs.

Here's an image of my fortress Lower Terrace east-side entrance ramp as it was less than a week ago. At that time it stood unchanged since my avatar established the fort's perimeter walls early 2012. This passage was the Hill Fort's weakest point, allowing spiders unhindered access. Seen are what passes as high-res textures but no shaders.

Here is that same entrance passage as renovated several days ago, now far more secure. Also seen is a newly erected two-stall stables. The tall structure at screen left is the fortress keep atop the Upper Plateau. Same textures with Sildur's Vibrant Shaders.

Here's the east-side gateway protecting an ascending ramp to the Upper Plateau, with new stables screen left. This shot utilizes SEUS shaders v10.2 preview 1. I think it looks more natural than Sildur, but there are trade offs.

Here's the open-air Shrine to the Goddess atop the fortress annex, established several months ago. SEUS shaders v10.1 Official Release. Note the glitchy clouds, corrected with v10.2 preview 1.

Lastly, a direct link between Minecraftia and Nirn. On a second-floor hallway wall in the Inn at Autarch Neglect Village hangs an image of the Mythical Champion, a legendary figure said to have entered the realm during the far distant past via portal. He and a companion are honored by the current Autarch . . . may he live long and prosper . . . who traces his ancestry back to the Champion. Scholars dispute any such connection as well as the validity of the otherworldly paladin himself.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Sep 22 2015, 10:07 AM

Knight of the Nine, huh? I played that questline a few times, but it never made its way into my fan fics.

I liked how you integrated a bit of Nirn's Oblivion into Minecraftia!

Hmm, the courtyard in the first few pics is quite stunning. Almost like a Zen or Moorish garden. Yummy!

These screens are amazing! It looks like an ultra concept town based on Legos or something!

Like Legoland!

Link or it didn't happen! I tried to look it up and found only Lego theme parks, lol.








This post has been edited by mALX: Sep 23 2015, 01:46 AM

That is what Legoland is - a Lego theme park! I think the first one was created in Denmark, and then after that was successful other sprouted up all over.