Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW Free Download

Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW Free Download PC Game setup in single direct link for Windows. It is an amazing action, adventure and indie game.

Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW PC Game 2019 Overview

2008 – At 06:00 hours yesterday morning contact was lost with Abkhazia, an autonomous region south of the Greater Caucasus. Intercepted radio messages talk about heavy military activity. We still don't know how it stands on the damages and the origin of the of the occupying forces are unknown.
Intel is currently not able to provide any sitrep. All satellites in the region are offline and redirecting satellites will take a while. Until then we are blind.
And this is where we are coming in: give us some eyes on the ground!
Observe and infiltrate hostile movement and cause chaos and confusion beyond enemy lines!
You know what you need to do! You will seek, locate and destroy the enemy while causing havoc and confusion. Engage the enemy across vast, nonlinear missions in this unforgiving, intense experience where skill and tactical decisions matter!
For each situation you need the right set of tools. In Beyond Enemy Lines 2, you can customize over 20 different weapons with 9 unique attachements. You can modify your Assault Rifle into a Sniper within seconds! Use this to your advantage and turn any situation to your favor. You need to take down a hostile force far in the distance? Attach a suppressor and a scope to take him out from the distance. Your are outnumbered and a squad of enemy soldiers is closing in on your position? Customize your submachine gun with a underbarrel laser and suppress the enemy while you retreat to an elevated position.
Beyond Enemy Lines 2 features an intense experience in vast, nonlinear environments. From dense forests to claustrophobic close combat fights in underground bunker complexes. You are free to approach each objective with your own strategy.
You have the total freedom to choose your path – guns blazing or silent assassin – it's your choice!
* 10+ hour long campaign
* Large, open ended and nonlinear missions
* Huge replayability due to unscripted and dynamic AI – each playthrough is different!
* Detailed Mission Ratings of your achievements after each mission.
* Over 20 different Weapons ranging from Pistols over Assault Rifles to Light Machine Guns.
* 9 unique attachements to customize the weapons to your needs
* Drivable vehicles to cross the large battlefields

Note:
Playtime of the campaign can highly vary depending on playstyle and skill.
Beyond Enemy Lines 2 is a hardcore tactical FPS and very difficult, a high level of skill is required to survive! It takes passion and dedication to master this game!
Conquest
A large-scale game mode with up to 32 players fighting for the control of key objectives. The team holding the most objectives is in the lead and will drain the enemies tickets. The team with the most tickets left at the end of a round wins. Kills and objective captures will reward you with money, which can be used to buy new weapons and equipment. There are no predefined classes!
Team Deathmatch
This mode pits your side against the enemy and you need to defeat as many enemies as possible while protecting yourself and your team mates. Infantry based units combating each other to the death. Kill or be killed!
Coop
Join up to 3 other friends or strangers to fight against the AI in specially designed missions. Or let the Random Coop Mission Generator generate a unique cooperative operation deep beyond enemy frontlines.
Dedicated Server
Beyond Enemy Lines 2 supports Dedicated and Peer-To-Peer Servers, Dedicated Server Files are included within the game folder. You are free to set up your own server with your own rules.
It's your server – you dictate the rules!
Bot Support
All multiplayer game modes have full bot support!
EARLY ACCESS WARNING!
Please consider the Multiplayer of Beyond Enemy Lines 2 as an Early Access product.
As a one man developer it is nearly impossible to launch Multiplayer and Singleplayer of this scale at the same time. The Gameplay and Servers are stable and we encountered no gamebreaking bugs while the extensive testing. Expect some features to be slightly unfinished/unpolished or not perfectly balanced.
Community feedback is the most valuable good, please provide your feedback and thoughts!
If you buy Beyond Enemy Lines 2 only for Multiplayer, we recommend to wait 1-2 month after the release.

Technical Specifications of This Release.

• Game Version :
• Interface Language: English
• Audio Language : English
• Uploader / Re packer Group:
• Game File Name : Beyond_Enemy_Lines_2_Tank_Base_SKIDROW.iso
• Game Download Size : 15 GB
• MD5SUM : 167ce8e02f462aff22d8c5d5acef9390

System Requirements of Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW

Before you start Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW Free Download make sure your PC meets minimum system requirements.

Minimum:

* Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* OS: Windows 7 (64bit)
* Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
* Memory: 6 GB RAM
* Graphics: Geforce GTX 770 or AMD Radeon R9 290
* DirectX: Version 11
* Network: Broadband Internet connection
* Storage: 50 GB available space
* Additional Notes: Estimated requirements, might change until release.

Recommended:

* Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* OS: Windows 10 (64bit)
* Processor: Intel Core i7 4790k CPU
* Memory: 12 GB RAM
* Graphics: Geforce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon R9 590
* DirectX: Version 11
* Network: Broadband Internet connection
* Storage: 50 GB available space
* Additional Notes: Estimated requirements, might change until release.

Beyond Enemy Lines and Beyond Enemy Lines 2 2019 Polygon Art.
Unreal is a registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. Unreal Engine, Copyright 1998-2019, Epic Games, Inc. Steam is a registered trademark of Valve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW Free Download

Click on the below button to start Beyond Enemy Lines 2 Tank Base SKIDROW. It is full and complete game. Just download and start playing it. We have provided direct link full setup of the game.

Download Link:::Link
Size:14.37 GB
Price:Free
Virus status: scanned by Avast security

Buds, Blooms, And Thorns Review Of Pluto Attacks! By JTP Games

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Review of Pluto Attacks! by JTP Games
DisclaimerSupport me on Patreon!

Vitals:
Title: Pluto Attacks
Designed by: Troy Pichelman
Publisher: JTP Games / The Game Crafter
Year Published: 2016
MSRP: $25
1-6p | 30-45 min | 12+

Introduction:

What's better than a black and white, 1950's b-level sci-fi movie?  Well, lots of things, but they are fun to watch.  Pluto Attacks! lets you play through a classic sci-fi movie where aliens from Pluto are attacking a small town in 1954.  As is the case in these situations, all the adults have been incapacitated so it falls to a group of teens to save the day.

Pluto Attacks! is a cooperative dice game for 1-6 players.  You'll get to take on the role of a teenager in the small town working with your teammates to defeat the aliens before the end of the movie.  The game plays through four acts with a new scene appearing every turn.  Using skills and abilities you'll have to roll dice to match requirements for each scene to secure the location.  Securing the location gives you certain abilities, but may also be required to resolve the final obstacles.

Blooms:
Blooms are the game's highlights and features.  Elements that are exceptional.

• Light, fast play is great to pull out as a filler or when you need a casual game.
• Theme is dripping from the game.  All the artwork, mechanics, and flavor really hits the spot with the b-movie theme.
• The game has a great story arc.  It's not a story game, but the way the game escalates through three acts to the final conflict is great.  I've won most of the games I've played, but every one has come down to the wire and ended in a pretty tense finale.

Buds:
Buds are interesting parts of the game I would like to explore more. 

• There are a ton of different combinations for Scenes, Plot Twists, and Big Reveals so every game will tell a different story.
• There's an optional playmat that looks great and really helps with the game layout and theme immersion.

Thorns:
Thorns are a game's shortcomings and any issues I feel are noteworthy.

• The game does have a very high amount of luck.  In addition to the dice rolling, having the cards you need to complete the win condition stated in the Big Reveal relies on the luck of the shuffled scene cards.  If the cards you need to win are further down in the deck it'll be harder to survive long enough to win.
• There's not much you can do to mitigate poor dice rolls, especially earlier in the game.  Having some way for characters to "level up" and gain skills would be great.  Maybe when a Plot Twist card is removed it could give players a certain skill. like "reroll 1s" or "decrease one die by 1 to increase another die by 1".  Some of these could even be specific to the type of card they are, like "reroll all dice once when resolving a science location".  Other aspects of the difficulty may have to be increased because I think the balance is good as it is, but a feeling of a little more control would help feel like your characters were growing along with the story.
• Sometimes it feels like each turn is solo and there's not much cooperation, especially before you know what the win requirements are for the Big Reveal.  Until then you really won't want to discard any cards to help out others or even yourself just in case those cards are needed at the end.  I wish there was a better sense of cooperation and way to mitigate dice rolls earlier in the game.

Final Thoughts:

I first played Pluto Attacks! at Protospiel Chicago in 2016 and again at Protospiel Milwaukee in 2017.  It's made the rounds to quire a few other Protospiel events as well.  I've since played my copy a few times, too, and have enjoyed every game I've played.  Over the years the game has gotten better since my first play, too, with more cooperation opportunities available, improved artwork, and some refined mechanics.  I do wish the cooperation aspect was pushed a bit more and that there was a little more control and luck mitigation, but the game as it currently plays is fast, fun, and easy to explain.  It's a great game to pull out as a filler or with more casual gamers.  I really like the sense of progression through the story like you'd have in a movie.  The players are confronted with a series of setbacks, while they try to just survive and the town slowly falls to the invaders.  Then they figure out what they need to do to defeat the aliens and get down to work trying to save the last remaining pieces of the town while collecting what they need to fight off the attack once and for all.

Every game I've played has come right down to the wire, so the balance seems great - no small feat for a game that relies so heavily on lucky dice rolls.  Played right, you'll reach the game's conclusion with enough options for mitigating bad luck in those final dice rolls, hopefully.  When you lose though it's easy to blame bad luck with the dice and cards that happened to come out.  I wish there was something that gave you a little more control, or at least sense of control, especially as the game ramps up.  As a dice game there's no escaping the luck factor, but giving the players a few more possible tools for mitigating the dice would be fun.

Overall though, I really like Pluto Attacks! for a light, casual game.  The theme is fun, the mechanics reflect the theme wonderfully, and it's always a fun time with an exciting end.  This isn't a collection essential, but if you like the idea of this you won't be disappointed.

Buds, Blooms, and Thorns Rating:

Bud!  This game definitely has some
great moments.  It's good for several plays
and should appeal to most gamers, especially
if you enjoy other games like this.

Pictures:

Did you like this review?  Show your support: Support me on Patreon!Also, click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJ Games Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some were provided by a publisher or designer for my honest feedback and evaluation.  I make every attempt to be both honest and constructively critical in my reviews, and they are all my opinions.  There are four types of reviews on GJJ Games: Full Reviews feature critical reviews based on a rubric and games receive a rating from 0 to 100.  Quick Reviews and Kickstarter Previews are either shorter reviews of published games or detailed preview reviews of crowdfunding games that will receive a rating from 0 to 10 based on my impressions of the game.  Buds, Blooms,and Thorns reviews are shorter reviews of either published or upcoming games that highlight three aspects of a game: Buds are parts of a game I look forward to exploring more, Blooms are outstanding features of a game, and Thorns are shortcomings of a game.  Each BBT review game will receive an overall rating of Thorn, Bud, or Bloom.

Untitled Goose Game Grabs Another GOTY Prize At 2020 GDC Awards - IGN Games

Untitled Goose Game Grabs Another GOTY Prize at 2020 GDC Awards

HOTT 52 - Getting Ready

Kaptain Kobold over at the Stronghold blog has been holding forth on the game HOTT (Hordes of the Things) for years now. This year, they decided to play a weekly game of HOTT a year and record them as HOTT 52. This sounds like a great idea for me, and will allow me to get off my painting/modeling obsession (and Minecraft addiction -- you should see the "Empire" I'm creating in my world, all in Survival!) .. anyway, to actually play games.

(See [1] for what HOTT is, if you've never heard of it before.)

I'm going back in time, though, back to the last published version of HOTT, 1.2, which is now available again on Lulu! After playing a version of HOTT that was updated for the latest DBA 3 rules, I've decided to go back. Not because the update HOTT2DBA3 rules are bad, but because a lot of HOTT play at conventions/events is still based on 2.1. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with the actual version.

I was reading through my well worn copy of the rules and kept finding odd notations that implied I had done something earlier, so I went through my Google Drive and found this:

HOTT Reference Sheet (Google Drive Link)

The first page is written for my Etinerra campaign world, and I converted the measurements to inches because "'Murica", but the rules summary works very well as a one sheet/two page summary of the game.

Rather than try to do a huge big restart to my wargames campaign in Etinerra, I'm just going to play some games with miniatures and get to playing HOTT regularly, THEN I can see about tying things back to Etinerra. So this coming weekend, I will do two games to catch up with the weeks - last weekend was all about my playtest of Hommlet!

While I love Chaos Wars and still play it, HOTT is perfect for an hourlong game that gives me some fun, but doesn't require a lot of time.

Thanks, Kaptain Kobold, for the inspiration!

[1] HOTT/Hordes of the Things is a fantasy miniatures wargame that uses a small number of figures to play out just about any fantasy setting you can imagine. It also allows you to make just about any army you can imagine, with an army list that ranges from high Tolkein fantasy, to Asian Indian mythology, to Discworld and even Christmas Land! The rules can be interesting to interpret, with "Barkerese" on the same level as "High Gygaxian" in terms of writing. There's a ton of help on the web and my reference sheet to help you with the rules!

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Free Download

A galaxy-spanning adventure awaits in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a new third-person action-adventure title from Respawn Entertainment. This narratively driven, single-player game puts you in the role of a Jedi Padawan who narrowly escaped the purge of Order 66 following the events of Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. On a quest to rebuild the Jedi Order, you must pick up the pieces of your shattered past to complete your training, develop new powerful Force abilities and master the art of the iconic lightsaber – all while staying one step ahead of the Empire and its deadly Inquisitors.

While mastering your abilities, players will engage in cinematically charged lightsaber and Force combat designed to deliver the kind of intense Star Wars lightsaber battles as seen in the films. Players will need to approach enemies strategically, sizing up strengths and weaknesses while cleverly utilizing your Jedi training to overcome your opponents and solve the mysteries that lay in your path.

Star Wars fans will recognize iconic locations, weapons, gear and enemies while also meeting a roster of fresh characters, locations, creatures, droids and adversaries new to Star Wars. As part of this authentic Star Wars story, fans will delve into a galaxy recently seized by the Empire. As a Jedi hero-turned-fugitive, players will need to fight for survival while exploring the mysteries of a long-extinct civilization all in an effort to rebuild the remnants of the Jedi Order as the Empire seeks to erase the Jedi completely.

GAMEPLAY AND SCREENSHOTS :

 
 
 
 

DOWNLOAD GAME:

♢ Click or choose only one button below to download this game.
♢ View detailed instructions for downloading and installing the game here.
♢ Use 7-Zip to extract RAR, ZIP and ISO files. Install PowerISO to mount ISO files.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Free Download

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS GAME

➤ Download the game by clicking on the button link provided above.

➤ Download the game on the host site and turn off your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid errors.

➤ Once the download has been finished or completed, locate or go to that file.

➤ To open .iso file, use PowerISO and run the setup as admin then install the game on your PC.

➤ Once the installation process is complete, run the game's exe as admin and you can now play the game.

➤ Congratulations! You can now play this game for free on your PC.

➤ Note: If you like this video game, please buy it and support the developers of this game.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
(Your PC must at least have the equivalent or higher specs in order to run this game.)

Minimum:
• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7/8.1/10
• Processor: AMD FX-6100/Intel i3-3220 or Equivalent
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7750, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or Equivalent
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 55 GB available space

Recommended:
• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7/8.1/10
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700/Intel i7-6700K or Equivalent
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD RX Vega 56, Nvidia GTX 1070/GTX1660Ti or Equivalent
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 55 GB available space

Supported Language: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish language are available.
If you have any questions or encountered broken links, please do not hesitate to comment below. :D

The Last Sane Man In A World Gone Mad

The passing of The Daily Banter's Chez Pazienza is a great loss to journalism that few will ever know about. While The Banter, which he co-founded with Bob Cesca, is small potatoes compared to the Internet powerhouses of Buzzfeed, Salon, Vox, and The Huffington Post, he helped bring something to the online paper that is quickly become a dying practice: quality writing. In the obsessive desire for traffic and shares, otherwise reliable bastions of liberal thought have devolved into cheap listicles and sensationalist outrage blogging. It is a dumbing down of the Left comparable to what Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity did to the Right.

A lone auteur in a wilderness of mediocrity.

Chez was left-wing P.J. O'Rourke with a sharp scintilla of Hitch. He opposed nonsense and bullshit wherever he saw it, from the hourly insanity of President Trump, to the maddening political correctness on colleges, to the insipid humor of Jimmy Fallon, to the left-wing nihilists who refused to vote for Hillary, to the self-destructive madness of the Republican Party, and the inability of many liberals to be frank about critiquing Islam. I didn't always agree with Chez, nor did I always agree with Hitch, but what they held in common, for me, was their witty and no-holds-barred takes the latest news events. Their perspectives were always fresh, often sating my hunger for something savage, contrarian, and nuanced all in the same piece.

If there were an overriding theme to Chez's latest Banter writings, if one can be salvaged, it'd be that America is going further and further down the shithole of absurdity, with the only comforting reprieve being the ability to laugh in defiance like George C. Scott riding the nuclear bomb in the finale of Dr. Strangelove. Literary voices like Chez are a dying breed. Even The Washington Post and The New Republic are falling prey to the Buzzfeed effect. Gravitas on the guillotine.

In his death, however tragic, it can hoped that Chez'll receive the due recognition that he deserved in life. I could quote any number of passages from his long bibliography to give you an idea of what I'm taking about, but I think it most prescient, given the toddler-in-chief, that I quote from one of his more recent warnings about Trump, as he tried tirelessly to resist the normalization of this imbecile of a president in the media, a resistance that we need to continue,

"So the time for arguing amongst ourselves over petty outrages and miniscule transgressions is over. It has to be. We don't have the time for it anymore. Those closest to Trump's firing line within our diverse population will be counting on every single decent person in this country to take a stand for them and the only way we can do that is with a unified front and sheer numbers. Our voices have to be loud. Our anger has to be righteous and it needs to be seen and heard in everything from our politics and those who speak for us politically, to our music, to our art, to even, ironically, our comedy. We're already seeing our artists, creators, and thought leaders giving us a hint of what might be to come. And come it must. That's the voice of the resistance."



Further Reading

Chez Pazienza's Articles For The Daily Banter.
http://thedailybanter.com/author/chez-pazienza/

"In Memory Of Chez Pazienza, The Writer I Always Wished I Could Be."
 http://thedailybanter.com/2017/02/in-memory-of-chez-pazienza/


Bibliography

Pazienza, Chez. "Make America Rage Again." The Daily Banter, November 10, 2016. Web. http://thedailybanter.com/2016/11/make-america-rage-again/

Gears 5 Free Download

Gears 5 Free Download PC Game setup in single direct link for Windows. It is an amazing action, adventure and indie game.

Gears 5 PC Game 2019 Overview

It's about time. Suit up with a WWE Superstar Batista skin for use in Gears 5 multiplayer. Play Gears 5 while online between Sept 15 (4:00pm PT) and October 27 (11:59pm PT) to get him in game for free.
From one of gaming's most acclaimed sagas, Gears is bigger than ever, with five thrilling modes and the deepest campaign yet.
Campaign: The world is crumbling. The Swarm has corrupted the Coalition's robot army and is descending upon human cities. With danger closing in, Kait Diaz breaks away to uncover her connection to the enemy and discovers the true danger to Sera – herself.
Escape: Outrun the bomb, outsmart the Swarm, and escape the Hive! Escape is a new, aggressive, high-stakes co-op mode featuring a three-player suicide squad that must work together to take out enemy hives from within.
Versus: May the best team win! Rack up points and trade up for superior weapons in Arcade, a frenetic playlist built for jump-in, over-the-top fun. With ten other game types plus new and classic maps, Versus rewards every competitive style, from casual to pro.
Horde: Can you and four friends endure waves of ever-stronger enemies and bosses? Survive using new hero abilities, building defenses, collecting power, leveling up your skills and working as a team.
Map Builder: Create custom Escape hive maps and experiences to share with and challenge your friends.
Features:
* Three-player Campaign Co-op: Battle alongside your friends in three-player online or split-screen co-op.
* Tours of Duty: Rank up from new recruit to four-star general in Gears Tours of Duty. Take on new and exciting challenges, earn awesome rewards, and show off your loot.
* Boot Camp: New to Gears or just a little rusty? Bootcamp is a fun way to learn the ropes, from the basics to advanced combat techniques.
* Play as Jack: Play as Jack, your personal flying support bot that can protect allies and damage enemies – perfect for players new to Gears.
* Visual Showcase: Play every mode in 4K and HDR at a smooth 60 frames per second on compatible machines

Xbox Profile Required. Sign in with your existing profile or create one for free.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content

Technical Specifications of This Release.

• Game Version :
• Interface Language: English
• Audio Language : English
• Uploader / Re packer Group:
• Game File Name : Gears_5.rar
• Game Download Size : 63 GB
• MD5SUM : d4a175b90286efbbec8ed0c0c9f89209

System Requirements of Gears 5

Before you start Gears 5 Free Download make sure your PC meets minimum system requirements.

Minimum:

* Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* OS: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit
* Processor: AMD FX-6000 series | Intel i3 Skylake
* Memory: 8 GB RAM
* Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 280 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (Windows 10) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Windows 7)
* DirectX: Version 12
* Network: Broadband Internet connection
* Storage: 80 GB available space
* Sound Card: DirectX compatible

Recommended:

* Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* OS: Windows 10 64-bit
* Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 | Intel i5 Skylake
* Memory: 8 GB RAM
* Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 570 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Windows 10) | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660ti (Windows 7)
* DirectX: Version 12
* Network: Broadband Internet connection
* Storage: 80 GB available space
* Sound Card: DirectX compatible

2019 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

Gears 5 Free Download

Click on the below button to start Gears 5. It is full and complete game. Just download and start playing it. We have provided direct link full setup of the game.

Download Link:::Link

Size:62.78 GB

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Virus status: scanned by Avast security

Download BOS Wars 2.7 RTS For Windows

BosWars Gameplay

Bos Wars is still a nice fast-paced and somewhat lightweight RTS for you to enjoy, even though the sound mixing is still brutal but getting your hands on the latest Version for Windows is not as straightforward, as it was in 2010.

Thankfully, you can get a working version for Windows from Portableapps.

The cool 3D pixel soldier in the thumbnail above is from OpenGameArt by the way. Still kicking, old design and all.

• BosWars homepage

This post was retrieved from freegamer.blogspot.com.

Zombies In My Pocket?!

What's going on everyone!?

Still in tons of pain from my back but I did manage to get a ga,e of Zombie in my pocket in.

While packing up games I came across my ol' ZIMP pop which used to be my all time favorite travel game so I knew what I wanted to play this evening.

After moving more stuff today I realized that I had packed it away. :/ 

Really itching to play the game I decided to see if there was an app for the game by chance... thankfully and much to my surprise there is!

It's a great adaptation of the game and really is fun! Unfortunately for me,  I ended up dying but that wont be the last time, lol!

As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stop and smell the meeples!  :)

-Tim

Logo

When a company changes their logo, it's generally a group exercise in self pleasuring. It's rarely necessary. If you look at the Starbucks logo, the 1987 or 1992 logo is in color, a big transformation, but I personally wouldn't change my coffee drinking decisions based on any of their logos. As for 1971, I'm not sure what's more offensive nowadays, bare mermaid breasts or a black and white logo. And what in the hell is she holding? Are those her mermaid legs? What exactly does this imply?  Is this a coffee shop or a brothel? Sick bastards. Logos are ridiculous and nobody cares.

When I was told we needed to change our logo, my first concern was the circle jerk of pointless design and then cost. Clearly there's no financial benefit to the exercise. We've had the same logo for 15 years. Is it a good logo? It looks good. I like the colors. I like the knight. As for the design itself, I have to admit, it's a giant pain in the ass. Our original logo is terrible, practically speaking. It's an impediment to its very purpose.

The use of black means it looks great on screen with a white background, but it's problematic with other forms of media, which require a very light background. It's so difficult to use, we tend either not to use it at all, making the brand identity somewhat weak, or we reverse the colors to put it on a black background with the logo in white. We mutilate the logo to make it work. It's a problem. But is it worth fixing? Enter the business case.

When it came to staff shirts, we resorted to white embroidery on black shirts. originally I had white shirts with a full color logo, but those were loathed by everyone, and they were hard to keep clean. You may not know this but everything we sell sits in a dirty warehouse before getting to us and gets even dirtier as it sits on our shelves. Keeping a retail store clean is a major feat, as it starts dirty and only gets worse. White shirts were always getting stained and looking bad.

The black, embroidered shirts we currently use, with a boring plain white stitched logo, turned out to be incredibly expensive. Each shirt costs $70 with embroidery. They also need to be made in batches in various sizes, so we're almost always buying more than we need, in sizes we hope will be useful. Invariably, those sizes don't match our diverse staff. So over time, we've been stuck with a box of very expensive shirts in the wrong sizes. The cost of bad design turns out to be very high.

Our new shirt design features a full color patch that can be sewn onto a variety of shirts. We choose the shirt from the Work Wear store next door, grab a patch, and sew it on. No big batches of variable sized, expensive, embroidered, logo perverting shirts. Also, if I want one of my robust, tactical shirts from 5.11, I buy it in the right color and sew on the patch, something not available before. Total cost per shirt for employees will be $25 or so, with no waste.

Then there's the increased merchandising we tend to avoid with the old logo. We've already ordered new patches, pins, stickers, and more. We'll have hats and t-shirts eventually. These were difficult to design with the old logo requirements and they sold poorly.

Now let's get onto the minor controversy of our design choices. We spent about a month defining the needs of the new logo with half a dozen designers. We identified core requirements. It should maintain the design elements of the old logo: the knight, the horse, the lance, the direction it's all headed (very symbolic) and of course, a diamond. The logo needed to remain fairly simple. The name needed an updated font that was compact with the design. The previous font used long, horizontal text and has been nothing but trouble for 15 years. The color black is problematic. It goes with nothing but white. Those who use black in their logos hamstring themselves design wise, so we omitted that. In fact, I would probably pick a different store name without a color in the title if I were to do it over. I have few regrets, but "black" is one. Let's take a look at the new design:

I think it pops. Rather than black, we have a dark blue, which works much better and represents one of our colors. It's a darker blue than our original logo (which some say was purple, a color I love). The diamond color, away from black, represents a shift in store colors that came about with our big construction project, three years ago.

This orangish yellow is called Curry in Sherwin Williams colors, which is the color we painted our staircase. It's a color that matches our birch fixtures. It provides a pleasing blue and gold ambience, the colors of the local university, UC Berkeley. 

This shift in store colors came in a moment of crisis. The Curry color came from a decision I made with the architects when it was clear our paint color choices weren't working in practice. I was distracting myself at the time with another project, a used Jeep I was about to buy in Utah, because Utah was the closest location of a Jeep in this exact color I was smitten with. I had to have not only the features I was looking for, but it had to be in that color. It was clearly on my mind. Originally the Curry color was white, but when we painted it on on the staircase, it looked terrible.

So the color of the staircase and thus the logo got their color from a Jeep. The Jeep is in a Chrysler color called Amp'd. And thus our staircase became Amp'd, and our logo became Amp'd. And for the foreseeable future, we shall be Amp'd. Most people like the new logo, once they've accepted (or more often overlooked) the diamond isn't black. It's a tough ask, but if people can accept the Starbucks mermaid isn't holding up her legs suggestively any longer, I think this can be overlooked. Personally I love the direction of the logo. I especially love I won't be paying $70 each for a box of useless shirts. 

Missed Classic 80: The Price Of Magik (1986) - Introduction

By Ilmari

It's again a time to celebrate the start of a new year with a round of Missed Classics. Just as 2010s are changing into 2020s I am about to come to an end in my own Level 9 marathon by playing, first, The Price of Magik, and then, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole.

Magik witk k, bekause it sounds kool?

I said an, not the end. With these two games, a certain phase in the development of Level 9 is coming to a close. Looking back at all the products of Level 9 I've played, it seems that their most creative phase was with their four first games. Their first game, Colossal Adventure, itself mostly just a feat of importing an existing game from mainframe to PC, served as a template for all their Treasure Hunts, by which I mean a game where the main goal (aside from possible end sequence) is to maximize your score by collecting as many treasure items as possible (treasure items being usually, but not always, of no use beyond their role as treasure). The most perfect example of a Treasure Hunt in Level 9 collection was their third game, Dungeon Adventure, which.got rid of everything superfluous, like end sequences, and concentrated on looting treasures within the most fiendish puzzle box the developers could think of.

The second Level 9 game, Adventure Quest, could be said to form a template of Travel Story, where plot progression means basically advancement into a new map area (although backtracking might be allowed) and where main goal is to get to the final room (and possibly carry something into the final room or do something there). Travel stories Level 9 perfected with their fourth game, Snowball, where you have to move through a spaceship full of dangers into the final room where a terrorist is hiding with a bomb.

After this first round of creativity, the development of Level 9 games has been mostly technical - they added pictures and streamlined their parser - while most of their games still used the two templates. Lords of Time, Emerald Isle and Red Moon were again Treasure Hunts, although two of them tried to hide this fact with a meatier plot. Return to Eden, on the other hand, was like a bad parody of a travel story, with player walking through disconnected areas containing various threats to a trial, which they will lose unless they carry the right items with them.

This doesn't mean Level 9 had completely stopped innovating. Interestingly, their imaginative side showed most with their games made for Mosaic. Partly these innovations must have been caused by a desire to make easier games. This is especially true with their take on CYOA genre, where The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole served as template and The Archers brought that template to fruition, especially by making the point system of the first game more sensible and giving real options for the player.

A more interesting novelty was what I could call a Game of Exploration, to which The Saga of Erik the Viking served as the template. The idea behind the name is simple. After a short introductory sequence, game world - big, but empty, as has been the case with Level 9 games - opens up almost completely, with only few hidden and/or closed spots. The task of the player is to explore this world, with no real idea what to look for (there are even no treasures to be discovered), and find the key items required for triggering the end game. This template was perfected in The Worm in Paradise, where the dystopian-bureaucratic context and the amnesia of the player character made the mindless exploration understandable.

The reason of this long prologue is that I feel The Price of Magik falls squarely into the Exploration type. It at first seems like it would be another Travel Story, but then… and now I am getting ahead of myself.

First few rooms

Let's begin with the premise of the game. The Price of Magik continues the story of Red Moon, which was basically a tale of finding a stolen artifact (titular Red Moon of Baskalos), which was the source of all magik. In this game, the artifact is stolen again! The supposed guardian of the Red Moon, Myglar, wanted to make himself immortal and channeled all its energy to this task. Because of this, Red Moon is about to fade and magik will disappear.

Manual reveals also that the player was transferred to the House of the Red Moon magikally, after blowing and exploding a big red balloon found in an attic. I have a feeling nothing at all will be heard about this story in the game itself.

At the beginning of the game I found myself at the driveway outside the yard. There was a woodshed, leading to a herb garden, each containing a number of objects, some of which required some small scale puzzle solving (for instance, I could use a candle to burn a pile of wood into ashes).

The house itself could be entered from two directions - through the front door or by climbing a vine to the attic. It was completely dark inside, but herb garden had contained some eyebright flowers, which were said to miraculously improve vision when rubbed into your eyes.

Let's start describing the house itself from the top. There was a small attic, consisting only of few rooms. Among other things, the attic contained a mirror, which I could cut to pieces with a diamond ring. Beyond the mirror I found a prism, which had the word XAM written on it.

The attic

This is the perfect time to speak of the magic system. Just like in Red Moon, you need two things for doing magic - spell word and corresponding focus. In Red Moon, the spell words, the required foci and the effects of each spell were described in the manual. No such luck here. Spell words - always consisting of three letters - are scattered around the game world, for instance, examining the knocker at the front door revealed the word ESP. Helpfully, if you try to cast a spell, but you don't yet have the focus, the game will tell you what focus you'll need.

Spell words seems to have some relation to the effects - you could think XAM might be about examining and ESP about telepathy - but it needs some research to verify what a spell actually does. As a book found within the house has told me, the game has three kinds of spells - spells you just cast generally, spells you cast to some direction and spells that you cast at some object/character (player included).

Interestingly, magic affects your characteristics. You start the game from the ripe age of 20, and each spell you cast makes you older - when you turn 100, you die. Magic is also connected to your sanity - the less sane you are, the more power your casting has. Naturally you want to reduce your sanity as much as you can, so how do you do it? Well, finding spell words and foci and casting spells for the first time does this. In addition, there are other events that shake your sanity - for instance, if you knock on front door, some nameless monster appears for a second and frightens you.

So, you'd think the game would be spent in searching new spell words and foci. Yet, the very first spell I found changed this radically - when I used XAM at any focus, I would learn what spell it was a focus for, thus making all spell words hidden in the house redundant. I then quickly learned that one focus - a piece of mirror I had just acquired - changed the game even more radically. The mirror let me cast ZEN, which gave me access to "mists of time", which was essentially just a quick way to access nearly all of the map and even places that at this point would have otherwise been closed off from me (changing this from Travel Story to a Game of Exploration).

I decided I wanted to play this game more organically, learning spell words as I discovered them in the house and accessing new places only after I had solved the necessary puzzles (like Captain Kirk said, we are meant to fight our way through and claw every inch, not stroll to the sound of flutes). Back to mapping, then. Since most of this was pretty humdrum, I'll try to be terse, indicating only the more interesting things I found and puzzles I solved.

My very own sidekick

The most interesting thing in the second floor was a bat that started to follow me. It took me a while to get this, but the HYP(nosis) spell let me command creatures. When I HYPnotized the fellow, it helped me to catch a moving wheel (another focus). Other puzzles on this floor were simple, once I found proper spells. There was one secret room containing lever, pulling of which released a sword. I also found an inscription of a spell on a roof, which I could read only by using the spell FLY on myself.

Second floor

Finally, there was a room full of chests of many different colours. Opening up a wrong one created an explosion that hurt my stamina. It all came down to using the DOW spell - meant for checking if an item is magical - to find the one I could open safely, Inside, I found some salt.

I really don't want to know what's going on here...

The bottom floor was the largest in the house. The most remarkable thing I found in it was the Red Moon I supposed I was searching for. I couldn't take it, because its magic gave me a jolt, but touching it rejuvenated me, making my age quite irrelevant. I also could levitate the Red Moon with my FLY spell, revealing yet another spell word (DED).

Partial map of the first floor

In addition, I met a ghost, who was willing to give me its old armour, if I just buried all his bones, scattered in few places. I had already found a shovel, and a good burial place was in the garden.

I also met my first hostile creatures: werewolf, wight, skeleton and a giant slug. The game has a combat system, but just like in Red Moon, I assume it's completely useless. Indeed, I could walk around the wight, the skeleton wandered from one room to another and the wolf was scared of wolfsbane. And the slug? It didn't like salt.

Beyond the slug opened up a whole new, underground section of the game. Having now searched through the house proper, I think it's best to end the post. The main problem, as in many earlier Level 9 games, is that the game world is too sparse in comparison with its size - I've spent most of time mapping, instead of solving puzzles.

Spells (if I've "officially" found them) - foci (if I own them) - what they do: ESP - ? - ?, ? - candle - ?, ? - ashes - ?, DET - elder cross - detect danger, XAM - prism - checks if target is focus for some spell, ZEN - mirror - rapid movement, MAD - grimoire - make target mad, HYP - staff - hypnotises targets, ? - valerian - ?, DED - wheel - cancels spells, FLY- broom - makes target fly, DOW - pendulum - check if target is magical, BOM - ? - ?, SEE - feldspar lense - finding secret doors

Inventory otherwise: mandrake, skull, knucklebone, ring, eyebright flowers, cage, robes, knife, wolfsbane, shovel, plate armour