- Blog at least 4 times per month. This one's not new, but I still have trouble with it, so it stays put.
- Beat the Elite 4 in Pokémon X. Honestly, this one will be done by the end of January, or maybe February.
- Catch 'em all in Pokémon X. This one is much more ambitious, and is the one goal that I think has a good chance of not happening, but it also seems very possible. It's made easier by the inclusion of most pokémon in Generation VI, Wonder Trade, and the coming advent of Pokémon Bank.
- Make significant progress in one of my Nuzlocke runs.
- Beat Myst again. I'm planning to do this anyway, but it's also between me and my next goal. It's been long enough that I remember pretty much nothing of it, so it should still be a mystery!
- Get back into Minecraft.
- Bonus goal: Make a Minecraft mod. I've already got 2 small ones in mind, so this should be doable once I get back into it.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2014 Resolutions
Here are some resolutions of mine for 2014:
Sudden Short Story 58
"You got that look again," said one man to the other. "I thought that you'd really dig the One Roll Engine. Please tell me that you're not going to be one of those guys who thinks that the first system that he played will always be the best."
"It's not that," replied the other, looking away.
"Well, you seemed to get along with Mutants and Masterminds well enough, and I've always thought that the O-R-E was a cooler system, anyway. But this is like Don't Rest Your Head all over again! You never tell me what you don't like about the systems."
"It's not the systems," he answered, looking back.
"Well, what's wrong with the settings? Arc Dream has made like a dozen settings for their supers games. I'm sure that we could find one that you'd like."
"It's not the settings, either. It's just... . They remind me of my old GM, is all."
His friend was understandably puzzled.
He laughed, and he looked away again. "Back in the '80s and '90s, we had this GM - my old group, that is. Well, they were my old group because of him, actually. He recruited us, and swore us to secrecy. He said that he was developing some games, ... ."
There was a long silence between them.
"You said that the settings remind you of your old GM," prompted his friend, thinking that he'd lost his train of thought.
"Not the settings. Well, sometimes the settings, sometimes the games. I try to forget about it, but lately I keep seeing them. They're just like the games that he said that he was designing. We were kind of playtesters, y'know? We were having fun, at least, and we weren't about to spoil that. I mean, they were nothing like anything that was available in stores at the time." He said that last part almost in awe. And then, almost in shock, he said, "They were years ahead of anything else."
"So... You think that someone stole his ideas and sold them to various publishers?"
"I wish that it were that simple. I probably sound crazy to you, but it's not that that bothers me. There's just one thing - and I wish that I'd never heard it. Ever since then, it all fits together so well. In the '80s, he was always on the bleeding edge of technology, with a PC with amazing graphics, from which he'd run his games. Once he got a good laptop, though - good for the time, that is - he suddenly lost interest in when the latest and greatest would come out. And he kept that thing forever, and it never failed on him." He began to shake his head, "But, one time, before he left, he let something slip out. And I could tell from his reaction that it was an accident, and we never spoke of it again. It was just some numbers, y'know?" And he started to rock, back and forth. "They didn't MEAN anything to me, but the way that he never said anything about it again, maybe hoping that I'd forget, and I almost did, but it was like he'd just come out of the closet or something, and it means something now, and ... I think that he was from the future, OK? There, I said it." The tension was relieved, if only for a moment.
His friend sought to comfort or console him, but also thought that he just might be losing it. He asked a question that he wasn't sure that he should ask: "What did he say? What did you hear?"
"Just one time, as we were wrapping up our longer campaigns, and I was wishing that he could have stayed - in town or in state, I though - stayed longer, he said... . I knew that it was still several months out, mid-1999, but... he said that he had to leave before Nine Eleven."
"It's not that," replied the other, looking away.
"Well, you seemed to get along with Mutants and Masterminds well enough, and I've always thought that the O-R-E was a cooler system, anyway. But this is like Don't Rest Your Head all over again! You never tell me what you don't like about the systems."
"It's not the systems," he answered, looking back.
"Well, what's wrong with the settings? Arc Dream has made like a dozen settings for their supers games. I'm sure that we could find one that you'd like."
"It's not the settings, either. It's just... . They remind me of my old GM, is all."
His friend was understandably puzzled.
He laughed, and he looked away again. "Back in the '80s and '90s, we had this GM - my old group, that is. Well, they were my old group because of him, actually. He recruited us, and swore us to secrecy. He said that he was developing some games, ... ."
There was a long silence between them.
"You said that the settings remind you of your old GM," prompted his friend, thinking that he'd lost his train of thought.
"Not the settings. Well, sometimes the settings, sometimes the games. I try to forget about it, but lately I keep seeing them. They're just like the games that he said that he was designing. We were kind of playtesters, y'know? We were having fun, at least, and we weren't about to spoil that. I mean, they were nothing like anything that was available in stores at the time." He said that last part almost in awe. And then, almost in shock, he said, "They were years ahead of anything else."
"So... You think that someone stole his ideas and sold them to various publishers?"
"I wish that it were that simple. I probably sound crazy to you, but it's not that that bothers me. There's just one thing - and I wish that I'd never heard it. Ever since then, it all fits together so well. In the '80s, he was always on the bleeding edge of technology, with a PC with amazing graphics, from which he'd run his games. Once he got a good laptop, though - good for the time, that is - he suddenly lost interest in when the latest and greatest would come out. And he kept that thing forever, and it never failed on him." He began to shake his head, "But, one time, before he left, he let something slip out. And I could tell from his reaction that it was an accident, and we never spoke of it again. It was just some numbers, y'know?" And he started to rock, back and forth. "They didn't MEAN anything to me, but the way that he never said anything about it again, maybe hoping that I'd forget, and I almost did, but it was like he'd just come out of the closet or something, and it means something now, and ... I think that he was from the future, OK? There, I said it." The tension was relieved, if only for a moment.
His friend sought to comfort or console him, but also thought that he just might be losing it. He asked a question that he wasn't sure that he should ask: "What did he say? What did you hear?"
"Just one time, as we were wrapping up our longer campaigns, and I was wishing that he could have stayed - in town or in state, I though - stayed longer, he said... . I knew that it was still several months out, mid-1999, but... he said that he had to leave before Nine Eleven."
Monday, December 30, 2013
Coming Soon: Y-Locke's Log
First of all, I want to clarify something about this post: SolLock's Log isn't going away. It's just going on hiatus for a while.
I'm planning to play Pokémon Y as a Nuzlocke challenge. I was hoping to beat the Elite 4 in Pokémon X first, but I don't want to miss out on the free Torchic with Blazikenite in either game, so I'll have to start Y and get far enough into it to Mystery Gift to get that, and I'll have to do so before January 14th.
Once I get that established, I think that I'll actually resume my Soul Silver run before my Y run, before I get too accustomed to these fancy new graphics, etc. In either case, though, I'll still try to do "whole" days, but my current focus is on Pokémon X, so there might not be anything substantial from either Nuzlocke challenge for a while.
I'm planning to play Pokémon Y as a Nuzlocke challenge. I was hoping to beat the Elite 4 in Pokémon X first, but I don't want to miss out on the free Torchic with Blazikenite in either game, so I'll have to start Y and get far enough into it to Mystery Gift to get that, and I'll have to do so before January 14th.
Once I get that established, I think that I'll actually resume my Soul Silver run before my Y run, before I get too accustomed to these fancy new graphics, etc. In either case, though, I'll still try to do "whole" days, but my current focus is on Pokémon X, so there might not be anything substantial from either Nuzlocke challenge for a while.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Pokémon X Update: December 2013
I thought that I should post an update regarding my Pokémon X progress.
At the moment, I'm trying to reach and then defeat the Elite 4. Unfortunately, the holidays kind of put a damper on things, keeping me busy and all that.
I was hoping to be past the Elite 4 by Xmas, since that's the condition, as I learned, to get certain pokémon that I was hoping to put out on Wonder Trade. The reasoning - which I originally saw on twitter - was that a lot of kids would be starting their Kalos adventures on Xmas, so we should supply them with decent wonder trades, once they start doing that. It's still not long after Xmas, so I'm still trying to do what I can. I also looked up some egg moves for a pokémon that appears later in the game, so, failing anything else, I can always hatch a bunch of little egglings for them.
(FYI, I have six badges, so I need two more before challenging the Elite 4.)
I'm still sticking with only using Generation VI pokémon. The core of my team so far is Greninja, Doublade, and Hawlucha. I've trained various things off and on. At the moment, I'm working on leveling an Inkay, though I'll probably have Meowstic on my team when I face the Elite 4.
I do want to mention that the Battle Chateau is a very nice feature. I basically get unlimited trainer battles, so I don't have to fight mere wild pokémon when I play catch-up on levels.
At the moment, I'm trying to reach and then defeat the Elite 4. Unfortunately, the holidays kind of put a damper on things, keeping me busy and all that.
I was hoping to be past the Elite 4 by Xmas, since that's the condition, as I learned, to get certain pokémon that I was hoping to put out on Wonder Trade. The reasoning - which I originally saw on twitter - was that a lot of kids would be starting their Kalos adventures on Xmas, so we should supply them with decent wonder trades, once they start doing that. It's still not long after Xmas, so I'm still trying to do what I can. I also looked up some egg moves for a pokémon that appears later in the game, so, failing anything else, I can always hatch a bunch of little egglings for them.
(FYI, I have six badges, so I need two more before challenging the Elite 4.)
I'm still sticking with only using Generation VI pokémon. The core of my team so far is Greninja, Doublade, and Hawlucha. I've trained various things off and on. At the moment, I'm working on leveling an Inkay, though I'll probably have Meowstic on my team when I face the Elite 4.
I do want to mention that the Battle Chateau is a very nice feature. I basically get unlimited trainer battles, so I don't have to fight mere wild pokémon when I play catch-up on levels.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
A Sunday Gauntlet
I've decided to give myself some goals tomorrow, so that this plan doesn't go completely to waste.
1. I intend to beat the next gym leader (#5 I think) in Pokémon X.
2. I intend to assemble the 3D pieces of my copy of Ogre.
3. During #2, I intend to try to catch up on Sleepy Hollow. This is limited to during Ogre assembly time, though, so there's no guarantee that I'll get fully caught up.
4. Bonus goal: Beat the next gym leader after item #1 (so, 6th gym leader, if I recall correctly).
I mean, I'm just really far behind on Pokémon X, so I need to get kraken! Wait....
P.S.: 5. Bonus goal: Rock Smash until I finally find an Old Amber. I stumbled across a hint that this might only be possible in Glittering Cave, so I'll try there.
1. I intend to beat the next gym leader (#5 I think) in Pokémon X.
2. I intend to assemble the 3D pieces of my copy of Ogre.
3. During #2, I intend to try to catch up on Sleepy Hollow. This is limited to during Ogre assembly time, though, so there's no guarantee that I'll get fully caught up.
4. Bonus goal: Beat the next gym leader after item #1 (so, 6th gym leader, if I recall correctly).
I mean, I'm just really far behind on Pokémon X, so I need to get kraken! Wait....
P.S.: 5. Bonus goal: Rock Smash until I finally find an Old Amber. I stumbled across a hint that this might only be possible in Glittering Cave, so I'll try there.
Sudden Short Story 57
"You're the man from the past, aren't you?" asked the man entering the room with the water. A small table arose from the floor near the center of the room, where a helmeted figure stood. "Plain water, in case you're thirsty," he said, placing the pitcher and glass on the new surface.
"Yes," said the man, never looking away from the wall on which many figures were projected. They bore the knowledge of the synthesis of a serum that could cure his ailing - and, at the moment, long-dead - wife, "I am the man from the past. I'm done here, though, since I've finished committing this data to memory, so I'll be going back there soon. That's not why the water is here, by the way."
The servant grew slightly nervous at this. "Well, that's what I was told."
"Something on your person when you entered this room was meant to release nanobots into the air, since I scanned it upon entering, but might not be bothered to do so every time that the door is opened. Your boss was likely frustrated that my helm bears a Faraday cage. However, they won't be able to follow me, for the same reason that it would be fruitless to drink that water, despite my thirst: My transporter is quantum-bound to the particles in my body." With that, he disappeared.
---
"A craft just launched from the next system over, sir, heading rimward, but 44.7286 off the galactic plane," said a cog of a man stationed at a control panel. "It's topped out at 0.99926c, though. It looks like it's got some outdated stealth tech."
"Send our fastest ship after it now," said his boss. "We'll catch up, though it'll be a while, due to the delay."
"Ours has departed with the most proximate crew available. They're at speed. They should catch up in about three years, give or take for possible evasive maneuvers."
---
"I expect the entire galaxy to be searched thoroughly," said the man in the pointless throne. "You don't understand how valuable this knowledge is. The man from the past knows the secret to bi-directional time travel. I want every piece of his decoy craft examined meticulously for any trace of his true destination."
"You don't yet control the whole galaxy," advised his minion. "Your rivals will take offense at your probing their territory so thoroughly."
"Let them," decried the would-be ruler of the galaxy. "Once I have the secret to time-travel, I can shape the galaxy to my very needs."
I would go on about what else happened, but their entire timeline ceased to be once the man from the past saved his wife.
-----
Author's note: This bit of story was inspired by the song The Time Machine by The Cog is Dead. I worked out the details of creating, using, and concealing a relativistic bi-directional time machine, though they unfortunately didn't emerge during the narrative.
"Yes," said the man, never looking away from the wall on which many figures were projected. They bore the knowledge of the synthesis of a serum that could cure his ailing - and, at the moment, long-dead - wife, "I am the man from the past. I'm done here, though, since I've finished committing this data to memory, so I'll be going back there soon. That's not why the water is here, by the way."
The servant grew slightly nervous at this. "Well, that's what I was told."
"Something on your person when you entered this room was meant to release nanobots into the air, since I scanned it upon entering, but might not be bothered to do so every time that the door is opened. Your boss was likely frustrated that my helm bears a Faraday cage. However, they won't be able to follow me, for the same reason that it would be fruitless to drink that water, despite my thirst: My transporter is quantum-bound to the particles in my body." With that, he disappeared.
---
"A craft just launched from the next system over, sir, heading rimward, but 44.7286 off the galactic plane," said a cog of a man stationed at a control panel. "It's topped out at 0.99926c, though. It looks like it's got some outdated stealth tech."
"Send our fastest ship after it now," said his boss. "We'll catch up, though it'll be a while, due to the delay."
"Ours has departed with the most proximate crew available. They're at speed. They should catch up in about three years, give or take for possible evasive maneuvers."
---
"I expect the entire galaxy to be searched thoroughly," said the man in the pointless throne. "You don't understand how valuable this knowledge is. The man from the past knows the secret to bi-directional time travel. I want every piece of his decoy craft examined meticulously for any trace of his true destination."
"You don't yet control the whole galaxy," advised his minion. "Your rivals will take offense at your probing their territory so thoroughly."
"Let them," decried the would-be ruler of the galaxy. "Once I have the secret to time-travel, I can shape the galaxy to my very needs."
I would go on about what else happened, but their entire timeline ceased to be once the man from the past saved his wife.
-----
Author's note: This bit of story was inspired by the song The Time Machine by The Cog is Dead. I worked out the details of creating, using, and concealing a relativistic bi-directional time machine, though they unfortunately didn't emerge during the narrative.
Regarding the Introduction to Mega Evolution
The player's introduction to Mega Evolution in Pokémon X & Y would have been easy to mess up, but I think that they got it right.
By the way, there are some spoilers in this post.
The way that we get a Lucario from Korrina still feels slightly forced, but at least they put in scenes prior to that that indicate that it was taking a liking to us. The main good thing about this is that we don't have to level up a pokémon to the Mega Evolution point on our own. From what I recall, we only get one (I'm not counting Mega Blaziken since that promotion will end), and I was trying to do a team of only new pokémon, so finding out that I had to swap out my Gogoat for my Bulbasaur and grind it until I got Venusaur would have been tedious.
Since they're including most pokémon from every generation in these games, I think that I'll eventually make a team from each generation. I just realized that I can include both Mega Venusaur and Mega Aerodactyl on my Gen I team - at least after I dig up some Old Amber.
I do hope one thing, going forward: If they decide in Generation VII to give a new Mega Evolution to a previous-generation pokémon, then they should at least not try to do any fancy tricks to explain it away. You just never had, I don't know, Dragoniteite or whatever. It's that simple.
By the way, there are some spoilers in this post.
The way that we get a Lucario from Korrina still feels slightly forced, but at least they put in scenes prior to that that indicate that it was taking a liking to us. The main good thing about this is that we don't have to level up a pokémon to the Mega Evolution point on our own. From what I recall, we only get one (I'm not counting Mega Blaziken since that promotion will end), and I was trying to do a team of only new pokémon, so finding out that I had to swap out my Gogoat for my Bulbasaur and grind it until I got Venusaur would have been tedious.
Since they're including most pokémon from every generation in these games, I think that I'll eventually make a team from each generation. I just realized that I can include both Mega Venusaur and Mega Aerodactyl on my Gen I team - at least after I dig up some Old Amber.
I do hope one thing, going forward: If they decide in Generation VII to give a new Mega Evolution to a previous-generation pokémon, then they should at least not try to do any fancy tricks to explain it away. You just never had, I don't know, Dragoniteite or whatever. It's that simple.
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