I'm well into Star Wars: KOTOR, and my jedi is now a dual-wielding killing machine. On this first pass I made him a goody-two-shoes, but I can tell by all the nasty stuff I could have done that the dark side path is a fun one too. I might just have to play it again as a murderous, manipulative, power-hungry fuck.
Additional thoughts now that I've played it more:
The graphics are amazing. Now that I've visited the other worlds, I'm blown away by the quality and diversity of their terrains.
The fighting animation kicks ass. Watching a group of jedi fuck each other up is a sight to behold.
Once again, the characters are a blast and their voice actors are top-notch. One of my favorites is a murderous, sarcastic assassin droid named HK-47. Gee, wonder what the "HK" stands for?
I retract my gripe about the camera, since I got used to it pretty quickly.
Story keeps getting better. This is one of the few games where I'm really curious to see how it ends.
Okay, enough gushing. This is the game Xbox really needed, so I'm sure old Bill Gates is pretty happy right now.
On a different subject, I think Mean Mike 2 will be a completely new comic, rather than a touch-up of the original. The reason is that, quite frankly, the original one sucks and I have much better ideas for the storyline. Plus I'd like to draw some completely new Mean Mike artwork for a change.
My apologies for neglecting the site this past week or so. I had decided to take a break from the writing and drawing to go into a hermit-like "catch-up-on-all-my-unplayed-games" mode. I polished off the Neverwinter Nights expansion and then dove into Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. The game kicks ass so far and my character isn't even a jedi yet. Here's my thoughts:
Pros:
The makers of this game should have done the movie prequels. Great characters, art direction, and story.
The great Star Wars sound effects. Right now there's a wookiee in my party and I enjoy selecting him just to hear the roar of his greeting. Can't wait to start wielding light sabers.
For a console game the graphics are sweet. The PC version should look amazing.
Cons (minor quibbles):
The game is played in a tomb raider view (camera behind your character), but it's a little too close, giving you reduced peripheral vision. The targeting system makes up for this gameplay-wise, but visually it's a little claustrophobic.
The automap is retarded. Rather than fully revealing rooms you've entered, the "fog of war" is only erased in a five-foot radius around your character; so unless you run around every square foot of every room you explore, the map will still show them partially obscured - which makes it annoying when you want to check the map for missed doors and such later on.
When I finish this puppy I'll get cracking on Mean Mike issue 2.
What are the odds of the Tusken winning this fight?
Just messing with some new graphics, like that smutty menu to the left. posted by Ubel at 6:59 AM
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
A huge, fruity update! Walt and Samantha will appreciate this one.
I came across a treasure trove of old roleplaying characters and felt compelled to share the nerdiness with you.
These first two were for Walt's Marvel RPG game during college in '93, which was fucking hilarious. Not because Walt intended it to be, of course, but because some of the other guys in the group were complete morons.
The rest are D&D characters from the late 80's. I can't say I played them all, but I had fun creating them.
Enjoy, and I hope you still respect me when you're done.
Who: Frank Ruggerio (Marvel RPG)
What: A human with mind-controlled liquid metal exosuit. Basically a rip-off of the T-1000 and Venom.
Deeds: Once teamed with a 16-foot-tall humanoid wooly mammoth, which subsequently died from starvation because it couldn't figure out how to open a door. Frank also teamed with the worst ninja ever who, when under the scrutiny of the local police, tried to allay their suspicion by declaring, "I am not a ninja!"
Who: Ironhoof (Marvel RPG)
What: Super-powered human in a ridiculous horse suit. Can run real fast and smack you with his nasty hoof gauntlets.
Deeds: Died a glorious death when one his teammates, a cosmically-powered turtle, lost track of said power and exploded, killing the entire team.
Who: Sir Udo Fledermaus
What: Cavalier, level 11, human (neutral good)
Deeds: Faced and defeated the Mirror Of Your Momma, a horrific device that pits you against an inhumanly strong version of your own mother. Also had an affair with a mentally unstable cleric, who was quickly dumped when he found the object of his long, tortuous quest: the elusive Uberfrau.
Who: Jergen Fledermaus
What: Fighter/Thief, level 14/14, high elf (neutral good). The adopted brother of Udo.
Deeds: Fancies himself more of a crime fighter and vigilante than a mercenary, and prefers to dwell at night. Was a key player in the bust of a halfling prostitution ring, and made a hefty profit selling trolls back their own severed limbs. Was the first person ever to describe himself as "goth".
Who: Frederick Ericson, the gay barbarian.
What: Level 16 Barbarian, human (chaotic good)
Deeds: Sent a shockwave through the barbarian community when asked why he didn't partake in the raping part of "rape and pillage", and was the reason for the barbarian's "don't ask don't tell" policy. Led a long, bloody campaign against the frost giants after they murdered his brother and called Frederick's outfit "tacky".
Who: Trillson Woodly Faargh
What: Level 15 Ranger, wood elf (chaotic good)
Deeds: The short-tempered, humorless Trillson provided endless entertainment for his troll enemies that dwelled in the forest he was sworn to protect. At one point they figured out how to mimic the tracks of exotic creatures and would fool Trillson into following the fake trails to various traps and embarrassing situations. Finally he caught the trolls in the act and killed them all.
Who: Lilith Coborel
What: Level 18 Transmuter, human (lawful neutral)
Deeds: The raven-haired, broom-riding Lilith returned to the village of Candor (where she grew up) and volunteered to be its protector. Her greatest feat was ridding the village outskirts of its numerous land fills, which angered a small army of shit-eating otyughs -- who then invaded the village and tried to destroy its newfangled sewage system. After a long, foul-smelling battle, Lilith emerged victorious.
Who: Orin Wetterschneider
What: Level 20 Cavalier, human (lawful evil)
Deeds: Always a brilliant bastard, Orin made a fortune during the human/orc wars by switching sides whenever one would start to lose and become more desperate. In the end he helped the humans win, because they were a better prospect for future work. He's currently dating a succubus.
Who: Ichi Tung, The Love Monk.
What: Level 8 monk, human (lawful neutral)
Deeds: Disappointed by the evil and death that plagued the lands, Ichi decided to do something about it. He adopted the mantra of "Love or Die" and waged a campaign of terror against any monsters, thugs, or grouches that he came across. His favorite tactic was to offer his opponents a hug and, when they accepted, would squeeze and crush their ribcage.
Deeds: Xarann has sworn her allegiance to the god Anubis, and thus spends much of her time battling tomb thieves and undead abominations. An accomplished psionic, Xarann is able to convert her skin to armor and her arms into weapons; a handy trick for fooling her opponents into underestimating the unarmed, bikini-clad warrior. She's also a three-time winner of the "Best Abs In Egypt" contest.
Who: Wolfgang Heinrich
What: Level 16 Cleric, human (neutral good)
Deeds: Wolfgang spent ten years tracking down a trio of halfling anti-paladins known as the Venomfoot Brothers, who murdered his pious brethren while he was off fishing. When at last he caught up to the villains, Wolfgang's party was amazed that halfling anti-paladins even existed. The battle was long and bloody, but eventually Rectus, Dweezil and Goyder were all defeated.
Who: William Fang, "The black spirit that beats up people".
What: Level 9 Fighter, human shade (neutral)
Deeds: As a shade, William prefers to operate in twilight and darkness. He developed his own fighting style, "Black Snake", and makes a living as a mercenary. A notorious womanizer, he got himself into serious trouble when he copulated with the drunk daughter of a wood elf noble, and subsequently spent many years fighting off elvish assassins and all manner of elf-friendly woodland creatures.
Who: Soone Malmfax, "Spider-boy of the Tulgey Wood."
What: Level 7 Fighter, Drow (neutral evil)
Deeds: Soone escaped from the evil, subterranean drow cities at a young age because he longed to torment the surface world. He spent years raising a posse of giant spiders to assist him in robberies and mercenary work, but after a while he found his arachnid companions to be dull. He adventures with evil beings whenever possible, and usually keeps a giant spider around to watch his back.
Deeds: Maya is another drow expatriate and makes her living relieving the rich from their burden of wealth. Her fancy-free lifestyle is occasionally interrupted by drow agents that want her dead, including a monstrous spider that once took a town's entire militia to repel. Her greatest professional rival is a halfling thief named Slaptoes, who she often has to outwit (and occasionally team up with) to accomplish her goals.
Who: The Un-named One
What: Level 25/25/25 Fighter/Psionic/Ninja, human (neutral)
Deeds: Possibly the dumbest character ever created. He's so overloaded with skills that he's nearly impossible to beat by anyone but the strongest beings from the outer planes. Still, his group was involved in a huge battle with the demon lord Orcus, and three rounds into the fight his teammate managed to land a "disintegrate" spell on the demon lord, who failed all of his many saving throws and resistance checks. It was a fitting end to a stupid campaign, and the last time I played D&D.
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been doing a bit of writing, hence the shortage of new doodles.
I'm working on an update that Walt is sure to appreciate. posted by Ubel at 12:55 PM
Saturday, July 05, 2003
New comic
I added a little six page Spike Noodles comic that I did back in 1993 to the comics section. Like Mean Mike, it's silly and contains lots of dodgy artwork, but I thought you might get a kick out of it. Enjoy! posted by Ubel at 3:32 AM
Who: Frank Ruggerio (Marvel RPG)
Who: Ironhoof (Marvel RPG)
Who: Sir Udo Fledermaus 
Who: Jergen Fledermaus 
Who: Frederick Ericson, the gay barbarian.
Who: Trillson Woodly Faargh 
Who: Lilith Coborel
Who: Orin Wetterschneider
Who: Ichi Tung, The Love Monk.
Who: Xarann, "She that does not need clothes"
Who: Wolfgang Heinrich
Who: William Fang, "The black spirit that beats up people".
Who: Soone Malmfax, "Spider-boy of the Tulgey Wood."
Who: Maya Veladorn 
Who: The Un-named One