Tag Archives: Games

September 10, 2026 · 06:53

We need George Michael

That is the setting, I went out and dreamt up a game last night (it is now 06:07) and it is a tropical 10 degrees Celsius now (apparently I woke up with a sense of humour). So what happened? Well, it is partially based on Peter Molyneux’s Black and White, but only casually so. The game looks at something called Faith, you gotta have it and that gives away the title. The ‘land’ has villages. And these believers (or heathens) are in two camps. The believers of Hecate and the ‘others’ follow Sekhmet (I got your back auntie). But things are not as cut and dry as it looks. You see, you are bound by your follower, as such, it matters who the priest is (or Shaman if they follow Sekhmet). As such you need to pour your energy in the right people. Because your power defrays and it only refreshes when the village becomes dedicated to you, so you need to be cautious how you spend your energy. It is a whirlwind of supporting your own flock and harming the other flock. But harming the other flock does little for you, it merely stops the other from gaining their powers. 

After the introduction and the basics a third is introduced. The people that introduce whoring and gam bling. Yes you got it, the Christians. They tend to remove faith from both camps and settle in both lands. So as we see the influence of evangelists, the power of dedication that the price of your path and the shaman of the other team, we can see the interactions that come with it. But the game has a more mellow state and a longer running time per level. I wanted to take away the parts that made Black and White great (because it was a great game) and settle towards the interactions that these two settings have. And later the disruptions that the Christians brought, because they are that in this game, pure and simple disruptions.

Still the idea settled in my brain and whilst some parts might look a lot like Black and White, the execution does not. You do not set the entire village into ‘chanting’ around a wonder, or devoted to a giant turtle. It is basically getting the right person to advocate your power, which is harder, because you could have put your ‘trust’ in a snake oil salesperson, hurting yourself in the process a lot faster. There are still a few sides that my brain has to work out, but the setting was there right from the start. And as your village grows and takes turns, the priest of that town will settle into giving insights into another person who will settle an apothecary, or a doctor who will settle the village and making it healthy. As such it is not a negative setting, as healing is separated from superstition, the village becomes a lot healthier and they set the positivity of faith. So the dedicated mind is also a force of good, not the setting to take away mythology to create atheists. 

There are still a few sides to work out, but I think that this game might have a few upsides. The nice part is that it is not a call of duty action setting, but in all this I wanted it to be an educational tool, because as I see it, that side of education is often neglected. As some say “Mythology offers deep psychological and emotional positivity by providing a proper framework that foster resilience, a sense of belonging, and personal meaning” and I want that part to be set into the game, the psychological setting was too often ignored, but how to set this? As I see it, places like the herbalist (apothecary) sort these parts in motion (as well as resilience). Well will you look at that, another game finds itself uncovered. So as Microsoft announced it intent on limiting its 15 hour limit on cloud gaming and in September they announced 14 games and all but two could be played in the cloud. What a way to fight gaming education and I reckon that above those 15 hours it will cost the gamer plenty of drachmas. And my setting would need no additional funds (above the purchase of a game). So whilst we might entertain the ‘validity’ of their actions, I merely came up with more ways to keep the gaming community entertained and in that I claim the sold ground towards gaming pleasure. And they give the ‘nice’ setting of “As for what’s leaving, 11 games have been confirmed to depart in early September”, so what if there s one game in these 11 that you have revered for the longest time? Because if they were not that interesting, it was merely storage, so I am guessing that the impact is larger. Considering that some say that storage is $0.08 per GB, not that much of an impact, so I am guessing that the impact is a lot larger, but that is me, speculating. 

So at this point I end the article, perhaps there is another part coming, perhaps not, the idea is out in the open perhaps an indie developer sees the inkling of options that I am seeing and they will go with it. 

Have a great day today, for me its time to find my local dealer for coffee as my blood is depleted of caffeine at present.

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August 31, 2026 · 03:19

The upgrades we yearn for

That is what I am thinking of, not the semi-upgrade that a new iPhone gets you, but the upgrade that you get if you use a good idea from the Commodore 64 in the 90s and you give it some great graphics and a speedy results that are possible now. You tend to get a whammy of a game. Ideas range from an upgraded HERO (Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation) a game that Activision gave us in 1984, but wait, before you judge, take the simple setting and add to that a MetaQuest 3 helmet, upgrade the settings to a more defining graphical challenge, with Xray vision, to you can destroy the right wall, laser sights so you can destroy the right enemies and the might sound simple in the beginning, but what happens when the rest energy you have is accumulated into a stronger battery and stronger lasers? In the end we can add a stronger power cell to the Helicopter backpack and when the game evolves to longer time stacks, we could offer a larger revenue system. Also there is the idea to add in later levels walls (like Journey to the Center of the Earth, 2008) where you find gemstone walls, which gets you plenty of dineros and if you get the right diamonds a instant upgrade to the laser system (these puppies tend to be allegedly diamond enhanced) and those are just a few ideas on certain games. There is of course the setting that these makers had limitations to work with, but when we take those away and we add a MetaQuest 3, we can now push these games into a massively more interesting game and whilst the ‘original’ scored 94%, we could make it even more challenging, without taking the joy out of gaming. Because that tends to be be the downside of ‘new games’ like Electronic Arts wasted its powder on Dungeon Keeper and the need to buy Diamonds (micro transactions). But there is also an upside. Games like Magic Carpet could be renewed with a stringer setting without taking the pin out of the grenade and let it blow up in your face. There is still the setting that Populous and Populous 2 offered and that might give is smoother graphics, without spoiling the fun. These games still get tonnes of nostalgia and that should have been the warning shot for Microsoft and Sony, optionally Nintendo too to renew these bonds and see what could come of this. It is a simple step and when the right developer gets involved (or the original makers) to see what was possible. At present as most of this is now in hands of Saudi Arabia, they could look at renewing these games and presenting them to a new audience. It might be a simple setting, but gamers who get into a nostalgic mood and get offered the games that they spend weeks 24:7 on and gamers like that are the proper voices that could propel a game to a much larger audience. You merely have to do right by them and offer that feeling yet agains, without EA messing things up by setting it behind a  money portal. Because that is what spoiled it for many. 

So have a great day and consider (if you are old enough) what game kept you up all night? Because that could be the next setting for a renewed gaming experience. Have a great day, it just turned Monday for me (3 hours ago).

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August 17, 2026 · 23:35

Tea You Eye Queue

It is a mysterious setting towards the real setting and I wrote about it in 2017. I would have thought the someone would have taken up that baton, but there is no depth towards the non-satisfaction of a clueless mind. But here goes, the title here sets you towards TUIQ, meaning The Upgrade In Question, not very mysterious, but it is all in a days work for the lovely Carmen and whilst looking at an old episode of The Mentalist I was drawn towards towards Carmen, or in this case it was the illusive, global traveling sleuth Carmen Sandiego and what I did not know that in 2024 Netflix made it into a cartoon. So there is an other reason to take up that baton. You see, the original (1985) which I played on the CBM64 (not sure what systems it was released) was limited by the standards now, yet in those days 64KB was all there was and I saw the need (in 2017) to create an upgrade, but in 2026 there is another reason. Most people (and children too) are becoming empty husks revolving around fake AI. It is time to change that and give the next generation a new setting. You see, there is a reason to do this. People need to get system and logistically savvy. There is not other way to put it, but wouldn’t it be great that these gamers also get an education? In the old days it was what there was, but now we can create a game that upgrades the settings of the player. In the intro (first few levels) it is the old setting, what there was I what there was. But as you play and get revenue (and an awesome reputation) you get the coin to make a few adjustments and technology for the sleuth in question. So you become the sun of daughter of the famous sleuth and whilst you get left with a Filofax, you are also spirited and there the story starts. You start with your home base, na matter where you start, you start in a simple student pad as you recently graduated. You can upgrade the house, the equipment and the travel arrangements. It all influences your ability to get ahead in the game. So whilst you might get a better laptop first, it is all up to you and it is heavily set towards time and time lost. So you get the clues and some you will know, but others you will not and here the search starts and gives you the sleuthing of a lifetime. So whilst you will at times will catch the culprit, it is not always the case and that us where the arrest papers matter, the more facts you have, the better the chances that he will be caught and the arrest paper will also reimburse you to some effect. It will be a global setting to sleuthing. The idea from 1985 was great, it is a decent place to start, but as we create a new setting we will have to start becoming clever on how we do things. As we have at least 16GB ew can make something decent of this and while we get a good version, this setting will enable DLC’s to be implemented. 

So there is reason to consider ‘Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?’ into a ‘What happened to Junior Sandiego?’ and whilst we consider what is possible, there is literally not much that couldn’t happen and whilst All AI is fake (for now), there is a strong use (and desire) to include an LLM that parses data like nothing else and that is a game changer in games like these, because the one thing that the original never stopped, was being tedious and now that we have all kinds of new options, the tedious factor is most likely averted. So the people at Broderbund (the original makers) could sit down and consider what more they could do and what other settings could be implemented. Considering that we now have timezones and timing for real (in the original it was merely a time counter) but that setting could be set to include languages and also the means to translate them and those settings have (to the best of my knowledge) never been properly exploited. So as I see it the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch could become, to some degree, an educational tool as well. But that might be my soft setting in this all. You see, there is a lack of actual educational games. I have opted for that setting before, but this is a setting that could reverberate with the young and eager gamers. Apart from the fact that parents like to spend money on educational games. It is something they appreciate better that the “pew pew pew, your dead” games. I am not against them, I just slaughtered a few dozen orcs, just because it was fun. So take the idea for what it is, an idea that should be used by Sony/Nintendo developers.

Have a great day today, it is about to become tomorrow for me, all whilst it is merely breakfast today in Vancouver.

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July 23, 2026 · 00:49

The choice was mine

There was an option to join the ladies around a tea cosy and whinge about the United States Pentagon and its need for cash, a setting which I did not feel up to or the setting of Ubisoft’s remaster setting as it is. I choose the second option. It felt more relaxing. As I see it, a remaster is a new setting. It could enlarge the original game. It could make the game more intense, and lets face it the original Assassins Creed could use that. 

So whilst we can accept to some degree the voice of a reddit user: 

“Assassin’s Creed 1 hasn’t been remastered because its gameplay loop is widely considered too repetitive and dated by modern standards. Rather than a simple visual update, the original 2007 title would require a massive, ground-up remake-including entirely new mission structures and overhauled mechanics-to satisfy today’s players.”

It seems fair enough, but the first one has a few optional settings that were nice. There is a second setting, the lore of Assassins Creed could be ‘explored’ consider the setting of the third mission (if my memory serves me correctly) the setting is that there were the “33 collectible Hospitalier Flags located in the Poor District of Acre during Memory Block 03, as well as the faction of Knights Hospitalier and target” that is merely one setting. You see there was also the Teutonic Order, the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. So here is the rub, the flags need to be upgraded to show one side the Hospitalier flags and the Teutonic flags on the other side. It would give a choice section and also a reward. One choice makes your medicine more potent, the other side makes your poison more powerful. A simple selection that could influence the game, and it becomes simple as one was housed in Acre and the other one in Jerusalem. There could be other implications as well. Killing the Hospitalier commander makes it possible to use poison against templars, killing the Teutonic commander does not, but makes another setting optional. As such the game could easily surpass the originals Assassins Creed of 2007. Also glyph lore was introduced in AC2, it could be added to AC1 and give additional power to that game. There is so much more to do. The stealth lore of the first game is exceedingly simple (compared to game 5 and beyond) all that becomes available now and it was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, whilst now there is also the Switch to consider and the options of the PS5 and Xbox series X has become a lot more powerful. As such there is a massive reason to reconsider this step. As (my firm believe) that Ubisoft needs money and not riddles with exploration options into creating more IP, reassessing the old IP and creating new IP through that. And there is an additional bonus to recreating that IP, it was at the time the hight of ‘new technology’ which is now 18 years and two generations old. Optionally creating waves of a whole new group of gamers. The nicer side is that the stealth parts of AC2 could be reset to fill this gap taking away (to some extent) the repetitive side of the original game. The addition of the eavesdrop power that was introduced later, gives more options now. Then killing the templars could be upgraded and whilst their impact could be used as well. Behind these templars there is the option that they have keys and getting the right group of them (from the 60 hidden optional Templars) where there are 10 upgrades, 10 times 6, with one having the group of 6 list, one of them having the map and 4 having the keys that could in turn upgrade one item in your arsenal. Also as a group is taken out, the connected allies of them disappear. Making the maps much more ‘peaceful’. All settings that could be added to a remaster. I am sure that more is possible and in that case the ‘repetitive’ side will be massively nullified. And I am doing much of this from memory. I haven’t played this game since I got rid of my Xbox360 and PS3 (I had it on both systems). I am certain that I could find more things to ‘upgrade’ There is one thing I missed in the original. I expected in those days to find more lore in the game. So that could be fixed as well. So whatever Ubisoft does, it shouldn’t ignore the game that started the Franchise, because in 2007 there was nothing like it, and it could set that stage again, especially after nearly 20 years. As such I wish Ubisoft lots of success, no matter what they decide. 

Have a great day.

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July 10, 2026 · 02:16

And so, part 3

And so the continuing story of a quack whose gone to the dogs (always good fun to laugh at myself) but there is a part 3 and there is more, but I cannot give the game away (at present). So as I was designing and redesigning the game I my mind (not graphically) there was the setting of the next part which is a little in the open. It becomes the stage of ‘Heralding’ my entry as a Fakir of Baghdad. It is the fist definite stage on becoming a person for good, or a person of debatable conditioning. You see, Evil is only in existence of this who ‘claim’ themselves to be good, evil is their opposite, or so they seem to think. But being evil is merely a stepping stone. It is always carved to the degree others think what evil was. But we have good and an opposite and that is where the game goes. As I see it, as a Fakir you will get a malleable setting. The good get the power of water, the others get the setting of fire and as you complete the stage you get introduced to either and take another trip to a cave the damp cave for the water Djini Zarek or fire Djini Zulrekh. The setting will decide how the Italian fortress of the game is dealt with. The Arabian lands are dry, the water had left them, but what you will discover is that the Italians built over a earlier stage of the underground waters, they dammed the waters in and kept a well for themselves. As such you are treated by Zulrekh as the instigator of flames, burning the enemy down and the Italians become the firewood of your power. As you became Fakir, you were also given access to a staff (which must be bought) the staff is the same either way, but the way the staff is gained is important. In a previous mission you were able to get a staff, but either you steal it, or you perform tasks to get it. If you steal the staff, you get a beggars staff which is an oak staff and you get the dream to find Zulrekh in the cinder cave, if you perform the tasks you get the dream of the Water Djini Zarek who invites you to the damp cave. That is the step that defines your route.  Zarek tells you:

Hello young one, You did well, you please me with the route that is fluidic like water. You did the task and now I seek you out, there is much to tell. The western Italici decided to put there fortress on top of the streams that feed Bagdad, they blocked the waters keeping little for themselves. This water can no longer feed Baghdad, the tigris still flows, but no longer to Baghdad. They must now travel to the Tigris every day to get their waters. But water is strong, so I will teach you how water breaks stone and you can crush the Italians by crushing the walls of their dam and their fortress and the waters will return to the people feeding their needs. Water is an elemental power and it is strong, so you will face new hardships, but you will come out stronger and more fluidic than you have ever been. In this cave challenge you will only get a stream of water, as you smother fire you also give animals a route to escape and as the animals escape your stream becomes stronger and you will be able to stop the flames.

The idea becomes to soften the earth and washing the mud over the cinders fueling the fire. The challenge is not hard, but it shows how a simple stream washes sand, making it mud, as the stream becomes stronger you can unset boulders and they will move over the hay smothering the fuel for the flames. As you do this, you are attacked by scorpions and you can direct the stream over the scorpions washing them away. This is almost how it needs to be, I reckon that some ‘prototyping’ will be required, 

Zulrekh tells you:

Young one, your enemy has a fortress, it must burn, their people must burn, it is the only way. And in this task you end the fuel that stops the Arabian people being free. You must attack their ability to wage war against us, they become the fuel to your fire and that fire will fuel your powers too, it is your destiny to free the people to your needs and as they serve you, you will serve my needs too. 

And as such you are given the task of flaming the small boys in armor that represent the Italians and as such your flames become stronger and as you burn these little warriors you also gain mana and power just like the washed scorpions did, in the end both will give you a mana segment and your mana will get +5 making your actions stronger. As you play either you get the same rewards, only at the end you will get a different runic stone and the garbs of the Fakir will transform into either red/black or blue/green the clothes are almost the same, merely cosmetically colored and looks differ, but there is no power benefit. 

The idea is that if you take this route, you will never see the buried well, you will never free the stream but over time you will redirect the Tigris, but many will be lost to all this (which you will not know). It sets a double dialogue over the game and subsequent settings. I was not happy how some quests in other games went, it is normally not this or that, but to get two storylines and other storylines subsequently is another thing, it makes is a game with two faces and two outcomes. And as you get some direction and choices you will see that the game gives you more. I also think that these acts will shape your coat of arms, The red and black colours in your shield comes from Zulrekh, the blue and green colours come from Zarek and in the end the game shapes your coat of arms and gives you the ‘immortal’ setting on Baghdad. 

As such I also envisioned for the Spanish fortress a new challenge, but I am talking about some historic events (as they tend to be) where the Spaniards saw the impact of pestilence of Tharvex or the Azrakhil’s ghoulish hunger. It reflects on Spanish food and their need for Tapas (not entirely true, but it gave me the idea) on that others will learn and whilst we get to that as you have become a person of nobility, you will have gained most places and now it becomes about getting known and accepted all over Baghdad. It is from there you have access to the palace of the Vizier (your old place) and whilst it had fallen into disrepair, your actions will breath it new life and as such the entrance with your coat of arm and stature will proper (either way) and it merely looks cosmetically different and whilst one is darker then the other, it is still a place for you. And as such you will gain the same settings, although there are cosmetic differences to both settings, in the end the same parts are found. 

The ending is still in my mind and it has a sneaky movie reference, all the way from Kentucky. So whether you go with blow one’s own horn (my personal pride) or toot your own horn which tends to lean towards a humble statement. But the reality is that some make claim to be such innovative game designers. And I outdid them in three days, all whilst some of those braggers had a over a dozen people working on it. I did this myself and I handed it to the UAE and their gaming ventures, as such a can toot all I care for. 

You all have a great day It is time for me to snore a forest into plywood, have fun.

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July 9, 2026 · 10:16

Setting the game

This is a mere fraction of what is to come (optionally not all revealed here) and it drove my idea. The ending is also known to me, but it is too sweet a setting and the gamers would get to see this instance, there is no question whether they make it, you see, for many gamers it is about the journey and I believe that this journey is worth taking (a designer always thinks that). So whilst some are dissing others for not enough challenge, people like Bethesda saw what actually mattered, not what some drove for adrenaline rushes are at times great, but there are enough games to do that. And in all this Metroid Prime served the real gamers. Puzzles that mattered, challenges that were met and amazement along the way. That was where I found myself. In all this I added two or three additional settings, but this for now is merely a story.

Hello young one, I am Qandisha, the Djini of time. My brethren made an error. By their setting you were the greatest fear to face, but they were not even close. The Italicus and the Hispanus were more dangerous, they believe in demons as old as us, but nowhere near dangerous, but with a lack of faith comes a shield that stops my brethren. These people have weaknesses, they are especially driven by greed and lust as such other Djini can feast on them, but the lands are dying making others a setback unto mortality. So I saw the flaw in their reasoning and as I grasp you from your past we can only repair into what was. It is now 50 summers from what was, this cannot be undone, but I can take you from the moment before you died and place you here. You have no longer any memory of what was and this is your new station as a mere beggar. Prove my right and rise to the occasion and you could surpass what was your old station and you can reclaim your future as well as the future of the Arabian lands. You will see with new eyes and I will grant you the power to see the mana in the land, the magic of the Arabian sands and the land of the Djini. Go now and reclaim the lands of what was and remake the bad destiny your Arabian brethren are on now.

At this point you are thrust into the sewers of Baghdad and in filthy rags you are trust into the near darkness of the sewers. In this you get to loo around and you see a stave, unremarkable, but still glowing. As it is, it is a stave of Yew, it seems to bend a little and was a mere 18 inches long, but it was better than nothing. In the sewers you face rats and a few exits, but the guards will not let you out, you are a beggar and the streets do not need beggars. There is however other entrances thorough the sewers, some are hidden from view, but only one is open, dark and making you retreat in fear (an intentional setting), so as you go through the sewers you face rats and every rat you kill gives you +1 mana, and you need to kill 100 in total, the sewers have hidden pockets of 20 rats, so it is not a steeple chase, and as you kill 100 you gain a health segment, at this point, you get automatic healing, and some puddles glow orange. When you put the stave in your health segment loads up fast and when you have this added health your attack becomes +5. So whilst you you get more rats killed (another 200) you can get a second segment and now the fist cave does not seem so scary and is a little less dark. This is the first Cave of Prophesy. In this place you will find the Jinniya of fireless smoke. You will face her and whilst she is smoke she cannot be hit, but with your +5 attack, you can harm her when you successfully hit her. It takes 50 hits. So when you defeat her you get the next setting

Young one, show mercy and I will grant you a gift, one never bestowed on any mortal before. I am Qiwa Jinniya of illusion, I can teach you how to become smoke and traverse like smoke, but it takes strength and even as these powers restore, there is limited time you can use this power. So stand in this circle and walk to one other circle (a pentagram appears with every point a circle) So you can now move as smoke and let the Northstar guide you. 

This is also a setting, on the wall is one place that shows the Northstar, if you want to that point you are shown to be good, all others are dark settings, it does not impede you or set you, but the light path becomes less optional in the story. Then a door appears and behind that door is clothing of a citizen, a ring and a runic stone. The stone is a smoke stone, the clothes are of a decent civilian, you are no longer a beggar and are is the second setting, you have to go through a gate you did not pass through to be let through, or you have to go through as smoke (if there is not longer any non-visited gates available) After you get through the gates you are officially a citizen. Ad not you can see that part of Baghdad. As I see it now, there are 4 exits and they are all the same with optional quests in all of them, these parts of Bagdad lead to other 4 parts who have a special place in them (like palaces and fortresses). And as you make ways into the segments you are awarded mana points (no matter whether the acts are good or bad) and the good acts give you renown, the bad acts infamy. This is the first setting towards the end goal. After you do 5 good or 5 bad things, the other option disappears. 

As such you get to find issues in Baghdad, resolve them and find mana pools, as you find new solutions, you gain more mana, so after one renown/infamy point, the mana pools become +2 stronger and you get to see more colored options. 

So this is what I found yesterday. A small step for me, a giant leap for gamers and the UAE (I think I borrowed that expression from somewhere) I think the moon spoke to me. Well, should you wonder why Microsoft cannot come with anything else then iterated repeats of what already exists, Sony, Nintendo and I feel the same way and hopefully soon a new player (gossip: It is the UAE) will show Microsoft why they never should have bothered with gaming anyway, it costed them $100 billion and they seemingly have very little to show for it. 

So you all have a great day today.

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July 8, 2026 · 17:38

Reengineering greatness

We all do that at times and I had an idea. You see there is one FPS that I love above all else. That is Metroid Prime on the Gamecube and the Switch. It is by far the most perfect FPS game ever. I have played in at least 6 times (and I never scored 100% on any of them) I am not angry, disappointed or frustrated. The game is just too perfect. And nearly anyone I know who played that game thinks so too. The game scored 97% and when you play the game you’ll understand why. So why make a copy? Well, not a copy, but my mind set to work to base a game on this game and as I promised, this setting too is now immediately co-owned by the UAE. 

So how to make a new game based on this. Well, I went with the ‘hero’ of this story to be Jafar, or at least someone like him. And I set the idea on the locations of an Arabic setting. Like the game locations that Metroid Prime used, I use a similar setting. There is The Royal palace, The palace of the Fakir, the streets of Baghdad, the sewers of Baghdad, the caves of prophesy perhaps a few more. But these are intertwined (like Metroid Prime) and as such created with artistic precision (not my forte, that I live to the graphical experts). So there is a setting where the Vizier is in his office (the council chambers) and you get the intro of the story and like Metroid prime (also in the first Assassins Creed) you are in a setting where you get attacked and get to more through the council chambers from room to room, taking care of business. In the end you are overwhelmed and cast out of the chambers and thrown into the sewers where the story begins. In this you start as a simple fakir, changed by prophesy and now without powers you are alone. In the sewers you are seeking your fortune and by resolving issues you are given your first token. The token of the streets of Baghdad, with that token you can now move through the sewers and into the streets of Baghdad. The tokens are collected in a neck charm, there is also a dark charm, it gets you into the caves of prophecy. To gain favor you need to get the clothes of office, from a simple civilian you get the cloaks of the fakir, the fakir will lead to the suit of the trader, the thobes of nobility and as such the clothes give access to places, as well as a Topi. There are also jewels, rings that give powers, the bracelets of strength and several more.

But this is a story and a challenge. As you gain your first station you will also get the stave of an element (ice of fire) and these settings are gained in part in the caves of prophecy where you will face several djini. If you survive the first fight you get a stave, in subsequent fights you will get a Kufi marker for which you can imbue its power in to gems or add to the staff. The idea is to make yourself stronger and more able to withstand the dangers you face. I am also considering to add a magic carpet (it is an Arabic story after all) but it comes with limitations. The idea of this story is that the lands are in danger and to restore the lands you need to gain powers. Between when you were in the council chambers and now (the start of the game) decades have passed (it becomes clear during the game) so the grandeur of Baghdad (which you see in the beginning) is gone and now you need to restore the land. So as you go through all the levels, where you resolve things the lands are restored. So there are a few versions of the game. From destroyed to great (dark) and great (light). I am partial to replayability. So that is a clear setting for the game. The idea is to add Zarek, Zulrekh, Kavira, Vizaresh, Sakhr, Azrakhil, Tharvex, Samirah, Ishara, Qandisha, Manlen, Qiwa and Salen. The female Ifrit have powers of restoration, healing, illusionary powers and mid powers. The make Ifrit have strength, elemental powers. There is the need for limitations. You can only have a specific amount of powers and elemental powers. Hence the Kufi markers and as you gain powers and abilities you will find new places and stronger staves and wands. So you can upgrade and whilst you are free to explore there is the chance that you are hindered by some powers. For example water and fire powers do not mix, neither do earth and air, but other axes are OK and the stages that two elements will result into a third power. But that is for later. 

The story becomes that in this land, all is lost as friends of the nobles strangled the land into nothingness, the old Malik as well as the Sultan were killed in a tragic accident. As they were replaced, the milking the land and the people began. The challenges are set as the replacements were in league with the Western leaders, the Italians and the Spanish. As such you are called by the djinn, and they didn’t have powers over the western people. As such they are in panic, the westerners are new, they are not swayed and as such one djini (essential to the story) makes a wager where she is games it all for the restoration of you and you are taken out of your own time and pushed into the future without knowledge of what was and as such you start. So whilst we are given the story (which is fed in small instances) the story develops and as you are pushed into the realm of the Djini, you are heading into two directions. The path of light or the path of the dark. And if shapes the lands you are trying to safe. There is a lot more, but that is for next time. I did this in under two hours, as such I did not do too badly. No matter what it is based on, the story and the settings are unique, the story was made up today may me and even if it is founded on the Original Metroid Prime, the scenery, the people and the opponents are nothing alike. And as far was I can tell, there is no FPS based on the Arabic lands. So that is a first too.

Have a great day and try to wake up your creativity today.

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July 4, 2026 · 05:15

Colouring your coat

That is the term I am seeing, do you? It comes in support of what I wrote yesterday about physical copies. I also added a few points that I felt were important. The BBC however (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ryjyvjq41o) failed to disclose them and trivializes other parts. As such I am now decently convinced that the BBC is enabling or supporting the Have’s against the have not group. It is a whole new setting of people classification. So as we get the headline ‘PlayStation will stop releasing games on discs in 2028’ it remains a dangerous thought, because whatever advantage they have over others (Steam Deck, Xbox) end there and quite quick, they don’t have any advantage over Nintendo, but they will hand them a truckload of people, right of the bat.

The first debatable setting we see is ““This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” it added.” It does not adapt consumer trends at all and I reckon that in 2027 they will face had choices for the simple reason that people like physical copies. It might not like the fact that people are forced in a download setting and the United Kingdom has plenty of rural areas, when they learn that Sony if forcing them out of gaming, the battle lines will be drawn. Gaming journalist Vikki Blake calling it a “Body blow to consumer rights” and she is right, it is. Whilst we are also given ““It’s of huge concern for game conservation and a massive problem for gamers with lower disposable incomes who rely on part-exchanging or loaning games from friends to keep up with the AAA price tags,” she said.” As well as ““Just one console cycle ago, Sony made a tongue-in-cheek advert about how easy it is to share games on PS4 as a dig at competitor, Xbox.” Which gives us the second setting, because it was not a mere tongue-in-cheek advert, it was more. Microsoft had seemingly ‘embraced’ the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) and so initially did Sony, their terms of service basically acknowledged it, I warned several news agencies of this in November 2013. They seemingly brushed it away. In the 11th hour, they saw the blowback it was giving, so they laughingly brushed it away with the handing of a game disc. Their was nothing tongue-in-cheek about it, Sony got really scared and did away with it in a public joke. So that was what it was and seeing this makes me fume a little. Christopher Dring, editor of The Game Business gives us ““We still see millions and millions of PlayStation games sold as physical goods,” he said. “It’s a significant business and there are lots of players that prefer to buy this way. It’s tough news for retail.”” It is and if Sony pushes this disclose setting they will hurt their own business in massive ways. And it is shown in other means too, as such we see “Sony has also come under criticism for pulling over 500 films and TV shows purchased on the PlayStation Store from people’s collections with no compensation.” There will be a kick around and Sony will not like that fallout. The question becomes why is this done? There is enough evidence not to do that and I am pushed into the squad of a “have versus have not war” the thoughts that Dutch Journalist Luc Sala gave me 30 years ago is now playing part in what was to come into what is about to happen and it is not mere gaming, I reckon that it becomes about what is after that. I am not sure what ‘that’ is, but we will soon find out. 

As I see it, the fact that the entire TPP part was ‘overseen’ gives me the impression that the BBC is embracing the “have’s” in this war and whilst we can accept that everyone takes sides, the journalistic integrity of the BBC is as I personally see it in play, because the journalistic integrity of a place like the BBC should be merely on the fence and not choosing a side, but that could be merely my view on the matter. 

Another side is seen with “The firm said its arrangement with the film production company StudioCanal has ended, meaning it no longer has the rights to sell those TV shows and movies, and they will disappear from people’s collections on 1 September.” I believe it is short sighted, I get that it can n longer be sold, but taking it from a catalog is different from deleting it from anyone who bought it, I reckon that those people are entitled to a download of these series and movies. The materials will be downed in a different setting and we are already seeing that. For example you cannot buy Shogun (2024) in Australia, there is also a setting that in Australia Good Omens (2019) only has Season 1, you can only buy the other seasons through places like Amazon. This discriminatory setting is now getting more and more attention (mainly through hatred of Amazon, which is also wrong) so as these ‘products’ are deleted we will see more and more non-acceptance of these settings and gaming is likely the one place where people unite rather fast. You should ask Microsoft, their ‘online only’ cost them their place in consoles and now whilst they were on par with Sony, they are now trailing towards 1:4, those are strong results of failure, as such I hope that someone at Sony needs to receive their walking papers. This got started somehow and at some point people want to know how started all that. But that is merely my point of view. So I hope that the BBC will soon colour their coat in a more neutral colour.

Have a great day today, it’s Saturday here already and I am a mere 110 minutes away from morning coffee. In Toronto it is still yesterday’s beer-o-clock.

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June 20, 2026 · 18:14

Setting any stage 

I have been thinking of where to put my cerebral hardware. I am not one of those FIFA world cup fans and I get that some are, so whilst the world is looking at where their balls are, I am bound towards the IP I create over the last few days. You see, the other option is to look towards Presidents Trump’s stupidity and I have seen quit enough of that. So whilst he is pissing of what little allies he has, the story about Italian PM Giorgia Meloni is going in completely wrong with the Italian people. So another ally lost to the rough sea of accountability. I understand the setting If I was ‘to beg’ Saudi Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud for a selfie, but even then, the chances are that he might allow for this selfie because it might be another fan. So consider that the Italian PM does not even have that for President Trump, he wasted a massive amount of publicity on what would be his setting whilst it was rejected by the global community right off the bat. So whilst I am watching these Riddikulus (pronounced ri-di-KULL-lis) events, I am casting my boggart banishing charm (just in case these creatures can inhabit the internet). Because at present the truth is a lot weirder than fiction can be and that just now opened up a lore setting for the new gam  had not considered before. 

So as I prefer the design of new IP over the idiotic stage of political non-reality reality. I am drawing a new setting of the nano tech. There is still several stages to work out, but the setting is that I ‘find’ a nano tech station, merely one and from here we see that the balancing act becomes amount versus strength, the introduction gives us that part, a ‘tutoring’ setting of the base station.

The nanotech requires energy, so breeding into a lot is not a good idea, because it decreases over time to back to the beginning of one. So you need a balancing act. The station needs enlarging and it requires additions to power cores, drone management and memory. You get the first two in stage one, the basic station, but over time you will find options to enlarge this. The power cores gives you additional power to create more drones, the memory will enhance their memory management and capturing data and share that data towards all the drones you have and the drone management will hand you more powerful drones. So whilst I still like the Paradroid setting, the first stage gets you the ability to to capture Janitorial, Servant and messenger drones. But beyond that you need more powerful drones. 

The setting enables that when you get the number of drones. By enlarging the chipset, the memory is enlarged, the and by getting the power cores enlarged you will manage more drones. And there needs to be a balancing act, you can go ‘the other way’ but you will find that many low level drones do not give you the added umpf you require, but I want the game to enable you because a gamed which allows you to fail will also allow you to enjoy the benefits of evolving your own game. 

So whilst I was seeking out the drone settings, I came across a stage where a few of the achievements came up. The first was the Inspiration achievement, shots of found games (like Paradroid, Hacker and a few others that shows where the ideas originated. I think that it is good that we recognise where our thoughts came from, optionally also the views on a CBM64 and an Atari 800 to recognise where our games all originated. Then I got (because of the lore stage) the idea to the achievement ‘Anorak the All-Knowing’ which gives you the lore settings and you need to find 25 backstories (there will be a lot more) but finding them all might not be possible. 

So whilst I was wondering on how this happened. The republican party helped out with that setting, as Measles is going rampant in the United States (with the CDC has reported over 2,100 confirmed cases and 30 active outbreaks across more than 40 jurisdictions), so what happens when this goes really bad? And whilst you are in a ‘safe’ space, resources are dwindling down and you find the first nanotechnology station. So whilst we advance to more drones and the core 4 (which will allow for autonomous data capturing) when it crossed with memory 3, which allows all data to be auto collected, because the game other whiles becomes too dreary. The drones will upgrade to views where all doors and ports that are open come green-lit. This enabled another path, places with drone ports can only allow Janitorial, Servant and messenger drones. The next ‘phase’ requires Maintenance, Crew and Sentinel drones to use the front door, so will all other drinks, but they are the next stage is for Battle, Security and Command drones but they are deeper into the setting of government and official places. So whilst we have something going, there is the larger need for a game to be repayable and when you get the override of a Command done, you find the option to get to another city or base and it opens up several other options. So from a simple building (like the northeast Bronx, Co-op City, Bronx is the largest housing cooperative in the world Co-op City, the world’s largest housing cooperative in the Bronx. And this is a great start, because it is not some flashy setting, it allows for a whole’s lot of original lore and the I what we are after, so when we get to this setting, for those who love the game, the Command drone could open up a stage that opens up the New Century Global Center (Chengdu), where we get a a staggering 1.76 million square meters. That’s just for starters, the idea to get a government building like the Pentagon mapped out is nice, but too flashy. To get some level of a conspiracy theory in place, we need to look at other places, like (for example) the Karl-Marx-Hof in Vienna, Austria. Stretching over 1,100 meters long, this historical social housing project was built in the late 1920s and originally housed more than 5,000 residents. There is always the chance that it houses a few survivors and gives us the larger setting for more exploration and optionally a larger stage to get a surviver setting in place. The last few things are top of mind thinking, but lets face it, we have seen enough conspiracy yanks to last us a lifetime, so we look in the direction of Europe as one example, optionally the idea of mapping out the Line (NEOM) is a nice setting and it might not have ben completed at present, or in the story, but a location that big, allows for a lot of directions to get us in. And my mind is still forever voyaging into gaming solutions (a nice pun even if I say so myself) and I am not done yet, but with the other two parts (see over the last week) the game comes across nicely and considering that Microsoft hasn’t produced a original IP game for quite some time, my work is standing out nicely. So you all have a great day and who knows we get another Trump story like to one NPR gave us 15 hours ago ‘Italy’s Meloni, once Trump’s closest ally in Europe, says he made up a story about her’, I cannot vouch either way, because I was not there, but the crumbles are all on the floor, time for me to call for a 123 disposal droid and get rid of the crumbles. It’s only nice that someone cleans the stage we all fin ourselves in and call for the 629 sentinel droid to get rid of irregularities. N’est-ce pas?

Have a great day all, I feel happy and creative this day, almost time for a nice plate of pasta, Giorgia Meloni put me up to that. (In truth pasta was planned, so I might just blame her for this too)

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June 15, 2026 · 23:51

Merchandise

That is the stage and the setting. You see I have been replaying the God of War games, because in the near future God of War Laufey will be released and I needed to get back into the lore of the game, which is nothing short of miraculous. So, as I was playing the game. I was considering merchandise. And I have seen several things in the God of War range, but never these ones and considering that God of War has over 76 million copies sold and therefor the fans run into the tens of millions. People have made wagers on a lot less. So lets take two examples.

The first one are these chests that Kratos smashes his fist through and Atreus uses his bow to smash (bad use of a bow) they have goodies and that is it, but what if there are three options. The first is a small one and fits on a desk with storage for office goods (paperclips/memo pads) you know the usual suspects on a desk. Optionally open holding pens and pencils. Then there is the medium version which could hold your treasured PS games, optionally 4k/Blu-ray too. Open the box and your favorite games are there for the selecting, for perhaps you have a urge to keep your Star Wars movies in a separate space, all options that make a room look cool, then there is the large version and that one is debatable. A small chest, an actual chest. We don’t think of them, like this anymore, but in the 60s/70s we had hope chests. A hope chest is a wooden chest or trunk that would store special items for a bride to use when she got married. Although, over time, the tradition has changed. My father altered a fruit chest (painted it too) to keep all my toys in (he called them my personal rubbish bin) So we get a supercool looking toy chest, or for whatever reason you want to use it for, the setting is that a chest like that might find a rather large interest and as the game carries love and favour of the gaming community, so will the merchandise. 

The second one are the coffins that are ‘freed’ (read: looted) by Kratos and company. These would be just in the small version and would hold pens, so your office or private office gets the cool stamp all due to the efforts of Studio Santa Monica, I reckon that they will act on this as it is their IP, so nothing for me (alas). But a good idea should not be stopped merely because it is not mine to wield. The idea is still sound, so I wonder why I have never seen these items in places like EB Games, JB Hifi or whatever localised stores you have. I reckon that there is coin in this idea and with millions of fans and the upcoming Laufey plus the setting that we are getting closer to Christmas and Thanksgiving, Santa Monica Studios wanna run like Santa to get in on this action. The simple reason that it is an almost guaranteed success and they already did the ground works for their games. I have no idea how this will play in Laufey, so there might be more, but that is up to Santa Monica Studios to cash in on. 

Merely putting the idea out there. Have a great day, almost Tuesday and my tooth is hammering in pain, so it is close to my highly needed overdose of Paracetamol, Codeine and Oxycodone so I can get some sleep. Life is not always feeling like roses, sometimes the thorns sting.

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