Spore Creature Creator Video

On Sunday I picked up a new game, the Spore Creature Creator, in anticipation of the September ’08 release of the full Spore game.  Spore is another Maxis title and Will Wright has been touting this for ages.  I figured that the $9.99 price tag, at Best Buy, was worth the expenditure.

When I came home I noticed the game is suitable for Windows XP and Mac OS X, which made me very happy.  I installed the game on my Windows partition and after 5 minutes I was ready to go.  I made a few creatures but only took video of one of them.  The game features an integrated video capture system that allows you to capture, save and publish video (to Youtube).

Testing out all the features was quite fun and I still have many more hours of playtesting to do.  So far, it is looking good.  Please check out the video below, linked from my Youtube account, to see my latest creature showing off.  He…er She…er It dances, jumps, is happy, erupts in a mating call, and has a great time with three baby creatures.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnRuL3A8GZM[/youtube]

WordPress 2.6 Update Completed

The CWF Game Cast has completed its update from its 2.5.1 version of WordPress to 2.6. Why do this, you may ask. Instead of trying to explain it all to you, the WordPress people did a great job of it already.

Please read WordPress 2.6 at the official WordPress blog. That explains all the reasons why we are updating.

The upgrade was performed using the automatic upgrade plugin.  We used this opportunity to update all our plugins once 2.6 was fully installed.  The only problem was with our Date Countdown plugin resulting from its update.  We have removed the plugin for the time being as it is more trouble than it is worth.

We also installed and activated Gears that should result in speedier blogging.  If you have a user account and use either Internet Explorer or Firefox please do the following.  Sign into your account.  Go to Site Admin.  At the top right of the screen you’ll see your username, Log Out, Help, Forums, and Turbo.  Click on Turbo and then install and activate Gears.  If you are on a dial-up connection (i.e. AOL) you’ll receive a speedier user experience on the blog.

Please view the below video for all the bells and whistles in WP 2.6.

Battlefleet Gothic Special Torpedoes Review

At Battleground Games in Abington gamers have started to return to the realm of Battlefleet Gothic.  BFG is a great game, created by Andy Chambers, and my absolute favorite Games Workshop production.  I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia article for an overview behind the game.  Also don’t forget to get the rulebook for FREE at the Specialist Games website (yes this is legal).

In addition to BFG veterans getting back into the game there have been some new players eager to join the fray.  I’ve been playing BFG for almost a decade having started back in 2000, or thereabouts, at Danger Planet Games in Waltham.  One of the new players has a Tau fleet utilizing the special Tau torpedoes.  Sunday he played a 1k game against a friend’s Space Marine fleet resulting in a draw.  After watching the game I remembered that other fleets, excluding Tau, can use Appendix I of the Armada book to field special torpedoes too and wondered the value of doing so.

I created a study to determine the value of spending 20 or 30pts for special torpedoes.  This study is not scientific, I’m not a scientist, and I’m not a mathematician but I hope this study will be useful to you BFG fans.  I rolled 10 dice 10 times for a total of 100 rolls.  I recorded the results of each roll and then tabulated the totals.  This provided me with the percentage that a given result will be rolled on the Special Torpedoes table (see page 156 of Armada).

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First Glance: White Dwarf #342 July 2008

Previously we’ve done two types of articles for each issue of White Dwarf and No Quarter magazines. We’ve crafted our Quick Picks and Inside series for each of the periodicals to help you decide the value in purchasing a particular issue. Our Quick Picks series highlight five of the best content pieces in each issue. The Inside series provides the table of contents and broad musings for each issue.

These series are being accompanied by a new member of the family. First Glance will provide our initial reactions to an issue. The First Glance articles will be composed as we peruse the issue for the very first time. As such the writing may be rougher than usual yet the realism will be enhanced. The raw thoughts will offer a truer unbiased and original response. Our first glance will address preparation (including production and publishing of the issue), visuals (the aesthetic appeal), content (value and volume), and value (is the issue worth your money).

We are kicking off the First Glance series with White Dwarf #342 for July 2008.

White Dwarf #342 July 2008

Cover: The cover is very appealing with the red hues and the war hammer on the front. It is easy to see what articles GW thinks is important. Clearly 40k is the focus of this issue as evidenced by 40k words, images, and slogans plastered across the cover.

Editorial: The flavor of the month continues as Mark Latham writes this month’s editorial. He says “I’ve been so distracted by my evergrowing Warhammer armies that I’ve neglected Warhammer 40,000.” In the next breath he rushes to say “…Warhammer 40,000 is more than just a set of rules” and “Warhammer 40,000 is here, and that means war!” So put down the LotR models they told you to use last month and dig into futuristic combat. Nice photo on the preceeding page.

New Releases: They look really nice and highlight the new 40k items. I love the 40k counter set and $15 is a steal. But, I think $90 for both the collector’s and gamers’ editions of the 40k rulebook are astronomical. I hope GW made yet another typo when they printed those prices. The moonscape is back huzzah for all and $17 is a great deal. I love the look of the Dark Elves Spearhead unit but $192 is beyond belief even for GW. They better be made of pure oil.

40k: The 40k coverage is extensive to say the least but that’s expected in the issue devoted to hyping gamers into a frenzy to buy the new edition. That said I’m a man who loves maps and I love the map on pages 32-33. If there’s one thing GW does well it is visuals. High scores for the visuals in this issue. The Batrep is in depth, pleasing, and well written.

WFB: Yay there’s quality Fantasy content in the issue. I feared they would forget to include it. The Daemonic Incursions article is a blessing and worthy read. Take it into the restroom while you vacate last night’s gaming diet of pizza and energy drinks.

Toolbox: How the heck is the Battlemat an entry for the monthly toolbox article? Using the term tool very loosely I suppose we can fit the mat in there. But if we’re defining terms that loosely we may as well just revert to calling the Earth a cube again.

LoTR: The Mordor Troll is one of the ugliest models I have ever seen. So…kudos? Not really sure if GW intended to make it that abominably ugly or if it is an unexpected byproduct like when Red Hood fell into that vat of chemicals and emerged as Batman’s arch nemesis.

Battlezones: This new section has won me over. I’m a total fanboy when it comes to well made terrain but who isn’t? There are great ideas in this section and the guide to making a gaming table, I feel like I’ve seen this in every other gaming outlet in existence, is quite helpful.

Event Calendar: There are some great events happening in Massachusetts. July 12th will be a busy day with a 40k 400pt Combat Patrol happening at Rising Phoenix Games in Cherry Valley. Then there is a 2k Team Apocalypse 40k event at The Whiz Store in Westborough. Plus Off the Wall Games, in Hadley, is running a two-day linked 40k event on the 12th and 13th ending in a mega battle. So much time and so little gaming. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.

Back Cover: It looks like the August 2008 issue will be more 40k based on the incredible photo adorning the rear cover. Couple that with the quick reference sheet insert for the new 40k rulebook and I think this will be the summer of 40k.

Preparation: 7/10 The magazine is well put together and I had trouble spotting any obvious typos. There may be a few, however, and my issue had too much adhesive goo in the rear pages.

Visuals: 9/10 This is a stunningly beautiful issue. Wonderful photos adorn almost every single page. The visual beauty is enhanced by the 40k artwork.

Content: 8/10 There is a ton of content for 40k giving high marks to that. However, all other games have sparse coverage with Fantasy receiving the remainder. No real content is given to LotR or GW’s other games.

Value: 6/10 If you love and only play 40k this will skyrocket to 10/10. But, if you’re like me and enjoy multiple GW games you’ll be disappointed by the more than usual bias towards the flavor of the month. Fantasy and LotR players are better off keeping the $6 in their pockets.

Total: 30/40 C or 75% for the average of the four categories.  The value definitely brought this down.  If they included just one quality article on LotR and one less on 40k the overall score would have risen to a B- or 80%.

War at Sea Set 2: Task Force Updated Confirmed Releases and Box Art

Raven\'s Avatar Several months have passed and we now have an updated list of confirmed releases for War at Sea’s Set 2: Task Force. The releases are confirmed by WotC game designer for WAS Richard Baker and have been posted at Axis & Allies foruMINI. All rounds of applause belong to foruMini because they have done the hard work getting the releases and having them confirmed.

In addition to the list, which is below, we have confirmed box art courtesy of the official Avalon Hill message board over at Gleemax, bleh to Gleemax, and Amazon.com. Amazon, plus Target, both show War at Sea Task Force online with price information. Both Amazon and Target say the MSRP is $14.99 but they are selling boosters for $10.49. Additionally, both retailers list the release date as July 29th but as far as we’ve been told the correct release date is still July 25, 2008. We feel comfortable in saying that War at Sea’s Set 2 is coming out the last two weeks of July this year.

Without further adieu we hereby present the confirmed release list (all comments in the list are the words of Diamondback from foruMINI) for War at Sea Task Force, the second set, as of the date of this article.

War at Sea Set 2 Box

Set II

——-

COMMONWEALTH NATIONS

UK Units

->R HMS Kent (reprint of Canberra, will have higher Armor value)

->R HMS Warspite (new BB sculpt)

->U HMS Fencer (St. Lo reprint, proxy Bogue-class)

->U Handley Page Halifax VP

Canadian Units

->C HMCS Haida (G63) (new DD sculpt)

Australian Units

->C HMAS Arunta (Haida sculpt)

FRENCH UNITS

->R CB Dunkerque (new)

->C unknown sub (new)

US UNITS

->R USS San Francisco (new CA sculpt)

->R Iowa sister ship (most likely Missouri)

->C F6F Hellcat (we can only assume it’s a new sculpt)

->R USS Yorktown (New Essex-class sculpt or Enterprise reprint?)

DUTCH UNITS

->R De Ruyter (new CL sculpt)

GERMAN UNITS

->R Tirpitz (Bismarck reprint) will have torpedoes, range 5 and AA 9

->R Graf Zeppelin (new CV sculpt, will permit Ju-87’s to ignore their Land-Based trait)

->C Me-109T (new sculpt, or will they just use the Spitfire?, hehehe)

->R German Hipper-class (new CA sculpt)

??C (PERSONAL SPECULATION) Probably a Galster restatted as a Type ’34/’34A (what I’d do if I were RB for a new German destroyer, they all look almost indistinguishable except to experts)

ITALIAN UNITS

->R Italian cruiser Zara (new CA sculpt)

->U SM.79 Italian Level Bomber (new sculpt)

->C Macchi MC202 Folgore

JAPANESE UNITS

->C Akizuki-class (new DD sculpt)

->R Kongo sister ship (reprint)

->R Yamashiro (new sculpt)

KNOWN: 23/60

New Known: 15/30

RP Known: 6/30

Unknown: 1

By Rarity:

R 12/24

U 04/12

C 07/24

Also, night-fighting and Kamikaze rules in set II.