Impartial Mediation

For several weeks now I have wanted to write about many topics. From football to the non-existent fall harvest to politics and music and porcelain tile. It is one thing to sit around and have many ideas going on in my head it is another thing to type out exactly what I want to express. Rarely, if ever, can that be done to get my view across.

Sometimes I question the overall "Validity" of my site. It could be used in a manner to bring about awareness of issues that affect agriculture. It could be entirely a ridiculous site full of made up news, I did that years ago with a homepage at geocities. I could just blog about overall immature computer gaming that I do in the evenings. I could make it a combination of many things. In the end I wonder if anyone who might be reading this cares. Maybe whether or not "they" or "you" care it should only matter if I care. Ultimately I do. I then run into the same problem that my wife has with her blog. Judgement.

With a basic audience of a few, and I really mean few friends and even fewer family, what can I write about or post that would spark a morsel of interest. I have 2 listed followers. I can post all types of shit that I feel is interesting but do any of the readers here actually care? What if I write all crazy about ethics, religion, politics...would the views I share distance some of the few readers I have? Or perhaps the views I have might be equally shared among some readers.

The bottom line is that the feeling of being "judged" does influence what I post. Some topics I really don't care how people feel about. Like my babe and cougar of the month feature. It is mostly done for entertainment and it also forces me to update my site. The same is true for use-less babble like Fallout 3 character playthroughts. My wife reads them. That's about it. I assume others role their eyes. Some topics I have been reluctant to touch. Those pesky sensitive issues like gay-marriage and health care and foreign wars. I usually figure that people get enough of that from the news, or that my opinion maybe disliked or perhaps just surprising. I also run the risk of self arraignment on a very small degree, but people can change views over time. For example, a decade ago I was full fever in favor of the death penalty, today I feel the system has serious flaws and do no agree to it.

I have found a possible solution to this dilemma. Impartial Mediation. Which is defined as:
Impartiality is a principle that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons. While Mediation, in a broad sense, consists of a cognitive process of reconciling mutually interdependent, opposed terms as what one could loosely call "an interpretation" or "an understanding of".

With this, I can post whatever I feel like and not have to worry about being judged. Well of course I will still be judged but that lies more in the individual reader than the audience as a whole. If I present my views and feelings using impartial mediation then a vast number of readers will at least respect my opinions, with this their judgement becomes null.

Basically, if I want to post the Husker offense sucks I can. I just need objective criteria, independent of bias, with controlled understanding and explanation of why they suck. If I want to post why Barack Obama is a communist, I just need objective criteria, independent of bias, with controlled understanding and explanation of why I think he is a communist. If I want to post why George Bush is a complete idiot, I just need objective criteria, independent of bias, with controlled understanding and explanation of why he is a complete idiot.

The only problem is...I have already know how to solve this, I just need to implement it.

World In Conflict

As I had mentioned months ago, World In Conflict is a fictional game based on a Cold War that turns hot in the late 1980's. The story of it was written by Tom Clancy, but the most enjoyment offered is through online cooperative play. You join a side, either as Russia or as NATO/USA.

You battle on a variety of detailed maps for command points and domination. You play as a team, up to 8 v 8 games. There are 4 different combat roles to play, so each team must balance the roles and adapt. The roles include Infantry, Armor, Air, and Support. I can play all fairly well except Air. You also earn tactical aid points which you spend on a variety of aids. If you are pestered by infantry troops in an urban region you can call in a chemical strike, or have an A-10 rip tanks apart with cannon shot. Napalm a forest to clear the way for tanks, or call in the most expensive aid-the tactical nuke.

Age 3: part 4

Spain- Have good hand infantry and cavalry available, and are flexible early in the game due to their faster Home City shipments. The Spanish explorer can train War Dogs since the Discovery Age, when soldiers are not trainable. Their unique units are the Rodelero, Lancer and Missionary.

British- Build Manors, which are 35% more expensive than normal houses, but spawn one free settler each upon construction, instead of the usual houses; this speeds up early game construction and gathering. Their military is more focused on the later game, with a stronger economy in the early game. Their unique units are the Longbowman, which boast the longest range in the game, and Rocket.

French- Train Coureurs des bois, stronger villagers which may eventually double as infantry. This civilization can have many shipments related to Natives, and so it is the strongest at forging native alliances. The French train the strongest cavalry unit of the game, the Cuirassier. Their unique units are the Cuirassier and the Coureur des Bois.

Portuguese- Receive a free covered wagon on each age advancement, which can build a free town center. This civilization has extra exploring facilities, such as the option of shipping additional explorers and the "spyglass" ability which can reveal unexplored territory. They have a balanced military, which is supplemented by a strong navy. Their unique units are the Cassador and Organ gun.

Dutch- Settlers cost coin instead of food, making them dependent on this resource from the very start of the game; this disadvantage is, however, countered with the revenue produced by Banks, coin-generating buildings unique to the Dutch. Their unique units are the Envoy, Ruyter and Fluyt.

Russians- Train numerous units in groups, speeding up production—especially early in the game. This gives them the capacity to overwhelm other players with their large armies, which are supplemented by the low cost of their military and, for the most basic units, a weaker army unless strenght in numbers. Their unique units are the Strelet, Cossack and Oprichnik.

Germans- Represent all of the Central European kingdoms of the time and start out with settler wagons instead of the normal European settlers. The German Home City ships settler wagons which are equivalent to two regular settlers. Their military develops steadily because Uhlan cavalry are given as a bonus along with most shipments. Also, the Germans can ship mercenaries sooner than any other civilization. Their unique units are the Doppelsoldner, Uhlan, War Wagon and Settler Wagon.

Ottoman- Economy is slow but constant, due to the fact that settlers are continually produced automatically at no cost but have the disadvantage of having limited settler production. The Ottoman military makes heavy use of artillery units, many of them unique, such as the Great Bombard, the most powerful artillery unit in the game. The Ottomans lack light infantry: the only infantry they can train is the Janissary, a more powerful type of musketeer. Their unique units are the Janissary, Abus Gun, Spahi, Great Bombard, Galley and Imam. The Ottomans specialize in early game combat because of their quick gain in economy.

Iroquois- War Chief boosts hitpoints of nearby units, have Travois, which can build most buildings for free. They start with one Travois. They also have a unique Founder Dance in the fire pit which spawns Travois. They also receive a Travois or two on each age advancement. Entire army is unique, most ranks are filled with Tomahawks and Forest Prowler infantry.

Sioux- War Chief boosts speed of nearby units, starts with 200 population slots automatically, but cannot build walls. Have unique Teepees, to provide a little health bonus and damage bonus to nearby, friendly units. Very nomadic civ that can move very freely with very few structures. Horse heavy units include Axe Riders and Rifle Riders. Dog Soldiers are powerful cavarly trained at a firepit ceremony.

Aztecs- War Chief bonus doubles experience gained in combat by nearby units, have warrior priests that can heal or firepit dance. They start with one Warrior Priest. Very good at farming and fishing. War canoes can control water very well and with priests available early they can thrive economically. They only train infantry units, but have several warriors and knights filling specific combat roles.

India- This civilization has no villager cards at the Home City, but they receive one villager with almost every shipment. All villagers that are not shipped from the Home City cost wood instead of food. Villagers are also not allowed to harvest livestock for food, but instead can build a structure called a Sacred Field which will generate experience points whenever livestock are tasked to it. Sepoys, Gurkha and Rajputs are the primary infantry units, and India has several types of camel and elephant cavalry. Both of India's monks ride atop elephants and can heal other units from the start of the game.

China- The Chinese get only one monk along with a disciple at the start of the game, the monk is the only 'explorer unit' who can train military units (trains disciples) during the "discovery age" and has the largest attack points compared to any other monk or explorer. The Chinese have a higher population limit than all the other civilizations; up to 220 population points, rather than the usual 200. Additionally, their military units are trained in blocks, much like the Russians, except that each block trains two different unit types in Banner Armies.

Japan- This civilization has the Daimyo and Shogun units. Japanese villagers cannot gather food via herding or hunting, but can build shrines near huntable and herdable animals to gain a slow trickle of food, wood, or coin. The shrines also act as houses, supporting 10 population units. They have the unique ability to ship most cards twice. They can field a very strong army consisting of Yumi archers, Ashigaru musketeers and flaming arrow siege units, and of course Samurai.

Age 3: part 3

In Age of Empires 3 you gather resources in your virtual world. There are dozens of possible locations that a random game can be played on. The most popular is The Great Plains, due to the large open spaces for building, good natives to ally with and hoards of buffalo to hunt. The detailed geography of each map was well done. You can play anywhere in the New World and Orient from Indochina to New England to California to the Patagonia to the Yukon. Each map has certain characteristics that might help or hinder your preferred strategy. You really have to adapt to be successful.

At the beginning of each game you start with a Town Center, a New World Explorer and some colonists who collect resources. You also start with a small amount of supplies in crates. The amount of stuff you have and number of villagers varies for each civilization. Usually it is around 5-7 villagers and maybe 500-1000 in total resources.

Food: Gathered by hunting, foraging for berries, fishing and farming. Livestock such as cattle and sheep can also provide food. Food is needed to train most units and is essential to your colonies survial.

Wood: Gathered slower than other resources, is need to build structures and upgrade units. It is also important for training units like Crossbowmen and Pikemen. It is collected by chopping trees.

Coin: Gathered from mines and from plantations. The more wealth you have the more improved your army and colony grows. It is also integral for bribing foreign mercenaries to fight in your battles.

XP: Experience is gathered through building and fighting. The more XP you get the more influence your Home City- the base of which your settlement receives aid- can provide to your new colony. They might be able to send additional villagers, shipments of resources or military troops and improvements. Sometimes a well timed home city shipment could mean the survival of your colony.

All resources and XP can be gained at Trade Posts. Trade posts are sturctures that you must build at pre-determined locations on a map. Some maps have several posts, others have very few or none. Trade posts are also built at native villages to provide military aid or other helpful aids. All resources can be generated at Factories later in the game. Factories are available from a home city shipment once your colony advances to the Industrial Age.

Age 3 : part 2

Ensemble Studios was a game development studio that was created in Dallas in 1995. Two years later it released "Age of Empires" which turned into one of the best computer games of the decade. More importantly the studio created the benchmark of the Real-Time Strategy genre. Subsequently Ensemble went on to make Age of Empires 2, Age of Mythology and Age of Empires 3. They recently finished "Halo Wars" a strategy game for XBox. Microsoft was the publisher that Ensemble had for all their productions. In March of this year Ensemble Studios was closed down.

Age of Empires- The original game focused on early civilizations of 3000 years ago in the Mediterranean and Middle east. By today's standards it is clumsy and chunky and everything seems like its on a hidden grid system.

Age of Empires 2 -The sequel game focused on the age of kings. The game time-frame was from the Dark Ages of 400 C.E. to 1500 C.E. and the age of Spanish exploration. Much better than the first, considered by some to be the best work Ensemble did. Graphics much improved but the game-play was still slow.

Age of Mythology- Back tracked on the time-line to ancient Greeks, Egypt, and Norse cultures. Mythological influence was heavy and made the series less historically accurate but interesting. A big step was faster paced game matches. Some fans were very critical of Ensemble basing a game on mythology instead of history. But a lot of human history has been influence by fantasy.

Age of Empires 3- The series returned and is set during Colonial times. European powers are bent on exploration and conquest of the New World. Huge leap in graphic visualizations and world physics. Light on innovation but large in presentation.

The best improvements made over the years is much greater visual detail and easier game-play and the ability to play games in 20 minutes or less. The early games had a slower pace to them and could be dragged out for hours, I had time in college to play that long. In Age of Mythology and Age 3 games are much better paced and are just as enjoyable with less free time invested. All of the above games had expansion packs or add-ons released later with additional content and improvements.

Age of Empires The Third:part 1

More recently, during some free time in the evenings, I have been going to virtual battle on the computer. Age of Empires, the entire series of computer games have intrigued me for over a decade. Most notably is the latest and last installment, Age of Empires 3 and it's expansions The Warchiefs and The Asian Dynasties.

What I love about this game is the strategy and thinking involved. While you could choose to passively play the game on an easy level, I choose to be challenged. With this, I have to apply lots of basic math skills to be successful and it makes the game rewarding and satisfying. Age 3 is not a new game. It was released in October of 2005, so I have tons of experience with it. A few years ago I played online frequently and I met a lot of interesting people. Surprisingly many were professionals. I met teachers, lawyers, dentists, drafters, artists, and even winemakers. I still have contact with some of them today. They live in locations from Kansas to Brazil to even Greece and New Zealand. In total I played over 1100 games online and held a rank of Major.Today I play casually offline. My wife will sometimes play along on the LAN, but I think she enjoys Titan Quest a touch more.

The basics of the game involve resource gathering and the construction of buildings and the training of units. Conquest is the basic idea, however there are other ways to win. Knowing the intricate system of balance multipliers that units ( musketeers, dragoons, swiss pikemen, samurai, highlanders, etc. ) have and the unique characteristics of Civilizations ( France, Spain, Japan, Sioux, Aztecs, Russians, Ottomans, etc. ) have creates interesting game play and strategy.

Honestly, I think everyone I know would find this game interesting and maybe even try if for themselves. If given an hour I could show how the game can ultimately be entertaining and yet give a sense of being educational. I play Age 3 on my self built computer so it's optimized for playing this. Being able to play this with full effects and physics on widescreen make it better than a cinematic movie. Below are 2 screens from recent play with my wife. Notice how her score is better than mine.

Complete Keller Holotapes

The Keller Family Transcript Holotapes of Fallout 3 all in one full video. The holotapes are just a small part of the many you might find in the game. All of them add a real sense of deep dark mystery and bring out more storyline of the Fallout Universe for the player.

World in Conflict

A fairly fun multiplayer war game. I only tried the single player portion for a few nights, but the online play is far more compelling. Every now and then it's fun to play some matches since they only take on average about 15 minutes for one game. Below is a custom generated signature tag from WIC. I'm a Captain, just like Jack Sparrow I guess.

Fallout 3

Nuclear War. The very words conjure images of mushroom clouds, gas masks, and bewilderd childed ducking and covering under their school desks. But it’s the aftermath of such a conflict that truly captures our imaginations, in large part because there’s no real-world equivalent we can relate to. Mankind may have witnessed the horror of the atomic bomb, but thankfully we’ve somehow succeeded in not blowing up the entire planet. At least, not yet.

The Fallout World presents a much grimmer reality. Imagine if, after World War II, the timeline split. Our world forked into one branch, the Fallout Universe the other. In that other branch, technology progressed at a much more impressive rate, while American society remained locked in the cultural norms of the 1950’s. It was an idyllic "world of tomorrow," filled with servant robots, beehive hairdos, and fusion-powered cars. And then in the year 2077, at the climax of a long-running war with China, it all went to hell in a globe-shattering nuclear war.

Fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277, in post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. The "Capital Wasteland" as it has come to be known, is a nightmare landscape of Raiders, freakish Super Mutants, Feral Ghouls, Mutated animals and malfunctioning robots. You have been living underground for the past 20 years, safe and secure in an official Vault-Tec facility known as Vault 101. 200 years ago the steel door of 101 was sealed shut, no one has entered and no one has ever left.

Everything is fine and dandy, until your father -who has been the one constant in your life- leaves the vault unexpectedly. Facing a hostile Vault Overseer you must also flee to the wasteland. Once you escape Vault 101 you have absolute freedom. Try and find dear old Dad or forget he exists - head into the nearest settlement with your 10mm pistol firing - or try to investigate where he could be.

War. War never changes. You will soon learn about the long enduring conflict between the "Enclave" and the "Brotherhood of Steel." Join a side or become a menace to the both of them. The choice is yours...

My wife got my Fallout 3 this past holiday season. I am fairly lucky that she allows it. While most people I know prescribe to the notion that video games are for kids, I think that many games are strictly for adults, like myself who do not watch television shows or movies. I find them very agreeable to entertain and ofter some interactive escape from everyday activities. I will be posting "character play-throughs" of Fallout 3 that I do in the future. I also from time to time will post moderate reviews of games that I have tried.

Thanks to Bethesda Studios for a majority of the content in the post.

Welcome

Well it looks like I have a ton of work to do on this. Lets just wait and see what I can come up with in a few hours. I first have to get Walker to take a nap, then I feel I can make some real progress here.