As is ancient tradition*, here's the Christmas Spitfire to lead everyone in a joyful rendition of GEEEEEEEEETTTTT dressed you merry gentlemen.
I hope your 2024 was generally bearable, and that 2025 may be as close to acceptable as is realistically possible in the circumstances. Happy Christmas one and all!
I started playing Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms three and a half years ago, and having ticked off 99% of the achievements there's not a huge amount left to do in there. I still hop on, particularly for the monthly events to unlock new characters, but not religiously, so I was poking around for some other options. Doctor Who: Lost in Time popped up in the Play Store, I thought I'd give that a look being a bit of a fan.
Frankly, it's not great. The artwork is nice, pleasing cartoon renderings of various doctors, companions and monsters; they pop up in little chunks of story as you progress rather like a comic chopped into three panel strips. Some of the stories are quite fun, others don't really seem to capture the voice of the characters, they're all pretty incidental. The gameplay itself is standard idle clicker; tap on a thing to collect currency to upgrade a thing to produce more currency to unlock another thing producing yet more currency, eventually automating the collecting so you can wander off and watch telly while it ticks along. There's a bit of obfuscation with different types of resources and currencies but very little in the way of compelling challenges. Needless to say you can fork out real cash for virtual trinkets to boost your progress, or watch adverts to be grudgingly thrown a few free scraps. If you're sitting there thinking "you know, I just haven't seen enough adverts for Temu in the last seventeen seconds" this might be just the game you're looking for, although psychological help may be a better long term investment.
There've been plenty of games I've played for a few hours to get an idea of key mechanisms, usually some sort of puzzle, resource collection, or turn based combat with endless layers of gacha upgrades. A few I played for longer, where the monetisation wasn't too obnoxious. Where they hit a sweet spot of cash items being a useful little boost without unbalancing things I've actually spent a bit; Marvel Puzzle Quest and Idle Champions are a couple that I've played for years and spent a few quid here and there. They have cash shop options for frankly ludicrous amounts of real money, and tuck rewards away in chests/packs with random content, but don't feel overly coercive about it all in the grand scheme of things. Most importantly a free player doesn't feel especially disadvantaged. Idle Champions has no competitive aspect so it really doesn't matter what other players are doing; MPQ does have a form of PvP, and PvE rewards based on leaderboards, but in both cases they're primarily dependent on time, so you just need to make peace with never cracking the Top 10 unless you make it your sole life mission.
Progress in Lost in Time is dramatically accelerated by spending money, a very direct connection with leaderboard results in events. It frequently shoves adverts and 'offers' at you, and there isn't much in the way of interesting decisions to take. I can't really see any compelling reason to keep playing, and yet... I have been. Certainly not spending money, and I'm not sure I'll keep going once I find something else, but there's something there. I guess making numbers go up just scratches some sort of itch.
It's been pretty quiet on the gaming front since wrapping up Baldur's Gate 3, back to my regulars for the most part with a dash of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide when I fancy a bit of monster-biffing.
I've taken the opportunity to do a bit more reading. Fancying something in the vein of Joe Abercrombie I found Alex Marshall's Crimson Empire trilogy, starting with A Crown of Cold Silver. With expectations set appropriately (that the moment there's a glimmer of hope for any character it's sure to be dashed in short order) they were most enjoyable. I preferred the more human elements of the series, I found the supernatural horror that creeps in a bit uncomfortable, probably the point, but recommended for anyone whose ideal book involves every chapter soundly disproving D:Ream's 1993 assertion that Things Can Only Get Better.
After those I thought I'd head back to the cosier territory of the Cold War. I'd assembled all 19 of Anthony Price's David Audley series in a haphazard manner from jumble sales and second hand shops, with the gaps filled in by the internet later. It must be a good ten years since I last read them, long enough for the finer details to be hazy, though the broad outlines usually come back to me. The series isn't strictly chronological so it wasn't a major issue not to have read them in order the first time around but it's nice for the cast to develop as the series progresses. I'm just over halfway through and very much looking forward to the rest.
When asked why people should try Baldur's Gate 3, Neil "Astarion" Newbon said something like it was the closest you could get to playing pencil and paper Dungeons and Dragons on a computer. Of course we've had plenty of computerised D&D going back to the Gold Box games of the late 80s that I cut my teeth on: Curse of the Azure Bonds
in the four glorious colours of CGA, isn't it? Wasn't it? Four 5.25"
disks, swapping them around every time you entered combat for
goalposts... BG3 really accentuates its tabletop origins, putting the D20 front and centre (literally, for
some skill checks). I don't know if there's a carefully calibrated
level of distancing, if anyone's tried a CRPG where you start in a
first-person view walking up to a table, sitting down, and filling out a
paper sheet of stats before the screen dissolves into graphical
character creation. Maybe they did but Brecht said "guys, tone down the
alienation a bit" in play testing. Anyway, BG3 has a nice balance, the narrator/DM complementing the visuals to
set the scene and stat/skill checks being flagged up in conversations or
popping up on screen as they happen. Those dice checks can be a little
frustrating; oddly I mind it less if there's an obvious impact on the
game, like failing a charisma check meaning you can't talk your way out
of a fight, that seems fair enough and you can always reload the game if
you're absolutely desperate to follow that path. It's the little things
like missing out on a bit of extra information from a failed knowledge
check that don't seem to add much. At least in a pencil and
paper campaign a set of hilariously bad rolls can lead to some fun
roleplaying opportunities if the DM and players are on board ("Team
Oblivious don't recognise the markings on the stone. In fact they're
pretty hazy about the concept of 'markings' at all, and while Geoff is
reasonably certain he's seen a stone before the rest of you aren't
convinced...") That's a pretty minor quibble, though.
Combat is (as far as I've read) a good representation of the 5th edition rules, I haven't kept up with things since 3rd edition and it took a little while to get used to bonus actions, class and item abilities and the like. As well as being rusty on the ruleset I'd grown accustomed to games easing you in with an hour or two of ineffectual minions barely able to dent your health bar ("Oh I'm sorry, I'd just gone to make coffee, I didn't realise you were attacking me. Would it help if I said 'ow!' a bit?") An early encounter quickly reminded me how squishy low-level D&D characters are; spotting a couple of thuggish types I casually ambled over and half my party were down within a couple of turns, previously unseen archers in elevated positions proving most unsporting.
Being purely turn based, rather than real time with pause like the first two Baldur's Gate games, combat can be a time-consuming affair which presumably accounts for the lack of ineffectual minions. The game doesn't constantly throw 'trash mobs' at you, few encounters are trivial, though things got considerably easier as I got the
hang of positioning and movement (the leap action: not just for jumpy
puzzles) and environmental interactions (like water/lightning or
grease/fire). Increased familiarity with the rules also allowed for a bit of
character tweaking after accepting recommended choices for a while, though I didn't go full munchkin (I should've probably added
a few levels of Fighter to my Rogue for optimal dual-crossbow
plinking).
If a straight fight is proving tough there are usually other ways to approach things, sometimes obvious (load up on silencing spells and arrows when facing mages), sometimes a little borderline (carefully positioning your main character to avoid triggering a battle-starting conversation while another member of the party artfully places explosive barrels amongst a not-yet-hostile crowd). That's the beauty of a single player (or co-operative hosted) game, you can either adjust the difficulty setting or be as 'cheesy' as you feel comfortable with (more irregular verbs: I am tactically innovative, you are cheesy, they are a dirty exploiter).
The interface can be a little finicky at times when trying to get a good view of a particular area or select a specific item, and the AI pathfinding can't be relied on for delicate manoeuvres. If I forget to un-group the party and start cautiously picking my way through some caves the other three get into a quick huddle: "Right, this is a very dangerous environment, we'll need to be on top of our game here. Karlach: you run back into that chamber over there, do a couple of laps of it, come back out, then straight back in again. Gale: trap duty. If it explodes, releases poison gas, or shoots an arrow you're shoving your face into it. Now off you go while I hurl myself off this precipice, almost kill myself with falling damage, and run through every single passageway as I make my way back to Tav pursued by 17 spiders, three umber hulks, and a particularly confused Darkspawn who tunnelled in from a nearby franchise. Go, go, go!" Overall, though, it's all done very well and feels like a pencil and paper game without 'gamified' elements - no gathering 100 of a particular resource to upgrade a thing to allow me to refine 100 of a different resource into another thing. That can be fine when integrated well, I love making numbers go up as much as the next person, but can be counterproductive when trying to tell a story - looking at Bioware the path from Mass Effect 3 to Dragon Age: Inquisition to Mass Effect: Andromeda to Anthem wasn't exactly a glorious triumph (to the point I had to check Google as I couldn't remember Anthem's name). Fingers crossed for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Anyway, BG3 has a really sound foundation to tell its story. Or stories. There's a lot packed in.
The combination of the writing, direction, performance capture, and visuals are truly
remarkable. The main quest is a good backbone, it pushes you on but
gives plenty of space for the rest of the world, from little vignettes
you might stumble across to your companions stories, probably the heart of the game and what really sets it apart. Of course there've been great companions in
other RPGs but I can't think of a better set than the origin characters
of BG3. Some are immediately likeable (I was hopelessly smitten with
Karlach from the first meeting), others a little standoffish or
actively hostile, but they all have layers and depths as you spend time
with them. Hearing the developers and actors talk about the
process has been fascinating, the main cast really seem to be passionate
about the game (or are good enough actors to come across like they
are). That's not a prerequisite for a fine performance, Alec Guinness in
Star Wars perhaps being the exemplar, but you'd imagine it makes a difference, even if only subconsciously. A stream of the cast playing pencil and paper is lot of fun, also showing the strengths and weaknesses of computer vs tabletop. A good human DM can improvise and adapt, give context and flavour to dice rolls, and gently nudge players without removing their agency but, even if he do the police in different voices, can hardly rival 200+ human actors for the NPCs (unless they have (hello to) Jason Isaacs and JK Simmons on speed dial). Even the smallest encounters in BG3 can surprise you with NPC performances.
Six seems like a sensible number of primary companions, especially with a party limit of four. Games with 12+ companions like Mass Effect 2 and Midnight Suns (especially with DLC) felt over-stuffed; you didn't have to recruit everyone or spend time with them but when there were in-game benefits for doing so I always felt compelled. The option to fully respec every member of the BG3 party is fantastic and means you don't have to include or exclude anyone just for their role; I had the Rogue side of things covered so Astarion had to sit tight at camp ("a travesty, dahling!") until I was confident enough to respec him. After finding a bunch of robes and items boosting unarmed combat I turned him into a Monk, and blimey the lad couldn't half stun opponents. The attention to detail, each cast member recording themselves casting spells for all the classes, is most impressive. There are others you can recruit as you go through the game but I felt it gave enough space to follow everyone's story, or at least one version of that story, without excessive diversion or bogging down into a rut.
Act 3 did feel a little over-stuffed compared to the first two and perhaps could have done with a little more direction; one particular quest sounded like it was building up to a grand confrontation so I'd been carefully avoiding that and skirting my way around the city, but it turned out to be a more minor step that I'd skipped. Fair play to the writers, though, everything still worked in the order I did it, even if a couple of bits didn't quite make as much sense as they might have done. I can only imagine the flowcharts needed to keep track of all the possibilities, especially being able to play as your own character, any of the six Origins, or the Dark Urge. I might well go for another run in the future, once I've given it a little time to digest. All in all it's been quite the ride and I very much look forward to seeing what Larian might do next, and if someone else picks up the Baldur's Gate franchise hopefully they can do something equally interesting. Bravo!
Well Elmo's made a right horlicks out of Twitter hasn't he? After turning one of the most recognisable brands on the globe into a meaningless letter, presumably the result of a bet that it wasn't possible to come up with a worse rebrand than Conquistador Instant Leprosy, and loosing every banned lunatic to vomit disinformation, he's started picking fights with entire countries.
His determined efforts to enshittify the place are finally bearing fruit as even diehard Twitterites are jacking it in, or at least greatly reducing their presence. I haven't abandoned it entirely, yet, more out of habit than anything else, though I'm checking in increasingly infrequently as there's less and less of interest. Where once it was a combination of blogroll, news feed, jokes and commentary it's now more of a post-apocalyptic wasteland where you might scavenge a moderately amusing gag before a gang of blue-ticked twats sweep through.
It's all about networks and connections, as they break down they're difficult to replicate elsewhere. It's rather like a big, busy guild in a popular MMO where you know there'll be a team on the go whenever you log in, but then new developers take the game in a different direction (maybe they try and introduce, say, a Game Experience that's New) that isn't terribly popular. Some people absolutely hate it and quit immediately, others stick around but aren't playing so much so the groups are trickier to find. There are other MMOs out there but nobody quite agrees what the best alternative is; some splinter groups form new guilds, but none quite get the traction of the original and it all fades away.
Mastodon had a bit of a head start as an alternative to Twitter, but doesn't quite seem to have picked up a critical mass; Bluesky has a nicely freewheeling nature but doesn't seem to have the appeal for organisations; Threads has the weight of Meta behind it and more corporate posting but a slightly odd vibe that hasn't really clicked yet. Oh well, at least that's more time to finish off Baldur's Gate 3.
This year was our tenth visit to the Chalke History Festival, we've been regulars since 2013 (except when stymied by automotive issues or Covid). The Festival goes from strength to strength with a slight rebrand this year (it was Chalke Valley, but that sounded a little yoghurt-y) and the merciful loss of the Daily Mail as title sponsor. The crowd is a good mixed bunch, it's heartening to see youngsters with brightly coloured hair alongside the brightly coloured trousers that might be a little more traditional.
The trouble we always have is cramming everything in - at any given moment there are likely five talks on at various stages and tents around the ground and a couple of living history performances/demonstrations, any one of which I'd quite happily sit and enjoy, so we decided to do two days this year, one focused on talks and the other to soak up everything else. Fortunately we rolled a critical success on the random British Weather Table avoiding torrential rain and dangerous heat in the bucolic Wiltshire setting, and have a splendid old time: swords were forged, pies baked, weapons, armour and uniforms demonstrated, artillery fired.
A live recording of Charlie Higson's Willy Willy Harry Stee podcast was particularly good, after enjoying a Best & Worst Monarchs discussion last year I'd worked through the whole monarchy with Charlie while walking the dog, I can highly recommend it if you're a bit hazy on chunks of British history.
With festivals being an expensive business they've also launched the Chalke History Hub, membership giving access to recorded talks and online events, which I might well sign up for to catch some of the talks we couldn't get to. Roll on 2025 and More History!
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| The festival ground |
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| Foreign Field foot tourney |
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| 25 pounders? I hardly know 'ers! |
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| Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling. |
By jove, Baldur's Gate 3 is quite good isn't it? I suppose there were one or two clues, like the raft of awards from hither and yon including BAFTA wins warranting a mention on the News at Ten, but maybe the entirety of games media and the overwhelming majority of player reviews were mistaken?
Spoiler: they're not. So I'm too busy playing to write a proper post about it for the moment. Maybe in a month or three...
