Skyrim

Skyrim patch 1.4 released!

The patch, which was in beta just last week, brings numerous bug and quest fixes, including one fix concerning unuseable Wabbajacks. Whatever those are.

Most interesting of all, as far as I’m concerned, is that the patch also introduces a new feature to the PC version of the Skyrin launcher: support for the Skyrim Workshop.

Skyrim Workshop, you say?

It has been rumoured for a while now, and more than one gaming news outlet has been declaring its imminence in the last week. Now, though, you can see it in action:

Speaking of Skyrim mods…

May I just state, for the record, that I believe the My Little Pony craze has now reached its apex? Or maybe its nadir…it’s largely a question of perspective as to whether you regard this as the high point of crazy or the depths of insanity:

Skyrim’s three most ridiculous quests.

WhatCulture! attempts to describe them.

How to kill a Skyrim dragon with a single arrow.

Remember when dragons in games used to be fearsome things? Remember when stepping into Destard seemed like the stupidest thing in the world to be doing, no matter how damn badly Sandy wanted you to get that bloody egg for him?

Yet another Skyrim review.

Why is it worth drawing attention to this one? Because it is coming more than two months after the game’s release, and has been delayed in that manner precisely because the reviewer wanted to take in as much of the game as he could.

Remember when Grand Theft Auto 3 released and you thought that you could do anything your heart desired? Looking back now, you will see that GTA was just child?s play. In Elder Scrolls V, you are truly only limited by your imagination. If you can dream it, you can do it. Even something so mundane as staring at the night sky.

I have spent many hours just sneaking around town stealing items for no reason other than to quench the thirst of kleptomania. On more than one occasion this caused me to be pursued by a shop keep or homeowner. One such instance had an invincible shop keep chasing me for about 45 minutes. Sure, I could have let him kill me or went to jail, but as I said, you can do anything and I wanted to enjoy the chase.

He gives the game a 9/10 rating, objectively quite good. And yet, you almost get the impression that he does so just ever so slightly against his will:

I was not just a little pissed off that Skyrim snagged so many GOTY awards away from Arkham City; I was livid. However, in the end it probably deserves it. With Batman you get a fun world to explore for a couple dozen hours, and with Skyrim you get a game that could take over your life. If you only had money to buy one game this year, then Elder Scrolls V would be the wisest choice. Our hats go off to Bethesda for a job well done and maybe, just maybe, we can get bored with Skyrim before the next title in the series.

The Elder Strolls, continued…

Christopher Livingston, at PC Gamer, has posted the eigth installment of his “stroll” through Skyrim, in which he attempts to play the game as though he were just one more NPC in its massive world.

He seems to want to marry his character off.

It has been a few months since last we heard from the Titans of Ether concerning their progress on Ultima IX: Redemption, but I noticed that team member RedPotion had posted an update last night discussing all the progress the team had made between November of 2011 and January of this year.

Notably, the team is considering adding one additional world-builder:

We are entertaining the concept of bringing on an additional interior worldbuilder – think you might be interested? By the virtues what are you waiting for? Contact us to find out more details!

As far as progress goes, Corv, Zini, and Direhaggis have been tackling various administrative and logistical details, making sure that the project is still humming along smoothly. Hyena has implemented several more NPCs in Britain, and expects to have still yet more accomplished in that area over the next few weeks. LSD has made similar progress with NPCs in Buccaneer’s Den.

RedPotion himself has been working on the Hall of Records in Vesper, and has posted a small gallery of screenshots to imgur. Here’s a sample, looking down at the bar in said building from the second floor balcony:

Grab a pint!

Other progress includes the development several new 3D models (by team member Spyder), and the implementation of a “secret village” (Dawn?) by Jacar. All in all, it sounds like the Titans have made some fine progress on Redemption over the last three months.

Chris Reid at the Wing Commander CIC reports that Richard Garriott’s Apogee of Fear — the first sci-fi film shot entirely in space — has been approved for release by NASA. Distribution details, Reid says, should be available soon.

He also links to an article at Space.com which provides a brief synopsis of the film:

After his talk at the conference last year, Garriott gave a private screening of “Apogee of Fear.” That is, he showed the eight-minute movie on his laptop to a half-dozen or so folks who had stuck around to ask him questions or introduce themselves.

“Apogee of Fear” is without question the best science fiction film ever made in space. It begins with NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff waving affably to Garriott through a window as the space tourist departs the orbiting lab and heads back home to Earth.

Then they turn to each other and express profound relief that he’s finally gone.

“Man, am I glad we finally got rid of that guy,” Chamitoff says.

Cut to several days later, and Fincke and Chamitoff are actually starting to miss Garriott. Without him around, Chamitoff is having trouble juggling, and the two astronauts are finding it difficult to settle their recurring arguments about who is upside-down and who is right-side-up.

But then an ominous declaration breaks the wistful chatter: Cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov announces that oxygen use aboard the station is higher than it should be.

“Let’s just think of what might be the obvious reason,” Chamitoff says. “Maybe it’s aliens.”

With luck, we’ll see this…er…well…I would guess on YouTube or something…before the end of the year. Heck, if we’re really lucky, we’ll see it before the middle of the year. But let’s face it: this is NASA, and there is bureaucracy involved. It could be a while, still, approval nonwithstanding.

Gamasutra is reporting that Warren Spector, who worked on several Ultima titles at both Origin Systems and Looking Glass Studios, is slated to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Game Developers Choice Awards, also known as the GDCAs.

Which, I guess, is like the Golden Globes of the gaming world:

Deus Ex game director and producer, and Disney Epic Mickey creator Warren Spector will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCAs) for his contributions to the art and science of games. The Game Developers Choice Awards, held at GDC yearly, are the leading peer-based video game industry awards celebrating the industry’s top games and developers.

In receiving this award, Spector joins fellow gaming industry veterans/history makers Sid Meier (2008, for Civilization and other simulators), Shigeru Miyamoto (for Mario, Donkey Kong, etc.), Richard Garriott (2006, for Ultima), and Will Wright (for the Sim games), among several others.

I’m just going out on a limb here and guessing that Spector himself is going to be honoured for things like Deus Ex and Thief…and hopefully System Shock too.