Tag Archives: review

May 24, 2026 · 22:18

Just a thought

I just rewatched the Harry Potter series (as one does) and I suddenly thought of a few parts which might be useful for HL2 (Hogwarts Legacy) or HL3. The setting is given that I love replaying a game, especially RPG games and for the most it will be up to Avalanche Software to do or to consider this. The first one was a great hit and there is no reason to change too much of the setup which the people loved. But there needs to be additional ties to a game, not there was anything wrong with the first one, but there is always space to add to what you had and that is where my reengineering skills will assist me. 

The first premise is how to start a person in year six? Then I suddenly realised that there are a few thoughts and this is where I considered that the new student is an exchange student. If the student is male he comes from Durmstrang, if the student is female she comes from Beauxbatons Academy. They also come for a few different reasons, but they are exchange students, so there is ample reason to set the new game in similar (but not completely) similar settings. The map will be the same, although some things will be different and other challenges will come to you. The added stages are Durmstrang and the area around it, as well as Beauxbatons Academy and the area around that place. These sides I leave to Avalanche software. Whilst watching the last HP movie. I got the idea that one of the two schools will face a massive damage setting (the school where you are from) and you get a lot of use from the reparo spell and it can be upgraded to stronger versions, but there is more (there always is) the settings of repairs are bound by your skills as you learn them at Hogwarts. That gave me the idea to have skills intertwined. Reparo can become stronger when you learn Levioso, as such staircases become easily fixable. Better fixing of walls as you learn Accio, Depulso and Flipendo. The stage for an open game remains, but better fixing of things becomes essential to get to parts of the school. And perhaps Avalanche has more (or perhaps even better) ideas. 

Then the setting of the dark spells never felt quite right, because they were unforgivable, But what if we have an option to become a dark wizard or a light wizard? Only dark wizards can do the unforgivable spells, the light wizards have increased shields. It was just a thought. I already voiced the idea for a jobs in an article I wrote called ‘It starts with options’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/27/it-starts-with-options/) and a few more after that you get to start work (of a sort) and there is another setting, the house you are in decides a few options for you. I also set some parts in ‘In dubio’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/03/26/in-dubio/) but the idea was considered. So as the 4 houses have some the same and one unique, optionally with an additional setting for Witches and Wizards, we get a much larger replay setting. You can’t select certain matters when the first game start, but in a subsequent game you get to override the house you are selected in, so to make it all more playable for the returning gamer. 

There are much more options open, but this is a start and the idea that unique spells are obtainable in either Durmstrang or Beauxbatons Academy is also an option, but the larger setting is that Witches are never allowed in Durmstrang and Wizards can not get into Beauxbatons Academy. Sometimes limitations are a benefit, not a hindrance. And as far as I remember, some limitations were last seen in NeverWinter Nights, so that pleases me too. 

And there is as always the idea to get the people to create their own homestead. There are places you can revive or places that you can obtain, and with that we get largely a much bigger setting. Even with the Hogwarts area map. They should be the same map, but other settings will be added and perhaps a few more additions in enemies and traps might be considered. But I leave that to Avalanche software. Anyway these ideas (consider IP) I freely hand over to Avalanche software. Perhaps they can use it, perhaps not. But there is always the chance that these thoughts will be valued and it might open a few other additions to a game. I am not trying to tell them what to do, their first attempt was quite good, excellent even. But my brain will mull over anything it sees and that is what my brain does. So have a great day, time to watch the Jedi order be destroyed (3rd movie).

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May 20, 2026 · 14:25

An ignored setting

There was a thought pushing itself into my brain, it came to me (weirdly enough) whilst I was rewatching the first Harry Potter movie. You know, that one where Daniel Radcliffe is still young and innocent. So whilst I was watching the movie, I was combining a few things together. First a Nightmare on Elm street (the one in Toronto) and then the idea went to the Hellraiser series. So, I was combining the original works of Myst (the game) and my mind was combining the cube from Hellraiser where the lament configuration is merely one of the options and each will open portals into other dimensions of hell. The idea that the graphics of the cenobites will get more than a few into Myst, there was nothing wrong with Myst, but the creators could create new worlds in a much higher resolution and the setting of horror set puzzles are pretty rare in the gaming world, as such it could gain a rather large following. Considering the appeal that Lovecraft satire have on the world as a whole and the connections to horror that the Clive Barker stories have had on people since the 80’s the game is destined for a decent level of success. So whilst we seek new IP, there is nothing stopping old IP to rear its head and give the audience a place to stay and have shivering fun. Now as we combine the works of Clive Barker, the Hellraiser comics and movies, we have enough materials to make a sizable game and considering the materials that Lovecraft gave, which requires some Cenobite rewriting (to avoid plagiarism) we get a large enough materials to fill a game with several missions and a decent amount of puzzles. Taken in account the other setting I proposed on relaunching the 7th Guest in the last month, I have done my duty to protect the power of gaming. Anyway, it is always nice to create non-military IP even if it is for the UAE and Saudi Arabia at zero revenue for me. The creation to protect these countries  (against Iran) and whatever is trying to hurt them, I believe that a soul needs the creation of peaceful IP to grants the soul peace of mind and the blissful setting to remain creative (it is not a saying, I merely belief this myself). So whilst there is a stage that we need to consider that there is more to gaming, I believe that it gives the player the stage to consider other paths of the mind and puzzles tend to open the thinking of the player, especially if it is not the usual way that person thinks. So whilst others have made their way into valid and valuable creative IP, as examples I would like to raise Subnautica, Skyrim, Elite Dangerous and a few others. I would like to contribute as well. And this is my contribution to it all.

So let the developer who creates this game be smitten by the IP of Myst (perhaps even the Myst creators themselves) and see what the gamers can gain by playing that game. I get that it is all in the mind, but when you consider that games tend to be all based on some shooting game with flaccid stories, the idea to gain creativity and originality from an original game created in 1993 over a quarter of a century ago and create something unique and new and combining that with original storylines that others have not set into some combined IP is a little disappointing. But here I am trying to balance the scales once more. 

So you all have a great day and feel free to create some original IP yourself as well. Perhaps next I will find another IP that will serve the defence of the UAE, as I already created enough IP for them to take out their harbours, railways and roads and also now (after the attacks on Barakah) I gave them my idea (and IP) to take out their nuclear reactors. I tend to have a vindictive mindset and I does not give way (I still have a healthy hatred of Samsung, even after 40 years) But after the created IP, I feel rather happy with myself, even after I also created the new 7th Guest setting. But that is for another day, for now the creators of Myst should consider that 1993 had 40-60 self pronounced gamers, in 2026 we are at 3.5 to 3.6 billion, it is almost 100 fold, as such there is a much larger audience and at best, there is a setting of 100 times what games in 1993 would make and that is what game makers seems to overlook. These original games are allegedly the stuff of legends. And even if we do not consider them great, with added graphics they could reset the moulds they were originally based on and that is just the start. Games like Millennium 2.2, Chrono Quest, and several others were what they seemed, original concepts and original games tend to be mind blowing in the very least, as such I saw this stage evolve years ago and as I see it, some are getting on that page now. It was the stage that could have propelled streaming solutions, as such the stage now belongs to Nintendo (Switch2) and Sony (PlayStation 5 and 6) I let these so called captains of industry decide on where they want to go with that, but the stage is there for all to see. 

Have a great day.

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April 30, 2026 · 22:50

Out of my mind

Yup, this happens. We sometimes lose it and after a few days without sleep. My mind went bah bah too (a black sheep reference) and as such I was driven between the Ubisoft setting (and Article in UK Metro), the options that Saudi Arabia has in entertainment, the NEOM setting and a few more things. As such lets start at the beginning. 

UK Metro is giving us (at https://metro.co.uk/2026/04/30/assassins-creed-doesnt-need-remakes-needs-a-complete-overhaul-28169243/) where we are given ‘Assassin’s Creed doesn’t need remakes, it needs a complete overhaul’, I have had a few thoughts on that in the past, especially when anger hits me as you approach your first fort and tornado’s swirl around that fortress (until you destroyed its canons), it gave me the rudest most violent thoughts (I’ll spare you the details). You see, I know it is a game and not a very realistic one. My largest issue is that it is not really an Assassins Creed game, it could have been a legendary upgrade from Sid Meier’s Pirates, it never went there. And beside the excellent graphics there was a lot more, but there were annoying parts too (like running like the Prince of Persia after shanties), it was the setting that I gave the phrase ‘If you want to appease everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one’ it came to blows there and more afterwards. Then we get “The original Assassin’s Creed failed to live up to this promise. It was highly repetitive and pretty shoddy despite its visual splendour, while the sci-fi Animus twist largely got in the way of the 12th century hijinks. The series, however, executed on its original promise with Assassin’s Creed 2, which replicated the Italian Renaissance period with a dynamite (and still series’ best) protagonist in Ezio, who led its two sequels Brotherhood and Revelations.” I disagree, there is truth in all that, but Assassins Creed delivered originality and a stellar script. Running around in Accra and Jerusalem was a boyhood dream come true. Yes, there was repetition, it was originally release on the PS3 20 years ago. A system with 512MB memory with a 20GB hard drive. There were still limitations in those days, but the game gave as good as we can expect from any system in those days and AC2 surpassed it beautifully. So whilst I created the setting for new updates in usage for the Ubisoft titles, Metro also gives us “Assassin’s Creed games aren’t known for their bold narratives, but maybe a radical, unexpected shift in setting could spark some creative verve. Go more contemporary with a Second World War spy slant, or lean into the sci-fi premise and shoot forwards in time instead. Fundamentally, surprise people with something fresh beyond the swords and sandals.” A setting I disagree with, don’t get me wrong. They are partially right with that view, but there were only three greats in RPG like story telling. There was Bethesda (something about scrolls), there was Bioware with Dragons and Mass Effect and there was Ubisoft. In those days these made the hits and the lines. As far as I know there was nothing like Assassins Creed and I never got all the flags (at least three attempts were made playing from start to stop) and I never regretted any hours I played that game. Could more be done? Perhaps, but then I would have to do this. I don’t hod anything against the makers of the first three games. They delivered. 

So a rewrite of the entire Assassins creed is possible, but where? Consider that the Playstation and Switch2 are there, so is the PC and whatever console Microsoft has. An entire overhaul would have been possible on streaming systems, but that is wet stuff under the bridge (I believe they call this water). The next part of the disagreed issues is given with “Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest franchises in gaming, and was once a creative force in the realm of third person action games, but Ubisoft has allowed it to coast into an outdated and predictable mould. It’s about time it stopped dredging up the past, and gave players an exciting, rejuvenated reason to be excited about its future.” I agree with this, but there is some disagreement. Especially the ‘outdated and predictable mould’ yes they are outdated, but they were good, there is a reason heart beat faster at the sight of the Ezio collection, there is genuine love for AC Shadows and that is not outdated. And as the predictability, there is a partial agreement, but I want Stealth games, I want that rush of  sneaking up on a person (in a game mind you) from behind and use a karambit to give him a necktie red colouring scheme (those who know, know). 

An overhaul might be called for to get rid off the prince of Persia parts. I don’t mind the shanties, which makes for a lovely pirate lore, but they should go about it different. Including buying them from entertainers, buying musical instruments in general stores and a few other places (like in a commanders room in a fortress). All options and the difference of the attempts gives us the diversification. As I have been replaying Black Flag the last few days (I only opened 70% of the achievements), there is a need to get more of them, although I do not think I will get them all. 

So I agree with the overhaul, but not because of the ‘outdated and predictable mould’, I believe that if Ubisoft slams (and deletes) the setting of ‘If you want to appease everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one’ because that was the undoing of that franchise. On the other side. I already handed Ubisoft 2 directions, one with the language approach as over 3 billion people are learning languages and the next one is the creation of immersive storylines, making it a collection of books and that can be done with a whole range of locations in Assassins Creed and Watchdogs, although 1 and 2 are in the United States and they haven’t spoken English in decades, so there is that. I placed in my blog the Idea for a Watchdogs 4 which I placed in Kyoto, it was essential to do it there and have a hard mode which would stumble the gamer in Japanese, but there would be glasses, like smart glasses and I did that somewhere in 2018/2019.

But for Assassins Creed, there are a few other settings, but the bulk is OK as far as I can tell, going all the way back to the first Assassins Creed, which was in 1191 (sorry, a Dr. Who joke). The part that was stellar was the storyline, the entire assassins/templar setting was never given to a gamer before, no one ever had the ‘audacity’ to give us the combination of reality with storyline before (as far as I know), so when we look at an overhaul we tend to agree, because the game has taken such a large setting over the last 20 years that everyone agrees with one of more games. I reckon except the ‘Ezio’ games, they are close to perfect it had a 90%, a 87% and a 82%. Revelations made the mistake of too much Prince of Persia, but I could live with that. The only part I disagree on was Brotherhood, the stealth was more demanding and better and whilst some ‘complain’ the tasks were much more on par and defining, I haven’t touched this game close to a decade, so I might pick it up again.

So there is much to agree to and even more to disagree to. Even my stuff is subjective and I get that it might rub people the wrong way, this is simply as gaming is highly personal and we all have our own cloud of gaming in mind, I get that. So am I against the article in Metro or in favour? That’s hard to say, they touch on issues that are real, but it goes against 20 years of programming and the fact that we all play according to our desire in play, so overall I am is disagreement on the article, but it touches on a few very real settings that we all agree with and with a franchise this big that is to be expected, one last part is that I haven’t played AC Shadows for a while and I haven’t finished it as I never beat Joken Hokkyo, after a dozen times I just gave up. That happens too. I am not always in the best headspace for some moments in time. The open fight at the end was too taking and not very Assassins Creed.

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April 29, 2026 · 20:57

Reselling is the art

Is it? Or is the art of reselling the game? And they might sound the same, but they are not exactly the same. Confused? That is not the goal, but it comes with the territory. To get this setting, I have to take you back to last September when I gave you (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/09/09/one-thought-of-many/) ‘One thought of many’ I gave that seeing at least twice more, but that might be one of the first times. You see, I was replaying Black Flag and it got me thinking and for some reason I was thinking of some corny advertisement of a romantic novella setting. I never read them, but in the Netherlands they were famous.

I reckon that every nation has these in their local language, optionally they are translated, but that is a fact I have no idea on. What does matter that this series has appeal with over 2.5 billion female readers. There are also these novella’s for the male, optionally they are pirate, spy, Jetsetter stories. What matter is that there is now a 5 billion target area. And Ubisoft ha the inner track on this. So as I was playing Black Flag and walking through Havana and Nassau the idea hit me. So when you take away the assassin setting and you keep the places the same, and it would be limited to a location (like Havana/Nassau) and optionally other locations in other games and you can only walk in these places and optionally through a Apple Vision Pro/MetaQuest and you don’t read the story, you play and live the story. I reckon that you can have 5 stories per location and optionally the eagle vision shows the people you need to talk to and progress through the story. You could make more of it, but at first we have the storyline and the way to proceed and that is the story. The story is the live played on the places you normally read about. The next step in novella’s and Ubisoft already has the locations. Consider Jerusalem, Florence, Venice, Forli, Rome, Boston, New York City, Havana, Nassau, Kingston, Paris, Versailles, Alexandria, Memphis, Heraklion, Bagdad, Kyoto, Osaka and several more. This needs no creation, Ubisoft already made the locations, made the art. Now you only need the engine to be altered to let the story flow and you can have 5-9 stories per location and even there, there are short cuts. They merely need to use one location to see if it has the appeal. My voice goes towards Rome with stories for the masses regardless of gender. And with DML and a small investment in these novels you can make  several of them, all unique and perhaps with a creation system and it is all additional revenue for Ubisoft. It becomes what matters in a new direction, not what it was meant for, but what else can be done with this and I reckon with the MetaQuest, it becomes a lot more engaging, the nice side is that there is a massive lack of innovation for these devices, so Ubisoft could enjoy a much larger share of that attention. As everything is due to evolution, why not how we read stories? An engaged form of literature, brought to your eyesight. And when in Rome, you could always consider The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses) by Apuleius. From modern, to classic and educational. This is the age of reinventing the idea that already is and Ubisoft has a tremendous advantage here.

Just my idea on how to go next. And whilst Ubisoft get another version of the same in a new coat with a new audience, they might consider even other paths. Paths I never thought of. So this was the third setting that started messing with my mind two days ago. I have not completed that journey and made you aware. 

Have a great day. Still three hours to go until I wish myself a good morning.

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December 18, 2025 · 16:38

Upgrade, next chapter

Yesterday I was thinking of a game I used to play and it left me a little underwhelmed. It was not the fault of the game maker, the game was awesome. It gave me the thought that I was in the deep with the dodo’s of the Kremlin, or the White House. The game did what they promised, but I was thinking what this game could do with current technology and settings of DMS and some LLM. There is also the thought that the game was originally a little 2D. It all fitted on an 800KB disk so I am not surprised. But consider the idea what the current settings allow for.

The idea that they had with the political tables of then (1987) and what Mindscape was able to achieve. It started as a game of geopolitics during the Cold War, created by Chris Crawford and published in 1985 on the Macintosh by Mindscape, followed by ports to a variety of platforms over the next two years and I got the AtariST version in 1987. And as sources reveal, takes the role of the President of the United States or General Secretary of the Soviet Union. The goal is to improve the player’s country’s standing in the world relative to the other superpower. During each yearly turn, random events occur that may have effects on the player’s international prestige. The player can choose to respond to these events in various ways, which may prompt a response from the other superpower. This creates brinkmanship situations between the two nations, potentially escalating to a nuclear war, which ends the game. It is my advice not to ‘antagonise’ the opponent in the Pink Kremlin, or the Black House to avoid the nuclear holocaust that follows. And why leave it there, the complications of a EU could be added, so you can see how likely little you can do as as King Gustav on charge of that small sided Sweden (population 10.5 million) and we can build on this, we can evolve this with corporate powers and the influence they hold with the likes of Strawberry, Hippolytics, Smallsoft, and a whole range of power players. See what happens when you tweak that power (or nationalise their goods) then we get to the impact of social media like SnoutTome, QuickOunce, MyTransistor, DingDong, Toucan, Connected, ScryingStone and a whole range of other groups. You could see the direct impact that trolls have when they are clearly exposed and optionally with scenarios to solve. I would recommend to leave the intelligence groups to a later date (or a DLC) to properly test the settings you have there. It could be the first simulator for audiences and students of geopolitics and social standings later. That is before you add the mess that (WatchMyGrey, AmiSix, and their offspring in France, Germany as well as Mossad does to the worlds chaos (under their tutelage) 

I wonder how no one enacted this setting, it seems to be a decently solid training and educational simulator giving students to study multidimensional settings that geopolitics present in todays industry. I’ll bet you you can’t fit that on a 800KB diskette, but there is every thought that it can be done, the social sciences tables still exist and they can vouch for the until recent messes and they are basically ready for deployment. And now that we see the world for what it is, we might also include global religion as an influence and show you why the Catholic Church doesn’t have as much as it used to be.

It is merely a small snag that escaped my brain this morning, but I reckon that the old software settings could still apply to settings of today, you merely have to upgrade the setting and there is plenty of options here and as they were solidly stated on those basic settings of Social sciences, in todays world they could be used through Deeper Machine Learning to a much more powerful extend. See what some see and what you are not supposed to know (sorry Blaise Metreweli) but that is also the next challenge. Instead of shouting at Toucan, you could investigate the trolls on Toucan and see what the expected result is and who the culprit behind these pretentious stages are, not to be coy, but using that Strawberry Studio to see it on the big screen, or even as a user of the Hippolytics Moon streaming service get a new lease of opportunity. An educational simulator for students and investigators of humbug gets a new side of life.

Well anyway, that was my thought I had this morning. And the names have been changed to avoid  the guilty and make me less liable, a decently appreciative setting

Have a great day. I wanted to take a nice walk, but it is 34 degrees celsius out there, bit much for a long walk. Oh and Strawberry, fix your DoDo Dos version Hawaii 26.1, when you switch off your router before you switch off your wireless, the wireless keeps on scanning the ether, even AFTER you switch of the WiFi. Sloppy programming. 

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November 10, 2025 · 23:01

Opportunity lost

That is the setting and not everyone agrees with me on this. Gaming has been accelerated like the  armistice race. Some people in gaming having no real gaming life and merely a setting in business intelligence are chasing the wrong niche in gaming. Gaming is so much more. And they are missing it. Yet the Arabic setting I considered might take it more seriously (and then there is Tencent) You see, gaming is seen in all walks and sizes and When you consider boardgames, that never left our minds. I got into boardgames at a very early age in the Netherlands. It was called “Mens erger je niet” in England it was called Ludo and based on the iIndian game Pachisi. 

And now it is almost forgotten, Facebook on a blue Monday set a few of these games on their servers, but overall, they didn’t last long. But take that setting and put it on a streaming console with options for single player (against the CPU), or even multiplayer with a setting for up to 4 players. Settings where you invite family, friends or even strangers. And this is merely one of many settings. Then there is the notion that some of these games have IP protection. It could optionally be averted if not digital settings exist, but when we go deeper, we see that there are dozens of these games that have no real ownership. So why did no one take up the baton to ‘revolutionize’ these games? Then there are dozen of MB games that could take a similar track and lets face it, the system that has the numbers of games has an advantage. So why did no one connect the dots?

Then we get the life long titles like Snake and Ladders and Clue (1943) so what stops these game makers from using a small team of programmers to bring forth one game a month, within two years there would be an abundance of these games. Kids playing with their parents, or even grandparents. Playing each other and so on. What baffles me is that these Business Intelligence people never figured that out, not in the last 4-5 years and when you take a longer look at this path you will agree that it is not a path that should be overlooked. Yes, we all love our times in the Wastelands when we play Horizon Zero Dawn or its sequel, but there are times when you and perhaps others might fancy a game of Snakes and ladders and a streaming system will easily do that. So why is it overlooked? Why are these dozens upon dozen of games ignored? Is it a mere IP thing? Doesn’t the programmer seem cool enough? Streaming systems have different metrics and they all seen to go over the amount of data passed, what it fails to look at is the joy it will bring, because joy is the true metric of a game and its gamers. 

We are all looking towards the new strides, but as I said more than once, when did you look behind you to see where the new course in front of you could be plotted. Have a great day today, Vancouver joined us in the present day as it is 4 am there now and I am 55 minutes away from Tuesday.

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May 16, 2025 · 10:00

Insectum

It is time to talk bugs. As I see it there are three kinds, there are the actual bugs, these are settings that crash a game, or make it non-working. The other two are glitches and systemic glitches. Glitches are merely a hindrance they are flaws in a game of program, but they do not dissuade from the joy that the game brings. I saw all of these settings in Oblivion remastered. Let’s be clear. I am not a doom speaker and heralding the ‘Messy setting of Oblivion’, I am (for the most) a game and before I start this article I will say right now, up front, that Oblivion brought the sense of joy I had when I played the game 20 years ago. That is as I see it a massive achievement, 

Virtuos brought their A game and it shows in everything you see and play. This game is 20 years old, as such plenty of laurels for Bethesda as well. It was the reason I bought me Xbox360 and I never for one moment regretted doing that. Yes, I have had the red rings of death and in the end I have had 3 Xbox360’s. But never was there any doubt that it was a great machine and a worthy contender to the crown that the Playstation 2 won.

Still, we were talking about the game. As such, we have glitches, persistent (or systemic) glitches and bugs, there is also the fatal bug, but I haven’t seen that one in Oblivion.

A glitch can be systemic, but does not mess with gaming fun. An example is that when you go from the rain into a ruin, or a cave and you still hear the rain. It doesn’t stop you from having fun, but it is a glitch. Then there is the systemic glitch. When you’re cupboards are too full, because you (me) is a hoarder, the system gets a little confused and will not show everything in your inventory. As such I could not move my sigil stones from the inventory. The solution is to sell off a lot of junk you were holding and that fixed it. There there is the setting that you can not control. A setting where things go a little haywire (because of a dozen reasons), which can mess with the storyline, but the simple solution is to reload the last autosave and often it is fixed. When dealing with these knights of the thorn idiots, I had to reload half a dozen times before I got the mission done (in different places). There is nearly no saving an idiot who thinks he os gods greatest knife fighter whilst surrounded by two Xivilains, loudly engaging them calling in two more. There is no stopping stupidity, it tends to get you killed in the battle field. Then there was the first time I went into the Rockmilk cave. After the first reception area, there is a path down where three spiked traps are. The stage to the left could not be entered, whilst it had enemies. I think it was a glitch, and it was ONLY the first time I entered it, subsequent entries were good. It is my place to collect free arrows and in earlier levels that matters, later too (I had over 400,000 gold), but it is a assured way to get ebony arrows and glass arrows, which are not sold. Apart from the bounty in there, it is a clear way to make headway. Then there are several persists glitches, but the one in Sancre Tor was fixed by waiting at the opportune time (where there are 4 people) and that worked. These settings happen. Anyone who thinks that bugs/glitches on a game this big doesn’t happen is beyond stupid. And for the most part it never bothered the game. Perhaps one setting which was beneficial to me was that the Rumare Slaughterfish were bouncing on the waterline, so in clear view to kill them. For the most, this game is utterly awesome and I never regretted spending the money of the 125GB download time on this. I will be playing this a few times over as I never played a high elf mage, but that was on me. 

The fact that even after 20 years and after Skyrim, this game shows just haw amazing gaming can be and that is never a bad thing.

So don’t call everything a bug, because some games are just too big and a bug tends to have fatal issues on a game and yes, I did crash a few times, but I just reloaded the game and I merely lost a few minutes in its worst scenario. Yet it is not all bad. It made me realise the settings I redesigned for an RPG and as I saw the stage also saw why my mind set a few things the way it did and it makes sense to do so if replay-ability is your goal. I think this should be the mindset of any RPG developer. As such did you consider the soft architectural stage that Diablo (the first one) offered against the planes of oblivion? When you connect the ideas that certain games had and incorporate them into a plane of oblivion? When you aren’t set to a mere version of a game, but when the towers can be radically different, how much more fun can you have exploring? 

So have a great day and when you hear the screaming in the night, that would be the sound of Daedric Princes as I have entered their realm and they fear for their life now. 

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April 27, 2025 · 14:51

Dynamic lore

Perhaps Dynamic interactive NPC’s is a better if not a little incomplete at this time. I have been loving every moment that I have been in Cyrodil, yet some of the missions are bland, redone over and over again and at this time (as there are more options), the setting seems a little absent of electricity. This is not the fault of Virtuos of Bethesda. I have over 1000 hours (perhaps even 2000 hours) in the game, so for the most I have already seen it. Still roaming the sights of the province is a delight. All the sights I forgot about over the 14 years that Skyrim graced my computers (PS3, Xbox360, PS4 and PS5) and there is more, but at some point I started to set out the idea of Dynamic Dialogue.

You see the first game you play remains always the same, but the subsequent versions, there could be a setting that some of the dialogues will be somewhere else. As such my mind set out the stage that at this point has never been done in any RPG.



Could be set to 
Pers001ArdantNadia
Location01BravilBravil
KindofPersonMerchantBeggar
ActionRumorRumor

And this is merely a sample. So we get a key part of information from a merchant, but this information could be from a beggar as well (not always an option), but the system of Dynamic Dialog will have within itself what the definition is. As such you can run to Bruma and ask the same person again and again, but what if the mage changes? Optionally you are given the name, but that is not a given. 

It changes the game, as the subsequent play is more of a setting that sets a new premise. A game  altered to the gamer who loves the challenge, not merely running the distance. In this there comes a second setting that loot in houses could alter, books might be in different locations (after the first play), It gives shine to a game that was good to be great over several play throughs. With the optional setting when you start the game of activate Dynamic Dialogue. As the database is set correctly the game could be reset to original when a new game is started. 

A setting we have never seen in RPG, but this is now possible, as such, I though of including this setting. Loot can always be randomized, but the people usually aren’t. Then there is the setting that a mission could get another parameter as well. Like the weapon shipment could give the added premise of saving miners and that is set to a clock within the moment you give the weapons to the three mercenaries. So there could be the option that you get a 10 minute timeframe to save a number of miners in that level (like 6 miners) and that gives the player a new chase. To get to the people in time. I am not saying that it should have been done, but when you get the second play through, some missions get to be a bit of a milk run, as such I devised the setting to add Dynamic Dialogue and optionally added achievements. 

There are places when that is not possible, but given the option, we have a good stage to improve RPG gaming, and in this case merely the additional times you play the game. I reckon that my mind will concoct a few more iterations of this in the near future as such I will keep you informed of the hair brain schemes I think of. Perhaps in the near future I will add to what I wrote yesterday, there was a lot more to be had.

Have a great day, time for me to close another Oblivion gate.

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March 28, 2025 · 16:59

The mostly ignored stage

This hit me yesterday in between all kind of other stuff I was brooding about. It was set off by thinking of something else. As I was replaying Hogwarts Legacy, was thinking about the collectors edition that was released on day one and at $599 that was not. Leap I was ready to make. That set another track n the rails. You see, most places are lacking Power-points and some have solutions for that, but the larger issue is ignored. You see when you put a few things together, you start wondering a few things. With night stand lamps, office lamps and all kind of lamps in every room, there is a clear setting to have these places ‘illuminated’ with USB-C ports, for all kind of reasons. Charging mobiles and other mobile devices. Collect gimmicks and as such the average gamer needs about 10 points of contact. The office person has their own need and a few more. But color me happy, the big boys (in this case IKEA) never seem to have acted on this. I saw one part on TEMU, so why is that largely overlooked?

Screenshot

Now, this TEMU contraption needs a power source and as it is a bluetooth speaker, an alarm clock, a nightstand, a charger for mobile, earbuds and watch this makes sense. But most people (like me) merely have a mobile and optionally a watch to charge. As such adding a USB-C to most lamps will solve the issue without people have to find connection points for charge ports. And as most will suffice with a 15 watt solution, most rooms will have the stage solved for iPad, Watch, Mobile, and optimally enough space for the a mobile wifi hotspot. And in an instance the required need for 5-8 charge points are reduced to a mere 1-2 spaces. Most solutions are done with in an instant when we add a USB-C port to most lamps. So why was this never done? Some will say it was the price. But if TEMU can offer a 5 charging station with bluetooth speakers and alarm clock for a mere $15, I reckon that the pricing isn’t it (or at least not anymore). 

Was it the required brainpower that was needed? Well it seems that these captain of industry (as they call themselves) are in dire need of an overhaul to say the least. 

So where did they leave their innovation? With their marketing department, whist the marketeers needed time to think over the term innovation. So far this decade I have only seen one innovative marketeer and that person is the Canadian Ryan Reynolds (probably he got assistance from that youthful young sprout Blake Lively in that regard), beyond that there was the Heineken marketing teams in the 80’s and 90’s. The rest are mostly iterative players on ideas already phrased in some ways. So where are the boffins? The fact that I have at least three goals over DARPA makes one think whether true innovation has left the field and its stadium of operation. And that was merely the upper soil tossed, there is a lot more under the rubble and where are those innovators? They seemingly left Apple almost a decade ago, Microsoft hasn’t given us innovation for decades and mostly that is regurgitated from ideas from way passed. We see that when we see Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 with the initial release date on November 19th 2024. There is no mention of the Flight Simulator 2020, which gives us “It is an entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series which began in 1982, and was preceded by Microsoft Flight Simulator X in 2006.” I remember that as I had the CBM64 edition (which set me back $299, and in 1985 that was serious cash), never regretted that move. It was the first time that I saw true innovation in the face of lacking resources and make no mistake, getting any flight simulator running on 64KB is an achievement. So when I saw the 2020 edition (I had the X version in 2010) blew me away, so seeing the 2024 version with an initial release data of that year kinda makes my blood boil (a little). To disregard innovators to that degree is not cool and it shows that big tech and their marketeers need to review what they think innovation is. 

And that takes me back to the present. As we see more and more items requiring a USB-C point, the idea of having this option inserted in laps (as such) gives us a much larger station for consideration. And the Collectors Edition is still desirable even after having played it several times over the last 25 months. So what will we do when another collectors edition requires a charge point and that is before we consider what other house smart ideas will grace our presence. Smart buttons, smart lights, smart speakers and all needing a USB-C point. So why didn’t IKEA (as merely one place) consider this option 1-2 years ago?That’s it for now, my Friday is almost gone, in Vancouver (the most eastern point of intelligence in the time line it starts in a little over an hour). Have a great day.

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March 11, 2025 · 11:41

What the mind remains digesting

That happens to us all, especially the dreamers and the creators. As such yesterday’s blog is still on my mind. It reflects on Ubisoft as I see negative articles appear on a game that is not released yet (AC Shadows). It is said to be a whopping 125 GB, which is rather large as Skyrim and Fallout 4 don’t go that far. There are several reasons where this could be the case, but I digress. You see at present I have no intention of buying the game pre week 3. At that point the real reviews will have been out for some days. Let’s be clear AC Mirage was a wonderful game and for the most a real AC game. I loved it. It was a pleasant surprise from the disappointment AC Odyssey gave me. Ubisoft just didn’t listen “A game that is mean to appease everyone will please no one”, a rule I find to be the cornerstone of gaming. You see the Business Intelligence dude (or dudette) thinks different. In their terms they think that AC is 50%, add a little Prince of Persia you get an additional 10%, add another part from another successful game and another 10% is added and so on until they get to 100%. But the reality is that the stealth, the true AC part is diminished. Almost like adding water to the wine and at some point you can never tell the real taste of water or the real taste of wine. That is my firm believe. Let’s be clear to add sides that complement a game to a next version can make the game better, but it needs to be a unique setting that complements the original. That is what I intent to write and add to Hogwarts Legacy. So in that Trent what if we add to the beast setting, not copy (perhaps in part), but add to the story. As such I saw two parts. What if the next version adds jobs to the game. (3-5) per house. And they do overlap, A house has (lets say) 5 jobs. Two unique and three sets one in another house. That applies to all houses and you get each house with 2 unique jobs and one job shared to any of the three houses. That creates the achievement “A true Hufflepuff”, or the other three houses. 4 achievements right there. 4 play throughs, and in my example (in the connected story) one job is a wand-maker, A student of Olivander. Now the wand needs a core. We have unicorn hair, phoenix hair or dragon heartstring. What if there was a fourth one? The 4th one, requiring a Graphorn horn. There might be more, but that is a mere instance of what I thought. As a student you’ll learn how to make a wand (leading to the achievement “Wand artisan” and the obvious second one Wand-maker master (when you make a successful wand) with a graphorn horn. It isn’t that simple. You see, now all beasts create the right part, we could see a mere 1% successful Unicorn hair. With proper attendance by food, brushing the 100% success rate goes up (2%) and as you create a better understanding of animals and who they are combines with the success rate another 100% (4%). When you are not using that hair (so we get golden unicorn hair) they can be sold for the usual 120 knots (or sickles) we get something worth galleons. Galleons can only be exchanges at Gringotts or a comparable bank, the Galleons also represent a second part (I get to that) because all jobs have that distinction. Some at a smaller pace. I just created an economic state all in one go. This is what I believe that is what some developers miss (no assault on Avalanche Software). And the setting intensifies as we get specific jobs. No matter what you chose you will have a different goal. As we get to chose from the ministry jobs, the locations (France and Germany come to mind), you could become an Auror you could get specific options, and as such can increase your ‘fortune’, I see the aurora as a specific Gryffindor and Ravencroft job. 4 play throughs with very unique settings. It makes a person want to replay the game. I thought the very first location, the castle of Percival Rackham. The idea that it is a goal to restore that Castle, which required to set in place charms so that the people avoid it as well as a few other settings, the appearance of the ruin that all see and when you get close to the house, the ‘real’ house. Another idea was to add the French and German locations due to the Newt Scamander documentaries (me laughing on the inside) gets us two more settings, so in that case Avalanche gives us the near perfect setting. That haunted village could be part of the next story. Perhaps the third act is around Durmstrang. And if the French episode connects to Beauxbatons, than Durmstrang (believed to be in Sweden) gives us the fourth act in Stockholm (or Oslo). Four acts all carrying part of the story, all giving us parts in Exploration, Battle (example: Ice giants) and Beasts. It could add to the lore to a larger degree as these elements are added. The four acts will get us to the fifth act (the deserted village) and that can get us a few more versions. Some will want to believe one version, or another version, but in the end we are all given all the facts as portrayed through acts one through four. The idea to have additions of stealth like an animals or a plant has merit here. As I see it, the truth is always according to the truth of one, the other or insight of self. Although the spells are all there, we can get a few more spells from each of the other three houses. 

I got this in a little over a day, so it seems fair that tinkering is required. On the offset that my view of the 25 months is given, the new version allows for a lot more than 25 months of joy. And if someone wants to embrace the 11 unique jobs that the game gives it will be a lot more than 25 months. If the first idea (the portal) allows for the 2 games to be united, the stage of a near everlasting wizarding world epic tale will be the achievement of a lifetime, to be more precise Avalanches lifetime. According to Statista 44% is an avid fan and 53% is a casual fan, as such 30 million copies will not come close to the amount of optional copies sold for the next game. There is every chance that this game has the ability to break nearly all records. I reckon that there is little chance to break the records of Pokemon and that is not a bad thing. To break the stage of 50-100 million copies is close to amazing to say the least. Then there is the lore that needs to be created. A stage not easily done to say the least. 

Look at me go, a mere day (perhaps 2-3 days to seed the idea on November 27th 2022) and we have ourselves a chase. The others (for example Ubisoft and Bethesda) to get ahead where they never got and Avalanche to let them see their tailpipe as they sloughed ahead in gaming. And Warner Brothers to sit in the stands enjoying the race where the others come short by a lot.

Not a bad day for me, I got to hand over creative exclusivity to Avalanche Software and the rest (like Microsoft) seeing again and again what they missed in the first place. Have fun you all.

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