next »

[pelle]

Wargames: From Gladiators to Gigabytes by Martin van Creveld



Eenjoying it so far. It tells the history of lots of different ways people have been "playing war" (sort of, but often in quite deadly ways), starting actually much earlier than the gladiators. So there are chapters on all sorts of mock combat (as practiced by some cultures), trial by combat, gladiators (obviousy), tournaments, jousting, fencing, contact sports, .... I'm currently at the chapter about duels in the 19th century (where pistols where more common than the swords of earlier duels). Later chapters will get to kriegsspiels, miniature wargames, board wargames, computer wargames. It is a quick read and probably more entertaining than correct history in all aspects, but that works for me.

[pelle]

Also reading (on phone):

The Strategy Of Indirect Approach by Liddell Hart

Downloaded from here:
https://archive.org/details/strategyofindire035126mbp

Yes, it is from 1942, so not likely to be the most up to date book on this topic. Not sure how relevant or correct his conclusions are at all,  but the book is fun and easy to read and covers (without going into any details) lots of battles and campaigns from ancient Greek to end of First World War. All the famous generals and battles you would expect, plus many more (or maybe I am just not educated enough about what are famous). Great inspiration for playing/designing strategy games.

[oahda]

Spent the last few days reading up on stuff like synapsids and therapsids and watched some documentaries, mostly about genealogy and biology.

[quantumpotato]

I read the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I loved The Trial but not sure what to make of this one. A pretty bizarre store, though.

Cool. There's a graphic novel of the Trial that does a good job -- angelic & demonic creatures circling in the thought bubbles around each character, portrays the horror vibe quite well.

[oahda]

And I've been reading up on some actual metamorphosis.

Recommended! Cool stuff. Happens bizarrely quickly in some animals, like frogs.

[oahda]

Finished my Icelandic crime novel on the train today. Mýrin by Arnaldur Indriðasson.

Just... sad. So much sad.

[Tuba]

Just finished reading the Jordan Mechner journals of Karateka and The Prince of Persia, great stuff.

It's pretty much just a personal journal but it has some interesting stuff about the development process of both games. It's interesting to see how Mechner struggled to develop them, it's quite similar to the situation of some indies today and it gives you some perspective about how the industry was back then. It's funny how at one part he talks about how the programmers at Broderbund were complaining that the industry was not like it used to be and everything was just about money now (in 1983).

[SousaVilla]

Picked up a physical grammar on Ancient Greek (Homer style) I've owned for years now but never really opened. But even so, I actually found a coffee stain in it. I'm so typical me that I'm almost a caricature of myself. Why are there coffee stains on everything I own?

Interesting layout, tho. 16 pages in and I'm already inflecting a lot and translating actual sentences from the Odyssey pretty effortlessly. Really cool.

Just curious, who is the author and what the name of the book?

[DanglinBob]

Serpent of Venice, sequel to Fool (One of the best books ever!)

[oahda]

Picked up a physical grammar on Ancient Greek (Homer style) I've owned for years now but never really opened. But even so, I actually found a coffee stain in it. I'm so typical me that I'm almost a caricature of myself. Why are there coffee stains on everything I own?

Interesting layout, tho. 16 pages in and I'm already inflecting a lot and translating actual sentences from the Odyssey pretty effortlessly. Really cool.

Just curious, who is the author and what the name of the book?

[MutantGopher]

I'm reading this thread.

[ProgramGamer]

I'm reading this thread.

Read it in its entirety and find all instances of this joke. Then realized how unoriginal it was to say it in the first place.

[Netsu]

Just finished "Dobra Krew", which is a journal of a polish girl that travelled to the Yamal Peninsula and for two months lived in siberia with the nomadic reindeer herders. I wish you wouldn't have to live in the most extreme environments to get away from civilisation, but those people manage it amazingly well. They basically live on a giant frozen swamp.



Now I'm going thorugh another Alan Watts book "The Wisdom of Insecurity", seems to focus more on our everyday anxieties than "The Book". I really like it a lot, seems to be a pattern with Watts and me, everything he says just resonates deeply with how I feel about things.

[ProgramGamer]

One more now.

[FK in the Coffee]

I'm reading this thread.

Read it in its entirety and find all instances of this joke. Then realized how unoriginal it was to say it in the first place.

but how many people felt the need to reply with some unnecessary surly ass comment. 

^^^ c'mon now, it's just harmless fun.

I'm working my way through “The First Bad Man,” by Miranda July. Not a whole lot really happens, but the humor's incredibly sharp, and she certainly doesn't shy away from some incredibly graphic descriptions of sexuality.

[mrandyjoe]

Currently reading Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon. If you've stayed away from Pynchon out of intimidation (Gravity's Rainbow is a nightmare - a beautiful, wonderful, nightmare), his newer stuff is way more accessible. This one is kind of cyberpunk-ish and I'm hooked so far. Definitely has an appeal with a tech-savvy crowd. I highly recommend it.

[pelle]

Currently Designers & Dragons 90's. Book 3 of 4 (already read 70's and 80's earlier this summer). History of (pen and paper) RPG industry, one company per chapter. Not a type of game I ever was much into, but this is very interesting and an area of game history I did not know much about. I'm thinking of trying to find something about computer RPGs after I'm done with all the Designer & Dragon books, but not sure what book on that topic might be worth reading.

[ecplav]

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35560458

Just read this article. It's about the guy who made the Atari ET game.

[Nelvin]

Just finished reading the Jordan Mechner journals of Karateka and The Prince of Persia, great stuff.

It's pretty much just a personal journal but it has some interesting stuff about the development process of both games. It's interesting to see how Mechner struggled to develop them, it's quite similar to the situation of some indies today and it gives you some perspective about how the industry was back then. It's funny how at one part he talks about how the programmers at Broderbund were complaining that the industry was not like it used to be and everything was just about money now (in 1983).

I just finished the one about Karateka and will continue to the next one about PoP.

It's quite interesting, even more so if you have memories back at that time too. The only downside is that I wonder how much he has tweaked his entries for the release with additional "fiction" for a more interesting read? The reason I question this is, because very early in the Karateka Book, an entry at 1982, he mentions he saw Lemmings as a sample of a complex animated game at a computer store which obviously is not true.

Still a great and very easy read as it's just a bunch of journal entries so you can start/stop reading at any point, even in 5 or 10 minute bursts.

[onionstone]

Nowdays..I'm reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time..
before two year ago,,I bought it.. now I am reading..