Monday, July 18, 2011

Canterbury Renaissance Faire

I just got back from the Canterbury Renaissance Faire!

Sadly there was no jousting today...


It was my first ever ren faire, and my costume was built from goodwill finds, but I still had a ton of fun. I went with my boyfriend and three house-mates. It was awesome! The boyfriend didn't originally have a costume, but we bought him a tunic and belt while we were there. I think he looks pretty awesome in it!

I'm the bard and he's my bodyguard, I guess.
Sadly it was really rainy and muddy today, so they couldn't do jousting since the horses could be injured. We also got our car stuck in the mud twice, it was an adventure! But we had lots of fun exploring the faire, listening to music, and seeing really cool hand crafted stuff. We might go back next week to see the jousting, they gave us a coupon for cheaper tickets since there was no jousting today.

We did get to see two of the knights training their squires in swordplay. It was interesting to see the difference in skill level!


Tomorrow I'm trying out a new game system called Engine Heart. I'm very excited, as I haven't played many non-D&D tabletop RPGs. I'll report back on my experiences with it tomorrow. I also just picked up Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader from the used book store - I'll post a more detailed article about those another day. Finally, Wednesday I'm meeting with a friend from my last college to discuss game ideas. I'm really excited! I've got a busy week coming up!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Game Design Document

As I've mentioned previously, I'm currently developing a game called Pollinator. Now, while I definitely have hopes of making this game something worth playing (and worth paying for), my main aim is to practice coding and learn about the game design process. Because of this, and because I've actually had several people offer to contribute art, music, and voice acting to the game, I've decided to create a design document.

From Wikipedia:

A game design document (often abbreviated GDD) is a highly descriptive living design document of the game design for a video game.[1][2][3][4] A GDD is created and edited by the developer team and it is primarily used in the video game industry to organize efforts within a developer team. The document is created by the developer team as result of collaboration between their designers, artists and programmers as a guiding vision which is used throughout the game development process. When a game is commissioned by a game publisher to the developer team, the document must be created by the developer team and it is often attached to the agreement between publisher and developer; the developer has to adhere to the GDD during game development process.

 Now, exactly how to go about creating this document was something of a mystery, so I decided to exercise my google-fu and round up some resources on the subject. Rather than rewrite what these resources already say, I'll link them here for you!

  • Brenda Brathwaite on her blog Applied Game Design has an excellent post discussing in detail the first section of the game design document. Since this is really the only section that's universal to all game types, it was very useful to see an in depth discussion of it.
  • Mark Baldwin has created a template that covers most types of games. Obviously your game may not need some sections, and may need sections that aren't listed. Your mileage may vary.
  • Intelligent Artifice has an old blog entry listing several game design documents for real games.
  • The Gamasutra site has a pretty good article covering game design documents, though they are focusing more on people pitching their idea to a company rather than on independent developers who plan to self-publish.
If anyone else has good resources for game design documents, or for the game development process as a whole, let me know! I might even post my own document up once it's done - I almost certainly will once the game is released.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Steam Sale Ends

Sadly, the steam sale has come to a close. Last week, I shared the purchases I had made so far with you, and discussed the ones I had played. Since then, I've also bought:
 I also played two of the games from my previous purchase list.


The first was Torchlight. Yes, it's very strange that I haven't played this yet. For anyone else who hasn't tried it out, Torchlight is basically a Diablo II clone. It's a GOOD Diablo II clone, with very simple yet pleasing graphics and interesting heroes, but it's basically the same kind of game - if you like Diablo II, you'll like Torchlight. I haven't played very far into it but I'm definitely enjoying it so far!


The second game I've had time to try out is the Tiny Bang Story. This is a charming point and click adventure and puzzler. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a game in that genre. My only complaint so far is that it definitely tries dirty tricks sometimes to make things harder. For example in one section you are tasked with putting together a train based on a schematic. At first I thought this was a pleasant twist to the typical jigsaw puzzle, but then I couldn't find the last part, a wheel. I looked everywhere. I looked outside the puzzle room, which resets the puzzle. I spent close to half an hour looking for this one part. Finally I had to look it up online, and found to my chagrin that the part was actually ON the schematic. Did it look like it was taped there? No. It looked like it was part of the schematic. I felt like this was a cheap trick rather than a clever hiding place - making the item actually look drawn on to the schematic, then having it change when you pick it up, with no warning, hint, or explanation (even through the in-game hint system) just seems rude. Hiding it there would be fine if it still looked like a physical part. But other than that, I've enjoyed the game. It's got a calm and relaxing atmosphere even when I've been frustrated with it.

I will continue to post little updates as I try out my different purchases.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Dungeon Delve - Level 1

Woops, I managed to get my posts out of order. Oh well.

Friday night I ran a DnD Delve for my WoW guild mates. We use an online tool called Maptool which allows us to share a map and tokens and move them around in a manner similar to a physical tabletop setup. The tool is somewhat buggy and resource intensive, but it's free and it can be used by both PC and Mac users, which is important for my group. Overall it's a decent tool which fits our current needs.

The delve we ran is from the Dungeon Delve book produced by Wizards of the Coast. The book has 30 delves, one for each level from 1-30. The main purpose of the delves for our group is filler between the main campaign. I had my players create separate characters for the filler delves, and they will be leveling them up between each delve session.


The first delve was fairly simple - the PCs were sent to clear out a small mine, which was inhabited by kobolds lead by a small white dragon. I previously ran a group of 3 level 3 adventurers through the dungeon and they had a lot of trouble in the last room, so I was worried this group might as well. The Friday group consisted of 5 level 1 characters with a good balance of roles. They absolutely slaughtered all three encounters, so difficulty was definitely NOT a problem.

Overall the session went really well, despite it being somewhat easy. Since I had some new players and people who haven't played in a long time, it was probably good to start out easy. The only other problem I had was not having enough time to create programmed macros for all of my monsters, which really helps speed up play on my side.

It's really nice that, though I'm not playing WoW consistently, I can still do fun things with my guild mates!

Oregon Country Fair - Part 1

I promised juicy details on my trip to the Oregon Country Fair, and I shall deliver! Unfortunately I won't be getting pics of today's visit until later on, since I didn't have a camera with me and the one in my phone is terrible, so my mom was the photographer for the day. I went to the fair with my wonderful mother and my good friend Brit.


Let me explain what the OCF is and what it is NOT. Often when I tell people about the fair, I get one of several responses: "Oh, country? I hate country music", "Will there be rodeo there?", and "Oh, I love Ferris wheels!"

... No. Just no. The OCF is NOT about country music or rodeos and there are definitely no Ferris wheels. It is not a county fair. In fact, I think maybe if they spelled it "faire" it might be a bit more obvious of what kind of event it is. The OCF is a meeting of everything that is quintessentially Oregon. There's excellent folk music of every possible type; all sorts of entertainers from dancers to jugglers to pupeteers and more; amazing food; and wonderful hand made crafts. But more than anything, I attend the fair for the people watching. You've never people watched until you've people watched at the OCF.

While I can't provide pics of today's visit, I can give you some examples of what I mean from the fair's website. Enjoy, and I'll post my own pics soon!










Saturday, July 9, 2011

Gaming Portland!

Yesterday I attended a wonderful gaming event here in Portland, Oregon, my current home. I found the event via the Portland Gamers Meetup Group. I've used Meetup in the past and it can be really hit or miss depending on the people in charge of the group, but this one is really great.

The event was awesome! It was a simple casual board game night. Apparently I know quite a few geeks in the community, as about half the people at the meetup were actually invited by me! Good thing I've decided to join the group's organizing/publicity team :) Also, there was free pizza, a nice touch.


The event was held at my local game store, Other World Games. It's a fun little store, with lots of tables for playing games. They don't have very many board games in house but they are happy to order for you. I have to be up front in that I did order a game there and it took a very long time to arrive, apparently they forgot to call me when it finally DID get there... but I eventually got my game. Other than that issue, I've really enjoyed the store. The owner seemed genuinely happy to be hosting the event and meeting new people. I got to meet several new gamers and may even have an in for a Warhammer campaign, something I've been wanting to play for a long time.

I brought one of my favorite games, Thunderstone. It's a deck building card game in which you create an adventuring team to kill monsters.  It's nice for events like this because it can accommodate up to 5 people. I also brought Bang!, but we didn't end up having time to play.

So hooray for meeting new people and having a blast!

I'll be cooling it on the speed testing updates until next week. Tomorrow expect an update about my DnD delve I'm running tonight, and Sunday I'll be posting about my trip to the Oregon Country Fair (which does NOT involve country music, nor ferris wheels. I'll have pics, you'll see what I mean!)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Revenge of the Jiyas: Red Cloud Mesa

Chapter three has arrived for the Revenge of the Jiyas series of articles, in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we begin our journey in the tauren starting zone, Red Cloud Mesa, located in Mulgore. We follow Jiyacow, the mighty tauren warrior, as she sets out to make a name for herself.

Is that supposed to be a salute?
Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 20min 
Red Cloud Mesa (1-5): 20min
4.8 min/lvl
Previous Chapters:
The run time for this zone was definitely shorter than the last two starters. Whether I'm just getting faster at setting up my UI or this zone is simply better designed, I'm not certain. It did seem pretty efficient, especially compared to the drugery of Valley of Trials. The quests weren't as fun as those in the Echo Isles, but they weren't awful, and setting pigs on fire was kinda cool. The flow was very nice, sending you in a circular pattern around the mesa rather than having you return to the central hub every time.

They added a very stylin' and fast way to get to the next town, too!
For the most part, the guide was very well done for this zone. However I did find a couple issues. First, one of the quests didn't show the quest tracking due to a spelling error. Second, the step where you hearth to Camp Narache and get your skills was both incorrectly coded so it did not auto-complete, and also should have been moved one step later to minimize running around. These issues are now fixed and will appear in the next update for the addon.

Overall I really enjoyed this starter. They kept a lot of the flavor of the original zone, but revamped it to improve flow and make quests more interesting. If only they had done the same for the Valley of Trials!

Bye now, brown cow!
I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:
  1. Go to the Red Cloud Mesa page and copy the contents of the guide. 
  2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
  3. Open up 01_12_Gylin_Mulgore.lua. 
  4. Copy the guide contents there.
Next Up: Kezan!



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Revenge of the Jiyas: Echo Isles

Chapter two is here for my new series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we're testing the troll starting zone, the Echo Isles. Jiyatroll, the wise and powerful warrior, is just starting her days as an adventurer.
She doesn't look too excited...
Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 28min 
Echo Isles (1-5): 28min
6 min/lvl
Previous Chapters:
I love trolls. And the new starting area is just awesome. But I need to disclose something - it actually took me almost 45 minutes to do this. FORTY FIVE MINUTES. You know why? Because there is a nasty bugged quest. Sometimes, during the quest Young and Vicious, the raptor Swiftclaw will simply not spawn. I spent almost 20 minutes sitting around, assuming other people were just getting to him before I did, waiting for him to appear. Finally I went and looked it up - apparently he just doesn't show up sometimes, and you have to abandon and re-acquire the quest. Soooo.... that's something I'm adding as a note, so no one else has to waste 20 minutes on it! Because of this, I didn't include those 20 minutes in the guide time.
Chillin with my homie Vol'jin.
Aside from that little hiccup, I felt like this zone breezed by. It has so many fun and endearing quests, it simply destroys Valley of Trials in the fun factor. I felt like it went a lot faster than Valley of Trials, too, but the /played seems to think otherwise - they came out the same. Well, at least time will seem to go faster!

Stepping onto the mainland, and to more adventures!
I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:
  1. Go to the Echo Isles page and copy the contents of the guide. 
  2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
  3. Open up 01_05_Bitsem_Echo_Isles.lua. 
  4. Copy the guide contents there.
Next Up: Red Cloud Mesa!



Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Revenge of the Jiyas: Valley of Trials

Here it is: The first installment of my new series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we take a look at the orc starting zone, the Valley of Trials. Our intrepid orc warrior, Jiya, is ready to begin her journey!

She sure thinks she's special.
Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 28min 
Valley of Trials (1-5): 28min
6 min/lvl
Previous Chapters:

 The time for this might be a little deceiving, because I spent roughly 5 minutes setting up my UI at the beginning of the test. However, I'll need to do that for every new character I start, so I decided not to try to correct for that time - it would simply make the /played calculations more complicated. Additionally, the starter zones measurements and calculations are extremely rough at best, since the levels go by so quickly, that I doubt it's worth it.

I wouldn't recommend much changed in this guide. This makes sense considering I created it in the first place - I should hope I would be satisfied with it! However, I would recommend having the user use their hearthstone to get back to The Den quickly at the end of the cave quest circuit. That cooldown is not being utilized and it can definitely save some time. It's nice that I have timing information now so I can tell easily exactly how often the hearthstone can be used in a guide!

Now let's talk about the zone. Bleh. With all the awesome work Blizz did to improve other starting zones, it's really disappointing that they  didn't bother improving this one. It's sad that this will be the first thing some players see of the game, because the game play is extremely dated (as in, not changed since the beginning of WoW). Oh well, at least they kept the peon-smacking quest in there!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:
  1. Go to the Valley of Trials page and copy the contents of the guide. 
  2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
  3. Open up 01_05_Jiyambi_Valley_of_Trials.lua. 
  4. Copy the guide contents there.
Next Up: The Echo Isles!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Revenge of the Jiyas: WoW-Pro Speed Testing

I was reading through some of my old posts and I cam across my Adventures of Mokrana series from back in 2009. In case you weren't reading the blog back then, this was a series of articles where I documented speed and efficiency testing runs for the WoW-Pro Leveling addon. I remembered how fun that was, and how interesting it was to see how the different chapters of the guide matched up.

So I've decided to start a new series: The Revenge of the Jiyas. In this series I'll be running a small army of alts (all with various versions of "Jiya" as their names) through every guide in the WoW-Pro addon. I've decided to do this test using all warriors, since it will be the best way to compare between guides - every race can be a warrior, after all! Warriors aren't ridiculously good at soloing, like hunters are, but they aren't too shabby at it either, having a lot of health, good defenses, and the ability to move quickly via charging. Overall I think it will be a good average experience.


The Rules
  • NO rested XP! I'll be logging out OUTSIDE of inns and major cities.
  • NO heirlooms! I'll only wear what gear I find, get from questing, or can legitimately afford on the auction house.
  • NO help from high level characters, in money or runs! I'm starting on a brand new server where I don't know anyone, and since I'm speed leveling, I won't be socializing. So I'm on my own!
  • NO dungeons, PvP, etc. This is a test of the questing guides, specifically.

Caveats
  • NO professions. I'm already handicapping myself enough, and I'm also documenting my progress via notes and screenshots as I go, which will slow me a small amount. I won't be taking extra time out for professions, even gathering ones.
  • YES - I have an auctioneer. I'll be mailing all my marketable items to her, and she'll sell them. I won't be playing the auction house in any other way, though.

The Process

I will be recording how long each quest circuit takes and measuring that in hr/lvl. That means, how many hours it would take to gain one level at that experience rate. I think measuring this way will make more sense than levels/hr, as most people want to know how long it takes to get to the next level, NOT how much of a level an hour's play will get them.

I'll be covering one zone at a time, starting with ALL of the starter zones. Doing it in this way will allow us to get a clear idea of how similar zones compare in speed.

Along the way I'll be making notes of things that worked well and things that didn't, both in terms of the actual quests from Blizzard, as well as the guide. In my write up, I'll include these notes, as well as an updated version of the guide with these issues fixed. These updates will be available in the next version of the WoW-Pro addon, but you can get them early from my blog!

My final write up will have a spreadsheet showing the quest circuits, start and end times and levels, and the hr/lvl rate for each. I'll  have a write up in prose accompanying this, as well as screenshots. I'll compare the guide and zone to the others in that bracket which I've completed so far. Finally, I'll include a download link for the updated guide.

When I complete a "bracket" of zones (all zones of a particular level range), I'll write up a summary comparing all the zones and recommending the best for leveling.

I've already completed the Durotar guide, and you should expect to see it posted here sometime tomorrow!

DnD Campaign: A Teaser

I'm setting up a new DnD 4e campaign for some of my WoW guildmates, and tonight I wrote a little teaser to introduce what the campaign will be about. I thought it was an interesting read, so I'm sharing it with all of you!


Your homeworld is dying.

It's been scarcely a century since the great Blight began. The terrible rot started off in a few isolated places, and the priests tried to contain it. They said a great necromancer damaged the barrier between our world and the world of Death, and hoped to repair the damage. But it spread too fast, and any who tried to stop it soon sickened and died. Now the forests lie silent, skeleton trees reaching up to the sky. Farms lie fallow, or burned, or rotting. Rivers flow with dust or blood, plague runs rampant, and dangerous earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and fierce storms wrack the land.

But there is hope. Though the great workers of magic have been unable to halt the spread of the Blight through your world, they have discovered the power to visit others. Not all can support life. Some are as used up and burned out as your own. Others are hellish, nightmare landscapes, or barren, desolate and freezing wastelands which could never hope to house your people. But there is one at last that has been found, a world of lush green growing things, a place where your dwindling people might make a home.

You are part of the expedition that has been chosen to begin settling the new land. Transporting people between worlds takes a great toll on the magic users of your homeland, as well as many precious materials that must be used as components for the spell. While they are seeking ways to send more people more quickly, for now only a mere fifty people may be sent each month. You will be in the second group sent to this new place, and one of the lucky few who will be able to escape the disease and death of your home.


"Welcome to Kalbar," a swarthy man in a military uniform grunts. His smirk peeks out from beneath a bushy mustache. "Just what we need, some fresh meat."

You step out of the great ether-ship, blinking in the unfamiliar light. The journey took three weeks, and in that time you've had only lamplight to see by. But it's more than that. The light on this world is different than your homeland's. The sun glints with a sharp, white light, harsher and brighter than any you have seen. The air is muggy, warm and humid, and your clothes immediately begin to stick to your limbs and body.

As overwhelming as these things seem, they are nothing compared to the trees. The trees! You've never seen so much color in all your life. Not just green, though of course there is green. Oceans of green, a green so deep and oppressive you feel as if it might swallow you up. But mixed in are plants with bark and foliage of deep purple, of blue, and bright and angry red and yellow. More than the sun, more than the heavy, fetid air, the saturated colors of this place tell you, you are not at home.

The man, who appears to be an officer of small authority but large ego, sighs. "Come on then, stop gawking. You'll have plenty of time to get used to this hell hole." He wanders off, clearly expecting you to follow.

You take in the scene before you. A city of tents covers most of a cleared hilltop. There are several hastily constructed buildings. The officer appears to be heading toward one of these. However, you can't help but notice a number of unfinished buildings. This in itself is not odd - what seems strange is that, despite it being mid morning and a prime time for it, no one is working on these buildings. Instead, workers swarm around the perimeter of the hill, furiously working on a half built wall of sharpened poles.

Halfway through the camp, the officer veers off in the direction of a small disturbance at the half-finished wall. Some men are carrying the body of a soldier. His body is mauled past recognition, great gouges rent in his flesh by some massive claw. Some distant part of your mind begins calculating exactly how large a creature might have made such wounds, and stops, unable to deal with the result. The thing must have been massive, the size of a wagon, or a small building.

The officer's face turns red, and he grabs hold of the nearest soldier. "I told you men to stay in pairs. I told you, dammit! How many is it this week? How many?!"

"Three, Marcus. And don't go yelling at the men, now. They haven't found this one's partner, either."

A tall, thin man in a shabby blue robe places a comforting hand on the officer's shoulder. His fingers are long and bony, and he folds each joint in a measured, deliberate manner. His face is long, with deeply set eyes like dark caves, and wide, bushy gray eyebrows. "Come on, my friend. Introduce me to the new recruits."

Marcus, the swarthy officer, gruffly shrugs off the tall man's hand. "New Meat, Istul. Istul, New Meat."

Unable to hold it in any longer, you blurt out, "What in all seven hells is going on here? Three what? What happened to this man?"

Marcus turns away. Istul looks at you with an expression full of sadness and pity. "Kalbar happened. This world hates us. Hates us. It wants nothing more than to kill and eat every single one of us." His voice is completely flat, devoid of all emotion, and all hope.

You stare at him incredulously. "What are you talking about? You mean this was done by natural creatures? Don't we have any druids here?"

A chorus of laughter erupts around you, a grim, desperate laughter. Marcus painfully jabs a sausage-like finger into your chest.  "You think we're idiots, New Meat? You think we haven't tried that? Drav Kalidson himself came with us on this mission. Yeah, the Lifespeaker himself! And you know what happened to him? THAT happened to him!" Marcus finally removes his finger and gestures fiercely in the direction of the mauled corpse. "First day here. He went out to 'Commune with the spirits of the land.' I guess they made their point in a way no one was expecting!"

"But couldn't you just..."

Istul cuts you off. "No. No no no, I'm afraid not my friends. You see, Drav was killed, oh yes, but he didn't die right away. No. And we had other druids with us. You see, you see..." Istul's voice becomes more and more distracted as he goes on. Suddenly his eyes lose focus, and he turns away, cocking his head as if listening.

Marcus shakes his head. "He's gettin a call from home, don't mind him. What Istul's trying to say is that druids are powerless here. We didn't realize it going in, but something's different between this world and ours. And while the lifespeakers may be friends with OUR natural world, they sure as hell aren't friends here. Kalbar doesn't have friends. It doesn't understand friends. All it understands is that we are prey."

He claps you on the back, steering you back towards the large building at the center of camp. "And I'm here to try and turn us into the predators."

Steam Sale!

The Steam summer sale started two days ago, and already I've spent close to fifty dollars. But each game hasn't been more than $5.00.

Here's what I bought so far:
 So far I've only played two of them.


BIT.TRIP Runner is a rhythm platformer. In some ways it's similar to platformers like Super Meat Boy - it's got simple yet appealing graphics, very smooth gameplay, and unforgiving challenges - one mistake means restarting the level. But I found Super Meat Boy frustrating and kind of gross, I find BIT.TRIP Runner relaxing and very pleasing visually. The "rails" style platforming is interesting to me, and the music really helps me get into the game.


However, it's really frustrating to have to sit through boring or easy parts of the level in order to get back to the hard part where you keep dying. Also, it's embarrassing to die to stairs... and that's what I usually die to. Still, it's contained far more than enough enjoyment so far to pay for the measly $2.50 I spent on it, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes this sort of game.


SpaceChem is a puzzle game. In which you are a chemical engineer designing first a single reactor, then entire plants full of reactors. Anyone who knows me well knows I have a degree in chemical engineering, and quit to pursue computer science because I didn't find the work interesting and enjoyable enough. Oddly, this game has me thoroughly addicted. The fact that, while it acknowledges what it's doing is NOT real reactions (chocking that up to futuristic technologies), it doesn't break chemistry. It makes things simpler for non-chemists to understand, but it won't allow you to add more than four bonds to an atom - and correctly limits specific atoms to their actual, lower number of possible bonds (for example, hydrogen can only have one bond).


The gameplay progresses well in terms of difficulty and complexity. The levels do get a bit huge later on, and making a mistake in planning your plant can sometimes not be found until the last reactor, and you have to redo everything. Aside from this I found it extremely rewarding. The story that goes along with the game is told via short, page-long bits of text between levels. While this isn't the most engaging form of telling a story, I actually find myself very interested in what's happening even though it really doesn't much effect gameplay. Overall, I definitely recommend this to chemistry buffs and anyone who likes a good puzzle game.

I'll keep you posted as I try out my other purchases!