status 2018 Oct - 2019 Dec

2018.10.01
Steam sales, purchase Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut, Torchlight, Torchlight II (all for $10).

2018.10.02
GoG sale, purchased:
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition,
Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption,
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.
Did I need these, when I already have them in boxes? Probably not but they were $5 or less and it makes a nice backup.

2018.10.30
Halloween Steam sale. Got The Swapper, Goat Simulator, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Corinne Cross's Dead & Breakfast, for around $3 each.

I thought I had Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl (the first one), I remember trying it, but its not in my Steam or GoG libraries. And yet here it is installed, with a save game from 2010. Maybe I have a physical copy somewhere. It can wait for the next sale.

2018.11.20
Diablo III on sale $9.99, why not.
Wait, what's this Battle Chest for an extra $5... I have to pay extra to get to the last act of the game? Oh, its an expansion. Still a good deal at $14.99. But then there's also the Necromancer add on ($7.49), do I need that... something about extra slots and tabs... might as well go all the way.
Blizzard won't let me put them in the same cart, as one is an expansion.
Done.

2018.11.24
Black Friday on Steam.
Arcanum (have disk, just for backup), Don't Starve, Fran Bow, LISA: Complete Edition for $17.28.

2018.12.14
Finished Starcraft 2 main campaign, playing some versus AI games.

2019.01.02
End of Steam Winter sale. Got Far Cry (in case the disc in the attic doesn't work), Machinarium Collector's Edition, To the Moon (and soundtrack), Primordia, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition, all for $22.36.

2019.02.10
Lunar New Year sale:
$3.99 Unreal Deal Pack
Includes 5 items: Unreal 2: The Awakening, Unreal Gold, Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor's Choice Edition, Unreal Tournament 3 Black, Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition
$9.07 Hitman Collection Bundle
Includes 5 items: Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Blood Money, Hitman Absolution, Hitman Contracts
$2.99 STAR WARS: TIE Fighter Special Edition
$1.99 Jagged Alliance Gold
$2.99 TRON 2.0
$0.97 Tomb Raider I
$0.97 Tomb Raider II
$0.97 Tomb Raider III
$0.97 Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation
$0.97 Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness
$0.97 Tomb Raider V: Chronicles
$0.98 Tomb Raider: Anniversary
$0.97 Tomb Raider: Legend
$0.98 Tomb Raider: Underworld
$1.49 Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
$4.99 Crysis

2019.03.28
Free Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, just needed to create a Bethesda account (I didn't already have one?)

2019.04.03
Rereading my notes for my Fallout New Vegas run of 2016. I would like to start an RPG, but seasonally its time to be outside a lot, and this is making a surprisingly good substitute. I think I should have added more screenshots.

2019.04.11
Reading back, it seems crazy I went to all that trouble to read how to game the system as far as getting money and SPECIAL points early. I should have just played it cold, made mistakes, and enjoyed more discovery. Something to remember if I ever play an RPG again.

2019.04.12
I wish had taken notes while playing about what to do if I ever play this again (maybe I did, and its at the end). Still sad about all those spoilers, it not only ruins your first playthrough, but the subsequent ones where you might have tried different things out.
Instead of scratching the itch to play an RPG, this is just making me want to fire up New Vegas, or maybe 3.
Is it bad to say I like my own writing? Its not really writing, its just a log, but since the audience was always me, I can say it worked.

2019.04.19
That was surprisingly interesting to read through, I remembered a lot of it. What next, maybe start reading the blog from the beginning?

2019.05.12
Steam, Kathy Rain, $2.99.

2019.06.19
Re-reading from the beginning, really enjoying reading about Planescape Torment, and how many memories come back.

Get email that Mafia on sale from Humble, activates on Steam. Let's try it. Create Humble Bundle account, Link Steam Account (I hate cross site linking, and never sign in with Google or Facebook, but I see no way around this).
I get a key, could I have skipped linking? Oh well.

2019.07.08
Steam summer sale, took a few things off the wishlist, nothing more than $5.99.
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY
Mount & Blade: Warband
Prototype
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Serious Sam HD (1 & 2)

2019.07.29
I like bundles.

QUAKE Collection $8.24
Includes 8 items: QUAKE, QUAKE II, QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero, QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning, Quake III Arena, QUAKE III: Team Arena, QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon, QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity

Deus Ex Collection BUNDLE $9.24
(already have) Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
(already have) Deus Ex: Invisible War
$2.99 Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut
$1.99 Deus Ex: The Fall
$4.49 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
$3.74 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided DLC - Season Pass

Gets a lot of things off my Wishlist quickly and cheaply.

2019.10.31
This post is a year old, and all it really chronicles is all the sale stuff I bought and didn't play. Hopefully this winter will keep me indoors. And now, another Halloween sale:
$4.80 DISTRAINT The Complete Journey BUNDLE (DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition, DISTRAINT 2)
$1.19 Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter
$1.19 Serious Sam Classic: The Second Encounter
$1.99 System Shock Enhanced
$2.49 Sanitarium
$2.99 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky

You cannot complete your transaction because you are attempting to purchase an item that is already included in another packaged item in your cart. Please check your cart to verify that you are not purchasing an item multiple times. The most common cause would be purchasing DLC along with a deluxe version of a product that already includes the same DLC.

Remove System Shock Enhanced. That didn't work. Remove Distraint, put back System Shock Enhanced. Same error. OK, remove all.

OK, now just Distraint and System... that works.

Oh, I have Serious Sam HD First and Second. I guess I'll remove the non HD versions from my Wishlist.

Throw in
$5.99 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

2019.12.01 Got a Steam Controller for $5. It was easier to buy it than consider if I even wanted or needed it, but considering how old my only controller is it might be a decent backup.

more sale acquisitions off the wishlist:
$0.99 Bloons TD 5
$2.99 The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition
$2.99 Thaumistry: In Charm's Way
$4.94 Life is Strange: Before the Storm Deluxe Edition
$0.50 Life is Strange: Before the Storm Classic Chloe Outfit Pack
(i don't even know what this add-on is, but its easier just to get it on sale and sort it out later)
$3.49 Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
$9.16 STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight Collection BUNDLE
Includes 5 items: Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
$5.99 Spec Ops The Line
$5.99 Remember Me
$0.79 Remember Me: Combo Lab Pack DLC
$8.95 Homeworld Remastered Collection Deluxe Edition
Includes 3 items: Homeworld Remastered Collection, Homeworld 1 Remastered Soundtrack, Homeworld 2 Remastered Soundtrack

2019.12.11
GOG giving away free copy of Wasteland 2 (and DC comes with the original Wasteland).
I thought I had this on Steam, but no, so this is welcome.

StarCraft Remastered (2017)

2018.09.30

Rarely on sale, worthy of $9.99. I vaguely remembering thinking in the late 90s / early 2000s that with the amount of value I got out of this game they could have charged over $100 (or was that Diablo).

In the Blizzard app, it doesn't say SC Remastered, it just says Starcraft. Annoying. Install is 6 GB+; considering the originals were on CD-ROM, this must be the new one, but still, would it have been so difficult to just label it correctly. I would have to guess that SC original is not even available in the Blizzard app. Stupid things to think about while waiting for install...

Under options there are checkboxes for Original Unit Voice Overs, and Original 1998 Campaign, implying that these aren't the default? Why not?

Start Single Player, the intro scenes are different, some new images, have to use spacebar to advance (I don't remember that). I am wanting to not like this, I just wanted the originals with better graphics, but I am trying to reserve judgement.

Its coming back to me, and I'm enjoying the nostalgia. I wish I could zoom out more, but its not a 3D game, unlike SC2. I'm already starting to miss some little conveniences from SC2, like directing SCVs directly to a task.

2023.06.10

I can't find any more notes - how far did I get with this remastered version? Run Battle.net, Update, Play. Options, leaveing Sound / Original unchecked for now (let's see what its like). Game, Mature Language Filter - uncheck. View intro... oh yeah, that. Single Player, Original, i have an ID, Load Saved, Saved Games: [Cloud] - nothing. There's nothing. Take a look on the hd... in my docs, there's the folder from 2018.09.30, but nothing in the save dir, and just a few screenshots from that day.

I played so little, I saved nothing?

What's with the screen art during the text intro.

It's too bad the resolution can't be increased - got spoiled by SC2.

You'd think if they were going to make new art for the game, they'd make old Raynor look like new Raynor. His line reads seem kind of off now. The writing is the same, and the delivery sounds about the same, but it doesn't sound like well defined character of SC2. Easy enough to chalk up to it being young and enthusiastic Raynor, not the wiser and more cynical older Raynor.

Reading about screen resolution... cool that you can switch back and forth with F5. Resolution, zoom, etc. wasn't increased any further on purpose, to cater to the competetive side of the game.

No idle SCV button.

So far the remastery has only made cosmetic changes, but after you do the first indoor mission there's an illustration of Raynor giving Mengsk the discs - and behind him his Kerrigan. You don't meet her until later, but there's no contradiction in having her there. Not bad, actually.

2023.06.11

It's been long enough that I don't remember exactly what's going to happen next where. I am enjoying this as long as it lasts.

It's strange how I don't remember a map, but as I play it comes back to me along with how I played it years ago. I remember what units I used and how. I once again recognize the trend that I like to take it a bit too slow, turtling and expanding, instead of just finishing the map goal. I enjoy find every possible way to continually harass the enemy without losing a single unit.

Just some of the many ways: defensive matrix hit and run, placing an early warning system using mines (where enemies will not step on them), cloaked hit and run until they run out of comsat views, tank siege gun hopscotch, etc.

2023.06.13

Finished Terran campaign. It's been long enough that I forgot just how good Starcraft is. The game, the cutscenes, the art, just the feel of it - all great at the time, and still great now. I don't need to go any further, but I might. It might make a good game for those times when I don't know what else to play.

2023.06.14

The game is a lot easier than I remember it. As I play I can faintly recall how I played it last time, and I took much longer than I do now. And even now I'm taking it easy. Did I get better over time, or was I just being an even slower player back then?

2023.06.20

Lots of little things come back to me, like keyboard shortcuts and control groupings. I was sending out a queen unit and my fingers automatically settled on the E R and B keys. I soon rediscovered the need to keep a finger on H for all kinds of units and situations. Units tend to travel too far, or slowly drift away from where I put them. I have found myself trying to do something trivial, only to have to remember that's a part of SC2, not 1.

I toggle F5 sometimes just to see what it used to look like - and experience the cliche that past games look worse than you even remember, and also the remaster looks more like what I remember than the original.

It's really nice to be able to speed up and slow down the game (was that in the original? can't recall). Slow down the game to issue many commands across various units, then speed time back up to see how it plays out. Speed the game up to max to quickly clean up defeated enemies and bases. Too bad you can't speed it up even more.

I hate inside missions - trying to keep a few units alive, waiting for spells to recharge, etc.

2023.06.27

Finished the last episode of Starcraft. It was a little less epic than I remember it - kind of easy, actually. Twelve battlecruisers supported by half as many science vessels let you chip away at almost anything.

Reading; others feel similarly. I stumble upon The Cutting Room Floor's page [https://tcrf.net/StarCraft]; interesting.

2023.06.29

Started Brood Wars.

2023.07.17

Slowly working my way through - it's easy but time consuming. I remember these missions being much harder when I first played them; I guess I know enough tricks now. I play more aggressively than I used to, and once your opponent let's you get a mass fleet of capital ships, it's pretty much game over.

2023.07.28

Done.

Is there anything left to do here, any single-player, custom maps or scenarios that need playing?

A quick search reveals quite some activity, but not quite what I'm looking for. At least, I'm not going to spend time trying maps of questionable quality, when I've already had enough of Blizzard's high quality maps.

2023.07.29

Uninstall. Archive files: save screencaps, take a dir of save games and delete.

A quick review of screenshots... I should have taken more. They're nice reminders of key parts of the story and characters, and some interesting moments of my playthrough.

While archiving I found some stuff from the early 2000s. I look at the screenshots; even in 640x480 it's not hard to make out exactly where in the game I was.

I find a loading screen from multiplayer.

StarCraft II: Campaign Collection

2018.06.20
On sale, got it. Now I can play Legacy of the Void.

Start up Starcraft II, long long list of all achievements goes by.

I was going to replay Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm, but reading my review of HotS really puts me off. Listening to this old Starcraft (original) music in the background makes me really nostalgic for the old game. Maybe I should have just spent the $15 on the remastered.

Suggested resolution is 1680x1050 but its really chunky. Trying native 1920x1200.

Legacy of the Void. Prologue. New campaign. Hard.
Amon, the Dark God? I forgot who the big bad was. Or that there even was one.

2018.11.27
So much for attempt one, I don't think I played for more than a few hours and now haven't touched it in half a year. I'd like to just get this over with, but I'm not going to set it to Easy just yet.

Watch Story So Far again; even in brief, that sure is convoluted.

I had it set to Hard, playing now on Normal but it seems a little too easy. Oh well, making progress.

Leave and come back, can't open save file, some sort of bug, posts about it go back for months. At least each campaign mission passed is unlocked as you go.

OK, so now I'm done with prologue, ready to start actual campaign...?

I still remember the emotional depth of the original Starcraft, I haven't felt it in so long... so it is interesting that they should kill off such a long standing character, one from the old days. I know it is the nature of this kind of space opera, even this early in the story. And yet... I will miss this one especially.

2018.11.28
It seems the best way to fight the save file bug is save often and if you start getting errors just restart your session.

I replay a mission so I can get that last achievement in it, to get five more points in the magic shop. I like the counselors on the ship metaphor, its a simple but effective way to manage the game. You have all your advisers handy to give their perspective, and you have an armory to choose your equipment, and a store to purchase little magic extras. I think it made the most sense in the Terran campaign, but it still works (especially as the Protoss lose their psionic instant messaging).

I like to purchase things that extend life and defenses, as I am a turtle at heart. Like playing at sandcastles on the beach, I love building defenses and just barely holding off the enemy. After this campaign I may check out what's going on in tower defense maps for this game.

2018.12.04
I think I'm about halfway through. Of course the good guys will win, the only question is who dies. I like that it could be any or even every named hero. I don't feel so good that the enemy is now some big outside other. Part of what made Starcraft such a good soap opera was that everyone was constantly making alliances and betraying each other. That got tedious after a while, but at least you knew everybody and it was all in the family. Maybe there will be some twist, like the big boss will turn out to be xel'naga after all, or maybe this is all the real test for ascension of the first and second races, or maybe everybody dies stopping the enemy and humans are the only ones left.

2018.12.11
Last mission: The Host.
First try I made it to 83%. I'm glad its not too easy.
Second time around much easier and more fun.
That's it, vanilla ending, no twists? We banish the big bad and the Protoss get to rebuild? What about the other races? No last appearances from the other heroes?
Ah, a message from Kerrigan, and then an Epilogue. OK, this is more like it.

2018.12.12
That's what I wanted: a way forward for Kerrigan (and Raynor) no matter where it goes, a resolution to the prophecies that have been made since we met the Overmind, and a fitting end to this xel'naga civil war.

And now I'm playing as Terran again. OK, can't mind that, just takes some getting used to.

2018.12.14
Hardest mission yet, escalates quickly. Must escalate faster on my second try...
It's always more fun when you understand the map, I almost want to run it again, but there's still another map. And now I play as the Zerg? It makes sense. This final battle kind of makes sense. And just like that, its over.

I like seeing Raynor back at the bar where it all began, and he's reminiscing the way characters do in movies (looking at photos, you hear bits of old dialogue, etc.) and then in walks Sara and he goes off with her. I've been turning it over and over, and you can come up with a dozen explanations easily, but it is unsatisfying. The denouement was fine until someone might actually feel some kind of sadness or loss, and then an unambiguous happy ending is dropped on it like an anvil, killing any last chance at this story being memorable in any way.

I dutifully sit through the credits, wondering how a city worth of people is required to make this game. Back to the Campaign screen where you are told in no uncertain terms "The saga of StarCraft II has ended. Thank you for playing." Was that extra finality needed for some reason? Am I completely done playing? It seems to think so, and it is probably right; this was a good product but I can't imagine taking the time to go through it again.

Let's see where this Nova Covert Ops fits in. Good thing I waited, it definitely takes place after the main story.

As suspected, since it features a named hero, its a hero mission; its probably all hero missions. I just realized I didn't get to use a single observer unit in all of the Protoss campaign. That was one of my favorite things to do as Protoss, coat the map with observers so I could see everything.

Next mission - hey, I've got a base. And spider mines, in a tower defense kind of situation. Nice.

2018.12.17
Last mission. Its painfully obvious Nova is going to kill Mrs. Mengsk and junior is going to banish her.

Well, basically that's it, though no mom confirmation. I felt more of a reaction at the end of the Nova story than the entire Protoss campaign. I want more adventures of Nova and her pirate scientist crew, rather than any more epic galaxy scale stories.

Was there supposed to be something at the end of the credits? Just endless rotating star field, so I hit escape after a while.

Now that I am spoiler free, I can read whatever I want about StarCraft.

!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/StarcraftII
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/8501031
(broke, see https://web.archive.org/web/20161203145603/http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/8501031)