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With Cloud Imperium Games' intention of creating a living breathing universe, it should come as no surprise that options for pure luxury would exist. Alpha 3.2 delivers the first large-scale luxe version of a touring yacht and an exploration ship. The Origin Jumpworks 600i series has rolled out of the factory.
While I don't consider myself a must-have luxury kind of gal, I have been known to enjoy High Tea with BFFs. And wouldn't consider camping unless it was the glamping version. So yes, I rolled the dice for two luxury ships, one of them being the Origin 6ooi Explorer.
When I'm not out doing the dirty working of mending the wounded aboard my floating hospital, clicking through whatever they devise for the Endeavor's farming mini-game or flying commercial flights across the galaxy, I want to orchestrate RP-themed tours aboard the Origin 600i and Murder Mysteries on the Origin 890 Jump. If this first presentation of the ship into the alpha is any indication, I will be very happy as an owner of both.
You can read my review of the Origin 600i here on Aly's World of Star Citizen. The 600i will be featured in Casual Citizen 31, which should be out later this week, along with lots of video footage from this gorgeous ship.
The next episode of Casual Citizen will discuss my impressions of the changes introduced in the Star Citizen alpha. Based on the new quarterly update schedule, Alpha 3.2 is due to be released at the end of the month. So far, this new content strategy is working for CIG and provides backers with a consistent influx of new content. I'm currently play-testing 3.2J on the Private Test Universe.
3.2 includes new ships, one of which I own and was excited to fly. New weapons, armor, and missions are also available. But the most anticipated inclusion is the first pass at the mining profession. I must say, it's impressive and engaging for the first iteration. There's definitely tweaks required - difficulty vs. reward which is impacted by on-going economy balancing, random bugs, a more concise interface and so on, but it's still very well done.
Until Casual Citizen episode 31 arrives with video and audio, in the next few days, you can hop over to Aly's World for my introduction to the first mining ship and a guide to mining as it stands in the current implementation.
Enjoy!
I’m an introvert and no, that doesn’t mean I’m at all shy. It’s that social interactions are draining even when they’re pleasant. My source of creativity and energy come from within. I’m not motivated by external interactions. Revitalization comes from being separated - apart from others. I can be alone for very long periods of time without feeling lonely. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced loneliness.
Many years ago, a coworker asked me why all of the paintings in my office were distant landscapes with an isolated element - tree, lighthouse, cabin. I blinked and looked around, never having noticed it myself. My response? “Hrm. Uh, they look relaxing to me,” I shrugged.
I wasn’t consciously aware that there was a definition for this preference until I was in my late twenties and participated in a Dale Carnegie team building exercise sponsored by my employer. I just thought I was odd when as a child, I often had my parents tell friends I wasn’t at home if they came knocking. When I was in the mood for the chatter of others, I’d go find them. I bring up this topic as an introduction to Far: Lone Sails, a wonderful introvert’s adventure.
Longtime readers will know that I solo MMOs. That preference is not to the exclusion of all group content. I appreciate that too. I simply prefer to do more of it on my own. I typically end gaming sessions farming. Lavishing in the serenity of roaming fantastical landscapes in peace, savoring the world that’s taking place inside my head. The simplicity, combined with an aesthetic that removes the busyness, clatter, and bluster of the extrovert’s world, makes Lone Sails a soothing balm.
FAR: Lone Sails feels like the soul of an introvert’s journey. The perpetual task of collecting fuel and trinkets fades into the background. The puzzles you encounter along the way are brief and necessary interludes with the external, containing just enough complexity to make you think. Once accomplished, I clamber happily into my contraption and set off again.
If you’re not into repetitive tasks in a side-scroller, perhaps this isn’t the title for you. I was delighted when I unlocked the first ship upgrade, giggled when I connected the radio tower, gutted when I lost my first lantern and relieved when I found another.
What sets it apart for me, however, is the art style, animations and varied interactions needed to keep your home rolling along until you encounter the next roadblock. And somehow, they’ve managed to make the background an integral part of your environment, not just a backdrop. It feels present and alive.
If you’re looking for a game that’s entertaining, soothing and extremely casual, with a minimalist art style and pleasant soundtrack, definitely take a look at Far: Lone Sails.
For the past week, I’ve had fun playing Frostpunk, a new steampunk-inspired survival game by 11 Bit Studios. I’m not into city-building games and the only survival game I played for any length of time was Don’t Starve Together. In this case, it was the steampunk theme that attracted me to it.
Your challenge in Frostpunk is to build a city large enough to keep survivors warm, fed and fit. You’re also tasked with finding other survivors who were lost on the way north, deciding if you want to take survivors who find their way to your camp and other random events.
You are required to start with the official first scenario, New Home. You must survive twenty days of New Home before the next scenario will unlock. And since the third scenario is also locked, I assume you have to make it through some portion of Ark, to unlock it.
New Home begins smoothingly enough. However, once you have a couple hundred survivors on your hands, it becomes a very delicate balance of continuing to press for resources and maintain the population’s hope of survival. I elected to take on all survivors who found their way to our city, including those who were sick, and therefore unable to work but had to be housed and fed.
By the time I had 500+ survivors and was inching toward the finale, a week at -150 Celsius, the game become minute-by-minute micromanagement. This aspect wasn’t as much fun as the earlier part of the game, where I was focused on building and collecting enough cores to construct gigantic automatons. That’s what I was most interested in doing.
Also, the anal retentive part of me kept wanting to create the perfect city layout, which became less and less possible as the city grew and I had to start slapping things down where ever just to keep the city’s head above water. It’s a race against time and mother nature. I’m eight days away from the mother of all storms and not sure we’ll make it.
I hope to find some time this week to finish the first scenario and survive it - doubtful. It was fun either way. Playing on easy starts to become a challenge halfway through. Some of the confusion could be alleviated by making critical information prominent in the tools tips. Not using the same icons for issues that require a different response. One that tripped me up and I’ve seen people asking the same question on Reddit, is when to build a new Resource Depot versus Gathering Hut. Both issues use the same icon and cautionary/error text. If the response is different - construct this building not that one, the icon and error message should be too.
I’d love a mode where I could focus on casually gathering resources and seeing how many steam contraptions I can build to automate the city versus the race against the 40-day countdown. Random events, storms, and survivors can still be part of it. Just not the escalating circumstances tied to the week-long storm.
As I’ve said, there’s no singular way to “win” the New Home scenario. It’s a combination of your choices, responses to random events, how you prioritized resource gathering, how many survivors you took on, which laws you signed and so on. However, there are some basic things to focus on from the start or survival isn’t likely.
11 Bits Studio recently released a roadmap of additions planned for 2018. Of them, I’m looking forward to sandbox mode the most. It sounds like the endless playing mode I’m looking for. If you have the time and interest, definitely check out Frostpunk. I’m having a blast with it.
Here's a bit of in-game video. I love the ambiance, soundscape and art style.
I’d love to read a book in this sort of setting if anyone has something to recommend. I read all the novels written by Rand Miller, David Wingrove, Robyn Miller for the Myst games and enjoyed them immensely.
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