Updated the walking right animation with shading.

     

This is turning out to be really awesome.

Thanks, Inani. 

Revival! Did some more sprite work as I finally pulled myself away from Fallout 3.

     

I've heard that the DS is region-locked.

Well, Wikipedia disagrees.

Dunno about UK shipping, but for example, in Canada you can ship: Canada, USA, and International. (I have a slip from the post office here. ...for some reason.)

I assume that they're specifying that they do UK shipping, and it's free. Then they're specifying that they do European shipping, which is also free. Then they specify that they also do worldwide shipping, and that it too is free.

I just realized that "computer science" would probably include hardware in the USA, so in that regard we have... A Grade 10 course which is mostly about hard disks and ram and breadboarding, a Grade 11 course which is about the same stuff plus using BASIC to program hardware, and then two grade 12 courses. One simply expands the previous year, while the other takes a twist and delves deeper into robotics.

In the grade 11 one, we opened up remote-controlled cars and preprogrammed them to navigate a set course. I didn't finish mine in time, unfortunately, but it was pretty cool.

But yeah, your highschool looks really awesome. Lucky dude. 

Actually, read it again. The site and game page says free worldwide shipping, and if you check the faqs, then it lists a lot of other countries.

Gamesbasement offer FREE UK delivery (includes England, Ireland, Wales and the highlands in Scotland)...

...Non UK countries FREE DELIVERY that also applies are : Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Holland (Netherlands), Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Uzbekistan.

GAMES Basement also ship worldwide for free to the following countries : North and South America, the United States of America including Hawaii and Alaska, to Canada, Japan, Taiwan, China, Philippines and even Thailand.

Good thing the DS doesn't have region coding. Well, the standard DS doesn't, at least. I'll add it to my list of games to try and pick up a copy of, if I get enough money.

EDIT: Looks like you can buy it here, with free worldwide shipping.

...uhm.

In my highschool, if you don't know how to use a computer, the teacher will show you. There aren't any classes on it either. We only have three computer science courses.

Grade 10: Web page design, where we learn how to do HTML and JavaScript using notepad, and then the second-last unit is WYSIWYG editors, and most of the unit wasn't mandatory.

Grade 11: Console-based applications in C. An optional unit introducing OOP with C++ was available.

Grade 12: Java and OOP.

Why does Canada suddenly seem technologically developed? What's all this "haw 2 use da micro$oft softwars" bullshit?

-made a tron copy-

-awesome development and engineering divisions-

Now you two... I'm jealous of you two. My teachers actually would've supported this sort of thing, except that the classes were too lazy to actually do anything outside of the required course work. And I was too busy trying to make a roguelike.

You know how you always have one or two screws left over when you put something back together.

those two screws kept close the time vortex

what have you done

I can't really explain why this particular video didn't jive with me... ...there was something about it that just really bothered me.

Yeah, honestly, this is how I feel. I mean, I listened to three aristocrats jokes shortly afterwards and it didn't bother me.

It may have to do with the visual format, though, which makes it seem more perverted and leaves almost nothing to your own control. I mean, aristocrats jokes would be awful in visual form, yet when spoken they can be funny in that really twisted, really wrong way.

Just to clarify, I'm only referring to the first game here. Haven't played Dreamfall.

I thought the dialog was particularly well done,

I dunno, a lot of the characters seemed to ramble, and it was just loaded with exposition. I was expecting so many people to just say "look it up in a freaking book, don't bother me with basic history" yet instead they go on a five minute history lecture.

the story moved at a consistent and not-too-drawn-out pace,

I think we must've played different games. The pace was all over the place. The first third is almost perfectly paced, but then things just start happening ridiculously fast and the macguffins are collected way faster than I would've expected them to be. The ending was pretty good, though the sudden character development didn't make much sense. Like, where'd the abusive father thing come from? It's hinted at, but we never really see it having any effect on her. So why was it necessary in the ending portion?

Someone mentioned earlier that there's the writing of the story (e.g. what the game's about) and the writing within the game. I think I was thinking more about the writing within the game.

Well, I think thematically the story was quite good, and had a lot of room to work in. I don't think it was used to its full potential, though. We've got two world with contrasting ideals and basic laws, yet they manage to suck most of the intrigue out of it by the end.

Yet even the writing within the game I had problems with, as it was often presented in exposition or a really unappealing text portion. (Reading books in that game was very boring.)

I mean, I really do enjoy playing a lot of adventure games. I'm accustomed to spending fifteen minutes reading a book in a game. Still, so much of this game seemed to drag on and on. I just think that there were a lot of unnecessary plot points, which could've been replaced with better ones, and overall the story could've used a rewrite in many places.

I do have to say though, Crow is an awesome character.

The Longest Journey and its sequel had some pretty amazing writing.

Well, to quote my blog on that game's story:

To be honest, I thought it was only okay. It's really grand and sweeping, but the characters seem somewhat inconsistant. The world and lore around it are really neat, and the attention to detail was great. Also, it has a really satisfying ending, though I was surprised that a few things weren't tied off.

So... yeah. I wouldn't even come close to saying "amazing". There are much, much better adventure game stories.

@Tanner: Yeah, I installed it a few weeks ago and haven't noticed any slowdown in my usual routines, including playing Fallout 3. It's nice.

You never get like a badass special-forces ninja dude who is the only one who can save the world and also just happens to be gay. That would be cool.

Hey look, a rev rant.

Captain Jack Harkness (from Torchwood and Doctor Who) is such a freakin' badass. We really do need his video game equivalent.

Okay, I managed to skip a few tracks ahead so I don't have to subject you to awesome Canadian punk-rock such as Shake Tramp by Marianas Trench

So! 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger.

I listen to a lot of rock offshoots.

And if you need something unusual/indie: Morning Blue by Joshua Woodward

I'd love to post what music I'm listening to, but I'm afraid you'll all beat me up now. 

Clue Finders, people! Now those were fun games.

Hell yeah. I loved that one with the dragon-y thing in the jungle. That was the best entry in the series, I think. The others felt really cheap.

Oh, and there was this other one: The Fennels Figure Math. It was a ridiclous and zany game, and it took like 50 tries for my brother and I to get through it. It was kind of funny too, in that lame way that many kids find things funny.

The Amazon Trail was pretty good too. Though I played that way more recently than most other educational games. I remember failing to survive The Yukon Trail many times, and I don't think anyone in our class actually made it through The Oregon Trail.

And of course, Math Blaster shall always have a place in my heart. The original one. Not those weird new games which are so cheesy.

Sometimes I wonder if modern culture is dumbing down things that are considered "educational". I really don't know, but I know that a lot of these games I would play for entertainment, not just to be educated. These days, I'm not sure if that's true.

I guess I don't want just well-written games.  I want well-written games with mature themes.  And no sex + blood doesn't count as mature.

Well, when the Miller brothers got together to make Myst, this was exactly what they had in mind. They wanted to make a mature game without tons of sex and gore.

I thought the writing in Myst was good. The dialogue and voiceover struck me as compelling rather than cheesy. Then again, I was about 15 when it came out. It may be that I would be less forgiving nowadays.

The dialogue is a bit flaky now that sound quality has ramped up so much. The second game isn't nearly as bad though, especially if you get the DVD edition.

I think the Myst series (pre-URU) probably are some of the best-written video games ever. Each game deals with complex themes and can honestly be quite brutal. Saavaedro's story is probably the saddest, with his entire family and civilization having been lost to the greed of Atrus's sons. He has one rant which is simply heart-wrenching, and would be a good candidate for "The Saddest Moment in Video Games".

Another example of stellar writing would be the game Scratches, which I would say is one of the scariest games ever. There's only one character you actually talk to, but it's got some brilliant dialogue. The way the story twists as you discover the secrets of the previous mansion owners is simply engrossing.

And of course, Silent Hill 2. Great story. Do I need to say more?

That being said, what's often heralded as having a "great" story is often rather dull. BioShock may have good atmosphere, and it had that great M. Night moment, but the story was tacked-on at best. Assassin's Creed deserves an honourable mention for at least trying, but it seemed more like a weird cross between Indiana Jones and Broken Sword. Even Half-Life 2 deserves more credit for immersion than story, as it's a pretty standard "aliens come and take over" story.

Often I hear people say Halo has a great story, but it would be more right to say it is "epic". "Epic" as in "grand in scope." It is, once again, riddled with cliches and stale plot elements.

And Gears of War? Pfft. Despite what Cliffy B thinks, the game is barely even "epic." It's ridiculous. The story is boring and cheesy, and downright offensively stupid at parts. Oh yeah, and I can't get past the fact that they have four shoulders and feet four times the size of their head.

That style is just fantastic. 

Yeah. Even if you mod the hell out of Fallout 3, Beneath a Steel Sky is much better.