Tag Archives: gaming

November 16, 2024 · 03:27

One step left for a new world

That hit me a moment ago. You see, 6 days ago I wrote ‘The easy lesson’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/09/the-easy-lesson/) it was an idea that could aid Apple in propelling their Apple Vision Pro, the idea hit me a week ago and now I see a few more angles to this. If Epic Games (makers of Unreal Engine 5.4) get a translation system online. It could propel the Apple Vision Pro even further. Areas like Tourism, Theme parks and even larger attractions could be visited, or seen in different ways.

I saw one side, then another and another. Apple seems to overlooked this, but the setting in high end tourism is easily made and the more are set to multiple sides it could boost Apple in several ways. As I see it, should Epic Games make the jump to make an engine that translates Unreal Engine 5 to a system that could be fed into the visionOS operating system. Apple would enjoy the upsizing, but in equal measure Apple and the game developers could get an entire new population to their translated games. We all know (or have heard of) “spatial computing experiences”, but how to set that? I saw the options about 4 years ago, not as the Vision Pro, but in other ways. And now I see that the Apple solution could work there too. And once this is going I reckon that Meta with its goggles would soon follow. The hard part is to make it work and not a simple figment of an idea that is nice or one title. This is why Apple needs to talk to Epic Games. The unreal engine would be central for conversion. We merely think of the Unreal Engine as a gaming system. But imagine that The game Assassins Creed 2, or Origin gets upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.4 and after that we get the translator to get the spatial system fed into visionOS. Consider that the spatial system let us walk through Florence, Venice, Rome and even Egypt (AC Origin) or Bagdad (AC Mirage), from there we could use it to teach us Latin, Greek, Italian, Baghdadi Arabic, Egyptian. It allows the goggles (to avoid confusion with glassware) to show us how it was then. It could also in a more frontal view of the Horizon games. To see the Thunderjaw next to you (a separate discussion). Once these systems are created the avalanche will build up and here Ubisoft has a distinct advantage through titles. So how long until the Vatican wakes up? And from there tourism gets a larger slice of this approach. And lets be fair, wouldn’t you walk through the streets of the cities we saw in the Assassins Creed games? See the machines in the Horizon games, or learn the languages of days gone by? The learning ability that is part of something bigger. A massively wild idea and perhaps contemplated by some. However, I cannot find anything in this direction at present. All options for at least two systems and if I had my way (I seldom do) there is even another side to the options I gave to the Saudi government. A way to propel the Saudi way of life to a much larger population. And now I see that the Apple Vision Pro device could do this even more so. 

It is not a step forward, it is a step to the left (or right) and it enhances the overall setting. It doesn’t replace it. A simple idea that others didn’t have (or rejected). I wonder how many considered this to be a futuristic path to learning languages? 

It has been Saturday for 3.5 hours now. Vancouver has a decent amount of Friday to do before it is here too. Have a great day.

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November 15, 2024 · 00:42

Yesterday’s news

Yup, we all have it. We all see it and sometimes we want to alter the prediction. It is not a biggie, or essential. Yet in this day and age where news is debatable and for the mere reason that we are blighted by anti-Trumpism, or anti-Bidenisms. We merely want some kind of a safe space to unwind. I usually do that be playing a game. At this moment I am all about Horizon Zero Dawn. As I see it the best IP we have seen released in the last 10 years. Over the two formats I have played (PS4/PS5) I found one bug in both versions and one additional bug in the PS5 version. It might have existed before, but I never encountered it. The game also have a few glitches, nothing big. Now the big part is that these are two bugs I encountered in a game that open and that big, it is almost uncanny to experience a game this perfect. But whilst I was playing the game my mind took a side step to an old game named Iron Helix. The game was made in 1993, an early example of a CD-based game, with video elements integrated with conventional 2D maps and controls. A simple pleasure. But in this day and age it could be made in something substantial. The video parts are updated, but this could be replaced with Unreal Engine 5. Now do not think it should include the original ship, but as a homage in the introduction it could be. Now add a objective to it like Salvaging, optionally pillaging (aka liberating) or a few other settings. In this we have the drones to find access and when updating these drones (after a mission) we could get into other places. A simple game from the beginning of the multi media game market could evolve into an actual behemoth. There is no fault by Drew Pictures (the developer). They might have moved on to bigger and better things. Yet there are a few elements in this game that are still rarely found in todays games. The publisher Spectrum HoloByte was ‘dissolved’ in 1998, but someone might still have the IP. And here lies the opportunity for the developer who has a clue (so to speak). 

A game that seems like a mere month of development time (mere weeks at this time, as the wheel doesn’t need reinventing).

That is what the ‘big’ boys like Microsoft seemingly forgot about. The IP is there, the IP when tweaked becomes a new product. No people like Phil Spencer give us things like “Microsoft will release more Xbox games on other platforms – “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not’””. We were given this mere hours ago, all whilst we were also given “Microsoft is killing off Windows 11 Store’s no-download Instant Games (Arcade)” contradictions and added we were given “Microsoft open to more studio acquisitions, partnering with Chinese publishers” as I see it, they merely need a foothold for services as their hardware is rejected. In the meantime (in this blog) I added near free IP (for non-Microsoft systems) and The innovative designers can have a go at them, whist Microsoft (a personal view) keeps on fumbling the ball. 

I gave the notion of available IP at least 3 years ago. In the meantime we have not seen anything brilliant from Microsoft. OK, the flight simulator is absolutely brilliant. That must be said, but it is for a niche market and rightly so. Yet the larger Microsoft games are dangerously faltering. In this I am referring to Bethesda (Fallout and Elder Scrolls series). We are given “Hundreds of Bethesda video game workers, who work on titles like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls, are going on strike across the country. Workers in Maryland and Texas are walking off the job, claiming that the company has failed to address their remote work concerns at the bargaining table, and has begun outsourcing quality assurance work without the union’s agreement.” (Source: Inverse). Not a few, the mention of hundreds is a setting that will push back a whole range of projects and That could spell trouble for Microsoft. They bought this software house in 2020 for $7,500,000,000 and I winder what they have to show for it. Trouble is stirring in the houses of Microsoft and I don’t think it ends there. What are seemingly knee jerk actions (might be the impression that the media gives us) and that is never a good thing. So far Microsoft is (as I personally see it) the larger culprit in this. Only yesterday we were given “The “biggest Starfield update yet” is coming next week with over 100 fixes plus graphical improvements for NPCs and space sightseeing”. You see, the game launched over a year ago (September 2023) and we still see these message? Over 100 fixes? And there is Redfall, another Bethesda game where we are given (a year after release) “The story and characters are extremely forgettable, and the environments risk feeling lazy as a consequence of its own gimmick – there’s only so much hazy red skyline I can take. Redfall is technically bland and unimpressive, yes, but that somehow only highlights its unrefined charm.” Two triple A titles and they are both regarded as huge flops. In the meantime I laid out (in that same timeline) half a dozen games here for the innovative (aka non-Microsoft) designers. Half a dozen does not make me better, but I feel certain more creative. And in light of Iron Helix. It is not my design, but I improved a whole range of issues that the makers couldn’t consider in the day they made the game. A 80486 PC with 640KB does not go far, and now we can improve on a good idea a lot, making this an exercise in new IP as it becomes an innovative idea, or altered to the largest degree making it new IP and we could alter a few more parts (including the start narrative) giving us dozen’s of games with a larger prerequisite (optionally on the Amazon Luna, Nintendo Switch or the PS5 or PS5pro) all systems with a track record and that could entice Tencent To seek out the three makers I mention here. So Microsoft can partner with whomever they want, but their presentations might be lacking a few items. Even a few days ago I opted a new niche for Apple (and the Apple Vision Pro) which I made a mere 5 days ago in ‘The easy lesson’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/09/the-easy-lesson/). A mere idea, because that was all it was. Yet I got this in less than an hour. So where are the ‘successful’ ideas by Microsoft? Perhaps they filed it on a Solarwinds server?  No matter, Sony can pick up that slack, if not them then perhaps Nintendo, Amazon or Tencent. If all things fails there is a chance that Apple could fill up the gap that Microsoft left. It’s all competitive, true?

Innovation is for whomever sees it and can bring that idea to the others. A wallet is nice but wallets don’t speak and that is the lesson that some never learned. They all believe that ‘money talks’ is for real, but without an idea it becomes meaningless. That is how I see “Microsoft is killing off Windows 11 Store’s no-download Instant Games (Arcade)” and I am not attacking that issue. You try and you could fail. Nintendo did that with the WiiU, but from those ashes the Nintendo Switch was born and that is at present the second best system they ever had. 

Have a great day, It’s Friday here now.

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October 26, 2024 · 17:54

As ideas go

I just had another idea hit me square in the face. I cannot tell if it is a good idea, but as the evolution of eCommerce is going, there is space for this idea. In this case it is fledged to the conscription of Al C. O’Holloway (aka alcohol) and I just had an idea. To see the idea, you need to consider the elements. There are 3.2 billion video gamers in the world, and 1.17 billion play online. Now the idea is not set to online gamers, merely gamers. You see, when you are gaming you get hit by hunger and thirst. I for one rely on coffee and fruit juices. But not all are like me (I do like a drink every now and then). As such I was considering the online options of getting what you need and I tend to not like this. Going through the lists, or offerings tend to make me not like the order. I like to be in a store seeing what gives and that applies to food and drink. Now consider a gamer where he can walk into a store. Any store that offers the option like Dan Murphy (Australia) or LCBO (Canada). Now the store could be specific (like a location) or generic. You walk the isle and you see the bottles (an in per Unreal Engine 5 created). No list, just you strolling the lanes for what you feel like is a good choice. And the mind (read: brain) will link this to your actual visit to these places. The brain has that ability, more so then going over a list in catalogue. 

As we linger on the options, we get to add a certain bottle or brand to our Wishlist. I got this basic idea of the system (see below)

We have a walk through the booze browse place. We select items and we can then decide if it is an order, a consideration or a mere preferred drink (Wishlist). And as we walk and profile our drinking needs, we also get above the red line an update to our profile, more exact, it considers what you have placed in your profile any hidden traps. Perhaps you dislike beers, or wines and someone adding beer or wine will get red flagged and the fraud detection goes into high gear. This is not the final trigger, because you might order it for a guest. There is however a larger need to engage fraud detection in this day and age. As we keep on browsing we get to the end where the list is given and we decide making any item a Wishlist item, a preferred item or an actual purchase. The purchase is finalised and the delivery address is recorded (you might be gaming at a friends place) and the purchase is received and delivery is made through whatever option you like, possibly just an in-store pickup. Now you might want to think that there are other ways and you would be right. But eCommerce has its own grips on the matter and whatever the customer wants he or she can get. This way you are appealing to 3 billion gamers. That is not a simple Direct Marketing fling, that is a long term option and this market has been overlooked for too long. Optionally we see “They can get it in another way” vibe and that is not incorrect, but the sentiment in this day and age is just plain wrong. How long until this method is used for super markets? Consider that Dubai has a temperature of 33 degrees. Some like to go out and endure it, but as streaming systems evolve they want to walk around in their homes and see what gives at  Carrefour they have foods and fashion. And there is a larger need. It is obvious that the larger places will adapt to this first. But as this system evolves more will crowd the place. The idea that was started (to some extent) by Sony Home is now in a stage where a lot can opt to move in and it will go to a much larger place. You see 3 billion gamers are about 40% of the planet. I merely wonder why it has taken so long for others to adopt the idea.

And there is a secondary option. This might be easier way to stop fraud, because gamers will have profiles that have been around for years and these places will be able to find a lot more data on the transgressors of fraud as well as the stores trying a fast one on the customer, they are likely a lot easier to find, but that is merely a gut feeling of mine.

Have a great Saturday.

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October 25, 2024 · 15:20

When future and past are similar

I made a jump today, it was into the past. Somewhere between the release of Battlehorn Castle and November 2011, I had an idea. A set of quests to ‘automate’ defences and infrastructure in magic. It use actual NPC’s but beyond that, nearly everything went. It went nowhere (as it was not my IP). Yet the idea stayed in my mind. And today I ‘remembered’ the idea I had. 

It can be applied in numerous ways. It might be a DLC for Guerrilla (the Horizon IP), it could be added to any number of non-Microsoft IP’s and it could be added as a simple structure to anything. You see, the IP is sound and versatile as is any good given DLC.

So how did this idea come to pass?

As I revered Elder scrolls (for a long time), the setting of adding to Castle Battlehorn became overwhelming. I found myself wondering how any castle could be without guards. So I set out and created a magical oven, with at the heart the device it replicated. There was a blunt oven (maces) a sharp oven (swords), a range oven (bows) and a guardian oven (Halberts). And every oven needs to be create a few times. Then there was the issue of what materials as used. Iron, steel, or more advanced materials. You needed a forge to create the bars of material and the wood blocks to create the handles. As such, nothing is really made out of nothing (initially) but the setting applies. As you create a more advanced weapon more time per weapon is needed and the machine places it in the basket. A simple weapon (iron, or wood) is about an hour with a maximum of 6 per oven. Getting the weapon in Silver, or gold take more two or four hours. I didn’t want rely on Bethesda weapons to not get them on my back. And as such we now had a near automated weapon system. You needed to be able to forge the master weapon like a iron sword, steel sword or silver sword and the rest was made as long as you had the metals. In the upgraded version I upgraded the machine to require less materials whilst the manufacturing remains the same after that the next upgrade required less time, as such you added to the machines and had a abled guarding setting to your castle.

Then came the kitchens and there the stoves could set out food in bulk for the troops. And with every pen you had, you would add to the specials that the troops would like. A chicken coup, a cow pen, a pig pen and as such the foods would enable much stronger and more resilient troops. The option occurred to create a vegetable patch and as the troops grew, so would the need for more food.

I played with the idea on a few levels and in the end Skyrim was released and I buried the idea in the back of my mind. For some reason the thought got back to me on my morning walk. But in this setting I made a crossover between the bank job in Thief and Horizon Zero dawn (as this is released in 5 days), You see e have the foundries in Horizon for one reason, but what happens if there is a DLC that gets Aloy into a secret location where all is automated. There isn’t a kitchen, but all else remains. Sentries, guardians, servants and the place was all forgotten. Aloy would have to rely on stealth to get things done and that changes the game. She would have to find materials to create hidden paths. And that could be a more sinister task at hand. In the end there needs to be  great reward (like advanced stealth armour) and more powerful weapons. Optionally a more rewarding boon so that the DLC could be in any Horizon game.

I like to think that Guerrilla might like the idea of that DLC to hand to their respectful fans. There are a few other thoughts that I am considering, but out of all of the optional issues is the fact that I created a dozen ideas, all whilst Ubisoft is dropping stock (or better stated their stock dropped). And whilst we see “AJ Investments to go private after Star Wars Outlaws” I merely created over half a dozen IP ideas. Sucks to be Ubisoft. In other news Microsoft stock dropped 7%. They blame their cloud revenue. I say that mediocrity never leads to high praise. I reckon that Oracle largely protected a landslide sell off on Microsoft cloud issues. The creative people rule in almost all IT sides and Gaming has been largely responsible for better IT design from the 90’s onwards. BI people need to realise this and not play the blame game. If they need to blame someone they need only look into a mirror. 

And that sets the creative people apart. Not everything is a sure thing. Nintendo showed us that with the WiiU, it also led to the Switch which blew Microsoft out of the water in half the time that Microsoft needed to make minimum revenue (or more clearer stated, it took Microsoft from 2013 to 2017 to create the revenue which was surpassed by Switch within 18 months) That is the true sign of innovation. I believe that Microsoft is trusting its own spin, all whilst the creative will shoot any spin to smithereens in half that time and there is more to come. As Guerrilla will release the third game somewhere in 2026-2028, whatever Ubisoft or Microsoft had will be reduced to nothing in no time flat. Horizon was the latest true innovative IP in gaming and everything else fades next to it. This also holds true to whatever BioWare will bring in the shape of Mass Effect 5. Even there I had some idea (somewhere in my blog). The problem isn’t merely the bugs we faced in Andromeda (mostly PC) the design was shoddy. There were real moments of brilliance, but I feel that the wrong people tried to make a name for themselves and that went wrong. I set the stand for 5 to include 4 (or Andromeda) to give the fans something to bite into. And that would have created a much larger wave (my personal imagination). Now as we are given that it will not (speculated) come before 2028, people like Guerrilla will get a free reign with optionally gaming fans giving up on their Xbox (yay me). In any event, the set stage as I gave it in 2022 is now more robust as Microsoft has given us too little and Ubisoft has seemingly cancelled more than it released. Now the streamers will have their moment in creating the setting of a lifetime with the optional Tencent or the established Amazon Luna to create a new niche of millions of fans. I foresaw a first phase release of 50,000,000 consoles. With Microsoft only having sold 58 million there is a real state of transfer of gaming fans on a global stage. I envisioned a setting where that streaming solution could grace 150-200 million homes. The Microsoft BI group might want to say that this isn’t realistic, but as I didn’t fight the excellence of Sony or Nintendo. The streaming solution could be next to it, not replacing this. The very first mistake Microsoft made. And now as I have been correct a lot more than I was wrong, I feel certain that the ‘larger’ software houses seems to be ‘placed’ with the Microsoft mindset and we are now shown that it was the wrong mindset from the very beginning. Should Guerrilla also grace the streaming niche I reckon that some players might be going the way of investors of 1929 (read: jumping out of a window, not to be mistaken for a Russian suicide streak).

How wrong am I?

The interesting and valid question. The problem is that the media is not to be trusted. It is filled with stakeholders who need Microsoft to do well and they will downplay the drop of Microsoft. But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft and Ubisoft are seemingly run by Business Intelligence. It makes for a solid core, but excellence (in gaming) is never found that way. It is the creative mind that does that and not to forget the story writers as well. These elements are less seen in the games of today and again Guerrilla is the exception that establishes the rule. As such games of today, software houses of today are grasping back to yesterdays games to make up for that failing. There is also the need to replay the old games (a drive that is not to be underestimated). Yet as far as I can see the horizon, I believe to be correct and should Tencent decide to buy my IP, I will be able to prove it.

Have a wonderful Friday (Vancouver gets to see that in around 3 hours).

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October 23, 2024 · 23:11

Out of the blue

That is what happened. I had a stream of ideas out of the blue. I do not know what fuelled this. Was it reading about the failures of Ubisoft? Was it another setting? My mind went racing and I went back to 1995 and Tia Carrere. In that year she was part of The Daedalus Encounter. It was a fun game and I had fun laying it. But then a thought came to me. That game in 2024 could open other doors. Doors opened through machine learning and deeper machine learning (AI does not yet exist). The track my mind went through was interesting. You see, the movie world made rules for (what they call) AI. But this setting might not completely apply to games. 

Now consider the first stage of creating these kind of games using the technology complemented with Unreal Engine 5. We can make new versions of Rama, Infocom games, but now not as text games. More like Zork nemesis, with actors and actresses. Infocom created more than 20 games and they could now entice a much larger following. As the games develop new technology would also develop in creating games. The larger fun of this is that many more developers will get a handle on this form of game development. 

That brought me to the next level. In 1984 The Dallas Quest was developed. As such Datasoft created “one of the best games out on the CBM 64” and it held sway over pretty much the entire gaming community, even those who didn’t follow Dallas (example: me). We now have the technology for streaming systems to hold the sway of all who love this level of games. That wasn’t the only setting. You see players like Netflix could optionally create a new level of games using these technologies. The setting of of these new options could set in motion a new form of gaming. Consider what was. And now take another direction. Creation of these kind of games using TV series. Grimm, Babylon 5, Charmed, Buffy, Doll House and several other series that have been discontinued. Now consider the implementation of ChatGPT, and with a library for every character of that series. Now we get a new technology. A game where the player can be any character in that series and the interactions will shape the ‘episode’ of that game. That trend could be pushed forward. Now consider another venue of these games. Egyptian Musalsalat: A Social Construction of Reality has strength all over the Arabic world. Now take these elements and build the new template. An interactive game where the player decides on the route of the episode. In The Dallas Quest we needed to make choice, like finding the football tickets in the lobby, if not you get stuck in the game. Now machine learning will be able to avoid getting stuck. And the game can evolve even further. Consider the setting that Grimm has, millions of fans still love this series. Now they can continue their TV fling in this new direction. Consider the streaming solution and consider that I gave the option of 200 million consoles with the directions before I came up with this. Now it could become a whole new dimension of gaming. 

Oh, and whilst you contemplate how Ubisoft blew game after game and delay after delay I came up with this new idea (within two hours). Don’t get me wrong, this will be a complex undertaking and the idea to use the Infocom and the Dallas Quest first enables this technology to grow and to adapt to some sandbox approach. I believe this could entice millions more to the gaming population and it has options over time. There is even the idea that former adventures could be evolved into new versions on a new template in a new shape with new possibilities. What a difference a few hours make.

Have a great day.

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October 15, 2024 · 17:18

Approximately 929 years ago

Here we are today (somewhere in 2024) considering the setting of a revamped old game. This train of thought all started when I saw all the messages on the Crusades on social media. We can speculate on the fear of Christians becoming second place after a thousand years, we can think it is a collection of Christians trying to address the wokeness of people. There are all kind of reasons. Is this one of them? I cannot tell. But it got me started. You see, a streaming game platform is the solution in the middle east and that comes with perks. Over time there is a much larger field that comes to pass and Google had options, now there is merely Amazon, yet Tencent is also on its way and as I see it Tencent has the larger gain with adding millions of gamers to their fold and that is merely the beginning. I saw several games that could help this transition. And just now I had another game on the sharp of the blade. 

In 1984 Mike Singleton designed a game called the Lords of Midnight. In its time it was decently awesome and we can tweak this idea into something (much) more. 

The ‘old’ muslim lands reached from the western side of Africa until the borders of Turkey (then named the Byzantium lands). We can resize the game set the markers to a near real 3D setting and change the premise to make it more time based. As such you have a certain amount of time (based on where you are and unite the tribes to set the premise of an assault on any Crusader taken place.

There was (not in chronicle order)

Battle of Aintab, August of 1150
Battle of al-Babein, March 18th, 1167
Battle of Adramyttium, March 19th, 1205
Battle of Agridi, June 15th, 1232
Battle of al-Buqaia, 1163
Battle of Al-Sannabra, June 28th, 1113
Massacre of Ayyadieh, August 20th, 1191
Battle of Azaz, June 11th, 1125
Battle of Ba’rin, 1137
Ambush at Jacob’s Ford, June of 1157
Siege of Jacob’s Ford, August 23rd, 1179
Siege of Arsuf, March and April of 1265
Capture of Haifa, 1265
Battle of Harim, August 12th, 1164
Battle of Harran, May 7th, 1104
Battle of Lake Huleh, June of 1157
Battle of Al-Uqab, July 16th, 1212
Siege of Mahdia, July through October of 1390
Battle of Makryplagi, 1263
Battle of Muret, September 12th, 1213
Battle of Neopatras, 1273
Battle of Nicopolis, September 25th, 1396
Battle of Pelagonia, September of 1259
Battle of Prinitza, 1263
First Battle of Ramla, September 7th, 1101
Second Battle of Ramla, May 17th, 1102
Third Battle of Ramla, August 27th, 1105
Siege of the Isle of Ruad, 1302-1303
Battle of Shaizar, 1111
Battle of Yibneh, May 29th, 1123

There are a few more, but this is the gist of it. The map should reflect the stages of the battles, as such there are several maps. On the ‘normal’ and the ‘expert’ level there comes a larger premise. If every army can optionally merely used one, or even if there is a second time, the second time that army will likely be smaller. It becomes a much more challenging stage.

The C64 version was limited by technology, now we have a much stronger hardware setting and more is possible, even more in the cloud game setting.

Then there is the stage of finding all the flags and shields of the muslim players is another part of the game, not all the towns and tribes had them (as I suspect) and as such the army will lack strength. There are several ways we can add more elements to this game and it could invigorate the pull to Islamic players. There are hundred of millions of optional islamic gamers and the west ignored them and now there are new players and they want an interesting game and the past can be interesting. In less than an hour I saw a collection of upgrades that could be added to a game and as such we can see another element showing us all how some are asleep at the wheel and I just placed another piece of possible gaming into the public domain. Microsoft eat your heart out.

Oh, and to make matters worse. I just came up with two other games that could be intertwined with this game making for a much stronger experience. Whatever will I think of next.

Vancouver will join us in this day in 45 minutes, the rest have a great Tuesday.

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October 2, 2024 · 07:57

Greed and stupidity, aligned and enhanced

That is the trouble at times. When captains of ‘industry’ push for legal ‘solutions’ as they seemingly fall short of investor expectations. Well that is how I see it and the Herald Sun (at https://www.heraldsun.com/news/business/article293290914.html) hands you this with ‘Cary’s Epic Games sues Google again. Here’s what the new lawsuit claims.’ In this alignment we are given “As a federal judge weighs what corrective steps Google must take to remove barriers surrounding its Play Store, Cary’s Epic Games has accused the internet search giant of finding a new unlawful way to protect its Android app store monopoly.” I wonder how non-intelligent the connected judge is. You see the Play-store needs more protection, not less. When we are given “create an obstacle for Android owners to use third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store. Epic Games’ latest lawsuit focuses on a Samsung program called Auto Blocker, which stops users from downloading apps from sources other than the Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store.” The danger is that ANY third party app store raises the danger of hackers and/or organised crime to get access to our mobile devices. And I will not allow ANY non-Google player to access my device. In addition, the judge is seen as the culprit if there isn’t a clear message that any play store can be prosecuted for transgressions on our mobile devices and sued for damages to our digital person as well as prosecuted of for data transgressions. This is what I saw coming when I wrote Epic downfall on November 12th 2021 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/11/12/epic-downfall/), when I wrote “I reckon that first issues will emerge within 3 months of the alternative to ApplePay path and it will not take long until lawyers will suit up for class actions all worth billions. Epic will need a lot more lawyers soon enough and it will cost them. It could constitute the dangers (for Epic) that 2021 started the downfall that could have been avoided, a setting they caused themselves and the greedy hackers saw a clear new target, Epic Games with a bullseye. A bullseye that will be painted on their CEO and CFO, what a wild web we tend to weave.” And now Epic goes on suing more (or better stated in other directions). There is a massive call of holding Epic Games accountable for what comes next, will the judge take that into account. All the people that Epic Games endangered for allowing this danger to reach over 800,000,000 devices? I guess not, but then we now have a picture as given in the Durham Herald Sun, so when your device is hacked due to these proceedings, I suggest to look him up and demand an explanation in person. 

Have a great day.

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September 13, 2024 · 05:31

As the walls start to crumble

Yes, this is a little speculative, but the story is not. I just learned of the BBC story that they released 4 hours ago, 17 hours after I wrote the previous story. The BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq82852kkz8o) is giving us ‘Microsoft lays off more gaming staff in new cuts’ with the subtext “It laid off 1,900 staff in January and, in May, closed four studios bought before its purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision-Blizzard”, as well as “He said the decision to cut more jobs – about 3% of its gaming staff – was made “as part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure” and organising the business “for long-term success””. The ‘he’ in this story is Phil Spencer, and that long-term success? As I personally see it Microsoft will implode within the next 30 month, so that long term is relatively short (as I see it). And as for the layoffs being towards post-acquisition team structure. That might be the intention, yet the issue remains that the interest alone on a $69,000,000,000 purchase should be no less then 4.5 billion dollars and the gaming stage brought Microsoft (according to several sources) no more than 2 billion dollars. As such Microsoft is coming up short around 50% of the interest alone and that is before we factor in what more is needed to take care of the principle. And as Microsoft is dealing with all kind of fines and several angry people suing for what they think they are due, the numbers will not come up nice, more like tainted and covered in blood covered red. We then get “Xbox boss Mr Spencer told gaming website IGN he was expected to run a “sustainable” gaming business and show growth during a June interview”, so what does this Spencer person think what ‘sustainable’ means? In my book it means able to be maintained at a certain level, and how does that work when you lay off over 2000 people? Support? Managers? One gives relief to hardship and buggy environment to the customers (something that Microsoft is intimate familiar with) and the managers are often the creative part of the company and they have had the ears of their staff. Now these fired people could optionally use my freebees and create these games on NON-Microsoft systems. Giving Microsoft even more hardship. A game that makes perfect sense in the business mind of Microsoft, but gaming is mostly art and that is a setting that they seem to misunderstand. I like it when the unworthy give me resources and tools that can be used against them. Karma tends to be a bitch. The quote we see is “In its latest finance report Microsoft said its gaming revenues had increased, mostly due to its ownership of Activision-Blizzard, which also produces World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch” what we do not see are the issues that Diablo 4 still has (on whatever system). It might have been the big cash cow (over $666M in the first 5 days) but what did it cost to develop Diablo 4? It took 6 years, that is nearly all we know about it and Microsoft is really happy to hide a lot of numbers and merely focus on the good stories which is to be expected, but as we now see that thousands have been cast out, there is every chance that these people could become their worst competitor and not in a good way. Another setting is seen (at https://www.inverse.com/gaming/xbox-enotria-delay-microsoft-ps5) where inverse tells us ‘Enotria Is Just the Latest Game to Hit A Mysterious Snag With Its Xbox Launch’ with the byline “Something’s amiss at Microsoft”, I think that it is a lot more. How is it possible that Phil Spencer can smilingly visit the board of directors as we are given things like “it was canceling the Xbox release of HAAK. According to the developer, it spent over 14 months attempting to register the game for release on Xbox, when it estimated it needed only about two weeks of porting work. However, bugs in Microsoft’s Partner Center and Support site prevented it from applying”, as such I wonder, when a we see registration issues and bugs. What is Microsoft doing, or better asked, not doing? 14 months? There seems to be an increasing issue with transparency and in gaming it is damaging, as such what is Microsoft doing? I see it as a setting where the walls come crumbling, but what if I am wrong? What if Microsoft has a more insidious plan? I have no idea what it is and I have no clue what they are doing but there is a setting where Microsoft is all about all games online and in the cloud. So what happens when gamers are all controlled from a singular place? I have no idea what is going on, it was a mere speculation, but the increasing amount of issues (including bugs all over the place) does not fill me with comfort. Consider this and wonder why they were willing to pay 69 billion, all whilst there is a lack of revenue. There is more going on and I think it is becoming more and more imperative to create games on OTHER systems and bleed Microsoft dry. The other part is that the (speculated) intentional lack of clarity in regards to the numbers we see reports of 160% year on year growth, but with gaming it is merely based on the next game and so far quality has been lacking. The failures that Redfall brought, the lack of issues in Starfield is one side, the lacking sales of the Xbox is the other part. When you see the list of issues we must understand that there are plenty of intelligent people at Microsoft, so what is this about? We can wait to find out, or we can create a wave of excellent games and give the gamers an option to select the Amazon Luna, the Sony PS5 (PS4 too), the Nintendo Switch or the Tencent Handheld as their new home. At this point China becomes a contender in the gaming industry. That should be a hard sell to the US government, would it not be? As such I set the gaming IP I designed as Freebee to non-Microsoft systems. I might not know what Microsoft is up to, but I do know that they are greed/revenue driven, and as such I know what would hurt them and should Kingdom Holding accept my offer the hardship of Microsoft merely increases. A nice way to end my career, by partially saving the gaming world (a bit presumptuous perhaps). Microsoft should never have done what they did, they wanted to become absolute ruler and that didn’t sit well with me, a such I created IP and stories for game developers. The one rule was, ‘not for Microsoft systems’. Making the ideas public domain made the most sense to me. Or as Frank Herbert wrote in 1965 ‘He who destroys a thing, controls a thing’ as such I went to work. Now I believe that the BBC is merely handing me a partial confirmation (as I see it) that I was right all along. When the staff leaves it becomes a problem. 

Oh and as this becomes a new reality, China gets a real chance to pick up hundreds of people with a good grasp of gaming. That is merely my point of view and I could be wrong. 

Have a great day, the day before the weekend. 

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August 15, 2024 · 00:20

By any other name

This started some time ago and today things started to mesh up in my mind and it got started with the movie Gods of Egypt, I watched it again this evening. The setting is not one could debate the reality of things (as one could consider), but there is the crux. What is real? 

You see, this is the question that I have often asked myself and this week a few things happened that calls an old idea into power.

You see, Ubisoft did most of the work and AC Origins set it in motion. When you get the addition on the game, you also got a tour you had to complete, visiting a brewery that makes beer and a few other places, places that were in the game and now Ubisoft added a tour to show the players how far they had taken the game. It was brilliant and some will find it boring. Yet it could be taken further and in part based on their own IP.

You see, what else could be done?

There are two settings here. The Egyptian side gives the people the option of polytheism, the believe of multiple gods. The game could take you on a trip as a diverse amount of people in Egypt and take you on a trip of worshiping the gods like the Egyptians used to do this. We could limit the player to be in Memphis, Alexandria, Letopolis and a few others. The second site is the Roman side, with a Roman farm, the ability to learn Latin, set this part to Latin and as we are thrown into the deep end we learn a language and there is a market, more importantly as Ubisoft already created the IP, it would be a simple alteration to the game to engage in languages (Egyptian and Latin) and here you are no hero, you could be a roman legionnaire, a scribe, a farmer or a slave. We saw the impact of it in all kinds of TV series, but that is the story told us. So what would it be to live it? And that is only the beginning. At some point Ubisoft will create a Unreal Engine 5 transfer making it as lively as possible and there we could use these programs to educate. And Ubisoft has the IP to make larger changes to programs like AC Mirage and add Arabic to the fold. 

Now some people might think that this seems boring and yes. It is not a slice and dice game, but it is IP that exists and could get a double function. You see as people ‘return’ to learning the classical languages they will also increase several other languages Spanish, Italian all have a grounding from Latin and in this day and age, we need more to keep us busy. There is only so many time that you can chase a Pokemon, or kill the masses in a race car. To give people something more will soon be the only way. The people and the gamers want more. I have nothing against Elden Ring or games of that nature, but how long can you play these games? And here Ubisoft clearly has the upper hand. They created such treasures from the old days. The renaissance, Egypt, Native America, Victorian London, Paris and a few other places. They have the materials, so why not employ the powers to use them for education? For me and many others Egypt have held sway on us and there we get two settings. In the first the Egyptians and in the second degree the romans. The second one could be set to the area of Pissa Oros Citadel. Where you have to complete several ‘tasks’ whilst you optionally do it all in latin (an optional advanced setting). And now (either as Egyptian or Roman) you do it without any assassin skills. 

Will it be successful? I believe it will and with the IP already made by Ubisoft, there would be a case to see it happen. 

Am I right? I don’t know, but the idea to learn ancient Greek, Latin or Egyptian is immensely appealing and I know there are more who find it appealing. There is whole group on Twitter (still refusing to call it X) with the notion to lean Latin, with a few thousand members. 

Just a thought to get through the day, it’s Thursday here now.

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July 6, 2024 · 00:00

The name of the game

Last night I had an idea (I’ve had many). The inspiration was a game called Midwinter. It was designed by Mike Singleton and released in 1989. He was the first to revolutionise gaming, tactical gaming. When games (for the most) all focussed on one part, he made it an open challenge and it played on the Commodore Amiga. You could do almost anything, walk to a place, drive a truck to a base, swim to a base. You name it, you could do it. We stepped a little away from that. There is a foundation to do it, but not open enough. I thought of throwing fuel on the fire and make it more challenging. To do this I turned to the war on Arrakis. It is (for the most part) really open. Consider where you and your skills decide on the abilities your troops and the enemy troops have. In the first part of the game you are an Harkonen officer. A starter, a milk mouth. You start as a soldier and you are part of the managing forces from Harkonen. So you start as a land trooper. Consider the last two Dune movies (which should be part of the design). You attack and subdue Fremen. You oversee the miners, you fight the fremen, you fly the ornithopters and you get to do this over and over again. The game is set up in time slices. As you do better and better the dials of the Harkonen are set higher and higher. When all the slices are done, when all the tasks are done, the Harkonen are set. If you score well enough you get medals awarded to you by an officer or even the Baron. The challenge is to defeat your own achievements. 

Screenshot

And the setting is that as a Caladeen (the home world of Paul Atreides) you will have to do really good to defeat the forces you enabled. The second scenario is two fold, you have to create an alliance with the Fremen (or you cannot get to stage three). You get small stages in the beginning then larger stages and the challenge is to beat yourself. The system is set by what you achieve. In stage two the Harkonen might be seen as NPC’s. Their powers are set to values you achieved in stage one. In stage three you reset YOUR values, but they are supported by the Caladeen and their presence becomes available by what you achieved in stage two. 

This is all I have for now, but the idea is that this has not been done before. Also the setting is supposed to be smooth. You can walk in the imperial palace (stage 2) and then walk up to an ornithopter and fly off, but you get to deal with Harkonen troops and Harkonen saboteurs and depending on how well you did, they become more than a nuisance. Unlike Dune: Awakening it is 

not multiplayer, that is an important difference. Here you create the levels of your opponent. 

The setting does not need to styled by Dune. But that was the setting I had. You could do this as a re-write of the game Knights of the sky where you get to start in the German airforce and after that can choose French or British airforces. Knights of the sky was not high defined graphics. But now you can to this in Unreal Engine 5 on a PS5 and get the whole battlefield on your computer. The setting of gaming like this is almost the same. You get to set the power of the opposing forces (NPC’s) with THEIR quirkiness but with the fighting powers of you. Go look at the history of gaming. It has not been done before. Old games setting the taste of the new game. But with a larger defining edge. As I see it, it will give a larger timeline because as you get into Stage three of the first game, you might want to redo stage one and make the game harder to beat. A game that you can replay over and over again, because as you upgrade the scores of one opponent, your challenge will be greater. How are those spice truffles?

Perhaps over time I will write more, consider that you have to train a mentat (Piter de Vries/Thufir Hawat), a troop trainer (Glossu Rabban/Gurney Halleck) and so on. There is more thinking to do, because the need for training Piter de Vries or Thufir Hawat sets a taste to the game, but we do not see them in the movies to that degree. So how to go about it? It could be that the palace has a strategic room and as you do troop management, it sets the properties on how you are directed playing the game, so as these two are added later in the game, the troops will be according to what you decided on in the strategic room. I do not have all the answers yet, but as you can see, so far the gaming industry has done nothing of a kind and they had decades to get their ideas straight. 

Well that is enough for today, Saturday starts in 4 minutes.

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