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GeekNights 070612 - Twilight Struggle

RymRym
edited June 2007 in Board Games
Tonight on GeekNights we review the popular two-player, card-based, war game: Twilight Struggle. In the news, Smash Bros. Brawl will have four control schemes, and Id Software is developing a new game engine.
Scott's Thing - Headshot Bar

Rym's Thing - Bonobo Pac-Man

Comments

  • Animals playing Pac-Man are always a good thing.
  • edited June 2007
    I think I heard the bonobo trying to speak in the video: "Bonobos not monkeys; bonobos apes! Cowdog pedantic!" I'm not sure, but that's what it sounded like to me.

    There is (was) a nice bonobo habitat in the San Diego Zoo. My wife ended up dragging me away; I could sit and watch them all day. There were moments when one of the apes would stand up just so and I saw a fellow human, not just a close cousin. Apes rock!

    I was also interested to learn that bonobos are a pretty hip species. They didn't put on any show for me. Perhaps there are bonobo bars where that goes on...
    Post edited by Hank on
  • Downloaded the Lost Planet demo from Steam, too bad my card don't support 3.0 shaders though. So yeah, Capcom technically threw one out on Steam.
  • Downloaded the Lost Planet demo from Steam, too bad my card don't support 3.0 shaders though. So yeah, Capcom technically threw one out on Steam.

    I downloaded that thinking my 2.4 ghz dual core processor, nVidia 7400 Go, and 2 gigs of RAM could run it. I was wrong.
  • I think I heard the bonobo trying to speak in the video: "Bonobos not monkeys; bonobos apes! Cowdog pedantic!" I'm not sure, but that's what it sounded like to me.
    You're far more diplomatic that I would've been. Being married to a physical anthropologist who started with primatology in grad school will do that.

    Bonobo does not equal monkey. For that matter chimpanzees, gorillas, gibbons, orangutans and siamangs are not monkeys either.
  • edited June 2007
    Hey, hey, THESE are Monkees.

    image
    Post edited by Jason on
  • Was there really any evidence in that video that the bonobo actually knew what it was doing? It seemed to me to be moving the joystick randomly. I don't know, it's hard to tell. No harm in being skeptical though.
  • Have you ever used VASSAL? I recently listened to your Twilight Struggle episode, and I think playing via VASSAL would satisfy many of your problems (lengthy setup, fiddling with chits). One problem is there's a touch of a learning curve with VASSAL, but if you're willing to put in the effort, you may enjoy the game more. Influence adjustment is a matter of selecting a country and using a context menu or a hotkey. Context menus on some cards will automatically invoke the effects of the event.

    As an added bonus, you open yourself up to many more opponents through PBEM sites like ACTS.
  • I've tried VASSAL. The interface is just too horrible to be worth figuring out.
  • I think I've heard you mention Blender on a previous episode. Did you mention it because you have familiarity? Did you tackle Blender's interface? VASSAL's a cakewalk compared to that.

    OK, I'm not really expecting that Blender comparison to sway you at all. Your interest in boardgames is in the immediate mental challenge of the game, and any fiddly stuff that you have to go through to address that challenge is a deterrent.

    Maybe the soon-to-be-released version 3 of VASSAL will be better.
  • I mention Blender, but I've never really used it.
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