Noticed over at MSNBC.com
"2 hikers rescued Mt. Ranier; one dead"
How does a mountain need rescuing? And was it lost? Or had it fallen down and couldn't get up again? Inquiring minds want to know!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Black Hole
And now for another game that has been in my collection for over 10 years but which I have never played, Black Hole. This is one of the Metagaming microgames from the '70s. I almost felt bad cutting up the counter sheet, as this game was in mint condition before I played it, but I told myself that I would play everything that came up, so there you go.
The plot of the game is that in the future, there are companies that mine asteroids in the asteroid belt beyond Mars, in order to gather minerals that have already been plundered from Earth. Well, two mining companies happen to try to lay claim to the same asteroid at the same time, and they come to blows. To make things more interesting, this asteroid is unique; it is in the shape of a torus, and has a micro black hole at the center.
The map itself is one of those where all edges bleed onto each other. So, if you leave the west side of the map, you re-enter from the right. If you leave the north end of the map, you re-enter from the south, and so on. In addition, half of the map is the "outside" of the ring, with limited laser fire range, and slower movement. On the "inside" of the ring you can move a bit faster North-to-South, and laser weapons have their range increased from 1 hex to 18 hexes. Yeah, you can pretty much hit anything with a laser on the inside of the ring.
Your combat units are various vehicles. The ones with nastier weapons move slower, while those with the lighter weapons move faster. In addition, the fastest units can do a special movement on the inside of the ring, where they "jump," or fly, to the other side of the ring, but at the risk of disappearing into the black hole. In addition, on the inside of the ring, units with missiles can just fire a missle at a unit on the other side of the ring, rather than normal missile movement.
Normal missile movement has you shotting missiles up to a range of 6 hexes. If the missile hasn't hit a target or a mountain (which blocks missiles) at the end of that turn, that missile stays in play. Next turn, the missile will move 20 hexes, but in a straight line only. It will keep flying until it hits a mountain and detonates, or hits a combat unit (from either side!) and detonates. This makes missile combat a bit gonzo. I think this was supposed to add to the fun of the game, but I personally found it a bit annoying. Overall, I don't think missiles are near as good as lasers, though they do have their uses.
One other thing; your units don't start on the asteroid. Each turn, you can land up to 4 units by dropping them onto the asteroid from your orbiting spaceships. You can try to land a unit anywhere on the ring, but it is MUCH safer to try this on the outside. The closer you get to the inside center of the ring, the higher chance of not landing where you intended, or just getting sucked into the black hole, all together. This adds a bit of fun in seeing how risky you want to be with your landing choices, but some bad dice rolls can really mess you up.
In the end, I found that the game was just too much on the momentum of dice rolls. Get a number of good rolls in a row, and you can decimate your opponent before they can really land any significant forces on the asteroid. On the flip side, with a few bad dice rolls in a row you can get overwhelmed no matter what your strategy is. It felt like the game was just too influenced by the dice. With that, and the fact that missile combat wasn't as fun as advertised, I don't think I'll ever be playing this one again.
The plot of the game is that in the future, there are companies that mine asteroids in the asteroid belt beyond Mars, in order to gather minerals that have already been plundered from Earth. Well, two mining companies happen to try to lay claim to the same asteroid at the same time, and they come to blows. To make things more interesting, this asteroid is unique; it is in the shape of a torus, and has a micro black hole at the center.
The map itself is one of those where all edges bleed onto each other. So, if you leave the west side of the map, you re-enter from the right. If you leave the north end of the map, you re-enter from the south, and so on. In addition, half of the map is the "outside" of the ring, with limited laser fire range, and slower movement. On the "inside" of the ring you can move a bit faster North-to-South, and laser weapons have their range increased from 1 hex to 18 hexes. Yeah, you can pretty much hit anything with a laser on the inside of the ring.
Your combat units are various vehicles. The ones with nastier weapons move slower, while those with the lighter weapons move faster. In addition, the fastest units can do a special movement on the inside of the ring, where they "jump," or fly, to the other side of the ring, but at the risk of disappearing into the black hole. In addition, on the inside of the ring, units with missiles can just fire a missle at a unit on the other side of the ring, rather than normal missile movement.
Normal missile movement has you shotting missiles up to a range of 6 hexes. If the missile hasn't hit a target or a mountain (which blocks missiles) at the end of that turn, that missile stays in play. Next turn, the missile will move 20 hexes, but in a straight line only. It will keep flying until it hits a mountain and detonates, or hits a combat unit (from either side!) and detonates. This makes missile combat a bit gonzo. I think this was supposed to add to the fun of the game, but I personally found it a bit annoying. Overall, I don't think missiles are near as good as lasers, though they do have their uses.
One other thing; your units don't start on the asteroid. Each turn, you can land up to 4 units by dropping them onto the asteroid from your orbiting spaceships. You can try to land a unit anywhere on the ring, but it is MUCH safer to try this on the outside. The closer you get to the inside center of the ring, the higher chance of not landing where you intended, or just getting sucked into the black hole, all together. This adds a bit of fun in seeing how risky you want to be with your landing choices, but some bad dice rolls can really mess you up.
In the end, I found that the game was just too much on the momentum of dice rolls. Get a number of good rolls in a row, and you can decimate your opponent before they can really land any significant forces on the asteroid. On the flip side, with a few bad dice rolls in a row you can get overwhelmed no matter what your strategy is. It felt like the game was just too influenced by the dice. With that, and the fact that missile combat wasn't as fun as advertised, I don't think I'll ever be playing this one again.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Not Writing
Sorry for not writing anything lately, but I really just haven't been in the mood. While in Detroit I work, work some more, try to watch Stanley Cup playoff games at night, and eat some decent food. At home I do laundry, some basic cleaning, catch up on sleep, and see friends and family. That's pretty much my life right now. I do have a trip out to DC to see a few friends in a couple weeks, which will be cool, but that's about it. I haven't even been writing any new comic or book reviews for my website, because I just haven't felt like it. Maybe I'll write some more soon, and maybe not; you'll just have to find out!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
That Was Rough
So, this past week I averaged almost 12 hours per day, either work or airport/flight time. Heck, even some of the airport time was work time. You know it's bad when on Friday you start before 7AM, work straight until 1PM, grab a cab, go to the airport, go through security, grab a McD burger, shove it in your face, and then work until the flight. Work on the flight. Get home, go to party for guy leaving town, go home, and work some more. Yeesh. This project better get improve, or I won't have to quit, because I'll be dead.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
In the Big City
So I'm in Detroit this week, the first of probably many weeks in Detroit. I'm working at the Renaissance Center, right on the Detroit river. This building houses GM's headquarters, and that is why I am working for, helping review some internal controls work done by people in various parts of the world.
Once I get settled in (i.e., get a real access badge for the complex) I plan on taking some pictures for you all. As you might expect, there are many fancy looking cars inside GM's headquarters, including a tricked out Corvette, the new Camaro, and more. Mostly Chevrolet and Pontiac cars, from what I could see, but they have a Saturn Vue right near the main entrance, as well.
This week, I am staying in a hotel about six blocks away from the Renaissance Center. This means that on my way to and from work I get to talk to random people wanting money. Today, I got a couple collecting money from strangers to buy a tombstone for a recently deceased relative. For real! At least, I think it was for real. I didn't give them any money, though. The area is definitely urban; within a few blocks of my hotel is Comerica Park (where the Tigers play), Ford Stadium (where the Lions play), my own firm's Detroit office, a nudie club, a casino complex, lots of parking lots, the criminal justice center, bail bonds operations, and probably much more that I haven't walked past yet. Quite an ... interesting collection, to be sure. Next week I'm staying at the Marriott inside the Renaissance Center, as I don't like the beds where I am, and the fitness center is a joke, as well.
Once I get settled in (i.e., get a real access badge for the complex) I plan on taking some pictures for you all. As you might expect, there are many fancy looking cars inside GM's headquarters, including a tricked out Corvette, the new Camaro, and more. Mostly Chevrolet and Pontiac cars, from what I could see, but they have a Saturn Vue right near the main entrance, as well.
This week, I am staying in a hotel about six blocks away from the Renaissance Center. This means that on my way to and from work I get to talk to random people wanting money. Today, I got a couple collecting money from strangers to buy a tombstone for a recently deceased relative. For real! At least, I think it was for real. I didn't give them any money, though. The area is definitely urban; within a few blocks of my hotel is Comerica Park (where the Tigers play), Ford Stadium (where the Lions play), my own firm's Detroit office, a nudie club, a casino complex, lots of parking lots, the criminal justice center, bail bonds operations, and probably much more that I haven't walked past yet. Quite an ... interesting collection, to be sure. Next week I'm staying at the Marriott inside the Renaissance Center, as I don't like the beds where I am, and the fitness center is a joke, as well.
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