Game Journalism Day 4

We are officially moving on from the fido fiasco.

That encampment had supplies and a horrible encounter with the seeker, but I moved on and found this creepy little farm in the middle of nowhere.

There were little rocks all along the path that made SO MUCH NOISE I was practically begging the seeker to eat me.

I found and chased a lovely little tumbleweed, ignoring the imminent danger posed by the seeker.

And then this monstrosity came into view. As soon as I saw it I made the realization that the seeker could obviously not burrow up through stone. This would be a great place to camp out.

Apparently this little old guy had the same realization. He sent me on a bunch of errands around the cliffs, where I nearly died a bunch of times and spilled a bunch of water, so that was fun. The seeker was there, following me around, but as suspected he was not a very good rock climber.

After all that this eyesore was my reward. I put it on the back of my ship so I could at least still see where I was going the rest of the time. I think I'll need to expand my ship as well. Building on your ship and having room to make things is a big deal in this game. I've been preoccupied staying alive and accomplishing tasks, but I would highly recommend building on your ship.

After flying a little longer I found a valley of dead trees, with some caravans, the usual dead people and LO AND BEHOLD, a DEAD seeker!

Someone managed to kill one of these 'critchers'. I took a sample and the research equipment found in the back of the caravan. Maybe I can find a way to kill the one following me.

I also found this crazy thing in one of the tents. Hello creepy totem thunderbird, how are you?

As usual, I moved on before the seeker had the chance to murder me. This oasis came up pretty fast, a beautiful little place with a bunch of trees and water, hallelujah!

And there was this funny little wolf-man! I already ate all my food, so I had nothing for him, but he invited me to stay, which was nice.

Obviously I cut down all his trees and ate all his fish before leaving. Thanks guy!

Next there was this little innocent town on the horizon. I figured I stop for supplies like I always do when I see any kind of change in the endless desert.

That proved to be an extremely bad decision; I was trapped in a house by a seeker. A strange message about facing down with the beast appeared on my screen before he ruthlessly trapped me and it occurred to be that I probably missed something and should have some kind of weapon or knowledge of a weapon so I can get rid of the monstrosity and move on.
Thinking along those lines I made a made dash for the armory, hoping I could figure out a way to kill the thing. That was an even WORSE decision, as all the weapons were locked behind bars, and there was only one door. I had to use my noisemaker just to get from the church to the armory so I was sure I was going to die here.

But then I didn't! I made it out by the skin of my teeth, screaming the whole way with the seeker chasing me, and lived to fight another day!

The next time I stopped was at this weird cave encampment, with this long creepy tunnel and ominous vibe. Of course, I went in.

The scariest thing about the cave was the different paths you could take. I have no sense of direction, and was positive I was doomed to get lost.

In each of the rooms there was a dead guy, and some lovely falling stalagmites which killed me once, and then this mushroom room. There was a dead guy who definitely died after eating those red mushrooms so, note to self, don't eat those.

I also found a farm of sunflowers, and a maze, and for once the seeker didn't find me? I have a feeling that I am going to need to find the way to kill this thing, and quick, because it obviously has a plan to kill me.

Here's my advice for players; take your time. I definitely missed a few things, and haven't quite figured out how things work yet. I am easily scared, so I have the tendency to just 'nope' my way out of places without looking back. Don't be me! Build your airship, explore and observe, stick it to the seeker, and find a way to kill that thing!

Also, try and get a bobble head! They literally have no use, but they're kind of fun to watch while you're flying for hours.

Unfortunately it seems unlikely that I will be able to kill the seeker. I am going to move on and start again in an even more updated version of the game. Let's try Hard Mode, and see if I've learned anything at all.

Minecraft Slideshow Part 3

Finally finished! feast your eyes on the INTERIOR AND EXTRAS of my Minecraft project. And some shenanigans scattered throughout... let's just say we had some fun with this.

Game Journalism Day 3 Part 2

At this point I've left the town and upgraded my balloon. This location has changed a lot from the first farmhouse you find. As in... it got a LOT creepier.

Graves. Graves EVERYWHERE.

So many graves. This whole place gave me the CREEPS.

There's actually a DEAD GUY hanging from a HANGING POST like... this is not ok. Who came up with this? I hate it.

But I got a bed on my balloon, so that's fun.
There were a surprising amount of supplies in the graveyard; I found bandages, and alcohol, and a whole bunch of fun stuff.

Here is the one thing that really annoys me: the distance between locations is killer. I nearly ran out of fuel; I even had to stop and break down some trees.

When I did finally find my location I did not go in, instead focusing on the glitch I found. A floating rock. I named him Fido.

Game Journalism Day 3

Surprise! We are starting from scratch on the game Desert Skies.

No, I did not die, a new version of the game was released! So, what is different? What did I do differently, having the knowledge from my first play through of the game? Do I like it as much?

First of all: Differences.

We are back to the beginning. Middle of the desert, ransacked caravan, and a whole lot of questions. The first scene has no changes, so I was able to go through it quite quickly.

The new balloon is slightly darker orange than the last one, and the oven/fuel source has a higher pipe.

There are a lot more trees and cacti in this version, it's not just a wide open desert. The wide open desert was a tad depressing so I like this better. Plus, there are a lot more resources for when you need to land. Which is good, because another one of the differences is particularly... annoying.

There is WAY more space between point A and point B, or any of the locations. The travel distance needs more fuel - and it uses up fuel faster - which is why the over abundance of trees is a good thing.

There are a few new things in the town, but the first thing to notice is that the train station has gone through some serious renovations.

The other new feature is a whole new floor at the top of the saloon. The door leads to an outside walkway and a roof layer.

There isn't really anything important up here, but it does give you a nice view!
This time around I didn't wake the seeker, I wanted to see what would happen if you just skipped town.
To answer that question; he comes after you anyways and you'll get chased by him in the next town no matter what. All that happens is you don't get coal to travel from location to location.
I do like the new version, especially since there are some rumors about collectible BOBBLE HEADS which would be amazing, but I don't find that a lot has changed.

Minecraft Final Video

It's 23 seconds, but if 3 seconds over the time limit is too much then I suggest closing your eyes at 19 seconds...

Game Journalism Day 2

It's day two. Time to check out the death train.

There it is, at the end of the train station. This is the only photo I got of it because as soon as I tried to investigate, I got the scare of my life! Well, it wasn't that scary, but I wasn't expecting it so soon. I had a plan to grab what I could and run back to my airship but noooooo.

The game announced that there was an 'earthquake' and one of the large mounds - they look like demented mole holes - that I had seen at every place I stopped appeared. I immediately ran - I am nothing if not a coward - but it followed me. My airship wasn't far away, and I had made preparations before this so I could just jump on it and get the heck out of dodge. 

There she is!

Here's a tip; unless you scavenge mercilessly, it's unlikely you'll find anything helpful. And after the seeker know you exist, scavenging will get MUCH harder. So I suggest you set up a work table on your balloon. It may look a little funny and limit where you can stand, but when the seeker gets a good hit in right before you get away and you need to make bandages, you'll thank me.

Another tip I forgot to mention; wells run dry, apparently. So if you get into town and you don't find a canteen somewhere - which I didn't - just drink all the water anyways and then try and find as many water skins as possible. 

That's where one of my favorite things in the game comes in. 

I know I'm getting off topic and you want to hear about how I got away from the sand demon, but I'll get back to that. 

One of the best things in this whole game are the cacti. Not these:

While these are good, you can only really get fibers from these. But thats a great thing to have, because you are definitely going to need bandages. You make bandages from fibers and alcohol, which I'm sure you'll find along the way. 

THESE are the ones I really really like. See that purple thingy? That's a cactus fruit. Not only do you need nothing to harvest these, but you can eat them. When you eat them, they restore hunger AND thirst. I picked at least 10. I love them. 

Back to the seeker issue. As you can see, I got away, after he got a good hit in. I turned around to watch and saw him. He's a spiky glowworm thing with claws, that apparently has gotten quite the taste for human flesh. 

So that's fun. 

If you look closely you can see him, but I'm too much of a coward to go down there and get a better photo. I can only imagine asking the seeker to stop and pose. 

So here I am, flying aimlessly, trying to make things that will prevent me from dying. 

Here are some things you definitely need to make: 

a work bench. Very useful. If you go ham on the spinner on your mouse, it will open into build mode, which is the only place you can build a work bench.

Stone axe. Without this, you're pretty much screwed. Make one. 

Bandages. The seeker is a beast that likes to scratch at you as you try to start up your woodstove. The ability to make bandages is great. 

Noisemaker. I'm getting a little ahead of myself with this one, but geez it's a good thing to have. 

Back to the chase! 

I landed after seeing this abandoned caravan. The only useful thing in here was the alcohol, but I did see a vulture which was pretty neat. 

I got out of here before seeker could get to me.

And then there was this place. 

Cute little rancher, right?

See the seeker icon under all my bars? I didn't know if that meant he was near, or he heard me, but I was willing to risk it to get a few supplies (and progress the games plot, obviously). 

Thinking back, it was not the smartest thing to do, but look at all the stuff I found! I was sure some of that was useful somehow. 

This is where you'll find some bells. I found it on a dead cow, and there was one just laying in the sand. I tried very hard to be silent so he wouldn't find me but, well, it was futile. 

Here's another 'pro'-tip for surviving this game: Be observant. 

I knew that at some point the seeker would come here, there was an icon on my screen for pitys sake. Every time I moved anywhere all I was thinking was about the closest possible escape route. 

I learned that you are pretty fast just while walking - a speed walker, I guess - and that's usually enough to get away from the seeker. Also, if you're just walking, he's less likely to hear you. 

I guess if you sprint, everything in your bag rattles around and he hears that. So just walking is usually enough to get away. 

Anyways, the point to the whole tangent is I only got away because I realized that one of the mounds he'd made in the past made it possible to get onto this roof. So when he showed up, I jumped up onto the roof. Apparently he can't jump, which makes sense because he doesn't have legs. 

There was also a case up here with alcohol in it which I used to make bandages later.

He went into the barn under me and did get a good hit in before I managed to get away. But the key here is I managed to get away! 

Another successful gaming session where I was too much of a coward to learn anything at all. But I did make a noisemaker, which I plan to throw at the earliest convenience. 

If you look, you can see the seeker is still in the barn, which is hilarious because I am flying away. 

I think my next order of business is to make a crate or something to put all my stuff in. A bed would be nice too. I think tomorrow I'll have to stop somewhere and do some building. 

So here's a recap:

You can eat food tins, which you find, and cactus fruit, which you farm. You can see both in my quick select. In the picture above the cacti fruit is number 3 and the tin is number 5. 

Wells run out of water, so finding water skins is essential. A canteen would be nice too, but I don't know anything about those yet. My water skins are number 4 on my quick select bar. 

Make a workbench! Make an axe! Be self-sufficient!

Be observant of ways to get out, try and land as close to your destination as possible. Walk instead of run at any times that you can. Make a noisemaker so you can get away. Build things so you have more room on your floating prison. Stick it to the seeker and make a chair or something so you can watch him following you and laugh in the lap of luxury. 

Game Journalism Day 1

The name of the game? Desert Skies.
This is a first person survival game. It opens by dropping you smack in the middle of a desert.

You have low health, hunger and thirst. My initial thought was 'great, I'm already bad at video games, I'm going to die when I start walking the wrong way'. Then I turned around.

Bam! There's a full on caravan camp behind you! There are supplies and a bunch of dead people. That's great. Through the character's commentary you, the player, learn that the ground really isn't safe. These poor people made camp, but even that didn't save them. One guy got torn in half! So, of course, the next course of action is to rob them blind.

I stole ALL their stuff. Wood, nails, rope, bandages, water skin, anything I could get my hands on. There was one food tin, which helped as well. I initially started walking in an aimless direction, before I remembered you also spawn by a big ass balloon. After collecting all the stuff from the dead caravan crew, you hop on that balloon and fly off into the sunset.

But actually, it takes you to the next point in the game.

Which is this fun little rail road town! There's a well in the middle, which is a good thing to remember because water is ESSENTIAL. There are a bunch of houses and a BUNCH of supplies.
I started in the church, where it became quite clear that the pastor of this town was a lunatic. His sermon was all about repenting and sacrificing the unclean souls. When has that ever worked?
The saloon had a bunch of empty rooms, the jail was empty, the supplies store was super useful.
I did discover something strange, though...

These people live IN A DESERT and yet they DECORATE with CACTI?!?!?!?! I was very upset to learn this.
There is one thing left for me to do... get coal from the train full of dead bodies. It seemed rather ominous, so I've left that task til last.

To progress in the game, I've kept myself healthy and collected whatever supplies I can find. And it's not a matter of tripping over things, you have to search through rubble and houses for things that light up so you can take them. Don't forget to eat and drink and try to find some bandages.
Also, just do everything. I know there is some kind of monster in this place, and as a person who avoids confrontation it is tempting to leave while I'm ahead, but in order to get the full experience of the game I refuse to be a wimp.

Tomorrow I will investigate the train. And quite possibly die.