Peter Hodges

The game that birthed my game handle finally receives a worthy successor.

I started playing Command and Conquer when I was in college.  I had a bunch of coaxial cable, some terminators, and some buddies with a penchant for setting up impromptu networks in the dormitory.  We would play for hours, until someone noticed that I tended to “spank” most of my enemies.  The name that would follow me through the years (in one form or another) was born in this observation.

The C&C brand has been through several iterations and changes over the years.  The true sequel, Tiberium Sun, was the last truly 2D RTS game.  An alternate universe story line was started in the Red Alert games before the franchise was disastrously steered onto the reef of mediocrity with the C&C Generals game.  Finally, with this latest game, we return to the story of the GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod.  The hallmark of the series, real-life actors in real-life video cutscenes, is back with an impressive cast - Michael Ironside, Grace Park (rawr, from BSG), Tricia Helfer (double rawr, from BSG), and Billy Dee Williams (minus the Colt 45).  I won’t say that the video for the game won’t be campy (because it will be), but it adds a nice dimension of humor to an otherwise overdone genre.  It distinguishes this particlar C&C series from other RTS games.

The gameplay in the demo is fast, furious, and familiar to C&C veterans.  I was able to beat a medium computer opponent (badly) the first time I played.  However, the units seem to be complicated enough that a variety of strategies presented themselves; all of them seemed equally balanced, but I ultimately went with the “juggernaut” strategy.  This is an RTS that rewards those with the fastest mouse finger or the hot-key user.  It has all the action of a shooter packaged within a strategy game. 

This will be a title that will find its way into my collection for more than just the nostalgia that the battles evoke. 

Ever wonder what your “monster” name might be?  Click here to find out.

• Poisonous - Check
• Evil - Check
• Turmoil-Enslaved - Hmm.  What exactly does that mean?
• Redhead-Harming - I think redheads are gorgeous.  Maybe I’m a heartbreaker?
• Orphan-Devouring - Check (my secret vice)
• Ghoul from the Enchanted Sanctuary - I think this was the name of a D&D module I almost played.  I’m pretty sure I’m the Ghoul from the Empire of Shadows.  I like that better.

David Weber is making his bid for a legacy amongst the great science fiction authors of the past with his new novel Off Armageddon Reef.  If you read the publisher advertising copy and the pull quotes on the back of the book, it is being billed as the epic of the decade; on-line reviews have compared this novel to Foundation, Dune, and the Wheel of Time. 

I think people might be waxing a bit enthusiastic.

Don’t get me wrong, Off Armageddon Reef is an excellent book.  Weber has constructed a book that is nearly impossible to put down.  It is tightly plotted and complicated (a prerequisite for a good, deep read these days, it seems) with a cast of characters are much more than they seem.  My first, honest read was that most of the characters were cardboard cut-outs until Weber spent more time in the last half of the book from each viewpoint, giving readers a clue about the motivations of the “bad guys” as well as the “good.”

The basic premise of the novel is that humanity has been wiped out in a terrible war with an alien species known as the Gbaba.  As an act of desperation, two vast colony ships and the remaining fleet are sent far away from the territory that Earth used to control.  Led by a group of visionary sociologists and psychologists, the fleet terraforms a world beyond the boundaries of the conflict.  Knowing that developing technology will eventually lead humanity to destruction, the leaders of the fleet create a religion with themselves as the prophets.  The religion prohibits innovation, labeling such behavior as “sinful.”  The entire colony is subjected to brain re-programming while in stasis so that when they awake, they are ready to believe in the new world order.  Fast forward eight hundred years to a point where long-dead dissidents in the fleet have cached the consciousness of a brilliant young tactical officer in a hidden cavernand given her an android body as well as several tools of advanced technology.  Her mission is to break the hold this religion has on a stagnant humanity and to prepare the last bastion of men to meet their destiny among the stars.

Weber deals well with the conflict of established religion against innovation.  He effectively conjures historical images of a Catholic church protecting its perogatives through the use of governments and military force.  Likewise, there are several characters that have strong historical parallels to the late portions of the Renaissance.  Most of the book is written from a perspective deeply immersed in maritime combat, evoking the Master and Commander series.  It is obvious that Weber is both passionate and proficient in writing detailed accounts of wet-navy battles.  In fact, it could be said that the book suffers sometimes from too much detail.

Weber doesn’t neglect the political machinations that go on behind the scenes.  It is here where the book may be at its weakest–the main antagonists are mentioned only in passing, associated with a monolithic religious institution that is specifically designed to inspire disgust in free-thinking readers.  The games that the church rulers play bring other, more temporal forces to bear on the one innovating Kingdom bring other characters to the forefront.  It is here that we see typical Weber: Honorable enemies serving dishonorable masters out of a sense of duty.  It makes their inevitable defeat have a heavier emotional impact, but Weber has been using this technique since the first of the Honor Harrington novels.

As I said before, the book is excellent.  Is it the epic of the decade?  I’m not so sure.  I’m not even sure I would call this Weber’s best work, since I have been thoroughly enjoying his Honor Harrington novels.  To compare this to Dune and Foundation seems to be a stretch based on only reading one book.  The naval themes don’t resonate quite so well with me as the space combat themes do, although the book reads like alternate history if you forget the “hook.”  I’d like to see what he does with the rest of the series.  Two more strong entries, delving more into the conflict between religion and science (one of my favorite themes), could launch this into the pantheon of must-read epics.

In the meantime, do yourself  a favor and go buy this book.

While driving through the streets of my suburban hometown yesterday, my wife and I noticed a tagged and collared chocolate lab out for a stroll, unaccompanied by his humans.

We both have a rather large soft spot for dogs, so we parked the truck, got out, and called the dog over to us.  Initially, I thought the dog was pregnant, since he (that’s right, he) had a swollen stomach and a pronounced waddle.  However, he came over with a bounce and a wag, greeted us with a friendly lick, and hiked his leg to pee.  “Hmm,” my wife said.  “I don’t think he is pregnant.”  I was forced to agree.

His tag had a disconnected phone number, the name “Dakota”, and a valid address.  Since I’m a boy scout, I keep a Dallas/Ft. Worth Mapsco handy, so I was able to look up the address.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the street he lived on was a short, quarter mile walk, so I zipped ahead in the truck to grab Dakota’s family while the wife waddled down the sidewalk with the dog.

Dakota’s Dad was ecstatic to see us.  I heard several anecdotes about what an escape artist Dakota was; if you turned your back on him for a just a moment, he would use his mouth to jiggle the gate clasp in the backyard open and go for an unguided excursion.  Through our subsequent conversation, I discovered that he was a thirteen year old, full-blood lab who had fatty tumors.  A year ago, the vet had given him only four months to live, and he was still going strong.  He had a sweet, lively disposition.  He was gaily unafraid to go on his “adventure,” and he was happy to have met two new friends in the process.

I think there’s a lesson to be learned here.  A positive, friendly outlook on life coupled with a taste for adventure may be a recipe for beating the odds.

The BF2142 Booster Pack will be available in early March.

I mentioned in several earlier posts that I initially hated BF2142, then I found myself loving it.  After a few months of solid play, I can safely say that this is the best Battlefield since Trauma Studios modded BF1942 into Desert Combat.  I’ve worked my way up to Warrant Officer Silver (don’t ask me about the way their ranks work; the order makes little sense), I’ve unlocked most of the good stuff in the recon, assault, and support trees, and I’m looking forward to forging into the comissioned ranks in the upcoming booster pack.

That brings me to an interesting point.  The booster pack is priced at $10.00, which is certainly less than a full expansion pack.  However, I can remember when I would get the amount of content available in a booster pack for free as a patch late in the life cycle of a game.  I shouldn’t be surprised that it is EA that is pushing such a business model.  Then again, with the budgets and development times for video games running into the millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours, perhaps we should be glad that video games are even feasible at any cost point.  This move would have been more palatable to me if it had been a smaller, more independent developer of publishing house that had first moved this way.

At any rate, you’ll see me online, obliterfying my foes with my l33t skillz.  (My use of “leet speak” is pure mockery, just to be clear.)

To continue on my anti-TSA rant, my brother-in-law pointed me to this article.  The TSA is apparently taking confiscated items and selling them on Ebay.  Woot!  “Let’s make money on the things we stole from passengers.”  (Okay, okay…people probably shouldn’t be allowed on planes with a machete, but a bottle of perfume shaped like a grenade?  It may be tacky, but it sure is funny.)

I love the last line of the article which indicates that the various gels and liquids are thrown away.  Whatever.  I know that some butch, lonely New England girl is “enjoyin’ herself” some Tea Tree shampoo.  (Bitch.)

Today was work day.

As I’ve mentioned, I have a little monster…ahem, bundle of joy…headed into the world more quickly that I’d like to admit.  I’ve undertaken the task to create a welcoming, stimulating environment for my heir so that he can grow up to be as much of a smart-aleck as his father. 

Our color theme for the nursery is navy blue, green, and orange.  Since the navy blue and the green dominate the bedding, we decided to use an orange accent wall to provide a bright note to the room.  Enter Donald Duck Orange.  I agreed to this color with a certain degree of trepidation.  Would it turn out to be hunter safety orange?  Would it truly match with the overall theme?

I have to say that it looks pretty good.  Special thanks to Pete’s mom for doing the dirty work of painting while Blitzfike (Pete’s father) and I hung a new ceiling fan, replaced a chandlier, removed a storm door, cut down an oleander tree/bush/thingy, and replaced all of our air filters.